Wordless Wednesday

The Poopy Game

I don't like playing the poopy game.

And what is the poopy game you ask?

The poopy game is what we have named the often times frustrating process of housebreaking the new puppy.

Said puppy is getting the hang of housebreaking. He goes to the door and whines when he needs to go potty. Which is great, right? But once outside he gets really distracted.

"Look a leaf!"

"Look a stick!"

"Look a car!"

Now I know he is just a puppy and everything is new and exciting but after wandering around the yard for 15 minutes freezing my butt off in the 20 degree (or below) weather is not my idea of a good time. If there is such a thing as ADD for puppies Tuukka surely has it.
This is the third Puppy I've gone through the housebreaking ritual with and I have never had this experience before.

So we head back in.

And within 5 minutes Tuukka is back whining at the door and we head back outside.

"Oooo look at the pretty flag blowing in the wind!"

"Oooo a leaf!"

"Ooooo there's Boomer, I'm gonna go eat his face!"

And so it goes on, in and out until he can't hold it anymore and now he's doing the poopy dance.

And finally he does his business.

Hopefully outside.

And not inside.

Right in front of the door.

Because I got sick of going in and out playing the Poopy Game.

Tuukka Time!

Last Friday we brought our new Springer Spaniel puppy, Tuukka home. He has been keeping us on the go ever since. In true puppy fashion he has completely taken over the house and our hearts. He's got lots to learn besides the obvious housebreaking, like no chewing on shoes, furniture and people and how to go up and down stairs. He's actually mastered going upstairs. Down is a little tougher, but he can do it with a little coaxing.

He loves to be outdoors chewing up sticks and leaves. He will even whine at the door because he wants to go outside, not to do his business, but just to play. And because I want to encourage him to go to the door I spend a large chunk of my day going in and out. That is all part of having a puppy though!

You can expect to see a lot more of Tuukka and his antics in the future.

Puppy Power

My brother and sister-in-law recently became the proud parents of this adorable chocolate lab.
Her name is Birdie. How adorable is she taking a nap on Kenzie's lap? She was so exhausted she was snoring!

Here she is before she fell asleep. This picture was taken with my ipod touch so please forgive the quality. I try really hard not to judge cell-phone pictures and go with the importance of capturing the moment but truth be known I am a photo snob and they really bug me. I had hoped by playing around with my ipod touch camera it would change my mind...it hasn't yet. But it is convenient because it fits right in my pocket so I will continue to work on my issues.

Now there have been discussions in our house for over a year about getting a new dog after Copper passed away. I have the been the holdout because I know the bulk of the care will be mine. I had agreed to get another puppy, in the spring when it would be warmer to housebreak.

And after all our travel plans were done.

Everyone agreed....until several weeks ago when my family ganged up on me. They started surfing the internet, looking at breeders, and showing me pictures of adorable puppy cuteness.
My husband was the ring leader because he thinks I'm a sucker for animals.

Which I am. But it is unfair to use against me.

The next thing I knew we came across a listing from the same breeder that we got Boomer from and she happened to have a recent litter. And the litter had some tri-color springers.

And well the rest is history. Last weekend we drove up and picked out a puppy.

Here he is in all his fluffy, puppy cuteness:

His name is Tuukka. He is named after one of the Boston Bruins Goaltenders. Plus the name is fun to say. For any of you non-hockey fans it is pronounced Too-ka.
And here he is with his brother and sisters. He's the one on top! He is only four weeks old and will be coming home with us mid-November.

I have recently heard from Dom's sister that they too are planning on getting a new dog soon,so there must be something in the air in this family!

Cute Critters

We've recently added two new critters to our little menagerie of pets. Two 8 week old gerbils.

They are really fun and entertaining to watch. The girls have named them peaches and fluffanutter, though Dom and I like to refer to them as peaches and cream.

I didn't really intend to add anymore pets but Kenzie kept asking even though I had hoped that the zhu-zhu pets she got for Christmas would satisfy her.

They did.

For approximately 2 days.

Dom had insisted he didn't want any rodents for pets other then the rabbits, so that was good. Then while he was at the pet store picking out a new fish for the tank with Becca they were looking at the gerbils and he thought they were cute. Sooo... he said he wouldn't mind getting them since they were active during the day and fun to watch. But it was up to me since I, of course, would become the primary caregiver. And I, of course, being a sucker for cute and fuzzy animals said okay which made the girls very happy. So we now have 2 gerbils, 2 rabbits, 1 dog,

1 cat, and 4 fish!

My little helper

When making a wreath for your front door it is important to have help. Especially if said help is furry, has four legs and likes to attack anything that moves. Earlier this week I set out to make a wreath for the front door and put all of the materials on the living room floor so that I could spread out. I didn't intend to provide entertainment for the cat but that is exactly what happened. Lucky for me the camera was close by so I could catch some of my "helper" in action.


Being curious as most cats are she came right over to check out what I was doing. She found it very interesting and proceeded to "help" me attach the colored ball with wire. Of course any moving object is fair game for play, right?

Then she helped choose which color should go on next. But first she had to chase it around the room for awhile to make sure it was just right.

Anyway despite the fact that it took me twice as long to complete the project because of my little helper here is the finished project. Thanks to the dollar store the whole project cost less than 10.00 and I think it looks pretty nice!

Cat Curiosity

I am always amazed at how the cat seems to appear out of thin air everytime I open a can of tuna. How does she know? I think if we had an electric can opener I could understand her hearing that noise but it's just a little hand held and I don't think it makes that much noise, but she just seems to know.

She also has a habit of disappearing when we have company and then reappearing as soon as they are gone. I imagine that has something to do with the noise level of the house. I have in fact, had more than one person remark that they didn't even know we had a cat because they have never seen her. I had a cat growing up that did the exact same thing.

And yeah, the cat gets on the counter, and the table. I don't like it but she didn't do it until we got Boomer who likes to chase her and eat her food. It took her awhile to learn that if she doesn't run he won't chase her. Now she rubs up against him and he just looks confused!

I think she is my favorite cat out of all the cats I've had growing up. She was a stray we adopted from a shelter. They had named her Misty and we decided to keep that as a name. That was after I asked Rebecca, who was two at the time, what she wanted to name the cat. She looked around at the toys on the ground and answered "Bucket!"

I picked her out from a picture online because she had double paws and was only about a year old. She had been brought into the shelter with her litter of kittens. Most of the kittens were quickly adopted except two that were not quite normal. They couldn't walk straight and may have had cerebral palsy. (possibly due to the fact that Misty was so young and may have had an infection while pregnant) They were nicknamed "the bobbles" and I was happy to learn that not long after we adopted Misty they too, found a home.

Anyway she is a such a good cat. She is friendly and gets along well with the kids and the dog. I couldn't ask for a better cat!

Dog-sitting

A few weeks ago we did some dog-sitting for friends of ours. They have a dog named Sophie and she and Boomer became instant friends. They are close in age, size and energy level so it was a good match. No one is quite sure what kind of dog Sophie is as she is a pound puppy all the way from Florida. The main guess has been a chocolate lab mix but after spending 10 days with her I am not entirely convinced. She doesn't like water and is quickly bored with playing fetch. My amatuer opinion, is german shorthair pointer and rhodesian ridgeback. She pointed on several occasions and she has a smaller head and longer snout like a pointer. Along her back is a slightly darker fur that would stand up on end sometimes while playing with Boomer and she is much more red than chocolate in coloring. But this is all just speculation on my part. What I do know for sure is that she is a great dog and was a joy to have around!

That Darn Cat!

I don't let the cat on the table or counters. But apparently she didn't get that memo.

Here she is enjoying her morning cup of coffee. She also didn't get the memo about walking across the laptop and "accidentally" deleting everything in my email inbox just so I would pay attention to her. It's a good thing she's cute!

Boating with Boomer

A week or so ago we took Boomer out on the boat with us to see how he would do since he loves to go swimming. I admit I was the most reluctant to bring him for two reasons. 1-he has a tendency to get car sick which of course just driving to the lake could mean a mess to clean up. Also if he gets sick in the car there's a pretty good chance he'd get sick in the boat. 2-He is just two years old pretty much still a puppy and pretty much like having another kid, not a huge deal but I like my time on the boat to be relaxing and peaceful and there was a good chance with the dog along it could be loud(barking and whining) and chaotic(pacing and stepping all over everyone) But I finally agreed. We purchased a doggy lifejacket for him mostly so we would have a handle to pull him up out of the water into the boat.

It was very successful. Boomer loved the water and the kids love having him along. He did do some pacing and whining but not too much. As long as the whole family was in one spot, either on the boat or in the water he was fine. But when some of us were in the water and some of us were on the boat he didn't know where to be and got a little anxious. Mostly we stayed on the sandbar and swam and then we took a little cruise around and Boomer lay right down and enjoyed the ride. He didn't get sick on the boat or in the car and that in itself was a relief. I expect we will have many more adventures with Boomer on the boat!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a frog..

A frog????

No, it's Muddy Dog!

Not bird, nor plane, nor even frog.

It's just little ol' me,

Muddy Dog.

Bunnies

I don't know if you remember our little fuzzy friends, Thumper and Brownie, our bunnies. Just thought I post a little update. They have grown quite a bit, but are still very cute and fluffy.

When the weather was nice we would let then run around on the grass in a little play yard. For obvious reason we can't do that in the winter so we let them have some time to run around the family room. The girls love it and the bunnies seem to enjoy being able romp around and stretch their legs out. Brownie has the brown face and Thumper has the lopsided ears.

Bunnies!

So for about two years now the girls have been asking for bunnies and well we finally gave in.


The newest additions to the family are two ten week old little bunnies. They are sisters (at least they better be!). Kenzie named hers Thumper and Becca's is named Brownie. Thumper has one ear that stays up and one that stays down. She can't seem to decide if she wants to be a lop or not. They are very cute and very friendly and the girls adore them so far.














The bunnies are just my first step to having a farm. We do have fourteen acres and I have this very elaborate lay out in my head. I am sure you are wondering why bunnies are the first step.
Well bunny poo is very good for gardens and composting and easier to take care of than cows. So step two is garden, fruit trees and compost. I already have blueberry and raspberries and tons of wild blackberries. Step three is clearing more land. Step four is the barn. And finally step five is a few horses. That is my ten year plan!

From Stink to Stuck

Sooo Boomers run in with a skunk didn't quell his canine curiousity. It wasn't another skunk but a porcupine last night. There were only about six quills total stuck in his nose and muzzle. I consulted the internet again for some info on removing the quills ourselves, rather than taking a trip to the animal hospital. Armed with a pair of pliers, Dom and I successfully removed all the quills. Has Boomer learned his lesson about late night frolicking with the local wildlife? I'm not convinvced. No more unsupervised night time jaunts for Boomer.
We have had Copper for 12 years and never dealt with either of these things. After having Boomer for 10 months he manages to get into both within a matter of days. Just goes to show how dog personalities differ as much as people.

Stinky McStinkface

This is Boomer's new nickname. The reason for this new nickname is that late last night he had an unfortunate encounter with.......yeah you guessed it...............A Skunk!!
Sooooo at 10:00pm last evening I was outside giving him a bath. Boomer in fact seemed much more upset with his bath than being sprayed by a skunk, it seemed to be only the top of his head that was sprayed. I found a recipe online consisting of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. This concoction seemed to work well enough. I doused him again this morning and there is only a slight lingering smell. I hope that he learned his lesson but only time will tell...

Kitty Entertainment

We have one of those bird feeders that sit right in the window and has a one way mirror so you can see the birds but they can't see you. This is where the cat spends 80% of the day. Every now and then you hear a thump as she crashes into the window trying to get one of the birds. It's not a great picture but if you look closely there is a bird sitting in the feeder. Now that everything is covered with ice there is a constant flow of birds to the feeder. (as you can see I need to fill it up again!) It's really kinda fun to watch them. Just ask Misty!

A dog's life

This is Boomer relaxing and just letting it all hang out. He is not supposed to be on the couch but does it look like he cares????

He actually sleeps all sprawled out like this all the time and it cracks me up. This is the best one so far.

New furbaby in the family

Welcome Toby

My parents have a new furbaby, Toby. Though after meeting Toby I think a better name would be Taz. Toby is a cute little bundle of fluff that is a cross between a Shih Tzu and a Poodle, making him a Shih Poo. Yeah say that ten times fast without getting into trouble. Despite only being about 4 lbs. and a quarter of the size of Boomer he gave Boomer a run for his money. They played really well together for the most part. But then Toby would get a little too wound up and start really growling and getting mean and sounding just like a Tazmanian Devil. He is a cutie though, but not at all the type of dog I pictured my dad getting.

Happy Birthday a little early!

The gifts have already been rolling in for Kenzie whose 4th birthday is Wednesday the 8th. We are having a little party for her on Saturday. Dom's parents are unable to come on Saturday so we went down this weekend so they could give her gifts. She made out quite well, with new clothes and toys from Nonna & Nonno and also with gifts sent from Auntie Lisa & Uncle Chuck.

Thanks Guys!!

Boomers first trick!

Now I don't actually have to run the dishwasher, I just stick Boomer in there. I can save money on dishwasher detergent and electricity! Soooo... who wants to come over for dinner?!

Puppy Pals