Curious Georgia

I am considering changing Daisy's name to Georgia because she is curious about everything!  We had a doggy DNA test done on her to find out what kind of mix she was, and I was just sure that she would be part blood hound because she sniffs everything.  No such luck there, she was 70% Collie, 20% Great Dane,  and approx. 10% Australian Afghan.  I still think that if she didn't have a name when we got her (and we didn't have friends who have a super cute daughter with the name) I would be calling her Curious Georgia today.

I Can Do Bad All By Myself!

 Hi! I'm Daisy and I am all worn out from all of the bad things I've done today. 

Let's take a look:

 I chewed up my toy-box, because toys weren't fun enough...

I chewed mommy's shoelace, because I don't want her to leave...

And I chewed a hole in the bed-skirt because mommy was on the phone and not paying attention to me!

Trust me, being bad isn't easy!  I've gotta get my beauty sleep now so I can do it all again tomorrow!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

As a little kid I remember hating when my parents would leave to go somewhere.  I was a little paranoid, but I had this idea in my head that when they left they would never come back. Now I had nothing to base this thought on, but it still scared me nonetheless.  I grew up in a loving home where neither of my parents ever talked about leaving, but I guess I thought that if us kids were not there with them all the time they would forget about us!  Now that I am older I realize that this is not the case, but I can understand where children get this thought process from.  When little kids close there eyes they think that no one else can see them, so therefore, if someone they love leaves and they cannot see them the only logical conclusion is that the child has been forgotten by the adult.

Dog's have this same mentality.  Whenever we are getting ready to leave the apartment Daisy can sense this.  She starts following us around and putting on her sad eyes as if you say "please take me with you."  She hangs out by the front door as we gather up our things, and when we tell her to kennel up she waits a minute to see if we will change our mind.  Even though we always come back, I think she thinks "out of sight, out of mind," just like I did when I was younger.

You're Never Too Big to Sit on Mommy's Lap

Last night when I got home from work and started unloading my pockets of the day's contents, I discovered that I had an important piece of paper in my pocket that needed to go in a patient's chart.  So, after dinner Adam, Daisy and I went back up to the hospital to return the paper...and go get some Curley's Frozen Custard afterward : P

When we got back in the car after custard Daisy decided that she wanted to sit on my lap.  It was sooo sweet!  She just curled right up and leaned her head on my shoulder during the ride back home.  Since she is not much of a cuddly lap dog this was a special moment...and we caught it on camera to share with the rest of you!

To gauge just how much she has grown since we got her:  on August 2nd Daisy could curl up on my lap and have a little extra room to spare, now "curled up" up means taking up all of my lap and most of my torso!

Try a Little Tenderness

I am not really sure how I am going to relate this post's title to what I am going to write about yet, but I am going to try my best!

Today was one of those days with 12+ hours on the job that nurses are subjected to.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job!  Being a nurse is even better than I thought it would be, and I get lots of satisfaction out of what I do (something I am learning not everyone can say).  However, the long hours lead to barking dogs...in both literal and figurative terms.  On weeks that my husband is home, he gets back from work before I do; this means that I don't really have to worry about Daisy being stuck in her kennel from 6am-8pm.  He is out of town this week though :(  

Luckily I have some great friends who come ambulate my dog on days like today.  So while her bladder may get relieved, her energy doesn't quite get used to its full potential.  This fact came into play about the time I sat down eat my dinner at 8:15.  I used to (okay, sometimes I still do) get extremely irritated at Daisy for being an energetic puppy. This is completely senseless in retrospect, but seems perfectly rational at the time.  I am learning, though slowly and surely, that the best way to react to Daisy's energy is not to discipline her for not working on my time-table, but rather to try a little tenderness (see, I told you I would get this in here somehow!).  

Now trying a little tenderness with a puppy has nothing to do with what Michael Buble sings about, but it still works magic ;)

By trying a little tenderness, I really mean getting down on her level and giving her the attention she needs (okay, so maybe it is a little like what Mr. Buble sings about).  Instead of griping at her for an hour for being a nuisance, a simple 5-10 minute game of fetch or her new favorite - keep away, followed by a good old tummy rub, works wonders.  All Daisy really wants is for me to acknowledge that she is there and show her that yes, even after being gone all day, I do still love her.

And after this I can get the hour that I wanted in the first place while she happily entertains herself with a chew toy!

So, here we are 9 days into October and I haven't posted anything this month.  It is not that we have frozen ourselves in time for the past 10 day, but rather that I haven't thought of anything noteworthy to blog about.  Our lives have been fairly routine lately with few(er) dog adventures to write about...at least on my part.  I think that my husband might have a different opinion on the matter.

Since I have started working more of the home and dog care duties have fallen on Adam's shoulders.  I can't say that I really mind this at all.  It is nice to come home to dinner on the table, the dog already walked, and any mess she made during the day cleaned up (ish).  I think I could get used to this...

But back to the messes part.  Because we feel sorry for our dog who has to stay in her kennel during the day while we are gone, we have tried on two separate occasions to leave her on the porch during the day.  On days when we are home Daisy spends countless happy hours on the porch simply watching the world go by below, however, when we leave something horrible must come inhabit our animal.  She poops, turns over her food and water and then tries to shred the bowls, and who knows what else.  We tried this a few weeks ago and then again this week with no improvement :(  

So it is back in the kennel while mom and dad go to work.

Maybe we should just get a life sized doll and stand it up in the doorway so she feels like she is being watched...not an entirely bad idea!

I will try to post more frequently for the rest of the month!

About the Only Time Daisy Obeys