So, my Wonder Woman gave Aussie Lap Puppy a birthday present she had bought him (a heavy duty nylon “bone” with a beef wrapper). He gently took it from her hand, then set it on the floor and laid down just “cuddling” it for a bit. THEN. . . bit. And chewed and chewed and chewed. . .
Happy puppy. (The part where he grabbed it between his paws and rolled over on his back to enjoy it from another angle? *smh* Nutso.) 12 months old today and undergoing another wee growth spurt? Yeh, that.
They’re the absolute best dogs ever. The pups from my mama and papa we somehow never gave away, (was in the middle of moving over to the new place when they were born) have been in a vehicle ONE time, coming over here. Well! LOL The 4 that I keep outside have a huge space, are all males, all about 16 months old and come inside very seldom. Only when it’s really cold, or flooding etc. I’ve been wrestling with how to keep them inside the chain link for months, and once I get them contained, I think, they find another way. So finally put concrete all the way around the bottom of the fence, ended up being almost 40 bags, I put tent stakes in the ground first, so they can’t dig under, maybe. Anyway, long story longer, the people that live 2 houses down from me have cats, and the cats stay outside. Each lot on this street is 2 1/2 acres so it’s not like it’s right next door, but the boys, every time they’ve gotten out, have gone straight to that house and it’s only been like 3 times in a year, but the last time they were out they supposedly killed one of the cats. She called animal control and they told me I had to get them licensed which I’d never gotten around to. Here in Harris County they have to be microchipped as well as having a rabies shot before they can get their tags. I had given them their other shots myself from Tractor Supply. but rabies shots can only be given by a vet here. The animal control officer was super nice and he told me where to take them for best price. 15 for microchipping, 10 for rabies AND seeing as how they;re not neutered, 60 for the license. 85 bucks per dog. The county animal clinic is 45 minutes from me but for those prices compared to a private vet I was driving. My oldest son and I get them all in the truck, all four, and they weigh at least 65 pounds each so it wasn’t like a lot of space, lol. We’re sitting in the driveway before we leave and my son says, “This feels like a suicide mission.” And to be honest I was a bit worried as it was only their second time riding and I had to go through Houston, so traffic, and fast traffic. They were the best dogs ever. A little excited at first but they laid down all together and were so good. John had to take them in one at a time, but we got through it, and back home safe and sound. I stopped and got them all a cup of ice cream. Sorry about the no punctuation. 😉
Punctuate any damned way you want, Lady Diane. This blog isn’t monetized, so anything here can just be stream of consciousness.
Yeh, Aussie Lap Puppy (hereafter ALP—you have noticed I avoid my wife and children’s names and have referred to former dog and my cat (well, and my wonder Woman’s cat) by pseudonyms, right? 😉 ) is about as good a dog for a one-year-old as I have ever known. His first ride in a car was as a 5-month-old riding with a guy he had met 15 minutes before down unpaved country roads. *barf!* Every ride since then, though—even to the vet—has been *happy-happy-joy-joy* time for him.
One day last week, I didn’t close our bedroom door (it is almost always closed, ‘cos my Wonder Woman does NOT like cat butt in her face, so it’s just become a 47-year habit) and he nosed in and jumped on the bed. First time in my life I have had a dog of mine on my bed. He was wll-behaved, though, so I let it go. A week ago Saturday, I slept in (‘cos I’d spent the night paying my water bill over and over and over again, it seemed *heh*), and my Wonder Woman let him in the bedroom to get me up. Sneaky. . . but warm and cuddly. 😉
Keeping him in the yard? He has got out twice. I plugged/reinforced those places and went along the fence reinforcing the rest. He could have jumped off the upper deck, but seems to be smart enough to know that height would not be smart at all, at all. Nevertheless, I have re-engineered the upper deck railing to make it MUCH more difficult to squeeze through (frankly, unless he eats it, I think it will keep him confined). He does stick his nose through the next-most upper rail to “talk” with the dogs across the way.
Fun pup.
Any tips on training Aussies? Hand, voice, and clicker commands seem to be slowly accumulating. All training seems to fly out the window when he’s leashed for walkies, though. *sigh* Takes at least 1/2 mile to sorta settle him in, and going for walks on “Heel” is not yet there (only in house and yard, it seems). Public places w/other people? Still too excitable every time I try. . . so far. We did get a good report last month when we placed him in a kennel while we had a 3-day jaunt to a conference, but then few people, controlled environment. ¯\_(?)_/¯