Princess Zoe’s bad habits seem to multiply by the day. Today in her crate after dinner I had to wait 2 hours for the barking to stop. Agghh. She’s also been getting into my drinks frequently when I turn my back for a second - she jumps up on the couch and shoves her nose in my glass and licks up my milk. I’ve been sneaking up behind her and making a loud noise and swatting her rear end (all done to startle her), but apparently that isn’t working yet.

I took both dogs for a walk today, that was interesting. Surprizingly, Zoe was the problem, not Zeeke. Zeeke just plods along beside me, although he was peeing on everything he couch reach. Zoe on the other hand… her tail was up and perky, and she was pulling at the leash. She’d walk in front of me, cut in front of Zeeke (he tripped over her at least once), and worse than all that she wouldn’t just walk straight… she zig-zags back and forth in front of me, which puts her right in the middle of the road. I had them both on their short training leashes, but even still she was all over the road. After getting frustrated with her, I pulled her in tight to my right side. After a bit I pulled Zeeke in to my left. That worked the best. Both dogs were heeling pretty good, even though Zoe was heeling on the wrong side. (I didn’t have much choice, I needed one at each hand.) But that was with me walking on the left side of the road - when I switched to the right Zoe didn’t do so well. For some reason she doesn’t like the side of the road, she wants to be out in the middle. So that entire street she was pressed against my leg and/or trying to cross over in front of me, which made me constantly trip. My shoulder was getting tired from tugging her out away from my body. I like them to be close, but man, there’s a point where it’s too much! I was actually considering Den’s suggestion that I put her on a prong collar as well, because she was SO bad at the pulling. I don’t normally have that problem with her - but then I don’t normally take Zeeke out at the same time. She loses her mind when he’s with her.

Den and I were talking about her today, he just shakes his head every time he gets molested by her. She LOVES it when he lays down on the bed, she crawls all over him and licks him and lays on him and is just SO HAPPY. He just laughs. And we agreed, she has two settings: scared, and happy. There really isn’t anything in between, or anything else. Oreo sulks all the time if she gets in trouble. Zeeke plots how to get what he wants, when he wants it, and won’t let things go. Zoe? If you catch her with something she shouldn’t have, and you take it away and say, “Bad dog!” she sits up and gives a big tail wag and grin as if to say, “Okay mommy!” and then goes and finds something else to do. She’s just so easy-going, nothing gets her down. She doesn’t get upset, she doesn’t sulk, she never even looks guilty. She just goes on to the next thing in life.

Damn, what a great way to live. I vow to be more like Zoe from now on.

Well now, I have two very quiet, happy puppers right now. Stuffed Zeeke’s kong full of peanut butter and kibble, and gave Zoe two cookies sandwiched with peanut butter. She takes forever to eat cookies - though this time she seems to be making more of a dent in them than usual.

The kids are doing good. Jo is still insisistent on getting outside, and driving us all crazy. He’s gotten really pushy trying to get out the front door, you basically have to pin him to the ground or squash him against the wall to stop him. The other night, a midnight pee run for Zoe, he squeezed past my attempts to stop him. While I was trying to catch him Zoe wandered out as well, and then started chasing him… off into the neighbor’s yard in the dark. I think she managed to get lost. I walked down the street calling for her, and when she saw me she looked pretty scared. Soon as she realized it was indeed me she came running for me. I was a very unhappy, scared mama that night, thank goodness the whole thing lasted only about 5-10 minutes or I would have been in hysterics.

I continue to take Zoe with me on short car trips to the corner store or pharmacy, whenever I go. Obviously I don’t take her with me if I would have to leave her in the truck for any extended period, or any time when the temperture is too hot mid-day, but I’m trying to bring her with me as much as I can. I think she’s getting better. She seems to do fine riding in the back with Zeeke, though I don’t like it because I can’t see her! Her preferred place to ride would be on the floor in front of the back seat, she barely has room to move but that seems to be a comfort for her. If she has to ride on the seat she gets more nervous. The one thing that really worries me about the truck is the grate we use between the seating area and the cargo area (where Zeeke rides) sometimes falls down (like every few months). That’s definitely not a good sign for if we were in an accident. We’re going to have to start checking it before trips, making sure it’s really secure.

Zoe’s major behavioral issue right now is barking while crated. She doesn’t mind when she’s crated when we go out, but if we’re home and she can’t be with us, she really throws a hissy fit. We crate them to feed them dinner (mostly so Zoe can’t run over and eat half of his food), and soon as she’s done she starts barking and whining and making such a fuss. So yesterday I refused to even go in there until she was quiet. It took an hour and a half. The first time I went in she started up again, so I turned around and walked out. Next time there was a minute of silence I walked in again. Not a peep. Walked up, nothing. Said “good girl” softly, and let her out. Zeeke followed. I’m still not sure if I should be letting out Zeeke in the beginning, since he doesn’t start up until Zoe’s been wailing for 15 minutes or so.

My dad says that they have a bit of a raccoon problem - this one raccoon keeps eating all their cat food. Dad knows when it’s there, because Tessa totally spazzes at the big glass door at it. He said the bugger climbs up the sundeck roof’s post onto the roof, and over the house to climb down a tree. He also said he was chasing it all over the other day, because the sundeck roof is semi-opaque and he could see it sitting up there, lol!

I asked him where the heck their cats were during all this, I mean one’s a scaredy-cat and the other’s old, and they both spend more than half their time asleep on the deck. He said, oh, they were laying in the corner, watching. Both cats know plenty better than to tangle with a raccoon - I remember one time when he was a lot younger (he was a punk), Tuffy saw a young raccoon shuffling along the fenceline on the other side of the yard and thought it was another cat invading his territory. He went tearing across the yard to beat up the cat, and when he got about 10 feet away it hissed and he realized what it really was - he made a sharp turn and run under the camper to hide and watch. That’s a blessing.

But dad’s still pretty annoyed that it keeps eating all the cat food!

We are having some wicked bad thunderstorms right now. I was napping, and it just started booming out there. One particularily loud boom startled me awake. I am very thankful that Zoe is not thunder-reactive - her head did pop up at that loud one, just like mine did, but she flopped it back down again with a sigh. Last night when I mentioned to someone that Zoe wasn’t thunder-reactive they stared at me in disbelief - I mean, of all the things she’s afraid of (people, dogs, cars, umbrellas, bags, clothes being shaken out… ), this - a very common fear for even non-anxious dogs - isn’t one of them?

If Oreo were here, she’d be totally freaking out on me. Not much really riles her, but thunder sure does. And I know what triggered it too… when she was just a puppy, we were camping up north in BC at our relative’s lakeside cabin, and everyone was outside when a big thunderstorm hit. Oreo and I were out in the open when it started, and she totally freaked out. We ran to the cabin (because it started pouring), and no harm was done at all, but I remember she was really terrified that day, and ever since.

Oh and Zeeke? I don’t think Zeeke has even twitched.

This morning I get up and putter around for a bit, then check on the dogs. I find Zoe on the bed with a piece of garbage. She’s so funny and cute - whenever I find her with something she shouldn’t have and adminish her, she wags her tail. She very proudly gives it over to me, as if that was what she intended to do all along. I just love that she’s so happy about handing over contraband. I’ll take that any day.

Then I check on Zeeke, since it’s completely silent. I find him curled up on the couch, looking completely adorable. So I went over and gave him some love. He puts his ears partway back and his eyes are big brown saucers, looking so innocent. How can you not love that face? Of course I also had to clean his eyes - Den always rolls his eyes and says my idea of cuddling with Zeeke is jabbing my fingers in his eyes. But he gets so gunky! It drives me crazy. He’s very good about it, although he frequently lifts his lip in annoyance at me - which makes me laugh, because it’s not his aggressive snarl, he never bites or even mouths really, he just gives me a dirty look.

Wow, I never wrote about the park. I’m so bad!

The park is a small enclosed area in a large park. It only has a 4′ fence, which worried Den at first since Zeeke would jump it if he wanted to, but I think there’s so much going on inside the park that he doesn’t even give a thought to the idea. There’s a mulch groundcover, lots of large trees for shade, two picnic tables, a firehydrant water tap, and a bunch of balls and rope toys laying around for the dogs. A little small, but otherwise quite nice.

No other dogs were there the first time we went. Zeeke spent the entire time sniffing every single thing he could, and peeing on every tree - or at least lifting his leg on them, there wasn’t a whole lot of action going on. He was off in his own little world. Zoe seemed to enjoy herself, her tail was up and she was running around with a grin on her face. She followed Zeeke around, followed us around, chased balls. I really think it was a good first impression on her. After we’d let them sniff around for about 20 minutes Den and I started walking slow laps of the perimeter, and Zeeke just followed us around. It was rather funny. Zeeke ran around with Den very briefly, but got tired quickly. When we left we just walked over to the gated area and both dogs happily followed us, got their leashes on, then dragged us to the truck. The ride back was uneventful, Zeeke even layed down almost the entire time!

That was monday; on tuesday while Den was at work I had to take both dogs to the vet for their bordatella vaccination. That was quick, though hectic - having two unhappy dogs at the vet is more than twice as much trouble as one unhappy dog at the vet. Zoe blew her anal glands while getting the vaccine, since they took her in the back to do it without me. Sigh.

So after that I figured the dogs needed something happy to do, so I took them back to the park. A couple of dogs were there this time. Zoe was okay with the other dogs, timid and submissive, but not freaking out. She didn’t like it when I stood around with the other people though, so she tended to follow Zeeke around sniffing trees. She’d come when I called her, though - but wouldn’t get within 5 feet or so of anyone else. I had hoped Zeeke would play more with the other dogs, but he still seemed to prefer being off in his own world, sniffing. Hopefully that will change.

Part way through that visit a lady arrived with her two daughters (young teens or pre-teens) and a small shih tzu. The little dog was a little unsure about the other dogs, and basically stayed right by or under the picnic table the entire time. Well after about 10 minutes I guess Zeeke decided he wanted to formally greet the dog and came over to do a sniff exchange. The little guy was obviously very put off by Zeeke’s size, and hid under the picnic table. Zeeke stuck his head under. The little dog ran out the other side, Zeeke ran around - and so on. Ended up with the little one running around the picnic table with Zeeke following trying to sniff - it was the same situation as with the cat, if he is allowed to just sniff another dog he couldn’t really care less after that, but with the dog playing hard-to-get… well, Zeeke takes it as a challenge. The little one ran out of patience and turned and snapped and growled at Zeeke. The owner looked freaked out, obviously worried that it was going to start a dog fight. But you know what, Zeeke paused, stared at the little dog, then walked off. I was so proud of him! He did try it again a little later, but again walked off when the little dog told him off. Yay. He has pretty good doggy manners…. other than the chasing. *sigh*

So then yesterday Den and I took the dogs to the park again. There were a bunch of dogs there, including some larger, playful dogs (one husky type, one boxer, and later a brittney spaniel joined in). Zeeke enjoyed chasing them, but the husky seemed to unnerve him a bit - the husky kept pawing at him trying to get him to play, and Zeeke wasn’t sure what to make of it and kept running off. I was a little surprized about that. Zoe on the other hand wasn’t happy with the playful dogs at all. They were all running around happy-like and Zoe got a little freaked out and started running… so they all joined in, thinking it was a fun game, and Zoe really panicked. Den said her mouth was open and he was afraid she was going to snap or something, but I really don’t think she was… I think she was just panting. In either case, it was over quickly and the other dogs went off elsewhere, and Zoe calmed down. She would stay at the edge of the commotion, staying out of the way and away from the people, but I think it’s good for her. Other than that brief moment she was unsure but okay - and it gives her a chance to observe and be around other people and dogs. I think she’ll get used to it. I know Oreo was just as freaked out the first time I took her to a dog park. (Only difference is that Oreo would indeed turn, snap and snarl if another dog got too close!)

Oh my god, Zoe has the WORST gas. She’s clearing rooms here. All last night I was hunting for a pile of poop because I could smell it… turns out she was just passing gas. Not like that’s any better for the nostrils! Unfortunately this morning I was still in bed and the dogs went out of the bedroom with Den… I woke up half an hour later to a very peeved husband, who was cursing. I got up to find a puddle AND piles on the floor from Zoe. But they were very unhealthy piles, so I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt - hubby’s mad because he says she never whined or barked or anything. I think this stomach upset can be traced back to the canned food hubby gave them last night. Zeeke’s fine, but Zoe didn’t handle it well. So no more canned for her.

Here’s a link to the dog park - we’re going tomorrow! It was apparently opened only this year, on April 22. How lucky are we! I’m so excited. Westfield really needs to get a dog park. I just got Zeeke’s new tags (rabies and license) on his collar, and transferred Zoe’s tags from her old collar to her new one. We’re ready to go!

Today we took both dogs out at the same time to potty before we had to go out. When they were done that I let Zoe off her leash. Zeeke was on his flexi, because remember he can’t be let off. So Zoe zoomed around and around, with Zeeke cutting her off and chasing her back and forth. It was so funny! They (Zeeke) actually crashed into me at one point (ow). But the funniest part was that when Zeeke would get close enough to her he grabbed her tail! I’ve never seen a dog do that before. I guess he knew he wasn’t going to catch her with what leash he had, so if he couldn’t outrun her - stop her! Ha! (He didn’t hurt her, just slowed her down a bit before she took off again.) He squashed her once or twice, grabbed her tail twice - but overall Zoe was in the lead. It was so funny watching them run around like mad. Den and I were just in stitches.

Zoe has started doing something funny. She used to whine at me every morning when she needed to pee - very high-pitched whine-whine-whine. Very annoying. Well some mornings she’d get up and stretch and yawn and let out a “arrwwwrrrrrrr” as she did it. It always cracked me up. So the last couple of mornings instead of whining - or before switching to the old standby - she just sits there and goes “rrwwwrrrrrrrr! rrwwrrrrrwwrrrrrr!” I laughed so hard she ran over to me, flopped on her back and kicked her legs in the air so I’d scratch her tummy and play with her a little bit. Then I took her out to pee.

Another of her little quirks I’ve noticed is that when she’s outside and focussed on the squirrels in the forest or whatever it is she sees, she keeps her head down, her tail down (but not tucked) and she does that border collie sweeping motion back and forth. If she was off leash she’d just run ahead. But it’s interesting seeing her sweep back and forth in that smooth gait. Maybe she has more BC in her than just looks. She’s never tried herding anything thus far.