Pupdate

Behold the poor, pitiful puppy, banished from the cozy sofa on Saturday night. Not for being on the sofa. I'm fine with snuggly dogs. Not for bringing his chew toy on the sofa with him. I can appreciate the snuggly puppy with a teething ring. What I'm not fine with is having my wrist used as a teething ring by the snuggly puppy on the sofa. I think Clifford has designated Mommy and Peter T. Dog as his favorite things. Or maybe we just taste good. Either way, Clifford needs to learn that Peter T. and I are not chew toys. Pete's better at getting the message across, with a bark and a bit of shunning. I'm hoping a "NO" and being booted from the sofa will work as the human equivalent.

Aside from that, it's been a good week for learning around the house. The kids are learning to keep tasty toys, shoes and "stuff" off the floor, along with learning to recognize the signs of a young dog in need of a trip to his favorite potty spot under the magnolia tree.

I've learned that the coffee table isn't a safe spot for folding laundry, unless I was looking for a reason to run laps through the house, retrieving the socks Clifford steals. He's not chewing them, just trying to start a game of chase. It's very much like a baby deliberately dropping things from the high chair, just for the fun of mom or dad picking it back up.

Peter T. Dog isn't really learning anything, but he seems to be having fun being a teacher. On a family hike at the Chattahoochee River trails, he was not-so-subtly asserting his place as official scout by walking directly in front of Clifford to keep him from passing. And, during our normal side trip to the boat ramp for a doggy cool-down, Clifford was initially shying away from the water. Pete walked up to Clifford, chuffed in his general direction, and walked into the water. Only after seeing Pete soak himself would Clifford set his paws in the water at the edge. When Pete cooled off with his normal lie-down in the shallows, Clifford walked about a foot into the water and sat. Never took his eyes of the grown up dog. (I watched.) Clifford sat in the river until Pete stood up and shook out the water. Clifford tried to shake on his way out, but with far less grace. He fell over midstep, providing the whole family with a good laugh. I'm pretty sure Peter T's snort was an amused snort.

Anyway, after 4.5 miles of walking and a bowl full of food, both dogs are napping quietly by my desk.*


*Darn. Tried to get a picture of the two dogs. Peter T. Dog wasn't as sacked as I'd thought. He noticed the camera, and moved to the other side of the desk. (It wasn't even the camera with flash - just my phone.) Clifford, the chalk outline puppy, didn't even stir.

Pupdate

We're all loving the new family member, runny wet puppy nose and all. The cold should be clearing up, so we'll be seeing less of the runny part of the wet puppy nose soon.

He and Peter T. Dog are still getting along quite well. Playing chase around the house is all the rage with them, even though Clifford does occasionally forget what he's doing and wander off, mid-game. (It's the grasshoppers. They're very interesting. And so are fireflies.) When he does get distracted, Pete comes back, snorts something - I like to think it's "neener-neener, can't catch me" - then takes off at a slightly slower run to let Clifford keep up.

The kids and dogs play together very well too, but I think I've got myself two 4-legged babies now. I'm used to Pete coming to me for reassurance, but now there's two. Not a problem when I'm at my desk, or curled up on the sofa with a book. But in the kitchen, it's becoming quite the adventure.

This is a photo of the furry boys during my ironing the other night. This is pretty much how they land in any room where I stop for more than five minutes.

My kitchen is a good old (except for the appliances) 1950's ranch house kitchen, meaning it's tiny. Pete's favorite spot is dead center of the stove-sink-refrigerator triangle. I'm used to stepping over his stretched out form, as he pretends to nap while secretly hoping for dropped food. With two dogs sacked out in the middle of the kitchen floor, cooking looks more like a strange new form of hopscotch. And, when you add children getting silverware for place settings and passing dishes to the table... think Twister.

Speaking of kitchens, the dishwasher just clicked off. It's time for me to take myself and the 8-legged furry obstacle course back into the kitchen.

Tomorrow morning is going to be Clifford's followup on his little suture site infection, along with Pete's annual checkup. After clean bills of dog/puppy health, it's into the bath for the both of them. They both have the hot weather dog smell about them, and Clifford's fur is a magnet for dust and pollen during his exploration below furniture and thick hedges.

Patty's new "shoes"

The tires on my commuter were shot. This weekend, B2 helped me swap out the tires and clean the chain, while DD was off on a play-date. B2 had a great time with the tire levers, and did a good job working the old tire off the rim. The tires were so much easier to work with than road tires we could probably have managed without the levers, but he wanted to play with the tools. The tube was as old as the tire, so I was going to replace anyway - no worrying about lever punctures.

After the tires were on, we cleaned up the chain and re-oiled. B2 was very helpful with shifting gears and testing brakes, to make sure I put them back together before we rode down to the park for a quick spin. No long rides, just in case something went wrong. Nothing did, and I think I'm really going to like the smoother ride of the City Ride tires. Might drop Patty off with the mechanics at the Silver Comet Depot in the next week or two. The chain is rubbing against part of the something-or-other in one particular gear, and that's not something B2 and I can fix. (It has done that for as long as I've owned it, btw - have always just avoided that gear.)

All is well, and I was back on the road today, to pick up food for Peter T. Dog at Red Bandana. We've had him eating Avoderm, but he doesn't seem to like the senior formula, unless we mix it with something else. The something else has been the high protein formula from Trader Joe's. It kind of defeats the purpose of "senior" if we're mixing with regular, so we're going to see if he likes the Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: Senior Dog Formula. It has glucosamine and chondroitin to keep him happily running, and salmon for his dry skin. If he doesn't care for this, we'll go back to mixing. For the next six months, I know he'll be getting enough exercise to keep off the weight.

As for my little bike mechanic, I offered to pay him for his help, or take him out for a mocha or something. He said no. He just wants the old tires and tubes. I know he wants the tires to make a double ring for jumping cars. The tubes? I have no idea, and am a little scared to ask. This is the same kid who, at the age of four, walked up to me and announced "I'm gonna tell you something you may not even want to know... it is a bad idea to build a powered water fountain in bed, even if you use big cups" Then, he asked me if I could come upstairs... to my room.