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.

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.

Suddenly Affection

I think it's cute that Freya finally learned how to use her ears fully. I always thought that was something that puppies new instinctively, but I guess I was wrong on that front. But now that she's close to 3 months old, she can fully put her ear back in a happy manner. It makes me so happy! I look at her and for once her ears are back instead of looking at me all solemn like. I swear, she is the most solemn looking puppy I've ever seen.

It's odd how she wasn't terribly affectionate when I first got her. I don't know if it is because I got her entirely too early or what. She would seek me out for protection form our Weimaraner when he was in a frenzy mode, but now she can handle her own better--she finds a corner or a hole to hide from him.

But lately, she starts whining at me and I pick her up and set her on my lap and she stays for longer than a minute. She fell asleep on my lap again after the first time since I got her. She actually lets me hold her longer than she has before and I'm not sure what happened.

But yay, thank you for being more affectionate. This week was the first time I actually vocally told her that I loved her. I know it's silly, but I was worried that something would happen. I've had to put down a kitten that I got because something bit the base of her tail and was very poisonous and she wasn't going to make it no matter what we did to save her.

At any rate, in four days, Freya will be officially 3 months old! Yay--she's getting so big too!

I've increased her food recently. Since I got her, I was feeding her 1/4 cup of food 3 times a day--that's on Avoderm and the Blue Buffalo. She's now getting a 1/2 cup. She still seems like she's hungry. She's crazy enough that if I'm late on feeding her--she will eat anything that's around, and I mean anything. I caught her trying to eat a penny.

I've done the rib check and I ask my boyfriend to help me too (mainly cause he's the only one who's actually had healthy weight dogs and I'm just starting out on this venture on my own.) She's got a little thicker skin around her ribs, but you can feel it. Before, she you could feel her ribs pretty easily. I feel bad that I didn't think to up her food sooner. Bah, bad me.