Is it mine, is it yours, or can we share?

Even in a dog's world, that is what life is about. Take ownership of yours, and learn from the dogs.

Holly is a stick fanatic, Java usually loves his balls. A tip: if your dog is a ball-player, get it a Kong Ball. In particular the one that just has a small hole in the middle. I stopped wasting tennis balls. All he needs is his Kong Ball. And he can chew it all he wants without destroying it. The other advantage is, that it bounces nicely, thereby adding additional fun to the ball play!

It is unbelievable how beneficial it is for a dog to be with another dog that knows the rules. Java has learned a lot from Holly and she also accustomed him to our routine. I love it when he gets on her nerves and she just says: forget it, I am leaving. Which is actually something I learned works. Should he get to wild in the house, I just ignore him or put him alone in another room for a few minutes. He then settles down. The worse thing for him, is to be ignored.

I need to work at home, and that requires quite a few hours of peace and quiet. I spread it out, so that I have enough time for dog play etc. He didn't like it. So he constantly bugged me. Jumped on me, brought toys and the ball, even growled and barked... Until I figured out. Wait a minute. I used to go outside to play for a few when he got like that. He learned, that if he misbehaves, he gets rewarded with play. So I stuck him in the bedroom and closed the door after numerous attempts of making him lay down. He whined, I ignored him for some time. When he was quiet, I let him out, didn't even look at him and went back to where I work. He followed and lay down. Kind of like, why didn't you say so in the first place. I would have laid down. I only misunderstood you. He has been calm ever since when I work. How cool is that? Good boy, Java!

The things in life, that are meant to be

Now to Java. How the heck did I get this lucky?

It started with the general idea to get Holly a companion. Now, Holly is very particular about other dogs, that she gets along with, or not. From experience we knew, that it is a better choice for her to get a male companion. She has her rules and the other dog has to accept them. Yeah, Holly the pack leader. More on that later.

So I started looking. It had to be a rescue, because there is no way ever, that I will buy a puppy in the store or from one of these breeders, even a good and reputable one. A nice mutt has proven to be the best choice in the past. And there are too many of them, that need a home! So that is what was on the agenda.

It wasn't the right time, because it was winter, but there was this dog on the website of the human society in our area. It was a yellow lab mix, about 2/3 of Holly's size. A good size for my liking. Originally we would have waited til spring to look again, since training a new dog is easier then, but hey. We went and had a look at the dogs, that needed a home. One complete area of the shelter had nothing but German Shepherds in it. A beautiful mother with her pups, another pregnant one, beautiful colours in her coat. Two pitch black female shepherds, beauties they were, etc. They had all been confiscated from a breeder. I have a particular love for German Shepherds and it broke my heart to see this.

There was one cage with three male German Shepherds. They were completely intimidated, except for the one black one. Every time I walked by this cage again, he came to me, curious. His hind legs were all black. It looked as if he was wearing black socks. So cute. We interacted a bit at the cage. I had to leave. It would have been to much for me to handle anyways....

Next I asked if I could walk the dog that we actually came down to the shelter for. It was weird. He was actually much smaller than Holly, which wouldn't have been an issue really. He had been adopted and returned. Poor thing. I wondered why, until I walked him. He snapped at me and the leash in an aggressive way. Growling, snapping, pulling. A beautiful set of teeth he had. Not something I would have wanted to check out like that. I got him somewhat under control with some effort and firmness, but we just didn't click. So we went back, discussed him a bit, but it just didn't feel right. We didn't even introduce him to Holly. The last thing we wanted is her getting hurt!

So I was disappointed, but okay. There was nothing else there for us. Then my husband decided last minute to ask about the black GS, even though I had said no to that. One year old we were told, but he hadn't been socialized at all and was likely tight up to a tree all his life. He wasn't house trained either. Weird we thought. He came up to me so gently and nicely. My husband then asked if we could walk him. After a negative response at first, because not much else was known about him yet, one of the women said for us to come with her. She let me go into the cage together with her to interact with him. It was a strange experience. I felt sad for the other two in the background. But how nice he was. No problem at all. Pure puppy behaviour. Curios, gentle, a bit of mouthing, but gentle and I fell in love. I kept insisting though, that he would be too much for me and Holly.

The woman said, why don't you walk him. So of course I did. It went reasonable well, knowing he had no training. His eye contact was great. Next we brought Holly out of the car to introduce them. He was submissive and Holly didn't even show her bitchy streak. ROFL. They just accepted each other. Wow. What now? We talked it over. You all know what happened next, application forms were filled out and we were checked out. He still needed to be neutered and that day we were able to bring him home. This was the beginning of exciting and, I admit, stressful times.

This frogs name is Black Knight

It is really a pleasure to observe all these frogs and toads. Yes, they do live dangerously in my backyard, but so far no harm has been done. This is a picture of Black Knight. He has been living in the yard for months and not only does he enjoy the waterfall, he also uses our small fountain on the deck as an interim home.

It is the same fountain that the dogs drink out of. Can you imagine being frog, sitting in the water and having this big German Shepherd mouth and sometimes two, coming at you. It amazes me that he can stay so still and neither dog will do anything but drink. The first time I found him in the water of the fountain, I was worried about him. So I got a tall bucket, about a 1/12 foot high and after a tremendous effort was able to capture him in there. Yeah. I really believed I could carry him down to the waterfall. Wrong. It took him like 10 seconds to just jump out again.

He has a favourite spot. He sits right on top of one the frog figurines at times. I nearly didn't notice this myself the first time. At the time this mini clip was taken, there were no dogs around.

I have to say now, that it seems to be better to just leave the creatures alone, they know best how much risk they can take. That is as far as frogs go. I have another toad story to come. Remember Dr. Bernstein. He had a dangerous encounter..... And in a way Java saved his life. Stay tuned for more.