Life as normal

It's been too long since I've posted, and I have no excuse besides it being the most stressful week I've had in a long time. I didn't get admitted to UNC and am on the waitlist for UVA. Home for lunch right now, I got a nice reminder from the dogs that the world has not ended and life will continue on as normal, no matter what I do.

I was walking aimlessly in the house, partly because I have a (nother) cold and partly because I'm tired from getting up early to do P90X, when I caught a flash of black and brown in the backyard. When I snuck to the window to spy, I was greeted with a sight that made me smile. They were playing, as they always do. Chili was taunting Cozby with a stick, or sometimes a toy, as if Cozby wanted it, then they would come together in a clash of kangaroo fighting. Upon separation, Chili would do a couple of sprint laps around the yard, each time coming just close enough to Cozby to make him think there was going to be another encounter, but far enough away that he could continue his laps. Then, another clash of kangaroo fighting. Rinse, dry, repeat.

Sometimes I envy the dogs, and this is one of those times. Their only real stress is when we don't feed them until late, and their only responsibility is to do nothing. Of course, there could be squirrells in the backyard. That would be a disaster.

Alarm clock

Britten got home last night, and we were going to sleep in this morning before going to the gym together. It was an excellent plan, but we hadn't had a normal weekend in so long that we didn't remember that our the dogs get up at the same time, no matter what. I've decided that alarm clocks, no matter how furry, are not cool.

So, we let them outside briefly, then put them in their crates and went back to sleep. No gym, we slept in too late.

Later in the day, we took naps (all four of us). I don't know why, but I can't believe that the dogs are slugged out, after all that sleeping. But that's what they're doing.

The Great Kong Experiment

"The Great Kong Experiment" is much better than "The King Kong Experiment".

I think that getting the Kongs was the best idea I've ever had. Shall I list the reasons why? Definitely.

1. Peanut butter is much cheaper than rawhide chips.
2. The dogs attacked the Kongs with a crazy amount of energy. All that could be heard from that side of the room for a solid 15 minutes was tongue trying to get peanut butter. Gross, but exponentially better than Chili regurgitating rawhide for an hour.
   
3. Even Cozby wanted to get every last molecule of peanut butter out.
4. Cozby's tongue is apparently more dexterous than Chili's, so Chili was done after Cozby. I never thought I'd be discussing the dexterity of a dog's tongue. I feel all growed up!
5. The Kong is shaped such that Chili can neither pick it up nor tear it into little bits. That means that the Kong will last, and Chili can't steal it from Cozby. Although even if he could, there wouldn't be any peanut butter to get (see #3).

With all the exertion of extracting peanut butter, they're both comatose now. I hope they don't get the runs, that would be most unfortunate.

Victims of Syracuse

Last night, Syracuse played UConn in the Big East basketball tournament. The game went to six overtimes. Only two other games have gone to six overtimes and one to seven overtimes in the history of NCAA basketball. What does this have to do with our dogs? Not much, except that I stayed up to watch the whole game, so I was exhausted all day today.

Even with tiredness, I knew that I needed to have a workout. It was one of those workouts where you just survive, and I was even more exhausted afterward. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and something caught my eye.

Kongs. What a treat they would be for the mutts! Didn't happen. I was so exhausted that I did my own slug impression on the couch watching basketball again. (Did I mention that I love this time of year?) I'm reminded of a quote from "The Ghost and the Darkness" ... "In point of fact, it didn't [work]. But I'm convinced the theory is sound." They'll have their Kongs tomorrow. And it will be great.

And to bring the whole thing full circle, Syracuse just beat West Virginia. In overtime. (Only one this time...)

Dude, that's gross

Britten is gone to her coaching class again, so it's me and the boys hanging at home. Thankfully, there's lots of college basketball on, seeing as it's tournament time. I'm still crossing my fingers that Davidson makes it into the big dance after losing in their conference tournament. That, and I think that Curry should come back for his senior year since the rest of the team is going to be awesome next year. Plus, it's nice to see the Wildcats dominate (ish).

Digression aside, the dogs and I fell into our normal solitary routine - they're slugs and I do whatever. Two highlights have come out of the night. First, something normal, but something that never ceases to make me chuckle. After I feed the dogs, Cozby always comes over to wherever I am - I think it's to thank me for giving him food (it's such a surprise for him, since he thinks I'm more likely to kill him). The thing is, he always comes over just long enough to work up a good and smelly burp. Really. It always seems to be, "Oh Daddy, thanks so much for the food (and not killing me)," but then after about 15 or 20 seconds he burps and walks away. I'm starting to think it's some kind of dominance act for him. Either that, or he's so freaked out that his stomach feels weird that he's coming to me for comfort, but when he burps the feeling goes away and so does he. Either way, the dude has got some smelly burps.

The other highlight from the night was when I got out the dog blanket. A little history here... Before Britten and I started dating, Chili had his spot on the couch and I had mine. He deposited lots of hair in his spot, so once Britten came into the picture (and we got rid of the old hairy couch), he was banned from the couch except when I put a blanket on first. It's a hassle, so as time has progressed, I've put the blanket on less and less. In fact, since the last time I did it, Britten and I have switched spots on the couch (yes, I know, it's strange that her spot was the spot orginially held by the stupidest animal on the planet). So, now I sit in the spot Chili used to occupy. History lesson over. Tonight, I put out the blanket and Chili waited by his (my) spot for me to let him up. This time, though, I sat in the spot and told him to get up on the other side. He did, but was completely dumbfounded (ha!) on what to do once he got up. He looked around and then finally settled on trying to occupy the two thirds of the couch that I wasn't occupying. Funny thing, it felt strange to me too. So, after about ten minutes, I told him to get back in his bed and put the blanket away. It's a milestone for us, perhaps the end of the dog on the couch. At least until I sit on the other side...

The mystery log

The weather has made another temporary turn for the warm today, so we were able to go for a walk with the pooches tonight. (Get it while it lasts, forecast is for snow on Friday). It was a great walk, but Cozby was in rare form. Well, that's not exactly true. He was just being a turd, barking at everything that even thought about moving. I guess the heat makes everyone a little crazy.

The highlight (er?) of the walk was definitely one of the times he got a little spooked. We were going along, close to the end of our loop, when he started thrashing about, trying to get at something we'd passed. At first glance, in the dark, it looked like an animal. Alas, on closer inspection, we found that it was a very menacing piece of wood. Whether or not that was what spooked him doesn't really matter, he's still got a bit of crazy in him. But that's why we love him.

On a completely separate note, I'm pretty sure that Chili has done this before, but he wasn't asleep.

Caught!

This morning, as usual, the dogs went outside while we got ready for work. Most of the time, after making sure that the yard hasn't left in the middle of the night, they actually do something creepy. They sit up on the hill and stare at the house. It's more disturbing than it sounds. Imagine looking out your window and seeing two dogs staring at you, unmoving.

Today, thankfully, things got a little more interesting. Of course, the first few times I looked out, they were doing their best stalker impression (or maybe that was what I was doing). But when I went into the mud room to let them in, things had changed. By now, if you've been reading this blog, you should know that one of the great things about our dogs is their ability to romp like fighting kangaroos in the backyard. That's exactly what they were doing - there was slobber flying and lots of happy growling. All of a sudden, I was spotted. Mid fight, with Cozby literally hanging onto his neck, Chili saw me. And sat down. And stared. Then, so did Cozby. Creepy.

Luckily, I was able to break their trance by opening the door...they know that they get mental breakfast in the morning, so they're quite willing to come inside. Nothing like a bribe to get an animal driven by its stomach to do what you want.

Home from Chi-town

After many more hours in O'Hare airport than I intended, I made it home late last night. The interview went really well and the school was great. On top of that, it was really cool to hang out with family and friends.

The dogs were completely unaware of any of this. In fact, since they have a three second memory, this is about the reception I received.



(Every time I see this, I think of you, Trey.)

It's beautiful out, and we went for a walk with the boys this afternoon. As usual, Cozby licked the pavement unintentionally. Chili pranced. Life has once again returned to normal.

Throw me a bone

OH NO! We're out of bones! While this might seem like a trivial thing, it's a big deal if you're a dog. And if you're the owners of two specific dogs, it's cause for panic. It's a break to the routine that can't be accounted for.

Cozby, not surprisingly, didn't miss a beat. He hung out on his bed pretty much the whole night. Chili, on the other hand, was beside himself. Everywhere Britten and I went, he followed us. Kitchen, he's there. Bathroom, he's there. Bedroom, he's there briefly before going back to the kitchen. We both probably ran into him at least five times. He simply didn't know what to do without the bones. I think we might have to wean him off them. But it might kill us.

On a separate note, I'm getting ready to go to up to Chicago, so packing is the order of the night. But I'm doing a terrible job of it (as Britten has just reminded me).

Rough life

Apparently, all the snow playing yesterday was the most tiring thing in the world. Either that, or life is just REALLY tough as a dog. Basically, whereas on a normal night the dogs might be walking around or looking for food, or something at all, tonight they're totally slugged out. I don't think they've moved all night. What's even stranger is that Cozby isn't even following me with his eyes, because they're closed. Chili isn't wandering, looking for food, he's just sleeping.

That's all I've got. What a day. Week. Month. Year.

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!

We had a snow day today. It rocked. Chili came home and they had an awesome time playing in the snow...







There's not much more to say, except they managed to help us make our snowman (snow midget). Gotta love how helpful they can be, despite having no thumbs.

Back home, still minus a dog

We got back from our trip to Davidson tonight, amid the most snow Richmond has seen in several years. Davidson was great. Steph Curry rained down 34 points, breaking the school record for career points (and he's only a junior), and didn't play for the last 10 minutes of the game. On the other hand, it was cold and nasty the whole time, so Britten didn't really get to experience the true beauty that is Davidson. Same thing happened when we went up to JMU around Thanksgiving. Oh well, we'll just have to go back.

As I said, we got and are getting a bunch of snow. The cool part about that is that it's really pretty and I don't think we'll have to go to work tomorrow. The bad part is that the Pet Nanny can't get to our house to drop Chili off, so we're here with only half our dogs. He got to make the first tracks in the snow, which is one of the cooler things to see...




A side benefit of having Cozby to ourselves is that his personality changes when Chili isn't around. He's a bit more rambunctious, a bit more frisky...





I love them both, but I can't wait to have them both back so we can play in the snow as a family.

Bye Bye Black Dog

We're going to Davidson tomorrow to watch some basketball and see some friends. Britten's never seen my alma mater, so I'm pretty pumped to show it to her. Too bad it's supposed to be raining.

Something I never had to deal with before Chili came into my life (and subsequently Britten and Cozby) was figuring out what to do with a dog when I went out of town. I would just leave when I wanted to and get back when I wanted to. I can understand that this is a good "easing in" to the responsibilities of parenting (minus the diapers, but plus lots of shedding hair and slobber).

A while ago, we were very blessed to find the Pet Nanny of Richmond. She absolutely rocks! Very affordable, she'll come let dogs out or board them if she's got room. Since Cozby is a bit of a high maintenance dog, our preference in these scenarios is to have Cozby stay with his grandparents and Chili go board with the Pet Nanny. They both love it, and come back played out.

So tonight, as part of the preparations, I had to go drop Chili off at her house. I put Cozby in his crate and got the leash out for Chili. Boy, was Cozby upset that he wasn't getting the leash treatment - he howled and barked as I put the leash on Black Dog. We got in the car, and of course Chili whined the whole way over. Thankfully, there was no vomit involved.

Upon our arrival, Chili ran around for a second, then promptly marked the dining room chair. Sweet. Nice houseguest. You can dress him up (and he tries to eat the outfit), but you can't take him anywhere. Once we got that out of the way, and I'd apologized profusely, he went in the backyard with the Nanny's dog and another one that was there, and he proceeded to get humped headfirst by the other dog. He's going to have a great weekend.

Now it's just me and Cozby here, waiting for Britten to get home from work - she's working late to get something done for Monday. He's a little more relazed than normal, probably because he doesn't have to worry about Chili nerding him.

It's going to be such a fun weekend for all four of us, I can't wait!

Daddy is a tease

Tonight, we went to get started with our wedding album. We figured that it's been a year and half, probably about time. After our appointment, Britten went to meet some friends for a drink (Diet Coke), and then came home so that we could get a late workout in at the gym. She was coming by to pick me up, so I had to be ready.

Here's the problem. Our dogs, while VERY not smart, recognize the clothes that we wear when we take them for a walk. Not surprisingly, these are the same clothes that I wear to the gym. So as I was getting ready, I developed a bad case of circling sharks. They were super excited to go for a walk, but they were about to be sorely disappointed. When I told them to get in their crates, they were as confused as a pair of not smart animals can get. Poor guys, I'm such a walk tease.

Nothing going on

I figured that since nothing is going on in the dog world these days, everyone might enjoy pics of New Years. Cozby, surprisingly, loves a party. Chili, not surprisingly, loves everywhere there's food, so naturally he also loves parties.


Hope everyone is having a party of a day!

Frisky

Tonight was bath night for the dogs. Tomorrow, our house is getting cleaned, so it makes sense to get as much dog hair scattered as we can. Plus, this weekend, Cozby will be going to Lia and Big D's house and Chili will be staying with the pet nanny, so it would be rude to send dirty dogs out to stay with other folks.

I love bath time. Cozby loves bath time. He gets very frisky and prances all around, marveling at his cleanliness. Chili doesn't love bath time, but he does love the post bath. That's the time (as I've said before) that he tries to eat the towels.

I'd write more, but I'm watching the Prez speak to a joint session of Congress. Lots of clapping and shouting, I think our Congress members think of this as a big party.

Where in tarnation have you been?

Well, the UNC interview went really well. Britten was the only spouse that tagged along, but we had a great time going on the tour and lunching it up. All in all, a good day.

For the pooches, not necessarily the greatest day/night they've ever had. Big D let them out last night, this morning, and this afternoon, for which we're very grateful. Funny thing, we came back and they both decided that they'd never had anything to drink before. They downed the 2 liter bottle (our makeshift automatic waterbowl since ours broke) very quickly and are pacing around looking for more. I think I need to get up and refill the bottle before Chili starts drinking out of the toilet. Or licking the wall. Cozby doesn't seem that desperate, but I think he's just happt that his mommy is home.

Off to fill the 2 liter. 1 interview down. Where are we going to end up? Hopefully, it will be somewhere with water.

Abandonment

So, we're going to visit a school tomorrow and are leaving the dogs here tonight while we stay at the lake. I don't think they have any idea what's coming. Except Cozby. He's got a sixth or seventh sense like that.

They'll be well cared for. Big D is going to let them out tonight and tomorrow morning. Let's all hope that Chili doesn't do what he did the first time Big D came over - he jumped up and head butted Big D in the crotch. As I've said many times before, Chili has the IQ of a potato.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

Epic struggle

We did indeed go for a walk today, it was awesome. I know I worked up a sweat, and Cozby's tongue was definitely dragging. Unfortunately, the walk was preceded by watching Davidson lose to Butler in basketball and was followed by watching UNC lose to Maryland (who was sporting yellow jerseys - fear the yellow turtle?). I was able to have a good run this morning, so I'd say that the day is still ahead on points.

Britten is working (at her third job...) right now, so it's me and the dogs once again. A little while ago, I gave them both rawhides. Chili devoured his, of course. Cozby didn't touch his, of course. But he is being very strategic and lying with his head on the bones. In this manner, he's preventing Chili from stealing them. Black Dog has made a few laps around the house, pondering how to get the bones from Cozby. Every time he even looks in Cozby's direction, Cozby growls. It's a chess match. Seeing as the combined IQ of the dogs is probably less than that of an inanimate chess piece, I don't see the game ending anytime soon.

I'm half tempted to get up and take the bones and give them to Chili, because with nothing to chew on, he's opted to lick his genitals. Very noisily. There are grunts involved. I wish I was kidding.

Motivated

We had only a little time between work and going out to dinner with our friends tonight. The dogs were outside for a bit, and we were going to put them straight into their crates, but I elected to let them in for a quick second.

Their reactions showed their true motivations in life. Cozby ran in and attached himself to Britten. Chili ran in and sprinted to Britten until he realized that she had no food, then he sprinted back to me (I was near the food). I swear, they're nothing if not predictable and idiotic. Except Cozby, he's smart enough to want to stay with Britten.

And by the by, Virginia and Millie are super cute!