Gryffindor
Ozzy updates
Friday, August 13th, 2010 | Alex, Beowulf, Dogs, Gryffindor, Indigo, Ozzy | No Comments
You know, it occurred to me that I’ve been posting lots of pictures lately, but I haven’t given too much detail about life with Ozzy. I’m sure you all love the pics, but I think I’ll just talk about him and how he’s doing. It may come out as one giant stream of consciousness…my apologies in advance if it comes out as goo.
Ozzy is a fantastic dog. To be honest, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. He’s a well-mannered (well, usually), happy dog. He has a fantastic appetite, hasn’t chewed on stuff he shouldn’t (unless Indy counts) yet, and has been very easy with house training.
Actually, I jokingly mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I should rename the blog to “The Daily Swizzle” because on average, that’s all we get. We’ve had a few multiple-accident days, but he will go for four or more days without having any at all. He knows he’s supposed to go outside, and he has very good control for a Swissy. He just hasn’t figured out how to tell us he needs to go. We are pretty good at watching his signals, but we don’t always get him out in time. Of course, it happens during or post play, right when we are trying to usher him to the door. He’ll get there soon, I think. (Or is it I hope?)
Ozzy is doing very well in our household in general. I do believe I’ve mentioned before that Indy loves him, but it’s important to note that I believe Beowulf, the old curmudgeon, actually enjoys his company. I have caught them cuddling and – gasp – playing just a little bit.
His socialization is going quite well. We have completed four weeks of Puppy K, and I believe he is the star of the class. Perhaps that’s what happens when you actually work with your dog on the basics before class starts, and when you work with him daily when it’s going. I could be wrong.
There is one thing about him that worries me. While Gryffin was a great dog for obedience because he WANTED to please us, Ozzy is just plain smart. The obedience comes quickly, and he enjoys it. But I have a feeling he’s doing it because he wants to and he likes it, not because it makes us happy at all. The reason this is worrying is because this is how Alex was-extremely smart, frequently extremely obedient, but cunning beyond belief. While I say I’m worried partially in jest, it’s not all funny-although I don’t believe this is the end of the world. Put Alex’s mad skillz into a dog that will likely end up near 140lbs and tall enough to graze counter tops, and you can see why we might have issues. I guess this means training, training, and more training.
In other news, the small puppy (we brought him home at eight weeks and around 13lbs) is no longer small. He’s around three and a half months old, and weighs in at 37lbs. Our vet met him this week and believes he’s around a quarter of his eventual size. We initially thought it was possible that Ozzy may end up on the smaller side, but we have since revised our opinion. Please send help.
That’s all for now. I hope all three of my readers have a fantastic weekend! Stay cool!
Bark for Life
Friday, August 6th, 2010 | Canine Cancer, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
The Bark for Life that Indy and I will be walking is coming up! It’s Saturday, August 21st, and we are really looking forward to it!
In their words:
The American Cancer Society’s “Bark for Life” is a Relay for Life fundraising event that honors the care-giving qualities of canine companions.
Last year, Indy and I participated in Abby the Pyr’s memory. This year, we’ll be walking in Gryffin’s honor, in addition to all of our friends and family, furry and human, that have been effected by cancer in some way. Putting it mildly, cancer sucks. Heck, I’m tearing up just writing about it.
So here’s the scoop. This particular event is being held at Fullersburg Woods. If you would like to join us, we would absolutely love it! You can register for the event here. If you are unable to join, but have the ability to donate to our cause, you can do so via our secure site here. Every dollar helps.
To be honest, money is great, but if you are in this area, I’d really love it if you joined us. To give you more incentive, in addition to the walk, the event will also have:
• Dog/owner look-alike contest
• Best bark contest
• Pet photos
• Pet-product vendors and services
• Dog wash
• Pet trick competitions
• Canine Therapy Group
• Pet communicator
Last year’s event was fairly small. I would not be at all surprised to find it the same way this year. Please help us make it a great event!
House training Ozzy
Friday, July 23rd, 2010 | Gryffindor, Indigo, Ozzy | No Comments
You’ve likely read before that Swissies are very hard to house train. Or can be. Indy took about 9 months before she was slightly reliable outside of a crate. Similar (or longer) for Gryffin.
Well, Ozzy seems to be a bit better. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Yes, he has accidents. But his signals are clear, and sometimes he even…get this…tells us he has to go! Especially this week.
It’s interesting, as I think the process has improved quite a bit this week, and it was never really bad. We’re clicker training this time around, which we’ve never tried before. And it’s working – with the other dogs too. But on average, he’s having one “oops” a day. It’s never been poop – only pee. And he’s never gone in his crate. (Although I suppose there’s always a first time.)
So I have high hopes for him-maybe he’ll be reliable before 9 months? Could he be one of those rare, not super hard to house train, Swissies?
Galena Weekend
Monday, April 26th, 2010 | Dogs | No Comments
I will first get the disappointing news out of the way.
There are no pictures. That’s right, none.
The weather was cloudy and raining pretty much the entire time we were there. Not good for pictures at all.
I’ll admit I was a bit nervous or apprehensive about going. This was our first trip in 7 years that we took without Gryffin. He was always such a big part of our lives that I really wasn’t sure how it would go without him.
Oddly enough, it went really well.
Indy and Beowulf were actually fantastic in the truck on the ride out. I’m used to Indy being great in a vehicle, but not Beowulf. The sleeping part of the trip worked extremely well. Beowulf is usually on the bed (Alex would be there too…), and Indy and Gryffin would find places on the couches behind us as we use an air mattress out there. It would be normal to be woken up with a punch/kick/paw to the head/throat/you name it. That was Gryffin’s thing. Or he’d wake up and smack his lips for 20 minutes. While it certainly goes without saying that I would rather he’d be alive and well with us, the weekend went really well. I really didn’t expect it. Although I didn’t expect a disaster, either.
Yes, I was a little sad now and then. But it really seemed that when I was sad, Indy and Beowulf would do something incredibly cute or cuddly to make me happy.
It worked.
Is it bad?
Saturday, April 10th, 2010 | Gryffindor | No Comments
Or morbid if I mention that today would be Gryffin’s 7th Birthday? He would officially be a senior as far as Swissies are concerned. I wish he got the chance.
For his remaining litter mates, I hope you all had a wonderful Birthday today full of treats, belly rubs and practical jokes.
To everyone else:
Life is short. Play with your dog.
Holiday Party Revisited
Monday, December 14th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
Well, it’s done. And Indy did pretty darn well. She had about 30 minutes of barkiness, and then settled in. I think it likely helped that a few of our dog-people friends were there, plus Vasey’s humans and our dog sitter extraordinaire. So she had people she knows. And with the exception of a few drunk people, people listened to my suggestions about handling her.
Gryffin and Beowulf got a lot of love, too. Actually, Gryffin got a fair amount of Irish Cream to drink and bean dip to eat. Beowulf was wearing his yarmulke, so he was quite the ladies man. But he’s getting old, and at about 10:30pm, he stopped circulating and plopped himself down on a dog bed by the couch, which likely worked out better than he planned.
All five of us were dead to the world the next day. We went out for breakfast in the morning (well, the dogs stayed home) and that was it. I believe that the three sleepy dogs sucked the energy out of the house. Period. There was none to be found anywhere.
Actually, I’m still sleepy now…
We’re back!
Monday, December 7th, 2009 | Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo | No Comments
Did you miss me while I was gone? Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t want to be disappointed.
While the humans were off in Cabo, the doggies were at home with their favorite sitter. I think things went smoothly, except for one hiccup.
Thursday morning around 5:30am, I got a text from the sitter. Indy went into heat early. (We actually think she may have gone into heat before we left, but I won’t bore you with that story.) Oddly enough, I was already awake, so it wasn’t an issue at all. I fumbled around with my phone and told her where to look for the diapers and pads. I’m not sure where the good denim diapers went, because when we got home, she was wearing the silly frilly ones that I never meant for her to wear again. They are too small.
So my poor baby girl was in her emotional, hormonal state while we were gone. Poor thing. Poor sitter. Our absence was probably harder on everyone because of it.
Here’s the funny part. I think Indy is on to her super fertile part of the cycle. Which means both boy dogs in our house are very interested in her. Gryffin would not leave her alone on Sunday night! He kept pouncing around and trying to mount her. The manic look did not leave his face at all. Indy had the look of “please help me” and “make him stop” for a long time. She was very happy when we finally took her upstairs (and away from Gryffin) for the night.
That’s all for now, folks!
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