Minor Success

Well, I weighed Morningstar the night before Thanks Giving and was pleased to find out that she weighed 15.8 pounds--which means she lost about 3 pounds! Woot! I also decided that after mom takes her to the Vet, I'm going to hijack her again once mom is through with her. Hopefully, I can get her to lose another 3 pounds as I think that is about the weight she needs to be to be able to move around without getting too tired all the time.

Thank Giving involved 3 fights between Freya and Angel and Morningstar. Sigh, mom's house is a veritable mindfield of all the things no dogs should have but every dog would love. Thankfully, I was able to stop it before it got ugly--I swear, it doesn't matter how many times I go through her house, I can't find a thing but the dogs always will.

An Early Ending

I haven't been well enough to focus on Morningstar as much as I wanted to this month. As a result, she's going home a little earlier than I intended for two reasons: I'm going to have two procedures and having to worry about all the dogs getting along isn't going to help me and the second is Morningstar bit my boyfriend. She didn't break the skin (this time--the last time was during the epic Freya/Morningstar fight) but managed to red mark him a bit.

It is my decision to take her back home and she has a Vet appointment that following Monday so it's easier this way. I just think it's bad timing. I think at the beginning of the year I'm going to try fat camp with Angel. I hope I will have more success with her. Eventually, I'll get Morningstar again.

Honestly, I haven't figured out how people can have more than two dogs. I haven't figured out how to balance three dog's needs let alone two of them.

Sort of Wordless Wednesday

Finally got Freya's new collar in from Lisa at Collar Mania! It's so beautiful and well worth the money.

Update: I'm sick. I've been sick for a while (at least a month) but now I'm really starting to feel it. I wanted to post the pictures but the boyfriend left his card reader at work and I feel like real crap. The bad thing is, I'm on antibiotics and I'm still running a fever--sigh, what kind of crap is that? I thought it was supposed to help.

Anyways, I'll be catch up with you guys as soon as possible and give you guys a proper update with Morningstar.

At the moment, she's starting to run a little bit with Freya in the back yard (I don't have energy for walks which screws everything up.) Um, they had an almost fight on Monday (which was totally my fault) thankfully, I was standing behind Freya and managed to grab her scruff before she could do anything outside of threatening. Cloud and Morningstar had it out last night--he managed to get something (not sure what) and she went to investigate and he started to growl and bark at her.

Thankfully, Cloud is relatively gentle for a big dog teamed with smaller dogs. He generally doesn't care about his food or anything unless it is something he really likes. It took a spray of water and it broke them up fast which is when I realized it was a branch from outside he dragged in.

Otherwise, they are doing great together. They were all laying down together last night when things calmed down. I'm kind of sad though--the month I get her I happened to start to get sick and can't do that much with Morningstar to help her. She lost some weight--to the point where she can kind of jump so it isn't all wasted time at least.

Crazy Dog

Sorry, I couldn't find the card reader so that means a video taken on my cell phone. Freya is a strange dog. I remember when she was little, we heard her barking her head off at something. We run out to find her doing this...




Crazy, isn't it? I had to stop and start it a few times cause she got distracted. At the end of the video you can hear Morningstar bark because Boyfriend got home. Yeah, honestly, we fill those holes up and she digs them back...there's one hole that is as long as Freya is in terms of depth. Heh, at least we always know that she's in the backyard when she's doing this and out of courtesy, we bring her in at night.

So about the thing that happened on Wednesday. Morningstar is doing well. She is kind of tensed and freaked out about everything--but the second the other two are put up she will bark and growl at them like she's a hot shot. I swear, that girl is crazy.

Ever since Freya was little, I've always had to separate her when it came to the food. I knew that Morningstar was the same so since she got here, I've been making a point to keep them separated. I honestly didn't think that an unopened bag of dog food would cause such a reaction and that is where I failed as a dog parent. Freya hasn't reacted that way since either--maybe it was a jealousy reaction too?

I've been trying to divide my time with them equally but it is kind of hard. I guess the boyfriend is right in saying that 2 dogs is enough for us (though it doesn't quell the puppy fever in the least.)

As for Morningstar's weight--she only lost .2 ounces so far. Not that great. I don't know why either--as she has been on a strike for a while when it came to the food. She is just starting to eat again. She's getting more limber on her walks now, so that is an improvement.

A Good Day Ended Badly

Well, the morning started out kind of rough. The stupid thing about dogs are they can be food possessive. Morningstar is food possessive. She will go up to whatever dog is around and instigate a fight just in the name of food that isn't going to be stolen in the first place.

So this 17 pound Chug of my mom decided to ball up and go after Cloud for trying to go to his crate. He, of course, laid the law and it freaked her out. Poor girl didn't want to leave her crate for a few hours after that.

Finally, I get her and Freya ready for a great food adventure. I have pics but I need to get a card reader so that will have to wait till later. All was great, we did a bunch of walking when we got home and they got a special treat (a Natural Balance food roll Beef flavored.)

I noticed that Freya began guarding the bag of Canidae that was sitting on the chair. Since I'm going to slowly introduce it to them, there's no point mixing the food up. She was guarding it from Cloud, who was on the other side of the gate and couldn't get it.

Do you see where this is going? Maybe there's a surprise twist.

Come 10 minutes ago and all of the dogs are out and free. Morningstar happens to walk by the food bag and Freya lost her mind! I mean it--lost her ever loving mind! She attacked Morningstar and I mean--she was going for the neck and kept grabbing the ear.

Boyfriend tried to separate them but Freya wouldn't let go even with the kicking she faced. I scrambled to find the water bottle (that manages to move and disappear all the time--maybe the dogs are doing it?) and finally started spraying Freya. That was the only thing that got her to let go. No amount of kicking didi it. He got her by the scruff and tossed her in her crate as I grabbed the shaken Morningstar just as Cloud tried to attack Freya first cause bf was getting her and then Morningstar cause I'm getting her. I yelled at Cloud to get out and took Morningstar to her crate.

No open cuts--except on boyfriend who got bitten by Morningstar in the middle of the fight. She is very shaken up and I'm hoping that she isn't too brusied. We'll have to see how the girls are going to act tomorrow.

Tonight...I'm going to bed.

Two White Weims and a Corgi Wordless Wednesday

Rest in Peace C3. I'm glad I had the chance to meet you on our trip. 11-09-2009

Morningstar

Ok, I weighed Morningstar last night and she came in around 17.6 pounds. I didn't realize just how over weight she is until I saw that she couldn't jump anymore. Wow! I'm so glad that I grabbed her.

My mom gave her pork last night before I got her. She said she gave her a little bit. Well, I hope she enjoyed it as that was the only thing she ate last night as she snubbed the Blue Buffalo I gave her.

Last night was interesting. I can count 2 fights between Morningstar and Freya. One fight with Cloud and Morningstar. A bunch of barking and growling. And one bruise knee (apparently Freya wasn't happy with this and decided to nip at my knee.) A whole bunch of whining last night as we made everyone hang out in a quarantined area until this morning.

Freya is afraid of Morningstar and Morningstar is afraid of Cloud. Oh well, I'll give it a few more days for them to acclimate once again. Last time we brought Morningstar home it took until day 3 before she was semi comfortable with Cloud.

We walked a little bit last night. She couldn't keep up with us. I had Freya running ahead of me and Morningstar trailing behind. I hope the rain clears up so we can do some more walking. I can't hold an umbrella and two dogs.

I have to say that I'm glad that Freya isn't fat. She's never really been fat as I always worried about it. Cloud was the first dog that I've seen that was actually a healthy weight. It's bizarre and BF get's annoyed that people are constantly telling him that Cloud is too skinny--when it's really the opposite, everyone is used to seeing fat dogs.

On a side note, I found a place 20 minutes away from me that carries an assortment of food that I could normally get from Petco (if there was one nearby--sigh). Any thoughts on Innova, Natural Balance, Orijen, Merrick, Royal Canin, Blackwood & Canidae? I had considered switching the dogs to something which will hopefully be cheaper than Blue Buffalo and of a better quality if that is even possible. If not--back to BB, the dogs really like it. I'm kind of worried that it isn't agreeing with Cloud (or something isn't) cause he had some righteous gas lately and worse than normal. Maybe I should invest in a gas mask? Lol

Fat Camp is On!

I'm picking up Morningstar this afternoon for Fat Camp! I'm kind of really excited about this and I have no idea why. It's been a year since Morningstar saw Cloud last and I'm kind wondering how that's going to go. I hope the added bonus is that I get to lose a little bit of weight too.

So the plan is this: she will only get to eat dry food (Blue Buffalo at the moment is what we have on hand) and very limited treats (her mom gives her chicken jerky all the time--in the amount that you give an 80 pound dog--which 3 or 4 pieces a day.) We will walk every day at least 10 minutes or longer depending on the day--I work till 5 and live in a dicey neighborhood--so I have to find a place to take us walking. We will build Morningstar up gradually as I know she is tender footed and hasn't really done much in forever. I'm debating on getting her boots--anyone have tips on that? She only walks on grass and carpet and we will be walking on a lot of concrete.

I'm hoping that Freya will take to her more and play with Morningstar. Since she is coming to our home, I'm not sure if either of the dogs will react angrily or not yet--I don't expect them too, but you never know.

And now...me sounding like a dork talking to Morningstar--trying to get her to talk back.

November Puppy Fever

I got puppy fever really badly last November. I know I always had it but last year was a hard time as I was still adjusting to life. My mom has Chugs and I had it in me that I was going to take Morningstar to fat camp. The bad thing about my mom is that she feeds her dogs like they are human--I mean they eat rib eye steaks and fried chicken pretty much every day! Plus, she feeds them all kinds of things that they shouldn't eat too. For example, onions--no amount of me telling her to stop or the vet doesn't stop the woman. I love my mom but she's stubborn. She loves her dogs a bit too much and uses them as a substitute as her children--it's bad.

As a result, her dogs are quite obese. Actually, they are heavier than Freya--which is a bad example as Freya is about 18 pounds and significantly small for her breed. It's quite bad.

So I had Morningstar for a week. She didn't get any scrap food from me, just dog food--that's it. We walked a lot and got her to lose 4 pounds or so. It was really good. She felt a lot better, moved around better...and gained all that and more after being at my mom's house. Sigh.

Currently, I miss my little buddy and want to have her for a month this time. I'm just a bit worried about how Freya will take it. Don't get me wrong, Freya has played with Morningstar and her sister Angel for a while now and though she gets on better with Angel, Morningstar is a bit different when away from my mom's house so it may work. Morningstar is a great dog. She walks really well on the leash for never doing it when growing up. She also lets me bathe her and clip her nails no problem. However, clipping of the nails doesn't go as smoothly with mom for some reason. I lull that girl to sleep with belly rubs! I wish I could do the same with Freya. Freya has somewhere she wants to be and do--she's a busy girl.

Here is Morningstar.

She is the reason I was seriously considering getting a pug for a long time. However, after much research I decided that with our current living situation it wouldn't suit a pug very well. (We don't have central heating or air and I would just worry more so with a pug, boston, or Frenchie because I know how temperature sensitive the breeds are.) One day, I would like to get a Pug or a Frenchie-- I must admit that I have fallen in love with their cute little faces and snorts, but hopefully I will be better off financially too so that I can better handle the possible medical issues the breeds can have.

So after I ruled out those breeds--I looked at dachshunds and corgis. I was initially thinking of a dachshund because I remember one of the good trips we had at the dog park and how much Cloud had fun with one running with her. But Cloud being a Weim, I knew that a hardier dog would be better and so I started to look up corgi breeders. I fell a bit short and ended up with a back yard breeder (I know, I know bad!!) as I wasn't sure how an adopted dog would fair with Cloud with his burgeoning male aggression. I can see a difference between a better developed corgi and my own but it is mainly to do with size. Freya is about the same size as Morningstar or a regular sized Pug for you pug folks.

I know for the next time I ever get a puppy, I'm going to go to a more reputable breeder and hopefully get papers. I may even go for a different kind of Corgi next time...a Cardigan. It really doesn't matter though so long as they are healthy and thriving. Either way, both Corgis and Pugs (Weims too) love to eat! So I'll always have to be on top of that and always will as I don't want my dogs to be so uncomfortable in life.

And now for the main point...I'm thinking about doing another fat camp with Morningstar. Thoughts anyone?

Birthday Pics!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Freya!

Freya turned one years old!!! I'm so excited. Unfortunately, I didn't have too much money to spare on a meat cake for her birthday so I made her an apple--cheddar cake instead. I used Debbie's Mom's idea of baby food as the decoration. I swear Freya new what was up cause she kept pacing back and forth by the barrier while I working (and watching Glee).

Unfortunately, my camera is acting weird for some reason. With the flash, it looks like every picture is super dim and without the flash it's completely black. I don't live in a cave, our lights are on but the pictures read complete dark regardless--and I just put fresh batteries in it! Sigh, it's always something.

So, the pictures I did take I'm not going to bother with as you can't see anything. But thankfully, boyfriend got a new camera and I used it, so I'll be posting pics soon.

Freya got two loofa pups: one witch and one mummy, her grandmom got her a polka dot hoodie jacket, and we are still waiting on her collar to show up from collar mania. She really liked the loofa pups! I think it's funny to see her play with something that is as long as she is. The hoodie is a bit too big but I know that the smaller size would be too small, so I get to doctor it up some.

Also, Happy Birthday to Sagira!!