A Very Fuzzy Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas!! We got beef bones and deer bones and stuffed toys and had a whole bunch of fun! People came to visit and we love it when people come to see us. And Mommy dumped a big bag of stuffed toys in the middle of the floor and we got to play with ALL of them! (Bell: Mommy had to take one of the teddy bears away because his arm came off in my mouth. How did THAT happen?!)

And then Mommy gave us beef bones to chew on in the kitchen. They were delicious! We never had that before. And the next day Mommy gave us deer bones too! They were fantastic!! (Nicki: I rubbed my face all over it!)

When we were done with them, Mommy washed the kitchen floor. She shouldn't have done that because then all the good taste was gone. But we licked the floor anyway.
Mommy said she got the deer leg bones from Kaffy and Woo (Kathy and Lou) when she went there for Christmas eve. We knew we liked Kaffy and Woo but now we like them even better!

Mommy said they are getting a new puppy soon too. We sure hope we get to play with that new puppy. We don't know any other puppies and mom says it's good to know other dogs. We think so too because other dogs like to do the stuff we like too. They don't yell at us for jumping.
Here's the pictures Mom took of us playing with our pile of stuffed toys.

Woof!

It's Always Something

Nicki's post:

I'm sick again. I keep thinking I have to go pee but nothing comes out or there is blood in it. I've been spending a lot of time outside for nothing and it's cold out there! I peed in my pen today too but Mom didn't get mad at all. She said I have a bladder infection...whatever that is. She gave me some cranberry sauce and I liked it! She also gave me a vitamin C table that tastes like an orange. Bell got one too. Mom said it was for good measure but I don't know what that means either. Then Mom called the Vet and I'm going to see him tomorrow. I like him so I can hardly wait! He gives me biscuits and Bell's not coming with us so I don't have to share this time! Ha Ha Bell!

Bell's post:

I want to go too! I want biscuits! I like the Vet too! Come on Mom....I want to go too! Please!!!

One Toy...Two Dogs

A note from the Mom (with permission of course):

I think the title explains is all......but I will say that these two girls of mine do this ALL THE TIME. Which ever one picks up a toy first, the other one has to have it. I buy two of every toy for this reason and it never seems to make a difference. Well, you watch the video and I'm sure you'll understand what I mean.
Big silly puppies!

A Hiking We Will Go

Mom took Bell and me hiking and we had a blast! I found a hole in the field that smelled really cool and Bell stuck her whole head in it! Mom got a little worried because she thought some animal might still be in the hole but Bell didn't find anybody in there.


We met lots of people and dogs when we went into the woods too. I made sure they knew I liked them right away by jumping on them and barking like crazy. Everybody knows you like them if you jump on them and bark at them, right? I had my tail wagging so hard it almost fell off.


Mom said us girls will have to come separately with her to hike from now on. She says we act too crazy when we are together. We're not acting Mom...we're really like that! How can you expect us not to cram our heads in holes that smell good? How can you expect us not to pull like crazy when we see birds; rocks; branches; dirt; water and just about anything else that we look at? Everything is so exciting to us! We've only been alive a short time and everything is NEW to us.


Bell will probably be the goody goody dog when she goes alone with Mom...but not me. I'm just naturally "spunky" at heart so it's guaranteed I'll still pull her arms off trying to take in the whole world at once. But don't worry Mom, I'll probably calm down by the time I'm 5 yrs old. I'll have seen (and chewed on) enough sticks by then.

I'm Not Dumb Bell

Everybody thinks I'm not as smart as Nicki. I hear them call me Dumb-Bell. But not any more!

Mom was getting really frustrated with me because I'm always watching Nicki in class and not paying attention to what I'm supposed to do. Every time Mom looks at me, I'm looking at her! I thought it was cool...I love my Mommy! But Mom didn't think it was so cool I guess so we did some "practice" in the kitchen. Well I showed her!

Mom was so surprised that I knew how to do every single thing she asked me to do. I did it right and I did it without looking around for Nicki. (Nicki was in her pen complaining the whole time). Mom was so happy with me she gave me lots of hugs and kisses and 2 puppy treats! I love treats! See Mom, I'm not a dummy! I know how to do all of it..but it's more fun to pee on the floor and watch Nicki being "perfect puppy".

I'm what they call a laid back dog. I don't care about bouncing off the walls all day. I like wrestling with Nicki and chewing on stuff but when I'm tired I really like laying down next to my Mom and watching tv or just snoozing. Mom says I'm the perfect house dog once I calm down. I don't rearrange the furniture by running into it like Nicki does. Mom likes that I'm a calmer dog. She said I'm easy to have around when she's had a long day. I don't want anything from her but love. Gramma loves me too because I'm calm. She calls Nicki's "trouble" when she's visiting because Nick keeps getting into stuff the whole time we are over her house visiting. Last time we were there Nicki kept eating dirt from her planter. Gramma didn't like that but Nicki just kept doing it every time she left the room. Mom caught her and put a stop to it by covering the plant and telling Nicki she was a bad girl. I told Nicki to stop but she wouldn't...we both love dirt.

Mom says we're getting to be good watch dogs too. All we have to do is growl or bark when someone comes in the door and Mom thinks we're wonderful. Ahhhhhh what an easy life!

Making a Puppy Feel Better

Not too long ago I got sick. The vet didn't know what was wrong with me but I felt real bad. He gave me an antibiotic to take for 10 days and although it made me feel better it also made my stomach feel sick. I kept vomiting bile every other day or so...usually after going a long time without eating.
Luckily for me my Mom knows something about herbs and she helped me out a lot. She always gave me my medicine after I ate my breakfast or dinner which was good. But sometimes I still felt sick later. So to stop me from feeling sick she gave me Peppermint capsules and an herb called Marsh Mallow. (she calls them puppy pills and they go down easy with butter) Each is made from the actual plant, no chemicals. Mom is really into going the natural way. She believes in using herbs instead of synthetic medicines whenever possible and I'm glad she feels that way.
The peppermint capsules take away the nauseous feeling that I was getting and the Marsh Mallow coats and soothes my stomach so the medicine is less likely to irritate the lining of my stomach. And the best part is the herbs don't stop the medicine from working..they just make me feel normal while it's working.
So when Mom gave me the herbs I felt like normal again. I didn't vomit anymore and I didn't try eating Mom's mint plant outside anymore. Mom also uses another herb called Slippery Elm to sooth the stomach but she doesn't have any in the house right now. Marsh Mallow works just like the Slippery Elm.

Bell and I don't eat commercial dog food either. Mom says it's nothing more than garbage in a bag. She says it's full of horrible stuff that will give us cancer so she makes all our food. We eat the same foods humans eat....like dogs used to be fed before they started making dog food in the 50's. Back then families fed their dogs the leftovers from their own dinner and dogs were much healthier. So that's what Mom does. She makes dinner with a little bit more for us. We eat meats, a small amount of vegetables, and a small amount of grains. Most of our meals are meat. We need the protein because we are still growing and because dogs are carnivores. That means that we are really meat eaters and are not well equipped to eat a lot of vegetables or grains. Our stomachs can't really process it easily...so we don't get much veggies or grains.
Mom says in the wild we'd be eating mostly raw meat and bones, which is a natural diet for a wolf. I'm sure glad I don't live in the wild because I don't like raw meat and wolves scare me!

Mom gives us plain, unflavored Greek yogurt every day too. She says it has something called probiotics in it that helps our digestion. Mom won't give us the flavored yogurts because it has a lot of sugar in it and that's not something we need. I don't care...I love the unflavored yogurt. Bell always eats hers really fast so she can try to get some of mine but Mom makes her sit down and wait. She says it's not polite to steal food from someone's bowl. Once I'm finished Bell and I switch bowls to get the last little bit. We love yogurt! And we always have a yogurt beard afterwards.

Nicki on Training

My Mom has started taking us to training! I don't know why she wants to take me there. I already know everything I want to know and Bell will never know anything so it's just a waste of valuable play time. (And I didn't see any trains there either).

I already know how to sit; stand; lay down; sniff other dog butts; bark at people and dogs I don't know; choke myself with the collar; pull like hell on the leash; howl to make Mom laugh; wiggle my whole body when I did something bad and pee on the floor. What in the world could possibly be left to learn!! It's a waste of time, I'm telling you.

Bell keeps looking at me and won't do anything she's told to do. I just ignore her. I'm more interested in meeting the other dogs around me. Mom keeps yanking my neck. How boring! There isn't even any food.

Justin is working with Bell. He doesn't know all the stuff Mom knows so Bell has it easy. He gives her a command and she doesn't do it and he doesn't even yank her neck! Then Bell plays stupid (although I don't think she's too smart anyway) and lays down! Mom won't let me get away with that but Bell gets to do it unless Mom sees her. Mom sends the instructor lady over if she sees Bell being an idiot with Justin. Ha Ha Bell!

Mom says I know a lot of commands but I don't pay attention. We're not sure what Bell knows...she moves in slow motion all the time. I heard Mom tell someone that Bell is better on the leash than I am. That's because I like to see everything and Bell is trying to make me look bad. I don't need any help Bell...I can do it myself. I can sit better than Bell. She sits in slow motion and makes people laugh. Mom says she looks like she's got a hydraulic lift under her butt.

I really do know how to be a good girl on the leash but I don't want Mom to expect too much from me. If I keep doing everything right I'll NEVER get to eat weird stuff while we're walking. Sometimes Mom takes me and Bell for a walk at the same time. That's when we really have fun! Bell and I have it all worked out....when I pull on the leash that's when Bell gets to eat a rock...when Bell pulls on the leash, then it's my turn to eat something. It works out pretty good because Mom is only paying attention to the one that's pulling on the leash. But tonight Mom caught us at it and made us both stop and spit it out. Bell is such a sissy she spit hers out right away. Not me, I made Mom go in and get it!

When we got home Mom told us sit; stand and stay. Didn't we do enough of that on the walk? When she told me to lay down I flopped right over. She seemed to like that because she started laughing and said I took a nose dive. Bell did the same thing but she did hers in slow motion of course. Bell does everything in slow motion. She likes to be different.
We have to go to bed now. Mom has people over and she said we had enough time in the spot light for one night. I don't know what she means...I didn't see any lights.

A Little Carried Away

Bell's version of events:

Mom went outside tonight and I didn't know where she was going. I wanted to go too! I tried to see out the kitchen window. I had to put my front feet up on the table to do that and I found Mom's coffee up there. I didn't get to try any. Mom saw me through the window and came back in fast. She told me to get down and said I was a bad girl!
I don't think I was a bad girl at all. I didn't even get any coffee!!

Then Mom went back outside again and told us both to stay. She didn't tell me where she was going and I STILL wanted to go too. I didn't put my front feet on the table this time...instead I just climbed right up on top of it. What a great view it is from the top of that table! I could see the whole yard. And I could see Mom flying back in the house too. But I just stayed up on the table. It was fun and I knew Mom would like it too.

Mom didn't think it was fun I guess because she started yelling at me right away. I didn't know what she wanted me to do so I just smiled and wagged my tail at her. Mom made it pretty clear that she wanted me down when she picked me up by my collar and my belly and put me back on the floor. All the stuff from the table went all over the floor too. Boy was Mom mad! She must have called me a bad dog at least a hundred times. I tried to hide somewhere but there was no where to go so I just sat by the door and looked sad, waiting for Mom to cool down. She had to pick up all the stuff off the floor and the whole time she was giving me dirty looks.

I guess I won't be getting up on the table again...or at least not when Mom can catch me. Nicki was laughing at me behind Mom's back. She thought it was great that I got caught and she wasn't getting yelled at this time. Mom told her she was a good girl. I told her she was a stinker!

Nicki's Sick

Commentary from Nicki:

I got sick! Mom took really good care of me but boy did I feel bad!
I'm not sure what happened to me. When I came home from Gramma's house last Tuesday night I didn't feel too good when I went to bed. Mom asked me if I was ok but I just hung my head and looked at her. She petted my head and rubbed my ears for a while...that felt good. I went to sleep.
When I woke up I felt even worse. I didn't want to go out to pee; I didn't want to eat; I didn't even want to stand up. Mom had a really worried look on her face and she spoke very soothingly to me. Eventually I had to get up to go pee...and Mom was insisting anyway.

I sat outside my pen and watched Bell eat. I didn't feel like eating or even going into the kitchen. I just felt really crappy.
Mom made me a special breakfast of broth and chicken. I love chicken so I decided to eat that. It was pretty good but I just wanted to go back to sleep after that. Before I fell asleep I heard Mom talking to Aunt KC about maybe staying home from work. When I woke up KC was here and Mom had gone to work. That was ok because I just wanted to sleep anyway.

When Mom got home from work she was really worried about me. She made me get out of my pen to go pee...I didn't make it all the way to the lawn. I peed on the deck. Mom didn't seem to care. She carried me down the steps to the lawn and I did some more...just to make her happy.
When I went back in Mom wanted me to eat but I didn't feel like it. Bell ate all her food. I laid down in front of my pen instead and told Bell to leave me alone...I don't want to play. Bell kept jumping on me anyway until Mom made her stop.

I heard Mom on the phone talking to the veterinarian's office. She was going to take me to see him again tomorrow morning. I didn't even get excited about it. I felt too crappy to get excited about anything. Mom decided to sit next to me and pet me and talk for awhile. I was too tired to pay much attention. I couldn't even hold my head up. I think Mom had tears in her eyes but I don't know why.

Mom brought my food dish over to me and fed me small amounts at a time from her hand while I stayed laying down. That was really nice of her. I was hungry after all but just too tired to bother getting up to eat. Seems like there was more chicken in there again. I like chicken! Mom used a tiny little glass to give me water after I ate. I didn't really like that but she'd been so nice to me I decided to play along. Water is good...but chicken is much better. After the water Mom was back on the phone again. Now she told me we were going to the vet tonight. That meant I had to get up again. I really didn't want to get up anymore so Mom carried me to the car. I slept all the way there.

This man was a different vet from the last time. He seemed nice. He layed on the floor with me for awhile too! And he gave me biscuits. I like that but only if he brought them to me. I didn't want to go to get them...that would mean I had to get up and I didn't want to do that. For a little while he had me walk down the hallway but I didn't feel good at all so I sat down and just looked at him. Leave me alone now ok buddy? I just want to lay down for awhile. Then some nice girls came in and took blood out of my vein. They kept telling me how good I was...I already know THAT. And it seemed to be a big deal that I wanted to lay down...everybody kept trying to get me to come to them. I put my head in Mom's lap instead.

Finally we got back in the car to go home. When we got home Mom gave me a little pill to chew...it tasted ok so I ate it and it made me feel a little bit better. Then I headed straight to my pen so I could go to sleep. Mom said she would be on the couch for the night if I needed anything. A couple of times I saw her looking at me but she didn't say anything.....so I went to sleep.


Bell's commentary:

Nicki got real sick last week and she's still not as much fun as she normally is. She wouldn't play with me at all last week...even when I jumped right on top of her! Mom put me in my pen after I did that.
I kept asking Mom for Nicki's food but she wouldn't give it to me. She fed it to Nicki by hand...the whole thing! And Nicki hardly talked to me for days. I had to play with all the toys all by myself! It wasn't as much fun at all. I like it best when Nicki steals every toy I want until I chase her and we play tackle. You can't play tackle by yourself.

Nicki is feeling better now but she's still not the same yet. She makes funny noises in her throat and sometimes she throws up some of her food. And I've noticed that she's getting some extra things to eat that Mom won't give to me. I tried to eat Nicki's food too because she was eating too slow. Mom caught me and I had to drop it. She keeps catching me every time I try anything!

Nicki and I are going back to see the vet on Friday. I think the vet is more interested in seeing Nicki but I get to go too. Mom says I have one more shot to get and they want to do another test on Nicki. Mom says we're getting to be very expensive. She says Nicki is going to be the Million Dollar Dog before she's better. I want to be a Million Dollar Dog too!

And That Ain't Rain

Nicki's commentary:

Bell peed on me! She peed on me! She peed right on my head!
We were playing a great game of chase me, racing back and forth and ignoring Mom telling us to stop. I stopped to grab a toy and I stretched out on the rug to chew it. Bell came over, I thought to play with me but instead she stood over me and just PEED ON ME!
One minute I'm chewing on my stuffed bunny and the next minute there is pee all over my head and going down my neck!

The only good part was Mom coming to the rescue. She jumped up; grabbed Bell by the scruff of the neck and yelled NO all at the same time. I didn't know what was going on so I just stayed there dripping pee from my ear!
Mom put Bell in her pen and got some wet paper towels to clean me off. What a yucky feeling to have pee on you! Mom washed me up pretty good and I actually enjoyed it. Then she cleaned the carpet and washed me some more. She called me Poor Nicki...and gave me a treat! But I'd rather not have to get peed on to get a treat.

Bad Bell!! (this isn't over Bell)

Our First Vet Visit

Mom told us we had to go see the Veterinarian. I don't know what the big deal was...we see lots of people. When the day came for us to go Mom put some of our poop in jars! We thought this was really weird...she usually puts it in a bucket and throws it away. Nicki said she didn't have to do potty but I think she didn't want Mom putting hers in a jar.

On our way to the Vet Mom kept telling us to sit down a lot. We didn't do it....we were too excited. Nicki says we don't have to do anything Mom says when we're in the car cuz she never turns around to see what we're doing. I think Nicki was trying to get me in trouble again so I decided to take a nap. A few minutes later I smelled something weird. I think Mom smelled it too cuz she started yelling and pulled the car over real fast. Nicki climbed up on top of me which means she did something real bad! She was scared she was gonna get it this time. Mom never pulled the car over before.

Mom was standing outside the car saying a lot of loud words I never heard before. I never saw her dance like that before either. Nicki and I thought it was funny so we jumped up and pranced on the seat. We wanted to dance too!
But when Mom opened the door she wasn't dancing anymore...she was mad! Then I saw that Nicki had pooped on the floor and it was on the side of the door too. When Mom told us to sit down we did it this time. I don't know why Mom was so mad...can't she just put it in a jar for the Veterinarian? He likes poop in a jar, right?

Well eventually Mom got it cleaned up but the car still smelled bad. Mom left all the windows down and kept telling Nicki she was a bad dog. Nicki doesn't like getting yelled at so we both took a nap for the rest of the ride. For once I was the good girl and smarty pants Nicki was the bad girl. Next time go poop on the lawn when Mommy tells you Nicki! (sometimes Nicki's not as smart as she thinks she is)

When we got to the Vet's office Mom told everyone what Nicki did. She kept saying she never had a dog do that in her car before. They all thought it was funny too...I TOLD you it was funny Mom! The Vet checked me and Nicki out all over. He cleaned our ears and trimmed our nails too. I let him do everything because I wanted him to like me. Nicki didn't even pull her foot away when he trimmed her nails. I think she didn't want to get in anymore trouble for awhile. Then he gave us each a needle. I didn't like that too much but Nicki didn't even flinch and that's not like her at all! After that Mom and the Vet talked a lot. I don't know what they were talking about...just boring stuff to me. Nicki and I poked around the room until it was time to go. (I was ready to leave as soon as I got that needle)

On the way home the car still smelled bad but Mom wasn't mad anymore. She told us we better stay healthy cuz that visit just cost her a bundle. We don't know what a "bundle" is but we'll stay healthy if we can...and I don't think Nicki will poop in the car again either. (puppy giggle)

Working Together

My sister and I believe in cooperation...especially when it involves getting something we both want. A good example of this was at Gramma's house. On our very first visit there we knew peeing on the floor would probably get us in trouble so we really emptied out before going inside. Mom was nervously watching us for awhile but eventually she found other things to occupy her time. That's when the real fun began.

We went into the living room to investigate what's going on in there. And boy did we hit the jackpot! We found a long stuffed toy thing that was placed along the bottom of a door. We knew that was put there for us to play with so we picked it up (one at each end) and carried it into the kitchen. Well we didn't get to keep it very long because Mom went ballistic and took it away. (I heard her laughing as she returned it to the spot it came from) But I ask you....why was it taken away when it is obviously a toy for us? So we forgot about that one for awhile and went back to "looking innocent" in the kitchen...just long enough for Mom to relax of course.

We decided we needed to change our tactics. Bell wandered nonchalantly into the dining room while I (Nicki) strolled innocently back into the living room for another look around. I saw an even better toy but I knew I needed to bide my time and form a plan with Bell. As it turned out Bell came in the room with Mom and Gramma. They were busy with Grampa so we had time to quickly discuss the plan and put it into action. Unfortunately our timing wasn't very good. We had both grabbed a wing on a stuffed Penguin and were quickly trotting out of the room with it when Mom turned around and saw us. We heard a loud "HEY!" and Mom was after us in a flash. She caught us half way across the hallway and took the penguin away. But once again we heard her laughing at us. Why is it so funny to take our toys away?

At this point we don't think Gramma's house is very much fun. Everything we eat is wrong even though we never take it from the table...always from the floor. Everything we try to play with gets taken away. Every time we try to go into another room alone someone follows us or calls us back. And worst of all there is no peeing in Gramma's house either! What is it with these people and peeing? It's a natural fact of life. Why do they freak out when we pick our own places to do it?

Who Are You

This blog will be coming from the minds of two 6 month old Lab/Hound puppies. They are sisters named Nicki and Bell.

The actual typing will be done by Mom....we don't have thumbs and aren't very skilled at much of anything other than peeing on the rug and eating everything in sight. But the thoughts and perceptions will be from us...sometimes Nicki; sometimes Bell...but always from the mind of a young hound.

We hope you enjoy the blog.