He’ll fetch his tennis ball for a treat. He’s getting really good.
At random moments, however, he will also drop the ball, and proceed to pee on it. WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHY….
Penny, so sweet with humans, rules the house with an iron paw. She controls the kitchen and living room area, and if the boys linger in “the wrong spot”, she’ll growl and latch on to their face, and we have to reprimand her. I am not sure at what point she became queen bee of our household, but it’s evident that we will need to intercede, perhaps with time outs and some behavior modification.
Jojo, if irritated, will snap at Penny, sending her away, but normally he has no response other than to stand firmly in place, as if to say “I’m not fighting you but I’m not backing down, either. So stuff it, you scruffy elf.”
With 25-lb Charlie, however, 10-lb Penny will occasionally send him running. His flight usually ends up with his head tucked underneath the couch.
Charlie is as closest to to a “bomb-proof” dog that we’ve got. A strange dog can be barking right in his face, and Charlie will simply stand aside or wag his tail. He does, however, have an issue with toys. No matter how many toys we’ve got scattered across the living room, his joie de vivre is to collect as many as possible, and keep them from Penny. (Jojo mostly ignores toys, so not much of an issue there.)
And for some reason, if we humans make a howling noise, Charlie goes absolutely nuts. He runs right up and starts crying. CRYING. This, in turn, infuriates Penny who rushes over to Charlie to latch on to his face. SIGH.
Jojo news: Jojo seems to be enjoying our bike rides. When we start our rides, he actually outruns the bike despite the fact I am pedaling as fast as possible. Yeah, I’m out of shape, but the fact still stands: he RUNS REALLY, REALLY FAST!
The only time things get hairy is if we see a cat or dog on our rides, and he’ll start trying to lunge towards them. I try to steer clear of dogs in general when I’m out riding with him, but it’s not always possible because of the occasional unleashed dog in our neighborhood. I’ve noticed these days we do end up running into any unleashed dog, Jojo no longer growls on their approach (yay!), but now lunges after them once the dog turns around and walks away (yikes!).
It seems what helped today was just to distract Jojo with some a treat when he and the dog were done sniffing one another. He took the treat instead of trying to lunge and snap at the other dog when it turned to head back to its master. Then he did a little stomp and snort as the dog disappeared, which tells me we should probably keep avoiding strange dogs for now.
After our 40 minute bike ride he came home and played for another several minutes with Charlie and Penny, doing his crazy circles, wheelies, and jumps. If only I could bottle that energy and sell it…
Other random observations: When we walk the three of them together, Jojo marks every other bush, if we let him. Charlie and Penny don’t mark at all. However, as we’ve been walking them separately these days, we notice Charlie will mark if the other dogs are not present. It’s the first time we’ve ever noticed him marking.
One of the challenges of having dogs is that you gotta keep the little guys busy or they will start letting you know they’re bored.
Here are a few of things we do to keep our little ones happy and engaged.
1. Bicycle for at least half an hour. This bicycle attachment has come in pretty handy when bicycling our dogs. I actually have two bicycle attachments and have tried biking with both Charlie and Jojo and once, but found Jojo likes to go TWENTY MILES AN HOUR while Charlie likes to trot at a pace that is barely faster than walking. So I bike them separately. (Poor Penny is scared of the bicycle and her harness (STILL!!!). But that means she gets walked by my hubby or accompanies him when he runs.)
2. Bully sticks from Costco. The real kind, not the fake kind we tried earlier! They will keep the dogs busy for at least an hour, and clean their teeth as well. They get these once a week.
3. Kongs. I stuff a duck treat (also from Costco) at the bottom of the Kong, usually rolling it in a tight little ball that is really challenging to get out. Then stick some chunks of carrot to make it even more challenging. Jojo will toss his kong in the air, trying to dislodge the pieces this way. Clever! Poor Charlie tries to destroy the impenetrable walls of his kong through sheer force. After about an hour we’ll get the leftover duck treat out for him… 🙂 Sometimes I will stick something like yogurt or peanut butter with some other goodies in the kong and freeze it overnight, to give to them when the weather is warmer.
4. Treat balls! I give them their kibble breakfast in these once or twice a week. Penny usually dispenses her kibble the fastest, rolling it back and forth in a small space with her paws. The boys STEAMROLL the treat balls with their noses, trying to get the kibble out as fast as possible.
5. On rainy days we have our obstacle course. When it’s completely dry outside, and I’ve just done poop patrol, I’ll toss a bunch of kibble in the lawn for them to find.
The one thing NONE OF THEM DO is fetch naturally.
Penny and Charlie have had the itchies every morning for two weeks. I have a feeling its due to their sensitive skin as poodle mixes. We are putting some fish oil in their diet, as well as a tablespoonful of olive oil with their meal every night. If it doesn’t clear up, we’ll probably have to head for the vet. Jojo seems unaffected.
I’ve also taken another step into “crazy dog lady territory” (if I wasn’t already in deep enough!) by yes, cooking for the dogs. The doggies have been eating half kibble (Taste of the Wild) and half raw (Easy Raw, a dehydrated food mix) every day as part of their diet.
They get excited both meals, and they’ve always loved Easy Raw. However, we have been noticing more and more broccoli in their Easy Raw as of late (last two shipments), and we’ve been feeling the food, as fantastic as it is, is a bit pricey for so much broccoli. Every time we receive a new shipment, I look at the ingredients and think, “man, I could probably cook something like this!”
After writing down a list of the ingredients, and looking at some other cooked recipes for dogs, I decided on Sunday to try a batch of my own version of Easy Raw, trying as closely as possible to mimic their ingredients (though I don’t have kelp or a couple of their supplements.) I did add flax and a little olive oil. We mixed it in with the Easy Raw.
They’ve had this for two nights now, and hubby said Jojo went nuts last night as he was preparing the food. Barking on top of his usual crazy series of pre-dinner whines, honks, and groans. So maybe that’s approval…or he’s probably just excited about a slight change in his food?
“You realize you’re…cooking for the dogs now, right?” said hubby.
“Um…yeah,” I said.
I am not ashamed to say I tasted the batch at one point and thought, “hmmm, not bad!” (And gave it an extra nibble.)
Oh my, I’ve let this thing shrivel and die.
Time for some payback. First of all, everyone is doing well. Jojo has had an unfortunate fish smell coming from his rear end, which I believe are his anal glands. Let’s just say we’ve emptied them for now, and leave it at that, shall we? (No pics of the process, just because…)
Ahem. We have some photos!
First, everybody dressed up because that’s how we roll.
Penny was running and diving under the couch every time we got the harness out, so hubby bought her a softer-type harness that is supposed to be less chafing for little dogs.
She still hates it, but at least she doesn’t run for the couch anymore. 
The first day she had it on, she jumped onto our bed and sulked until we went for our walk.
Geoff saw Jojo in this pose and had to run for the camera.
And now, for something CONTROVERSIAL!!!
So…I was trimming Jojo’s hair because of the poo stuck to his behind. It was also getting wet because of the rainy season, and picking up stuff.
…as you know…one thing lead to another…
I couldn’t stop myself….I personally think it looks adorable, though I have to smooth out the rough spots this weekend.
Let’s ask Jojo what he thinks…
“I BETTA GET EXTWA BISCUIT FO DIS!!!!”
So, our little trio decided to just join the circus last month…that’s why no updates.
Heh, jk. I’ve been neglecting this blog big time, I know!
Everything has been pretty uneventful in our home, aside from last month’s flea problem. Fleas seem to be gone but the dogs are still scratching at something…sigh.
Jojo is being more playful with Penny and Charlie (who are largely inseparable), and in fact just a few seconds ago was chasing him/and being chased around the sofa. Jojo is sort of the established “pseudo leader” of the group, only because though the other dogs seem to follow his lead, he has very little (if any) control of food, territory, and toys. All three dogs are generally big softies, aside from Penny who really lays it into them if they dare try to chase, say a fly buzzing around the house (I guess flies are for her to chase only?)
A game we often play is “find the kibble in the backyard.” Basically I toss a bunch a kibble in strategic points around the lawn, and it takes Jojo a good half and hour at least to find every one. It’s a game he looooooooooves to play. The other dogs do too, but they generally give up before Jojo, who will keep checking later in the day, for any kibble he missed. I need to adjust his raw dinner and kibble breakfast accordingly, however (we do 1/2 and 1/2), since he seems to be, uh, a bit thicker ever since we started the game. :0)
Anyways, a photo of “our special little guy” to satiate the interested parties. :0)
Holding him hostage in front of my laptop…
Sometimes I wonder if Jojo is anxious partly because his vision may suck.
Something called “juvenile onset myopia” apparently occurs in some dogs around adolescence.
Today I noticed the dogs had left a toy outside (Jojo’s monkey). A few minutes later Jojo was at the sliding door, growling at it. The monkey was maybe four or five feet away from where he stood. He rushed towards it, then picked it up when he seemed to realize what it was.
Bad eyesight may also explain why Jojo growls at lawn ornaments, and seems perpetually scanning the horizon on our walks together.
Of course it’s impossible, but how cute would Jojo be in tiny little glasses?
Have been neglecting my poor blog, t’is true. Time for a quick update!
From time to time I see other dogs play with one another…then I look at our dogs, and think WHAT THE HECK!!?!? Growling, biting legs, necks, faces…our dogs look like they are in training for the professional dog fighting circuit. I see videos of other dogs playing, and they look like civilized tea parties next to our brawls…I see practically no biting or even mouthing among other dogs…
I’m wondering if we just have a rough crew, or have we unwittingly made them monsters?
I only step in if I hear a yelp, which happens about once or twice a week. (Usually from Charlie…Jojo and Penny almost never yelp, since they are usually the instigators). I also step in when Penny’s growling gets out of control (she sometimes sounds like she’s losing it…though usually none of the other dogs complain so I have no idea if they are humoring her, or what).
I gotta get my camera back out and record a play session.
It’s easy to forget sometimes that Jojo has come a long way in the past year. Just around this time, he was rescued from San Francisco Animal Control by Pomeranian Rescue. According to his fantastic foster Megan (who gave him so much love in his transition period), he was going to be put to sleep because he stood at the back of his cage, drooling and terrified and unwilling to meet any prospective new owners.
Today, he is tenacious little guy. Yes, he’s still often anxious. Strange objects can scare him, and he can get pretty wound up around unfamiliar dogs. But he always seems to try extra hard at everything he does. He always wants to please, even though he doesn’t always know exactly how to do it.
I am hoping he learns to relax as the years progress. It can’t be easy living from moment to moment when so many things seems scary and unpredictable. But even if he doesn’t ever fully relax, he has still come such a long way. Yay for Jojo, and yay for Pomeranian Rescue and yay for Megan for bringing him out of his shell!!!
New shift changes at work…finding it tough to find time to update photos and video!
Until then, a brief update. We bought three fifty foot leashes from Amazon, one for each dog, and tested them out at our little neighborhood park today. They worked great. Jojo and Penny both have their “special distraction” that will both cause them to bolt if we aren’t careful. For Jojo, it’s the neighborhood lady who loves to give him treats (thus he always gets excited when he sees anybody who looks like her), and for Penny, it’s birds. For Charlie, it’s basically whatever dog he feels more attached to at the moment…he’ll happily follow them.
By allowing them to run around with the leashes dragging behind them, we can practice recall much more safely. They did great running between me and my hubby today, coming on cue. I feel SO much safer knowing that I can grab her leash in time if Penny suddenly sees a bird! (Jojo is better, but better safe than sorry.) The leashes are really long, and they have the benefit of adding a slight weight to the dog (about a pound each).
This means we can probably go to our nearby beach again, ALMOST leash free! Hope it doesn’t rain this weekend…
 | Megan on Jojo can now fetch. |
 | VJ on Jojo can now fetch. |
 | Sherry on Jojo can now fetch. |
 | Megan Oglevie on Jojo can now fetch. |
 | Megan on Gettin’ Busy |
Black Black Brown 
