Bath Time for Petey

We are still having great weather here, so John decided to give Petey a bath outside in the big washtub. Petey has a real love/hate thing with baths. We think he really likes it but gets cold from being wet and that is very upsetting to him. John thought it would be fun to share a few pictures with Petey's faithful public so I grabbed the camera. This is what I got.

We didn't get too far with the picture taking, when two sales women came walking up our driveway. Petey barked for all he was worth to get rid of them. Here he was in the nekkid nude not only getting a bath but also having it documented for his public, then two strange women come up the driveway. By the time we were able to convince them that we did not want any of their cleaning products the moment was over. I could not get any more shots. He'll have another bath and maybe we can get some better pictures then.

Petey's very favorite part of the bath is when it is over. He races through the house like he's had a shot of adrenaline. He'll tear up and down the hall as fast as he can. I couldn't get any pictures of that, the shutter speed on my camera isn't fast enough!! I did get a couple of pictures of him catching his breath...
I like the one on the right, it looks like he's sticking his tongue out at me. I'm sure I deserved it!

Petey's Way or No Way

We have had gorgeous weather in Nashville the past few days. It is hard to stay inside when the sun is shining and the temperature is so moderate. It is unusual for it to be so nice this time of year. John and I decided that we would sit on the front porch for a while and just enjoy being outside. Petey, of course, had to be with us.

It is part of the Petey code - stay with your peeps regardless of how horrible it may be. This was one of those horrible times. We aren't sure why but Petey pouted or growled at the other people outside the whole time we were outside. Any time either of us made a move at all that could be interpreted in the slightest way that we might be headed indoors Petey made a beeline for the door, like we would accidentally leave him outside.

After John and I decided on our own to come back inside, Petey came in and ran directly to the back door to go out. I asked Petey why he hadn't peed when we were just outside. Clearly, I had to let him out. He trotted out and did his business, came back in and demanded a treat.

Go figure...

Growling & Traveling

So, to finish the last post...

In the evening times lately, when I go to do my bedtime routine, Petey sneaks in, gets on the bed and under the covers. I almost never see or hear him when this happens. I am not often surprised to find him the the bed because the covers are all mussed and I expect to see him.

Having established in the previous post that I am the softie, I just gently push him over because he is always in my spot. He'll get up after a bit, and I'm on all sorts of allergy medication and I take 5 shots twice a week now. I should get something out of it!! The other night I go to do my usual push and I got a growl!!! I was shocked and amused. I think it bothered Petey that I was not afraid. He got up. I was punished for my bad behavior by the absence of his presence. :)

As far as the travels go, Nanny took a little trip to see my sister in Raleigh so John & I picked up her mail and checked on the house while she was gone. Petey, as you know, loves to get in the car, but often realizes that he's made a huge mistake just a few blocks away and is nervous for the rest of the trip. We take him anyway, because sometimes that is easier than leaving him behind. So, during the time she was gone we'd ask if he wanted to go to Nanny's house. He would respond eagerly and run to the back door before we could change our minds and leave him. On the next to last trip, Petey laid in my lap for several blocks. Then he sat up in my lap and watched through the windshield as we went along. He was calm and sane, much unlike his usual car self. I pointed this out to John but neither of us had an explanation. He did this both there and back. On the last trip there and back. He laid in my lap the entire trip!! That is huge. Petey does not cede control that easily. I guess he'd learned the pattern and knew what was happening so he trusted John to get us there and back safely without having to monitor his progress continually. This is a huge breakthrough for one of them - John or Petey - I'm not sure who...

More and more and more Treats!!!

It has been a while since I blogged, but not to worry Petey has been keeping quite busy. Namely he's :

• Laid in the sun
• Conned treats from us
• Growled about getting moved in the bed
• Traveled back & forth to Nanny's

You already know how he loves the sun. You also know how much he loves treats. You don't know that he has ratcheted up his treat expectations a good bit. He expects a treat any time he returns to the house, any time some one walks in to the laundry room where they are kept, or any time something is opened that sounds the remotest bit like is treat bag being opened. I have been indulgent, and given him treats most, but not every time, he thinks he should get one.

John, on the other hand, is much smarter than me. He wants Petey to be happy as much as I do and understands that Petey shouldn't eat 7 or 8 treats a day. Since John is home a lot more now, he's had more of an opportunity to deal with the issue. He's started grabbing two or three pieces of Petey's dry dog food and handing it to him. Petey trots off in to the other room to eat it. At least we think he's eating it. So far we haven't found a stash of uneaten dog food any where in the house. I'm glad John's around to come up with creative ideas of how to deal with Petey...of course it is his fault we have him...hmmm...

I'll let you know about the growling and traveling in my next post.

A New Quirk

When John and I started this blog we came up with a long list of Petey-isms that we thought would be funny to share. I've gotten away from that some, to share some day to day life experiences with him. I've given consideration to several of his quirks as yet unmentioned on the blog like his RLS, but he has developed a new one of late. He won't scratch on the door to come in anymore.

We largely use the back door to come and go out of the house ourselves, and almost exclusively us that for letting Petey in our out. At times, when he's scratched on the back door signaling he's ready to come and and we haven't heard, he would come to the front door. We thought this was smart of him. But those occasions were rare.

Lately, we've noticed that when he comes back to the door to come back in, he just stands there. Of course, we have adapted to Petey rather than adapting Petey to us. So, most of the time we stand there and wait for him to come back, so that the scratch is not necessary. Now with the fabulous sun to lay in for hours at a time, John and I are not standing by the back door awaiting his majesty's return. A few times, I've heard Petey barking and gone to investigate, only to discover that he just wanted in, most of the time, however he just stands there. John and I try as hard as we can, but we have not yet developed mental telepathy. Now, we just go check on him from time to time.

Just now, Petey had been out sunning on the back porch, and I decided he might want to come inn so I went to see. He wasn't there. He wasn't in our driveway or the neighbor's driveway either. I came to check with John to see if he'd let him in and he had not. I went to the front door. Petey was just standing there patiently waiting for someone to notice that he wanted in. At least he isn't getting perturbed because we don't know he wants in...

Happy Memorial Day from Petey

Here Petey and John are celebrating Memorial Day Petey's favorite way - with a belly rub.

John put out the flag, so I got a couple of shots with them and the flag, but it is hard to see them. If you click on the pictures to make them bigger, they're better.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

SUMMERTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Petey loves the summer. He loves to soak up the sun. It can't get too hot for him. He loves any temperature over 80. We think his ideal owner would live in Miami and stay at home with him all day. He does the best he can with us.

One of his favorite summer time activities, as mentioned in a previous post is to lay in the sun in the driveway. He'll lay there forever. He'll come inside panting like he's just run 100 miles and drinks a bunch of water. Then he'll go out for more.

Right now he is still in our driveway. It is concrete so it reflects the heat nicely. Apparently the neighbors asphalt driveway has not yet soaked up enough of the summer heat to be suitable just yet.

These are a few shots of him in our driveway. They were taken through the window so as not to disturb his repose. They're not the best, but you get the idea.


I think this one is in the neighbor's driveway. John took it, so I'm not positive. He thought he'd taken several in each driveway, but there were only three on the camera. I still think he's waiting for the blacktop to get good and hot!