Green-Eyed Monster

My camera and photographic software both have red-eye reduction features, but I still haven't quite figured out what to do when the green-eyed monster rears its cute little head.

Tired Puppy

Bender played pretty hard this morning and then crashed on his bed. He is very content to play by himself and is quite good at concocting his own forms of entertainment. For example, he will carry his bed from place to place and then plop down on it.

All Legs

Bender now resembles a baby lamb (perhaps redundant) with sharp teeth. These two photos are designed to show how much his legs have grown!
On the left is the end of December and above is mid-February

Brown Nose

Bender has a BIG brown nose and my mom read somewhere that you should not use metal dishes to feed a brown-nosed dog or the brown wears off and the nose turns pink. I don't know if this is true or not (over many years I have learned that my mom is usually right about most things), so I use a plastic dog bowl to feed Bender. As he has taken to carrying it around the house, I think I will look for something made of crockery that is too heavy to cart around.

His latest trick is closing the French door (seen behind him in this picture featuring his rather large brown nose). If I open the door for him to go out and he doesn't WANT to go out, he closes the door.

The Eyes Have It!

This is Bender's Valentine photo. If you click on the picture, you should be able to see a larger version and you can get a pretty good idea of how unusual his eye color is. In real life, he doesn't hold still long enough for you to really see them!

The Agony of Dog Training

Yesterday was Bender's first time officially attending search dog training and he did very well! On the first run (he is looking for me on these puppy master runs), he came to the edge of the brush where I ducked in and he pointed like a bird dog. He pointed right at me! While cute, the goal of the activity is to actually have the dog come in on the handler. These were initially very short run aways and I was essentially in plain sight, but he struggled a bit on the second one.

For the subsequent runs, we worked him into the wind and he was a natural. It is so fun to watch a dog of this age learn "the game." Bender was trotting in a straight line and when he was precisely down wind of my position, he made a hard right angle turn and came right in on me. We did about 7 runs and he nailed them all.

As for the above photo, last August I had surgery on my foot/ankle that I broke after stepping into a gopher hole (yes, during dog training). The top of my foot now lacks sensation, so I didn't feel the vine reaching out to trip me yesterday. I fell, sending my coffee straight up in the air to come down on me like a warm, brown rain. Most of me landed on my left knee and my left pinky. I broke and dislocated my finger and spent the afternoon in the emergency room. The physician's assistant was a sweetheart and she numbed my finger as soon as I arrived. The doctor was able to reduce the dislocation and I was sent on my way with pain meds and instructions to follow up with an orthopod.

Photo credit: the nice x-ray tech at St. Ann's Hospital

Delicious

Bender and I just got back from the vet. He has now received his rabies shot. Turns out he still needs bordatella to go to puppy school so, I imagine, we will be going back later this week.

When we got back apparently Bender finally decided to tell Zach how delicious the rat was. Zach was clearly impressed with Bender's culinary exploits.

NO PHOTO!!!

This is a disgusting story (hence the lack of photo!) Yesterday when I got home from work, I let the dogs outside. They were out playing and then I heard Bender at the door. Mind you, this is a French door with windows all the way down the face of the door--I can SEE Bender at the door. I can also see that he has his stuffed badger/beaver toy in his mouth. As I am pondering how he (or Zach) got the toy outside without me seeing it, I notice that the tail looks funny to me. It dawned on me in superslow motion that Bender had a real critter, not a stuffed critter. I assessed that the critter was deceased and that it was a RAT!

OK, home alone, two dogs outside with one dead (size 7-and-a-half narrow) rat . Puppy doesn't really know the drop it command. So I tell Bender to "drop" because maybe, somewhere in magic-world, he has mysteriously learned this command. Well, it worked. He dropped the rat--thank God. Then I watched (from safely indoors!) to try and assess if he was planning to pick it up prior to re-entry. The other obsessive-compulsive ideas that ran through my head included the following: 1) what if the rat is not dead? 2) what if Bender kicks it into the house as he comes in? 3) what if the tail flips inside as Bender comes in and, after I slam the door, 1/3 of the rat is in the house? and finally, 4) how do I get Zach to come in and ignore the dead rat across the threshold?

OK, now I have the killer puppy in the house and the big-I-need-to-prove-I-am-top-dog, 85 pound Zach still in the yard with a dead rat between us. I crated Bender (actively avoiding his plentiful puppy kisses at this point) and, with treat in hand, I called Zach to the back door. The rat could have been invisible as far as Zach was concerned. He took the treat and came in the house without so much as a passing glance at the vermin at my door.

Now, two dogs are inside with me and dead rat is outside. I gave both dogs more treats so I could sneak out the door without canine assitance. I used a broom and snow shovel to get rat into trash can. (Sounds like just a few quick steps, but it took longer than it sounds). I had to use the broom to "sweep" the rat into the shovel--rats don't just sweep up like sawdust folks. Then I had to carry the rat in the snow shovel (without really looking at it) and open two gates to get to the driveway without dropping the rat. I also walk with a limp, so this was a bit of a challenge.

With the rat safely in trash, I start trying to figure out how to clean Bender's mouth (there is really nothing one can use that is safe, I was just dreaming up ideas). Then I called the vet. I love calling the vet because they get to ask some of the strangest questions. She asked me if Bender actually killed the rat (presumably to see if he may have been injured in the fracas). I told her that I did not establish a time of death for the rat--I did not touch his little hairy body to establish temperature. I was also able to share that his lifeless body was not frozen (possibly indicating a recent death). There was no obvious blood, but how much blood can you really see from a snow shovel's length away?

I asked her about rabies and she said rats are not common carriers in Ohio. I asked if I needed to bring the rat in for assessment (please do NOT make me crawl into that giant trash can and get the rat back out lady). She indicated that I did not need to do anything more with the rat.

I reminded her that Bender hadn't had his rabies shot and she asked me when he had had the last one. I indicated that he had never had one, he is just a puppy. That's when she finally said, oh, I probably better let you talk to one of the doctors (heh, now there is a really good idea!). I told her that I would like to go ahead and schedule Bender for his first rabies shot (he is just old enough this week). So, I am writing this before we go off to the vet.

I have given Bender lots of water and treats and food to cleanse his palate. I am still not quite ready for puppy kisses, but I am sure that will change here in a week or so!

MOPS

Bender LOVES mops. I had a mop that was nearing the end of its life, so I ordered a new one (remember all the muddy paw prints--a good mop is essential!). I knew it was time for a new mop when the handle on the old one broke. I am just too tall to use a mop that is only 3 feet long! When the new mop arrived, I assembled it (read put 2 pieces of handle together) and I put the peewee broken mop into the box in which the new mop was packaged. I set the old mop in the box next to the back door to be taken to the trash. Bender sat next to the box and just stared at the very few inches of handle that poked out of the top. I told him I knew he was losing a good friend, but asked him to give me a minute as I thought he would enjoy the new mop just as much.

The photo above demonstrates how easily he was able to transfer his loyalties! Muddy dog feet inspire multiple moppings each day and Bender is NOT helpful in this process. One friend suggested obviating the mop altogether and just dunking Bender in the water as he is very mop-like. It isn't a bad idea (just kidding) ...

Housebreaking

Bender is a really smart puppy, so I was surprised when I was having so many housebreaking challenges. He is pretty consistent about ringing the bell and going outside, but he has had several accidents. In two cases, he would ring the bell and would then pee on the spot. I mentioned this to the vet and said that I thought something else might be going on with him.

When I first brought him home and took him to the vet, he seemed to have a bad case of diarrhea. The vet said she would need a stool sample to see what might be causing it. Bender promptly gave her a sample. So I was not surprised when she said she needed a urine sample this time, that he promptly complied. Although she couldn't check for bacteria (she took the sample from the puddle on the floor), she was able to detect right and white blood cells, so Bender is on antibiotics. I expect housebreaking will become a non-issue once we get his urinary tract infection resolved! Like I said, he is a smart dog!

Last of the Shots

Bender just got the last of his shots and was plumb tired out when this picture was taken (1/30/2006). On Saturday, January 28, he weighed 21 pounds (on the scale at the vet's office) and on Monday, January 30 (when he went to the vets for his final shot), he weighed 23 pounds. I am not a math genius, but I think that means he is gaining about a pound a day!