I guess I forgot how much work having a puppy is and I've been totally neglecting the DWBs and blogging. SORRY!
Keeley is still somewhat in shock by the arrival of Teagan. She can be so very annoying to him at times. Still other times, he seems quite happy to have another dog around to play with. He is awfully good to the little munchkin. Mostly, the only correction Keeley gives her is to turn his head away from her or try to walk away.
I continue to find scabs on his ears, chest, and cheeks from her sharp little puppy teeth. I feel bad that he has to suffer but also feel that I should not intervene too much and just let the two of them work it out. Every once in a while Teagan will manage to get his Irish up and then she comes running to me for protection. I offer her none since she brought it on herself and think maybe she'll finally learn but as soon as Keeley calms down again, she's right back at him.
It is very interesting to me how Keeley and Teagan are turning out to be so very different.
1.) Keeley has several toy boxes that are overflowing with stuffies because he doesn't destroy them. The most damage he has ever done to his stuffies is to chew off their noses if they're made out of hard plastic. Other than that, occasionally a seam might split here or there and I just sew that back up. But Teagan is quite different. Sometimes I think she's taken it upon herself to single-handedly control the stuffie population. She SHREDS them! All day long I'm picking up fuzzy stuffing off the floor. The stuffies that Keeley or I particularly like had to be moved into Keeley's "housey, housey" for protection from Teagan.
2.) Keeley goes crazy when he hears thunder or fireworks. He gets so worked up, there is just no calming him down sometimes. Teagan, on the other hand, would sleep though them (if not for Keeley's uncontrollable barking).
3.) Keeley HATES to have his nails cut. I pay to have other people do it because I don't want him associating it with me. Still, it's a 3 person job and he cries though the whole thing. But Teagan doesn't mind it in the least. Heck, she'd even sleep though it.
4.) The only time Keeley ever barks is to alert me to something. He barks whenever he hears a noise at night. He barks at other animals he sees in the yard. He lets out one sharp bark if I fall asleep at a time he thinks I shouldn't (it pisses me off but I know he's only trying to protect me). And he barks if he hears someone at the door or a car in the driveway. He feels like it's his job and other than those situations, he never makes a peep. Teagan though, barks all the time. Or I guess I should say she yaps all the time. It's so loud and it's so annoying. She yaps at Keeley. She yaps at me. She howls in her crate. She whines if I leave the room. She grunts when she scratches her ear. She growls when she roaches. She squeaks when she stretches. She's ALWAYS making noises.
The three of us have pretty much settled into a daily routine of napping, playing outside, eating, napping, and playing outside some more. Teagan is at her most annoying right after breakfast, after dinner, and right before bedtime. So I think those would be the ideal times to start taking her for walks. I've decided that I'm going to walk Keeley and Teagan separately. For one thing, I've already tried to walk them together and it was horrible. I swear I don't know how Noah's dad is able to walk 4 dogs at once! The other reason is because I don't want Teagan to learn Keeley's bad habits since I think she's got a shot at being one of those dogs that walks nicely by their master's side. I can hope, can't I?
Recently, Keeley and Teagan got some new toys. They're called Hurleys and they're made by West Paw Design.
First I got the little one for Teagan because it said it would stand up to aggressive chewers. She is still teething and aside from that, she's really just the kind of dog that likes to chew.
I didn't get one for Keeley at first because he's not a chewer. But after seeing how much he liked the one I got for Teagan, pretty soon I got one for him too.
They love to chase each other around the yard for one of the Hurleys. And they like to play tug-of-war with them too.
We take one with us to the park in the morning and all the dogs there like it too. They like it so much that Keeley and Teagan almost never get a hold of it there.
We bought one for Romare, our giant Airedale friend, and he loved it right away. And we gave one to Kirby for his birthday too because they float in water. We hope he likes it.
I know that my dogs probably have enough toys to last four lifetimes, but I so love to give them stuff. It feels especially good when they very clearly like what I've given them.
