Sniff. Roll. Repeat.

Sniff. Roll around. Stand up. Repeat. For the last 10 minutes. 

What a weirdo!

80 lb. plant killer

I just don't understand why my sweet 80 lb. Blu turns into a plant killer who digs up every single one of Jeff's flower beds the second I leave for the day. I don't know what to do. And I'm pretty sure it's gonna be me or the dog soon!

Puddle jumping

For some reason these two think it's summer. I didn't have the heart to tell them that jumping in puddles in the middle of February might not be the wisest of moves. Even if I knew it would mean I'd end up carrying one of them home soaking wet in the freezing cold.

BFFs

Everyone needs a best friend who lets you use them as your personal punching bag, doesn't care if you peed your pants at school, and actually welcomes your messy, food covered face and fingers.

Cole loves his "Sweetie" as he calls Blu. He has to be the only one who opens the door when we get home to go find where she is hiding and the first to run over to her yelling, "Sweetie!!! Sweetie!!! Boo! Boo!" Blu tolerates all the pokes, pulls, pinches, and tackles. Which happens a lot. On those rare occasions when the kids aren't home, Blu wanders from room to room looking for them.

 

They'd be lost without each other. And it makes my heart melt to see them loving each other.

Dog Gone Discouraged

I am discouraged.

Dog gone discouraged.

Blu is eating our backyard. Literally.

Not to mention she still pulls on the leash and it makes me feel like a complete failure!

She's eaten all of Jeff's roses, the climbing honeysuckles, the kids' sand toys, soccer balls, a hula hoop, and who knows what else at this point.

And I was recently informed that she had eaten through the drip line sprinklers and our telephone line - it's a good thing we are a cellphone only household - and was coming dangerously close to the air conditioner with her digging and feasting on anything and everything non-food related. 

I really can't imagine any of that tastes good. Or feels good coming back out... rose thorns? Really? I guess her toys, rawhide chews, and bones aren't nearly as appetizing as advertised.

The Alpha male has also informed me he is not pleased with the situation. Shocking.

To which my response is, I'm not either but what am I supposed to do about it when I'm not home? It's like leaving Cole unsupervised in the house to destroy to his heart's content and then coming home and trying to punish him, only this "Cole" doesn't speak English!

I have no clue what to do. I have tried to talk about possible solutions to our "little" problem but with no luck or interest on the Alpha male's part. He just gets angry. Which upsets me because that was my greatest hesitation with even getting a puppy. That the Alpha male would want nothing to do with it. Apparently our "I think a dog will be good for our family" decision wasn't really so. Trying to keep my boiling emotions in check and now repair our entire backyard, train her to be perfect (which is never going to happen given my track record with two little human beings), re-plant everything, and come up with a solution to Blu's digging and eating is wearing on me. 

I spent all weekend searching online for dog kennels, how to install chain link fences, types of sprays to deter dogs from eating your plants, how an electronic dog fence works, and measuring the backyard to try and figure out where we could even put a dog kennel.

After hours of searching and thinking, I've decided there are two options to choose from. Option #1 build a dog run. Option #2 install an in-ground electric dog fence. Both are going to cost several hundred dollars. And both require skills I don't have and a lot of time. I really like the idea of an electric fence so Blu could still have free rein in the yard when we're gone, but I know installation is out of the realm of my expertise and there's the possibility that she won't care if she gets zapped and then I've spent hundreds of dollars for nothing. 

So that leaves a dog run. My sweet neighbor who comes and checks on Blu will be so sad. But I don't really have a choice anymore. Should I buy a dog kennel or build my own with chain link fencing? I'm sort of leaning to buying a dog kennel because that saves me on some manual labor and I can get one quicker so I can contain Blu sooner than waiting for this blasted winter to be over! But the one I want doesn't have a real roof, just sun shade, so I'll have to figure out how to put a dang roof on the thing to keep her dry in bad weather. Like this week.

I can't decide if the best spot for a dog run would be in what was once our playground area (pre-hurricane winds two years ago) or next to the garage, extending out to the patio area so Blu has both shade for summer (with the garage) and sun for winter (with the open patio). I think next to the garage would be the best because she could have more room to play and sun/shade. I did suggest moving our garden area so the dog was as far away from the house as possible but that was met with little enthusiasm. And there's the problem of the winter because the garage side of our house is freezing and the ice and snow pile up. And what flooring should you use? I don't know how or really want to pay for someone to come and put in a cement pad for a dog run. So I'm thinking of pea gravel or even pavers? 

But until I can get the side of the garage prepped, I'm saddened to say I'll have to chain Blu. I hate the thought of leaving her chained up (again... where to chain her is the question) while I'm at work all day. She's a good girl. Really. At least in the house she is. She will be so sad on a chain and she's too dumb to go in her dog house so she's going to be soaking wet all week with this rain. Hopefully she doesn't kill herself on it either. I don't want to leave her inside though because she'd freak out if she couldn't get out to go potty and heaven forbid she starts eating the house too! And I'm sure if I left her in the garage I'd come home to a half-eaten can of gasoline.

The ironic thing is, Blu has been my saving grace on those days I'm a hormonal, crazy woman because she demands to be walked every single day, rain, snow, sleet, or shine. I like having a walking buddy. It's nice to come home to someone who is always happy to see you and who doesn't care what you look like, smell like, or act like because they think you are the greatest. The kids love Blu. Cole calls her his "Sweetie" and tells me Blu is his best friend. I'm afraid Pearl would have black eyes and missing teeth if it weren't for Blu because Cole is constantly wrestling with her now instead of tackling his sister. And Pearl seems to get her need for physical affection from Blu so she isn't so touchy with the rest of us.

But love can only go so far when your backyard is being eaten alive.

A friend told me someday I'd look back on this and laugh... maybe write a book called "Blu and Me" (playing off of "Marley and Me"). I sure hope our ending is like that book. And that Blu doesn't eat my wedding ring. That would be bad.

34 Inches

What do you do with 34 inches of snow in less than 48 hours?

Yes, I said 34 inches.

You swim in it.

You pretend you're stuck and yell, "Mom! Help me!"

If you're a dog, you jump, pounce, bury your head, run, disappear, and wag your tail a lot.

You throw snow at your mom.

You try to unbury your trampoline. Then dig a hole and crawl underneath it because in Pearl's words, "It's a whole other world down here!"

You race up and down the paths your Dad plowed for the dog to run in.

You go outside and look around in amazement.

Puppy playdate

It's amazing when you get a puppy how many people you either know or meet that also have a puppy. A friend and her sister from work has a Great Dane puppy named Lewis and for months, we've been saying we should get together for a puppy playdate. Well, after running into each other on a late Sunday night walk in the cold, we decided to really go through with it.

Meet Lewis. 

A 110+ lbs. long, skinny puppy who sure showed Blu who was boss. And made her look like a little puppy again. Blu wasn't sure what had hit her after Lewis knocked her to the ground and pawed at her a few times. But she kept going back for more. It was pretty funny to watch Lewis tease and torment her... and great exercise for both of them! When she'd had enough of him, she'd run in between my legs or over to my friends. Of course she knew they'd brought treats, good, expensive treats too. What a mooch!

It was great socialization for Blu and Lewis but man, do I need to figure out a few things. Like STAY! Blu doesn't get it... at least the kids did this time though.

Also, getting Blu to stop jumping up at people when she's super excited. She seems to only do this to adults now and it's just recently, since she's been getting her adult teeth in. And she still pulls horribly on the leash in situations with lots of distractions. So frustrating and a little embarrassing since Lewis is much more obedient. Of course he is older than Blu and has a shock collar that works wonders in getting his attention when there are distractions. On the positive, Blu is so friendly and lovable with other people and my kids. And she comes fairly well when I call her... of course I still don't trust her though. Advice from any dog whisperers out there?

The kids came with me and had a ridiculous amount of fun racing up and down the soccer field. For more than an hour! I think the kids ran more than the dogs! I couldn't turn my back for 10 seconds without one of them shouting at me, "Mom! On your mark, get set, go! Mom!" It was so fun watching them race each other. Afterwards, Pearl told me, "Mom, I exercised so much. My muscles are going to be so big they are going to pop out of my legs and arms!"

But the best part about our puppy playdate? All the kids (even the four-legged ones) slept like a rock that night.