Wordless Wednesday: Hugs for the Doggie

Stinky Dog??

Yes, we have a stinky dog :) We've tried bathing her. We even resorted to doggie cologne. Don't try that last one. It doesn't as much mask the odor as combine with it and make it worse. Once someone told her she smelled like a rotten pineapple! ;)

Of course she's a little miniature dachshund, and knows she is a lapdog. And she spends her days snoozing away on the couch. We've tried keeping her off the couch, and it will work as long as we are around 24/7. As soon as we leave and she's all alone, she's back on the couch.
Needless to say, our couch doesn't smell so great! When I was contacted to see if I wanted an opportunity to sample the new Febreze Fabric Refresher, I jumped at the chance.

I had used the Febreze Pet Odor Eliminator before, but I just really did not like the scent. And also, did not like the way the bottle leaked all over my hands. But I would use it on the stinky dog couch when we were having company.

Guess what? They have improved the bottle design, and now: it doesn't leak! Their new bottle trigger is ergonomic to "reduce hand fatigue, leakage and that unnecessary 'quacking' noise." (Febreze website).

The new Febreze Fabric Refresher smells quite a bit better than the Pet Odor Eliminator line. It comes in: Lavender Vanilla and Comfort, Linen and Sky, Spring and Renewal and Meadows and Rain. I was given a sample in Lavender Vanilla and Comfort, and really enjoyed the scent!

I'm hooked! :) Bye bye stinky dog couch! I'll use this Febreze at least weekly!

Puttin Some Stink On It

First read this, then look at this (scroll down for the pic of my son sharing dinner w/grandma's dog-[OK, he didn't really eat or drink from the doggie dishes])....

Now play this...

This is Sally "putting her stink on it" she does this to blankets, pillows, and bones. I'm so glad she taught D to do this ;) Thank God she's a girl dog.

Now for some things to chew on...

Wordless Wednesday A Plenty

So many pictures, and only one Wordless Wednesday a week ;)

I should have uploaded pictures sooner- this picture would have gone great with yesterdays post Sharing the love and the toys
And this one is my favorite - saw this on a car at a gas station during our travels:

A car for the anally retentive

Doggy Days

I never should have laughed at my son when he started eating like a dog. But is was so darn cute and funny. And it was getting him to eat something.

I don't know how many times, out of frustration with D's not eating anything, that I thought of Judy Blume's Fudge books - how the mother said "Eat it or wear it" (if I'm remembering that correctly) and Fudge ended up wearing his food... of course I would never do such a thing, but boy have I thought about it ;) maybe even muttered it to myself while trying to get him to eat something.

I have been reminded again of the Fudge books by my son's behavior. For the past couple of months he has been mimicking the behaviors of the dogs. Sally, the weiner dog, shakes her ears, D shakes his head. Sally eats a piece of cereal off the floor, D throws a piece of cereal on the floor and eats it. He shares his chips (on the floor) with Sally. Sally wags her tail, D wags his little booty. Sally runs into the kitchen, D gets on all fours and runs to the kitchen. Sally gets under foot, two minutes later I step on D who is now under foot.

I have tried not to promote this kind of behavior. It can be quite frustrating and embarassing. A couple of weeks ago, in a room full of family - they said hi to him, and what did he do? Got down from his chair, got on all fours and started wagging his booty. Last week I was running late to pick up M from school, and I could not get D to stand up and walk to the car. He refuses to walk up the stairs for naps and bedtime. He crawls through the hall to the bedroom.

Last night I couldn't get him to pick up his toys. Out of frustration I told him that good little puppies pick up their toys. It did the trick, he immediately started picking up his toys---with his mouth!! It was awful and funny at the same time - it was so hard not to laugh, but I didn't want to laugh because I really want him to quit behaving as such. But it seems that he's taken it to a new level.

That was when I was reminded again of the Fudge books. In the first one, "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing," Fudge went around acting like a dog for a while. For some reason I was thinking that Fudge was older than my D (yes, I do know it's a work of fiction) - so I was thinking that D was just too young to be going through this as a phase - but in reading through some reviews of the book Fudge was also a 2 year old. I guess he's right on track ;)

I'm wondering if I should be worried about his behavior. I keep telling him he's a big boy, and big boys walk - but it hasn't seemed to make a difference. I suppose, as in Fudge's case he will eventually outgrow this behavior?

Wordless Wednesday: Food for the Dogs

I actually hadn't taken too many pics this week, had to go fishing through a couple weeks of photos... you'll notice this was before the boy's haircut :)

At least he's eating...or the fun things that come from socializing with dogs

The other day my husband and I were discussing the benefits of having dogs for the children. We'd had this talk many times before. There are many benefits. The best one for me came when D started feeding himself. Several times a day I thank God we have dogs. Otherwise I would be sweeping and mopping at least 3 times a day... The dogs are always right there beneath the high chair waiting to be the clean-up crew. They will even lick his face and fingers... or the seat of his pants - wherever the food has landed when he's done. And wonderfully, our little wiener dog has a taste for spit up. Gross I know, but very handy. (OK, I do try to wipe it up before she can get to it).
Over the weekend my husband said that it was good we had dogs because of the social aspect. D may be well socialized because of the dogs. We spent most of his life living in the Northwoods of Wisconsin - a very remote and isolated area - so he got very little social interaction. And amazingly he is well socialized - the times he's played with other children his age he's done very well. So I absolutely agree with my husband on that point - the dogs have helped him in that area.
But the hazards of having dogs to socialize with?? ;) The very day after we had that discussion we were at a family cook out and D started crawling around like a dog underneath the tables... And the past week or so he has been sharing food with the dogs. He will throw down chips or whatever and then get on his hands and knees and eat them off the floor along with the dogs!
Then Sunday morning we decided to see how he would do eating at the table with the rest of us instead of in his high chair... and this is how he ate:



At least he was eating!! It's so rare that he actually eats anything. So if he must eat this way I'm all for it.
Now you must go read this hilarious post about dogs and kids at Mom-101