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?

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

The dog completed her clicker training, and got a diploma certificate awarded to her:

“This certifies that
Petite Peu
Has successfully completed

Puppy 2

And is hereby awarded this diploma by

The Eukanuba Puppy School

For extremely gifted pooches”

Yeah, right! ;-)

But I must give credit. I never thought we would be able to get her to do most of the things that we are now able to get her to do with treats.

The teen and the boyfriend took the dog through her last training, while we were watching. The dog was sitting and watching them intently (mostly because she knows there’s food involved – but that’s what it is all about), and did most of the commands very well. She did not respond at all when the teen only had to call out the commands without the hand signal. She gave them a blank look, and that was that... Very funny!

The trainer called her crazy and psycho dog, again.

We will not be going back for the advanced training. It is possible that she would be able to advance from where she is now. But we have had enough, for now! We want our Saturdays back to ourselves. We think we accomplished most what we set out to do. If only to understand our little bit of a dog a little bit better... She is a bit of crazy, but she is our bit of crazy!

I have learnt something about behaviour as well, which can be successfully used for the toddler as well. Catch them doing something well, and reward that. Ignore the rest!

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.)

Poop phase

How nice to be able to enjoy going home at the end of each day. We were discussing women being in bad relationships, and not wanting to be at home anymore. I used to be in a BAD relationship – long time ago (previous life) – where I dragged my feet to go home. And I am not a workaholic who lives for my work... The only thing that kept me going home was my daughter, Arnia. Phew! Nice to be able to talk about a different lifetime, and laugh about it…
Now it is nice (for the lack of a better word) to go home to our small little townhouse. We look forward just being together. So boring, but so nice…
Mieka had her first swim in a small inflatable swimming pool on the lawn on Saturday. Petite Peu was trying to eat our feet. The fun stopped very suddenly when Mieka became red in the face. It became a whole operation to extract her from the water, and to clean her and the pool. The dog is also keeping us busy with picking up her poop. The thing with babies - children and dogs – is that poop is part of the deal… We are in the poop-phase, trying to maintain a poop-free house. (Sheepish grin) But we don’t mind, because it is our home, and our family, and we love being in each other’s company! The poop phase is a bonus, compared to trying to survive in a bad relationship.

Children and pets

Children and dogs are expensive. (Sic)
The dog turned out to be not a Miniature Pinscher, but a cross, most likely with a Dachshund. The vet confirmed Arnia’s suspicions on Friday. One of her friends told her that Miniature Pinchers have white triangles on their chests; they have pointy ears and brown faces. Our dog lacks all of these characteristics. But we still have to wait and see what she is going to look like. No wonder she was cheaper than expected at the pet shop. That was one of the factors that made us buy her, when we saw that she was R800, and not the expected over a R1000 as these types of dogs are advertised. Afterwards she costs us a pretty penny at the vet too and now she is too valuable (with regards to the money spent) not to invest in her. Petite Peu (little bit in French) is not so little, it seems, but she is still very cute, and very cheeky. When we want to discipline her, she barks at us. The little cheek of a thing!
Arnia had an accident with my laptop. She went to fetch it, and because I did not zip the bag, it fell out and off the stairs when Arnia picked it up. She had such a fright, and felt so miserable; she wanted to pay for fixing it. Yeah, right! Her pocket money is not going to cover it. It was my mistake in the first place, but it was really not a good thud to hear when it landed on the bottom of the stairs. Dries said that when he heard me scream, that he thought I could have been me going down the stairs with Mieka. Looking at the situation with that perspective, it could have been much worse!
Why do we have children and pets when we know they are going to cost us? Ouch!

Little bitty stories

Our little bit of a dog is still alive! Dries and Arnia are doing their fair share in looking after her. Dries go home during lunch-time to give her food. He said that he paid so much for her at the vet that he can’t afford her dying on us. Arnia feeds her, she sleeps in Arnia’s room at night, and Arnia also does most of the clean-ups when there is an accident in the house. Petite Peu is a very lucky dog! She has learnt to climb the stairs, but we have to rescue her, and bring her back down again.
On Friday evening she was gone after our guests left, and just when we were beginning to get frantic, one of our friends phoned and said she was with them. Apparently she climbed into one of their bags, and when they opened the bag, there she was, looking at them very innocently! She is also still very much a baby, chewing on everything, us included, and getting very excited when she hears her dog food bag being opened. To have a baby dog is very exhausting, and Dries said today we must get her sterilized as soon as possible. (Yeah! That’s what I was saying from the time we got the dog.) He concedes that having more of these babies would be too much – on our finances and our patience. Or is it peace?

Break & Petite Peu

The Little Bit of a life is still at the vet. We did not discuss it much today. I think we are saving ourselves emotionally, and trying to not get too attached. I feel extremely sorry for the poor little Miniature Pinscher when I picture her in the strange surroundings. Hopefully she is all sorted out on Friday…
We had a wonderful sunny break day in South Africa. Dries made the barbeque, as is required on National Heritage or Braai Day.
Arnia had to cope with the X’s (cancelled one) sister phoning, and telling her she is murdering her dad. Huh?? (She has made the decision to not speak to him at the moment because of his bad behaviour.) She put the phone down on her, and got a couple of messages saying she is not welcome at her dad’s funeral etc. Luckily she doesn’t play their emotional games, and did not respond to any of it.
Dries told me today that he feels very rich – with me, Mieka and Arnia in his life. I have been feeling the same, very lucky!

Déjà vu

How difficult can it be? We want a little dog!
We are going through the same trauma again of a few weeks back. Little Bit, our 6-week Miniature Pinscher we got on Sunday, is on a drip until Friday. Apparently it’s only worms, but she got dehydrated. I also think it is because she is of a highly sensitive breed. She is traumatized, and we are traumatized. Dries phoned the breeder, and she says all little dogs have got worms, but usually it is sorted within a week. She says that usually there’s a bit of stress with the change of scenery. But this dog stopped eating, and the stomach got upset. I can only imagine such a small dog stressing in new surroundings again, having to stay in a small cage. Arnia says she is shaking. The previous Scottish terrier puppy also had worms, and after that she caught cat flu. I am holding thumbs that we are not going the same route again. And in the meantime the cash register is rolling…

Little Bit of trauma

Wow! What are we doing wrong! The little Miniature Pinscher is at the vet on a drip. Again! We went through the whole traumatic experience the previous time with the Scottish terrier, and now the new little bit of a dog is sick as well. I told Dries to let the dog go/die, but apparently he’s got a softer heart than me. Again, Arnia spent two nights with the little thing in her room, and she is heart broken that Petite Peu is sick. Now we beat ourselves up. We should have gone to the SPCA, or we should not have bought a dog so soon after the previous one? Or we should have gotten an older dog?
We lost all reason when we saw her on Sunday in the pet shop. She was too cute! Please, Little Bit, stay with us!

Petite Peu

We found our little Miniature Pinscher in a pet shop today. Because we were promised a dog of this breed, we got used to the idea. When we saw her in the pet shop, it did not take long for Arnia to convince Dries to buy it for us. Afterwards in the car he said he is now totally overpowered by females, and there is too much estrogen. He should have taken a male. Petite Peu (“little bit”) is very cute, and it looks as if she is going to be very cheeky. She and Mieka are both a bit apprehensive about each other. She starts shaking when Mieka screams (out of delight) at her. But when she barks, Mieka starts crying. It is going to be an interesting relationship…