Foolishness!

Here's a little update about all that's happened in the last couple of weeks....

Their birthday party got Teagan all riled up and in a bad mood. She was throwing around her bad attitude several times a day, everyday after the party. Then one Sunday, while she was giving Keeley a piece of her mind, she got him in the eye! Oh man, was she ever in the dog house then! What a b*tch, huh?

My poor Keeley boy! It didn't look very serious but there was a little blood. So obviously we had to take him to the vet because you don't want to take chances with eyes. Fortunately, he's fine. She didn't actually get him in the eye. Turns out she just missed and nicked his lower eyelid instead. There's no damage to his actually eye. He's just got eyedrops we have to put in everyday to prevent infection. We also decided that Keeley deserved some special treatment and Teagan deserved some punishment. Keeley was totally thinking Arby's and that sounded like it would fit the bill. So while Keeley got a special trip to the Arby's drive-thru, Teagan got left home alone (which she hates with a passion!).

The next day Keeley was thinking Dairy Queen and got a special trip to the DQ Drive -thru while Teagan got left home alone again. And the day after that Keeley was thinking McDonalds but I told him that enough was enough! I don't want him to get fat!

Since the eye incident, Teagan has not had any more psycho b*tch episodes. It could be in part due to us getting a D.A.P. Diffuser (Dog Appeasing Pheromone). Our vet recommended it and it seems to work. It was kinda pricey ($40) but I see I could get them cheaper on Amazon so I plan on getting 2 more and putting them in the rooms where the majority of her attacks have taken place.

In other news, we've been having some lovely early spring weather here in Wisconsin. There's still the occasional cold snap for a few days at a time, but still that's not too bad. Anytime it's sunny and gets above 50 degrees, then Keeley wants to go sit out on the balcony and sun his buns.It's supposed to get up into the 60's later this week so I'm sure we'll be doing more of this soon.
Keeley loves to sit and watch all the goings on in the neighborhood. However, Teagan feels the need to bark at everything which is really annoying.
The dogs and I are going to be doing a lot of yard work this week to start getting things ready for spring. I know it's a little early for Wisconsin. The reason we're going to work on it this week is because next week I start my new job. After being unemployed for over a year, finally someone hired me! It's only part time and I haven't worked for so little since college, but at least it's a job, right?

Last but not least, you know how I like to make up songs about my dogs. Well I sing one that really annoys their Unkie Ryan. It's to the tune of the Black Eyed Peas song "My Humps" but just to the chorus. It goes like this: "My pups, my pups, my pups, my lovely little pups! My pups, my pups, I love my little pups!" Ryan just rolls his eyes. I like being silly and my dogs don't seem to mind.

That was Then, This is Now

We were inspired by McGillicutty's That Was Then, This Is Now photos on his birthday post. So we're going to do the same thing!

Here goes:

That was then,

This is now.

That was then,

This is now.

That was then,

This is now.

I love my fur-children so much! I don't know what I'd do without them. I can't believe I wasted 28 years being scared of dogs!

New dog park at Currie Park

I forgot to post this a couple of weeks ago, but better late than never!

We were driving around and noticed that there's a Dog Exercise Area at Currie Park now.We decided to go check it out. Apparently it opened in October last year.
We met this cute dog named Cola there. He's a cross between a Westie and a Miniature Schnauzer.
Unfortunately, it was all icy and frozen on the day we went and conditions like this are hard on Keeley's bad leg. But I think he did alright.
Teagan was her normal goofy self.
The only problem with this dog park is that they built it on a hill. So on the day we went, it was an ice slick. And when it melts, it becomes a mud slide. Sometimes I really wonder who they've got designing these things! Do they even have dogs themselves? Have they ever even been to a dog park before?
There's Keeley getting a butt rub from his grandma.
Keeley really likes to explore new places so I think he had a good time even though it was icy.
After Keeley had sniffed all there was to sniff, then he played a little with Teagan before we left.

In defense of Teagan... and me too!

Teagan has her issues but she's getting better. Really, she's not all that bad!

I've been told that I'm a bad dog mom and Teagan has gotten labeled as a bully by some people. I think that judgement is really unfair and wrong!

On the spectrum of dog owners, I think I'm pretty darn good. I walk them everyday. I feed them good food. I play with them and pet them (sometimes until my hands hurt!). I make sure they get to socialize with other dogs at parks and at doggie daycare. I bathe them and brush them. I take them everywhere that I'm allowed to take them and sometimes even to places that say "No Dogs Allowed". They have the run of the house. They have a fenced yard. They don't want for anything. They seem happy.

On the local news here a few days ago, there was a woman walking her 2 dogs and they ran onto a frozen pond after some geese. Then the ice broke because it's been so warm here lately. The woman went into the icy water to save her dogs. The reporter went around asking people who were walking their dogs if they would have done the same. And only about half of the people said they would. I think that's just crazy! Of course I would jump into icy water to save my dogs!

And I don't think Teagan should be labeled as a bully. Yes, she does boss Keeley around but I think that's just because she's a girl. And yes, she is reactive and gets aggressive when she thinks she needs to protect me or some other resource. But she's not a bully. She does know how to play nice with other dogs. I've seen her do it.

At Lake Park, there's a little corgie named Millie that is about the same age as Teagan. They play terrific together. They take turns pinning each other; just the way a game of bitey-face should be. And I asked at doggie daycare if she was having any issues there and they seemed truly shocked at the suggestion. They said she's really good there. They like her and she makes them laugh too.

I think in Teagan's mind, she thinks that she's a really small dog. And that's why she only wants to play with dogs that are smaller than her. She's scared of big dogs and tries to stay away from them if she can and if she can't avoid them, she attacks them. I don't think that sounds like the behavior of a bully. I think I bully would attack the little dogs, not the big ones, right? I think she's only attacking them out of fear. And this behavior is limited to our home so it probably has to do with resource guarding too. Being reactive is different from being a bully.

Teagan has her issues but she also has so many good qualities too. She trusts me completely. She's sweet and smart. She's insanely healthy. She walks like she's on a mission (sometimes never even stopping to do her business until the end of the walk). She loves her family. She has her issues with Keeley but she really loves him too. She never wants to be far from him. If he wants to play with her she'll get up and play with him even if she'd rather be napping.

She's a year old now and I'm not giving up on her! I think she'll only continue to get better as she gets older.

Party Time!

It was Teagan's first birthday on Wednesday and it will be Keeley's fourth birthday on St. Patrick's Day. Yesterday we had a little birthday party for the two of them.It was just a small get together this year with just 3 doggie guests: Romare, Arnie, and LoJack.
It's been rainy and warm so there's lots of mud and wetness from all the snow that has melted. The yard is looking pretty bad.
LoJack came all dressed up as usual. She always has a fabulous outfit for parties.
If you're wondering why there are no pictures of Teagan, well that's because she couldn't control herself and kept growling and snapping at Arnie and Romare. After making her "get easy" four times, she got banished to her crate for a time out. And when she did return to the party, she attacked Romare again and that's when PK took over. Teagan is a very stubborn little girl and even though she got into the easy position she really wasn't easy because her legs and tail were rigid and her eyes were crazy alert. She stayed like that for over 2 hours never surrendering completely. So all Teagan's drama was a real buzz kill.
Romare and Arnie didn't want to be anywhere near her and they spent a good chunk of the party out on the balcony watching the neighborhood kids.
Keeley and Lojack seemed happy with all the attention they got since they were the only 2 dogs hanging with the people at the party. Keeley ate way too much pizza, cake, chips, cookies, and cheesy biscuts. I'm surprised that he didn't get sick!
Hopefully, Teagan can get over her issues by next year.