Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my dog Kai. Though she loves to get into trouble and messes up every once and awhile, she is still a lovely dog. She has enriched my life as much as I have enriched hers. Today she has been all about the smells, but she has let us cook unhampered. My other dog use to get right under my feet when I cooked and I felt that I was going to trip every time I turned around. But Kai just moves over to her bed and lies down until I am finished. Luckily, today was a nice day and I was able to take her on a walk. She is a fair weather dog, only wanting to be outside when it is not cold or raining. Yesterday we spent all day with me rolling her ball inside the house and her chasing it because it was snowing and cold. Today, however, though it is chilly it is not below 40 degrees so she was quite happy to be outside. I think she got as board as we do stuck in the house. I have yet to sit down to dinner, but she has been given treats, worthy of a queen. I am pretty sure I will have to block her in the kitchen so I can eat my dinner. TO EVERYONE: Happy Thanksgiving.

Friends for the Weekend

This week not only were we entertaining friends, but Kai had a visitor as well. I was a little hesitant at first because Kai has only had one dog in the fenced yard and she was so busy being entertained by the kids of that dog that she could have cared less that there was a dog in the yard. But this weekend she had a buddy, almost. Lobo was a darling mixed breed 6 year old dog. He tolerated Kai's puppyish behavior, but I was so worried that Kai was going to get too rough. Kai likes ears and this dogs ears were buttery soft, so Kai kept trying to grab them. This was especially true when Lobo would come to greet me. Kai would run over and stick her head and then her body between us. Then she would start for the ears. They both were trying the one up game. One would try to stand over the other, both would refuse to lay down. But Kai wanted to play, so she would lay on her back, either Lobo did not understand the action or he just didn't care or he thought he won, either way he just walked away when Kai exposed her belly. Kai of course would not be ignored so she would grab one of Lobo's legs as he walked by. I think the thing that really ticked off Kai though she did not react to it was when the other dog would lay in Kai's crate. Kai would then go explore Lobo's crate and she would grab what ever tidbits she found in the crate, which got her in trouble. Kai used to hide stuff in her crate when we first got her, now she digs up my backyard or hides it under a couch cushion. Lobo's owner says that is how Lobo exerts her dominance, well he is an older dog. The other thing I found funny was the fight over the rawhide chew. This was not a tear your ear off, biting , growling fight. This was a very dignified ownership fight. I gave each dog a chew because I thought it would be better and there would be no problems. Well, every time one of the dogs dropped there chew the other dog would swoop in and grab it. This happened over and over again, finally they got down to one chew. One would drop, the other would pick it up, then immediately drop it, then the other would pick it up, and do the same thing. they must have done this at least ten times over one square of chew. Finally, they both abandoned it and left it in the middle of my floor. Kai is pooped, she has been sleeping all day except for when I took her for a walk after our company left. I think she was just getting use to the idea of this other dog who invaded her space and now poof the dog is gone. But I think she is also happy because now she can bring her toys out of hiding.

Sleepy dog

Kai, is 1 year old and she has regressed somewhat this week. On walks she seems oblivious to any commands. I took her to the dog park yesterday and she rough housed with other dogs for about an hour, then we went for a walk around 4 to get any last energies out. Usually, we run or walk fast on the last walk of the day but yesterday she just kept stopping, pulling backwards and not listening to any commands. I thought it was because she was sleepy, because when she came home she curled up on her bed and slept. She was so tired from our day that she did not even get up when I was cooking beef stew. Usually she begs for anything I put into my mouth, but she did not wake up. She only got up when I moved into the TV room. I am thinking this is a good deal, sleepy puppy equals, two walks and a dog park. This morning she slept in until 8, which unusual as when she has had a tiring day the day before she is usually ready to go again in the morning. The only thing she did do this morning was be a pest on our morning walk. She was always either pulling ahead or stopping and pulling backwards. When we came to a street she just tried to jut out, I had to keep pulling her back to the curb as, come, was not being listened to. Now she is growling at me and not in a pleasant I am going to play with you way. Maybe she is still tired, I did something I do not usually do I gave her a tap on the butt, not too hard but enough to let her know that was unacceptable behavior. She immediately backed off, after realizing I was mad. I also took the thing she stole from the kitchen, which is why she growled, but it was not a play toy and she was being very destructive. So sleepy puppy or monster pup, who knows.

My dog is going to kill me.

I had been planning to take my Kai for a walk after the men finished raking and moving the leaves to the street. She was having chasing the leaves as they raked them, so I did not think anything about it. I should have brought her in the house, because as I was cutting peppers for stuffed peppers, I heard "KAI get your butt back here." Then general commotion from the men. I looked out the window and the back gate was wide open and the men were in the street, no sign of Kai. They pointed the way they went and I started sprinting, Kai is a very fast dog. I thought that maybe she would come down the alley so I backtracked and sure enough that is where she went. But on seeing me she decided a game of chase was at hand so she u-turned and flew back up the alley. I am glad she did not get hit as she crossed two streets, with me in hot pursuit. She had never been that far up on that street, mainly because it is uphill. Then she went up to another street, where a family told me she was in the next yard as I came running, huffing and puffing to find her. When I got to the house she was gone. So I walked up and down that block shouting her name. No Kai, which is worrisome since there are wooded lots nearby. Just as I was about to give up and go get the car, Kai comes flying up the street. This time she came right to me, I guess she felt unsure of herself. I had no leash so I had to carry my 30 pound dog all the way home. She just crossed her legs like she was the Queen of Sheba. When she got home she immediately got in her crate. I think that she will not get that extra walk tonight, as I am now exhausted from my run.

Trying to teach: Shut the door

Everyday, Kai lets herself in the backdoor but has not figured out how to shut the back door. So today I have started the process, and I hope it works but she is a little noise shy when she actually shuts the door. I hold a piece of treat up at the door and she has to jump on the door and have it close to get the treat. It is going to be a long process. But she did do it several times, I am not sure she would do it without the treat. I say "Shut the door" and waggle the treat anyone know a way to narrow that down so she does not have to listen to a whole sentence. If I just say shut, she sits. I just got back from Atlanta where it was around 60 to 70 degrees and now it is about 30 to 40 degrees and I think the door shutting trick is a must. She only comes in because it is cold or when she wants me to play with her. She is such a sweet dog and I just found out she got to play with one of my best friends dogs while I was away and she was boarding, what fun. I am so happy that we rescued her and the neighbor kids love her. I usually have 10 kids hanging out by the fence after school so they can say hello. The only time it becomes a problem is when a dog comes by, she would rather bark at the dog then play with the kids and the kids get very disappointed. Now with us pretty much staying at home, I think that she will get back into her training and remembering how to walk the streets and maybe, just maybe, shutting the door on command.