TeddyNo Update!

I got an update on our dear TeddyNo so thought I would share with all of his fans!. His new dad sent some pics and a few sentences to LRRoF so I only got the update indirectly and can't get more specifics. He is apparently settling in with his dad, brother (older yellow lab with terminal illness) and a cat. It sounds like there have been some adjustments that have been slow (i.e. kitty has not been too fond of Teddy boy!) and he is being crated during the day presumably due to some of his dietary habits (i.e. eating houses), but the good news is that the dad is sticking with him through these adjustments so hopefully this will be furever. He said that he is 'really enjoying him' which I was delighted to hear!
P.S. for those of you new to the blog you can check out who teddy is from older posts here: http://dewdana.blogspot.com/search/label/Teddy

TeddyNO! Don't Go!

Today TeddyNo went to a new Foster Home and we are so sad! He had to move because I am headed on a two week research cruise this week. I really hoped he would find his furever home before I left so he would not get shuffled around so much but it just did not happen and I think I was in denial about it until today.
He was with us for 6 weeks and I did not get any inquiries which is very disappointing. Everyone who has met him in person has loved him so all I can think is that some applicants were dissuaded by our somewhat remote location. His new foster is up in Ft. Lauderdale so I hope he will get more interest there. Poor Teddy!

Although we got off to a rough start I enjoyed having him here and would love to have kept him if I thought I could handle him. 200lbs of roughhousing dogs is more than I can manage single-handedly in a small house! He was an awesome source of entertainment for Moose & Me. I put the caption in there to spare Mango the trouble of typing it in ;-) Plus I suspect that is what is going through Moose's bumpkin in this pic!

I thought fostering would be like dogsitting where the dog goes home to its family and you might miss it but it is not sad, but this is different since he does not have a family he will be happy to see yet. 8-( He is a hardy boy and I know he will be ok. I have to remind myself that labs are not especially loyal and he will love his new foster very soon and then his new family too.
I asked his new foster mom to let me know when he finds his home so I will keep you all posted. 8-( So sad today.

Good Luck Teddy!

Wordless Wednesday (pups gone wild edition)

Peanut Buddies

This is how we clean out the pantry of mostly empty peanut butter jars at the Moose Lodge: We put a little in a Kong for Teddy















and give the jar to Moose.

When they think they have gotten all of it out, it is time to trade and check each others work. (Actually Moose walked into Teddy's crate and took it out of his mouth and wandered off with it so Teddy went and got the jar!)










Then of course there is the clean up afterwards!














This kept them busy for at least a half hour and now they are in some kind of peanut butter coma! Ahhhh peace and quiet!

Teddy No! (Part 2 in which milk is spilled)

This morning I was enjoying a glass of milk in bed whilst waking up and I got up to answer the phone and came back to a puddle of milk on my bed, pillows and laptop! Teddy No!

He left his signature paw print on the sheets and wandered in to my office and laid down licking his paw so the verdict is guilty!













He threw himself at the mercy of the court and begged for leniency based on adorable puppy-ness that can't be helped. Teddy No!

Baaaad Dogs!

Teddy has reduced all of our toys (and lots of non-toys!) to dust sized particles so the other night I stocked up on new toys figuring that would keep the boys out of trouble, for awhile anyway... Apparently the vigor with which they attack a new toy is inversely proportional to the toy's age because they rapidly turned the new ones into a pile of stuffing, rope fibers and plastic! I am all for toy destruction if it saves my shoes, pillows, Door mats, electrical cords etc.). So this is obviously not why they are Baaaad Dogs....



Once the toys were completely shredded, they apparently took out their frustration on the empty toy box! I came into the room to this scene:

After lots of yelling I left the room only to hear some suspicious sounds and returned less than 2 minutes later to further box destruction:

I had to be sure to include Moose in the picture because although Teddy started it, Moose lent a paw to the effort! (Forgive the blurry pics, they are taken with my phone through its waterproof case!)











Even while taking a pic of the box Teddy could not keep his labrashark jaws off of it!

I told them they were Baaaad Dogs, but they pleaded ignorance and pointed out that the box says 'toy' right on it, so clearly it is meant to be played with!

Wordless Wednesday (our very first)!

True Colors Thursday... Beige

True Colors Thursday is a meme hosted by Blue and today's color is beige!

Polyps! On the left is a branch of a soft coral (I am actually not sure which one!) and on the right is the pencil coral which is a hard coral. Both of these vary in color but in this picture they both happen to be beige. On the soft coral you see a bare spot with a few slits. That is an area where the polyps are retracted at the moment. When they are all retracted this coral looks like a bumpy stick and when they are out feeding it looks sort of furry. Each one is a separate individual that is part of the colony as a whole.


Note: As always you can click to supersize and see the detail better.

This anemone is beige with little Squat Anemone Shrimp living inside who are a little more colorful! Anemones are like huge versions of an individual coral polyp. The same kind of anemone made an appearance two weeks ago with a violet colored shrimp living in it. Tons of critters make their home in anemones!










Anemones can be solitary like the last one or colonial like this carpet anemone that was found carpeting the shallow part of the wall in Navassa!











This is a slipper lobster! Have you ever seen anything more pre-historic looking? They are usually seen scuttling about the reef at night, this one was in Curacao on one of our night 'fun' (i.e. not working) dives.

Teddy is standing in for Moose who felt that beige was just not his color. The walls in my office and the floor tiles in my house in general are beige and of course any pup lying on them would be a candidate for a beige post, but only Teddy could look so adorable in beige! It is easy to get this pic of Teddy since this spot next to my desk is where he sits while I am working!

This meme is hosted by Blue, and next week's color is Scarlet.... much more dramatic than beige!

Bathtime

Today was bathtime for Teddy. He only got a waterless bath before now because his incision was healing but today it was the full monty so to speak. Poor Moose did not necessarily need a bath but if I was going to get all the stuff out I figured why not? And he had to go first because if he saw me bathing teddy he would not have come anywhere near me until bath stuff was put away! You have to be very sneaky at bathtime when it comes to Moose!


Teddy on the other hand seemed oblivious to what was coming and decided to help me wash moose by licking the soap off! When it was his turn he seemed kinda surprised by what was going on but he just went with it.

After bathtime and the obligatory consolation oinkies, the pups decided to help dry themselves off by running wildly through the house! My camera sucks for sure, especially when it comes to capturing moving objects, but this photo sums up the black streaks that zipped through my house tonight!

After they settled down it was furminator time and Teddy seemed confused but did not protest much. I think he likes pretty much any kind of contact and attention he gets from a human! Here they are sitting quietly and looking so handsome and still naked after their bath! Such good boys (mostly)!

p.s. Teddy did great on Sunday at the Markham Park Pet festival and lots of people fawned over him and his big head! I was so glad it went smoothly and that people got to meet him since his adorable-ness is much clearer in person! Here is a pic of him waiting to meet his future family.

Adopt Me!

Teddy and I are on our way to an adoption event way up in Ft.
Lauderdale. I told him to put on his most adorable 'adopt me' face and
this is what he came up with! What do you think? We have our paws
crossed that he will behave around the other dogs so he can find his
furever home.
Moose was livid at being left behind but I told him that he was too
handsome and would steal focus from the dogs who need a home. From the
sounds I heard when I pulled out of my driveway I don't think he
bought it!

Bedtime (Finale?) and Teddy is a WDO

So I was taking a picture of Moose resting in the flower beds on the other side of my house and while I was taking them, Teddy wandered up and started eating my house! This is the side where the termites had already done their dirty deeds and that is probably why Teddy decided to munch on that part since it was exposed wood and looked sort of stick-like. Teddy is clearly a Wood-Destroying Organism just like the termites!










I am having that trim replaced but figured it called for a TeddyNO! since eating houses is generally not something one looks for in a pet!

Mopping up!

Last night Moose really mopped up the floor with Teddy! Watch the video to see Teddy's new possum strategy. Pretty effective... I guess. Now I just need to cover him in swiffer cloths to pick up all the hair!


You may notice that he has no cone on in this video... I was going to have him wear it another few days to make sure his incision is fully healed but they have now destroyed the 3rd and final cone that I have so he is free now!

Happy St Paddy's Day and Kennel up!

Here is Moose sporting some green in honor of the day! I had to take about 100 pics before I got this one and it is as good as it gets! Teddy declined to participate and opted to try to eat them which concluded the festivities!

I have been working some with Teddy to get him used to being in the crate and to go in there when I say 'Kennel-up'! And man alive he is a quick learner! Now when his crate is open I can not even say Kennel-up fast enough and he is in there sitting and waiting for his treat! It is like a giant treat machine to him!










Today Moose decided he wanted a piece of the 'kennel-up' action so he went in there and of course since the door was open Teddy went right in and sat down! It is very hard to train teddy without confusing Moose.

And here is another impressive thing... When I adopted Moose I trained him to ring a bell that I hang on the doorknob when he wants to go out (see video below), he picked it up pretty fast. I have not bothered to try to train this in Teddy yet because I figured he would not be here long and not everyone would find this useful (though they should, it is awesome). And today Teddy rang the bell to go out on 2 separate occasions! The first time I opened the door to let him out and he went out and looked at me like 'now what', I honestly think he was surprised that it worked! He is really a smart boy! On the other hand he chewed through my brand new 100ft heavy duty electrical cord today... that is not so smart!

Teddy, No!

Wow, Teddy's puppy hood is starting to re-emerge around here! He is into absolutely everything and just when I think I have puppy proofed an area he starts in on something I would not think would be chewed! I am pretty sure he thinks his name is 'TeddyNO'! He is pretty good about listening and when I yell Teddy No! he will look at me like, "oh... was that not for doggies?" He has done in my garden gloves, a towel, a light fixture box (set to be returned to the store!), a welcome mat, 2 e-collars and the list goes on. And today he broke my heart! My heart shaped pillow that is! I was talking to someone outside and I came in to this massacre! I realize Moose looks a bit guilty here but I assure you Teddy was the ring leader.






I find it kind of ironic that the remains were scattered around a box full of toys! Teddy No!









I could not care less about the pillow, even though it is featured in one of my favorite pictures of my friend Darwin (another big handsome black smooshy boy!)



















Today he also snatched my sheep but his efforts were foiled when the sheep's bell rang (though only after performing a nose-ectomy)! So far nothing he has chewed up has been a big deal (though glad I caught him with my passport before he really tore it up!). It does make me suspect that this is how he came to be abandoned and I worry that it will happen again when he finds his new home. We have been working on basic commands since I know how to train those but I have no idea how to stop these puppy behaviors! When he has something he shouldn't I say 'Teddy No!' and take it away and if there is a legal toy handy I give that to him and play a little. Moose already explained to him that if it has not already been chewed on by a doggie then it is because it is not allowed to be chewed on by doggies but I think Teddy decided that he could 'make' a lot more things into doggie toys if he just went to town on everything!
Anyone have pointers on how to teach them which things are yes and which are no?

Oh Teddy Boy!

Wow Teddy is a ball of energy! Well, relative to my Moose anyway... It has been a lot of work trying to keep them both calm since that really means keeping them separated but I think we are figuring it out. They just love to play too much for their own good at the moment. Last night they were playing out in the yard and Moose decided to relieve Teddy of his cone and that it also needed to be modified to improve airflow so he put some air holes in it for him! Pretty much every time they are allowed to play together this is the kind of thing that happens!










Today while I was on the phone I neglected to close Teddy in the office with me and there was quite a racket in the living room and this is what I found! And in case you are not familiar, the look on Moose's face is saying 'I don't know what happened! I was sitting here and the dude just flipped out and I tried to stop him momma, really I did'. This picture does not fully capture the trail of stuff through the house! He has mostly stuck with dog toys for chewing but did sample my passport and was nice enough to trot in with the remote in his mouth! Kinda hard not to laugh but what was not even a little funny was when we went for a walk today and he chewed through a heavy duty retractable leash in less than 2 minutes while I stopped to talk to a neighbor. Aside from the $45 leash I can not imagine what would have happened if he had gotten away. He is only starting to learn his name and does not really come when called yet. Yikes! Thankfully I don't think he realized what it meant when the leash came apart so I had a second to grab his collar before he noticed. Scary though! Then I had to walk home with he and Moose sharing a leash and boy did Moose get the short end of that stick!