A Week of Kai

Kai has been with us for one week now.  He is settling in to a routine and is figuring out what is allowed and what isn't.  I remind myself constantly about inner peace and the fruits of the spirit and that things are only things.  And that Kai is learning and learning fast and I need to be patient.

"Play?"

Jack mostly doesn't want to play with Kai.  Kai is much faster and has far more energy than Jack.  Plus, Kai isn't neutered and Jack has had enough of that.  Me too.  Next week, Kai is off to the vet. Even before we got Kai, Jack was only good for about three stick throws and a ten minute scamper before he was ready to flop down and pant.  He is like Gimli from Lord of the Rings: he is a natural sprinter and very dangerous over short distances.  Kai is more of a long distance runner and can hurdle right over Jack's back.

Kai is a beautiful dog; If I lived a different life, I would show him

In one week, Kai chewed up the Bumbo baby seat and two camp chairs and pretty much ruined my porch experience for the rest of the season.  I'll buy better porch chairs next spring.  He also broke two screen doors-one that was too big for any door on our house and another that was already broken by Shane.  Inside, he tries to chew up baby dolls because he loves the hard arms and legs and floppy bodies.  He came to us loving to chew up sticks, and I didn't have a problem with that until he started chewing up Lincoln Logs.  He also loves cardboard and can't tell the difference between that and books.  This might be the first time ever that there are no books on the floor.  He also likes to get into the box I'm supposed to send back to the school district to get out the paintbrushes (yes, the school wants their paintbrushes back) and as long as he doesn't chew up the Kingfisher encyclopedias, paintbrushes are fine.  Compared to what Mina chewed up as a puppy, this really isn't bad. 

We still don't let him off leash out of the fenced area, mostly because he still wants to chase the chickens.  It took a long time to train Mina to not kill them when she caught them, but by the time she died she knew to chase them out of the carport and then leave them.  Every day we take Kai out on the long leash and work at desensitizing him to chickens.  He is so good on a leash.  Once the chickens are all locked up in the yard, we let him off and he runs and runs and runs around the chicken yard and wears himself out.  After that he takes a nice long nap.  I'm sure he will kill at least one chicken, but I'll just tie it around his neck and leave it for a day.  It worked for Jack.

I made that toy for him; it has all the shake-ability of the rope toy without the concussion to small children

Kai stopped having accidents in the house two nights ago and has learned to come get Mark when he needs to go out.  I was calling the dog Kaibo for awhile (and for those who don't have sons going to Boy Scout camp, a kybo is an outhouse).  Now I just need to figure out a gate system that will keep him out of the kids' bedrooms at night, but allow him into ours.  Baby gates are cheap and plentiful, so I'm thinking I'll pick up a few more of those.  And install them high enough that he can't jump over the top...or crawl underneath them!  Dobermans are beautiful jumpers. 

Someone told Daniel that dogs don't see color, so he wanted to know what his shirt looked like to Kai.  I took the picture above to show him and Daniel laughed and laughed.  Kai listens to the kids!  This morning, Kai was up on the recliner (what is it with dobies and sleeping on the furniture?) and Daniel turned from his breakfast and commanded, "Kai! Off!" and Kai hopped right down.

"Come on, Jack. Get up and play!"

Kai has been a great distraction for me.  This time of year I tend to get cranky and anxious for the school district to get their act together and send me my school materials.  If school starts September 3rd, then by golly, I want my materials by then!  We switched school districts this year and I'm having to get used to a whole new way of ordering curriculum.  But school is a post for later this week...

Kaiser

I've decided Kai's full name is Kaiser.

He and Jack has the best playtime yesterday.  They ran and jumped until Jack couldn't run anymore.  I have never seen him so tired.  He couldn't play for the rest of the day!

Kai doesn't sleep at night.  He can also jump over all our gates.  He wants to sleep in Lula and Daniel's room, all curled up on the clothes and blankets they throw on the floor (that I haven't gotten around to picking up).  I blocked the gate with a high chair; Kai moved the high chair and jumped over it.  We added a bar stool and a plastic bus and gave him an extra blanket.  By the time Mark had a Kai-proof barrier, I felt like I was in Les Miserables.  Mark had to sit out there with him for awhile and then go back again early in the morning.  I'm not laughing, really I'm not!

I might be smiling a little though.  Although I woke up every time Kai did (and when Lula sleep walked down the hall and crashed into the barri-KAI-d) so many other good and funny things happen in my house it just balances out my day.

Kai

Mark brought home more than just fencing yesterday...

...but I wasn't surprised.  We went down to meet Kai on Sunday to see if he would be a good dog to add to our family.  Yes, yes, I know.  Me? Willingly add another pathetic doberman not even two months after we lost Mina?  I don't know what to tell you; God must have had His hand in my heart because I felt no trepidation or annoyance about the whole thing.  Plus, I got a fence out of the deal although no deals were made.

As you can see from the picture above, Kai shows no aggression whatsoever toward people. He just flopped down and put his head in  Heidi's lap.  He came from a home that had two boys (3yo and 5yo) and was well socialized at the park.  They had no fence and not enough time to dedicate to such an active dog, so they needed to find a new home for him.  We were chosen because we are home all day and won't crate him, we have lots of kids to love on him, and 15 acres to run.  He was very excited to explore every nook and cranny in the house yesterday and we were exhausted by bedtime, but today he has relaxed and is sacked out in the living room with Jack.  He and Jack had some territorial issues to work out, but it looks like Jack holds the beta position after Mark's alpha.  Kai's ears have those bandages because his crop job isn't quite firm yet.  We'll take them off in a week, but for now he can look like a bunny hopping through the grass.

The only problem so far is that he is curious about which toys belong to him.  Baby dolls are not his.  Balls of yarn are not his.  Lego men are not his.  And chickens are not his.  He loves to tear up cardboard boxes and chew up sticks and we have plenty of both.  He is at the perfect age to start real training and already knows many commands.  He is awesome on a leash with a regular collar and is even better when he gets his "working collar" on.  He choked himself one time going after the chickens today and stayed within leash length for the rest of the walk.  Do I blame him for being interested in chickens? No way! He's never seen or smelled them before.  Bringing Kai home is going to be great for both Mark and I.  This is the first time we have brought a dog home together and not just me giving in...

I'm already so happy to have him because this morning he barked at me when I sneaked into the dark kitchen to make coffee early this morning.  I want a dog that will bark at sneaking people, but also love kids.  Everything else is a matter of training.

Grief

Some grief cannot be put into words.  Some grief can.  When we lost Taz in 2005, our neighbor across the street sent over a condolences card and chocolates.  She lost her dog several years before and remembered how hard it was to lose a much-loved companion.  A month later our neighbor died from cancer.  When Evie was born a month later, we gave her our neighbor's middle name to honor that caring, thoughtful act.  There she was, just weeks from passing herself, offering comfort to a family to lost their dog.

The day Mina came home: March 2006

People have asked how the kids are taking Mina's passing.  Anyone four years old and younger has not been affected.  Fiona is in between awareness and emotion.  She is sad, but not overly.

By one year of age, Mina was well-socialized with her "litter mates." (Ian, Shane, Evie: March 2007)

The boys are "manning up" and keeping a tight reign on their emotions.  No male tween here wants to be accused of being a cry baby and there is no way to change their minds.  They must have read that in a book somewhere, because that is not what they were taught.

Evie (7mo) pulling up on Mina.  July 2007

Evie has been the most affected outwardly.  She spent almost as much time as I did lovingly petting Mina and remembering all sorts of things.  She told me she used to pretend that Mina was her mom and she was a puppy.  Considering how much time she spent in Mina's bed as a baby and toddler, I'm not surprised.  Evie was with me when Mina started to go; I was able to send her into the house so she wouldn't have to be there at that moment. No child should have to watch their dog mama die.

Daniel and Mina: March 2014

I've taken literally tens of thousands of pictures over the last ten years.  Mina with various kids was the subject of hundreds of pictures each year! I just can't choose the best or my favorite.  I have gone through the pictures from 2006, 2007, and 2014.  I shouldn't be surprised that she shows up in most of our around the house pictures.  Just click the "dogs" subject tab on the side and you can see some of them.  Mother's Day 2007 was spent at the beach.  We took an impromptu family photo using the timer.  One picture turned out perfectly and was framed and hung on the wall.  But this one is better for today:

Mina was a member of our family and wanted to be where we were, doing whatever we were doing.  She managed to squeeze her way into our lives and hearts in ways I never knew were possible.  The grieving process continues...

In Loving, Loyal Memory

Yesterday I took Mina to the vet.  She was put on a medicine that would bring her heart rate down.  They wanted it down from 240-280 beats per minute to 120 beats per minute by Thursday (tomorrow).  Before our appointment, we went down to the pond.  It was 90 degrees outside!

Mina waits for me to catch up

Guarding to the end

These are the last four photos I took of Mina.  She barked to go outside at midnight.  And just like they normally do, Jack and Mina raced out the door to be first to chase off the cats.  After she came back in, she spent the rest of the night sleeping at the end of the hall outside our bedroom doors.  Mark and I started our morning routine of letting dogs out, brewing coffee, and heading out to the porch.  When Mina was finished with her morning trip to the pond, she lay down.  She knew she was dying.  She knew she didn't want to die inside.  And somehow, or was it just a strange coincidence?-she died five feet from where Mark planned to bury her.  She was never alone this morning; there was always someone right next to her, petting her and telling her what a good dog she was and how much she was loved.

Because really, although she drove me crazy, crazy enough to be both the title and address of this blog, she was the best dog. Mark may be my other half (he completes me), but Mina was my shadow and I'm feeling lost without her.

The Country Song

Somedays feel like a country song.  You know, you lose your job, your truck, and your dog?

We haven't lost our job or our truck (yet), but we are pretty close to losing our dog.  Mina has been slowing down and losing control of her back legs, which could be caused by Wobblers Disease.  In addition to that, she appears to be experiencing dilated cardiomyapthy (DCM).  This isn't a surprise; our last doberman died from a sudden heart attack and one study showed that 58% of dobermans had DCM.  Mina spent the weekend coughing and gagging.  I thought she just had a doggie vitamin stuck in her throat, but I went to a doberman forum to rule out some kind of dog virus.  I found out that the coughing and gagging is a sign of congestive heart failure.  Sure enough, Mina's heart rate is crazy fast and irregular.  She has an appointment to see a vet tomorrow.

I would take her in today, but I'm having another problem.  Shane has a bruised (or broken) hand bone (another scout threw a rock and it hit Shane over the weekend).  Ian is gone with Mark.  I can't possibly load up six kids, the strongest and most helpful with a broken hand, into a van for an undetermined wait time anywhere.  I won't even take Shane in for x-rays for that reason.  Loading Mina in the van would hurt her hips and probably give her a heart attack from panic.  She is just too high strung for a van ride to the vet.  She is better off hanging out in the backyard and chasing chickens...

...or she can just leave that to the eagle that killed one of our chickens today!  The circus just never ends!  Jack and Shane chased the eagle off, but I'm wishing the eagle could have at least finished off more of the meat.  I hate to see a killed chicken go to waste.  Jack guarded the chicken yard for at least an hour after the eagle flew off.

All this, and it is only lunchtime.

Spring Ahead!

Daylight savings is a good time to spring ahead into my favorite season of the year!  However, my kids are ready for summer already.  Then again, a Pacific Northwest Native can't really tell the difference between spring and summer with all the rain and all...

Really, all my kids need is a sunny afternoon and a couple of blankets and a body of water and they are set!

Even Lula was released from the house so she could enjoy the sun!

The chickens, sadly, have been sold, pending pickup.  I'll keep a few, but with half the family not eating eggs and me not having the desire to wash and sell eggs, they are just taking up valuable resources.  They sold themselves in just a few minutes from this picture I posted on the local Buy, Sell, Trade page:

Don't they look happy and healthy, free ranging on all that grass?  I'll get back in the chicken business when the babies are older.

Mina is getting old and gray, just like me.  You can see all her little gray hairs on her muzzle and its taking her longer to get up out of her dog bed.  She has been my constant shadow for the last eight years.  She has accepted Heidi into the pack and brings her toys to play with.  It's gross, but cute, to see Mina gently place her deflated ball on the tray of the baby swing while Heidi stares at her all bug-eyed.  In the picture above, Mina was making sure no chickens came too close to us.  If one came inside the invisible baby circle, Mina jumped up and chased it off.  But I don't think we will ever cure her of her binky addiction:

March 2006: A bad habit begins!

It is so hard to believe that we've had this Pathetic Doberman (the original blog title) for eight years!

Will the Real Baby Please...Bark?

Pit Bowl

"May I please play with the kitties' food bowl?"

 Only if you bring it back when you are done.  Preferably in one piece!

"Ahhhh! I can't see where I'm going! Hahaha!"

"Chase me! Chase me, chase me, chase me!"

 Jack! Are you being careful with that bowl? Bring it back! Now!

"Catch me if you can Pathetic Doberman! Ha!

 Ja-aaaaa-aack!

"Okay, here's your bowl back!"

I'm getting ready for heat.  I don't like heat.  But the National Weather Service is telling me that the next few days are going to be HOT.

I sewed a little sundress for Lula.  I made it nice and big so she can wear it this winter with a long-sleeved shirt and wool pants when it gets cold.

Hahli has a second chick (and nine more eggs).  Mark moved them over to the other side of our coop so the other hens will leave the chicks alone.  He decided that when one of our hens goes broody, we will just give her eggs to sit on.  It seems cruel to try to break her and get her off the nests.  This time of year we have plenty of eggs and not a lot of desire to eat hot things, so the hens can have a few to hatch and mother.  Mother hens are beautiful things.

I love how curious this chick is.  Hahli keeps telling him to get back where he belongs, but he keeps popping out to say hello.  I watched Hahli try to teach him how to eat, but the pellets are too big for the little guy.  Well, I don't know if its a guy or a gal, but I'm going to call him a guy until his comb doesn't grow in.

Jack says, "These shoes belong to my victims.  I dare you to come closer! I can add YOUR shoes to my collection!"

Mark is busy getting the pond mowed so the kids can swim when it gets really hot in a few days!  I am so thankful we have our very own pond and we don't have to go anywhere to cool off.

Jack Attack

Jack got this cute little bandage at the vet yesterday.  They needed to reopen his wounds and really clean them out because raccoon spit is a very nasty thing.  What surprised me was that the vet packed Jack's wounds with raw honey instead of antibiotic ointment.  He said the ointments no longer work against the germs and that raw honey is the best antibiotic available!  Of course I've heard that in my crunchy circle, but I never expected a non-naturopath medical professional to actually use raw honey instead of Neosporin!

Jack had to stay inside resting for most of the day, which was really hard for him.  He likes to spend his days patrolling the property and laying in the sun.  We had to take him out on the leash and watch him closely to make sure he didn't chew his bandage off.  By bedtime, we knew we had to just remove the bandage instead of waiting until this morning.  Now he is back to patrolling and making sure the coyotes that woke us up at 4:00 AM aren't around anymore. 

The vet bill has put a damper on our already-tight summer budget, but we would rather have a healthy dog than a septic dog... we'll just eat beans and rice for a few weeks!

Edited to add: Okay, so, the dogs have been driving me crazy all day.  They keep barking at things and I have to go outside and yell at them to stop.  I thought it was because the coyotes were so noisy early this morning and because of the raccoon.  When our dogs experience crazy adventures, they tend to be super-sensitive to things out and about.  Especially when there are coyotes.  And let me tell you, those things were so freakin' crazy this morning we had to shut the windows and yell at the dogs.  Still they kept coming back to our room to whine. 

Finally, Mark got up to take Jack out.  He put Jack on a leash just in case he decided to take off running.  We really can't afford another vet bill this year!  Jack immediately headed down to the pond and pulled Mark right off his feet!  Mark brought him back in the house...and we've spent the rest of the day listening to barking dogs (here and next door) and calling them home.

Imagine my surprise just now when Ian ran in the house, out of breath and excited, saying, "If I told you what I just saw, you wouldn't believe me!"  While he was down at the pond looking for baby ducks, he looked across the water and saw a coyote eating a deer carcass!!!

I guess we now know what the coyotes were so excited about and why the dogs have been so crazy today.  And now that the raccoon AND the deer are gone, we only have to worry about the coyotes.

Raccoon Adventures

I've mentioned in previous posts that the raccoon has been hitting us hard and regularly.  But it won't anymore!  Mark was ready for it last night.

He woke up around 2:00 AM when he heard the raccoon knock something off the shelf right outside our window.  Our cats sleep on the very top shelf and we often feed them up there so the dogs don't get their food.  Mark knew the cats wouldn't knock things down in the middle of the night; they aren't that clumsy.  So he was up and out the door before I could really figure out was going on.  I woke up and headed for the bathroom (ah, pregnancy), where I heard the commotion outside.

Ling Ling

The raccoon was face-to-face with Ling Ling, the world's best cat.  It was trying to get to the cats' food!  The dogs scared the raccoon down a shelf level, but it got right back up when it saw Jack's Jaws of Terror!  This is when Mark called me through the window to bring him The Judge.  It was time for the raccoon to be tried by fire.

"Hey, come on in.  The door's open!"

Mark had me call the dogs back inside.  My Pathetic Doberman, who really isn't that pathetic, is a good listener and very obedient.  Although there was a strange creature invading her territory and threatening her pet, she came straight to me.  Her job is to be my constant companion and protect me over protecting our property and possessions.  Jack's primary job is to protect the property and Mark.  We didn't give them these jobs, they just do them.  So, when I called Jack the Pirate, he looked at me, looked at Mark (who was focused on the raccoon's position), and decided if Mark was ignoring me, he could ignore me too.  Jack dashed off into the dark, following the raccoon's initial trail.

"Were you going somewhere? You'll need an escort."

I went back inside to close the windows.  We didn't want to spook any kids with the noise.  The first shot fired and the raccoon was hit, right in the face.  Instead of dropping dead, it jumped off the shelf and started running.  The next few seconds were terrifying for me because all I could hear was Mark yelling, "No! No! No! Jack, Nooo!" snarling, a loud cry, another shot, and silence..... and then Mark calling for me for help.

The raccoon was dead, but Jack was bit.  It wasn't a bad bite, but he did bleed a bit.  We cleaned him up with hydrogen peroxide and Jack behaved like a good little boy the whole time.  He is mostly up-to-date on his vaccinations, but Mark and Ian took him in to see the vet this morning, just in case.  Mark feels terrible that Jack wouldn't come in and got injured.  But we are so super thankful he was able to hold the raccoon so Mark could get the second shot that brought it down. 

I brought the girls out to see the body this morning after Mark left.  They acted appropriately for little girls that love their dog.  Sweet concern for Jack, bitter hatred and feelings of revenge toward the raccoon--and its family.  That Fiona is a funny girl.  Having an injured pet is one of those memories that never leaves, so I wanted to make sure the girls understood what pests and disease risks raccoons are.  I'm sure the girls will never feed cat food to the cute urban raccoons on their porches when they grow up! 

So, that is what we did last night!  There's always an adventure around here...

Bumbo Baby!

The Bumbo is a newer seat that I wish I would have had for my first five kids.  It's perfect for that age where the baby can hold their head up, but not sit unassisted.  We were blessed with TWO Bumbos as hand-me-downs and I used them until Lula started sitting up on her own.  I know I've bragged about what a good sleeper she is, but this is just pathetic:

She must be growing (again) because she slept TEN hours STRAIGHT last night in a dark unheated room all by herself without waking once.  Yes, I went straight in her room and poked her this morning, just to make sure she was still there.  She is now entering Nap Hour #3 after I pulled her out of the Bumbo and put her in her bed.  I am starting to worry that she sleeps too much...but I do really enjoy having an "easy" baby after the five that came before her.

Here is our ancient baby holder that we bought used when IJ was a baby:

We affectionately call it the Time Machine.  Mark no longer remembers why we dubbed it that, but I do!  HERE is a link to old pictures of the Time Machine.  And once again, it looks like I missed posting a picture of Daniel.  So here it is:

Once upon a time, I posted about the five month old discovering the dog HERE.  Our current five (almost six) month old has discovered My Pathetic Doberman, but she prefers Jack 9 times out of 10:

(Lula is ignoring Mina and reaching for Jack in this picture.  I'm also trying to ignore Mina.)

I know you all have missed me, but Mark is still hogging my computer.  I'm almost looking forward to him going  back to work on Monday...almost.

Dogs

Good Dog

Bad Dog

Any Questions?

I guess junk food effects little people AND little dogs...