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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Liver!

Quick update. You get mostly pictures today.
Click below for more!

Zuul is finally feeling more comfortable wrastling with her older dog friends. She and Hannah went at it pretty well last Saturday. Yay!


She played lots with Tallulah last night. It's great.

Here is Zuul at the playground at Brentwood Park. She's busy Staying.


We made more liver treats on Sunday. I used Chicken Liver this time instead of Beef Liver. Zuul was super excited and couldn't wait for them to be finished. I let her lick the bowl clean. She was thrilled.




We had dinner at my Aunt's on Sunday. We ate lots of great food and Zuul sniffed around. She was graciously given some toys. She now has new rope, a rope ball thing and a Chuck-It!. The Chuck-It! is going to be great. Thanks Jane and Nancy!



That's it for now. Zuul has some exciting times coming up. It's going to be fun!

photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Zuul Likes Her Some Quesadillas

Apparently Zuul likes quesadillas.


Click below to read more!

She's not a drooler. She's never drooled that I've noticed. Not like this. She must have channeled the super power of Hooch. This was last Tuesday. We were making a variation of Kitchen Sink quesadillas from Real Simple. She was in a Stay just outside the Kitchen mostly smelling and listening to our cooking. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend. Gross. We didn't worry about this much either since she still looked cute. Naturally.

Zuul spent some time at the park on Saturday. The sun was out so I snapped some shots of her being amazing and cute.


Last year my co-workers and I did Secret Santa. I received a glorious chicken that makes noise and does the Chicken Dance while waddling around. Once I powered it up, Zuul figured it must need to be barked at. So she barked and generally acted like it had the potential to end her existence. It was all I could do to pose her with the chicken. That's a hoof consoling Zuul on her right.



Sunday was below freezing for much of the day. Zuul and I went to the park in search of her first icy puddles. She found one. Sniffed it. Smacked it with her paw and ran off with a chunk of ice. She came back for more before we moved on. She's a flippin' genius.

Zuul has been working on Up Up. It's a variation of Up. Up she stands up. Up Up she jumps up onto whatever. At the park we Up Up onto benches, picnic tables, bleachers, and four stories of a playground. She shows off occasionally by jumping onto the picnic table from a non-bench side. Zuul is also eager to master Off following an Up Up.

Here is Zuul sitting on a park bench in the snow (not sticking!).



Zuul attended a Hanukkah party last night. It was at Auntie Bludgeon's and Uncle Brian's place downtown. Zuul spent five hours being petted, harassed, and told, "You're so cute!" from lots of strangers. She didn't bark or freak out which was nice, or have an accident, which was nicer. She spent much of the time sniffing around. I warned Bludgeon that Zuul would find all her secrets. She found a googly eye, a paper clip and a gum wrapper. How nice!

The menorah wouldn't stay put. We improvised.


Zuul was passed out on her blanket by the end of the evening.


Her separation anxiety issues seem to be abating. Her nose is slowly healing :(

picture credit: Megan
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: Auntie Bludgeon
picture credit: me

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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

:(

Zuul's recent behavior has been very saddening. I wish I could somehow tell her that we'll be home soon and she can relax. Unfortunately, the only apparent way to do this is by indirectly modifying her behavior. This will, of course, take some time. It's very sad to learn that all your love and attention results in a panic stricken dog.

Ultimately this will come out positively. Zuul's compliance for our commands was becoming a little less than stellar. Mostly with the Sits. After just two days, she is MUCH more responsive. It also helps that she is comfortable with Stay and Get on Your Bed. We can send her out of the room or leave her in a room without any barriers until she can calm down a bit.

Last night I was in the bathroom and Megan was holed up working on an application. Zuul was on her bed when I went to the bathroom. Zuul began pacing around looking for one of us. I stayed put. When I came out, Zuul was on her bed. I went to jibba-jabba with Megan. Zuul started to whine from her bed. She was not told to stay so I wasn't sure why she was whining. I ignored her for a bit and she periodically whined. Thinking she must think she's in a Stay, I called out, "Zuul, OK!" She jumped out of her bed and ran down the hall looking for us. She sprinted right by the room Megan and I were in. She ran back the other direction when she could not locate us. She zoomed by the same room again and screeched to a halt just beyond the doorway when she noticed out location. She burst into the room acting like she had not seen us in days. It had been about 20 minutes. :(

Not to say that any of this was unexpected. Weimaraners are well known for separation anxiety.


Zuul seemed to have a good time with Megan's family over the Thanksgiving holiday. However, I think she forgot about them over the first night. She barked at Megan's mother like she was an intruder Friday morning. Zuul realized her mistake and apologized profusely to her. It was cute.


I picked up a new harness for Zuul last night as well. My mother (thanks Mom!) gifted one to Zuul in August when we first adopted her. She was 20 pounds. Now that she is 45 pounds, the harness probably won't fit. Zuul is much too big now to fit in the passenger foot-well so we need to start buckling her in the back seat. This harness will let us do that. I'll give a shout-out to Pet Loft since they were nice and let me trade up to the bigger size without any hassle. Hopefully they can handle the volume from the potential customers that head there. Did I mention there are ones of people reading this blog every week?!

As the calendar goes, Zuul is 6 months old as of November 25th. Crazy!

picture credit: me
picture credit: me

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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Separation Anxiety

Due to Zuul's recent separation anxiety that is manifesting itself into Zuul repeatedly scratching her nose on her crate, we are having to change the way we interact with her. I don't know who is taking it hardest: Tom, Zuul or me. I have enjoyed snuggling with Zuul and telling her hello when she comes up to me, but all of that now must change. Tom and I have to reassert ourselves as the pack leaders, so that Zuul won't think she needs to protect us. Somehow this all relates to her separation anxiety. Darn animal behavior! We now have to call her to us if we want to interact with her and ignore her if she comes to us without being summoned. I'm having to use a big, scary, commanding voice to get her to realize I'm the boss. Tom says it isn't scary, but I think otherwise. Getting her to stop tearing her nose apart will probably take a while, but I'm hopeful. Until then, we have provided her with pieces of cardboard to destroy in her crate, so that she can take out her aggression on the cardboard and not the crate. So far, she loves it. Hopefully, she will get over this soon. Otherwise we will have to get her one of those cone head things.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Zuul, sit. Good dog!

Zuul and I have taken several trips to the park after dark this week to play fetch in the cold and rain. While playing fetch several groups of people walked past and I made Zuul sit and stay before they approached the area where we were playing. Zuul is getting so good at the sit stay! She didn't move for almost a minute each time as strange people walked past her. I won't say she was happy about it. The entire time she was giving me a look that I could only interpret as, "Are you sure you don't want me to bark at them and protect you?" It was adorable and I was sooo proud. I am much less proud of Zuul's on-leash behavior as of late. Her shoulder muscles are getting huge and she is super strong. She thinks she needs to pull me like a log in a log-pull the entire time we walk. I have tried making her sit whenever she pulls, stopping and not moving until there is slack in the leash, and turning in circles each time she pulls. I apparently SUCK at training her to walk well on the leash. This is my goal for December. If I can't get her to stop pulling, I am going to end up with some serious road rash on my face as she gets bigger.

Zuul is on her third hoof in the four pack Tom bought her. She is adorable when she chews on it. Even cuter is watching her run from room to room with it in her mouth as she wags her tail. She is so proud!

My family is visiting this weekend and so Zuul is going to be spoiled rotten with attention. I fear for Monday when she will probably try to tear her crate apart. Hopefully we can exhaust her so much over the weekend that all she will want to do is sleep on Monday.

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Monday, November 19, 2007

Dead Lyssavirus

Zuul had a big day on Saturday. She received her first vaccine for Rabies. We were told it was a dead virus and she should not experience any side affects other than soreness at the injection site and some drowsiness. While at the vet, we learned that Zuul now weighs 45 pounds. She's more than doubled in weight since we first adopted her. She still seems to be on track for 65-70 pounds.

We went to a new park after our trip to the vet. Zuul could not keep her eyes open for the 8 minute drive.


Drowsiness indeed! We found ourselves at Woodstock park. It's not very far from our place and I'm not sure why we have not yet made the trip. Apparently it rains a reasonable amount around these parts. This phenomenon transforms Woodstock park into Woodstock bog. It was a sloppy mess. After running around for a few minutes, Zuul starting foaming at the corners of her mouth. Dead virus? She still looked cute so we didn't worry.

Zuul had a great time getting filthy and watching other dogs play. There was a Boston Terrier/Bulldog trying to enjoy Zuul's ball. It's mouth wasn't quite big enough to get a grip on the ball. It's brain wasn't quite big enough to comprehend this fact and was hesitant to give up. At one point I had the ball in my hand and this dog was jumping to get it and making small-dog sounds. I decided to test Zuul's innate desire to protect her people. I pathetically called out, "Save me, Zuul." She pounced at the dog. It wasn't aggressive, but more of a "Hey, I'm not looking for a fight, just chill out and leave him alone" pounce. Zuul's awesome.

Later, we emptied a container of Zuul's peanut butter. We buy it fresh-ground from the local WinCo (pronounce When-Cah). I thought Zuul might like to retrieve the last remnants from the empty container. She's even cute when her head is jammed inside a plastic tub. Can you believe it?!



Zuul trudged out into the rain on Sunday to play with Harry, Percy, Hannah and Tahlulah. She had a great time chasing Percy and hiding under trees to stay out of the rain. I raced her across the Lane Middle School field. She was able to keep up with me or, rather, I was able to keep up with her. I think she was mocking me. I used to be faster than her. That was 25 pounds ago (not mine, hers!).

When Zuul isn't chewing on a hoof, she's sleeping. She's been sleeping a lot lately. I bet you're surprised to learn that she's cute even when she's sleeping.


picture credit: megan
picture credit: megan
picture credit: me

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Oh behoove!

I would like to apologize for my absence from the last update. This Daylight Saving thing now results in most of Zuul's park time being spent in the near dark. I hate DST so much I actually wrote my Senator when I was living in California (thanks for the SPAM, Barbara). As a result, I find photographing Zuul's exploits challenging. Furthermore, Zuul's faithful readers find a lack of Zuul pictures to be extraordinarily disappointing. Thus, I find myself waiting until I have enough pictures to warrant a post. I will work to improve upon this disappointing circumstance.



Zuul has finally lost her clingon teeth. I noticed Sunday morning when she yawned and I didn't vomit. I quickly checked her mouth and her upper right baby canine was missing.
Yay! The lower canine was still there but I could see that its days were numbered. That tooth has since disappeared.

I attribute this latest turn of events to Zuul's latest and most favorite possession: a cow hoof. I picked up a 4-pack at the local Bi-Mart (pronounced Bah-Mat). She chews. Then she chews
some more. Then she stands up, turns a circle and chews some more. Then she runs to another room and chews some more. Then she drops in on the hard floor and makes us go deaf and chews some more. Now she chews on her bed at our insistence.


I decided last week it was time to increase Zuul's crate to maximum capacity. I didn't want to do it mid-week so I waited until Friday. Now we can fit Zuu's bed (thanks Mom!) in her crate. I strategerically threw Zuul's blankets (thanks Nana!) on top of her bed. This made her crate a tad too short inside and Zuul's head often found the top of the crate. Her blankets (thanks Nana!) are now strategically placed around the walls of her cage to create more of a nest. She likes it. This morning she ran down the hall after her breakfast to jump back in her crate.

Zuul is coming along great with Stay. She Stays before eating every meal. I vary the time but she's Stayed up to 2 minutes staring at her food on the floor. I even left the room to use the WC. She starting whining and then I felt bad, but she Stayed! I've been working on some more distracting Stays. Zuul Stayed while watching a game of soccer at the park. She's getting the hang of staying when her ball is thrown. This one is touchy since I don't want to discourage her from fetching.


Zuul is finally becoming more comfortable playing with older dogs. She played with Gifford (pictured), Hannah and Tallulah over the weekend. It's nice to see her confidence building. Speaking of playing, Tallulah became enamored with a partially fallen tree branch at the park. Most of the dogs gave a try, including Zuul.


I believe that's it for now.





picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me

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Monday, November 5, 2007

Treats?!

Zuul and I made some more Beef Liver Treats last night. She was excited as could be and the baking seemed to take forever. I let Zuul smell the raw beef liver before I threw it in the food processor. She was hooked, again. Usually she runs from machines but she eagerly sniffed at the whirring processor. Megan and I had pancakes for breakfast with plenty leftover. I tore a piece; dipped it in the beef liver batter. Zuul was ready to do anything. She sniffed around and around the kitchen trying to find the source of the lovely (overwhelming) aroma.


Yum!

The three of us were invited to our first dog/people party on Friday. It was at Jennifer's, the mother of Hannah, presumably a flat-coated retriever. We had a good time with our new friends from the park. Zuul ran around for a few hours and Megan and I munched on calzones by the fire. Zuul was pooped.

I mowed the lawn on Saturday and Zuul enjoyed rolling around in the fresh cut grass with the sun shining on her belly. She's cute! We were out of view of the entry gate when Zuul heard it opening. She bolted around the corner and started barking her little heart out. I heard the gate closing as I came around the corner. A vote solicitor was backing away from the gate, changing her mind about her uninvited entrance. She tried talking to me as Zuul barked away. I told her to wait a moment and let Zuul bark a little more. I told Zuul, "That's enough!" She promptly stopped and looked as proud as could be. Two for two! I think the solicitor was shocked to see that kind of barking power out of our little Zuulie.

Lilith walked by with Percy and Harry. Zuul and I were invited over to Jennifer's again (they're good friends). We obliged and I soon found myself munching on calzones again. Zuul discovered the joy of a hoof as chew toy. We'll be picking up some of those soon. Lilith and Jennifer highly recommended them. She should not run into the same problems she had with the raw-hide bones.

Sunday was spent watching Peyton Manning choke against the Patriots. Megan was not thrilled. Zuul was happy to be sleeping on my sister's couch.

Until next time.

photo credit: me

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Friday, November 2, 2007

No Loitering or Soliciting on this Property

Zuul is 40 pounds of pure, solid awesome. The three of us were walking out the door yesterday on a trek to the park. Zuul jumped out first and started barking towards the gate right away. I was just behind her and noticed the object of her attention: a solicitor wearing a bad suit and worse tennis shoes. He was right at our gate and backing away fast. I looked at him. Megan came out, looked at him. Meanwhile Zuul is spouting the most glorious barks evar. I let Zuul bark for a good ten seconds to be sure she had learned a terrific lesson. I said, "That's enough!" (we've been working on that command) and she stopped, looked at me so proud of herself. I showered her with praise. Yes, he was still standing there. Mr. Solicitor decided he should probably do something with his time and proceeded to attempt contact with us. I ignored him as I was still busy praising Zuul. Megan convinced him his kind was not wanted.

Yay, Zuul!

Sorry, no pictures!

edit:

I feel bad not having pictures. You get a Haiku:

solicitor: bark!
proud as the autumn season
oh, Zuulie, You Nut

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

B'Gosh!

We stopped by the Costco last night to find another outfit for Zuul. There was a new collection of clothes for slightly older children. We picked up an OshKosh B'Gosh hoodie. It's a size 7 which presumably means it is for a 7 year old. Zuul probably has until 7 months before she's too big.

Guess what. She's cute.

She seems plenty toasty now. She slept in it all night, too!

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Monday, October 29, 2007

Please Remove Yourselves This Instant

Allow me to be frank. Zuul's breath smells like ass. Every time she yawns, we want to run away. We don't because she's so cute. If Zuul's breath were an ice cream flavor, it'd be Praline and Butt. Her upper baby canine that is still holding on wiggles like crazy but will not come out. Under the advice and guidance of my Cousin Cari, a Dental Assistant, I tried pulling it. I couldn't get a grip. Cari suggests that one of the roots may not have completely resorbed yet. I asked if I was going to cause any harm if I intervened and yanked the tooth myself. She said there would be no problem, other than blood. Cari likes the blood part of her job. I might try vice grips, but Megan might try to kill me at the same time.

Zuul just lost another molar. The one on the left is the tooth she lost a few weeks ago. The lovely looking specimen on the right just popped out. What a pleasant surprise.

Here is a comparison shot of Zuul's teeth from September 13 and Now. Crazy!

We stopped by Lilith's house last Tuesday evening to thank her for taking care of our little baby while we were away. One of Lilith's friends was there with her two dogs. She has a Belgian Tervuren that's about a month and a half older than Zuul. She's the auburn colored dog in the picture below. They all had a great time playing and it was nice to see where Zuul spent much of her time while we were away (Megan had seen it, I had not).

The sun was setting nicely last Friday. I snapped some shots of Zuul basking in the dwindling rays. You get one. She moves fast.

Satuday, Megan was boring and studying for some boring test. Zuul and I headed off to the park. We had a really nice time. We walked around. I threw her red squeaky ball. There are a couple mounds in the park that peak at about 10 feet. We sat upon one and Zuul participated in a Long Down: she lays down next to me for 30 minutes. I do not touch her unless she gets up and I do (try!) not look at her. There was some reasonable activity and Zuul did very well. She popped up eight or so times. About half of those were due to some idiots going to fast over some speed bumps nearby. Pretty good for a puppy and we haven't done this in a few weeks. Higgins' dog trainer was there training a couple dobermans for the estate. Some crazy people walked by. Some more crazy people walked by. Some other dogs walked by. A couple new American Standard kids played at the play ground. Zuul could see it all from her perch.

After 30 minutes Zuul was very eager to do something else. I pulled out her green squeaky toy. We've been on these mounds before. Zuul enjoys letting gravity roll her down the hill a little bit and then she runs back up and starts over. This is most enjoyed with a toy. We did a little more fetch and headed home.


Speaking of fetch, Zuul is finally reliable with the fetching. She only fails under two circumstances: she's looking in the wrong direction and doesn't hear her ball land or another dog is competing. She'll slyly take her ball back from Percy, but any other dog she concedes. I'm sure when she's a few pounds wiser, she'll reconsider. I was worried she wouldn't pick up this fetching thing; we'd be screwed trying to exercise her.

We spent another Sunday at Mt. Tabor park. Megan, Zuul and I reached the same conclusion: It's a nice park, boring dogs®. None of the dogs seemed to want to play. They were all doing their own thing. They didn't even chase after Zuul's ball. Boring G. Boring. Oh, well.

Megan snapped a great action shot of Zuul. Too bad a dog's butt slipped into the shot....



That's it.

photo credit: Megan
photo credit: me
photo credit: Megan
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: Megan

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Mt. Tabor

I forgot to mention we went to Mt. Tabor park on Sunday. It was our first time there and definitely will not be our last. It hosts an amazing dog park. You cannot see from one end to the other. It sits mostly on a slope, no mud. It was full of all sorts of dogs. Zuul spent most of the time observing and absorbing all the activity rather than running around. We were worried she wouldn't be worn out. She passed out for the rest of the day. We were home by 2pm.

My brain forgot that I have a camera and I didn't get any pictures. Lame. There was a Puggle there so you can look at pictures of them.

Zuul spent about 2 1/2 hours at Brentwood Park last night. She had a great time playing with all sorts of dogs. We started off in the Dog Park. Bleh. There was a pitbull present that seemed well mannered but our dog friends warned us that it was easy to set off. Zuul couldn't even play with her ball. Super lame. I spotted Tabor, Zuul's German Shorthaired Pointer friend, at the Volleyball courts. I bolted out of that fenced Hell as fast as possible. Zuul was certainly eager to follow. I threw her ball and she happily retrieved. Zuul played with Gifford, Tallulah, Hannah, Harry, Percy and a couple other dogs. She had a blast. We went home and she passed out.

I remembered that I have a camera and snapped some shots. Dogs move fast. That's Tabor in the first shot.


Megan and I went to Costco last night and found a selection of cheap jumpsuits for small children. It's been a little chilly as of late and figured Zuul could use some warmth. We snagged a 24 month sized piece that said "I love mud" since Zuul loves to eat mud. I managed to get the front of it on her but the back legs would not come close to snapping back together. Zuul is larger than a 24 month old child. She was cute in her outfit, though. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled.

photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: me
photo credit: Megan

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Monday, October 22, 2007

Teeth!

Zuul's baby teeth are rapidly fleeing her mouth. Her breath goes from smelling like a portable restroom to funky stainless steel mixed with dead fish. We've stepped up the tug-o-war to try to encourage her teeth to hasten their departure. It worked! We found her first baby tooth. A nice little molar. She's already lost several teeth but this is the first we've seen. We gave her some ice cubes when the tooth popped out and she was thrilled. Zuul would hold her head up so the ice would rest against her molars. She's so smart! Just a dozen or so more teeth to go. I keep forgetting to snap some pictures. I'll get them ASAP.

Have I told you that Zuul is cute?

And here is a reference shot so I can keep track of her height a little better.



Short update!

photo credit: Megan
photo credit: me

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Thursday, October 18, 2007

Home Again

Megan and I had a rough week. We had planned a vacation to New York City before we adopted Zuul. We kept our plans and missed our dog terribly! I also had a business trip to Florida leading up to our vacation. Needless to say, we were glad to come home. Zuul seemed pretty happy, too. She's huge now!

Fortunately we know some awesome people that were able to care for Zuul in our absence. Lilith, owner of Harry and Percy, watched Zuul during the day. Zuul had a blast playing with her two pups for hours on end. At night, Justin made sure Zuul didn't eat too much mulch and graciously fed our little baby. Our friend Nikki made a special guest appearance one day when Justin was busy with work. We are ever grateful to know these wonderful people that were able and willing to care for our little bundle of joy in our absence. We are scheming of a way to repay Justin for his generosity. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Now for some updates.

Zuul's butt is better. She recovered by the following Friday of my previous post. It's too bad. She really loves them rawhide bones. Now we'll get her some real bones. Zuul and I made some more beef liver treats. Megan and Zuul played in the Fall leaves at the park.



Zuul received her last round of immunizations. Up next is an ovariohysterectomy followed by a rabies vaccination. Good times. Zuul weighed 34.8 pounds. That was two weeks ago. She's probably over 40 pounds by now. She's on track for 65-70 pounds. I swear she grew three inches while we were gone. Megan and Zuul did some computing.



Zuul was the ring bearer in my sister's wedding. She did great. I didn't get any pictures myself, but there was a photographer and I will be sure to post some pics when I get them. Zuul met lots of family that weekend as well. She met my Father, Nana, Granddad and Megan's parents and her sisters, along with lots of other friends and relatives. She was super well behaved and everyone loved her. Naturally. She was pretty pooped when it was all over. And confused. She went from people overload to having her parents leave her within about three days.

Megan's sisters (they're single!) didn't get along with Zuul very well:

Then we were in New York visiting friends and having a nice time. We visited Zuul's old stomping grounds.Then we came home. I snapped some shots of Zuul at the park yesterday morning.


Last night Zuul received a much needed bath.

Please forgive the lack of updates. With my sister's wedding and my trip away, I haven't had much time for anything!

That's all for now.

picture credit: Megan (I think). Editing by me.
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

We're both sick

This has been an entertaining week so far. We gave Zuul a rawhide bone Sunday night. She was chewing away at it pretty well and before I know it, she's sniffing around for something else to chew. She swallowed the entire bone. It was the ~6" long variety. Nothing too big, but big enough that I didn't think she'd be able to swallow it. The package claims the bone is "highly digestible." Bull honky.

The next day at lunch I take Zuul outside. She's dropping the kids off at soccer practice, then, about half-way through, out comes some fat bastard the same color as the bone with the consistency of a Starbucks Frappuccino. I hoped that was it. Wrong. She developed a mean case of the squirts. I happened to fall ill on Tuesday. Good thing. She was out at least every hour squirting some lovely goodness out her behind. Our lawn looks like a battlefield diorama. There is no way we can pick that stuff up until it's dry.

We became worried toward Tuesday evening. Megan went to the park and spoke with a dog friend. She gave us some pulsatilla to give Zuul after each trip outside. This is to go on until things clear up. Zuul had a normalish poop last night. Then at 4am this morning she's whining to be let out. I take her out and she can't get out the door fast enough. She runs to the corner of the yard and out comes 5 pounds of sloppy crap. Impressive. She even managed a cute butt scoot on the ground afterwards.

Before work this morning she went out and crapped out a wad of that bone. It looked like the edges of the rawhide. Like the frog leg lollipops from an episode of Top Chef I was subjected to watch. But more stringy. And watery. We'll see how she does at lunch today. Hopefully that was it.

We had a dog date on Sunday. My co-worker is out of town and another co-worker is dog-sitting for him. She and I thought it would be fun to have Zuul and Toby get together. Toby is a 100lb chocolate lab.

We went to NE Portland to Irving Park. It has an unfenced dog park which was nice. There were a bunch of dogs there and Zuul had a great time. She made friends with a Boston Terrier of the same age. It was about 1/5 Zuul's size and tough.



Zuul also met a cousin. Sheila the Weimaraner. She is 8 years old and about 60 pounds. She didn't seem very tall to us. Zuul will most likely be larger. They didn't really play together.

We went from the park to Otto's Sausage Kitchen to have lunch with Auntie Bludgeon and Uncle Brian. It was Bludgeon's first time meeting Zuul. She thought she was cute. Naturally. I snapped a photo of Megan and Zuul. Megan is not smiling because she likes Zuul. She's smiling because she's minutes away from eating sausages.

We went to my sister's on Tuesday. Zuul thought it might be nice to grab a bite of Hobie's food. Hobie witnessed this event just as we did and was not pleased. He swiped at Zuul and caught her nose and her eye. Zuul has a scratch on the white part (phew!) of her eye. It bled a tiny bit and we rinsed it out with saline. Zuul never seemed bothered by it. Hobie spent the rest of the evening bullying Zuul. Zuul was pretty freaked out and hid on the couch.

We went back again last night for some ANTM and Hobie proceeded to be territorial. Zuul proceeded to hide on the couch. On our way home, I opened the back door to the car and Zuul hopped right in. Until then, she has been laying of the floor of the front passenger seat. This was her first time in the back. She went right across the bench to the other seat and sat just like a person. It was the cutest thing ever, that night. We'll have to get her warmed up to her dog seat belt that my mother gave her. She seems ready. BTW, she lay down just before we were going to tell her.


I'll see you next time.

p.s. Don't give your dog rawhide bones.

picture credit: me

picture credit: me

picture credit: me

picture credit: me

picture credit: me

picture credit: me

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