Pupdate- July 20 2023

 Hey All.    Happy Thursday. 

Today's Momma's day off.  She really needed a mental health day so she took off today & tomorrow.

Already took the kiddoes to the farm with their favorite person on earth. They had a blast. More on that later.....

So the last few weeks have been interesting. The girls have not wanted to go to daycare at all. Depending on whether or not I have to leave after work, I've been letting them stay. Where they once used to be raring to go out the door for daycare, they refuse to move or come to me wanting me to reassure them that they do not have to go.    

Things definitely have changed there so I'm not going to force them when they obviously have no desire to go.   As long as the weather has been nice, I've been taking them to the farm so we all get out of the house. 

It's an adjustment because I need to keep boundaries & not have them think they can get me to do their bidding every time they want something.  
It is tiring as that I work all day.  Before work & at lunch I play with them. After work they expect that I play with them.   They are quite annoying and demanding that I do.   

I have zero breathing room.    I can't even take them for a walk as the weather is too hot/humid for me to walk without getting ill.      

Finding a moments peace that they'll allow me is a challenge.   

I have had Jen, their favorite non-parental person, come out twice a week now vs once.  They love that.  

In fact they had quite a surprise today.  We had her scheduled today & I asked her earlier if she wanted to go to the farm.   So we met up there. 

Lada when she realized Jen was there was a sight to see. She in fact jumped out the car window into her arms just to get to her to greet her.  

They were happy to get in the pond to cool off and even happier to play with both Jen & Momma.   Here are some of the photos that didn't make it on the FB post.......

September 28 2022-Loving the weather thru Oct 7

Fall is here 

The Berners are in heaven. They LOVE this cooler weather.   

As of late it feels as though all the dogs are fighting to get attention from Momma.   It didn't help that I was out late on Saturday. Gone most of the day & coming home around 2:30AM as I attended a concert with some friends, they are not used to my being away for long. 

The greeting I got was very enthusiastic. They are also clingy.     Additionally, Lada seems to get lost in the fight. Being the smallest, she sometimes gets "buried" in the mass of fur.   
She's getting more "possessive" and snapping at the others when they come for attention.  
This morning I had to bring her up on my lap to have a "chat". 

I told her she was my special girl and I'm sorry if she thinks she isn't getting enough attention, but because my lap is always reserved for her as well as the spot next to my pillow--my outward showing of love might make it seem I don't love her.   However she is very loved and is the only one who holds those spots.    Poor girl.   

Reminder

Don't forget to check the Facebook page when there isn't any updates here.   I can update FB on the fly or in the moment, so there is always something there.     
The blog here is our recap or longer thoughts or anecdotes of what happened.  

https://www.facebook.com/thecouchcrew2022/

What's been up

The past week has been very busy here.   On Friday of last week my friend (and one of Peryn's favorite people) came over and we walked the boys on the path.   It was a gorgeous day & enjoyable.  

Sunday, cousin Zenia, came for a visit.   We took them all to the Farm. It was an awesome time.  Watching Zenia explore and experience new things put a smile on our face.   Nothing is cuter than watching a dog experience something the first time & loving it.  

The one downside to the weather has been the rain, particularly the storms. The boys do not do well with them.  While I have gotten additional lap time with Volos, it's not all fun & games.

See what I mean?

Started this post over a week ago.  Apologize if it isn't cohesive.  Trying to get my bearings of what photos, info, & such were last shared. 10/7/22

The Boys

The boys have been staying home from daycare together.  They've gotten walks & plays. They still are up to their shenanigans

Lada-Oct 7
Today is little girl's 6th birthday.   

MISC FB Updates

Shout out to our biggest Fans

Saying HI to our biggest & most loyal supporters.

Sisters=BFFs

In case you're wondering how the girls are doing at daycare, without their brothers? Wonder no more. They're still BFFs.

Merry Christmas......A Pupdate

 I cannot believe a month has passed.  I don't know where time is going ....  I'll tell you these pups.... They sure keep us busy.  

Starting with the baby...

Ziva. Ziva. Ziva.   Long gone is our cute, sweet little baby girl.   We have a monster on our hands. This girl is big.  The biggest (size wise) of all the dogs.  She's about 5 lbs away from Volos, but gaining.  She is a little more than 50% of her adult size.   
She is the sweetest most loving dog you will ever meet. HOWEVER....  She does NOT listen. She eats ANYTHING she finds. She jumps up to hug anyone who visits. 

The worst is the eating/chewing anything & everything.  If it's at her level, it'll be in her mouth. The items she's destroyed (shoes, Christmas cards, boxes, etc. ) or eaten is absolutely ridiculous. Her most recent big thing was the 6" long toy rope. She came home from day care the other day due to throwing up.  In the AM we found the rope in the midst of a pile.   She's too quick for us at times.   

We cannot wait for her to grow out of this phase (we hope she does). 

She is the dog that day care is made for. She loves playing with her friends & her sister at day care.  I've even had to hire someone to come on their day off from day care to play with them for an hour to give me a break during my lunch time. 

It has been successful as they absolutely love their companion.  When the hour is up, they are practically passing out in my office.   

Lada & Ziva are BFFs.   They are constantly wrestling in the house.  It is cute & really makes us happy that Lada has a companion & Ziva has an outlet for her puppy energy. 

Lada:  Lada is still Lada.  Protective of the family (her pack included) and loyal to Momma.   Occasionally allowing one of the others to get affection from Mom, more often not.

She loves to play fetch with the tennis ball when playing with the humans, but absolutely loves wrestling & running with her baby sister.    
She hasn't forgotten her brothers either. She still engages with Volos & Peryn when appropriate.   

As of the last month & half she doesn't want to go to day care.   We force her to go because she is one of the ones that need to go. Plus if Ziva is going to be there, Lada is.    I think it has to do with the fact that Volos hasn't been going. She doesn't like that he's home alone with me.

If she had her way, she would play with every one of the pack & keep me to herself.  She absolutely loves their weekly companion, it's almost competition for me (ha ha). No her companion is # 3 on her list of favorite people on the planet after Me & Rich. 

Peryn.   Peryn is Peryn. Still a jerk.  Still a bully.   He's seemed to have softened a little bit.  There is "some" acceptance of Ziva. I've heard that he almost plays with her at daycare.    At home if he's not chasing a ball or playing fetch, he'll try to taunt her (not as obnoxious about it as he is with Volos).   

Peryn is accepting of whoever I have had to come play with him. IF it means he gets to play fetch or have someone down there when he pushes the ball, he's all for it.   

He taunts Volos, but not as much. I think because he splits his attention between Volos & Ziva or playing with Lada it's eased up a bit.  Don't get us wrong, he's still a world class Jerk....just a very cute one. 

Volos- my baby. my boy.  I adore this dude so freaking much. He began showing reluctance in going to day care, so we began allowing him to stay home. 

Then on Dec 1 he had surgery to remove 2 more Mast Cell Tumors (MCT) & he was kept home until stitches came out.  He is back at daycare today just to get him out of the house, but he'll most likely be back home tomorrow.   

He isn't a social dog. He isn't a playful dog (not the way he would need day care for) and he isn't for dogs getting up in his business.   We send him to keep him socialized & all that but he goes sparingly now.   He ABSOLUTELY loves being home with me.  During my breaks I get on the floor to cuddle with him.  He gets so excited about that. 

If I run an errand, he is in the car with me.  If I just sit around, he's right there with me.  He's a chill dog overall so day care is just a thing every so often.   Lada is very jealous of that.   However she NEEDS it , he doesn't. 

His MCTs were low grade with clear margins, so we're doing ok until we find more that need to be removed.   

At night where he once was reluctant to climb into bed to lay on me, he no longer is. That is HIS SPOT.  I often wake up & find him there.   He no longer needs prompting. Mommy is his night-time spot. 

Ziva still pretty much can do whatever she wants when it comes to Volos.  Not one to share his food, treats, or toys, Ziva can take what she wants.  It may not be super obvious, but he adores her.  She forced herself into his life and now he just accepts it.  It's pretty darn cute.   

Their favorite thing to do is lay at the bottom of the stairs & destroy toys or cardboard boxes.   They're so silly.

  

The Farm

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ A doggy slice of heaven
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the Farm here & there in this blog.    Well, today I'm going to tell you about The Farm.-Red River Dog Farm.

We've been taking our dogs to dog parks & dog events for years. We started with Galen & Sheba, but it didn't happen to often while we lived in Cleveland as we had the fenced in back yard for them to chill out in.  

All of our dogs have different reactions to being at the dog park. Duchess used to go off by herself & explore. For that reason she loved the bigger parks that allowed her that option. Her favorites were Medina, Kirtland,  &  Huron. She didn't mind the other smaller parks if we were meeting someone there (Oberlin).  She didn't interact too much with others. It was rare if she did. However, when she was OVER it, she would head to the gate & face out. Waiting for us to get the hint. She would have LOVED the Farm.

Athena....Athena thrived at dog parks. She was all about other dogs, running & chasing, (AND BARKING).  She could spend forever at those places.  If a park was empty, she was happy just exploring with her siblings. She got one visit a few weeks before she past & she LOVED IT!!!

Now Peryn & Lada. They are NOT normal. In the beginning, Peryn was all about wrestling with his buddies, but as he soon discovered FETCH & later -the herding ball-- dog parks were a vary different experience.

Peryn & Lada tend to play with each other either herding their ball or fetching a ball/toy.   They're not necessarily into playing with other dogs.   Depending on Peryn's mood, he may allow other dogs to play along. When he's like this, he encourages other dogs to play with his herding ball.    Other times, nope. Don't come near him. He doesn't want to be bothered. 

Lada does what Peryn does.  That is only if she feels secure enough to be away from Mom.

So going to dog parks was more about the room for them to run than playing with other dogs. In fact, busy parks were often a pain as dogs & people would get in their way.   When we arrived with the ball & let the dogs loose, we always had people coming up to us to ask about it.  "They never have seen such a thing". 

Peryn loves parks where he has the option to cool down while he plays (pool, pond, lake). He only uses them for the cool down.  Now Lada, she likes to swim when fetching.   Down side is there are only so many places with water for the dogs to swim.   Medina (when not having issues), Kirtland (too long of a drive, Stow (again long drive).     Finding the Farm was a miracle!

I first stumbled upon their website: https://www.redriverdogfarm.com/ when searching for a dog park that was nearer to us ( closest was almost 20 mins- Avon Lake) and that had swimming.   I was unsure as it was a Member Only place.  Wasn't sure if the fee was per dog or per family. So I held off for a bit. 

When one of our long time Husky friends (met because of Duchess!) told us about it, I was able to ask questions & find out more.   We did our Free Play Tour Visit last July. The minute I saw the place, I knew it was perfect for us. 

• Large area for the dogs to play with their ball or fetch.....CHECK
• Swimming area for the kids in the summer.....CHECK
• Warm shelter for the freezing winter....CHECK*
• Swimming pools for a quick cool off ....CHECK
• Areas to explore & roam...CHECK
• Not having to deal with over crowding...or any people at all ....CHECK
• 15 Minutes from the house (closest park to date) CHECK
• Member Only.  Better care for the place....CHECK
• Extremely nice owners who are making improvements for a better experience..>CHECK!

This place was/is perfect.  They breed Portuguese Water Dogs who are often on the property.  The dogs are sweet & hilarious & pretty much leave you alone.   Even when they don't they're harmless, so there are no issues.

You'll notice I didn't mention Volos.   Volos is in a category all by himself. He's not one to play with other dogs. He's more of a hang by his Momma kind of dog.  When he's in the mood, he'll go off and explore on his own.  He always makes his way back to my side though.   

He's happy to just lay down at my feet or plop himself in front of me begging for pets while I play with the Chuck-It & Peryn & Lada.

My first thoughts when I toured the farm was that I couldn't wait to get Athena there.  Even though her clock was winding down, I knew she would love it. I am so glad we were able to take her there.  She was having a good day, so that made it even more special.

There have been a few downsides I'll admit for full-disclosure--that this day was a one off--but it was enough of an inconvenience to us. We stopped by one Saturday morning during the winter.  A family member & friends were there to play ice hockey & took up most of the parking spaces (being a small member only place, there aren't that many).   We ended up getting stuck in the snow & ignored by everyone on the ice. We were stuck for a half hour before we stopped & asked the next "friend" who showed up for help that we were able to get out.   
Marti & Janet have since laid down more rocks to avoid this happening in the future.  Additionally we have noticed a camera set up on the barn now.  Heard from our friend that they were able to speak to them through the camera.  So I don't foresee this being an issue in the future.

While the above happened, the family member also had the dogs running all around un-attended & a few of them continued to bother Peryn when he attempted to herd his ball. Dude was not happy.  The others continued to bark at ours & made playing on their own a bit difficult. 

This all was a 1-time thing & each visit we see more improvements to the Farm. 

One more caveat. The neighbor tends to shoot his gun at times.  So if your dog is extremely reactive to noises like that, be aware.   We lived next to a gun range in the last house (in fact we can still hear it at times) so the sound of gun shots does nothing to them. They still carry on as if it's a normal day.  
Volos---the sweet neurotic fluff ball is not a fan.  So he tries to hide in or near the barn or in my arms.      Most times there isn't any, so we have no issues.

Overall, this is the preferred place to go if you & your dog prefer the quieter side of parks or prefer to play by themselves (Or their pack).   
At most, I've been there when 4 others families were there.  No issues what-so-ever. My dogs did their thing, weren't bothered by the curious dogs that wandered over.    Most times we're by ourselves.   It's large enough with a small number of members to make it a pleasant visit. 

Did I mention the barn? The course equipment? The toys?  Yeah.  There is a barn for the human's to rest in, keep out of the sun or cold. It's heated with a picnic table to rest at.  A beverage or two.   

If your dog is into running agility courses, there is equipment there for that. Need a toy to play with, a bucket of toys is right outside the barn.  Your dog doesn't swim? A small pool is available for them to cool off in.  Human needs to use the restroom, a "nice" (can you call the nice) port-a-potty is near the entrance. 

They had a Lure there when we first signed up that was supposed to be getting fixed. I really would like to try that, so maybe one of these days it'll re-appear. 

To view their page & find more information, click the picture below.

 

 

What?! Two posts in one week?

 Your eyes aren't deceiving you. We've posted twice this week.  The Daddyman is otherwise occupied, leaving time for Momma to play around. That doesn't happen often--so enjoy it. 

Regular visitors may notice a slight change in layout & design.  Having had time, found the settings to make some long wanted modifications.    Once upon a time all I did was update and work on webpages and graphics.   That young lil lady eventually got a job, moved back to her home town and got lots and lots of dogs...  Bye bye free time. 

So yes, I made some updates to the layout and colors.   Hope it makes reading easier.

Secondly, I'm writing to tell you about Volos.    

Truthfully, I forget what I do write about. Throughout the week I often compose blog subjects in my head.  What actually gets posted is often a far cry from what I originally thought about. That being said-- Volos had a biopsy done on one of his growths. It was another mast cell tumor.   We decided to remove it being that it was the 3rd growth since we adopted him.

After the initial appointment we found another spot and another fast growing "growth" next to his eye. Thanks to Galen & Duchess, we recognized the eye one as a fatty tumor.

He had his removal surgery yesterday.  The other 2 are being sent for pathology to make sure we got them all and to find out if the 2nd one is a MCT.  

Poor dude.  Picked him up and he was still drugged out and in the cone.  Cone FREAKED him out. Every time it made a sound or moved, he freaked and tried to escape...causing it to move and freak him out more.

His freaking out caused one of the wounds to seep.  I made a quick online purchase and went to pick up an inflatable collar.   Five minutes later, Dude is acting normal.

What didn't help during this time of being drugged and in a cone that freaked him out, my smoke alarm went off.   THAT WAS FUN.

He can't go to daycare for 2 weeks until his stitches are removed.  He stayed home and slept.  Part of it is because he's recovering and the other is he missed his siblings.    He came to life when they got home.

It will be a long 2 weeks I can tell you that. 

The dogs were away from day care for 6 full days. Longest week of my life.   Wednesday I took them to the farm where snow was EVERYWHERE.   Lada was disappointed because she couldn't play fetch because the ball kept disappearing in the snow and neither she nor I could find it. 

They did end up playing with the tug.    

Volos LOVED IT. Snow and this dude....  He really came alive and wish I had been more ready with the camera.   Here are some pics & Vids from the visit..including 3 way tug!