Keeps you on your toes...

It's been awhile and I just wanted to bring all of our friends up to date on the 4-legged's. Today is the next to last day of the Fall semester for me and I can't emphasize how thankful I am for that this morning. One more final exam, then I'm free for a month- give or take. I know the 4-legged's will enjoy me being home with them. Due to weather and other factors, their Klaws have declined over the past two weeks in frequency. Because of this, we all are having to really watch our caloric intake. Bowls are being put down and picked up after meals even if their not empty and the other Mama and I are watching what we eat! I depend on those daily Klaws to burn a few calories and it helps with stress, sleep and makes my 4-legged family a lot easier to deal with when they are having full-surge energy spasms as is usual around here. The rain looks as if it has let up for the day- a day of sunshine for Houston would be nice. We, the other Mama and I, have learned that a tired dog is a good dog when it comes to the Roux girl. When she came to us, the vet approximated her age to be somewhere around a year. We believe that he was wrong in his guestimate. Roux is now a wee bit taller than Bentley and continues to be full of non-stop energy. After Roux came back to join our family, Bentley decided that she was his personal play toy. He learned that she would play with him non-stop and that he can play bitey-face with her all he wants without hurting her. This is a good thing since the other 4-legged's in the family are too small and/or too old to play with a 75-80 lb. Airedale. Bentley is experiencing his 2nd childhood which is really awesome since he turns 7 next month. Of course, Bentley's loud mouthed vocalizations and goofy habits of flipping the food bowls have become Roux's habits too. We have been working on the Sit, Stay, Down and Wait commands for a month or two now when it is time for the afternoon Klaw in the park and are seeing great results. Patience- it is a virtue and it pays off. Still- Roux is in chewing mode- it comes in waves and cycles about every three to four days instead of everyday. We use the black super-dooper extra strong Kongs frozen with peanut butter for Roux's destructive chewing habits. We found a similar product at Academy (sports & hunting store) that is bright orange, over-sized and half of what you pay for the Kong brand. She's made indentations but hasn't succeeded in tearing any of them apart- yet; she very well may succeed. It's better than her eating any more of our house-hold items. The list is long so I won't go into details but you can use your imagination. Roux is really smart and I think when she is a bit older and I have the time, she will go into agility or some other like-minded activity. And we are finally making some progress with her Attention Deficit "puppydumb." All I know is that her exuberance and crazy antics keep all of us on our toes- especially the Bentman so I'm not complaining. Roux is the best thing that could have happened to my Bentman! Of course, that goes both ways- Roux is learning the good stuff that an older dog can teach a young one!

Till next time- have a wonderful week
and enjoy the ones you love!
Bentley's Mama