We’ve got a few more photos . . . and more on the way . . . plus some new ones of the boys coming, too.

Lola poses for the camera

Lola’s closeup

Both Lola and Chester love chewing on sticks. This really isn’t such a good idea — they could get splinters, or they could run into something and jam the stick into their mouth (or each other) — yet how do you remove all the sticks from your yard?

We’ve chosen to let them have their sticks. And as you’re about to see, there’s a whole series on the sticks!

It looks here like they’re sweetly laying together, doesn’t it? What they’re really doing is duking it out over the stick.

They’re getting a bit more serious about the stick here. Chester likes to try to take every stick Lola picks up away from her, but sometimes she sticks up for herself. They play together very well, but Chester isn’t much into sharing — anything — not sticks, not toys, not me.

A littler game of tug

Water is one of the few things that Chester doesn’t mind sharing with Lola.

They often remind me of little horses (really little horses!) when they’re playing.

They also remind me a bit of goats . . . or maybe chickens . . . always scrabbling around the yard, looking for something good to eat.

Chester with his “Uncle” John

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I can remember way back when we first started looking for a dog, we submitted an application to a rescue organization. They wouldn’t even consider us, because we didn’t have a fenced-in backyard.

I was so mad at the time. I just knew that we could give a dog a wonderful home, fence or no fence. I still believe that’s true, but there’s little doubt in my mind that a fence is extremely useful (if expensive).

Last night, when I took the dogs out, our neighbor’s pit bull was running around loose. It hasn’t happened often, but this isn’t the first time it’s happened, either. And it’s not the only neighbor’s dogs it’s happened with, either.

In fact, that same pit bull was running around loose early one morning when I took Chester out first thing in the morning. I don’t really know if it’s a friendly dog or not. It spent much of its first year chained up in their yard 24/7, although they did finally fence in the yard.

I was very proud of Chester, though. Although he wanted to chase and bark at the dog, I got him to come to me and go to his “place” (a raised outside bed). In fact, both he and Lola (who’s pretty territorial herself, despite the fact she’s only been here 3 weeks) got some impromptu training.

I don’t believe a fence is a neccesity for a happy dog, but I do think it’s worth it, if you can afford it.

Technorati Tags: rescue organization, fenced-in backyard

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The conventional wisdom for housetraining dogs is to take them out when you think they need to go, and if they haven’t gone within 10 minutes, take them back inside and put them in their crate, then repeat the whole process in 10-15 minutes.

But what if you have a dog who’s actually been taught to go in her crate, and you’re trying to retrain her?

I woke up this morning, and while it was clear it had rained last night, it was no longer raining. Until shortly before it was time to take Chester out. I waited for a lull in the rain — luckily it’s rare for us to have anything that lasts more than an hour, usually much less — and took Chester out.

He was just getting started on his dance, when it began to rain again. He stopped. I moved him over under one of our trees, and proceeded to stand there in the pouring rain and dark for another 15 minutes, but no go.

Frustrated, I took him back inside. It’s been a long time since he’s had an accident inside, but it was clear he wasn’t going to do anything. I have been clicking & treating him for doing his business for 2 months now, but it’s still not on command. I doubt it ever will be.

After feeding them, I took Lola out. It wasn’t raining that hard initially, but she had the same reaction as Chester. What’s worse, I didn’t want her to have another accident in her crate. She hasn’t had very many, and she’s been getting rewarded for going outside for 2 weeks now (and seems to like that idea), so how long would she hold it? After 40 minutes, I had my answer.

I was finally forced to bring her in, and take Chester back out. Luckily by this time it was barely raining, and he did his business quickly.

Then I retrieved Lola, who luckily hadn’t messed in her crate, and she cooperated this time, too.

I can excuse Lola, who truly doesn’t know better by this point. But Chester? I would’ve thought by now that he’d know enough to finish his business quickly so that we could go back in. But I guess I just didn’t count on the stubborness of chis. He always seems pretty desperate to go when I take him out first thing; I truly didn’t think he could hold it that long. Apparently he can.

Technorati Tags: housetraining, crate

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We still don’t have any really good photos of Lola, but I thought it was time to “show her off”.

Lola is very thin, and while she’s actually taller than Chester, she weighs less (yes, Chester should lose a little weight — he put a little bit on during his confinement).

Her head seems too big for her body, and if you look closely at her lower lip, you’ll see she pouts — she has a pretty good underbite, like Chester.

Here she is napping in her bed. When I’m on the computer, Chester is in his bed on a chair next to me, and Lola is in her bed, tied to my chair. We haven’t yet been able to figure out a way to get them to both relax together in Chester’s bed, which would be much more convenient. I think Lola’s new nickname ought to be Tasmaian Devil, since she’s a little whirlwind.

Seriously, while it might look like they’re trying to kill each other, they’re just playing.

Relaxing together in the big crate.

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This morning we had some much-needed rain. As much as we desperately need it, it certainly makes dealing with dogs a pain. Normally we go out to potty around 6 am, then Chester gets to snuggle with Daddy for a while and Lola goes back in her crate.

Then it’s breakfast around 7 am, a short training session (oh the joys of trying to train 2 dogs at once, especially one with almost no training), out to potty again (if needed), a short play session, then our walk.

But it was mildly raining when we went outside. They both pottied, they played for a short while, but I decided it didn’t look like it was one of those rain showers that would dissipate quickly so we went back inside.

My husband has had problems figuring out what to do with the dogs after I’ve gone to bed. He’s usually up a couple of hours after me, in the office. Chester was never a problem, he went in his bed & he’d stay there when my husband left for short periods of time.

However, he couldn’t get them to settle down together or apart. The last couple of nights he’s watched tv for a while while they’re snoozing in their crates, and then put them to bed before going in the office. Even though Lola isn’t house trained, she luckily doesn’t need to go out often (in fact, so far she only poops once a day!), and she hasn’t had any problems at all holding it all night. In fact, when I take her out at 6:30 she doesn’t really seem to feel the urge, whereas Chester does his business right away.

I hope that her bathroom habits don’t change as time goes on — that is, that her ability to hold things isn’t just part of the honeymoom period, but rather just the way she is. She is, in fact, much better at holding it than Chester is. There is just something not quite right with Chester’s digestive tract, and he’s been like that since day 1 — but he’s much better now. At least now I’m pretty sure that it’s nothing I did, it’s just the way he is.

So this morning I took them both in the office with me. I put Chester in his bed on the chair next to me (although he immediately jumped into the bed on the floor, which I intended for Lola, and did not want to get out — he loves his beds). I then tied Lola to my chair, short enough so that she couldn’t wander far. It took a little while, but she eventually curled up in her bed and sacked out. Maybe my husband will try it tonight; maybe not — but at least now I know it’s an option. I don’t like to keep them crated all day when they’re not playing or outside, but they both have to be confined for differing reasons right now.

Whenever you introduce new animals, unless you’re very lucky, there are such highs and lows. For instance, maybe the highlight of my day today was being “attacked” and almost licked to death by two chihuahuas after our nap. But the low was when I had them gated in the kitchen, preparing their dinners, and Gizmo decided to come in.

Gizmo is used to coming in when I get Chester’s dinner ready. Chester is in his bed, and if he gets up, he’s still on a leash since he’s still recuperating from surgery. Gizmo usually just jumps up on his stool & I give him a little food.

But Gizmo just freaked out when he saw two dogs coming towards them, despite the fact that they were nothing but friendly. He then came back in a little later, but freaked out yet again — hissing and bopping — and not just little bops — at the poor dogs.

I feel so selfish sometimes. I love my boys more than anything; so how could I inflict such chaos on them? It seems so unfair to them. My husband loves Chester to pieces, but he’s unsure about a second dog. And of course sometimes I have to wonder if he’s right. We had a routine with Chester, and Gizmo mostly tolerated him. Is two dogs just too many for Gizmo? I just feel so bad to cause him such anguish.

And yet people have multiple dogs with cats all the time.

It is later in the day, and I feel better. I still feel sorry to cause Gizmo such anguish, but I do believe in time he’ll come to tolerate both dogs. It just takes time. He isn’t off his food, and he still comes to me for affection. I suppose the fact that he even came in when the both of them were in there says something.

I did get “attacked” by my two chihuahuas this afternoon. They tried to lick me to death — apparently they decided that’s how they’re going to let me know it’s time for supper. Gotta love that.

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We finally (apparently) managed to wear Lola out. I’ve been taking them both for a walk in the morning. Then we come in & it’s time for a wrestling match on the bed.

I wanted to try blocking off our kitchen, so I could have them in there while getting meals ready & so on, but we needed a wider baby gate. So we went to Petsmart — my husband had seen one that expands to 5 feet on the Website, but unfortunately, there wasn’t one in the store. But there was one that fit, so we bought it.

Then we took them over to Home Depot (getting 2 dogs into and out of carriers, leashes, and harnesses is incredibly awkward — I get to do that by myself this Friday, when I take Chester for his 6 week post-surgery checkup, and then for acupuncture at a different vet and a wellness check for Lola).

We looked at their baby gates, but none of them were wide enough. We also looked at their patio furniture. Our wooden bench is falling to pieces, and it’s not really comfortable for long periods of time, so we need some more seating options outside. I’d really like wood, because it doesn’t stay wet as long as plastic does. We didn’t find anything, though.

Then we got back, and I took them into the bedroom. More wrestling. Chester soon tired of it and clearly wanted to nap. I finally managed to get Lola to calm down and leave Chester alone, and she proceeded to curl up with me, and then my husband, for a good, long time.

She continues to have good bladder control and save for one small accident Saturday, things are going well in the housetraining department.

She did growl and lunge at Gizmo, when he walked up to her crate while she was chewing a beef tendon. Two dogs with slight food issues, apparently, so we have to watch that closely. It was very disappointing, though.

Gizmo took it pretty well, though, and later he was laying on the couch, and she kept putting her paws up on it to look at him, and he just stayed there — and no growling. I’m pretty sure she was trying to guard her food.

She is incredibly hyper and fast. She has absolutely no problems jumping up onto the bed. Chester sometimes couldn’t make it, and that was before his surgery — before we bought a mattress topper that makes the bed 3 inches taller! But she jumps up on it before you can even think of saying “no”.

In fact, she is a bouncer. The type of dog that jumps up to your chest and bounces off of you. Chester doesn’t do that. Maybe because of his bad leg.

She is getting “sit” already, but it’s certainly not on command yet. I’d say she does it 50-60% of the time, and sometimes she does it without the command, clearly hoping for a treat. But she’s pushy, and tries to get Chester’s treats when I’m treating him. She has so much to learn — and leave it is obviously high up there.

She has been better in the crate today, although there’s still some whining sometimes. The problem is that we’re back to where we were 6 months or so ago with Chester — wearing them out is wearing us out! It should get better when Chester can be free again (I hope).

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Lola is here on a trial adoption, actually. Yesterday they played almost constantly when allowed today . . . today it seems Chester is played out. They played a bit on the bed this morning, but since then Chester seems to just want to relax (or eat his beef tendon).

The hard part right now is that since Lola isn’t housetrained, she just can’t be left unsupervised at all. And since she doesn’t have obedience training either, she doesn’t know how to stay or sit (although she’s already learning “sit”). We don’t want to keep them crated all the time, but Chester still can’t run loose — and Lola whines in her crate when we leave the room.

That’s the biggie. We’ve just gotten to the point with Chester where he can relax in a crate when we’re not there for a while (usually as long as he has a chew). But Lola won’t relax if we aren’t there even if she does have something to eat — shades of Chester months ago.

Is it a phase that will quickly pass? Will she be able to relax more when they can “really” play and she’s more tired? I have spent the last month or so (not to mention all those months all along) trying to get Chester to the point where we can leave him, which means not doing the things I want to do — like go out to eat or the movies. It also remains to be seen whether or not Lola gets so anxious that she’ll have accidents.

We do leave her for brief periods of time occasionally, and she whines — which basically upsets everyone. Sometimes she even howls. I don’t go to her when she’s whining, of course, but sometimes it’s hard to find 10 seconds when she quiet. I don’t make a big deal of leaving her or coming back — I just do it.

It’s hard on my husband because I go to bed before he does, so he has to figure out some way to have the both of them in the office with him. If he has Chester in the bed next to him, and Lola in her crate, she whines (and he’s not as good at ignoring her). We tried putting down the large bed I bought for them this afternoon, and while Chester was happy to settle down on it, Lola just was wandering all around.

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We are doing a trial adoption of a girlfriend for Chester. Lola’s foster mom brought her down about 8:30 pm last night, and they seemed to get along just as well here as they did in her house. I stayed up late so that I could help take Lola out at “last call”, and with the hectic week we’d had, I was already exhausted.

Unfortunately, Lola wasn’t happy in her crate. She kept circling and whining. I eventually moved it nearer to our bed, but that didn’t help. She hadn’t pooped at all before bedtime. She eventually did settle down, although she remained somewhat restless throughout the night, and with Simba sleeping with me, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.

I let the boys out around 5 am, which is normal for them. I took Lola out shortly afterward, and she pee’d but didn’t poop, but she hadn’t had any accidents overnight. I put her in her crate in our living room, where she continued to circle and whine, while I sacked out on the couch. Eventually she settled down again.

Usually I eat a light breakfast around 5:30 am, but I was too tired. I took Chester out around 6 am, just a tad early for him, then put him in to snuggle with Daddy. Then I fed the boys and scooped litterboxes. Then it was time to get their meals ready. Then outside we all went.

I was hoping to maybe take them both for a walk, but they were far to interested in playing to walk together. I did a little bit of training, then took Lola in for Daddy to watch while I took Chester for his walk (we set up an exercise pen outside so I can put Lola in it while I walk Chester — until I can get them to walk nicely together).

When Chester was done we traded puppies, and I took Lola for a walk. She walks very nicely on a leash, possibly better than Chester –doesn’t have her nose constantly to the ground, trying to pick up everything she finds.

Lola still hadn’t done anything in the bathroom department, but it was back into the crates for them. More circling and whining. Whining really does get on your nerves — and Gizmo’s nerves, too.

And that was mostly how the day went — outside to potty & play, or not potty as the case may be (Lola finally completely emptied around 3 pm), back in to play, then some crate time.

Chester has been very good about mostly ignoring Lola when she whines in the crate. Considering he’s a bit of a whiner in there, too, I was pretty shocked. They both got bully sticks, and while Chester finally finished his this evening, Lola never did, although she clearly enjoyed it.

Lola was a whirling dervish for the majority of the day. Since she’s not trained — doesn’t know sit, down, stay, or stop — it’s been a little hard to control her at times. Finally, after dinner, she zonked out in her crate for a short while. After another potty break (where she pee’d again outside!), we decided to try them out in the large crate together.

Lola did have one very small accident. After she finally went outside this afternoon, we took them into the bedroom & let them play on the bed. Chester was on his harness, so he doesn’t jump down (he’s not quite done recuperating from his knee surgery); Lola was off leash, and jump off the bed to explore several times. It hadn’t even been an hour since she’d gone, and considering she held it for about 10 hours, I wasn’t expecting anything. I didn’t even see it, just saw the wet spot when we left the room.

Because Lola’s always on a leash in the house, unless we’ve got the bedroom door closed, she hasn’t had a huge amount of interaction with the boys. Gizmo has been a little hissy, but not too bad — he’s still coming to me for cuddles, and that’s all I can ask (that, and continued use of the litterbox).

This next week will be tough. At least Monday is a holiday, and Thursday I’ll have them in daycare. Friday, hopefully, God willing, Chester will get the go-ahead to resume normal activities, and I can let them both off leash outside & they can burn up the backyard. I can’t wait!

Lola is extremely responsive to praise, much more so than Chester. Chester’s always like “that’s nice, but where’s my treat?”. She gets very excited simply by being told she’s a good girl. She’s also bouncy — jumps a lot, which Chester doesn’t do — and also stands & dances on her hind legs a lot, which Chester doesn’t do (probably initially because of his bad knee).

All in all, a good start — but an exhausting day! I am hoping she will be more tired tonight and will settle down with a minimum of fuss.

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