Breeze's food issue

Over the past few weeks, our blind puppy Breeze (now seven and a half months old) had developed a habit of growling when eating in her crate with the door closed as all her meals have been served.  

Note: the only time the dogs are crated is when they are home alone and when crated, they get a Kong with either part of their meal or something yummy stuffed inside.  I really don't think this is a crate issue, she goes in with no fuss at all.

Breeze has never been a fast eater and if the door to her crate is left open when she goes in with her kibble, she will wander out, tour the house and come back, nibble and repeat.  This tends to drive the others a bit crazy since they know they can't have her kibbles. Keeping the crate door closed while she was eating seemed to make her agitated and she growled more so I tried leaving it open.

After a few days, even this wasn't making a difference.  I tried saying, "Breeze. Quiet."  and that would work briefly.  Then when she growled, the kibble bowl would disappear.   She would calmly sit and it would reappear. Then it got to the point where I'd be removing and replacing the bowl almost constantly due to the growling.  

Now we're trying having her eat in the alcove off the kitchen next to the bathroom with a baby gate since I am thinking it's a confinement thing.  She has room to wander around and eat with nobody able to bother her.  So far, this seems to be working better.  Better, but not yet solving the problem.  The one thing that does seem to make a difference and keep her from growling is if I talk.  Constantly.  A running commentary about what I am doing.  I wonder if that is the actual solution.  A radio doesn't cut it, the television doesn't.  I wonder, is me babbling away the answer to this?  Will she out grow this as her confidence increases?  Any thoughts, ideas and/or suggestions are appreciated, either in the comments or e-mail.

I know it's not fair to compare but neither blind Hiker or blind and partly deaf Brook had this problem.  Breeze is a very happy and well behaved puppy who does the normal growling at others when they have something she wants and occasionally it erupts to a bit of a tussle, especially with Azule who is deaf.  She is just a normal puppy except for the food growling.  

On a lighter note...

This afternoon, the temperature warmed up, the slight accumulation of snow melted and the ground became a bit soft.  I think the dirt probably smelled nice and fresh and somebody just couldn't resist!

Me: Breeeezzzeee...were you digging?

Hiking with Callie

This past Wednesday, although cold, was nice and sunny and after a few days of cloud, sunshine was just what we needed.  So, since I didn't have to go to work, on with the long underwear, the warm hat, the mitts and a couple of layers and out we went.  Just Callie and I. 

We went to a park that is very popular in the summer for camping since it is on a lake and in an area densely populated with cottages.  It's not an area that we camp at since it's very family oriented and it's only about a 35 minute drive from home.  (As someone once said, sometimes you need the drive to feel like you're getting away.)

At this time of year, the park is closed and most of the cottagers are long gone.  In my opinion, that makes it a perfect place to hike, especially on a very sunny day with morning temperatures around -3C/26F.

Callie's recall is very good but since the trails are very twisty with a limited view, I decided to keep her on leash since there were some mountain bicycle tracks that were fresh. 

 

The park is quite large and there are many trails so I chose one of the first ones we came across.  The sign indicated that the trail was one kilometer but no indication if it was a loop or linear.  Best way to find out, let's go!

Well, the trail wasn't a loop, it ended at links to two other trails so we turned around and wandered some of the roads within the park.  I'm going to have to check on line and see if there are maps of the trails.  It's not like we'd get lost, we would have to try really, really hard and even then, I doubt you could get lost in there, it's too close to lots of roads and year round houses.

Callie and me!

We saw nobody on the trails, the sun was bright, the birds were chirping...a wonderful way to spend the morning.

Bigger Sofa...part 2

Back when this blog first started, we told you about how we need a bigger sofa.

Being creative...let's add an ottoman.  That'll give us more space I thought.  Sure it will.  Yup, more space alright.

Azule, Breeze, Brook and Bill

Yup, more space...for Breeze the spotted wonder to stretch out!  Sure, she is still growing and getting big, but geez.  She's not that big. 

Now, in fairness, the dogs do not always completely take over the sofa.  Sometimes, for reasons known only to them, they like to snuggle really close and take up very little space (at least the ottoman is getting used!)

Brook, Azule and Bill

Breeze likes to just hang out on the ottoman too.  

I asked people we know that have bigger dogs if their dogs do this and yes, it seems to be a big dog thing.  I refer to Breeze as a big dog since she is the biggest one in the pack.  She is now seven months old, weighs 46 pounds and is the tallest.  Likely, she is still growing!  A friend commented the other day that Breeze really doesn't look much like an Australian Cattle Dog as her listing on the Blind Deaf Shelter Dog website indicated.  My friend further commented (and I quote) "They really saw you coming when they gave that description."  Yes, I think they did!  Doesn't matter what breed mix she is, she was saved on her PTS date and she is wonderful!

I tried putting some nice fluffy blankets/dog bedding on the floor, thinking that would be an alternative place for the pack to lay.  I haven't done that recently since when I tried it, Breeze wasn't quite house trained and for some  reason, would pee on the blanket.  Every single time.  Four blankets, four pees.  We never used pee pads so I don't know why.  Now that she is completely house trained, I might try again.  

Although, now that I think about it, the pack may have told blind puppy Breeze to do that so that the sofa is the only option.  I wonder about them sometimes.

We still all pile onto the sofa, nudge each other and maybe grumble a little bit as we shift around to get settled.  

Sometimes, Oscar the cat gives us one of these looks.

Probably wonders why the dogs can't be happy with a little cardboard box like he is.  Oh Oscar, that's just the way dogs are!

Got snow?

We got snow!

Forest, Breeze, Azule and Brook

The dogs are really happy about it and had a great time on Saturday morning playing in the fluffy white stuff.  This was blind puppy Breeze's first snow and she ate a lot of it!  It'll be interesting to see if she continues to eat it.  None of the others do.  (Cairo, my first ACD always, always ate large amounts of it.  When I adopted Callie, she too would eat it but when Cairo passed away, Callie never did again.  Likely since there wasn't another dog to copy.)

 

When the flurries got a bit heavy, Breeze opted for some shelter for a few minutes.

I didn't realize that taking a picture of a white dog with black spots in the slight accumulation of snow could make her almost disappear.  Here are Breeze and Brook.  A quick glance, you might miss the fact that Breeze is there!  

Callie loves the cooler weather and had a great time playing with the torn up soccer ball.  It is still staying inflated so we'll keep playing with it.  

Just in case you are looking really closely and counting, yes, there are two missing.  Both Bill and Hiker are hot weather fans.  The hotter the better.  They are the ones who will lay in the sun on the hottest summer days until their fur is too hot to touch.  Literally.  So, they both came outside but didn't stay for long. 

Mid afternoon while the pack were resting after we were outside for a few hours in the snow, I decided to make a (vegan) meatloaf and roast another squash.  

Why, oh why do I think I can cook by myself?! Although, as anyone with dogs knows, you can never, ever do anything by yourself!

Kitchen staff left to right: blind Brook, Bill, deaf Azule and Forest

The reason Brook is sitting like that is because I had, a few minutes prior, opened the oven door to check on the squash.  I'm sure she is thinking, "I can smell it.  Where is it?"

The snow is still with us and temperatures are forecast for cool enough that it likely won't melt too much.  So, the fence rebuilding project is on hold and we'll get some inside projects taken care of. (maybe those kitchen floor tiles?)

Helper dogs

Do your dogs like to help with projects around the house?  

The acd6pack is always interested in what is going on and want to be a part of things.

Azule: "Hmmm..what's this?"

The on-going project of removing the old wooden fence and replacing it a section at a time is taking a long time.  I feel guilty when the dogs have to be in the house so that a section can be removed and a new section built when it's nice weather.  When it's time to pull apart the old sections, they can be outside and "help".  A project like this is too noisy/scary for Bill so he keeps an eye on things from a distance.

blind Brook and deaf Azule

All the blind girls somehow manage to walk on the old sections of fence with little difficulty.  I wonder if the boards are just far enough apart to match their stride as they walk.

I suppose it's just another example of how the blind ones are encouraged to be just regular dogs.  If they were to bump their noses on the boards, that's okay.  I was very, very careful when swinging the hammer and moving the old fence sections, but other than that, they were left to do whatever they wanted.  There just aren't the words, "Oh you poor thing...you can't...you're blind" at our home.

Forest

As you can see, taking the old sections apart involves lots of, "move, will ya?", "come on, get outta the way", some waving type hand gestures for deaf Azule and the ever famous and often heard, "watch out".  

Blind Breeze helped with some tree trimming.

big sticks!

Another project the dogs helped with was wallpapering.  A few people asked why not crate the dogs or have them stay in another room while wallpapering.  What fun would that be?!  Sure, the water tray became a water dish (that was an exciting find for a blind dog - a water dish in the upstairs hall), the wallpaper got walked on, some sections of paper were ripped but we had fun.

blind Brook and blind Hiker

Did you know that new paint rollers can double as a chew toy?  I didn't know that either, but apparently Callie did.

They all (except nervous Bill) want to be in the middle of everything.  It often takes about twice as long to get things done but it's so much more fun with a few dogs as helpers.

I often think that we are just keeping the fun in dysfunctional.

Bye bye spider

Happy Thanksgiving to all our followers in the United States of America!

We had our Thanksgiving back in October and we thought about the many things we are thankful for.  Most importantly, we are thankful for each other and having a loving home together.  That is something we are thankful for every day.

A few weeks ago for Hollowe'en, Forest wore a green spider headband and he looked really cute annoyed by the whole thing.

"This is so embarrassing.  Nobody else is wearing a spider."

I didn't realize how annoyed and embarrassed Forest was until yesterday when I arrived home.  You see, Hiker and Forest met me at the door.  Forest is to be in his crate.  Only Hiker is not crated when home alone.  Hiker is non-destructive and can be totally trusted. Forest should not have been loose all day.  

When I opened the door, Forest gave me one of his mischievous looks as he ran out the door.  You know the type of look, the one that says, "So glad you're home, somebody pooped on the floor and killed a green spider."

Sure enough, somebody did both those things.  After cleaning the mess on the kitchen floor, I went in to the living room and saw this.

spider remains

Oscar the cat thought maybe he might possibly want to play with one of the pipe cleaners.  Then decided that it was too much effort. (he's old and can't be bothered)

So, I have some green pipe cleaners, a black head band and a couple of green feathers.  I could probably make something.  Something crafty, but I'm not crafty.  

I thought of keeping the pipe cleaners for the cats to play with but know that the dogs would try and eat them and likely choke at which time Forest would blame me for buying the damn spider and making him wear it which caused him to destroy it.

Wordless Wednesday