Reuniting sisters

Ruby and Maddie met for the first time in nearly two years today, celebrating their second birthdays together.

Here are the two of them more than a year and a half ago, when we brought them home.

This is when they were adorable. When they were awake I had trouble dealing with the two 6-week old puppies.

Maddie's not really that mean. She just looks like a killer.

We were kind of afraid how Maddie would react to this ‘new’ dog, but the two of them got along great. They hung out for a little while, then we walked into the garden area (Ruby lives on a farm outside of Mount Pleasant) and the two ran full speed back and forth together. It was great to watch.

The pair ate their birthday cupcakes — banana peanut butter with carob chips and cinnamon cream cheese frosting decorated with their initials in carob.

It was fun seeing Ruby again. It was really hard to give her up, but I just couldn’t handle two 6-week old puppies. I’m glad Ruby has a wonderful home where she can run free and explore the world. Even when that exploration includes being sprayed by a skunk!

We found out Maddie and Ruby share a lot in common, both in physical characteristics and behavior-wise. It’s nice to know there are two crazy pups out there!

Maddie and Ruby will enjoy reunions every two weeks this summer and fall when we go to pick up our organic produce.

Ruby and Maddie meet for the first time in nearly two years.

Maddie enjoys her birthday cupcake.

Ruby eats her birthday cupcake.

My girl turns 2

Today is Maddie’s second birthday. It’s hard for me to believe. On one hand, it feels like she’s been with us forever. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem possible she’s already two-years old.

I made banana peanut butter cupcakes for all of her friends. And Maddie gets to see her sister Ruby for the first time since we had to find a new home for her. I can’t wait to see how that goes. Maddie has gotten a bit anti-social when it comes to dogs. She still loves people, but she pretty much ignores dogs. I hope they get along and play a bit. We’ll be seeing Ruby every other week throughout the summer and fall when we pick up our organic produce from her moms (one is the owner of MoGoOrganic in Mount Pleasant).

I’ll post pictures after our visit.

What a year

A year ago yesterday Maddie entered our lives, a small ball of black and white that sat itself on my feet, saying ‘Take me home. I’m your dog.’

Even after all this time, I still find myself looking at her and thinking, ‘Wow, I have  a dog.’

We have been through the housebreaking, which was surprising easy. The waking up every few hours to take her outside, which fortunately did not last too long. Then we moved through the biting stage, which we FINALLY conquered after lots of trial and error and frustration. We have cleaned up stuff that has come out of both ends. I have put my hand in a dog’s mouth (never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would do that) to withdraw contraband.

We have taught her tricks, some of which she has conveniently forgotten. She has decided she can bark at anything and everything (like right now, at who knows what outside in the dark), and refuses to listen when we try to teach her a ‘quiet’ command. I have put on layers and layers of clothing to walk her in frigid weather, and melted in the heat to exercise her. I have bought and read, and still have on the shelf to read, book after book after dogs. I found myself involved with the Burlington dog park, a project that so far has had more frustrations and aggravations than rewards.

Then there is cuddly Maddie, the one who nestles against me in bed and curls up on my lap on the couch. The Maddie who overflows with excitement and joy when we come home, bringing us gifts of pajamas and shoes, pants and T-shirts. The one who bounds with joy when she gets to play off leash, and then plops down at my feet, panting, wanting to be petted. The Maddie whose kisses I love. The one who just laid down on my foot as I sit and write this.

She has taught me a lot about myself. I was not a dog person, I was actually always a little afraid of them. I cannot imagine that person now. I have learned I do not quite have the patience I once thought I did – who can have patience when a dog is barking at the top of its lungs in a car and will not stop because the motorcycle has to stay right next to your car? I have discovered I want to save every dog who needs a home, and work to make Burlington more dog friendly in spite of everyone.

Happy anniversary Maddie. Thank you for choosing me.

Stubborn puppy

So we thought the citronella bark collar was working well. Maddie’s uncontrollable barking was transformed into a low growl and ‘woof,’ sounds that do not set off the spray.

All of a sudden, she decided she doesn’t care if she’s getting sprayed. If she really wants to bark at something, she’s going to bark. And will all of the stupid stray cats in our neighborhood, that happens quite often.

I do think overall, though, it has made a difference. She has not woken us up in the middle of the night, barking at some noise only she can hear, in weeks. She can now sit and look out the window and when people walk by, she can either just do her low growl and woof, or nothing at all.

She’s learning!

We started using the citronella bark collar on Maddie this week, and we are already seeing progress.

The first time she barked and it sprayed her, she was standing at the foot of the bed on the floor, barking at something outside. I heard it spray, and she shot backwards into the bed. She left the room and refused to come back in until Rob came to bed.

Rob said another time she was sitting on the couch, looking out the window (one of her favorite places), when she barked and got sprayed. She shot across the couch to Rob, and sat with him, shaking like a leaf.

I think she is still confused about where the spray is coming from. But she is learning.

Yesterday, she was looking out the window when two of our neighbors walked by. Normally, Maddie would start barking like crazy. Instead, she did a couple of low ‘woofs’ then shut up. And she wasn’t even wearing the collar! Last night, she had the collar on when we went to bed and didn’t make a sound all night. I assumed the collar was turned on. This morning, though, she started barking at a cat outside. The collar had been off. Even when she was barking at the cat, though, it was more subdued than it used to be.

Goodies galore

Maddie was the big beneficiary of my week in Madison.

My aunt and I visited the Saturday morning Farmers’ Market on the Capitol Square — which is just amazing; the first time I went last year, I was overwhelmed with the smells and the array of produce and cheese and plants and flowers and beef and lamb. Our last stop before heading home was a booth of dog treats. Maddie wound up with apple cheese treats, and a treat topped with dried cranberries and drizzles of carob.

I believe her favorite treat, though, was a smoked beef bone I had picked up earlier in the morning. She had never had a bone before — other than trying to get venison bones away from her friend Ripley — and just adored it. Since it was new to her digestive tract, she only got it for five minutes a day until she got off the meat. After that, I let her go at it. The morrow quickly disappeared, and now she gnaws on the bone periodically.

Also while I was in Madison, I noticed one of the grocery stores had a refrigerated section in the dog food aisle. I didn’t buy anything, but I thought it was great.

Barking up a tree

Contrary to what Rob tells people, Maddie is a very well-behaved dog. Her one bad habit is barking. And it is only a habit in our house and our yard.

When we let her outside, she will bark at cats — the many strays in our neighborhood just sit there and taunt her — foreign objects — she went crazy the first couple of days after I put out the garden hose and reel this spring — people walking within sight of our house, people walking dogs in sight of our house, ground hogs, kids riding bikes, our poor mail carriers — one of whom Maddie has known since she was brand new to our house, and is fine with as long as Deb is not in our yard. 

She barks at those same things while in the house. And at night, she hears the slightest noise and goes crazy, waking us up throughout the night.

We have tried rewarding her with treats and praise when she stops barking. We have sprayed her with water. We try to distract her.

Nothing so far has worked.

I talked to Maddie’s vet earlier this week, and she suggested a bark collar. No, not one that shocks her every time she barks. This one sprays an annoying, but harmless, blast of citronella into her face.

My hope is she decides right away she doesn’t like it, and will quickly make up her mind she shouldn’t bark at every little thing. Then maybe we can just use the collar occasionally, or just show it to her when she is barking to shut her up.

If this doesn’t work, back to square one.

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Maddie turned one-year old today. We celebrated with a birthday cake that we shared with Maddie’s friends.

Happy birthday girl ready to dig into her cake.

She gets to eat off of a plate and everything.

I want to have a birthday everyday!

First aid kits

I finally got around to doing something I have been meaning to do for months now — I made two first aid kits, one for the car and one for home.

I found different Web sites and books that listed what needed to be included in a kit. I finally decided on the list in Eco Dog. I think the lady at WalMart probably laughed at me as I bought all my supplies in pairs.

In addition to the supplies, I also included a copy of her rabies verification, an extra tag, her vet’s phone number, and I plan on adding an extra collar, leash and a blanket or towel. In another book, there are directions on what to do in certain cases. I need to make copies of that so I have an idea of how to use some of this stuff.

I put everything in plastic containers, labeled them ‘Maddie’s First Aid Kit,’ and put them in my handmade organic cotton canvas bags.

I hope I never have to use either one, but I want to be prepared just in case.

Here’s what else I put in my kits:

Gauze

Cotton balls

Q-Tips

Low-tack adhesive bandage tape

Self-adhesive ace bandages

Scissors

Tweezers

Hydrogen peroxide

Antibacterial ointment

Aloe vera gel

Hydrocortisone cream

Cornstarch (to help stop bleeding)

Latex gloves

Rectal thermometer (which I hope I never have to use)

A learning experience

We sent Boji home with his parents last night after three eye-opening days. Poor Boj was probably excited to leave behind the crazy puppy who followed him around all weekend, growled at him when he got too close to her owners, and barked more in one weekend than he probably has his entire two-plus years.

And Maddie was glad to get her people back to herself. When she and Rob returned from fetching us dinner — during which time Boji left — she trotted all over the house looking for him.

We definitely found behaviors we need to correct. While she has never exhibited possessive behavior toward us in any other setting, she is very protective at home. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise, though, considering her excessive barking at anything outside when she’s on her line. She needs to defend her turf.

Surprisingly, Maddie did not freak out when Boji jumped on the bed Saturday night. I’m sure if we would have allowed him to stay there it wouldn’t have been pretty, but we finally got him onto the dog bed and everything was fine.

Maddie and Boji had several good ‘fights,’ but only a couple of times did we have to tell them to stop when they started making squealing noises. And to their credit, they immediately stopped each time.

I hope to have more dogs over to visit so we can work on her possessiveness issues.