Scaredy Dog

The past few mornings I have heard Chris fighting with the dog to go outside in the backyard.

Chris asked me the other day "What is wrong with the dog?"

Apparently when Chris tries to put him out in the backyard for a pee in the morning he won't go and starts shaking and hides on the couch.

Hmm...

I've always had problems putting Milo in the backyard. Mostly he just doesn't want to because he thinks that we gobble all kinds of food or something while he's outside. Plus he hates going out there by himself.

I haven't really tried to put him in the backyard myself these past couple of days though. Its been raining and wet so I don't like him getting all muddy so I just take him for walks instead.

Maybe I will try this afternoon... see what is his problem.

Its very weird....

Winter Walks

I have noticed there are several types of dog owners.

The "summer" owners - who you only see during the nice weather.

The "occasional" walkers- those are worst than the summer owners.. they go for a walk once in a blue moon.

Then there are the CRAZY owners who go out in anything and everything. I know who they are because we are one of them. We don't have much of a choice. Milo needs his exercise and he hates going to pee and especially poop in our backyard.

Most days I dont mind. Some days it takes a lot for me to go and do it

But we do.

Here's Kiefer all bundled up and Milo waiting to go outside.

Fun At Mylo's Expense

Last night we were at Baba's house for Dinner. Detko brought Chris some Kielbassa to take home. Did it ever smell strong and delicious.

As soon as we got home, guess what Mylo sniffed? Thats right the Kielbassa. He was so ecstatic he sat so nicely with his tail going 100 miles an hour. He was sitting so nicely hoping that we had brought him home that delicious treat.

Chris took it out of the bag and put it in the fridge. Mylo followed Chris' every move, tail flying and a big goofy grin on his face. Mylo would stop Chris in his tracks and sit right in front of him, as if to say "look how good Im being... please??"

So Chris pulled open the fridge and gave him a carrot. Mylo just watched it drop. Ignored it and walked over to the fridge, looking up with begging eyes... "please"

Chris then gave Mylo the bag we had brought home the Kielbassa in. Mylo went nuts digging around in it searching for the food.

All this while Chris and I are laughing so hard we were in tears!

Mylo finally realized there was nothing worthwhile in the bag and ate the carrot.

Chris then took him for a walk.

When he came back he forgot all about it.

Fat Dog Mylo

So this blog has not been touched in awhile.. seems like its gone to the sidelines. 

And since Kiefer has been born seems like Mylo has too.

We used to go to the dog park or swimming all the time. Plus walks did not feel like a chore before we had a baby but now its tough trying to do things with a "not well behaved" dog and baby in tow. 

Today we had an eye opener. Mylo went for his vaccines and checkup. He's now 79lbs. He's gained about 8 lbs since last checkup. Not horrible but the Vet would like to see him back down around 70 or 72ish. 

Mylo does still get walked 2x a day - thats more than a lot of dogs but he has been getting more table scraps...

Kiefer droppings (cracker crumbs or rice puffs), plus I did give him leftover rice last night. And we can't forget that whole chicken breast he ate - bones and all! 

Do you think that might be adding to the weight situation??

So here is our plan:

NO people food at all!! 

That means I have to watch Kiefer's food droppings, and stop forgetting food on the counter -Yes Mylo eats whats left out. (Bad dog) 

Also watch the treats we are giving him. We haven't been giving him too many lately. I realized that the other day. We used to give him treats for everything. (Sitting, staying, and any other trick he can do)

Last but not least; More exercise. I need to go for longer walks, or play with Mylo in the backyard or find a way to take Mylo to the park.

I really don't like FAT LABS... and I don't want Mylo to turn into one.

Best of Friends??

Kiefer loves Milo!

Im not sure how Milo feels exactly but they play together so well. Milo either licks Kiefer silly or he just lays beside him while Kiefer grabs and pokes at Milo. 

Broken

So today, Brandon and I took our dogs swimming and for a hike. Milo and Buddy loved it! We only had one incident where Milo decided to go down a deep hill to the water.. and couldnt get back up. So Brandon had to go down and rescue him.

After we came back  into town, I took Milo to get his nails clipped. Thats when I noticed him limping. I couldn't figure out where it had happened. Later I thought it must have happened during Milo trying to climb back up the steep hill and falling. 

But no.

Milo had been fine afterwards, running around the field, no problems walking. 

Then I realized it must have been in the car on the way home. Milo started freaking out in the back seat about something... we couldn't figure out what and just thought Milo was being silly. Then I looked back and he was sitting so perfectly, just staring out the window. He continued to do so all the way home. 

This is not normal at all for Milo. He is always jumping around and trying to come up to the front seat. Brandon figured Milo was just tired and I thought "Ya, swimming for almost 2 hours would do that..." and didnt think much else about it.

But then I noticed later the base of the car seat had been unbuckled and on the floor. Milo had done this somehow in his little freak out.. and thats when I realized he must have hurt himself somehow during all this. 

Milo is limping a tiny bit. But Im sure he will be fine. After all he still bolts to the window to growl at people as they pass by and if he can do that.. he will survive.

Biking

Since I've had a baby, my bike has not been touched this spring/summer. Its hard to ride a bike when you have an infant who most of the time is attached to the hip. 

I've missed my bike. So the other day, I purchased a bike pump and did some maintenance to my bike. 

Now, after Kiefer falls asleep in the evenings Milo and I go for a bike ride. We don't go far. Actually, all we bike is the court just around the corner. I bike down the middle of the road with Milo running beside me. We do the court usually about 4 or 5 times and then head home.

Milo's doing pretty good with the bike, he only nips at my feet a couple of times (maybe like twice) but he still needs to get used to the bike. I find biking in the middle of the road helps as it prevents Milo from stopping or pulling me to smell everything. And luckily its a court and late at night so there is no traffic. 

I'm hoping it will benefit Milo has well, Keep him exercised and work off some of his energy. I haven't seen too much of an affect with that yet but its only been 2 nights.  We will see...

Lousy Guard Dog

Saturday night a bunch of punk kids decided to go for a swim in our neighbours pool. ( the neighbour behind us ) 

Once they were done swimming in the pool, they decided for some reason to not sneak back out the way they came but kicked in one of the fence boards and came through our backyard to walk right out the gate.

I heard the kids at 4:30 in the morning. They woke me up. Milo was still sleeping so I didnt think too much of it. I figured it was one of our neighbours but it sounded too close so I got up to check it out... by the time I looked out the window they were just walking by my house. I figured they had just come from the bar and were super loud becuase they were drunk.

Then that morning I noticed the gate was open. I knew I had closed it because I had made sure of it after April and Eric had left. (We had a campfire)

I mentioned the gate was open to Chris and he checked the shed to make sure nothing had gone missing. Luckily nothing did. Later, around lunch I noticed it was very bright in the corner of our backyard.. I could see the neighbours pool. Thats when I noticed the board was broken in half and on the ground. Someone had kicked through the fence. 

I showed Chris and he went to talk to the neighbour, thats when they realized the kids must have been in the pool and decided to head out through our yard.

All this and Milo slept right through it.

We also had another incident two Saturdays past. Some kid(s) stole one of our solar lights from the porch.

Again Milo heard nothing.

The sun is not too kind on black

Summer is here!

Im very excited. Looking forward to spending lots of time at the pool or just lazing around enjoying the weather.

Unfortunately its not all good news, Milo is a black dog, black and the sun don't mix well. We've had to shorten our walks because it gets too hot for the poor guy. Even I've noticed how hot it is. (Im not complaining) we've waited soo long for this weather, putting up with the cold. 

Milo will hopefully still enjoy being outside, just in the backyard. Our Maple tree provides lots of shade that he should be fine for small amounts of time outside. Unfortunately, Milo has been banned from the backyard until our deck is finished.. which should be real soon, But for now there is too much stuff in our backyard for him to get into and cause trouble with. 

New Friends

Today while walking Milo and Kiefer, I ran into another lady who was walking her dog and baby as well. Her name is Klaudina, and her daughter is Klara and she has a german shepherd named Kiya.

We met in Belmont Village, where our dogs first growled at eachother. 

Milo does not get along with German shepherds on leash, but he's fine off leash. 

We passed eachother and crossed the street. Klaudina started yelling over at me, asking questions about Kiefer and Milo. 

Finally I got tired of yelling across at eachother and walked over where the two dogs sniffed, growled, sniffed then decided it was time to play. 

We chatted for a bit, our babies are only 10 days apart, our dogs are both 2 years old and she lives up the street on a court off my street. 

Once I heard that I said, lets walk. 

And we had a delightful conversation while we walked our babies and dogs. 

It must have been quite the site to see as we both had dogs, and a baby in a carrier. A few passerby's commented that we were twins. 

Today our walk ended up being almost 2 hours! But it was very enjoyable and Im sure we will have many more to look forward too.

Sitting patiently

Today I witnessed a good lab.

Chris and I were driving through Tim Hortons drive thru and there sitting patiently without being disturbed and off leash was a black lab waiting outside the coffee shop for his owner.

It was such a lovely site to see. Made me wish Milo was that well behaved.

Also been thinking about taking some more training classes. Its nice to have a regular reminder of what we are supposed to be doing. 

Plus a more well behaved dog is always nice.

Happy Birthday!!

Today is Mylo's Birthday. He turns 2!!

Happy Birthday! 

Nothing too exciting planned, I bought him some yummy stew for dogs for his birthday dinner and a bone stuffed with chicken for dessert! 

I guess its not quite like having a birthday for a human, dogs don't really understand that its their birthday.. and that it should be celebrated. 

But still, we love Mylo and this is our way of celebrating Mylo! 

How do you fall out of love?

Lately Chris has been pretty miserable with Mylo (since Kiefer has come home) 

Chris has threatened that Mylo is gone - a new home, the pound, anywhere but here. I've been trying my hardest to keep the peace. Mylo hasn't been neccessarily any worse than before Kiefer was born, I think Chris is just a bit stressed with all thats going on plus the first couple of days Chris pretty much had sole responsibility of Mylo.

Ive been a bit stressed though, because although Im not a dog person, I love my Mylo. Plus Ive been having to keep the peace between the two. 

Chris doesnt see a new day as a fresh start with Mylo. It's like he's holding a grudge against the poor dog. 

And Im tired of it. Mylo's not going any where! 

Not sure how to change his attitude.. especially when it doesnt seem to want to be changed. 

I just have to hope that things will fall back into place... 

 

One Smart Cookie

Dogs are much smarter than they let on.

Mylo has been a barker and we've tried everything. The only thing that works his the shock collar but he knows when its on or off. He will bark and bark but as soon as I put it on or threaten him to have it on.. 

He knows. 

When you have a bad dog....

... You have to be creative!!

The other day I had finished a blanket for a friend of mine who just had a baby. Mylo decided to grab that blanket and run. Luckily I grabbed it from him but when I went to my mom's to have her help me put on the name tag I saw two little bite marks in the blanket. 

I was not impressed. I spent forever sewing it and I was not going to just throw it away! 

What to do.. What to do.. What to do...

Well luckily my mom made me a name tag so that went on the back where the holes were. Now I just had to figure out what to do with the front. 

Luckily I found some BIG buttons and sewed them on the holes and in a couple other random spots. Now the holes are filled and you would never know except that I told you.

Escapist

Mylo has been a little more daring, and a pain in the butt. He has been running out the front door when people come over to visit or the odd time when we come home or leave. 

Before it wasnt too bad cause he would listen or at least not go further than two houses down but now he's bolting across the street and everything else. AUGGHHH.

So Ive resolved to fix this problem. 

These are my ideas. 

1) Put a gate on our stoop, or even just plywood so he would stay on the stoop and not go far if he did get out.

2) Put up a door to the basement and when people come over they use the side door. We'd close the door and keep Mylo from jumping on people until they are inside and he also cant escape.

3) Train him to sit when people come to the door and inside, he can move when given permission too.

Right now Im working on number 3. Training Mylo. Its going to take a bit. I bought a cheap mat from the dollar store where Im teaching him right now that its his "spot". We cant call it a mat because he knows the mat is the mat in the front hall and that when he comes from inside he sits on the mat and gets cleaned off, so we call it his "Spot".

Right now Im just getting him used to going to his Spot when he's told. Then we will gradually train him to go to his spot when people come and knock on our door. I will probably still put up a piece of plywood on our stoop so that as we are training him if he does get out he can only go on the stoop and then back in the house.

Lets hope the training goes well. He is way too crazy when people come over that it will be a lot of training and practicing. 

Free Money

Today I took Milo for his walk. I decided to go up by the community centre and follow the path by it. ( I think its part of the iron horse trail ) I probably shouldve stayed on it as I ended up getting lost walking around the subdivision it lead me too but I did find $5! It reminded me of when I was younger and how exciting it was to find money. It felt like I was rich! 

Hmmm.. now what to do with my $5 ?

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was a year since we brought home Mylo! 

Its amazing what a difference Mylo is if we remember the beginning. I had to sleep downstairs on the couch to keep an eye on him the first week, Mylo was terrified of cars, our stairs, and crazy hyper. Thankfully Mylo has found his love for the car, free range of the house and has slowed down quite a bit.. although he still has energy! 

Chris came home with a bunch of goodies for Mylo.. SPOILED! LOL

Mylo was treated to a yummy supper and some yummy treats!

Although I never really wanted a dog, I love my Mylo!

Home alone

Since Chris is now on days unfortunately Mylo will be left home alone. Before he was very lucky to be able to sleep during the day with Chris and then sleep all night with me. 

Tomorrow will be Mylo's first day home alone. Luckily Chris is done at 1 tomorrow and then off tuesday so Mylo will slowly be introduced to being home alone. 

But because he's going to be home alone we have decided that something needs to be done about his barking. And since we have tried everything and even what we thought worked doesn't, we have been using the shock collar. 

Ive been finding it very hard, Chris has too but we decided that we are going to stick with it. Hopefully everything will work out well for everyone.

Music for your dog?

http://www.petcds.com/audio/squeaky-Deakey.mp3

OK if you have a dog bring him in the room and see if he likes this song. Mylo at first was looking for the squeaker but he didnt care too much after he realized it wasnt anywhere he could grab it.