Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()'s Blog (62)

This is what's left of my DH's sock. Just when I thought it was safe to leave laundry unattended, I come home to this.

How does she shred fabric like this? BTW, caught her with a mouthful of poop last week, so I think I spoke too soon when it came to her being such a good little doodle. I still have high hopes for this little girl though. Keep you all…

It's been about a month since I have posted about my dear Bella, and it's time to finally add more thoughts on her progress so she doesn't get a reputation as  BAD DOG BELLA.

So here are the things I am grateful for today:

1. The carpet is totally intact.

2. I have trash in my bathroom trash cans and it stays there.

3. All socks in our drawers have partners, matching ones at that..

4. I can drop something and not have to do summersaults to get to it before…

Just when I thought we were getting a handle on the chewing and poop eating, I come home to living room carpet strewn all over the room and about 2 inches wide by 18 inches long chewed carpet. Luckily it was right where the tile and carpet meet, so we were able to call a carpet man in to stretch the carpet and cover the tacking that was sticking up very dangerously for little baby feet to find.

That was Monday, call the carpet guy tues and he is coming Wed. Great. Go to the grocery…

Pool is done and my doodle grandson is enjoying it immensley, (suspiciously,he's only in one of these pictures).

Murphy loves the water and there has been quite a bit of training going on to keep him out of it unless invited, but we have about a 90% success rate after only 3 weeks.

Bella still is very apprehensive and will go down the first step onto the first ledge which is an 18 inch play pool area, for the…

We started filling the pool this morning and altho it's going to be another 12 hours or more, I just couldn't wait any longer to let Murphy jump in. It's about 2-3 feet deep and he just jumped off the step like he's been doing it his whole life.

Bella on the other hand has not quite figured out what all this is just yet. She followed Murphy in without thinking and when she realized she was in water and it was up to her neck, she jumped back out like it was on fire. Then just decided…

After Jane's touching story yesterday about her difficulty bonding with Stuart, I took a long hard look at how I am feeling about my Bella.

 She started out as a good idea for Murphy really, and we both felt that another dog would be a nice addition, like a second child, we wanted another one to share our love with. We allowed fate to bring her to us when the time was right, and it did and I never questioned the timing or the purpose, she just showed up in our lives when she was meant…

Where's the water?

I kind of like this big dog run mom built for us, don't you…

The pool is coming along nicely and has met everyone's approval so far. Murphy actually got down into it today when a ball went into it.

After the dig, the steel was put in. Next the shotcrete was sprayed in, and then coping and tiles inside the pool were set in. Lastly, our little grandson Ethan is checking out the whole project and gave his seal of approval. We just need some pebblesheen and finishing touches and it should be ready within the next 2 weeks. It has gone so fast and so…

I must be doing something wrong in raising such an uninhibited Princess as I know my prudish English grandmother must be rolling over in her grave to see such wanton behavior in a young lady.  However, this pose just makes me giggle everytime I see her in it. She sleeps on her bed right by me at night and I will look over in the middle of the night and see this and have to stiffle a laugh. I always just have to get up and rub her belly.  I always ask her is she is comfortable, and she just…

We started construction on our pool this morning, and I have to admit, I am as excited for the doodles as I am for my grandchildren to begin enjoying it this summer. Okay, maybe the doodles were why I originally thought of adding a pool in the first place, it is so hot here in the summer that it is just torture sending them outside for anymore than a quick potty break and they need exercise!   But DH wasn't having any of that logic. So with one grandson here and one on the way, it makes…

We have my parents visiting us for 2 weeks and to say they are not dog people would be putting it mildly. However, I discussed with them that our dogs stay indoors, behave well and don't smell or bite or jump on anyone. They said "No problem" before they got here.

Well, it appears that it is a problem as all I hear is "Get away from me you mutt", Get out of here!" GO away Dog!" it just hurts me to hear them talk to them in a harsh manner and push them away when they just want to be…

As some of you may know I originally got my Murphy so that he would be my running companion. And I did everything the books and my breeder told me in regards to preparing him. I started out slow, waited until he was at least a year before adding any distance, kept him cool and had plenty of water and even treats to keep him going.

Well, Murphy decided at a very young age that this running thing was for the birds, or some other species. but NOT for him. He tugged and pulled and would…

My Bella has come along nicely in all areas except in her mouthing and chewings. Her obsession with socks however is just gone to new heights.  We are very careful of where we put our socks, however, it seems that baby socks are just too tempting, no matter where they are. If Bella-B can reach a shelf or clothes hamper and there are baby socks nearby, she quickly devours them ASAP. Before anyone even notices.

It has become our routine now to keep checking her poop to make sure…

As most of you may know, our son and DIL and 21 month old grandson moved in with us briefly until they could find a house. We now have 4 adults, 4 dogs and one baby in our home. Basically I call it "9 mouths to feed". As that is all I seem to be doing. Planning meals, shopping for meals, and then preparing and cleaning up from meals. At any given time from 4:30 am to 7:30 pm, someone is either eating, looking for food to eat, or asking what there is to eat or what we are going to eat for the…

Poor Murphy. Life used to be so uncomplicated and quiet before the Princess decended upon him.

Bella sees an unsuspecting victim. Can you see the wheels turning in that head?

Bella strikes and confiscates the poor victims property. "Mom! Bella is taking my…

I spoke to Bella's Vet yesterday regarding her constant poop snacking. (Bella, not the Vet). She explained, like our breeder did, that it is a learned behavior, but instinctual as well, especially with females. It appears the mother dogs will clean up their litters poop in the wild so predators don't find the pups.  She went on to say it was her way of protecting me from predators ( Gosh, I feel so protected now, thank…

Even though I regularly home cook fresh foods, buy organic treats, or make the liver treats, skin and core apples and give carrots and fresh veggies as treats, buy turkey dogs, low fat yogurt and generally spend more time and money on our dogs food than our own, our Bella still not only continues to eat her own poop, (must be tasty with all the good food in it, huh?) But now she has gotten into the habit of eating any tissue she can lap up before I catch her. And she is so darn quick, quiet…

I have been home sick for 2 days and both Murphy and Bella are as calm and mellow as can be. They have been quietly laying next to me and not even bringing me toys to play with them as usual.  WOuld they go out and catch balls if I went outside...oh I am sure of it. So I know they are just being quiet for my sake.  So sweet. Had to share.