It sure is chilly!

There was frost on the ground yesterday morning - it's so hard to believe that it's already getting cold enough for frost and snow on the mountaintops. I can't wait for Charlie to see snow for the first time.

I've been doing quite a bit of online work for classes and Charlie absolutely hates it when I'm on my computer for too long. He starts pawing at my hands and the keyboard, or he'll literally stand over me with his belly in front of the computer screen just looking at me like, uhmm, so, can you get off now and play? He's getting so big and he's really in to wrestling or playing chase in the house. It's hilarious to see him run around chasing his kong when I throw it on a wooden floor - he slips and slides all over the place! It's really cute, and I probably shouldn't laugh.

Although the weather changes have also stressed him out a bit (or perhaps it's something else) he was quite needy the other day - he army crawled his way under the covers and all the way up so he his head was on my pillow with me. He's been quite glued to my legs, too. Last night he was particularly whiney and whimpery- it started to stress me out a little because I couldn't figure out why he was so upset. I took him outside two or three times in case he had to go, nothing happened. He just kept sitting up and staring around and whining! He finally curled up next to me and settled down, but I wasn't sure what was going on. He seems fine this morning, just a little sleepy. His eating habits and digestive track is all in working order, so I think he was just a little anxious last night. Changes in the weather, there was a skunk hanging around outside, my schedule changed a bit this week... it could have been any number of things! Who knows, but at least he's fine now, as you can see.

Having him around makes it so difficult for me to go to work sometimes, or to class... when we're not outside or at the dog park, we lounge around on my futon couch and cuddle. And when you wake up and it's chilly and you're warm and you have a furry friend stretched out next to you, man oh man it is the worst thing in the world to have to leave that!


Staring contest. I won, he totally winked.

So far, so good...

No tummy issues thus far! I'm still sort of holding my breath for the next couple of days because of the number of times that I thought we were in the clear and we weren't... but here's to hoping!

He's also totally weaned off his crate now and it will be going into storage soon :-) He's totally fine being in the house by himself! He just wants to be where I usually am - the couch, my bed. He parks himself on the couch or on my comforter and sleeps while I'm gone! I'm certainly glad we don't have to worry about that god awful crate anymore... it takes up too much space, hah!

Ex-nay on the Medications-ay

I don't pig latin... clearly (or is that gibberish?)

Whatever. So Charlie is off of his medications (for now) to see if his little belly has finally righted itself. It's been about 24 hours since he hasn't had any, and we've had no problems thus far. Tonight will be the defining moment - I'm crossing my fingers I don't get woken up around midnight because this miss has work in the morning!

Will keep everyone posted on this delicate matter.

And now I leave you with this:

Sorry for the lack of posts!

I have been so busy this semester that I just didn't have time to blog. BOO!

But I wanted to take some time to catch y'all up on what's going on.

Charlie is doing fabulous - he is so much better on walks now, and instead of cowering away from people he is overtly friendly and likes to walk up to them and say hello! He still gets nervous when new people come into the house, but overall he's getting to know all of my friends and loves their company.

Charlie still absolutely hates going into his crate... I think it's because he knows it means that I'm leaving. I do everything I can to make it easier for him - I don't make a big deal about it, I don't get nervous about it, I leave him fresh water, treats, and even a sweatshirt of mine in there with him. He still just can't stand it. Anytime I leave, he would much rather go with me and wait in the car than stay at home alone. I want to begin training him to just stay outside of his crate while I'm gone, because I do think that will relieve some of his stress. But even when I'm here he tends to gnaw on things he shouldn't!

In fact, over the last couple of weeks I have lost four pairs of socks, a pair of leggings, two pairs of undies, and my Marc Jacobs designer arm warmers... grrr!! He has jaws of steel - he will chew up toys like I've never seen. Even his big black Kong is starting to show some wear! Goodness gracious...

But, our little life here is great. When I cook breakfast in the morning, I always make a bit extra so he can have some as well. He loves helping me study (well, he likes to paw at my hands when I'm typing a paper, or sprawl across my textbooks and notebooks when I have a midterm...)

And at the moment, I have an awful, awful cold and am stuck in bed... which is he is just ecstatic about! Andy and Truman helped take care of me yesterday and Charlie was overjoyed that he got to spend the day with his mom, his brother, and his uncle :-D

Well, I'm off to head back to sleep. I feel like my head is a balloon!

Hope everyone is enjoying this GORGEOUS fall that we have this year!

Reading material

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK.

It's a combination of experience and science. Though there are moments of snooze-worthy passages, overall it is comical, surprising, and fascinating. I purchased the book in the hopes of understanding my little Charlie better, as well as dogs in general (I've always been interested in animal behavior - moreso interested in pet behavior, rather than the general term "animal"). I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see dogs in a very different light. I, like many true dog owners, believe that dogs are capable of communication and understanding. Horowitz takes you on a trip from the tip of your doggies snout to the tip of his wagging tail, and everywhere in between.

Did you know that dogs can understand and follow the human gaze? And that when they stare at other dogs they look them straight on, but that when they look at our faces they have learned to gaze at us the way humans gaze at other humans, from right to left? And did you know that when dogs "kiss" us, that familiar licking of an outstretched hand or a lowered face, it is actually rooted in their wolf origins - when a wolf returns to the pack from a hunt, the other wolves lick his face to determine where he had traveled to and what his disposition is; when a mother wolf returns home from a hunt, her pups lick her face to encourage regurgitation of slightly digested meat - in other words, there is something in that act that instinctively force the mother to spew up little bits of undigested meat for her pups.

Seriously, go pick this book up. It's a great read and it will make you stare at that heap of fluff at your feet with amazement and wonder.

What a day, what a day!

This morning I wake up, a little later than usual today... the parents are finally home so I wasn't waking up at the crack of dawn to take Cory and Minnie outside and feed Zephyr - Charlie, the good boy, has learned to wait until much later to go outside and get fed... such as today. My door was open last night because I like the dogs to be able to come and go from my room as they please, and this morning it was still open even though mom and dad were up, and the dogs were already in and out. But Charlie remained on the bed - at one point, I guess, mom walked by and said "good morning Charlie!" because he was sitting up very alert on the bed, but he didn't budge. He just wagged his tail and she moved along, and he curled back up next to me. Very sweet.

Anyway, so I got up and he was very excited and we went right outside so he could take care of all of his business... and I'm there stretching and looking at the field while Charlie is doing his thing, and I look back to see if he's finished only to see a big, gross, white WORM! I just hung my head and let out a slew of words that aren't appropriate for this setting.

So I go inside, and I have my cup of coffee and then call the vet - as it turns out, we need to get them all another round of flea and heartworm meds anyway. Now Charlie is on a round (well, it's only one round - it's powerful stuff) of Drontal. This poor guy...

Then this afternoon we enjoyed some wonderful, delicious bourbon reserve - 101 proof, aged 10 years - that my parents purchased on their trip. We went ahead and let Charlie join us outside off his leash so he could run and play with the other dogs, and he went exploring in the field, but he didn't go far. He just sniffed and sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the freshly cut grass. He looked so cute out there just hanging out in the field, surveying the land. I'm sure he's never had this before - he's able to enjoy the scenery and the wildlife without being on guard; he kept looking back to make sure we were in sight and earshot, and eventually he came trotting back up - though not before checking out a little toad hopping around in the grass.

Mom and I took all the dogs out once it was dark for one last trip outside for them. We strolled into the upper field and Charlie was on his leash, but even Cory started trying to play so I just let him off his leash - it was a rare thing to see Cory that playful and excited, and I love seeing Charlie run and jump and bark - things he hasn't done in such a long time, if ever. Those two dogs were growing and chasing and wrestling... and what was most adorable, is that they started playing hide and seek. They ran into the side bushes and hid from one another - peeking their little heads out every now and again to see if the other was still there. Cory ran away, but Charlie just stayed crouched waiting for him - once Cory was back within running shot and turned away, Charlie raced off after him and tackled him to the ground. It was so sweet to watch those two - mom and I couldn't help but giggle.

We got inside and Charlie just couldn't settle down - he leaped on the couch with me and attempted to wrestle, but I had to calm him down. He didn't like that, and in the process he sort of nipped at me - not to cause harm, but to say, "hey! hey! c'mon! let's play!" but it ended up hurting quite badly and instinctively I whipped around and gave him a harsh tap on his haunches. In a very Matrix style moment, we both just looked at each other; immediately in his eyes I saw fear and a recognition of a familiar pain, and in mine I can only assume he saw how guilty and awful I felt at realizing what I had just done. I turned to my mother completely shocked, and she told me a story of how once she was holding me in her arms and she looked down at me and I looked up at her and promptly smacked her on her face - you know, how babies test to see what you'll do in a situation, and to try something new and unfamiliar. Instinctively, my mother tapped my face right back and that is the one and only time she ever hit me - and it wasn't even a true smack, just pure animal instinct to say "hey, that hurt, back off." These things happen, in other words. I turned back to Charlie and kept apologizing and and hugged him so hard - he cocked his head to the side and leaned his head way into mine and just pushed back on me and then just let himself fall into my lap and he just sat there - as if to say, "it's OK mommy, I'm sorry I nipped you, it's OK that you nipped me back."

Dogs are so humbling and forgiving, it's just astounding.

So then Zephyr joined us inside, and Charlie loves Zephyr... I think she likes him, too, but she's a picky girl and isn't the playful type. So she just watched him try to play with her, and then she made her way over to the couch with me and curled up - Charlie was relentless. Bouncing back and forth, lying down then siting up, whining and then growling, nuzzling her and then jumping back. She just wasn't having it and now she's sleeping and Charlie has only sort of given up - he's lying on the floor just waiting for her to wake up. Silly boy.

Finally, a break

Well, my week of hell is finally over. There was some drama, some serious stress, too much exhaustion, and a lot of chaos, but it's all over and done with :) We are all moved out of the apartment, and the inspection is done, and we're all moving forward.

The dogs are doing much better. Cory had all sorts of allergies going on, and he's on some serious meds and is doing much better! A brand new doggy. Charlie is doing better as well, but we'll see how he does once his round of medication is done...

He had a very busy couple of days in Burlington, as well. Not only did he have to put up with me moving things all over the place, but he was in and out of the car all day, but he did really well. And I tried to walk him as often as possible, and we made lots of trips to the dog park!

We had a few interesting moments together, however...

So, I have my dads car while my parents on vacation - and although it doesn't have AC, it DOES have automatic windows, which makes it easier for me to provide some fresh air for Charlie when he's either in the back seat or the passenger seat. So I've got the windows all down, and Charlie is looking around and enjoying the weather; we stop at a stop sign, but because of traffic we were sort of over the crosswalk a bit, so naturally there was a pedestrian on the sidewalk waiting to cross. He was a big dude, just hanging out, minding his own business, and in anticipation for the traffic to move, he began to move forward, and Charlie did NOT like that at all. He immediately started barking at him, to which I settled him down and we moved forward, but it was definitely interesting.

He's also getting better about meeting people - and generally, people in Burlington are extremely friendly and respectful towards dogs and their owners. Many people recognize that he's a rescue dog just by his demeanor towards strangers, so they're very sweet. Some other people, aren't so cautious. We were in the local video store visiting a very good friend of mine who works there and several people got right down on their knees and just showered him with love and kisses and hugs - it was so, so sweet; and they all asked beforehand if it was OK to pet him - which was also really awesome. But, we were in the corner looking at some videos, and someone, dressed in all dark clothing carrying a large bag (he really doesn't like anyone with big bags) came marching around the corner, clearly knowing exactly what she wanted. Charlie started barking and got quite defensive - I apologized and calmed him down and explained he was a rescue and gets nervous around strangers - but she cut me off and responded with a brief, "yeah, ok, I guess I'm cornering him, sorry," and pushed me aside to get her video. Rude!

But that's going to happen. Some people are animal people, and some people just aren't! Whatcha gonna do.

And we spent the night in the new apartment last night - I was on an air mattress and we were both totally exhausted. Charlie curled up on his bed, but immediately saw me crawl into my little air mattress bed and he came right over and zonked out right next to me. I'm noticing that he dreams quite vividly, because I'm finding that he kicks me in his sleep! Funny boy. He's like me - he likes to take up as much of the bed as possible, he kicks in his sleep, and he tends to roll over on top of his bed mate - i.e. me. But I certainly wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

So now I'm home, and my other doggies were here at home for the last two nights. My wonderful neighbor has been keeping an eye on them, and has been giving Cory his meds. But they were totally excited that I was home - I haven't seen Cory that excited in such a long time. Now we're all in the living room curling up for some movies.

I'm about ready to not think about anything that has to do with cleaning, packing, unpacking, or driving for the next 24 hours. So I will be parking myself on the couch with the dogs until I absolutely have to get up :)

*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*

The last week has been unbelievable. Our house was so chaotic, my mother and I were at our wits ends. Dad is just... well, dad. He tends to handle these situations rather quietly.

Anyway - picture this: a pile of boxes, bags, and camping supplies for mom and dad in one area; a pile of boxes, cleaning supplies, and odds and ends for me to move to Burlington with in another area; a pile of boxes, folders, and baskets full of photographs for mom's genealogy work in another area; too much recycle, laundry, and towels all over the place in piles. For about 36 hours, that's what our house looked like. My parents finally get on the road, and my immediate thought is: awesome, some peace and quiet, they're on vacation, and the dogs are relaxed now. So my first night was smooth, the next day was quiet and I did some work and got some laundry and cleaning done... fantastic. All is well..

And then this morning happens. I wake up after a restful night sleep and begin preparing for my trip over to Burlington to meet up with the landlord to pick up the keys and to begin my actual MOVE down to the new place. I have my coffee. I shower. I feed the birds and rats and cat. And then I head downstairs to grab the laundry from the dryer... only to see diarrhea... everywhere. Trails left and right. Immediately, I'm annoyed. But then I see the blood, and panic sets in. A bit mucusy, but mostly bloody, and I freak out because I'm not sure which dog it came from. So I rush upstairs to check all the dogs to see if anyone is bleeding externally, only to discover that Cory not only has some serious discharge coming from his eyes, but also from his bum. EWW. I get past the initial gross factor and go into auto pilot - I assume it's Cory with the issue and I call the vet, I give him some probiotics, and then I get ready to leave. I had to leave at least for the day because I canceled on my landlord the day before, and I couldn't cancel again. Our wonderful neighbor keeps an eye on the dogs while I head out.

Of course, then I get to Burlington and Charlie promptly jumps out of the car and drags me into the back yard of my apartment and I discover that it is he who left the treasures downstairs.

At this point, I hit a wall. You know that point. You can't take any more stress. My capacity just overflowed and I came inside, sat down on my bed, and I cried and cried and cried. I'm moving on my own with no help, my parents are miles away, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get rid of the furniture I'm not keeping, I have two sick dogs, a car with no air conditioning, I have been totally MIA from the apartment and thus not helping out my roommates and I felt totally awful about that, it was hot as all hell, and I have until Saturday to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of. I just couldn't take any more. I finally heard back from mom and she helped calm me down, but man... I was done. I hit that brick wall so hard I wasn't quite sure how to regain my footing. But I finally did, and I took a couple of car loads down to the new place and threw out a pile of junk. I was running on auto pilot, though. So I packed the car back up and Charlie and I were on our way home.

So now we're all in the living room attempting to stay cool. I'm a bit more calm than I was before, but I'm mostly nervous about the doggies now. Hopefully Charlie's issue is food, and not internal. But Cory... he's getting old. And he's not looking too good, and as the vet said earlier, "these older dogs tend to fall apart all at once, you know..." So I'm taking both Charlie and Cory to the vet tomorrow, and I'm crossing my fingers and praying that they're both OK and this is all minor - not only for their sake, but for mine as well. This has been a helluva couple of weeks what with losing Boots, too much chaos, and Charlie's icky issues.

I'm going to have a beer, play some video games, and not think about anything for awhile. Tomorrow is a new day, and a trip to the vet is the first thing on my to-do list. Let's hope the outcome is a happy one!

Sunday Funday

I was just relaxing on the couch when the next thing I know, I have all three dogs on the couch with me. CUDDDLEEFESSSTTTT!

Chaos

I think for the next two weeks my life will be chaos. And as I write this I'm watching a baby finch fly around our house - the little thing somehow ended up in our living room this morning and although both doors to the house are open, she can't quite figure out how to get out. And she won't let us near her to help her out - oivey!

Anyway, I just got back from spending a couple of days in Burly at my apartment - not the new one, the one I've had for the last two years. The 'rents are going on vacay, and I'm left trying to pack myself up. Which is totally fine - I've moved so many times in my life, this is routine by now. Anyway, I have to house sit/dog sit while they are gone, so the week I'm moving I have to head back and forth to watch the dogs/clean and pack up the apartment. To make my life easier, I've packed up my entire room in two days - holy cow! I took little Charles with me which was great because I had to chance to walk him around the "big city" AND I had the chance to socialize him with people. A ton of my friends were in and out to say hi to me and meet the doggie (I also have roommates, which is great) and everyone has been so, so sweet with him! They recognize immediately that he's a nervous little boy and they get right down on the ground with him, and the next thing ya know he's on their lap and they won't leave him alone. It's so cute and he's loving all the attention! Thank goodness all my friends are animal people :)

Anyway, I get the keys to my new place next week which is VERY exciting! So I can't wait to start moving stuff in there! Such big changes, this is crazy...

Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying this break in the heat.

Doggie Loveseat

Oh my goodness - look at these two!!!

A little tribute to my other dogs

This is just a little post giving some credit to my other two dogs, Cory and Minnie, for not only just being wonderful, but also for being so good with Charlie. They are such wonderful dogs.

Minnie is our eldest - and has the silliest story behind her arrival into our household. Mom purchased her from a local pet store in Hawaii when we used to live out there - she bought him in a bit of a panic because she was on her way home to tell me that there was no Santa Claus. She had heard from a teacher that after the students in class talked about the story of Santa that my response was: "No, Santa is real because my parents would never lie to me." And thus, we have Minnie, our little Miniature Pinscher. We've had her since I was in the third grade, and now I'm 23. She's very old, she's almost completely deaf, her sight is going (ugh, I heard her run into a wall last night when she was trying to get out of my room in the dark... poor thing, we're getting a night light for the hallway for her), and I'm pretty certain she's on her last leg due to a number of health issues we've noticed as of late. She has been so sweet with this young dog - who has taken quite a liking to her. Charlie always tries to play with Minnie, though unfortunately she's just too old to do that anymore. But she likes to sleep near Charlie, and she tends to try to share food with him (which Charlie definitely does not like, but I think it's kind of a cute gesture). If he's sleeping on his bed, she tends to join him on there, and Charlie gladly welcomes the company. He's also been very good about giving up the entire bed to her - she likes to sleep on the bed when he's not on it, and he just looks at her (even if there's enough room) and just lies down next to it instead. She's currently sleeping near my feet, and I'm really glad I get to spend so much time with her this summer, because I don't think she'll be here next summer. As mom said tonight, "she's never been a little dog - she's always been a very brave, big courageous dog. She's a tough, take-no-shit kind of lady."

Cory is our extremely sweet goofy lab. He's about seven, so he's got some time left, but he's starting to age around the face, and he's quieted down a bit in the last year or so. He's such a love of a dog. The cats always cuddle with him, he and Minnie sleep and snuggle all the time, and he take such good care of his family. He has taken little Charlie under his wing to show him how to be a dog - since Charlie didn't quite know how to act around other dogs. He was always engaged, but he never participated. Now, he's always trotting alongside Cory, he follows Cory if he's exploring something, if Cory starts barking Charlie will follow suit... And Cory has been such a sweet dog to me as well. I'll go ahead and admit: I have a terrible fear of the dark, particularly out here in the middle of nowhere. I'm mostly scared that I'm going to run into an animal I don't want to run in to. Anyway, when I had to take Charlie out very late at night, Cory would hear me get up (even if he were in my parents room) and would come outside with us even if he didn't need to. He would walk right alongside me, not leaving my side. It was so sweet and touching.

Well that's all. They're such good dogs. All of 'em.

Mommy mommy mommy!

We have a treadmill in our basement (it's sort of been turned into a little workout area). I was just down there going for a jog, and I was down there for, oh, about 40 minutes or so. I had my headphones on so I couldn't hear anything going on upstairs. I rounded the corner to head up the stairs only to see little Charlie just lying down right at the top of the stairs - staring intently down them, his little paws just barely hanging over the edge of the top step, just waiting for me. It was so cute. I've been working on training to only come to the basement when invited (otherwise he tends to get into the recycling, the garbage.. not to mention that he seems to think it's an appropriate place to go to the bathroom when we're not around!)

I tried to sneak down earlier without Charlie noticing (he was sound asleep on the floor), but apparently (according to mom) he woke right up when heard me head downstairs.

He's now currently right at my feet :)

Feel Good Moment(s) of the Day

Here are a few photos I snapped today while watching the House marathon in the living room with the doggies :)




Cuddles

Canine tooth fairy?

Charlie lost his last baby tooth this morning! He had a baby tooth that never fell out, and the vet noticed it was a bit wiggly... so she instructed me to wiggle it just a bit whenever he was asleep, and hopefully it would fall out on its own (otherwise he would eventually need surgery!)

And this morning when I gave him his meds, I heard a little whine and saw something fall out of his mouth - I assumed it was the pill but when I looked down I saw his itty bitty baby tooth!

He's officially not a pup anymore :-P I'm so glad - this will help keep his little teeth nice and clean on that side now - it was collecting some nasty plaque!

We've got a green light & a guard dog, people

GREAT NEWS!

I think this antibiotic has finally given Charlie exactly what he needs. His appetite has finally reached that of a growing pup (he was SO excited for dinner tonight, oh my goodness!), he was eating WHILE standing up (which we have not seen him do yet), AND his bowel system seems to be functioning completely normally.

HALLELUJAH!

The vet did say we would see a difference by today, and thank goodness that we are. I'm going to pray that it holds, and that we don't have anything backfire (no pun intended).

On another note, Charlie met the new landlord today. Man - I didn't see this coming. So, we got there a little early and I took Charlie for a little walkaround so he could smell the smells, and see the scenery. Various people walked by, some with dogs - and we had no real issues. He was definitely wary of everyone else, but he didn't make a peep. So then, when the landlord came bustling around the corner and heading straight towards me, Charlie ran from behind me to right in front of me and began barking like I've never heard him bark! And he wouldn't stop! So I handed the landlord a biscuit, and Charlie quieted down a little... but not much. So I began to follow the landlord and in the house and Charlie pushed me right aside and walked in front of me - and for the remainder of my visit Charlie stepped right in between the landlord and I, or walked in between us - it was very sweet. My little guard doggie :)

Fast track to health!

This post will be short because I'm exhausted and have to get up early tomorrow - the new landlord wants to meet el puppy so I want to get up bright and early and make sure the pup is in working order to go for a little road trip!

Yesterday, the 'rents gave me an opportunity to sleep in the late afternoon (as I had barely gotten any the two previous nights..) and took care of Charlie for awhile. It's so sweet - they both are acting like grandparents, because well... they're getting older, and this is most likely going to be the closest they get to a grandson. Though we can certainly hope for otherwise! But they're taking the opportunity now to be the doting grandparents, and the helpful sidekicks for me. It's a Godsend. Anyway, they had to take him out several times during the course of my three hour nap (THREE hours! goodness). Mom made the executive decision that we were going to put piddle pads out for him near the doorway (we have to use these for our oldest dog, Minnie, because she's 14 and doesn't always make it out the door, poor thing) because he seems to use these when we don't take him out soon enough sometimes, and because we all needed a solid nights sleep. In the morning he had gone all over them, the poor thing.

So I called the vet first thing - and Charlie is now on a very impressive antibiotic/dewormer/intestinal-sedative. The vet is concerned that there might be little bugs in his system that aren't necessarily worms that might be disrupting his system; it will also aid in any final deworming that needs to take place; and it will calm down his digestive system to aid in digestion and reduce cramps!

So we're hoping that this will help fix him up - he's still on the bland diet but his appetite has improved greatly - he was barely finishing 3/4 of a cup of rice and yogurt, but today he was quite excited for his 1 cup meals! Such a good sign :)

So now I'm crossing my fingers for a good night sleep and a healthy pup. Good night, y'all :)

Coffee Coffee Coffee

As I write this I am gulping down coffee like it's the elixir of life. Charlie and I had such a long night last night, I feel as though it was surreal.

Mom and I took him out at about 11 last night, just before we went to bed, and he had a lovely solid little poop. Who knew that my world would begin revolving around when my dog would poop?

I couldn't quite settle down, but I attempted to put the both of us to bed. And at about 12:45 he had to go out - and his diarrhea struck again! I was very concerned, but I was hoping it wasn't going to be a long night.

Not only did he have to go out just about every hour, like clockwork, but I also couldn't go to sleep because my nerves were so wired. And several things occurred the remainder of the night...

At about 3:30 when I took him out I dropped the flashlight into a hole that Cory has dug beneath our porch - and I couldn't reach it. Then I was really startled by a very large toad hopping around my mom's garden, which was quite unpleasant. It was so misty I couldn't see anything. Then we got back inside, and I had turned the light off, something in my gut told me to turn the light on and look at him. And when I did I saw a nasty tick crawling on his hind leg! I HATE TICKS. They are so disgusting - so I grabbed it with a piece of cardboard that was in the trash, and I squished it with all my might.. and of course it didn't die, because the only thing that will kill a damn tick is flushing him down a toilet. So I raced into the bathroom and threw that dirty thing in the toilet and flushed - and of course, it didn't go down and it was just swimming around taking a little bath. It finally went down, and then I woke my poor mother up to check my hair and skin to see if I had one crawling on me. I also gave the doggie a full body check. I felt like my skin was crawling!

I still couldn't get to sleep, but then at about 5 I drifted off - only to be awoken about ten minutes later by Charlie. I took the poor thing out again - and in the process I walked into a massive spiderweb under one of our trees. And then as we were walking back into the house I noticed that he got some poop on his leg! So I had to wash it all off with the hose - which he hated. Which I hated.

I finally got to sleep around 6:30AM.

What a night. If he doesn't clear up by tonight, I think we're going to have to take another trip to the vet... :-/

Long night

Well, Charlie and I had quite a night. He had to go out at 2, and again at 3:30, and then he didn't make it outside and went in the house :(

He was getting extremely good at walking around without a leash - all three of us (mom, dad, myself) and our older dog Cory (whom Charlie is taking many tips from, it's wonderful!) would take him out and we'd all keep a very close watch on him as he began to learn to just stay right near us, and he was getting very good at going to the bathroom in the fields like the rest of our dogs.

So last night I couldn't find his longer leash, so I thought, well... let's try this. And he was very good - he went right out to the edge of our yard and the field and did his business... and then he decided to go on a reconnaissance tour of our fields! AT 2 IN THE MORNING. I called and called and that husky heritage of his kicked in and he looked me dead in the eye and turned right around and walked away from me. Naughty boy. I knew he was just fine but I got my mother to help me out anyway - mostly because I'm terrified of walking through our fields anytime after dark. It's a silly fear because we're so safe out here, I just can't stand it.

So, with a flashlight we went down and got him - but that little boy thought we were playing. It wasn't until I got quite stern (I felt like such a mom yelling his full name at him) and had to yell that he actually stopped and sat down.

So then we get him back up with us and I leash him with our extra leash and THEN we noticed that CORY had gone wandering out into the fields chasing after some small animal - and at that point the only thing that brings him back is starting the car. Which we did and he came racing back, tail wagging, very excited. These DOGS.

You can train them as much as you want, but you can't erase instinct and when a retriever spots an animal on their turf, they're going to chase it off their turf whether you like it or not sometimes. C'est la vie. At least Cory is trained enough to know where the edge of our fields are and he chased it right up to the edge of the line and just stood their barking at it.

Anyway, THEN I couldn't get back to sleep, and at about 3:30 Charlie whimpered to go out again. But when I took him out, he got none of his business done because the cats were sleeping on our driveway and he loves those cats and wanted to play, to which they looked at me like "Mom, can't you see we're sleeping?". And then it started to rain - big, fat raindrops. And I thought, "Well this is fabulous, jussst fabulous!" But Charlie's response was quite different - I've never seen a dog react like this to rain. He hunkered down close to the ground, and started yanking on the leash toward the front door, and when we got there he sat so close to that door I could barely open it. It was so heartbreaking to see - I can only assume that being in the rain probably brings back some horrible memories of abandonment. So he was quite uncomfortable when we got in the house and I just let him stay close to Cory and I and all three of us slept in my room. When I woke up in the morning, he was up on my bed snuggling with me and Cory was next to us on the floor. It was a sweet way to wake up with my boys.

Now I just have to hope that tonight is not a repeat of last night as I am getting quite exhausted! Such is the life of a pet owner.

New apartment!

YES!

The apartment gods worked in my favor this week and I have secured a very adorable apartment just two blocks down from where I lived this past year. The landlord is a peach of a fellow and owns a golden lab himself. I'm taking Charles over to meet him sometime this upcoming week, depending on how he's feeling.

It's relatively small - it's basically a studio with a one bedroom, but it will be all mine, and it has lots of light, and it's recently renovated and my neighbors have dogs as well. There's also a fantastic wrap around porch and I'm neighbors with two of my best friends! It's going to be fantastic.

Now I need to start working on a color scheme... I can't wait for little Charlie to see it! It's perfect for us.