Paolo Wins! Paolo Wins! Paolo Wins!

Thank you to everyone who voted for Paolo, who is now the official favorite Dog on Propps.  He would like to thank all the little people, etc., etc., etc. 

Paolo, unimpressed with his win

Stay tuned for the new year when the Dogs on Propps will update their activities from over the break.  In the mean time, have a very very safe New Year's Eve, and much peace, love and happiness to you and your family and friends. Besos from the Dogs on Propps!

Bath Day

Everyone knows that the best place to dry off after a bath is in front of the fire.

Holly and Madden, relaxing

Welcome

Dear Dogs on Propps, 

Please be advised that when we have visitors, the following behaviors have been noted - please read the sections that apply to you. 

Holly -  When people enter, they do not want you to jump on them. Though you are thrilled to meet them, and feel that you've never met a stranger, they do not feel the same way.  In fact, it is upsetting and downright frightening to have a forty pound dog charge at you when you enter someone's home. 

Ella and Madden  - When someone comes in, do not stand and bark at them.  Though it's totally natural for you to want to protect your turf, if we are greeting them, they clearly have been invited and are not axe murderers.  Your continuing to alert us to their presence is really just redundant.  

Koko - Please, please, please pick up your toys prior to people visiting.  No one wants to sit down on a chewed bone when they are seated on our couches.

Paolo - You have come so far in the past few months.  I mean, look at you - you occasionally bark at our guests (a la Madden and Ella), but now you usually sit next to new people and gaze at them with love.  Your ability to immediately fall in love with new people is awesome.  They probably don't like for you to stare at them though. It can be rather offputting.

All dogs - when our guests are enjoying refreshments, please refrain from wagging your tails or wrestling near the tables where their beverages are resting.  It is just bad manners to knock over their drinks.  Also, when they are eating, go sit down.  In fact, lay down.  Take a load off. Rest a little. No one, and I mean no one, enjoys being stared at while they eat.  Even if the guest says a kind word in your direction, that is not an invitation for you to approach, nor to remove food from their plates (I'm looking at you Holly) when they are not looking.  Also, please don't stand on people's shoulders while they attempt to finish their snack. (cough cough Ella cough cough) Terrible form, that. 

A final thought - when people come over, in general, they are not here to visit you. Feel free to hang out around us - lay down, even take a nap. People love to look at napping dogs.  Just behave yourselves.

For the love of God, behave yourselves.

This means you, Holly.

VOTE

There is a dead heat in the current Dogs on Propps poll...and twelve days left to vote! Before you vote, consider these things:

Koko - Currently has the least votes. Though she is a big girl, (she prefers 'husky' - OH I kill me) she also is an exemplary guard dog. For instance, when people visit, she stands at the window barking madly at them. She looks like a tough dog, which makes people think twice about wanting to actually ring the doorbell. Also, she sits on the couch and sheds during the day, anxiously awaiting the return of her family.

Holly - Though Holly is a yarn hater, she is a playful and fun little girl. If you would like assistance in ridding the trash can of excess dog or cat food cans, Holly's your girl. If you would like for someone to rip the covers off of you while you are sleeping in an attempt to get under with you, she's the one for you. Really though - if you want to go for a run, she's the dog you want. She can run like a champ, and prefers trail running to street running. She's an excellent pace dog if you find that you begin going too fast. If there's a rabbit or coyote around, though, all bets are off - she's going after that and leaving you in her dust.

Ella - The Tinkler. Ella is madly in love with her boy, and pretty much doesn't care about anything else when he is around. She believes the sun rises and sets in his eyes. If you approach her, she will piddle on the floor.

Madden - New nickname: Sir Lix-a-lot. Madden continues to adapt well to the Dogs on Propps family, though that means that he is asserting himself a lot more often. This little 9 pound boy believes that if he nips at Holly's heels while dinner is being prepared for them that he will get to eat more, and sooner. His growl is reminiscent of the creatures from 1984's Gremlins. He often will jump in your lap and 'kiss' you when you least expect it. It is an admirable skill, if you like to be licked in the face.

Paolo - He's Italian. Why the hell would you not vote for him? Pshaw. He doesn't need your vote anyway. Who do you think you are?

There you go...hopefully this information has helped you make a more informed decision when you cast your ballot for your favorite Dog on Propps!

Bless You

My name is Madden, and I have a tissue problem.
When I first came to live with the Dogs on Propps, my people complimented me on my good manners. Though I licked a lot (ok, a LOT), they told me that I was good. Occasionally I had accidents, but I never, never chewed anything.
Until the first time.

My human mama was walking into the room when she found me. I had her brand new phone in my paws, and was, well, chewing it. I don't know why she was so upset - it still worked and all, but she couldn't use the zero key, which I guess was pretty inconvenient for her. Whatever.
After that, it was like a whole new world had opened up for me. I began finding things all over the place that were chewable. There were pieces of fuzz here, plastic sections there, you know, the normal stuff on the floor. But then the day came when the boy went to throw a tissue into the trash can and missed.

It was a whole new ball game.
I got that tissue, and I shredded it up into little tiny pieces. I spread them around the floor, and then went back and ate each individual piece. I was in heaven.

As time has gone on, I have discovered that these people have whole boxes of brand new tissues
all over our house. Initially, I tried to hide my problem from them. When they would walk out of the room, I would snatch a tissue surreptitiously from the box. They often found me on the couch, eating a brand new tissue, and then they had the nerve to take it away from me! I mean, if they're sitting out, aren't they meant to eat?

I guess the problem really got bad this last week. The human mama was sick...soooooo sick, as she kept saying, and she had to blow her nose a lot. She had her new tissue box and her old tissues scattered about, and I guess I got a little out of hand. I kept pulling them out and trotting across the floor victoriously, thinking about the feast I was about to engage in. Sometimes she would catch me, but most times she didn't.
The last few times, though, she has told me I'm a...how did she say it? Oh yeah, I'm a "bad dog" for eating tissues.

You know, I'm not bad. Sometimes I can't help myself. It's not like it's a problem or anything. I can totally stop anytime I want.

Madden leaves destruction in his wake

There comes a point in a pet owner's life where they find themselves questioning the value of pet ownership.

Last night was my night.

To begin, let me point out that I am not complaining about the number of pets we own. I knew what I was getting into from the beginning, and have happily accepted responsibility for these animals. We just happen to be a family who loves animals.

When Mike and I first met, it was quaint that Paolo slept under the blankets. He (Paolo) is bathed often, so it isn't a terrible thing, and sometimes it's fun to have a warm dog on your feet.

When Madden moved in, because he was so small, and also bathed regularly, and in need of bonding with his new family, we also let him sleep under the blankets, because, hey...everyone likes a warm dog on their feet.

The problem, however, is that the bigger dogs have begun to believe that they are also able to sleep under the covers, which leads us to some problems. Holly, who is around 40 pounds, has developed an urge to scratch at the blankets and nose them out of the way in order to get under the covers rightnexttome while I am sleeping. She whines and scratches until she has some measure of success, which usually means her hip is covered, or her head, though usually not her whole body. Koko (at a svelte 65 pounds) believes firmly that she belongs on anyone's feet, or tangled up in their blankets. As long as she renders us immobile, she's fine.

As I slept last night, suffering cold symptoms, Holly and Koko both decided simultaneously (you know what we should do, Holly?) that they should attempt to get under the blankets and/or rearrange the creature balance on the bed. To be fair, they did take turns, Holly scratching and whimpering, and Koko flopping as hard as she could right next to my head and breathing in my ear. At approximately 2:24 this morning, I decided it was time to make some different sleeping arrangements. After cajoling and yelling and getting not very much rest at all, I have made an official decision.

From now on, I will sleep on the floor.


The dogs can have the bed.

The Holiday Spirit

Today the Dogs on Propps kicked off the holiday season with a bit of decorating and smidgen of cookie baking.

After our late afternoon nap, (which ended abruptly when Paolo heard the dog next door barking some sort of announcement that Paolo felt the need to return) we awoke refreshed and ready to make the first batch of molasses cookies for the season.  It's always a fun affair - flour and sugar and molasses everywhere, Christmas music playing, and the dogs doing every possible thing listed in the Dog Rule Book to be in the way.  (Koko's favorite is to stand in the middle of the kitchen where everyone is trying to walk, Madden's is to sit immediately in front of the oven) Regardless, most of the cookie baking was uneventful, until we made a discovery. 

For weeks now, the Dogs on Propps family has had somewhat of a renaissance in the yarn crafts arena. One of us crochets, while a few of the rest of us knit. We are currently all working on individual projects - one hat, one scarf, one practice project, and one phone holder. On a few occasions, we have neglected to put these projects away immediately when we have finished working with them, and have later looked outside to see a mangled skein of yarn in the backyard, torn to bits. I spent the better part of last night rolling two large balls of yarn that had suffered this fate. For a few weeks, we have blamed Madden, as he is a playful sort, and you know, puppies do those things. D has consistently blamed Holly. 

Today, during the cookie baking, we discovered the culprit.  In cleaning the kitchen table to prepare for the holidays, I moved the yarn attached to the hat to a computer table about dog mouth height.  I looked up just in time to see Holly dragging the grey yarn out the door, with the hat skittering behind.  After much yelling and screaming to prevent her from getting all the way out the dog door, she was sufficiently frightened and dropped everything and ran.

Mystery solved. Holly hates yarn.

Thanksgiving

It seems reasonable on this day for the Dogs on Propps to be reflective of the things for which they are grateful.  What follows is a hastily compiled list based on what each dog is thankful for:

Koko - being able to shed on nice red couches on a daily basis, not having to be crated during the day, "Koko Bites" (extra pieces of tortilla from Taco Bell burritos), being in charge of all of the Dogs on Propps, and for sleeping all day. 

Holly - running, chewing things up, bones, pushing covers off of people who are sleeping, her human mama, running, and chasing rabbits.  She is also thankful for the elaborate routine her humans need to undertake in the morning in order to trick her into getting into her crate. This process involves going outside and refusing to come in until cajoled by at least three of the humans.  At this point, she has the process at about twenty minutes, but she believes she can get it to thirty minutes by this time next year. 

Ella - thankful for her boy (D), bones, her boy, sitting on her boy's lap while he watches TV, and for occasionally being allowed to spend the day outside of her crate. Also, her boy.

Paolo - thankful for barking, bones, sleeping under blankets, looking at PostSecret on Sunday mornings with his human mama, "talking" to people (a RAH rah), chasing cats, and standing in the sunshine.

Madden - thankful for his new home, his new sisters, brothers, dragging new yarn into the muddy leaves, bones, and for whatever trash he is able to find on the floor that he believes is edible. 

Happy Thanksgiving from the Dogs on Propps!

Seriously? What were you THINKING?

So it seems that with all the excitement and warm and fuzzy (get it? fuzzy? I slay me!) feelings about the new blog, it seems appropriate to explain how we ended up with five dogs.

Dogs on Propps began simply: Koko and Holly. Koko had entered our lives in the summer of 2001 when a neighbor had found a litter of puppies abandoned at a ranch they own and asked if we wanted one. D's friend had shown the puppies to him, and when D walked into the house, he carried that puppy in his arms, set her down in the backyard, and she never left.

Holly (above) was adopted from the city shelter about a week after Lily's death. She arrived when a huge snowstorm hit, and her first exposure to her new backyard was with a fun romp in about two feet of snow with her new big sister Koko. She was playful and excited to be around people and loved everything around her. Koko had been grieving over Lily's death, and I really believe that having a puppy move in helped her tremendously.

Soon after, we all moved and the dogs became the foundational group of the Dogs on Propps.

A few months into our stay on Propps, we went to my brother's house for a Sunday full of football games. Because his wife was pregnant, they were thinking of getting rid of some of their dogs, and did I want to take this one home? D immediately said yes, and she was placed in the car to take her ride across town to her new home.

That made three.

On the ride home, there was much discussion regarding her name. My brother had named her Cha Cha, but it had never seemed right for her, and we wanted to symbolize her new life. We bandied about possibilities until we arrived at the new name: Ella. To this day, D swears that she was named after John El(El-la)way, though I stand by the story that she was named after Ella Fitzgerald.

And then one fateful day, Mike came to visit with his dog, Paolo. There had been concerns in the past that Paolo wasn't exactly "fond" of other dogs. He had some social issues, and didn't really seem interested in being anything but an only. When he walked in the front door, Ella was the first to notice. (although in retrospect, I believe the look on her face indicated, "what the hell is this?") She and Paolo approached each other, and nothing major happened, except for the normal smelling of each other's...er...rear ends. Being concerned that all of the dogs wouldn't get along, we followed them all over the house. There was much sniffing and revelry, and within fifteen minutes, it was clear that whatever issues Paolo had prior to now were of no concern. He had found himself a band of women with which to live. He was home!

So yeah, there were four. And that was cool for awhile because what's four dogs, right? It's just more chaos at feeding time, and besides, this is plenty.

And then there was the trip to the mall. Mike and I had run errands that day, and went by the mall to purchase a refrigerator as part of our errands. We stopped in a few stores, and when Mike stopped to look at a sports collectibles store, I told him I was going to go down the mall to look at the animals in the city's satellite shelter. It's a lovely place, meant to look like a pet store, but the animals there are shelter residents. Our city has done wonderful things for animals.

But I digress.

We walked through the store, looking at different dogs and reading the information about them on the signs. This one didn't like other dogs. That one hated children. We reached the end of the kennels then...at the end...one of the last dogs we would look at. This little chihuahua with a bulbous head was sitting on a pillow, looking back at us. He liked kids...he liked other dogs...and he liked cats. "Could we hold him?" The employee there said they discouraged just holding for holding's sake, but if we were really interested, we could go to The Bonding Room. Mike and I exchanged glances. That didn't sound good at all. The employee asked Mike to sign some papers saying he was interested in the dog, and we all went to the aforementioned bonding room. I was telling Mike that I didn't need to leave with that dog when the puppy was handed to me. Before I could even sit down with it, Mike was taking him from my arms, cooing at him and letting him lick his face. It was love at first sight. I knew then that we weren't leaving without Madden.

So yeah, five dogs. Because what's one more, right?

No more. I swear it. Five dogs is the limit.

A Tip of the Hat

...it has been almost two years since we had to have Lily put to sleep. Though she was never a "Dog on Propps", (she was more of a Chapala girl) she most certainly would have qualified. Lily was one of the happiest (though that is not evident from the picture above), most relaxed dogs ever to walk the earth.  Her first day at home, she made a headlong leap into our pool and had to be saved from drowning.  After a day of rest and a visit to the doctor, (turns out she had parvovirus when we brought her home), she settled in to an easy life of laying in the sun and sleeping on the couch.  Lily truly smiled. Sometimes you see pictures of dogs who are panting, or running, so they look like they're smiling.  Not Lily.  When her family would arrive home, she would run to the door with her tail wagging so hard that her whole body shook, and would pull her lips back into one of the biggest smiles her face could muster.  On the day she was put to sleep, she was still smiling.  She was a gift, and there will never be another like her. Somewhere, she's smiling for us, and also probably wondering what the heck we were thinking getting a fifth dog. She is greatly missed.

It's New Tag Day! It's New Tag Day!

After a long wait, today was finally the day. It was time to purchase new food for the dogs (wet and dry) - the larders were bare. Off we went, to replenish the supply.

While standing at the register it occurred to me that the dogs were in need of new tags - only Paolo had one, and his was from his old house. I noticed that the pet food store sold tags, so why not? After the ten minute process of filling out information for all five dogs, and a fifteen minute creative process, all of the dogs had shiny new name tags.

Holly was the first to notice something good had happened. Not only did we walk in with over fifty pounds of dog food (Holly's note to self: find a way to break in to the dog food bin later tonight) and twelve cans of duck and potato goodness, but there was this rattling bag. Rattling bags are always good news for the Dogs on Propps, so she followed me to where I began to assemble the rings on the tags. More of the dogs became curious, and one by one, as they came into the room, they all got new tags.

My bet is that Koko eats hers off first. She tends to not like things ringing around her neck, and as the wise consumer that I am, I purchased some lovely metal tags that all make noise...thus, when any of the dogs moves throughout the house, it makes a soothing dinging noise that reminds me of windchimes...you know, times five.

I'm positive that soothing feeling will pass quickly.

Other Members of the Dogs on Propps Team

Jake. Striped cat who is currently in competition for worst animal breath in the 505. (see Paolo, below) A badass like Sammie, but once it gets cold, he has no desire to be outside.  Loves rolling in the dirt and sitting in the middle of whatever it is you are working on. 

 Sammie.

Badass cat extraordinaire. Sammie is the Fonz of cats. He can sleep outside in the cold or take on any of the Dogs on Propps at any time.  If you see Sammie coming, you'd better cross the street.  Don't say you weren't warned.

Madden

This is Madden. He is 10 months old at this writing and is a Chihuahua. He is one of the coolest dogs ever, if you are measuring coolness (coolosity? cooliciousness?)  by length of time he will continue licking anything. He gets along with everyone and loves all the other Dogs on Propps. He knows he is the bottom of the totem pole, but loves his life. He was adopted in September from Lucky Paws. He enjoys spinning in circles, waking up early, playing with Holly, and going to sleep promptly at 8:30 every evening. Don't ask him about the Pumpkin Seed Incident...he is still a bit sensitive about it.

Ella

Ella (w/ Paolo) is a Chihuahua and is the third oldest of the Dogs on Propps. She was "adopted" from Mari's brother in September of 2007, (you want this dog?) and came home as the third addition to the Dogs on Propps family. She is usually a bit on the outside looking in as far as being a part of the whole group and will play with Holly at times, Paolo at times and our newest Dog on Propps, Madden, preferring to think of herself as a renegade. She basically (read: not at all) does not get along with Koko and is imprinted heavily on the oldest child in the house (he's actually 18...but we are going to avoid names here.) She loves playing,  sleeping, chewing bones, and is quite the escape artist. 

Holly

This is Holly. She is just over 2 years old and is usually 3 or 4 in the hierarchy of the Dogs on Propps, though she doesn't mind if she's at rock bottom. She loves her human Momma more than anything else on earth and loves to go running and for walks. She believes it is her duty to relieve the Academy trails of the rabbits that run wild there, and would someday like to be called "Rabbit Wrangler". We are not sure what type of dog she is. She looks like a purebred of some sort, but has the colorings of both Dobermans and/or Rottweilers...but we know she is not either. Holly loves to get in the trash, the recycling the laundry, etc. She likes to chew stuff up at times and help "clean" the litterbox. Helpful tip: Don't kiss Holly. 

Paolo

This is Paolo. He is an Italian Greyhound. He is going to be 6 years old in December...but we think he may be up to 2 years older than that. He was a rescue, so they may have fibbed about his age to get him placed. He has a lot of personality, sometimes too much...let's just say he enjoys himself a good bark, usually when you are most interested in sleeping.  He believes that he is providing updates to the neighborhood regarding his family's activities.  He is the 2nd oldest and shares 2nd place in the Propps Hierarchy with Ella. Fun fact: Paolo has the worst breath in the 505 area code.  Imagine coffee, fish, and sewer all mixed up and left out on the counter to ripen.  Yeah, something like that. 

Koko

This is Koko. She is the oldest, biggest and THE alpha Dog on Propps. She is part red Siberian Husky and looks like German Shepard. Koko's favorite activities involve eating dog food cans, sleeping on the end of the bed so that the covers are immovable, keeping the other dogs in line, and making sure that no one gets to chew a bone she wants. She is a bit cranky, a bit itchy, a bit overweight but still lovable.