The Dogs' Voices

Veronica just spent the last week and a half or so with us here on the farm. I was so blessed to have her. She truly is family to us ... like really part of our family. She allowed our family to get away for a night (more on that later) and just helped with kids and life on the farm while JB was doing his Christmas run. I'm not sure how I would have gotten through this holiday without JB without her here.

Anyways, that aside, I wanted to share something fun she and I did. Scrubs always had a "voice" for us. And Veronica (aka "V") and I decided that Ritter and Arabelle needed their own voices. So, we worked on them. And here's what we came up with:

RITTER

male

He's a big lug -- just loves pets and will roll onto his back to let anyone scratch his belly. He truly would leave the farm with anyone who opened their car door and promised to give him belly rubs. He has no preference for any person. (Well, he really loves my friend Robin!) But overall, anyone who pets him is his person for that moment.

With Veronica. MAnnnnnn does Veronica looks like her Mom (Ebby) here.

ARABELLE

female

Arabelle is the protector. She barks at any new people and makes sure I welcome them before they join us on the farm. She is MY dog. She wants to go everywhere on the farm with me, and while Ritter would gladly stay with anyone who will pet him, she wants to be with me wherever I am on the farm.

Good morning everyone!

Sorry for the sadness on my Blog last night in missing Scrubby. To make up for it, here is something to make you smile. :)

Keep your dog off the furniture for cheap!

Keeping Scrubs off the furniture has always been an issue in our house. But both JB and I decided early on that we didn't want the dog hair, dirt, or smells on our couches. 

In the past, we have simply loaded up our couch, love seat, and chair with a gazillion toys and books before we left the house or went to bed. Or, we'd block him from that particular room with a gate. But not only does this get old, it looks cruddy. I really dislike coming home to couches covered with toys that my kids had just put away.

Not only that, but he would constantly figure out a way to move the toys. If you didn't stack them just right, you'd find him asleep on things that you'd think were uncomfortable. Or he'd have knocked a bunch of things off the furniture to make room for his big ol' hairy self. And his white hairs do NOT just brush off the furniture. They wind themselves into the fibers, and you find yourself trying to get them off for weeks. 

I did a lot of research to figure out if there was something (1) easy (2) clean looking and, as is always the case with me (3) cheap. They definitely make pet furniture deterrent's, some of which are designed to train the dog with noises or shocks. However, I have always found that these things stop working or break, and, Scrubs is smart enough to stop following the rule as soon as the deterrent is removed. 

I found rubber pet mats on Amazon, but they were expensive, and I when I read the reviews, I found quite a few people saying, "They work, but I feel cheated. These are just those plastic mats turned upside down."

So that's what I did! I bought those plastic mats and turned them upside down. You know which ones I am talking about. I think we have all accidentally stepped on one of these at some point and found ourself nearly in tears.

So for $30, I got a long enough mat to cover all three of our big pieces of furniture. I simply fold it up like you see in this picture below:

and slide it under the couch when not in use. And then, when in use, while it still looks like the couch on Everybody Loves Raymond, it definitely doesn't feel as cluttery:

Here's a link to the site I used on Amazon.

P.S. To read an update about this item, click here. 

The situation & the dilemma

The situation: boy tries to get cheerios out himself and drops the box.

The dilemma: what should I do with an entire box of cheerios on the floor?

The solution: I decide to go for a three-prong solution to the problem.

Prong 1: Pick up cheerios that are sort of "on the top" and therefore not too dirty. Put these away for humans to eat later.

Prong 2: Bring "vacuum cleaner that doesn't need a bag" in and let him eat a bunch of cheerios. While he is eating, sweep at the same time so that he doesn't eat so much that bad gas results.

Prong 3: Take swept up cheerios outsie and scatter them (for the birds.)

I'm pretty happy with the result. Nothing was actually wasted. And birds and dog became my best friends ... again.

Bonnie Blue

I should have enlisted Veronica to get a photo. She's so much better than me. But look at those blue eyes!

Playing ... playing ... and playing ... until collapse occurs.

Our family is growing by leaps and bounds!

Today, we added Bonnie to our family. Okay, so "added" is a strong word. She is not here forever. Shane and Linda would be sad if that were the case. But she has come to stay with us for a little over a week while her wonderful owners are out of town.

Yes, Bonnie will complicate life slightly. She is a pup (about 6 months old I believe) and therefore has introduced her owners (and thus me) to the world of chewing. But she and Scrubs play like CRAZY which means that I have to exercise Scrubby less than usual. (Good timing for the fact that I am slowing down as I near the start of Trimester III.)

And, we will gladly let Shane and Linda reciprocate when my storknesting in Germany begins in about two months. JB hopes to be with me for about 3-4 weeks of my 6-8 week stay so we'll definitely need some Scrubs babysitters during that time.

Welcome Bonnie Blue!

Indestructible ball

I have this neighbor. She got her dog one of the "indestructible" balls. Scrubs always wants to play with the balls that the boys have out, but I always have to tell him no because if he gets his mouth around it one time, it's popped and no good anymore.

But not with the "indestructible" ball. It's too big for him to get his mouth around. Too hard to puncture it with a nail.

I think Scrubs likes it, but I am not really sure. I think it's more a combination of frustration and excitement all rolled into one. You have got to listen to him on this video. Poor dog is going out of his mind. We may have to only bring this out for special occasions. The whole neighborhood is effected by this toy.

And did you know a dog could bark with his mouth open? Now you do.

Scrubs and being out in the kitchen!

Another blog question from a loyal reader.

Allison asked about Scrubs' not needing his kennel anymore. Here's her question.

Will you talk a little about how you got Scrubs to this point? We have a very sweet lab who used to be able to be out of his kennel when we were gone but then had an incident. I would love to hear more about how you trained him to behave!

So this is funny to me because, well, the truth is, I never thought Scrubs would EVER not have to be kennelled when we left the house. We tried it when he was a young pup and then again when he was about 1.5. We left him in the laundry room. Both times with consequences. He chewed up his kennel, a wall, even the toy container we left in there. It was hopeless!

Or so we thought.

Around Thanksgiving, when he was about 2.5, we deiced to give it another whirl. Well, I did. John thought I was setting myself up for failure. However, one of the advantages to having a dog in the house is protection. He can't really protect our house if he's in his kennel now can he?

So, here's what we did:

• We started with just small periods of time. At first, it was under an hour. We did not cross into two hours until he had done one hour, consistently, about a dozen times. If we were going to be gone longer, we kennelled him.
• Before we left, we'd make sure he was well exercised. I'd take him for a run and THEN leave while you are practicing. I would throw the Frisbee in the yard a few times. That sort of thing.
• We gave him a Kong and then scattered dog food all over the kitchen. Gave him things to keep him busy. Coupled with the exercise, I don't think he had much in him to do more before we got back. Especially when our departure time was so short.
• We rewarded him when we got home with a treat or some play outside. Something that told him that when we got back, good things would happen.
• We decided NOT to give him full run of the house. We decided to just allow him the kitchen (which is very big in our case.) There are still things he could get into but not with as disastrous of consequences.We think that he could handle the whole house but have decided to not test the waters until he has done well with his small area for a long time.
• We enforced rules while we were home. For instance, Scrubs is not allowed to put his paws up on ANY surface except windowsills. He cannot put them up on the counter or on any furniture. He cannot eat food off of counters or high chair trays or tables, etc. We enforce those rules with "bitter yuck" spray -- spraying him in the mouth when he takes something he is not supposed to. (We really never have to spray him anymore.)
• Early on, we removed temptations. I made sure that the garbage can was put up and that there was no food left on the counters, etc.
• Now, we will leave him for up to 4-5 hours by himself. I still try to make sure he is well exercised (when I can) and I try to remove temptations if possible just to help him stay on the right track.

I had a friend with a lab. He was out all the time by himself and then one day, he just chewed up their Asian rug. No warning. I also dog sit for a pair of labs on occasion. Sometimes when their owners are gone for an extended period of time, they will randomly chew something that they never have before. I have heard that labs will do this because they are mad at you. I think when Scrubs does it, it is because he is bored.

My honest opinion is that if the incident with your lab was just one incident, he probably just "had a bad day." He probably can still do it but just maybe needs to be backed up a bit. If I were you, I would incorporate a gate of some kind and keep his area smaller for the time being. Remove any temptations, exercise him well before you leave, shorten the lengths of time you are gone in the beginning (kennel him if the time is going to be too long), and give him plenty to do while you are gone.

I hope this helps a bit! Please note that I am in NO WAY a dog professional. I hope this helps! Please feel free to follow up with any other questions or other dog owners out there -- chime in!

Sweet Summer

Cannot put into words how wonderful it has been just to be home with our family for the entire weekend. I actually, believe it or not, got back out into the yard today with JB again as both boys took their naps at the same time yet again. The weather has not been nearly as hot, a bit overcast actually. Joia you left at the wrong time!

We decided to wait to start the search for a new church until after we get back from Colorado. Can't believe the trip is so nearly here. We will leave first thing Thursday morning. Instead of church, we took a trip to Lowes to get some flowers first and the yard is really starting to get back into pre-before-JB-got-so-busy shape. We also stopped at Publix to get some things for our trip and to hold us over until we leave.

Before dinner, we were outside as a family, admiring our handiwork in the yard, when Brandon and Brittny drove up with their new dog Brick. We brought Scrubs over and the two got to know each other. They seemed to like each other quite a bit!

P.S. Speaking of Scrubs, here is a video of Scrubs and Isaac playing together this week:

No Isaac! No Scrubs!

Well I have figured out what it is that is giving Scrubs "the runs" in the middle of the night. It's all the snacks he is getting from Isaac. I cut him off for two days in a row, keeping him out of the kitchen every time Isaac ate. Both those evenings, I didn't hear any bell ringing in the middle of the night indicating a desperate Scrubs.

However, even though I know the source of the problem, stopping Scrubs from eating Isaac's food is easier said than done. For one thing, I recently discovered that not only is Scrubs getting the scraps, but Isaac is feeding Scrubs. Scrubs is tentative. He knows he will get in trouble if he takes anything from Isaac. So he waits until Isaac shoves it into his mouth. Then, he accepts willingly.

In addition, Scrubs is my vacuum cleaner. Sweeping the seat and floor of the high chair after every use is a pain. I rely on Scrubs to clean it all up for me. Ugh. I have to sweep immediately as Isaac will get out of his high chair, pick up the scraps, and give them to Scrubs since I have taught him that things on the floor are for the dog not for him. Not sure how I can keep Scrubs' stomach in good shape while not making more work for myself at the same time. Stay tuned . . .

Contemplating sharing his food with Scrubs . . .

. . . and caught in the act.

Does that look like a guilty face or what?

And then he tries to blame Scrubs for the whole encounter!

Perplextions

First of all, I know perplextions isn't a word. But I am using it for this blog because I like the way it sounds.

There are many things in my life which are currently perplexing me thus causing me said perplextions.

Scrubs is one of them.

Here's the perplextion: How can a dog that drives me soooooo crazy one minute, literally leave me speechless in regards to his good behavior the next?

Maybe dogs are more like kids than I thought?

We've always known that Scrubs is not food protective. Since he was a tiny pup we've had him eat out of our hands and taken his food from him in the middle of the meal. Isaac and I will often hang out with him while he eats, telling him to start or to stop, petting him, putting our hands in the bowl.

But I don't think I realized just how good Scrubs was at this until yesterday. I had only turned my back for a few seconds, and when I turned around, Isaac had his foot in Scrubs' water bowl and both his hands in his food bowl. Scrubs had backed up and was just standing there, looking at me, with no intention to do anything to stop his little buddy from playing in his food. No growling, no barking, just patience. He waited until I pulled Isaac away and then very calmly went back to eating.

Sometimes I feel bad because I get so frustrated with Scrubs. He takes the brunt of my fatigue and crankiness some days. He follows me to every single room in the house all day long, he walks on my feet a lot, and he can go bonkers when new people come to visit. His head is always in my laundry basket whether clean or dirty too. But what a good pup he really is. I know he is still a dog and you have to always watch him with children, but it is so nice that I have so much confidence in his behavior around our boys.

And Scrubs is not the only thing causing me to scratch my head in a fit of perplextions. There are other things too.

One fact currently perplexing me is how fast baby's nails grow. Do mine grow that fast? Is it because they are so small that they appear to grow faster? Or do they really grow faster? Or is it simply because I have two babies that the speed seems superhuman? JB used to be the nail-cutter-guy in our house, but he's been so busy that quite honestly, I just can't get him to keep up on them. So I've moved into the position. I feel like I spend half my week cutting nails. Okay so that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.

The second fact that I cannot seem to get over is that Joan cleaned out my refrigerator while she was here. I mean, seriously, how many friends would do that for you? I am not even sure I would do that for my own mother. Serious sacrifice there folks. (You didn't see what my fridge looked like before she moved in. I'm serious. Major sacrifice. I know there was stuff growing in there. Science projects waiting to happen.)

All righty so there you go folks. A deep look into the recesses of my brain which are now preparing for more Wimbledon! (The brain was actually deep into sports all weekend. Kenny Perry won in golf! And the U.S. Soccer team barely lost. I'm really not sure there is a sport I don't like to watch. Except for Nascar. I really hate Nascar.)

Okay, brain is wandering off again.

Signging off before it wanders too far.

What do people do . . .

. . . without a dog?

I mean here is Isaac, eating his dinner, scraps flying every which way. Like usual, he purposely drops some and accidentally drops others.

Normally this is of no concern to me. There is a black spotted four legged pal camped below the high chair, waiting patiently for any piece of heaven that comes his way. Yesterday a piece of chicken came his way. It landed right on the back of his neck. And it stayed there. I am sure eventually it fell off and Scrubs found it, but for many minutes, it remained perched on his neck. He could smell heaven. But where was it, doggone it?

But tonight I wondered what it would be like to have to get out the vacuum cleaner after every meal. Egads!

The reason for my wonder was that our four legged pal was at dog camp today.

We leave for our trip first thing Tuesday morning. Dog camp is in the opposite direction from our intended destination. Therefore it was determined Scrubs would go to dog camp a day early. Since we were paying for the entire day we figured we'd make the most of it. JB and Isaac ventured out early this morning to drop Scrubs off with Pat at Paw paws.

Scrubs loves it there. He can be outside all day and play and then at night go into her house with her to sleep. She feeds him, bathes him, everything ... it's fantastic!

JB and I had to admit that in some strange way, we actually missed Scrubs today. It was eerily quiet, no one (besides Isaac) was underfoot, and the sliding glass door didn't get opened one time. It was as if something was just missing from our life. Of course, JB said his level of missing was somewhere around one percent, but still, that qualifies as missing, doesn't it?

So anyways, I am headed to bed to prepare for an early day tomorrow! We will drive to Nashville, spend the night with Josh and Sarah, spend Wednesday touring Bowling Green visiting old friends, regroup on Thursday with Josh and Sarah, and then fly out for New York on Friday morning. Saturday is the wedding, and on Sunday we will return to Nashville, jump in our van, and make the seven hour drive back here to Eglin.

Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it. Wish us luck. And if you think of it, say an extra prayer for our family. For safe travels and for me to be able to successfully navigate my first trip with both kids.

Until we return . . . bye all!

Best buds

Scrubs has been driving me a wee bit bonkers the last few days. I can't explain what it is exactly. He isn't actually doing anything specifically wrong. He's just being a little more needy and hyper than even the usual for him.

I think it may have to do with the fact that now I not only have a dog following me everywhere I go during the day, but I have a little boy as well. So I go into the laundry room, I have Scrubs with his nose in the dryer and Isaac beating on the side of it. If I am holding Elijah and try to keep Scrubs in the kitchen and let Isaac out, we have to do it about five times before I get the right combo of boy on the outside, dog on the inside. "No, Scrubs, Kitchen. Isaac out. No, Scrubs. Kitchen. Isaac. With me." That sorta thing. In addition, the neighbors dog has been living outside so Scrubs is requesting to go out and back in a gazillion times a day to visit his new friend Romeo. I've just been a little "Scrubbed out".

However, all that aside, if there is one thing I can usually count on, it is the relationship between Scrubs and his boy. Gosh I love that they have each other.

Happy Birthday Scrubs!

Hard to believe, but our "little" (seventy pound) Scrubinator is two years old today. Here is a look back at birthday number one just a week or so after we had brought little Isaac home.

I thought I would celebrate Scrubs' birthday with some photos. Scrubs thought he would celebrate by being a major pain in my patookee today. Scrubs can have many days in a row where he is marvelously angelic. He can lie around and act like a regular dog for long stretches now that he is two. But then he can have a day like today. After trying to eat a Halls wrapper, getting a bit too physical with his Isaac-licking, trying to dig a hole in the backyard, and trying to prohibit me from taking a nap by continually running up and licking me, he has spent more of the day in his kennel then out.

But he is still our Scrubby. Even though he absolutely drives me crazy and definitely complicates our life considerably, he is a member of our family. As I have said many times before, Scrubs was integral to me being as mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy as I was during my first year here at Eglin. After five years of infertility, he kept me busy and focused when everyone I knew was a parent except for me (or so it seemed). He went on walks and jogs with me and helped me to meet people around the neighborhood. I really do love this doggie!

Okay so here are the celebration photos.

Scrubs with his Dad in Delaware before he joined our family.

Very first day home. Getting a bath.

With JB. Look at that heart nose!

A photo Joia took just a few days after we had gotten him.

My infertility diversion.

Being a good sport with Jocelyn.

Posing with Elijah.

His best human buddy, Isaac.

Hanging out at the bay with Deuce.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCRUBS!!!

Grrrrr . . .

Scrubs ate one of Isaac's puzzle pieces yesterday. I walked into the laundry room and he jumped up and zipped right into the back of his kennel leaving behind a frayed little mess of what was once a puzzle piece. I was so angry I climbed right into his kennel on my hands and knees bringing my little spray bottle of "Bitter Yuck" with me and doused that teenage pup right in the mouth!

It's becoming a bit more difficult to know where Isaac's toys are. Scrubs is basically good about leaving toys that are not his own alone, but I do try to make sure there aren't toys in areas, like the laundry room, that Scrubs sees as more of his domain. Scrubs is used to toys in the living room and dining room. But the laundry room?! Gold mine!

However Isaac is not making this easy. He has started carrying toys everywhere with him and then leaving them in strange places. I find toys in corners and on bookshelves and in my sock drawer and in the bathroom. If I find them there, Scrubs will finds them there and have a dilemma standing in front of him.

Is it worth it? I know I'll get caught. I know I'll get sprayed. But is it worth it?

I guess the puzzle piece was. Grrrr . . .

Scrubs does the potty trick

Aaaahh Scrubby. He continues to make me laugh. Dalmatians are known for their stubbornness. But they are also known for great personality. Scrubs seriously seems like a human sometimes!

Right before bed, we always make Scrubs get up and go potty. Here's a video of Scrubs' groggy wake-up from back before Isaac joined our family.

Once he has gone potty and returned to his bed, I give him a treat.

Now that we have the fenced backyard, he goes out the sliding glass door and returns to wait for us to open when he is done. However, I have been watching and Scrubs has been faking going potty. He'll walk outside, stand on the grass for a second, and then trot back to the sliding glass door to get up in his bed and get his treat!

Little stinker!

So now we watch carefully. If he doesn't go, we send him back to really go potty. Then he can have his treat. He will actually sort of sigh, turn around, and slink back to the grass to really go. So funny.

* * *

I also wanted to answer a blog question I received regarding Scrubs and the possibility of us going overseas. As I have mentioned previously on the blog, we are currently leaning toward the hope that when we leave Eglin in the summer of 2010, we will get an overseas station. It is all up to the military of course, but this is what we are hoping for. Someone asked if Scrubs can come with.

The answer is yes, absolutely. There's a lot of work that needs to be done. You have to start the dog on a series of shots six months before you leave. This means we'll have to start him before we would actually even know if we are going. A few countries require a very short quarantine period upon the dog's arrival in their country (48 hours maximum I believe.)

The major trick with taking him is that most airlines require the temperature be fairly cool (below 70 degrees F. I believe) in order to allow the dog into the cargo hold. I doubt we'll obtain that in a summer here on Eglin AFB. I have already talked to our great friends Ron & Ebby in Minnesota and they have agreed to keep Scrubs with them in Minnesota until the weather is good enough for him to fly out and join us. Hopefully, if we fly out of Minnesota, it'll be cool enough right away. But if not, it shouldn't take long to get to that point.

I have heard this can be a pretty pricey flight to get our pup over there, but honestly, I wouldn't go if we couldn't bring Scrubs. He is a part of our family, and he'll be joining us wherever we go!

Dogs and Babies

Got another blog question I thought was pretty interesting:

It seems like Srubs has transitioned really well to two babies in the house. We have two Goldens and I was wondering (if Lord willing we are able to bring a child into our household) if you had any tips for families with pets. Just curious!

So, here is my two cents ... take it for what it is worth. Scrubs is my very first dog so I don't profess to be a dog professional in any sense of the word. In addition, Scrubs is far from perfection. He does amazing with the kids, but even just this morning we caught him chewing one of Isaac's toys to shreds ...

We brought Scrubs home in July of 2007. At the time, he was just two months old. When he became a part of our family, we thought that we were years away from bringing kids into the home. We'd have plenty of time to raise a dog before little ones joined our lives. Let's get a high mainenance and energetic Dalmatian why don't we?!

In October of 2007, when Scrubs was about five months old, we found out about Isaac. Scratch that last paragraph. Suddenly we were going to have a baby and a young dog at the same time.

The thought of that terrified me. Scrubs put everything he could in his mouth. When he was a pup he swallowed socks whole -- proved when he later would upchuck them from his stomach whole. He was rambunctious and uncoordinated and only listened when the stars were perfectly aligned. How could I merge a tiny baby with a pup like Scrubs?

I honestly have no idea how it all came together the way it did. Everyone told me that dogs just "get it." They know who is in their pack and accept them and protect them. Scrubs is great with all kids, but he is especially good with Isaac and we are already seeing signs that he is going to be the same thing with Elijah. He is, honestly, better with children than he is with adults.

I don't know if any of the following had anything to do with it but here are some of the things we did in order to prepare our home for baby and dog:

• Took Scrubs to training classes. We did puppy kindergarten, basic obedience, and an agility class before Isaac's arrival in May of 2008.


• Exposed Scrubs to as many children as possible. I encouraged all my friends to bring their kids over and for those that felt comfortable with it, had Scrubs out and (attempting to be) gentle with the kids.
  
• Went on tons of walks and allowed anyone who wanted to a pet session. We would walk by the bus stops so all the kids could maul him and smother him with love. Even today, I get stopped everytime I go on a walk by kids wanting to pet Scrubs. They've been stopping me on my runs too, and I just don't have the heart to say no even though stopping a run isn't easy to do.
  
• Tugged on Scrubs' ears and tail often. Poked him in uncomfortable places. Got him used to the onslaught that would ultimately result with a toddler in the house.
  
• Fed Scrubs' out of our hands. We actually did not use a dog bowl with him until he was about eight months old. We fed him out of our hands and out of kongs. Even today, I try to give him his dinner straight from me every week or so -- feeding him each piece of kibble one a time while he takes it from me gently. When kids come over, I give them a tupperware container filled with kibble that they can feed him one piece at a time. I think a soft mouth is a HUGE part of having kids in the house with a dog. You need to know that the dog will be gentle at all times. Isaac will actually put his whole arm into Scrubs' mouth, and while I don't like it, I know that there is no chance he would hurt Isaac in the process. It's a great comfort.
  
• Tried to teach him "no lick" so he did not smother kids in slobber. This is still a daily battle.
  
• Taught him "off". This may be easier for calmer dogs, but for Scrubs, if someone was on the floor, he instantly thought they were there to wrestle with him. We taught him that he can approach us when we are sitting on the floor if he lies down and crawls to us. But he cannot approach us by standing or jumping on us. Now, when he wants to approach Isaac, he often gets in a lying down position.
  
• "Leave it" became a very important command. We taught Scrubs that he could not pick up anything off the floor unless we gave him permission. For instance, if we were to drop a steak on the floor in the kitchen, he doesn't move toward it until we tell him it is okay. This assures me (for the most part) that dropped child snacks will not be snagged by the dog unless permission is grants.
  
• Scrubs was a huge thief. In fact I have been told that this is a traditional Dalmatian trait. Bitter yuck became our best friend. We sprayed it in his mouth every single time that he put something in his mouth that wasn't his. Clothes, stuffed animals, toys . . . if they weren't his, he got sprayed. It was the best thing we ever did. He very rarely messed with the boys' toys. (Although keeping Isaac away from Scrubs' toys is a whole 'nother story.)
  
• We also curbed any possesion issues. When he was eating, we took his food from him or took his bones and toys from him while he was playing. He must wait for permission to eat and Isaac and I hang out by him when he eats sometimes and make him stop eating when we say. We taught him that he doesn't own anything. We own it and choose when he can play with it or eat it. To this day, Scrubs waits for the okay from us before he goes to eat his breakfast or dinner. I don't worry at all about him getting possessive over his food if one of the boys was to wander up on him. We noticed that he could get a little protective over bones with other people in the house. (He doesn't do this with us or the boys.) We have really limited rawhides because of this.

Well folks, I think that is all the secrets I have to success. I hope this helps a bit! Thanks again for the blog questions. They are very interesting. If anyone else has anyone kid/pet tips, bring 'em on!

In the pack

We long ago knew that Scrubs had accepted Isaac into our pack, but while he has been kind to Elijah, we hadn't yet, until today, seen the same protection mechanisms kicking into gear. This morning, however, Scrubby let us know that Elijah is welcome as well and that he plans to take just as good of care of him as he does Isaac.

Snuggle time

Scrubs has two times of day that you can snuggle with him: first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The rest of the day, his only love language is "play". If you've met him in person you quickly recognize that petting him doesn't create a calmer dog. It creates a much more energetic dog. Snuggling is completely out. I try to get my snuggles in with him every morning. JB snapped a few photos this morning of me and Scrubs before he (or I) really woke up.

How much is that doggie in the window?

Scrubby and the pacifier

I must start by writing what a good dog we have. I mean, I've always loved my dog, but truly, until the last two weeks, I usually was not able to say "good" and "dog" in the same sentence. Scrubs was energetic, yes. He was mischievous, yes. He was rambunctious, yes. But "good" . . . only when he wanted to be.

I think a lot of people have been praying for me and praying for my Scrubby, because truly, during the last two weeks, our Scrubs has sort of turned into a regular dog. While my Mom was here, I had more than one occasion where Scrubs put me in tears. Mostly tears of fear. Fear of how I was going to be able to take care of THREE children all day long. Fear of what would happen if I couldn't do it. Fear of having to admit that Scrubs was too much for me to handle. We committed to be Scrubs' family, but the feeling that he was the hardest part of my daily schedule did not seem like something I would be able to handle for very long.

But seriously, Scrubs has sort of turned a corner. And turned it at just the time I needed him to. (Although JB said I should remember this when he decides to turn the corner back in the other direction and leaves me exasperated on a future occasion.) It's as if he can tell that I am so busy with the two boys and that he just has to be my company and not my pain in the butt. He actually sits in front of me when I am feeding Elijah now. Or he lays by my feet. He can be out and wandering the house and I don't feel the need to check on him every other minute. Oh he still goes crazy when new people come to visit and whines like a mad man when he thinks I am contemplating a walk and likes to dig holes when left for too long in the backyard and throws himself into the sliding glass door if he sees the fox, but he has really calmed down as he is nearing two and has really been staying out of trouble.

So I write all that because Scrubs' improved behavior is one of the reasons that when I walked from the kitchen to the living room last night, I didn't even think to myself, "I wonder what Scrubs is up to." I was simply done with whatever I was doing in the kitchen and moving back into the living room. That's it. No need to check on the Scrubinator. He was probably sitting by the window guarding the house from the mom with the stroller and lying next to Isaac while Isaac hit him with blocks. Or maybe he'd be under the highchair, seeing if Isaac had thrown him any free food.

But Scrubs was not being the "good" dog that he has been over the last two weeks, and he instantly gave that away when I entered the living room. As soon as I walked in, he jumped into the middle of the room, stared at me, and then ran and hid under the dining room table.

"What'd you do, Scrubby?!"

I took a quick glance around the room. Nothing looked out of place. I was just about to give him the benefit of the doubt, when he took off from underneath the dining room table and ran right into his kennel. This is a dead giveaway that he knows he was doing something he shouldn't have been doing. We curbed his stealing months ago by spraying him in the mouth with a bitter dog deterrent every time he stole anything that wasn't his. He hates this stuff and will run right into his kennel and hover in the back to avoid the dreaded spray. The spray was the best thing we ever did. It totally fixed the theft problem. Or sort of fixed it.

He still has momentary relapses.

I looked around the room again. That's when I saw it! Scrubs has an addiction for Elijah's pacifier. He really tries to leave it alone, but he just can't control himself sometimes. He'll go in for a lick any chance he gets. This time he had taken the pacifier over to the corner of the room and had been going to town on it when I caught him in the act.

I really had to laugh. I could just picture him trying not to grab the pacifier but then giving into the temptation, only to quickly be reminded what a bad idea this was as soon as he heard me entering the room.

Silly Scrubby!