Paws to Toes, Snout to Nose

Kodi-Instigated Tropic Cascade

2011-07-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, there is a rumored bunny boom in our part of Arlington this season. I've suspected as much, based on increased sightings, and a 200% reduction in known bunny homicides in my own backyard vs. 2009.

Community voices are attributing this tropic cascade to a decrease in the fox population Fewer foxes, means more living bunnies. These voices are basing this assumption off of an increase of fox road kill... i am sure a function of better vehicular performance that makes cars accelerate faster than a speeding fox.

I think they are wrong.

The bunny population has BRIAN AND I to thank for their growth and flourish in 2011. After a bloody--- and I do mean bloody 2009, we strategized to avoid a repeat in 2010. In 2009 we witnessed the killing and consumption of two baby rabbits, and a severe spinal injury to the matriarch of the family- mama rabbit. In my mind, she hopped off topsy turvy and recovered without so much as an ounce of PTSD.... but reality that is not.

The perpetrator.... our Kodi.

Nine point five pounds of critter killing instinct unleashed and uncontained. The bunnies never stood a chance. Or the birds... even in flight.... but that's a different post.

We took both offensive and defensive measures in 2010 to barrier the critters from Kodi, closing up holes in the fence, securing gates, and following the terrier tail around filling in any tunnels she would excavate with her teeny tiny-- yet uber-efficient paws that could dig a hole faster than I could with a shovel.

In 2011, with the observation of brazen bunnies chillaxin' on our front lawn like it was Club Med, we upped their level of protection again... this time physically restraining Kodi from getting more than a whiff of their aroma. Using baby gates, harnesses, and a three-part pre-exit bunny warning system before exiting the front door is now standard procedure for leaving our home.

I conclude that we have been successful... but of course, on the other side of that tropic cascade is that more bunnies create the need for more aggressive Kodi restraint strategies for 2012 (joy), and, more intruders to Mr. McGregor's garden!

Article about Bunny Boom:

http://www.arlnow.com/2011/07/20/bunny-boom-in-arlington/

More on Dogs Training Teddy

2011-07-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

Follow up to previous post...

I am now seeing that Bruschi and Kodi barking like crazy at the window signals one of three things to Teddy:

- Friends are coming over
- Grandpa is coming over
- Bunny rabbit is playing in the front yard.

All probable scenarios. I'm studying Teddy's bark interpretation more closely now, to see if he distinguishes between type of barks. Is there a different bark for friends vs. family, vs. dinner???

Mutual interests: Bunny Rabbit!

2011-07-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

Teddy's new favorite animal to spot: The bunny who frolics in our front yard. If you follow my facebook posts-- yes, that is the same bunny who drives our dogs WILD in anticipation of fresh meat for dinner.

The other night, the bunny was hanging out on our lawn... as if it were intentionally taunting my terrier, who earlier had 6 teeth removed and was in NO shape to even bark at it, let alone catch it with her jaws. The bunny's odds of survival have greatly improved for the time being!

We pull up in the car, teddy spots the bunny, and immediately starts saying in a voice as sweet and cute as the bunny itself "Bunny Rabbit, Bunny Rabbit" I carefully helped him out of the car so as to not disturb the rabbit, and Teddy got a closer look.

"Bunny Rabbit, Bunny Rabbit" he kept saying, with a smile.

(More after the jump)

Appear Bruschi and Kodi in-window.

The rabbit took his cue and hopped into the bush, with Teddy behind, walking toward the bush, pointing and saying "Bunny Rabbit go in...Bunny Rabbit go in..."

So cute!!

This evening we pulled up to the house, no bunny in the yard, but Teddy so sweetly says "Bunny Rabbit??"

Once out of the car, he went to check the bush, repeating "Bunny Rabbit, Bunny Rabbit," looking under the bush, around the bush, in the bush....

Being the obsessed-about-getting-everything-on-film mom that I am, I broke out the cell phone video cam and lured in into repeating his search. (video coming once blackberry and YouTube resolve their differences)

We later moved to the backyard, where Teddy continued his search, along with Bruschi and Kodi. I have to say, I much prefer their mutual interest being a rabbit, over getting food out of the fridge, making toys out of my shoes, or dismantling part of the living room.

How's this for a "Stay with Temptation?!"

2011-07-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

Last night-- our deck... four dogs and Teddy eating watermelon. How cool?!?! And, in Bruschi's case... HOW RARE!!!

Visiting pups are Maya and Sully, friends of ours.

All dogs maintained their composure to the end... when Teddy made the slightest suggestion of offering the remains to Bruschi.... who didn't give him a second to reconsider!

Dogs training Teddy

2011-07-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

In training dogs, we put lots of desired behaviors on cue-- sit, down, stay, come, wait, in Bruschi's case "go long" (he runs far in anticipation of a ball coming his way, like a football player).

Well-- i suspect the dogs MAY be conditioning Teddy, with one of their behaviors indicating to Teddy "my buddies are here!" I just realized the sequence this morning and am fascinated.

Dogs jumped to attention at something outside as they do when someone is approaching, and Teddy, next to them, gets excited and says "Max here. Max. Max Mama." He seems to think his friend Max is coming over.

I say "no, Max isn't here." He says "Ganpa (Grandpa) here?" I also say no, and he looks very confused... then moves on to take all the diapers out of the closet and play with them (he has plenty of toys, btw).

Happening once does not mean its a cue (for dogs or for humans), and I'm wracking my brain to remember if Teddy's previous Max requests were subsequent of window barking.

Stay tuned....

Toddler encounters of the dog kind-- meeting and greeting on the street

2011-06-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

By way of previous blog posts, you know that teaching Teddy how to appropriately approach and greet dogs is super important to me. This is a life skill on par with crossing the street. It's in both Teddy and the unknowing dog's best interest that the two-foot does not run up and startle the quadruped....ever.

What's the proper approach?

I intend for my son to come to a complete stop before he is within petting range of the dog... And further back if possible. Advancing forward is possible only with permission and in a calm and relaxed approach.

My first step in conditioning Teddy to this... getting the kid to stop. When asking isn't enough... I tackle (kidding... kind of).

What's next? Well, we had the perfect illustration of that on Friday night... en route to a dinner with dog trainers no less!

Teddy is naturally very curious about the dogs that he sees (he is my son, after all), and getting him to stop is one thing, but diverting his attention and with it the forward lunging is another all together. It is imperative for me to satisfy his curiosity, and, unhinge his desire to reach out and touch...therefore conditioning him to do what my mom always told us to do in my grandmother's house... "look with no hands!"

That's a challenge-- especially when the dog shows interest.

More after the jump

As Teddy and I are approaching the crosswalk, a dog on leash approaches us. I tell Teddy to stop, then guide him to the left at the same time, dogs' mom takes her cue and stops a respectable distance from us.

Waiting for the light to change, Teddy, true to form, is fascinated with pup. To refocus his attention from trying to pet, I get down on his level and ask: "What color is the dog?" He has no clue, so I tell him to say black. Then I ask: "What kind of dog is that?" And supply him with the answer which he repeats "Retriever mix." (look at that, dog encounter turned in to lesson in color recognition AND biology).

I didn't expect what happened next-- and it was SO cool!! The dog mom, seeing what was going on, started working her dog, showing off his commands! It was awesome! The dog ignored Teddy, busy working for his mom, and Teddy became interested in the display of dog behaviors.

I refrained from hugging the dog handler and inviting her to dinner with the trainers that night--- but we exchanged friendly smiles, and I mouthed "thank you" as we crossed the street.

My goal is for teddys default response to dogpaassersby to be similar to this. Stand at a distance, no lunging, no activity, just be cute!

Dear Granny...

2011-06-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Granny,

"Only 3 cookies escaped..."

Earlier this evening, when we were home alone, we used our super-powers to get our cookies that you made us off the counter all by ourselves. No help needed! They were pretty far back on the counter, so it took a lot of effort. It was kind of like our mom and dad DIDN'T WANT us to have them.

We kinda ate them all-- well, all except for 3. And now we are kinda in trouble. And we need your help to get out of trouble.

(More)

Neither of us understands why we are in trouble. We thought that since you made them for us, and since we really like them, it would be OK. AND, we thought that it would be doubly OK because parents went out to dinner and didn't feed us first. We just wanted to feed ourselves so that they didn't have to. We were trying to be "self sufficient."

And, I think that we would have gotten away without our parents knowing, except that 3 cookies escaped the tupperware while we were retrieving them from the counter. We did a good job hiding the container so that there was less evidence. We also forgot the aluminum foil though.

Now, Mom and Dad are real mad. They said that those cookies were supposed to last us 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! That's not a lot of cookies for our tummies!

Granny, can you make us more? You know, so Mom and Dad aren't so mad? Mom said that we have to "redeem" ourselves by being good. I'm not quite sure what "redeem" means, but I think that more cookies will fix it. And, can you send A LOT more? That way Mom doesn't have to be so stingy and only give us one a day.

Thanks Granny. We love you a lot. And, we love cookies.

Love, your pawfect grandpups,
Bruschi and Kodi

Nine pounds of critter-hunting instinct is hard to handle!

2011-05-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Setting: Learch house, 11:30ish PM. Brian has just come home from a night out with friends. Baby is asleep. Dogs are slumbering on the couch. Only noise in the house is the East Dillon Lions cheering on their football team on TV (DVRed from earlier that evening).

Terrier button ears snap to attention: brraaahhh-arf--arf--arf!
Puggle snout emerges from under blanket: ruuuufff. Ruuufff RUFFFFF

Both charge to window, ears pointed, bodies erect, barking at decibels that hearing impaired individuals could easily notice... and, with that, sound levels that could easily awake sleeping baby.

There's no calling them off. No treat competes with mystery beast outside. And they are relentless.

Colleen: Brian, something is outside.
Brian: Nothing is outside.

Kodi issues unmistakable battle cry (not a bark-- a battle cry. If only I had gotten it on video).

Colleen: Really, Bruschi isn't even interested in food he is so focused on the front yard... really?
Brian: Col, look- there is nothing out there.
Colleen: I think you should go out and see.
Brian: What?
Colleen: (now holding 9 pounds of flailing Rat Terrier who just wants blood and is all but clawing out of arms). Take the flashlight and go outside.

(More)

Brian goes outside.

Brian: Nothing out here. Nothing at all.
Colleen: Go look under the bush on the side of the house.

Silence

Brian: OHHHHH.. Colleen....

Colleen: Yessssss......
Kodi: (whimpers a "please let me get it" whimper).

Brian: Our Opposum's back.

Colleen: Yup!

Brian: (Now back inside) But how did she know it was there-- she didn't see it?
Kodi still crying at window, pawing at glass, bearing teeth nearly drooling at the taste of fresh Possum.

Colleen: Terriers!

Proposed New Park (or life) Rules

2011-05-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

Teddy and Bruschi at dog park

This week, my facebook friends have been talkative on various rules and regulations for children and dogs sharing the same space-- including my non-dog enthusiast friends (who I love all the same). There was conversation of where household dogs should be during kids parties, a super cute video of a dog and child sharing a water fountain, and, the hottest topic...a potential ban on children under 8 being in a neighborhood dog park. Yowza on that last one, right??

A dog park in our area is considering prohibiting young children from one specific park as a proactive measure, based upon observations of some tense moments, that could have ended badly. For an area as dog and baby friendly as Arlington, VA-- you have to imagine just what a tough decision this is from all angles.

After I got over my selfish first reaction "well THATS going to change our Sunday morning dog park outings" (some go to church, we go to the dog park), I started to think just how complicated, and sad this is-- when it shouldn't have to be.

The fact is, that someone does need to be the the dogs' lawyer. Children can stress a dog out- easy- and children in motion-- like at a park... all the more so. And dogs deserve a place to run free of tiny fingers trying to poke their eyes or pull their tails. Worse, though-- is that all too often children and their parents do not respect the needs and sensitivities of a dog. Look- we would all fear a child running up to us head on at full speed wielding a stick in his or her hand trying to pet us. So why can't a dog fear the same thing?

What makes me really sad- is that no ban on children in a dog park is going to help the larger problem of promoting proper interaction with dogs in public places. I'm glad that dogs will have less sources of stress in a park... and that no dog will take the fall for a menacing child, but what I really want to see is the County's Department of Common Sense and Community Responsibility* adopt the following three simple rules for parks... or, life... whichever you choose:

1. All children will first obtain permission before petting a stranger's dog. Simple. If child can ask to go to park, they can ask permission to pet my pup.

2. All dog owners reserve the right to ask a child to step away from their dog, at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all. Its that person's dog, that person's responsibility. We know when they are about to get stressed.

3. No object, other than a hand (and that hand only with permission, see rule 1) shall ever touch a dog. That means we do not whack a dog with a toy shovel, or hit a dog with a ball. Seriously, latter happened earlier this evening to Kodi.

*Currently, there is no actual Department of Common Sense and Community Responsibility, but as i understand, Leslie Knope is rumored to be on the exploratory committee for its creation.

** In the interest of full disclosure, my child stresses out one of my dogs periodically- kid's not perfect. We're workin' on it.

True Story

2011-05-03T04:43:00.000-07:00

Its 7:00 AM at my Parent's house where we are spending a few days. The Toddler gets Kodi's leash off the doorknob, brings it to Kodi and attempts to hook her up. Almost succeeds, except that his dexterity does not allow him to work the latch on the leash hook. I assist. Toddler gets the other leash, and does the same to Bruschi.

Toddler then proceeds to walk the dogs around the house (a circular-design, which has provided ENDLESS amounts of chasing of all 3). Bruschi, completely in-character, jumps up on the table to rescue any scraps of breakfast left. Toddler shouts "DOWN." Keeps on walking.

(I captured a very blurry cell phone photo- blurry b/c the threesome moved so darned fast!)

Things heard... lets face it... regularly at my house

2011-04-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

1. (To Baby) That's the doggie's toothbrush, use your own.
2. (To Puggle and Baby) OUT of the dishwasher. Now. Both of you. Out Out Out!!!!
3. (To Baby about Terrier) Leave Kodi alone when she is doing her "special dance" with the pillow. And, yes, that means leave the pillow alone, too. (will leave that to your own imagination)
4. (To Puggle) WAIT till he drops the food. DO NOT take it out of his hands.
5. (To Baby) That is not a pool. That is their water bowl. Take your toy out of it.
6. (To Puggle) IF you wake the baby up, YOU are going to have to watch him.
7. (To Baby) Bruschi can't read. He doesn't know what to do with your Elmo book.
8. (To All) Off. Off. Off the couch. All of you. Mama wants to sit down.
9. (To Baby) Those are the doggie treats. You don't eat their treats, they don't eat your.... what the hell, go ahead...
10. (To Terrier) Not your stroller. You have to walk.

FUN Stuff!

2011-03-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ya just gotta watch this!!

Teddy punks Bruschi out of a treat (its cheerios, so save for humans and dogs) caught on camera.

www.youtube.com/colleenlearch

Two-Way Street: Teaching Teddy Appropriate Behavior Around Dogs

2011-03-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Now that Teddy is a skilled mobilist (mobilist: (n) one possessing ability to get anywhere, get into anything, and obtain everything within 3 feet of the floor, with speed), with a zeal for four footed friends, it is essential for us to teach him proper interaction with dogs.

My previous post pertained to me teaching Teddy to pet the dogs, but proper interaction involves so much more than that-- and, quite importantly, it involves teaching Teddy that it is NOT OK to run up to any dog, unfamiliar or familiar, and pet, grab, lick, poke, or pull its tail.

More after the jump...

(photo: with the dogs at the park)

No small feat-- this is a Toddler, after all-- but this is by no means a pipe dream. We groom a child's mobility in all kinds of ways at a very early age. "Hold my hand when crossing the street," "go down the stairs on your bottom," "big step up to get in the car," "no pushing other children mustering up their bravery before plunging down the big kid slide." We also need to add "no running up to dogs" to that list.

So much of dogs' fear of children come from the way in which a child approaches a dog. A child sees a bit fluffy toy, and a dog sees, as i've said before, the equivalent of King Kong. I can not put another dog in position of stress just because my Toddler wants to play.

In my house, I can teach Teddy to "play nice," outside my home, I teach Teddy to "leave them alone." We are conditioning him into not running up to dogs, to stopping a few feet before their snout, and "waving" from a distance, vs. reaching out and petting. We are teaching him to respect that not all dogs are stranger-friendly, let alone kid-friendly, and that a dog's personal space should not be violated.

Its a work in progress, but just as important as "look both ways when you cross a street."

Training Teddy to Pet Bruschi and Kodi

2011-01-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

There is always so much attention focused on preparing dogs for baby-- and I agree-- so totally important, but also important is grooming (no pun intended) baby for proper interaction with dogs, setting boundaries and letting the two-footed munchkin know how to and not to interact with dog.

I'm no physical therapist, but its common knowledge (and sense) that Toddlers lack the refined motor skills and dexterity required to pet a dog properly. Tiny humans are not born with that functionality. Their gross motor skills dictate that they interact with dogs... and other things... in a mannerism that looks like hitting. And, lets face it... it is. Dogs do not come pre-programmed to accept that kind of interaction willingly. In fact, it scares the bejezus out of them! A baby's motions are to a dog what King Kong's were to the people of sci-fi New York. In a word-- FRIGHTENING!

Therefore, while de-sensitizing my dogs to a baby's hitting motions, I also work on Teddy's own motor coordination, teaching him how to gently pet the dogs by stroking their fur, front to back, slowly and softly. We've been quite successful at it, and we see Teddy go up to Bruschi, on his own, and appropriately pet the dog. We still continue the exercise, even though Teddy has shown the behavior, because I feel it is important to continually affirm as he grows and develops his muscles.

More after the jump...

I don't yet know if Teddy will generalize this behavior to other dogs outside my home, or if it will become ingrained into his motion set that he does it every time he interacts with the pups. But, we have seen that "Teddy, pet Bruschi" is almost "on cue" for our Toddler.

I still strongly believe in, and practice oversight when dogs and baby are together-- and look out for my dogs best interest when it comes to flailing toddler hands and body. There are times when the dogs need to have their own space, free from the resident Tiny Human. But, helping Teddy develop the necessary skills for interacting with the pups is essential for our dogs and baby living happily in our home. And, it is so beautiful to watch them all play together.

You can see an example of one of our exercises with Teddy and Bruschi in the video attached to this post. Bruschi is well engaged in a treat during this exercise, to help build a positive association with the baby's motions. You can also see at one point Teddy does use his palm in a hitting motion, then switches to petting. Nobody's perfect, but we're sure making progress!

Kodi's Mama Instincts

2010-10-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Rescue organization where Brian and I volunteer featured a video this week of one day old puppies, complete with all the sweet little squeaks and squeals they make at that age. So cute! A few fans on Facebook have shared that their own female who had birthed prior to being rescued heard the squeals from the video, then started crying and searching for the babies.

I read these comments and thought back to our first few months with Teddy, and how our Rat Terrier, Kodi took to him so quickly, and almost instinctively acted as his guardian when I stepped away.

More after the jump...

As mentioned previously on this blog, I firmly believe that Kodi knew I was pregnant from the beginning. She started sleeping on my stomach, was protective when someone approached or tried to move, and would not leave my side when I was home.

Of the two dogs, she was the least phased when we brought Teddy home (which, surprised me), but the most engaged by his presence-- especially when he was not in my arms. While holding the baby, Kodi was completely calm, unbothered, unaroused. When I put him down in any one of the various baby-holding apparatuses that we had collected, whether it be bouncy chair, Boppy, bassinet, baby carrier or swing, she would whine, cry, paw at the baby, run over and bark at me, run back and lick the baby, run over and bark at me. She would pace in front of the baby, trembling, sniffing him, licking, nuzzling. The moment we approached and picked the baby up, she would relax and relocate to her couch cushion.

This went on for a while, and after I realized it I did some stress-reducing exercises to help her get over her anxiety over Teddy being without me. I also did not encourage her to have these episodes. If Teddy was to be in his chair while I moved around the room, Kodi got to spend some quiet time in her own room with her toys.

A few months later I had my first business trip after maternity leave. Kodi knows the signs... the suitcase at the door... the high heels, the early morning departures. Baby was still asleep as I got ready to leave when Kodi started running along side the crib, back and forth, whining, crying, pawing and the crib bumper from the outside of the crib, as if to say "who's going to take care of Baby while Mom is gone?" She hadn't whined in months, and she had never gotten that worked up at the crib.

I can't prove that she was communicating "who's going to take care of Baby while Mom is gone?" but our Facebook friends all got a good laugh at my husband's status post later that AM, which summarized the situation, with the added line of "Thanks for your vote of confidence, you little B*t&h!"

BTW- Both husband, baby, and pups survived my first trip with no complication.

Lets start at the beginning...

2010-10-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

I learned that I was pregnant back in January 2009, just after New Years. And, as I am sure is the case with most expectant couples, my husband and I exchanged frequent expressions of sheer joy, fear, and "oh dear god, what are we going to do"-- about equally.

After the first few months and hearing a mini-heart beat every couple weeks at the Doctor's office, I started to gain a bit of confidence by relying on three factors that would enable me to "know what to do." First, my highly skilled, incredibly capable Italian mother. She practically speaks infant, and excels at getting them to burp. Growing up, all her friends and neighbors would call her when they were having infant troubles. She was the baby guru. Clearly, this had to be genetically passed down to the next generation, right?

Second, my oodles of babysitting experience. Every weekend night, every weekend, for years. Years. In addition to having an Italian mother, I also had a really, really, painfully early curfew and there was only one TV in the house with basic cable. Oh, and one phone line, no call waiting. No cell phones. No email. (Yes, we lived in NY, not Mars). The families I babysat for-- THEY had HBO.

And, third, I already had two (fur) babies, one of them being a Puggle, and I felt confident in my first two trimesters that there was nothing that a baby could throw at me that the Puggle hadn't topped. "Oh the Joys of Puggle Puppyhood" will be the title of my third book.

So I rested in the belief that the puppyhood was pretty good readying material for me and Brian, but what about readying them?

I still contend that my little Rat Terrier sensed the biologic change that came with Pregnancy either before or as I learned that I was expecting, and I will contend that both pups felt the need to remain by my side, day and night.

By around month 5, when I was proclaiming to anyone that listened pregnancy would be a whole lot better if it wasn't 40+ weeks long (and I still had plenty of weeks to go), my husband and I hunkered down on getting the pups fully prepared for baby. They might have known he was coming, but I did not think they were ready. We needed to get them ready. For those reading this and thinking that it must be such a daunting task-- I assure you-- it is NOTHING compared to car seat and stroller selection.

We started shifting the dogs' food schedule to less hectic times of the day, knowing that it would only become worse in a few months. We separated the dogs into a room without us for short periods of time, knowing that we needed to make sure they were comfortable when not by our side full-time, as there were going to be instances where we couldn't have them under foot. This has become increasingly important now that our child is a year old. We didn't want the dogs to feel as if they were being punished- we just wanted them to think it would be fun to hang out in their own room for a little bit.

We also were more vigilant about having them walk politely on a leash, and less tolerant of in-house barking outbursts. Did I mention that one of our dogs is a Rat Terrier? They bark. A lot.

And, this was as good a time as any for a skills and command brush up. So, we did more exercises, rewarding the dogs for good behavior. They LOVED it. And gained a pound each. It was there version of "baby weight."

I also sought the sage advice from dog professionals I know and trust, asking their opinions and perspectives on how to manage.

Some women spend hours, weeks, even months mapping out their ideal birth plan and every possible contingency. Not me. I spent my time mapping out "introduction plan." How was I going to introduce the baby to Bruschi and Kodi? I tossed, turned, pondered and ultimately, planned. I stopped short of articulating my plan in Powerpoint form, although in hindsight, that would have been one for the scrapbooks! I am actually really excited about blogging on just that, because in looking back and watching the intro video of our family all together for the first time is just way, way cool.

I mentioned that believing in those three factors (Italian mom, babysitting and furbabies) kept my hopes high that motherhood would be fine.... however, my anxiety was off-the-charts for every other aspect of pregnancy. I don't like to use self-depricating jargon, but I feel "basket case" is a fair description of me. My dogs helped bring me back within normal parameters. Waking up at 3 am and not being able to fall back to sleep isn't so bad when you've got four paws accompanying you to the kitchen. Not being able to see your feet isn't so bad when you've got a cute little snout resting on your lap watching TV.

So that's how things got started. Forty weeks, one day, twelve hours and 47 minutes of pregnancy was as much about baby as it was about dogs.

And, now that our child is 13 months, I think that the title of my fourth book will be "All that I needed to know about parenting I learned in puppy class."

Kodi, Brian, and Baby. Oh my!

2010-10-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Puggle makes baby laugh June 2010.MP4

2010-10-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Giving Bruschi a toy

2010-10-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

Why I'm Blogging...

2010-10-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

Teddy's first birthday

I’ve created this blog for two reasons—the primary being that there can never be enough conversation about human children and canines living together in harmony… the second being that I really love talking about my family. I’m an expert on nothing, but I survived the first year of parenting, and that has to count for something!

These days, when I think about my dogs, the first thing that comes to mind is how incredibly proud I am of them. Yes, one of our dogs is a food thief who sounds like a hyena when he whines. Yes, the other sometimes forgets she is house-trained. Both of them monopolize bed space and couch cushions, neither of them like nail trims, or being awoken before 9 am. But, none of that comes to mind when I think about my dogs—only pride.

This past year the dogs acclimated, with little resistance, to a crying, whining, pooping, demanding, now a moving and grabbing little human being that totally monopolized time that used to be reserved just for them. And, they not only did it—they found a way to enjoy the new addition.

That- is worth a brag.

I have no secret recipe, give no advice, and certainly can’t say that my approach will work for every family—but I sure am excited about sharing experiences, past, present and the anticipated—on this blog!

About Me

2010-10-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

I’m Colleen, 30ish, married woman with three children, two of the canine sort (they came first) and one little human who just turned 1. My husband and I work full time, volunteer with an area pet rescue organization, and I teach basic canine obedience training part-time.

All three of the kidz give us reason to be proud every day, and usually multiple times a day—even when their collaboration together results in something naughty (like the one with opposable thumbs retrieving food from the fridge for his furry buddies—true story).

I’m creating this blog for two reasons—the primary being that there can never be enough conversation about human children and canines living together in harmony… the second being that I really love talking about my family. I’m an expert on nothing, but I survived the first year of parenting, and that has to count for something!

Here’s more about me:

I hated any and all references to being a “new mom” (it all too often connoted “freshman who can’t find her way around campus), accomplished very little “required reading” to be become certified in parenthood (while pregnant, the only prep book I cared to read was about introducing dog to baby), and often defer to my very knowledgeable old-school Italian mother’s logic on parenting. She “ferberized” before the concept of “letting your child cry themselves to sleep” was a trend; swaddled before any baby was the ”happiest” on the block, and, can tie the absolute most picture perfect bow on any piece of children’s clothing.

Oh, one last item—I absolutely, positively think that the children’s fashion world is missing the mark with little boy’s clothing. Seriously—boys can wear colors other than blue and brown, and don’t need to go ‘punk’ before they can pee standing up.