Christmas Dog

Guinness loves wearing his jingle bells.  To be in the spirit, he stole my Christmas teatowel.  He doesn't destroy.  He only hugs and slimes. 

Becoming a Cowdog

September 7, Guinness and I moved to Texas!  He is learning to be a cowdog now.  But it is difficult.  The first induction to cowdoghood is a challenge for a Canadian-born dog:  the climate.  However, this US, though northern born, girl loves being warm!  Fifteen minutes was about as long as he could tolerate a walk at first.  Six weeks later when the temps had cooled down to "normal" for him, he still was panting hard by thirty minutes into a walk.   Then a friend from Canada came to visit and commented on how much he had gained.  I had not noticed!  By the time I had him weighed, he had gained ten pounds in two months!  No wonder he is panting even in cooler weather.  So he is on a diet, and mommy is trying to be diligent about building up to walking an hour a day.  The weight gain has to be from lack of exercise.  The major problem is -- where to walk for a whole hour?  My subdivision is not large, so we have covered most of the streets after forty-five minutes.  And there is no place I can let him run free safely.  I have released him in a large area near the entrance, but there is only a fence on the main road side.  He has been very good about not running away until yesterday.  He ran into the boulevard leading into the subdivision.  No cars were around, but that ended his freedom permanently.

The second induction to cowdoghood is getting used to the Texas animals all around us.  About our second week here, we saw an man on a horse riding down the boulevard, into the ranch at the end of the street, and disappear into a ravine.  Guinness was excited about that!  The most stimulating places to walk are behind the houses backing up to my Rotary friend's ranch with cows, horses, and donkeys visible from time to time.  But, I have been warned about snakes there.  After first hearing about snakes, I have asked several neighbors.  Everyone has seen snakes!  One person told me yesterday they had a rattler on their front porch when they moved in five years ago.  Gecos abound in Texas.  They seem to like living around entrance doors to people's houses.  They are harmless and eat bugs, so I am supposed to welcome them.  But they are not allowed inside.  Two have succeeded scampering inside.  My friend captured this one for me.  Guinness likes them even less than I do. 

Last week we were treated to this sight!  :)   Guinness didn't bark; just stared.   However, the cattle in the pond moved out of the water leaving this one brave fellow.  Maybe the cattle saw him as a cowdog, and that is why they moved away!  They thought Guinness had come to round them up!  He IS a bonafide (or is it -- BONEfide!!) Texas COWDOG!!!!!

More Dark Chocolate

When ready to check out at Barnes & Noble, the man behind the counter was taking his merry old time before calling me up.  By the time he did, he apologized.  Godiva chocolate bars were at the checkout.  I set one out and said, "You owe me a chocolate bar for taking so long!"  The customer at the next clerk laughed and said, "I like her style!" 

Then I ate half the candy bar while driving.  At home, I forgot about it in my book bag.  Later, I came home and found the book bag ripped to pieces and Guinny protecting what was left in his mouth.  The book was fine, but the chocolate wrapper was in shreds.   :\    

This is his THIRD chocolate bar this year!!! 

A Second Chocolate Bar in a Month!

Guinness, Kevin, and I are at Chautauqua, and my friend Melanie came for the weekend.  She brought along a dark chocolate bar which she left within Guinness's reach.  She is the one who helped me administer hydrogen peroxide to him the last time when he ate MY bar.   :\    Anyway, she went shopping for Hydrogen Peroxide and a baby applicator.  We gave him 5 mls,  and he NEVER vomited!!!!!  After 6 hours, I wrote to my vet nephew asking, "Is he going to die???"   He said Guinness is a big dog and it would take a lot of chocolate for his liver to fail.

Earlier today, one person whom we met, called him "charming"???  NO one has ever called him charming!!!  LOL  

This evening, Kevin set down his ice cream cone.  Guess who got it.  Well then, Melanie put what was left in a paper cup and threw it away in a "drawer" type garbage bin in the kitchen cabinets.  Guess what. . .  He OPENED the drawer and got the cup out!!!!!!   He is INCORRIGIBLE!!!!

Muddy Paw Prints

If you walked out on your front porch and saw muddy paw prints on the white fabric cushion of your wicker chair, what would you think?  What would you do?

Well . . . we were at our "doggie park" this morning (as usual) which is not a real doggie park.  It is a city park with ballfields, fences on 2 sides, but no fences on the 2 ends.  I have to watch Guinness closely at each end of the field, or he is liable to run away.  ugh!  NOT a Labrador thing to do and he is pure bred.  (He doesn't fetch either.)  Before we continue, I have to compliment him on exhibiting typical Labrador behavior today.  A couple of weeks ago, he ran free while my cousins and I climbed a thickly wooded hill where we used to play as kids.  (See http://dogsofourlives.blogspot.ca/2012/05/roaming-woods.html) I was not feeling "safe" about Guinness being loose, as my experience with Guinny is that he runs away from me.  But he did the Labrador thing today:  he ran until I was out of sight, then he would reappear -- repeatedly.  I was very happy!

I had driven to doggie park today, leaving a sweater in the car.  At the opposite end of the park from my car, I realized it was too cold to not have the sweater.  So I took off for the car, wondering what Guinness would do.  Would he follow me -- especially since I was going to the car which might mean we were leaving?  He followed me!!!!  Yay!!!!

Now back to his anti-lab behavior.  Beside the escape route on the south end of the field is house where his friend Molly, a labra-doodle, lives.  If I am not diligent, he runs to her house.  Usually I can catch him talking to Molly through the fence to their backyard.  If she isn't there, I can catch him in their front bushes, though recently, he has run down the street.  We were on the north side of the field.  Bandit appeared at the south side, and Guinness ran to see his friend.  As I approached, he took off at top speed for Molly's.  I found him ON the wicker chair with the white cushion, now decorated with muddy paw prints, talking to Molly on the other side of the window.  We went back to play with Bandit.  They were running in circles when Guinness cut a tangent and ran to Molly's again.  This time Molly was barking, inviting him to come in.  More muddy paw prints. 

Interior Designer

A couple of years ago, Guinness started removing the three seat cushions on our living room leather sofa when we were away.  [Refer to December 19, 2009 -- http://dogsofourlives.blogspot.ca/2009/12/new-trick.html]  I guess, it was his way of saying he didn't appreciate being left home alone.  He did it enough that there were paw scratches on the center cushion which I needed to have professionally repaired.  After the restoration, when I remembered, I would tip all three cushions off the couch before leaving the house.

Now that our house is for sale, and we have done some removing and rearranging to make the house look more spacious, we removed the sofa from the living room.  The fabric loveseat has a fitted slipcover to protect it from Guinness's naps or any other activity.  Recently, he has started moving it across the hardwood floor.  Apparently, he is trying to rearrange the furniture.

I told our vet about this new "trick."  He said, "That proves he is a very smart dog!  His mind is always at work trying to find something to do."

Roaming Woods

Guinness and I drove to my hometown today to be with cousins and sister-in-law.  The purpose of the trip was to decorate our parents' graves for Memorial Day. 

While at their cabin, I let Guinness run free.  There were no fences, only woods surrounding us.  He stayed within the large area of woods with mowed grass and did not venture beyond.  We decided to take a hike up the hill where we used to play as kids.  I have not gone up there in years as there are now bears in them thar woods!  I felt safe with my husky cousin along, and my cousins thought Guinness would be just fine in the woods off leash as labs usually do not go out of sight.  I had never really tested Guinness, so we tried.  I panicked a few times initially, because he would run until he was out of sight, but, after a few seconds, he would reappear.  Whew!  He was a very good boy!  

Chocolate Hound

Melanie had invited me to dinner tonight and I was bringing dessert.  But. . .  Guinness found a 70% cocao chocolate bar I had left within reach and gobbled it up.  It was Saturday late afternoon.  I couldn't call my vet, and didn't want to pay for the emergency animal clinic.  So I called my vet nephew.  He said I MUST make him vomit.  Chocolate can cause liver damage.  He told me to give him a dropper of Hydrogen Peroxide.  I called Melanie to say I couldn't come.  I had to stay home and wait for Guinness to vomit.  She INSISTED I come.  We could leave him in her fenced backyard to vomit.  Besides, I didn't have a child's medicine dropper and she did.  So, I succumbed to her invitation and brought Guinness to her backyard. 

I have not put this on the blog before, so I must insert it here.  Guinness LOVES, I mean LOVES Melanie.  He knows the sound of her engine!!!!  When she drives up behind my condo, he KNOWS it is her before she ever gets out of her car!  And he KNOWS where she lives and how to get there.  As soon as I get off the highway, he knows he is either going to the vet (whom he also LOVES) or to Melanie's.  Once we pass the vet's office, he knows the destination and goes ballistic.  I mean BALLISTIC!!!!!  There is NO keeping him in the car once we pull into her driveway.  He is OUT of the car like a shot from a gun.  Oh my. . .   Even though they have a big labradoodle, her boys are intimidated by Guinness's wild exuberance.  So. . .  we gave him his "medicine," and put him in her back yard.  Of course, he needed company, so we were spent much of the evening outside too.  By 9:00, it had been three hours, and he still had not vomited.  I took him home.  And I closed him in a bathroom where it would be easy to clean up.  He finally vomited around 11pm. 

Dogs Have Emotions

Daddy asked to come today to pick up some summer clothes.  I told him I did not want to see him, would place them in the garage, and leave the garage door opener with the neighbors.  He asked me to leave the opener outside.  To avoid being vulnerable, I had other ideas.  I zipped up all of his clothes into suit bags and hung them on a clothes rack purchased for the purpose. I left the clothes rack outside the garage door under the overhang.

He arrived in a rental convertible with top down and classical music blaring for all the neighbors to hear.  Normally, Guinness begins barking at someone behind our house, particularly someone making such a splashy entrance.  He totally ignored someone was out there.  Daddy even walked up on the deck when he was finished, and Guinness did not react!  If someone comes on the deck, Guinness is super excited!  How could he know it was Daddy and purposely ignore him???  The answer has to be - he is VERY smart.  He watched me pack the clothes into suit bags.  He watched me put them on the rack in the garage.  He watched me push the rack outside the door that morning.

I love the book, Dogs Never Lie About Love: reflections on the emotional world of dogs by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.  The author verifies dogs do have an emotional life and exhibit a variety of emotions.  Guinness is feeling insulted from abandonment.

Now That He Is Seven. . .

The biggest change I have seen in Guinness at his new age: 
When he sees a dog he knows, he ignores the dog, but says "hello" to the owner. 
When he encounters a new dog, he insists on meeting the dog, but then does not want to play.  He then turns his attention to the owner.  Sometimes, he may demand attention from the owner before introducing himself to the dog. 

Our Annual Vet Visit

As soon as he realizes we are going to the vet, he becomes boisterous and uncontrollable.  He is SOOO excited to visit the vet!!!!  He dragged me up the steps and into the building.  It usually is a circus when we enter, but today, there were no other dogs present -- only an elderly man waiting for his dog.  Guinness put on his normal show of jumping up at the high counter to see the staff behind and request a treat.  They now have the scale in the waiting room.  I need to do the weighing, because he is much too excited to sit for someone else do it.  He weighs only 67 pounds which is a bit concerning.  He has looked quite skinny since being at Holly's Pride at Christmastime.  The vet suggested I increase his two meals per day from 1 1/3 cups to 2 cups each.  As I talked with the vet, he repeatedly tried to escape into the inner sanctum where staff and doctors are.  He is much too excited there to settle.  He is constantly on the move and jumping.  I noted that his official report of his visit stated he is "exuberant and goofy." 

The Birthday Boy

April 21, 2012 -- Guinness is 7 years old today! 

                                                      Posing for his birthday photo.

Silly Boy

If I don't leave a cushion or something in this chair, when I am not around, he will jump into this desk chair and skate across the hardwood floor into the wood blinds or tip the globe over. 

The Laundry Lurker

Guinness stole three kitchen linens a couple of days ago. He has gone around with all three items in his mouth since. Today, I saw them lying on the floor, put them in the clothes hamper, then threw in a bath towel on top of them. Though he did not see me do it, he knew where they were. I heard a bumping noise and went to see what he was into. He had tipped over the laundry hamper so that it shut the bathroom door and he was trapped until released (not the first time!). He had pulled out the bath towel to reach one of his kitchen linens underneath. What a stinkpot! A SMART stinkpot! I took a picture of him with his prize.

Then took a picture of the tipped over hamper,

And he came in to see what I was doing.

Molly in the Mist

Dog park this morning was laden with a mist hovering above the snow. Lovely! I tried to capture Guinness in this shot also, but he ran in the other direction.

Something was running behind the line of spruce trees. I feared a coyote, but it was Molly who lives next door that came bounding at us, and knocked my iPhone into the snow. She had escaped from her yard. The gate was not open, so she must have jumped! We returned her to her front door. She was very good about coming, even without a leash or collar!

Snow Dog

Melanie joined us at doggie park this morning.  Guinness is VERY adept at sneaking up on me and stealing my mittens off my hands!  Last winter, he started trying to pull a mitten/glove off other humans.   Today, he snatched Melanie's mittens. He has BOTH of them! 

The Gang

A couple of years ago, several dogs and owners met at the ballfields at the same every day for "doggie playtime," but some have moved away, others have schedule changes, and we often never see another dog-friend or rarely have a playtime like we used to have.  But, today, we had four dogs playing together!  We tried to line them up to take a picture, but that was not achievable! 

Melanie

Over the past year, Melanie has become a very close friend and confidante.  She comes often enough that Guinness knows when it is her car behind our house -- even before I realize a car is there!  He knows the sound of her engine!

She often stays overnight Wednesday nights to attend Rotary with me at 7am.  Her MIL spends the night at her house as she cares for the boys every Thursday.  So, if Melanie stays with me, her husband has the car to drive himself to the GO Train Station.  Then I can drive her to the GO parking lot after Rotary to pick up her car.  On these nights she sleeps over, Guinness has abandoned me and sleeps with Melanie!  Are my feelings to be hurt???   He LOVES Melanie!!!!!