I slept in late today as ususal on my day off. When I got up Mama and Tug were on the porch and the boy is sitting on his cushion in the dappled sunlight. He looked so cute!
When he was little we had a bed he snoozed in when in the living room but as he got older, and his "terrier" side began to assert itself, he would tear up anything like a pillow. In the past year he's gotten back to sleeping and lying on them so there's several in the house. We hate to see the boy uncomfortable on the laminate floor or the astroturf carpet the previous owner had installed on the porch. So he has a large cushion which remains on the porch and he was lying on that this morning and chewing on toys. With the time change and weather change Mama says he spends an hour in the late morning out there in the sunshine everyday now. It leaves me wondering why more of us aren't trying to achieve the "it's a dog's life" lifestyle!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Clever Boy!
I bought Tug a new toy earlier this week. I gave it to him and Mama and I watched the "introductions" begin. Frankly, it's one of the best parts of playing with Tug- we've never "chased" him when he has his toys as the books and his trainer had warned against it. If, for some reason, you need to catch your dog quickly it's much harder to do if you've engaged in chasing them as part of play. So, as fun as it would be and as much as he tries to initiate it, we don't chase him. That leaves watching him with a new toy as the best part of play time. He has to test it out by pawing it and sniffing it and then jumping back like "hey, that moved- didn't it" and then moving in again to see what it will do. :) If it's a shape or material he's had before it doesn't last very long and he leaves the introductory period and begins playing in earnest.
This was similar to something he had in the past so he was in full chew mode within minutes. A little while later, Mama and I are at the table eating. He dropped the toy somewhere to come sit on his little cushion by the table and wait for scraps (yes, we're bad about that). When we left the table and went to settle into our recliners in front of the tv Mama asks Tug "where's your new toy." Tug looks at her so she repeats the important word "toy" and he looks over all his older toys scattered around. Then he looks at her and she said it again- suddenly he dashes off into the kitchen and comes back with the brand new (slightly slobber covered) toy! What a clever boy!
This was similar to something he had in the past so he was in full chew mode within minutes. A little while later, Mama and I are at the table eating. He dropped the toy somewhere to come sit on his little cushion by the table and wait for scraps (yes, we're bad about that). When we left the table and went to settle into our recliners in front of the tv Mama asks Tug "where's your new toy." Tug looks at her so she repeats the important word "toy" and he looks over all his older toys scattered around. Then he looks at her and she said it again- suddenly he dashes off into the kitchen and comes back with the brand new (slightly slobber covered) toy! What a clever boy!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Tug the Brave!
My reputation lies in ruins- Tug went back to the ocean for the first time since our April trip...and tried to swim in it! Photo to follow soon!
We returned to the same campground and dog beach and my sister had Tug on the leash at the beach (he's not one for being under "voice control"). Tug trots right into the water and my sister has to follow a little. She promptly steps into a hole so she's in water up to her knees and Tug is drenched and trying to figure out how to move in water. She figures he'd have dog paddled in another minute or two but she decided to stop him from heading across the Gulf to Texas... Later on, he headed back to the water on his own, too.
This was our first real camping trip in our new tent trailer. This time Tuggums had to sleep in his crate instead of on my sister's bed but he was fine with it. He did nap with her on her bed. We'll post another picture, too: Mama and my sister were at the bath house taking showers and tired little Tug curled up on a sleeping bag on Mama's bed. Black and white puppy dogs look cute on bright orange nylon! :)
He's good with camping for the most part. He gets a little tired on the drive and bored with being tied to a tree all day. I pay him attention and sit with him while Mama and my sister take him for a lot of short walks during the day. We will need to institute nap time for him in the camper daily, though. We'll have to partially zip up the windows, however, as all the nearby foot traffic has him popping up to see what's going on.
Tug's favorite part of camping (other than the food scraps) is getting home. He races around like a lunatic even though he's been exhausted the whole trip home. He loves the fact that he can get back into his routine and boss us and play with his toys without dirt and bugs!
We returned to the same campground and dog beach and my sister had Tug on the leash at the beach (he's not one for being under "voice control"). Tug trots right into the water and my sister has to follow a little. She promptly steps into a hole so she's in water up to her knees and Tug is drenched and trying to figure out how to move in water. She figures he'd have dog paddled in another minute or two but she decided to stop him from heading across the Gulf to Texas... Later on, he headed back to the water on his own, too.
This was our first real camping trip in our new tent trailer. This time Tuggums had to sleep in his crate instead of on my sister's bed but he was fine with it. He did nap with her on her bed. We'll post another picture, too: Mama and my sister were at the bath house taking showers and tired little Tug curled up on a sleeping bag on Mama's bed. Black and white puppy dogs look cute on bright orange nylon! :)
He's good with camping for the most part. He gets a little tired on the drive and bored with being tied to a tree all day. I pay him attention and sit with him while Mama and my sister take him for a lot of short walks during the day. We will need to institute nap time for him in the camper daily, though. We'll have to partially zip up the windows, however, as all the nearby foot traffic has him popping up to see what's going on.
Tug's favorite part of camping (other than the food scraps) is getting home. He races around like a lunatic even though he's been exhausted the whole trip home. He loves the fact that he can get back into his routine and boss us and play with his toys without dirt and bugs!
