Now That Is Rash!

Jesse and Josey are losing hair in patches. The skin underneath the thinning hair is scaly. Donna, our Kindergarten Teacher thinks it is a food allergy. Damn, I feed them probably one of the most expensive puppy foods on the market! She suggested me I try another food that does not have corn listed as the first 3 ingredients. Do you know how hard it is to find dog food without corn. Very hard.

FB Friends think it is the mange. Oh no, not that! That is like telling the well to-do mother that her kids have head lice! That's for dirty people, not my babies. Guess there will be a trip to the Lonoke Animal Hosital this week.

These free puppies are costing me an arm and a leg.

Night Away From Home

Jesse and Josey had a new experience this week. I had to go out of town for three days/two nights. I have probably already mentioned this, but my hubby, while a loving guy, will not take care of my puppies AT ALL. Therefore, I had to board them for two night. I am lucky in that in the my local vet will board pets. Wednesday morning I dropped them off at the animal hospital in the caring hands of the vet and his assistants. Like any new mom, I worried and missed my babies.
Picked them up this afternoon and oh, how happy they were to see me, and me then! They were extremely hyper so we walked next door to the animal hospital to the State Farm Office to say hello to Leanna. She was busy, so we just said hello and went on our way home. Lots of outdoor play when we got home and some practice of their newest commands, then a nap in my lap. So sweet and peaceful. Hope they are having sweet and peaceful dreams.
Both Jesse and Josey have dry patches on their skin that must itch because they are doing a lot of scratching. I wonder if I can put a little mild hydorcortisone ointment on these places and they will resolve. I think I shall try this. Also I notice that their neck is pink and inflamed looking. They are wearing flea collers and it looks like it is irritating their tender skin. These will come off and we will go back to the drops on the back - but probalby more expensive drops. These "free" puppies sure cost me a lot of money. That's OK, I still love the unconditional love Josey and Jesse give me. They are awesome.

All I ever needed to know, I learned in Puppy Kindergarten.

Saturday was our first day in puppy kindergarten. Josey and Jesse were scared shitless, or at least that is how they acted. Stayed under my chair, not interacting with the teacher, or anyone else for that matter. Shaking, or trembling when the teacher would approach them. Refused to take treats from me or the teacher. I was beginning to think my puppies were a bit retarted. Poor babies.
Back at home, we had a little better luck. They are doing well with the "sit" command, however we still have a lot of work on the "watch me" command. Guess they are not retarted after all.
They are being very naughty tonight. Only being playful puppies, fighting and barking. So why is that a problem? Because the hubs has already gone to bed. He is going to be pissed, cause they are making too much noisel and keeping him awake. Please be quite, little puppies. Please.

Clover

Jesse and Josey love playing in tall clover. Running and ropping and tumbling among the clover blooms. Occasionally stopping to look up at me and bark a thank-you for play time. Haha

J and J

The pups continue to grow and just get more and more entertaining. Still letting them stay outside in the kennel during the day because the weather has been so wonderful. This morning I put them out, but worried about them all dang day! Storms in the forcast for the entire weekend, starting to day. I called the hubs to check on the weather and put a status on FB to check on the weather in Lonoke. All was well, as I made it home before any bad weather arrived and the pups are safe in the house with me.
Every night when I bring Jesse and Josey into the house, my hubs immediately heads to bed becasue they are to "wild" for him. Ha-ha. He has "old peoples" skin and if they jump up on him and accidently scratch him it will leave a bruise or cause him to bleed. I don't know if he will ever bond with them like I have.
Tonight will be bathtime for the puppies, They do not like bathtime. Tomorrow is puppy kindergarten class one and they must smell nice and clean. We don't want to make a bad impression. This should be quite an experience. Stay tuned..........

Outdoor Fun

Today, I worked out in the yard with the hubs and the puppies. I put Josey and Jesse in a laundry basket secured to the front of the 4-wheeler. They rode around in the basket most of the afternoon as I worked clearing and moving limbs and brush from the back of the yard. After a while, they lay down in the basket and went to sleep. Guess I can say they are getting use to the 4-wheeler now. I plan to take them with us when we hit the trails on the ATVs.
I bought them a car seat, but haven't tried it out yet. I hope it will help control the motion sickness when we travel. They will be able to look out the window. Will have to plan a road trip soon to try it out.
We are training. I have been walking around the house and the yard with puppies tethered to my waist trying to teach them that I am the Alpha Dog and I am suppose to do the leading. They haven't learned that very well yet, as they continue to try to drag me. Poor babies, they are not big enough to drag me anywhere. I feel like I am a walking puppy treat machine. I keep puppy treats in my pocket and a clicker around my neck. When they do something right - like piddle outside - I press the clicher and immediately give them a treat. They get very excited when they hear the clicker or see my hand move toward my pocket. I am considering puppy kindergarten at PetSmart. Some would say it would be a waste of time and money, but hey, it is my time and money, so what the hey............

Puppylove Update

Oh, how Jesse and Josey have grown! They are so excited to see me at the end of the day they can hardly contain themselves. Ain't love great! I am almost as happy to see them. They are little trouble with the kennel outside and the crate inside. The get plenty of sunshine during the day and at night still curl up in my lap for to sleep. Still bunches of puppy kisses, although puppy breath is not as wonderful as when I first brought them home.
Josey is turning out to be a she-devil. Mean as snot to her brother, even though he is still the biggest one of the two. She will bury her treats, then go take his away from him. She is very jealous of any attention Jesse gets from me or the hubs and will crowd him out. Jumps all over him, knocks him over, chases him off. Now I know that some of this is just puppy play, but occasionally she gets to rough with him and makes him yelp. Poor baby, Jesse. Josey is a wild child! I might have to put her on Ritalin.
I took them to the cabin for a weekend outing. Just me and the pups. Both of them threw-up in the jeep. We stopped a couple of times and let them rest, but everytime we got a few miles down the road, up it came again. They both are more refined vomiters than I am. You can hear me for a block away, but they just open their little mouths and out if comes. I had prepared the jeep for soiling, but did not have this in mind when I did so. Once in Mtn View, we visited the county vet and he did not have any medicine for motion sickness so he gave me pills for sedation. One forth pill for each of them and they slept like babies and no more vomiting. WooHoo.
They go for their second set of shots this Saturday. I also need to check into boarding for the puppies because my hubs never cleaned up after my son when he was a baby and does not intend to clean up after the puppies. Told me to "do something" with those puppies before I go on vacation - which is in July. Don't get me wrong, he likes the puppies as long as he does not have to feed/water/clean up after them. WIMP! God love him. Me and God love him.

Until Later ~

Trials and Tribulations

This post has nothing to do with my puppies, but it is just to dang funny. My neighbor's dog ate her hubby's hearing aide. She heard a loud squealing noise early in the morning that was moving about in the room. She was able to "extract" it from the dog, but not without some damage to the hearing aide. Her husband was really pissed; it was a new hearing aide. She went to church to pray for the hubby and the dog.

The Routine

Well, it has been three weeks now and I still love my little puppies, Jesse and Josey. They continue to provide me with hours of enjoyment and laughter. Jesse and Josey are adapting to the Turner household with great ease, well sorta.
Crate training is going well and we have settled into a routine nicely. In the morning, they go outside and have breakfast while I get ready for work. I bring them in just before I leave for work and place them in their crate. It is a big enough crate that they sleep and play on one end and do their business on the other end. They cry for me as I leave for work. Poor babies, I have to leave them. As soon as I get back home, I open the crate and am greated with two excited little puppies. We immediately head outside for exercise, supper, and ~ well you know. I leave them in the kennel outside for about hour, then back in the house where we settle in the recliner and after a few puppy kisses, they settle down and go to sleep in my lap, soon snoring softly. I put them to bed back in their crate and cover the crate with a tablecloth. They settle down for the night quickly and do not make another sound until they hear us stirring around the next monrning. That is our routine, Monday thru Friday. We sleep late on the weekends. I am thinking they will be easy to train as they are so obviously the most intelligent pups that were ever born!

The pups got a bath today, and they did not take kindly to the bath but they do smell better.

Their little personalities are beginning to develop, more on that later.

Poem For A New Puppy Owner

Don't smell crotches, don't eat plants.
Don't steal food or underpants.
Don't eat my socks, don't grab my hair.
Don't rip the stuffing from that chair!
Don't eat those peas! Don't touch that bush!Don't chew my shoes. What IS that mush?
Eat your cookies. Drink your drink,
Outta the toilet! Outta the sink!
Away from the cat box, it's for the cat!
And MUST you kiss me after that?
Yes, raising a puppy, is not for the lazy!
Though puppies are funny, they're also quite crazy.
But don't despair, though its toil and strife.
After three years, you'll get back your life!
So, let's go for "walkies", you can "do your thing"
And perhaps I'll get back my good diamond ring!

Author Unknown

Puppy Play

Jesse and Josey have been in the family for 7 days as of yesterday. It is hard for me to get anything done when I am at home because they want to be in my lap and how can I resist them? We played outside yesterday while the sun was still shining. The hubs brought home a 10X10 kennel for them. We put it up in the back yard and intorduced them to their new playground. They ran and played and wrestled for a couple hours. We just sat and laughed at them for a long time.

I also put them on a leash for a short time. One leash, two puppies. Cute, Cute, Cute! They were sooooo tired when we came in the house, they went right to sleep in my lap. No nipping at my hands, no puppy kisses, just naptime.

Time for a little puppy play.

Well Puppy Check-up + TMI Alert!

Day Four: Took off work on last Tuesday morning to take my puppies in for a check-up and to get them started on their shots. They were asleep in the pet carrier before we got to the Vets Office; a short 9 miles to town. Of course everyone loved my babies. Jesse weighed 3.3 pounds and Lady Josey weighed in at 3 pounds.

Here comes the TMI: Both of them had intestinal worms, which did not surprise me as I had seen what I thought were worms in their diarrhea poop for the past two days. Other than that, they are very healthy. Three days of medicine and they will be rid of the nasty parasites. No heart worms, thank goodness.

When can I get them "fixed", I asked? I don't want any incest and stupid puppies in my household. He said he would do that when they are six months old, adding that Josey would probably not go into heat until 8 months old. Well she better not! That's all I have to say about that.

I am crate training them (or I think I am). I need a "Puppies for Dummies" Manual. The hubs bought them a medium size crate and they eat and sleep in the front of it and eliminate in the other end on puppy pads. They don't mess up their sleep area. It is easier to clean up. As they grow and have more bladder control, we will transition to something else. I take them out in the morning and in the evening a couple of times for exercise. So far, so good. I cover up their crate at night with a large tablecloth. They whine, cry, bark for about 5 minutes, then they settle down and go to sleep and sleep all night. Such good puppies.

Name that Puppy!

So how did I come up with names for the puppies. My husband loves old westerns and we were watching 3:10 to Yuma at the cabin. That gave me the idea. Name the boy Jesse and the girl, Josey. The hubs liked it, but said I had to use the entire name, so they became: Jesse James Turner and Josey Wales Turner. He laughed and said he loved the names.

I spend the first night sleeping in the recliner with them in my lap to keep them quiet. I was afraid if they kept the hubs up he would throw all three of us out in the woods. I actually slept pretty good. Sometime during the night in my sleep stooper, I thought I had broken Josey's neck by crushing her between the arm and the back of the recliner. Panic set in and I picked her limp body and dropped her onto my lap. She remained limp. Tears filled my eyes. Damn, I have already killed one of my puppies!!. I fumbled for the flashlight as I kept my eyes on Josey and she did not move. Finally finding the flashlight, I turned it on and shined it in her eyes. Jesse was beginning to whine due to all of the commotion in the recliner. Josey raised her tiny head and looked sleeply into my face and wagged her tail. A sigh of relief from me and tears once again filled my eyes. This time tears of joy. I think it was just a bad dream and I interrupted peaceful puppy dreams. What have I gotten myself into????
I hope thier mild demeanor is a indication of what sweet and easy puppies they will be to raise. Jesse seems to be the lively one, and Josey appears to be calm and ladylike. They love to ride in the truck and both of the quickly pass out into a slumber as we head home to the Noke. Sweet babies. One of them occasionally whines in his/her sleep while the other one occasionally farts! The farter has to be Jesse. We all know that southern ladies don't fart, they fluff. :-) We stop a couple of times on the almost 3 hours drive home and give them a potty break. Wonderful puppies - no accidents in the truck. My sweet babies.
On the way home I email my boss and ask for 6 weeks of Family Medical Leave to be with my new babies. I won't repeat her response. Needless to say, I am thinking about what to do with the puppies while I am at work.

Puppylove in Lonoke

Saturday I adopted two puppies from a man and his grand daughter in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas. The hubs and I were on our way to the cabin. They are so very cute and so very much trouble for an old woman such as myself. Trouble to take care of, yes, but when they are asleep in my arms, the trouble melts away as I feel the joy of unconditional love.



So, I have decided to blog about the adoption of 8 week old puppies and the challenges and joy it brings as they grow and mature into adult dogs. In my next post, I will introduce the puppies and then see where this story leads.