Tuffy for my Softy!

So Dolce has had this toy, called a Tuffy, since she came to us.  She never payed it much attention at first but I suspect that was because her mouth wasn't strong enough or big enough for it yet.  Well recently she has discovered a love for this toy, which is great.  This company (http://www.tuffietoys.com/page/2) calls their toys the "Tuffest soft toys on the planet" and they seem to be just that.  They have pockets that their squeakers are sewn into and then they have 4 layers of fabrics and plastics (mostly luggage quality fabrics) all sealed together with 7 rows of stitching into a protective webbing on the outside. This is great for strong chewers and "rippers", which Dolce is, evidence being her series of headless and legless stuffed animals strewn about.  Sometimes I feel like I live in that kid Sid's house, from Toy Story, just mutilated toys everywhere, only less creepy, and we're not pyromaniacs!  At any rate, she loves this thing now.  Well one day when I was home alone with her and cooking dinner I heard growling coming from the living room, interrupted by brief periods of a grunts.  After ignoring it for a few minutes I finally went in to see what was going on.  And I walked in to find Dolce playing with her toy, on her face, like this...

She had stuck her face into the hole as far as it could go, so much so that her eyes were squished shut.  And she was just walking around the room blindly chewing on it and then after a moment or two suddenly shaking and shaking it by swinging her head back and forth while she grunted.  It was truly hilarious.  After a while I took it off her face and repositioned it so she could still chew it but actually see what she was doing and every single time she would drop it on the ground and immediately shoved her face back into the hole just as far as it would go. After about the third time I did this she dropped it on the ground, looked at me and made the biggest and most adorable sigh. She looked so annoyed I wouldn't just let her play with it her way.  And finally she came over jumped in my lap and licked my chin for as long as I would let her and then very quietly picked up her toy and brought it upstairs to play alone.  Ann Landers once said, "Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful."  But what the hell does Ann Landers know, I'm pretty sure I annoyed Dolce to no end the day, and she was more then willing to snuggle up and love me anyway because in her eyes, I'm wonderful!

"Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." - John F Kennedy

So a while back, in the end of May, we took Dolce to the pet store to get a few things and while we were there we inevitably stop in the toy section, because God forbid Dolce walk by the toys without trying to snatch one off the shelf!  So anyways we are walking through and we get the bright idea to let Dolce pick out her own toy!  Well she did just that, she picked this long, skinny, pink, stuffed dog, which would be the first of many stuffed things she would have, as they are totally her favorite toys.  And oh did she love that thing!  She carried it all over the house incessantly rubbing the spit soaked thing on us while she chewed and squeaked away.  And then she proceeded to rip its legs off, it's belly open and throw up on it.  I'm pretty sure that was what officially sealed it being hers even if by default because no one wanted to touch it after that. Well after about a month and a half of this I finally had to make the executive decision to take it away from her.  There are only so many times you can do "stuffed animal surgeries" and cram squeakers and stuffing back into their soft, furry sausage casing bodies before its a lost cause. For those who were wondering my surgery limit is 3, that poor stuffed dog looked like the stuffed animal equivalent of Heidi Montag by the time I was done with it! Anyway, it was finally time to toss this dog and since she loved this thing so much I knew we'd have to replace it.  So one Friday after work Dolce and I climbed into the care and headed to the pet store with a mission in mind (and yes, this is what I do on Friday nights now)! After she ran around like a psycho for 15 minutes because she was so excited to be at the store and see other dogs, we hit up the toy section.  And sure enough after sniffing a few rubber bones and squeaky balls she ended up snagging a new stuffed dog, only this time, bigger and red.  Like the ebb and flow of the ocean as quickly as the toy went out a new one came back in again.  As if nothing had changed at all she proceeded to chew him until he was soaking wet.  Affectionately rub it all over our legs in an attempt to show it to us, but not let us have it never let us have it if she can help it.  Then she ripped the legs off this new dog and ripped his belly open, only this time no throwing up.  And so we had a new best friend, a big red dog, appropriately named, Clifford.

"Absence and death are the same - only that in death there is no suffering." - Theodore Roosevelt

So I know that I have been absent for quite a while, it has been a crazy and hectic summer.  I know this is no excuse so I promise to continue with the posts and update you guys from here on out!  As you can see from this photo, Miss Dolce has gotten big and you guys have missed a whole bunch, so sit back and relax and I'll catch you up to speed!

"Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow." ~Henry David Thoreau

So if it is not completely apparent yet, I decided to take my weekends back for myself!  I try to do as many chores as I can within two hours of my weekend so I can dedicate the rest of my time for relaxing and playing with the dog.  Especially with Kevin gone this last week Dolce has spent less time out of the crate playing during the middle of the day, and consequently I feel guilty.  Yes I know she is fine and it is good for her to rest and gain security and independence in the crate, but none the less I feel guilty for leaving her while I go off to work.  So I am trying to make the most of the time we have together.  It has actually been working well.  We run around and go on hikes, get her tired and socialized and we have quality time, and when I need to run quick errands I have been leaving her baby gated in the kitchen.  I have been working our way up in the amount of time she spends in there to gradually get her used to it.  First 15 minutes while I did yard work and put in a load of laundry, then 30 minutes while I walked over to Walgreen's, and finally this weekend an hour while I went grocery shopping.  And (hopefully not jinxing it) she has been doing great.

Now that I have gotten completely off topic, back to my original post topic.  I have been searching around for good places to take Dolce where she can get out, get exercise (hopefully off leash) and get some socialization.  I feel like I have been hitting alot of dead ends. Either they are leash only and have water, so the dogs cant go in or they are off leash and don't have water!  Well, I was talking with my neighbor this weekend who has a Great Dane and he was telling me all parks in Weston are off leash.  Ok this was very helpful to know.  I think I will be sticking to Weston parks from now on.  Then on top of it he told me there is a park in Weston hidden down some little dead end, side street off of Route 117 not 10 minutes from our house with great trails and a pond, Cat Rock Park.  Oh my God! I was so excited. Not only did I want to take Dolce out for some exercise somewhere other then Weston Reservoir (which is great, but I think Dolce was probably getting tired of it) but I have wanted a place I could take her to get her excited about water, with other dogs as motivation.  So I called up Nancy and off we went. It was great.  Lots of different trails to walk (that were shaded too), a brook, a pond and lots of other puppies. 

The before and after photos of our hike.

Well it was a slow and cautious beginning but after watching another dog run in after his ball 3 or 4 times Dolce started to follow him most of the way in to the water going a little further each time.  I am so glad that other dogs running out to get their balls is good motivation for her.  Despite my best efforts she will not retreive a ball from the water for me.  She will run out to it but will then abandon it. We discovered this weekend that she wont return it because in order to get her mouth on it she must put her nose/mouth/face? into the water (even if only a little bit) and she just wont do it, doesn't like her face wet.  Such a diva!  Well as a result she hasnt reached a full swim yet (she is definitely nervous with water) but thats ok,  we can try and work up to it since I am not sure how well her stubby little legs would keep her afloat anyhow.   All in all it was a positive trip (minus the part where I had to yell at her for not coming when I attempted to call her away from traffic) and we're definitely excited to go back soon!

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”

So today I took Dolce out on a trail hike at the reservoir in Weston.  This is definitely my favorite place to take her.  The hike in total takes about an hour.  I can keep her off leash, the trails are shaded and there are plenty of other people with their dogs.  We stop occaisonally, meet and play with new furry friend and also jump in the many brooks and natural pools.  All in all it is great!  Dolce has a blast sniffing things and meeting people and animals.  And basically just enjoying the summer! And as any owner can attest its great when theyre pooped out afterwards!

I took this after we had gotten home but literally she is asleep the second I snap her into her harness in the car.  This is a blessing and a curse.  Great that she is sufficiently pooped out but bad because there is an adorable little farm stand on the way home where I always want to stop and I don't because I hate to wake her.  Well today I parked the car close left it running with the airconditioning on and ran up to get some fresh produce.  I have to say it was totally worth it!

Land's Sake Farm 90 Wellesley St Weston, MA



http://www.landssake.org/

It's local its fresh and it's delicious.  I am so glad I stopped by.  I got some red leaf lettuce, parsely, mint and some honey (made right there on the farm)!  I made a great salad for lunch when we got home and I plan on using the honey and herbs for some very interesting recipes I have been concocting.  Stay tuned for the recipe post to come! 

Early to bed, early to rise!

Well for the last week or so Kevin has been away in Connecticut so Miss Dolce and I have been on our own.  Night one, I put her in her crate as is the norm and she literally barked and cried for about 45 minutes.  Not wanting to wake my roommates and frankly not wanting to listen to it anymore I pulled her out and let her sleep at the foot of my bed.  I was a little nervous but she did great.  She stayed at my feet, snuggled with her toy and fell right asleep and stayed there all night.  Really I was just happy she didn't pee on the bed!  So one night down!  Night two, I follow the same routine and again she cries and barks.  So again I pull her out and let her sleep on the bed.  This continued on for about 4 nights the next morning in my excitement I take this picture.  Ahhh what a jinx!  Literally hours later that evening when we climbed into bed , again in routine fashion, I thought nothing of it.  Well the next morning I got up for work as usual I went into the bathroom and called the dog.  After a second she came in and I noticed her paws were wet and she looked very embarrassed.  I looked at her in fear and asked her "What did you do?!" I went back out to the bedroom and saw a massive puddle on the corner of my bed.  Why? This morning was different then any other!?  Ugh, so disheartening to see her doing so well for her to then have a set back.  Needless to say I was frustrated and disappointed.  And so our sleepovers have ended, sadly.  She goes in the crate at the end of the night and sleeps with the door open and moves from bed to crate throughout the night with no issues.  So while I am sad to have lost a snuggle buddy I am happier to take my chances cleaning pee off of the floor then my comforter. Ahh parenthood!

Follower FYI

Some of you have mentioned recently that you're following my blog but you do not get an email or any notification when I post new items.  Well I found a way to have you notified, and I have added the people I believe will be interested or who were already following me.  Please let me know if you'd like to be added to this list or removed if I have already added you.  Hope this helps, and you continue to enjoy!

-Dolce & Diane