The return of the Flippy Flopper

One of Ranger's favorite toys is a Frisbee call the Flippy Flopper.  The toy lasts only a few months before it is destroyed (Ranger thinks his toys are live animals he must kill, so toys don't always last long in our house) but in the past, I was always able to stock up on the Flippy Flopper.  However, sometime last year, the only store that carried it STOPPED STOCKING IT!!!  So the Flippy Flopper limped along, until it was no longer safe for the dogs to have, and I reluctantly had to throw it away.  It was even a toy Teddy loved.  I don't know what is so special about it, but I think there must be something like crack for dogs sewn into the fabric.  Teddy will chew it for hours, and Ranger will 'kill' it for a very long time.  I found a frisbee that looked just like the Flippy Flopper, and bought several of them.  However, when I gave them to the dogs, while the enjoyed it, it wasn't with the same obsession as the Flippy Flopper.  Earlier this week, someone told me they saw the Flippy Flopper in a pet store, so I quickly went over there, and lo and behold - THE FLIPPY FLOPPER!!  I bought all 4, and told the owner she had to keep these in stock for me, as they are my dogs favorite toy.  When I came home from work, I took the toy out of the bags, and Ranger's ears immediately perked up.  He remembered!  He was jumping all over me to get to his long lost friend, and of course, Teddy imitated him, not really knowing why he was doing it.  I took them both outside and threw one frisbee for each of them, and I wished I had recorded the moment.  The joy on their faces!  I went back inside to get my camera, and hopefully I'll have some video loaded by this weekend.

Teddy's magic chair

I've had Teddy for 18 months now, and he still is not comfortable sitting on my lap, EXCEPT for when we are at my sister's house, sitting in her recliner.  I'm not sure what it is about the recliner, but it is the only chair in the entire world that Teddy will willingly jump up and sit on someone's lap.  I really have no idea why - it's a nice soft leather, it rocks gently and swivels (which one would think he wouldn't like) and it belongs to my brother-in-law, who Teddy runs from.  I guess it's all part of Teddy's mystery, along with his attraction to my liquor cabinet and his fasination with my cannister vacuum.  Some things we'll never have the answer to!

Ranger is a bully

Every morning after our walk, Ranger is full of energy and is ready to play, and Teddy still needs his cup of coffee to get going.  And every morning the same thing happens - Ranger jumps all over Teddy, trying to get him to play, and Teddy ignores him. This starts as we walk up the driveway.  I always take their leashes off when we are one house away, to give them a little freedom and to help train them to stay with me, which they always do.  As soon as we get to the driveway, Ranger starts jumping all over Teddy, growling at him (in a playful way), and just generally being a bully.  Teddy just keeps walking along, ignoring the dog that is doing everything he can to get Teddy's attention.  It continues in the house.  Poor Teddy tries so hard to climb the stairs to get to his water bowl, and Ranger tries everything to stop him.  Finally Teddy will make it up the stairs, and Ranger is hot on his heels.  After a few minutes of grabbing Teddy by the neck, jumping on him, growling at him, Ranger finally gives up, and lays down on the couch in defeat.  He wants so badly to play in the morning, and Teddy is just not a morning dog.  In fact, Ranger gets up around 5 and jumps into bed with me.  He sniffs my face, to make sure it's really me, and then goes back to sleep.  Around 6:30, he heads downstairs to look out his window, waiting for us to come down for our walk.  Teddy, however, is still snoring away when I get out of bed, and would probably sleep until noon if I let him.  Poor Ranger.  He just wants to play in the morning, and Teddy is not at all interested.  In other aspects, their relationship is good, so I guess if there is going to be a problem, this is not a bad one to have.

I hate fireworks!

And so does Teddy.  If he is inside the house, he barely notices them, but trying to get him to do his business outside at night when neighbors on all sides are setting off fireworks is next to impossible.  No, not next to impossible - actually impossible!  I am sorry to admit that I lost my temper with him on Saturday and probably made the situation worse.  I think I was more angry with neighbors settiing of fireworks, but since Teddy would be the one who would pee on my carpet in the middle of the night, he got the brunt of my frustration.  He spent Saturday night in a crate, until the fireworks stopped around 2, and I was able to convince him to go outside.  Sunday night, I let him out later in the evening than I normally do, around 7, and tried again around 9, but fireworks were starting by then and it was a lost cause.  So I put up the baby gate in my room, and he slept until morning with no accidents.  Hopefully tonight will be much quieter and we will all sleep well! 

Needless to say, Ranger is not bothered by fireworks at all.  When he was a bit younger, they did bother him, but he spent one 4th of July with his doggie cousin, who is not afraid of anything, and I think he overcame his fear by watching her.  Ever since, he has not reacted to fireworks at all.  Hopefully Ranger will have the same effect on Teddy.

Happy, tired dogs

Napping, after a long day sitting by the pool  Enough said.

My baby's growing up

Today I hosted a cookout for Father's Day, and Teddy was amazing (ok - not truly amazing, but the progress he's made is remarkable.) My sister's in-laws are in town, and they brought their dog, Rudy (Ranger's brother) over for lunch. All 3 dogs get along, and had fun playing together. The amazing part was that Teddy was not scared of any of the men. He now goes directly to my brother-in-law, and even sat on his lap for several minutes, which is something he still doesn't really do with me. During dinner, he sat right next to my sister's father-in-law, hoping for some steak to drop, and licked his fingers clean without any fear. He let my nephews pet him, and didn't run away from them. It made me think of how he was this time last year, when he hid under the dining room table, and ran from the room when a man walked in. He was relaxed and playful - like a normal dog, which is something I thought I'd never say!

Teddy is banned from agility

No, not an official banishment, but until his behavior improves, I have imposed a ban. He pulled the same stunt this past Thursday that he did the previous week - he barked, and Ranger ran off the course. I could see the struggle in Ranger's eyes - he wanted to obey me and come back to me when I called him, but he also wanted to see what Teddy wanted. Ultimately, Teddy won. Ranger ended up in a crate (one up high, no less, which he hates) and he faced the wall the entire time (his choice, not mine!) When it was our turn to run again, he did much better. Teddy barked and Ranger wanted to go to him, but my treats, and the threat of more time in the crate, won out and we finished.

There's no class this week, but next week, I may bring a friend, with strict instructions to have her remove Teddy from the room if he barks. I hate to leave Teddy at home, as socializing during class has helped him tremendously, but I'm paying money for Ranger to take the class, and if he runs off the course, I've wasted my money, and that drives me nuts. Hopefully my plan will work.