December 22, 2013 by Stephanie

My babies are Three!

I cannot believe our darling dogs are 3 today!

I know it is crazy!

Ok so we aren’t exactly sure when Crosby’s birthday is, so we just made it the same as Grace’s since they are so close in age.

So Happy Birthday to Grace and Crosby!

Here is a run down of where they are at 3 years old:

Their past before us

Grace-Her owners before us surrendered her to the shelter because she would run away a lot. We have never had this problem. Even if she gets off leash on walks she never goes far and will come quickly back if you call her name. She also had some scars on her face when we adopted her, so we think there was more to the run away story.
Crosby-He ran the streets before animal control caught him and surrendered him to the local shelter here in town. We assume he had a pretty rough life because he has gashes/scars that tell a tale that we will never know all over his throat and near his eyes. He was also at the shelter for almost 2 months before we took him in, which is a really long time in shelter life times.

Adoption Stories

Grace-We adopted her from a shelter in Marshalltown, IA. We actually went there to see another dog, who had already been adopted out by the time we made the hour drive there. I saw Grace and just knew. She was so sweet and shy. And just the right size for the apartment we were living in at the time. She was 10 months old when we got her.
Crosby-You can read more here. Tom and I were just saying the other day it is hard to believe we have only had him for a few months.

This was our first professional shoot with them!

Names

As I stated Friday, I have a love for old Hollywood. Luckily, my husband goes along with it.
Grace after Grace Kelly. Her original name was Izzy. She has always known her name Grace though.
Crosby after Bing Crosby. His original name was Kramer. He just recently has started recognizing his name.

Breeds

G-Boxer (of the brindle persuasion)
C-Boxer (but we assume he also has something else because of his block head that resembles a St. Bernard)

Weight

G-63 (which is almost twice the weight when we got her 2 years ago)
C-76

Look at me!

Commands

G-sit, shake, and down. She will not do the down if there are other dogs present or too many people to make it a show. She will do the sit and shake for anyone (and any audience size) as long a treat is involved. Tom also had her trained at one point to bark/growl at the sound of the door opening. She will also sit in front of you while you go to the bathroom to protect you.
C-sit and shake. He gets really anxious though and is not patient for treats. He will also shake when he thinks he is in trouble. Trying to warm our hearts-smart dog.

Sleep

G-doesn’t always make it through the night. I never had this problem until we moved here, so I am not sure what the deal is with her pooping in the kitchen if Tom and I don’t wake up at 5 on the dot for her. And it is really random when it happens. She’ll go weeks without doing it. Then, PLOP, there it is. A mystery.
C-he is like a rock once he is down. He is good about making it through the night and is usually a diva about people waking him up. He also snores like a train.

Food

G-Iams Proactive Health. We went through quite a few brands at first, but this was the only one that consistently didn’t give her the runs, and wouldn’t break the bank for me.
C-always Iams Proactive Health.
They both will eat anything in the form of table scraps, which has made them ridiculous beggars. It doesn’t help that Tom gives them part of his meal whenever he eats. (Ok I do sometimes too.)

They are on their best behaviors when food is involved.

House trained

G-It has been a long road for this gal! I think we are finally there, except for the occasionally dumps in the am.
C-mostly successful. We have lost a pillow and a couple remotes are not as aesthetically pleasing. Oh and that couch…
We have gotten into a pretty good routine of what works for them and what doesn’t in order to leave them out in the house by themselves. Tom and I also have had to make some adjustments on what we can leave out and how clean our clutter needs to be. It is so great not to have to worry about them in the kennels.

Bad Habits

G-she still has separation anxiety, but it is much more manageable now that Crosby is around. This is one big reason why we have never kenneled her though because we don’t want her to revert back to where she was two years ago. She also eats poop, then vomits it up, then she may eat it again. It’s a vicious cycle that I wish she would stop doing. Grace also likes digging into my lady trash…
C-he is a nervous chewer, which is why the top of our TV remote is missing. He also is a huge jumper, which we are working on.

We only have single shots of Grace because as we were taking these cuties, Crosby was digging his face in the peanut butter jar….whoops.

Loving

G-she is the best cuddler! I just love laying in bed/on the couch with her. She will nuzzle up to you just so perfectly. It is amazing how a larger dog like her can make herself so small. She will also sit perfectly still so you can hug her. We also don’t have to worry about her in the car because she is a great traveler!
C-he loves to kiss you. While I am not the biggest fan of the wetness, it is super adorable to watch him do it to Grace and Tom. He will dance with me and is just so jolly. He is pretty low key and also a great traveling dog!

As Siblings

They actually do really well together. They play and then clean each other. You will often find them snuggled up together in the most adorable ways. I think Tom gets annoyed when I point out their cuteness at least a couple times every night.
Grace does get really jealous of Crosby at times, and will often grumble at him (or us) if she feels he is getting more attention.
Crosby gets annoyed with Grace sometimes when she is too energetic, and he will put her in her place.
We have only had one brawl between the two of them. Of course it was when we had people over for Thanksgiving. We think it was the combination of the food, lots of people, and another dog that caused the trauma for the two.

They do really love each other.

Toys

G-loves anything she can rip (ropes and socks). She also loves balls, kongs, and bones. She is good at going after toys, but not so good at picking them up and bringing them back.
C-we have eliminated all toys except nylabones. He is a power chewer. He has even ripped through a Kong, which are supposed to last longer than 2 months. He would chew up a toy into large chunks, and then Grace would come after the chunks and choke on them. So we decided that the best avenue was just to stick with Nylabones.

Year 3 Accomplishments

G-not that she knew it, but she was my rock during Tom’s deployment. I am not sure I would have gotten through as well without her. Grace also ran a race with me last year-Jingle Jog 5k. I dressed her up in a Christmas sweater and everything. We also successfully moved her to KY from IA.
C-he got adopted, so I am not sure there is anything better than that!

This was a contender for the card.

Around other Humans

G-She is super shy if she doesn’t know you. This was super helpful when I lived in the residence hall with her because she didn’t go nuts on the strangers who were around us all the time. However, if she knows you, she is crazy! She turns in a U shape and just bounds around until you love on her. She is so patient and gentle with kids. She has let my nieces pull and tug on her every which way, and she just stands there and takes it.
C-He is not shy at all. He will come up to you for a kiss almost immediately! So get your kissers ready for him! He is good with kids, except he also attacks them with kisses!

Around other Animals

G-Loves to play with any dog she meets. She also thinks she likes cats, and she will try to find them in Grandpa and Grandma’s house. They are all her BFFs to her and is never shy. She has also killed a baby bird. Probably the most horrifying moment of my puppy mom life to see the wings of a bird hanging out of Grace’s mouth as she pranced back to me.
C-He does not like other dogs at first. He is super protective and is very skeptical of them at first. So we have to slowly introduce other dogs to him and then he is fine. He has also got a hold of a possum and pranced around the yard with it a bit before Tom made him let the thing go and shooed it out of the yard.

Funny things they do

G-she whimpers so pathetically. It’s kind of like a whine/gurgle/dolphin speaking. When we have food in front of her, she salivates so much that there is a puddle underneath her within minutes. She was also so terrified of the backyard until we got Crosby. She would not go off the porch unless we stood next to her. A lot of it had to do with the birds attacking her just like in the Hitchcock movie. They must have talked with the Iowa birds…
C-gets the hiccups on a regular basis. He tries really hard to howl, but he never quite gets there. He will lay anywhere like a statue. I have to check to make sure he didn’t die in the middle of the kitchen and is still breathing.
They both love toilet water, which I find disgusting and Tom will purposely leave it up so they can have at it.

Since we are traveling, I wasn’t able to make treats for them like I did for Grace last year. But I do want to share an awesome site! I was contacted by DogVacay, and all these thoughts are my own.

They shared several recipes with me that I think look delicious for people, let alone for my pups.

I mean look at this Puppy Meatloaf.

I also want to try the Doggy Candy Canes, Pupkin Pie, and the Dog Nog. I think G & C would love them all! Yum!

If you have a dog, you should really check out DogVacay. They had so many great articles for dog owners. I spent a good chunk of my morning looking at various parts of their site. I also am considering looking into the dog sitter options they have since we don’t want to go the kennel route. Here are dog boarding options in my area. It seems like a pretty sweet deal. I am looking forward to learning more about this company!

All the pictures of Grace and Crosby are ones that I took for our family Christmas card. We ended up sending a version of the one below.

Happy Holidays from the Whiteners clan! And Happy Birthday to my pups!

November 14, 2013 by Stephanie

For Doggy Shame

So have you seen Dogshamming?

I have been waiting for the opportunity to put my own dogs on the site.

And my opportunity arose this last weekend, AND I FORGOT TO MAKE A SHAMMING PICTURE!

Ok in reality, I was so embarrassed at what my dogs did, I just tried cleaning up the evidence as soon as possible that dog shamming was the last thing on my mind.

I know you all are ~~waiting~~drooling to see what they did, but let me preface the picture with the back story.

Grace has severe separation anxiety. It was one big reason we decided to get another dog. She could have a companion and not worry so much about abandonment.

We have never been able to leave her out of the kennel, because she literally makes her self sick and makes a mess of herself and the house. It is so bad that she even does this IN her kennel sometimes.

Then enter Crosby.

Crosby on a few occasions has escaped out of his kennel, and he was a perfect angel. The couple times he has gotten out by himself, nothing happened.

So we made the plunge to try both of them out of the kennel.

Cue Stephanie panic attacks on a daily basis.

Much to my chagrin, they have done fairly well. For the past month, we have successfully left them out every day.

We have had only two messes.

1. Grace made a boom boom when we tried to push the time limit we usually set for ourselves to get home. But plus side, she did not eat it and proceed to vomit poop, and then poop vomit. (Too much?) We are about progress people.

2. They ripped apart a pizza box that we had left on top of our microwave.

So we were pretty proud parents, and we would brag about our little success muffins whenever we could!

That is until this weekend, when they ate my sister-in-law’s couch.

all three cushions

What this picture doesn’t show is all the pee that Crosby sprayed all over pretty much the entire perimeter of the room, and the poop that inevitably came from Grace.

So we have learned that if it is not our house, they cannot be out of the kennels.

I am just now able to laugh at it. So embarrassing…

Oh,you think that is all that I have.

Nope, you are so naive.

Since we have gotten Crosby, I have lost count of how many collars he has chewed through…of Grace’s. He doesn’t like her wearing anything apparently.

Is it bad that I seriously almost cried when I learned that he chewed through this one? We had just put it on her last week, and it was my favorite collar I have ever bought her. Now he wins; she is naked unless we are in public.

For the most part, our life is not this dramatic.

We have a lot of “always positive” moments, instead of “bad turned eventually funny” moments.

Like this weekend when we introduced them to a trampoline.

Needless to say, we will not be an internet sensation anytime soon. Grace is the biggest scaredy cat. This is exactly how she acted with water, and this is fairly accurate on how Crosby was with water-not a care in the world.

Something they are really good at is road trips, so that is a plus!

We may puke in our kennels, but not in the car!

Grace likes to climb up in the front seat with me like she is a lap dog. Then she will look back at Crosby in an obnoxious way like she is snubbing him. She is also afraid of the air vents, which is a fun game to play. Doesn’t her collar look nice?

This is Crosby’s contribution to keep everyone awake and alert in the car.

So there is the doggy shame for us. I know this won’t be the last thing they do, so hopefully next time I can have some forethought and document it properly.

October 14, 2013 by Stephanie

Doggy Etiquette

This weekend we saw a different side of Crosby. While on a walk, a loose dog came running up on us. Crosby was not having any of that. He “defended our [Grace and myself] honor.” Another dog had gotten loose and came rearing up on us ready to attack and tried to until Crosby had a say.

That experience along with many others I have had while on walks with my dogs prompted this list.These are just a few things I believe you should consider when interacting with dogs.

1. If you own a dog, know your dog’s temperament. You as the owner will know their personality the best, and with that how to control them.

2. If you see another person walking their dog(s) be aware of how the dogs are reacting to each other. If I notice that either mine or theirs are getting worked up, I either stop to give way for them to pass and keep my dogs’ attention locked on me (I bribe them with treats I have stashed in my sweet runner fanny pack), or I push my dogs to a run to get far enough out of sight. It is really obnoxious when people just gaffe at you as you are obviously struggling to hurry your two dogs along at the nagging of the stranger dog. In my effort to become a professional dog walker I have gotten tangled up in leashes trying to get my two dogs away from another dog whose owner seemed to be oblivious to the fact that their tiny dog was egging mine on. You are not helping with your stares or slow walking. Although, I am sure one of these days I am going to see myself on America’s Funniest Home videos trying to untangle myself after the dogs have spun me around and twisted the leashes around the three of us. So if you are trying to win AFV money by secretly recording me, carry on my friends, just let me in on that prize.

3. I think it is great when I see kids walking their dogs. It teaches them responsibility and how to take care of things. However, if the kid cannot control the dog when they are at their energy peak, they have no business being alone on a walk with the dog.

4. If you have a dog, you need to be ready to physically control your dog if they get aggressive. The owner of the dog who ran up on us the other night was afraid to control him in that state. This just allows the dog to continue the aggressive behavior without any consequences. Dogs are animals, and they need to know who is in control, otherwise they will be.

5. Do not bark at a dog that is not yours. You do not know how they are going to react. This is something that kids and drunk people should really stop doing. They think it is cool for some reason. I don’t come up screaming at you, why would you do it to my dog?

6. Do not come running up on my dog without asking. I don’t know how many times people have tried to touch my dogs without asking. Again, you do not know that dog, and you do not know how they will react to strangers. Case in point, Grace stiffens up like a statue and Crosby goes berserk with his licking/scratchy gurgling (his barking attempts). Same owners-very different reactions. So ask before you approach. Also something that kids and drunk people should learn to do.

7. If your dog goes poop in a yard that is not your own, PICK IT UP. Someone in our neighborhood leaves their dog poop all over our front yard. This is so rude in my opinion. Believe me, I hate picking up Crosby’s cyclone poop (he poops in rapid circles) that fills two poop bags, but I do it because as his owner it is my responsibility to get it out of their yard. You don’t leave your kid’s diapers in someone else’s living room do you?

So there you have it. A few of my tidbits on how to be more courteous with your dog interactions.

Do you have any words of wisdom for dog owners and dog interactors?

October 1, 2013 by Stephanie

There is dog hair EVERYWHERE

Literally.

There is dog hair everywhere.

Even in my foot.

You read that correctly.

I have gotten dog hair splinters several times.

Yes, I feel absolutely ridiculous saying that I get dog hair stuck in the heel of my foot.

This weekend I got one so bad that it was starting to bruise my foot.

It looked like Tom was doing surgery on my foot to get it out. He had a head lamp, tweezers, nail clippers, and a needle to dig that sucker out of my foot. That single piece of hair was half an inch. That little bugger.

Doing rudimentary surgery on your significant others foot is love.

Trusting your significant other with above items to dig out a dog hair is love. (Although he did live in a place without doctors for 6 months)

This is love.

These are the moments we see right before we go to sleep now. A beautiful embrace in their slumber.

I love them so much.

Even if it means I have a dirty house with the never ending layer of dog hair no matter how much we sweep and wipe things down.

Even if it means that we now have two full size comforters on the bed because only one means that Tom and I are never comfortable sleeping.

Even if it means on a regular basis I have a dog hair splinters.

Those rare moments seen here make me love them despite all that.

I am taking in these moments of love.

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!