Hang Out and Post

[Naamah D.]

I get to go on a shopping spree in April. Some of my clothes are old and aren't really my style anyway. Gotta love some new outfits. 

[pxrxsxkx]

It's finally starting to cool down a little, this was a very brutal summer. California keeps burning up more and more, every year. So sad.

[Greywindd]

Summer is here The roasting of the sidewalks have begun and since I live in NYC, the oven-like underground subway stations. Eughhh

[jellysundae]

9 hours ago, Greywindd said:

Summer is here The roasting of the sidewalks have begun and since I live in NYC, the oven-like underground subway stations. Eughhh

A lady I follow on Instragram lives in the East Village and she said pretty much the same thing yesterday. It doesn't really help knowing millions of others are in the same boat though, does it, especially not when it's called cold comfort!

[Mouseykins]

We've had such a cold brutal winter in my area and all of a sudden it's warm. Since the grass is green and the dandelions are everywhere and it's sunny out my oldest is bugging me for the sprinkler almost every day. It's not quite warm enough out for that yet. We still have a breeze on most days and it's a bit cool. They'll have plenty of time to enjoy it, though I'm sure they'll miss Mouse playing in the water with them. I've been trying to weed my flower garden but having to keep an eye on a 2-year old constantly is making it take longer. It was strangely quiet not having Mouse bringing me her ball or other toys constantly and dropping it on my plants like she normally did.

[MysteryAF]

The Midwest U.S. encountered the polar vortex last winter, and guess where I live? It was quite the experience gearing up so I could stand outside in -35F/-37C wind chills. Brutal!

It's starting to warm up now, but it's been night after night of loud thunderstorms... ugh. I wanna go out in the rain (cause I'm weird and like rain, don't judge me ), but I dislike startling thunderstorms and threatening lightning.

[jellysundae]

I just found out that a v.cool person whose Youtube I subscribe to  Safiya Nygaard

Their birthday is the same day as mine. So that explains her coolness, doesn't it.

She is cool though, she and her boyfriend are very entertaining to watch so you should totally do that. I absolutely don't apologise if you end up sucked down the rabbit hole and binge-watching.

[Mouseykins]

On 5/28/2019 at 10:50 AM, Mouseykins said:

We've had such a cold brutal winter in my area and all of a sudden it's warm. Since the grass is green and the dandelions are everywhere and it's sunny out my oldest is bugging me for the sprinkler almost every day. It's not quite warm enough out for that yet. We still have a breeze on most days and it's a bit cool. They'll have plenty of time to enjoy it, though I'm sure they'll miss Mouse playing in the water with them. I've been trying to weed my flower garden but having to keep an eye on a 2-year old constantly is making it take longer. It was strangely quiet not having Mouse bringing me her ball or other toys constantly and dropping it on my plants like she normally did.

Now I have to worry about Kai standing overtop of me while I'm in this vulnerable position. He seems to enjoy tackling me and charging me. He just gets so excited! Last night I went outside because the kids told me he was chewing on something, as usual. Trying to get what he's got and he runs around wanting me to chase him. I don't give him that satisfaction and instead pick up one of his toys and throw it at him. It glances off his head, and goes skipping across the yard. I didn't intent to throw it directly at him, but he moved and missed the catch. I go to pick it up and bring it to a different part of the yard. Kai comes charging up behind me and rams right into me with his paws on my shoulders as he lunged. I get pushed forward a bit and stayed on my feet. His front paws slipped down my arms and on my left I now have a scrape from his dew claw, a.k.a. his thumb nail. Hurt like a bugger too! I got mad at him and the whole time I think he thought it was a game.

[jellysundae]

@Mouseykins Ouch! How easy is it to train a big dog to not jump up at people like that? Can it be done?

[Mouseykins]

11 hours ago, jellysundae said:

@Mouseykins Ouch! How easy is it to train a big dog to not jump up at people like that? Can it be done?

Usually when I'm in the yard I have a broken swiffer sweeper pole with me or the rake if I'm using it. Both act as a deterrent for him to come charging over. Even if I tried, I couldn't possibly hurt him with either of them. I just use them to stop him at a distance by holding it towards him. After a few minutes in the yard he does calm down so it's not like he's doing this the entire duration. However, he will still come up behind me when I'm kneeling or sitting on the ground. Kai stands over top me and usually puts a paw on my shoulder while he tries to slobber all over my ear and nibble on it. YUCK! Basically it's his way of claiming me as his. LOL

When he behaves like that when we come home, we try to ignore him until he calms down so he knows he has to be calm in order to get attention. It's a work in progress and eventually he will learn.

Kai's been in the "dog house" this last week because he destroyed something that was brand-new for the yard and my Mr. was tempted to return it because there was a problem. We bought a lawn sweeper to pick up all the pieces of styrofoam and whatnot Kai has strewn about the yard. But Kai decided to leave his mark, so now we can't return it and have to find some strong thread to stitch up the hole he made in this basket. luckily my Mr. was able to fix the wheels. Kai left it completely alone for 2 days and on the third, just because Dad leaves without Kai, Kai has to be a jerk and get some revenge for being left at home. Kai is a very social pup and loves to go places.

[lalaiscool600]

On 8/7/2006 at 3:40 PM, Captain Awesome Pants said:

MUFFINS!!! :woot: They totally rock! Who agrees?

i work at the muffin factory

[jellysundae]

18 hours ago, Mouseykins said:

It's a work in progress and eventually he will learn.

It sounds it! But he is just a pup, isn't he, I mustn't forget that. Isn't it a good thing human babies aren't so big!

[Mouseykins]

37 minutes ago, jellysundae said:

It sounds it! But he is just a pup, isn't he, I mustn't forget that. Isn't it a good thing human babies aren't so big!

I'd be done for if the were!

I brushed Kai last night and then used the de-shedder rake on him and I can probably make another dog with the amount of fluff I got out of him. He looks so much more handsome now! My husband's like "Now he looks presentable to go for a walk instead of looking like he just came in from the sheep."

I was planning to brush him outside but it's either been too windy or I've been sleeping so since I had to sweep the floor anyway, I just brushed him inside. He wouldn't let me brush his back too much, he wanted his belly rubs! I still need to do some more with the rake and I may need to take the scissors to the fluff behind his ears. It's so soft and fluffy that it's gotten matted from everyone scratching him behind the ears and him scratching himself behind the ears. I'll have to enlist the Mr's help for that so I don't hurt Kai. Next on the list is his nails. I still need to give him a bath too but it's not warm enough outside for that yet and the vet isn't doing any grooming appointments yet. I was going to have them pamper Kai.

[MysteryAF]

I just want things to go back to normal

[Mouseykins]

10 hours ago, MysteryAF said:

I just want things to go back to normal

I feel ya! I would like things to go back to normal, but looks like this is our new normal for a while.

@jellysundae We finally got Kai into the vet for his nail trim! He went last week for his annual check-up and immunizations. It was way past time for him to get them trimmed. About a week before he went, I was out in the yard and he charges behind me and pounces on me. His big paw caught my shoulder and his front dew claw gave me a nice long scratch from my shoulder down to the middle of my back on that side. It's still healing and hopefully it won't scar. Funny thing, at the vet they put a muzzle on him. He was scared to go into the treatment area. Poor boy! He remembered his ear treatments and it was the same vet. After they put the muzzle on him, he completely calmed down. I find it funny that they muzzled my big boy. I"m not mad at them for doing it, he's a large dog and not knowing how he'd react, they're just keeping everyone, including Kai safe. Kai's also been at the farm a couple of times now and he has a blast! We're going again on Sunday for a day trip.

[FreyaFox]

@Mouseykins ...Ok this might age me  but your explanation of Kai reminds me of one of the first books I had ever read called Mr. mugs. i believe it was when I was in first grade. He was a big furry ball of fun. Mr. Mugs was a Old english sheepdog.

What type of dog do you have? 

 

[jellysundae]

@Mouseykins dewclaws can be the devil, can't they! That sounds like a BIG ouch from his. D:<

I find it bizarre that the muzzle calmed him down! Fantastic that it did though. How is he after getting to run around on the farm? Does he get over-stimulated and cranky like kids do, or does he just sleep it off?

[Mouseykins]

16 hours ago, FreyaFox said:

@Mouseykins ...Ok this might age me  but your explanation of Kai reminds me of one of the first books I had ever read called Mr. mugs. i believe it was when I was in first grade. He was a big furry ball of fun. Mr. Mugs was a Old english sheepdog.

What type of dog do you have? 

 

lol that sounds exactly like my fuzz-wuzz! He's a Great Pyrenees weighing in at only 92lbs at about a year and half old. He's still got a fair bit of growing left to do. Normally the males get to be around 160lbs.

10 hours ago, jellysundae said:

@Mouseykins dewclaws can be the devil, can't they! That sounds like a BIG ouch from his. D:<

I find it bizarre that the muzzle calmed him down! Fantastic that it did though. How is he after getting to run around on the farm? Does he get over-stimulated and cranky like kids do, or does he just sleep it off?

Especially when they're long and untrimmed! Also, his are lower on his paws like a thumb so it's easy for them to catch skin. It hurt like a bugger that's for sure! My husband cleaned it for me and put some liquid band-aid on it. Surprisingly, that stung the second time. To make matters worse, shortly after that Kai decided to use me as a bowling pin and go bowling. He didn't mean to knock me over, he was just going to fast and ended up slamming into my legs, taking me out. I roll-flipped over him as he sort of jumped over top of me. It was quite the spectacle I'm sure. One of those camera-worthy moments. Out of that tumble, I didn't end up with a scratch or anything.

With Kai, once you get him into a position like that he becomes submissive so you can do whatever to him. His favorite is when he's on his back and getting belly-rubs. He loves getting his legs and shoulders massaged too, especially after a walk or a run around the yard. My husband thinks the vet had ulterior motives for muzzling him because he has never been aggressive towards anyone. He's thinking that they muzzled him because he's such a large dog. They're also insisting that he needs to be fixed and we're not interested in doing that to him. There's no medical reason why we need to. He's perfectly healthy and non-aggressive.

He sleeps it off like a good child! His biggest challenge there is finding a cool spot to lay. The house is SUPER warm and no air conditioning on the hot days. When we came home he was a sleepy boy and slept for about 2 days. The first day he kind of looked a little depressed. I think he missed the exploring, but after that he's back to his normal self.

[jellysundae]

10 hours ago, Mouseykins said:

They're also insisting that he needs to be fixed and we're not interested in doing that to him.

Why are they insistent on that? 0_o What business is that of theirs?? I mean, if it's a female animal that's having endless litters then fair enough, but for a young male? It sounds like that vet's got motives all over the place! Also, some worrying ignorance? That automatic big dog = aggressive thought process isn't a good thing to see in a vet. : /

Ah yeah, the struggles of dogs whose breed comes from cold places... does your home have any nice cold tiled floor that he lies on? That husky I shared a home with, he used to lie in front of the front door, like a giant draught excluder, lol. When we had the windows and doors replaced he never laid there again.

[Ennoshima]

Long time no see. 

I've been struggling horribly with my anxiety and other mental issues

-- so my replies are still going to be horribly slow. ^^;

[Mouseykins]

On 8/30/2020 at 8:04 AM, jellysundae said:

Why are they insistent on that? 0_o What business is that of theirs?? I mean, if it's a female animal that's having endless litters then fair enough, but for a young male? It sounds like that vet's got motives all over the place! Also, some worrying ignorance? That automatic big dog = aggressive thought process isn't a good thing to see in a vet. : /

Ah yeah, the struggles of dogs whose breed comes from cold places... does your home have any nice cold tiled floor that he lies on? That husky I shared a home with, he used to lie in front of the front door, like a giant draught excluder, lol. When we had the windows and doors replaced he never laid there again.

I know right!! Personally I don't believe in getting an animal fixed unless it's physically or medically necessary. I feel that you're taking away a part of them. I know others may feel differently, but that's where I stand on it. And it's not like Kai is running around town making puppies with every dog he can find. He stays in our yard and is the best behaved boy on walks, aside from pulling me halfway down the block at almost 14km/h, but that's a different story altogether LOL. I think the vet is considering the money from the procedure and having that drive their recommendation. Also they say it reduces the dog's risk of getting certain kinds of cancers. I'm not a vet so I don't know the validity of that, but from experience, Mouse is the only dog to have had cancer and getting her fixed wouldn't have prevented it. Kai would be at a high risk of infection because he lays in the dirt all the time. Sure he'd wear the cone of shame without too much trouble, but he would probably get the site infected. Oh the vet also says that getting him fixed would make him more docile when he was younger and that if he started to show any signs of aggression it would have to be done sooner rather than later. He's the gentlest giant on the planet! His only non-gentle thing is he likes to tackle us. He's slowly learning that he's not allowed to do that. But he's not being aggressive, he's just excited and still doesn't understand that his size can hurt.

Yesterday we went out to the farm for a day trip. Kai came with us and was getting along better with the other dogs there. Kai did get into his first scuffle with the male dog there, Bear. But Kai was only defending himself and Bear was defending my MIL. Kai got too close to her and Bear didn't like it so he tore after Kai and Kai was about to rear up and use his weight on Bear. Both my husband and I were telling the boys to stop and go lay down. Neither listened, so once my hubby saw Kai start to rear up, he knew what Kai was about to do, so he thumped Kai on the head with a stick. They immediately ceased and went their separate ways. Neither dog was hurt and Kai was cautious around Bear even more.

In order for Kai to stay cool, he'll lay outside almost all night on the deck, or now under it. He's actually dug out part of the area under the deck to make himself an entrance. We call that the Kai Bunker. He can see the front gate from there when he peeks out between the steps so I'm sure that would be a shock to people coming into our yard when he just appears out of nowhere lol. In the house, we keep it a bit cooler for him. Normally I'm wearing my hoodie all the time. During the really hot days the window on the front door is half-open for him and we leave the window open on the landing for him all the time. Those are his two favorite cool spots to lay. We do have laminate floors so they're always a bit cool. Kai loves laying on the couch and in the rocking chair. It's amazing how he can curl up in that chair and sleep.

Kai had a fun adventure yesterday and he's tired today. He travel so well in the van! We stopped once on the way out and on the way home to get a drink and snacks for everyone. I let Kai out to stretch his legs and it's always funny to see everybody turn to stare at us.

(sorry for the novel!)

On 8/30/2020 at 10:45 AM, Ennoshima said:

Long time no see. 

I've been struggling horribly with my anxiety and other mental issues

-- so my replies are still going to be horribly slow. ^^;

Hello Ennoshima! Lovely to see you again! I wish you all the best with your anxiety and other challenges you're facing right now.

[jellysundae]

1 hour ago, Mouseykins said:

He's actually dug out part of the area under the deck to make himself an entrance.

Bet there's no furry critters under your house, LOL! I love the idea of him materialising from under the porch. xD

That vet sounds dodgy!

Do you think Kai and Bear will end up friends once they sort out the territorial stuff?

[Mouseykins]

4 minutes ago, jellysundae said:

Bet there's no furry critters under your house, LOL! I love the idea of him materialising from under the porch. xD

That vet sounds dodgy!

Do you think Kai and Bear will end up friends once they sort out the territorial stuff?

Nope, just a Kai! They might, it all depends. They were able to get closer this time without a scuffle so who knows. We just have to stay vigilant when everyone is around. When they're in the yard by themselves, Kai stays away from Bear.

[jellysundae]

12 hours ago, Mouseykins said:

When they're in the yard by themselves, Kai stays away from Bear.

Oh! That's interesting. But then, just because two dogs are together in a space doesn't mean they have to interact does it, or even like each other. I suppose I sort of expected that to be a thing that happens, but we certainly don't behave like that, do we. Put two people in a space together and they generally don't even want to make eye contact with the other person in case they turn out to be a total weirdo, or ready to bore the pants off you with their life story. Maybe that's the issue with Bear! Kai doesn't wanna hear any more tales about your MIL.

[Mouseykins]

20 hours ago, jellysundae said:

Oh! That's interesting. But then, just because two dogs are together in a space doesn't mean they have to interact does it, or even like each other. I suppose I sort of expected that to be a thing that happens, but we certainly don't behave like that, do we. Put two people in a space together and they generally don't even want to make eye contact with the other person in case they turn out to be a total weirdo, or ready to bore the pants off you with their life story. Maybe that's the issue with Bear! Kai doesn't wanna hear any more tales about your MIL.

Kai is very passive and he doesn't like confrontation. Whereas Bear is more of an aggressor, though he's not particularly aggressive. He's gentle around the kids and I've never seen him growl or nip at them. It's his territory though, so he's protecting it. Kai is the intruder. Bear is clearly the dominant one as it's his home, so Kai recognizes this and keeps away.

Kai is in super duper deep doggy trouble right now. We just bought a shed and have to put it together. My hubby unloaded it from the truck today and had everything somewhat organized on the lawn. He goes inside to lay down and take a nap and rest his hand. Kai is outside and ends up chewing on the plastic ventilation grate panels so now we have to order new ones. At least we can still assemble the shed without them as we have to physically drill the air vent holes in the vinyl. Kai got in huge trouble for it and my Mr. is now super mad at Kai because of all his destruction. Literally nothing is safe outside unless it's nailed down. We know this! So in reality, the packages shouldn't have been left at his level unattended. I ended up sleeping all day because I just didn't want to get up and deal with everything. Every morning when I get up the kids are right away at each others throats fighting and yelling at each other over stupid toys. If I stay upstairs they behave, but as soon as I come downstairs it's chaos. My Mr. should have woken me up or at least told me what he was doing. I could have helped him with it and we could have even started putting the darn thing together and kept an eye on Kai so he wouldn't have chewed anything. But nope, he has to go and try to do things himself. Not much I can say or do about it. It is what it is. It's supposed to rain tonight and possibly tomorrow so we had to put everything back into the box so all we accomplished was moving it from the truck into the yard. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and Kai behaves.