Tuesday, November 3, 2009

New Tricks For Old Dogs

If you ask the red dog...life has gotten mighty tuff on him and Ute since moving to Colorado. They are no longer house dogs. Which has been absolute agony for The Red Dog. Yes, his name is The Red Dog. We tried naming him many different things and we always reverted back to calling him The Red Dog and one day it dawned on us THAT was his name.

Anyway, it was never my intention to have these two as house dogs. When we lived in AZ, they were outdoor dogs. When we lived at the ranch, they were outdoor dogs. It was only when we moved into the town house that I had to start keeping them in because I did not have a yard fence and my little black dog became enamored of the neighbor's purebred border collie that was in heat...that she left outside. Ugghhh!!

So for awhile there, they had to become house dogs. Ute(the black one) could care less. As long as he has his doggie bed he really prefers to be outside anyway. RD became completely enamoured of the "house dog" lifestyle. So much for his ruff-tuff ranch dog persona!

They both have brand new doggie beds that are tucked into brand new dog-loos...that are parked right outside the door on the new deck. So they aren't exactly suffering! Ute loves his dog-loo. It has a clear plastic door on it to keep the drafts out and he lays in there and peers out. Red Dog still prefers his "bean", which is Megan's old bean bag, most of the time, but will go in his dog-loo when it rains or gets really chilly in the pre-dawn hours. But every evening he has to make his point that it is pure agony for him to be outside while the rest of the fam is inside. He will stand in front of the sliding glass door watching every move we make until someone happens to glance in his direction and then he will proceed to drop his ears like he has just been beat and then he starts shivering. It is the most pathetic think I think I have ever seen.

My Honey and I being the heartless beasts we are, cannot help but torture RD just a little bit. Just to make sure one of us will always ask him, "Are you cold?" and the pathetic loser will almost fall over in his attempts to shiver hard enough to make you feel sorry for him. It's soo sad...NOT!

To be honest, both dogs look better and feel much better being outside dogs. Ute always has preferred it and RD has enough hair for two dogs his size, so isn't going to suffer either. I am darn happy not to constantly be sweeping/vacuuming dog hair up. But if the weather/temps get drastic, we can simply let them in the garage at night.

Besides the living arrangement change, the boys were a bit confused on momma's new work thing. It took a few weeks to convince RD that he could not go with me every single time I got in the truck. But they are getting it and now, usually don't even bother getting up in the mornings when I leave for work. Lazy butt-heads! LOL

But when I get home, they are always eager for their play session which without fail goes like this...
Momma's got the toy..."Throw the toy momma, throw the toy!!!"
And then the race is on to see who can get there first. "It's mine!", "No, it's mine"...
Always a combined effort to bring the toy back to mom....
"Awww...Crap, you broke it." "No, you broke it"...
And yet another $6 toy bites the dust...
So far the only thing I have found that these two cannot destroy is a piece of rope. But I or MH inevitably pick up another softy toy for them to tear up. Both dogs love to find the squeaky in them. Ute likes to find it and then will gently mouth it over and over. RD's sole intention is to find it and rip it out. Whatta couple of knucke-heads!!

7 comments:

Paint Girl said...

Dogs are so silly. I love how they pretend they are cold, to see if it gets them what they want!
My Aussie's are pretty much outdoor dogs, they sleep in the garage at night, and stay there during the day. We don't have a fenced yard, so they only get to run free when we are home. If they have had baths and smell pretty, we let them in the house for a couple hours, especially in the winter. I let Bailey sleep inside from time to time. Sadie can't be trusted, she either might attack Bailey or have a potty accident. She is potty trained, but sometimes she will just go. If Bailey and Sadie are in the garage together, they are fine. Sadie gets very anxious and nervous when they are both in the house together. It can be very difficult sometimes.
I had to give up on buying soft toys for them, Bailey will eat all the eyeballs, noses, ears etc. I prefer to say he mutilates poor stuffed toys. Sadie isn't as destructive.
Your dogs are so cute!

Vaquerogirl said...

Knuckleheads or not, they are pretty cute little doggies!

Michelle said...

Looks like fun times! You must be tough, not caving when he gives you sad eyes....he'd win me over in a minute. No question!

Shirley Morris - Filmmaker said...

My Flower Girl (who looks a lot like Red Dog) says he is very handsome and she will be more than happy to share her indoor bunk anytime!
I enjoyed their story and pix - Thanks!

City girl turned Country Girl said...

Ha I love that name "red dog"!! Boy do I know that pain of having a house dog!! DD's Sharpei has to live in the house, she's ok it's just the annoying hair!! Our 2 Aussie's are outside/garage dogs LOL!! Yours sure are cute!

gtyyup said...

Changes like that are hard for pups to handle, but they get it figured out. My lil' Cindy Sue always does the shiver 'n shake thing even if it's 90 degrees out...she gets so much sympathy from folks that don't know her! She of course gets to sleep at our feet on the bed. The big kids sleep in the mud room...mainly because I don't want them out barkin' 'n chasin' coyotes and deer all night!

cdncowgirl said...

Too funny!
My dogs don't use the dog-loo or the traditional dog house. Then again they are in the house with us most of the time.