Monday Morning Chuckle: Dogs RULE!

This is SO TRUE!!!

DOG RULES OF THE HOUSE:

Wink wink....this sofa's MINE now.

1. The dog is not allowed in the house.
2. Okay, the dog is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms.
3. The dog is allowed in all rooms, but has to stay off the furniture.
4. The dog can get on the old furniture only.
5. Fine, the dog is allowed on all the furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with the humans on the bed.
6. Okay, the dog is allowed on the bed, but only by invitation.
7. The dog can sleep on the bed whenever he wants, but not under the covers.
8. The dog can sleep under the covers by invitation only.
9. The dog can sleep under the covers every night.
10. Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the dog.

From “My Dog is the World’s Best Dog“ by Suzy Becker.

Hope you all have a good Monday! It’s rainy here with major thunder/lightning storms during the night (why do they always come in the wee hours of the morning so sleep is completely disturbed??!!), but we’ll make the best of it! 🙂

Daisy And Her One-Eyed Havachon Sneak Peek

Looking through our pictures, I noticed something several of them have in common: when Daisy’s doing something wrong or being sneaky, she tends to partially hide herself behind something and peek out with one eye.

It’s her Sneak Peek.

I thought these pictures of her sneaky-peeky moments might make a funny collage of sorts:

I know I'm not supposed to be in here....

I'm not supposed to be up here without permission...do you think they can see me?

Heeheehee! Oops - I think my other eye is showing....

Do you think they noticed that I chewed the table? This isn't a very good hiding place...

Destructo-Pup Strikes Again – This Time, It’s The Furniture….

Take a look at this:

I gasped so hard when I saw Daisy chewing the stretcher bar on the coffee table that I almost swallowed my tongue.

Why oh why, with all her toys, blankets, and bones, did she choose to go after wood furniture? She’s certainly not teething anymore!

And it’s not just once – this pup seemed to be turning into a wood addict! We’ve stopped her several more times since she committed this crime, going after the same spot on the same piece. And it’s not soft wood – it’s good oak. Older oak, not contemporary veneer. She’s got good taste….unfortunately….

Now we think we may have solved this mystery – a pattern developed. Whenever we sat on the sofa and didn’t allow Daisy to come up, she rebelled by chewing on the coffee table! Clearly she wanted us to notice because the spot is right in front of us. She was sending a powerful message and trying to gain control.

I may look cute, but I can be a real mischievous wise guy...

We hadn’t realized what she was doing because she likes to lean her Nylabone against the stretchers of the coffee table when she chews it sometimes, and it makes the same loud scraping sound as she does when she’s chewing directly on the stretcher.

Now we’re very alert to it and have stopped her a few more times, putting her in the Naughty Room for 5 minutes each time. I’m happy to say that she’s learned her lesson and isn’t doing it anymore….so far…. But what’s next?

I don’t really want to replace this piece if I don’t have to, so I looked for ways to patch this huge missing chunk (it’s a good 4+ inches wide!). I found these sites explaining how to fix chewed wood furniture, and I’m passing them along in case you’re a fellow Destructo-Pup sufferer:

How to Repair Furniture That Has Been Chewed on by a Dog gives detailed step-by-step instructions on how to mend that gnawed wood.

And Creative Homeowner has step-by-step instructions along with pictures that actually show the process.

We’ll let you know how the repairs go this spring when we try our hand at it!

Daisy the Havachon Mummy

Daisy loves her blankets so much that she even likes walking around completely wrapped in up them! We call her the Havachon Mummy.

Daisy likes to thrust her big fleece blanket into our hands and start a tug-o-war. But she likes it best when we toss the blanket over her completely so that she’s completely enveloped in her favorite companion, then she embarks on a whole other playtime ritual all her own!

Once again, pictures speak louder than words:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at that CRAZY ear hair frizz!

Self explanatory....LOL

I'm losing my wrappings!

Daisy’s Official Title: Chief Havachon Negotiator, Hostage Toy Relations

I know dogs are smart, but this Havachon is ridiculous!

Nobody hides my blanket from me!

Daisy has become a Master Negotiator.

We noticed that she studies everything we do over and over again, sometimes imitating us and other times trying to outsmart us. We can’t get away with anything more than once with her (like using a particular method to take a toy away that we don’t want destroyed) because she’s studied our technique and adapted (like the Borg on Star Trek!) so we can’t do it again.

Now she’s promoted herself to Chief Havachon Negotiator in charge of Hostage Toy Relations.

Daisy is a blanket freak. She LOVES her blankets. She loves sleeping with them, cuddling with them, playing with them, chewing them, and dragging them from room to room like Linus. She also likes to play tug of war with them and then for us to ball the blanket up and throw it for her to chase. For as far as a lightweight fleece blanket will go, that is.

Well, we’ve been using the “Go Find” method of mental stimulation lately. We hide whatever toy she’s been playing with and point in the general direction, letting her search around and find it.

Don't even bother trying...I'll outsmart you every time.

The other day DD was sitting on the sofa and hid the blanket behind her while Daisy took a water break. When Daisy came running back over, she must have seen a bit of the blanket sticking out, so when DD said “Where’s your blanket?”, Daisy stared at it, stared at DD, thought for a bit, then quickly snatched a paper DD was using into her mouth and backed off with it, just staring at her.

DD was shocked and issued the “Give” command, but every time she said that and leaned forward to take the paper, Daisy withdrew her head just enough so it was out of DD’s reach, glancing at the blanket. This happened several times.

Finally DD, just playing along, said “OK, I’ll give you the blanket and you give me the paper”. She held out the blanket slowly with one hand and extended the other hand toward the paper Daisy was holding. Daisy, in return, allowed her to take the paper. The exchange had been made.

It’s hard to believe, but this scene played out too perfectly to have been coincidence. We’re going to recreate it again just to see if the same thing happens. My guess is that she’s been watching way too many crime dramas with us! 😉

Monday Morning Chuckle: Canine Concierge – Pooch Relations!

No I’m not making it up – this is a bonafide, real life occupation and one employee at the Hotel Pennsylvania has the business card to prove it!

Oh Concierge....I'm ready for my spa treatment, please....

Being right across from Madison Square Garden, the hotel expected about 1,000 canine guests during the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and one man’s job is the Canine Concierge in charge of Pooch Relations.

A Wall Street Journal article about the dog show talks about this and a few other new occupations to hit the Big Apple for this elite event – how about a Pet Taxi for dog owners who don’t want to walk their star AKC pups in the crowded city? No fewer than TWO cab services of this type are being offered!

And the Barking Dog restaurant cooks burgers to your dog’s taste, any way he/she likes it. (Reviews for their human food aren’t so good, though.)

How cool is that?!

Friday Burnout: Miss Daisy’s Version of “My Favorite Things”

Too many writing assignments right now and my writing brain is feeling burned out. So I let the nonsensical side take over when this silly rendition of “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music” popped out, as it would be sung by Miss Daisy:

Ah, hangin' out...another one of my favorite things....

Barking at nothing and yapping at no one,
Tapping the window from morning ’til day’s done,
Tearing up toys all through winters and springs –
These are a few of my favorite things.

 

Chasing the squirrels and the birds at the feeder,
In my back yard there’s no doubt I’m the leader.
Waiting to see what tomorrow will bring –
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the cats meow
When the phone rings
When I’m feeling tired~
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I can feeeeel—
RE-WIRED!

Sorry guys, as I said, I’m burned out! Have a great weekend everyone!

Daisy Meets the French Horn – A Havachon Music Lesson

We have an avid French horn player in the family and, needless to say, Daisy found the sound coming from this strange contraption very perplexing. So we thought we should introduce her to the source of the sound – she was VERY cautious at first, then delved a bit deeper:

Daisy cautiously meets the French horn

What's in here? This requires a deeper investigation....

But she does stay a safe 3 yards or so away when the horn’s being played!

Maybe one day she can play a duet with DD….hmmm, I wonder what instrument would suit Daisy…. 😉

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are! A New Havachon Hiding Place

Well it’s becoming a regular thing these days – we lose Daisy in the house. Now that we know she likes hiding in small places, we’re finding this game pretty hilarious!

Recently we searched and searched for Daisy, and eventually found this:

Heeheehee! You can't see me!

Darn! You found me!

I'm not coming out! I like it in here!

 

She was under the end of my daughter’s bed, squished between storage tubs and a wood chest that’s at the end of the bed!

We can’t figure out how she maneuvered herself to turn around under there – sometimes I think she’s made of jelly – but somehow she managed it.

She found this entirely cozy and stayed there for quite some time. That was fine with us – there was nothing for her to get in trouble with!

Now we know that whenever we hear that telltale THUMP-THUMPETY-THUMP, Daisy’s crawling her way under the bed for another game of Hide and Go Seek. But of course, we’re always IT! 🙂

Daisy Samples PureBites Treats and LOVES Them!

Gus – now that Daisy’s seen your picture, I think she may have a little crush on you! LOL 🙂

Thank you According To Gus!

We were among the lucky 10 who received 4 packages of PureBites dog treats from According to Gus’s pet nickname drawing, and what perfect timing they had – the treats arrived on Valentine’s Day! Along with a wonderful personalized greeting from Gus, it was like Daisy received her own little Valentine! 🙂

We couldn’t wait to try one out, so we gave her a Cheddar Cheese treat first. She absolutely LOVED it! We’ll try a different treat every day, but I’m sure she’s going to gobble them all up with equal enthusiasm.

Many thanks to According to Gus for introducing us to a wonderful new treat!

YUM YUM YUM!

 

 

 

 

 

Don't bother me now, these are fabulous!