I haven’t been posting a lot lately because of this gorgeous little face. Our beautiful boy Percy left us on Easter. Within a couple of weeks, we brought home Pellinore (Pelly) who is the sweetest girl in the world. However, it’s been a bit challenging. She came home at 8 weeks and was not sleeping through the night. We have just now reached the point where she is making it through the night so I’m starting to feel human. My work-life balance went out the window as well since sitting in my office for most of the day is not fun for a puppy, so I’m spending a lot of time outside or playing with toys. When I am in the office, I’m dealing with pressing things and trying to keep my head above water.

She loves to be in the kitchen when I am cooking and I’m hoping to get back to some more creative cooking now that I’m not a sleep-deprived zombie most of the time.

We’re doing well with house training and she’s a very smart dog – already learning the rules and anticipating what I’m doing. But we’re back to baby gates in the doorways, crates in the bedroom and kitchen, all my plants picked up, and constant watchfulness to be sure nothing gets chewed.

It’s been 10 years since we had a puppy this young and it has definitely been a re-learning experience in so many ways. But we love her to pieces and are glad she is part of our family.

I haven’t been posting a lot lately because of this gorgeous little face. Our beautiful boy Percy left us on Easter. Within a couple of weeks, we brought home Pellinore (Pelly) who is the sweetest girl in the world. However, it’s been a bit challenging. She came home at 8 weeks and was not sleeping … Read more →

We have two golden retrievers who keep us on our toes, but I’m at my wit’s end with Percy. Percy is a 7 year old male and is the head dog in our house. He not only believes he is in charge of other dogs, but he believes it is his job to keep me on schedule (if I am not in the kitchen cooking dinner at the appropriate time, he barks at me) and to make sure I spend enough time touching him (a dog has needs).

Percy scratched open a big sore on the side of his face about 6 weeks ago. We immediately coned him (we’ve been through this before) and let it heal completely – scab was completely gone. Once it was completely gone, we took the cone off and he scratched it open again. We’ve been playing this game for weeks with the cone on then off, then he scratches it open again and we put it back on. We went to the vet a few weeks ago, who gave him a shot and shaved it (which I think makes it worse since it not only itches, but if he does scratch it, there is no fur to protect it). Well that didn’t help at all. We’re headed back to the vet, but I’m about ready to strap some doggie boots on his back feet to stop him from scratching it and put him on doggie Benadryl to reduce the itchiness.

I feel terrible for him in his sensory deprivation cone and we take it off and closely supervise him so he can roll around on the floor and we scratch his neck and ears for him. He’s at the point with the cone where he has decided that if he has to be miserable, then we do too. He whacks me on the back of the legs with it going down the stairs. He runs it along the edge of my expensive kitchen cabinets like a prisoner running a spoon across the bars. He lays in the hallway outside my office and whines a sad little cry to let me know how unhappy he is. However this in no way has prevented him from drinking out of the toilet (which he will do if the water in the water bowl is not fresh enough for him – he sniffs it to check how recently it’s been changed. 6 hours is iffy. 4 is acceptable). I’m at the end of my rope with this thing and hope we can get some solutions. If you have suggestions, please weigh in!

We have two golden retrievers who keep us on our toes, but I’m at my wit’s end with Percy. Percy is a 7 year old male and is the head dog in our house. He not only believes he is in charge of other dogs, but he believes it is his job to keep me … Read more →