Call Me Crazy But...

[Mouseykins]

It definitely does spoil the fun. Even though he'll be trained not to be aggressive unless provoked.

We always said that for such a little girl, Mouse had a huge attitude. She was able to project herself and make people think she was a big dog. Even when people walked by the house, they couldn't see her. From her bark they just assumed she was a larger dog.

Currently right now he's like a 2-year-old. No idea with when he'll be more active during the day. All depends on his overall personality as he grows into it more.

HE has an undercoat with long hair. Right now his hair is like a wool so he's very soft and floofy. He can be combed and brushed out to remove the loose hairs, but other than that it's not advised to get Pyr's clipped. Their coat has a unique insulation property that keeps them warm in the winters and cool in the summers. The information we read recommended to have them wear a pack as they're a working dog, just not in the summer when it's really hot out. But if I put those ice cubes in he should be alright.

Nope, no place to go swimming in our area. I don't think they'd like a mini polar bear in the swimming pool lol. The girls often run through the sprinkler in the summer so he's more than welcome to do that too but he'll be staying outside until he's mostly dry.

[jellysundae]

Ah! Yeah, there's me forgetting the insulating properties of animals' coats! We're just too used to our inefficient skin, NOT that I'd want to be especially hairy instead.

If his coat's quite woolly it might not actually get that wet. You'll find out soon enough, lol.

OOH! Just had a thought... will he be able to pull a sled? He'll get big enough, but is it something his breed does?

HA, so someone who'd heard Mouse's bellow before might hear Kai now and be thinking "No big deal, it's actually just a little dog, nothing to worry about here!"

...

WHOA!!

[Mouseykins]

He's woolly right now because he's got his baby fluff still. He'll eventually have long hair and a mane like a lion. So far he hasn't gotten that wet outside in the rain.

The little bugger is finding things around the yard to chew on and I'm like you have toys and chews. Why must you find other non-puppy stuff to chew. He'll be big enough to pull the girls on a sled around the yard for sure. I don't think it's something his breed normally does but he'll weigh more then them and could. Mouse's mum was able to pull me arund the house with a knotted sock or a knot rope. I'm sure Kai can do that too when he's bigger. He could actually do that now but he's more interest in nibbling on everything.

He got a hold of our middle daughter's sandal this morning and broke one of the straps off so I have to fix it tomorrow. It should be an easy fix with the sewing machine so I'm not worried. Plus they need to learn to pick up their shoes and put them on the shelf. He usually steals shoes and boots that are on the floor. He hasn't really touched anything on the shelf. He's grabbed my shoe a couple of times and ran into the dining room with his prize to be rewarded with a smack on his nose with the shoe he just stole. He'll learn eventually!

LOL that's going to be something for the regular delivery guys who know we have a small dog to see this giant polar bear cub looking pup on the deck.

We just have tog et him out of this biting stage. Everything you do with him involves nibbling. I think it's mainly from the boys where he was born. They played rougher with the pups than we like to. He was laying with me this evening and he moved his head with his mouth open, so I ended up with a small cut on my nose. It wasn't a bite, but a scrape. Like if you scraped yourself with your fingernail. Just deep enough to bleed for a bit. Hopefully it doesn't scar, but if so that's what makeup is for LOL.

I'll have to clean up the yard a fair bit and probably send the hubs to the dump this week. For some reason our trash didn't get picked up on Friday and Kai is getting into it repeatedly. He can take other stuff with him too that's light enough and doesn't require my help.

I'm just hoping he doesn't go into my garden patch and ruin my flowers. I bought some nice ones from the greenhouse in May. They're not perennials so I may see if I can bring them in the house over winter and keep them alive to be replanted next year etc.

[jellysundae]

Ooh, sharp puppy teeth! LOL, just reminded me of my ex's husky. The first time I met him he ran up to me, stood on his hind legs, put his paws on my shoulders and gave my nose a little nip. I'd forgotten all about that. It didn't hurt at all and didn't seem the slightest bit aggressive, was just a bit of a shock, lol. I was like "oh, hi, nice to meet you, too!". xD

HA! I'd not considered Kai being able to help your girls to learn to pick up after themselves, LOL! What a helpful boy he's turning out to be, even by accident.

On the whole this is going pretty smoothly by the sound of it then? Say one thing though, he's definitely starting to mould your lives around his, isn't he, subtly (or not so much!) changing the way you have to do things.

[Mouseykins]

The last time I experienced the wrath of puppy teeth was when Mouse was little. We still had her sister and the two of them go into a spat at 6am. I was still half asleep and stupidly stuck my arm in between them to pull them apart. They were still really small, so what harm could they do right? WRONG!! Mouse latched onto my inner forearm and held on! She was dangling from my arm for a good 5 - 10 seconds and here I'm laughing like a complete moron instead of getting her unlatched from my arm. I ended up with three puncture marks on my arm that hung around for a few weeks. Shockingly she didn't break the skin, so I wasn't bleeding and I didn't bruise. The puncture spots were sore for a couple of days.

Since Kai is going to be so big, we don't want him jumping up on any of us like that. He can knock me over easily if he does that. Not to mention when we have company come over.

My living room and dining room hasn't been this clean in MONTHS!! My oldest has stopped bringing mountains of toys down here and leaving them. She knows if she does they're fair game for Kai. Our youngest has learned to go up the stairs by herself so she goes and plays in her sisters' room. She can't come down the stairs on her own yet. She probably could but hasn't even tried really. She'll probably get them to clean up their room so baby sister doesn't get at toys she's not supposed to. It's funny how I can chase after them to clean up their stuff and they don't listen and I just get completely ignored. Even the threat that they'll get thrown out doesn't work. But the threat of a puppy chewing on their prized possessions works.

I bought this shoe shelf a while ago in hopes they'd use it. They're just starting to grasp that idea lol.

Kai is definitely starting to shape his spot in our family!

I still miss Mouse tremendously and am always thinking of her but I know she'd be happy we have a fluffy pup to look after us.

[jellysundae]

Oh gosh. and yes, really shouldn't laugh, but it IS a funny visual. Wouldn't have been so funny if she had punctured the skin, so considerate of her not to, right? Again this has given me a doggo memory... my ex's dad - the same guy who christened this beautiful boy Poopyhead...

He used to torment the dogs by rattling the letterbox and growling "Postie, postie, get him, Postie!"...  now if you ignore the stupidity of doing this it wasn't an actual problem in their house because the post feel into an inclosed porch that the dogs had no access to, buttt, once we had our own house the post dropped into the hall and the Jack Russell used to attack and shred it.

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

So we got one of these.

Yeah that worked out well...

We heard these strange, slightly strangled-sounding noises coming from Scamp, and on going out into the hall to investigate found him dangling from the bottom of the cage by his teeth, with his nose smooshed right up against the bars. Going by your experience too, this dangling is clearly a bucket-list thing that all Jack Russells aim to achieve. When we got a new door put in we got the letterbox set into the side panel and put a narrow table with a basket on top of it to catch the post. But me and Scamp would STILL have to race to get to it, and if he beat me to it he'd jump up, up-end the basket and savage the letters still. My ex's dad... thanks for that legacy.

I just LOVE how having a pup is helping your girls to learn to pick up after themselves. This is like enabling every kid out there that pleads for a puppy, LOL.

[Mouseykins]

I laughed over the entire incident and was basically like what kind of a moron puts their arm in between two puppies fighting. Serves me right for getting chomped on LOL.

LOL leave it to a Jack Russell to outsmart humans! They're quite talented at that. Mouse never did such a thing, mind you our mail isn't delivered to our door here or where we previously lived. We had to go to the post office to get it. When a Jack Russell sets their sights on something it's not easy to tear them away from it. They're such an amazing breed and never a dull moment with them, at least in my experience.

I know it's kind of enabling parents to give in to getting a puppy for their kids. Kai has chewed up two of Ariel's sandals already. One is a pair of flip-flops that has an ankle strap to keep it on her foot so I'll just cut them off both and be done with it. I have to dig out my sewing machine this week and fix her other sandal or I might just stitch it by hand and hope it holds. She's been wearing the first sandal he chewed on and doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

The only thing is now they're finding ways to bring their toys downstairs and playing with them on the back of the couch where Kai can't reach. So eventually tonight I'm going to throw them onto the floor and tell them they'd better put them away or they're fair game for Kai and not to come running to me if he grabs one. I'll have him outside when I do that though to give them a chance.

Kai went for his second walk today and it went much smoother than the first. He walked a lot better and wasn't so scared of things. We stopped at the drug store first and I tied him up next door to the post office. We come out and there's this lady making friends with Kai and he's just laying there being so well behaved. Her and her husband had a little pup with them and Kai didn't even care. He just sniffed and that was it. I'm so glad that he's gentle with other animals. We were talking about the personality traits of The Pyr's and how they despise coyotes. I hope that transfers over to cats LOL. I'm starting to teach him to stop and sit at the corner until he's told he can cross with me. He's sitting almost immediately when asked, so his training is going good so far. We have to order a couple books on Amazon and start working through them bit by bit with him.

This weekend if it's nice, we may have a playdate at the park with the girls' friends from school, their mum and dog. The little park behind my house we can close the large rear gate and block off the front entrances with our strollers. Should be fun!

I've started working on Mouse's photobook too and looking at all her pictures is bittersweet. It will be a beautiful token to remember her by when it's finished. I'm also looking at getting a garden stone for her and one for her mum that are personalized.

[jellysundae]

That back of the couch cheat's not gonna work for too long anyway, is it? It won't be too long before he can reach up there. lol. So they've got a fairly small window for being able to get away with that.

Every single thing you're saying is affirming getting Kai was totally the right thing to do. Were your initial feelings of NOPE about another dog a head over heart thing? Were you trying to make yourself be pragmatic? Life sure had other plans for you. Maybe it's more that Mouse had other plans for you... she wasn't intending for her family to be without a guardian for long, from what you're saying about him he's giving a pretty good impression of being an angel. I like the idea that she picked him out for you. Sentimental nonsense maybe, but it works for me.

This weekend you're gonna find out how he reacts to fireworks aren't you, hope that turns out to be a non-issue.

Shinook up there ^ he was terrified of fireworks and thunder. He'd jump up onto the couch and try to get behind us (basically nearly shoving us onto the floor, lol) and just quiver with fear. We'd have to let them up into our bedroom during a storm at night. Shin would get up on the bed between us and his trembling would make it shake like we were on a fairground ride or something, and there was nothing we could do to comfort him. Meanwhile Scamp... he'd just burrow under the duvet between us and promptly start snoring... Absolutely NO hoots to give about thunder. Took me a while to think of a word I could use there, LOL.

[Mouseykins]

Nope and neither is sleeping on the couch! He's going to be able to jump up there and get them in no time!

We mainly didn't want another dog because Mouse was so important and special to us. We didn't want to run out right away and replace her with another 4-legged companion. For a week or so I couldn't even look at another dog without being angry. I think Mouse knew the pain and trauma of her passing away was affecting us, especially the girls, so I like to believe she wanted us to be looked after too. The night before we went to get Kai when I messaged the lady, I had a good sleep, better than I had in a while and I woke up all excited. So I knew Mouse was ok with the decision. I even asked her to help us pick out the perfect pup. Kai was the only one to show any real interest. Normally I'm a puppy person and they just love me, but this little boy wouldn't leave me alone and immediately rolled over for belly rubs. I knew then he was the one. He's been near perfect since we brought him home. He gets to be a turd sometimes, but that's puppy nature for ya.

We actually had fireworks in our town in June for the rodeo weekend. We don't have anything here for Canada Day. The next town over from us I think they do. I'm pretty sure he'd just lay down and ignore it. We'll find out next June.

Mouse wasn't necessarily scared of Thunder or the Fireworks she just didn't like them and vocalized her dislike by barking.

[jellysundae]

I forgot you're in Canada, sorry about that.  I feel it must be pretty annoying when people just assume you're American, so I'm annoyed with myself for doing that!

I'm glad I wasn't at all off the mark with Mouse picking out her heir.

Yeah Scamp used to go outside and yell at the fireworks, lol. Are they basically telling them to shut up when they're doing that? That's definitely the impression I got. He'd bark at any noisy thing other than the thunder actually, he'd go crazy when the bins were being emptied. I'd not realised that before, interesting.

He was also really funny when it came to cats. If he saw one out of the window he'd be up on the back of the chair like a shot; front paws on the windowsill, yelling insults at it, always. But if he was out for a walk, and the very same cat was there... he'd pretend he couldn't see it. He'd turn his head away to make sure he couldn't see it!

Cat? What cat?

So you're hoping Kai's not gonna like cats?

[Mouseykins]

I think it's the loud noises and it startles them and hurts their ears which is why they react by either cowering in fear or barking in protest.

I am definitely hoping Kai will despise cats and chase them out of the yard when he sees one. I'm not interested in having one live in my basement all winter long and use it for it's personal litter box. Plus cats here tend to constantly get into the garbage and it's super annoying.

Kai has found his voice and is not barking and growling. He's also found his way upstairs for the first time today. He heard me upstairs, let out a woof and started hopping up the stairs. He followed me halfway down and decided to stop and start barking at me. I had to go scoop him up and bring him back downstairs where he belongs for now. It's far too messy upstairs right now and way too many things for a puppy to chew on.

[jellysundae]

Oh gosh, puppies tackling stairs... so cute! Are you going to put any gates or anything up to prevent him from getting in some areas, or just teach him where he can and can't go?

Are there many cats in your area then? So I guess in Canada cats roaming around outside, like they do over here, is more normal than it is in the US?

[Mouseykins]

He's so big and clumsy that it's funny when he goes down the stairs. He was on the back deck this afternoon and it's been raining most of the day so the grass was slippery. He goes down the stairs nicely and hits the grass and faceplants with a body slide. All you see is this white ball of fluff go down, slide forward and roll. He did this twice that I saw. Gets back up each time like nothing happened.

The main reason I don't want him going upstairs yet is he's not 100% house trained. We're renovating our upstairs bathroom right now, have been since October, and we just have a plywood floor right now. So if he ends up messing on it we'll have to pull up the floor and get new plywood to put down. There's no way we'll be able to get it out of the wood. Plus I don't want him chewing on everything in sight up there and making more work for us.

[jellysundae]

Puppies always seem to have too many feet, don't they xD Or feet that aren't taking much notice of the directions the brain's given 'em, at least xD I mean it's exactly the same with toddlers isn't it, the pups just have twice as many feet to get tangled together.

It's a REAL good job larger animals do only have 4 legs. Maybe nature tried some prototypes with 6 or 8 initially, and it was just such a horrible mess that no-one's EVER gonna find any evidence of those, they got buried real deep, LOL.

[Mouseykins]

He's pretty much exactly like a two year old lol! He has the patience of a 2-year-old and the attention span of one too. It's kind of funny watching him run around and explore. When we have a nice day I want to take some really good pictures of him outside and even in the house. I told his birthplace I'd keep in touch so they can see how he's doing and how much he's loved. He got out of the yard again tonight and it's been the first time in about a week that he's done so. I saw where he got through and I'm hoping I secured it enough so he can't get through at the moment. He ran over to the neighbour's gravel parking pad and I had to go over there and chase him out and scoop him up to get him back into the yard. I hope the neighbour's didn't see him or I there or they don't mind. It's not like he marked his territory or anything. He's finding trash around the yard we didn't even know existed so I have to go do a good cleanup this week and we have to take a load or two to the dump anyways to get rid of things. I can do most of the cleanup myself so the Mr. can work on other things. I'll probably get the girls to put on their gloves and give me a hand though.

Oh my goodness that would be funny!! A good thing there's only 4-legged large animals, that would be interesting.

Sometime this week or next week we have to make a day trip out to my husband's parents place to take pictures of their puppies and their house. They want me to put an add up online to sell the puppies and one for their house too. Kai will have to go with us that day so hopefully he'll behave himself and not be a giant pain in the rear. The funny thing is we haven't told his parents we have Kai so that's going to be an interesting judgmental conversation lol.

[jellysundae]

Hmm, now if he could be taught to pick up the trash and dispose of it rather than eating it...   VERY wishful thinking there though, right? lol.

You think they're gonna judge? Maybe they'll be won over immediately by his cute floofiness and his good manners. No pressure there, Kai!

[Mouseykins]

Now that would be a smart thing to teach him if possible lol. We currently have those garbage bags with the red drawstrings to tie them up and he's figured out how to open those when they've been pulled tightly. I bought the wrong ones when we went shopping. I don't like the ones with the handles because they don't close properly and always leave a small hole.

They judge basically everything lol. I'm incredibly used to it by now and really don't give a monkey's behind. I hope they'll be happy for the girls that they have a fluffy friend to protect them. We'll explain to them why we got him. They might be offended that we didn't want one of their puppies. They have 9 Border Collie Australian Kelpie puppies that are 3 weeks old. But both breeds aren't overly good with children the same way as a Pyr. Border Collie and Kelpie's aren't the sort of dog to be left alone and in the house, they need to be kept active. Kai only needs about 20 - 30 minutes of exercise a day. I hope his cuteness will win them over.

My 7-year-old went out to check on him and found him laying on her slide. She runs in and grabs my phone to take pictures of him.

[jellysundae]

Oh man, family and hurt feelings... making someone else's decision, that involves them in no way at all, all about them. Maybe they'll be just fine! It can happen. But as you basically say -  their problem, not yours.

Oh heavens yeah, I know nothing about Kelpies apart from what you've just said,  but Border Collies are crazy active. Planning on keeping sheep? No? Border Collies not a good idea then. Maybe you need 5 or 6 more kids so they need herding?

*melts at picture*

LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!

He looks a little unsure there, think he was wondering how to get back down, lol. Unless his eye-shape just naturally gives him a slightly sad expression? Does he smile?

 

[Mouseykins]

Pretty much lol!

Kelpie's are very similar to Border Collie's but a tad more relaxed. When my in-laws got their Border Collie pup she was already starting to be a handful for them. Even now that she's older she still bites and nips. We wanted a pup that would be more laid back for the girls and our busy lifestyle. Since the first time I saw a Pyr I was in LOVE with how beautiful she was. Now I have a handsome Pyr! Pyr's are also herding animals too but they're more chill and highly devoted to their family. Kai will be pawfect once he's out of the puppy nipping, must chew on everything stage. Oh gosh 5 or 6 more kids and we'd need a bus!!

He's so cute! But he does look rather annoyed though doesn't he. His eyes usually have a happy expression and he does smile.

Last night Kai had his first bath! All his floof flattened out and he just looked like a drenched cub. He kept trying to jump out of the tub lol. But after a few minutes he was alright. He was happy to come out and get dried off. He got a treat and after he had his treat I brushed out his fur with him trying to chew on the brush.

EDIT: Today being all clean, Kai has to go under the front deck and lay in the dirt and get dirt all over his paws. He's going to be a difficult one to keep clean until he's too big to crawl under the decks.

[jellysundae]

Ooh, so what is it that they normally herd then? Hmmm... goats? Alpacas? No IDEA what kind of livestock populates the Pyrenees so I'm hoping for something different to just sheep. I see I'm expecting you to be the fount of all knowledge about this breed now, lol.

Did he look half the size when he was wet, lol. How was Mouse about baths? I had a battle on my hands bathing Scamp, he HATED water. I'd have to be very vigilant once he was dry, too, if he got outside he'd make a bee-line for the nearest dirt and roll in it. Of course that just meant he went straight back in the bath but he never seemed to grasp this.

 Shin LOVED the water but bathing him was impractical because of his leg length, he just stood there, with the water reaching half-way up his legs, and grinned at you, lol. Husky coats are hard to get wet, they've got that natural oiliness, but as we discovered just hosing him down with cold water in the back garden was perfectly fine, he just stood there grinning if you did that too. It got him clean - no more doggy smell -  without stripping his coat of its oils. How are you gonna manage Kai's ablutions once he's bigger?

[Duma]

Pyrs originally came from Asia then people took them to Europe before they went worldwide. In the Pyrenees they hoarded sheep, sorry, but it is what it is. Just sheep. Alpacas is more South America. France isn't so exotic XD. They have an extra nail on their back paws so it's easier for them to climb mountain terrain.

You telling your story about washing your dogs made me remember washing our German Shephard. We washed him outside as well, and even though he didn't really mind it, the moment you were to let go, he too would go and roll in the nearest dirt again. We had to make sure that someone was holding him while someone else was drying him.

My two pets now well, they hate water for sure. One will try to get away no matter what, the other will just sit there and try to get smaller and tries to sink in the ground. But then again, I have cats. Some cats love water too though, but not mine. The few times I had to wash them I had the scratches to prove it.

[Mouseykins]

Herding sheep as Duma said above. But I think they could be trained to herd other animals too. He has three 2-legged "animals" to herd now

I say that with love for my girls! They can be quite crazy at times. People always comment on how well behaved and quiet they are. I'm like no they're not, you should see and hear them at home.

His fur flattened out and he just looked weighted down by all the water. He looks so fluffy afterwards though. Little bugger needs to get brushed out tonight too. I have this little palm brush that has those plastic type bristles that surround the pins of the brush that help to lift and remove dirt. It also helps with drying too, but I couldn't find it. I think I left it outside on the deck and it's underneath something right now.

Mouse LOVED LOVED LOVED her baths!!! Whenever I ran water for the girls I'd have to keep my eyes on Mouse or she would jump in and joy them. There have been several times where I've had to take her out, dry her off, only for her to end up back in the water again. After that, I normally just left her in there and washed her up after the girls were out of the tub. The girls loved playing with Mouse in the water and she loved it too. Ever since she was a puppy she was obsessed with water. Even when watering the garden with the garden hose or watering can/jug I'd have to have her inside while I did that or she'd attack the water coming out, trample all over the wet dirt and be all muddy. After a couple of times, I smartened up and started leaving her inside where she would loudly protest her disagreement with my actions by barking super loud. Normally when I washed Mouse I would use the handheld shower head to rinse her off so I'm not pouring dirty, soapy water on her again. She'd attack that. I'd set it down, with water still coming out of it and she'd turn it over while I'm lathering her up and I'd end up getting sprayed in the face and end up being about as wet as her.

When Mouse was a pup we were at my in-law's place. They have a huge dugout/fish pond on their property and had a dock to walk out onto the water a bit. Mouse jumps off and goes into the water. She sinks like a rock and doesn't even bother to attempt to swim. Thank goodness, she was on the leash or my Mr. would have had to go in there after her. I would have been useless cuz I can't swim. Here I'm completely dumbfounded by what she's done. He turns to me and asks where Mouse is and I point to the water. He immediately yanks on the leash and pulls her out. She's completely unharmed and the whole ordeal was less than a minute. Probably 30 seconds max.

As Kai gets bigger I'll probably still wash him in the bathtub with the handheld shower wand. Unless he's really dirty, he shouldn't need a bath too often. If it gets to be too much of a chore in the house then we have this large stock tank that the girls will be using for a pool in the summer. Kai can get washed in that outside in the warm months if necessary.

Oh yes, Kai has those extra toes on his hind legs! They're so fascinating! I poked my hand with his claw the other night because I forgot it was there. The hind dew claws are something very neat about him. Some breeds have them and they can be a danger to the animal's health if they're injured just do to their overall position on the foot and how far they stick out. My pup when I was a kid had hind dew claws that were surgically removed. He had red bandages on his legs for a while.

Kai has his first visit at the vet tomorrow and he gets to meet everyone! He's going for his check-up and boosters. When I talked to one of the techs to make his appointment she sounded excited to meet him. I ran into the receptionist today too and she's looking forward to seeing him tomorrow afternoon. I have to print out a picture card of Mouse and a thank you for them for all they did for Mouse. I think they'll like that. A little bit of appreciation and thanks goes a long way. I'm hoping he's seeing Mouse's vet tomorrow but I'm not sure. We had to get his boosters done between this Friday and next Friday for him to be safe. Since we're planning on visiting my in-law's soon I want him to be fully protected and also they have puppies there too.

[jellysundae]

6 hours ago, Mouseykins said:

People always comment on how well behaved and quiet they are. I'm like no they're not, you should see and hear them at home.

HAHAHA. But they ARE well behaved if they're good when they're out and about with you. Kids that are good all the time at home are surely robots, lol. Or, or... oh! Like Dora from Anne of Green Gables! She's so well behaved she's incredibly dull. I AM assuming here that you know who I'm talking about, simply because you're Canadian and Anne is such a national treasure. I only read the book(s) for the first time last year and I was totally smitten.

Mouse bathing with the girls is lovely, that's some concrete memories to last you all a lifetime there.

On 7/11/2019 at 5:24 AM, Duma said:

My two pets now well, they hate water for sure. One will try to get away no matter what, the other will just sit there and try to get smaller and tries to sink in the ground.

That's really interesting that one of them doesn't bolt. I think I'd assumed that cats either did that or enjoyed the water, no inbetween. Tolerating it whilst clearly hating it is a new one for me!

6 hours ago, Mouseykins said:

When Mouse was a pup we were at my in-law's place. They have a huge dugout/fish pond on their property and had a dock to walk out onto the water a bit. Mouse jumps off and goes into the water. She sinks like a rock and doesn't even bother to attempt to swim. Thank goodness, she was on the leash or my Mr. would have had to go in there after her. I would have been useless cuz I can't swim. Here I'm completely dumbfounded by what she's done. He turns to me and asks where Mouse is and I point to the water. He immediately yanks on the leash and pulls her out. She's completely unharmed and the whole ordeal was less than a minute. Probably 30 seconds max.

WHAT?!! That's insane. The more you tell us about Mouse the larger her character becomes, lol. That too, just like her voice, was much bigger than her physical form, right? How did she interact with your in-law's dogs? The nippy, bitey Border Collie?

Right, so Kai's gonna be adding some more people to his growing group of fans tomorrow then, lol. How convenient that you just have to look at someone and they're likely to fall in love with you, and probably give you treats. What a hard life it is being a beautiful dog!

[Mouseykins]

I'm vaguely familiar with Anne of Green Gables. I read the book a long time ago when I was a kid. Not all the time my kids behave when we're out and about. Most of the time when we're in the grocery store I'm chasing them around telling them to stop whatever shenanigans their up to and I'm basically talking to a brick wall and banging my head against it. I ask them for help unloading groceries to the belt, to stand in a certain spot and I'm having to scold them in front of the cashier because they're either in my way when I told them to stand in a certain spot or they've ran off to the next till over. My middle likes to hide behind me and I've just about knocked her over trying to load filled bags into the cart.

Mouse would be so quick at getting in that tub. As soon as your back was turned even for a split second "sploosh" she's in the tub looking at you with her "what" face. The girls loved playing with her in the tub as much as Mouse loved being in there with them. This one time K had a bubble bath and Mouse hopped in. Mouse always drinks the water. She must drink about a gallon or more water each time. After she's out and dry you have to get her outside ASAP or you have a puddle on the floor to clean up. The puddle is normally from her having what I like to call a wet burp. It's gross to clean up and preferable for her to just do that outside in the yard somewhere. Anyways she drank some of the bubble bath before I could get to her so when I get her out she starts burping bubbles. It was hilarious to see but at the same time I'm shaking my head telling her to get it all out so her tummy doesn't get too upset. Since then bubble baths were banned and if they did have one I made sure to keep Mouse out of the water, which was not easy. So yes we have tons of memories, pictures and videos of Mouse being a bath nut.

She may have been a small girl, but she had a gigantic personality!

Mouse did not like any other dogs or animals for that matter. She was not a friendly sociable dog. The last time she saw my in-laws dogs she tried going after their male because he came up to my husband too quickly wanting to play and get some attention. Mouse saw that as a threat and nipped at him. Thank goodness she was on the leash! Their female was just a pup at that time and we tried seeing if Mouse would be nice, nope! She nipped the poor puppy on the paw from the other side of the little wooden gate. Mouse got quite the scolding for that.

Yes! He'll have more admirers tomorrow! Everyone we come across that says hi to him like him very much. He'll win over the staff at the vet clinic instantly. That and just give them a woof to demand what you want from them. He's getting quite good at that lately.

Every morning Kai gets a bowl of cereal for breakfast. He sees my husband take the milk out for his coffee and right away starts woofing. He loves milk! This afternoon my husband was having a snack and he had some cheese. Kai likes cheese! So Kai's barking at him to demand some. Hubby's like ok if you want it you have to earn it. So he gets Kai to shake a paw for every piece. Kai did just that and still wanted more. I found out he liked cheese when he was trying to steel the girls' cheese strings the other day. My youngest doesn't like cheese for some reason, so Kai can have her share I guess lol.

[Aquamentis12]

Wow! What an absolutely touching story about getting Kai and his first day in his new home with his new family! Almost brought a tear to my eyes reading about it! Just beautiful! Loved the shot of him on the slide too! XD