The Kate Effect

reckless young love.

this is a hole that a large black dog made in our fence. yes, it seems paisley - who is in heat  - has a boyfriend who desperately would like to knock her up...

all of you who know and love me please begin to pray that there will be no puppies in my future.

paisley visits the vet soon and for the time being is only allowed to go out on the leash to pee. she spends the rest of her time laying on the floor in front hallway with her nose pressed up against the door whining for her lost love.

i can not tell you how tempting it would be to just fling open the door and watch her run away to her beau. Slow motion with epic music.

but the reality is i am not ready for a little of puppies, i will never be ready. i barely cope with the dog owner responsibilities i have now. like the grinch, my hard heart has melted and grown in the area of animals/pets...but it only grew enough to fit one medium size German Short-haired Pointer - barely.

I think I will add ear plugs to the grocery list. the whining is driving me insane. and let's be honest, I may need them in ten years when kate is grounded from a date and whining in her own room. yes, i think it would be a wise investment.
 

a puppy post

 

i thought i would squeeze in a few photos of my mom's puupies before they have another growth spurt.

 

they arejust like real sisters. fight all the time but can't stand to be seperated.

   

Amiee has the dark nose & eyes; Besty has the light nose & eyes

 

*you can alwasy click to see images at larger veiw.

   

paisley, k8's brother

 

 

despite the fact that paisley is not human and is a female...kate insists that she is her brother.

click continue to see all the "brotherly love"

Paisley looking healthy again.

 

Paisley recently recovered from Parvo - a not fun dog virus. They vaccinate for Parvo and Paisley had her shots... but we missed booster shot due to family illness. Vet says she could have gotten it even with booster. It is NOT a fun experience. I won't go into detail but I will say that I have been continually disinfecting our house since. Paisley seems to have made a wonderful recovery.

She spent a few days at the vet quarintined with IV fluids and antibiotics and then came home. We knew she was feeling better when she for the first time in 5 days limped over to Kate and tried to steal her stuffed Tiger. While she was sick I was able to take off the baby gates and let Kate play with her things in the living room. Paisley didn't have the energy to reek havoc. I will be honest, it was so nice to not be on guard all the time. I secertly hoped that when Paisley got better she would have changed alittle - maybe a less  michevious or stop stealing stuff... maybe just one of her bad habits would disappear after her near death experience.

Nope. Instead she is making up for lost time. the only thing that has changed is she now poops at the very back corner of the yard. While this is wonderful compared to pooping a few feet from the back door, I am a little dissapointed.  It is a bittersweet recovery.

   

 

slept in today

today kate slept late....like until 9:15am. this constitutes as a miracle. I laid in bed until she awoke, despite the fact I could have gotten things done while she slept, and enjoyed the warmed of my flannel sheets.

This is also the reason that I never ended up showering and why I am still awake at 1:33am.

Not the point.

After Kate and I finally crawled out of bed we ventured into the kitchen and found Paisley laying on the table.

LAYING on the TABLE.

I have never in my life had a more appropriate time to say

WTF!

but I refrained for the innocence of my child.

Seriously. Why in the world did she think it was OK to lay on the table?

It is NOT OK and she knows that now.

Paisley Paisley Paisely

 

she is growing. she is learning fast. she is not biting me anymore. she is now chewing the furniture. she is chasing birds. she is retreiving balls. she sits. she settles (lays down). she stays. she plays hide & seek. she doesn't fit in her crate.

she chewed Brad's laptop charger in two. she hides her bones in the couch cushions. she sits in her water bowl. she gets in the bathtub with Kate. she got caught standing on the kitchen table. she comes when she is called. she 'points' when you say "ready". she has very "smelly toots" as Kate would say. she like Dr.Pepper and knocks mine over if I leave it. she has a new collar with a paisley print. she fertilized our yard yesterday by dragging a bag of potting soil around the yard. she stole an play-instrument with from Kate's room, it is her favorite toy now.

i think i'm falling for her.

her highness, the royal dog

 

Today I gave up trying to keep paisley out of the play room while I worked. For a while she ran around like a mad dog search for treasures that I must have stored in this forbidden room.

After a while she calmed down and would come sit at feet, which I rewarded her for with a treat. About halfway through the morning she comes and sits near my chair and makes a little begging noise. Without looking I tell her treats are only for calm dog who lay at moms feet while she works.

Paisley responds with another little yelp and I look up to find this...

She had found Kate's dress-up clothes and managed to end up with Kate's white fur evening wrap around her shoulders. I died laughing. Yes, I left it on her the rest of the morning because it brightened my day.

swiper, no swiping

 

I have never seen a water horse but you can meet my water dog.

Paisley jumped in the tub full of bubbles with Kate this week. They spent the rest of the bath time fighting for the best spott o drink the running water...

    

a new view point.

 

just in case you ever wondered what it would be like to be a bug and have a puppy notice you and gallup over to you to playfully torture you to death.

legs that go on for miles

this is growing up

 

paisley is growing. one body part at a time. My heart aches when I see her bouncing around through this awkward stage. One day her legs are too long for her little body and she resembles a family car with a lift kit. Other days her body looks filled out but her head seems too small, as if she ran into a wizard who shrunk her head a size or two for chewing on his good wand. Paisley loves sticks.  

He feet are quite out of place. She could be the circus clown's dog with her oversized feet. It is a great indicator and reminder that she will be much bigger soon.

I wonder how I will feel when kate hits her awkward stage. I still cringe when I see my oversized teeth grinning beneath frizzed high hairsprayed hair. I am wearing a purple and white polo and hold my trumpet. Ahhh, yes. Junior High Band pictures.

Mental note : Add burning akward junior high photos to TO DO LIST for tomorrow.

a place of her own.

although Paisley enjoys sleeping her crate at might, i have found that she wants to be near us while resting during the day. and since the green cube is not going to be an option for long, I decided to whip up a quick dog bed. (hopefully i will have tme to make a nice bed for each room in the near future.) I made it fromt he same sheet fabric I used for the large cubes and pillows. this was an easy-peasy decision since Paisley keep pulling down the rectangle small pillows and laying on them. It would make me giggle every time i would hear a thud because i knew it was the sound of Paisley's boney body falling of the little pillow. the pillow is stuff pretty full and is too small for the puppy. Paisley has to lay down just right and balance just to stay ontop. PLUS the pillow has buttons! beautiful orange buttons that I love. the puppy has alreadybeen caught chewing on them. I might be really sad if Paisley was to manage to swallaw a button - choke - and die, but I would be evemore furious that I had lost my beautiful buttons that are not longer sold at the sewing shop.

 

leash law

    

I am not really sure who i am "leash training" right  now. honestly I am think I have the wrong thing on the leash. I am hoping that my posts don't end up being all about the Paisley but right now Paisley consumes my waking thoughts. It truely is like having another child. Only this one is equivalent to a three year old - which could mean I have twins! 

Yesterday was the most trying day so far. By the time Brad came home Kate was egging Paisley on and Paisley was running and nipping at her. I was trying to stick to all the training rules and house rules. To be a good puppy trainer and a firm mom. Consistancy. thats the key consistancy. Kate and Paisley have me beat at this game. they are incrediably consistant. Consistantly biting, screaming, running, poking, and rebelling. Constistancy is code for exhaustion. But you can not let up. you have to just keep going and going and going and going. I guess it shouldn't have been a suprise when Brad came home that I fell apart.

He came in and I was irratated, my frustration was barely restrained. I was listing out how the puppy-kid duo had managed to fray my nerves when Brad interjected in a very sympathetic way, "Can I buy you a DR.Pepper and make it better?" 

Normally I would consider this a cute and sweet gesture, giggle and say, "Sure." Instead I paused and looked at him. my lower lip quivered and big tear drops formed along my eyelashes splashing down my face. then is all gushed out at once, "I already drank a12 DP today!!!"

Brad must have known this was serious because shortly after I pulled it together after a nice long hug, he packed Kate and Paisley in the car and took them to the grandparents for the evening.

Today was much better.

paisley makes herself at home.

paisley decided today that she would rather sleep in her toy cube instead of her crate.

although cute and sweet, I find it hard to imagine her squeezing her future 45-50 lb body into the little green cube. hmmm. should I let her continue the habit just to see her try?

i caved. meet paisley.

 

this is paisley, a german shorthaired pointer. our new family member.

here is a few photos from our first day together.