Stanley, Stanley, Stanley

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dogs, pets, postaday2016

When Stanley was a tiny puppy, it was relatively easy to walk him, he followed without a problem and he wasn’t that skittish, the challenge back then was trying to walk without being stopped every five minutes by someone who wanted to pet him and drool over how absolutely adorable he was, and he was adorable, all fluffy like a tiny bear cub.

Fast forward nine months, very few people stop us to pet him and drool over his cuteness. We most often get a wide berth from pedestrians lol. Stanley isn’t difficult to walk as long as he isn’t frightened or suddenly spooked. The problem with the city is that you never know who you are going to walk by and what noise may suddenly pierce the relative silence. When Stanely is spooked, he becomes anxious and all he wants to do is get back to my mother’s house. When Stanley is frightened by a person, he reacts with growling and barking, not very conducive to a pleasant walk. When Stanley barks, I talk to him firmly and calmly, he doesn’t lunge or pull, but he lets everyone know that he sees them. Stanley’s latest move which is challenging is his plop to the ground as dead weight, I have to psyche him out to get him to move, so far I have been successful every time he has pulled this little stunt.

I hope Stanley gets acclimated to the city soon, it gets very tiring walking him, worrying that he will bark or plop to the floor. He grew way too fast.

Boys will be boys

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pets, postaday2016, tug of war

This is one of only times we successfully captured Jack and Stanley playing tug of war. My son was really on the ball with this one, ordinarily I’m so caught up in “How adorable!!!”, that my cellphone is left alone to the side, while all of the action unfolds before my very eyes and by then, it’s too late to film, because either Jack has won or Stanley has given up; in either case, Jack struts around like the boss because he thinks he won fair and square. They never disappoint when it comes to putting a smile on my face and a lift in my soul.

Getting my exercise

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dogs, pets, postaday2016

   
    
 My husband took me and the dogs for a walk. LOL

 It was his idea which I thought was so sweet, he knows how much I love walking the dogs and for him to offer to take us was a very lovely gesture. It was a great idea because we haven’t walked Stanley on a leash since before Christmas and I don’t think Lulu or Jack have been either, so those two were chomping on the bit, but Stanley was his usual mope yo- bope yo self, walking up ahead and sitting down to wait for us. He is such a mellow dog, Lulu and Jack were on sniff patrol, they acted as if they hadn’t sniffed anything in the park for a thousand years while Stanley lumbered after them, mildly curious. 

It felt good to get out into the fresh air and it was such a mild day in Blandford, a real pleasure to stroll in the park. I had so much fun with my husband and the dogs. It gave me the boost I needed today.

The gang is quite adorable

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pets, postaday2016, sweaters

   
   
It is bitterly cold outside, that’s why Lulu and Jack are wearing their sweaters, I tried to put Stanley’s sweater on him and it got stuck halfway though, it seems he outgrew his sweater weeks ago.

  
It has only been a few weeks since this picture and that sweater was fairly loose back then, now I can’t even put his second front leg into the sleeve. 

I’m not quite sure when to start buying sweaters for Stanley, he is growing exponentially for a dog. Lol

How can anyone feel blue when you have pets around.

Santa’s little helpers

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pets, postaday2015, Santa

   
 
It is so much fun dressing up your pets, I never knew that growing up, my mother wouldn’t let us have a dog and in France, our family never thought to dress up their dogs.  I wonder if way back when, if my family had access to cute outfits for Prince the German Shepard and Whinney the Black Lab, if they would have tortured them the way I am doing with Jack, Lulu and Stanley. Somehow I doubt it. lol

They are so cute with their festive head gear aren’t they?!

Poor Jack, Lulu and Stanley, they must be asking “Mommy Daddy where is the dignity? Really, pictures to make it even worse”

Some puppies grow faster than others

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dogs, pets, postaday2015, Stanley

   
   
We brought Stanley home on the 3rd of October, today is October 28th and he is almost as tall as Lulu. Jack was bigger than Stanley for about one week, now that ship has sailed, funny enough Jack likes Stanley more now that he is taller than Jack. Lulu isn’t sure what to make of this puppy who won’t stop growing everyday.  In the beginning Lulu was very maternal, now she is getting more playful and starting to rough house with Stanley, she isn’t timid with bowling him over like she was in the beginning. 

This morning I weighed Stanley, he was very cooperative, I carried him into the bathroom and sat him down on the scale, he stayed like the good little puppy he is and he weighs 20.4 lbs. On October 3rd, he weighed in at 9 lbs what a difference 25 days of good eating makes, that and sleeping.

   
   
We have been taking pictures of Stanley non-stop because before you know it, Stanely will be at least as big as his mom Pumpkin and she is a svelte 165 lbs,, his father Ralph is a much denser version at 200 lbs. We want to remember our little baby who we carried around for as long as possible. Twenty lbs is still an acceptable weight to haul around, I probably won’t be saying the same thing when the scale starts registering at 40, 50 and 60 lbs. lol 

The gang in the park

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park, pets, postaday2015

  
Look at Lulu’s smile, is there anything more beautiful? I’m not sure what Jack is focused on, it was probably a bird or a chipmunk, but as usual he is primed for the pounce. Stanley is starting to like these small walks in the park, we take it nice and slow because he likes to take a minute here and there to sit and rest.

My husband did a great job getting their focus, without treats mind you. lol  Our walks are fun, Lulu and Jack buddy up on critter patrol, they are so serious about it, every sound, every smell has to be investigated. Stanley trots along, looking at what his older brother and sister are doing, not quite sure what is going on, but he seems happy to be included. lol

  

Playing in the October sunshine

Tags

pets, postaday2015

   
    
 
I love when Jack emerges from his “forest” he acts as if he trekked over hill and dale to get back to us. Stanley hasn’t followed, I don’t think he has summoned the courage yet. He is still getting to know his new surroundings, he seems to really like the vegetable garden.

   
   
   
 
  

I don’t want to say au revoir just yet

Tags

pets, postaday2015, sunshine

The weather is still being kind to my plants, but I had to bring in my bougainvillea, hibiscus and impatiens for the winter because our nights here in Blandford are dipping down into the low 40’s and none of these plants can survive those temperatures.

I am trying not to get too down about the falling leaves,the brown grass and the shorter days. I am a child of the sun, a Leo since August is my birth month, sunshine is my medicine; rays of sunlight brighten my mood and lessen my aches.

But even though the nights are longer, our motley crew of pups keep me occupied and in good spirits, they have been getting along much better these past two days. Jack and Lulu are accepting Stanley into the fold even though they are a little jealous of how often he gets fed compared to them. lol

Adventures at the vet

Tags

pets, postaday2015, veteranarian care

   
   
Our daughter and I took the three dogs off to the vet’s to get their checkups and for Stanley to continue his vaccination schedule as well as for Jack and Lulu to get their boosters plus with the added bonus of those always odorous fecal samples.

I have to say that the three of them behaved themselves very, very well. There was an emergency during our allotted time and Jack, Lulu and Stanley were so patient  waiting for the doctor to return. My daughter kept me entertained with little nuggets off the web while Jack sat quietly on my lap, Lulu laid on the floor and Stanley rested underneath my chair. We arrived at our appointment at 1:30 and we didn’t leave until 3:30 so it wasn’t a short length of time that we were waiting for the vet to deal with that serious emergency. I hope that everything turned out okay for the dog and its owners. 

On a happy note, the vet was so happy with Jack’s weight, I felt relieved because I worry about Jack and his incessant appetite, I want my little man to stay with us for a very, very long time. Lulu has become such a sleek beauty, the vet couldn’t say enough nice things about her awesome physicality, our daughter has done such a fantastic job nursing Lulu back to health. Her father and I are so very proud of her.

Now for Stanley, everyone was over the moon with Stanley, I mean, who doesn’t fawn over a puppy? His temperament so far is pretty wonderful, calm and affectionate, he loves to  cuddle and  he doesn’t mind much of anything so far.

It was a pretty long afternoon but a good one, all the pups are in good health  and in good shape.