Friday, January 14, 2005
Before I get to how devishly smart my cat is, let me give you a little bit more information.
A while back the boys were put on a very strict diet that consists of ground, 99% fat-free turkey, oatmeal, pumpkin and yogurt. Because they are on such a strict diet they rarely get regular dog treats. Instead, they get things like carrots, turkey lunchmeat and other healthy little snacks.
On the rare occasions that I leave the house without the dogs in tow, the dogs spend time in their crate. The routine generally is that I will put on a CD of relaxing music and then tell Benjamin & Henry to “go to bed”. The boys always run straight to their crate because they know they are going to get a treat. Once they are inside the crate, I go to the refrigerator and get them a piece of turkey. Once they eat the lunchmeat I close the crate door and then I am on my way.
Well, the cat is quite fond of the boys’ new diet because she loves turkey. When the dogs were still getting regular dog treats, she would never stir when I told the boys to “go to bed”. Once she realized that they were getting turkey, whenever I said “go to bed” she started running to her food bowl and meowing for a piece of turkey. I gave her a piece of course and this was her routine for awhile. But now she is at the point that if I turn the stereo on to play the relaxing music she will come running from wherever she may have been meowing the whole way. Before I even give the “go to bed” command she knows that I am getting ready to leave the house.
So now, every time I turn on the stereo the cat thinks that she is going to get a treat! I had no idea that she was so observant. It makes me laugh every time and I can’t help but be reminded of Pavlov and his dogs - except that Cupid is a cat and her bell is a stereo.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
If you like to dress up your puggie, or should I say if your puggie likes to dress up, don’t forget that tomorrow is National Dress Up Your Pet Day.
If you dress your pug up be sure to take some pictures and add them to our pug picture gallery.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Both of the boys love peanut butter, so I occasionally give them a Kong with some peanut butter smeared inside. After I give them the Kong they will spend the next half hour licking it to get all of the peanut butter out. After the peanut butter has been cleaned from the inside, Benjamin has no interest in the Kong itself. Henry, on the other hand, loves to just chew on the rubber Kong. He will chew on it for hours after all the peanut butter has vanished. While he is chewing on the Kong, it makes this horrendous squeaking sound that goes through me like nails on a chalkboard. Since it is something that he really enjoys I try to tune out the sound as best I can and I let him chew it for as long as he wants. He works so hard chewing it that sometimes he chews himself to sleep.
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
I was organizing my digital photos in a new software program last night and I came across this photo.
This is one my favorite photos of the boys. It was taken at the lake when they were just 7 months old.
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
For the most part, both of the boys are very good listeners. They both know the basic commands like sit, down, stay, no, leave it, drop it and take it. They also know certain commands for around the house like “go to bed” (go to your crate) and “go to the futon” (go lay on the futon that is in my office). Benjamin knows and loves the command “kisses” and Henry is learning the “give me five” trick.
Over the last few days, I have been working with the boys to teach them their left and their right. I started working on this mainly on our walks. We have basically three different walks that we use on a daily basis. One is the “just do your business” walk, another is a short walk (about 10-15min) and the other is a long walk (30-45min). So since we don’t always take the same path every walk, whenever the boys come to an intersection in the sidewalk they always look back and check with me to see which path we are going to take. So now when we are at an intersection, I tell them left, right or straight and then I go in that direction.
They don’t know the commands yet, but they are starting to recognize the words. The commands aren’t essential but it is a little something that I can do on our walks to keep them mentally stimulated.
Sunday, January 2, 2005
Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day and the boys and I decided to take advantage of the fantastic weather and spend some time at the dog park.
We are lucky enough to have two dog parks very close to our house. The first park is narrow and long and has a grass surface (well, now the park is mainly dirt). This park is only about two minutes from home. The second dog park is about ten minutes away and is a bit larger than the first. Instead of being grass its surface is made up of really tiny pebbles.
We decided to head to the dog park that is a bit farther away because the boys always seem to enjoy that park more. I’m really not sure why, you would think they would like running on the grass over running on the stones. But for some reason that is not the case!
Since it was such a beautiful day the park was very crowded. When we arrived there were about 25-30 dogs already there. It is always funny when we first go into the park. When new dogs arrive many of the dogs come up to the gate to form a “welcoming committee” for the new arrivals. So on our way into the park there was a crowd of dogs by the gate. But the boys just made their way into the pack and then Benjamin darts out of the crowd and is on his way running around the park with all of the dogs following him. I think his size really works to his advantage when in crowds. I’m pretty sure he just runs underneath all the other dogs and makes his way out.
The boys were very playful and were really working off some of that extra holiday energy. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures. I forgot to bring my camera! Bad mommy!
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
The year is quickly drawing to a close and it is time to start thinking about our 2005 New Year’s resolutions. Benjamin & Henry are already busy working on their lists. First up is Benjamin’s list:
- I will stop eating cat litter from my sister’s litter box. I will also not chase my sister, Cupid the cat, so that she does not have to get fussy and hiss at me to make me stop.
- I will learn to sleep through the night and I will not wake mommy up at 3:30 AM so that she can feed me breakfast.
- I will not continuously jump in the air when mommy is fixing my dinner. I will be a good boy and patiently wait for her to get everything ready.
And now for Henry’s list:
- In the morning, I will go potty right away for mommy. I will not make her bribe me before I decide to do my business.
- I will watch my waistline so that I can continue to be a healthy boy and not have any problems with my hips.
- I will not bark at my reflection in the window at night. Mommy has explained to me that it is just me. This year I will believe her.
- On sunny days, I will not lay down in the middle of my walk to sun myself.
Now let’s see how many of these resolutions the boys are able to keep 
Here’s to a great 2005!
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