As some of you who follow our Facebooks may have seen yesterday, Doodlebug had a scary little incident on his morning walk with dad. They were walking along, minding their own business, when suddenly a fluffydog came barreling across the street directly at them, barking and carrying on, causing a big threatening stink.
Now, some of you know that Doodlebug is a recovering reactive dog (so am I). Around dogs he doesn’t know, he can be nervous and uncertain how to act. So for Dad and the ‘Bug, this incident was NOT welcome! But in the moment, their instincts kicked in — they took one look at each other and started running away, top speed. They BOTH wanted to get outta there! After a minute, the dog stopped chasing and Dad and the ‘Bug gave each other a high-five for making such good choices.
Us dogs run into these kinds of situations all the time — where we are confronted with something we are not too comfortable with, and asked to be polite. Sometimes you humans are able to get us out of the situation — like dad did with the ‘Bug yesterday morning — but sometimes us dogs have to try to just tolerate.
And sometimes, it’s you humans who put us in the uncomfortable situation to begin with!
Our pal Jess over at Dogs In Need of Space has put together some tremendous PSAs about dog etiquette, understanding dogs who need space, and all kinds of other wonders. Thanks to her — and many other advocates, trainers, writers, and dog lovers — the message is starting to get out: ALL dogs have preferences. ALL dogs are picky about something — often something that the average bystander wouldn’t realize.
So here’s us spilling the beans. We, too, need space. We’d love for you to spill the beans too — what would YOUR dog’s personal PSA say?
In the spirit of continuing to prepare for our new two-legged puppy, we are still collecting brainwashing tools dog-themed gear. Naturally, this continues to be the MOST important preparation that we can make. Just this past week, we’ve acquired this amazing little gift from our dear blog-friend Melvin for our future roommate:
Meanwhile, mama continues to think about less important things, like our manners.
All in all, we have exquisite house manners. Even mama and dad say so. But that doesn’t mean that mama isn’t making her list (of important manners) and checking it twice, just like Santa would. It does make us wonder though — will we get presents in the chimney if we succeed here?
Here are the major things we’re thinking about.
Mouthiness / Chewing.
One of us (Chick) is not at all a chewer nor a mouthy player, and the other one (Doodlebug) is only a tiny, tiny bit mouthy. So getting this behavior under control isn’t really taking much work, since it already pretty much is under control already (we make mama’s job easy!). But if you are a mouthier dogs — one who chews on things that humans say you shouldn’t, or one that put human fingers in your mouth (either on purpose or by mistake) — you’ll probably want to work on this with your people before your junior resident arrives. It’s pretty easy for grown-up humans to tolerate a little bit of nibbling on the nose or toothiness on the fingers while playing, but we’ve heard that miniature humans are more delicate and it’s easier to make them whimper by mistake. To avoid that in the future, we have been taught from early on that it’s never ok to put our mouths on a human, no matter what. If we’re playing with our people with a toy and one of our teeth lands on their skin (even by accident), the game ends and the toy gets put away. It’s a total bummer, but we sure did learn quickly to be more careful where our teeth land! We also do many many exercises about impulse control, which means “not taking something quickly just because it’s within reach and you reallyreally want it.” So now, mama can be holding a delicious shiny metal thing in her hand with food on the end of it, and even if it is right at mouth-level, we know better than to just run over and steal a lick. Or dad can leave a plate of tater tots on the coffee table, and we know that it is Forbiddish to sneak even a little nibble. Our people say that this is a good habit all around, but that it will come in *extra* handy when our future human shows up and starts leaving his or her yummables carelessly around all over the place.
To satisfy our urges to chew on things but make sure we pick the RIGHT things, mama has made sure to have plenty of chewables in the house. These include nylabones and antlers primarily, plus the occasional raw beef rib or bone section. When we chew on the right things, we get lots and lots of praise and lovings (plus the fun of the chewing to begin with!). When we chew on the wrong things (which is rare), mama just shows us what to chew on *instead.* She also sets us up for success by not leaving tempting-but-illegal chewables laying around, so it’s harder for us to fail. Pretty smart!
Jumping Up
Jumping up on humans is another one of those things that is pretty safe with regular, healthy, sturdy grown-up humans, but can cause a giant case of the uh-ohs with miniature humans. So it’s best to learn way early that it’s never ok to jump up on people, unless invited!
In the photo above, you see me (Doodlebug) putting my paws up on mama, after being invited. Sometimes just coming over for a pat is enough to show her my love, but other times I really want to hold hands and gaze into her eyes. This is why we invented the “say please” trick! Mama puts her hands together and says “say please,” and I know that I am allowed to put my paws up on her arms and give her my sweetest doodle-look! Putting the behavior on cue can be a good way to curb poor judgment, like some dogs have with putting their paws up on humans. We have both struggled with wanting to jump up on people in the past, but now we each have a special cue that a person can give to let us know that it’s ok. Without the cue, we don’t do it.
Usually, dogs jump up on people when they get too excited and forget to mind their manners. In our house, the humans have combatted this by making it a rule that no dog gets greeted unless he’s sitting down — or AT LEAST has four on the floor. We get to practice our good manners at least a couple of times a day, when mama and dad come home from their various dog-free adventurings. When friends and family come over, they are also warned that it is Not Okay to touch or talk to us dogs until we are calm. Early on, it took the elder one of us (Chick) a LONG time to calm down enough to be greeted — sometimes 10-20 minutes! But over time, we have both gotten the hang of it and now greet our people and other people much, much more calmly. We hope our miniature human is impressed with this very important skill that we have!
Barking.
As you can see, one of us is way more of a guard dog than the other. One of us (the whiter one) doesn’t even twitch an eyebrow when the mailman or UPS man comes by, whereas the other (browner) one lets out a little growl for the mailman and a big bow-wow-wow for the UPS guy. Mama hates this, and we are still working on it.
Barking at the doorbell, at people walking by the house, or to demand things (food, games, pettings, to come inside) may seem ok to some folks when they don’t have miniature humans in the house, but once there is a tiny two-legged puppy around who gets woken up from precious sleepy-time by bow-wowing dogs, suddenly it’s not ok. So it’s best to teach a “no barking” rule ahead of time.
We don’t have trouble with barking to demand things or at people, dogs, or squirrels outside the window. But we do have a little bit of an issue with the doorbell, so we are working on it. Early on, mama tried putting a consequence to door-barking (time out). For some dogs (like Chick), this works great. For others, it’s not enough. So now instead, mama is working on teaching us (especially Doodlebug) what to do *instead* of getting worked up with the barks and growls. When mama hears the mail man or FedEx guy coming, she asks for a specific behavior from us — something that will distract us from our door-related frenzy. It’s best if it’s a non-compatible behavior, like running to the dog mat by the BACK door and waiting for a treat. It takes time for this kind of thing to work, and it’s easiest if the bad behavior is preempted, not interrupted. Eventually, when we hear the mailman or UPS guy coming, we will run to the back door all by ourselves to wait for a treat. Pretty cool! At this point this is a work in progress, but mama promises we will get there. Good thing we have started early!
**Note: As several readers have mentioned, it is important for babies to learn to sleep with all kinds of noises going on, so maintaining a silent house should in no way be the goal. But still, times will come up when a loud barking explosion will be unwelcome and disruptive. So it’s best to get the behavior under control sooner than later!**
Place!
There will most certainly be times after our puppy moves in that us dogs just need to not be under foot. Adult humans are clumsy enough (especially our mama lately), but once the people are carrying a puppy around, it’s gonna get downright messy. The puppy might be throwing things, spitting yummables on the floor, and doing who knows what else. So it’s going to be nice for mama and dad to be able to just tell us “go lay down” and know that we will go to our spot. Fortunately, we have been working on this since the beginning, so by now we’re pretty good at it. And we love our special spot so much that we would often rather be there than anywhere else.
But if we weren’t so prepared, here’s how we’d train it. First, mama would pick a spot where she wants us to go hang out by default, and she’d teach us that it should be our favorite spot. She’d do this by giving us All The Good Things there — our pettings and chin scratchings, our chewables, our special snacks, and our praises. Then, she’d start teaching us to go there on cue (we use “go lay down” in our house). Then, she’d help us learn to stay there, because you never know when something good might come to you in your spot (she would bring us random surprise wonderfulnesses while we’re on our spot).
Now we’re at a point where this gets even more complicated. Mama is working on dropping an especially good yummable on the ground near us, and asking us to go to our spot. If we get it right, mama brings us the dropped yummable AND another goodie! Boy, she really is upping the ante!
One more word about dog spots (and I’m not talking about dalmatian superhero spots like my brother has under his furs). As we mentioned last week, it’s important that us dogs have our own spot that is ours alone, and will be protected form the miniature human once it arrives. Even though we all might get along swimmingly, sometimes dogs get tired of little human puppies and need a break. It’s the adult humans’ job to make sure that everybody has their own special place where they can go and hide.
Join us for another installment next week, when we talk about dogs & babies, out & about!
To catch up on the rest of our series so far, check out the following links:
**If you are experiencing behavioral concerns with your dog, please seek out an experienced, reputable trainer in your area. In Austin, we sing the high praises of theCanine Center for Training and Behavior, where Chick and Doodlebug learn and play. For more info on picking a quality trainer in your area, see this post.**
Holy cannoli friends, it’s a doozie of a Dear Doodlebug this week, mostly because I got SO carried away with one Most Excellent question. Those of you whose questions didn’t get answered this week, just keep holding on, we’ll get to you as soon as we can!
On to the dirty work:
Dear Doodlebug,You always look like such a dedicated sleeper and also very fashionable so I hope you can help us with bed advices. I too am very serious about my sleeps and I need a serious bed! I have one that is one piece bolster bed that mama got at Petsmart a long time ago. It is ok but it is one big piece and I cannot rearrange it. Also it is starting to wear out and it looks very tired. Mama also got me a bed from Westpaw that I like better because it is two pieces and I can arrange the middle piece exactly how I like it. But that one is also starting to wear out and the middle is not as fluffy and comfy as it was. I would like a bed that will stay comfy for a long time or that does not cost too much so mama can keep buying me new ones. I would prefer a bed that is in two pieces but what is most important is that it has a bolster part or something similar where I can rest my giant head. It would also be a big plus if it is nice looking and fashionable but that is not as important as comfyness and headrestyness. So do you have any advices for me about beds? Thanks, Don!
Dear Donald Duck the Chick Look-a-Like,
Did you ever stop to think that you look a little bit like my brother? And maybe it’s because you’re a duck and he is a chicken, I’m not sure. But there is something to it.
As for beds, you are so very right. I have much seriousness when it comes to my sleepage. Sometimes I even fall asleep during agility class on the breaks between my turn and my turn — and that’s on a bed of shredded cedar with NO bolster at all! My brother and I, lately we are extremely loving our new beds that mama adopted from Costco. She says that their adoption fee was only around $30, which sounds like not that many green papers to me. They are a lot like a little dog sofa, with nice cozy headrests on three sides, and a cushion in the middle that I can pick up with my mouth and burrow underneath when I feel like hiding. The only problem with them is that the covers come off so mama can put them in the washer and get rid of all of my hard-earned dog smells — you probably shouldn’t tell your mama about those zippers, or try to hide them after she brings your new bed home. The bed is not very enormous and I know you are taller than me and my brother, but we both like to sleep together in one of ours instead of each dog in his own, and all 110 pounds of us doesn’t think it’s too small.
If that one doesn’t work out for you, our uncle Tex just scored a bed with headrests from Overstock. I haven’t talked to him to hear whether he likes it or not, but maybe some other dogs’ secretaries have left reviews on some of those and can give you a clue on how wonderful or terrible they are?
Love, Doodlebug, Grand Champion Napper
Dear Dude, I am writing to get some advices on how to be as famous as you are. My mom has a blog like your mamma (it’s even named after me!), where she writes about me and my foster siblings, but I am not a star like you and Sir Chick are on the inter-webs. I want to be more famous so I can help mom spread the word about how important it is to share your house with dogs in need. So, just how did you and your bro get so popular and get so many adoring fans (other than by using your pure handsome-ness)?
Thanks in advance,
Nola, The Rising Star of Mr. & Mrs. & Nola Kisses
Dear Nola,First of all, we love your blog about you and the dogs who come into your home and steal share your toys, food, beds, and people with you! We absolutely do hope that you achieve many fames like me and my brother. And second of all, what a very important question you have asked. I’m not sure if I can totally answer it (because my brother and his other foster kids were pretty famous way before I came along), but I have interviewed my brother the Chick and he has given me some ideas about how we got to be Kind Of A Big Deal. So here we go:
1. Use high-quality photos. Sometimes mama writes posts that she thinks are very clever and interesting and funny, and then the comments of the people are all about the pictures. Most internet-viewers are very visual people and dogs, so big, bright, interesting photos will draw in a lot of people who otherwise might have skipped along. Our mama is lucky because she has a giant black box that goes click and makes nice photos of me and my brother, but even a simple camera can do the job. There are lots of great tricks on the internet about taking good photos, so read up!
2. Post regularly. For the first year and a half of this blog, mama wrote every single weekday. As you can imagine, this was a lot of work! But the advantage was that our blog was dependable. This was especially important to mama back then, when my brother was trying to get dogs out of the house as soon as possible they were trying to find the perfect home for fosters. The more people who grew addicted to their stories and would check in every morning before work or every afternoon after lunch, the more potential homes we were reaching. Mama has since gotten lazy slowed down the posting schedule because we are not fostering anymore so readership is not quite as critical, and we have seen a big decrease in the number of blog views per post.
3. Write from the heart. We don’t only share the good stories. We also share the hard stuff. Our post about euthanizing a foster dog, Goodnight sweet Blue, is one of our most-read posts of all time. Chick’s tales of his past issues (I used to love to bake, or how we worked through my anxieties) is another. People love reading about happy dogs experiencing happy things, but so many dog owners — most dog owners — also deal with the hard stuff. The problem is, the hard stuff is also harder to write about, so it gets suppressed, and regular dog owners dealing with regular problems end up feeling isolated and alone. Being open about the good AND the bad of dog ownership and fostering can bring in loyal readers a lot faster than a few cute photos and a sweet anecdote.
4. Network. Lately mama has been too lazy to keep up, but early on, we were doing a lot of reading other blogs and commenting — and forming allies in our community. Making friends with rescues, shelters, non-profits, businesses, and regular ol’ folk in your community can help build your reader base and increase your chances at finding adopters for your fosters.
5. Think big.Writing about bigger policy or advocacy issues is more time-consuming than The Daily Chronicles of Dog and Dog, but it can pay off. Our two most successful posts ever were of this nature — Pit bull awareness — words do matter; and Do Unto Others: intimidation in dog training. We took on sticky topics that can be controversial but that we feel strongly about, and it paid. Each of those posts was picked up by large and popular groups on Facebook and other blogs, and our posts ended up circulating and re-circulating. After each of those posts, we saw a big boost in readership, too.
6. Host fundraisers, contests & give-aways. We have hosted a number of fundraisers and giveaways over the years, and each time, our readership has seen a big-temporary-followed-by-a-small-permanent increase. Early on, we constructed a simple Kibble for Comments fundraiser, in which we donated a pound of dog food for every comment on our blog during a certain period. It was a success! Since, we’ve done more sophisticated fundraisers for specific causes, including one for our darling Elderbull foster Little Zee, who needed a lot of medical care, and one for the Schrodi Memorial Training Fund, an Austin-area non-profit that offers training scholarships for families who need the help but can’t afford high-quality private training. Some new readers come for the story and some come for the loot. But either way, the good people of the internet seem to love having a cause to rally behind.
Hope this helps, Miss Nola!
Sir Chick & Dr Dude, Celebridogs
Dear Doodlebug, My mama buys me puzzles and toys that will hurt my brain thinking but I’m just *not* a chewer. She’ll give me a chewy puzzle filled with yummy treats and I give it right to my boyfriend who is perfectly happy chewing away all day long. We often play fetch, which I love but can you please give her some hints on what else would work for a very clever girl who isn’t mouthy?! Thank you, Bella the very sensitive, and very clever, pibble-mix girl
Dear Lazy-belle,
How can you not want to chew on things that taste or smell like dinners? I don’t even understand it! Have you tried puzzles that are about getting the kibbles out but not chewing, like the Treat Stik or the Kong Wobbler? What about hollow bones stuffed with wet food and frozen? You can’t possibly be a dog and not enjoy those fine delicacies.
But here’s the other thing — my brother and I always have to work for our foods. When mama was first teaching us how to do this, she would measure out our daily portion in the morning and give us bits of it throughout the day in puzzles. Whatever we didn’t finish in 20 minutes got taken away and put back in the dog food bin or in the trash can — so we got that much LESS food during the day. Well as you can imagine, it didn’t take us many days to figure out that we’d better work for those snacks, and quickly! Now, I must tell you that Chick and I were both natural chewers and eaters, but Chick has had some foster dogs who did NOT care to work for their kibbles. But even they came around after a couple days of not eating enough!
Oh, and tell your mama to put you and your boyfriend in separate rooms while you eat. It’s no fair for him to steal your snacks!
XO, Bugga-snacker
Dear Doodlebug, Just about every day mom goes out at 8 and doesn’t come home until about 6. I think she’s hunting for yummy kong treats but my cat brother and sister say it’s mice she’s looking for. Does your mom go out every day like that….what do you think she is doing? Pondering, Jake
Dear Pondering Jake,
We are among the luckiest of dogs, because when our mama leaves the house, she usually brings us with her — especially if she is going for many hours. You see, she works at a dog place where we are welcome. So we come with her, and maybe that’s why she never brings home any mice . . . or maybe it’s because we already have mice living in our yard and garage (and twice even in our house, yuck!).
But my brother and I put our giant, giant brains together, and we came up with some potential things that your mama might be hunting for when she leaves the house for so many hours every day.
I bet you didn’t even know that on tomorrow in 1836, Texas officially broke loose of Mexico and became an independent republic? And it wasn’t for another ten years that we joined the US? Yup, it explains a lot, right? It’s why us Texans are such badasses!
All you other-state dwellers must be very jealous, not having the rich heritage full of badassery like we in Texas have. Even our flag rubs it in your faces reminds us. A single star — a Lone Star, if you will — flying proud in a sky of loyal blue. And the flag looks great on us, don’t it?
So it’s in honor of this very special Texas holiday that we are THRILLED to debut a brand new Sirius Republic collar — the Lone Star! The new Lone Star collar comes in red or blue with complementary, patriotic stars throughout. It was dreamt up especially for Texans, but we won’t tell anybody if you choose to get yours for other patriotic holidays — it happens to match the American flag, too! And how convenient, with Memorial day and July 4th just around the corner.
So go on, you know you want to. Get yourself a Lone Star collar and celebrate whatever it is that you love most about Texas — whether it be our famous cowdog style:
Or our famous Texas beer:
And through this weekend — because they love Texas so much — Sirius Republic is offering 10% off ALL orders (not just the Lone Star collar), if you use the secret code CHICKERDOODLE at checkout. Also consider using the rescue code for Love-A-Bull, RPLB57, at checkout: if you do, 20% of proceeds for your order will be donated to Doodlebug’s very own — and very Texan — rescue group!
So hurry along, and while you’re at it, tell us: what is YOUR favorite thing about Texas, and what are YOU doing to celebrate?
Dear Doodlebug, back with another week’s advices column! Boy did we get many many most excellent questions this week! I am trying to answer them as quickly as I can, but my typist is very lazy and only lets me address a few per week . . . so those of you who have sent them in recently, please be patient with my lazy secretary. She and I will get with you soon!
Here we go:
Hi Doodle! I was wondering if you have any advice on how to put together an active routine for a dog (when it’s not too super hot or too freezing cold out of course). I’m getting into distance running and I was wondering, without a backyard, what’s a good way to determine a good distance/pace for a dog? What should I look for to know whether my dog is too tired or stressed to continue a run and we should pack up and go home? I know every dog is different, but if you have any insight into matching up a new runner to a potential new dog, I’d much appreciate it! Love, Nevie (Cats Can’t Go For Runs)
Dear Lazy Cat Lover,
I must disagree with you off the bat — my brother and I have chased a cat or two, and let me tell you: they sure can go for runs. They can go for sprints, in fact! But I’ve also seen them go for jogs. So before you toss aside the possibility, why not get your feline companion some nice Brooks running shoes and a visor, and test it out?
Now, on to your question about dogs and exercise. Just like people, dogs need to build up their endurance before they can be asked to run any great distances. And just like people, just because we are able to go for a long run off the bat, doesn’t mean it’s good for us. We can get all kinds of injuries, and you don’t want to deal with that. So whatever dog you end up with (and I hope it’s one that looks exactly like me, obviously), start slow and short. Maybe go a mile at a leisurely pace. If that goes well, next time add a quarter mile, then add some more. There isn’t much of a limit to a sturdy, healthy dog’s athletic ability – my brother the Chick helped train my mama up for a marathon back in 2005 — they went on all of their short and long runs together up to 18 miles!
I am not an expert, but from what I have heard, there are some dogs who do NOT make good running companions. Those are ones with super-squatty noses (like pugs and bulldogs), ones with super-short legs (like doxies), and giant breeds with a predisposition to joint issues (like some Mastiffs). Oh, and puppies should not go running — their joints and bones are still growing, and the impact from running can be bad for them. It’s a good idea to check with a vet before starting a running program with a puppy, to make sure the puppy is ready. But otherwise, any medium-to-large dog with at least a moderate energy level should make you a good running companion.
Oh, and learn the signs of heat exhaustion before you start exercising your dog! Some of the early signs of “I’m too tired” include dragging behind on your run, thick, sticky saliva, and a scoop/spoon-shaped tongue that hangs way out.
You go girl, ‘Bug
Dear Doodlebug, My mama is a veggie-tarian and she heard that your mama and dad are veggie-tarians also. She knows that us dogs like to eat a well rounded diet of meats, vegetables, fruits and healthy grains, but sometimes she feels conflicted about the meats part. (I love the meats very much!) Do you know if your mama and dad have the same conflictions? I don’t want my mama to feel bad about my food. Do you have any advices? Thanks for your times, Bug. Sir Reginald Von Dog.
Dear Vegemite sandwich,
There was about a minute in my mama’s past (a dark, dark minute, if you ask me) when she thought about switching my brother to a veggie-tarian diet. Since she and dad were veggie-tarian, why shouldn’t Chick be too? But here’s the thing. Mama never did find a vegetarian dog food that satisfied her. Most of the ones she ran across were full of fillers that didn’t seem right. And talking to a number of different vets, mama never found one who thought that a meat-free diet was optimal — or even healthy — for us dogs.
So as dedicated as our mama and dad are to being veggie-tarians, they are even more committed to us being the healthiest dogs we can be, and lucky for us, that means meat. And lots of it.
Your omnivorous friend, the ‘Bug
Dear Doodlebug, My sleeping arrangements have gotten, well, complicated. My older pup has navigated north, sleeping by my head. My bigger pup likes to crush my legs. You would never know I have a king-sized bed, considering I’m on the verge of falling at night. To top it all off, my pups presence does not allow me to snuggle with my boyfriend! The older pup would never choose not to sleep on the bed and I don’t have the heart to crate her all night. Is my current sleeping dilemma my permanent future? Sincerely, Concerned, boyfriend-snuggle deprived Dogma.
Dear Dogma,
It sounds like you’re on the verge of losing that boyfriend person. So tell Doodlebug: is he worth it? Studies have shown that you humans sleep better without a dog in the bed, let alone two — though for us dogs, we sleep just fine whether we’re on a human bed or a dog bed. If you like that boyfriend of yours — and your sleepings — you may want to think about asking your dogs to sleep on their very own beds, not on yours. Let them sleep in the room, by all means. You can even set up their beds right beside yours so you can comfort yourself them by giving them pettings as you fall asleep. As for me, I am so perfect that I prefer to sleep in my own bed than with my people, though I do enjoy joining mama in bed during occasional nappings and sometimes for a first-thing-in-the-morning snuggle. But mama says that some of her former foster dogs were human-bed-sleepers, and she and dad had to teach them how to be dog-bed-sleepers. So she got an extra comfy dog bed for the fosters and every night, she would offer a really yummy kong for a bedtime snack, putting it in the dog bed right before everybody goes to sleep. For many dogs, this was enough — by the time they were done with their kong, they were plumb tuckered out and ready to snooze. For other fosters, it took added steps — a baby gate strategically placed, or a leash tied to a railing or piece of furniture to tether the dog to the spot so she couldn’t sneak onto the bed at night. Occasionally, there would be some protesting and crying the first few nights, but very quickly, it was gone. Everybody was sleeping much, much better, and mama and dad are still together!
Best of luck, Your Bedbug (who can sleep happily anywhere)
Dear Doodlebug, I heard that some ground hog said Spring is coming early. I would like Spring to come early because I am sick of cold and snow. Trouble is, I neither like nor trust ground hogs. They get in my tomato patch during the summer and eat all my tasty tomatoes that I like to sample right from the vine. Mama asks me to leave her some, but they are soooooo tasty. How can I trust the predictions of a creature that steals my tastiest of treats? You are smart and seem trustworthy (what are your thoughts on tomatoes?). Will Spring come early? –Desperately Seeking Spring and tomatoes
Dear Springster,
Well, you are definitely right about one thing: you should never trust a groundhog. Do you think that groundhogs decide whether to make spring come early or not based solely on whether they are hungry for our tomatoes yet or would rather wait another month or two? Those greedy bastards. Not to mention, they are most definitely in cahoots with those evil bushy-tailed squirrels, aren’t they? We don’t really see any groundhogs around these parts, but we sure do see some squirrels. Every day, they try to death me and my brother, and it doesn’t look like we’re the only ones:
So stay safe out there, wherever you are. Remain vigilant against groundhogs, squirrelhogs, and tomato-hogs of all kinds. Spring will be here before you know it, and in the meantime, build up your arsenal of weapons. Mama says the guy who lived in our house before us deathed squirrels with a paintball gun. But I wouldn’t stop there — I would consider a bazooka, or a cannon.
Yours in vigilance, Doodlebug the anti-hog
source: textfromdog.tumblr.com
Hi Dude, Our mom calls us the poop hunters of the Serengeti, becuz we are always on the lookout for some cat poo to eat. Is there a 12-step program for k-9 cat poo addicts? Mom won’t kiss us after we eat it. Can you help? Sincerely, Well, lets just say S&S, since CPAA is anony-mouse. (cat poo addicts anony-mouse)
Oh, you poor S&Sers, you have discovered the golden nugget. For the record, I’ll tell you that my brother says that this golden nugget is not quite as good as the diamond nugget, which is live cicadas. A few years ago when Chick lived in DC and they had the every-17-year-Cicada-invasion, our uncle Tex actually had to wear a basket muzzle when going outside, or else he would eat so many platinum nuggets that he’d make himself sick. He said they tasted like flying chicken nuggets!
Anyhow, our life was so simple before we discovered cat dumplings, but now that we know they exist — in the cat box at work, in the neighbor’s mulch — we are constantly overtaken by the irresistible urge to hunt it out and scarf it down . . . and then french-kiss our mama. You see, hunting and eating cat poo is a self-reinforcing behavior, so it is very hard to teach a dog not to want to do it. So I can’t help you to not crave this finest of delicacies, but I can tell your mama to teach you a really good “leave it” type phrase that gets you to stop hunting. Our mama can always tell when we’re on the poop patrol, and reminding us to stop is often all it takes to get us to move on by. And if that still fails . . . maybe some breath mints?
Like we told you last week, we are expecting a two-legged puppy in a few weeks. And we are excited! Mostly, we are excited about the Very Important things. Like the fact that mama and dad bought a piece of Major Puppy Equipment that is named after each of us.
I (Chick) got a car seat named after me (Chicco):
And I (‘Bug) got a wheelie puppy carrier named after me (Bugaboo):
We think this is mama’s special way of helping us feel included in this whole process, and we think it’s just great. Everybody should get special two-legged puppy equipment that’s named after their own dogs!
The other thing we are extra excited about is that our new puppy’s first pet will be a petbull! Mama adopted him last week and he is already settling in nicely to our future puppy’s room:
We know that these are the Most Important things, even though our mama disagrees. So just to humor her, we’re going to tell you about what she is thinking about as we make room for our new two-legged companion. This week, she wants us to tell you about routines & spaces.
If you’re a dog, you might be thinking: why would a two-legged puppy change anything about my spaces and my routines? But if you’re a person, you may already have some clues. Here are some things on our mama and dad’s list:
Dogs on furniture
In our house, dogs are only allowed on furnitures with permission. There are one or two furnitures that are “dog-friendly” and we can get on them if we want to (like the Stevie-chair), many furnitures that we aren’t allowed on ever (like the sofa), and some that we are allowed on only when mama or dad invites us (like that big squooshy elevated dog bed that mama and dad sleep on at night). That means that without an invite, we do not get up on them. We have had these rules for a very long time, and mama and dad are now relieved that these rules have always been around. You see, apparently little two-legged puppies tend to lay all over all the furniture, sometimes in a very messy state of nakedness. Imagine being in the middle of changing a diaper and having a dog soar through the air and land right in the middle of the mess. No thank you! Teaching dogs that furniture is off limits unless an invite is extended is a good house rule to put in place ahead of baby’s arrival. Especially in those early months of parenting, these types of boundaries will help create “safe zones” where parents can put a baby down for a change, a nap, to read a book or have a snack — without the risk of an over-exuberant dog landing right in the baby’s lap. And speaking of safe zones . . .
Safe zones
One of us (we will not name which one, but his name may or may not rhyme with the word “stick”) is a little grumpy by nature and can get easily overwhelmed by loud noises, grabby hands, and general commotion. For dogs like “Stick,” it’s good to set up a “safe zone” where the dog can retreat if he gets overwhelmed with the puppy’s antics. In our case, there are a few corners in the house where we have cozy beds and love to cuddle up rest when we’re sleepy, cranky, or overwhelmed. Once the puppy arrives and starts moving around, she or he will be taught that our doggie “safe zones” are off limits — this means no crawling into our area to pet us, pull on our tails, or spit jello on our heads. Some people set up physical barriers that dogs can get around (for example, a low barricade that a dog can jump but a two-legged puppy can’t step over, or an indoor doggie door that’s activated by a magnet that dogs wear on their collars). Other families can get by with a vigilant eye and a strict set of rules alone. In our house, it’s going to be mama and dad’s responsibility to keep our safe zones safe, but we know they will do a good job — it’s in everybody’s best interest for each family member to have a spot where they can hide away when life gets to be too much.
Miniature humans need safe zones too, and it’s good to prepare us dogs for the loss of access to those spaces. In our house, the new mini human’s room used to be our den where we’d hang out with our people and watch movies, help do the bloggings, and enjoy a variety of other activities that usually involve cuddling. Our favorite sofa (that we used to be allowed on) was in there, and we got many snuggles from mama and dad. But in another month or so, that room is going to belong to our new two-legged puppy. Rather than waiting until that time to change the rules and restrict our access to the space, mama and dad set up a gate ahead of time. This has helped us adapt our routines way before our mini human arrives, so we don’t make any bad associations between the arrival of mini-human and the loss of privileges. Our sofa moved to the living room months ago (and we stopped being allowed up on it), and the gate went up last weekend. This gives us a whole other month to get used to hanging out in other parts of the house, even if mama and dad are in our ex-den without us.
Separation time
And speaking of mama and dad hanging out in our ex-den without us, we have also started practicing spending less time sitting right on top of our people at our peoples’ feet. We have heard that life is going to get crazy for a while and even mama (who is, we have to say, obsessed with us) will pay us less attention. From what we’ve read, she might even come home sometimes with the two-legged puppy and not let us be in the same room! It’s hard for us to imagine! But this is exactly why we’re practicing now and not later. Mama doesn’t want us to resent our new roommate for taking the attention away from us dogs, so mama and dad are withdrawing it — here and there — ahead of time. If they do a good job, then by the time the puppy arrives, we won’t even feel neglected! So far, they are just practicing going into our ex-den on the other side of the forbidden gate and hanging out in there without us. Sometimes they are doing projects, sometimes they are just talking. But in all cases, we are on the other side of the forbidden gate. It’s a little weird, but it’s just a little thing, so it’s not so bad.
We are also practicing spending time in our room by ourselves even when the people are home. Normally, once somebody gets home, they come open the door so we can come running out of the room all crazy-like to greet them. But lately, we have been practicing staying in there even though the people are home and we are very excited to see them. And sometimes, we get invited to our room for a snack and then left in there even though the people are still home. This is to prepare us for the times that things are happening and we are not invited to the party. We don’t think it’ll happen very much, but it may happen from time to time — and we’d rather be well-versed!
The silly humans are also trying to cut down on the free lovings we get. We aren’t really sure why, since dogs are Very Best at receiving free lovings, but we think it has something to do with how busy they will be with the two-legged puppy once it arrives. When we do good things we still get plenty of pets, kisses, and praisings, and to be honest we get plenty of free pets, kisses, and praisings for no reason other than being Very Cute and Very Sweet. But we do get fewer of them out of the blue, and definitely no more when we are being pushy and demanding. This shift in attention-giving is also meant to prepare us early and slowly to how much attention we might be getting after our new roommate moves in. The sooner we get used to the change, the more relaxed we will remain once Junior arrives!
Mama wants us to mention one last thing this week before we go — the common theme in all of these changes is that they are being implemented both early and slowly. Us dogs are very resilient to change, but lots of dramatic changes at once can be stressful. So spreading major changes in routine and access to spaces and attention out over a period of time — ideally at least a couple of months — is a much better way to prepare us dogs for a new tiny human than a more sudden shock. Implementing changes early has the added benefit of disassociating the change from the arrival of the two-legged puppy — an experience that we all want to be as positive as possible!
Please join us next week when we tell you about House Manners & Baby Matters!
**If you are experiencing behavioral concerns with your dog, please seek out an experienced, reputable trainer in your area. In Austin, we sing the high praises of the Canine Center for Training and Behavior, where Chick and Doodlebug learn and play. For more info on picking a quality trainer in your area, see this post.**
If you have spent much time reading our blog or following us on the Facebooks, you know that we don’t mind being close:
Sometimes REAL close:
But even though there are a bazillion photos of us sharing one bed:
Did you know that we don’t ALWAYS want to snuggle?
Here’s how it goes: For about three weeks, we will always go to our room and curl up in the same bed together. Usually I settle in first, then my brother squooshes himself into position to share:
But here’s where I have to admit something. If my brother is in a bed first, I will usually go to the other one (unless it’s ultra chilly, like less than 65 degrees outside), and then he usually gets up out of his and moves over to mine. To share.
So anyhow, this is how we sleep. For weeks and weeks. And then all of a sudden, something changes, and we decide that everydog deserves his own bed, and we are not going to share anymore:
We sleep happily in two separate spots in our room:
And then a couple more weeks go by without sharing, and we’re back to sharing again:
And a few more weeks of sharing, and we’re sleeping separately again:
Right now we’re sharing:
But it’s only a matter of weeks before we’re back to sleeping solo.
Even I will admit it: we are some pretty strange birds dogs. Does anybody else have strange sleeping habits they want to tell us about?
Here we are again on Dear Doodlebug Day! I am most very excited about today’s post! Do you want to know why? Not only because there are some extremely handsome photos of me included, but also because I finally get to talk to you about things that are not dog behavior! I had the most funs ever writing the answer to the first question below, so if you have other Important Advices needs that are not related to serious issues of dog behaviors, send ’em my way!
Here we go:
Dear Doodlebug, You and your brother always look so dapper laying on your Hawaiian print sofa. Does it make you feel like you are on the beach, digging for sand crabs and rolling in dead fish? How can I convince my dad to get one like that for me? I would like to look as handsome as you two and have such wonderful daydreams! XO, Dreaming of the Tropics
Dear Tropical Dreamer,
Thank you as always for the complements. However, I must clarify a few things about our The Dude Sofa. First of all, I don’t think that this is technically a Hawaiian print, as Hawaiian prints should have Hawaiian flowers on them, right? I am not sure because I am not a Hawaiian Shirt Museum Curator, but it seems to be so. And second of all, mama thinks it is important that I tell you that this sofa is our outside sofa, not our inside sofa. You may remember the Dora, which is our inside sofa. Mama says she would never be caught dead putting a non-Hawaiian print sofa inside the house (although I hope she never gets caught dead at all, personally). I don’t know why it’s important that I tell you this, but apparently it is. And third of all (this is the most important one of my points about the sofa), I want to point out that this sofa is the same as the sofa that my namesake, The Dude, had in his apartment in the Big Lebowski. How cool is that? Enthusiasts might recognize it, but for those of you who have not seen the Big Lebowski enough times to understand why I am named after it, there is a tiny corner of my sofa visible in this screenshot here. Pretty neat, eh?
But I digress. Our particular outside sofa was a special find on Craigslist, and as far as we can tell, the cushion covers were handmade by somebody and not The Dude Sofa manufacturer. So in order to get your own, you will have to learn how to sew very well with pipings and zippers, and I have to admit I do believe this would be pretty challenging without any supposable thumbs. As a second-best option, why not go for a Hawaiian shirt? Sometimes I wear my dad’s Hawaiian shirts since mama does not allow dad to wear them himself (although to be honest I do not prefer them because they are too long and loose around my middle, and sometimes I pee on them — don’t tell dad). Also, I have even seen a tutorial while surfing the Youtubes about converting a men’s shirt into a dog shirt. Wouldn’t that be neat? Or if –again– you’re not such a seamster or seamstress, maybe you could settle for one of these handsome dog Hawaiian shirts from the Amazon. I bet you’ll look just as dapper in one of those as I do on my The Dude Sofa!
XOXO, The Dude (who Abides)
PS – We are no longer allowed on our inside sofa the Dora (even though it is named after a dog), so if you have any ideas for how to get our mama to let us back up there, please tell them to us!
Dear Doodlebug, I started working from home in October, and now that I am with my dogs all day every day, I am noticing they seem a little bored. While they snooze happily for much of the day, my girl, Victoria, wakes up between naps and barks at me. Mostly she is barking for treats, but I think it’s coming from boredom. I’ve tried a couple food puzzles which seemed to interest her for a couple weeks, but she is pretty finicky about what she will actually work for. One other thing to keep in mind – the vet told us her x-rays show that some of her tooth roots seem to be weakening. I need something gentle on the teeth, but satisfying to the nose. XOXO, Old Dog, New Trick
Dear Tricksy,
Victoria really is clever, figuring out how to bully you into giving her more puzzles, more variety, more activity, more, more, more! There are a few advices I have for you, as a canine friend to the humans. First, it sounds to me like Victoria is barking at you to demand things from you, and sometimes, her pushy behavior gets her exactly what she wants! So stop paying attention when she barks. Put in your interior ear muffs and pretend you do not hear her at all. Wait until she settles back down, and only then — and only if you really want to — give her some attention or some treats. Just because she is an eldergal like my brother, doesn’t mean she can be pushy with you!
Second, on the puzzles. Will she eat out of kongs? You can mix some dry food and wet food and stuff it into one of those puppy/elderdog kongs, and let her work on that — you don’t even have to freeze it, which makes it harder. If you get a really big size, it will take her a while to get to the bottom of it, especially if you put something extra stinky and yummy (like litter-encrusted cat poo) at the bottom. You can also try putting canned food inside her bones, or cutting a little hole in a tennis ball and jamming some kibbles in there (only you have to watch to make sure she doesn’t eat the ball pieces as she gets the kibble out).
I am not quite sure, but I have heard that older dogs can sometime start to not smell things quite as well as younger dogs, which can make them less interested in holy, delicious noms. Try buying some extra stinky food, and see if she is more interested. Fish-based formulas are nice and stinky, as is the Holy Grail of all yums, Green Tripe.
Good luck! Your omnivorous Bug
Dear ‘Bug, I mean this in the nicest and most admiring of ways, but you and your Chick seem pretty spoiled. Do you have any tips for how to get my people to spoil me better? Yours in admiration, Stella the Hungarian Vizsla Princess
Dear Hercegnő (I believe that is how you say “princess” in your motherland),
Let me ask you this: do you bring your mama her favorite flowers (tulips) and her favorite chocolates (any)? Maybe THIS is why we are treated so well!
But more serious-like. We have a very good life, yes. We get to go to work with our mama. We have our very own dog hammock in the back of the car. We eat the finest of kibbles and get treats of organic roast beefs, chicken skins, and other delicacies. We bask in the sunshine and snuggle under the covers. I get to go do agilidogging every week with my favorite teacher, Miss Patti. We have the most beautiful of dog collars, and a rotation of seasonal outfits that we don when the weather and mood are appropriate. We have nine dog beds in our house, and at least four blankets of our own. When mama and dad go away, we get to go to doggie camp where we are treated like kings. We have our very own blog, and sometimes people recognize us out on the street and come say hello. So yes, our life is good.
But are we spoiled? Not really. You see, Miss Princess, we have to work for everything. We never get anything by being pushy or demanding. We have strict house rules, and if we break them, we lose our privileges. Mama and dad expect a lot from us, you see. We get to go for walks, but only if we walk politely and follow the rules. We eat delicious kibbles, but only if we sit patiently until we are released. We get yummy snacks, but only out of puzzles that make our little brains hurt. We get plenty of pettings and cuddles, but only when we are relaxed and being polite. We get hand fed roast beefs, but only when we are in a very challenging situation, like teaching reactive dogs how to not be scared (Chick), or mastering agility weave poles (me), or learning to not stare rudely at tiny fluffballs (me again), or learning how to have our nails filed (my brother). If we break the “no barking at the door” rule, we go to time out. If we act funny and protective of a toy or a bed, that toy or bed disappears. If we act pushy and demanding, we get stone cold ignored — or worse — put in our room to calm down. If we act wild on our leashs, we go right back in the house and lose our walk.
In fact, when grandma comes to visit, she actually feels sorry for us and how non-spoiled we are. For example, she is always wanting to give us a scrap of food from the counter while she is helping with the human-cookings, or let us up on the Dora (which is Off Limits) to snuggle with her, and she gets very frowny and sad for us when mama says NO! We would get frowny and sad too, but Mama says the rules are important, and we trust her. After all — our life is pretty sweet!
We sniffed it out a few months ago — we’re getting a puppy! A two-legged one!Mama always goes on and on about how smart dog noses are — that they are many times sniffier than people noses. We never really knew what she was talking about until we caught a whiff of this two-legged puppy in the air (to be clear: the puppy was not in the air, it’s just the whiff that was in the air).
We can’t explain it, but all of a sudden, mama smelled different. Even before she started to look different. Human people had no idea that anything funny was going on with our mama, but we knew. That’s how smart we and our noses are.
Mostly, we haven’t been too bothered by the new smells and shapes, but the brown one of us has been a little more concerned about strangers, especially ones that are overly zippy and close-to-us in their movements. Mama says this is normal, and we’ve been working on it.
We’ve also been working on some other things — to get ready for the two-legged puppy, they say. Dad and mama have been putting on their thinking hats and thinking about different us-related things: our eating routines, our walking routines, what rooms we hang out in, what things make us most worried, the different games we play.
And the thinking hasn’t just been for nothing, you see. When you’re getting ready for a new two-legged puppy, it’s best to plan ahead and make any big (and small!) changes in routine well in advance. As it turns out, we hear that two-legged puppies are way more work than four-legged puppies at first, so putting on thinking caps and thinking about dog routines after the puppy has showed up might be a hard. So our people are doing what they can in advance!
And as much as we love keeping secrets, we’ve decided to put on our generosities and share our ideas and activities. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be telling you all about our new activities: how we’re learning to walk with a two-legged-puppy-wheeled-transporter, how we’re learning to like spending more time by our lonesomes, how we’re getting our friends and family ready to help us have fun and exercise those first few weeks, and other important things. After all — maybe we’re not the only ones with a puppy on the way?
Sorry I missed our regular date last week — I was so very busy preparing for and entertaining my many many family persons from out of town! You see, Aunt Kareaux was in town, as was Aunt Sara, and also ALL of my grandparents and my Uncle Jefe. As you can imagine, I was a very busy Sir!
But boy do I have something special in store for you, and it involves a secret discount code! I’ve been saving up this eye candy for you for a couple of weeks now, waiting for a seasonably chilly day in Texas. I’ve been storing my eye candy (and my brother’s) with my local, sustainably-harvested firewood, my organic, vegan hot cocoa, and my antique oil lamp — where I keep my most special things for winter-type days.
Now, what those of you who are not from Texas do not know (but I DO know because I am from Texas) is that we Austinites don’t have very seasonable days if the season in question is winter. In fact for the past few weeks, it’s been the kind of warm and sunny that makes the trees and bulbs get confused and start to bud and flower all up. Silly, right?
So I have been waiting and waiting until FINALLY it got below 60 degrees once, and in fact at night time it got downright chilly– down to the 40s! So what did my brother the ‘Bug and I do to celebrate? We donned our gorgeous, custom, hand-knit sweaters from Tiennot Knits Sweaters!
It sure is nice and cozy wearing these sweaters — we get all kinds of complements when we go out on the town — not only are the sweaters gorgeous, soft, and non-itchy on their own, but they also make us look even more handsome than we already were (if that’s even possible). Just check out these sophisticated grey stripes and coordinating Chick and Doodlebug color bands:
The one thing that we may have thought was even more fun than wearing the sweaters was picking out all the features. We got to custom pick our colors (red for me and blue for the ‘Bug, obviously), our patterns, our exactmeasurements, and then we got to add buttons for easy on-and-off and turtlenecks to really show off our most beautiful faces!
How fun is that?
You can order your own custom Tiennot Knits sweater via our friends Turk and Rufus’ blog or their sweatermaker’s facebook page. And if you mention the code CHICKERDOODLE with your order between now and Monday (February 18), you will get 10% off your order — sweet!!
And once you’ve done that, hurry back here and leave us a comment to settle our debate once and for all — who is the best sweater-model of us all? My brother the ‘Bug:
Love and a Six-Foot Leash 
