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.

 

 

Peryn: The A H

 Hello. My name is Peryn and I am a major asshole.   

That's how I imagine him introducing himself  to people. It really is a mystery how the sweet little puppy we brought home turned into the little shit that he now.     

Don't get me wrong, he's the sweetest dude when he wants to be. However if he doesn't get his way...

Peryn isn't overtly affectionate not like Volos & Lada are.  Those two thrive on love and affection-demand it even. When they're just lying there relaxing, they love when they get pets and cuddles.  Peryn tends to move away from it.  When we force the issue, he grudgingly accepts it. 

What we mean by that: he has a purr-growl.  He's indicating he's not exactly a fan of the physical part of this attention, but at the same time he likes it. It's like he is fighting his nature.  "I don't like being touched, but it's Mommy giving me loving".

Peryn is OBSESSED with two things. Ball & Volos. He is a MAJOR brat when trying to get his way with either.
First we'll discuss BALL.   Ball is any ball, BUT it also is anything that can be thrown & returned by him. So this extends to his toys.   He is an interactive player.

He is happiest when someone other than him is involved in play.  

I warn people when they first come that if you throw his toy once, you're in for it. This is no exaggeration, he can play for hours.   Trying to ignore him or telling him no is where the AH part comes in.  He will first bark insistently at you to play. This bark, the heeler bark as I call it, is so high pitched and annoying. He does not stop until you give in. Give in you will.

Once that doesn't work, he moves onto his next phase. He climbs up on you or on the  back of the couch (where ever you are sitting) and proceeds to climb on top of you. So he will either be on your head, shoulders, or lap while being overly loving and a major pain in the butt, trying to get you to play with him. 

In the basement is their herding ball. He loves that thing. He is very skilled at controlling it.  I am seriously impressed with him. Sometimes he will play by himself, toy in his mouth, while pushing the ball around with his paws.  Dude has real control over it.  He prefers when he has an audience.

When we take the ball to the park with us, he turns into a monster with his barking because he wants Rich (who usually carries it) to drop it so he can play. I mean his high pitched barking is ridiculous at this point.   

Taunting as usual

As I said, anything ball is his favorite.  Ball is anything that can be fetched. His FAVORITE item is actually a cheeseburger. I have a gallery of photos of him & that cheeseburger. We had to buy so many to put in reserve since he adores that dang thing. 

 In the game of fetch where he is OBVIOUSLY the BIGGEST JERK is the blaster guns I have.   I have two different ones that shoot tennis balls. The one upstairs shoots small tennis balls & the one in the basement shoots regular sized tennis balls.    
LADA lives for this. Her favorite thing is to play fetch with Momma.   Peryn....used to love doing that, but his thing these days involves ruining it for everyone. 

MOST times we play it is Lada chasing after the ball with Peryn running alongside her to make sure she picks it up. He usually will have another ball or toy in his mouth already when doing this.   He will play like this until his toy becomes disgustingly drenched or until he decides he wants the current ball.  

When all 3 are playing (Volos loves to get involved) Volos gets excited too. He goes after the ball.  The difference is these days Volos drops the ball after taking a few "chews" on it.   Lada will pick it up and bring it back.  
Not Peryn. The jerk will drop whatever toy he currently has in his mouth, go after the ball in play & then hold onto it if he gets it first.   This is one of the reasons I usually have to take a minimum of 3 balls when playing with the shooters.    Lada is particular about which balls she plays with, so if the one he just discarded isn't a ball or is not "the one" in some ways, I have to bring out another. 

another day, another taunt

He will do this over and over in a game of blaster fetch.  With the tiny balls, since they are cheap I can buy a lot and use the older ones to shoot directly at him to catch.  He's happy either that instant or for a few more shots.  The bigger ball blaster (say that 3x fast) extra balls aren't as easy to come by.  
SO there have been times he's interrupted a game when he takes a ball & holds onto it.   

He can be sweet when he keeps the one in his mouth & runs along with Lada & stops the ball from going out of bounds or something....but these days it's far & in between.

 Oh and when he WANTS to go after the ball, he starts this OBNOXIOUS barking (see barking mentioned above).   It's worse because we're indoors. He will bark and bark until he gets a ball/toy in his mouth.  Truthfully, Volos gets excited as well and will bark while we play.  It gets VERY noisy.

Big brother....

Before Volos, Peryn would ALWAYS want to play.  He demands an audience or participation most times. He would often go downstairs by himself to play with his herding ball or whatever else he did down there. A lot of the time he wanted us to play with him.

Sometime after we brought Volos home, he began to be obsessed with him. Constantly trying to get him to play. This led to fights..physical altercations between the two. They were bad in the beginning. We're talking blood & fur flying.  Vet visits were needed.  

Now they still get into (all Peryn's fault), but I can't tell if it's their brand of playing or not. They're over quicker & Peryn thrives on these.  I am telling you I raised an asshole.

SO, If you've viewed our YouTube videos, you'll  have seen the Chronicles of Peryn & Volos.  Peryn loves ..is obsessed with...getting Volos to react to him. We think he ultimately wants Volos to chase him, but he takes what he can get. 

The two of them rumble over toys all the time. Volos loves to collect/hoard them.  Peryn knows this and tends to find one to rub in Volos' face. LITERALLY. He straight up walks right up to Volos to taunt him with said toy.  He tries to get him to react & go after him. ALL. THE. TIME.    

Volos can be next to me getting pets, there is Peryn walking up to him as close as he can with a toy. If it makes noise, he'll make sure to shake it or squeak it right in his face.   Peryn is a SERIOUS ASSHOLE here. Over and over until either Volos follows him to the basement or they get into. The times where Volos manages to take it away, cue Peryn's obnoxious bark.   

It can be funny, but when it ends in a tussle it just pisses me off.  

So as you can see he is a jerk when he doesn't get his way & he knows how to manipulate us.

Back to the fetch thing. The past few days he's been like this. He used to do this all the time, but not as much lately.  When he tries to get us to play fetch, he used to drop his ball or toy on the floor in front of us. This is to get our attention when we "hear" the ball. If that didn't work, he'd do it again or twice back to back.  
When that didn't work, he'd drop it against your foot or leg. 

Next he puts it right next to you on the couch/chair.  The more you ignore him then it moves to ON YOU.   He knows if he does it enough you will push it off or toss it off of you. THAT is what he's aiming for and he goes after it to bring it back-to start the process all over. 

When I am serious about not playing and tell him "NO" sternly. He gets this look like you just gravely hurt him.  If it's near the beginning of him trying to play, he climbs up on you to shower you with kisses, trying to butter you up. 

If you've been playing for awhile and are tired, he'll get this hurt look and go lie down.   

The collection of his prized possessions (cheeseburger, balls taken from Volos...) end up in the bed with us. The reason is two-fold. One to keep them safe. Two to keep them away from Volos.  Three to have them ready when he wants you to throw them.  This usually happens on Sunday nights when Rich is doing his big shave & shower for Monday.  He will keep dropping it at Rich's feet to play.  He's even dropped in the shower when he wasn't done.
   
He'll do it in the middle of the night if he's in the mood & you've gotten up to use the restroom.  He will do it while you're using said restroom. Sitting there minding your own business and you'll here the soft sound of plastic hitting the floor along with a faint "rrrrrr' (not a growl, but this sound he makes to let you know he's there, wanting your attention).

I try to stretch in the mornings.  I do this in the closet, on the floor. He'll bring his dang toy & throw it at me.   He's gotten so good at knowing what angle to drop some of his stuff that it comes right to you...like he threw it.   

When he wants to be sweet--to be sweet, he's a doll. He's also extremely sensitive. He HATES being yelled at.  He is petrified of storms.  He gets bent out of shape when the house gets messed up. The one year when we were redoing the first floor at our old house, he refused to be downstairs until everything went back to normal.  

He is a good brother though. He keeps annoying dogs away from Volos at daycare. He watches over Lada at daycare & at parks.  

Besides fetch, he does love tug.  WE had a tether tug at the old house. He & Lada broke it when the tag teamed it.  He loves playing tug with Lada, Volos, & us.   He is a very interactive play dog.   Just wish he wasn't such a jerk about it. 

And YES, I call him an Ass Hole to his face all the time....

Two things......

 Let me describe the insanity that is going on in my home right now on this rainy Friday night.

Dogs went to day care today.  Approximately 9+ hours.    They come home and immediately want to begin playing.

After dinner, Peryn & Volos headed straight to the basement to play their little "games" or whatever it is they do..bark at one another. 

Lada--I bought a small shooter to use upstairs ( I got tired of touching wet balls).  Unfortunately it takes the small tennis balls.   SO we begin to play with that. She immediately loses one ball.  Finds the other and then Volos comes flying back upstairs because he's decided he LOVES this new blaster.   
So both of them are fighting for the balls.  He takes the one squeaky one and I find one of the originals that came with the blaster.

However this ball is dead. Broken open, felt peeling off, & the blaster will barely hold it.  SO begins the shooting of the orange "ball" that they fight over.  If Volos gets it, Lada then runs to the basement in search of the yellow squeaky one.   If Lada gets it, it's clash of the...errrrr it's a rumble.

Meanwhile, Peryn is in the basement doing....whatever...  I can't tell you what because he's not making a sound.   He's not rolling his herding ball nor is he holding a squeaky toy. So who the heck knows what he's doing.   

Lada comes back over to me, expecting me to shoot off a ball, but she's failed to bring me back one.   SO I have nothing to shoot....well I do but I don't want to open those balls yet.    We get up and go to look where one is. Volos is sitting there at the entrance of my office and just breathing hard staring at the steps....why? NO Clue.   
Lada then runs to the basement to look for the ball which is actually in Rich's office.   
More running around and I get the ball back.    
Shoot it off  and then nothing.   Silence.  I look down, Lada is waiting for me to shoot off a non-existent ball. I head to the foyer, at the bottom of the stairs, standing and looking up is Volos.  He comes flying upstairs and then Peryn pops his head around the corner to let me know he exists.

Currently all 3 are sitting around me in the living room. Peryn whining at me for....I have no idea.  Lada keeps pawing the blaster. Volos nudged the blaster.   I'm trying to tell them I need a ball to shoot.   They aren't getting it.....

Well, here we are 2 weeks since we said good-bye to Athena.   It was hard.  I miss that sweet girl.   She never deserved everything that happened to her.  However if a dog was going to get that crap, she would be the best candidate because she was just sooo happy.

Her last day

She didn't go down like Galen, Goldberg, or Duchess.  She struggled to breathe at the end.  It was a bit traumatic for me as it was very reminiscent of my father's passing.   
It's just hard.

We never realized how much of our lives was devoted to her.   I'll give you an overview. 

Waking up in the am, I would let the pups out to go bathroom. *IF* she was up, I'd have to go pick her up and carry her outside.  I'd have to stand out there and hold her rear up by the harness and wait for her to pee or poop.   Sometimes it was quick other times I would have to move her around to get the right "spot" in order for her to go.

I'd bring her back in and place her on the bed in either the living room or my office. It depended what time I got up (4 or 5) and what room I was in.  
If she had soiled the bed, I would have to go take care of that.    

I would then hand out their brush chews.    If I was in the living room, I would pick her up and carry her into my office.   If we were already there..no biggie.   

Rich would get up about 6:15 and come check on her status.   Sometimes we took her back out other times she was fine.   He would then go and prepare her morning pills.  

I would then get up and retrieve her bowl and fill it up with water and food.   
If the others were hyper and running around, Athena would be barking at them as they did so.  If not, they all laid there.. Usually Lada curled up beside Athena.

Eventually Rich would take the pups to day care and so would begin the day of Athena & I from home.   She would take naps, but darn if that girl did not have a 6th sense of my leaving the room.  I'd pop back in and there she was up awaiting for me.

Most days she was pretty chill. Other days she would we very agitated. It was on those days that I would take her out multiple times to make sure she went.  She HATED going and sitting in it.  

If I ever left the room for more that 10 minutes, she'd begin barking .  She wanted me to know she wanted to be with me.

Most of the time our days would be boring. WHen I went to lunch, I'd bring her in the living room while I made lunch in the kitchen.  I'd bring her back to the office when done. 

I'd get off work at 2:30 and once more we'd take a bathroom break.  I would then bring her back in to either the office , living room, or bedroom depending on what I had to do. 

A lot of times I'd get on the floor next to her and cuddle with her.   SHe loved being cuddled or hugged.  

On really nice days, I'd put her at the back door to watch people walk by.  She loved watching out the window. 

I'd start dinner and she would watch me from her bed.  WHen the other cames home she would get so happy. Oftentimes she'd lift her front up and swivel around to watch them come in. 

After diinner was her cuddle time with Daddy. Rich would get on the floor in front of the couch and just pet her. She loved to place her head on his leg.  The other crazies would run around and she would bark at them.  She loved her pack.

At 8 it'd be bedtime and we'd take her out one last time, she'd get her pills, and we'd set her up in bed. Her nighttime treat was ice cubes in her water. She loved to gnaw on them. 

Now often during all of this she would soil her bedding and we'd have to wash it.  SO there was an awful lot of bed changing. 

On non-daycare days I made it a habit to take them all out or down to the basement at lunch to let them play.  She'd get 20 mins of cart and running time.   Sometimes I couldn't do it and it would just be a change of rooms while I prepped lunch. 

AFTER work on non-day care days they definitely got Mommy time.  I'd take Athena out and when I brought her back in, put her in her cart. The dogs got excited because they knew that meant play time. Even Athena did. 

We'd either go outside or to the basement. There she would roll around chasing after Peryn & Lada with their ball.  If it was the basement, she would always pee while in her cart and I ended up cleaning up the floor while they played. 

She LIVED for this time.  SO depending on how she was feeling and what I had going on , we'd be down there for 45 mins to an hour and a half.  I may have had things to do, but I let them go.  I knew this wouldn't last long.  Athena playing with her siblings.   

I also used this time as a gauge on how her disease progressed.  
After play we'd come upstairs and I'd place her on the bed in the living room. 

The rest of the evening proceeded like day care days. 

Caring for her became such a part of our day to day life, we never realized just how much we did until we weren't doing it.   It felt wrong and empty at first. 

We're relieved that she's not miserable anymore and that we don't have to wash bedding day in and out, but I would happily put up with that to have her back with me---healthy at least.

The others? Now sure. It is only this week that Lada has gone back to lying on the beds where Athena laid.  She had avoided them since that day...so I don't know if that means she's accepted it & is coming to terms with it  or if I am reading too much into it. 

THank you for all the messages and gifts we received.  Each and every one meant the world to us.  That you guys know what she meant to us. 

So that's pretty much it for now.  The pack and their crazy antics and the hole that Athena left....... Until next time. 

See her spine? She lost so much muscle mass

Closer look at her spine. See her bald spot

Be Careful What you Wish For.....

Hanging out with the girls

Can you believe it's the end of May already?   Volos has been with us for 4 months and this dog is unrecognizable. 

I just re-read day 3 & day 4 entries about him and just had to laugh.    Don't know who that dog was, but it sure is heck not Volos.     

Now, not all has been rosy and Peryn & Volos did get into recently that required Peryn seeing the vet because of an injury.   It's been touch and go with their getting along, however new circumstances may actually change that.

So, I used to comment how when I worked in my office, Volos wouldn't come in to lay with the rest of the pups.   Then eventually it happened.  

I used to wish Volos would be a bit more playful. He would sneak a toy here or there, but wasn't really all that playful.   Then he discovered the wonders of his Wobble Wag Giggle Ball.  That dog is insane over that ball.    It is his most favorite thing.    Additionally, he loves collecting toys.   
Yaay--another wish fulfilled.

We went for months not hearing a peep out of him.  He barks now.  Yay!

Thanks to this stay at home/quarantine thing, I've been working from home every day since the end of March.    For awhile it was good. I would work from home and the days that there was no play care, they all slept until my lunch time or end of day.  (Or a conference call).     IT's been pretty good and funny that they know my schedule enough to start bugging me.   

Getting comfy in his sleep

WELLLLLL....   Volos has decided as of late that he'll sleep the first part of the morning and then around 9-10 am he becomes animated and playful.   When he plays, he barks.  He barks at his ball or whatever toy he's playing with.       So it'll start with him playing for a bit with his ball across the hall.   Then he gets up and comes over to me wanting me to play with him.     

This in turn, riles up Peryn & Lada and then we have 3 hyper dogs wanting to play.     It was cute the first few times...... NOT SO MUCH NOW.           

This has led us to begin working with the Play Care to get Volos used to them.   Last Friday, he went in for a few hours and then I picked him up to bring home.   

He went again for several hours on Thursday.  It was a slow day, so he was there for 6 hours.   He did very well.      Yesterday he went the whole day.       

Wanting him to start going to day care has a few motivations behind it.   First, it helps him socialize in a different setting with different people and dogs.        Secondly, it gets him out of the house and away from bugging me to death.   Thirdly, I had a hope.       When he went last week, it was when Peryn was stuck at home because of his injured paw.   He was at day care with only Lada. 

My hope was that this week with Peryn returning, they might bond. I saw it with the dogs when it was Duchess, Athena, Peryn & Lada..   They tended to bond  and hang out together at day care.   I think that is one reason that pack was the most bonded and got along so well.   They relied on one another all the time.   

Well, below you will find photos taken by the day care of yesterday's outcome.   Let's hope things stay that way!! 

Athena's doing well. Still full of life and energy.  Her body's been cooperating for the most part.   We really did not think she was going to last this long based on how things were going in January.     We're happily surprised.   We love this girl so much. 

Peryn & Lada are the same.   Hyper as always, but loving and trying to figure out how Volos fits in.

One thing that has truly helped is that Volos is now a regular in the basement.  They run down, he often times is right behind them.       

He's often playing fetch down the stairs as well.    He really is such a happy dog and obviously knows he's part of the pack. He sleeping in the bedroom often and wanting to be in the middle of E V E R Y T H I N G.

This dog is definitely not the dog we brought home. 

Volos' admirer

Hanging out

Hanging out

Add caption

Brothers

The Family

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!

Pup-date May 3

Hi all.     Welcome back & Happy May.   

Athena & Volos

While nothing much is happening on the human front, being sheltered at home and all, the dogs have been giving much too much to talk about.

Athena's had a good week. She went to play care on the other day.  She had a blast. She's been very active and aware. She's gone downstairs to play with the pups a few times.  She's had a pretty exciting week.   

She & Volos just chill out when the other 2 are away at play care .

Peryn & Lada

Lada & Peryn are their typical selves. Lada is still clingy to Momma. Still playing with Peryn or Volos. She still loves on Athena.  She's her sweet hyper self. 

Peryn... he's a little something else.   He constantly tries to bully/annoy Volos. Constant growling or fighting goes on between the two of them.  

When not trying to antagonize Volos, he's still obsessed with going downstairs and playing with his herding ball.  
He is pretty generous the few times Volos came downstairs and attempted to play with the herding ball himself.   Peryn stood back and let him.    

Volos & Peryn

Volos.     This dude.   He's something else. A mischievous, playful, funny big dude.     He loves to steal.    Socks, tissues, slippers, toys, food... if it's at his level to steal, he'll take it.   We caught him trying to steal a open package of cookies this weekend.    

Other new things- he sleeps in our room all the time now.   Either at the foot of the bed or next to me.    It makes me happy that he is secure enough to do that now. 
He also comes downstairs regularly when the dogs play and has even tried to play with the ball as well.   When he doesn't come down, you can hear him upstairs playing with his Wobble Wag Giggle ball. 

When Peryn & Lada head downstairs to play on their own, he runs with them to the top of the stairs, makes sure they run down and then proceeds to steal whatever they were playing with or chewing on.

He's actually joined in on the game of fetch when Daddy throws a ball from the living room down the stairs, he's gone down on his own to get it.      He's a real playful dude.    

People who see him in person often ask if he's a puppy. He's small for his breed (around 70#).   I'm glad he's small. Dude doesn't know his size and knocks me off my feet often.
He thinks he's Lada's size and he's clearly not.     He often is found at my feet or against my legs--especially if we're outside on leash.   

We finally got the back stairs in (we've been trying to get this done since we moved in).  Getting the dogs used to using the back door vs the front is a work in progress. They still run to the front, but when I correct them, they fly to the back door.   

Volos isn't a fan.  I don't know if it's the width or the curtains "blocking his view", but he's snuck to the front once.      He'll get it sooner or later.   

So yeah, that's our Pupdate.    Volos is doing very well. Athena is hanging in there and the other 2 are as crazy as they always are.      Until next time.



 

May 2018--sorry we've been away!

HI!!!! Hi. Hi. Hi. HI!!!!   Thanks for checking in!  We're sooooooo happy you're here. Well I know I am.  For those of you who are new- I'm going to introduce me.  I'm Lada. I'm the youngest and happiest and the one who loves my Mommy the mostest. I have the bestest Mommy in the whole wide world. 

I have 2 big sisters and 1 big brother. I love my sissies and my big brother.    They are the funnest and awesomest brother and sisters any dog has ever had.

Uhmmm my Mommy says that I'm supposed to tell you all about what we've been doing in all these months and months.  My Mommy is the bestest person ever.

Duchess had an owwwie and had to go to the doctor and he got rid of it.  She was all whooo whooo and then she got better. She looks better now.

Many times a week Mommy takes us to play care. It's this awesome place with other doggies and these really awesome ladies who love on me ...well some of the time.

Also we all go to this big park that is just sooo awesome cause we gets to play with our ball. Peryn and I go all nuts-o.  We love it soo much and can't wait to get there. We know the way and we just get so so so happy.

Athena- i love my sister. She wasn't allowed to go with us to play care for a little while.  She was hurting and her leg bothered her.  She's feeling better and was at play care with us again. Yay.

Duchess tries to have fun without me when we're there.   I mean you can't have any fun without me. I get yelled at when I try to bug Duchess when she plays with her friends.   Why?  I"m fun.  I love my big sissy.

I have a pretty good life though. Me n Mommy go on car rides a lot. The really really really long type. We usually end up with Gwamma and Gwampa when we go on those rides.  I love Gwamma. Jack-my uncle is ok. Uncle Davey is cool. Gwampa ...makes me nervous. But we're getting better at coming to an understanding.

I have cool friends at play care and at home. There's Master Chief and Bridger. Then there are my hooman friends like Kara and Emily and Jennifer and Marlo.

And always Peryn is my best-est friend (after Mommy).   I love my Daddy too.   Don't get me wrong, after Mommy he's pretty darn awesome.

HI!! I'm back. Momma says I have a bad attention span.   This is ....Mommy says 3 ...This is taking me three days to write cause I have to keep my eye out on Momma. When momma leaves, I do too.

Today Momma took me to the store with her.  We went to that big place with all the stuff... I have been there a lot and they usually give me treats and love on me.

OH! OH! OH!. Mommy gots this machine for us. It throws balls.  IT's like the awesomest.  I stand right there and wait till I hear it get ready to throw the ball and then I catch it really quick.   Peryn gets mad cause he can't chase it then.    It really is awesome but takes forever between throwing balls. 

so anyways I think that's all ...if not I"m sure Momma will tell you all about it.

BYE BYE

 Hello Everyone.    Thanks to Lada for giving everyone a quick rundown. 

It's been a busy /crazy few months for both the humans and the canines. 
Let's begin with Ms Duchess..She continues to thrive. Playcare has done wonders and she is more interactive all around. 
She's still a bit stand offish in not wanting to give any affection, but she's willingly coming to get said affection.

She landed in the vet's office twice for injuries/surgery.   In January, Duchess was "sliced" on the side -in two places- by what we believe to be a frayed steel tie out cord.  She required stitches and had to take it easy for a bit. 

Her hair is still growing back from where they shaved it, but she's good to go otherwise.

In March, we had a skin tag that was growing by her eye removed.  She healed quickly from that and is her normal demanding self. 

She still has a thing for her Boyfriend Oscar and often plays with another dog Kavik (Husky--her peeps).  We really believe she's blossomed into a wonderful dog the past year and a half. 

She unfortunately still gets picked on quite a bit by her baby sister (Lada), sometime full on body slams, but she never bites her or hurts her.  She's a sweet soul and we both adore her. 

She's very demanding about getting treats. She expects them in the morning, when we come home, when we get up, and anytime we're in the kitchen.  She doesn't always get them, but she tries.

Sunbathing

She loves 2 of our neighbors..well 3.  She adores our neighbors Lissette and Mike. Anytime she's out she's always over trying to check out if they're out.  She will always say Hello. 
Then there's Kara. Duchess loves her (all the kids do).  She helps us out with checking in on them when our schedule gets wonky and she spoils them.   Therefore, they love her.

I see her age creeping up in small ways.  Her jumping up on things these days is more cautious. Her zoomies around the yard aren't really a thing anymore because of little sister, but when she's not around, Duchess tries to do them.

We started taking the kids to a  new dog park this year. Duchess loves it to death. It's large enough that she can do her perimeter sweep, run -run-run, and not be too bothered by other dogs.  She is a beautiful dog when she is there. Happy and free.    There is nothing like it.

She still loves to sunbathe and when I can, I make sure I let her out to do so.

Ms Athena

The whole reason this blog was even started.   For the most part, she is a happy dog.   Loves her pack and loves going to the park and day care.

However, her history and her age are catching up to her.
She frequently is over doing it or getting beat up.  Watching her limp or run awkwardly at the park is heartbreaking.
She tries so hard.

Recently she over did it at Play Care and a few days later we were at the park where her 2 younger siblings knocked her down.  Then she went down playing with other dogs.

We limited her activities for 2 weeks-which included not going to play care.  She healed and is back to having fun.

Now either she is ignoring me or she's starting to lose her hearing.   I have to nearly scream for her when she's outside.   Even in the house you need to speak loudly to her.   
She looks healthy and has a glow to her, so you can't tell how old she is other than watching her.

She really is a sweet and happy dog.   That being said, she's always been a barker.   She vocalizes her emotions and has since day one.  Whines and barks depending on the circumstances.
Lately it's all bark bark bark.   It is high pitched and annoying. She gets yelled at by her dad a lot because she just barks away and makes it difficult to have a conversation.   
And Lord if the little ones start playing with anything or anyone, the barking starts.   It is VERY VERY ANNOYING.

However she never takes our yelling at her to calm down to heart.   She just continues to be a happy girl.

The dog bed pictured was won in at a fundraiser.  ALL the dogs love it and they often lose their spot if they get up..but Athena enjoys it the most.  She will lie next to it if it is occupied.  In fact, she's on it as I type..

Peryn. Peryn. Peryn.   Lord do I love this boy.  He's such a handsome dude.   HOWEVER now that he's older, I can tell you more about his personality.

First, he's not overtly affectionate.  He does not want you to cuddle with him or pet him unless he deems it.   Its on HIS terms not yours.   We try to cuddle up with him when he's lying on the couch and he'll get up and leave.   However there are days where he will climb up on you and pin you there while he licks you to death.   Only then may you pet and cuddle.

His first love is his toys. Balls and tugs.   He will ignore food, dogs, and people if you have one of those items in your hand and are playing with him.     There are times at the dog park we won't bring one of his toys because we want him to play with other dogs.   He does like playing with other dogs, but he HAS TO have a ball in his mouth if he does.

He and Lada love to play with their herding ball at the dog park.  They go nuts with it.  They've destroyed all of our landscaping and landscaping lights playing with that dang ball.

We have a drawer of confiscated toys because he DOESN'T LET UP!!!!  Don't worry he has a tub full of more toys.  The little devil has even broken into drawers and storage cubes to pull out the new and unopened toys.   Dude is serious about his toys.

I finally took the plunge and purchased a automatic ball thrower.   HE LOVES IT.  Outside I got him to drop the ball into the machine after he returns from fetching it.   Inside he becomes an idiot and I am the one to load the balls. 

Lada loves it too.  She irritates him by staying right at the opening and getting the ball as soon as it comes out of the machine.

He still loves his family and kind of acts like the protector of the pack. He waits till they're all in or going up stairs or whatever they're doing as a pack.   He reminds me of Galen when he does that.

He definitely keeps Lada in line.  If he doesn't like what she's doing or we're yelling at her, he snaps at her to stop.

He and Lada are still BFFs.   Lada ADORES him.  He adores her.

 Here they are playing with his tether tug.   He loves that thing and has since he was a pup.
She won't touch it unless he's playing with it.

They do have a lot of fun together. 

He really is such a good dog. He's also extremely sensitive.  If I yell at him, he takes it to heart. If I yell at the other dogs, he takes it to heart.   He does not want to disappoint us and it breaks my heart when he gets bent out of shape when I'm yelling at another dog.

The other half -Lada.   As you read up there, Lada is a bit high-strung. She doesn't do anything in moderation.She is go-go-go-go. all the time.

I call her Psycho or Wild Child.  She has a big prey drive.   Where we used to allow her off leash so she could play with her neighbor pals, she's now on leash.   She tends to take off into the woods  and runs fast and wild.  She comes back muddy, wet, missing tags, etc... She ALWAYS comes back, but it's irritating when it's crappy out and we can't go after her. 

She does NOT like to be ignored and she DOES NOT like to share her Mommy....especially in bed. 

Peryn loves to climb up me when I'm in bed and lie right on top of me to lick me while I love on him.   Lada gets all up in arms and starts making these sounds--whiny low pitched sounds when this happens. Sometimes it's nothing more than the whining. Other times she will crawl in between him and my face to prevent him from getting any more loving.   Cracks me up.

She's now 25.5 lbs.   So she's grown a bit.  She's ALL muscle.   She defies gravity and she loves hard. She is a big brat to Duchess and her and Athena got their own bond.     She often will find a toy and play by herself and it looks like she's having a blast. 

She is a sweet girl , but again VERY HIGH STRUNG.  I've given up on training with her because she can not concentrate to do it. 
 

She's super stealthy, so she tends to sneak out when we aren't careful. 

She is a WONDERFUL travel companion and made several more trips to Tenn with me. When she's down there, she is the perfect dog.

She is a lot of work, but I adore her.
At play care she's made some new friends of her own size.   She looks like she's having a blast in all the pics they post.   Makes me happy.

So that's what's what with the pups.   Will have more pictures soon as we're heading to the 4th Annual Cattle Dog Campout and meet up!!

Puppy Updates...

Hey all.   Hope the summer treated you well.   So those of you wondering how the pups are doing, here's your info:



DUCHESS:

Duchess at the park

She's becoming more social at the dog park.  She's always been a bit of a loner. She'd be walking along the fence line or searching in the woods all by herself. She may run with a dog or two, but she's never really played with any dog.   She's never been overly affectionate and tended to be aloof.

Prior to Peryn she would become playful with her food, tossing it in the air and such. She and I would play a bit after I gave her a cookie.  She had her 2 stuffed animals: Lambchop & Hedgehog that she would play with on the bed.    

She would play with Athena until Athena discovered other dogs, now they don't play (or I should say Athena doesn't really play with her).

Since Peryn though, the jealousy Duchess has is showing. She competes for attention from Peryn. 
After getting over the initial "shock" of having Peryn in the house, she often played with him. Actually it was more of her pushing him around.   Peryn loved it though and her rough play helped him out.
With our wanting to socialize Peryn as much as possible, we often had meetups with others to have the dogs play. This additional one on one time with other dogs has made Duchess a little more comfortable around other dogs.  

While at the park she still tends to be by herself, she'll join in with the group more often than not.
Additionally at home she tends to seek out attention and affection much more often. While she still isn't very affectionate (she does NOT lick ) she has mellowed some.  She tends to curl up against us all the time now.   Her competition with Peryn has made her a much sweeter dog.

While the two of them do not play together as much, and I think that has to do with the constant exercise and dog park visits, pay too much attention to one or the other and a "fight" aka Playing starts.

Duchess is a good dog and very protective. I still don't trust her with strangers.  

One good thing that has happened is now that the dogs play often with Huskies (remember Duchess is half Husky) things are better.  I don't feel I have to explain her when she does some things (like her drive buys or aggressive play) because I'm with others who have dogs that are the same way.

So overall Duchess is good.   She is "aging".  Her snout which had been brownish when we adopted her 3 1/2 years ago is all white.  I am unsure her exact age and that worries me as Duchess is my favorite dog of the current 3.   

Current Likes:  Loves Grafton, Kirtland, & Medina dog parks for their sizes. She loves Grafton because it is wide open and in the country. She LOVES the country.  She loves Median for the woods. And she loves Kirtland for the water and the play area.  She loves to splash. She loves to explore and run free.
Loves running with ponies.   Loves her schedule: morning brusha and cookies & her out times.
Loves to lay or sit at the back of the yard, in the shade, and monitor. She loves to lay out on the patio and sun bathe.

Favorite toy: Anything that dispenses treats as she plays with it.
Car rides?   She is a horrible traveler. HORRIBLE. She paces back and forth and whines and husky howls until she can stick her nose out an open window.

Favorite sibling: Peryn

Athena getting some loving at the park

ATHENA: Athena has come such a long way. I was looking through her paperwork from when we adopted her.  She's gained weight (14 lbs),stronger legs, and her infections are gone.
Personality wise, Athena hasn't really changed much over time. She's pretty much the same dog as she's always been.
She really loves us and loves being with us. She loves playing with other dogs..sort of.
She'll play with Peryn, MC, & Bridger, but at the dog park she's happier to run after other dogs and bark at those wrestling.   
She and Peryn are ok. Peryn loves to bug the crap out of her. He will "munch " on her as she goes up and down stairs.  
They're more likely to play with one another than Duchess and Peryn would.   

She loves loves loves going to the park to "play" with other dogs. She's still obsessed with smaller dogs as she tries to mother them. She tries to break up "fights" (dogs wrestling with one another) and sometimes ends up as a protector of weaker dogs by doing so.

She does not sleep in the bed with us as the uneveness of the bed bothers her legs. She still has weak legs from her life before us. While we've strengthened them by allowing her to play and walk, she still has issues with them.  Her own bed is either the big chair next to the bed or the dog blanket/bed on the floor in front of it. 

She has a bladder of steel and once she's in bed for the night, she won't get up until we force her out the next morning.

She's the best listener of the bunch.   Call her once or ask her to stop and she does. She is a barker.  I call her Barky Bark and the Furry Bunch...
  

Current Likes:  If the place has dogs, she loves it.  She loves other dogs.
She's a doll who loves to be outside. She could be outside watching all day long if we would let her. 

Favorite toy: Rocky the Raccoon.

Car rides?   She is a horrible traveler. HORRIBLE from the minute she got in the car with us. She's better than she was, but only if no one (Duchess or Peryn) encroach on her space in the car.  

Favorite sibling: Peryn

PERYN the Pup: Peryn. Peryn. Peryn.   Lil dude is a handful.  He's an extremely happy dog who loves his Mommy very much. He loves Daddy too, but it's like a 60/40 attachment with Mommy being 60.  Personally I think it's more, but we don't want to upset Daddy!

Peryn loves playing.  Other dogs, balls, toys, anything he finds on the floor, the tie outs... 
He is full of life and loves to show it.    He still is not to be trusted alone, so is crated during the day. 

He loves to swim, play rough with his friends, and most importantly FETCH.   The dog can play FETCH non-stop for hours if you have it in you to keep up.  

He LOVES bodies of water. He loves to run, play, & swim in water.  It's going to be a long winter for him.

If you read up on Cattle Dogs, he's matches everything perfectly.   He has more than the regular puppy exuberance.  We've had 2 dogs at the 9-10 month age and neither of them had Peryn's energy.    We've discovered that if he is not regularly exercised, he's a monster.
He will chew anything he finds, walk all over Mommy in the middle of the night, and just bug the heck out of you until you play.  

We started him in day care 2 days a week-starting last week.   A big difference it's making.  It makes dealing with him the rest of the day and the whole next day much more bearable. 
Yay!


He has a few friends he LOVES to play with: MC, Akira, Apollo, & Kato (last 3 are huskies)

Current Likes:  Fetch, balls(Squeakier the better), going on rides, parks, other dogs, walks, playing

Favorite toy: ALL

Car rides?   He's WONDERFUL in the car.  He's like Galen was.  Quiet, comfortable, and enjoyable. He is a great traveler.


Favorite sibling: to play with: Athena.  TO sleep around & run with: Duchess.