Friday, July 29, 2011

Lesson 11.5: Things to Do While Your Husband is Sleeping

Our Haul from the Street Fair!


Puppy Shampoo and Misting Spray: http://www.bubbleupgirlz.com/









DEEP FRIED TWINKIE!!! (That one bite is about all Tyler could tolerate of this creation)


Tyler and Me at the street fair. My entire family wore Sturgis T-shirts in memory of my mom's cousin who passed away the weekend before in a motorcycle accident. These were his shirts.





















Thursday, July 28, 2011

Lesson 11: Street Fairs... the Gift That Keeps On Giving

Last weekend was the Enumclaw Street fair and it was AWESOME! Tyler found some doggles for Max. I chickened out and did not buy them. However, I did buy him a seatbelt harness so he does not fly out the window when I roll my car. (Just one of the many gems I have learned in dog obedience class). We also bought 6 bags of scone mix, puppy shampoo and cleansing spray, instant salsa seasoning and a deep fried Twinkie. Nothing can be so convincing as a street fair on a sunny summer day to spend $4 on something as truly horrendous as a deep fried Twinkie.

Tyler and I have such different ideas of what a street fair experience translates into. For Tyler it is a time to try out the carney games, eat food, and speed walk ;). My interpretation is perusing every vendor, listening to endless spiels about how it is an atrocity that I have lived this long without a mini Tupperware cake cover, purse that can change its outer shell, vitamin infused water or the new improved stoneware. Now with handles! I do the walk around, think about what I liked and then attempt to convince Tyler that yes it is necessary we purchase a handmade $45 Swarovski bead Mickey ornament. It is important to support local vendors.

Don't worry, not even the haze of a purchase frenzy day can convince me to spend that much on a little charm.

As a follow up to this day I will point out that I have used all the items we purchased and they all rock!!! The puppy shampoo and spray came from BubbleUp Girlz and I love that Max smells good when he gets a bath instead of the nasty smell of normal dog shampoos. I used the salsa seasoning in an enchilada casserole. Tyler ate enough to make him beyond uncomfortably full. I take this as a good sign. Two of the scone mixes have been consumed with high hopes for the rest.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Lesson 10: The Chiweenie Makes All the Difference

The electronic medical records have now been down for two days. I am going crazy! We are unable to get into patient charts or basically do anything. It is frustrating to no end. I have to coordinate phone calls between the people running the computer program and our IT guy, because I have no access to the main server. My day is spent waiting for phone calls, submitting support tickets and giving status reports to my co-worker on how the repairs are coming.
The bright point to my work day yesterday was finding my new favorite website http://www.thegreatchiweenie.com/. It is about this chiweenie that goes around on adventure bike rides in his owners backpack. AND he wheres doggles! :) I love it! It just makes me happy.



It inspires me to throw Max in a backpack and cart him around everywhere I go. He has been doing so well lately with everything. No wall chews or house potties.


Tyler spent most of his night last night helping a friend with math homework. They were up until 2AM.... no thank you!


PS The program is back up.... fingers crossed it stays that way! Now to make up all the work I was unable to do up until now...

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Lesson 9: Pop Goes the Puppy

How can anyone not feel like they are just slowly killing their dog when they "pop" a dog's collar? To "pop" a dog's collar means to give a nice sharp snap of the leash, jerking the dog towards you and most likely away from something else. If Maximus was an eighty pound pit bull this would be nothing. Since he is a 14 pound chiweenie I feel pangs of guilt as his poor little body is yanked, jerked, and "popped" into submission. The odd fact is that he does not seem to be phased by any of it. No matter how many pop the leash, say good boy, pop the leash, say good boy, pop the leash... are you even listening to me? Of course the reason Max is being popped is because this week we are working on "Let's go." Essentially it is teaching the dog to walk right next to you without pulling on the leash.

Our obedience instructor suggested we introduce distractions when the dog becomes proficient in his new task. Introduce? The real challenge is ELIMINATING them. Max's mind must be going 100 miles a minute switching from one thing to another. I can just imagine the thoughts running through his head... is that a leaf? that's a blue car! my ear itches, did my tail just touch my ear? CHOMP, CHOMP, I have to potty, noise?

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Lesson 6.5: An Inconvient Truth... Smashed In My Face

Last night I came home to find another section of the wall torn to pieces by Maximus Oreo Opfar... It was about 3 times larger than the last chew-fest. I thought we had an aggreement Max. I took you on a long walk and you don't eat your way to an early grave. (Dug by me)

Is it bad that I am more upset that I failed than that he actually did it? I thought I knew Max and how to handle his puppiness. I have no idea what my next step will be. This morning I just covered the area with Max's Mickey blanket and called it good. It is nice that he does not chew up my shoes, wires or anything else that could be much worse.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Lesson 6: Forget The Hand That Feeds You, Don't Bite the Wall!

Recently Max discovered the wall... in all its deliciousness. I came home on my lunch break to find a trail of white paper-looking bits scattered across the floor. Usually this means he has turned his pee pad into a confetti confection for himself. Noticing his unsoiled pee pad was still intact I proceeded to peek around the corner to find a guilty pup sitting casually next to his masterpiece. Max had munched a hole in the wall. Oh Max, bad, bad... I read a puppy training book that said it is pointless to reprimand after the fact since the puppy has no idea why you are upset with him. It certainly made me feel better.

A quick clean up of the mess, a call to Tyler to let him know what his dog had done and a dog-walk later I sat on the couch to relax for a bit. Crunch, snuff, rip, munch... what the??? I jumped up and ran over to find Max chewing on the wall again in the same spot. He was openly defying me! Now it was war.

Max spent the rest of my work day in the dog crate of disappointment.

Tyler has a theory that Max found a mouse in the wall and was trying to get to it.

"We should tell management that we have mice," Tyler suggested.

"Oh, yes, we will just tell them our dog chewed up a corner of the wall which tipped us off to the mouse infestation."

My counter theory was that Max was not getting enough exercise and he was bored, which leads us into this morning. Today was day one of Max and my death (to puppy boredom) march. It also was benefitting me. I have been Debbie Downer lame-wad Magoo lately about eating unhealthy and not getting any activity. I took a book and we walked and walked. Two poops, two pees (by Max)and a worn out puppy later we have successfully, and quite literally, pooped out the pup.