Monday, March 19, 2007

I love my furkids!

You know what it's like when your dogs get to that certain age? A friend in work and I were talking about this today. When you get a dog as a puppy, it's cute and furry and you play with it. Then it gets bigger....and maybe not as cute.....and doesn't seem to grasp the idea of things. But, you keep at it, and next thing you know, they're great.

My dogs are at that point. They're still young enough (about 3 yrs old, litter mates) that everything new is something to check out. And boy, do these 2 have energy! But they behave.

If a stranger comes to the house, they bark....but when my son or I come home, not a sound.

No more accidents in the house!!! Can't even remember how long ago that was....and it was totally my fault!

And cute? Well, let me tell you, there is nothing more fun to watch than the interaction between 2 dogs, or 1 or 2 dogs and their humans!

My pups are crate trained, but sometimes stay in the house alone, out of their crates. No worry about accidents, no trash turned over, no messes! Today, I even left doors open, or simply pushed closed, and they didn't venture where they weren't supposed to. Even my bed went untouched! Of course, I was only gone for about 30-40 minutes, but still.

Lately we've been working on stopping certain behaviors that are annoying me. When someone arrives at the house, they surround the person, sniffing and tail wagging. I've been making them stay put until the visitors (even my son) are in and settled they get called over.

The other behavior that I think we got licked is Daisy barking when Brian and Duke play. Brian loves to play tug with Duke. There is 1 rope, no matter what, when Brian picks it up and starts waving it around, Duke will grab onto and play tug-o-war! He really enjoys it, as does Brian, and it's exercise for him. However, Daisy tends to bark. She's trying to tell Duke that this is unacceptable behavior, I think, but she's annoying. Well, I've started using Cesar Milan's method of disciplining her, and it's working!

These are MY dogs. They are not my son's, and they know it. They will come to me over anyone. They follow me more than anyone. And they protect me. If I go in my room, I guarantee I have at least 1 pup on watch in my doorway!

When we went on vacation last year, up to Massachusetts, the pups were belted in the back seat together. They were very well behaved, and at all times at least one of them was awake and on watch.
That's Daisy on watch, Duke napping.

Here's some random pictures:
Duke sleeping

Daisy Sleeping
Miss Daisy
Mr Duke
At Karen's in MA
Two peas in a pod!
Aren't they cute? LOL

The closest we can figure, they are a mix of Doberman, Shepherd and some kind of hound. They are litter mates, having been abandoned together when they were about 5 months old. They've never been apart for more than a few hours.

7 comments:

Suzanne Johnson said...

Duke and Daisy are great! You're right--the interaction between two dogs is so much fun to watch, and the interaction you have with them and their different personalities is fun. I love my furkids too!

Unknown said...

I love my furkids, too! I have two cats and they are the light of my life. Instead of coming home to an empty apartment, I come home to two of the cutest furfaces ever.

I got Xena at 6 weeks old. She will be 5 years old next month (she stopped acting like a kitten at about 3 years old).

I don't know how old Abby is. My best guess is 6-7. All I know for sure is she's at least 6 months older than Xena. Beyond that, no one knows. I've had her for just over 4 years now. She's a street cat I found in the backyard with a litter of kittens.

Alcinda (Cindy) Moore said...

suzique....mine are very different. Daisy thinks she's the boss, hence the barking at Duke. She's also my fearless one....Duke, not so much!

Victoria....I love seeing the pictures you post!!! They are so cute!

Amy Dungan said...

I love my furbabies as well! We have a ferret and a dog. Our ferret, sadie, we got when she was 4 months old. She's now 3 and has been the best ferret we've ever owned.

Our dog looks much like yours Cindy. He's a shepherd/husky mix. We adopted him from a shelter a year ago this month. He's approx. 2 and the best dog we've ever had as well. I'll have to post some pics on my blog some time.

Alcinda (Cindy) Moore said...

Do the ferret and the dog get along? I'd love to see some pics of your furkids!!

Amy Dungan said...

Well, the ferret and the dog don't interact too much. The dog is an outside dog, he sheds way too much to be inside, and we can't let the ferret outside for safety reasons. They do see each other during vet visits, etc. and seem to be very curious about each other. I think they'd get along great if they were together more. I'll post some pictures on my blog for you later today. :0)

Unknown said...

I love the pics of your babies....too cute...
I'm a new mama myself---Bear---a 4 month old black Pomeranian. He has brought so much joy to my life it ain't funny---he helps with the exercise too--which keeps me on target...
And judging from all the comments we all love our babies...