Sharing

Hey! Two pet product recommendations, that you probably don’t care about! Whoo!

First: Skinneeez stuffing-free dog toys. They turn the dogs into maniacs, and we have to take them away when we’re not home because we can’t trust Monk not to rip out the squeaker and swallow it. These toys are soft, super soft, and floppy. They look creepily like dead animals hanging from Monk’s mouth, but the dogs’ love for them is equally creepy. I bought a rabbit one at a Walgreen’s for three bucks, and then had to buy another one because the dogs were fighting over it so much. I’ve never seen Monk leap wildly up into chairs to keep Cab from getting a toy, nor have I seen the two dogs actually play tug of war with a toy before. Cheap, and awesome, and creepy. The awesomeness (mostly) outweighs the creepiness.

Second: Shedding blades. Cab’s hair has seriously been driving me c-r-a-z-y (especially at work). I have been finding it in my purse, on every article of clothing I own, on clean clothing I pull out of the dryer, on my soap, in my checkbook, on the steering wheel, floating cheerfully through the air. I wanted to buy one of the super fancy shedding tools my vet sells, but didn’t want to spend 40 dollars on one. (I mean, maybe it’s worth it, but I didn’t want to spend 40 dollars to find out that it wasn’t.) I picked up one of these shedding blades at Target (not this brand, but basically the same thing) for around five dollars, and it is awesome. It’s similar to what you might use grooming a horse, I think, and this makes sense because Cab is sort of huge. It took me a bit of time to learn how to use it efficiently (as in, two uses), but I got the hang of it and in five minutes I can have piles, GIGANTIC PILES, of white hair pillowing around us on the floor. Seriously: so much hair. TONS OF FUR. That will not land on my pillow or in my mouth. Or that will not travel to work with me and cling to my work chair, which is the most horrifying thing e-v-e-r.

Five dollars! Amazing fur removal! Pretending that you own a pony! What’s not to love? And, special tips: don’t press too hard, because the teeth can irritate skin. Also, this will make clouds of fur all over, so do it outside or be prepared to vacuum everything immediately. Also plan on needing to change and/or de-fur your pants after using one of these (if you are like me, and clumsy, and trip/fall onto fresh piles of dog fur). I think they make tiny ones for kitties.

Today was a hard day, again, and I felt sort of weepy/off/edgy. My husband played this song for me tonight about five times in a row, and I was laughing and the dogs were dancing, and I exclaimed, “THIS SONG WAS WRITTEN FOR ME!”

“All of the pets and all of their brothers

danced in the streets and loved one another.”

My face hurts from smiling so hard.

Love,

black sheeped

This is all I had time for this morning. First, I tried to get the elusive head-butt documented. It’s like trying to photograph Bigfoot or a ghost. I swear, that blurry spot is a ghost! Etc.

And this one is just for you, Pixel.

Love,

black sheeped

Posted in Cats, Dogs, Photos. Tags: , , . 2 Comments »

Words

Because I am dorky, I started making a mental list of the words the pets understand and/or obey. Obviously I must share it with you.

Monk understands (and reacts appropriately when not excited by squirrels/other dogs) the following words and phrases:

1. No

2. Come/Come here

3. Monk

4. Cab

5. Dogs

6. Cats

7. Sit

8. Down

9. Get your head down

10. Get your butt down

11. Stay

12. Let’s dance

13. Speak

14. Baby/Where’s your baby?

15. Bone

16. Toy

17. Ball

18. Go upstairs

19. Go downstairs

20. Cookie

21. Treat

22. Walk

23. Outside/out (lately he’s also learned what it means when we spell o-u-t to each other)

24. Pee/Go pee

25. Poop/Go poop

26. Hurry up (potty related)/Find your spot (potty related)/Let’s go (potty related)

27. Ride

28. Jail (the vet/dog kennel)

29. Go on (this means he backs away four or five steps, therefore getting out of whatever personal space he’s crowding)

30. Wait

31. Get on your chair

32. Get on the couch

33. Go to bed

34. Food/dinner/eat your dinner

35. Water

36. Leave it

37. Drop it

38. Get it

39. Mommy

40. Daddy/my husband’s name

41. Squirrel

42. Do you want to (fill in the blank)? (He gets excited by the phrase because it is usually followed by something he wants to do.)

I feel like I’m leaving a ton out.

Monk is also capable of multi-step commands, such as “go downstairs and get your baby” or “go upstairs and wait.” We’ve lately noticed he can find us by name, so we can tell him to find Cab or I can say “Go to daddy” and he’ll do it. Like LASSIE.

Words Monk used to understand but we haven’t used enough for retention:

1. Shake

2. Park

3. Roll over

Accidental learned non-verbal communication

1. If I look at Monk, take a tiny little sharp intake of breath, and smile in a certain way, he will start barking and jumping around. Same if I take in a breath and raise my eyebrows at him.

2. If we crouch a little, Monk will start barking/wrestling around

3. If Jut lifts his t-shirt up, Monk will start barking, jumping around, generally acting crazy

4. If Jut’s cell phone rings and I’m not home, Monk will look for me to arrive shortly (result of me frequently calling on my way home)

Words Cab understands:

1. No (sort of)

2. Sit

3. Down

4. Get in your box (his crate)

5. Dinner/Eat your dinner

6. Pee/Go pee

7. Poop/Go poop

8. Hurry up

9. Leave it (sort of) (not really, but maybe a tiny bit)

10. Cookies

11. Cab

12. Dogs

13. Bed/Go to bed

Non-verbal things Cab knows

1. Pointing (this is us pointing to his crate–he’ll walk into it)

Words the cats seem to know, but it is hard to say for sure, because they are cats:

1. Dinner

2. Coltrane

3. Jelly Roll

4. Dogs

5. No

6. Food

7. Milk

Non-verbal cat things:

1. If I hold out a hand, Coltrane will stand on her hind legs to get scratches on the head

2. If I lower my face/head when I am close to her, Coltrane will head bump my head and/or try to kiss me

3. If I rub three fingers together, Jelly Roll will come to me

Non-verbal cat thing that maybe shouldn’t count but I am because I believe it is an expression of love:

1. If Jut grabs Coltrane and swings her up with one hand, and holds her against the ceiling, she will wait limply and calmly until he returns her to solid earth. This is a cat who freaks out, who has bitten me so hard I cried because I petted her one second too long, who growls and hisses crankily, who squeaks dramatically at everything. She is stiff, tense, and angry. But she will let my husband swing her around, hold her precariously over his head, hug her to his chest as if she is a baby. I’m pretty sure this is the greatest expression of adoration she can give.

Monk knows the word “squirrel” extremely well, and he loooooooooooves to watch the squirrels. I’ve mentioned before that he naturally points to birds, squirrels, and rabbits. We’ve been testing “find the squirrel” on him lately as a command, and he’ll look around our yard/the neighboring yards and point if he sees one. Yesterday morning, upstairs in our living room, Jut told Monk to find a squirrel and he went to a few windows, stopped at one, and pointed at a squirrel.

DOG GENIUS.

(Meanwhile, Cab has been very distracted outside by trying to eat the grass Monk has peed on.)

AWESOME,

black sheeped

Posted in Cats, Dogs. Tags: , . 4 Comments »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.