Flying Beardie

By Carole on Monday, June 25, 2001 - 05:12 pm:
Dusty gave me the fright of my life today! I came home from work and found my gate closed. (I leave it open when I'm gone...) I opened it and, as I was pulling in to the drive, Dusty came trotting around the corner of the house to greet me. (He stays inside when I'm gone.) I freak out thinking someone has gotten into my house and turned him loose. Front door is locked. Back door is locked. Cruise through the house checking to see if anything is missing...something's missing all right! The screen from the attic window! (2nd floor). As far as I can tell, he pushed it out and then made a giant leap for Beardie freedom...almost 15 feet to the lawn below!

This is the dog that the groomer was concerned about being able to tolerate all the standing required for his recent clip...due to his advanced age and bad rear hip. HAH!

Now that I've stopped hyperventilating, I'm going to give him an Ascriptin (he is limping a little), pour myself a glass of Port and make an appt to have all my new grey hair colored...

Midas hurts his paw...

By Carole on Sunday, February 1, 2004 - 09:27 pm:
At least not for the vet. Monsieur Midas, at some point today, managed to step on an unidentified sharp object, cutting into the side of one of his left rear pads and then turning and slicing out the top of the pad. He never yelped, barked, whined or limped - I discovered it had happened when I found him lying on my bed (on top of several loads of CLEAN clothes) bleeding.

My suspicion is a steak knife - as they've been very bad lately about stealing used cutlery off the counter to taste. I haven't found the item yet, but am sure I will find it in some totally bizarre location.

Fortunately, he was inside when it happened so it wasn't full of dirt, and it bled well (cleaning it out). It wasn't an arterial cut, thank God! At first I tried to doctor it myself but when I saw the angle of cut I decided to take him to doggy ER. They were swamped, and M and I were having a picnic in the parking lot as he gets spastic around other dogs, and the waiting room was small with a German shepherd and a black lab already waiting. After an hour, a tech came out, attempted to look at it - which is when I discovered that he had no problem letting me look at it, but he wasn't putting up with it from any one else! She looked at it, said they couldn't/wouldn't stitch it because of infection concerns and told me what to do to take care of it. Good thing - no charge. Bad thing - I had to dress his foot! LOL We're speaking again now, but I'm still getting baleful looks periodically.

Now I'm off to clean up all the little red doggy footprints that are all over the house!

They do keep life interesting, don't they?

The boys meet Steve

By Carole on Monday, January 6, 2003 - 09:05 am:
Midas tackled him (playing) and Steve immediately got on the floor and started playing with him, and by the second time he was over, T hurled himself into Steve's lap while seeking a safety "time-out" spot during a particularly high spirited game of "I bites you, you bites me, and we rolls around all over the floor like fools"!

All in all, I'd have to say they like him! LOL The first time he came over he wanted to be introduced to the dogs, and got down and played with them. The second time he brought them rawhides and played with them. Yesterday he came over and helped me walk them for an hour! I was teasing him last night, asking if he'd still like me as much without my dogs. (He said yes)

Oh yes, the ultimate - I'm going to an antique show on Saturday, an all day sort of affair and it's supposed to be really cold that day. He wants me to bring the boys over to his appt so he can play with them and get to know them better. This is a man with glass topped furniture! I reminded him of that, and how rambunctious these two can get, and his reply? "I don't have anything here that can't be replaced, and I'd really enjoy having them". He's either in love, a saint, or a raving lunatic! LOL

Cluck Cluck Cluck - Chicken "T"

By Carole on Sunday, November 3, 2002 - 08:29 am:
Ok, I think this dog is seriously misnamed! I went and bought him a fleece coat (large velcro straps across chest and belly) to block the wind a bit as he has the thinnest coat I've ever seen on a dog. He's worn in several times for short periods and apparently has decided that he's afraid of it. I just put it on him and he immediately started to shake so bad his TEETH were chattering!!! Ever heard a dog's teeth chatter? It's really quite funny! Of course I took it off and he's outside running around - sigh. Oh well, I didn't need that $$ for anything else right?

The glasses bite the dust

By Carole on Tuesday, August 13, 2002 - 01:37 pm:
OK, WHO SAID IT?!!!

I remember someone saying 'hide your glasses and remotes'. I woke up this morning to the sound of the pups playing quietly in the bedroom, and thinking what a treat that was, for them to let me sleep in. LITTLE did I realize WHAT they were playing with!

When I reached for my glasses (which I do before getting out of bed...) they weren't there. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I bounded out of bed to blearily see two furry forms tugging at an unseeable object. Touch revealed the object to be the remains of my frames. A further search by fingers found one nose pad and two lenses, one with 6 teeth marks in it...

Did I mention that I'm totally non-functioning without my glasses???

So, how was everyone else's morning?

"Nervous Nellie" Midas

By Carole on Thursday, October 3, 2002 - 04:11 am:
Help! The vet kept Midas overnight after neutering him, and called me the next morning to pick him up ASAP. Midas Houdini, did a jailbreak out of his kennel area during the night and met them at the front door, but was so freaked out/frightened that he wouldn't let them near him. They backed him into a dirty area in the grooming area and called me.

Vet said that he did NOT attempt to harm any of the other animals or go after the employees except to warn them off of touching himself, did lunge when they tried to grab him, but did not bite. His take on this is a high strung dog with severe seperation anxiety. Said neutering was definitely a good step and to be aware that he is a fearful dog.

Weird thing is that I've taken him to the pet stores and hardware stores and he behaves beautifully on leash (with head collar), is eager to meet children and will sit at my side if approached by a child, watch them excitedly and wag his tail! He likes people but really seems to light up for children.

I do agree that he is a very high strung dog, exceptionally smart and very sensitive to his environment, and I have tried to deal with him in a calm manner - not always easy as I feel like I'm running trying to keep a half step ahead of him most of the time - he's too darn smart!

Any thoughts? We start a group obedience class on Saturday and I just located a private trainer that will do obedience/agility for $10 a lesson. It's a little bit of a drive but worth it I think.

Doggie "takeover"

By Carole on Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 10:28 pm:
For those of you who enjoy a good laugh - today I left the puppies inside while I went outside to deal with the tow truck come to haul my car to the car hospital (Again!). After they left, I spent a few minutes watering and weeding my front flower beds then came up the steps to come inside my home. Wham - the door didn't move. Huh? That's weird, try again...thud, door door still doesn't move. Uh oh. 4 little doggy eyes on the other side of the door clued me in to what had happened. They had been jumping to get my attention, and apparently turned the deadbolt while doing it, effectively locking me out of my home!

I had a fan running in a bedroom window, so pushed it out of the way and crawled in thru there - what a day!

TP fiasco

By Carole on Sunday, July 28, 2002 - 11:12 pm:
T fooled me! I thought he was so grown up. I have 11 rolls of shredded toilet paper currently decorating my living room to testify that he is still a puppy!

Dusty's eulogy

By Carole on Sunday, July 14, 2002 - 11:51 pm:
After a difficult day Dusty seemed to be feeling better, so I went to the grocery store to get him some canned food that he loved. While there, my car battery died, and when I got home Dusty had already left me. I hate that he was alone. It appeared to have just occurred when I got home; I think his heart just got tired of working so hard...it was a wonderfully big and loving heart, but it was so tired. I think maybe he knew what was planned for tomorrow and he wanted to be at home instead.

I think most of you knew him and will remember his bright eyes and laughing face, but I'd like to share a few of my favorite memories. He came to me as a 5 yr old neglected/abused animal that was pathetically grateful just to have an indoor home, and food on a regular basis. He accepted loving and petting, but would immediately leave and curl up in a corner when you stopped stroking him. When he realized that he could 'ask' for attention and GET it, he blossomed into his new life. Over the next 6.5 years he brought laughter to my life on a regular basis...the time I looked up while doing the dishes and found him looking at me from a doorway, with my underwear hanging out of his mouth. Or the few times when he decided his proper bed was curled up on my pillow...with his 'brother' curled up on Rob's! His years of insisting on greeting me home with a lick on my nose...and his jumping to do it - on his bad hip. His amazing 'spaghetti spine' that allowed me to see his face and his butt side by side... And no one will ever forget seeing his wild spins when asked if he wanted to go for a ride! He even managed to convince my grandmother to cut up an apple and feed it to him by hand! And she's no doggy pushover! He loved the front porch of our new home - I often saw him standing at the top of the steps, surveying his realm. And, once he was convinced that Mr. T was not a doggy snack, he tolerated the most shameless puppy abuse with the patience of a saint, and really seemed to enjoy the puppies company.

When I returned from taking him to our local pet crematorium the puppies sniffed my shirt very intently and then licked my face - so I think some of his loving nature must have been passed along. A little farewell gift from the fuzzmonster.

Thank you all for sharing these years of his life with me...he was truly a treasure and a faithful and loving companion through some of the toughest times in my life.

The bonus check fiasco

By Carole on Thursday, June 27, 2002 - 01:43 am:
I'm practicing my speech right now, for my trip to payroll later today. We got a bonus check last Friday, and I hadn't made it to the bank yet to cash it. I looked down last night, while on computer, to see T curled up at my feet, calmly EATING it!!! We're talking a $200 check here! I retrieved enough of it to identify it clearly, but no way is a bank going to cash it. So...off I go to payroll today to explain that I need a new check 'cause my dog ate the last one! I'm sure I'll be providing their day's worth of entertainment today! I never knew dog ownership would be such a lesson in humility...

Puppy hijinks!

By Carole on Tuesday, April 30, 2002 - 11:46 am:
A few moments ago, I was just sitting here writing an email when I saw Midas go past me at the speed of light with my toilet paper! I ran outside to catch him, and found T laying in the backyard with my white underwire bra hanging out of his mouth! Embarassed beyond belief, I diverted after T, T dropped the bra, Midas grabbed it and took off with it AND the toilet paper! He dropped the bra, I grabbed it, went back into the laundry room to add it to the load of clothes I'd just started, and found a sparrow trapped in the laundry room! It couldn't find the door from the windows! The pups came after me, just in time to see something slam into the window and bounce off, then fly IN to the kitchen only to slam into the windows there! The chase was on! It sat stunned on my counter then tried for the pantry window! Bounced off and landed on the floor. I closed the pantry door before the puppies could find it -it's now just laying on the floor, totally stunned. Of course, this is the one window in the whole house that is painted shut... I manage to collect bird, take it outside, and after a few minutes it finally flies away! Hooray! While I'm out there and pups are inside, I retrieve my mangled toilet paper(and my mangled dignity!) and come back in. Did I mention I'm wearing my bathrobe throughout this whole comedy routine?! LOL What a morning!

Puppy party at Heather and Jonathan's

By Carole on Sunday, April 21, 2002 - 11:27 pm:
I took my two pups to a friend's house yesterday to play with their two dogs while we cooked out. Another friend dropped by with her two pups, one about same age as mine and a 3mo lab/terrier mix, AND another friend brought his adult Weimeraner and his 5 mo Weimeraner! EIGHT dogs, 5 of them puppies, all running in circles! We laughed all night long. Two hours later we headed home...T fell asleep as soon as I turned on the car engine. Midas made it home and as far as the food bowl where he collapsed in exhaustion, asleep with his head lying between the food and water bowl.

Dusty, sad to say, cannot be around that many other dogs without a severe case of 'nervous Nellies" so he stayed home and enjoyed some peace without the pups. We had a very good cuddle time while the pups slept that evening. :-)

And Midas joins the crowd

By Carole on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 07:33 pm:
I'm still not sure how it happened, but somehow I have turned into a three dog household! Dusty is King of the roost, but in a weak moment, I succumbed to the "two puppies is better than one" theory advanced by a friend of mine who believes that with two they chew on each other and generally leave you alone! Midas was a stray in the neighborhood - he'd been wandering for about 2 weeks when I took him in after a neighbor spent a week terrorizing him trying to get him to leave his yard. He's about 1-2 wks older than T, and way too smart. My only regret is that this makes another Beardie in my life an impossibility right now...the vet bills are killing me and we don't even want to talk about the puppy kibble we're going through by the TON!

I tried to be hardhearted and worked hard to find him another home, but it was almost 3 weeks before I got anyone interested and 4 before I got an offer from a good home - by which time he and Dusty had become major buds and he'd managed to worm his way into the cracks in my cold heart as well...so, for the time being, he stays.

I think in one of my last T posts I mentioned taht he was 10.6 lbs? 12 days later he was 17.2. Over half pound a DAY! I have not been back yet, but am conservatively estimating him at 42+ and 4.5 months. I think I'm in trouble! But he was such a TINY puppy - who'd've guessed?! Midas although bigger size wize is around same weight, possibly slightly less than T.

Dusty has really shown a soft spot for Midas that he didn't have with T - they seem to have more similar playing styles than he and T do. Also, Midas doesn't bark at him, he just rubs up against him when he wants his attention.

I will post new pics of the darlings...

Baby T's arrival

By Carole on Tuesday, January 1, 2002 - 02:43 pm:
Baby is a rescue - his owners house caught on fire yesterday morning, and the entire family was in critical care as of noon yesterday. I need to check today's paper and see if there's any more info available. As far as I can tell he was a Christmas present for one of the children - was being kept outside, which saved his life. I looked out my kitchen window yesterday about 1:15 and saw him trying to follow some woman down the alley behind the house. I remembered seeing the kids with a puppy last Friday, put 2 and 2 together and went to save the puppy.

Dusty is NOT HAPPY. He's not well socialized with other dogs anyway, and he keeps trying to pick him up! I do not leave them alone together at all, but am trying to convince him that a)puppy is a good thing b) puppy does NOT taste good and c) puppy is under Mom's divine protection and woe be to the Beardie that blows it! :-) I've been encouraging him to be with the puppy supervised, and allowing him to sniff all he wants, but no tasting! It doesn't help that puppy is teething and thinks Uncle Dusty's paws are giant teething toys.

any advice out there for this situation? I think once baby is older and larger things will be ok, but this first month or so is going to be a real challenge. How is Pippin with Shelly's little ones?

Dusty story

By Carole on Tuesday, August 21, 2001 - 03:37 am:
Does any other Beardie do this? On Sunday I was laying on the sofa reading a book, as I had done most of the weekend due to not feeling very well. Dusty walked up beside me and I turned my head to look at him. "What'cha want?" I ask...THWACK! went the right paw right across my face, knocking my glasses askew! When I could see again, he was standing in the same spot grinning for all he was worth, apparently pleased at having gained my attention. Needless to say, I got up and we went for a walk! Does any other beardie use such heavy pawed techniques?!