John & Petey

It is very important for Petey to get his head under John's arm.

Petey's New Treats

The box clearly shows the actual size, but I didn't notice it. I had a coupon and I was too busy making sure I had the right product and best value to notice something as trivial as the size. Initially, Petey liked them, sort of like doggy popcorn. Today, he'll have nothing to do with them. Typical Pete!

Oops!!

Last night John lost his glasses. It isn't an unusual occurrence. He loses his glasses routinely. The difference this time was that neither one of us could find his glasses. We looked and looked all through the house for them. We looked and looked all outside of the house for them. In and out we went looking everywhere in the house, garage, yard and driveway. Petey, of course, was right with us trying to sniff out those glasses.

The last time John remembered having the glasses was when he was working on his car. He'd taken it out for a test drive and had a sinking feeling that he'd laid the glasses on the fender or someplace under the hood and failed to pick them up before taking the test drive. I offered to walk the test drive route but John thought it was too hot for that since it was still 110 in the shade! He thought the better choice was to drive the test route, so we hopped in the car for a brief spin.

Unfortunately, we failed to notice that with the ins and outs, Petey was out. We realized that we'd left him out when we pulled back in the driveway and he was sitting on the back porch. When we got out of the car, Petey tore of the back porch to us, barking his head off. That dog was mad. He wasn't barking his "get of my property, stranger" bark. It was quite different, and quite angry. He was so mad, that he wouldn't stay in the same room with us the rest of the night. We were forgiven by bedtime since he got in the bed with us.

For the record, the glasses were found once I convinced John to walk the test drive route. They were in a small grassy patch on the side of the road totally unscratched and unbent!

Petey's Pills

Petey has been taking a daily dose of medicine for his doggie arthritis ever since his last vet appointment. Much to our suprise, he'll take the pill right out of our hands and gulp it down.

That is until this week. On Monday, he wouldn't take it. He hadn't eaten much during the day. That is not all that unusual. He gets mad and pouts by not eating. We no longer try to figure out why or how to make Petey feel better. We will sometimes try to coax him in to eating if the pout goes on for too long, but most of the time we figure when he gets hungry he'll eat, pout or no pout.

It was still a bit of a surprise that he would not take the pill when I (Lori) tried to give it to him. Since he was in a stubborn mood, I thought maybe taking the pill should be his idea. I left the pill next to him, thinking he'd eat it once I'd walked away. I checked back later. He was gone, but the pill remained. Again, I tried to give him the pill and again he refused. It was important that he take the pill, since he needs to keep a constant level of medication in his system to keep the pain away.

He wasn't eating so coating the pill in peanut butter or some other delicacy wasn't an option. Periodically throughout the evening, I'd hand Petey his pill and he'd refuse it. So, John decided to save the day by giving Petey the pill. He put the pill in the palm of his hand and coaxed Petey over to it. Petey, bowing to the pressure, came over, got the pill in his mouth, and walked away.

John stood up, victorious and ready to celebrate. Petey had just turned his back to John with the pill in his mouth. But before the celebration could begin, Petey spit the pill out and continued walking away! I, of course, began to laugh but it was now a contest of wills!

Petey really thought he'd pulled a fast one on John, but unfortunately for him, he had not. John picked up the pill and Petey. He gave Petey the pill once again. John wouldn't let him down until he swallowed. Petey, realizing he'd been outmatched, swallowed.

Petey has since resumed eating and taking his pills. Go figure.

A Boy and His Dog

Petey Had to Put Himself to Bed - Again!

Petey Hates Horses

We weren't too surprised to learn this afternoon that Petey hates horses. He doesn't like many animals or humans, so it wasn't a stretch to think he hated horses. We just didn't know because he'd never been around horses until this afternoon.

John had to take the Mustang to get a little work done on it. He uses a guy that lives in the boondocks outside of Ashland City. He drove the 'tang and Petey and I followed so we could bring him back home. When we got to the man's house we discovered two horses and a dog. We'd seen the dog before, a friendly boxer that is easy to befriend, but the horses had been in another pasture when we'd been there before.

Since we were aware of the dog, the plan all along was for me to stay in the car with Petey while John handled the business with the other car. When we pulled to a stop, the horse was on the passenger side of the car near the front. He was quite curious about this new object in his space and he ambled over to check it out. He seemed like a gentle horse that would allow a little nuzzle and I might have tried if it hadn't been for Pete.

The minute Petey saw the horse he let loose a string of doggie profanity that turned the air blue. John and the mechanic could both hear him even with the windows up. The horse was undaunted and curious. He ambled around the back of the car and up the driver's side. Petey followed on the inside, never stopping the doggie swearing. Then the horse saw me. He looked down through the window at me, with his nose right up against the glass. Defying the laws of physics, Petey launched himself out of the backseat and in to my lap. I had never heard him so vicious. He must have thought I was in danger.

John and the mechanic snapped their heads around at the noise and the horse jumped. Even though Pete had been barking quite loudly, the notch up in savagery must have startled even him. John hurried with his business so we could get out of there before Petey started gnawing through the door to whip that horse.

I tried explaining to Petey that all the horse had to do was step on him and it would all be over, but Petey was undeterred. He knew he could take that horse, if we'd just let him. We wouldn't. And we won't be around horses again if we can help it.