Birthday Mischief All Around

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

I was the biggest mischief maker last week for Glory’s 4th Birthday. I managed to make her a cake and take some pictures to share with all but the one thing I didn’t do was get her a Birthday prezzie. How rotten is that huh? Never fear chewy.com to the rescue. I received a Chewy box in the mail and knew I didn’t order anything so had no idea what it was. Mind you I didn’t know this box arrived Thursday and during the night when Gambler and I was sleeping on the couch because miss Birthday girl is in season I heard some banging from the dogs room. I figured Gambler was just being Gambler and ignored him. Friday morning I went into the dogs room and saw the Chewy box. Gambler knows Chewy boxes are full of goodies so he was trying to help himself.

Since I didn’t get Glory any prezzies I let her have the stuff in the box. Chewy was nice and sent us a fall package complete with a pumpkin toy, treats and pumpkin room freshener. They are so thoughtful, I am so happy I am apart of the Chewy family. Plus they know how to save my butt when it needs saving! Thanks Chewy!

Now onto the other mischief…..

Nom Nom Nom this bag of rawhides is all for me!

Hi Mom, I didn’t do anything!

This shirt was perfectly fine when I went into the shower.

When I was taking a shower Gambler was getting into no good! I came out of the bathroom and he was standing on the bed hovering over the bag of rawhides he ripped up and spread everywhere’s. Everyone benefited from his mischief as they all got a rawhide to chew on. I went around the bed and I found my sweatshirt I wore hunting. Of course it was deer hunting and not duck hunting so Gambler had to stay home so I guess he was getting his revenge.

I’m just wanting to write out my xmas list.

Then there was Preacher who stole a pen out of my purse and decided to chew on it in the living room. She begs to differ, she said she was going to write out her xmas list!

Glory got some really nice cards from her fans. Thank you all for your nice cards!

From Rosie over at Talking Dogs

From her pal JB in Canada.

From her pal Sky in Alaska.

From Monika and Sam over at Tails Around The Ranch.

Our pals at House Woof Dog Biscuits.

Mollie and Alfie over at Mollies Dog Treats

Our pal Easy across the ponds as Easy Blog.

Just before Glory’s Birthday I signed her up for Nationwide Pet Insurance so they sent her a card too.

This is a Blog Hop. Thanks to Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog , Luna, a Dog’s Life , and My Brown Newfies for setting up this hop. Please go to any of the sponsoring blogs to find out who else has been mischievous.

Litter Box Blues

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

This is a follow up post to my Jonny Cat Litter Box Liners Chewy review that I did last week. If you didn’t read the review you can read it HERE. There were a couple of things I failed to mention during my review.

First, a couple of readers said that their cats would shred the liners or they didn’t hold up because of the cat’s claws. MK is declawed on all four paws so these liners held up to her. So if your cat has it’s claws I don’t know how they would work for you. All I know is these particular liners do feel really thick and the bag didn’t break when I lifted it out with the litter and poo.

PicMonkey Collage1

Second, Tylersat99 said “The liners sound so easy and fantastic. To use however we have a different problem to clear up first. Minx has always been really good about using her little box. John decided to buy one of the lighter litters and now we rarely use the litter box:(”

Tylersat99, I should of made mention about changing up the kitty’s litter box routine may lead to litter box mischief of going outside the box. I knew better too as a Veterinary Technician we deal with litter box issues quite often.

Tips for kitty owners to avoid the litter box blues, remember kitty’s are creatures of habit.

If your kitty is using the litter box on a regular basis don’t change a thing. Don’t change the type of litter, don’t use any additives, don’t move the box. Don’t do a thing.
You should have one litter box per cat plus one box.
You should put these litter boxes in low traffic area’s. Don’t put in a closet where you store your vacuum if your cat is afraid of the vacuum. Don’t put near the washer and dryer if your cat is afraid of those items.
Don’t put all the litter boxes in the basement. Stagger them out through out your house.
Keep potted plant soil covered with pine cones or decorative rocks to deter kitty from using it.
Keep the litter box clean, scoop often, change out litter often and keep the depth of litter constant.

Reasons why kitty gets the litter box blues.

Brand or type of litter was changed.
Litter has scented additives added to it.
The litter box isn’t cleaned often enough.
The litter box was changed to a new location.
The kitty was frightened or something frightening happened while in or near box.
The kitty has a medical problem.
The kitty has found a more appealing area or surface.

What to do if the litter box blues happen.

Start by taking kitty to the vet to rule out a medical problem like Diabetes, Kidney Disease, diarrhea/constipation or Urinary Tract Infection. Sometimes the litter box blues are due to a medical problem, if the kitty is painful when going in the litter box they associate the pain that happened with the box so they find other places to go. A common cause of litter box blues is Feline Idiopathic Cystitis, which you can read about HERE.

If ruled behavioral and not medical then….

Clean the area well with a enzymatic cleaner. It needs to be a cleaner that will break down the ph in the urine in order to get all the smell out.
You can retrain your kitty by keeping confined while learning to use the box again.
You can feed kitty in area of the mishap since they don’t like to soil near areas of food or play.
Place a carpet runner nub side up over the area, or put two sided tape over it.
Put an aversive odor near the soiled spot. Kitty’s don’t like citrus odor.
Put crinkled aluminum foil over the area.

So I hope this cleared some things up and that you don’t have a kitty with litter box blues.

TP Time Oh The Fun

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Remember when you were in high school and you had to go out before a football game and TP your friends house?? Well of course being the good person that I am I never did that so I have no idea where my furdaughter got her antics from!

From the bathroom, down the hall into the living room not missing a beat or ripping the paper off.

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Of course Gambler couldn’t be left out of the mischief as he LOVES toilet paper. He had to rip it apart and start eating it before I had a chance to pick it up.

I was at work and came home went to the bathroom saw the TP had all these nibble marks in it and had to ask John if there was a mouse in the house. He said no mouse just Preacher and she had already spread the TP throughout the house once already. It’s only taken her just over 4 months to discover it and start the TP mischief.

What is it with dogs and cats and the toilet paper?

Gambler Carves A Pumpkin In 10 Seconds

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Look what came in the mail!

Lookie lookie what came in the mail!

The SS gang won Noodle 4 President’s First Halloween Costume Contest. There were so many great costumes and we were excited to win. Thanks Noodle!!

Thanks Noodle for these cool toys!

Preacher! Why are you touching that cat toy? It’s picture time!

Preacher! What do you think you are doing?

Preacher! Get back here!

OK! You can play with the toys.

Look what I got, look what I got, can you see it?

Sucks to be you all I got the great pumpkin!

For the record I’m being good!

I wonder how fast I can carve this pumpkin?

What??? I ain’t doing nothing!

Sorry Noodle!

Look Noodle I still have my cat!

Thanks again Noodle for the great toys!

Sisters First Conformation Show~Puppy Novice

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

This past Saturday sisters Preacher and Josey attended their first conformation show.

The dog show was held in Ixonia, WI host club was the Wisconsin Boston Terrier Association. This was a UKC (United Kennel Club) venue.

The sisters were entered in a non license 4 month old puppy class. This was basically for fun, exposure and practice for the puppies and the handlers.

Ribbons were awarded but no points towards their championship were given as they are under 6 months of age.

The sisters were entered in two shows. Ring one was first with judge Richard Klatt officiating, ring two was second with judge Lila Fast officiating. Josey and Tom rocked their first two shows by winning the class in each ring, they got to move on to novice puppy group where a GSP and a Boston took the ribbons. I’m so proud of them, watch out when she is 6 months old and can gather up the wins and points.

As you can see in the above photo Preacher was causing all the mischief. She was causing mischief in the ring also by grabbing her leash and holding it in her mouth when she was gating around the ring. After we were done showing in ring two we spoke briefly to the judge, she told us she enjoyed judging the puppies as they were a lot of fun. She said she had a hard choice deciding which puppy should win as they both had great conformation. She awarded Josey because she was calmer in the ring. Tom and Josey have attended the STAR puppy obedience class, passed with flying colors and are now attending their second class. Preacher on the other hand hasn’t attended any classes yet and when she would carry her leash when out to go potty I thought it was cute. Well it isn’t cute anymore and we need to buckle down on some leash work. Both puppies did get complimented on how well they behaved outside the ring. Different people came up to us and asked if they could pet the puppies and take pictures of them. Afterwards we overheard the people talking that those were two really behaved chessie puppies that they just sat and didn’t jump up with they were approached. Preacher redeemed herself outside the ring.

This is the start of a new adventure for Sand Spring and I’m glad Tom is going to be there for it. One day one sister will beat the other sister and then another day the other sister will beat the sister, in the end they both will be champions and we will have done it together! Thank you Tom for joining in this adventure with Josey.

Come January 11, 2016 the sisters will be 6 months old so games on to getting show points and a title.

That Cat Tree Is Not A Chew Toy

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Preacher has been really good for the first 15 weeks of her life. She hasn’t chewed on ~~much of~~ anything. That all changed Friday morning when I was still in bed and she thought the carpet on the cat tree needed a trim.

This is not a chew toy.

This carpet is ugly.

Nom nom nom

I think this level needs some work.

Really it was Gambler!

Preacher is teething right now. She has lost a couple upper incisors while her adult teeth are dropping down. They are just like kids and chewing makes their gums feel better so hence the cat tree incident. Hopefully she won’t get it in her head she needs to keep chewing.

Conformation Lesson Mischief

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

The sisters Josey and Preacher are entered in an upcoming UKC conformation show on November 7th. I have shown Glory and Gambler in UKC conformation so I’m a little familiar with it. I took formal conformation classes back in the day of 2001 when Norman was a wee pup but haven’t taken formal classes since. What I have learned I learned from my friends and at the show. Josey’s dad wanted to try his hand in showing Josey so I told him I would come over and help teach him the basic ropes. The pups are going to only be 4 months old so this won’t count towards their title it will be just practice for us and for the pups. I am not a professional trainer, I just play one on TV! Much better gait, you can go a little faster.Teaching the “stack”. The stack is how you set your dog up to have the judge look at them to access their conformation.You are doing very well grasshopper! More like the blind leading the blind but hey it’s all about getting out there and having fun. Photobomb Willow!!!

When you show you want to “bait” the dog with some of their favorite food, to get them to stop and focus on you will the judge looks at them. Today we used some moist dog treats. Rizzo the rat terrier thought he needed some treats, so it was how high can Rizzo jump to get the treats.Hey lady give me the treat!I said give me the treats!Quit gabbing and give me the treats!Geez lady what do I have to do to get a treat?Oh hi Rizzo, would you like a treat?Yes, yes, yes give me the treat!

Canine Good Citizens Advance

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Canine Good Citizens Advance “CGCA” otherwise known as Community Canine is the advance level of the Canine Good Citizens. It is a 10 step test of skills that your dog must pass in order to receive the CGCA title which is a AKC (American Kennel Club) title and will appear on your dogs pedigree.

While Gambler and Glory were at the American Chesapeake Club National Show Specialty we took the CGCA test. Photos are curiosity of Tina Cox of Misty Shores Chesapeakes. Thank you Tina for capturing some really special moments.

Taken from the AKC website

Advanced Canine Good Citizen (The “CGCA” Title)

To earn the CGCA title, the dog must:

be registered or listed with AKC (AKC number, PAL, or AKC Canine Partners number) and,
already have a Canine Good Citizen award/title on record.

Dogs must pass all 10 items of the test to receive the CGCA title.

Dog stands, sits or lies down and waits under control while the owner:
- sits at the registration table and fills out paperwork, or,
- if the test is done in the community, dog waits while the owner sits and has a snack or visits with another person (e.g., at a park)
Walks on a loose leash in a natural situation (not in a ring) — does not pull.
- left turn
- right turn
- stop
- fast and slow pace
Walks on loose leash through a crowd:
- at a show or in class, this item is tested in a real crowd, not in a ring
- in the community, dog walks on sidewalk, through a crowd at a community fair, park, on a trail, through a busy hallway, etc.
Dog walks past distraction dogs present; does not pull.
This item may be tested along with #3 if there are dogs in the crowd, etc.
- at a show or class, dog walks by dogs waiting in the crowd–dogs 2 ft. apart
- in the community, dog walks by other dogs on a trail, sidewalk, in a hallway, etc.
Sit — stay in small group (3 other people with dogs).
Owners and dogs are in an informal circle/square while owners have a conversation.
Dogs are all on the owner’s left side, on leash; 3 ft. apart. (At least 30 seconds)
Dog allows person who is carrying something (backpack, computer bag, etc.) to approach and pet it.
“May I pet your dog?” (Item is placed on floor/ground before the person pets the dog)
“Leave it.” Dog walks by food and follows owner instructions, “Leave it.”
This can be food placed by the evaluator on the floor or ground in a food dish with a wire cover as in Rally.
Down or sit stay — distance (owner’s choice).
Dog is on 20–ft line, owner walks away with back to dog, picks up an item (e.g., backpack, training bag, clipboard, folder etc.) placed on the floor/chair/ground by the evaluator and returns to the dog.
Recall with distractions present (coming when called). Handler goes out 20–ft. **(off center) and calls dog.
Dog is on the 20–ft. line from #8 above.
Dog will sit or stand stay (owner’s choice) while owner enters/exits a doorway or narrow passageway. Owner calls dog through door when ready.
Owner may also choose to:
1. send the dog through first and have the dog wait for the owner, or
2. the owner may choose to have the dog go through the doorway at the owner’s side.
Whichever method is used, the dog must not pull the owner and must be under good control. Think of the handler having the leash in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
Doorway or gate can be real or simulated with ring gates, two chairs, or a natural passageway (e.g., entrance to trail) in the community.

Gambler and Glory passed the test and are now “CGCA” dogs.

Our pal Poppy took her Canine Good Citizens test and also also passed her test. It was a great day for the brown dog good citizens.

Glory was also shown in conformation at the specialty, we entered in the amateur owner handler class. There were only three dogs in the class so Glory ended up with third. We are ok with that as she is just now getting her coat back from loosing it from the whelp of her puppies. She got a nice water bucket, some treats and a cool yellow ribbon.

A whole lot of good mischief going on today!

House Woof Mischief

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Last week I was getting prepared to make up my gift bags for the Working Dog test I was chairperson for that was going to be held on Sunday after the American Chesapeake Club National Show Specialty. I just got home from vacation and I seen that one of my donors had shipped their shipment. It was from House Woof Dog Biscuits they made a nice donation to the bags so I had opened up the box and had them sitting on the counter.

It was so nicely packaged. My friend came in from Maryland so I went out to greet her totally forgetting the package was on the counter. I was outside and came back in and went “oh my gosh I forgot about the biscuits, I hope they are all in tact”. I looked at the counter and only a place mat was folded over and the box was just like the above picture. I was like “phew, he left the box alone”…..AS IF….

I looked around the living room and this is what I found…

Gambler did pull out one bag of treats and enjoyed them, he was sneaky about it thou as it looked like he never touched the box. He has gotten House Woof biscuits before and has loved them so this isn’t a surprise.

A Little PK Loving~Monday Mischief

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

We got back from Saskatchewan yesterday. We were there one week and I have to say there wasn’t much mischief going on even from Gambler if you can believe that. The only mischief I could come up was on the Saturday we got to Saskatchewan we met up with our friend PK. We let Gambler and Glory out to stretch their legs and instead of stretching Gamblers legs he thought it would just say hi to PK the “Gambler Way”.

What is the “Gambler Way” you ask, well the “Gambler Way” is Gambler doing a little loving on someones leg, he only does it to the people he really loves so that makes is right huh? No No it doesn’t Gambler.

But I LOVE you Patti!

Patti and Jill came out to the farm house to visit with us during the week. Poor Patti got the “Gambler Way” again. Patti was a great sport and corrected Gambler after that he sat like a ~~good~~ boy that he is and got pets the proper way.

Despite the Gambler Mischief my Canadian friends got me some really cool gifts! Thank you so much for my goodies I love them all. My friends are the best!