Second Christmas

This is the second Christmas with our wonderful rescue Kai. She did not try to eat the lights this year or the ornaments, though she did nose a few. She also liked to sleep under the tree. Her first present this year came from the dog up the street. Lexi is part beagle and I am not sure what else, but she is a puppy. She passes the gate all the time and wants to play with Kai, but the owners are nervous because Kai growls when Lexi jumps on her face. Anyway, she gave Kai some treats and a picture of herself. Kai wrote a thank you and gave Lexi some treats as well. I thought it was a cute idea.
Before Christmas day we were visited by relatives who came with two children that loved on Kai. By the time they left Miss Kai was exhausted and laid about the house all Christmas Eve, not even bugging us when we ate dinner. A very tired girl from playing with kids for two days. I am not sure but I think she was worried about all the activity around the house, she likes her down time.
Christmas morning brought presents once again for Kai, some chewies and a stuffed gingerbread toy, which she laid with on the chair. Once again she was excited about the days events, helping us open presents, chewing up her sticks and running around the back yard. Her stuffed gingerbread man lasted until today without her pulling out the squeaky part of the toy. Now the stuffing is sticking out of the belly and I am sure by the end of the week it will look like it has snowed fluff all over the house. It has been a very Merry Christmas indeed.

MY shadow

Kai has been my little shadow the last few days. I have been sick with a lovingly call the creeping crud. It started with a throat ache that the doctor said was one of the worst he has seen in redness. Then it crept up to my nose and head. Kai has followed me around laying down with me every time I do and getting up and checking me out every time I sneeze, blow my nose or just cough. I have been waiting for her to put her paw on my forehead to check for a fever. Anyway, now that my husband is home for the weekend, she has been following him around, more lively than her sick momma, plus he has been cooking. Go where the food is.

Kai the Bee Dog

That is going to be the title of my book. Once again Kai's behavior has me perplexed until ouch I sat on a bee. I had been out feeding the bees sugar water, which is a precarious thing to do, because in the fall you are taking away a food source. So I managed to get the bottles of sugar water into the house, filled and then back to the hive. I had donned my bee suit top and gloves, but I was wearing black pants. Bees do not like black it is an instinct about bears. Anyway I thought I had got away unscathed but as I went into the living room Kai went ballistic, grabbing at my pant leg, sniffing at me, just in a panic. So I asked, yes I ask my dog questions, "Is there a bee on me, where is it girl?"
Apparently it was crawling on my pants, so when I sat down, it did not initially sting me, but when I moved to check where it was, I found it. Or it found me and stung me right in the butt. I went into the bathroom and Kai was still going crazy, then I heard the buzz, so Kai and I left the bathroom. I shut the door and Kai ran to her crate and got inside.

The bee must have crawled out from under the door, because before long I found Kai trying to chew something. It was the dying bee. I picked it up with a tissue and put it outside. Kai was then a nervous Nelly, she kept looking over her back for bees. Eventually, she quieted down. The next time she starts pulling at my pants I am going to be sure not to sit down, until I have checked myself over.

DOG DAYS OF FALL

Okay, I know it is suppose to be the dog days of summer and that it means it is so hot you cannot do anything but melt. However, we have had 5 days of rain, luckily right now the sun is shining and I will have to take moping girl for a walk. We tried to walk yesterday and got caught in a downpour. This meant hiding under trees as the band of heavy rain passed by. We were both happy to get indoors when I cut the walk short. Five days of moping around the house, the dog and myself. She would curl up next to me, unheard of, whenever she got the chance. She would not even play fetch in the house. The only positive thing to her day was the fact that my son was home for Fall break, so she got to play wrestle-mania with him and not me. But now he is back at school and it is up to me to play. We did however, get a game of indoor fetch done, I will have to take her for a walk soon, so she knows that I love her.

Awakened by dog breath

My husband had a test on Tuesday, or so he thought, so I got made breakfast at 5:30 in the morning to find out he had the wrong day, it was today. So after making breakfast I went back to bed. Around 6:45 am I felt like someone was staring at me and felt breath on my cheek. I opened my eyes and encountered my dog who had escaped the kitchen, entered the bedroom and was now standing over me. Upon opening my eyes, I got a face washing. Very interesting way to be woken up. Then she just curled up near my tummy and went back to sleep, so I also shut my eyes for a few minutes, like hitting the snooze alarm. After 5 minutes we both got up, it was time to start the day, plus I think she was hungry. Today no wake up call from my dog, but plenty of hugs and kisses when I came into the kitchen. She is such a sweetie, but I do not think I could sleep with her all night, she would drive me crazy. I have a feeling we would be pounced on all night long, then I would be awake and she would be curl in a ball somewhere and go back to sleep.

Bumper

It used to be the only time that Kai bumped you was when we were eating. Then she would walk up to you and hit you with her nose until you either fed her or shooed her away. If you did not feed her then her next line of attack would be with her teeth, chewing on your elbow. She has not done this for some time, so I was surprised when she did it this morning. I did not have food. I felt like I was being circled by a shark. I was sitting at the computer going through e-mail when bump in my side. She then circled around me, and bumped me again. When she caught my attention then she came up and bumped me three more times. So I asked her "Do you need to go out?" She promptly ran to the door. I have been trying to not have her bark when she needs to go out, I guess she has decided to use the nose bump to let me know it is time. It was very funny, especially the circling around like a shark. At least she did not take a chunk out of me and drag me down to the floor.

When she plays with her toys she is like an alligator, rolling over and over with it in her mouth, or rolling over top of it. All these water creature like behaviors in a dog who hates water, except river water. Maybe she is part gator or shark.

Miss Barker

I am going nuts with Kai's barking. I think it is because I am not outside playing with her. There is a barking chain, first the schnauzer, Parker, and finally Kai, which starts another round up the street, but Kai maintains this bark. Now she is barking whenever some one walks pass the gate with a dog, no dog, no bark. And if the other dog has the audacity to bark back, then we go into the I am going to sound like I am going to tear your face off game, from both sides. I need to get Kai back to the dog park. She loves other dogs, but not when they are walking and she is stuck behind a gate. Even her little puppy friend is not immune when on the other side of the fence. I am sure that dogs parents will not let their dog into the fence again, with the way Kai sounds.

I won't let her out if she is barking from inside the house and have a water bottle on hand just in case I cannot get her to stop. When she is outside barking she rarely listens to me. So hose, or bark collar?