I must be dreaming...

This little peice of good news was in my inbox this morning...Really?

 

Friday, June 3

Today's Forecast

Friday, June 3rd - 4:05 am

We are in for a treat this weekend....sunny and warm temperatures with no thought of any showers! There will be a few clouds this morning, but by the afternoon sunny skies and highs in the low to mid 70s. Things look even better tomorrow, mostly sunny and highs in the low to mid 80s. Grab the sunscreen if you have plans to be outside, because these are the warmest temperatures we've seen since late last summer.

Today's High: 75

Tomorrow: 84

Sunday: 80

Enjoy the sun!,

Where are my flip flops? What is this sunscreen they speak of?

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes I Wish Fred Could Talk...

Key word here is sometimes. I think if Fred actually could speak it would go something like this..."Hi Mom! What are you doing? What are you going to do next? Can I help? Can I get on your lap? Now what are you doing? What was that? Where are you going? Mmmmm I like my bone. Where's my rope toy? Oh there it is! Oh, I heard something. Where's the cat? Let's go for a ride in the car. Why are you putting your shoes on? Can I go? I really want to go! Look Mom! Mom Look at me! Mom Look! You're not watching me!" Well I'm sure you get the idea.

Picture a word bubble with Fred's jabbering in it. There's a lot going on between those ears.

Back to my original thought. Our daily routine starts like this, I let Fred outside, while he's out I get his food and water ready, same for the cat, make my coffee etc. Fred comes in, eats his breakfast, then lays over the furnace vent until it cycles off, so and so forth. 

Lately I'd started to notice he hadn't been finishing his breakfast, sometimes after he would come in he would just walk over to it, take a sniff, maybe a drink of water and wouldn't actually eat until later in the afternoon. Very un-Fred like. I just figured maybe he was growing up and he wasn't that hungry first thing in the morning. He did all of his other usual things. About a month ago I noticed he had a "doggy" smell going on. I used to be able to go for at least a month sometimes more without giving Fred a bath and there was never an "odor". Boston's are good that way, they really require little grooming. Now only after a day or two, the stink would come back. So naturally I figured, well it's spring, it's probably plant allergies or fleas, or something environmental like that.

At times he did seems a bit "off"

A couple weeks ago Fred and I went to the pet store to buy a training clicker and I decided to consult with the groomer. She looked him over pretty good and it wasn't fleas (thank heavens) she said it was probably a food allergy. I mentioned to her that he has been eating the exact same food since I brought him home. Well, I guess it's normal to "acquire" an allergy as they mature. Well crap, I wasn't looking forward to changing his diet because the other thing that Boston's are notorious for is...FARTING!

Stinky

He has been doing fine on this particular diet, and I rarely hand out any table scraps, mostly because of that (gas) and also because I don't want Fred to be a beggar. So began the search for new food. I've wanted to feed him Blue Buffalo for quite some time, but my check book said no on that. So I searched and searched and finally settled on a mid priced food, with the ingredients that looked to be nutritious without ugly fillers and such.
I immediately started on his new food, very slowly I might add, and already, I can see a marked improvement in his skin and coat, no odor, and he woofs down all of his food as soon as he comes in.
So, it seems I've been feeding Freddy food that he not only hated, but it was making him sick on top of it. Boy, do I feel terrible. This is why I wish sometimes Fred could talk.
Now I'm stuck with some old dog food that I guess is going in the trash. I'll never feed it to him.

The Experiment Part 1

I am sure by now you have figured out that I truly love my dog. More than anything. There are times, however, when I just need "My Space".  Without me really realizing it, Fred is always either sitting next to me, on me, following me, staring at me, sleeping with me, going in the car with me, etc. always, even when he goes outside he comes to the patio door, looks for me, and depending on the weather goes back to sniffing around, then comes back to get a look at me and so on. Then he comes back in and we start the whole process all over again. On the few occasions when I can't take him with me I know he's thinking about me, as I am usually thinking about him. I don't know if this is healthy or not, it is what it is. When your home a lot and only with each other, I think it just ends up evolving like that.
Lately I have noticed that my left shoulder has really begun to bother me, kinda stiff and achy, and it seems to be migrating up the left side of my neck. It makes me cranky. I realize now it is because Fred manages, without me even knowing it, to sit right under or over my left arm and in turn makes me sit very off kilter. He's very clever, he knows if he sits in just the right "spot", I will pet him, and pay attention to him without me actually knowing I am doing this. Works for him! I guess it's all about Fred.
Anyway, today I am conducting an experiment. I am going to try to go a whole day here without Fred on me, by me etc... Already Fred is showing signs of distress, he is sitting on the floor staring up at me with his huge eyes, every once in a while, a barely audible whimper comes out of him. I can't look.
Another "funny" thing about Fred. When he is distressed, excited, or frightened he sheds profusely. Under normal everyday conditions he really doesn't shed at all, but throw a little wrench in his routine and the fur flies, he's like a porcupine, it shoots off of him. As he sits now, staring at me, I can see the white hairs from his neck dribbling down onto the black part of his body.

Sheesh!

I should do a time lapse, but I'm sure Fred would not cooperate. So, right now, Fred is not sitting on me, and it's a very nice relief for my shoulder. Of course, I will be vacuuming later. Fred wins...again.
The only way I can keep Fred from coming up onto the chair with me is to put an obstacle on the spot where he usually makes his "nest" by me. For right now, I am using a large cook book.

Not much room to sit, but it will have to do for now.

To tell you the truth I'm really not that comfortable sitting with my cook book. Fred wins again...If I don't do this, he will be in his spot under my arm with out me realizing it. Let me explain this phenomena. When I read, or am focused on something, I do not pay attention to what is going on around me. I do not do this deliberately, it is just how I am. I seem to be able to tune out everything.  For instance, I cannot read and listen at the same time, if I try, nothing sinks in, not what I'm reading, nor what the another person in the room may have said to me. It's a blank spot that needs repeating. Like a black hole. I don't know if this is good or bad, I may have a mild case of attention deficit disorder, who knows.

Fred knows this little quirk about me, so he lies in wait, watching me until I am thoroughly engrossed in something, then he makes his move.

"Won't be long now"

It is very slow and very deliberate, he assumes "Army Man Mode". One little creep at a time, until he is right at the chair, then, very carefully and quietly, he slithers, first the front feet come up, one at a time.

"I don't think she's paying attention, 2 up 2 to go!"

Then the back feet come up, one at a time. At this point he still isn't technically in the chair, he's kinda hanging on by his toenails. He hesitates, looks up to see if I am noticing, then makes his move to complete the maneuver. Noses himself into position, and there he is, under my left arm with my hand conveniently placed on his head and shoulders or tummy, depending on which way he "settles" in.

Obviously I'm not in the chair, but this is basically the position for optimum petting. Usually my arm somehow ends up under his chin. See how he's all tucked up there? Cute...

 At some point I will notice this, but it usually isn't until I realize my shoulder is starting to ache.
So today, the experiment continues. Fred's cranky and I need a heating pad. ;-)

I Just Wanted To Take A Nap...

I have a blue sofa that is a very nice napping couch it’s not pretty, but it works for me. When I decide it's time to lay down to take a nap, there is a process, I move one of the couch pillows out of the way, I fluff up my bed pillow and lay it precisely where I want it in order to get the full snuggle effect, then I lay out my tan blanket just so, so I don't have any extremities leaking out. Like I said, it's a process, and one that does not get lost on Fred, he knows what this means, nap time, he also knows, that when I take my nap, it is the only time that he is not allowed to be on the couch with me. He hates it, but usually he steps up his own napping routine and jumps into the rocking chair, fluffs up the pillow with much purpose, turns around 3 times etc., it too, is a process. Or he does the same with his snoopy bed. Sometimes both.

A few weeks ago was quite a napping week for me, I seemed to have caught a flu bug or something, general malaise, achy, tired, stuffy etc., On this particular day it was a 2 nap day. Sheesh! So, I get all set up and lay down, take off my glasses and prepare for snoozeland.

Well, Fred had had enough of this napping crap, so just as I was dozing off, and he had just got his little nests all set to his liking.

He decided it really wasn't a good time for him to have nap time. He proceeded to become obnoxiously noisy. For instance, instead of just tic tic ticking across the linoleum, he added extra steps, kind of like tic a tic a tic a TICKING, with a vengeance. Drinking water very loudly, he's a loud drinker anyway he snorts, and slurps, chokes, it’s nuts, sometimes I’m not sure he will survive, this too was magnified. Then of course, a really LOUD burp, just for good measure. All the while glancing at me to see if I was asleep. I wasn't. Then the MIGHTY protector in him decides it's time to dash into the living room while "snort barking" just in case there might be bad guys out there (he never does this), high alert, for cripes sake. Ok, this is not working for Fred, I’m still feigning sleep, so next, and I can hear his wheels spinning, he decides it's time to get the toys out (I have a basket they go into at the end of the day), all of them. Short note on this one, for reasons I will never understand, it is an ordeal to get the toys out of the basket, it looks like he may be diffusing a highly explosive bomb. Every move is done with extreme care, very precise and very slow for each one individually, it’s an ordeal. This is why I put them away every night so he has to get them out of the mean basket, hoping someday it won’t be such an ordeal for him (3 years?).

Scary Basket

He grabs the rope toy, gives it a few really good heartfelt noisy shakes, drags the ball out, the other rope toy, and the string, then last but not least, it's time for the nylabone. He positions it in such a way, that it makes a seriously loud grinding noise when he chews on it, the floor is vibrating, widows are rattling, to his utter delight.

He was doing this much louder on that particular day, but you get the idea.

 As “cute” as this all is, I'm getting irritated and firmly asked him to quit, and he did. Eventually, I did finally doze off, seconds, minutes, who knows, not very long. I woke up, opened my eyes to find this ginormous googley eyed monster about 2 inches from my face, ears perked, just staring at me.

Who can get mad at that mug? I certainly can't, so I got up. I think that is why, on that particular day it was a two nap day.

Now, honestly I am not sure if the problem was me napping or the fact that I had made this napping site soo cozy and he wasn't invited. Personally I think it was the latter. So, after making quite sure that I was fully awake and up and about, he proceeded to hop up on the cozy couch and take a nap. I was not quiet.

Playing with Video 2: Frolicking at the beach

I found this video hidden deep in the depths of my computer. I thought I lost it in my "last computer crash" which I might add was devastating. But low and behold, I had actually been thinking before "the crash" and backed this up on an external drive. Yay! This is a video of Freddy tearing it up at the beach, he is just over 1 years old here. Please keep in mind I am not a professional, and I certainly don't pretend to be. It has taken me the good part of this day to get this on here. (I need serious help) I am just glad I did.
My daughter and I decided to take a beach trip for my birthday 2 years ago. Fred had so much fun, this is the only video of him. We had just unpacked the car and decided to take Fred down to the beach. The last time Fred was there he was pretty little, but he still ripped around pretty good even then. This time he is much more coordinated and very hard to keep in view with a camera. I would suggest just muting it because about half way through Fred was getting a little too close to the water and panic set in for my daughter and I, there is a bit of hollering going on and the video gets a little rough (sorry). It's funny though, you can tell Fred heard us just fine, he wanted to add that extra little bit of excitement, just for good measure. He's looking at us pretty much the whole time. I tried to edit, but I gave up, some kind of formatting error grrrrr.
Anyway, I hope you get a giggle out of this. Oh and BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVES!

That's me with the braided pony tail. I got in the way...sorry

Fred really wants to go back out and play!

You know the saying, "He wears his heart on his sleeve"? Fred wears his heart on his back. 

:-)

Wiped out after a big day playing on the beach.

A Beautiful end to a beautful day! Happy Birthday to me!

The Snuggler

I was going through my pictures today and I stumbled on this one, it was hidden, long story, suffice to say I think something (a gremlin) gets into my computer at night and randomly rearranges my pictures. It's the weirdest thing.

Fred has this uncanny ability to find or create the perfect snuggle spot. He is the King of snuggledom! He worked pretty hard on this one, and I did help out a bit. That blanket is my favorite napping blanket, and it is usually folded out of Fred's reach. Obviously this time I forgot to put it back, and he quickly made a little nest for himself. Quickly is a relative word here, there is quite a bit of twirling and adjusting that goes on to achieve the perfect spot, and hopefully soon, I will be able to get this process on video, my words can't really give it justice. Trying to film Fred doing his weird Fred things are next to impossible. He always has one eye on me so when I go to grab a camera he stops whatever he's doing and focuses on what I'm doing. Then he comes up to me and get his face so close to the camera that I can't even get a decent shot of his mug.

I took 13 pictures of him tonight and this was the best I could do. It doesn't even look like him.  

 It's very frustrating because he literally makes me laugh out loud at all of the goofy things he does. I guess that is his job though and he is very good at it. I probably should carry my camera around like my daughter clutches her damn phone. Then maybe I will have success, since having some apparatus on me at all times will become the norm.

Actually, I really don't see myself doing that. I'll just hope for luck.

To the dog park we go!

I have had this story in my mind for quite some time. I have experienced a bit of a "writers" block as to how to begin, so here goes..
I have been a member of  a Small Dog Meet Up Group since Fred was old enough to attend, I'd say around 6 months or so. He had to get his vaccinations and such before we could attend. Anyway, every other Sunday or so we would go, it was indoors, and there were plenty of fun things to play with and obstacles to climb, Fred seemed to enjoy it. At that time, Fred loved to be chased, he would go up to one of the small dogs and jump around and bow "dogs invitation to play" and take off running hoping for a good chase, it was pretty fun to watch. Every so often he would come and jump in my lap to make sure I was "OK" and then run off and play some more.  After a while, I grew weary of all the little dogs barking in their little high pitched non stop yapping. There was one dog that just stood in the middle of the play area and barked..non stop, indoors ugh. Every time we were there, so was this little dog, it was like he was directing traffic or something, who knows. The other people there would give the owner the stink eye, but nothing was ever done to stop the racket. It was like she was so proud of her "Little Barker". I couldn't take it any more, so we left. Our visits grew fewer and farther in between, until we finally stopped going all together, I think Fred started to get tired of the noise too because the last time we went, he really wasn't into it that much. For the next year and a half or so we pretty much stayed home and kept each other company.
Last February and e-mail popped into my inbox inviting us to a Small Dog Meet-up in a couple of weeks. I thought about it for a while, then started searching for Boston Terrier groups in my area and I found one! I was thrilled, I thought it would be so neat to meet other crazy Boston owners and talk about how great these little dogs were and so on a so forth. I noticed that there was a meet-up the following Saturday and promptly joined the Boston Terrier Meet-up group and RSVP'd for the outdoor meet-up. I was so excited, the weather looked like it would be decent. (45 degrees and partly sunny) I was really looking forward to watching Fred romp around and play with other little dogs that looked like him, how fun! I was already contemplating on what I was going to wear for cripes sake, this was a big deal for me, and Fred!
Well the day finally arrived, we packed up some poo poo bags, a bottle of water and a bowl, leash, collar, camera, we were all set. We pulled up into the parking lot, there were lots of dogs, large ones, small ones, all kinds, everywhere. Fred was really excited, he was squealing with excitement, I gathered my things and searched for the Bostons. Well apparently the meet-up group actually reserves a designated spot for a certain amount of time, so there was an enclosed area that had double gates for us to go through. I must have had a huge grin on my face, I could hardly contain myself, I was so happy to see these other dogs and their owners. We strolled into the enclosure and I walked over to a couple and said hello, I greeted their little dog and proceeded to take Fred off of his leash. He just stood there, unmoving. There was a little Boston that was playing a rousing game of fetch with his owner, a few other dogs that were chasing each other around, and Fred just stood there.

It was kinda funny to see a big burly biker dude playing fetch with his little dog. His dog is brown and white, a bit hard to see here, but boy, that little dog was fast!

 The kind gentleman that I was standing next to, stooped down and gave Fred a comforting pat, stood back up and before I knew it or could even react, Fred peed on the guys leg. OH GOD! I was mortified, he didn't know, and I had to point it out. I apologized profusely, and before I knew it another little Boston strode up to Fred and proceeded to "mount" him, Fred bonked his head on the metal fence post while that was going on, it was awful. I quickly walked Fred away from that to see if he would get comfortable just walking with me, he pooped, I scooped, then I looked down at him and he was drooling! Not just a little drool, this drool was coming from both sides of his mouth and hanging down in big fat strings, he looked like a walrus, I took a picture but you can't really see it. You can see how miserable he his, back all hunched up.

This poor little guy was a wreck, I felt awful for him. We walk back to the group, Fred's still drooling and now shivering just for good measure. There was a pregnant lady that we walked by who was stooped down talking to her little dog and Fred almost peed on her. That was it, I'd had enough, and obviously Fred was really done with this. So, long story short, it was a bust. I never really had a conversation with anyone.

Fred is showing me the way to freedom.

I have not given up though, I will try again. Next time I will wait for better weather, it was pretty cold and breezy that day.

Playing with video

Here is a perfect example of what Fred does after he comes in from doing "big" business. He's so proud, as am I!

 I actually managed to shorten this up by half, it got a bit boring At one point while editing, I managed to replay in fast forward, now that was funny (of course I have no idea how I did it). For me, this is huge. Still trying to better understand my camera, now that I have done this, hopefully I can capture more of Fred's silliness. Fred is very difficult to film stills on. He rarely holds a position long enough for me to get the essence of the shot. So, hopefully these will get better as I go along.

As I post these videos, your feed-back is greatly appreciated, I want it to be as entertaining as possible, so don't be shy about it' ;-).

Wordless Wednessday

Fred has no idea his lip is stuck like that...none, zero, zip, totally clueless.

The is what Fred thinks he looks like up top there.

Fred Masters The Stairs

Fred was getting pretty good at going up the stairs, it was a pretty good effort for him, but he could do it. Going down however, was a different story. Gravity really comes into play here. I would let him try, he was a pretty determined little guy, I didn't have much of a choice. More than once though, he would get about two steps into it, then things would start to get to going pretty fast and down he'd go...thu thump, thu thump, thu thump. Sometimes head over butt, sometimes sideways. It was tough to watch. But, thankfully, at the bottom, he would shake himself off, and mosey on about this business. We never had any serious injury while mastering this very important step in his life. The little guy would never stop trying, his tenacity was strong. Thank goodness puppies are pretty rubbery or I don't think they would ever survive the first few months. It was pretty fun watching him go up, one-at-a-time and very deliberate. I  would always go first when it was time go up to bed and he would follow after me. It would take a lot of encouragement to get him up but he could do it. When I didn't coax him, he would still work hard and appear in my room after a bit with a very proud look on his face, Big Boy!  Now days, he waits until I'm almost to the top stair, not sure why, maybe he wants to make sure I make it up OK, then ziiiiiip! He's at the top waiting for me. Maybe it's a race, not sure, it's fun though.
I was still carrying him football style down the stairs most of the time, I couldn't bear watching that tumble every day. One morning, he got ahead of me and went down all by himself!  No tumbling, just right down the stairs, I was so excited I woke up my daughter, she was "thrilled" for Fred. Well, I thought it was fantastic! A huge mile stone! I think Fred thought so too. I swear, it was the funniest thing to watch his little butt waggle as he went down. Sometimes, he would get going a little fast and lose track of his feet and a tumbling he would go. He would be irritated at himself when that happened, I'd stroke his ego and he'd be fine. Even now, every once in a while, his count gets a little "off"  and down he'll go! Now it just puts me in hysterics, I shake my head, he shakes his whole body, looks back at the stairs, like it was the stairs fault not his.(It's like watching a grown up trip and stumble and pretend it didn't happen.) And then we go about our day. It's good to start the day with a good chuckle.

Pretty intimidating if you're only 6" high.

Fred was "helping" me get the shot right.  :-)

I think...

Fred and Buddy Meet

I figured it was time. I had very mixed feelings about this. I didn't want Buddy to feel like he'd been replaced or was going to be loved any less. This was HIS home, HIS kingdom, he was the ruler of this domain. I had to do it, he already knew something was up, he was marching around the yard, and acting pretty perturbed. So I let him in. Fred was real happy to see Buddy, he wobbled right up to Buddy, with no hesitation. Oh god, the cat could really do serious damage to those eyes, cripes in one swat, he could send little Freddy flying and fleeing for his life, but he didn't. Remembering, Freddy is about the size of a gerbil. He just sat there, semi aloof about the little guy, looking at Fred, glaring at me. He was mad at me, to say the least, I expected that. I gave him a lot of pets, scratched him in his favorite spots, and he graciously "allowed" me to do this. He let Fred snort about him, he even gave Fred a sniff or two, he actually seemed ambiguous to the fact the we had a new, permanent member of the family. Phew! That went better than I thought! He would occasionally give Fred a devilish swat as he wobbled by, of course Fred would tip over, then he would just get up and go about his way, whichever way he was pointed when he finally righted himself (kinda like a wind up toy). I'm still keeping a close eye on things, but I felt pretty good about the whole meet and greet. Buddy eventually laid down with his paws tucked under, eyes at half mast, my world was good.

Mr. "Happy Pants" 

Then Buddy stood up, stretched a nice long stretch and proceeded to walk over to the corner of the front stair landing, turned around, and with his butt to the wall, started peeing! Not just a little, oh no, this was going to be a good one! This one was going to make a statement! Of course all the while, I'm frantic, waving my arms, yelling, trying to get up quickly to stop this madness, he just kept right on going, all the while, glaring at me. Buddy has never, ever gone in the house ever.  Well I got the point alright, loud and clear. I quickly picked the cat up and very firmly marched him to the back door and let him out! God I was mad. How could he do such a thing! Now I've lost track of Fred, oh cripes. I quickly found him, he was just minding his own business, I'm not even sure he noticed the commotion. So...I spent the better half of that night blotting cat urine off the carpet, baseboards and walls, got out the carpet cleaner and the Zero Odor (again, good product) taking deep breaths, getting a grip. I finally got the mess cleaned up and went back to my adorable dog.
So, that is how my perfect indoor/outdoor cat became a permanent outside cat, I can't trust him now. He's got a pretty good set up outside, nice waterproof box with old clothes in it, food and fresh water way up high, he likes it (Thanks Sis!).  He doesn't even try to come inside, not interested. I'll share pictures of his little nest at a later time. (too dark right now)
Today, Fred and Buddy are best pals, they play and box and romp around together, outside of course. Then Fred comes in, Buddy always tries to trip him when he jumps up the step to enter the house, happens all the time. I can handle that, and Fred seems to expect it. He will always be the youngest of the pack.  :-)

Crate Training Time

Yep, I decided even before I brought Freddy home, that he was going to be a "crate trained" dog. I know there are many opinions on this, and believe me I've heard them. I've read the pros and cons, and from my research I decided that the crate was the way to go for me. It started the very first night. Before anyone starts to feel too sorry for Fred, let me explain. I was never going to leave him in a crate all by himself in another room, where I couldn't hear him, and my house is plenty big for that. No, if I was up and about, Fred was up and about with me. I started out by using a very nice cat carrier. There was plenty of room for Fred to move around a bit and still be cozy enough for him to be able to keep himself warm. I also put in a baby blanket left over from the kids, and a small remnant of a jammie top of mine that I found, we snuggled with that, long before bedtime. Like I said, I'm a planner. I also left the crate in the middle of the main room we were in before we got home, so in his little mind it was part of the room, not a scary unknown thing. He'd wobble in and out throughout the evening, snooping about his surroundings and it was not evil or scary. Well now it was time for bed, so I took the crate upstairs to my room, then Freddy and I went outside to do the last days business and up to bed. He had to be carried up and down the stairs, I carried him like a little Nerf football with one hand so I could still use the railing, that went on for some time. The day he made it down the stairs on his own was a very big day! (another post) I got ready for bed and then put Fred in his "room" that's what I called it going forward, I had the door facing me and it was about 6 inches from my face so he could still hear, smell and see me. Trust me, I really wanted to hold him all night, but I was terrified I might smash him in my sleep, so the crate was really the safest place for him. He didn't put up much of a fuss at all, and quieted down and went to sleep pretty fast, right by my face. I could hear him breathing and snoring a little.  If he woke up or stirred, I knew he would need to go out, and I didn't want an accident in his room, so I basically stayed up all night waiting for Fred to stir so I could get up and rush him outside. Long story short, Fred got a much better nights sleep than I did. I turns out, I didn't need to worry about Fred waking me in time. He let me know quite loudly, nobody could sleep through that noise. He was soon sleeping all night and it was just a race in the morning to get my robe on to rush him down stairs and outside just in the nick of time. Sometimes we didn't quite make it though, and I got wet, but for the most part we settled into our routine pretty quickly.
There were occasions when I had to put him in his room when I could not keep an eye on him, showers, trips to the store, things like that. I never left him in there for any length of time so it was a positive experience for him, and a lot of fun and praises when he came out of his room.  If I asked him to go into his room, he would just walk in, turn around fix his bedding and lay down, no biggie. I never left him in there if I was home. And I Never Ever put him in there for punishment, it was his safe place.
One week-end, a friend and I went to the beach with Fred, he had finally had all of his shots and he was all protected from the evil puppy germs and I could now take him out it public, finally! I couldn't wait to show him the beach and all the fun things to do there. I was not disappointed and neither was Freddy, when we finally hit the beach I took him off of his leash and just like that, he tucked his tail, pulled back his ears and he was off like a shot! He was running so fast, chasing little shorebirds, grabbing crud as he went by, just zooming around, I think I could actually see him smiling, he loved it! He worried me a few times when he got too close to the water, but he always turned around, tucked tail and dashed towards me. What a blast! For a little guy, he really had some wheels, I tried to film him, but I couldn't keep him in view, I wanted to watch him all the time instead. We had a great day!
The next morning, I hurried Fred outside to take care of business, and decided to get some breakfast. I put Fred in his room and off we went. We ate pretty quickly, I was worried about Fred, being in a strange place and such, and as it turns out with good reason. When we got closer to the room, I could hear a vacuum, I realized the vacuuming was coming from our room, now I felt really bad for Fred, he doesn't really appreciate the vacuum at home. I rushed in just as the cleaning lady was finishing up and ran over to Fred's room, well, the lady was absolutely beside herself. She had been cleaning in there for a while, cleaning the bathroom and dusting and what not, before she even turned on the vacuum and she had no idea Fred was in the little crate. He didn't make a peep! I grabbed him up, his eyes were about to pop out of his head, he was terrified. The nice cleaning lady pet him and gave him love and it didn't take long for Fred to recover from his little trauma. We went down to the beach and all was soon forgotten, what a trooper!
There are still times now, when Fred has to go into his room, but those times are fewer and fewer now, he stills check it out now and again, and is still fine with it, but now I pretty much take him everywhere with me. I'm glad I crate trained him.

 This is a bigger one, but it's still cozy for Fred.

I was trying show the size of it here, but it didn't come out quite right, Fred can still turned around and get comfortable in there. He's modeling for me.

Fred's Forever Home

Little Freddy and I made it home safe and sound, and everything felt right. I was still experiencing some anxiety, but for me, that's my norm. I'm glad I'm a planner. I had purchased or had on hand everything this little guy could wish for. Probably more, I'm ok with that. I had managed to get Buddy (cat) outside prior to getting Fred, I was not ready for a meet and greet quite yet. Buddy is the Master of his domain and it wasn't time for his...let's just say, shenanigans. I got busy showing Fred around the house, bedrooms, bathrooms and such, not really sure if he cared really, actually I think he was sleeping, but I felt good about it.
It was a very nice day so I decided to take Fred outside and let him get to know his surroundings. Also, I wasn't sure when he peed last, and I didn't want to have an accident indoors yet. We stayed out for quite some time, he napped, looked around, peed (good dog) wandered about the yard. He was so little that even slightest change in the grass would send him tumbling over, but it got hysterical.

I swear the little guy had tenacity, out of nowhere he'd be down, on his side, bewildered for sec, then he'd hoist himself onto all fours and go about his navigating. It was like he never went down, just part of his day. Wobble flop, back up and so on, sometimes it would take quite an effort to get himself righted again, hard to watch too, but he manged. God it was cute, I tried to keep my laughing to a minimum, he was really working hard just to stay upright, and this was serious business for him.

Finally, it was time to come in, I figured I had about twenty minutes after he ate before we would go back out, timing is everything. Sure enough, 20 mins. I took him out and we had bathroom success! I clapped and praised, and I am positive he had no idea why I was acting that way, I don't think he even knew he had peed. There would still be a little time before he could put 2 and 2 together, so for the most part I was the one that was "potty trained". At this point he couldn't even step down the one little step to go outside it must've seemed like a cliff to him, I had to help him. This little googly eyed, smoosh faced manatee like creature truly needed my assistance for everything, and I loved it! The toilet training went well, he's a smart little guy and he didn't really want to "go" in the house. My problem was that when he needed to go out, he would walk to the back door out of my sight and wait quietly, like I said earlier, he's not a barker, I needed to pay attention when he left the room. He still does that to this day, except now he can hold it, until I finally realize he's not around me. I have thought about a bell on a rope or one of those dingers you use at reception areas to get the clerks attention, I've seen other dogs that are trained that way, it's not hard, but for cripes sake, he could bark a little and I'm not a mind reader. So most of the cleanups were at the door, a little spray of carpet cleaner and a another spritz of Zero Odor (good product), and all was well. I couldn't get mad at him, he did everything right.  Speaking of getting mad at Fred, it's impossible, and really for the most part, unnecessary. I have never spanked him or used a newspaper on him or anything. I may have given him a finger flick for the worst of infractions, even that was usually not needed. All I had to do to correct his behavior was say a firm "NO' and look at him with a disappointed look on my face, and maybe a deep exaggerated "harrumph" like snort, and he was soooo sorry, my gosh, the eyes would get huge, he'd sit down fast and then...THE LOOK OF REMORSE. Holy crap, that look could melt cold steel. It was extremely hard for me to keep MY look while he was giving me HIS look. It was very much like the blinking game you played as kids except here, the first one to break their look lost. I always lost, I dare anyone to try not to break into a smile after seeing the "look" from Fred. I still lose at that game, but my point is always made and understood. He was a breeze to train right from wrong. I am still trying to find new things to teach him besides parlor tricks, but those will have to wait for another post for now.

It's been a big day for little Freddy, that milk bone by his paws is the smallest one they make.

The day Fred arrived

It was Mothers Day 2008, I really didn't think I wanted or for that matter needed another dog especially not a little dog. Quite a few months prior to "Fred's arrival" I had to put my beloved golden mix to sleep, an agonizing decision to say the least and it pretty much took the wind out of my sails. I still had my cat Buddy and I was fine with that. Well my friend kept talking about Bostons, and how great they were and how fun and blah blah blah. I started thinking about another dog, and seriously studied up on these little Boston Terriers, the word terrier alone bugged me. I pictured a little yapping dog, and I really don't appreciate that kind of dog, especially not in my neighborhood, and I didn't want to be the one owning one. Well it turns out Bostons aren't barkers, far from it, Fred's bark is kind of like a snort grunt sneeze combination, he actually startles himself when one sneaks out, makes me jump too, and he is certainly no watch dog. He will let me know if someones at the door or to something that may need my attention but that's it. He will not be the one to actually check. Apparently that's my job, and that's fine I didn't want a watch dog. Anyway, the more I read the more I started to actually think about getting one. So I started looking around for breeders in my area, which are few and far between in the Pacific Northwest. I called on one that was about a 45 minute drive from my home, they were very nice people, they were more interested in me it seemed than I was about them, which is a good thing, I knew just from our conversation, that these babies were extremely loved the day there born. So we made arrangements to meet and the next thing I know I'm at the pet store getting the necessary accoutrement's, you know food, bowls toys, more toys, clothes a few more toys and so on and so forth. Now I had the goods, all I needed was the puppy, they had a mix of girls and boys and I had said that I would prefer a boy, I wasn't in to the whole breeding thing at all, I just wanted a companion. The owner and I met at a neutral area that was easy to find for both (McDonald's) and she brought out two little itty bitty guys, wriggling around in a box with blankies. We let them out on a grassy area to get a feel for the personalities, one of them marched right up to me then romped around and played with various invisible objects, the other one was a little bit more cautious, he finally came over to me, crawled into my lap and looked up at me, well that did it, I was in love. Decision made, she signed off on the various paperwork, yes he's papered, but I never registered him, I really didn't see the point, I was going to have him fixed. If I would have registered him his name would have been...drum roll please, Prince Alfred Maxmillion Martin Hauser, we will call him Fred going forward. So with dog in lap I drove home, grinning from ear to ear about this cute little miniature manatee. Once again, I was a dog owner and I was terrified by that. Thinking back on that day, I realize it was probably the best thing I could have ever done.

Introducing Fred