Introducing Winstin!

Many of you have heard me mention my grumpy old Sheltie brother, Winstin. Well, Mommy said it was time to introduce him to everyone, and show that he is actually a very sweet boy who simply doesn't appreciate being boxed in the head by the frisbee sized paws of dane puppies. Humph! Notice the cracker-dog face he makes at me when I get too close:

Don't come near My Avery!!

Whatever, I guess since Winstin is now having to share his home and family with me, I will share my blog with him...but just this once!

Ok, so about Winstin. He is an almost 10year old Sheltie baby that Mommy has had since he was 3months old. Mommy said he was her baby before she had human babies, and that he has been the best doggie ever, especially with the human sisters.

His favorite sister is Avery, the oldest. She is the one that always snuggles with him on the sofa (um, why don't I have sofa priviledges?!?!), and scratches his back in just the right spot.

Story Time

Best Friends

Snow...in Texas...at Christmas?

He is also very patient with the baby sister. He just sits still and lets Sissy hug and kiss all over him. Mommy does take pity on him pretty quickly, though, and makes the baby leave him be.

Smooches from the rag-a-muffin.

When he was younger, he enjoyed taking long walks, playing fetch, and cuddling with Mommy. Unfortunately, his health has not been so great for the past couple years. See, every year, Mommy has Winstin shaved in May, because it gets SUPER HOT in the summers. So, his hair grows out over the next few seasons, with just baths, brushes, and trims from Mommy. Well, two Mays ago, Mommy took Winstin in for his annual vaccines, and then to the groomer. When she picked him up from the groomer, she noticed a large lump on his throat. The lump had gone un-noticed due to his shaggy winter coat. Of course, she took him back to the vet, and after x-rays, discovered it to be a large tumor. There was more risk to remove it than to leave it, due to its location, so Mommy decided to let him live as easily as possible for as long as possible. Since then, two more large, fatty tumors have developed on the sides of his rib area, but the one on his neck doesn't seem to be growing, and none of them seem to bother him.

Shaggy, tumor-hiding winter coat. And it's only Dec. here.
By May, it's pretty out of control.

Well, in July Mommy noticed that Winstin was limping a lot, and pulling tufts of hair out of his tail and chewing on it. She made an appointment for the following week (just a few days away), but over the weekend, the hair pulling and tail chewing got worse, to the point that his tail was bleeding. So the vet man had Mommy go ahead and bring Winstin in earlier than planned. It turns out that he had chewed through to the bone in just a couple days time, and ended up having to have 1/2 his tail amputated!! The vet man said he had probably hurt his tail somehow. He was chewing, trying to get rid of what was hurting him, and the limping was probably the pain spreading up from his tail to his back. Since his tail amputation, he has been completely fine. And even with the tumors, he is still a happy little guy, that nudges hands to say, "pet me please."

He's such a sweet, happy boy!

Mommy debated the stress it would cause Winstin, adding a new puppy to the household. Ultimately she decided that: a.) the sisters really needed to get attached to a new doggie before Winstin's time with the family was over, and b.) Winstin was likely and hopefully going to be around a few more years, and the girls wanted an active doggie to run and play with them.

So, now Winstin is the family snuggle buddy, and I, Jasmine, am the new family playmate! Everyone is happy, healthy(ish), and just feeling blessed by the happiness we sweet, and funny doggies bring to the family.

Puppy Love!!



Finally! A Real Adventure

I finally experienced my first real adventure yesterday! It start out with a car ride to our neighborhood lake. There is a nice trail around the lake, and Mommy said I need to practice my leash walking. Humph! Let's see how she likes being lead around by the neck! I mean, seriously!! She says I would have a lot more adventures and fun experiences if I would just cooperate, but I'm not sure I believe her. Anyway, I digress; back to my lake story...

Just a cute picture of me practicing recall in the back yard.
Wanted to break up all the text! :)

So, we get to the lake, and spend the first few minutes arguing about who the leader is. Fine, Mommy, I'll kind of obey you. Oh, but wait; HECK NO! There's no way I'm letting the sisters walk in front of me! *pull, pull, pull* Then Mommy was so rude as to poke me in the rump with her foot and tell me "eehh," which is her way of warning me not to do something. Well, that made me stop in my tracks and do an about-face. Apparently this reaction just reinforced Mommy, because after that she would poke me in the rump with her foot any time I got a little to, ah, enthusiastic, and I would stop and turn. She said that was MUCH more effective than her just stopping and waiting for me to behave. Well, needless to say, I got sick of being poked in such a rude fashion, so I was much more agreeable after that. On the up-side, Mommy made the sisters walk behind us, so I wouldn't be tempted to chase after them.

So, on our walk we spotted a little lizzard, some bike contraptions, a scooter contraption (which I'm sure was trying to get me), and a disgusting swarm of grasshoppers. Mommy and the sisters squealed like little girls....oh, wait; the sisters are little girls. Well, after half a mile (remember I don't go for many walks 'cause I'm naughty), I was a bit warm. Mommy took me over to the lake so I could get a drink. Um, no thank you; I'm sure there was fish, duck, and turtle cooties in there! EEEWWWW! But, I did try to get a closer look at some little fishies I saw swimming around, and then the most awful, horrible, tragical thing you can imagine happened.....I fell IN....TWICE. In to the water with the fish, duck, and turtle cooties! It seriously must have been like 3-4 inches deep. I could've drowned and Mommy just laughed at me! Oh, the horrors; I think I'm scarred for life....

So, the little rat went a little bug-eyed when I
tried a little dane play with him.

Well, after that travesty, we headed back to the car. Just before we reached the parking lot, the big sister, Avery, said, "Mommy, look at that little puppy." And sure enough, there was a little boy chihuahua doggie all alone. As soon as he saw me, he rushed right over and said "hello". He was very unsure of my Mommy though, and kept trying to run from her. I didn't especially like him, but Mommy made me do a sit-stay so she could try and earn the trust of the midget. After much coaxing, and the help of a nice man, Mommy was able to get the little guy in the car. Mommy says I am a heroine, because I was brave with the strange little dog, and helped Mommy to rescue him from the unknown perils of our suburban neighborhood.

 He wasn't wearing a name tag, only a rabies tag. So we took him home, and Mommy called the vet from his rabies tag, and they said they would find his file and his owners and call us back. We played a bit of phone tag with the vet, but finally learned that his name is Taco (which my sisters think is ridiculous). He should be going home to his family today. Thank goodness! Little runt took over MY crate, and I had to sleep in the bathroom. And I must admit, I did have an accident in there, so Mommy says I'm not quite ready to move out of my crate yet. Here are some pics of me and the midget. Mommy didn't take the camera thing to the lake. She said it was hard enough trying to control 4 wild girls (me and the 3 sisters).

Think I'll stay under this chair 'til I'm sure you don't have cooties.

 

Hmmm....You don't look TOO scary....

Okay, we can be friends!

(Note from Mommy Lisa: I have been stressing about Jasmine's naughtiness on the leash for a while now. I know leash training isn't easy, but I need to at least be able to control Jasmine before she is bigger than I am. I have tried the "stop when there's tension" method, but it is just not effective for us. If I had more time, maybe, but I can't have a 80-100lb puppy dragging me around the neighborhood in a few months. It has even gotten to the point that Jasmine doesn't want to go on walks, because I stop every two steps; now she just sits at the end of the driveway and refuses to move. I hated the idea of her being confined to the house for the next several months, so I decided to take her somewhere new, where she has no negative associations. She did much better. When she would walk nicely beside me, she got a hot dog, and when she pulled, I touched her rump with the toe of my shoe and "eehh" her. Jasmine would startle, turn and look at me, and wait until I caught up, then we just kept going. This seemed to work really well for us, so I think I will try it a few more times this week. I know there are a lot of "purely positive" trainers out there, but even with my kids, I may not punish a bad behavior, but I definitely address and correct it. This seems to work for my dogs as well.)

Fetch is the BEST!

I just love playing fetch with Mommy. It is the best, and it always leads to my second favorite game, tug!

Oops...overshot the target a bit.

Gggrrr...gotcha rope bone!



Hold up. I gotta get a drink.

Until next time my friends...

Mommy mumbled something about "lanky".
What's she talking about?

Puppy Love!!



MY Chair....

So, when I came to live with my family, the baby sister had this great little chair that was all her own. Well, since Mommy wouldn't let me have the couch, I decided I wanted that chair...so I took it! Mommy says they LET met have it, but I like to think I claimed it! Mommy and the sisters get good laughs at me falling out of the chair, and this is where I take all the toys I just want to chew on. Mommy says I can keep it as long as I don't get "territorial" and grump at the sisters if they go near it. I am starting to outgrow the chair, but I don't mind, cause I LIKE IT!

Accessorizing with the princess phone case.

Hmmm....I must have dropped the phone.

Wonder if I can find that card thingy that Mommy trades for toys and yummies...

Do you have a favorite non-bed hang out spot in the house that you have claimed as your own? I may need some new ideas soon...

Puppy Love!!

A Bad Ear Day

Okay, Mommy has told me that puppies go through lots of changes as they get bigger, but she never mentioned my ears! When I was just a little thing, they hung nice and straight down the side of my head.

But then they got to where they were always angled backward

And now they flop all the way back and get stuck!

Awful, I know! But it gets WORSE!! Now, my ears have started to point....straight forward sometimes! As, my new friend Mango would say, WTF?!?! (oooo...Can't bark like that around the sisters!)



DO NOT LAUGH AT ME!

Mommy says she has seen pics of other DANES (not labs..hehe) with puppy ears like this. She assures me they should get back to normal soon, but it makes me wonder if this is why some humans like to do that funny cropping thing to their doggies ears. Mommy promised she would NEVER do that to my ears though...funny looking or not!

Puppy Love!!



Friday Fun

Fridays are pawsome! Mommy doesn't have school on Friday, so after my after-breakfast nap we have loads of fun in the back yard with the two little sisters.

First I wrestled with the outdoor nap mat.

Then I looked after the sisters' baby.

And waited for my turn on the slide....then chickened out.

I did get told off by the baby for sniffing at her diaper. She said, "No-No, Puppy!" and shook her finger at me. Sheesh! Sisters!

Note from Mommy: Sissy added the "shirt-skirt" all by herself!

Sorry, Sissy. Lets kiss and make up.

Then I had a good game of tug with Mommy and my favorite purple stuffie.

And finally, a nice back rub from middle sister, Brynan.

Whew! Man, Friday mornings are a blast!

Puppy Love!!

I am NOT a Lab!

Mommy consoling me after the very
breed-challenged tech told me what a
pretty lab I am.

First off, check out Mommy and me getting fancy on my page! Pro-fessionals we are!

Secondly, I am NOT a Lab!! Not there's anything wrong with labs. They are very nice. In fact, I have a cousin who is a lab of the yellow variety, and she is very nice. Jozie never gets grumpy at me like certain shelties I know...not to name names...a-Winstin-hem. But, nice or no, I am NOT a lab!

Mommy has always wanted a great dane, and after lots of research to make sure I would be a good fit for the family, she finally got me for her <insert age> birthday. Well, we are both getting very peeved with people thinking I'm a boring ole' black lab. (Again, very nice, but just not me.)

Mommy posted my puppy pics on FB, and got comments of what a beautiful lab I am. I went for a stroll up the street, and all the neighbors exclaimed over what WONDERFUL pets labs make. But the final straw was when I went in to the vet man's to get my first shots, and even the techs thought I was a lab! When Mommy explained that I was actually a black Dane, they just said, "Oh, I guess I can kinda see it now." Humph! Maybe you need to learn your breeds lady. Go back to school; flip through one of the dog magazines sitting on the table; something! 'Cause I am all Dane, and I can prove it!

I prefer stuffies to tennis balls.

My knees stick up over my back when I lay on my tummy.

I can actually chill out long enough to lay on my tummy AND enjoy a stuffie.

I have a very long back and neck, and I look just a little too skinny even though I eat like a horse.

So, while I guess I can understand that people just see what they expect to see, I hope I have made it clear that:

I AM NOT A LAB!!

Thank you for listening to my rant. Puppy Love!



A Day in the Life....

Hi, to all my new friends! I was so excited to see your posts; unfortunately nobody else did! For some reason Mommy has to approve all posts before they are published, but she's working on that...newby. Anyway, they're up now, for the doggy world to see!

So, it's been a wild week here in Texas! Everyone has gone back to school, including Mommy, and it has been so quiet in the house. Mommy only has to leave me and Winstin for 4-5 hour at a time, but she was worried about how I would do. Being a den animal, I am happy in my crate even when my people are home, but I'm only in there when Mommy can't "watch me like a hawk." (Please! As if I would take the baby's cookie, chew a stuffie the sisters left in the floor, or eat a sock!) But she was worried I would get bored and cry all day, or not be able to "hold it" and have an accident in my crate.


Well, she worried for nothing! She left me my blankie, stuffie, rubber bone, and something called a "Kong," to keep me occupied. Let me tell you! That Kong thing is pure greatness!! First of all, it is covered with this ooy-gooy stuff Mommy calls peanut butter. (Apparently this is popular with pups of all species, because my human sisters can't seem to get enough of it either!) Next, there are some flovored cooky bits, then a little kibble and training treats, and then some more cookies. Ah, man. When I see that come out of the freezer I make a beline for the crate! YUMMY!


So, after I have demolished my yummies, had a nap, chewed on my bone and stuffie, then had another nap, I hear the garage open. Then the insanity begins! My human sisters are fighting over something silly (I mean really, if it's not food or toys, is it worth getting Mommy grumpy?), Winstin is crying to go outside, the baby human is just crying, and Mommy is grumping at everyone! Sheesh! Well, of course I'm waiting patiently in my crate. I'm certainly not whining, or boxing the door with my paws...no way...not me...

Hangin with my big human sister, Avery.
She loves my floppy ears!

Well, it's finally my turn for attention. Mommy makes me show patience though! She makes me sit nicely and "Wait" until she tells me "Okay", then I get to come out. Of course I go straight out to potty and drink from the big water bowl outside. But it's so hard to decide what to do! Potty, drink, slobber on Mommy, drink, sniff the baby, drink, jump on the big girls, get told off, slobber on Mommy again. So much to make up for! Then Mommy gets my human sisters settled in front of the TV thing and I, at last, get my game of tug/fetch. This is mine and Mommy's time to PLAY!!! I'm finally figuring out when to "Drop It" when told, instead of trading for a treat. After a good game of tug and some snuggles, I go back to my crate while the humans cook/eat dinner. Man, it smells good!

Weee!! Love playing chase!

After human dinner, it's backyard time again! My sisters and I have a great game of chase, and Mommy throws my stuffies for me! Greatness! And the other night I found a HUGE ball! It was bigger than me, and loads of fun! Mommy tried to run in and get the camera thing, but by the time she got back with it, I had already killed my ball. :(  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

Oops! I killed it!

After our backyard play, I go back to my crate for my dinner, and Mommy puts the sisters to bed, which usually results in more screaming, crying and grumping. After all that playing and dinner, I have a little rest until Daddy gets home, and then I get more love and play. Then it's out for a final potty, and bed time for me! Gotta get up early for school in the morning, ya know!
Well, that's a day in my Wild Life. Mommy says it seems a bit out of control sometimes, but she wouldn't have it any other way!