First Trip

If you read this blog regularly, you may remember that Ron and I purchased a new car and paid extra for a pet cage installed. The plan was to keep the dogs in the back and the people up front. That is without using my arm or Ron jimmierigging an old fence to our car.

Well, we just returned from our first trip in the new car. The dogs did great other than Daisy vomitting the first few minutes in the car. This is the second time that has happened. I think we have figured out not to feed her and then pu

t her in the car this time. The trip to Erie took about seventeen hours. It's about 960 miles but we make a lot of pit and walk the dogs stops. There was just a little whining from Rosie each leg of the trip, but thankfully she let us know when she needed to stop. No accidents and everyone stayed where they belonged on the way to Erie.

Not true on the way home. Rosie decided to go on a little adventure as we we drove through Ohio. She worked her way through the top of the divider and onto the backseat filled with everything we hadpacked. She just wanted some human company. After she checked things out and took a little nap on my lap, she decided to head back.

She did not make it very far. She took another nap until we made our next stop when we returned her to her rightful place. In the pet area with Daisy, the good dog, who had sat quietly keeping her watchful eyes on the little one.

The Hunter or the Hunted?

The storms are over and we had another beautiful day in MN. When I got home from work I took the dogs down to the river. I don't have any pictures because trying to play with the two dogs in the river is really all that I can handle. Daisy fetched her while Rosy stood on shore and hid in the bushesand would pounce when Daisy would get near to shore.

We were not down there five minutes when I looked up and there was a bald eagle not more than six feet over my head - no camera. I'm sure it was checking Rosie out. Good thing she is at least twenty pounds by now.

After we played for awhile, I put Rosie on her leash and was going in the house to wash my hands. I heard a little commotion and turned to see Rosie's back paws on the lawn chair and

front paws on the table. In her defense, I will say I had the last of her dinner on the table so Daisy didn't get it. I put her and her food on the ground and she finished her dinner. She was ready to play again.

Daisy and Rosy wrestled for awhile. While they were wrestling everthing came to a stop all eyes up into the sky. A Great Blue Heron was flying over the yard. I think she is going to be a great bird dog. She is really interested in whatever is flying around.

A little later, Daisy took off down the hill and found one of their balls. I let Rosie off her

leash and she ran down to play a game of sniper. Most dogs place chase but not Rosie. She has figured out that Daisy is stronger and faster than she is, so she sits or stands in wait and then pounces.

Daisy Beware!

Rosie's Life not so Rosy

Rosie has had a few rough days. Last night we had company. Sarah, not our daughter, brought her children and dog for a visit. We all had a great visit. That is everyone everyone except Rosie.

Her dog is a beautiful yellow/white Lab named Bear. He is just over a year old and weighs about 95 lbs. He and Daisy had a grand old time chasing and swimming until they were exhausted. The problem was Rosie could not get out of their way fast enough. After about ten minutes in the chaos of two large dogs running rampant on your turf, she wanted to go in the house.

We put her in the house and when I went in to set the table, I didn't see her. She didn't come to the door to greet me. She wasn't under the table, her favorite resting place. I started looking for her. Finally, I found her in the laundry room lying quietly and trying not to be noticed. It's not that she has never gone in there before. It is usually when one of us is doing laundry. She likes to check out the piles of dirty clothes to find some embarrassing article of clothing and sneak it out to the kitchen to chew on.

This morning when I got up, Ronnie and the dogs were downstairs. Again, no greeting from Rosie. I found her in the laundry room again. Ron had put her ear drops in and they hurt, so after she was all done with her drops she went to her quiet space. We don't even have to give her time out she takes it herself.

The eagle has landed

When I woke up this morning, Ron was sitting on the patio, sipping a cup of coffee, and staring into the sky. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is not like Ron. I went out to join him and it was immediately apparent why he was sitting there so enthralled.

A bald eagle was perched in our neighbor's tree. It looked like it was looking for something to eat. A few times it opened its mouth either to yawn, it was only 6:30, or to take in a few insects. I am not sure if eagles eat insects, but that is what it looked like.

Of course I was immediately concerned for our little Rosie. I love seeing eagles as much as the next guy, but I did not want Rosie to become breakfast.

See how appetizing she looks, She even has her mouth stuffed. We think she weighs close to twenty pounds now. Bald eagles are supposed to only be able to carry up to four pounds, but she looks awfully tempting.

You may notice that the concrete is falling apart under Rosie. She has been teething on our concrete or as Ron would say, "She has been excavating." He had to buy Quikrete so he could make repairs before the stairs cave in. The concrete is his next project because today he had to finish a much bigger job to finish!

I know I mentioned Ron was just sitting around sipping coffee this morning and he was. That is before he repaired the damage done by last week's torrential downpour. We had just had dirt hauled, holes filled, and sod laid. Then, the rains came.

Ron has spent the last week removing ruined sod, hauling and spreading more dirt, and laying new sod. Before he goes to bed tonight it will all be done and look beautiful again!

Happy Fourth of July

This is sweet, little Rosie around three o'clock this afternoon. Ron worked until 5:30 AM and he took this when he woke up around three. That is before I told him that I had to move his herb garden (in a pot) because she ate one of the basil plants this morning. Actually, the herbs used to sit right where she is laying in this picture.

After she ate the basil, she was pretty good today. It is hot and muggy here, so neither of the dogs feel much like playing until the sun is out of the back yard and it is shady.

The last few evenings I have been putting a leash on Rosie and taking her into the yard with Daisy and they play chase. The leash lets me catch her if she starts going somewhere she doesn't belong. This afternoon they were having a good game of chase and I was standing right in the middle of it. Daisy usually sets the boundaries and keeps Rosie in our yard.

Five minutes into the game something went awry. Rosie was in the neighbor's yard before I could get to her leash. I ran after her and grabbed the leash but not before she had some black thing in her mouth. EEEEE! I think it's a dead mouse - no it's a dead bird. Let me make it clear the bird was dead when she picked it up. The way she made a mad dash for it; I think she knew it was there all the time. I think she had been waiting all day to get that bird.

Once I had the leash, I led her up the hill, bird in mouth, then she dropped it. I had to get the poop scooper to pick it up. Trust me this is way outside my comfort zone. I let go of the leash - big mistake. While I was disposing of the bird, Rosie took off for the river. She was down the hill and into the water before I could stop her. The river is pretty high and moving pretty fast and she has a leash on her neck.

Although I was frantic, I carefully went down the hill, over the muddy bank, and down to the water in my sandals. Fortunately Daisy came with me and went out into the water to wrangle her back to shore. I did not have to go in the water, thank goodness. Rosie spent the rest of the afternoonon her chain.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY from out little firecracker, Rosie.

Dog Food

We are doing something we haven't done with any of our other puppies. Upon the recommendation of our vet, she is eating regular dog food. He prefers to feed dogs human food that is prepared for them, but we haven't gone that far yet.

We are feeding her Purina One. He also recommended Purina because they have been around so long. She seems to like it. She weighs seventeen pounds now. That is up three pounds from last week. If you've watched any of the vidoes of her on this blog, you know she is an active, happy puppy. The adult food seems to agree with her and I think it is cheaper than puppy food.

She also got her last bottle of Clavamox Drops which she has been really good about taking. She's a good little girl.

We heard some fire crackers across the River this evening. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the dogs won't be bothered by them. If they are, it is going to be a long weekend for me.

Can't Buy me Love

The title of this blog lets you know what I am going to write about each day - spoiling a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Ron and I love to spoil our dogs. I don't mean make spoiled brats of them. We don't condone excessive barking, jumping on people, aggressive behavior and even though the vet doesn't know it, we don't encourage our puppies to chew on us.

What we do is pamper our dogs. We buy them silly toys- no clothing, take them to the vet for a hang claw, monitor their waste disposal, llet them on the furniture (I can't believe I just wrote that much less do it.) etc. The truth is that dogs like children can't be bought. No matter how many cute little toys we buy, Rosie prefers to play with things that we have put in the garbage. Watch her play with the empty milk bottle. She is running circles around Daisy.

She is soooo cute which why we love to spoil her.

Playtime

Rosie is a busy puppy. It wears us out just watching her! We sat down to eat dinner but, "Oh no!' We forgot to put up the puppy gate. Ron ran up the stairs to coax her down before she could make a mess. He got her to come downstairs -fortunately he didn't have to chase her. He put the gate up and sat down to dinner again. There she goes into the TV room. She perches on the step and plays with her Cong, no she would rather chew on the stuffed beaver.

Shucks no one really cares. She comes into the kitchen then disappears into the storage room or bathroom. Ron is up again making sure she doesn't get into trouble. Oh, she can reach the handle of my lunch box. She pulls it off the stool and drags it around the room. I get up and take it from her.

Hmm. Maybe she can get Daisy going. She jumps up in Daisy's face and licks her, nips her. Daisy does not take the bait; she sits quietly waiting for Rosie to stop.

she stops and moves on to look for something more interesting.

Whew! She wore us out just watching her. You can watch her play in our yard early this afternoon by clicking on the video below.

Lazy Crazy Days of Summer

Daisy was enjoying the river so much that when we went to Petco to look dog travel equipment, we had to get Rosie a wading pool. She turned into a real "bunkin bronco." That's an inside joke. Nikki frequently turned into a bucking bronco and I mispronounced it once. My children have never let me forget my mistake. I don't even try to say it correctly anymore. I know I am going to get laughed at no matter what, so I just join in on the joke. Click on the video and see our "bunkin bronco."






We think that by the time she outgrows the pool she'll be ready for the river. She and Daisy will have a great time swimming together. I did not realize how lucky we were to find this pool until I googled a variety of topics - puppy pool, kiddie pool, hard plastic pool, etc. - I couldn't find anything like the pool we stumbled upon at Petco. It is not even on their website. I did find more than one website where other dog owners were inquiring about where to find f a plain jane plastic pool. That Rosie is sure a lucky dog.

Firsts

Today was a day of firsts. It is the first time Ron has been a conductor on a train. Earlier this week I received an email from the Monticello Chamber of Commerce asking for volunteers for the annual Walk and Roll. They needed two adultsone to drive the train and one to help load the kids. Ron agreed so I emailed that we could help.

When I emailed back I asked for more details. I was told to go to the West Bridge. I was also informed that the usual driver was a conductor and he always wore his overalls and cap. Ron was thrilled with the new information. You can see in the picture that he doesn't have either overalls or a conductor's camp. He is not even wearing his ball cap.

The tractor was pretty jerky. At first we thought maybe is was to simulate a train ride, but Ron decided it just needed its carburetor cleaned. By the third trip around the block

the fumes were getting to him, but the kids were having fun.

When we got home, the dogs were glad to get out of the kennel. Most of the time Rosie has lost the privilege of running free. We have to keep her on a chain. She just keeps taking off into the neighbors flowers or or under their lilac bushes. She is getting fast so we can't catch her.

This evening we had friends, Steve and Jean, over for dinner. I think they actually came to see Rosie and she was as cute as she could be when she wasn't chewing on someone or whining. If Jean was hoping that spending a few hours with Rosie would convince Steve they needed a puppy, it may have backfired. It was probably more like grandparents when they leave knowing they love their grandchildren but are happy to go home without them.

After dinner Ron and Steve took the dogs out and Rosie took off. For the first time she did not stop when she got to the weeds along the river. She kept going right into the river. All four paws planted in the Mississippi. Luckily, the sensation must have startled her because she stood absolutely still. By that time, Ron was down there and he grabbed her.

Soon we will love watching her swim in the River and Daisy will love swimming with her, but she is not strong enough yet. Sara thinks its time we buy her a wading pool.

The Second Vet Visit

Rosie went to the vet again today. It is not a very inviting place. Neither she nor Ron had any fun. Our vet was not there and they saw another vet, probably for the last time. At dinner, Ron told me repeatedly that the vet told him not to encourage the puppy's to chew on him. "What does she think I am, stupid? This is my fourth Chessie. Doesn't she think I know not to let her chew on me?" He was not in a good mood. He never enjoys paying to be talked to as though he is stupid. The good news is she gained "a pound six," that's what he said, "a pound six". The bad news is she didn't do very well in the truck - I think he may have let her chew on him to settle her down so he could drive.

Rosie was not too happy to be visiting the vet either and I doubt she even knew she was going to get two shots. After she waited awhile, she was a little more comfortable.

The vet had to give her two shots. DHPP Temporary Puppy Vaccine and

LYMES Initial Temporary Vaccine

Rosie whined for the first shot but took the second like a trooper. She also got her second bottle of Clavamox and only needs one more. She is suppose to

go back in two weeks for another set of shots.

By the time she left, she felt right at home. This is not a picture of the rude vet whom Ron would not ask to take her picture with Rosie, but rather the nice vet assistant who was happy to have her picture taken with such a cute puppy. Is Rosie chewing on her finger?

I think we are going to be in Erie in two weeks. And we are driving. It should be a fun trip cosnsidering the vet is a fifteen minute drive if the traffic is bad. Erie is a fifteen hour drive if the traffic is good, we speed, and we don't stop.

Even though we have had dogs most of our married life and we have frequently traveled with them, we have never purchased one of those pet vehicle barriers that keep your pets in the back seat. In place of one of these nifty barriers, Ron just used some bolt cutters and cut a portable exercise fence that he puts right behind the front seat. He attaches it with plastic ties. His parents gave us the exercise fence, so other than the cost of the plastic ties it didn't cost us anything. You can imagine how attractive it looks and how comfortable the back seat is when the fence is up. Occasionally, Sara or I have to sit back there with the dogs. It feels like you are in a squad car, but it didn't cost much.

First Week

We have had Rosie one week today. She is 9 weeks old. Ron weighed her this morning and she weighs 11 pounds. She is eating about two cups of Puppy Chow every day. She eats better if I take the food out of her bowl and put it on the ground. I don't think she likes her bell clanging on her metal bowl. She also prefers to drink water from Daisy's big bowl. What little sister doesn't want to use her big sister's things? She hasn't had any accidents in the house for two days. She doesn't really let us know when she needs to go out, but she seems to be able to wait until we let her out. She is either pretty well trained or quite possibly she has us trained.

As we expected, she has kept us entertained and she is a lot of fun. I put together a little movie that shows her spunky personality. This is my first movie. I just learned how to cut the parts I didn't want. I also chose the song. It is Gunslinger by John Fogerty. We thought about naming her Annie Oakley or Calamity Jane after two of my childhood favorites, but Rosie seemed the best choice. We'll just use this song as her theme song. Enjoy!

Click on comments below and let me know what you think. Don't be too hard on me. I'm just a beginner.