My Big Brother Hunter [Ruger]

Mommy and Daddy have now been parents to two black labs and two chocolate labs. They've never had a yellow lab.  When Jenna became available for adoption, they were kind of hoping she'd be a yellow lab so they'd have one of each, but obviously that wasn't to be!  They've never seriously considered adopting a yellow lab.  Luckily for me when the decision was made to add to the family this time, Mommy was adamant about another chocolate lab.  She says chocolates are her favorite (ssshhhh . .  don't tell my sisters!).

Even though I'll never have the privilege of meeting my big brother Hunter, my parents say I'm doing a pretty good imitation of him.  Apparently there are LOTS of habits we have in common!

One of the first things my parents noticed about me and one of Hunter's first noticeable traits is that we both tend to drink LOTS of water at one sitting.  Hunter used to drink and drink and drink some more.  My parents had to call his name to distract him so that he wouldn't make himself sick.  They're doing the same thing to me.  I don't drink a lot during the middle of the day, but I love to fill up right before Mommy goes on her morning walk (often resulting in a bit of a mess to greet her upon her return home) and again at night before going to sleep.  Mommy generally puts the water bowl away around 9PM so that I can't drink any more and to encourage me to sleep all night. Between the ban on night drinking and Dixie doing her part to wear me out before bedtime, I've been sleeping all night since the end of my first week home.

I seem to share my big brother's obsession for mud.  We were experiencing a dry spell until this last week and suddenly we've had several inches of rain that have resulted in MUD where the grass had died off in the heat.  That rain also made a few PUDDLES for me to play in!  When Hunter lived in Minnesota, he created Lake Hunter at the back of the property where all the water ran off.  He purposefully dropped his tennis balls in the mud so he could have the perfect excuse of looking for them.  I haven't tried this yet, but give me time and a big enough puddle and we'll have Playa del Ruger!

Daddy says I'm like Hunter in that I like to sit right in the middle of the doorway.  Apparently this usually happens when he's in a hurry as he heads out to work in the morning.  I'm not sure what the problem is.  I just want to say bye!

I'm doing really well with my housebreaking process.  My parents have a bell attached to the back door that I can ring when I want to go out.  Dixie was trained this way and uses it all the time.  Jenna only rings the bell when she's really desperate!  Hunter wasn't trained this way to go potty.  Instead he learned to go to the door and turn and give our parents the stare down.  If he wasn't noticed, he'd find our parents and stare them down.  I ring the bell sometimes, but other times I just go sit at the door and stare at the bell!  I haven't had to resort to staring at my parents yet.  They're keeping a pretty close eye on me so far . . .

I enjoy eating ice like Hunter did, but I can only handle little chips at the present time.  I'm also into eating bugs!  I can sit outside for at least thirty minutes at a time in the evening and search out bugs.  Hunter had an unfortunate incident more than once when he ate a BEE!  He looked pretty pitiful when his lip swelled up.  So far Mommy has successfully kept me away from the bees!

It's too bad I won't ever meet Hunter.  My parents even accidentally call me Hunter sometimes (of course they call me Dixie and Jenna too!).  I guess I'm more like him than I thought!

Until next time,
The Cutest Younger Brother Ever

Where's the Broom?

For those of you old enough, do you remember Wendy's advertising slogan "Where's the Beef?"   We don't actually remember it ourselves, but Mommy has talked about it when teaching advertising techniques.  We feel like adjusting it a bit and going around the house asking, "Where's the Broom?"

Since we've lived in this new house, the broom has almost completely disappeared.  The Swiffer only makes a weekly appearance.  What's going on here?  In our previous house, the broom or Swiffer made almost daily visits to our kitchen.  Mommy had a love/hate relationship with those two devices.  She loved the results; she HATED how often they came calling on her.

Here's a reminder of what the previous kitchen floor looked like on moving day:

From far away, the floor looks pretty good.  It's blue and white, one of Mommy's favorite color combos.  But it's only from far away that this floor looked good.  If you were to see it on a daily basis, you would know why Mommy hated it!  She asked herself a million times while living in this house who in their right mind would put WHITE tile in the kitchen!  Daddy started asking who in their right mind would have two black labs in a kitchen with white tile, but that's another story.

One of the best things about the new house in Mommy's opinion is the tile in the kitchen.  I think Mommy's IN LOVE!  This tile has to be the best invention known to man or dawg.  It shows NOTHING!!!!!  Well, it might show a few tiny water spots from a certain unnamed dawg's drool, but only in the right light.

Every tiny little bitty dawg hair is able to hide out until it decides to form a tumbleweed.  That is the only time Mommy notices anything on the floor.  When she sees a tumbleweed that has formed, she simply reaches down and picks it up.  She does not go looking for the broom or the Swiffer.

The poor broom is basically only used and abused for outdoor chores now (and boy, do we have some serious dust and dirt out there!).  The Swiffer is only invited into the kitchen once a week when Mommy does her regularly scheduled cleaning.

I personally have the feeling the Swiffer should invite himself in at least twice a week, but Mommy is living by the philosophy of "Ignorance is bliss!"

Whatever makes Mommy happy,
Jenna


PS: Happy Birthday tomorrow to Grandaddy!  We hope you have a great day!

PPS: The broom did make an appearance Monday on Halloween . . . after all, Mommy has to get around somehow!

The Path to Goodness

It has taken us a while to settle into our new place as far as our food bowls are concerned.  When we first arrived in our new home, our belongings weren't here so it was just us, our crates, and our food bowls.  There was plenty of room for us to spread out, eat, and not bother each other.  Then the furniture arrived and chaos ensued.

You might remember how we ate in our old house.  Dixie and Hunter ate side by side on the raised platform Daddy had constructed for Hunter when he was a puppy.  

I had to eat in my crate . . .

Am I pitiful looking or what?  I started out here because our breeder suggested this might be best when I was first introduced on the scene.  Then my appetite reared its beautiful head and this became my mealtime view forevermore apparently!

After Hunter passed away, Mommy tried to move me over to stand beside Dixie.  I have to admit, my appetite got the best of me and I got the best of Dixie's food!  Back to my crate I went.

When our furniture arrived at the new house, Mommy placed the raised platform in one corner of the kitchen behind the table.  She knew better than to put my food bowl there, but she placed Dixie's bowl and the water bowl we share on the platform. My bowl went onto the edge of the carpet in the den several feet away.  It was fine for a couple days and then Dixie started feeling a bit territorial.

The problem is that I like to drink water as soon as I finish my meal.  Dixie started growling at me when I approached the water bowl because she was still eating her food at her leisurely pace. I don't really know the meaning of the word leisurely, but Mommy tells me it's the opposite of how I like to enjoy my food.

Mommy resorted to putting us both in our crates during meal time, but that still didn't quite solve the problem.  If Dixie was released first, then she waited on me to be released and cornered me with her teeth bared.  If I was released first, I felt the need to assert my presence and growled as I walked by Dixie's crate.  Dixie then came charging after me when she was released.  This went on until we had a rumble in the den.  The fur went flying (literally) and we knocked one of Daddy's favorite decoys off the coffee table breaking its bill.  Mommy was screaming and yelling and trying to pull us apart.  It wasn't pretty!

Mommy says she feels confident in saying she now has our meal time under control.  I guess it works, but I don't like it!  Here's how we proceed twice a day:

1) The raised platform is history.  Although good for big dawgs to help them out when eating, it can also be a cause of bloat.  Since Hunter passed away from bloat, we deemed it unnecessary in the new house.  So, out with the old!

2) Our water bowl remains in its original position behind the kitchen table out of the way.  Mommy tells me this is especially great for me.  I've been told I slop water all over the place when I drink and make quite a mess.  I'm not sure what she's talking about.

3) Dixie's food bowl is right beside the back door and away from the water bowl.  As soon as she finishes her food, Mommy opens the door for Dixie to go potty.

4) My food bowl is, you guessed it, back in its original position too.  In my crate!  As soon as Dixie finishes eating, Mommy comes to release me.  I can then drink my fill and sniff out Dixie's empty bowl without feeling (or being) threatened.

The biggest problem for me is that it's a long, winding path to my food!  I have to dodge furniture and take corners quickly to beat Mommy to my crate.  I want to be ready and waiting by the time she sets my bowl in place.

Although this twice daily routine is time consuming for me and Mommy, I think it's here to stay.  After all, no dawgs are injured during feeding any more!  [sigh]

Jenna

PS:  I can safely say (as my human cousins frequently do), "She started it!"

Our NEW Favorite Spots

Since moving into our new house, we've had to adjust our ways.  Isn't that always the case?  We do like our new house, but we're missing some of our old spots.  We used to love napping on the landing of the steps, on our parents' bed, and on the bed in the chocolate room.  Two of those places are sort of the same here, but yet different.

We still enjoy our parents' bed . . .
(And Mommy is still having to put a sheet over her lovely linens to protect them from our black fur coats.)

And we still enjoy the twin bed in the chocolate room, although the view has changed.  In the old house, we looked out to the street below from the second floor.  In the new house, we have a nice view of the front sidewalk.  We can see and alert everyone to strangers walking by!  Mommy considered setting up the matching twin bed in here too, but then decided to hold off.  WHY???  If we each had a bed, I'd be so much happier!!!

But we've also come up with a few new spots as well.  Jenna especially likes the rug in the kitchen.  We all know why; she's expecting something edible to fall her way!

I like it too, but  . . .

 . . . I prefer the laundry room rug for some reason.  It has a nice view of the kitchen and is out of the way where Mommy won't fuss at me for being under foot like she sometimes does with Jenna.

Of course, if all else fails, we just pick a spot right in the middle of the floor and make ourselves comfortable!

We're definitely getting settled into our new house.  The past three months have flown by!
Dixie

Canine Travel Companions

Since we're on the subject of hoping to make the next trip with our parents, we thought we'd share a few more pics from our super long road trip last month.  Mommy and Daddy finally have the desktop computer up and running and access to ALL of their pictures (Can you hear Daddy jumping for joy from your location??).  That meant Mommy found a few more from our night at the hotel that were on her real camera.  Some were taken quickly and aren't that great, but they still show we can be trusted on a trip!

This is me, helping Mommy get ready for bed.

This is Jenna.  I think she's eyeing up the toothpaste as a possible food source.  

Either that or the soap.

I'm waiting quietly for Daddy to return from the vending machine.

There's nothing like feeling at home when you are far, far away.  Good thing this place has toilets too!

And a bath tub . . . although I really don't think I need one tonight.

We really, really hope to go on the next trip.  Mommy says there really, really isn't a "next" trip planned just yet . . . sure there isn't . . .

Crossing my paws,
Dixie

Look What the Wind Blew In!

Last week Mommy got to experience her first dust storm.  She was outside watering plants despite the fact that it looked like a big storm was brewing.  There were huge dark clouds and it was thundering and lightning.  Daddy thought it was going to rain so he went inside.  Mommy wasn't sure.  It frequently looks like it will rain here and then it'll blow over.  She had plants she'd just purchased and didn't want to take a chance with them in the heat. 

She noticed the wind was picking up and at first thought it was just the storm approaching.  She started looking in either direction of our house and noticed the sky was changing from dark to red!  As in red dirt flying!  She was very excited and ran inside to tell Daddy a dust storm was coming.  He'd seen this strange phenomenon before since he's been living here since Easter, so he wasn't impressed. Mommy grabbed her camera to record the moment.  This might be something she regrets since she had to take a shower afterwards!  She had dust all over her, her clothes, and in her hair!  Ick!  But you know Mommy, she loves to take pictures!

It doesn't look like much in the pictures, but it was quite a sight in person.  Or so she says.  She didn't allow either of us to go outside with her.  Probably a good thing since she almost lost her balance at one point.  We'd have been flying in the wind like Toto in The Wizard of Oz!

There wasn't anyone outside taking pictures of Mommy, but she probably looked like this . . .

 Daddy says give Mommy a bicycle and it would look more like this . . . 

remember who Miss Gulch turns into??

But we digress.  Here's what the dust storm looked like:

 One end of the street . . . and the other . . .

And then it was over!  The whole thing probably lasted less than fifteen minutes! 

And it NEVER rained that day!

This dust storm was pretty amazing to Mommy, but it wasn't as bad as a haboob!  Wonder if we're going to experience one of those one day?

Dixie and Jenna

It's HERE!

Remember that large blue and white truck that took off with our things?  Well, it's HERE!!!!  It arrived after almost TWO WEEKS!  Mommy and Daddy lived on an air mattress in our new house for that time.  They used two packable bag chairs to sit in and a large cooler as their coffee table.  Thank goodness they brought our crates and beds in the car.  Even though Mommy and Daddy were a bit uncomfortable, we weren't!

That truck didn't have nearly the road space here as it had at our last house.  See that green grass?  First, it's probably a miracle it's actually green considering the climate we now live in and second, that's all we have in the way of a front yard!!!!  Our space here is SUPER TINY!  Where oh where is our big yard????????  Why did we have to leave it?????  Mommy says although she misses our old house and her friends, this move was an answered prayer, so we would have to take our complaints to a Higher Power!   [sigh]

This house is a bit smaller than our last house and it doesn't have a basement.  Do you know how much stuff our parents stored in our basement???  A LOT!!!!!!  When the truck left, there were boxes EVERYWHERE!!!!!

There was only one small path in the garage from the front to the back.  Mommy's pretty sure she will NEVER park in there!

We were very excited when Mommy found our outdoor dawg beds in all the boxes.  She put them outside on the patio for our relaxation pleasure and to give us a sense of home.  It's not the same, but it's the thought that counts.  [sigh]

Mommy began the long, grueling, unpacking process.  She broke all of her fingernails all the way down from tearing into boxes.  She also had bruises all over her legs and arms from running into boxes and carrying boxes through the house.  She even gave herself a black eye!  She bent over to pick up something in the garage and hit herself in the eye with the pole attached to the American flag that was waiting to be hung and lying on top of boxes.  She didn't allow us to post a picture of that!

The good news is that Mommy's finished unpacking!!!!  We are finally settled into our new house.  (The garage is still in progress, but it's looking MUCH better.)  We aren't quite settled into our new yard.  Of course, it's a small yard, so it won't take long!  Or we may never be settled into our new yard.  It's going to be tough to get over the wonderful, BIG, green yard we had at our last house . . . sigh.

We'll share more pictures of the new house eventually.  So glad we're up and blogging again!

Dixie and Jenna

Road Trip

What's the longest road trip you've ever taken?  We bet it's not as long as ours!  After a traumatic two days of watching our things being packed up and toted away, Mommy and Daddy loaded us both up in the car.  That's strange because the four of us are hardly ever in the car at the same time.  It's only happened a few times and that's when Mommy and Daddy are headed to the airport and the drop off to the kennel is on the way.  We thought surely one of us must be seriously ill for all of us to be headed to the vet together.  That's where most of our road trips take us.

But this road trip was different.  The car was packed with the four of us, our crates, beds, a suitcase or two, and a few other items.  We started heading in the opposite direction of the vet.  We drove and drove and drove.

 

And kept driving and driving and driving . . .

 Check out Dixie's "breath" on the window.  She loves sitting up and watching the world go by.

Look at Jenna sleeping on the snack food!  She's showing a great deal of restraint, isn't she?

We didn't stop traveling for two days!  Well, we did stop at a hotel for the night.  That was a new experience for us.  You'd be surprised at all the hotels that allow dawgs.  We stayed at a Fairfield by Marriott.  Mommy says when they made a similar road trip with Hunter over ten years ago, their only option was a Red Roof Inn.  (Still, no one's talking about WHERE we're going!?!?)  We got to ride on an elevator in the hotel.  It was a bit scary at first with that feeling of movement beneath our feet.  But after going up and down several times to go outside to potty, we were pros.

  

Mommy brought an extra sheet to put on the bed for us, but Daddy told us to sleep on the floor.  Slumber party pooper!  [sigh]  The next morning when they woke up, Mommy found Dixie on the floor and Jenna on the sofa in our suite (the only room available).  

Let's go!  Time to roll!

The hotel had a breakfast bar, but we weren't allowed to partake of it.  They also had bunny rabbits outside, but Mommy wouldn't let us chase them.  I guess we had a good time at the hotel, but it could have been better . . . sigh.

The next day was more of the same.  We drove and drove and drove.  The only thing that changed was the scenery.  The land grew flatter and flatter. 

Dixie looks like she's face planted in a food bowl, but in reality she's leaning over behind the tote.

  We put our heads together several times to try to figure out where we were headed . . . 

TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS later, we arrived at our final destination.  We've MOVED!  Why didn't anyone tell us that was happening?  We could have said our proper goodbyes and enjoyed our yard a while longer.  Our new yard is well . . .

More on that later,
Dixie and Jenna

PS: Happy birthday to Cousin S today.  We missed Cousin K's and Cousin A's birthdays a couple weeks ago.  Sorry about that.  We thought about you; we just couldn't write about you.  We were a bit preoccupied . . .

PPS: For the most part, our parents split the driving duties.   We were hoping they would allow us to drive, but that didn't happen.  Thanks to Aunt K for trying to give them a hint.  I bet we could have made the trip fly by!