Update on Bamm and Cricket

Ok I'm really sorry I haven't been on Chaz much lately. It's absolutely killing me that we don't have internet at home because I feel like I'm missing out on so much that's going on around here and I feel homesick that I'm not on Chaz all the time like I want to be.

Anyways... Cricket is growing like CRAZYYYY... I need to get some updated pictures of her with my Nikon since all my recent photos of her are with my cellphone. She's in an awkward stage right now where her legs are very long for her body and she's at about 20lbs right now. She also might have a spay appointment coming up soon. It depends on if Josh gets this job his work is bidding on... if not then it might be another month before she gets spayed.

She's learning quickly though I've discovered she can be a little ADD sometimes. She's learned a jump cue and a circle cue and I'm eventually going to put them together to where she jumps and spins at the same time. I'm definitely still planning on doing agility with her and I think she will be perfect at it... I think doing a little freestyle just for fun might be an idea too though, but I don't know too much about how to go about getting into freestyle stuff.

She does have a little habit of thinking that I must wake up at 6am every day and stay up. She potties at 5am and then sleeps another hour and whines and barks... I'm so used to Bamm who loves to sleep in. I absolutely love her though... even if she can be a little stubborn brat sometimes... hahaha. She just fits in so well with us.

Bamm is doing great with Cricket though he is frustrating me right now with a different situation. He discovered that he can jump our backyard fence and I found him in our neighbor's yard with their new APBT. We're either going to get him a tie out for when he's in the yard or we're going to have to look into putting an electric fence line above the fence... or something... for now he is not allowed out in the backyard unless I am with him because if something distracts him on the other side of the fence I can just tell him to come and he has a pretty good recall. It's really annoying him because he loves going outside to play... I just can't have him jumping the fence though because if he jumps the fence on the other sides of the backyard he is going to be in for a rude awakening. The far backside fence has a long drop into a bunch of cactus and the other side of the yard has a really long drop onto the street because the property we are renting is on a high foundation... I just can't risk him jumping and hurting himself or worse. So right now I'm kind of grasping at straws to protect him from jumping the fence and hurting himself. But for now he has lost his freedom of just running around and playing in the yard whenever he wants to. Any advice on this situation would be so helpful.

That must be so frustrating with Bam because a fence is so valuable when you have a dog- I hope Jude does not learn that. I am always fearful he is going to. Is there anyway you could make the fence taller with some nailing?

Glad Cricket is doing do well! Jude does the jump and spin and I love when he does that- I can't reeally remember how I taught him to- I think when he was upon his legs I would say spin and he hated it first but eventually started doing it.

Cricket pics soon please!

We can't really do much with the fence because we are renting the property so the fence doesn't belong to us. If we put up the electric fence line on top of the fence then that would be something we could take down easily when we move... though since our fence is also our neighbor's fence we'd need to talk to them about it probably first... that or just use a tie out. Though... I'd hate to have to use a tie out in a fenced yard... but I gotta do what I gotta do to keep him safe and I also don't want him teaching Cricket to jump the fence. She's small enough she wouldn't make it over right now, but when she gets bigger who knows. It's very frustrating... especially since I was so excited about having a fenced in yard when we moved into this house.

and I promise more Cricket pics... I've been lazy about recharging my batteries for my Nikon... I'm going to try and get some pics this week though

How frustrating with the fence jumping. Sorry, no advice. But the wire on top might do the trick.

Quinns puppyhood routine was

530am - Jump on my face
535am - Pee break, breakfast.
600am - Play time in the yard
730am - Training/Zoomies
745am - I'm finally awake, Quinn goes to sleep.
900am - I'm feeling the early morning and just want to go back to bed but can't, Quinn still happily asleep.

I was seriously about to ask you about them on facebook

Glad she is doing so well! I told you she would end up bigger than thought Pictures of them both, please!

The electric wire around the top is probably your best bet. You can mount it to your side of the fence so it's not "on" your neighbor, although I doubt he will be upset at you doing something to keep your dog from jumping into his yard

Awww! Yes, we definitely need Cricket AND Bamm pics.

As for the fence situation, aren't you moving soon? Maybe a tie-out would be a good temporary fix, and then when you move, you can get a place with a higher fence.

I have the same problem. Hm. I wonder if the electric fence would be safe if attached to the top of a chain link fence. Anyone have any ideas about that?

it isn't a chain link fence... it's a regular wooden fence only it's not super tall... I'm taller than the fence... I found a bunch of wire fencing in the shed so I'm going to see if Josh can makeshift something with that to go along the top of the fence to make the fence taller...

Cricket was a bad girl last week. she ate a rock... thank GOD we were able to get her to throw it up.... but our ENTIRE backyard is pretty much all rock and we can't do anything about that so now I have to completely monitor her outside too... oh boy... she's being a brat this week... she is finally letting me know when she needs to go outside... but the issue we're having is Bamm has a big dog bed/pillow that he absolutely LOVES. Cricket keeps peeing on it and I've already washed it 5 times now because she will pee on it. Josh said if she pees on it again then the dogs aren't getting it back until she's older and not peeing in the house at ALL. We have hardwood floors so that dog bed and the crates are the only soft spots the dogs are really allowed on. Cricket gets on the couch sometimes but Josh doesn't always allow her to so I want them to have the dog bed so they have something cushy to lay on when they are out of their crate... any advice on how to get her to stop peeing on the dog bed? I douse that thing in vinegar everytime I wash it to try and make sure it doesn't smell like pee at all because at first I thought she might be peeing on it because she could still smell a little bit of urine on it... oh puppies

Ohhh puppies!! Glad to hear Cricket is doing well and I can't wait for some updated pics! There is major puppy fever going on around here

Riley always threw up any rocks he ate on his own, thank goodness, usually in the middle of the night

His routine is up at 5-5:30 because that's when my hubby goes to work. He will potty and then come back in and sleep until 7am. I'm screwed if I am ever alone with him though, I'll be up at 5:00 whether I like it or not :wall:

Nature's Miracle is the only thing I use to clean up after doggie accidents--it's the only thing I ever found that actually removes the smell for the dogs. Not sure if vinegar is going to do that for you.
Also-maybe toss an old folded up blanket for them to lie on--at least it would be easier to wash for now.

She may be peeing on the bed to mark it as hers Tallulah had that problem for awhile.

yeah sounds like marking... puck hit every pillow in the house for awhile.

marking. I totally didn't think about that. That would probably explain why she keeps doing it literally RIGHT after I wash it and set it back down. And it is usually less pee than she normally pees.