Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
30 weeks old, and 22 weeks in!
I’m baaaack!
I thank everyone for sending messages saying that you’re missing my blogs. Rest assured I haven’t given up on you, me or Penny. Coupled with the fact that she’s a little more grown up, and not discovering something new every day, and it’s now the rainy season here, there hasn’t been a lot to report, so it’s gonna be a few weeks between blogs from now on.
As I’m sure you all know, Seattle, Washington is rated as the city with the most rainfall in the US, and we live just 150 miles south of there, we get about 40 inches of rainfall a year, usually between November and June...and it feels like we’ve had about a quarter of that this last couple of weeks. Now it’s not that I don’t like rain...I hate it, and not because of the wet, I have the necessary attire, and plenty of dog drying towels. What I really hate is the dark grayness of it all, even when it’s not raining, it looks like it’s about to. We have a lot of windows in our house and it’s very bright here in summer, so much so we have to close the blinds sometimes to make it less so, we even have a big skylight in the kitchen, but right now you wouldn’t know it, we have the lights on and it’s only 10.45 am....sheesh! I find that very depressing. And I think it got to Penny too yesterday, we went for our usual morning walk...in the rain, gave her breakfast, she ate a few bites and laid down, she spent most of the day like that, taking a few bites and laying down. She didn’t appear ill, just had that “I can’t be bothered” look about her. She finally finished her breakfast at 8.30 last night. Needless to say we didn’t feed her again yesterday. Today, it’s a bit brighter, and no sign of rain yet, still gray, but a brighter shade of gray. Penny had no problem polishing off her breakfast this morning, and she’s been much more playful as well, so I’d say the weather affects her disposition as well.
All of the above has brought a decision in this household, one we’ve been toying with for a couple of years, we’re going to move. In the new year, we’re putting our house up for sale, and so is Jeri’s mom, she lives in Portland, Oregon about 50 miles away, and we’re pooling our resources and moving further south to the Bend, Oregon area (annual rainfall....11 inches...woohoo!). Jeri’s mom is 83 and we worry about her being on her own, we can buy a much bigger house for a lot less money between us, would reduce our mortgage considerably and give us peace of mind with mom-in-law. We all get on well, and we’ll make sure we all have our space to retire to, because it doesn’t matter how well you get on, different generations have different interests. Both Jeri and I work from home, and mostly online, so where we live isn’t a problem, and Jeri’s mom’s younger brother lives in that area too, so that will make her much happier. Bend is in the high desert, much drier, although colder at night, we’re really looking forward to it. We both live in houses that are still marketable in this current economic climate, we are real estate savvy, and are confident of fairly quick sales. Can you believe, that Jeri’s mom could theoretically sell her house in Portland, and buy a house in Bend, 3 times bigger for less money? Awesome huh?
I mentioned a few blogs ago, that Penny’s nose wasn’t good for anything apart from keeping her eyes apart...Boy! Has that changed! The ol’ olfactory senses have kicked in big time. When I take her for a walk now, she has her snout planted firmly on the ground most of the time, to the point of changing direction without warning, which makes for some interesting wrestling matches between me and her and the leash! And if that isn’t bad enough, it doesn’t matter how vigilant I am at looking ahead, she manages to sniff out and pick up all sorts of grungy items...one good thing about it being cold and wet, I have gloves on, which makes it a lot easier to reach in and extricate already half masticated mice, bright green chewing gum (which I have to say she chewed like a good gum chewer does for quite a while before I eventually found it....I opened her mouth a couple of times and she hid it with her tongue, before some of it eventually fell out and dangled from her mouth, which I then made a quick grab for terrified that it was going to stick to her curly fur), let’s see what else...oh yes, a used band aid...nice! Because of the rain, everything out there has assumed a dark brown muddy color and impossible to distinguish from the ground until she’s sucked on it for a while. I love my dog!
Now when it’s windy, that’s another thing entirely, she then thinks she’s a cat, and it is her aim in life to pounce on any leaf that doesn’t have the good grace to keep the f@#k still when we’re in the vicinity. And when there’s a whole s@#tload of leaves, it is fall after all, then my shoulder sockets are in for a good “can you be separated?” testing, she thinks she can get every single leaf that’s blowing along the street...I’m investing in a halti collar, in the hope that it will help...she used to be so good on the leash, and still is most of the time, doesn’t pull forward like so many dogs, and she’s stopped sitting down mid walk, but that sudden change in direction is a killer.
Then there’s walking in the rain, a regular pastime at the moment, Penny loves to walk in puddles. Recently we’ve taken to walking in the road rather than the sidewalk, I find it easier, less distracting for the pup, and when it’s raining, she walks in the gutter, wading in the water that’s trickling full pelt towards the drains. I particularly find it amusing at night, because all I hear above the rain is the plip plop plip of her paws in the puddles. At the moment she’s in constant state of being wet or drying out, her fur is very curly, very poodly, we refer to her as our poodly doodle. I have noticed though, the absence of what is oh so common with some dogs, that “essence of wet dawg” that permeates most doggy household this time of year. I’m thankful for that.
Penny has just come in from spending 20 minutes in the back yard, it’s still not raining, but it is still a little damp out there, see photos below:
For all you people who have trouble crating your pets, I’m gonna make you jealous now. Penny’s crate is at the foot of our bed, when it’s bedtime for us all, she often comes up on the bed with us for about 10 minutes, but when she’s had enough, she gets down and goes into her crate with no encouragement from us at all. Sometimes, if she’s already tired she goes straight in there when we shut the bedroom door...it really is awesome! And we can’t take the credit for doing anything in particular, I couldn’t give any advice on how to do it, it just happened that way. Then sometimes, she looks so comfy on our bed at night, she makes no move to get in her crate and we let here stay there all night and she’s never any problem. We have a King size bed so that helps, but she never gets in our way, and if you want to move her, it’s so easy. We do that about once a week, and I think it’s a treat for us more than for her. Then in a morning she’ll come up between us, lay with her head on my pillow next to mine, and I swear (supported by my wife) that she grins at me. Again...I love my dog!
Looking forward to sending and receiving Christmas cards to and from all those in Group B! Until next time everyone!
I thank everyone for sending messages saying that you’re missing my blogs. Rest assured I haven’t given up on you, me or Penny. Coupled with the fact that she’s a little more grown up, and not discovering something new every day, and it’s now the rainy season here, there hasn’t been a lot to report, so it’s gonna be a few weeks between blogs from now on.
As I’m sure you all know, Seattle, Washington is rated as the city with the most rainfall in the US, and we live just 150 miles south of there, we get about 40 inches of rainfall a year, usually between November and June...and it feels like we’ve had about a quarter of that this last couple of weeks. Now it’s not that I don’t like rain...I hate it, and not because of the wet, I have the necessary attire, and plenty of dog drying towels. What I really hate is the dark grayness of it all, even when it’s not raining, it looks like it’s about to. We have a lot of windows in our house and it’s very bright here in summer, so much so we have to close the blinds sometimes to make it less so, we even have a big skylight in the kitchen, but right now you wouldn’t know it, we have the lights on and it’s only 10.45 am....sheesh! I find that very depressing. And I think it got to Penny too yesterday, we went for our usual morning walk...in the rain, gave her breakfast, she ate a few bites and laid down, she spent most of the day like that, taking a few bites and laying down. She didn’t appear ill, just had that “I can’t be bothered” look about her. She finally finished her breakfast at 8.30 last night. Needless to say we didn’t feed her again yesterday. Today, it’s a bit brighter, and no sign of rain yet, still gray, but a brighter shade of gray. Penny had no problem polishing off her breakfast this morning, and she’s been much more playful as well, so I’d say the weather affects her disposition as well.
All of the above has brought a decision in this household, one we’ve been toying with for a couple of years, we’re going to move. In the new year, we’re putting our house up for sale, and so is Jeri’s mom, she lives in Portland, Oregon about 50 miles away, and we’re pooling our resources and moving further south to the Bend, Oregon area (annual rainfall....11 inches...woohoo!). Jeri’s mom is 83 and we worry about her being on her own, we can buy a much bigger house for a lot less money between us, would reduce our mortgage considerably and give us peace of mind with mom-in-law. We all get on well, and we’ll make sure we all have our space to retire to, because it doesn’t matter how well you get on, different generations have different interests. Both Jeri and I work from home, and mostly online, so where we live isn’t a problem, and Jeri’s mom’s younger brother lives in that area too, so that will make her much happier. Bend is in the high desert, much drier, although colder at night, we’re really looking forward to it. We both live in houses that are still marketable in this current economic climate, we are real estate savvy, and are confident of fairly quick sales. Can you believe, that Jeri’s mom could theoretically sell her house in Portland, and buy a house in Bend, 3 times bigger for less money? Awesome huh?
I mentioned a few blogs ago, that Penny’s nose wasn’t good for anything apart from keeping her eyes apart...Boy! Has that changed! The ol’ olfactory senses have kicked in big time. When I take her for a walk now, she has her snout planted firmly on the ground most of the time, to the point of changing direction without warning, which makes for some interesting wrestling matches between me and her and the leash! And if that isn’t bad enough, it doesn’t matter how vigilant I am at looking ahead, she manages to sniff out and pick up all sorts of grungy items...one good thing about it being cold and wet, I have gloves on, which makes it a lot easier to reach in and extricate already half masticated mice, bright green chewing gum (which I have to say she chewed like a good gum chewer does for quite a while before I eventually found it....I opened her mouth a couple of times and she hid it with her tongue, before some of it eventually fell out and dangled from her mouth, which I then made a quick grab for terrified that it was going to stick to her curly fur), let’s see what else...oh yes, a used band aid...nice! Because of the rain, everything out there has assumed a dark brown muddy color and impossible to distinguish from the ground until she’s sucked on it for a while. I love my dog!
Now when it’s windy, that’s another thing entirely, she then thinks she’s a cat, and it is her aim in life to pounce on any leaf that doesn’t have the good grace to keep the f@#k still when we’re in the vicinity. And when there’s a whole s@#tload of leaves, it is fall after all, then my shoulder sockets are in for a good “can you be separated?” testing, she thinks she can get every single leaf that’s blowing along the street...I’m investing in a halti collar, in the hope that it will help...she used to be so good on the leash, and still is most of the time, doesn’t pull forward like so many dogs, and she’s stopped sitting down mid walk, but that sudden change in direction is a killer.
Then there’s walking in the rain, a regular pastime at the moment, Penny loves to walk in puddles. Recently we’ve taken to walking in the road rather than the sidewalk, I find it easier, less distracting for the pup, and when it’s raining, she walks in the gutter, wading in the water that’s trickling full pelt towards the drains. I particularly find it amusing at night, because all I hear above the rain is the plip plop plip of her paws in the puddles. At the moment she’s in constant state of being wet or drying out, her fur is very curly, very poodly, we refer to her as our poodly doodle. I have noticed though, the absence of what is oh so common with some dogs, that “essence of wet dawg” that permeates most doggy household this time of year. I’m thankful for that.
Penny has just come in from spending 20 minutes in the back yard, it’s still not raining, but it is still a little damp out there, see photos below:
For all you people who have trouble crating your pets, I’m gonna make you jealous now. Penny’s crate is at the foot of our bed, when it’s bedtime for us all, she often comes up on the bed with us for about 10 minutes, but when she’s had enough, she gets down and goes into her crate with no encouragement from us at all. Sometimes, if she’s already tired she goes straight in there when we shut the bedroom door...it really is awesome! And we can’t take the credit for doing anything in particular, I couldn’t give any advice on how to do it, it just happened that way. Then sometimes, she looks so comfy on our bed at night, she makes no move to get in her crate and we let here stay there all night and she’s never any problem. We have a King size bed so that helps, but she never gets in our way, and if you want to move her, it’s so easy. We do that about once a week, and I think it’s a treat for us more than for her. Then in a morning she’ll come up between us, lay with her head on my pillow next to mine, and I swear (supported by my wife) that she grins at me. Again...I love my dog!
Looking forward to sending and receiving Christmas cards to and from all those in Group B! Until next time everyone!
Comment
-
Comment by cheryl & oliver on November 12, 2009 at 2:06pm
-
Kevin, I was so happy to see your posting....I love reading about u and Penny....Glad to hear that you are moving to a better climate that is more suited to your liking....Oliver loves to eat everything along the way when we walk him from leaves to sticks, to who knows what, I am forever taking things out of his mouth...And yes he to will change direction in a split sec, and I feel like my arms might be pulled from their sockets at any given time...And your Penny is a lot smaller then my Oliver....Their curiosity is amazing....And like Penny he goes in his crate at night in our room without any problem. He will come on our bed for a few pats, and hugs and then I say ok, night night time, and in he goes to his crate, I do close the crate, he won't lay down until I do that, and he settles right down and goes to sleep....Got to love these doodles....
-
Comment by Leigh & Allie on November 12, 2009 at 10:15am
-
I lived in Portland, Oregon for four miserable years. I was used to sunny Memphis, Tennessee and when I first moved there (7 years old) I could not understand why no one had a pool. I could also not understand why everyone laughed when I said "y'all" but I refused to say "you guys". We did have a beach house so that made the experience less terrible but the sand is not the same in Oregon when you are used to Florida sand. I am very thankful I am back in Memphis!!
-
Comment by Allyson, Peri & Taquito on November 12, 2009 at 6:10am
-
Look at that face! I love the photos!
Congrats on moving - sounds like a good change. I was born in Portland OR, so I can imagine you will be excited for less rain where you are going!
-
Comment by HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08 on November 12, 2009 at 6:03am
-
Hmmmmmm my two look exactly like that when they get into the dirt, maybe a great slide show "Ode to the Wet Doodle", but just think if they were "White with Cream" ...Hannah has grown out of the digging, but Honey would dig to China if she could, and doubt if that will ever change. First dog I have ever known to actually dig a whole or wear a whole in a crate tray because she loves to dig that much. Guess it comes from living in a crate for the first 6 months of her boring life in Almost Hell, with nothing else to do. Quit being modest Kevin, Crate training just does not happen, although it may seem as though it did, you took the time to properly get Penny adjusted to being in a crate and learning that is her comfort zone. Congrats to you all!!!! Love her pics, and best of luck with moving and finding your new home. Looking forward to hearing lots of stories of Penny with her Grammy.
-
Comment by Kendra K. Rhoton on November 12, 2009 at 5:52am
-
Kevin, I was so excited to see your post. It made my day! What is it about doodles that we love them so? So happy you are so happy with Penny. :) And I'm looking forward to getting your x-mas card! (I'm in group B too)
-
Comment by F, Calla & Luca on November 11, 2009 at 10:05pm
-
And you can find the ticks. I do have a first middle and last name.
-
Comment by Kevin Poole, Penny & Ozzy on November 11, 2009 at 10:02pm
-
You know Michele, and Adriane come to that, at least with a lighter colored dog you can see the mud coming before they lick your face. As for the "eau de wet dog", even though she doesn't notice it either, Jeri reckons we're just oblivious to the stink, I beg to differ, but how do we know for certain? Oh, and F Parker (do you have a first name?), Penny is only lighter from the front, her back is still quite rust colored.
-
Comment by Michele Barton on November 11, 2009 at 9:23pm
-
Hmm, I think I got jipped - Gus and Molly definitely wear "eau de wet dog" when it's raining, like today. Maybe it's all the dirt piles around here. Thank heavens for Febreze (don't worry, I don't spray the pups)! I had the same reaction as Adrianne when I saw Penny - I actually requested red, brown or black doodles so they wouldn't show the dirt as much, though I must admit that Penny is really really cute!
Congratulations on your decision to move away from all that rain. Since you'll be living in the desert, we'll probably be swapping snake stories!
-
-
Boy, Penny has really gotten lighter, much like Luca who has similar coloring. We get about he same amount of precipitation in NJ but much more spread out over the year, and some of it's snow. I love the fact that they hardly smell when wet and that the dirt really falls off when dry. Calla will often get in her crate on her own at night, too. I think we all love our doodles.
-
-
Hey Adrianne don't apologize for giggling out loud. Why do you think I posted the pix, for sympathy? At least we can see the dirt, and her fur is quite dirt repellent, a quick wipe with a cloth and 30 minutes later you wouldn't know.
© 2025 Created by Adina P.
Powered by
You need to be a member of DoodleKisses.com to add comments!
Join DoodleKisses.com