Grace Made Penguins

This child is a whiz at making something out of nothing!  She was given a pair of penguin earrings yesterday by a dear family friend.  We were invited tonighted to have dinner at Bo’s house.  Bo and his wife like penguins.  Grace whipped up a few for them. In fact, she spent all day making penguins.  It kept her so occupied that I am thinking of declaring an animal for each day to see if she can create stuff.  She made a caddy out of Pringles can, two polymer clay figures, a fridge magnet out of little melty plastic beady things, and a hand sewn stuffed toy.  Cool stuff!!

Totally unrelated, we had another dog in the pool.  Merlin apparently jumped with Freddy and clawed him heavily trying to get out.  He did swim, doggy paddle, to the side but was re-directed to the ladder, where he promptly pulled himself out and ran away.

Merlin and Sam

They match!  Sam has returned from his stay at the shelter for observation.  He hopped right up with Merlin and snuggled.  How cute!  Tom thinks that Sam thinks that he “matches” Merlin.  Can cats see in color?  Hmm….

Daisy is Leaving Today

http://www.youtube.com/v/nrcgl7bZnGc     This is Bubbles walking Daisy

We are so sad.  I found myself in tears yesterday, more than a few times.  I have poured so much energy into Daisy and being successful with her.  It is a real shock to me that this didn’t work out.  Yesterday she had some absolutely wonderful moments, playing, sleeping at our feet, working on her “stuff” and each time I caught myself analyzing the scene.  The key?  She was the only animal in sight.  Alone, she is wonderful.  Then, the tranquility would be disrupted by a cat (INSTANT chaos) or the doorbell (an unsuspecting friend dropping by) or Merlin climbing in Daisy’s crate to escape.

The cats all survived, though Zoe had a VERY close call with snapping teeth and a hasty retreat UP the venetian blinds.  The friend never made it in the house.  The foam factory was in full production.  Daisy gets so frenzied that she can’t hear what we say.  Freddy removed her from the area.  Merlin is terrified (when he is not actually playing with her – he is still faster) and retreats to HER crate.  She allows this and lies down next to the crate with him in it.  Bottom line is that I have become a full time german sheperd nanny.  Not conducive to getting anything done.  And I am playing my own home game of Fear Factor.  When I am out, I think that the very next phone call is going to be a damage report, involving blood.  This is not a way to live.

Having said all of that, I think that Daisy is trainable, but we have too many distractions.  My personal thing is that once there is blood spilled, it’s over.  That doesn’t make it any easier.  We will miss her.  She has come a long way from being an outdoor dog 100% of the time to being out for play and potty. 

Merlin’s Nose, $200.00 and 4 staples later

He had to be knocked out for this. I guess stitches are old school. Staples for poor Merlin. He also has anti-biotics and pain killers. And very sad golden eyes.

Merlin’s Nose

Daisy has attacked Merlin before, it sounded ugly but there was never any blood (my barometer for how extreme the situation is). The other two times it was over a chewy bone. This time, I was careful to separate them to eat them. I *thought* that Daisy had eaten hers, but apparently she had buried it in the couch. When Merlin came back in the room he hopped on the couch and she went ballistic. Freddy got a broom and I used all of my strength with a knapsack to pry her off without getting in the way. Poor Merlin was so sad. He had no idea what he had done. Obviously he needed patching up. Bubbles was distraught, she thought Daisy would be put down and begged me to forgive her.

This is Daisy! (She needs a [sniff] new home – please help)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMLZ9TFYlhk

Daisy is a wonderful dog.   She has a lot to offer the right family.  We thought she was right for us until the last few days.  She would do better in a home free from pesky cats and with less human traffic in and out.  We believe that the incident on the hammock was an accident, but the assault on Merlin was not.  She would do great with as an only pet (she would thrive), but she loves to play with other dogs, Merlin, the neighbor’s, the other GSD’s that came to play.  We feel that they should be closer to her size. 

We are heartsick that she will not be able to stay with us.  We really thought she would be with us forever.  If you are reading this because you were referred by the Rescue and would like to talk with us in person, please ask them to contact us, they know how.  We would be happy to help in any way we can.

Apparently I am not smart enough to make the You Tube link show up as a picture, but if you click on it, you will get the video.  I will do some more tomorrow and practice my technique.  Maybe I can tape the broccoli growing too.

Aren’t They Cute?

They are sharing the bed.  Awwww…..

Two Dogs and a Boy on a Bed

Daisy, Merlin and Freddy crowd onto one cozy dog bed during Scripture and prayer time.  Cozy everyone?

Daisy Meets More People…

Friday, Ursula appeared after her early morning class, with a friend in tow.  I watched as they approached the car.  Daisy watched too.  She began to drool.  I was feeding her little bitty hot dog treats to calm her and now I was out of treats.  It became clear to me that Ursula fully intended for her friend Linda-Lou to GET IN THE CAR and have a ride home.  Was she insane?  I cracked the window and told Linda-Lou to climb up on the roof rack and hold on, because that was as good as I could do.

Ursula told me I was insane.  So she (Ursula) climbed into the back seat and held Daisy while Linda-Lou got in the front seat.  Woof Woof Woof Slobber Foam Drool Woof.  Linda-Lou (bravely) extended her hand.  Woof Woof Sluuuurrrp  Sluuurrrpp  Kiss Kiss Whimper Whimper.  The big mean vicious sounding dog turned into a pussy cat.  And that was it.  No problem.  The BIG problem is that she sounds so scary and won’t stop sounding scary when I want her to.  Any ideas anyone?

I took her back to Linda-Lou’s house that night so she could “see” her again before she “forgot” who she was.  Same reaction.  Woof Woof.  The child got in the car, put out her hand and Slurp Kiss.  Hmmm.

The very next day, the Dog Lady, um, “Bea” called and said she could stop by with her family if we wanted.  We wanted.

They showed up in the rain.  Cold, wet rain.  With two huge GSD’s.  I must say, anecdotally, that Bea obviously loves her older son more.  She left him somewhere else and was willing to sacrifice the younger one to a visit with Daisy.  This is kind of smart, not putting all of your eggs in one basket, still have a spare if something went wrong, that sort of thing.

I was kind of unsure how to proceed.  Carnage in the rain?  The dogs (well, Daisy) seemed kind of fierce and determined and disturbed about these intruders.  Bark, bark, growl, bark, throaty growl, pull mom’s shoulder out of socket, watch mom slide on the slippery grass, growl some more.  But then something magical happened.  Maybe it was the increase of the rain, the physical discomfort of the humans, or just because; the dogs actually played.

We brought out Merlin to join them and moved into the backyard.  Within minutes they were all frolicking without leashes and establishing a doggy hierarchy.  Daisy, it being her yard, naturally won.  She wasn’t a really pushy hostess, just set up a few basic guidelines like “don’t pee on me” and “I can jump on you, you can’t jump on me”.  She was, after all, the only girl and girls do command such respect.

Bea’s husband, “the Dog Lady’s Husband”, arrived with a pocket full of treats which he donated liberally to the cause.  This made him quite popular.  The sacrificial son was polite and offered pertinent comments about the dog’s behavior.  Then out came Freddy and Grace and Bubbles and we watched in the pouring, cold rain, as the dogs romped, periodically taking breaks and taking shelter under the roof, as we humans commented that they had more sense than we did to get out of the rain.

It was so rainy that I did not break out the camera, but what a sight of these magnificent animals romping in the yard!  To think that they were all rescued as other people’s throwaways is heart rending.   How happy they look now!

Daisy Didn’t Eat the Dog Lady

Ursula engineered this shot.  She has future career potential as a dog wrangler.  Aren’t they cute?  They are definately paying attention (good), but don’t always (bad).

So the dog lady, we’ll call her, um, Bea, has been reading this blog, and noted (with concern) that Daisy seemed to want to eat our son Bo the other day.  Knowing this, she OFFERED to come to our house and risk life and limb to meet Daisy.

We met the the “dog lady” when she came to our house for a home visit to determine if we had what it takes to be raised (ahem) by a german shepherd.  She was very kind and sorrowful when we told her about Rufus and Lily.  She approved our application.  The very next day we met Daisy and brought her home.  A week later she (Daisy) wanted to eat Bo.  Not good.

So Bea came back at the appointed time and she and I stood out in the bitter cold strategizing how she would meet Daisy and survive.  We mapped out a plan, she would ring the bell, Ursula would answer the door, I would pretend that it was no big deal, just a friend at the door, minimize Daisy’s response, and be really cool and low-key.  I suggested she leave her purse in the car. 

So what you have now is 3 humans plotting to outsmart one cute, only sweet to her family, GSD.  She rang the bell.  Ursula opened the door.  Daisy wagged her tail and for a millisecond it looked good.  Then the barking, the foaming, the frothing.  If I were Bea, I would have turned and fled and not looked back.

What did she do???  She stuck out her fist (TOWARD THE BARKING FOAMING SNOUT!!!!!)  And what did Daisy do?  LICKED IT!!!!! How did she know that her hand would still be attached?

Daisy wasn’t exactly overjoyed that she was there, but she calmed considerably when offered a hand and “allowed” us to chat, even move around the room.  We visited a while and then Bea offered to return with HER FAMILY so that they could further assist in the socialization process.  Bless her heart.  As she walked away from the house, I realized that she had indeed, put her purse in the car.