SENSE-ible Dog Harness

Zoe's teacher asked me to try out a different harness for her when we were at puppy class last week.  She had one in stock so I thought we would try it out.  The concept is that you have more control over the dog if they are pulling when walking as the leash is hooked into the front of the harness (leash hooks into the O ring in front) instead of over the back.  But, the problem I had was that it allows your playful pup to grab the leash in the front and chew on it.  Or, decide that the leash is a tug toy and now it's time to play.    

In my opinion, this particular style appears to be too thin for Zoe as this is the 1/2" webbing and I think she would be better suited to the 1" size webbing. Also, this harness has the closing clasp that hooks underneath the dog so you have to be very careful not to pinch any of the pups' flesh/fur or possibly your own finger while you are clipping it together. 
We're heading off to puppy class tonight to get a better idea as to how this fits.  

Big Girl Crate & Feeding Station

Sorry that I've left my blogging duties get behind, as I have been under the weather lately.  Speaking of the weather it is really winter here now as last night it got down to 28 degrees and we have had a slight dusting of snow.  Anyway, I weighed Zoe over the weekend and at 5 months old she now weighs 35 pounds.  I decided Zoe needed to graduate from the puppy crate to the big girl crate and she just loves it...an extra large hotel room.  I have a crate pad on the bottom that has a removable fleece cover for easy washing; and a small cotton blanket on the top of that. 

Zoe has now graduated to using Elmo's feeding station that elevates the food and water bowls on a metal stand at shoulder height.  I am using velcro straps that I wind around the metal legs to anchor it to the butcher block table next to it so that it doesn't move around while she's eating.   Zoe was previously using a large set of yellow pages to elevate her doggie food bowl... this system is much more efficient and cleaner.  She's still using the ceramic puppy bowl so I'm just setting it inside the stainless steel one.

                                                Can you let me outta here!?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey day is finally here, so I thought I would share with everyone my very own "Butterball".  Since my husband and I are vegetarians, there's no turkey in our house except for the picture below which belongs to guess who?

Is your answer
a) Tom Turkey
b) Bobby Butterball or
c) Zoe
If you answered (c) you are correct!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving everyone.

P.S.  Just in case you are wondering or overly concerned Zoe has not committed to being a vegetarian.

Monkey Mann

Here's Zoe's new BFF and his name is "Monkey Mann".  Don't you just love it?  Our assignment for next week's puppy class is to bring a toy that has some sort of tug thing hanging down for our dogs to play with.  We are to teach our dog to fetch, bring it back to us without playing tug of war with the toy and then releasing it on command.  Oh yeah, I'm all over that one.  Good luck with a bullie trying to do that.  Thank goodness we don't have any retrievers in our class to show everyone up.  :o)

Road trip to the Cyclocross Race

Zoe loves to ride in the car and go some place where she can socialize with everyone and every dog she sees.  It's something about the Cyclocross people; they're always super friendly and everybody, well almost, brings their dogs along to see the race.   She was such a good dog today and with all the walking around in her new harness you would not have even known that this was her first time wearing it.

Trying on Zoe's First Harness

I had a harness that belonged to my other bullie Elmo and it fit him pretty snug when he was at his heaviest at 53 pounds.  So, I figured that I would try and see if I could adjust it to make it small enough to fit Zoe, as she is about 33 pounds now.  We are planning on going to take a road trip tomorrow and go to the last Cyclocross race of the season and it would make it a lot more comfortable for her to walk around since she pulls so much when she gets excited.  The harness is made by Lupine and it is adjustable on both of the shoulder straps and the sternum strap.  It's the best harness on the market in my book, because it has a guarantee for LIFE, even if your dog chews it.    
Here's Zoe in her Mud Puppy design harness.  How do you like it?  I think she looks marvelous!

Dear God

Dear God:  Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.

1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.

2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.

3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.

4. The sofa is not a 'face towel'.

5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.

6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.

7.  Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.

8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table

9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.

10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt across the carpet.

11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.

12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

 

Have a great weekend!

Asleep In Dad's Leather Chair

Zoe has discovered the famous La-Z-Boy leather chair which is exclusively my husband's.  No one is allowed to sit in it or even sniff it :o), but Zoe can.  She's not big enough to jump into it by herself, so the only way she can get up into the chair is if she has assistance.  Zoe's little back legs just don't have enough oomph to get her up into the comfy chair. We have an African Grey parrot named Bilbo (his real name is Bilbo Baggins of the Hobbit) that has this saying when he sees one of us sitting in the family room in our chairs:  "sleepin' in the chair?", which is what is usually happening in front of the TV.  Bilbo says the phrase in his perfect voice that mimics my husband's. 

So now comes Zoe sitting in the King's chair.
Calling it her own as if she was the Queen.










And then slowly, very slowly Zoe's getting sleepy.  The power of the comfy leather chair begins to take over.











Zoe lays down and makes herself more comfortable...












And then it happens, the spell of The Chair takes over and Zoe falls fast to sleep.

Good Night Everyone, Goodnight Elmo. 

Let's do Laundry

One of the Sunday morning rituals at our house is to get the laundry done for the week.  Zoe decided this morning to help out by jumping into the laundry basket to sort through the towels.  It seems that her best task is assisting with pulling them out of the basket and then plopping her butt on top of the fluffy one she chose to leave there for her personal comfort. Ahh, just right!

 

It's Friday again Yeh!!

My mom and I love Fridays 'cause it's almost the weekend when we get to go out and play all day long.

    

                                                                  R.O.F.L.

Getting in Trouble

Zoe, Zoe, Zoe...what are you into now?  If she's not sleeping she's into something she shouldn't be; just like a 3 year old child.  Zoe's shredding the rubber door mat that I use in the winter to soak up moisture from wet shoes and underneath the mat there is a floor runner just to keep the entrance way clean.  Zoe has now managed to begin to destroy the rugs.  She has lots of toys and nylabones but there is nothing like pulling apart a good rug.   

 

Starting Puppy School

It's off to puppy school (Puppy Train and Play) for Zoe and I beginning this week.  Today's class was humans only; except that one student brought her puppy for demonstration purposes.  A very cute Portuguese Water dog; the same breed that President Obama and family has.  It should be a great class as there are only 4 dogs enrolled so far and we also have two student's who will be assisting with the training.  Zoe already has homework :o(  that we need to have worked on for next week's class.  Teaching your puppy to pay attention to you by using a clicker and treats.  Teaching your dog to come when called - this is always the most difficult task for me and my dog; I never feel that I get 100% cooperation with this command...maybe the dog will come to me and then maybe not.  Teaching your dog to take a rest when you do - that's a good one.  Sit in a chair and each time your dog lies down no matter how long she/he gets a click and a treat.  And lastly teaching your puppy to walk on a leash without jumping, chewing on the leash, and pulling you every which way.  I am a huge fan of Cesar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer" and I constantly hear his voice saying "you must be calm and assertive".  OK, I'm workin' on it. 

Taking a Bath

This was Zoe's first bath.  I tried to take pictures of her in the shower stall but she was all over the place when the water started spraying and I was afraid of getting the camera wet.  She did really well once she adjusted to the water being there and sat right down and let me scrub her clean.  Not to mention she smells really good! 

Going to see the Vet

Zoe had to travel in her crate in the back of the van to go to the vet this morning. I don't think she likes being in the "dungeon".  But, she does well riding in the car; once we get going she lays down and goes right to sleep.

"You won't believe it but I do like to come here.  The people are nice and I get treats when I'm a good girl.  And you know what?  I now weigh 29 pounds."

"I guess we're all done now and I get to go home after we stop at the pet store and I get to pick out a new toy."

HAPPY FRIDAY

Have a great weekend everyone!  Zoe's off to see the vet tomorrow.

Fetch the Stick

Zoe LOVES sticks; big ones, little ones, ones with leaves, and some she can hardly pickup.  Now that it’s fall, there is an abundance of sticks to choose from laying on the ground where we travel.  When we go walking Zoe tries to grab every stick she sees along the way.  She'll drop the a stick only to find a better one to pick up.  Zoe must have some kind of stick evaluation criteria in her little brain, or maybe it could just be the puppy chewing instinct.  But, it's not good if your dog is chewing on sticks and swallowing the wood slivers.  I met a lady once who had a bulldog that required surgery to have pieces of wood removed from her dog's stomach.  Playing or chewing sticks should only be done under supervision.   I am actually trying to teach her to retrieve it, bring it back and let go of it willingly.  We've played fetch with the ball or frisbee, but Zoe lost interest quickly - only a good stick will do the trick.

Bulldog Calendar

The Yahoo English Bulldog group "Bulldogfx" has created a calendar for 2011 and it's just beautiful.  Please check out the link below.

http://www.lulu.com/product/calendar/2011a-year-in-the-life-of-our-bulldogs/1350\
5685

A group collaboration of bulldog owners to celebrate the lives of our bulldogs. 100% of the profits from the sale of these calendars will go to help rescue organizations that take in abused, neglected and unwanted english bulldogs and find their perfect "fur"ever homes. After you see these bullies, it's hard to imagine there are any unwanted bullies out there. Please support English Bulldog Rescue by buying our calendar for 2011!!! Thanks in advance!

Toy Box

Zoe has a toy box, nothing spectacular just a plain old sturdy cardboard box twice the size of a shoe box.  It's almost too small for all her toys that she inherited from her bullie friend Elmo.
Two ropes, nylabones, 2 hard rubber balls, 3 kongs-one is called a Wubba that she loves and the biggest one is the stuffed yellow bear she carries around by the nose.

Zoe has only one procedure to empty the box:
Step 1:  Put face into box to determine that everything is in there.
Step 2:  Pull out the bear first because it's the biggest and in the way to get to all the other toys.
Step 3:  Put one or both front paws into the box while flinging out all of the toys onto the floor.
Step 4:  Ignore all the toys and chew on the box.