Christmas Eve!!!!

I don't know how Petey knows it is Christmas Eve, but he does. He is so excited, he doesn't know what to do with himself. He keeps galloping up and down the hall wanting something to happen. He's been in the wrapping paper rooting around like there is something important to be found there. And I've had to get him out from under the Christmas tree. He's had all he can take. I don't know if he'll last until tomorrow for the gift opening.

Gifts!!

The master bedroom in our house has become gift wrap central, and it may be competing with the laundry room as Petey's favorite room. I have a tote that stores wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, name tags, etc. It is zippered and when it is completely unzipped it opens flat. It is in the floor because I use the bed as the wrapping table. Petey is determined to lay in the wrapping paper tote. So far, I've allowed him to try because he can't quite get comfortable on the rolls of paper. He'll walk on to the tote and circle like he is going to lay down, but can't quite make it happen. He might have actually made it all the way into a laying position once, but it didn't last long. He just loves gifts so much he has to be right in the midst of it.

Then...this morning a couple of dear friends gave me gifts in gift bags. I opened them, but put them back in the bag for easy carrying. I put the gift bags in a chair in the bedroom. If you follow me on facebook, you know that I had to take a hot, hot bath to thaw from sitting out in the cold at the Titan's game. While I was steaming, I heard the distinct sound of paper rustling. Petey had got up in the chair and had his head down in one of the bags.

The good news is that Petey really doesn't care what is in the package. He obviously likes it when it is a bacon treat, but for the most part, all he really cares about is the opening!

Holiday Memories with Petey

One Thanksgiving several years ago, long before we had given thought to blogging about Petey, our family decided to go to the mountains for Thanksgiving. My mother, both my sisters & their families along with John, me & Pete, made the trek to the mountains in North Carolina. It was great. Except for getting there.

This was also before we began drugging Petey before a long car ride. We didn't know how bad it could get. It was a drizzly night on a dark and curvy mountain road, with which we were not familiar. There was a little tension in the car due to that. I don't know if Petey sensed that and decided to add to the level of tension or just realized on his own that this was not a good situation. Don't misunderstand, we were never in any sort of danger. We were just looking for an unknown place, on an unknown road, in less than ideal driving conditions. Petey decided the thing to do would be to pace back & forth around the car - back seat, my lap, paws on the dash, back set, my lap, back seat, look out the back windshield, and on and on and on. It did not help the situation.

As stated previously we all got there and had a nice visit. Most of us stayed through Sunday but John could not. We had planned all along that he would leave early and take Petey with him. Needless to say, John was less than enthused about being alone in the car for all those hours with Petey, even before the fiasco of getting there. He would be leaving in the daylight hours, and driving on more familiar roads after dark, but still Petey can be quite demanding.

So, John came up with the bright idea to feed Petey turkey scraps before they left, hoping that it would have the same sedating effect on dogs as it does humans. Petey gobbled the turkey right up. (Get it?) John fed him a little while before leaving so that he could get nice & sleepy before the trip began. He bagged up a few extras and took a paper plate to feed him again along the way is the need arose.

Let's just say that we'll never know if the turkey made Petey drowsy or not because of the distress it caused his digestive system. The biggest problem was gas. Get the full picture here - John is in the mountains of North Carolina on a late November weekend - it was cold, with a capital C-O-L-D. We hardly left the warm, cozy cabin. John was in the car with the heat on and a gassy dog - serious gas. Besides the SBD's there were belches. I don't think either one of us had realized that dogs burped. Petey does - really stinky burps too.

John had no choice. If he was going to continue to breathe, he had to let the window down. He started by cracking the back ones hoping that a little ventilation would help. It didn't. The emissions came in waves, like time bombs. Just when he thought it was safe to breathe again, Petey cut loose. Before the poor man got off the mountain, he had the driver's window down and his head stuck out gasping for fresh air. Petey didn't care. He continued to befoul the air without a bit of concern for John's olfactory system.

We checked with the vet about medication for future trips for Petey, not us. Although, now that I think of it a little Xanax wouldn't hurt me...hmmm...

Where is Petey?

Petey the Tattle Tale, Again

Last night John got the Christmas tree lights out. Even though they are the type that are supposed to burn even if a light is out, they don't. So, John strung them through the kitchen, dining room and living room, so he could methodically check each and every bulb. They are worth the extra trouble, because they have several settings where they blink in different patterns.

While he was involved in that little task, I went to the bathroom. While I was taking care of business, Petey burst in to the room, with his best "Timmy's in the Well" look on his face. I was fairly sure that Petey was somehow upset with something John was doing, and John was not in any grave danger so I continued to do what I was doing. This caused Petey to have to run in and out of the bathroom several times a top speed, since I was not following him. I started asking him what the problem was in a very distressed sort of way which resulted in the poor dog just about turning circles in the bathroom. When I finally, followed him down the hall, him at top speed and me at my normal pace, requiring him to run back & forth to between me and the disaster, he looked at the lights and then me. It was as if he was saying "See what is going on here!"

I explained to Petey that I understood what was happening, and that it was really OK. By this time, Petey was near hysterics, so he had to go out. I don't know if he was giving himself a chance to calm down, punishing us, or just getting the heck out, since we'd been warned of the grave danger and were to silly to leave. Anyway, he went out briefly and then came back in a little calmer, but still quite upset.

I asked John if he'd been fussing at the lights or done anything to upset Petey. He said he had not said anything that might have been upsetting to the dog. He was quite calm (John that is) but clearly he had done something, neither of us knew exactly what.

When Petey came back in, he got on the couch, where he could see the lights all the way back in to the kitchen, and he sighed... repeatedly... great heaving, heavy sighs. For the life of me, I don't know what the problem was with the lights. I finally covered up Petey's head where he couldn't see the lights. He sighed a few more times, but then I'm pretty sure he dozed off.

The lights are on the tree now. That seems to be perfectly fine with him.

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

Living with Petey is a lot like living with a toddler. He's a lot smaller than us, he doesn't speak the language yet finds ways to communicate and understands a lot of what we say, he takes naps and he loves Christmas!!

He's not to keen on the chaos created by getting out the decorations each year. He enjoys them once they are up, but his most favorite part is the presents!! He loves it when we come in the house after shopping. He wants to see each and every time brought it in. I'm not kidding, he'll get all the way inside the bag to make sure that he's seen everything in it. Much like a toddler, we have to make sure he doesn't suffocate in there. He loves gift wrapping and loves unwrapping even more. OK, so I'm not so sure if he really likes the wrapping so much as he knows the unwrapping is on the way!!

He is quite good to leave the gifts alone once they are under the tree, but if he gets any indication whatsoever that it is time to open the gifts, he's Johnny on the Spot. He is ready, willing and able to assist anyone at any time unwrap a gift.

If he could write I'm sure he'd be marking the days off on the calendar until gift opening time.

Merry Christmas from Petey!!

Petey was a Good Boy

Petey was a very good boy yesterday. After he got through barking because people knocked on the door, he relaxed and tolerated everyone just fine. He was so good, I fed him a little turkey from the table and put some leftovers in his bowl. That was good, but the best part for him was when his blankets and beds got put back in the living room.

I had just left everything in the dryer on Wednesday because I knew I wouldn't be needing the dryer and it was as good a place as any to keep the stuff. Yesterday afternoon after everyone left, I got the blankets & snuggi out of the dryer. A happier dog has never been seen. I dumped them all on the love seat with the intention of putting each blanket in the proper place, but Petey was up in the middle of them the second they hit the seat. Rather than pulling them out from under him, I let him enjoy the moment. After a little while, about 2 hours probably, I was able to string the blankets back out across the living room in the normal state of disarray that Petey likes so well.

He's on the couch now up against his pillows, under the blue blanket and the snuggi close at hand in case he needs more softness & warmth.