Who Are Your Garden Helpers Part Two

Such a sweetie!!!

Aw, what a cute puppy. I can't wait to see her.

Such a lovely little girl, have fun with that one. I can see by the expressions she's going to be a charmer. LOL

Congratulations!! Let the games begin . . .but first, pick up your shoes, sunglasses, toilet paper, underwear. And for Heaven's sake, close all the doors to the bedrooms.

:-)

Kathy, I certainly hope that Julie takes all of your advice and lots more as well. Being we are neighbors and also share the vacation house in EWA, I need to do many of the above things as well. And I know this could be another one of Julie's dogs that end up spending just as much time here at my house, as I am home more than she is. (I am also really good at keeping the automatic feeder replentished.)
Games is an understatement for sure!

It hasn't been that long for me that I don't remember how much trouble they get into - they are just babies, after all. It's that chewing thing (well, and the knocking over thing and the getting lost thing and the taste-testing thing . . .). It's amazing they survive into adulthood, imho.

And the plowing through your favorite flower bed thing, etc. etc. Yes, my youngest is now three and just the way I like it, although the two german shorthairs, Mocha and Ginger, the thundertwins) still act a lot like puppies on occasion.

Yeah, we have a lot of plowing-through-your bed thing and I know Katye struggles with it, as well. As a matter of fact, my dogs are so accustomed to racing at breakneck speeds after one-another, I make sure that my tools and protruding objects (like wheelbarrow handles) are removed or well marked. Sadly, my yard is developing a well-worn "turnaround" areas in the front bed . . .

I went and visited Mom right after work last night, and we took a nice long walk in both gardens with the entire "wolfpack" to introduce Phoenix to her new brothers and sisters. It went fairly well...my big dogs sniffed her and went about their business...Mom's shorthairs subtley terrorized her by playing run and chase games and changing their courses just enough to run over the pup and send her head over heels. I am thinking that as long as the terrors are up at your house Mom, you won't have to worry about Phoenix hanging out there...at least until she is a little bigger!

Kathy, It has been ten years since I have raised a pup, but fortunately I went into it eyes wide open about the work involved. You do sometimes have lapses in common sense though...for example, I was so tired by the time I got home last night that I didn't bother to shut all of the doors in the house. Had a good laugh when the pup ran by with DH's boxers in her mouth! Then I shut the laundry room door, the bedroom door, the back room door... I am sure she will keep reminding me in similar subtle ways that my house isn't fully puppy proof!
Also, we can sympathize with your and Katye's anguish regarding the "turnaround areas" in beds. We call them "dog paths" in our world, and we have bunches of them. We learned long ago that when they create one, you best not plant anything there....just sigh and live with it. There isn't a rock, log, stake, etc that will deter them from an established route. I just don't understand why they always seem to pick some of the best places for plants to establish their routes. You have to love them though!

Does this look like a face that would chew shoes?

My companions and some times pest are 4 cats, Raz the oldest and biggest and fattest, BC which is almost white gold and big blue eyes and a very mellow fellow, Domino who I was told he would not live as he was too ill and still a little shy to anyone but me, then there is Charlie who just walked in the door one day and stayed.

Of course I have the old gal a black lab that is blind in one eye and very hard of hearing at the ripe old age of 16 1/2 and not looking forward to a future without her which we know is not too far in the future.

Hugs
D

Rj. The puppy gets cuter with each picture. She looks very sweet! Her eyes are my favorite color. Green... like frogs!

That is one adorable pup!!!!

Yes, she totally looks like someone who's just waiting to find a nice smelly shoe. I love puppies but puppyhood isn't so far back for me so I remember. This picture's for you guys . I knew better but kept forgetting to close the bathroom door . After cleaning this up about 10 times I started to get better about it. LOL

Oh how funny. I think we have all been there at one time or another. I had cats who used the TP as a scratching post and children who thought it great fun to pull the tp all around the house. Cute pic and I am sure good memories of your puppy.

Well, sorta good memories. I still have to get the steam cleaner hose replaced and there are a few puncture marks in furniture that I could do with out (like that chewed table leg), but c'est la vie. In the end they are more important to me than the furniture (but just barely!).

What is it about TP rolls? Even highschoolers user them for pranks.

Never thought I would post something about deer in this forum, but, as I was looking over the chomped flowers of my Johnson's blue and the missing leaves from my strawberries, I noticed that some of the weeds had also been deadheaded. If only we could teach them to be more discriminating!

Yeah. I was watching the deer eat in my front yard a few years ago. It was very interesting. They didn't stick to one thing and graze like our domestic livestock. They took singly bites randomly from all the things around them, vine maple, dogwood, hosta, heuchera . . . just continuing to move.

And I keep wondering why the slugs don't eat the everpresent ranunculus at all. Can it be that they are so discriminating that they'll actually pass it up in search of something better?. I can have a thick stand of them completely untouched while next to them the plants are chewed. What's up with that?

Dee, sounds like you have quite a collection of helpers! It is so hard when you know that one of them will leave you soon...even 16 years is not enough!

Kathy, OMG...that pic of Bug? is awesome! Isn't it hard to decide what to do first...scold or grab the camera?!?!

Who can figure out what motivates the plant eating creatures? I suppose that a smorgasboard is better than bunches of one thing, even for a deer or slug. Kind of like choosing hamburger all the time when steak or seafood or chicken is available right next to it I guess.

Thank you all for the nice comments for my puppy. She is sooo sweet and sooo cute...and I am going photo crazy with her. I figured it would be in everyone's best interest if I would start her her own thread so that I don't make people groan (like those who are subjected to a book of 100 baby pictures).

So, if you have an interested in seeing my puppy in her adventures, you can find here here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/998068/

And I will do my very best not to interject puppy pics into every other available thread!

Well...except for this one....

Don't worry about it. We want to watch her grorw up.

Julie that pup is adorable, I love her eyes, are they really green?

Kathy love the picture of Bug, he looks quite proud. ROTFLMAO

Thistle, thanks. Yes, Phoenix's eyes are really green. She is only 7 1/2 weeks, so I really hope they don't change. She stuns me every time she looks in my eyes, as hers are the exact color of my Dad's eyes...down to the ring around the iris. I swear I see him looking at me through her sometimes...and true or not, it will make an extra special bond between she and I.

She is such a gorgeous color. Looks so soft. Neat thought about the eyes, hope they stay green. You realize she's part of 'our family' now, don't you? LOL

Julie and Linda, actually that's Sahara. my dogs all have long noses so they look somewhat alike. :-) And you called it just right. She is usually trying something new and then looking at me proudly. I didn't get Bug until he was about one and he's always been too dignified to do silly things. The sad thing is that I have pictures of magic as a puppy doing the same thing about a year later. Why did it take me so long to figure it out? I guess part of e does think it is cute. And I usually discovered it too late when I looked around the room and realized how quiet it was without the puppy there. my favorite "bad" dog thing is coming into the dining room and seeing a full grown Vana standing on the table eating out of the sugar bowl. She had never lived in a house before so she was exploring. I did go to get the camera but don't remember whether I ever got a picture. She was just looking at me as if to say "This is okay right?" And it's okay to love that puppy to death - I think it's the only thing that keeps us sane in raising them.

Kathy, I think that is why mother nature made puppies cute...so they could live long enough to become dogs! Phoenix has already fully reinforced in my mind the whole "if you can't hear the puppy, something bad is happening!" theme. The story of Vana is too much!!! And you can't get mad at them if they don't know better!

This thread is getting pretty long, and as there are often "too cute" opportunities with our helpers in the garden, I decided to start a new thread.

So...galloping off to the new thread .........

NEW THREAD!! NEW THREAD!! NEW THREAD!! NEW THREAD!!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/998283/