April 17, 2014 by Stephanie

My Sweet Girl Who Can Act

This weekend, our little lady Grace hurt herself playing in the back yard. We are not sure what happened. One second we were grilling burgers listening to the dogs run around, and then the next second Grace comes limping over like her world just ended.

We think that while she was running around with Crosby, she fell in one of the holes (that she dug) and tweaked something. She didn’t wince when we tried touching her leg, and it obviously doesn’t look broken. She also would stand on it; she just hobbled when she walked.

Since it happened Saturday night, we decided to hold off until Monday to call the vet and see how she got through the rest of the weekend.

Tom carried her practically around the whole apartment Saturday night and all day Sunday. We carefully put her in bed with us and wrapped her all snuggly in blankets and warded off a concerned Crosby so she could rest easily.

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Monday I called the vet to find out you could only schedule appointments 2 weeks out, even for emergencies. What!?!?

How do you all define emergency? That’s another topic for another day.

We ended up deciding to watch her for another couple days and then decide to go to a different vet if it gets worse. Since she wasn’t wincing when we touched it, we honestly weren’t sure what more the vet could do besides charge us money.

As I was panicking on how we would help our baby girl, I started noticing something peculiar about her.

This girl has game.

As I let her out to go wobble to a potty spot, she starts playing with Crosby with no inhibitions.

She is racing around again like the Grace we all know and love.

I watched for a few minutes, then scolded the two of them for playing so rough while Gracie was hurt and ushered them back inside.

And low and behold, the limp was back on.

She would look at Tom and I with crying eyes anytime we went up the stairs. Obviously saying, “Oh dear parents, I am dying. Please carry me.”

Then as soon as her or Crosby got an itch to play, the limp was off. She was back to being an instigator.

Then back to poor me, my leg needs to be amputated.

Yesterday when I came home, I was greeted with “boundy turn into a U shape” Grace like nothing ever happened. Then 5 minutes later…”Mom, hold me. The pain is too much.”

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We have tried to keep her from being too active, but her little doggy instincts obviously want to be normal again. I keep giving her lectures about not taking too much on and the importance of rest. Then I pull her close for a hug and a kiss because I just wanted my baby girl to feel better.

At least that is until last night when I caught her in her lie, and she knew it.

Tom and I were both sitting on the couch, and I saw Grace put all her weight on her “bad” leg to scratch herself with the other. I looked at her squarely in the eyes and said, “Oh so your leg hurts does it?”

Y’all, you should have seen the look she gave me.

She just froze mid scratch, and she knew she had been compromised.

I caught our dog lying to us!

Tom and I were laughing so hard because our dog dooped us.

To be honest, we are still watching her leg and not walking her like normal to keep undo stress away from the leg/shoulder she seems to be favoring. We aren’t horrible parents, and we really do want her to feel better. But seriously, I think she has been faking the “severity” of her injury to get more attention.

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We have been giving her extra love and cuddles, but we are no longer carrying her up the stairs.

If you can wrestle with Crobbers, you can walk the stairs girlie.

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Have you been dooped by your pet? Any advice on how to keep a dog still? Do your dogs have you trained?

February 23, 2014 by Stephanie

Dear Grace and Crosby

Oh my lovely doggy babies,

It has been awhile since you have been on the blog, but you two have been ruling my Instagram. I know you both get tired of me snapping photos of you, but you are just too darn cute.

You both have been so good lately. Dad and I are so proud that we can leave you out of the kennels now while we are out and about. Let’s be honest though, you haven’t been perfect angels have you? Grace, you like to dig through Mom’s lady trash and strewn it about the upper floor. Let’s talk about how gross this is girl. And Crosby, you like to get on the counters and pull down dishes that may or may not have remnants of the last meal we ate. That’s how we have lost a shaker cup and a few Tupperware items. But we have more days that you don’t do any of this than the days we do, so there is a plus. And Mom and Dad have gotten smarter about where we put things and what doors need to be shut when we leave. It is usually our lazy fault when we forget that you usually decide to get into stuff.

You sure do seem happy when we get home though!

I am sorry we haven’t gone on many walks lately. There have been so many things prohibiting it. The freezing temps, my constant sickness, and Dad’s training, haven’t really been nice to us schedule wise have they? Hopefully here soon, I will start feeling better, and we can take advantage of the warmer temps. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be just us for awhile since Dad has a lot of training to do. We will try to get out as a family every weekend, especially to take advantage of the weather. We know you both love your time outside!

I know that you all miss Dad when he is gone. You all whimper and pounce up at any loud truck that goes through the cul-de-sac hoping it is Dad coming home. And the way you all love on him when he is here shows me how much you cherish your time with him. Crosby, you do a great job ensuring that he is clean too with your constant licking.

Things are going to continue to change around here, and I know you two will be troopers and make the best of it. Grace, you have been through a deployment before. I know it was hard on you. I watched you lay on Dad’s clothes so many times hoping he would come home soon. Crosby, you have no idea what is in store for you, but you a pretty laid back, so I am sure you will do fine. On the plus side, you have each other now, and I know that helps during the day for you two to comfort each other. Although this time around will be different for all of us for so many reasons. So with the deployment and all the other changes that are going to occur in the upcoming months, I know you two will be just fine! And I know you will be a huge comfort and rock for Mom!

Speaking of you two together. You all just crack us up. You really have embraced each other as companions. You groom each other, you play together, and you take turns eating. I am usually rolling with laughter when you two groom each other. It is a cross between the sweetest and grossest thing I have witnessed. I often feel that I should leave you two along for your privacy. As far as sharing toys, Crosby, you tend to steal them from Grace quite often. However, I think Grace likes the chase and lets you do it sometimes because she never seems to put up a fight when you come in to grab the toy. When you cuddle together on the couch or chair upstairs it just melts my heart. I just love that you two are getting along so well.

We have figured out a pretty good sleeping routine. You both sleep in the middle of us. Grace you take the spot up by our heads and are sure to snuggle in real close to one of us. Crosby, you sprawl out at the foot of the bed like you own the place or something.

Crosby, you don’t seem to like the neighborhood kids. You bark at them every day when they are coming home from school. I know you are being a good guard dog, but I think we can handle a few 3rd graders.

Grace, you still sometimes will get jealous when Dad and I are giving Crosby some love and not you. We love you just a much, and please know that we haven’t forgotten about you!

You both make our days, and there is so much love for the two of you! We couldn’t be happier that you came home to us.

Love,

Mom

PS. We are not always nice parents, and sometimes we like to tease you. Our latest tricks are to enitce the whimpers out of you two. Crosby, we have learned that you do not like Maroon 5 since you bark every time Dad sings their songs. Your whimper gets me every time because it sounds like you are going hoarse and trying to force out a grunt or cough. And Grace you just don’t like being teased and want us to pay all of our attention to you, so you cry if you don’t get your way. Plus I think that it annoys you that Dad can imitate your whimper to a tee.

See example.

September 17, 2013 by Stephanie

Do they make nose strips for dogs?

A lot of people have been asking how Grace and Crosby are adjusting to each other. They are now inseparable best friends.

We have really lucked out that both dogs have been pretty easy. They seem to really like each other. We have had a few minor issues with Grace adjusting. She is a little jealous, but we can honestly say that she has been doing better when we are gone since she has a pal now. Thank the Lord there is hardly any poop vomit anymore to deal with. Her separation anxiety is really being subsided by Crosby! She is just having anxiety now when we are home…

This is Grace playing her version of catch. She just pounces and then leaves it there.

They keep each other occupied for the most part. They have had a few little fights, but only one time did we have to intervene because we thought it would go bad. Tom brought out a voice that surprised both of us and the dogs. Grace is kind of a diva and starts most of them, but that makes sense since she was here first.

I love when you can get shots like these two.

He is a pretty cool dog. He loves standing at this corner. He would lay there all day if we (and Grace) let him.

They do a really good job taking turns eating. It is really adorable. I am not exaggerating that they will literally take turns and line up behind one another to eat and take mouthfuls to the rugs so the other one can get their share.

They have started playing tag with each other in the back yard. Grace is faster than Crosby, but she never actually picks up the ball. So he gets it every time and then they will chase each other around as Crosby throws it up in the air like he is playing monkey in the middle with her. One of these days I will get a good video of it.

They even share toys well. They usually end up chewing on the toy together. There is a bone there if you look under Grace’s chin that they are both chewing.

Seriously, we have the best dogs.

I have underestimated how big Crosby is though. He has a good 15/20 pounds on Grace. Yesterday I was playing around with them. Crosby attempted to give me hug, and I wasn’t ready for it and accidentally fell into our curtains in the second bedroom…pulling them down off the wall. Then he just slathered me with kisses as I laid there laughing.

We have figured out the sleeping arrangements now so that has been better for all of us. Although the next couple nights will be glorious with a little extra room while Tom is at field training. Some times long distance has its plus sides. Usually, Tom and I end up with no blankets and on our respective edges while both dogs snuggle each other in the middle of the bed with scads of extra room for stretching. Or we will make an obstacle course for them to the bed so we can get to sleep before they do and have our own snuggle time. It has become a production to go to bed in our house. And we are getting used to the snore machine.

Every day is a new day with things we have to figure out. I would say that the transition is a success, and we couldn’t be more happy right now with our little family!

Grace is trying to show Crosby that she has all the power.

Tom is testing out all of his hunting gear, and the kids wanted to be involved.

They are so much fun, and I love moments like this that they are side by side…and still.

We will be traveling for the first time with them in a few weeks. That will be the true test of how the transition is going.

Hope to see you all back for the fall craft on Thursday!

September 3, 2013 by Stephanie

Talks with Tom #8

Well night one with the dynamic boxer duo was a trip.

This was our conversation when it was time to go to bed. To be honest, this was after Tom and I laid in bed hoping for the best for a half hour as they dive bombed into the bed over and over again.

Tom-It’s like two six year olds at their first sleepover. I am trying to tell them to go to bed, and then I find them with flashlights, giggling and playing connect the dots.

Me-Connect the dots, huh? Is that a big sleepover game?

Tom-I’m half asleep. Just tell people I said the game was Operation.

They did eventually settle down. Grace is a big instigator and just wants to play. Crosby is just like, “I will play but then give me some space lady.” Typical. Crosby finally laid asleep in the closet while we bear hugged Grace to sleep in the bed. Then Crosby kept us up because he is a HUGE snorter. He sounds like a pig, so every 5 minutes or so we would hear this loud grunting, and then we would start busting up laughing. REM cycle never happened…

They are having a blast with each other though, so day 2 is going well. We really lucked out with these two. They are just playing so well together, and they don’t fight over food or attention we give each of them. It’s like they were made for each other.

And good news…Grace is not scared of the yard anymore! Yesss!

Here are some shots from this afternoon.

Grace is so intrigued from Crosby’s eliminations. She just follows him around until he goes.

Neighborhood watch. They stood here for a while ignoring me running around the yard trying to get them to play.

Right now they are burrowing underneath the couch cushions together. I feel like I am an intruder on their alone time….Just supervising kiddos.

Here Grace was giving Crosby a hug; I just caught it too late. Adorable.

August 21, 2013 by Stephanie

Kiss-a-Bull

Linked up at Focus on Family with lovingasoldier.com

Tom and I have decided that we are going to adopt another dog soon. And the crowd goes wild! Wahhhh!

Ok. In all seriousness, this process got real last week when we put in an application. We were beyond excited to set up a meet and greet with this new dog who was seriously perfect.

Then we promptly got denied as parents.

Nothing like a swift kick to the rear end…

Fortunately, it was nothing we as individuals did or our references said. It was all about a matter of a breed ban.

Grrrrr.

Because we live on base, we are restricted to owning certain approved dogs. And to be fair, this shelter was only looking out for the best interest of this dog when they denied us, and I cannot blame them. But, that doesn’t mean it hurt any less.

Also to be fair, Tom and I were not trying to cheat the system and knowingly get a dog that we can’t have. This particular dog was listed as a mixed breed initially to be later listed it as a “pit bull” mix once more information was discovered about the pup’s pasts.

So here I am standing loud and proud on my soap box.

I am vehemently against breed bans of any kind. I truly believe that any dog is a product of it’s environment. You can train a dog to be mean, and you can train a dog to be nice.

It all takes time and patience. And sometimes, more time and patience.

Many people believe that pit bulls will turn on you without provocation. This is a sorely mistaken myth. They are no different than any other dog. People forget that these are all animals and their instinct is to protect themselves. So more often than not they are put on the defensive off the bat because of how people react when they see them.

People think they are mean dogs and are popular fighting dogs. Well a lot of this has to do with the fact that this breed is very intelligent and easy to train. So they can take commands, even if they aren’t the best idea. Just because they are easy to train, doesn’t mean everyone who owns them is a good trainer or has good intentions. (It’s just like parenting human children…we don’t all end up the same.)

Grace is a boxer, but often gets mistaken as a pit bull. I don’t know how many times I have had to calm her down because some stranger started screaming in her face or tried to go after her too quickly. Seriously, people yell at my dog when she is on a leash by my side. And Grace doesn’t bark, yet these people go after her. (Don’t get me started at how drunk college students reacted to her on campus…) Dogs just rely on instinct and following cues that they have been taught. Because I have taught Grace well (at least I assume), I can get her to calm down in a matter of seconds, or she just looks at me and knows everything is ok.

It is so sad to hear that people will not give this breed [pit bulls] a chance. I hate that good people can’t take these sweet pups in because we happen to live in an area that believes in enacting these bans.

Pitties are extremely loyal dogs and generally love children. They do have a lot of energy and are playful, which can be destructive if not handled appropriately, which is the same for many high energy breeds. So you need to know your dog. Sounds like brain surgery huh?

I think people should do research about dogs before they decide to adopt. There are different temperaments that will fit different lifestyles. I know that Grace needs a lot of activity, which is why we plan to get her exercise every day whether that’s joining me on my runs or Tom taking her to the dog park. If we couldn’t do this in our life style, we shouldn’t have agreed to take on this responsibility. They need love and attention, and if done so dogs are wonderful additions to any person’s life.

I don’t know how I would have gotten through Tom’s deployment without Grace. I still cuddle with her more at night than I do with Tom…It just breaks my heart that there are so many pit bulls that remain in shelters (or worse) because of these restrictions and cannot become companions to many well-deserved families.

Here are some websites that do such a better job than I ever could making things understand-a-bull.

http://www.bulladelphia.org/default.aspx

http://www.nashvillepittie.org/

~ Rescue, Advocacy, and Adoption ~

Someday when Tom and I have our dream farm, we know that we are going to do all we reasonably can to save or sponsor pit bulls and also senior dogs (another group of dogs neglected).

But for now we are limited, so our search for Grace’s new sister/brother continues.

And I leave you with a picture of my sometimes mis-understood girl.

We have walked by this park every day on our walks/runs and only recently did we find out that they were water sprinklers! What? Now we stop by to run though them and get a little drink every chance we can!

We adopted Grace from a shelter, and I will only get future dogs from shelters. There are just so many wonderful pets waiting for their furrever home, that I could never bring myself to go to a breeder. We each have our own pet stories, so I don’t judge those who do go the breeder route as long as you love your pets! There are upsides to both scenarios, you just pick your cup of tea. I think it takes a special person to genuinely decide to have a pet and love and care for another being no matter which way they come into your lives. As long as you love your pet after making sure it is the right fit for your lifestyle and do what’s necessary to keep them healthy and happy, I support any adoption!

So you don’t get off that easy, here are some more pictures of the best decision we have made to date!