Big Weekend

So this guy shows up this weekend and it turns out to be Pete's dad. What a really cool guy! Check out this picture of me charming my way into his lap. He immediately took us to the woods for a long run and I didn't even have to wear a leash. According to Pete, he is something called a "Snakeeater", which I don't understand because I didn't see him eat any snakes all weekend. He did however show me how to drink water from a creek, how to take a nap in the truck, how to run on a treadmill and about the magic of "Cow TV". I spent alot of time returning tennis balls --for some reason he compulsively throws tennis balls to no one in particular and I help him out by returning them to him (check out my skills in this video -- at the end of the video, I got distracted and disappear off-camera to go play with Pete):
Most importantly he taught me about never touching a woman's shoes. Evidently, that's a very touchy subject with female humans. Pa thought I was a very interesting fellow and said that if we were somehow able to strap a meter to my butt and get paid a dime per step, that we would be able to eradicate the national debt within a couple of weeks. I am a busy fellow and have many important things to accomplish everyday. I usually have to sort all the toys out and in order to do that I must first take an inventory of all my toys. This is a simple process but it requires me to move all of my toys to the backyard for inspection. Additionally, I must ensure Pete gets his exercise so I wrestle with him at least 5 hours a day. I also must ensure that any markings the neighbor's dogs may have left in our yard has been properly covered with our family's special scent. It's a constant battle just to keep up with my to do list, luckily my foster mom ensures I get 8 hours sleep a night. That's good because that's the only time I sleep. I don't like to take naps --life's too short for sleeping during the day. My motto is eat meat as fast as you can, accept all gifts from the UPS guy, and everywhere you go, go as fast as you can.

This is what foster mom calls "Oliver TV" aka "Cow TV". I can just sit and watch the cows in the pasture on the other side of the pond forev--oooh wait, Pete just showed up - it's time to go play. No time for TV.

Nobody's Perfect

I am a super, great guy! But every once in a while I slip up, but, hey, don't we all. This week, I've given foster mom a lot of laughs (some of them have been exasperated laughs, but still). I have discovered that I can reach things on the countertop and, more importantly, there is food up there! Unfortunately, I'm not very stealth in my methods and when the clanging and banging starts, foster mom appears in the doorway. Uh, Oh. I found where Celeste's (my foster sister) bowl is kept when she is finished eating and knocked it down. And before I could get all the chicken eaten, foster mom was right there, put me out and closed the magic door. I decided I should climb in the window to help her clean it up but got into trouble again (apparently, I'm not supposed to do that, either). She said something about me getting too big for my britches which doesn't make any sense to me because I don't wear britches. And then there this really fun stuff that rolls and shreds into tiny pieces --what fun! But I'm not supposed to do that either. I do have a lot of other stuff that is OK for me to take...like Kongs and balls and ropes. I like to take all of them all outside to play with them. And when there aren't any more left inside, I start looking for other stuff...like shoes! I like playing with shoes. I don't tear them up, just like tossing them around but I get into trouble for that. And you never know where she is going to be, either. One time, I came running inside using the magic door through the kitchen and went into the utility room just to see what was there. I found a doggie brush. Hmmm...this seems like fun. So, I grabbed it and headed back through the kitchen on my way outside. And from nowhere, "Where do you think you're going with that?". Uh, oh...busted. Well... see ...technically it is a "doggie" brush so it was mine to take, right? She was sitting there watching me the whole time. I've gotta be more alert.

My take on Oliver: He's a little bit mischievous and I'm not sure what is going on with his new collecting habit. I catch him taking all kinds of things outside: the whisk broom from the garage, a laser level (maybe he has a project?), shoes (I am notorious for leaving my shoes around and now they are scattered all over the house) and, of course, toys. Since he no longer has to be on a leash in the house (over a week and no accidents!!! He's housebroken!!!), it's easier for him to get into trouble. If I'm missing something, it's probably outside.

Double Trouble

I absolutely love to play with my foster brother, Pete. We have so much fun together. I always greet him with kisses --first thing in the morning or whenever I see him. Sometimes he gets aggravated with me because I have so much more energy than he does but he never gets mad. Foster mom says it is because I have such a great temperament - she says Pete doesn't like bullies and since I'm not a bully, he loves me. We do almost everything together - like play in the yard, explore the woods and creek, hunt for moles, play with toys or hang out in the kitchen and watch foster mom cook (that's lots of fun). Pete's also training me on where to score all the good treats: there is the UPS delivery guy (but not the FEDEX guy - for some reason, he won't get out of the truck unless Pete and I are inside?), the lady that delivers mail, the lady next door... It's great when the lady next door comes home from work - she lets us in her house and it's like a treasure hunt finding all the treats lying around that her doggies didn't eat that day. There are two small doggies that look like my foster sister that live there and I try to play with them sometimes but I play too rough for little doggies so Pete escorts me back home. And when the next door neighbor lady is at my house with her doggies, Pete won't let me play then, either. I think he wants me all to himself--who wouldn't?

Here's me and Pete riding in the big truck on the way to go walking. We get to walk on this nice country dirt road that is about 1/2 mile long and has nothing but woods on both sides - no houses...nothin'. It's great! I do really well off-leash. Whenever foster mom claps her hands (poor thing can't whistle..hehe), I look in her direction and if she motions for me to come to her, I do. I did get into a little bit of trouble today: someone had dumped their trash on the side of the road (foster mom calls those people "pieces of sh*t") and Pete and I found some leftover fast food. As soon as foster mom yelled "Drop-It", Pete did...and I grabbed it. I quickly learned what "drop-it" meant.

We play all the time. Sometimes, we are just lying around and hanging out together and a play fight just breaks out. Just like that. Like this time, we were just sitting in the living room hanging out with foster mom and wham, time to play.

And this morning, we were just lying around in the bedroom floor while foster mom was brushing her teeth and next thing you know we're playing...again.

And then we went upstairs to hang out with foster mom in her office and started playing again. She pretended to be annoyed at us for disturbing her work with all the racket but I know she was having fun, too.

When Pete and I were playing in the office, he found what was left of a raw bone my foster mom gave me. So, Pete quit playing and started chewing on the bone. At one point, both of us have our mouth on the bone but there is no aggression and I'm still playing. And, because I have such a great temperament, Pete doesn't get mad at me for being all over him and his bone while he's eating it (although you can tell he wants it all to himself) -- NOT something you can normally do with bully breeds but I'm just that great! And then Pete broke off a small piece for me and I relaxed beside him and we both just chewed them in peace - we didn't have to be separated in different rooms (or different zip codes) like some bullies.

Note: I have observed Oliver and Pete's interaction for some time now and was completely confident they would play nice - otherwise, I would have removed the bone as soon as Pete found it.

And last night, Pete chose to sleep in the living room with me so I wouldn't be lonely (that's another reason I know he loves me). I still have to sleep in a crate. Foster mom says it is to help me because some people prefer doggies that are crate-trained but I think it is because Pete and I would probably play all night and she'd never get any sleep. I doubt I'll ever be one of those doggies that can hang out in a crate all day but I am getting much better about sleeping in it at night. I used to howl and howl in my crate because I don't like to be left alone but now I just do a quick whimper and go to sleep. Of course, I'm ready to get up bright and early to play with Pete.

Wherever my forever home, it absolutely must come with a playmate! I love people, too, but I have to have a doggie buddy that can match my energy.

Slowin' Down

I like to eat. I like to eat fast. I can eat my food, lick my bowl clean:

Look over and see Pete still slowly muchin' away. Why?

Doesn't he understand the urgency?

Foster mom says there is plenty of food here and no matter how fast I eat, I'm still gonna get the same amount but I still eat fast. So, now I don't get to eat out of a bowl anymore. She feeds me small amounts by hand. V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y. Sometimes Pete even finishes his food before I'm finished with mine and he eats slow. It is very confusing but at least I still get to eat. I like to eat. I'll do anything for food.

1001 Ways to Sleep In a Doggie Bed

Sidewinder Corner Sprawl

Center CurlP.O.S

Pillow Lovin'

It's Been a Gold Star Day!

Gold Star One: My foster mom took me on a trip today, this time to the vet (something about stinky ears - I don't know what it is with her and odors, I think my ears smell just fine). I liked going to the vet and was on my best behavior while there. Everybody loves me there and they all tell me how handsome and sweet I am. And I didn't mind a bit that they were messing all around with my ears and even behaved while they put medicine in them. When I came out of the little room and into the big room with all the people and other animals, I saw a goat! A real goat! Picture is proof:

And you know what I did? Nothin' much - just sniffed around in the air a bit and then turned around to see what/who else was there. No growling, no hackles raised, nothing like that - I wasn't really interested. I took note of the other dogs and cats there and just sat down taking it all in. Foster mom said that I did great and she sure was glad my foster brother wasn't there because he wouldn't have behaved himself if he saw a goat. Gold stars for me!

Gold Star Two: I walked on the treadmill tonight! The past two times my foster mom worked with me, I couldn't figure out how to get all four of my legs to move together. I would either move both my front legs and my back ones would be in a "braking" mode or move my back legs and the front legs would be "braking". Even on those days, she said I did great because I had the most important thing licked...I wasn't afraid of it. Well, who would be? There is chicken all over this thing! But tonight, I walked on it with all four legs and foster mom was so excited. I got lots of belly rubs and, most importantly, chicken. I hope we get to do that again tomorrow! Gold stars for me!

Gold Star Three: I figured out how to use the magic doggie door all by myself! Nobody would show me how so I just did it! Gold stars for me!

Gold Star Four: Well, foster mom says she's not quite ready to give me a full star for this quite yet but I think I'm ready! It's been two days now and no accidents in the house! I think I deserve gold stars for this one - I just know I've got it now!

My take on Oliver: He had a great day today! I was very impressed with his demeanor at the vet's office and it is so much fun watching him figure things out.

Note to self: Not a good idea to leave a strawberry milkshake in the cup holder if you leave Oliver in the car!

The Magic Door

There is this magic door at my foster home that the other dogs and cat use. For days now, I have seen these guys disappear through the door and reappear on the other side and it was absolutely mystifying. I would either be stuck inside while all of them were outside or I would be outside looking in while they were all inside making faces at me. Today, that changed.

I was stuck outside watching through the window and saw Celeste, my foster sister, getting treats. That did it! I held my breath and raced through the magic door and ... there I was, safely on the other side. A little while later, they all went outside and I was stuck inside again. I raced back and forth from front door to back door, back door to front door, upstairs looking out the window - how the heck did they do that? Yeah, OK go ahead and laugh. It took several more hours for me to figure out that the magic door worked BOTH ways. But once I got it, there's no stopping me now. I've been going in and out and in and out and in and out...

My take on Oliver: One thing that I love about Oliver is that when he learns something, and particularly when he figures it out himself, you can just see the excitement. Like watching him go in and out the door over and over and over once he figured out it worked both ways!

Movin' Upstairs...

Today, my foster mom let me get up on the bed! I think she was hoping I would get comfortable and take a nap...but I had other plans. While she was in her office working, I was busy running up and down the stairs gathering my stuff. Up and down...up and down...up and down. And then she showed up at the door:


Uh Oh...Am I in trouble?


Well, she's laughing so I must not be in trouble. While she was working, I went downstairs and collected a bunch of toys and put them on the bed so I could play with all of them at the same time.

Whew! She's not mad so I guess it's time to go get more toys:

My take on Oliver: I heard him running up and down the stairs and was trying to finish up one last thing before I checked on him. Then it got quiet so it just couldn't wait any longer. And when I walked in the room and saw all of those toys strewn out on the bed with Oliver in the middle of them playing, I just had to laugh. What a ham!

More Progress

Oliver's take:

• Today I discovered what "Brown can do for me". The UPS truck came and at first I was scared (it's very loud) but once I saw Pete hop up into the truck I ran over and realized the guy delivers treats! I hope he comes here every day!


• Pete and I explored the woods and ran in the creek behind my foster home. We had a great time!


• I finally got into the BIG truck all by myself today! My foster mom had been picking me up to get into any of our cars because I didn't think I could do it. But that all changed today when Pete jumped in the big truck all by himself so I figured I could, too. And I did. I got so excited that when foster mom opened the driver's door, I hopped back out so I could hop back in again. And when she leaned down to pick up little Celeste (my foster sister, a pom), I hopped back out and back in yet again just to show-off.

Here I am helping my foster mom get caught up on work in the office.

More stuff we have learned about Oliver and progress:

• He will be a great running companion. Yes, we finally found something that Oliver likes more than Pete...running! On our walk today, I tried running with him for a while and during the time we were running he seemed completely content and not at all concerned about Pete. With that in mind, I did a little treadmill work with him this afternoon and it went really well. I think he'll be trotting along on it in no time.
  
• He just learns so fast. Leash walking is going well, he will sit/lie down before entering/exiting, he does really well with "leave-it" - need to work on a little more because if leave the room, he doesn't "leave-it" (hey, it's chicken and so hard to resist). The house-breaking is still a work in progress though much improved. Either I'm not reading his signals or he's not giving them so starting tomorrow, we'll come up with a clear signal --like maybe a bell on the door or something.

More Adventures

I'm getting much better with my house manners although I don't understand why I can't run and jump inside, too (I have lots of energy). I did hear her say something about being thankful that I was finally adjusting and actually stopping to rest every now and then.

More stuff I've learned:

• When riding in the car, I have to stay in the backseat --EVEN when we are at the drive-thru and a cheeseburger is headed our way (don't understand that one, but OK).
  
  Oliver! That is not the back seat. OK, so he gets in the driver's seat when I leave the car but he stays in the back when I'm driving.
  
  


• I have to quit bothering Pete because he doesn't have as much energy as me (I haven't fully mastered this one). I just love him so much, it's hard.



• I can only pee outside. Well, I'm still learning this so I have to stay on a leash inside but I learn fast so it shouldn't be too much longer.

Things we have learned about Oliver:

• Cats are OK - he hardly notices the resident cat. A few sniffs here and there and he keeps on going --even if she bounces by him.
  
  


• Oliver should carry a sign that says "Will do anything for food" (he will).
  



• Very trainable: will sit or lie down if asked ...or if he wants something :)
  
  


• Would do best with a dog that can match his activity level. Hasn't shown any aggression towards other dogs and is totally submissive towards Pete (our Pit/LabX).
  
  


• Reflections fascinate him --but not his own. I find him staring at me in a mirror or reflection in a window:





• Not at all food-aggressive. I can feed treats (chicken) to all dogs in the room and he will wait patiently for his turn (once he figured out he wasn't getting treats until he was calm). He takes food very gently from your hand.



• Will be loyal (wants to be by my side always...well, unless Pete is around) and protective. Only 48 hours here and already barking a warning when visitors arrive. Of course, once they get to the door, he is all wags.



• Very vocal - will talk to you. And he howls (not everyone finds this endearing - my husband thinks it's "cool") -- must be the cattle dog in him.



• He prefers being outside (but that may just be because that is where Pete retreats) and, so far, doesn't really care for plush doggie beds.



• He likes tennis balls but prefers more than anything to play with Pete.
  

My Big Adventure

Today started with me running a rat line like a CIA operative. The rat line consisted of five different vehicles and multiple cutouts to ensure my security and not compromise my secret mission. I've arrived safely in my new foster home (I think that's code for "safe house").






Here is a picture of me meeting my new foster mom at the last leg of the rat line. I promptly planted a kiss on her.

At my new foster home, I met all kinds of new friends - I was very excited. Even met my feline foster sister but didn't care much about her once I saw my foster brother, Pete. All I care about is playing with Pete...and doing whatever Pete is doing.

Eventually, Pete disappeared outside through the magic door that no one will show me how to work and I've been hanging out with foster mom inside which is great. I figured out real fast that if my butt hits the floor when she says "sit" or when she snaps her fingers, I get pieces of chicken and head and chest rubs. Foster mom says I learn real fast - hey, I like to impress. And I really didn't mind the bath either (although I don't know what all the fuss was about --I think I smelled just fine).

I love burying my head while getting my back rubbed. Just like when I was getting a bath - not sure why foster mom changed clothes afterward?

Foster mom tries real hard to get pictures of me to document My Big Adventure but I move too fast (lots of things to see and do around here) so there are many that are all a blur like these:





After the long and exciting day here, I'm very sleepy but I think if I go to sleep I might miss something so I fight it really hard.