Houston says Happy Thanksgiving!

Past three days have been fairly uneventful - I've worked longer hours (temporarily) and so our guys had to stay in their crates a few extra hours and Houston was in the front by himself a little longer. All good though. I love mornings when I can sleep in because I'm usually nudged (or jumped on) awake by Ringo or Lola. Houston will come in the bedroom and stare, maybe give me a little whine that I should get my butt out of bed. This morning though, Ringo came up to greet me, and then with approval looks from both myself and Ringo, along with a little pat on the bed, Houston jumped up with us and then this commenced on my lap:

Snapped an action pic in the middle of it:

And then Lola came back to see what all the fuss was about. All three of these dogs use their front paws alot in play:

I can't tell if Houston is disturbed by Lola's smiles or if they're pissing him off:)

They'll have to stay by themselves while we're over stuffing ourselves but they'll be ready for more play this evening. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Houston through the week of November 14-19th, 2016

We have fed all the dogs together (in the same room) but it seems easier for now to feed Houston in the laundry room and our guys in the mudd room (separated by a short baby gate that noone jumps over). He doesn't have his cone on while he eats.

Houston doesn't seem picky at all regarding food- he came with some Blue Buffalo, Life Protection Formula, Large Breed Adult, Chicken and Brown Rice. We're feeding him this and adding some supplements we give our guys as a topping- a green blend formula and salmon oil, along with a green lippid mussel powder we used to give our older Weims for joints and such (to him for his old wound) - all to assist in helping his coat and general well-being.  We feed our animals a raw diet and Houston has gotten a few pieces of beef heart and chicken leg quaters/necks and gobbles it down (just saying, he'd go that route in a heartbeat).

I was a little concerned about how Ringo would take another older male dog in the house but he has been such an accepting fella (so proud of him!). He is "my boy" though and there have been a few cases of guarding me, but not much and not as much now that we've been together a week. I did let Houston on the bed one night and when Ringo came to jump up on the bed, Houston guarded him (barking loudly and lunging at him) and Ringo backed down (and everyone was ordered off the bed). That said, yesterday morning, Lola came in while I was still in bed and I pulled her up with me, and then Ringo came in and got on the bed. Houston came trotting in (with his cone on) and after a little pacing, decided he was going to jump on the bed also. Lola and Ringo were laying on me mostly, and Houston just curled up on the end that was available and we all shared the bed in peace for about half an hour (all so good).

We try to give Houston as much time without his cone as possible, but we've quickly learned that even if your eyes are constantly on him, he might try to get a lick in. It doesn't seem like a compulsive thing, but looking at how the wound heals, the skin gets dry and tight and we could see where if he moves the right way it would bother him and he'd go for it. Instead of feeling sorry for him, we just put the cone back on him for the sake of getting that wound healed up. When his cone is on, I've been putting an organic healing balm on it to help soften it as it heals and to help reduce itching (my mom says this stuff was the only thing that kept her from going insane when she had the shingles!). And btw, that wound does NOT keep him from doing anything (if you couldn't tell from the videos of him and Ringo playing). You can see how he sits a little different (that leg out a little-I'll try to get a good picture) but that seems to be because of the way the surface wound is healing and not to do with something on the inside.

Best trait he seems to have? The rapt attention he gives you with his eyes:) Have a bad day at work? Houston will listen to everything you have to say with intense attention (especially if your bad day had you reaching for a snack.....it'll prolly make everything better if you share a little with this boy). He's a leaner (meaning he'll stand next to you and "lean in" so don't move on him!), and he does like to direct you with his snout. He does get mouthy during play and so I try not to get him riled up and let him and Ringo take it out on each other. He was previously living with a 2.5 year old and as long as no one was screwing around, I could see where he would be a-ok with the rugrats. Second best thing about Houston? The fact he's 7 and not 2. He is at that perfect age where he still likes a good romp, makes an excellent running/walking buddy, but he doesn't NEED this stuff 24/7. He's fine chilling in the house but ready when you're feeling more adventurous. I already mentioned he rides well in the car. He does pull on the leash (not constantly) but listens to you (except when there are cats involved and I'm guessing other little darting creatures) and corrects. He learns - we have chickens and yes he was on point with them and yes he wanted to go after them and I did let him once.....right into the electric fence that surrounds them. He remembers that fence. I guarantee those chickens are not safe from him if they're outside that fence though.

He sits well next to his new buddy, Ringo:

He curls up nicely in the bathroom while his human showers:

I must add that he also has the genetic predisposition to automatically start licking the air when that human busts out the body lotion (what is that about dogs??). I mean it's even before I put any lotion on!

Speaking of genetic predispositions, he has little to no immunity to the power of the deathray. He'll even make himself small enough to fit in the only available one:

Here he is in the living room with his cone on. This isn't just a single soft cone, his previous owner had to get tricky with it and sew another cone onto that one to make it long enough for him to not be able to get at the wound on his leg. It's held on by another collar that's looped through the base of the cone. He can get to water with this thing on (and cats - there was another near miss this morning - Cat is determined to be back in the house (not surprising) and got out of the barn office by darting through legs and then snuck up to the front door and darted in the house with Houston in the front room - again, all were separated without harm, although Jim was the human around at the time again and his blood pressure is suffering from the shock - he likes both Cat and Houston and it sucks that Houston won't allow to have the cats around):

And here he is by my desk last night as I wrote about him on the blog. 

And here are more videos of how well Houston gets along with the other pups in the house. I think he would do very well by getting to go to (always supervised) play dates to stay socialized with other dogs and get to play and get his rough-housing on! He likes play with other dogs much better than a game of fetch, although he'd love to have his own Kruuse cube and a few good bones to chew on by himself (see the links before to see his specific recommendations on toys - he asked I add this one also).

Houston at the dog park

Sunday, November 13, 2016 - I recently found out about an offleash dog park near us (Greencastle, IN). I took Ringo and Houston up there to watch Houston off leash. He was very interested in sniffing around but didn't immediately go crazy when I took his leash off. There were dogs in the fenced area next to us and he went to investigate and pee at them, otherwise, he didn't care too much.

I had brought Ringo his chuck-it wand and balls (he is a fetcher, through and through) but Houston wasn't really interested in playing fetch. A few times he tried to interest Ringo in a little one on one play in the yard, but since Ringo was only interested in fetch, he brushed him off. Houston didn't stick by my side the whole time but if I called him , he came. And didn't he look like the happy go-lucky pup he is when he ran to me:)

Just in case anyone was wondering, the pink collar he's sporting here is our Lola's (he came with a choke collar and I prefer the martingale type - I ordered him his own and you'll see it in future posts but this is it on amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0084DU1WC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It was a beautiful day outside and he would have loved just getting to lay out in the sun for awhile.

After the dog park, things went downhill for the humans in the house. I had apparently picked up some kind of stomach bug and went down hard and fast (I work in a public high school so not a big surprise:). Jim got home that evening when I was incapacitated and while he knew I had separated the cats from the dogs, he soon found out exactly why - he had Houston on a leash and took the dogs to the barn and through the barn office (where the cats were at) and when Houston caught sight of our little Bridget (6 pound Manx) he lunged at her (she got away) and then took after Cat in the barn. Cat pulled the claws out and let Houston know he was being an ass and while she managed to get away also, Houston took away some bloody ears (which have since healed nicely). The bloody ears didn't seem to faze him at all either. Everyone in the household fed, watered, separated as necessary, cone on Houston so he can't get to his wound..........Jim didn't start feeling bad until later that evening and we'll just end the post there. 

Houston (aka Hootie) - November 12, 2016

I drove down to Seymour, IN on Saturday, November 12th to meet and pick up Mr. Houston. I walked around with him and his owners for a bit before loading him and his belongings into my car and we were off. I chose to have him wear his cone (so he wouldn't mess with his wound that we're trying to get healed up once and for all!) on the trip so I didn't have to worry about him. I honestly forgot he was back there he was so quiet!

I put him in our detached garage and then brought Ringo and Lola (our pups) out for the meet and greet. Went really well!

I let Houston play with one of the pups Kruuse cubes (kibble inside as treats). He loved it! He does have a guarding tendency though so all play with toys has been closely monitored.

Cat (one of 2 cats here) was at the front door of the house when we arrived. Houston was on his leash. He saw her and became very excited and I opened the door to allow him to stick his nose in and he jumped at her - she stayed put for a second and then when he dove at her again, she ran and hid. I took this as a bad sign for him getting along with cats since Cat is a very dog savvy cat and I've never seen her run from one. I think she sensed he was more than just curious. After that, I immediately took both cats and have them shacked up in our barn office (it's heated).

So, cats out of the house, just us and the pups. Our guy, Ringo, is half blue heeler, half Australian Shepherd. He tends to have guarding tendencies also and so, I don't have any toys out and the dogs just play with each other. Houston seems to be great at this (and Ringo has been really enjoying it), although he does tend to use his front paws alot during play and so would need fur friends that can handle this. Ringo is a pretty rugged guy and this type of play works just fine with him. I see alot of good give and take in their play (they take turns being on their backs and such) and everyone's "dog" language seems to be what is needed and no more (telling each other what they do and don't like during play and then moving on - no overly aggressive acts shown).