Cat in a box

As many of you know, earlier this fall, Tommy and I made Purla a fantastic Estate home. We made it Rancher style, so she wouldn't have to go up and down stairs in her arthritic years. The number of times she has enjoyed her new house, we could count on one hand. This week, however, she has decided that she prefers our home! She hovers outside the door, and the second we open it, MEOW, she walks on in! And MEOW, where's my dinner! So, being the good servant that I am, I promptly set to making her a bed. Out of the finest materials. Cardboard. And a pillow. She has moved on in.


Madeline, could give a rats pooper that there is a cat in the house. Dorian.....is in love.


With Purla and her cardboard box.





I can't seem to get this picture right side up, but you get the idea!


It takes 24 hours of surveilance to keep Dorian away from Purla and her bed. It makes us a little nervous, because I think she weighs about six pounds and Dorian is already 17 pounds! He pounces at her, and smells her and bats her and pushes her.....and she loves every second of it! Sometimes I wonder if this is the first entertainment she has had in her whole life!

So everynight night this week, she comes in as soon as we get home from work, and stays in all night curled up in front of the fire until the next morning when we shoo her out for the day.... god forbid, next stop, litter box. Yuck.

Tonight I also discovered that this Sunday at the auction house is all crafts and yarn!!!! Yippee! And then I realize plummeting back to earth......it's the same time as Dorian's class. Poopee. I'm working on a plan. Best case scenario, class will be cancelled due to Halloween the previous night....I am anxiously checking my email for updates. My fathers days projects are coming along swiftly now that my summer hiatus is over!

I will keep you posted about my possible first auction purchases ever!

The baby!

This was Dorian on Thanksgiving day! I think he was trying to get as close to the turkey as possible! He looks so tiny and that was only a week and a half ago! That day the turkey was bigger then him, but today I think he weighs more!

Mommy, Lingy and Dorian, having a snooze....well some of us having a snooze!

This is Dorian today! I took about 10 shots and this was the best we could do! I don't know how anyone photographs puppies! Impossible!

We may be in trouble.....

You know those dogs.....you smile at them from you car, they might be in a vehicle, with their head out an open window, or they might be in the back of a truck, hanging over the edge as far as they can, but where ever they are they are barking. All down the road Bark Bark Bark Bark, at nothing in particular. We used to laugh at these funny dogs, wondering what was going through their heads, what are they trying to say? And we would smile at Julien and Madeline and think about how smart our babies are! And quiet! Good car riders!

Life as we knew it, is over. I have a barker. I've tried him in his crate...bark bark bark, I tried him in the back seat, bark bark bark. I've tried him in the front seat, bark bark bark. At nothing, nothing at all! The only time he's not barking is when he is eating the seat belt, my purse, the shifter, or doing a headstand. Yeah, a headstand, not even joking a little bit. He's definitly not car sick, and he's not stressed out at all. He's just really really loud and verbal. And Madeline and I get out at the end of each trip, rolling our eyes at eachother, and Mommy takes an Advil and Lingy takes a quiet nap!

Now, everyone is laughing at us, I think! We are getting nervous already about the 7 hr drive to Calgary this Christmas! It's going to be a long long trip.

We had our second training class this weekend. The crazy lady who talks really loudly to her dogs immediatly had to "come and see Madeline", and then proceeded to talk to her. I find this incredibly awkward. Am I supposed to respond on her behalf? Make her talk? Talk to this womens dog? I chose none of the above, I just stared at her. And at the end of the class she did it again, saying goodbye to Madeline, but not us, so we just walked away. Strange.
But Maddy is a superstar, in class. What a show off! She will probably be advanced to level two soon, but home is a different story. We are working very hard on sitting on a mat, I think she's starting to get it.
Dorians doing great too, no sign of advancement though! We'll be in level one for a while. I think he's starting to understand what the click means though. That will help, for the first while he definitly wasn't putting it all together. He goes on the mat right away now, so I think he understands!

It's too late to post any pictures tonight, I will try another night. I need to take some new ones anyways!

And one last huge news!!!!! My sister is getting married! Yay! We are so excited! Congratulations Angie and Luc!

T3's, Advil and Penicillan, OH MY!

Gurg. I don't know how anyone can be addicted to prescription medicine. What a nightmare. After a full week of painkillers and prescriptions, today I am drug free. What a relief! So naturally I am celebrating with a glass of wine. By belated birthday present to me, as on my birthday I spent the evening on the couch with dozing in and out of sleep. PARTY!

I should really have read my last post because now I don't remember where I left off!

I will start again, bear with me if you have heard this before! I will make it short, I know, I said that last time and it was my longest post ever!

Monday was root canal day, it went good. Minimal tears, lots of pain. Glad it was over. That night I felt great. Flash forward to Tuesday at noon, all the sudden I had major shooting pains in my head from the tooth next to the one that had the root canal. So back we go, my dentist figured we had disturbed that tooth, which we already knew had some decay, so she quickly fit me in and gave me a quick temporary filling. And and nice extra big shot of Lanicain?? at the end so I could stay frozen for another good five hours. After the freezing wore off, there was still a good strong amount of pain, so back the next day, and she went ahead and did a root canal on that tooth as well. Madelines' birthday came and went in a T3 haze on the 30th. My promises of a special birthday this year sadly went down the toilet. I'm not sure she remembered her own birthday though, she doesn't seem too upset. A few bottles of advil, T3's and penicillan, a few naps during work and lots of soup later, I can proudly say that I am drug free! Minor soreness remains, mostly in the spot where all the needles went in. Next stop at the Dentist office, November 2nd! Yay, a month off!

Yesterday, for those who don't already know, was Julien's birthday. He would have been five years old. In his memory Tommy made pancakes and bacon, it was what Julien requested every year for his birthday supper. I think we will continue this yearly tradition. I can't believe he has been gone for two months. And I can't believe that life has gone on without him. I still feel guilty when I remember that his sweet face is gone and I shouldn't be happy without him. I hope someone let him in the kitchen to make some bacon in heaven. Maybe grandma whipped him up something special.

It was also an exciting day for Dorian and Madeline yesterday! First day of class! We are taking two seperate classes at 11 and 4, so we can give each baby our full attention. Dorian went first, naturally everyone oohed and ahhed over him. He did......okay.....for his first time! Very distracted, its good just to get him out though. Madeline was a star in her class. We had previously told the teacher that we have some issues we would like to work on, and she made a total lier out of us. She performed perfectly, was so polite, didn't react to anything. I kept saying, no really, she's not like this...really!!! She's a bad girl!!!! Ug.....humilating. In the best possible way of course.

We were good students and did our homework today. It's so funny to watch them, well mostly Madeline, when the light bulb comes on!

The classes we are doing uses clicker training. In class we did a click and treat for eye contact....no talking allowed. The first few times Madeline flicked a glance my way I kept missing it because the lighting was poor. Tommy kept saying, there there! You missed it! So when she realized what she was being clicked for, she started looking at me REALLY obviously! She would look away and then give me a huge obvious stare!!! So funny, she is a better student then I am trainer! Now the first thing she tries is eye contact....really long and really obvious!

And of course in both classes, there is the token super duper annoying person. Our first class has the woman who has to comment on every single thing the trainer says. And our second class has two annoying women, the first one, brought two dogs to the class by herself, and then had to keep asking how she could do the exercises with two dogs....hello...no, there's nobody home.

Then she proceded to praises her dogs loudly and FOREVER, when they did the right thing, yeah, we get it, your labs are brilliant. That's why your here.

Another lady in the class insists on continuing her training while the teacher is talking, normally not a big deal, but remember, this is clicker training....CLICKER TRAINING!

So annoying. She also didn't bring any of the required items to bring, ie, crate, mat, treats, and then wondered how she should perform the exercises. Should people be required to pass IQ tests before they may own a dog? YES! Most definitly. I know I'm not perfect. But man....

This picture was Madelines napping site this morning.....I like to call it....Angel/Devil Dog, or maybe Dog who thinks she's Cat. In case you can't tell, in this picture she is on the back of the couch, half in the window sill.

And for those of you who couldn't find the puppy in the pumpkin patch last post....here he is!!!!

Are Titles Really Needed?

It has been quite a week, here in the Kootenays. Work has been at the top of my list of stresses this week. Wednesday our Union Rep is coming in and I am prepared to duel to the DEATH!!!!!

Stupid business owners think they can walk all over us little guys......you have messed with the wrong girl. To put it briefly....I did a used car inspection, a week after Julien's death....it's hard to inspect through a blur of tears, but I did my best. Nor have I been using this as an excuse, except for right here, right now. Flash forward one month, the POS Ford Ranger has been sold and the buyer has had it privatly inspected. A few items were missed by me, and it is questionable as to whether these items had occured recently, or were there at the time of the inspection. Not to mention the vehicle was worked on by another tech in the interim and none of these items were noted by him either.

Big bad boss man, decides that as a form of punishment, I would have to repair all for free, almost an entires days of hours.

Let me reinforce, that in my year and a half with this company, I have never been reprimanded, pulled into the office, been written up, nothing! This is my first offence. And come on, have a little heart!

Now I can understand, if I repaired something and it didn't work, or still leaked....of course I would fix it for free. However, I did not even do any work on this truck after the initial inspection. I didn't damage it. I didn't do a poor repair. I didn't cause a leak. Nothing.

So I did the work, fuming all day. But the next day, that was it! (So much for keeping it brief, I am in full venting mode now)

So I got to work, went into my managers office and said it was unacceptable, if they asked me to work, they would pay me to work. At which point my manager starts to go bug eyed and stutter, and states that he would have to talk to the owner. Basically he is nothing but a bug eyed stuttering puppet. So I said I would be happy to wait, and he could come and find me when he had an answer. Out to the picnic table I went and enjoyed catching up on some flyers and newspapers. Two hours later he saunters out with the shop foreman in tow and says they have agreed to pay me half the time. My response. No. All. Or I will continue to sit here , or load up my tool box and leave. After a slight show down, he finally conceded. I put my coveralls on, and started work, even though it was almost lunch time! Needless to say I was not feeling overly motivated, and after many wasted hours, clearly their new form of punishment was a huge success! I am quite sure this battle has only just begun. I can't wait! I have some pent up anger I'm edging to get, this sounds like just the right battlefield!

Today was another exciting event, my first root canal! Well, half a root canal. Of course with wouldn't go smoothly. My roots are knarly and thin and difficult, so she only got half done before all the freezing was gone. I will have to go back in a few weeks and get it finished off. Oh boy, I can hardly wait.

Upcoming news:

Madeline will officially be turning four on Wednesday! I better get shopping! Actually, it's not like I have to spend time shopping, will it be a frisbee or a ball this year!

Yesterday we did some fall chores, starting with cleaning the chinmey! We're all ready to get the wood stove fired up now! I'm a little nervous though, our stacks and stacks of wood, that looked like so much in the the spring, seems to be looking like less and less every degree the tempurature drops! Hopefully we got enough!

I went into the garden, the first time since Julien died. I learned that Dorian will happily be my new gardening partner! Up and down the rows, sniffing and trying to taste test everything! Enjoying the feel of the cool dirt between his paws! Julien used to lie right down in the dirt! What a peanut. If I held a pea out for him, he would pluck it right off the plant. I will miss him forever in the garden.

I posted a fun game below....can you find the bulldog puppy in the pumpkin patch?

Our "gigantic" pumpkin has been a little disappointing, but still quite large! We'll start the seeds earlier next year.

Dorian has figured out how to climb two steps to be able to see sister on the other side of the coffee table! But then he gets stuck and just sits there and barks!

Time for me to sign off and go pop some painkillers!

Still sleepy

So today was our first class for Lingy/puppy training. It was orientation, so that meant no dogs, just the humans learning how to use the "clicker". Todays class consisted of one of us being the dog and the other person being the trainer! So the first command I have to teach Tommy is to touch his right hand to his right foot. We are not allowed to use any verbal commands, or "lure" with a treat, or move the "dog" into position. All we can do is click when the "dog" starts to move in the right direction. Of course my "dog" had to act like a bedridden senior citizen who doesn't move AT ALL!!! So how am I supposed to reward him for doing the right thing? Impossible!!!! Eventually the teachers took over and tried to train my "dog". He was untrainable! The best we could get was for him to put his hand on his knee!

Then the roles get reversed and I am the dog. After much spinning and foot moving and walking around, on and under chairs, I finally get it! I am supposed to walk backwards! And when I finally understand what my "master" and I use that term lightly, wants me to do, it was exilarating! I was so proud of myself! However, after all that, I didn't even get a treat, what a rip.

It was pretty interesting to see just how difficult it is for our dogs to understand what we want them to do, and we even knew what the rules of the game were....the dogs don't even know that much information!

Our first class is Oct 4th. Which also happens to be Juliens birthday. So I am glad I will have to get up, get dressed and go out on that day. But we will definitly be having pancakes and bacon in memory of Julien. Thats was his birthday dinner request year after year. His favorite.

Dorian is also going to start classes too. He will go in the morning, and then Madeline will go in the afternoon. We are doing them seperate so they will not be distracted by eachother and us. There weren't enough puppies to do a puppy class, but there will be a puppy a few weeks older then him in his class. We will have to do lots of work at home to keep up with the big dogs as he will be going right into a level one class. We started work today on name recognition....he is a star pupil already!

And last but not least our most exciting news of the entire weekend.......dadadadadaaaaaaa......


PURLA WENT IN HER HOUSE TODAY!!!!!!!!

Yay! I ran to get the camera and she ran out :(

Next time.

Schools In!

Tomorrow we have our first class! Madeline is back in school! We are starting out in a basic beginnings obediance class. Hopefully she gets a real confidence booster when she already knows how to do everything!

We did a little practice on our walk last night, got the old "clicker" out and a bag of dried liver, YUMYUM! It was like watching a bulb come on! We haven't practiced in a long time and she knew exactly what was going on! It was the most pleasant walk ever! I know, I know, why haven't we been doing this all along? I'll get back to you on that one!

We have been on a fast learning curve this week too. Puppy brain is slowing us down a little, but we are quickly catching up to Dorian's antics! He is one smart little peanut. Sometimes we wonder if Julien left a handbook behind to instruct him on how to be the cutest thing ever. Sometimes Dorian does things that totally imitate Madeline and other times it is the exact thing Julien would have done. Then other times, he is so different from both of them!

I remember after Julien was a little older, how we though we actually had some bearing on what a great little guy he had become. Then with Madeline, we started to realize, that they really do have their own personality, regardless of what we do....now with Dorian, it is so exciting to see an all new personality emerging! This new little doggi person comes complete with the toilet paper gene! We haven't had the gift of a puppy that unrolls TP until now! So we are learning to roll it back up after you are done!

We also can't get over how much he loves his kennel! Put him in, close the door, he goes to sleep! This has been unheard of in our household before! We remember many sleepless nights, trying to get Julien to sleep in his kennel, we were not going to have a dog in bed! Three or four sleepless nights later.....Julien curled up in my arms and never left...and we all slept happily ever after! When Madeline came home, we didn't even try, but she still enjoys her kennel, and goes in it quite often for a rest. Dorian loves his kennel, he would rather take a nap in there, then sleep with either of us, which is good in a way, but a little sad, I was hoping to have a new friend to share my pillow with. But I guess I can be thankful for the extra room in bed. Madeline is also glad for the extra room in bed. I will always save a spot on my pillow for Juliens cheek.