Guinness is a Good Boy

Guinness trying to get Mommy's attention with a shoe. He has been phenomenally good with the cats! He could easily become their buddy if he lived with them long enough. The cats themselves have reacted the opposite of what I expected. I thought that James would warm up to Guinness rather quickly. He tried once, and that was the end. He has remained in the sunroom since. Spunky, the one who hid in the box springs for two days several years ago when Hershey came to visit, has decided to take back her house and tolerate the big brown creature.

Helping to walk Guinness.

Cats Rule; Dogs Drool

Guinness found access to a prize: Karin's leftover birthday cake! :-0 When we returned after being out, the large Tupperware container was on the floor, licked clean. Not a crumb to be found. It had been left on the counter. He had neatly knocked the lid to the side (on top of the range) while taking the container to the floor for better access. Karin would NOT be happy!!! But the top layer is still in the freezer, so all is not lost.


Spunky also had an exciting day! Spunky, who is VERY shy, wandered into the house from the sunroom THREE times today!



First, this morning, she shocked us by appearing on the kitchen table!



This afternoon, she materialized behind the puppet theater with only an eye peeking out.



Tonight, she was ON the puppet theater.

Each time, Guinness came within two feet for a better look, but gave her her space and never tried to invade her territory or to scare her.

Mother's Day

After church, we changed our clothes, packed our picnic lunch, and brought Guinness with us to the park. On the way, Kevin informed me that he could scratch his ear with his foot just like Guinness!

It was a perfect day -- sunny, mid 70's, and we found the perfect spot for our picnic -- a table in the shade with a tree perfect for tying up Guinness.

We met up with two church families at the park -- one by accident and one by plan. Guinness enjoyed watching the kids play.

Guinness would really LOVE to have a bath with Kevin!

A Guinny Day

Kevin has awakened me from a sound sleep at 6:15 for two mornings! He got in bed with me, but a 75 pound dog wanted to cuddle on TOP of a 44 pound boy. In fact, he insisted!!! So, we gave Guinness his breakfast and took him outside.

Guinness was getting antsy, so we took him outside again with Kevin holding the leash. We walked around the yard, then Kevin ventured into the woods behind their house ending up in the meadow. I had no camera to capture the adorable boy with his straight, blonde hair flopping up and down with each step holding Guinness's leash and running through the field. The proverbial scene of a boy and his dog!

As we sat down for lunch, we noted that James was sitting in the middle of the family room floor while Guinness, lying beside the kitchen table, seemed to be unaware of him. Ever since we arrived, the cats have stayed in the sunroom glaring at Guinness who would bark at them through the door wanting to meet them. After lunch, we all went into the family room. James arched his back and hissed at Guinness. Guinness honored James' request for space. James settled on the sofa while Guinness sat on the floor eyeing this cute fluffy creature.



When Guinness would move, he would walk behind the rocking chair to keep as much space as possible between himself and James. James had managed to eek out a place for himself in his own house which had been interloped by this big dog.

Since arriving, Guinness has been playing his normal game of reverse retrieves. His specialty in Kevin's house is grabbing one of the stuffed animals. He swiped a tubular neck pillow intended for a tiny tot, but it made a great tug toy. Kevin had great fun pulling Guinness around the house with that neck pillow as a tug toy.

Loving Kevin

Guinness gave Kevin repeated kisses as he bathed! Guinny was just helping to scrub Kevin!

Take Time to Smell the Flowers!

Doggie Park

On our way to doggie park, we stopped to check out our neighbor raccoon. This is the tree with the hole in the crook.


He was watching us too!


Since coming home in February, we never have more than one or two friends at the park, if that! Mattie, Riley are regular, but at different times. Today, we had a total of SEVEN dogs, though not all at once. First Mattie, then Riley, then Marley. Soon Holly, that we have not seen since last summer as she winters in FL, appeared along with a new dog, Molly. Molly (the white one) kept everyone running! Good girl! Smartie finally showed up too.


The four dogs were having a grand time together...


While Guinness grazed, eating the freshly mown grass.



The motlely crew of five:

Babies from Heaven

Saturday, April 18, Guinness and I exited our garage at the same time as our neighbors walked out of theirs. Guinness made a dash towards them, but stopped short to sniff something on the ground. It was a gray baby animal which looked like a giant baby mouse, bigger than an adult mouse. We immediately thought rat!

Behind our townhouses is conservation land with a creek and park. The creek has been “under construction” for the past months. They removed a dam among other things. So the likelihood of rats coming up from the creek is plausible. We also considered that a hawk could have flown over and dropped it accidentally.

The neighbor scooped up the baby with a shovel and threw it over the fence to the conservation wildlands. As we stood there pondering the situation, another baby plopped at our feet! I took a picture of this one to show our pest control company, plus the neighbors saved this one in a can.




We examined our roofs from the ground, but could see nothing unusual except we discovered three active wasp nests on the neighbor’s roof line.

I went inside to look out our bedroom dormer window which overlooks the roof and eave over our den. There was a black baby curled up on our leaf guard.



At first, I was confused about the different colors, yet they had to be from the same litter. Assuming that gray and black squirrels intermarry, their offspring could be multiple colors within a litter. After looking up baby rats, baby squirrels, and baby opossums on the Web, it seemed evident that they were squirrels. The long, slender “fingers” were the defining feature.

The pest control people came Monday morning the 20th in the pouring rain and confirmed that they were indeed squirrels. Then they scanned our roofs for a likely place to find a nest and found two places, one on their roof and one on ours, where the juncture of soffit and roof leaves a space large enough for a squirrel to get inside, plus they had eaten away some stucco to get inside. Since there are usually four or more babies in a squirrel litter, they suspected that there still was another baby and that the mother was up there as well. They could not climb up the steep roof on a wet day, so they returned later in the week and installed a one-way door for the squirrels to exit, but then not be able to reenter. Finally, yesterday, a roofing man came to remove the one-way door and seal off the hole with metal. Once they know there is a nice place for a nest, they will gnaw through anything their teeth can puncture to get back in there. We had the same problem years ago in St. Louis and had to cover the area with unsightly tin to keep them out of our attic. I have often wondered what the next owners thought of that unsightly tin! Fortunately, this tin is nearly invisible on the stucco.

Our new wildlife adventure is a large raccoon that has taken up residence in a tree behind our house. What an adorable face!

Guinness's Winter Diary

It has been ruff for the past several months. First, Mommy went away the first of September 2008. I didn’t understand what was happening. She normally returns after a week or a little more. But she just did not come home. I love Daddy, but he is no fun. He won’t take me to doggie park in the morning; the only walks I get are “promenades” around our group of thirteen townhouses. Plus Daddy won’t play my reverse retrieve games, and he is gone to work long hours every day. Sometimes he goes away for a few days and leaves me at the kennel. I always love going there, because they take such good care of me, plus there are so many other dogs to talk to.

After six weeks, enough was enough. Since I love lying on the loveseat in the living room, it has a protective cover on it. I stood up on that thing and emptied my bladder. That will teach Daddy! He was not happy, but did not scold much. He pulled off the cover and threw it in the washing machine. I decided that now was the time to get his attention and let him know that I am done with this routine! So I stood up on the loveseat again, and peed some more. This time Daddy was not pleased! But, instead of giving me more loving attention and nice walks, he became dogmatic and shut me in the den while he was gone all day. What a bummer!

Mommy came home for only a week at the end of October and again at the end of December. It was wonderful having her home! And I pulled every reverse retrieve trick I could think up – towels, socks out of the hamper, an envelope off her desk, the dish cloth in the sink, the softsoap container on the counter, and, of course, shoes that are not put away. Mommy didn’t have her normal sparkle. She seemed to be very sad. They talked about Karin, my big sister, a lot. In fact, Daddy has been very sad and lonely since Mommy went away in September. I try to sit on his lap to cheer him up, and I snuggle close to him in bed, but it doesn’t seem to help. We didn’t even have any Christmas decorations this year. Daddy left me at the kennel for over two and half weeks over Christmas, and, when they both returned, they didn’t even give me a single Christmas present.

Mommy went away again after New Year’s. Winter came with mountains of snow. Daddy now trusts me to run in our yard without being on a leash, so I had unrestrained fun in the deep snowbanks when he let me out. At the beginning of February, Mommy came home again. When Daddy opened the back to put her suitcases in, I jumped out and ran past her to check out the parking garage. Why should I say “hello” to her when she doesn’t want to live with me any more. But she did stay home this time, though she was very blue. She had no energy to take me for walks, plus she said that there was too much snow. After a couple of weeks, she started driving me to doggie park in the mornings. But we didn’t encounter many friends. We might see one or two dogs a day, but sometimes we didn’t see anyone. Even Frank, the candyman because he always has dog biscuits, wasn’t always there, and, when he was, he has tears in his eyes like Mommy does. I rarely see my best friends that play chase with me.

One day late in February, I rode with Mommy to Buffalo. It is always fun crossing the border, because those nice people in uniforms always pet me, but they never give me a treat even though I ask politely. Well, maybe it isn’t so polite to be barking and thrusting myself at them. Mommy stopped at her mailbox and picked up a big box of cards with Karin’s picture on them. Then she left me in the car while she went inside a bookstore all day with her box of cards. She came out once to let me go potty, and I tried to run away as soon as she opened the door. But she called me, and I reluctantly obeyed, only because I knew she had treats. It was cold in the car, but my chocolate coat kept me comfortable.

By April, the snow was gone, and we began walking to doggie park. The birds are singing and Mommy would stop to watch them. I don’t know why she finds them interesting. I think bunnies are far more interesting. I am allowed to shop at the nursery, so, as soon as we pull into the parking lot, I begin yelping with joy. Mommy was not very happy that I was so loud, plus leaping at the end of my leash, when she let me out. Everyone in the parking lot was staring at me as if I were some kind of vicious dog. Once I expressed my exuberance, I calmed down and we did our shopping for spring flowers.

On Saturday, April 18, Mommy and I went outside for a potty break. As soon as we left the garage, the neighbors came out too. I started to run to say hello, but was stopped short in my tracks when I smelled something intriguing at my paws!!! There was a tiny little squirrel on the driveway. I insisted on playing with it, so Mommy tied me to a tree. The adults couldn’t figure out what kind of baby it was or where it came from. Marianne shoveled it up and threw it over the fence into the woods. No sooner had she done that than another baby fell off the roof at their feet! Then they discovered that a third baby was lying in the eave. The pest man came on Monday and found where the nest probably is – on the roof where the soffit cuts into the roof. But it was raining too hard for him to climb up there and check for more babies and the mama. He will have to come back on a sunny day.

Mommy told me on April 21 that I was now four years old, but I didn’t get any presents. She keeps telling everyone that I am four now, but that I haven’t slowed down a bit and am still as goofy as ever. That sounds like a good thing to me! Surely she doesn’t want me to roll over and play dead! She did take my picture illustrating my waggish behavior. I had stolen a little old towel from the laundry room and wouldn’t let her or Daddy get near it. I am usually pretty good about letting them have their shoes or towels back these days, but this one I want for myself. They will have to try to trick me out of this one.

My Mommy is home again briefly

My third day home Riley and Dennis were at doggie park and a new dog came along too – Sam. Riley isn’t feeling well, but Guinness and Sam had great fun chasing each other!

Guinness and Riley smooching. ha!

The fourth day was too snowy, so Daddy took our SUV to work, leaving us with only legs to get out. I discovered that Guinness has forgotten how to heel. I was constantly yanking on him to get him to walk beside me. We didn’t make it to doggie park – the sidewalks were too treacherous plus fighting a dog that has forgotten his training was annoying.

New Year’s morning, no one was at doggie park. We walked around one and half laps with me testing his recalls. He wasn’t great, but he was OK until he became very interested in a clump of bushes. He refused to come which meant he had to go on leash. We did another loop on leash, then I allowed him to prove himself. A lab was barking at us from the other side of the fence. Three times he ran toward the dog, but, when he heard me call “Come,” he stopped and obeyed! Wow! After another half loop, bushes were just too tempting and he was back on leash.

Mommy came home!

I came home for a week while a temporary nanny replaced me at Karin’s. It is amazing that in less than two months I had forgotten how beautiful he is! He is a gorgeous dog, perfectly proportioned with rich dark brown fur. As soon as I walked in the door, Guinness was stealing things for me to retrieve from him. Grant says that he does not do that at all when I am not home. It is a Mommy/dog game.

Guinness was eager to help me unpack my suitcase when I wasn’t looking and grabbed a sweater which I had to finagle away from him.

We went to doggie park every morning, but we didn’t see many of our friends. They seem to have changed their schedules.

I took him to be weighed and he is 70.8 lbs! Good news!

Our yard maintenance people blow all the leaves into a huge mountain, then come later with a suction truck to vacuum them up. Guinness loved the huge pile! In fact, he walked right into it with only his head sticking out. I didn’t have my camera, so you have to capture a mental image of his handsome dark brown head rising above a pile of orange, brown, yellow leaves.

Later, I took him out with camera to try to recapture that pose, but the yard people were already sucking up the pile.

Everyone has hit the wall!

I am still at Karin’s and have been since 9/5. This week, the kids, the husband, and the dog hit the wall. Kien has been excessively fussy. Kevin is asking when I am going home, that I have been there long enough. Grant is saying, “We are not getting a divorced; we are not even separating. My work is in Canada; we are not moving to NC (which we had been considering). I want a wife! I want you to come home!”

Then Guinness… Grant tells me that he peed on our loveseat in the living room TWICE today! It has a denim cover on it as he likes to lie on it. So the first time, he only got the cover. The second time, the cover was still in the dryer, so he got a cushion straight on! ugh! I know the reason: Grant does NOT exercise him!!!! He gets maybe one little walk around our property a day and that's it! I guarantee that he has not had one big long walk since I left home! Poor baby! He is mad! Everyone wants life to return to normal.

Poor Guinness

I picked up Guinness from the pet hotel on Sunday morning, Aug. 31. That day, Karin called asking me to come help her as her back is getting worse and she cannot lift the boys, do dishes, or laundry. I booked a ticket for this morning. Monday night, I was unpacking and repacking my cases, and Grant was packing too as he will be spending the remainder of the week with a client. Guinness was NOT happy to see our suitcases. He stole my airplane neck pillow right out of my carryon. He stole shoes. He found clean towels within his reach. It was constant all evening! This morning, I had Guinness’s things and my suitcases in the car ready to take him back to the pet hotel, which he has always loved. Regardless of where we are going, he is always eager to jump into the car - especially if we have suitcases and his toys and food. But he knew he was going to be left again. He refused to jump in! I had to force him to get in. We arrived about 10 minutes before they opened, so I walked him around the property and he took me into his play area.

I pulled out my camera to get shots of him there, and he grabbed my camera case! What a little Stinkpot! Of course, I had no treats in pocket, so it was a trick to get it back. My cute little floral case from Vietnam was slimmed and covered in mulch by the time I repossessed it. Poor boy!

But once inside, he was eager to run to his villa.

Leader of the Pack?

Today I took Guinness to vacation at Holly’s Pride. He LOVES going there! If no one is in the parking lot, I let him run out of the car without holding the leash, because he goes straight to the front door. Well, 3 employees, each exercising a big dog, came walking around the corner. Of course, he ran off to see his friends and meet the new dogs. They grabbed his leash and told me the dogs are not friendly. I said, “If they go after Guinness, he will just back down.” But nothing happened. Then we entered the building. A man holding a large cat was just inside the door. Guinness barged in the door and jumped on his back. The cat did not seem upset, but strained around his master’s side to watch this wild beast. I was holding the overly happy dog as he strained to get away from me to jump on the desk and inspect the toys for sale while I attempted to apologize to the man. He with his cat were ushered into the cattery, so I released Guinness to run the room. He pushed on the door to the kennel which was not latched and he went right through. The door from there to the cattery was open, so he ran into the cattery. Oh, my… The manager brought him back and immediately took him back to his villa. An employee now came to the front desk to check in the cat and then Guinness. She commented that Guinness has more energy than any of their dogs. I told her about a dog trainer I had run into this week. I talked to the trainer about Guinness’s problems – that he is fine at home but is crazy when he sees other people or dogs. The trainer said that that indicates he is the leader of the pack. I confessed that we are getting older and probably baby him more than we have our other dogs. She was very professional and was sure she could help us to improve our relationship with him to be more like Hershey. But I’m not sure I have the energy to be leader of the pack.

Annual Exam

Guinness wins the prize for being the most enthusiastic patient at his vet’s office. He enters pulling with all his might on his leash with the pinch collar pinching him. Today, there were four or five small dogs, most with an elderly master, in the waiting room. None of the dogs or masters was delighted with Guinness’s behavior. The expressions on their faces were incredulous watching my crazed dog trying to reach them while barking at the top of his voice. All I can do is say, “Can you tell he LOVES coming here?” or “He is so excited to see all of you here today.” Then I noted that Alice, from doggie park, was standing at the pay window purchasing some special treats for Holly. I was shocked that she never turned her head to see what all the ruckus was. When Guinness saw her, he was delirious with joy. Fortunately, Holly was not with her. Just imagine what would have happened if Holly had been there too! Two dogs tearing at high speed around a small waiting room! Slowly, everyone in the waiting room had their turn in an exam room, and we were alone. He jumped up on the bench seat where I was seated, demanding my total attention.

When we entered the exam room, one of the assistants tried to weigh him. I told her that I needed to do it alone as he would never settle for her. With her in the room, she thought he was 69, but I knew he was still being too crazy for an accurate reading. After she left, he stood peacefully and registered 67.4 pounds. He is picking up weight – .4 pounds in 2 weeks! The doctor called him a clown and pronounced that he is going to be a “perpetual puppy.” He said, “I love you too,” after receiving a sloppy kiss on the face. Guinness accepted his shots without a flinch. I enjoyed telling the doctor the erroneous story of Guinness’s supposed bladder problem, but was sorry that the vet who had dealt with that issue was not present to hear it from me. He declared Guinness healthy and slim but not too skinny. He said that Guinness, like most males, doesn’t want to grow up. Apparently, his wife complains that he still acts like a little boy after 32 years of marriage.

Back in the waiting room, a couple more dogs entered as we were trying to pay our bill. He skidded his paws on the floor as if he were on a treadmill, while I held his leash firmly. Then he did his melting chocolate trick to get tummy rubs. On our way out of the building, another medium size dog was approaching. Guinness was on a rampage to have playtime, frightening yet another owner who picked up her dog lest he be attacked by the maniacal dog. Oh, my….

Who is More Logical?

I have not included this information in Guinness’s blog, but here is the REAL story:

Sunday, July 20, 2008

We slept in this morning until 8:20. Guinny was closed in the den and was just fine. I took him out to go potty. At noon, we went out to lunch without taking him out again first. We were home at 2:00, and there was a yellow puddle on the kitchen floor. ?? :-0 Poor boy! I took him out and he peed.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

We had been outside all morning while I worked in the garden. Between 1:00 and 2:00, he asked to go potty. It was pouring rain outside, so I decided he didn’t need to go. The next time I walked past the kitchen, there was a huge lake – same place as on Sunday! So I called the vet to have a urine test. Grant picked up the equipment on the way home.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The vet’s office gave me a sterile bowl and a bottle for collection. Guinness stuck his face in the bowl before he ever went potty. :\ So, when he did go, I had to catch it with the little bottle. Thankfully, it is easy to wash hands! We immediately delivered it to the office, and I took him in to weigh him. He is 67 lbs., so he has gained .2 lbs. in the past 2 weeks! Yay!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The urinalysis is normal except for a slightly elevated ph level.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Mid-day, we noticed that there was a small puddle in the kitchen – like he had marked a spot – the same spot.

Now today – Tuesday, July 29, 2008

This morning, I noted that the wallpaper near the floor where Guinness had peed was stained. I thought, oh – no…, he lifted his leg! Then I noted that there were stains under the window sill and on the sill. I closed the blinds and saw that the upper side of the blinds were water stained and warped. I called our condo neighbor who looks after construction/landscaping problems. He pronounced that the caulking on that window is useless. I told him that the eave above that window is too small to handle the amount of water coming off the roof and pours over the edge like Niagara Falls. Thus, it is pouring on the window, seeping through the deteriorated grouting, and ruining the interior decorating.

When Grant came home tonight, I showed him the stained wallpaper and warped blind. His response: “It wasn’t Guinness’s fault.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t Guinness’s fault.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have been falsely accusing him. He never peed on the floor.”

I don’t know if this is good news or bad news…

Baby Bird

On the way to doggie park, Guinness ran to sniff the base of a tree. A baby bird fluttered from the ground behind the tree and across the path under another tree. Following right behind were the mommy and daddy Cardinals! I don’t think I have ever seen a baby Cardinal before! Very cute, of course. Guinness wanted to follow it, but I wouldn’t let him.

I didn't take this picture, but it does look like "our" baby.

Gardening

After a walk to the lakeside park, I worked on cleaning up the garden, and Guinness lounged in the grass. While pruning a redbud tree, I noted that there was a beautiful exoskeleton (technically an exuvia) on the trunk. Some time later, I went in the house and brought my camera out. A green creature was emerging from it! I had the privilege of watching a cicada emerge from its exuvia as a full-grown adult with wings! Cicadas and locusts go through Incomplete Metamorphosis: the eggs hatch into nymphs – a smaller version of the adult without wings. As the nymphs grow, they molt five times before they become an adult with wings. Isn't he beautiful?
Meanwhile, Guinness became bored and reverted to being a flower dog. This is what I saw when I turned and looked at him. The flower is in the Bird of Pardise family, so this potted plant was not cheap at an Ontario nursery!
Of course, when I approached him, he grabbed it and tore it to pieces.

Goodbye, Chautauqua

The symbol of Chautauqua Institution -- the Miller Bell Tower. We heard the bells on our walks.