Rizzo Blankie
Rizzo has a bedtime.
It is 9PM. Every night, if it is 9PM and he is not taken to bed, he finds himself a spot and goes to sleep. Fast, fast asleep. He does not like to be woken up past his bedtime.
One night he found himself a spot on the couch while I was still up working, and I went ahead and tucked him in with his blankie behind me.
Yes, this is bedtime. Goodnight.
Nope, not to be woken up.
He even pulled his foot in under his blankie, because it was too cold when it was poking out.
Goodnight Rizzo.
Rizzo Road Trip
December 17th dawned with a thin sheet of ice covering everything outside and a winter storm warning for the next day or so.
Sounds like a perfect day for a road trip.
My car is in need of some work to make it long haul road trip ready, and I haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement to buy yet… but no worries! My sister has a lovely new hybrid, and road trips sound like fun!
Driving south, at first we were playing a game of spotting the cars in the ditch. But then it started to clear up a tiny bit after we got about an hour south.
It was about 70 degrees and quite lovely by the time we rolled out of Kentucky.
I think we’re supposed to #MadeInTN here.
We’ve retrieved our item! It’s now dark and we stopped to eat some dinner before turning around and driving back.
Once in Kentucky the rain returned, and as we came further north, the winter weather started to make a return. Thankfully, having been raised in Illinois, we both were comfortable and confident in slowing down just a bit and taking it easy and returned home safe.
With our brand new puppy, who has no idea what he thinks of this white stuff.
Rizzo was born in Florida and after I put out the feelers to try and find another dog to bring our household back to three, his breeder and I connected. Turns out she owns Kaner’s sister! The sheltie world is a small one.
This little guy is fun and rambunctious and was shaping up to be a great little sport dog, so after considering flights, we decided instead of meet halfway and make the exchange.
Once we got home, he was nice and cranky, and wanted nothing to do with his new brothers. I tucked him safely into his puppy crate and we all went to sleep for a good night’s rest.
Happily, the following morning he was much happier and excited to meet his new family.
Our first new family photo!
Also, he sleeps like a dream. I don’t remember what it’s like to have a puppy who willingly takes naps outside of his crate without having to be super tired first…
Bonus: he is super cute.
We explored the new cold white world a little bit.
I think he likes me.
I think I like him too.
Meet Stormie
Georgie got a new baby sister!!
We drove to Indianapolis to decide between this cute girl and her big brother. Both of them were cute and clever and playful, but something about this little girl… for some reason, she reminded us all just a bit of Auggie. Well, that makes the decision right there.
Riding in her crate on the way back.
At home and ready to play!
20 Week Family Photos
20 weeks! I missed a week for some reason and really can’t recall why. Easter Egg Hunt hangover?
And a close-up on baby’s face because people complain YOU CAN’T SEE HIS EYES DOES HE EVEN HAVE ANY
17 Week Family Photos
Unsurprisingly, being spring in Illinois, it’s still windy pretty much every day, including the days we go out for family photos.
Basically no longer a challenge to get Kaner to hold his sit-stay for these, which is awesome. I set everybody up, ask for a stay, take a handful of photos, then release. Then we set up again for another round, just to make sure I get something worthwhile!
He’s chasing catching up to Auggie, but as of yet he’s still at least an inch shorter at the shoulder. By this point in Payton’s life, he was already Auggie size, so it’s looking like Kaner will stay in size for sure.
St. Patrick’s Day 2016
I was going to be out of town on St. Patrick’s Day, so I decided to take some festive photos just a few days ahead of time. Before I even picked up Kaner, I found this green bow headband at the dollar store and bought it to use for photos. But I only had one, and I had three dogs – for the family photos, I thought, I needed two more props.
Return of the hats.
First of all, this is basically an accurate representation of our lives right now.
And then Auggie screamed when I put the bow on him. (Just kidding, he’s yawning because this is booooring.)
Then he gave me a look of disdain because I brought home a puppy.
A grudging decent face. It’s a handsome one.
I’ve got no clue if Payton is giving me a grumpy side-eye here or if he’s hoping I’ll use this as his singles ad to help him pick up bitches.
Oh, but he’s so happy!
Much much better.
Oh, hello Giraffe Neck puppy stage. I did not miss you. You make for really awkward looking photos.
Also these photos were basically all snapped as fast as possible between Kaner trying to eat the bowtie around his neck.
But it tastes like sparkles!!
Then we got the hats out and Auggie gave me a Michael Jackson impression.
Payton was like “herp derp gone fishin'”
Also, it was really windy, so this was an even bigger joke.
GOODBYE HATS. Also Kaner’s ears are trying to blow away. Good thing they’re glued onto his head.
Okay, okay, so maybe we won’t get a cute family photo with the props on. This will have to do.
16 weeks old and rockin’ his sit stays now.
THEN WE RUN AND PLAY AND BITE BROTHERS
Kaner and the Puppybed
Baby Kaner actually got into his puppy bed to take a nap, and it was super adorable, but every time I moved to try and get a photo, Payton would jump up like ARE WE DOING SOMETHING FUN and that would cause Kane to get up, too, and ruin my photo.
So instead I decided to shape Kaner to go across the room, get in the bed, lay down, and be cute so I could take my photos.
Basically all of my dog training just has to do with getting cute photos.
First I made sure my settings were okay given how dark the office was (it was yet another gloomy, cold winter day.)
Then baby got rewarded for being in the bed, and as all the treats landed low, it was simpler to lay down so he was closer to them for eating.
In order to actually make it a training session instead of just a photo shoot, I would occasionally chuck a treat outside of the bed so he would have to get up and leave, then make the decision to get back in the bed where more treats would appear.
He’s pretty cute, guys.
Okay he’s REALLY cute, guys.
14 Week Family Photo
We missed our 13 week family photo – things simply got too crazy, juggling a baby puppy who likes to put everything in his mouth and also isn’t sure how to hold his bladder or his poop – but we did manage a 14 week one! This photo was easier than the last several, as Kane now definitely knows how to “sit” (and is pretty sure he knows what “down” means but maybe not) and is learning how to stay.
Snowtime with Kaner
It snowed!! This is not Kane’s first snow, but it is his first snow with me, so outside we went for some snow playing.
He wasn’t totally certain about this white stuff falling from the sky though. Also it’s cold.
Pretty snow dusted Auggie. Auggie was trying to figure out how he can eat this snow, because there’s not a lot of it, but eating snow is one of his favourites.
Kane was more interested in playing with leaves and sticks than the snow, however.
THERE’S A LEAF UNDER HERE
WATCH ME PUPPY WHEEEEE
Trying to take a cute photo of his face… not workin’ out so well.
But when it DOES work out, oh my goodness.
He wasn’t sure how to respond when I tossed him a snowball. The snow is light and fluffy and couldn’t pack, so really it was more like throwing a handful of soft fluttery snowflakes in his face. I think it hurt his feelings. Oops.
Baby Dog Outside Games
Another day, and the sun is out for the dogs to play in the yard.
Watching the baby run around. Huh.
I’M A PUPPY WHEEEEE
Look at me I can run and jump and play!
RUN RUN RUN
MORE RUNNING
Payton says ARE WE RUNNING?? THAT’S MY FAVOURITE! Look how happy he is to have a puppy brother to play with. So. Happy.
Proinking around after his big brother.
He even ran some laps around the play cube.
Rarr, big brother!! Not at all phased by the fact that Payton is three times his size.
Happy Payton.
Yeah chasing!
Auggie sat on the deck and simply watched all this nonsense take place with a bit of disdain, which is a step up from his old tactics of running around barking as Official Fun Police, so that’s good.
Kaner’s First Bath
Little baby Kaner was a bit itchy after his round of puppy shots, so I got out my soothing oatmeal shampoo to try and help calm his skin and gave him a bath. Poor guy, not even home for four days and he already gets his first bath!
Don’t be fooled, he was an unholy terror and wouldn’t stop moving and a small puppy soaped up with shampoo is basically like trying to wrangle six greased pigs.
But there is absolutely zero chance I’m going to miss out on the chance to turn him into a Kanersaurus Rex.
He’s not actually holding on for dear life, I’m just trying to keep him in the tub. HA.
No dryers necessary for this little fuzzy baby, a towel is good enough to dry off.
All clean, and now less itchy!
Meet Baby Kaner
It’s only a small secret I’ve been looking for my next dog for a little while. Payton is nearly five, and although there are six years between Payton and Auggie, I wanted fewer years between my next two dogs. The search had intensified recently, especially with Auggie’s CHF. First of all, Auggie wasn’t playing with Payton much anymore, and poor Payton is pretty sad without a canine brother to play with. Secondly, I knew if I lost Auggie, I was going to be so devastated I wouldn’t be in the mood to add a puppy – possibly for a very long time. Hinging off the first problem, I knew it wouldn’t be fair for Payton to be an only child because of my own grief. With no way of knowing how long I have left with Auggie, I decided if it was going to happen, it needed to be… basically right now.
I also had a little hope that Auggie would be encouraged to play with a puppy. I’m sure we all know stories about old dogs with old dog diseases who get a new spring in their step when a puppy comes along. I had no idea if a puppy would actually help Auggie feel young and live longer, but I filed the hope away in my back pocket. After being assured by Auggie’s cardiologist that, if Auggie’s heart disease is controlled (and he believed at that moment that it was), additional stress from a new puppy would not kill my dog… enter Kane.
Kane (or Kaner, as he is mostly called) came from a breeder who is very close to the breeder of my other dogs, though his lines aren’t the same. It was a pretty big change for me to diverge from the lines I have loved in my other dogs, but I was ready for new blood (which isn’t as creepy as it sounds, I promise.) Similar to Payton, he was a beautifully built puppy who was unfortunately looking to go too big for the show ring, but he was obnoxious and active and loved to play. My kind of dog, most importantly – and the right kind of dog for the agility ring.
I drove up with my sister to check him out and make sure he was what I wanted.
Then, five weeks later, after bleaching all of my floors, picking everything I owned up and out of puppy-teeth range, and rearranging crates to make space for the small little puppy crate – I drove up to pick up my new baby dog.
Oh boy.
Auggie came out to meet him first and gave me a slightly withering look that seemed to say “Are you sure? Another one? If you’re sure…” Unlike Payton, who he took to immediately and began playing with right away, I had a feeling it would take Auggie a little while to come around and playing with Kane. After all, Georgie is his niece, and it took her some time to grow on him. I took his quiet acceptance and a general ignoring of the puppy as a good sign.
Then I let out Payton, who at that point in time was approximately three times Kane’s size.
This was no obstacle to either of them and they were immediate friends. Kane made it his business to jump and try to climb on top of Payton, and Payton made it his business to run as fast as he could with the little puppy trailing behind, short little legs churning in an attempt to keep up.
Payton was delighted.
So was I.
It was dark and late when we got home, but we did get a bit of playtime done inside and I managed a few (poorly lit) photos!
Checking out big Payton.
Being checked out by big Payton!
Now being checked out by both brothers.
He slept on the drive back home, and was happy to poke around and explore, but I could tell he was still pretty tired. He even started throwing a temper tantrum because he was overly tired. NO NO NO NOT TIRED NO NO
We did, however, get him tucked away in his crate and ready to go to bed. Sleep well, tiny guy!
Welcome to the family, little Kaner!
Payton’s Third Birthday
My little baby dog is no longer little, nor a baby. But he is still a dog. That’s about it. Today he turned three years old. The ideal would have been a nice long hike, just the two of us, and then a swim in the lake, but being Illinois is May, it’s currently about 43 degrees outside and raining, so that is not a thing that was going to happen today. Instead we went out to Pet Supplies Plus to redeem his birthday coupon on a bag of treats, then drove around town for a bit together, came back home where I made chicken thighs and gave him the cartilage and joints I cut off them, then we had PARTY.
But first. Yesterday I went to a few stores in town looking for some suitable party hats. I wanted football ones but couldn’t find any. I continued searching today, even willing to take plain blue ones (P’s colour) or green (I could paint them with some white and make it look like a football field.) NO SUCH LUCK. In my desperation I googled “DIY party hats.”
And this is what the crazy dog lady does for her dog’s birthday.
Not exactly orange and navy blue for perfect Bears colours, but it works.
Huzzah, group photo!
I made the football cupcake pick too, because I was going to buy some at the party store but the line was almost to the door… and I went there twice. WHAT. NO. WHAT ARE YOU ALL BUYING PARTY SUPPLIES FOR. MY DOG IS THREE AND HIS BIRTHDAY IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING. GET OUT OF MY WAY. So I left the cupcake picks at the store and just made that.
My mom took a bunch of blurry photos from a weird angle so I told her “Get down at his level.” This is apparently what she thought I meant. *facepalm* I’m going to have to start hiring a photographer for my dog’s birthdays because I can’t maneuver dogs AND take photos at the same time.
Cuppycakey for the birthday boy!!
Auggie is seriously the best boy. He wore his hat patiently, sat nicely, then happily devoured his cupcake.
I had half the cupcake in my hand to give to Pepper… and she chose to first eat the half still in the paper instead of just taking the half I had RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER NOSE. Ohhhh Pepper.
Georgie. My mom says to her “Georgie don’t be a shark. Or a gator. Or a pig. Or whatever.” It all fell on deaf ears.
Frosting face!
I don’t know WHAT happened to Pepper’s hat, it got crushed somehow while still attached to her head. But she looks happy, so!
And then we have Auggie. Oh Auggie. <3
P got a little blue sheep as his present, on top of the treats and the chicken parts and the cupcakes. Because we need more sheep toys in this house.
The end. Happy birthday baby Pay. Here's some baby Payton's in case you forgot:
That’s the bowl I later taught him to pivot on. Yep.
Henri
Henri is my sister’s new puppy. He came home the weekend before last, but he was wormy so we waited until this weekend to introduce him to our dogs. Auggie came out first and kept looking at me like “ANOTHER ONE??? Take it back!!” Poor guy. No, he wasn’t staying. He didn’t want to play with Henri at all. I don’t get it, he LOVED Payton and has never snarked at Payton, but he doesn’t have tolerance for other puppies now. I guess Pay was just special.
Georgie came out next and Henri wasn’t sure what to think of her. She was loud and didn’t stop moving. She got him to play a little bit but he just didn’t know what to think.
So then we brought out the Wild Child.
Oh Lord.
PAYTON will not rest until you play with him. PAYTON will not stop barking in your face until you play with him. PAYTON WANTS TO WRESTLE AND BY GOLLY YOU ARE GOING TO WRESTLE. So they became pretty fast friends actually, by necessity of the wild one being obnoxious until Henri obliged, and then Henri decided Payton was pretty cool and he wanted to play play play!
They did get into it a little twice, and I still can’t figure out what it was that Henri did that Payton didn’t like. I think it was Payton who would lose his cool but maybe not. Certainly Henri wasn’t doing anything that Georgie doesn’t do and get away with, but maybe because Henri was still new he wasn’t allowed the way Georgie is?
Anyway, what you really want is the pics:
“This thing won’t stop following me!”
Slightly blurry… he is a cutie!
Auggie sniffing at the puppy. He’s allowed to sniff the puppy, the puppy isn’t allowed to sniff him.
Oh here is my tongue.
Cutie cute cute!
Mom: “Are you sure Payton is wilder than Georgie?”
Umm… yes.
Yeah play!!
Imma bite all this fluffy hair you has! (I think this may have eventually become what Payton didn’t like even though Georgie – AND AUGGIE – do the same thing.)
Oh there’s a tennis ball.
I nom ball.
There’s another toy!! So many toys!
His tail kinda curls up over his back sometimes, haha. It’s adorable.
Mommy that cookie lady put me in this bucket.
I want out!
My sister was sitting right next to him getting him to pose like this and so she could keep the bucket from tipping over hahaha.
Ugh he’s terribly sweet too.
Getting sleepy… it’s about time to recharge my batteries…
head going down…
huh wha?? No I wasn’t sleeping!
Puppy butt!
The end… or just the beginning.
Payton coming home pics
Last weekend Auggie’s breeder’s husband was playing with her phone looking at all the photos and videos, and he came across a photo of a puppy and went “Who’s that?!” and I was like “AHHHH THAT’S PAYTON!” At the time, she sent me one of these but not all of them… so I sent the rest to my phone LOL.
So here’s photos of Baby Payton right after we picked him up.
“Hello new baby.”
Waiting in traffic – you could see the people in the car next to us so I erased them. X3 Not quite as sweet as the first “real” photo of Auggie and I hahaha. I think I’m kind of in shock at myself still. Like “Did I really just go buy a puppy?!”
He was actually a squirmy wormy and did NOT want to sit still on the ride home. He was climbing all over me as soon as we were actually driving. This was him faking it. “Ohhhh I’m a sweet, cuddly boy! Yes indeed!”
Almost home and he finally fell asleep… sweet little baby boy! Faker LOL.
Some pics from today, plus a Baby Pepper
This could have been a great photo… but overexposed. >=< I have so many problems with forgetting to adjust my camera for bright sunlight and ending up with overexposed photos… ughhh…
Eat da snow!
I don’t know how he got snow on his eyebrow LOL.
Auggie says “I also eat da snow!” Auggie is kinda skinny right now… I’m not sure if I like it or not. I cut back just a bit on his food since it’s his agility off season and all his muscle was getting soft, but I dunno… and yes I realize you guys probably can’t tell from this photo LOL.
Inside… for some reason he likes to play like this. I finally managed to get a good photo of it, haha. He’ll have a toy and then start rolling around on his back making wookie noises and flailing his legs around.
And in fact yesterday morning this is how he tried to wake me up. By putting his head on my BUTT and then rolling back and forth on his back making wookie noises and flailing his legs around. w.t.f. payton.
Then he grabs at the toy and makes more wookie noises and rolls around… because he’s so weird…
Also, yesterday I drove to Indy to watch Auggie’s breeder run Auggie’s granny (and Payton’s great-granny) one last time in agility… today is granny’s first official day of retirement. Anyway, before I went over there she had me run by her house and pick up her scrapbook that she forgot and bring it to the trial with me. We all spent some time looking at granny when she was really young, her AOM picture at Westminster, all that awesome stuff. And in the binder I found a photo of granny and Auggie’s dad at his first show when he was like six months. And HOLY COW Payton still looks an awful lot like Auggie’s dad now that I have puppy awkward photos to compare! It’s crazy. I meant to take a picture of that photo with my cellphone so I could show it, but I forgot.
But in the back of the binder were a few other miscellaneous pictures, and one of them was of two puppies, and I picked it up and said “Who are these?”
She pointed to one of the puppies and went “That’s baby Pepper.”
BABY PEPPER?!
So when I came home I looked around online until I found the photo, because I only have one other picture of her as a baby and it’s not a very good one.
Pepper is the one on the right. She’s so cute. D= D=
Georgie’s mom is the one on the left. Doesn’t Georgie look JUST like her mom?
My little puppy…
He has a big. D=
I hardly even remember this!!
He is still rather squishy and I can totally snuggle him into my arms though, LOL. I always pick him up and say “I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine! And he shall be my Squishy.”
Seriously though, he’s turning out SO well, and I’m so happy with him. I mean the excited nose-touches all over the place and the jumping up on me to try and nose-touch my hands while I’m cooking dinner aren’t fun but we’re working on it.
My mom’s puppy
My mom also has a new puppy! We have a crazy household at the moment with Payton, who has officially entered his Holy Terror stage, and now a brand new baby. The boys are being kept apart from the little baby girl for the most part except for a few very short and VERY supervised play periods.
This baby puppy is Auggie’s niece (his brother is her dad), as well as Pepper’s niece (her sister is her mom) – and Payton’s half-niece, being that he is Pepper’s half-brother.
That bed was on clearance for like $3. We had to get it, LOL. It’s a GIANT LOOFAH DOG BED… c’mon!!
Yesterday we re-did Payton’s ears with moleskin and string… the string came undone. This was the puppy’s new fave toy.
Actually Payton is kind of her new fave toy LOL. She loves him. Auggie actually has very little interest in her for some reason, but she is playing with Payton, and as long as I watch Payton and stop him before he gets out of hand, they are doing well together!
Little Princess. I keep calling her Pretty Pretty Princess and I want soooo badly to put the Pretty Pretty Princess crown on her head. I do actually own that game so I may have to open it up and get the crown out for some photos…
She is SO flippin’ cute!
Payton got mail!
Payton got a package in the mail from Fetching Tags with his brand new tag inside!!
But first…
Big boy collar??? NO!!
i hates it.
mommy why do I jingle.
please to be taking this off me?
Then we played with his football and he forgot all about it.
Why Kid Flash? Well, Auggie’s registered name is The Flash… and The Flash’s sidekick is Kid Flash… and Payton is Auggie’s sidekick… so it made sense.
Also Kid Flash got the nickname “Impulse” – not by way of a compliment, actually, but by way of warning that he tended to act first and think later. And this is very suitable for Payton, haha! So Kid Flash he is.
This is how my puppy sings
He doesn’t do this much. He did it once the first day he was home and maybe once or twice other than that. I wanted to record it because I think it’s kind of funny how he kind of warbles, LOL, and he wasn’t doing it anymore so I was bummed and thought I missed it.
Well, he did it today when I came home from work and went to go to the bathroom first instead of letting them out. So I set up the camera and then went to go change into my running clothes, and this was the result.
(and yes, I realize it’s pretty much time to change out his crate for the bigger one. Unfortunately that means he won’t be able to sleep in my room anymore because there’s no room for a bigger crate in my room. He doesn’t wake me up in the middle of the night but I kind of like having him in there with me and Auggie… I don’t trust him not to pee in my room in the middle of the night loose though… =<)
I keep watching it and I think it's hysterical. Does that make me a bad dog owner?
Playing boys
First of all, this is what I get when I say “Pepper?” to Auggie these days.
Apparently absence makes the heart grow fonder?
His head shape is changing. His needlenose is getting longer, LOL. Soon the top of his head should start to expand some.
I was moving to take photos and he was looking at me suspiciously, like I may try to grab that sheep at ANY SECOND…
Auggie chews toys, too. But often when he was a toy, Payton wants it, so he doesn’t get much peace to chew.
But Payton is teething hardcore right now so Ropey Sheep is a great chew for him.
We just started wrestling a few days ago. It often looks like this after Auggie shoulders Payton or butt-bumps him into going belly up.
Just a few pics…
New fave. <3 <3
Wouldn’t you know it – we went to breeder’s house so she could glue down his one ear and the other ear came up less than two hours after we got home that night. =P She told me how to glue it down so I’m going to give it a shot, probably tonight. She thinks they are tipping really nicely so far though.
And a very happy Auggie!
Me + My Boys
Asked Mom to take these tonight… obviously didn’t turn out anything like the photos with me and Pepper but unless I specifically ask people to take some photos, I won’t have any photos of me with Payton as a puppy. (Well, I’ll have some when we get pro photos done in November, but he just keeps growing, so…)
Trying to get him to look at the camera…
I can’t believe she caught this one, it’s amazing, haha.
He is trying to eat my face off HALP
Yay cuddly baby!!
Auggie watching all of this go on…
I couldn’t get him to smile so we both looked sad instead, LOL.
Action shots of Payton
Finally switched modes on my camera, so I got some good shots of the puppy in motion today!
The basketball is obviously Auggie’s, but Payton loves this toy. I need to go get him a football one… I’m pretty sure they make one that’s identical but a football instead of a basketball.
One of his ears has come partially undone, I dunno if you can tell in the photos.
It’s funny because the toy is almost as big as he is, LOL. It drags on the ground unless he holds it just right.
And Auggie with his strawberry. He usually has limited interest in the plastic toys. Today he was obsessed with his plastic toys because I’ve been giving them to Payton to play with, and of course he wanted them because Payton had them. (I’m not actually complaining, I would like him to play with these more. They were slightly expensive even though I bought the majority on sale at 50% off.)
Auggie loves strawberries so it’s appropriate.
And Pay inside with the artichoke. The artichoke was the first one I bought because it was just too funny!
