Day 6 King Lear is Growing Up so Quickly

King Lear has been keeping Mom and I busy.  He likes to be in the middle of anything that's going on.  Mom says she forgot what it's like to put on socks with a puppy around.  Or take a shower (King Lear jumped in the tub one day). Or take things in or out of the cupboards.  I've been getting lots of exercise and have been teaching King Lear about boundaries.  I've been very patient but sometimes I tease him, especially after he's been hanging off the extra skin on my neck.

King Lear changes almost every day.  On Monday when we went for a walk King Lear was terrible on a leash.  King Lear's previous foster Mom had mentioned that he would walk right on her heals and made it almost impossible to walk with him on a leash.  Take the leash off and he is fine.  Tuesday when we went for a walk he did a complete turn around.  Now he walks fine on a leash.  I don't mean to brag, but I'm great on a leash and I'm sure he learned this from me.

Tuesday night was also the night when King Lear slept through the night.  He did wake up a couple of times because Mom could hear him figdeting around, but he didn't whine to get out of his kennel.  Last night he slept through the night again and didn't make a peep.

 This is a picture that Mom took the first day King Lear arrived.

















See anything different in the picture?  King Lear's ears are pointed all the way up now!  He also looks much bigger in this picture, but he's not. 













I know y'all are thinking "Rupert, you said King Lear would be staying with you for 5 days and now it's day 6.  What's going on?" King Lear was supposed to stay until his other foster parents got back home, but a family has already put in an application to adopt him.  They live out of town and are coming on Sunday to see him.  They live closer to us and it was easier if King Lear just stayed here.

Day 3 King Lear Settles In

It's been a busy couple of days.  There's been a whole lot of playing going on.  I don't think I've ever played this much!

King Lear finally wore himself out Saturday night.  Mom says the most uncomfortably place she could think of to sleep would be on the slate in front of the fireplace and that's exactly where King Lear decided to sleep.  Notice the comfy dog bed right beside him?  Eventually he moved over onto that.









Sunday was a day filled with lots of running, wrestling, chasing one another, stealing toys and barking.  King Lear, not me.  I don't bark (except at the mailman). Mom and I are teaching KL that barking isn't going to get him what he wants.  He is very smart and is catching on pretty quickly.  At one point we got a little out of control and King Lear fell down the stairs.  He got a cut on his face, but Mom took him to the Vet and he is fine.  The Vet thought it was a good idea for him to wear a cone for a few days so he doesn't scratch at his face.

Today we were both pretty quiet, but started to get wound up by mid-afternoon.  Mom decided we needed some fresh air so we went for a car ride and a walk.  As you can see King Lear was exhausted.  I ran way more than he did and I managed to stay awake during the ride home.  Jeesh...puppies. 

Mom would like to note that the car is in Park, for those that notice those kinds of things (you know who you are!)

When we got home it was dinner time.  King Lear sure does love to eat.  I've never seen a dog eat so fast.  Mom went into the pantry a few minutes after we'd eaten but King Lear decided that he needed more food and jumped right into the food bag.  Mom wonders how much he would eat if he was allowed to stay in that bag. 

Day 1 Welcome King Lear

Today Mom picked up a puppy!!  She told me about him yesterday using her giddy school girl voice but I had no idea why she was so excited.  Now I know!  This afternoon we went to the Pug Meet Up and on the way home we stopped at the Pet Expo.  When Mom came back to the car she had King Lear.

King Lear will be staying with us for about 5 days while his foster parents are away.  If he doesn't get adopted first.  He sure is cute and captured a lot of attention at the Pet Expo so it's unlikely he'll be up for adoption for long.

King Lear is about 10 weeks old and is full of silly puppy antics.  He quickly found out that the quickest way from one side of the coffee table to the other is through shelf.  This picture was taken when he was 'resting' on the shelf. (meaning he was still for longer than 5 seconds).

King Lear and I played unbelievably hard for about 2 hours.  Mom was quite surprised since we'd both had big days in our respective social activities.  King Lear then crashed hard too.  He went onto Mom's lap for a bit of quiet time.  A couple of scratches under the chin and boom, he was out.














This was only a cat nap though.  It wasn't long before King Lear was up again and playing with me.  It sure is going to be a fun few days!

Day 39 Goodbye Beebee and Rascal

Today Beebee and Rascal went back to their owner.  AARCS has an emergency/temporary foster care program for people who find themselves in unforeseen circumstances where they can't take care of their pets.  That was the case with Beebee and Rascal's owner.  Thankfully they were able to go back to their owner and they sure were happy to see her.

This is the last picture Mom took of the three of us.  This was just after a trip outside and before a big wrestling match.  Beebee and Rascal were lots of fun to have around...for me at least.










We haven't been without a foster dog for the past three months.  The house is going to be quiet with just me.  Mom says she's sure that a new friend will come to stay soon.  I hope so because there are lots of dogs and cats out there that need a safe place to stay.

Day 36 Something Fishy is Going on Around Here

There's some weird stuff going on around the house.  I went down to the dog room to check things out and there was a new dog toy!  Mom's been holding out on me.  It is a good one too.  A nylabone chew bone.  I've now decided this is my new favorite toy.  Mom says that the bone was for Lola because she really liked to chew and Mom thought this would keep her busy when she was out.

Then I went into the kennel and bathroom where Beebee and Rascal where on Friday and there were new Kongs in both!!  I don't know what's going on around here, but I haven't been getting new toys.  Sure, I have a whole box of toys, but that's not the point. Mom and I have a routine when she leaves: she puts a bit of peanut butter in my Kong and I get it as she's leaving.  I don't even know that she's gone.  In fact, this is the best part of the day.  Beebee and Rascal aren't very happy when Mom leaves and she thought the Kongs would preoccupy them as well.  Mom got Kongs for Beebee and Rascal.  They seem to really like them.

Beebee has figured out a way to let Mom know when she wants to go outside.  She comes up to Mom and starts to bark at her.  Mom thinks she could find a subtler way, but is happy she's at least letting her know.  However, there are times when Beebee feels she needs to go outside every 10 mins.

Day 36 Bath Day

Mom has decided that she's going to start kenneling Beebee and Rascal when she's out to help with their house training.  There haven't been any accidents in the house for a couple of weeks when Mom is home, but they don't seem to want to or are unable to hold it when she is out.  Mom puts down paper in the dog room and they are very good at going to the bathroom on that, but they should be able to hold it the whole day while Mom is at work. 

Friday was the first day.  Beebee was in my kennel and Rascal was in the bathroom since we only have one kennel that Mom feels is big enough for a dog to spend the day in.  Mom was quite impressed that both made it the whole work day with no accidents.  Mom thinks that Rascal might be fine out with me all day, but still isn't comfortable risking it.  She got another kennel from AARCS so that Rascal won't be in the bathroom.  There's lots of room, but neither Beebee nor Rascal like it when they are in a room and the door closes.  They seem fine when they go into their kennel at night, so Mom's hoping the same holds true if they're both in kennels.

Mom had to work today (yeah, on a Saturday.  None of us were very happy about it), but thankfully it hasn't started to snow yet so we got to go to the dog park after work.  Beebee didn't bark at a single dog.  The first dogs we saw were two big dogs (Mom thinks mastiffs of some kind) and Rascal ran up to greet them.   It's great to see how quickly they've gotten over their issues at the dog park.

The park is very wet and muddy these days.  I don't like going through the mud puddles unless it is much warmer, but even I decided that there were just too many so I'd just run through them all.  Beebee loves the puddles and Rascal is only slightly more reserved.

We all looked about like this by the end.  Kind of hard to see from this size, but if you click on the picture you can see how dirty Beebee really is.  As soon as we got home it was straight into the tub for each of us.  I love having a bath!  Beebee and Rascal do as well so a good time was had by all.  Now the house smells like wet dog.  I think that's fine, but Mom thinks it stinks. 

Day 31 ...And Again

Mom can't believe it, but Beebee and Rascal got out of the dog room...again!  When Mom got home today they had made their way into the bathroom.

This is the corner where they found a spot to escape.  That wall is 3 feet high.  That wine box is there because there is about a half inch space between the wood on the right wall and the hinge that makes the door on the left wall.  Beebee and Rascal had started to dig at that space.  Mom had a piece of wood propped there, but they just moved it out of the way.  Mom didn't figure they could move this box so thought it seemed like a good idea to put it there.  It's still about 2 feet from the box to the top of the wood.  Mom never figured it would act as a step to get to that little opening at the top.

As you can see that spot isn't very big, but lots big enough for them to fit through.  And this is definitely how they got out because, if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see there is Fluffie fur along the top.  Which means it was a bit of a struggle to get over.  But it obviously didn't stop them both from escaping.







Once they got into the crawl space they managed to get through the barricade on the other side of the crawl space.  Mom's not really too surprised by that as it's a pieces of particle board propped against some chairs.

Mom is surprised that they managed to get past the wood propped to get to the whole in the bathroom wall.  It was placed tightly against the wall but not screwed to the wall (like the piece you can see on the right side of the picture) because she still hasn't fixed the hole in the bathroom wall.  They are very crafty little dogs and just moved it out of the way so they could squeeze past and get back into the bathroom.  At least Mom was smart enough to close the bathroom door and that's where they were when she got home.



On a positive note, we've been going to the dog park daily since the weather has been nice and Beebee and Rascal's social skills have greatly improved. Beebee was quite yappy the first couple of times at the dog park and barked a lot whenever she would see a big dog.  This has almost completely stopped.  She might bark at the first dog she sees, but hardly any more after that.  Rascal has become a lot more confident around big dogs.  As mentioned awhile ago, Rascal would stick pretty close to Mom when there were big dogs around but now he'll go by the big dogs on his own and even goes up to greet most of them.

Day 29

It's been an uneventful few days around the house and Mom could not be happier!  The new walls in the dog room are holding up and the Fluffies haven't managed to escape from the yard.  I'm feeling much better too.  I managed to make it through the night last night without having to go to the bathroom.

Other than that, we've just been hanging out and relaxing.  Some of us relax more than others.

Mom tried to get a picture of the three of use sitting together.  It's not as easy as it might seem to get us to all sit still and look the same way...especially when there's no treats involved.  Our combined attention span is about 30 seconds.  Mom should have got some treats.  Sometimes I don't think she's as smart as she thinks she is. Mom got a couple of better pictures than this one but she liked this one the best because my expression captures how we were all feeling...."Really?  Aren't you done yet?"



Although it's kind of hard to see, I'm wearing my I'm tired of animal cruelty dog tag.  Check out their website.  There are lots of causes to choose from and a percentage of all purchases go to support those causes.  Mom was sure there used to be support for a local rescue, but doesn't see it any more.

Day 26 The Escape Artists Strike Again!

Firstly, I am feeling much better.  I was sick once yesterday, but not today.  The bland diet (which is rice and plain chicken for those that might not know) hasn't been agreeing with me very much because I have been going to the bathroom a lot. Regardless, food is making it's way from one end to the other and that's the most important thing. That one little piece of plastic really did a number on my digestive track.

The Fluffies have been keeping Mom busy as well.  Today they managed to escape into the neighbour's yard.  Mom looked out the patio door and noticed that there were lots of paw tracks through the neighbour's yard...and the neighbour doesn't have any pets.  Mom went outside and sure enough Beebee and Rascal were in the neighbour's yard. There is a swale at the back of our yard and they had managed to get under the fence.  The swale is almost full of ice too.  Mom is amazed at the small spaces Beebee and Rascal can squeeze themselves through!

Upon taking a closer look at the amount of space, compared to the whole in the bathroom wall, Mom thinks she should have known that they could have fit through this.  They did have to dig out the snow first to find the hole.









Thankfully it is starting to warm up so we went to the dog park after work today.  Mom knows that part of the reason for the craziness is the fact that we're all bored from lack of exercise.  Sure, we run around the house and play pretty hard, but that's not the same as being able to run at full speed until we get tired.  And that's exactly what we did.  I think we'll all sleep well tonight. 

Day 22

On Thursday Mom rebuilt the enclosure in the dog room.  The wood to close off the crawl space is more durable, there's a door with a latch for access into the crawl space and there's no place to get to drywall.  Mom also barricaded the other side of the crawl space leading into the laundry room.  She also put wood along the bottom of the walls to limit access to drywall if they do get into the laundry room.  When she went out Thursday night she also closed all the doors in the basement and put the baby gate on the stairs.  I think she's being a bit paranoid, but I don't have to clean up messes or repair damage so I've kept my opinions to myself.

I haven't been feeling well since yesterday so Mom has been making me rest.  I started throwing up yesterday afternoon and continued to do so until about 2am when I brought up a piece of plastic and maybe some wood.  Because Mom has already been asked; no, it's not plastic from the toy box.  I chew on those pieces for days until there is almost nothing left and then I leave it on the floor where Mom can step on it.  This way she knows I'm done with it and can throw it out for me.  Historically I don't like to swallow anything except for food, so this has Mom baffled.  To add to the mystery, this looks like it might be a paw/foot to a toy...but no toy that has ever had in our house.  And I haven't been anywhere else since before Feb 22nd. 

I was feeling much better this morning; ate some breakfast and acting like my normal self.  Mom had to run an errand and when she came home she found that I'd been sick again.  Now it was time to call the Vet.  Even though the receptionist said they were very busy, she checked with the Vet and he wanted to see me right away.  We were there in 15 mins and were seen right away.  This is one of the reasons why Mom loves this clinic.  We've been on the other side of this and had to wait when emergencies come in.  The clinic always does it's best the keep things on time and be respectful of people's appointments.  The Vet thought that 1. there were still some more pieces in my stomach or 2.  my stomach is irritated from the piece that had already come out.  He took some Xrays but didn't see anything.  Mom was told before hand that seeing plastic wasn't very likely.   At best, they would see a blockage, but the Xray didn't detect one.  Mom is treating the irritated stomach.  No food and little water for 24 hrs, a bland diet of rice and chicken for 5 days and an antacid for my upset stomach.  I have been sick once more, but the Vet said not to worry until it happens a couple of times (Mom is still worried).

Day 19 The Escape Artists

Beebee and Rascal have been spending the day in the basement when Mom as to leave the house.  I think I talked about this room when Nanook was here, but our house is a back split and at the front of the house is a crawl space that is accessed by the 'dog room' on one side and the laundry room on the other side.  Mom has built a wall to close off access to the crawl space in the dog room, but there is still an access open in one spot that she barracades with various items.  On the side wall is where the stairs go up.  Mom had this wall barracaded as well, but Beebee and Rascal have already managed to get that piece of wood off once.  And just so everyone understands...that piece of wood was screwed to the wall.  Sure it was only one screw, but they are little dogs!

Anyway, when Mom left for work this morning Beebee and Rascal where in the dog room.  The access to the crawl space had 2 (heavy) pieces of wood held in place by a very large (full) box and a table.  When Mom came home from work Beebee and Rascal were up with me sitting at the window, guarding the house.  Mom knew this wasn't a good sign.  She figured that she had forgot to shut the laundry room door and that when Beebee and Rascal managed to get into the crawl space they just came around to the other side, into the laundry and escaped to freedom. 

When Mom went downstairs, both the dog room and laundry room doors were closed.  Now she really started to wonder how they got free.  She went into the dog room and sure enough they had gotten into the crawl space.  Mom then went into the laundry room and that's when I heard some bad words.  The laundry room is unfinished and is beside the bathroom.  Beebee and Rascal had dug a hole in the dry wall, pushed the baseboard out of the way and gotten through to the bathroom.  Mom hadn't closed the bathroom door because, well, why would she?



This is what Mom saw when she went into the laundry room.

And this is what she saw when she went into the bathroom.











There is a reason why Beebee and Rascal are in the dog room when Mom isn't home and that's because Beebee (and mabye Rascal) will go to the washroom in the house if left unsupervised.  After seeing this damage Mom went on the hunt for the other 'surprises' Beebee and Rascal left for her.  Thankfully no one peed on the carpet.  However, and this just tops the whole thing off, Rascal peed on Mom's CD player.  I pointed this one out to Mom, but instead of a 'thank you' I heard more bad words.   I'm sure she appreciates my help, but I'm not getting any warm, fuzzy feelings coming off her tonight.