Coal's Big Adventure

Yesterday, just as I was ready to start a meeting, I got a phone call from home. "Uhm, can the dog go in the pool with his radio collar on?" Several scenarios flashed through my head - mainly ones where my poor dog had his fur standing on end from the shock. A couple of quick questions revealed that:

• No, the dog wasn't in the pool - yet.
• No, electric shock therapy had been delivered - yet.
• Yes, this was actually a preemptive call to make sure no harm would befall the pooch.

About 10 minutes into the meeting, my phone starts to ring again.  I check and it is Skaterboy calling again.  Since I just talked to him a few minutes before, I figured it was something unimportant so I silence the ringer and move on.  

My curiosity got the best of me and I rang the boy back to see what was so gosh darn important that he had to call again so quickly.  I'm not an uncaring step-monster but his calls generally fall into a few select categories:

• He is hungry and needs some cash for food (like I can just fly out of work and run home to give him $5 for Subway)
• He is hungry and wants to know what is cheaper - Subway or Chinese?
• He is looking for something and wants to know if we have said item in the house (a tape adapter for an iPod, blank CD's, money to go get food - do you see the theme here?!)

He immediately launches into this story about the dog.  "His ear is hanging lower on one side.  And he keeps twitching"  WTF??  I make him start over and explain the story to me again.  Why is the dog's ear hanging lower?  Apparently in an effort to put the aforementioned radio collar back on the dog, Skaterboy accidentally poked to dog in the ear.  Or the eye.  He wasn't really sure which one.  "He keeps twitching!" he said with a rising panic in his voice.  Mildly panicked, I start to question him further.  Twitching like he has bugs in his ears or twitching like he is having a seizure?  Much to my relief it is only the buggy kind of twitching.  

Still trying to wrap my head around how you poke a dog in the ear (or eye) I ask if this happened before or after he was in the pool.  'oh, this was before he went in the pool.  He completely freaked out in the pool".  Now, this dog has already been in the pool more times than any human being combined in my household.  The first time was voluntary but probably on accident.  We just took the cover off and while working on the filter, we heard a splash.  We turned around only to find Coal standing on his hind legs, hanging on to the side with his front paws.  Totally calm cool and collected.  The second time he had a little help from yours truly.  I'm sorry, but if you would have walked past him hanging over the edge of the pool with his nose in the water and his tail up in the air, you would have nudged him in too!  He reacted the same as the first time - hanging on to the edge, calm as could be.  You could see him trying to figure out how to get out but not really sure which direction to go.

Apparently in the presence of teenagers, the reaction was different.  The story goes that the dog slipped on the coping and fell in.  Then he completely panicked.  I can only assume that multiple teenage boys flipping off diving boards got the deck and coping sopping wet.  And the dog overly excited! Of course, Coal likes to be by the people so this time he went in next to the diving board.  Where the water is 9 feet deep.  Not the shallow end where it is 3 feet deep.  Skaterboy and his friend both struggled to get a 75lb wet, flailing, fur bearing creature out from the deep end.

Needless to say, when I got home, both child and beast were very subdued.  The boy felt bad and was giving him belly rubs and treats.  I inspected the poked ear/eye region and didn't see anything out of place.  He would let you rub his ears/eyes/muzzle without any complaints and didn't even trying to chew on our fingers.  I honestly think the dog was milking it for the sympathy.  The boy does the same exact thing!

Coal was exceptionally loving last night, curled up with his chin on my lap for most of the night.  It was odd, but I wasn't too worried about him.  If he didn't bounce back to his normal self by the time I got home tonight, I would try to get him into the vet.  I tried to calculate the cost of this vet visit in my head and thought about how I would explain the injury to the vet (since all my knowledge was second hand).  I asked for a re-enactment of the injury because I wasn't too sure what really happened.  SB walked through the act of putting on the collar when I finally figured out what may have happened.  Distracted, he tried to put the collar back on when the dog moved his head.  Coal isn't wild about any collars and has a tendency to try to duck out of the way.  The collar has a buckle and your natural hand position is to have your 'thumbs up'.  Thus, my CSI theory (that is Canine Scene Investigator) is that he scratched the inside of his ear with his thumb nail.  Combine a scratch on the inside of your ear with a plunge into a heavily chlorinated pool, where you think you are going to drown and are swimming for your life, you have a pup who is a little scared, a little worn out, and who has an ear that doesn't feel so hot.

I am semi-pleased to report that Coal is his normal self tonight.  The in-your-face with a chew toy, steal the pillows when he thinks you aren't looking, running across the yard with a huge hunk of firewood in his mouth, kind of normal.  Sigh....I kind of miss the lovey dovey dog from last night!

Mind Your Manners

Nine month old puppies can be a challenge.  Especially when you are nine months old and you weigh 75 lbs!  A few weeks ago we decided that in order to save our sanity, our home, and possible jail time for animal cruelty, we needed to do something about the puppies behavior.

The out of sight fencing has been a huge blessing.  Coal now has room to run and we are all happier.  But we still have to stop the jumping and the mouthy behavior before we end up looking like human chew toys.  We tried the board and train route and that helped, but it is difficult to really understand what they taught him during the 9 days he was there is less than 20 minutes.  Don't get me wrong, he was better but we still had issues.

I know he really wants to be a good dog, I can see it in his sad brown eyes, so we signed him up for adolescent obedience training at Support Dogs.  I wasn't sure what to expect and I was hoping for the best.  I'm not sure about the training at the local pet stores and most other training offered in this area is done in a drop-off/pick-up way.  No offense, but I need the repetition as much as Coal does!

Last week was our first class.  Coal barked and barked and barked and jumped and barked and barked.  He was so loud that even when the training was yelling, you couldn't hear her.  We finally got him to settle down and started our lessons.  It was the first week so it was a little chaotic and we didn't do much but we had some hope.

Today we had our second class.  There were twice as many dogs this week which was actually a good thing for us.  Coal needs to be around other dogs to get used to them.  We waited for our instructions, and Coal laid on the floor and didn't make a sound.  What?  Was this the same dog who wouldn't shut up last week?  Yep.  He was very well behaved during class.  He barked once and compared to the other growling going on, he was one of the angels in the class.  Next week will be the challenge - we have to come across the room without being on a leash.  I guess we better practice!

Do Fence Me In

If you haven't been following this blog very closely, you might not know that we have a psychotic dog in our house.  He is craaaaaazy with a capital C!  

One of the biggest problems we have is that we don't have a fence and so we don't really have a good place for Coal to run of some of this excess energy.  We tried going to the local dog park but did I mention that the dog is psychotic? Living on a cul-de-sac that backs up to another cul-de-sac means we end up with a very odd shaped lot that does not easily lend itself to fencing. Running our property line with regular fencing would be extremely expensive as well as butt-ugly!  The only real solution we could come up with was live with the chain untangling and digging or invest in an underground fencing system.  I have heard mixed reviews about these things but we decided to give it a shot.  We could have installed it ourselves, but that seemed like a ton of work (with iffy results) so we hired an expert to install our system.

Nate came out on Wednesday and installed the fencing in no time flat.  If you don't know how these things work, they bury a cable underground and then mark the boundaries with bright red flags.  Coal loves to chew on flags, so he quickly learned that maybe this was no longer a good idea!  He tried to bite the first flag and got his warning signal and he was not happy about this at all!

Yesterday, for the first time ever, we played a wicked game of fetch with Coal in the backyard.  He was untethered and ran and ran for almost an hour.  And when his mommy threw the stick over the boundary line (on accident), he didn't even try to go after it.  This morning, a tasty looking piece of trash was blowing towards him.  He ran right up the flags and laid down and patiently waited for it to blow over the line so he could destroy it.  

So my review after 4 days?  It was worth every penny that we paid for this system.  I can see a huge difference in Coal already.  I'm not ready to let him out without supervision yet, but we are getting closer. What can I do?  I can let him out with a leash and he doesn't bolt.  He will happily lay down on the patio with us and just enjoy the fresh air.  He will actually play and run - fetch, soccer, or just crazy, excess energy running!  The other benefit, I haven't heard him sit on top of the hill and bark incessantly at the bunnies in the neighbors yard. 

He is really good about the boundaries in the back, but for some reason, he is completely freaked out by the front yard.  We can't get him to cross the line even if he doesn't have the receiver collar on.  This makes taking him for a walk a little difficult!  We might have to resort to putting him in the car to take him off our property for walks.  That works fine except for the days that Dr. Evil and his family have a party (which is like every other day).  We will keep working with him and hopefully soon, we can let him go without a leash and he will stay put!

How Big?

I love my puppy, I really do, but some days I wonder what we have gotten ourselves into. He is a thief. He is a back-talker. And he is eating us out of house and home.

I wonder how much bigger this dog can get. The Cowboy Vet swears he is close to his full adult weight and we need to start cutting back on his food. I'm not sure we will survive the cut backs but we will do our best. But look at those paws! I'm not sure we are anywhere close to being done yet!

Coal Here....

Hey, it's Coal!  I haven't been able to steal Mommy's computer in a while but she is kind of busy tonight so I'm sneaking in a post while she ain't payin' attention.

I'm not sure what I did but Mommy and Daddy apparently took some toys away from me.  I haven't figured out which ones are missing but they keep talking about my balls being gone.  I thought I hid them under the curtains where they never think to look for them, but they keep insisting that they are gone.  One of these days I'm gonna have to look for them to see if my balls are really gone.

Maybe the took them away when they took me to visit that really nice guy.  Mommy took me for a ride yesterday morning.  I love riding in the car so I was really happy to get out instead of waiting for Skaterboy to come home from school.  I love the place she took me because there are all kinds of doggies and kitties there for me to sniff!  This guy took me from Mommy and then things kind of get fuzzy.  I don't remember alot of what happened next.  I do remember talking a really long nap.

This morning I woke up in a strange place.  I could hear people talking and knew there were others doggies around so I kept trying to get their attention.  I don't know why no one paid attention to me but I kept trying to get their attention by getting louder and louder.  Finally, a really nice lady must have heard me because she came to get me and guess who I saw- Daddy!  I was really happy to see him.

Daddy must have felt bad about leaving me behind because he took me for a ride!  We went to the place where I first met Mommy and Daddy and then we went for a really long walk in this place with alot of grass.  When we got home, he took me for another walk by our house.  When Mommy got home, I was happy to see her, but I was really tired.

Later, these little people came over to visit.  I like them because I can lick their faces without having to jump or anything!  Plus, they carry people food really low and I can steal it from them.  These little people have these real cool doggie beds that are full of air.  They are a real comfy place to chew on a boney or just take a nap.  But they would let me sleep on them so I had to find another place to lay down.

Well, I have had a rough day or two and I'm really tired so I think I'm gonna crash on the couch for awhile!  I gotta remember to go look for those balls in the morning. See ya!

Mindless fun

How do you keep a puppy entertained for hours?  Toss snowballs into the yard and watch 'em try to figure out where they went!  Yeah, I know it's kind of cruel, but it's highly entertaining and definitely passes the time.

Peace and quiet....

I don't live in a crazy house.  There are only 3 of us living here and with a college-aged teenager, usually it is only the Mr. and myself at home.  Tonight, everything is almost eerily quiet around here.

It wasn't so this morning.  Mr. M was up before the sun in order to make it work on time.  He is really quiet when he gets up early but because of the snow last night, he let me know he was leaving.  I nodded back off only to be rudely awakened by the most god-awful sound.  I wasn't sure what it was but I was convinced that something was horribly wrong with something in the house.  The walls of my bedroom were vibrating.  All I could think was "This is going to be expensive to fix - whatever this is."

I listened intently and I finally figured out what was making the horrible, earth shaking, screeching sound.  My neighbor, Dr. Evil, was using a snow blower to clean off his driveway.  Now I am all for using mechanical means to clear off snow - we own a monster truck sized blower ourselves.  But this thing sounded like a wounded creature from some other world.  Dr. Evil must have gotten tired on every pass and stopped to rest at the top of his driveway.  Which also happens to be about 5 feet from my once slumbering brain.  I tried to drown out the "wapa-wapa-wapa" sound that was beating a hole into my cerebral cortex, but it wasn't going to work, so I begrudgingly got out of bed.  The vibration, noise and the incredibly dry air have given me a killer headache that will not go away.

But tonight is a completely different story. Mr. Monkeygirl is off bowling with his league tonight and probably won't be home until after I go to bed. Skaterboy is off to check in on his mom who hasn't been feeling well lately. Coal is crashed on the floor in the middle of the room, snoring up a storm.  He gets up ever once in awhile and moves to a different spot, but for most of the night, he has been semi-comatose!

I almost don't know what to do with all of this quiet time.  Fortunately, a new episode of LOST is about to start so I can at least fill up the next hour. Then I might do something odd and go to bed before the evening news!  I am wiped out today.

Tink went Bye-bye

Last night while baby sitting the M&M's I was looking for ways to keep them busy and happy and away from the crazy puppy that lives in my house.  We locked ourselves in my office with a huge stash of toys and all of my cropping supplies.  Heady from my weekend success at creating a race car of the most awesome proportions, I decided that we could create more race cars together.  

I quickly came to my senses and realized that 4 year old's do not have the patience to cut and assemble 40+ pieces of a race car.  We cut the initial layer of DJ from the movie "Cars" and then he quickly wanted to move on to the next car.  We one layer for Boost. Now he wanted "SnotRod".  In an effort to provide equal time to his sister, we switched from "Cars" to Tinkerbell.  We picked an really cute Tink and cut her out in no time.  All my little princess was worried about was that I didn't rip her Tink and that she had to have "sprinkles".  She carried her Tink to the dinner table and then in the after dinner confusion, she left her on the table.

After the M&M's were safely tucked in the car and headed home, I realized that Tink was still on the table.  No problem, I would just save it for her next visit, right?  Wrong!  Coal apparently thought Tinkerbell looked fun to play with so he snuck her off the table and proceeded to chew up all of Tink except for the tip of her wings that I managed to snatch away from him before he disappeared under the dining room table.

Hopefully, the M&M's have a short memory and won't remember that Tink was left behind - or I guess I could just cut a new one.  No one would be the wiser!  

Demanding to be heard...

Coal is a little persistent.  At 40 pounds and growing every day, he has a way of making his point.  He insists on helping me every time I try to post but I keep telling him to get is own blog if he has so much to say.  Coal's favorite post is "||}}|{{><>?::{>>:" I personally don't get this one, but I'm sure there are some smart Yorkies out there who would totally get this joke!  Since Wylie and Marcel got their own post, Coal is demanding to get his share of the action.  So hear we go with Coal's first meme/tag....

What breed are you?  I thought I was all lab but one day I pointed at something, so mommy thought I might be part pointer.  Ever time I speak, mommy and daddy call me a hound dog. One day we went to visit this really nice man in a white coat and he said I was a mix of all 3. I like being a mixture 'cause I get the best of all 3 breeds!

How old are you? I am exactly 25 weeks old today.  I'm not very good at math so daddy says that means 5 months old.  I don't know what that means either but if daddy says it is so, then I have to believe him.

What is your full name? Coaltrain.  Even though it sounds like I might have been named after the legendary Jazz composer, my mommy and daddy aren't that cool.  I really got my name because of my color and the fact that I am very strong.  Everybody usually just calls me Coal - you know like "All I got for Christmas was a lump of coal"?

Do you have any nicknames?  What is a nickname?  Is that what mommy and daddy always call me?  My nicknames must be "Coal, no!" or "Coal, off!" or mommy's favorite "Stop chewing on me!".

Where do you usually sleep?  When mommy and daddy let me run free, I love sleeping on the couch.  I wait until mommy gets up to go in the other room for something and then I steal her spot 'cause it is all nice and warm!  They bought me my own bed but it is more fun to drag it around the house than to sleep on it!

What is your favorite thing to do?  Daddy has a whole bunch of these things that he puts on his head to cover his fur, I can't remember the real name, but they smell just like my daddy and I love my daddy.  Well anyway, I like to sneak into daddy's room when he isn't paying attention and take one.  I only take one!  Then I prance down the hall and go hide under the dining room table.  It is so funny to watch mommy and daddy try to reach me under there! When they come to one side, I run out the other side and go hide under the tree with all the shiny lights on it.  Daddy has a lot of these things so I can play this game for hours!

What is something interesting/unusual about you? I don't know what this really means but I keep hearing mommy talk about this thing called "spay/neuter" and she says I have to have both.  Yeah!  I get both!  I don't really know what any of that means but she also tells people that I only have one ball and that the other one didn't drop. But she is crazy, I have like 5 different balls and I usually drop the ball when I bring it to her.

Who is your best friend?  There is this guy, he kind of lives in a house by my backyard. Whenever I hear his car or see him come outside, I run over and sit on the hill and give him my most adorable, head tilt look!  It must work because he comes over to me every time! I will just sit there, very quietly, until he gets close enough to pet me and then I run up to him, tail waggin' to get my daily dose of petting!  If I get tangled up on the pole, I just have to sit there and look at him and he will come over and free me up.  Don't tell him, but I can do it myself, but if that means he comes over more often, then I'm all for the pathetic look!

Did you go to obedience school?  I think I'm too young for school but I heard mommy and daddy talking to a lady the other day about sending me to school soon.  I think I'm pretty smart so I don't know why I need to go to school.

Can you do any tricks?  Have you ever seen those Captain Morgan commercials?  I can make mommy strike that pose when she is cooking!  My favorite trick for daddy?  I wait until he isn't looking and I untie his shoes!  And I love to make sure that my boy has his pants appropriately low.  You know how the kids these days wear 'em!

Any last comments?  My mommy and daddy rock!  They sent me to this great doggie hotel for New Year's Eve!  Most dogs would have been stuck at home all alone but I got to go play with some other puppies and have a p-a-r-t-y!

So if any of Coal's friends out there want to be tagged, feel free to join in!!

Monkey Monday - with a twist

Today we have a twist.  We do have a new monkey in our house but this time, the monkey doesn't belong to me. The new monkey belongs to Coal.  Who is the heck is Coal, you ask?  Coal is our new puppy!

We have been talking about getting a dog for months.  I was reluctant at first.  But Mr. Monkeygirl was relentless.  He pleaded his case repeatedly - he had hundreds of dogs in the past, it would give him something to do when I traveled, wouldn't it be nice to have a dog curled up at your feet?

Mr. Monkeygirl kept finding the cutest dogs through a local animal rescue group and would show me the pictures.  I finally caved in and gave him my blessing to fill out the adoption papers.  For some reason, he didn't fill out the papers and the puppies kept getting adopted.  He would show people the picture of the dog "he almost had".  

Last week, my sister found a stray dog roaming her neighborhood.  They took the dog to the local animal shelter but let us know that we should go check him out. Mr. Monkeygirl went up after I left town and found out that the owners had already come to claim him.  So much for that one, but Mr. M. did find a little black lab puppy.  We tried to go up to adopt him on Friday but they told us that the owners were coming up to get him.  Undeterred, Mr. M decided to visit the shelter every day after work until the owners picked him up or they let us adopt him.

So we have a new puppy in the house.  I guess I need to stop leaving my shoes on the floor and I need to get him a new collar with bells on it since he likes to sneak up in between your legs when you aren't paying attention.  Skaterboy and Coal are playing tug-o-war right now and I'm not really sure who is winning!