Headed to Grandma's...

We leave tomorrow to go to Grandma's house! I hope to have tons of f un playing nonstop with my buddies Toby and Jacob! I can't wait to go for a R-I-D-E.

Dreaming of all the treats and the big shaded yard already,
Otto

I like it QUIET when I am trying to sleep :(

So, last weekend, we had to be "boarded," as mom calls it. The dog guy had TONS of dogs this time and it was also 4th of July weekend. You can imagine how freakin' loud that place was. I barely slept a wink. I've been taking extra long naps to try make up for my lost sleep, in fact. I am also told that we will have to be boarded the following two weekends, too. UGH! Can't we just go with you?! (Not to a baby shower and wedding out of town, I guess)

*Sigh*,
Otto, one sleepy dogger

We're back!

Whew... what a long trip that was to Grandma's house! It was lots of fun to have so much time to play with Toby and Jacob. But, I am SO happy to be back at "Otto & Sophie's house," as our mom calls it. It is extremely hot here, though... and I've been loving long naps inside with the air-conditioning cranked!

Woof,
Otto

For real?!

Okay, so my mom has been packing today... it seems like this is going to be one big trip! So far, the "dog stuff" has not been packed. For reference, when she *does* pack our stuff, I usually SIT on it by the door to make sure I'm included and get to go. Ha!

Anyway, even though our stuff isn't packed yet, our mom is indeed telling us that we are going to get to go for a R-I-D-E tomorrow! We are going to stay at our grandma's house for 2 whole weeks! Yahoo! That means tons and tons of playtime with our buddies, Toby and Jacob. Fun, fun! Is this for real? Sounds like a great time ahead for Soph and I!

Rainy Day Blues

It rained ALL day and my sister and I were stuck inside ALL day. It was so annoying. So, guess what I did? I slept and ate a lot more than I normally do.

So, the other not so great news is that our mommy is pregnant with a baby. Oh, man! So many people keep telling me that my life is going to change. We don't need a stinkin' baby around here! I'M THE BABY!

Woof,
Otto

*Plopping down for another nap

The Bed- Rules & Regulations

Okay, so there are some rules I thought I'd share with you about sleeping in my mom and dad's bed.... my rules and what I strive for.

First... I am not allowed to sleep in the bed if both of them are in it. Two's the limit. In this case, I have to ~sigh~ sleep on my own fluffy dog bed right next to their's. This is unfornate because my owners do say that I AM one great cuddler.

Second... IF someone goes to bed before the other one, I AM allowed to follow them upstairs and cuddle up next to them. Unfortunately... this also means that I get my butt kicked out whenever the other person comes up to bed. Sometimes I'll play dead and just lay there and make them drag me out. Serves 'em right!

Third... when my dad gets up to go to work in the morning, he lets us out to go potty. When he lets us back in, it is my mission run as fast as I can upstairs and claim my (his) spot in bed. This usually gets me a couple of hours in bed cuddling with mommy. So great.

Fourth... If for some reason, Sophie, tries to get in bed at all, I must try to block her. After all, I am King of the owner's bed and it's reserved for me at all times if there is a spot open. Who does she think she is anyway? She snores too loud anyway.

Lastly... When I DO get into the wonderful bed, I make sure to maximize everything about the experience. I use pillows and cuddle in blankets... scoot right up next to whomever is there to snuggle with. Ah, I live for those moments. This pound dog has it good.

Give me my dog bed! I'm an inside dog!

Wow! We are in the middle of a BIG snow storm today... we've gotten about 5 inches and it just keeps coming down. It is freezing outside... in the 20's! While I enjoy a few minutes outside sniffing and running in the white stuff, I am totally an INSIDE dog. I am so happy when our mom lets us back in the house. I love nothing better than taking a warm nap curled up on my soft dog bed. I can't wait for spring... is winter over yet?

~fluff, plop on dog bed~

I'm doing okay!

Just a quick update to let you know that I am doing okay... things are back to normal after that scary collar incident. I am my regular, happy dog self again! Sophie and I have been playing a lot and also doing lots of cuddling... my mom and dad think that it's because we appreciate eachother even more after what we went through. All I know is that I am digging all the hugs and kisses from everyone! ;)

Very Serious Diary Entry- (Written by our mom) LONG!

We had a very big scare last Friday night with our two dogs. Before I write anymore, just know that they are both fine. Otto and Sophie were in the living room and were playing with each other…. wrestling around having a good time. My husband and I were getting ready to eat dinner when all of a sudden, we heard very loud growls and cries. We couldn’t believe what we saw next! Otto had Sophie by the neck and it looked as though he were attacking her to kill her. They were flipping around and making all sorts of horrible noises. It looked like a scary dog fight you might see on TV.

My husband started screaming at Otto to stop and to let go. Whatever he said, Otto just would NOT get off Sophie! He started hitting Otto really hard trying to get him to stop. I stood back crying and screaming at Otto. As stupid as it may sound, I tried next and got into the middle of the fight. I put Otto between my legs and held onto his head. I tried prying his jaw open to make him let go of our other dog.

The dogs settled down a bit because I had contained Otto. At this point, my husband got a better look at the situation as we were all squeezed in the downstairs hallway. The dogs were connected somehow by Sophie’s collar and could not break away from each other. Otto’s mouth was bleeding because he had bitten his tongue and Sophie was choking. She could barely breath because her collar was pulled so tight… she was gasping for each and every breath.

We figured that we could cut off the collar to free them both. But, time was so precious as Sophie might not make it in time. The collar was very thick nylon and regular scissors would not cut it. My husband flew outside to his shop and got a pair of heavy-duty pliers so that we could get the collar off more quickly. It seemed like a million years as I waited for my husband to come back in the house to help get the collar off. It took the strength of two people. He used the pliers to pull back the collar and I undid the buckle. Once dogs were both free, it was a miracle!

As it turns out, Otto had never had Sophie by the neck trying to hurt her. His lower jaw was wrapped in her collar. He had been biting at her collar when they were playing and it had gotten twisted and stuck in his mouth, held in his lower canines. Because it was twisted, it was pulled super tight against Sophie’s neck. Afterwards, both dogs were quite in shock about everything that had happened. Sophie was happy to be breathing normally again and she got back to normal fairly quickly.

Otto, on the other hand, has had a harder time dealing with everything. The whole time, we were soooo mean to him thinking that he was hurting Sophie and he was just stuck on her collar the whole time. He is not an aggressive dog at all. But, from what we were seeing, it did look as though he were trying to kill her by the neck (My husband later told me that he was not going to let him kill Sophie and that he might have to shoot him to get him off of her). It just didn’t make sense to us what we saw because our dogs get along so well. Our poor guy got yelled at for about 5 minutes straight and beaten as we were trying to save Sophie. His body is a little sore and he is quite sad about how he was treated. He was slower in getting back to normal… but is now cuddling and wanting to get petted just like his regular self. Otto had a small scratch on his eye and he had bitten his tongue. The dogs both expressed their EWW! anal glands during the whole fiasco so our house reeked. We had to steam clean our carpets because of the smell.

The very next day, we purchased different collars for our dogs… collars w/out a metal buckle. They are the kind with a heavy-duty plastic buckle that snap on and off. We know these collars are not as secure, but in the rare case that one of our dogs’ collars needs to come off in an emergency, we will be able to get it off quickly and easily. Our dogs have not been wearing their collars in the house anymore, just when they are outside so that they have their tags on. Otto has not tried to bite Sophie’s collar at all yet (and we doubt he will), but IF he does, we will definitely teach him that it is not okay to do.

We are enjoying spoiling our dogs rotten because we are so happy to have them alive and well. We love our dogs SO much. They are our babies and this whole incident scared us tremendously. Our dogs are fine now… playing well together, cuddling with each other, giving kisses, and wagging tails. As I am writing this entry, they are laying side-by-side looking out the front window, laying on the same dog bed.

Thanks for reading this long story. Just remember… freak accidents do happen! Hug and kiss your dogs today!

Oh, man... all I want to do is SLEEP!

Wow, what a fun weekend! It was my mom's birthday and her mom, two sisters, and their two dogs came! YES! Toby, a black lab/great dane mix, and Jacob, a border collie/lab mix came to visit! I just love those guys so much! We played and played and then played some more. Four dogs in the house... what fun! Now that they are gone, I am super sleepy. I think I will lay around all day and SLEEP....

~~ plop ~~