Archive | Crazy Dog

Puppy Love

August 25, 2010 in Crazy Dog 1

Growing up I had a toy poodle named Alex. My dad bought him as a Valentine’s Day gift for me when I was seven years old. You see, that fall our dog had been hit by a car {by a lady who worked at my elementary school…but that’s another story} and afterwards every picture I drew was of sad-looking dogs behind bars with captions above their head that said, ‘Adopt me’. I think after a while it wore him down and he wanted to surprise me {or to stop my mopey drawings}. It was one of the few purchases he didn’t consult my mom on and I think for the next 14 years he regretted it.

Now don’t get me wrong, Alex was a cute and loyal little dog. Perhaps loyal isn’t the right word, protective might be a better fit. If anyone came within ten feet of me fangs were exposed and growling commenced. And sometimes his “attitude” would be taken out on me by snapping. While I loved him, I was scared of him.

But Vivi and MM’s relationship? It couldn’t be more different than the one I had with my childhood dog. These two love each other so much and Vivi wouldn’t dream of hurting her. I’ve actually seen MM play in Vivi’s dog bowl while she was eating–had I done that with Alex I would be missing a finger. And it brings tears to my eyes just flipping through these pictures from yesterday.

Laying down on the floor together.

Giving a quick hug.

Riding Vivi like a horse. One of her most favorite things to do.

Look at me, Mom!

Another hug.

A peck on the cheek.

Sisterly love at its finest. I am so happy we chose to get Vivi three years ago; I never would have guessed she would be such a great dog to Mary Margaret. They are truly best friends.

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A Few Tidbits:

-Oh, and I know MM has Band-Aids on her arm in basically all her pictures…she is going through a phase of fake boo-boos and wanting Band-Aids all.day.long. Silly girl!

-I *knew* it was hotter than normal this summer. I just knew it! Turns out it was…Atlanta is the third hottest city in the country with 69 days having above normal temperatures. Only Louisville and Memphis beat us.

-Yesterday when MM woke up the first words out of her mouth were, ‘mmmmmmm {her cow noise}–MAW MAW–GOF car’…and she repeated it over and over.

And while yes, it’s really neat that she’s putting together thoughts/sentences, she’s a demanding little thing. HA! So, by 10AM we were over here at the farm and she was riding on the golf cart with her mamaw looking for the neighbor’s cows just like she wanted.

Our Life, In Pictures

August 16, 2010 in Crazy Dog, Daily Life, Family 1

No captions needed. A “Wordless Monday” post, if you will.

No Words needed. These pictures tell the story. V2.0

May 15, 2010 in Crazy Dog 1

Sisterly love caught on a random afternoon at Mimi and Pops.

A Great Big Sister

August 16, 2009 in Crazy Dog, Daughter 4

MM riding her pony this afternoon.

Vivi is a really good big sister. She lets MM tug on her ears, lets us put MM on her shoulders, and licks MM’s face ’til we tell her to stop. But a couple of things lately have really made us aware how good of a dog she is.

Example 1: The other day I was holding MM at my parents’ house. Gus, their pug, was running around with a toy (a toy which I assumed was a dog toy) when Vivi growled at him and almost started to attack him. This was so unlike her that I yelled at her and sent her outside. Then I looked down to see that it was one of MM’s little toys and Vivi knew that the dogs weren’t allow to play with them so she tried to get it away from Gus.

Example 2: MM was in her exersaucer playing with some toys. She dropped one of them and Vivi walked over, picked it up in her mouth, and put it back on MM’s exersaucer tray.

I honestly never thought Vivi would be a good dog for a child. She’s assertive, loud, crazy, controlling of her space, etc. afterall, but in the end, she is fabulous with MM. She’ll guard her as she plays. She’ll lick her toes while she’s sitting in her highchair eating dinner (and waiting for tiny bits of Cheerios to fall to the floor too). She lays on the bathroom floor as we give MM a bath.

She is the ultimate big sister and I look forward to the day when MM can really play with her.

And here’s just a sample of Vivi being MM’s right hand “man” from the very beginning.

Vivi’s New ‘Do

April 9, 2009 in Crazy Dog 2

Today our hairy dog got a much, MUCH needed haircut. Her hair had been cut back on January 8th (yep, MM’s birth day) and it looked horrible. The groomer completely butchered her hair and she looked like a mutt. They cut off her beard, her eyebrows, and her coat was uneven (shaved in one spot, 6″ long in others). It took three months until she started looking okay, but she still looked like this (oh, and she was horribly matted to boot!):

Vivi’s favorite groomer came out to my parents’ house today in her little grooming van and gave her a fabulous cut. She does two other briards in Atlanta (and does Westminster every year) and does the best short cut, a la Giant Schnauzer, I’ve seen. Here’s Vivi proudly showing off her new coif.

Vivi is so proud of it and so am I because this cut requires *no* grooming on my part which is a pretty big deal for us briard owners. Yeehaw!

Sisters and Baskets

March 14, 2009 in Crazy Dog, Daughter, Princess Cat 4

Where does one end and the other begin? I love how their fur matches.

This past week I decided to do MM a handmade–though not necessarily handmade by *me*–Easter basket. If you promise not to tell her I’ll fill you in. First, I got her a puzzle. But not just any puzzle–a puzzle shaped like a Briard. She’s also getting a shirt with a dog on it. But not just any dog–a Briard like her best friend, Vivi! And then she’s also getting a bunny handmade by me. I know she’s a little young and all, but I just had to get her a basket for her first Easter and hopefully she’ll get some use out of these three things. So, what are y’all getting/giving for Easter?

I’m a Proud Puppy Mama

March 3, 2009 in Crazy Dog 4

Vivi has been amazing me lately. While she still has her moments of complete and utter craziness, she is beginning to be such a loving and kind-hearted dog.

I mentioned last week how I found her guarding MM one morning. Well, she also follows the two of us around the house and whenever I sit the baby down Vivi instantly checks her out and usually gives her a little lick to the hand to make sure she is okay. Well, today took the cake.

She’s been staying at my parents’ house the last few nights because our backyard has turned into a muddy mess because of all the rain and snow and Vivi is notorious for tracking the outside in. Mary Margaret & I are over there everyday so it’s almost like having her at home. (She’s coming home with us tomorrow.)

Anyway… today Dad comes in and tells us Vivi has discovered an abandoned rabbit’s nest (it was made out of rabbit hair and in the ground) and that instead of going potty she just wanted to sniff it the entire time she was in the backyard. Well, fast forward eight hours later and Dad can’t get her inside. He goes out to the backyard to bring her in and finds her sitting at the rabbit hole looking at a teeny, tiny little bunny that had somehow gotten out of the hole. She had been down there at least thirty minutes and hadn’t hurt it AT ALL. It turns out there were two more baby rabbits in the hole and Vivi hadn’t messed with them either. She was just looking at the hole and protecting the tiny babies.

How sweet is that? I know most dogs would have eaten them in a second and instead she had been watching over them every time she went out today. What a sweet dog she is turning out to be–a true “Gentle Giant”!

Wherever Mary Margaret is, Vivi is too.

Day 7: I am thankful for my wonderful dog. She’s challenging, head strong, independent, loud, and in your face…while at the same time she’s sweet, loving, a cuddle bug, and a protector. She has come so far in the last sixteen months and I’m loving the dog she is becoming. I am proud that MM will have Vivi as a big sister.

Big Sister

February 23, 2009 in Crazy Dog, Daughter 3

Saturday C. & his best friend went to a dirt bike race at the Georgia Dome. He had been wanting to go so I got him tickets for his birthday which is next month. I decided I would just spend the night with my parents since I didn’t know what time he would be getting home.

That afternoon I went upstairs to pack MM and my bag. Vivi followed me upstairs and watched as I placed MM in her swing to occupy her for a few minutes so I could get everything together. I told Vivi to follow me into our room because though I love her and know that she wouldn’t intentionally hurt the baby, she is an eighty pound rambunctious puppy and I have made it a rule that I don’t leave her in a room alone with the baby.

After about ten minutes of packing I realized Vivi wasn’t in the room with me. And I panicked. I could hear my grandmother saying, ‘I TOLD you not to leave the dog alone with baby!’ if something had happened. I ran into the nursery and my heart stopped for a second.

There was Mary Margaret swinging happily while Vivi lay on the rug watching her. Or should I say guarding her? That’s right, she’s already taken the big sister stance with my little one. And like a lot of things lately, it made me cry.

I was so worried about Vivi and the baby before she was born. Briards are known as aloof, assertive, dominant dogs because they were bred to be left alone for days guarding sheep from wolves. I wasn’t sure how my pup would react to the baby. What I saw on Saturday made me feel really good. Of course, I won’t be leaving Vivi and MM alone intentionally in the near future–I would hate for Vivi to hurt her with a paw or something–but it’s good to know that as MM gets older she’s going to have a friend, and a protector, in Vivi.

A Mother and Her Daughters

January 13, 2009 in Crazy Dog, Daughter, Princess Cat 6

I think they all might just get along, after all.

A Day of Introductions

January 12, 2009 in Crazy Dog, Daily Life, Daughter 5

Today Mary Margaret experienced three new things:

She had her first bath (well, her first bath given by her mommy). She cried and then peed all over me.
She met her first cousin, Braden. He currently weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces and is 20″ long so that are almost identically the same size. They didn’t even realize the other one was in the crib.
She met Vivi. Vivi at first ignored her, then followed us to the changing table, and then barked at her when she cried. She’s currently sitting on the floor and trying to decide what she thinks of the new creature in her daddy’s lap.

In sad news, C. went back to work. My mother stayed the day with us, but it wasn’t the same without him. Of course, I sent him at least ten pictures throughout the day and he got home by 5 o’clock (he’s usually a 8 o’clock kind of guy) to be with his girls, but it was still hard. I can’t imagine when I go back to work. Nope, not even going to think about that.

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