Meet Agador

We have had a house guest this week.  Meet Agador, my daughter's kitty, my Grandkittyson.  He's quite the character with his quirky ways.  

Agadorable (as I like to call him) is a Devon Rex.  His coat doesn't shed like most kitties.  It is so very soft like Chenille, with a wavy look to it and he really has no whiskers to speak of (part of the breed look).  When she first got him he virtually had no hair and looked a bit like Yoda with his big ears and wise looking face.  Eventually his hair came in which is handsome ginger and white color.  A very playful, mischievious fellow.

Tucker and he seem to get along just fine but my kitties Luna and Leela have a different opinion.  For the first time Leela asserted herself to him and that is something because she usually just hides and hopes for the best.  Poor Leela with her crossed eyes.  Tucker follows him around and tries to sniff but Agador plays it cool and gives him dirty looks if the Tucker snout gets too close.  

He gets cold easily with his very short coat and likes to sleep as close as he can to you.  His body is ultra warm so I happen to have no problem having him sleep curled up to my belly.  Last night I had Luna under the covers to my right and Agador between my hubby and I.  Eventually Luna left and Agador took her spot.  Agador wakes up very early.  Too early.  When he wakes up "FEED ME" is all he thinks about.  He climbs all over our heads, our bodies, the bed attempting to annoy us (me) as much as possible so that one of us (me) will get up and give him what he wants.  Oh Agador.....


So who is Agador named for?  Remember the movie "The Birdcage" with Robin Williams, Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman?  Yep....Agador Spartacus!  Here maybe this will help.....

Oh yes...we love Agador we really do.

Wordless Wednesday

A bit of this an a bit of that

What a difference a month makes for a puppy.  Tucker is growing up!  We decided to give Tucker his privilege back of using the doggie door to the upper kitchen deck.  Awhile back he lost it as he was using the deck to go potty on.  Knock on wood he has been good as gold!  He loves to run through the door to check out the deer he can keep an eye on below, watch Luna as she does her sunbathing, get his own sunbathing in and just have more room to play in when he is in the kitchen area where his puppy pen is.  


Next we have been letting him have more freedom in the house after he has gone potty outside.  This makes him feel like a true member of the family when he can follow us around or check out the rest of the house he hasn't gotten to know.  I think the room he is enjoying the most is the living room.  In the morning we have a lot of sunshine in the room and it is fun to run around with Stewie when they play.  Then there is the job of keeping an eye out on Luna who comes in there too.  


Tucker is learning much about kitties.  He wants to do what his instincts tell him but Luna is wise and knows about dogs.  She never runs from him.  I think that she is trying to like him as long as he doesn't put his snot in her face too much.  Sometimes she does swat at him and he quickly has figured out that you don't want to get Luna mad.  It hurts!


I think that best of all is that Stewie and Tucker are bonding well.  Having the house to play in has made the difference.  This morning I watched them in my bedroom as they "horsed" around.  Tucker was romping like a horse, rearing up, bowing down and Stewie and he sometimes looked like they were doing a dance.  So sweet to watch!  You can't always take a photo but for me I did a memory one.  I thought of how many romps just like this that I saw Annie and Stewie do.  So to see that happy poochie playtime for Tucker and Stewie filled me with happiness.  I laughed and that felt good.  So often I have sat in our bedroom where our Annie died and missed her deeply.  You never can replace someone you have loved dearly but you can fill the void with new friendships.  I guess what I am saying is Tucker has begun to worm his way into Stewie's loss of his old buddy and we all have some new sunshine in our home because of Tucker.

Then we had that vet. visit last week for his last shot for Leptospirosis.  Did I mention he weighs 15 pounds and 9 ounces?  Well I was surprised and it did make me wonder how big this guy will get.  After all we are not even 6 months old and we still will be growing.  I tried to measure his height as best I could but I don't know if I did it very well.  By my measurement he is about 15+ inches.  Oversize Sheltie for sure.  

Right now he is laying down on the doggie pad next to me slumbering away.  He has done his kitty job of keeping an eye on them.  He has played with Stewie, he has followed me around when I was doing some folding and now he is my companion as I type.  Not bad for a Tuesday morning. 

So I leave you with this playtime the Pupparoos! had....there was this....

and this......

and lastly this silly one.....

What a crazy play time they had....has Tucker been watching vampire movies?

Spaw day....

Mr. Tuckaroo went to the "Spaw" on Friday.   He was exhausted and sleepy after his big day.


Remember those boots?  Gone.  He looks like a big boy now!  Feet trimmed between his pads, nails done, itty bitty bow on his collar, even his ears trimmed just a bit.  He was kind of grumpy too.  I think that goes along with being tired.


I was given a super duper recommendation from my Vet's office of the place next door that recently opened.  They are a no cage groomer with a doggie day care to boot.  After our visit this week I walked next door with Tucker and we took a walk through of the place.  Oh my....it was really different than where I have taken our poochies before!  Also closer.....

To walk inside is sort of like visiting a tropical resort.  On the windows on the top and bottom they have hula skirts lined up for the curtains.  Inside the soft scent of tropical candles burn and the wall color as well as the floor is a soft blue.  A gated entry to a larger open space with the reception area straight ahead and to the left a large harvest table with to purchase doggie treats as well as a free doggie treat container and the scented candles.  Mmmmmm.....music...yes music.  Softly floating in the air tropical tunes.   There is another gated area beyond the table where a nice size play area is for the little poochies to romp around.  Then to right of the reception area leads to a grooming area where Michelle the owner can look out a large picture window back into the main reception room.  She is jovial and obviously a animal lover.  Her poochie and a few others lie on plump beds as comfy and content as can be.   Another separate room with a large window is the bathing room, which is the only room that has any crates for those poochies waiting for a bath.  Two poochies are in there.  One being bathed and one being attended to on a grooming table.  All is calm.  A little farther on is a much larger space for the big poochies to play in.  The day we took our tour there were about five big pups having a grand ole time being tossed a tennis ball with one of those lobbers as I call them.  


Back to Tucker's Spaw day.  We were greeted warmly by the receptionist and filled out the info card.  I brought Tucker over to the small dog play area and the attendant let him in with a posse of pups.  He looked like the new kid in class and seemed a big disoriented at first.  Before you could count to 5 he was sniffing and being sniffed off to explore and play.  Didn't even look back to me.


That afternoon when I picked him up he was in with the small poochie play area awaiting my arrival.  He looked so handsome!  His paw hair clipped on top and between the pads, nails trimmed, and a wee bit of trimming on his ears plus a fluffy clean coat.  He was happy but I knew he had to be hungry as he missed his noon feeding.  He was calm as I paid the bill and sat on the back seat very quiet.  Once home after a quick relief on the lawn I fed both pups.  Contentment for the tummy.


He was a bit grumpy as I said.  Kind of like when your child goes to the first day of school and they come home not able to think clearly.  He didn't want to play with Stewie and there was a little snip of some grumbles from both when I was giving some TLC.  Jealousy?  I quickly put Tucker in his puppy pen where he promptly fell to sleep.   I would imagine it was a stressful day.  He hasn't been in this kind of experience before and she had said he didn't want to have much done with his feet.  I know that every time he goes he will get better and that will make it easier for me to do in the long run.  Another lesson for Tucker today.


Needless to say we did not practice our lessons from school as he was gone for 5 hours and I was busy earlier as our son got his braces off his teeth today! 

Forever dog....yes.

A friend of mine on facebook had posted this....I thought I would share as well. 

Pawsome Blogger Award!

A couple of days ago Nola from Dachshund Nola awarded Pupparoos! with the Pawsome Blogger Award.  Whew...lots of awards flying around and I feel very touched by all the pet lovers out there.  What a huge welcome I have felt ever since I started Pupparoos! too.  Every day I look forward to reading about my new blogger friends and looking at their incredible photos.  Now I don't know much about this award but here is what I gather I am to do...seems pretty simple.


In order to accept this award, I must pass it along to 8 blogs that bring me fun, love, laughs and furiendship.
I give this award to:
1) The Chronicles of Cardigan
2) Stella and Rory from Down Under
3) Just me, Meeka
4) Lassiter Chase and Benjamin the Sheltie
5) Finn Howard
6) Sara's Blog
7) Eva the Sheltie
8) Four Legged Views


Congrats to you each!!!!

School daze

 

Well we made it, just barely because as soon as I was in the car I realized I had hardly any gas.  So zoom we go to the gas station then finally we are on our way.  I haven't been to this Dog School in 10 years.  Last Pupperoo to go there was Annie.


Thankfully I have a map (just in case) to guide me there.  Trying to find the location at night takes a watchful eye.  In the end, finding it was pretty easy and there is thankfully ample parking.  Once inside we give our current shot record and walk into the training room.  Low and behold it is the same teacher I had with Annie!  She even looks the same.  We, with Tucker jumping with glee, find a place to sit.  Unlike puppy school where it is all about socializing, we are here to learn manners and Obedience 101.  First lesson is to keep your poochie from nosing with the neighbor. 


I rub Tucker's inside of his ears which always calms him.  It holds him for a short time but the poochie in front of us begins barking and whining which means Tucker has to park back.  There is a lovely Golden to our left, the same color as Annie.  I melt a little looking at her thinking how much I miss our girl.  She is with her mom and a young boy of maybe 11.  I look around while we are waiting for everyone to arrive and take a few mental notes of our class.


On our right is a huge dog who sort of looks like a lab crossed with an Australian Ridgeback minus the ridgeback mark down its back.  Farther down from our left past the Golden is an English Bulldog.  The front row I can't see as well from my seat.  I see a German Shepard, a Lab and another poochie I can't see very well, then an adorable fluffy puff that I am not sure of, a Irish Setter and the poochie that had been barking who seems to be a black lab mix.  Soon to enter just as class begins is two dogs but I can't see but the one who is a white boxer with some brown around his eye and part of his face like a petite mask.


Our teacher, Loretta, begins with a welcome and the intro of what we are to learn.  Then the example by bringing her well trained Border Collie front and center to demonstrate.  We aren't to worry about the collars tonight but do some simple sits, stays and comes with treats.  I had brought two training (what they use to call choke chains) collars and two 6 foot leads as one is narrow and one is standard width.  I have been using the standard width with Tucker but I know in the past with our Sheltie poochies that I have used the narrow width one.  I don't know if the training collars I have are the right length so I wanted them to tell me if one is right or not.  I have Tucker in his harness and I decide to use the narrow lead.  


Tucker has really been behaving himself all this time, even sitting and listening.  He only gets excited when the black lab mix gets to barking.  On the floor are three squares of walking lanes.  We are in the center and now Tucker gets really excited.  He does his pogo stick moves to show how high he can jump and I ask him to sit.  He does...good boy.  I feel for the fluffy puff pup who I find out is 5 months old just like Tucker.  We are the babies of the class.  Most all of the class is at least 9 months to a year old.  The English Bulldog is repeating the class.  


Aside from Tucker always thinking one is to complete all forward motions as in "come" and "heel" with a pogo stick jump ending, he does well.  Especially since I don't have a collar on him.  I should have put the training collar on anyway but when she implied we would do that next week or if we got one during the week prior to the next class, that it was okay. 


The lady with the Irish Setter has her hands full.  He is nine months old and is more than a handful for her.  Did I mention that she seems to be in her early 70's?  The match of owner to pet seems quite wrong.  He is a true clown and enjoying himself thoroughly.  Loretta gets a prong training collar on him but only after he has had a chance to try and make this a game by rolling around on the floor and using his long legs to push her off.  It was actually quite a comical scene.....Once in the collar, with very little effort, it's like a light switch was turned on.  Bingo!  He does what is asked with an overgrown puppy style.  


Before we knew it class was over.  I went to one of the helpers with my training collars to ask which one seemed the right length for Tucker.  She felt both were too long.  Darn.  I thought for sure that one would be right.  I'll be back to the pet store, my "go to" store these days.  


All in all, Tucker did well.  I will change my treats as the ones I brought kept crumbling.  This distracted him because he wanted to lick all the crumbs up.  Do any of you have a favorite training treat you use?  I remembered that I have used tiny cut up pieces of Hot Dogs for some poochie.   That went over REALLY well.  Then I have used freeze dried liver treats that were good too.  


Now we have homework so that we can show how much we learned before the next class.