Robotic Alien Dog Transformation

OK, You have watched mild-mannered Bender grow up on this blog (review back a few chapters and see how normal and cute he has looked in pictures).

I caught the transformation that happens when Grits shows his affection--Bender is overtaken by a strange alien robot life-form. If you are brave, you can click on the picture and see up close (look particularly at the eyes and teeth on Bender).

I thought, in his new state, he might be affected by my use of the remote control for the television, but alas . . . he is out of control.

Ears and Hair

Here is the view of the ears from the back. Notice the moist area where Bender keeps kissing the tender cartilage of Grits' ears. Grits is turning into a handsome boy. In this photo you can almost see the silver guard hairs on his shoulders. (I have noticed that I have also started getting silver guard hairs lately, hmmm, maybe contagious!)

The Easter Bunny Made It!

After 3 weeks of floppy, beagle ears, we have been working hard to be gentle with the fragile cartilage in Grits' baby ears so that we might have a real "bunny" by Easter. Trying to get Bender (whose favorite game is "Spit Head") to be gentle with the ears of others has been the biggest challenge!

Grits now has two ears that try really hard to stand up most of the time. They flop when he runs and plays, but we are done being half beagle and half German Shepherd Dog. The right ear stood up first and the left lagged by about 5 days.

He went to the vet this week for shots and weighed 22.6 pounds (that is a weight gain of almost 3 pounds in a week). He is getting taller but continues to be lanky. His tail is long enough that it looks like he stole it from a Siamese cat.

I tried to get an earlier picture to show the progress of the ears, but when I told him to sit, I was looking through the camera and neglected to see that I was asking him to sit too close to the water bowl. He dutifully sat and his tail "wagged" the water right out of the bowl. My mopping talents are now almost legendary, so we fixed the problem, but I missed the picture.

Here is a picture of the two boys together. Bender has a habit of getting on the couch with a dangling toy and hanging it over the edge (because he knows Grits is too little to make it onto the couch). They play like this and then Bender gets off the couch and uses Grits to mop the floor. It makes for an interesting game of "crack the whip" with Grits getting most of the crack!

Here is a more recent photo of Grits (also known as the Gritter Critter). He is absolutely darling and has been a wonderful addition to our household!

OK, it has been a while. Bender and I have bonded very closely with just the two of us. He has now been certified in both live air scenting and human remains detection.

After a great deal of thought, we decided to add another family member. His name is Grits (actually Sir Galahad's Breakfast of Champions which I am thinking about changing to Sir Galahad's Champion of Breakfasts). Grits is a German Shepherd Dog and he will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. Last Monday (at 10 weeks) he weighed 20 pounds!

Grits and Bender are great buddies. Grits is quickly trying to establish himself as the top dog (over Bender anyway--he is pretty clear about my role in the pecking order). He is a little pig. He knows sit and is working on down. He rings the bell to go outside and housebreaking has proved to be interesting--Bender lets me know when HE thinks Grits should go out. So far, he has been right about 90% of the time.