It Got Worse

John decided to clip Petey's nails. You'd think he was running bamboo shoots under them rather than nipping of the very end. Petey hates to have his nails trimmed. It is a fate worse than death, even if he does get a treat once it is over.

If that wasn't enough John and I left the house together. We just ran out to get something to eat, so we weren't gone long. (We skipped the park.) Right now Petey is jammed up next to John in the chair with his 'trembler' on high. At least we didn't get any gifts in the floor!

Petye's Hard Morning

Petey had a hard morning this morning. John had an early appointment and was up and out before I got out of bed. Since John is Petey's number one right now, Petey was none to pleased that he was gone.

Sadly, when Petey's number one is out of the house, there is not much number two can do to appease the little fellow. He needs to go out and look about every 15 seconds and when he isn't outside looking he's flinging himself down on the couch, chair, bed, etc. sighing loudly. I've stopped trying.

This morning was no different than all the others. I got Petey in the bed with me for a little while. That is usually the best option. When I got up, however, the fun really began. Thankfully, John was home soon after we got up, so I hadn't quite reached my limit with Pete.

John has used up his free passes from the house for the day. It is a pretty day and we've talked about going to the park. If we do we'll have to take Petey. He might like a walk in the park. I'll let you know if anything eventful happens!!

Petey's Birthday

Petey came to live with us in August. His previous owner told us that his birthday was in February, but she wasn't sure when. We wanted Petey to have a birthday so we could celebrate particularly after we learned that he loved to open gifts so much. We needed to select a date that we could remember from year to year. I didn't want it to be Valentine's Day because I didn't want the human residents of the household to have to share our special day. After lots of consideration, at least 45 seconds, we agreed that February 2nd should be Petey's birthday. To save you a trip to your calendar to find out what is so special about February 2, it is Groundhog Day. Petey is a furry little fellow and likes to burrow. It seemed to fit. He doesn't care. He just wants to open gifts.


So, on February 2, 2009 Petey will celebrate his 12th birthday. John suggested making a bacon flavored cake for the occasion, because Petey likes bacon treats so much. I'm not too keen on that idea. I might make a cake for John and me, but it won't be bacon flavored. I'll probably wrap up a few bacon treats for him and maybe rewrap his stepping stone from Christmas since he hasn't worked on it yet. He won't care. I know I won't get him any peanut butter pops. Neither one of us wants to deal with that again!! He doesn't need any more toys. That is another post.

Petey Kisses

As I have said in previous posts, Petey is a one dog welcoming committee. He is always glad for us to come home. He knows our patterns very well, so once he's done the Petey dance to welcome into the house, he'll run to the room we generally enter first. For me that is usually the bathroom!! So, when I get home from work, Petey will welcome me at the door then run to the bathroom door and wait for me. I take care of business and change clothes. He'll prance and carry on while I'm doing so, like he hasn't seen me in months. Part of the ritual includes what we've come to call Petey Kisses. This is when, he'll sneak up behind us and put his nose on our calves. It is very sweet. It is also very cold.

The temperature of Petey's nose is somewhere near absolute zero, no matter what the outside temperature is; Petey's nose is COLD!! This could be part of the reason he keeps his head on the heating vent. His nose is so cold, that in the summer time, we're surprised that we don't hear a sizzle when we are kissed. A cold spot remains for several minutes while our bodies are working to bring that spot back up to normal temperature. We're thinking of renting him out to dermatologists for cryosurgery!!

Promised Pictures

John and I managed to get a couple of shots of Petey with his head on the vent, as promised. John let Petey out, so he'd get cold. While he was out, we turned up the heat, so it would be on when he came in. Of course, he went straight to the vent to warm his head!

He knew something was going on, so his head isn't quite as far up under the towel as usual, but you get the idea.

For the record, we're still fighting over possession of the Snuggi. He's on it right now looking at me. I've got to go stake my claim!!

Petey's Beds

When Petey came to live with us, he had a box in which he slept. It was a very nicely appointed box with towels and blankets; everything a dog could want and Petey loved it. He knew that was his space and guarded it fiercely. He did not like to have his 'stuff' washed for instance.

As time progressed, he built himself a little nest on the corner of the couch. He would 'arrange' the pillows so that he would be up high and he could survey his kingdom. No one could come or go from the house that he would not be able to see from this vantage point. In time an old blue blanket migrated to that corner of the couch. It had been a blanket that was good to snuggle under on a cold day while watching a movie, but somehow it became Petey's blanket. Slowly, slowly Petey came to have nests in every room of the house - three in the living room.

A few Christmases ago, I was given another blue blanket. This one had my name stitched in the corner. I showed Petey where my name was sewn in and how it was my blanket not his. Although Petey can spell, and tell time, he cannot read and did not care that my name was in the blanket - he took it. He keeps it with the other blue blanket on his end of the couch.

Several months ago, John decided that Petey needed a bed beside the fireplace. Perhaps, he thought, if Petey really liked the nice soft bed beside the nice warm fire, we could reclaim some of the living room for ourselves. That was not to be. Petey just added that soft, warm place to the rest of the soft warm places he liked to rest.

His third living room spot, is directly in front of a heating vent. Our house is old and they don't make vent covers to fit the size vents we have, so John put a towel over it and tucked in three sides of it. When the heat comes on, the towel raises up and the warm air is forced out of the untucked side, blowing air in to the room - at least in theory. Petey quickly learned the sound the heat made when it kicked in and would come put his head under the towel - on the vent!!!
He looks like someone in a cold remedy commercial. I haven't been able to get a picture of him there yet. He's too aware of the camera. I'm still trying, and one day I'll get it.

John decided that this year for Christmas, he would get me a Snuggi. You've probably seen the commercials for them. They are basically blankets with arms. They really are very handy, especially since I'm usually cold and John is usually hot. He got a burgundy colored one thinking that Petey would know that was not his.

We just got the Snuggi this week because it was on back order. Petey knows that it isn't his, but wants it very bad. He seems to be almost jealous of the Snuggi. When I sit on the couch and put it on he is all over me. He was so upset the other night, he was shaking like crazy. I tried putting him on top of the Snuggi and then putting a blanket on him, but that seemed to make matters worse. I've been letting him under the Snuggi with me, but he still really doesn't like that. He'll sigh and carry on like he is really being put out in some way.

Today, I had been watching TV, and decided to go start supper. I just laid the Snuggi on my end of the couch and went into the kitchen. A little later, I walked back in the room and found this.
As aware of the camera as he is, he was not about to move off of his conquest. What am I to do!?!?!

Petey Can Tell Time

Petey is a very smart dog, as I'm sure you're well aware from earlier posts. He is so smart he can tell time. He knows when it is 9:00 pm. We know this because every night without fail, regardless of what else is going on the house, Petey wants to go out at 9:00 pm. It is really a funny thing, at exactly 9:00 Petey will walk to the back door to go out. He'll walk back to wherever we are in the house, look at us with some disdain, since we know that it is time to go out, and walk back to the back door. If on an evening, John and I are really on top of things and realize that it is almost 9:00, we still can't get to the back door before Petey.

We've tried several experiments to see what triggers Petey to go out but it really does not matter what we're doing or what Petey's doing - at 9:00 he goes out. The only thing that ever gets him off track is changing the time to & from daylight saving time. It will take him a day or two to adjust his internal Petey clock.

The evening 'run' as we call it is followed by the 'go to bed' ritual. Petey is ready to go to bed as soon as he returns to the house. The only problem is Petey won't go to bed without us, and we aren't always ready to go to bed at 9:00 pm!! This hardly ever occurs, actually. Apparently, Petey thinks there is something in the going out side ritual that triggers bedtime, so if we don't go to bed within about 10 minutes, he'll want to go out again. He is a determined little fellow, and quite hard to dissuade, so it is easier to let him out every 10 minutes between 9:00 and whenever we go to bed, than it is to distract him.

When we finally go to bed we encounter a whole new set of 'rules', but that is a post for another time...

The Day Petey Almost Died

Petey went to the vet today. He got a clean bill of health, particularly considering that he is almost 12 years old. Keep that in mind as you read the following story, I don't want anyone to get unduly upset...

One Friday this summer, I got home from work before John. As a general rule, he gets home first and lets Petey out. When one of us gets home no matter how long we've been gone, we are greeted with incredible enthusiasm. Petey will watch us drive up through the window beside the door then stand right in front of the door on the side where it opens to welcome us in. If we take too long he'll go back to the window to check on us, then back to his post. Taking too long means about 5 seconds, so he runs back & forth a lot if we're carrying packages or doing anything to impede immediate progress to the door. So this back and forth can happen quite a lot during the few steps we take from the car to the back door. We call it the Petey dance.

This particular Friday, however, I was met by a much more subdued Petey. He was glad to see me, but he didn't do the dance or even jump on me as I entered. His back was somewhat arched and his head was hanging down, almost like he'd been scolded. Of course he hadn't been, I'd just come to the door. He looked up at me without moving his head, just his eyes. It was obvious that something was very wrong. I was certain that he needed to pee because he'd been in the house all day, so I called him out on to the porch. He slowly made his way out the door, but refused to go down the steps. I picked him up and carried him over to the grassy area beside the driveway so he could take care of business. He arched his back even more which made me think he had some additional business to attend to as well. Instead of doing that, he flopped over on his side, almost like he fainted. I stood him back up and stayed knelt beside him, trying to see what his problem was. He flopped over again. He had the most pitiful look in his eye, that I was sure he was dying. You may recall that there was a lot of tainted dog food out this summer, and although we hadn't given him any of the recalled food, you never know. There could have been more tainted food out there undiscovered.

So, here I was on a Friday afternoon, with a dying dog. I scooped him up and took him inside and put him in our bed. I called John's office, but he was already on the way home. I called his cell, but got the voice mail. I didn't know what else to do, so I got in the bed beside Petey and stroked him over and over telling him what a good dog he was. I wasn't going to let him die alone. John got home and I told him of Petey's dire straits. John quickly realized that there was a serious issue, so he called the vet!! Why didn't I think of that!! The vet was closing for the day, but gave us the number for the pet emergency clinic nearby. Since we were calling people now, I thought about calling my cousin who has been to veterinary assistant school and knows all about animals. She thought that a visit to the emergency clinic was unnecessary and that Petey was just in pain of some sort. She prescribed a baby aspirin and taking him to the vet in the morning. She also called a friend who agreed with her assessment, so we gave him a baby aspirin and let him sleep with us that night.

Saturday morning he was better, but not completely so we took him to the vet. Once we got there, he started acting like he was fine. I learned later that this is part of the pack mentality. He didn't want to get put out of the pack for being weak, so he was faking being strong. We saw the vet, who was very kind and gentle with Petey. She felt up and down his spine and hips, no reaction. She pulled his head up high, no reaction. She pulled his head to one side, and again nothing. She pulled his head to the other side - YELP!! Yes, Petey had a crick in his neck!!! Perhaps he slept wrong during the day while we were at work.

That is when I learned that Petey is the king of drama. I have never, ever met a dog with such a flair for the dramatic. I truly thought he was dying less than 24 hours before and had people from here to Colorado (where my cousin lives) and back trying to figure out his problem. Oh yeah, the vet prescribed a baby aspirin!!

Today the vet called him a baby...then she said she thought he was a bit spoiled...she's a smart woman...