Diaper Dog

Poor Hershey - she has been forced to wear a diaper during the day given her female troubles. She's been an incredibly good sport about it, not fussing with it and she's pretty patient when I put it on her. Unfortunately the few time Chris has tried to put on her diaper for her, it has come out looking all crazy; I'm not sure what he is doing!




It's not on tight, but you have a good idea of how much fur is on her! She looks so strange with it on, like she's wearing a Speedo!




In other news, we have booked her kenneling for the few days we will both be away from home in July. Our friends have used this kennel in the past and it is affiliated with a veterinary clinic, which is good as her stay will only be 4 or 5 days after her spaying.

Hershey's been spending the whole work day on her own, both to get ready for her kenneling time and for September when our schedules get more regular. She's been doing wonderfully - enjoying her crate for naps, playing with the few toys we leave out for her, and has learned to look out the window by propping herself up on her crate too. She's been chewing all her toys to bits recently (except the cow stuffie, for some reason, but it's her teddybear, we let her sleep with it in the crate). She has remarkably strong jaws - she's even been able to do some serious damage to her Kong toy (it's solid rubber!) - we've never heard of a small dog being able to do this!





Finally, another cute picture of Hershey!

Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon

So 4 days before we had her scheduled to get spayed, Hershey went into heat. This explains her spaziness lately - she isn't as good at listening and following commands as before, and has been panting for no reason. We've been able to reschedule the spay for early July, which will be fine, however I will be on my own at home at that time, so I am reading up on what to do post-op for Hershey.

In the meanwhile, I will be trying to drive around with Hershey in the front-seat of a car this weekend. Perhaps this will be better for her than the back seat. She'll have better access to the window for fresh air this way. If this works well, we may get her used to the car by sitting her up front and then get her comfortable in the back seat eventually.

We will be taking it easy for the next few weeks, playing mostly around the house and yard and ensuring that things go well for her "time of the year".

Bed, Barf, Bath, and Big Bashes

The last few days have been jam-packed for Chris and I, and Hershey's had a busy time too.

The first thing I want to share is the fact that Hershey has been excellent about getting to bed - she has stopped crying completely, which is fantastic, and we think she's sleeping in her crate during the day too. Last night, for instance, she came in to the house after her before-bed pee and ran into her crate (the cookies we hide in her blanket may also help).

She's been doing half-days alone at home right now, staying in the mudroom with toys, water, and her crate. Eventually when the weather stabilizes we hope to open the window (but not the screen) which will let her see outside a bit and get fresh air. Wednesday and Thursday were mornings spent on her own with me coming back in the afternoons to do some "house work" (nothing gets done though!) We've been going for walks in the Mill Creek ravine, which she enjoys a great deal - so many smells to investigate! She's also going through her toys at an astonishing speed - her "new" rope twist is shredded beyond recognition and she's also greatly enjoying her squirrel and cow stuffies as well.







Friday afternoon Chris and I were off of work early so we decided to run errands with Hershey. We drove across the city and very shortly after being in the car Hershey started feeling sick. We tried the techniques listed on webpages and books to avoid carsickness, such as opening windows, bracing the dog, trying to calm her and making her look downwards instead of out the windows, but to no avail. She puked. And puked and puked - total of 6 times, poor thing. When we got home we threw the blanked in the wash again and decided it was a good time to giver Hershey a bath.

She was reluctant to get into the tub at first, but didn't fight or try to escape. When we got her wetted down (which is hard with fur) she looked so tiny and skinny!


She looked like ET!


We got a lot of dirt off of her; we tried to use a hair dryer to dry her off, but that scared her a bit, so we ended up just toweling her off.


She's actually a lot more blonde and reddish now - not at all as brown as we had originally thought - the white on her stomach toes and butt have also come through more. And she smells very clean and nice (for a dog)!

We do have one other mess thing to report - while we were watching TV in the living room, Hershey kept leaving the room - we thought she was watching Doggy TV (the screen door in the front of the house - it's High Definition ;) ) but then she came back and promptly peed on our bamboo rug. We later found out that she probably rang the bell to ask to go out to pee, but she rings it very quietly - like everything else she does. We likely dind't hear it what with the TV and the open windows. We've also read that if you don't let a dog out if it's been trained to go outside, it will come and do its business in plain sight - to show you what happens if you ignore it. The rug cleaned up quickly, it's as though nothing occurred. Chris might rig up a doorbell for her - that would certainly be louder.

Saturday a lot was going on - a bunch of preparation for the party we were hosting for our 4 friends (2 couples) who are getting married in July, decorating the house and finally the party itself. Hershey was quite puzzled by the streamers on the ceiling and at one point tried to pick up a balloon as though it were a regular ball - boy would she have been surprised if it burst! When all 30 people were in our living room, Hershey didn't know what to do! She was very excited to meet everyone, but the smells of food (especially BBQ) and the games (especially bingo pieces) were hard to resist. She behaved incredibly well and everyone loved her.

Sunday morning was a special day - Hershey got to get in bed with Chris and I in the morning. I misinterpreted "let the dog come up into bed" with putting her in between the covers like a dolly! She was in heaven! We let her stay there for a while, but as always, she was full of beans and wanted to go and do something else very shortly after. We have been getting up nice and early everyday because of her! We went on some walks and took it easy for the most part, but took it easy as she had such a big day on Saturday. Chris did take her to run around the ice rink/field with Thilo in the evening, but after a while, Hershey didn't seem to want to play anymore. Instead they all went for a walk to see the rising river levels (flooding was imminent throughout the province over the weekend).

Monday was back to work for Chris and I - again, doing a half day. We took her for a very long walk, which was good for all of us. Today she's done most of the day alone. We left the house at 8 am, and Chris went in to check on her at around 2 pm. She'll be alone again until 4:30 when we get back.

One final picture for today's post - Chris has made Hershey an honorary McMaster Engineer!

Independent Dog

Tuesday and Wednesday have been weaning days - we have to get Hershey ready to spend all day on her own while Chris is at school and I am at work. Since Chris has been very busy at school right now, I've tried to stay home whenever I can - Monday I was able to spend the whole day with Hershey. Chris was missed though, she was quite calm until he got home - her tail waggles insanely when she sees someone who's been away for a while.

Tuesday I had work to do in the morning so Chris stayed at home with her. They went on a very nice long walk through Mill Creek ravine and played around the house too. She spent 2 hours alone in her room while we swapped; no messes, no trouble! I had to go to the grocers in the mid-afternoon, so, for 45 minutes she had the first floor (except my office and the bathroom) to herself. Again, no messes, no trouble! She was very interested in the new toys I brought back - her chewing has been very "consistent" to say it nicely on her good toys, so I got her two tougher toys to destroy at will - a hard rope twist and a softer baseball stuffy. She loves both and is tearing them to shreds; happily this is helping her play nicer with her other toys. I also got her some pepperoni sticks (the ones we would actually eat, not dog-brand kinds) and put small pieces into her Kong Ball - she figured out how to get them out really quickly and is ravenous for the smell of pepperoni now. We also went for a short walk before the thunderstorms started - Hershey got to meet Brad and Christie who live a few blocks away. She got treats from both of them, but was far more interested in the soccer game across the street than chatting with us.

Wednesday has been another good weaning day - while I spent the whole day at work, Chris worked from home in the morning. Hershey spent 4 hours after lunch on her own, again, in her room, and was perfectly behaved. She got to share a tiny bit of my pizza for dinner and also played the pepperoni ball game again. We went for a quick walk and now she's finally getting the hang of the Cow stuff that our friends got for her (it's about time!)

Another trick learned

We've attached a bell to the back door and have been getting Hershey to tap the bell when we bring her out to pee (this involves lifting her paw and knocking the bell). I heard this technique from my coworker at the City, Lynn, but thought it would be too good to be true. Kit and Jen have also been training Thilo with this technique, but Jen has told me that Thilo likes the bell as a toy better.

This morning, Chris was getting ready for school when he saw Hershey push the bell around with her nose. He let me know she had done this, we weren't sure if she could have already learned this trick... But we let her out to reinforce the stimulus/response pairing. She went straight out to pee.

We have an amazing dog!

The Pastrami Incident

Yesterday was not the greatest day; we finally found Hershey's weak spot...

After a good morning of sleeping in the crate nicely, eating breakfast properly, and pooping in the perfect spot in the yard, we went on a nice little walk the two of us together. I'm trying to teach her to walk either "to my left" or "to my right" which will help when we're facing obstacles.

Shortly afterwards, we went in the car to Petsmart where we got her toenails clipped. She was very good again, not barking or pulling away. She was so excited around the store, which was inevitable, and did quite well with one of the bigger dogs there, but not great with one of the excited puppies who was in training class - she actually barked at him - not good, but the puppy was being bothersome. Anyhow, we got more supplies, and then headed back home. There was one point where she started to give signals that she was going to throw up again, but after holding her muzzle closed and petting her, she didn't puke at all, which was great! We got her out of the car shortly afterwards and walked to the grocery store where I stayed with her while Chris got food for lunch.

We got back home and started making lunch for ourselves, including soup, salad and sandwich... Chris had finished putting together reubens to toast with the pannini grill when he turned around to put the pastrami away but noticed one full slice on the ground; there was that pause, like in movies, where we looked at each other then the ground, then the perfectly closed container in his hand, then back to the table - where we were like "that's funny, shouldn't there be another half-sandwich there?" Click! We finally realized that Hershey - BAD Hershey had stolen the meat-side of the sandwich. She obviously knew that what she had done was wrong, because as soon as we turned around to find her, she had darted away. We threw the sandwich away and Chris had to punish Hershey a bit for having been so bad. She understood but it was so sad to punish her. We sent her outside while we cleaned up and then welcomed her back in. She was extremely good for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, Hershey and Thilo had another play date. I didn't think that she'd be up for playing because she's just been so pooped recently, but Chris took her and they had a fantastic time. Hershey flew like the wind when playing ball and teased Thilo who, since he's so much smaller and still very young, couldn't keep up. She also got to meet anonther dog, a big huge old Rotweiler X Husky who was very gentle with both Hershey and Thilo. When she came back home, she had dinner and then basically lounged around the house. She was very good during our dinner.

To cap off another exciting day, we had her meet some of our other friends, Colin and Becky, who loved her! They got to give her treats and saw her play one of her favorite games; find the lambchop stuffy hidden under her blanket (she digs and sniffs it out - it's great!). She was very good going to bed, only resisting a bit, and slept through until 5 am, where we thought she wanted to go out, but I think the rain dissuaded her. From 5 until 7, she got to sleep at the foot of the bed on the floor. A pretty sweet treat!

The gifts!

Hershey got two great gifts on Friday from friends and family - first a nice card with some doggy dollars from my parents...




(we're thinking of buying a doggy bed with the doggy dollars...)

And we also got a cow stuffy which "Moos" from Kit and Jen!





Hershey is a lucky girl to get such nice presents!

Second day = walking

Hershey was such a good girl - she slept all night in her crate, waking only once at 4 am to go to pee, and then again at 6 because the sun was out. She was very happy to get out of that crate - she's obviously not used to it yet. It's tough, but we need to get her used to it for traveling in planes.

We discovered that the measuring cup we had wasn't actually a full cup measure, so this time she got a full serving of breakfast (woops!) Shortly after us getting up and having some breakfast (using the new Pannini grill Chris got me for my birthday), we went on a nice long walk. We cut through the Millcreek ravine, which was exciting for Hershey as it's full of trees and interesting smells. We walked down one of the less busy avenues which was good, except for one corner where a big angry German Shepherd lived and was nearly jumping over the fence. Hershey was good through this scary experience, she didn't bark or growl, but did want to get the hell out of there.

We took some pictures of "Hersh" with Chris on this walk too.


We got to the farmer's market where Hershey got plenty of good attention from shoppers, and she sat quite nicely given that the area was incredibly busy and full of people and other dogs. She got to share in the kettle popcorn I bought. We then walked on to 82nd Avenue, a big busy and bustling street, and then tried to sit down for coffee at a cafe terasse. Hershey didn't understand that she couldn't fit under the table and one of the coffees (in a to-go cup) fell off (huge mess). We promptly left!

We walked back home on more quiet streets and stopped at a few garage sales on the way. When we got home, Hershey had a good hour-long nap in her crate, which went very well, while Chris and I had lunch. We spent the afternoon in the yard and house just hanging out and being lazy. We did get Hershey to play with one of the other toys we bought for her; squeeky squirels which fit into a hollow tree stump stuffy. She adores this toy - the squirels are small enough that they are totally "bite sized" and she was squeeking them and destroying them with great abandon.


Later on, after her dinner, we put Hershey back in the crate (with difficulty) while Chris and I went out for dinner. It was my birthday afterall, so we decided to go out for a short time. When we got back, Hershey had still been a good girl and didn't mess or anything, but was extremely happy to see us. We all watched a movie together and then it was time for her to go back to bed. Again, this was hard to do, but she didn't even cry this time and slept all the way through the night until this morning... well, if you count 6 am on a Sunday as "morning"!

First day at home!

Today was the big day! We got Hershey from the shelter in Misty Creek this afternoon, it was a stormy day but luckily we took possession of her right before the rain started coming down. We drove her home and she loved watching the cars and trucks as we drove past. She did get sick once in the car, but because she had her shots this morning at the vet, it is likely she was a bit nauseous and dehydrated.

When we got home she was very excited to explore the yard and house. We showed her the bedroom we prepared for her in the mudroom, her crate is there along with her food bowls and supplies.


She got to play with her first toy, a tasty lamb chop stuffed toy


We gave her some supper, which she ate very nicely - no messes, no pigging out.


When we checked the mail, we found a card for Hershey from my parents! They modified a congratulations card to read "You have a new dog!" and included some doggy dollars so Hershey can get herself some toys. Hershey, Chris and I say THANK YOU!

We capped off the big first day with a romp in the park with Thilo, our friends, Kit and Jen's, puppy.

More gifts! Kit, Jen and Thilo got Hershey a great stuffed cow toy which "moos" when you squeeze it (pictures will come later when my camera batteries recharge).

She wandered around the house a bit more, and eventually the big day did her in - she fell asleep at my feet while I was working on this post, and we just put her in her crate (bed), she whimpered a bit, but quieted down right away. What a great first day!

The dog formerly known as Cocoa

We decided to change the dog's name - she was named "Cocoa" but we had already been thinking of other names in case we got a puppy or an unnamed dog. While previous contenders were "Reese", "Juno" and "Ceilidh" (Kaylee - I couldn't even spell that one!) we wanted to stick with the chocolate theme for this dog. So Chris thought of "Hershey" and I was sold.

We're getting a dog!

One of the most exciting things in my life is only hours away... Chris and I will be adopting our first dog together! We've spent the last 3 months reading, researching, calling, visiting and doing anything else that would help us find the perfect dog for us. After all this hard work, we finally found a Border Collie X Australian Shepherd dog who is 1 year old. We also got the okay from our landlords to have a dog (phew!)

When we last saw the dog, she was at the Misty Creek rescue shelter near Pigeon Lake in Alberta. We took the afternoon off on the 3rd of June and visited the dogs we saw on the shelter's webpage. Shauna, the very nice woman who runs the shelter told us all about this dog, and we got to play with her a bit, she was extremely friendly and very calm. At one point, we really saw the herding instinct kick in as the dog stared down one of the horses on the farm/shelter grounds. She looked in extremely good health and even knew a few commands - like sit, come here, and shake! The only bad things about this dog was that she was 1) muddy (but that's a temporary state, of course) 2) in high demand (another person was going to visit her on the Sunday, so we needed to make a decision quick) and 3) not coming home with us immediately!


As I mentioned, our landlords did give us the okay to get a dog, but this only came on June 4th after Chris left several messages on their answering machine - we were so anxious to find out! We immediately called the shelter and said we wanted to adopt her. So now, we're getting the dog!