doggies – Page 33 – Kari Neumeyer

Free meat

I think it was my dentist who told me a few years ago that I should get a second dog, because it’s really no different than having one dog. Except for the cost of food. Never mind how untrue that first part has wound up being so far, but oh my gawd, the two dogsContinue reading “Free meat”

Me and Isis, we are the same

I have observed that Isis is like me and Leo is like Rob. I’m not talking about Isis’ amazing athletic ability and jumping/soccer ball catching skills. Or Leo’s diabolical tendency to prefer biting hands, sleeves, ankles and pants over toys designated for that purpose. Isis is very high-strung. Leo is super mellow. I didn’t usedContinue reading “Me and Isis, we are the same”

Autumn approaches

It was determined that the xpen training method was not working for Isis, so we’re now concentrating on the parallel on-leash walk. We had a tough, but ultimately successful session with our trainer Monday, ending with us both thinking, “It will be fun to work with the dogs this way, walking them together.” Then weContinue reading “Autumn approaches”

Tolerance, acclimation and integration

We’re still struggling with the acclimation process between Leo and Isis. To be honest, I’m not sure we’ve conquered tolerance yet. Isis tolerates Leo being confined to the laundry room. She’ll glance at him nonchalantly when she passes on her way in and out of the back door. But we’re still keeping them on oppositeContinue reading “Tolerance, acclimation and integration”

What if I’m the problem?

My kids behave better for Grandma than they do for me. Leo’s been coming with me to work most of the time, because I didn’t want to burden Rob’s mom with having to come over every single day, twice, to let the dogs out without letting them actually come into contact with each other. UntilContinue reading “What if I’m the problem?”

Most socialized dog ever

I feel like we failed Isis in a lot of ways. I’m learning now that you’re supposed to expose your puppy to everything that could possibly “scare” it later in life before he or she is four months old. I wish we’d taken Isis to puppy pre-school and puppy kindergarten, instead of waiting until sheContinue reading “Most socialized dog ever”

I love having dogs, plural

…Even if I can’t play with them both at the same time. Yet. Maybe by the third dog, I’ll have it right. The mistake we made from the beginning with Isis was that we lavished attention on her every second we were with her. This kept her from learning how to settle down quietly. IContinue reading “I love having dogs, plural”

Not the baby anymore

A few days before we got Leo, Isis was happy to run around in the backyard by herself. She didn’t want the door closed on her – occasionally she’d show up at the sliding glass door with her dirty ol’ soccer ball in her mouth, asking me to join her – but she was fairlyContinue reading “Not the baby anymore”

Dogs by Dunbar

I’m trying to follow the instructions in Before and After Getting Your Puppy about errorless housetraining and chewtoy training. So far, we’ve had no errors, and that’s because I have been following the instructions. Given the opportunity, I’m sure Leo would have chewed a slipper by now or peed someplace inappropriate. The thing is though,Continue reading “Dogs by Dunbar”

This parenting thing is hard

What did I think? Isis would take one sniff of Leo and they’d play like litter mates? OK, that’s exactly what I thought. This is going to be much harder than I expected. And I didn’t really expect it to be easy, did I? Well, not exactly, but I thought I had all these methodsContinue reading “This parenting thing is hard”