A little Lighter... - Page 1

Anybody out there have a future pitcher, or quarterback, in their home/kennel??? The other day Kali & I were practising retreives with one of her tugs, when she decided she wanted to play with a toy instead. After giving me the tug, when I said Ok, she ran & grabbed this toy & began shaking it, & throwing it up & catching it, & finally gave it a huge toss...well that stuffed squirrel flew, up, over the wires on the telephone poles, across the street, over & behind my neighbors house! She bounced up, totally alert, twisting her head from one side to the other, whining; well she knows she's not allowed to take off into the street or someone elses yard...she kept running back to me, nosing my hand, like she was saying, " C'mon, go get it!" I laughed until I cried! And what reminded me of this was my dear Beckett, whom I could have happily strangled today! He was Peck's Bad Boy today! Stealing things from me every time my back was turned; I was trying to clean a little, since my shoulder was feeling better, he shredded my duster, stole the dish rag, grabbed the laundry as soon as I folded it! Anything to be chased, he will do anything to start a game! The kicker was he stole my husband's prescription glasses right off the table I was dusting, threw them across the room,and then grabbed the case & took off with it. I got them back, he will still 'platz' when he's told, but I really didn't know whether to laugh, or cry. Needless to say, I got my cleaning done once Beckett was crated! Any other stories out there? I'm just grateful I have a home to clean, & healthy dogs to chase! jackie harris

I have a wide receiver in my house, You cannot put a football in front of my female because she wants to puncture it and she goes nuts when the boys are throwing the football. If she gets it, It's over cause she punctures it. The neighbor kids were having a game one day in the side field and I didn't see them, my female did and took off over to the boys playing and caught a pass in mid air and yes she punctured the ball. You have to see her do this to appriciate it. I  will give her a basketball to play with and she will go for an hour or so trying to puncture it but she can't because it's to big. Funny stuff.............................

It's funny you posted this as Drake has never thrown anything around before but this past week he started.  I bought him a new tug toy and he won't put it down!  It's nubby rubber shaped like a bone with rope tied to both ends.  He's been pitching it all over the house.  I thought it was going to go through either the TV or the picture window!  Finally took it outside, with my luck he'll throw it through the window from outside! 

Not anything funny such as your stories but, I'm thoroughly ticked at Apache today.  She's had an older "barn style" dog house that I moved her to once Savage moved into the igloo.  Anyway, Apache is a very destructive girl b/c she gets very bored in her kennel during the day whilst I'm away (sometimes, 14 hrs!) .  I feel horrible that I'm away that long but, hopefully, all these hrs will end within the next year.  (fingers crossed).

Anyway, I always try to keep new things in her kennel, attaching them by big d-rings, etc, hiding food and treats in kongs and rubber tires, stuffed toys (minus any soft rubber or squeakies that can be ingested). 

Anyway, this girl has shreded her chainlink kennel numerous times.  If you looked at the bottom, I have reinforced the entire kennel frame, including the door with wire.  I still have to go around it at least once or twice a wk inspecting any new damage she's done.  She's shredded the shade cover (ON TOP) of her kennel (by standing on her dog house).  I came home one day and wondered what the heck that big black thing was in her kennel...sure enough, the shade top...not only that, she had used it (stil had one corner attached to the top frame) and climbed out!!!!  Momma was not a happy camper.  Now, she has chewed her dog house up to the point the top will no longer sit on the base!  AND, get this!.....She has taken two HUGE chunks out of the base.  This stuff is pretty thick plastic.  I found one piece in her kennel over the wknd and now, last night this other big chunck.  It looks like she's chewing and bending it until it snaps. 

Anyway, I have been putting it off for more money...bad time of year what with personal property taxes due and Christmas AND my new puppy, kennel, floor, dog house, vet, etc...AND, I just had Apache's prelims done ($250!).  So, I guess I'm making a trip to the Coop and Tractor Supply today.  I need 2 Igloo dog houses, new kennel, stable matting (forget the Options Plus floors)  Both dogs have been finding a way to pull up pieces and chew!!!!  ugh.....

My husband fusses with me constantly about how much money I sink into these dogs...and then, they tear up everything I am spending the money on.  So, for all those people out there who MAKE MONEY off of the sales of puppies....I would think you would have to charge an exhorbitant amount of money for the pups to make money...at least of any decent amount.

But, ya gotta love 'em!  lol  I know I still wouldn't trade 'em for nothin!

LOL on the basketball!

My beloved Shana, a 60-lb "smallish" dog of American/German lines, LOVED balls in the yard.  Basketball was a favorite, in any form!  We'd have to get her a basketball periodically, when we couldn't look at that ugly thing any more.

1st phase:  new and hard.  Shana'd chase it around REAL fast looking like a wheelbarrow!  She couldn't yet get her jaws on it so she'd zing back and forth with it right in between the front paws, whose legs were basically horizontal to the ground - she really looked like she was only using her rear paws to move!  So I called this "wheelbarrow" because she had the 2 legs in back pedaling and her front on the ground channeling the ball between horizontal legs and her mouth!

2nd phase:  She'd get hold of the ball, then puncture it.  She was tenacious, and her relative smallness didn't stop her from grabbing it and FINALLY getting the teeth through!  Now she couldn't really do wheelbarrow any more, but would just delight in standard ball throwing and rolling (the ball at this stage can re-inflate itself, a bit).  Great at goalie/catching it.  She would start chomping on it if not blatantly playing.

3rd phase:  The chomping was out of control and she'd basically ripped it apart, down to about half size - nothing but flopping leather/vinyl!  But she STILL loved it if you threw it for her, and would chase/catch the dumb ugly thing!

By the time it was half "gone", we'd look for a new basketball.  And incidentally, we liked "quality" balls because the cheap just-vinyl non-reenforced wouldn't last at all.

My current dog Tara doesn't like basketball.  She LOVES Jolly Ball especially for catching/stopping.  Loves the dumb thing.

Too funny Jackie. My B litter is particularly creative at making us laugh. I almost died laughing when Beckett's brother Banjo tried to climb an 80' pine tree after a squirrel that was jumping from tree to tree about 40' up. He actually got quite a ways up the branches of the tree. I had to pull him down and catch him, afriad he'd fall and hurt himself. Of course he landed on top of me and we both hit the ground but I was laughing so hard I didn't feel the  weight of the 80 lb. thug. I had to DRAG him away from the trees and keep a close eye on him when we were out near them for weeks because he kept trying to go over and climb that damned tree.

Lizzie has similar stories with Beatrix (Trixi) and Diva (same breeding, 5 mos. old now) is forever getting into trouble. She scaled the puppy pen at 9 weeks, got up ON TOP of the EZ up I had for shade, then sat up there and barked across the yard at me to get my attention. Luckily I caught her too before she fell and hurt herself. These guys are a crack up! I don't know what it is about them, but they definitely have no fear of heights! Ihave to say, however, after what I read here and what I see when you bring him over, your Beckett easily gets first prize for misbehaving... an honor you can surely be proud of.  Ha ha ha.

SS

And Shelley, he knows what he's supposed to do, but he is so damn smart!!! He can read me like a book-! He knows when he can get away with stuff, & I just love him so much, he's a spoiled brat! He can be behaving perfectly, doing everything right, & then he gets this funny look on his face, his eyes just glow, and that's it! Training's over! And now, it's playtime!!! He'll steal stuff, & stand there, threatening me with eating it, if I don't chase him, & really, it's good fun! I wish I had a bigger place, he really just needs to burn off more steam. With only 1 wing, I'm just not enough fun for him right now. And you know what, he's very 'puppy' yet, in his personality, I think when he becomes a little more mature mentally, he's gonna do great things! jackie harris

Kalibeck, sounds like you're talking about MY dog, LOL. That ol' glint in the eye trick, and I can't get mad either!  I don't leave anything within reach for him anymore, everything goes in the closet as soon as it comes off, or down the laundry chute.  But when he gets that glint he's either tormenting one of my terriers, digging yet another hole to drop toys in or sneaking up behind and goosing me!  He gets a kick out of that one too.  When I get home from work he takes me by the arm and leads me around the room, tail wagging, ears back, just so proud of himself, he missed Mommy!  They are just too funny.

They are completely unrelated, but Beckett is a lot like my old Onyx. That glint in the eye and waggy tail typically came just before "Obedience Score DEATH." In the picure below Onyx is displaying that expression. He had just broken an obedinece command to cool himself off in a fountain in front of a beautiful winery in the Napa valley. Unfortunately, just out of the frame on the right there was a wedding being held. No... we were NOT on the invitation list! I'd love to have that wedding video for my entertainment pleasure now. This is my very favorite picture and story of my long-departed goof-ball Onyx.

SS