PuffinSpace

PuffinSpace
4/23/06

TTwo TTerrorists

 
Just checking in to say that Cassie and Mani are doing very well
together.   Mani is MUCH happier having somebody to have the zoomies
with in the back yard and Cassie is doing well with her big brother.
She's about 14.5 lbs to his 22.5 lbs and almost as fast as he is. In
fact, she often catches him because she's smarter about cutting corners
and laying in ambush. She also grabs his tail. She's a tough cookie,
though she also has an *incredibly* sweet personality.   LOL!   

Mani loves getting chased by her, too. He slows down and eggs her on.
Of course, he goes into chase mode, as well. Their favorite game seems
to be "Ive got a stick/toy/ball and you can't have it" which leads to a
chase which ends in a tumble/wrestle. Really really cute to watch and
nobody seems to get hurt.

If the chase game stops, one dog or another will egg the other on into a
chase by nudging the other dog with a stick or toy. Very often each dog
will have one end of the stick/toy/ball in their mouth. Especially
funny with squeaky balls! They nap near each other, often touching
backs or sides.

They still have their "moments" over chewsticks, toys or bones, and
this leads to timeouts.   The barking in the house leads to timeouts if
it gets out of control and they refuse to take it down to a lower
decible level. Short (5-10 min) timeouts seem to be a resonably
effective method to help the dogs regain some self-control.

They're giving my husband and me a lot of laughs and getting me out of
the house more during non-work hours, which is a good thing for all of
us   

I'm still struggling with teaching them to walk on a coupler leash
without wrestling each other. (I have the Sporn adjustable coupler leash, for the record.) They are still being walked separately.   

As a step toward coupler walking, my husband and I are doing brief
sessions of walking them on separate leashes, but near each other and
correcting for lunging/jumping towards one another. This is really a
tough hurdle for us all. What it means is much more walking in the
morning for me, since I have to do separate walks. My day starts very
very early due to this and I'm absolutely beat by evening. Letting them
play (hard!) in the back yard after work is eliminating the necessity
for the evening walk, which is good, because I'm pooped by then and have
to block out time to groom Mani, who is still in puppy blow.   

Regarding puppy blow, the really BAD part seems to be letting up. He
still gets a few tangles and one or two mats each day (more if he's
really been roughhousing), but the table sessions are going faster and
less hair is coming out in the brush.   His outer coat is feeling
slightly harsher and is longer and looks really pretty when the breeze
blows through it.

Cassie hasn't started her blow yet and only takes about 20 mins under
the dryer.   Mani takes MUCH longer to dry!!!

They do, however, get pretty muddy/messy, which at times is a pain.
Especially after they've both had baths, like yesterday. LOL!      

But happier, less stressed out/lonely Mani makes it all worth it. And
Cassie is a cutie pie, which allows us to easily forgive her
transgressions with the kitchen floor, etc.
 
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