The Parakeet Conspiracy

Mom has two parakeets, Pippin and Poppin. They sit by the window in the kitchen. Once Sam was tall enough to discover them, he began to sniff at their cage and generally worry them, although he's never jumped up at them or tried to eat them. Mostly he's just curious about them. The birds, however, take offense at having a large canine's slobbery head thrust against the bars of their cage every couple of days, and so they have finally exacted their revenge.

The birds have a mirror hanging in their cage, which is a favorite toy of theirs. In the early morning, when the sun comes in through that window, it reflects off the mirror. The birds have discovered that by pecking the mirror, they can make that reflected light dance on the wall, which in turns drives Sam nuts as he tries to get at it. That was how this morning was spent while I ate my cereal in sad resignation.

(Note: Click the pictures for a larger view if it's tough to make out.)

Must...get...light...


Mo-om! I'm doing important work here!


Sam goes nuts as the birds cackle to themselves in wicked glee...

I finally had to move the counter chairs over so Sam couldn't get at the light. I was worried he'd scratch up the wood like he's done on the door. I'm sure it'll be only a temporary setback for those plotting birds, though. They've got mischievous minds.

An Unspeakable Fate

Sam has a habit of stopping for potty breaks in the middle of playing or fetching toys. Sometimes he'll hold the toy in his mouth for the duration of his business, but more often he'll drop the toy, walk forward a couple steps, and then end up peeing on his toy. Most of his outdoor toys have been anointed this way.

Today marked a new first, though. I had just gotten home and had thrown a tennis ball for Sam, and he was taking his time bringing it back (he likes to chew it and shake it and generally be a goofball). Since he was being slow, I turned away for a moment to get some things out of my car, and when I looked back, Sam was squatting in the side yard, having his afternoon constitutional. Not unusual, but where was the tennis ball? Wait... no... could it... NO, SAM!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Sam pooped on his tennis ball. I did NOT take a picture of this, since I felt it was too gross. Instead, I have offered another one of my artist's renditions, this one of the tennis ball moments before it met its demise:


Needless to say, that ball got thrown away. Poor tennis ball!

An Open Letter to Pedigree

Dear Pedigree,

Let me start off by saying I've been a loyal customer for fifteen years. Our old dogs, Bud and Thor, ate Pedigree dog food their entire lives. My current dog, Sam, can't eat your dry dog food because it upsets his tummy, but he does eat your wet dog food and he eats several Pedigree brand treats.

I'm writing about Pedigree Dentastix, your oral care product for dogs. These chews are supposed to clean your dog's teeth and help reduce tartar buildup and prevent gum disease. They're even shaped so they clean your dog's gums while he chews them. They come in large dog sizes, which I've been getting for Sam. So no problems, right? Not quite.


I'm assuming to get the oral care benefits, a dog would have to spend a few minutes chewing the treat. I've been timing Sam. He finishes one of your large Dentastix in an average time of 47 seconds. This is about the same time it takes him to eat two medium Milkbones, given separately. Somehow I don't feel this is an adequate amount of time to address Sam's dental needs.

I see that your efficacy trial was conducted on Beagles. I'm sure that accurately reflected the mini and small/medium sizes, but I don't think the results can be applied to larger dogs. Bigger dogs have stronger jaws, so they can chew through treats much more quickly. Perhaps the Dentastix for large dogs should be made a bit more sturdy as well as larger in size. If the Dentastix themselves were a bit more durable, they'd last a little longer and be able to perform their dental duties more effectively.

Just some thoughts. Keep up the great work, Pedigree.

Your friends,
Brandy and Sam

How to Tell If Your Dog Is a Massive Goofball

Step one: Establish massive status. Usually if visitors think you've got a wolf on the loose, you're on the right track.

My hand vs Sam's pawprint

Step two: Establish goofball status. One of the easiest ways is for your dog to dunk himself in the pool, then start rolling around on the grass, randomly growling at barking.

Flip!
Grrr....


A ha!


Huh?

Once you've completed both steps, congratulations! Your dog is a MASSIVE GOOFBALL.

Sticks Galore

In the ongoing septic tank saga, we've finally reached the dirt/sod stage. A quick recap: our sump pump broke, when it was fixed we discovered our dosing tank needed replacing, that got replaced, but because of new ordinances, our septic tank mound has to be built up before the inspector will approve the new tank. So now, as I said, we are in the dirt/sod stage.

Today we got four loads of dirt dumped in our yard. Now, Sam is a good watchdog--when he sees you. His normal post is my old blue camping chair in the garage, from which he can see the street and the main driveway. The dirt, however, was brought in via the second driveway, which Sam didn't see. How he missed the sounds of the dump truck backing up and depositing four separate loads of dirt, I have no idea.

Anyway, I came out with him and Dad into the yard a few minutes ago, and Sam was stunned by the magic transformation of the yard. At first he growled at the invading dirt, but quickly realized these lumpy hills were 1) dirt and 2) full of sticks. Both bonuses in Sam's world. He wasn't even phased when the big backhoe/front-end loader thingy came to spread the dirt. (Note: it's amazing how one big "toy" like that magically draws all the men of the neighborhood to it. There's like four or five guys in my yard right now spreading dirt, hoping for a turn to drive the backhoe.)

Thankfully I'm spared the task of helping to spread the dirt (although there'll be no getting out of laying the sod tomorrow) because I'm making dinner, so while I do that, I leave you all with a sort of photographic representation of Sam's train of thought over the past half hour. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Intruder alert! Grrr!


Hey! This stuff has STICKS in!


Oooh look at this stick I found


And this stick!


This one's a good chewing stick


Oooh look I found another one!


Wow look at this big one!


Hey! That one was mine! Finders keepers!


I dunno what this is but I LIKE IT!


How are you 'posed to get in this thing?

I Know, I Know...

Yes, yes, I realize it's almost been a week and no new posts. This week I've volunteered at a Wildlife Rehab center, prepared and given a presentation in my ecology class, read through, summarized, and analyzed five books for a different project, gone to see Daniel Tosh live, and just come back from a wedding. Sorry. This week has been silly busy.

But now I am home and hanging out with Sam, so don't worry, he hasn't been nearly as neglected as you poor readers have. He is currently in a state of terror, though, because he accidentally knocked over the baby gate and it made a clatter and now he won't go within ten feet of it. He's in full-on crouching, ears back, tail tucked, slow-motion mode. After it fell down I took him to the other side of the kitchen and he jumped up and gave me a "hug" and wouldn't let go. Now he's lying under my chair, keeping one eye on that sinister baby gate and the other one on me to make sure his guardian doesn't abandon him to its evil clutches.

In other news, the poll on the left is closed, and it looks like the Devil costume won out. I'll be making it sometime next week and dressing him in it, so look forward to that! Also, the surprise I hinted about in the last post should be happening sometime in early November, so I'll let you know then. No spoilers!

Now, because I've been busy this week, I don't have much in the way of pictures for you, except for this pair I took two nights ago. The second one is now my desktop background on my computer. So hopefully Sam's massive adorableness will help make up for the recent blog-drought. Enjoy!

Trying to see if Sam has the tongue-rolling gene


Hey there, handsome!

Playtime

It's looking like there's going to be some big news come early November... but I'm not spilling the beans yet! You'll just have to wait and see, same as us!

In other, less vague news, Sam is a goofball. Of course, you already knew that. Even if you're a first-time reader, you'll figure it out pretty darn quick. Yesterday Sam managed to chew off one end of his rawhide bone, abandoning the rest of the bone for this tennis-ball sized loop of rawhide he could bat around the kitchen floor. When he's playful and he's got a toy, he tends to fling it out of his mouth into walls and under tables, then scramble after it. And was he ever in peak form last night.

He tossed the rawhide around. He got it stuck in corners and under chairs. He sat and barked at it when it got tangled in the TV cord. And of course, he tried to get anyone in the kitchen to chase him or play tug of war with him. Since it's impossible to play tug with a circular hunk of rawhide, I humored him by fake-chasing him around the kitchen. Here are the goofy results:





Sam's technique hasn't changed much in five months. He's pretty consistent, as proven by this video of him at 4 months old, playing with the ends of some carrots I was peeling:



Hope the videos brighten your day! Smile, it's playtime!