The dog does not do winter very well

Our pavement special does not like the winter! I am talking of Petite Peu, our "little bit" of a dog, who turned out to be more than "little" or "bitty". She is also not the "Miniature Doberman Pincher" that we thought we bought...

I have said a  couple of times that we should have thought with a bit more wisdom before we got a dog. (Do we listen! No, not when the dogs look so damn cute when we saw them the first time!)

And in the meantime we got the Miniature Yorkshire Terrier who also turned out to be a dog with problems... I have mentioned that as well before...

This weekend we had a few laughs with regards our pavement dog and her eccentricities. She does not have very long hair, and gets very cold during winter. We have bought her two jackets which she has both chewed to frazzles around her neck. The jackets make her itch because of her hair that gets stuck in the jacket, and she is forever maneuvering herself underneath our feet to get a scratch! She also does not mind when we give her a back-scratch, where before she would have chewed our hands while trying to give her a rub!

The dog also loves sitting in front of the heater, especially the blow heaters. The Teen says she does not even feel the heat because the dog takes up all the space in front of the thing.

She loves sitting on our laps, and now has begun to growl when we move or want to get off. The Teen admits she spends more time contemplating of getting up, or out of bed when the dogs lies with her... She feels sorry for her. We had lots of fun "threatening" to move her. The growling and complaining and her burying her head deeper into the blanket on our laps are very funny!

Who has a heart to get up when we've got eyes like this looking at you?

Our furry dog - update

Benji, our Miniature Yorkshire Terrier

We got the cute Miniature Yorkshire Terrier in December last year. It turns out that he was more than we envisaged! Don't we all! #worsethanatoddler is stil the best description for our furry pet!

But we have all settled into a nice routine now. Benji has become accustomed to sleeping outside. He had a cosy deal with The Teen, sleeping on her bed.But the nightly pees and poohs became too much!
Hubby also said enough was enough when Benji was downgraded to the kitchen, and he was left cleaning it every morning...

We had a few nights of barking and bumping against the door. But now our little guy is "happily" (WE are the happy ones) sleeping outside with our other dog.

The two have grown accustomed to each other as well, and most days are spent with Petite Peu (cross breed Dachshund and other ) "grooming" Benji around the face. Benji enjoys it, and turns over on his back while Petite gives him smal bites. We get irritated by it; but I have caught Benji going to ask for the attention from the other one...

Our vet neighbour took him for his monthly groom and cut on Monday, and he looks very cute. A bit strange with the Schnauzer cut, but it is too hot here for the normal Miniature Yorkshire cut. And he will get too dirty as well with too long hair...

I got an sms from his previous owner enquiring about him yesterday, and all of a sudden I could not imagine giving him back! Yes, he has grown on us, and is part of the family as well!

Benji sleep-hanging from his bed in the evenings

Worse than a toddler

I saw the hash tag #worsethanatoddler on Twitter by 5minutesformom. I had to smirk smile at myself! It describes our dogs just as well! They are worse than the toddler!

And we have done it twice now! I don’t know where we got the romantic notion of a little dog that sits at our feet at night, and who comes when called, and go out and pee in the rain when ordered? Our dogs do not bark on cue! Never!

The new addition, the Miniature Yorkshire Terrier is extremely cute! He gets away with “murder” most of the time because of his cuteness. He wants to sit with us on the coaches, and we have caught him sleeping on it as well. He jumps like a regular little buck between the coaches. He is forever standing to attention for a scrap of food from the table, but turns his nose at his own food.

He does not do sleeping outside. We have relented every time, because he keeps on bumping against our security gate, and giving loud yelps!  He wants to sleep on beds, and it would have been fine. But he also lifts his leg in the house. I hope we can still teach him – he is an old man at 5/6 years of age!

Our other dog, Petite Peu, is not impressed with the new addition, and jealousy makes her keep guard 24/7 over Benji. To make sure that he does not get more attention than her... Not that Benji gets frazzled! He prances around like a Prince in the house!

The two humps each other every now and again. They are both neutered, so it must be something to do with being the top dog... I think?

In any case: The next time I hear about a dog that is looking for a house; I will be pressing the Forward button, and not Reply! You hear!

Another New Year’s resolution: Be careful of the Reply button!
What New Year’s resolutions do you have listed by now?

A new addition to the family

We already have a dog. A dog that we thought is a Miniature Pinscher, but turned out to be something between a Dachshund and a Pug. She’s got all the irritating characteristics of all the breeds. For example the loudest bark ever for such a small dog, and she uses it All the Time!

But she’s our dog, and part of the family! We feel sorry for her being at home during the day when we are not around. Dries wanted to get another dog to keep her company, but I said that one was enough! Because Petite is definitely ENOUGH!

But the clicker dog trainer of earlier this year sent out an email earlier this week that her mother has to get rid of her dogs. One of the dogs is a Miniature Yorkshire Terrier! It stated that the dog works well with other dogs.

Guess what? We got ourselves a new addition to our family: Benji, the Miniature Yorkshire Terrier. Apparently there were ten responses of people who wanted to take the dog, and they selected us as the new family!

Now we’ve got another male in the house! (See also weekend photo of him sitting on my neck on the way back from his owner.)

He is the cutest most chilled-out dog ever. Petite Peu was a bit thrown by this small little thing prancing around, but Benji did not seem to be bothered at all. He spent the most of today marking his new territory. We did not know a small little dog could pee so much. He also marked the teen’s room! We think it is because Petite Peu had a few accidents there when she was younger...

Tomorrow our vet neighbour is going to clean his teeth, because he’s got the worst teeth ever! (Is that a flaw of the breed, or did he get too many snacks from the previous owner?)

Hope we haven’t got ourselves twice the dog trouble than before? Thumbs crossed!

But he is super cute, and the toddler is impressed with the dog that lets her stroke him, and does not want to chew and bite the whole time...

The Dog - part of the family

Our little Petite Peu (“little bit” in French) dog is part of the family. We have been a very reluctant family. But slowly she has made it into our hearts (sic), and into our living room. She made it into Arnia’s room (and bed) as well, but lost the privilege when the teen’s room started to smell...

The normal doggy stuff still gets to us, especially when she upsets the neighbourhood, such as the VERY LOUD barking. Or running around like a dog on espresso when she gets out of the garden. Or jumping up on our guests. I am sure the Dog Whisperer would have a field day at our house. We know now that it is not the dog, but the OWNERS who are the problem! (Guilty!)

The clicker training helped some, but also guilty! We did not continue with it...

The bark is the worst. It seems abnormal for such a small dog to have such a loud yap! She is supposed to have been a Miniature Pinscher, but turned out to be a cross with a Dachshund and some other genealogical mixes on her family tree. She got the loudest and most irritating bark of them all! The toddler has been copying her Dad: when Petite Peu barks, she calls out “Hay!” while showing the little finger! We cannot help but smile every time it happens.

But strangely we like our little dog more and more, and love it when she awaits us with her welcoming yaps! She stays in our vicinity while we are busy or watching television; moving with us when we does; and sleeps in her doggy bed at our feet. We have even caught Dries with the dog on his lap, even though he threatens to not take her to the vet ever again, or to help her out of her existence here on earth... (But who is the one who takes her to the vet every time? Or make sure that she has her extra blanket with her?)

This dog is more work, more money and more everything than we anticipated... The thought remains that another dog would have been easier. (?) But now we have our “little bit” of Big Trouble! Part of our family!

Related posts:

Petite Peu of a mistake

Clicker training #8: CRazy, psycho dog got her certificate

Wordless Wednesday #31 - Teen's BDay

Arnia, the teen, with the hat
made for her by the day care where she is working
during the holiday.

Petite Peu of a mistake

Little Bit of a Mistake! That’s what our little bit of a dog IS! The problem with dogs and with children: You can’t give them back. (You can!)


Noooo! You can’t!

Our Petite Peu dog got an eye infection after we washed her yesterday! Hubby had to take her to the vet today. R600 ZAR money later and armed with three bottles of eye drops he was back. And visibly upset! We took the toddler to the doctor as well yesterday. The same amount of ZAR money was spent. The only difference: the medical aid paid for it! Ouch! Vets ask the same as normal doctors for their consultation fees.

And now we have to get the eye drops into the dog’s eyes. It is as mission impossible as giving medicine to the toddler...

Our dog has calmed down since we allowed her more into the house. Or maybe it is because she is getting older? She sleeps with the teen in her room, and we do not hear a peep from her until the next morning. She still dashes out of the gate when she gets the opportunity. She also barks her very loud yaps at mostly unknowns, and the doves who try to steal her food...

We have to smile (sheepishly) at ourselves: we got a “little bit” more than we imagined our little dog would be!

Crazy dog: Clicker Training #7

The dog trainer: “Come here, you little crazy dog! Are you a crazy dog?” Patting the dog on the head.


It is nearly the end of our clicker training sessions. We see her respond to our commands, or some of them... When we get her to focus... Sometimes...

But Petite Peu is still all over the place. If ever there was a dog that needed Ritalin, it is this one!

The teen was walking the dog at the training grounds when a lady with her dog from the previous session started to walk a circle around them: “Ooh, there’s that overexcited dog again!” Arnia felt offended... (I think it is the same with busy children. You somehow feel responsible for them being so excitable; even though it is an inborn genetic trait.)

Did I mention that our Petite Peu; which means Little Bit in French, is also not so little bit anymore. She is even bigger that a Dachshund.

Maybe we should call her our Little Mistake? It was a mistake to buy a dog at a pet shop, and we should have looked more closely at the type of breed we wanted. (But she is here to stay; do not worry. Smile!)

Mieka and the dog played with her wax crayons this afternoon. Mieka throws a crayon to the ground and Petite Peu grabs it and chows it. I caught her time and again feeding the dog the crayons, although I reminded her again and again not to give it to the dog. They are a naughty team together...

Clicker training #5

I was waiting for the dog trainer on Saturday to call our dog “pycho dog” again. I wanted to question her about it. Maybe she thought about it as well, because she did not do it again...
Petite Peu really did well with her commands on Saturday. I felt that she and I were getting on very well. She is getting used to me being the Alfa dog as well, and not only the teen. (The teen is occupied with hockey on Saturdays.)
The dogs were taught to go through a tunnel. It is not that difficult when food is thrown through the tunnel, and they are being called to the other end of the tunnel. The dog trainer made the tunnel longer and longer, and the dogs had to run through. It is a bit scary, because you have to let go of the leash. I am still not sure that I will be able to get Petite Peu coming back to me when she gets a free reign in the park. She wants to take on all the big dogs that are in the class with her. Very cheeky!
Dries is still threatening the dog’s survival when she barks her very loud barks in the house, or when she starts barking at the neighbours outside, or when she makes a dash for the gate. Translated: he threatens every day to get rid of her...
The toddler enjoys the dog the most. We sometimes catch her feeding the dog some of her food through the gate. She laughs when the dog bumps into her, and she laughs when the dog licks her face and hands. She also finds it irresistibly funny to kick at the dog when she is underneath the chairs; which makes the dog bites at her feet. She is not at all bothered by the liveliness of the dog’s nature. She gets the dog more than we do!

Related post:

Psycho dog

Psycho dog

Clicker training #4: I had to take the dog through her training on Saturday, because the teen was busy with hockey. The dog is doing “sit” and “paw” and “lie down” very good by now, but I struggled to get her to learn the new stuff. The teen gets more out of the dog...
The “look” command was not too difficult, but the “stay” command did not really make an impact. Petite Peu was tired after half an hour, and the treats not that inviting any more. She was lying in the shade, panting, and I struggled to get her to get up again. In the end the trainer said I could practise the “stay” command by letting her be, showing her the hand, and rewarding her for staying where she was. (I am not sure she made the connection?)
Walking with her in an eight-figure circle proved to be impossible. I got tangled in her leash, and could not get her to walk the desired way. We will have to practise more...
Petite Peu also barked at all the other dogs, and at one stage we got tangled with another dog (cross-breed fluffy dog), and fluffy dog yelped in distress. Fluffy dog got so traumatized that her owner had to walk her up and down for the rest of the class...
I got a ball on a stick to show to Petite Peu. She had to sniff it for me to treat her. Petite Peu was scared of the stick-ball. In the end I had to reward her for looking in the direction of the ball. The goal is to get the dogs to follow the stick with their noses (without the use of a leash). Apparently it is going to take a bit longer to get Petite Peu to learn this trick...
I was a bit taken aback by the trainer calling our little bit of a dog “psycho dog”. Does she know something that we don’t?

Related posts:

Clicker training #3

Clicker training #2

Clicker training #1

Clicker training #3

The dog is able to roll over (sleep, play dead, and roll over) and creep. But not yet walk with us...

She got so excited with seeing and sniffing the other dogs, that we had a hard time to get her to focus. But that is part of the training, getting her to get used and socialized with other dogs. For a third lesson it really went well, and we are even more amazed at how much can be accomplished with treats and a click!
Petite Peu is a highly excitable dog. To get her to walk next to us you have to start walking in another direction when she starts pulling on the chain. And give treats when she walks where you want her to go. Eventually she will learn that she will get to where she wants to go if she stays with you! It makes a whole lot of human sense! Hopefully dog sense to our little bit of a dog as well!
Dries is threatening her existence more regularly now! It is only verbal at this stage! We (not including Dries) love our little bit of a wild dog! We will have to increase our practising with her during the week... (Thumbs crossed!)
(Photo: Arnia trying to get Petite Peu to get up and go in another direction.)

Related posts:

Clicker training for the dog week 2

Dog (owners) clicker training

Clicker training for the dog (week 2)

“Petite Peu! Come! Sit!” Click! Snack!
“Petite Peu! Lay down!” Click! Snack!
The dog is sitting and laying down on command! But when she got to the dog training grounds on Saturday, she was all over the place. Strange dogs and people, and smells…
Dog, and dog! “Yap!” People! “Yap!” Smells! Birds! Trees!
“Yap! Yap! Yap!”
“Yap, yap, yap, yap!”
We love our Little Bit of a dog, but she gets a bit much with her constant barking! Nicola (the dog trainer) is positive, telling us that she is very smart, and the more we get her to listen to us, the less she will spend time barking. And hopping all over…
Arnia and I had to call her, and when we go her attention, to get her to sit and to lie down. Arnia had to count to five seconds, before she gave her the snack. It worked for a couple of times…
Nicola says that next time we are supposed to not give her food before we go to the training classes. She turned fussy on us half-way through the class!
The bigger dogs seem to learn a bit quicker. There was a German Shepherd puppy with us in the class, and he was not fazed at all by the yapper!
The owner showed us a few TTouch massage techniques to calm her down at the class, but I did not see much of a difference. Arnia and I have been trying to massage her over the weekend, but it is more like trying to pin her down to not being chewed than to get a good rub in.
We will get there… I really hope so, because Dries is threatening to kick her, and the threats are getting more violent by the day! I was listening to a phone message at work – his cell accidently phoned my work number – while he was busy running after her when she got out on Wednesday night! Hubby was not a happy chappy…
The clicker training is our dog saver! It must be!

Related posts:
Dog (owners) clicker training
The dog
Children and dogs are expensive

The Dog

Dries found the dog cowering in the corner today with a big cat busy eating her food. Now we have to teach her how to chase cats as well… In her defense, Dries said that it was a cat much bigger than her!
We had to lower our high expectations of her in any case: Petite Peu (little bit), the dog, is definitely not a Miniature Pinscher. She got a lot of the Dachshund genetics as well. We were still hoping that she would suddenly turn into the Pinscher, but the ears never got pointy, and the legs are too short. She seems fully grown by now.
I am not pleased (to say the very least) that we had bought her at a pet shop as the real thing! She came with a very steep prize for a cross a well. Where do we report such a thing?
And now she is part of the household. She is a family member whom we love with all her quirks. She is also still very much a baby at five months old. Chewing and barking (very loud for such a small thing) and jumping up and down. But she is sweet as well. She sometimes turns her head, looking at you as if to say: “What are you on about?” (See photo)

We usually get her in to “vacuum” the floor, especially underneath Mieka’s chair. She loves sitting on us or underneath us when we are on the floor. She loves gardening, and we get lots of upturned plants in the garden and leaves in the garden. She loves carrying Mieka’s toys and socks around, and we find most of it buried in her basket in the house. Luckily, because she is so small, she doesn’t bite through the stuff that she is chewing on.
It was said to us that she is not very bright, because she peed in her own bed, but we think she knows what she is doing. She marked it once and for all… And she is the Queen, for goodness sake! She sees blankets and cushions on the floor as the ultimate in invitations for using the toilet…

Barriers and gates and safety locks for the babies

We had two months of grace. Because Mieka only started to move last week, we could postpone organizing and safeguarding our house until now. In the beginning you still have the grandiose thought that your house would not turn into a playpen… (Stupid smile) Now we have toys and safety stuff in all of the rooms!
(This too will pass! This too will pass! Mantras to me – we will get our house back in the future.)
Dries installed the gate at the top of the stairs this past weekend. It makes me want to utter a swearword every time I try to open it. A baby will definitely not manage to ever figure it out, because I have a hard time trying to open it. Press in, lift up, and remember to lift up your feet high enough when stepping over it… Real pain in the ….!
The locks are on the cupboards, dishwasher and washing machine. We still need to put the ugly corner guards on the tables. Now we must also remember to always keep it locked. There is a baby in the house!
Dries also had to put up a wire mesh at the security gates for our other baby, Petite Peu, the little dog. Now she can’t slip through the gates when we don’t want her to come in. She had her third injection on Saturday. With the drive to the vet she made a poop in the car, and coming back she threw up in the car. She is a high maintenance little bit of a dog, but when you look at the brown eyes, you can’t stay mad at her for longer than five minutes.

(Look at the photo taken by my Dad, James.)