Guardian of the pillows

Last night I added pillow cases to all the pillows because I finally found the box they had been hiding in. Topaz was not to sure about having her pillows altered. So of course she came and got right in the middle of where I was trying to put pillow cases on the pillows.

We started a pattern. She laid on top of every last pillow determined that I was not going to get one.

I would return the now altered pillow to her.

 She would inspect the pillow in the same manner that a mother would inspect its precious puppy being given returned to the litter.

Thus giving me an opportunity to grab the next pillow.


And so continued of me dressing a pillow, returning it and snatching the next while she was distracted until all 9 pillows were dressed.

This is the photo I took of her "guarding" the pillows after I dressed them all. The one that her head is on (which is her attempt at keeping me from taking it away again) was the pillow I had just returned.

After ensuring that no pillows were harmed while being dressed and that their clothing did not effect how comfortable they were she seems to have adjusted just fine to having dressed pillows (again).

I am not sure why she was so concerned about having her pillows dressed because up until are latest move (when I misplaced the box that contained all the cases) all of our pillows were dressed. 

She did, however, require that she sleep with 7 pillows last night. Five that went under her body and two that she used for her head.

At least she shared two with me...albeit with some protest on her part.

Riding in Cars

Topaz has been on many car rides in her few short years.

Her first car ride was when we brought her home in a "blizzard". Well what is considered a "blizzard" for Virginia.

There have been car rides to the vets. Her least favorite of all car rides.

Car rides to parks, rivers and lakes. 

Car rides to Grossmama's for playdates.

Car rides from Virginia to Tennessee and back again.

However, the most recent of trips has been the random car rides on back roads just because we can.

It has been too hot/humid to be going for walks,  unless you go are dawn and most days I am working so that is out.

So instead we have taken to doing country drives. 

We stop and say hello to local pastures of cows and horses.

The deer grazing in fields by the side of the road.

We have said hello to a few goats.

We have even seen a chicken cross the road which Topaz wanted to get out and chase.

My love affair with pillows.

I have a thing for pillows. 

I love them.

 Momma has nine pillows and is always saying she does not have enough because I am hogging them all.

I usually spend my afternoon snoozing on all the pillows.

This is the photo Momma took of me snoozing on some of the pillows today.

Don't worry the other pillows were not left out.

I had them arranged at the foot of the bed and took turns sleeping on all the pillows.

 

Momma says to look at my back foot and you can see me sleeping with my bone. 

I always sleep with a toy but I usually have it positioned so it is not easy to spot.

However, occasionally I decide Momma makes the best pillow. When I decide that I sleep like this:

 

How do you sleep? Are you a pillow lover and hog like me?

Help Needed!

My heart was still heavy over the loss of Lennox and Wicca when I opened my facebook this afternoon to see this story.

His name is Dre and he is currently on death row for barking at people. Yes, that is right he barked but harmed no one and he is on death row because of it. The good news is that it is not to late for Dre yet.

We can still help him. So please click on the link, read his story, sign the petition, and email or call Officer Herrera (please be polite though).

This could be any dog in the world sitting on death row for simply being a dog and barking at people. It could be Topaz sitting on death row rather than curled up beside me happily snoring the evening away.

Please help try to save this family member.

Thanks from Maggie and Topaz 

http://www.snotfaceandtwiggy.com/2012/07/help-needed-asap-dre-pit-bull-is-a-family-dog.html

Topaz the explorer

Sometimes I like to be an explorer.

I explore the yard, Daddy's vehicle (it always has so many smells, Mommy says he goes lots of places in it), any grocery bags that get brought home (you never know when there is a goody in it for me). Sometimes my exploring gets me in trouble.

Last night, I decided to explore the trash. Mommy puts so much cool stuff in there. I don't think she knows all the goodies she tosses out. So I decided to surprise Mommy. I pulled all the cool things back out the trash and left a trail for Mommy to follow. Then I deconstructed some of the items to help Mommy understood how fun these things still were. It was sooooo much fun tearing stuff up.

However, when Mommy got up this morning she was not very happy to see my surprise. I got scolded and told that the trash was an off limits thing. Mommy has spent the afternoon re-throwing away all the nifty things, vacuuming and mopping. I hate it when Mommy vacuums.

I guess my days of trash exploring are over. Hrumph, how does one get to be a famous explorer when their mommies are "off-limiting" areas?

Flashback Friday #1

Here our some videos of Topaz playing with Mischief the horse and Cheyenne the red bone. These videos were taken not long after we moved to Tennesse when we were having a playdate at Ken's moms house.

The game was that Topaz would bark at Mischief and then run around the fenced in yard until she came back to the spot where he was at and would essentially "tag" Mischief (really she would tag the fence). Mischief would then respond by whining and running and the pasture and occasionally bucking. He would then return to the fence where Topaz was and bob his head, stamp his feet and snort "tagging" her. They would play tag until Topaz was worn out.

Chey is an old man. He usually did not participate in these antics, rather choosing to spend his time invyestigating for any evidence of coons. Topaz would usually tag Chey as she ran her circle anyway.

Introducing Flashback Fridays

I have decided to start a new thing on the blog...Flashback Fridays. There is so much to post that is current that I do not often post about our pre-bloggie days. So starting from now on we will have a designated day to share about our pre-bloggie adventures.

Hopefully, I will be good and be able to post every Friday...or at least almost every Friday.

Tune in tomorrow for our first Flashback Friday.

The Many Moods of Topaz

We have been on a mood roller coaster with Topaz since Saturday.

Topaz spent all day Saturday in what I call a "terrible two" mood. Not that she was doing anything terrible, she just had the moodiness of a two year old when they decide they are not going to do a single thing you tell them to do. She has been trained to sit before we throw toys for her. It was a battle of wills all day Saturday to get her to sit. My normally toy motivated and somewhat food motivated dog was not having any of it. Not even for highly favored treats. I even broke down and tried the highly prized, no-no because she is allergic treats.

Sunday was going fine until Ken had to leave for an emergency job. As soon as she left, she curled up on the bed and pouted. Not something totally atypical for her. She had pouted for about 15 or 30 mins the previous weekend when he left out.

However, on Sunday her pouting reached the worse it has ever gotten. 5 hours of moving from place to place and just moping. I could not motivate her to do a single thing. She then began vomiting and having diarrhea. I checked for other symptoms thinking something more serious may be going on and the lethargy was just a symptom. However, there was no fever present and she was hydrated and able to keep fluids in just fine. So I am made the assumption that with no other symptoms she was ill because she was so stressed. I began resuming trying to find things to distract her. Due to the heat, I did not want to take her for a walk because the heat could further stress her systems. So I was stuck trying to come up with an indoor activity that was fun enough to get her motivated. Finally, I got her to play with a ball. So long as I stayed with her and played with her she was fine until bedtime.

Monday morning I had to work. The normal routine is that I get up at o'dark thirty and she remains in bed grumbling about the lights being on at the indecency of the hour. However,  it was not like all the other days that I get up early and get ready for work. She followed throughout getting ready for work. The closer to being ready to go the more visibly stressed she became. She attempted to get me to stay by bringing me toys to play with and attempting to get me to take a bath. When she realized that I was still going to leave she just hung her head and pouted in her kennel.

I came home from work and things were back to normal. She was slightly more submissive and careful when I let her out of her kennel. She normal has zoomies all over the house, accidently running over my feet at least once or twice. Due to her milder nature, I sat on the floor and played with her until she was ready to head outside to potty. We resumed our normal after mommy gets home from work routine and things were back to normal.

Tuesday, I got up and did the normal get ready for work schedule. Topaz resumed her normal schedule of griping. When we went out for our morning potty time the herd was outside so we sat and watched the herd for a few moments. She went into her kennel without any fuss about the fact that I was going to leave. When I returned home things seem back to normal. She was again a little more milder in her play right when I let her out, nothing to out of the ordinary. We proceeded with our after work routine. I sat down to do some budgeting and she laid down near me and fell asleep. She slept late so we missed our normal potty time at dusk. It was well after dark when she finally awoke and needed to go out. I got her leashed and all ready to go out and the second I opened the door she backed away nervously. I opened the door fully and turned on the outside light. I could not see anything out of norm. I opened the screen door while talk soothingly to her to try to show her nothing was wrong. She pancaked to the floor. Seeing that attempting to get her to go outside and got potty was going to be a futile and stressful. I shut the door and gave up and just put her to bed in her kennel. She will not potty in her kennel, however, she will in my floors.

I got up this morning and took her out. Things have not been normal this morning. Topaz is usually confident and independent. Since I choose to have a lazy Sunday, I have a mess of a house to clean today. I got my morning coffee and started on my work. Topaz normally supervises from the bed unless of course I am cooking. Then she is supervising underfoot. Today, her and all her toys have been supervising on the rug in front of the stove.

I am not sure where my independent, confident girl has gone too...but I hope this mood passes quickly. I don't mind her wanting to be near me and spend time with me, but I strongly dislike that she is unhappy and stressed out. For now, we are just taking the extra TLC route.

I have been closely watching her to make sure that there is indeed not something physically wrong. However, she has not been ill again and no other symptoms have developed so I am still of the opinion that the physical symptoms were due to stress.

I sleep with pitbulls

Topaz is allowed to sleep in the bed with me. Well, to be honest I should probably say Topaz graciously shares the bed with me.

Topaz also requires that at least one toy (sometimes 2) sleep with her too. She normally sleeps on top of the toys or pretty close to them.

However, last night she decided all 3 of her toys needed to sleep in the bed with her. She arranged them in a perfect line across the top of the bed so they took up 1/4 of the full size bed. These are not large toys either...it is a dog bone, a rope toy and a ball. She then went on to lay down in a ball beside them taking up half the bed. Leaving me with a quarter of the bed.

Under normal circumstances I would rearrange the toys and require more sleeping space. However, since she has been in a very odd mood the past 2 days I allowed it. 

I woke up to her still curled up in a ball but pressed into my upper back. Mainly occupying the space right between my shoulder blades.

This sleeping arrangement means I have a crick in my neck and some really tight neck and upper back muscles. We will definitely be using a different sleeping arrangement tonight.

Despite my achy muscles that have been screaming at me all day, I would not trade it for a life without my friend.

Our Sundays

Sundays are usually the one day Ken and I both have off. Being one of the few days I have off I usually try to catch up on some housework and in the evenings we watch Food Network Star. However, I really wanted a completely lazy day today.

So, the plan for today was that we were going to have a lazy day watching movies, I was going to completely take the day off and neglect the housework, he (and Topaz) would do some test reports. Maybe go out for lunch this afternoon and then watch the finale of Food Network Star this evening.

However, that is not how our lazy Sunday has gone. He got an emergency job call this morning. We did salvage part of our lazy Sunday and watched the pilot episode of Political Animals. I think we have our new show since the finale of Food Network Star is tonight.

After he left, Topaz and I resumed the lazy Sunday movie watching while I worked on one of the curtains for the kitchen. Topaz has spent the afternoon moping around which I originally assumed was because Ken left. However, she is apparently not feeling a well. I think it may be due to the heat.

So I am now having a lazy Sunday afternoon laying down with Topaz.

Friday Walks

It is finally Friday and Mama has the day off.

We got up this morning and it was actually cool outside.

Okay, not really. It was in the 80's still but there was a breeze so it actually felt good to be outside.

Mama said we could go for a walk since it was not super hot out.

We have not been on a walk in forever because of the heat wave.

I did have to wear that icky harness, but for a walk it is worth it.

I did not pull to bad...well, I may have had to be reminded to walk nicely on the lead for the first half mile but that is only because I was so excited to be going for a walk again.

Mama took me down the pond.

I found a frog. It leaped right of the bank into the water. I wanted to play but I was not jumping in the water.

So Mama found me a nice spot that I could where the bank sloped into the water. The frog was long gone though so I just put my front legs in...that water felt so good.

I got the zoomies after that, so Mama decided since I was coping so well with the heat that we could keep going.

She even took me out on the big road. She did shorten my lead up so that I had to walk right by her and made me walk right by the white line.

I was not a big fan of that. I wanted more lead and liberty to sniff everything. 

Then a big truck came by and I was okay with Mama's rules for walking on the big road.

Mama kept a close eye on me and when I started indicating I was getting hot we turned back.

Mama took me back to the pond and let me climb in the water as far as I wanted so I could cool off and get a drink.

Then we headed for home and when we got there I got to lay out under the fan and cool down.

Then I found all my toys and played for a while. Yup, after all that walking I still had plenty of energy.

But now I think that it is nap time and I am getting the whole bed to myself and all the pillows.

I love Mama's days off.

Hope you have a fantastic Friday.

We are Lennox!

Today, my dog is Lennox. On the day that Lennox was euthanized murdered, my dog was Lennox. On the day that Lennox was taken away from his family, my dog was Lennox. So long as BSL exists, my dog will be Lennox.

Today, I am blessed. I live in a town where BSL does not exist. I have a land lord who was willing to take a risk and give a pitbull a chance.

 However, when we live in a world where tape measures and lengths of femur bones are all that is required to determine a dog's genetic make-up, no dog is safe.

BSL does not work. Any dog has the potential to bite for many reasons. Genetics do not change the likelihood that a dog will bite someone. The current BSL list for the entire US (BSL laws vary from state to state and town to town) has 75 different breeds of dogs on it including Spaniels, Boxers, Retrivers, Shepherds, the Boston Terrier, the Pug, the Saint Bernard and the Great Dane as well as the "bully" breeds. Banning breeds of dogs is not going to make communities safer, the only way that works is to ban the entire species. Then whats next kill of other species because we fear them and they are a  "danger" us.

The effective thing is to create laws that are breed neutral and punish irresponsible owners. However, until that day comes my dog is Lennox. His fate could be hers, simply because of ignorance and hatred. But my dog is not the only dog that is Lennox; all dogs anywhere are Lennox.

There is hope. All of us can work together to end BSL. If your town, city, state is voting to allow BSL laws speak up, vote and say no. Educate others on the flaws of BSL. If you are in an area where BSL already is, get involved and find out how you can help end it. How many more innocent dogs need to die and families have to be punished?

Snuggily Dog

It is interesting to watch how Topaz changes over time now that I am with her daily.

Topaz was never the most snuggily dog in the litter. Sure she would fall asleep on us when we first brought her home, but as she grew her snuggily moments became less and less frequent. She would stay close by but not touching me or if she was touching me it was usually just her paw or a part of her back pressed against me. I never thought much of this. Some dogs are just not snuggily, cuddily dogs and I just assumed that she was one of those dogs. I allowed her to initiate when she wanted to snuggle and be close to me.

Our bonding time was play time. It also happened to be our training time a lot of the time as well. However, since we have moved to Tennessee she has changed a lot. I am not sure if this is because she now sees me on a daily basis rather than on the weekends I was home from college or on breaks.

The first major change I noticed was that she was getting in the recliner and laying on the foot rest while one of us was in it. Before she would never get in the recliner if someone was in it. She always opted for the floor or a nearby couch. If I was on the couch she always had to have an entire cushion to herself or sometimes a cushion and a half for her.

Then I began noticing that at night when we went to bed that over time more and more of her was pressed against me as we slept. Ken always made comments about the fact that she would snuggle with me but rarely with him and the duration was always very short. I told him to give her time and maybe she would snuggle with him because she used to not snuggle with me.

Last night, it finally happened. We were watching Sherlock Holmes and she laid down beside him and pressed her whole body against his leg and hip. We assumed it would last a few moments and then she would shift positions per the norm. Fifteen minutes later and she was sound asleep and happily dreaming. She remained pressed against him for over half the movie. She even opted to sleep with him and when I got up this morning a part of her was still touching him.

She still has her moments where she wants to be alone. Sometimes she just goes and hangs out in another room. However, she has come to be a much more snuggily dog.

Random Talk

So there are some who say that dogs do not understand what people say or could only understand the most basic words. I vehemently disagree with them. I regularly talk to Topaz.

Now I do not have any expectations that she will ever open her mouth and speak words back to me. However, we manage to talk without words. Our normal conversations consist of topics such as playing, finding toys, not chasing birds while on her walks or scoldings.

However, sometimes we have random conversations. The other day, Ken and I were going out for a while but he was taking his sweet time in getting ready. He was enjoy laying down. So Topaz came over and was looking at me and I told her to go tell him to get ready. I never expected her to do. However, she ran over to him and stood by him, gave a bark and then looked at me. I busted out laughing.

I love my conversations with her.

Our First Week in Pictures

We brought the puppies home on the second weekend off February 2010.

The puppies had played in their breakfast so despite having been bathed the night before they needed baths. So after spending some time settling in we gave them their first baths in their new home. Since they were so small we opted to use the sink. 

Neither pup enjoyed the bath.

 Jasper tried to play with Pookie while Topaz bathed. Pookie wanted nothing to do with either puppy. 

It took her a little while to adjust to having puppies.

The bath wore both of them out so after being dried off they were both wrapped in blankets to help them stay warm until their fur fully dried and they slept in our laps.

Topaz was always the first to do everything. Here she was on week 1 after already figuring out how to climb up on the couch and encouraging Jasper as he tried to climb up. Finally, he made it up. Even though they were not supposed to be on the couch I did not have the heart to put them back on the floor after he had worked so hard to climb up.

We brought them home in a snow storm and so we made them little coats out of a pair of think winter socks to help them stay warm when they went out to potty. The snow was actually so deep that we had to clear a potty spot for them so they could actually go. They would get carried out to their spot, attempt to potty in between the designated persons legs so as to stay as dry as possible and then whine to be immediately picked up again. They were not fond of the cold, wet ground or the white stuff that fell on them.

They also spent all the time they could snuggling and sleeping on people. And occasionally they snuggled while the one holding them slept (it is exhausting having two 7 week old puppies as roommates).

It Wasn't Me

We all know how it goes someone passes gas and immediately places blame on the dog, but what happens when the gas passer is the dog?

Tonight while Topaz was stretching she farted quite loudly. Ken and I both looked at each other and then her and she turned around and gave us the innocent look that said "it wasn't me". The look and all she hoped to accomplish with it was destroyed when she immediately burped quite loudly. 

The Princess and the Frog

We live on a property that used to be a catfish farm. It has at least 5 ponds on it and a creek which means that during this season we have lots of young frogs or toads that like to hang out at the house. I have not been able to get a close enough look at them to be able to tell if they are frogs or toads.

Until Monday night Topaz did not realize that these amphibians had being hanging out under our porch and stairs. We were coming inside when she saw one hiding out under the stairs. She decided to stick her head under the bottom step and get a sniff and just as she got all the way up to her shoulders wedged under the step it hops. Now apparently this is one of the most frightening things ever because she attempted to jump out from under the step which resulted in her getting stuck. Finally, she manages to get herself out from under the stair but then spent the next minute spazzing out.

Now because she will not hold still every time she moves blades of grass move which she deciphers as even more hopping monsters coming after her which results in even more freaking out. Finally, after a minute of this I get to hold her still enough that I can get my hands on her. Once she is calm enough not to be jumping every where she realizes that all the moving grass was from her and there are not little hopping monsters every where. However, it still took me another several minutes to convince her that she could safely walk up the stairs and even then she still did it glued to my leg.

Now when we go out after dusk she cautiously approaches the steps and tentatively sniffs. Once determining that the evil, hopping thing is not present she jolts up the stairs as fast as she can and looks down from the porch with a triumphant look of ha I won that time.

So there we have it- princesses do not like frogs and amphibians rule (not dogs).

Gummy Bear

I have a bad habit.

Okay, I lied I have several bad habits.

One of them is begging, but it is not really begging.

It is really practicing the whats yours is mine philosophy. 

 

I strongly believe in this philosophy.

This is especially true if that something is food...or a pillow...or a blanket. Well, you get the point.

If the food happens to be sweet...or bread, I love bread, you better believe I will be there for the mine part.

I do have manners, however, see I brought Mom one of my tennis balls as a trade for gummy bears.

 

Every day moments

Saturday was a long day. I worked a few hours in the morning and then Ken and I made the 45 minute trip into the city with a stop at the local nursery in town. Several hours later, we returned home with a butterfly bush, 2 carnivorous plants, 3 mystery day dahlia bulbs, 5 oriental stargazer lily bulbs, and 25 arabian knight gladiolus bulbs. Unfortunately, he was unable to find some things he needed for work so he left out for the 45 minute drive in the opposite direction to Jackson to see if the stores there carried what he needed.

I headed outside to start planting after spending a few minutes with Topaz and putting away the other things I purchased.

This really means that I spent 5 minutes waiting for Inspector Topaz to check all the indoor bags and deem that all items were 1) safe and 2) there were no goodies for her. I then put away the items while she attempted to re-examine them squeezing herself into the fridge just to triple check that the items were indeed not intended for her. I walked her which turned into a 25 minute adventure of sniffing the bush and bulbs about 1,000 times, inspecting the car to see what cool smells we had picked up and then checking her yard to see what locals had visited while we were gone. Finally, after all that I was able to put her back indoors and start planting. She watched from the doorway as I worked and when I was done she had to come out and inspect and approve all the changes I made to her yard. I have only planted the bush and 3 of the bulbs...I have lots of planting in my future and she has lots of inspecting and approving to do.

I was ready for some relaxing time after all that work. I had Ken pick us up some dinner on his way home and we sat down and watched Garfield: The Tale of Two Kitties while eating. I almost overlooked the fact that at one part of the movie Odie plays with a squeaky toy until I notice the fact that Topaz is running around the room frantically searching for the toy to punish it. The search ends with her standing in front of the tv, head cocked as Odie plays with the toy. She then shook her head and then went and found another toy to play with. However, after that she was a bit more attentive to the tv- she did not want to miss out on any ore squeaky toy fun. I have probably watched that movie a hundred times or so and never had I noticed that a squeaky toy is played with.

Mornings are not my friend

I have a confession to make...

I am not a morning dog.

The lights should not be turned on before the sun shines brightly through the windows. 

And most definitely no loud, obnoxious blaring alarms should interrupt my dreams.

However, mom does not listen to me when I tell her this.

She still sets the alarms for super early, she still turns on the lights and gets ready for work.

Despite me making faces like this...

and this...

So, I just shove my head under the pillow and try to ignore Mom.

 

Not so techy doggie

Topaz considers herself tech savvy.

She likes to touch the computers, stand on them and even drop her toys on them. 

However, despite her best of intentions she is not all that tech savvy. Or maybe it is just that paws and a mouth do not allow her to easily handle the small parts.

This morning I found my laptop keyboard minus the comma key. 

I am not sure what type of tech support my laptop needed, especially the keyboard.

She clearly felt it needed her special technical abilities though.

Thankfully, all I am missing is my comma key.

The CSI Junkie

House, CSI: Las Vegas and NCIS are my junkie shows. I usually have one of these shows playing during the day while doing housework. However, I have recently discovered that Topaz is a CSI: Las Vegas fan.

I just so happened to have an episode of CSI playing in the background while I was doing some housework. Topaz was of course being her typical lazy self and was all stretched out on the mattress and I thought asleep. Apparently, she was watching tv with her eyes closed which I discovered when the theme song began to play. She sat up, cocked her head to one side and sat there watching the screen. This lasted for about three minutes until she decided to resume watching tv until Brass said something. She then proceeded to sit up and watch the show for the entire time Brass talked making funny faces, cocking her head from side to side and talking to him. However, if Brass was not on then she would resume watching tv with her eyes closed. I decided to leave CSI on since she seemed to be enjoying it despite the fact that it was the same two episodes being played over and over again. Finally, the channel changed from playing CSI to Auction Hunters.

Now of course, CSI is one of those tv shows that plays the theme song at the beginning and end of the show. So the theme song begins to play and Topaz sits up and begins to wag half her body as she watches for the next episode to start. However, this time auction hunters comes on. This resulted in an shocked expression on her face and then she began to softly growl at the tv and then give me a hey what happened look. I  do not like Auction Hunters so I changed it NCIS but I consistently was stuck listening to deep sighs and moans coming from the peanut gallery as she grieved over her loss of CSI for the day. I scanned the tv channels and of course CSI was not playing but House was so I switched to that. She quit moaning and sighing after that but she continued to sulk for several hours.

   

 

Watching Brass

 Pouting because it is commercial time

 

Topaz and the locals

Topaz is of the opinion that most of the local wildlife are friends, except for birds and rodents.

Living in a place that is completely surrounded by fields and wooded areas means that we often have encounters with the "locals".

We have the herd of deer that is outside at dawn and dusk at least 3-4 times a week. Most of the deer are quite young and there is even a yearling that is still quite playful and has not learned to recognize danger in the way that the others have. Usually I go out to watch and attempt to photograph the herd grazing and frolicking  in the field without Topaz. However, there have been a few times in which I walked her and the herd was outside. This of course resulted in whole body wags and her talking to the deer. She never understands why when she talks to the deer they all run away. She just cocks her head to the side and then looks at me with sad, pitiful eyes because her friends ran away instead of coming to say hi.

We also have many types of birds that are constantly hanging out in our yard. Most of the birds show complete respect for Topaz and promptly take to the trees and electric wires. However, the mockingbirds have a different opinion. They believe it is their yard and she should be honored that they are willing to share it with her rather than the other way around. One particular mockingbird even believes that the van is it personal perch. Yes, I parked it in that exact spot just for that bird to use as a perch. If Topaz pees to close to the van then the bird flies around Topaz's head chatting away. It is quite amusing to watch this little bird (in comparison to the 55 lb dog) as it gives Topaz a scolding for peeing to close to it's perch. Despite her dislike for birds, Topaz handles the scolding well. She wears an unamused look on her face, however, she has never attempted to catch the bird.

We do have rabbits, however, Topaz has never noticed them. It is a good thing they hide well, mostly for my arm rather than their safety. She is convinced the raccoon that has visited on several occasions is an odd dog and never understands why Mommy refuses to allow her to meet it. She has taken no notice to the bats. The resident carpenter bee that constantly guards our front porch and we affectionately call Mr. Bumbles and her do not always get along. Mr. Bumbles likes to buzz in her face in attempt to push her away from the porch to which she responds by snapping at it. Mr. Bumbles does not try to keep her away from the porch to often now. However, it is constantly chasing off birds, other bees, wasps and other insects. The most recent local visitors have been either small frogs or toads hanging out in the shade by the side of the house by day and then becoming active by night. Topaz has yet to have an encounter with one though.      

  

A New Toy and the Conversations it Evokes

This past weekend, I was in Jackson buying a dress for an upcoming wedding that I will be in and while in town decided to stop by Petsmart and check out the toy selection. Topaz's bone is still intact and she still has a large selection of balls that have yet to be killed so I decided to get her a Kong Wubba. This is her very first squeaky toy since most squeaky toys are stuffed animals which would mean that the squeaker would be removed within the first 5 minutes of play.

Upon, receiving the new toy she just assumed that it was a normal human toss, I retrieve and proceed to annihilate toy. After 30 minutes of play she finally discovered (with help) the squeaker part. The squeaking resulted in the toy being punished by her for squeaking. This usually takes place by her just pawing it a bunch and then grabbing it by the straps and flinging around a lot. However, the punishment usually results in more squeaking which results in more punishment and round and round we go until...finally she decides her punishment is not good enough and brings the toy to me for punishment.  

This is how day one and day two with the new toy went. However, on day three she discovered the toy had another secret. Underneath the cover there is a tennis ball. She has spent ever moment that mommy has deemed her toy "awake" attempting to extract the tennis ball from the toy. After listening to the toy squeak for the better part of the past five hours, while she attempted to remove the now completely dead tennis ball from the toy, I have declared it the toys bedtime. This announcement was of course met by lots of sighs and grunts of complaint from Topaz, a sad puppy face laying on my knee as she looked pitifully at me for taking away her latest obsession and finally ended with a flop on the floor with another large sigh and a groan thrown in to ensure that I understood her displeasure.

This is not the first conversation that we have had pertaining to the toy. Usually, the conversation goes along the lines of her being instructed not to kill the toy. In response, whomever told her not to kill the toy is given a look as she continues to gnaw away the cover in hopes of extracting the tennis ball. She gets a few warnings and then if she continues to simply gnaw at the cover instead of playing with the toy, the toy is taken away.

The other conversation I have had with her about the toy occurred earlier this evening. She wanted me to go to bed with her so she would bring me the toy and make sure I had a strap and she had a strap. She would then proceed to pull on her strap in an attempt to lead me to bed. However, I was not ready to go to bed and never stayed in bed so she decided that my refusal to go to bed meant that I should then toss the ball. She brought me her toy and pushed it into my lap, then walk a few feet away from me, sat down with her ears perked. I just sat there looking at her waiting to see what she would do. I expected for her to give me a little bark to encourage me to throw the toy. Instead, I got a dog with perked up ears who proceed then proceed to wiggle her butt around on the floor several to emphasis the fact that it was in fact touching the floor. She has been taught that she has to sit to have her toy thrown for her ( a rule that is enforced 90% of the time). Since her butt was indeed on the floor and it was something we do sometimes have to reinforce, I went ahead and gave the toy a toss and got stuck playing a game of toss and retrieve for quite sometime.

Oh well, I would rather play the game despite my soreness and tiredness and enforce her training and let her get some energy out. Plus, all this playing has result in a finally worn out puppy that is ready to curl up with me. This is mainly because she has finally lost the high she had from spending the last 5 hours attempting to get that tennis ball.  

Topaz's Property Laws

I saw this today and I chuckled. 

 

 So I decided to make Topaz's list of property laws.

1. If it is a pillow, it is mine.  

Thankfully she graciously shares most of her pillows at night. She requires that she is left at least 2 pillows (3 is preferred) and her nose is still going to be on the pillow that your head is on no matter how many pillows she has.

2. If it is a space rug, it is mine.

 I have 3 rugs in the kitchen and 1 at the front door. Only they are never where they are supposed to be because they are always serving as dog beds. The one that belongs in front of the door is always behind it for when she is on door guard duty. The one that belongs in front of the stove is always just to the side of the stove for when she is on taste testing duty.

3. If it is a ball, it is mine. 

If it is not intended for her it better be put in a place where opposable thumbs are a requirement for getting it.

4. If it is intended for dogs, it is meant for me to destructo it. It is intended for hoomans,  it is my dog bed. 

We have been through 3 dog beds (she ripped the stuffing out of all 3). Now all dog beds are either our pillows, blankets or space rugs.

5. If you bought it for the intention of it being mine, then it's yours (unless I later decided it's mine). If you bought it intending it to be for you, then it's mine

. I purposely went out and got her her own pillows. She still uses all of my pillows and occasionally the ones I bought intending them to be for her.

6. If you bought it for the intention of it being for me, it is mine to destructo. 

I have purchased 3 different blankets for her, she has destroyed/is in the process of destroying all 3. She just uses my blankets as a bed.     

 7. If it is yours, it is mine to stand on.

For some reason laptops seems to receive this particular treatment a lot.

8. If it looks like a plant or food or smells like food then it is mine to eat.  

She eats or attempts to eat all plants and their fruit, insects and normal human food. 

 9. If it does not look like food or even taste like food, it is mine to eat. 

She likes to eat bar soap and has ate a towel before.

 

 

Storytime

I love having books read to me! It is one of my favorite past times. I curl up on all the pillows and blankets, or at least as many as I can get Mom to give me and she will read a story to me. I like to listen to the story with my eyes closed BUT I am NOT asleep. Sometimes Mom thinks I am and she stops reading to me. I quickly shoot open my eyes and raise my ears. Sometimes she resumes my story, other times she says that is all she is going to read to me at the moment.

This book looks really good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA41sUirybU Maybe I can talk Mom into this book to read to me. Then I can lay there with my eyes shut and imagine I was hiking those mountain tops. Just think of all the new things I could smell, see and taste. Shhhh....Mom doesn't have to know about that one.

Here is a picture of me listening to a little human read me a story. Little human's story had pictures so I had to keep my eyes open to see all the cool big machines. See what a good story listener I am?

How I came to share my life with a pitbull

I used to not know about the stereotypes pitbulls face, the battle to try to eradicate these dogs.

I first began to hear about pitbulls when the Vick case became a national sensation. My heart immediately went to all those dogs. I did not know at the time that fighting dogs were usually euthanized without being given a chance. All I could see in the case was the cruelty of humans for doing that to an animal. 

I had never met a pitbull, however, I did not believe the sensationalized stories I saw the media releasing. I treated every strange dog the same way despite breed.  I approach all strange dogs with caution, but am willing to give them a chance.

The first pitbull I every truly got to know was Pearl. Good friends of mine discovered her on their lawn with a leg wound. They took her in and got her treatment. Once she recovered, I began taking her for walks because she had an extremely high energy level and needed it. She loved people, was strong headed and extremely energetic. Her high energy level and stubbornness often got her in trouble since she had an affinity for destroying items (headsets, shoes, etc.). Eventually, she was re-homed to a home that was better suited for her. The new owners had a large yard where she could run and play, etc.

 Pearl

After that I volunteered at an animal shelter. Several pitbulls were there during the time I volunteered. Sure they had loud barks and strong muscular builds, but when given a chance they all proved to be sweet, loving dogs.

The next pitbull I met was Roscoe. Roscoe lived about a mile down the road from us. He had a regular routine in which he would visit several neighbors between our house and his. Our house was always his last visit. He would hang out at our house and play with whomever would come out to play with him. He was not allowed in the house because he tried to eat our cats. He had a silly grin that terrified plenty of people, I loved his silly grin. Sadly, he was euthanized by the pound after being picked up running at large for being involved in an altercation with another dog. 

Roscoe and Topaz chilling on the front porch, July 2010. Roscoe wanted to go inside and play with everyone.

*Roscoe was hit by a car as a puppy and his right leg had permanent damage from the accident which is why it looks a little odd in this picture.

After that, I did not have any interactions with any pitbulls for close to a year. I missed my walks with Pearl and playing with her. I continued to follow the pitbull saga as the media continued on its endeavor to convince everyone that these dogs were horrible, man-eating machines. I knew I wanted to own one of these precious dogs, however, I was in college and so I did not think it would be anytime soon. Then I received a text message. It was December 28th and Pearl had given birth to a litter of puppies (the owners unneutered pit mix had got her when she went into heat before they realized she was in heat).

My parents decided that we could go look at the puppies. We went to see them when they were twelve days old.When we arrived, Pearl was one of the first to greet me. It had been around a year since I had last seen her. She stood up on her back legs and put her front paws on my shoulders and rested her head on one of my shoulders. To this date that is the only time I have ever received a hug from a dog. 

When we went back to see the pups, the owner warned me that she had nearly bitten someone a few days prior for touching one of the pups. However, to the owner's surprise, Pearl began nudging the pups to me. When I originally decided I wanted to own a pitbull, I wanted a black one. I thought black pitbulls were absolutely gorgeous with their sleek, glossy coats. Pearl did not have a black puppy so I decided I wanted a puppy that looked like Pearl. Over half the pups in the litter looked like her. I also knew I did not want the runt or the largest puppy in the litter. I wanted a puppy that was not a push over but that was not going to be giving all the orders either. After watching the puppies for over an hour, I picked out a puppy that was not able to push everyone around but did do a fair amount of pushing.

Topaz and Jasper at 12 days old

Little did I know that my puppy would grow up to be so like Pearl (and not just in looks). At nearly 2 and 1/2 years old Topaz has an outgoing, loving personality similar to Pearls. Pearl was not as in your face with the loving; Topaz is much more exuberant when meeting new people. Both have an affinity for trying to catch birds though Topaz takes hers further by pointing out other game as well. She also doesn't give into immediately trying to take out the game, she points and waits, then when least expected makes a large leap in an attempt to catch whatever the object is. They both love to chew and destroy things, though Topaz is much better about only destroying her objects (or objects that she believes are hers). For instance, she did not differentiate between my brother's balls and her balls. If it is a ball then clearly it is intended for her. This is one of the reasons that stuffed animals are not one of the types of toys she is permitted to play with. Of course, Topaz is just as strong headed if not more so than Pearl ever was.

She can definitely be a handful at times but never once have I regretted making the choice to share my life with a pitbull.

Changing minds

I think every pitbull owner at some point is faced with others prejudices against their dogs. I have faced this issue many a time. Usually, it is people crossing the street/lane/path and hurrying past while giving us horrible looks. On occasion, it has been a person to stop and reprimand me for having a pitbull because I am putting society at risk. Most recently, it has been neighbors who have been making their children go indoors anytime Topaz is outside.

I always use the moments to try to educate others about the breed. In the case of those who choose to stop and speak to me whether to ask questions or simply to reprimand me- I get to have a conversation with them. Inform them that the way media presents pitbulls is not the way that majority of pitbulls behave. I get to educate them about pitbulls past- prior to their most recent past as being a top choice in dog fighting rings. I get an opportunity to explain why they are a top choice for dog fighting rings currently- not just for their strong, muscular build that contains powerful jaws; but for their loyalty to humans. The willingness to do anything for their owner so long as the owner is pleased with them. AND a major trait that dog fighters look for in their fighters is that the dog shows NO human aggression. Dogs that expressed human aggression were culled because the last thing someone wanted was a dog in the pit that would turn around and attack them if they had to go in and grab the dog. I also suggest other sources for them to look into to seek more information about the pitbull- shows like pitbulls and parolees and pit boss; facebook pages such as my pitbull is family, stubby dog project and many more; books; etc.

However, Topaz and I are also educating those who allow their fear and prejudice to prevent them from talking to us through our actions. Having a well-behaved pitbull in public, interacting with those she knows and strangers, other animals, etc.- plain out just doing normal things that dogs do with their families educates people. It counter acts the stereotypes that media presents to people. Since people fear what they do not know and media is taking advantage of peoples lack of education about pitbulls- it is a breeding ground for creating mass hysteria about pitbull type dogs. Something that media has been taking advantage of since the 1980's.

Most recently, the way we have educated those unwilling to voice their concerns to us is by walking down the lane to our mailbox nearly every day. Since our house is the last house this requires going past all of our neighbors houses. It did not take long to determine that our neighbors had concerns about us owning a pitbull. However, instead of giving her a chance, talking to us, meeting her, etc.- they simply instructed their kids that anytime Topaz was outside their children had to be inside.  I know because anytime we come outside their kids hang their heads, slump their shoulders and shuffle towards their house saying "Come on, we have to go inside that dog is outside". After walking Topaz to our mailbox almost every evening since we moved (nearly a month and a half) last night instead of making the children come in, the adults came outside and watched. While their dog barked, growled and lunged at the end of it's chain (I have been warned by some neighbors that the dog is dog aggressive); Topaz walked by. She did not bark once, she just did her happy dance and bounced down the lane.
 
Hopefully,  as we continue doing normal things with our dog that our neighbors and others observe we will continue to teach others that pitbulls are not the monsters at the end of leashes that media represents them as.  

Walking Aids

Topaz has a tendency to pull. Her walking manners are not completely lacking. She usually walks nicely, however, there are moments (on just about every walk) where something cool lies ahead or to the side and all of the sudden the slacked leash goes taut and the arm gets a nice yank in whatever direction she just jerked. She has managed to strain/injure several people's arms and a few have face planted.

She has been taught leash walking rules that to this day continue to be reinforced. In  addition, walking aids have also been used over the past 2 years. When using walking aids, she always has her regular collar on as well.

The first walking aid we tried was a harness when she was two to three months old. She promptly ate them all.  My parents had two for their dogs and I had one for her.

Next was a choke chain collar. She only wore this collar when going on walks. It did not take long, maybe four pulls, for her to give up the habit (so long as the collar was on). However, after several months, I noticed that her fur was missing in spots around her neck that seemed to be consistent with pattern for the collar. I thought perhaps she was allergic to certain metals so I switched all her food bowls to ceramic or plastic and stopped using the metal collar. It would be nearly a year later that I would find out that the problem was a food allergy.

We went months before trying another walking aid. However, after she injured my mom's arm and mildly strained a few more peoples arms it became clear that something was needed. After searching options on the market, I decided to try the gentle leader. It came with high recommendations from several friends who had similar pulling issues from their dogs. I have also seen it used by dog trainers such as Tia Torres to help train her dogs not to pull.

Of all the aids we had tried, up to this point, I preferred this one the best. We used it for several months before we got into trouble with it. My dad, brothers and I had taken Topaz and Jasper, their big dog,  (that happens to be Topaz's brother) for a walk. My oldest brother is an athlete and he decided to run with Jasper. The rest of us walked. At half a mile, I checked both dogs who seemed to be handling the walk with ease so we decided to walk further on. We ended up walking a total of 2 miles. We stopped to offer the dogs water multiple times, however, neither dog wanted water. By the time we were within an eighth of a mile to the car, Topaz was showing signs of overheating. We rushed home and I immediately began trying to cool her down. Sadly, it was to late and she suffered a heat stroke. Thankfully, I knew what to do and she lived through it with very little to no long term damage. The vet said from the descriptions we gave him that she should have died that day. This is when it was determined that she had food allergies. He said her overheating was caused by a combination of her system already being stressed from her allergies, the temperature that day and the gentle leader restricting her full ability to pant.

The gentle leader works great for healthy dogs like Jasper who was also wearing one and ran some of the 2 miles and had no complications from wearing one. However, for Topaz it increased her risk of having another heat stroke. So while I liked the gentle leader and it worked, I was back to the drawing board.

At a trip to the lake with my family about a month later I met a labrador wearing an Easy Walk harness. I went home and researched the harness. It seemed perfect for us. It prevents dogs from pulling without restricting their ability to pant or by putting pressure on their tracheae. The fact that the same company that made the gentle leader was just another plus. They had already made a product I liked but that didn't work for us, so I was hopeful that I would like this product and it would work for us.

We have been using the easy walk harness for nearly a year. The only complaint that I have with it is that the L is just slightly to big for her but the M is not durable enough for us. However, since I purchased her harness it appears that premier has created the M/L size that is just as durable as the L which would fix my complaint.

She only wears her harness when going on walks. Thankfully, this is a harness that she does not eat. So she either outgrew that stage or she does not hate this harness.   

Our Lazy Easter

Happy Easter!

We have had a fairly uneventful day.

Ken and I had to run to the store today for a few ingredients to go with dinner. When we returned home Topaz went through all of the bags. She knows that usually trips to Wal-mart means we bring her home vegetable or fruit goodies. To her disappointment, we did not bring home any veggies or fruit (we still have plenty in the fridge).

After triple checking the bags for any goodies she may have missed. I ended up pulling out some cauliflower that I had purposely not used so that I would have it on hand to use as a treat. A lot of the times her treats also double for edible toys. I broke off a few florets with stems and one at a time gave them tosses across the house. She happily chased her treat and gave it a few more tosses before happily laying down to munch it.
 Ken and I also made deviled eggs today and she carefully supervised. She would have looooooved to taste test as well.

After all that supervising and playing, she is having a much needed naptime. This began with my ankle/foot serving as her pillow while she snuggled against Ken and we watched a documentary about a leopard. Thankfully, for my legs sake, this only lasted 20 minutes. She determined that real pillows were much better and happily went and curled up on top of 2 pillows.

She is now happily snoring away curled up with her pillows and Ken. Or not....she just decided naptime has come to an end and that she needs to go outside.  

When a dog talks stop and listen

Topaz is not a full-blooded pitbull. While being mostly pitbull she is also part game dog (my guess is pointer). So I often find that if I listen while she is trying to talk to me through body language that I get to see some pretty cool things.

First, if something is nearby her head will raise high into the air and she will walk around intensely sniffing the air. When she is facing in the right direction she will point in the direction of whatever is out there...usually it is a bird or a squirrel.

This morning she pointed out a whole herd of deer that were walking through one field and into the next. So there we were...me standing in the yard, her pointing...watching a herd of deer two fields away for five minutes. 

This is the second time she has pointed out deer. The first time, I did not listen to her and ended up coming around a corner and scaring them off.

I really need to start carrying my camera with me when I take her out so I can get some pictures of her finds.

Now, I will spend the rest of the day with her dancing in front of the door in hopes that I will take her out so she can go look for more deer. 

Topaz and the monster in her dream

Topaz is a dreamer. I always know when she is good and a sleep because her paws, eye lids and ears start twitching. Sometimes she will give little barks that sound absolutely nothing like her. They sound like they belong to a much smaller dog or a puppy. Then a cute smile spreads across her face.

She has been a dreamer since the day I bought her home. I remember holding her little, sleeping 8 week old body in my lap as she dreamt away. Of course, when she was that little it was not cute, it was SCARY. She did not give cute little barks and it was not just her paws, eye lids and ears that twitched...it was her whole body. The first couple of times she did it I was terrified she was having a seizure. Thankfully my girl is just a dreamer.

However, her dreams are not always happy dreams. Sometimes she has vivid nightmares...well I assume that they are vivid. Two nights ago, she had one of these nightmares. I was up watching tv; my show was almost over and then I was going to head to bed. She had worn herself out playing with toys and was already sound asleep. Ten minutes before the show ended, she was up barking and growling at the door. You would have thought someone was about to charge through the door and attack me. I tried to calm her and show her it was just a dream. She went and checked the entire rest of the house. We then spent the next hour sitting together in the easy chair. Me petting her and talking soothingly to her...her sitting alert and intensely watching the house.

After an hour, I finally convinced her to come lay in bed with me. However, every 15 minutes or so she would lift her head, sniff and look all around the room to reassure herself all was still safe. Finally, after an hour of this she finally went to sleep and I was able to go to sleep as well.

Hopefully, only happy dreams are in the future for us.  

It's Playtime

Topaz is a destructo dog...I guess destructo is a real word. Oh well, I just made it one :)

Some dogs have toys that they play with gingerly making sure the precious toy lasts them a long time. My uncle has a dog that loves her stuffed animals and boy does she make her toys last. Topaz is not one of these dogs.

 Her mission is to destroy the toy as quickly as possible. Stuffed animals are destroyed in under 5 minutes...under 3 minutes is probably more accurate. Tug a war toys...5-7 minutes. Tennis balls...under 30 minutes (unless they are taken away from her as soon as she is done enjoying chasing them).

Therefore, I typically only buy one type of toy for her...bones, bones and more bones. Oh, how I love her bones. One usually last 3 or so months, will undergo surgery during that time to remove any thinning pieces and finally there will come the day when I deem it done for and throw it away. This would be when she has worked it down to a nub that will fit inside her mouth with her mouth closed.

Sometimes, I will also buy her tennis balls and frisbees (for outdoor play), however, these toys she only is allowed to play with so long as she is willing to chase them. Once she has decided that it is time to rip the toy apart the toy is put away.

We have also used Kong toys in the past and she loved the Kong toy, however, with all her food allergies I have not found a good filler to put in it and so the toy is not near as much fun her her to play with now. Her favorite filler was peanut butter, sadly peanut butter days are gone for us. 

All other toys are DIYed and then she gets to have all the fun in the world destroying them (in moderation). She only is allowed a set amount of time with the toy...otherwise she would destruct all her toys (minus the bones) in under half a day and then I would have a very bored, sad dog on my hands.

So what becomes DIYed into a dog toy? Old towels that have become worn thin and holy, sheets that have holes in them, and old, worn out jeans that will not work for hand me downs.

For the towels and sheets, I just cut them into strips, braid the strips together and tie a few knots into the fabric (after washing them one more time of course). For the jeans, I cut the legs off and then cut the strips, braid and knot. If you have a dog that is more easy going on its toys you could just cut the pants legs off and tie a few knots.
 
I also, on occasion will allow her to play with items I already intend to toss prior to junking them. Most often the item is Kens 2 liter soda bottles. All he ever drink is pop- so we end up with lots of pop bottles. I have made a large pile of the bottles and then hidden things in the pile and let her use her nose and brain to find the item. I have used both toys and food for this game. I have removed the plastic wrapper and let her chase the bottle, however, the plastic is not very durable so that usually lasts for about 3 throws. Next, I intend to put large enough holes in the bottle so that food will come out and let her try to solve the puzzle of how to get to the food...hopefully, her answer is not to chew the cap off. 

Mirror, mirror on the wall... and ceiling

There are mirrors on 3 mirrors on a wall in my living room, 6 mirrors on walls in my bathroom, the closet doors in the master bath are full length mirrors and then two of the ceilings have mirrors on them. Can you tell the home owners like mirrors? Lol

When we first moved in Topaz was terrified of the mirrors (really the reflections). Thankfully, she only noticed the full length mirrors in the master bedroom. The first night she ran in and investigated the whole house. The investigation came to a halt in the master bedroom when she came across the mirrors. It took a few days but slowly I convinced her that the image in the mirror was not going to hurt her and she began to go past it without problems.

After that began attempts to play with her reflection, the best ones are always when she is playing with a toy in the mirror and sees the toys reflection. She always tries to trade toys with her reflection. When this does not work out for her she gets annoyed, takes her toy, turns her back on her reflection and plays with the toy. Occasionally. she will glance over her shoulder and give her reflection the stink eye.

She is of the opinion that the mirrors that are hung on the walls in the living room and bathroom are funny windows. They are about the same size and shape of the windows and placed on the wall in about the same position that a window would be placed. At first, anytime a figure appeared in the "window" resulted in alert mode. If the figure is a person and continues to approach then she will run to the door and bark and return to the "window" to guard. We are still working on it, but she has somewhat begun to connect the dots that the images that appear in the odd windows are not something that we need to be protected from. She still watches the images in the mirrors intently and curiously- occasionally she will glance at the person whose image is in the mirror. You can see the wheels turning in her head as she tries to figure out how the odd windows work. This is especially true if a person and her image appear in the mirror together.

My favorite mirror times are probably the few times that she notices the mirrors on the ceilings. This results in a funny dance as she jumps around under the mirror trying to play with the other dog. She will take breaks in which she cocks her head to one side and you can see her trying to figure out how to play with the dog. This will last for about 5 to 10 minutes until she finally gets annoyed and walks away shaking her head. She will proceed to ignore the ceiling dog for a week or so and then it will all be repeated as she makes another attempt to play with the ceiling dog.