Friend or Foe?

It's a miracle...the dog and cat are getting along. There are no words that can adequately express how relieved I am.

Ginger finally just called Paris' bluff this weekend. It helps that she's in heat (for the third time I think...I've lost track now) and she's much more bold and open to her rear being sniffed. Up to this point she was an upstairs-under-the-bed kind of cat. She only came downstairs if we brought her down and closed the door, then she would spend most of the time behind or on top of the couch, well out of reach of the dog. Every time Paris caught a whiff of her she'd be on  the prowl, finished off with a pounce or full out chase until Ginger could find shelter.

However, something shifted. The cat finally stood her ground and called the dog out. Turns out Paris is all talk...or bark (but she doesn't bark)...now I've lost track of the saying I'm trying to play with. Anyway, if you're in the mood for a swift nose in the bum, Paris is your dog. It will be interesting to see how the relationship plays out when Ginger isn't in "the mood" anymore.

There are times I'll look over at them playing and the cat's head will be in Paris' mouth. Or the cat will walk in the room drenched in doggie drool (very gross). I know I still need to keep an eye on them. Paris is still a puppy and has trouble with boundaries  She has trouble with boundaries with people, other dogs, squirrels and now cats. She really just wants to play but doesn't seem to have the dog sense of when the other animal is not amused. Poor Georgia is pushed relentlessly to play until she seeks refuge on Erica's lap. She doesn't have a sense of her size and can bring down her paw pretty hard. We all have been at the receiving end of her pawing and I could see Ginger being seriously hurt.

However, Ginger's not the innocent bystander in all this. There are times Paris is minding her own business only to have a swat in the butt or nose or a bite to the tail. Sometimes it's just Ginger walking by but sometimes Ginger seems to want to engage Paris in play. I have a hard time seeing the difference between play and fighting. I know Ginger's claws are out for some of the swats and Paris has backed down quickly when one of them lands on her face. There are times Ginger will yowl but then not run away. If I knew Paris would be gentle I wouldn't worry as much but when she's excited about something she can throw her weight around...just ask Lucienne who has been knocked down more time I can count by a dog bounding by.

The best of all this is that I can finally get the kitty litter out of the toyroom and into the basement. It was up there out of necessity but always kind of grossed me out. Now that Ginger is roaming the whole house I can finally start the process of moving it down.

Random Day-to-Day Stuff

Starting to feel a little housebound here. It's been soooooo cold that I haven't ventured out anywhere. Add to  that little fact that I don't have a car this week and you have a recipe for disaster. We did have to walk to swimming lessons today (Rene picks us up once he's home so it's only one way) and I failed to do a wardrobe check. Halfway there Audree starts crying that her hands hurt...I look at them and she's wearing thin little dollar store gloves. It's -20C!!!! Poor thing. She wouldn't take my mitts so I held one hand and Amelia held the other to try and warm them up. I don't think we'll be enrolling again until the spring. Which is a shame because all the girls are finally enjoying it and I don't have to drag them there kicking and screaming (literally some days!).

Paris hasn't had any walks so she's going a little nutso, more so than her usual rambunctious self. She's had a couple of treadmill runs but it's not really the same. She's starting to chew toys again (she was doing really well there for awhile) and the cat is getting stalked on a regular basis. Oh, and the cat is in heat AGAIN. She was just in heat a couple weeks ago. She's walking around the house with her bum in the air caterwauling all day and night. No wonder Paris is taking and extra interest in this crazy cat right now.

Lucienne has been a bit under the weather (runny nose and cough we just can't seem to get rid of) and has been giving me a hard time with naps. She can go to sleep at night no problem - I'm even putting her into her crib awake and she's fine. But naps...she can be fast asleep on me and scream the second I lower her into the crib. I've also tried putting her in awake, following the same routine as nighttime and I still get the same result. There is no way this kid is giving up her naps. Especially since for the last month or so she's getting a head-start on her to-do list for the day by getting up at 5am. On the other hand, Audree has been taking naps almost every day this week and then not going to sleep at night until way-late. She usually comes downstairs asking when we're going to bed and saying "I think I need to try to go to sleep in your bed now, mine's not working." She's still in our bed at some point in the night probably about 90% of nights now. She's warm though so I don't mind at all.

Every morning Audree asks how many more days to her birthday while Evelyn gives a moan because she's the LAST, and life's NOT FAIR and why doesn't anybody LOVE her? Thank goodness her birthday is only a mere two weeks after Amelia's. I hope Lucienne doesn't have this same reaction when she has to wait 6 months after our birthday marathon.

Amelia is having trouble adjusting to iPod boundaries. It was brought to swimming lessons, and chiropractor (stayed in the car for that one) and she waited (naked I might add) in the bathroom for 30 minutes not having a bath but playing a game. In her defense she had apparently called for me to help with the shower curtains and I didn't hear. Rene is too. They were up together until 9pm one night playing "just one more game". We got her to bed and Rene slyly tried to get back on only to find Amelia had locked it with a passcode. Smart girl.

And that's a day in the life of the Lalondes.

Dog vs Cat vs Bike

One of my birthday gifts this year was a dog bike leash. I LOVE it. What a great way to exercise Paris at a pace that will actually tire her out. For the most part she pulls me...and when I say me I mean me, my bike and the bike trailer with Lucienne and Audree in it. Sometimes I have to break going uphill. It's great!

However, she still loves a good squirrel chase. Dogs we can get by without too much hassle and cats, as long as they're not moving and a fair bit away are fine but oh, how she loves squirrels. And I'm pretty sure there are more squirrels that live here than people. I've found that as long as I see them first or about the same time as her I can get her attention and counter balance her pulling sideways on the bike.

The other day I was coming back from the girls school and a squirrel got too close. She gave a huge tug and snap went the bike leash. What I don't understand is that the attachment itself is a very sturdy, strong metal contraption and the leash is a thick rope. However, the pieces that attach the dog to the rope and the rope to the attachment are flimsy little plastic bits. As I was assembling it I thought how silly it seemed and wondered if it would really hold. Well, that day I got my answer. The flimsy piece of plastic didn't just break once that day, but twice. Almost like she realized that if she gave just the right tug she could be set free and get that squirrel.

The first time was luckily in a quiet neighbourhood after I had dropped the girls off at school. I had to get off my bike and football tackle her as she came running by. The second was at a busier intersection with nowhere really to leave the bike with the girls in the trailer (no sidewalks, we were riding on the road), plus the crazy-dog-running-into-the-road factor. A car saw Paris break free and graciously stopped and offered to stay with the girls while I chased my crazy dog. My only luck this time was that we were at the end of the 5 km bike ride and Paris was a little bit tired. I didn't have to chase far and I didn't have to tackle her.

Needless to say at home I fashioned a more sturdy attachment and it seems to be holding much better. And trust me, she's tried.

So tonight Mom and Erica were coming for a visit. I thought it would be smart to take the dog out for a quick ride to get some pent up energy out before Murphy and Georgia came for a visit. Rene discovered a lovely little trail not too far from the house that goes through some treed areas in behind some houses. It's a nice change from biking on the road and sidewalks all the time. And the bonus, I have never seen a squirrel back in there.

However, today we encountered a cat. It was hiding in the bushes and neither of us saw it until we rode right by it. I would have just continued riding but Paris had a different idea...she decided to jump on it. One of those living-in-the-moment decisions that dogs seem to live their lives by. However, being attached to a bike means that she took me and the bike with her. I have never heard such a drawn-out painful yelp/howl than this afternoon. We were a tangled mess of person, dog and bike (no cat, it ran). When I finally was able to get up from under the bike and unhook Paris from the bike I was scared to look at her. She slowly got up but hung one of her front paws in front of her at an angle that made it look like it was broken in two.

I've watched enough Dog Whispers to know that I shouldn't make a big deal out of it. I gave her a quick once over to make sure there wasn't any bleeding then walked away, silently panicking. Thoughts running in my head: how much is this vet bill going to cost? How am I going to get home? Stupid cat.

I walked a bit to see if anyone was in their yards that I could borrow a phone from then walked back to Paris to take a better assessment. The fact that she was still sitting in one spot with her paw lifted was not a good sign. I touched her paw to see if she would cringe and she didn't. As I walked away again, wondering if I could carry her back to the road, she slowly stood up and walked toward me keeping her hurt leg up. Rene's co-worker lives just at the entrance to the path so I thought if I could get her to walk there I could call Rene to come pick us up. As we walked she gingerly put her paw down and gradually put more weight on it as we went. By the time we got to a phone she limping. I knew it hurt though because a squirrel ran through the yard and she merely glimpsed at it.

Rene rescued us and thankfully she seemed fine as she bounded around the livingroom chasing Murphy and Georgia. I can see at least 4 bald spots on her leg from where it must have got caught in the chain and yanked the fur out.

The real test on how I handled the situation (from a dog's point of view) will be how she reacts to me attaching her to the bike again. And I'll probably be a bit nervous the first few bikes too. Even though I wasn't hurt I'd rather not be pulled off again.

Let the Games Begin

After talking to Erica I finally got around to enrolling Paris in Puppy School. I know we could probably train her on our own but sometimes being accountable to a third party gets it going. Plus, I've never trained a dog and didn't really know where to start.

So, we started tonight. Actually, last Thursday was technically the first class but we didn't have to bring our dog to it. I have a friend who used the same school and warned me that the first class, sans puppy, had a lot of embarrassing (to her) role playing and weird group activities. She suggested I get Rene to go...so I gave him the option of taking all the girls to their swimming lessons (which fell on the same night) where he'd have to get them all ready, watch Lucienne and then get them all out of the pool and dried off (much easier as a two-man job) or spend the hour talking about training dogs. He jumped at the dog option while I laughed an evil laugh in my mind. I would be able to catch the last half of the class after swimming anyway and watch from the sidelines with all the girls.

After about 10 minutes of watching with the girls I decided that was not going to be an option in the future. Keeping Lucienne off the floor lasted all of 10 minutes of her squirming and doing straight-as-a-board to get down. I gave up and figured I'd disinfect her at home. Audree couldn't see over the gate and kept wanting to be picked up and Evelyn was tired and wanted to lie down on the floor. Amelia was enthrawled and luckily since she's 8 is allowed to participate in the classes.

I also realized it's going to be most benficial if both Rene and I can attend the classes. There's a lot of information that will be hard to relay to whoever misses the class.

So, the next question was who to get to watch the girls. Last fall a 12-year-old girl passed out babysitting flyers. I fished it out and gave her a call. She lives just a few houses away and I thought it would be handy to have someone to call for short jobs when it's not really worth Erica or Mom driving all the way up (although I know they would both do it!) This would be perfect to introduce her to the girls, she wouldn't have to feed them or put them into bed, we'd just be a 2 minute drive away and flexible to have one of us leave if needed.

She called 20 minutes after we left. Lucienne started screaming as soon as the car left the driveway. I suggested she take her to the toyroom as there are lots of distractions up there. I got another call 20 minutes after that (luckily the trainers are very laid back and were fine with me leaving the class to take these calls) saying the toyroom worked but Evelyn and Audree wanted to watch tv so they came down and she started crying again. We only had 20 minutes left so I told her to hang in there and we'd be home soon. Poor girl. First time babysitting and the baby cries the whole time.

She said she was game to come again next week. I think we'll have to pay her more. And Evelyn and Audree are under strict instructions that there will be no tv and if the toyroom keeps Lucienne happy they need to stay up there. I hope it goes better next time.

On the dog side, we're working on becoming the centre of Paris' universe. We need to be more important than squirrels, cats, toys and everything. To do that, I've been carrying around treats 24/7 and randomly calling her name and giving her a treat. Rene already thinks it's a waste of time. I think he was envisioning the command part of training but I can see how this is laying the groundwork so the commands will come naturally. Thankfully she's very motivated by food.

They also said there needs to be structured play with toys, to not just put the dog outside with a bone. We've had fun hanging things on the clothesline and watching her jump to get it or putting toys at the top of the slide and seeing her struggle and slip to climb up to grab it. If anything it has allowed me to spend more positive time with her instead of always being frustrated about what she's gotten into and destroyed (which is a lot). We've been doing okay with giving her physical exercise but doing nothing in the mental exercise department. 

Hmmmmmm...maybe that's why I've been frustrated with the girls lately. Maybe I need to be spending more time actually doing structured play with them instead of being frustrated with them not picking up after themselves and fighting with each other.

Not just a doggie training school, I'm learning philosophies for life...

Post for April

So, I haven't posted for all of April. I've been a bit busy these days...we got a dog. It's like getting a two-year-old that doesn't speak English. I don't think I have ever fully appreciated how much work a dog is. As a child there's no real responsibility and the only dog I had as an adult was June who was a dream dog (until we had kids but that another story).

Paris is a 7-month-old lab/shepherd mix. Her story is that she was living in the wild on a reservation being used as target practice until the owner of her mother finally called a rescue group for the puppies. Apparently when they picked up her and her siblings they were skin and bones, had chemical burns on their bodies and mouths (they don't think it was abuse, more just scrounging for food and water and getting into things that were dangerous) and one of her brothers had a bullet lodged in his leg.

She was then fostered in a family with 2 other dogs, 3 cats and 4 kids under the age of 8.

It all started when Erica emailed me a post about a couple of chocolate labs up for adoption through an agency that she volunteers with. Rene had wanted to get a dog last summer but having just had Lucienne I said no (and after this month I am sooooo glad I did!!). We were going to reconsider this spring and these labs set it in motion. We never did get an answer back from them but we started looking on petfinder.com. I didn't really want a puppy and would have been happy with a smaller dog. Rene really wanted a big dog and would love a puppy. We agreed that we both had to fully agree and not "persuade" the other on any particular dog. If either of us said no it was no. And so we agreed on looking at "Asia" (now Paris).

Long story shorter, we went to London and came back with a dog. At her foster home she was jumping up on people, eating food out of hands (grabbed a cupcake from Audree), and jumping on furniture. But, she was generally a sweet dog, very cute and soft and really was great with kids. That was my one, huge requirement.

So, a quick run down of Paris:
- Favourite things to chew are Barbies, Petshops, marbles and toilet paper, never a shortage at our house.
- It took her a day to stop jumping on us and the furniture (quick learner).
- She was not house trained but took about 2 weeks to get it down pat. Unfortunately the toyroom got hit the hardest. The only room with carpet so I'd imagine lots of good smells up there (future reno). We're working at keeping that door closed, too much to chew and mark.
- She's a big puppy and Audree has been knocked down a few times when she gets into her bouncy mood.
- She chases cats. Not good for poor Roxy. She has confined herself to the basement or top bunk. They're okay if Rene and I are in the room controlling the situation but it's a full blown chase if there's a chance meeting. They've had 3 good fights. Roxy is starting to migrate a little more in the house but we have a long way to go. I really, really, really hope we can work on this to the point where Roxy can wonder at will and not be scared. I think if Roxy would stand her ground she'd be okay.
- She chases squirrels. Not good for walks.
- She doesn't bark (yay!!). I hope this stays this way.
- She loves to play with other dogs.
- She's great with kids. Lucienne has got a hold of her fur a couple of times and Paris doesn't react.
- She's very wary of strangers. It takes a couple visits for her to become comfortable with them. On walks she stays clear but if someone approaches her she'll try desperately to run away. Not sure how to fix this. I just keep watching the Dog Whisperer hoping something will click.
- She doesn't like the treadmill but I'm working on it...not as consistently as I'd like but will keep trying to fit it in our day.
- She's doing really well at staying on her pillow in the livingroom while we eat. I hate begging dogs!!
- She doesn't rush the front door when people come, love this! Mind you, if we fix the wary of strangers issue we may have to work on keeping her away from the front door when the doorbell rings.
- She's great in her crate. Doesn't go in it freely during the day but has no problem going and staying when we need to go out or at night.

I've really got to get training her. She's pretty good at sit, okay with come but doesn't do well with stay or lie down. It would be fun to teach her some tricks. I'd like her to be able to go on the treadmill by herself (Cesar keeps saying that eventually dogs ask to go on, I'm sceptical).

Things have been easier since we finished fencing the yard. Now when she gets too crazy I send her outside for a bit and can have some peace. 

I'd also love to get her peeing and pooping in the same place in the yard. My plan is to lay down some rocks or something. She does poop in one spot but unfortunately it's right behind the kids' swings. It will also be hard to keep the kids away from her rocks...we'll see how this all goes. Already we have burned patches all over from her peeing.

Rene has been awseome at taking her for a walk every morning. He wakes up 15 minutes earlier. One of these days I'll get up early and take her for a run but it hasn't happened yet. I'm in charge of the evening walk when Rene comes home from work as long as there isn't anything going on right after. I get dinner almost ready and he finishes it up while I go for a run or walk with her.
 

So, that's Paris. And that was our April (she would have made a cute April too!). Especially since our other dog was June. I wish I'd thought of that!