the doghouse

Sorry, I haven’t posted in ages again – 5 whole days! Not all that much has happened this week.. just been eating, sleeping, drinking, etc. So, I haven’t really been that busy.. but, well, I don’t have a good excuse for why I haven’t posted.

Nate and Tiff got me some new puppy food last night.. I’ve been on Iams Smart Puppy, but haven’t really liked it very much. I think it’s because it’s what they fed me at the humane society. They got me some Science Diet Lamb Meal and Rice food.. I like it! They fed a bit to me like treats before putting it in my bowl, so I thought it was good stuff.

Tonight, I saw a trash bag sitting on the counter, and wasn’t quite sure what it was.. I barked and barked at it, until Nate went over and picked it up and showed me. My bark’s gotten a lot deeper since I came to my new house – my people were impressed!

Well, more later – just thought I should probably post something.

Nate’s laptop got broken, so I haven’t been able to post for awhile.. sorry about that!

I had a busy week. Nate and Tiff have been busy getting ready for the open house that they had on Saturday, so I got to help clean lots. Well, at least *I* say I was helping – my people probably don’t agree with me. Then, the open house finally came. I was tied to the bumper of the Explorer outside, which I wasn’t sure if I’d like.. but lots of people stayed outside with me, and I got to meet lots of new friends, so it was good! I also got a couple hamburgers and hot dogs that were dropped on the ground, and a few nice bones from Von Hanson’s.. I was spoiled rotten, pretty much.

On Sunday, Tiff and Nate went to Adam’s baptism, so I got locked in the bedroom all day.. I wasn’t really happy about it, but it was ok. I was glad when they came home and let me out. Then, today, I got to stay out in the whole house all day while Tiff and Nate were at work – I had fun, and actually behaved myself! The only naughty thing I’ve been doing lately is tipping my water bowl over.. I like the way the light reflects in it (it’s a metal bowl), and have to chase it. Nate gets really annoyed that he has to clean up all the water on the floor, but I think it’s worth it.

Here’s me at the open house:

I got to go to school again tonight.. it was lots of fun, and I learned a lot more since Tiff and Nate had treats that I actually liked. I also didn’t have any accidents in the store, which is good! Tiff and Nate bought some new stuff called ‘Bitter Apple’.. when I tried to come up on the couches tonight, they sprayed it in my mouth. I really don’t like it.. Nate sprayed me once, then Tiff sprayed me another time, and now if I come up on the couch, if either of them even grabs the bottle, I go running. I wish they’d just let me hang out on the couches!

Teri and Timmy came over again today. I had *way* too much fun, so Nate finally just gave me a new bone to chew on, and that distracted me for awhile. I like it when people come, but I still get a little too excited.. I’m trying to learn, though!

Easter! What a day! I got locked in the bedroom while Tiff and Nate went to church, but it was only an hour and a half, so that was OK. Nate’s parents came over to the house, and they made some yummy-smelling Tenderloins.. too bad I didn’t get any. Then, in the afternoon, we were going to go over to Tiff’s parent’s place to see Murray, but they lost power up there.. so instead we went to Tiff’s aunt and uncle’s house. They had a huge fenced in backyard, which I got to play in lots.. they also had a dog, but I annoyed him a lot, so they ended up splitting us up. They have a pool with a cover on it, and I found out it’s lots of fun to run across the pool cover so water comes through it, and drink the water.. Nate wasn’t very happy at me for that, though; he says the water has something called ‘Chlorine’ it it, and is something called ’stagnant’ from sitting out all winter. Big words – I don’t know or care what they mean.. I just know the water tastes *yummy*!

Today, Timmy and Teri came over again to help Tiff and Nate get ready for their open house next week. I got to go on lots of car rides again, and was a good puppy all day! I like it when friends come over. I also got to see my puppy friends outside tonight.. everyone was out talking; it was lots of fun! Tomorrow is Easter.. I get to go visit Murray again!

Today was a quiet day.. didn’t really do a whole lot, but watched lots of Lost with Tiff and Nate — Tiff’s addicted to that show! I’m a good puppy. Just in case I forgot to mention that.

We did go to Taco Bell, and I kept trying to get into the drive-through window.. Tiff was holding me back, and I drooled on her feet. She thought it was funny. The Taco Bell guy also gave me a Cinnamon Twist – I love ‘em!

Not a whole lot happened today.. until Nate and Tiff took me on a car ride, and then gave me another bone from Von Hanson’s! I love those. I want one every day.

Timmy (and his mom) came over again today.. Tiff was working on stuff for work, her mom was opening some boxes, and Nate and Timmy were working on hanging some blinds and stuff, so I had fun annoying everyone. It was great! I got to bite lots, and jump all over everyone. Of course, I got yelled at, but didn’t mind very much. I also figured out that I really like the couches.. Tiff and Nate kept trying to kick me off, though. All in all, a fun day! Nate practiced some of my obedience school stuff with me (”sit”, “down”, “look at me”), and I did pretty good.. got lots of Beggin’ Strips. I love those! Too bad I only get them when training.

I did have one accident tonight, when Nate didn’t take me out soon enough… Nate wasn’t very happy, but I had to go!!

I got to go to puppy school tonight.. there are only three other dogs in the class – two chihuahuas, and one yorkie. I’m the big boy in the group, even though they are mostly around my age! I didn’t listen real well to what I was supposed to be doing, because the other puppies were really distracting.. but Nate and Tiff worked on some of the stuff with me when we got home (the big thing we’re supposed to work on this week is loose-leash walking.. I try, but it’s hard!), and I did pretty good. I also know ‘Sit’ pretty well already, so I’m ahead of the rest of the dogs in the class.

I didn’t want to go to bed tonight, and kept trying to nip at Nate.. he put me in my kennel, but I know that I can sleep in the room now, so I barked until he let me back out. (Hah! Wussy pet parent!) After he let me out of the kennel, he put my rawhide in my mouth, and I calmed down and went to bed.. I’m a good puppy.

One of Nate’s old co-workers had this picture on a his blog.. I thought it was cute, so figured I’d post it.. it’s not a Malemute like me, but I think it’s a huskie:

Welp, not really much happened today.. ok, ok, I lied! I got to meet another dog up the street, although he’s kind of scared of me ‘cuz I’m bigger than he is.. I’ll have to keep meeting him until he gets comfortable with me. While Nate was unloading the car, he also let me help off my leash, and I went over and met one of our neighbors.. she’s really nice. When Tiff got home, we went to Petco and signed me up for obedience classes.. I get to start school tomorrow! Everyone at Petco wanted to meet me.. it was fun. On our evening walk, I also got to meet a family who lives up the street.. they have three little girls, one of whom really wants a puppy, so maybe I’ll get to play with them more!

Well, off to sleep for me now.. goodnight!

Today, Nate and Tiff picked up some steaks for dinner at Von Hanson’s.. while they were there, they got me a nice bone! I chewed at it for about 3 hours this afternoon (after I begged and begged for some of the steak, but didn’t get any) while Tiff and Nate slept.. I like it a lot. I’ve also been chewing my Puppy Kong quite a bit.. I’m glad they got that for me.

This evening, Tiff’s mom and brother came over again.. I had fun playing with Timmy again, but I was nippy, and liked jumping on the couch, so Nate finally made me just lay by the couch.. why won’t he ever let me play?? I also met a new friend today – there is a one year old Irish Setter up the street named Lucy. She seemed nice, but was kind of skittish.. her person didn’t really want me to play rough with her, either, which was kind of tough. Hopefully I’ll get to play with her later!

I’m off to bed in a bit.. I’m going to do my very best to be good so I can stay out of the kennel!

Here’s me and my yummy treat:

I met my uncle Timmy today.. he’s a nice people. I had lots of fun playing with him! I got to go on lots of car rides today.. we went to Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Petco, and Chipotle. Then, after Timmy and Teri left, Tiff and Nate took me over to Nate’s parent’s house to pick up a grill.. I got to play with them for awhile, which was even more fun. We came home, and I had dinner.. ate it all, just like my lunch. I’m a good puppy! Tiff and Nate are watching Lost right now, and then they are going to take me out for another walk, and head off to bed. Oh, I did have one accident tonight, but Nate says it’s his fault — he waited more than 15 minutes to take me out after I ate.

Well, I woke Nate up at 5:00 this morning, and then let him slepe until 8 – I’m a good puppy! I’m still in my chewing phase (it’ll last awhile, I’m sure), so Nate gave me a nice big new rawhide this morning.. I love it, and it helps me work my teeth out on something other than people! Nate and Tiff say that they will try to take me to Petco today to pick up a nylabone and some other puppy chewing helpers.. we’ll see if that happens, though — Tiff’s mom and brother are coming over to see me today.

Here’s me posing with my new rawhide:

..and a few seconds later, here’s me going back to trying to rip it to shreds:

Let me tell’ya – I hate teething! My puppy teeth are going away, in place of my big-dog teeth, and it hurts.. I’m trying to chew whatever I can, including my people – they really don’t like that. Tonight, they got really annoyed with me.. I was trying my best, but I just needed to chew! I liked chewing ice, but that only lasted so long.. I’d destroy the ice cubes, get the floor wet with ‘em, and go back to my people. They decided to take me on a long walk, and that helped.. I found a big stick that I carried around for most of the walk, and they though it was really cute – even brought it home after I decided I was done with it! After our walk, they ran to the grocery store to buy me some big rawhide bones; they said I’d get one tomorrow. They decided to let me try staying out of my kennel tonight, but I kept trying to jump on the bed and chew on them… that didn’t go over so well, so I ended up in the kennel, anyways. Ah well.. at least no accidents today!

Well, I discovered that I like the rain today! It’s so much fun to drag my people around, getting sopping wet.. it’s great! I also got another little rawhide today.. Tiff and Nate say they’ll have to get me a big one. I smell like wet dog right now.. but I don’t mind, I want to go back out! Nate threw in a load of laundry, did the dishes, swiffered the kitchen, and vacuumed the living room.. I’m not sure if I like cleaning or not; it’s kind of weird!

Right now, Tiff is working on change of address cards, and Nate is working on his computer stuff.. I don’t know what he does. I’m just laying on my blanket by the couch and working on my new rawhide. I’ve been a very good puppy today.. I’m hoping I won’t have to go to the kennel!

I did have one accident today.. but at least my track record is getting better.

I think my long walk to the post office last night wore me out.. I actually slept until 6:15 this morning! I chewed on my new ham’n'cheese bone for awhile.. all that’s left of it now is a little stump. Nate says I probably won’t get very many of these, since they are $6, and only last me a day. But that’s ok – I really liked it! No accidents yesterday, by the way.. so that means only one accident in the last four days – I’m a good puppy!

Really nothing special today… I got Nate up at 4 this morning again, and went out and piddled. I also saw one of our neighbors again (his name is Nate, too), but my Nate was too tired to take me over there to say hi. Then, I got another walk around 6:00, and napped by the couch with Nate until 7 or so. Nate had to go to work, so I hung out with Tiff for awhile. I needed to go outside while she was still showering, so I brought her my leash, and was a patient puppy until she took me out. Then, she had to go to work, and I was alone in my kennel listening to Cities ‘97 until around 2, when Tiff came home to take me on my afternoon walk. I had lots of fun chasing rocks and chewing on them, which Tiff really didn’t like. Then, I got kenneled back up again, until Nate got home at 4:30ish. We took a good walk outside, and I got to say hi to the neighbor Nate again. We went back in, and Nate took a nap.. I waited patiently until Tiff got home, and said hi. Nate finally woke up, and we all had dinner (I ate good tonight!). Then, we went out for a trip to the post office.. it’s about 1.5 miles away from the house, so it was a good walk. Once again, I had fun picking up the rocks. I also got to meet a person who was looking at the model townhouse.. he was from Russia, and really nice! After we got back in, Tiff gave me a new bone.. I really like it — it tastes like ham and cheese! Here’s a picture of me with the new bone:

Tiff and Nate decided to take me with to Old Navy.. I had fun sitting in the car and watching people go by. I got a little carsick on the way home, but it wasn’t too bad – Nate just got to clean out the backseat of his car. Nate and Tiff weren’t paying enough attention to me while they were watching American Idol, and didn’t realize I needed to go out, so I had an accident.. almost went three days straight without one, though! All in all, a pretty good day!

I had a pretty good night, except that my tummy started giving me trouble, so I finally convinced Nate to get up at 3:50.. he took me out, and I did my thing, then we went back in. About 10 minutes later I got him up again, and had to go outside again.. I also threw up on the way back into the house. After that, Nate sat with me for awhile, and around 4:30 I went back to bed. I slept good until his alarm went off at 6:30, then we went out again. He wasn’t feeling good today either, and stayed home from work.. he slept in the couch and I slept on the floor until around 2:30, when I needed to go out again. Tiff just got home, and she says she needs to go to Old Navy.. not sure if I’ll get to go with, or if I’m going to have to stay home.