Tag Archives: teddy

It’s all his fault

Leave a reply

Teddy and meWe love having the opportunity to travel with our dogs. And we’re fortunate that they’re all terrific in the car.

Never utter a peep. Which is why, on my (Hope’s) recent road trip, I didn’t notice until a mid-afternoon potty break (for me and the dogs!) that Teddy had been bitten by something and his face was swelling up.

Teddy has had a couple of allergic reactions over the years, so I always have some Benadryl with me in the dog-travel-box. I gave him a dose and decided there wasn’t anything else I could do at the time, other than to continue to our destination and check him every half hour/45 minutes.

Which is why we wound up having a very difficult afternoon. It’s all Teddy’s fault.

The six-lane highway we were traveling on was completely stopped. Apparently there was an accident up ahead. All I could see was an endless line of cars and semi-trucks, all stopped dead. For over an hour.

Since we weren’t moving, I was able to check on Teddy. He was fine – breathing normal, swelling and redness next to his nose already starting to subside.

When we finally got moving again – and I have absolutely no idea why we’d stopped, because the highway was entirely clear by the time we got to wherever it had been – we motored along happily until our next Teddy check.

It wound up being only about 30 miles from our destination, but I thought it was important to check him on schedule. He was fine.

But he was also why we were where we were when we were – where I really, really, would rather not have been.

Back on the highway, a big, white SUV went racing by in the lane to the left. Then it cut me off, zooming for what he/she thought was an exit, and turned out to be a truck weigh station. He must have been going over 100 mph. When he saw it wasn’t an exit, zoomed back, cutting me off and racing down the highway – with three police cruisers now in pursuit.

I could see the police closing in and the SUV attempting to weave in and out of traffic, finally skidding out of control, hitting the center barrier, and spinning back across all three lanes of traffic. The three police cars surrounded it – stopped any which way on the highway.

Meanwhile, all the non-involved traffic (like me!) was trying to figure out which lane to be in, how slow we should be going, which lane we could creep by the debris, and how to let three lanes condense into one shoulder-creeping line without anyone else being smushed.

I saw one of the officers grab the SUV driver’s door open – but I couldn’t see anything inside other than the side air bag had deployed.

Much too much excitement – and it was all Teddy’s fault.

Vent hogs!

Leave a reply

Fran on Saturday (we were off yesterday!)

022714_ventYou wouldn’t know it by the temperature most of this season, but it’s winter! The temps have been unseasonably mild, and most of us here in Chicagoland are not complaining. It makes up for the last two years of Polar Vortexes that started in December. It is kind of raw out, and the furnace has been cycling. Our dogs have short hair and they feel the cold, especially if it’s a gray and gloomy day. Booker and Teddy, especially, love to lie in front of the vent when the furnace is on and soak up the heat. Torque doesn’t seem to be as sensitive as his “brothers,” though. Once in a while I’ll see him stretched out next to his siblings. I’m not sure, though, if it’s for the heat or the companionship. They’re certainly cute, but they’re blocking the heat from getting to the rest of the room! My bedroom is their favorite room to lie in front of the vent. I have to remember to turn the light on when I go in my room to get something, otherwise I’m liable to trip over one of the dogs! The vent is right by the door, and if I’m just getting something off the shelf or dropping something on my bed to put away later, I may not turn the light on! I have to remember to tread cautiously!

Peace reigns

Leave a reply

How do all your dogs get along?

Booker, Teddy and Torque

Booker, Teddy and Torque

It’s a question we hear a lot – between Fran and me, there are four dogs around; her Boston Terrier Booker and Brussels Griffon Tango, and my French Bulldogs Teddy and Torque.

The truth is – they get along great, for the most part. Tango is the oldest and really enjoys pouncing on Torque, growling and, apparently, biting him. Tango doesn’t actually have many teeth, so Torque thinks it’s pretty funny and bounces right back for more.

Torque likes to chew on ears (both human and canine), which the other dogs find annoying and let him know. He’s also the youngest, most easy-going of the bunch, and least likely to sulk or take anything to heart.

Teddy is kind of a cuddly blob. He doesn’t instigate any mischief, but is the object of both Booker and Torque’s teasing play – they’re always trying to get Teddy to join in the fun.

Booker is the most active dog in the house – which makes sense, because he’s a Boston Terrier. If you want a couch potato – this is not your breed. He’s also sweet and playful and incredibly soft – if you can get him to sit still long enough to be petted.

We haven’t (knock wood) had any serious battles among this crew – but that doesn’t mean we’ve always been immune. Many years ago we had a couple of male dogs that would, on rare occasions, get into real, serious spats. Fran made the mistake one time of reaching in and trying to pull them apart. A couple of stitches were her reward.

Ever since then, we’ve had a “puppy battle protocol” which we actually practice, just like fire drills. When you hear a dog fight, raise your hands over your head, wave them around frantically, scream like a banshee and run in the opposite direction.

It astonishes the dogs so much they break off what they’re doing and follow to see what the heck you’re up to. Works every time.

Teddy hates toys, loves trash

Leave a reply

As part of our training, we’re encouraged, strongly, to get our dogs to play tug with us. I know teddys_bottlethat a few years ago there was some nonsense about playing tug with your dog being a bad thing, but it’s not. Playing tug is terrific on many levels – it’s good exercise for the dog, it encourages interaction with you, you’re the source of the fun, and your dog learns to listen to you even when he’s all excited in the middle of a game.

That’s the theory, anyway. And I’ve wrestled with it with Teddy since the day I got him. Teddy has no interest, whatsoever, in toys. Never has picked up a dog toy of his own volition. Never.

I’ve dealt with this before – Dax, my first French Bulldog, wasn’t a fan of toys when we started training in agility. She certainly wouldn’t play tug, and if she did, it was never in public. But she was very, very, highly, incredibly food-motivated and she loved vegetables. So I started tugging with her with a limp celery stalk. It was messy, we went through a lot of celery, but it worked. Eventually Dax was a tugging machine and loved to play tug with anything, anywhere.

Teddy, not so much. Couldn’t care less about celery. It’s been a struggle. The compromise I’ve found is to stick a tiny bit of cheese in the toe of a sock. He’ll destroy the sock to get to the cheese, so we call it play.

The only thing I’ve ever found that he absolutely adores, and actually considers a toy is the empty bottles from my contact lens solutions. There’s something about the texture of those particular bottles that floats his boat. They’re practically impossible to tug with, he destroys them after five minutes, and if I do throw them, Teddy will chase the bottle. He just won’t bring it back.

Dog training is constantly a matter of improvising, adapting, and re-jiggering what works. Teddy is a puzzler I’ll keep working on.