Mr Toad's Wild Ride

I know I said there wouldn't be any additional posts until after vacation, but I had to relay Ruby's newest wildlife adventure.

On a rather late-night walk last night, Ruby noticed a rustling in the grass. Which turned out to be a real life toad. Apparently she had never seen one of these creatures before and her first instinct was to pounce her 66 pounds right on top of the poor little thing, then to grab it, all in the blink of an eye. We managed to pull her off the poor unfortunate creature, but she bolted right back and got it in her mouth. She spit it out immediately, partly because Kevin and I were both yelling (and laughing) at her, and I would guess partly because it wiggled in her mouth. It was too dark to see if it survived, but I'm fairly certain there is one less potential prince in the world.


Around the corner, she spotted another one and now is hyper-focused on the grass immediately adjacent to the sidewalks. Convinced she will see another one.

Maybe it tasted good. Dunno, never tried one.

In other news, today, after her walk with the youngest, Ruby helped herself to a freshly-baked cookie from the kitchen counter. Unacceptable, yet slightly hilarious to get a kiss from little Miss Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breath.








While I've been working on a new business venture from my 'home office' in the bedroom, Ruby has been parked under the desk, with her nose resting on my feet at all times, sound asleep. I can't describe how perfect that situation is for me. If only I could work like that every day. She's such a sweetie and I'm realizing how much I'm going to miss her on vacation. Leaving her in good hands, with people who love her dearly. But I will definitely be glad to see her when we return.

Big Apologies...

So sorry for the complete lack of posts in the last couple of weeks. Excuses include, but are not limited to, busy, long weekend away to the Florida sun (with the greatest bunch of girls every assembled, btw), home improvement projects, and lack of motivation. Please forgive me.






As I sit here with the giant puppy at my feet, it is hard to believe that she is already 6 months old. That's right, the big birthday was last week. I celebrated by being away. She celebrated like she celebrates every day of her existence.

• Chase the cat.


• Eat.


• Chew up something I'm not supposed to have.


• Get yelled at and feel very bad for a short time.


• Chase the cat.


• Annoy the bulldog.


• Eat.


• Sleep.


• Chew on a bone.


• Run very fast circles around the house...outside AND inside.


• Sleep.


• Eat.


• Lay on the couch.


• Chase the cat.


• Eat.

That's pretty much Ruby's typical day.

Her growth continues to be steady. At this writing, she is 66 pounds and 26 inches tall at the shoulder. A 'Ruby Hug' puts her eye level with me. Her legs are exactly the same length as my arm from armpit to the tips of my fingers. She is eating 6 cups of food a day. In the next six months, I expect that to taper off a bit. But I've been wrong about food since the beginning, so maybe it'll go the other way. She can't fit under the bed any longer. I found this out when she got scared of a bad thunderstorm last week and wormed her way under there because I wouldn't let her get in bed with me. Then proceeded to whimper and whine and 'woof'. And each time she 'woofs' she bangs against the bottom of the bed, shaking the whole thing. I dragged her out after awhile and just stayed up with her until the storm passed. It was hard to get her out and she hasn't been back under since.

I've been leaning on the teenage boy a lot for puppy care. He is awesome with walks and attention to Ruby. They get along well. Have also been utilizing doggie daycare twice a week on non-kid weeks. It works out well for everyone, especially Ruby, who now has a million four-legged friends. The only downside is that now she thinks every dog she meets is a playmate and exhibits her excitement by doing the Jack Russell jump and whining and barking. Kind of annoying, I'm not gonna lie. Still, her social skills have improved as a result of daycare. And they love her there. She's just a big goof.


Shortly I am taking her back to Petco to get the next size up choke collar. The one that said it was for dogs from 40-100 pounds lied. It barely goes over her head now. The next size up seemed ridiculous before, but is probably about right now. Her behavior on walks has been better. She spies a dog/rabbit/bird/cat/squirrel and stalks before she leaps, giving me enough warning for a verbal command before I have to brace myself for the burst of speed. She's pretty choosy on when she defies me. There has to be some real possibility (in her pea brain) of catching whatever it is now. I think she's just getting more mature and learning that some of it isn't worth her time.

I left her last weekend for the first time, on the aforementioned Florida girls' trip. She did fine, got in little trouble, and didn't miss me too much. But boy was she glad to see me. Ruby was at the front door and nearly came through the screen when I pulled up. She shows the same level of excitement when I pick her up after 10 hours at daycare, however. We will be leaving again in a few days, with the teenagers in charge. Will be interesting to see how she does. She doesn't find trouble nearly as quickly as she used to, but she still finds it.


Outside, we are really needing a fence. Ruby has gotten very comfortable with her surroundings and has begun wandering farther and farther from her boundaries. And if a rabbit is in her sites, she's gone. So far, she always comes back. But when we get back from vacation, it may be time to start the fencing, even if we do a section at a time. I don't want her to get a bad reputation in the neighborhood. I've tried a tie-out, but she hates hates hates it. Whining and barking until it's easier to just put her in her kennel.

I guess it's time to wake her up and take her to Petco. Sorry again for the lack of posts. Vacation from Thursday to the following Friday probably means there won't be any new news until after.

By the way, I love this puppy.




All for now.

Goose Hunting

I found a small lake within walking distance of home that I'd never noticed before. It's behind some undeveloped ground and if you aren't looking at just the right moment from the road, you don't see it. Ruby and I walked down after work yesterday to check it out.

I've unofficially now named it Goose Lake. I don't know who does the lake naming in Blo-No, but I've never been informed that it's me. Hence the 'unofficial' disclaimer. I counted no less than 14 pair of geese cruising the lake. They must have sensed Ruby coming because they were all headed into the water when we first came into view. Of the 14 pair, at least 9 had babies. Little, adorable, fuzzy goslings. So cute. With very protective parental geese standing guard.

We sat on the hillside for awhile and Ruby was very interested in the geese, but not curious enough to do anything risky. Like step into the water. Several pair of geese sent a representative to create a boundary on the water. I assume they are well-trained security geese, but I didn't see any stinkin' badges. Five or six of them lined up in front of Ruby, about 20 feet from where we were sitting and just watched her. If she inched closer to the water, they got very verbal (or vocal, I suppose. I don't speak goose.)


Luckily, my giant puppy is also a giant sissy. I never let her off lead, but pretty sure she would have huddled next to me anyway. The pictures are cute so thought I'd share.

Tiptoe Through The Hay Field

Just a neighborhood away is a large, open hay field. A few years back it was still planted in corn or soybeans every year and when I moved here 25 years ago it was considered 'way' out of town. Now the town has built up around it and it has shifted from farm ground to prime real estate. It's just waiting to be developed.

Friday, instead of driving the mile to Petco (which is directly on the other side of the empty field/lot), I decided Ruby and I would walk it. The grass in said field was considerably taller than it appeared. Ruby went the whole way like this:



Must have been EXHAUSTING.

Running With Ruby

I used to be a runner. Or I've been a runner. Or I'm a runner on hiatus. Not quite sure how to phrase it. I enjoy the activity, and especially in times of crisis, I find it to be therapeutic. My Black Lab, Abby, used to run with me. She was a great partner and the thought of having another running buddy was enough to make me break out the running shoes last weekend. I've been warned not to run long distances with Ruby until she's a year old. Her bones are still pretty soft and that much activity can amplify the bone issues Great Danes have as they age. But, not having run regularly for a couple of years, long distance isn't on my radar anyway. So on a walk last weekend, I picked up the pace to a light jog.

I run like a normal human. Far from perfect form, but with one foot in front of the other, leash in hand, positive thoughts in my head.

Ruby, runs like this:



I jogged 10 steps and it was GAME ON. First she spent about a block leaping repeatedly at me, big stupid smile on her face, making it quite a challenge not to trip over her, or laugh my ass off. I worked that out with commands and the leash, but then she thought that since I was running, she could also run. As fast as her legs would carry her. Since she has twice as many legs as I do, this was not going to work. She hit the end of the flexi at mach 1, nearly yanking me off my feet.

So we stopped and had a short discussion and started again. This time, she ran about 20 feet backwards, barking at me the whole time until she tripped over her own feet and rolled in a big heap on the sidewalk, almost taking me down again. Thank goodness I'm so nimble. At that point we went back to a brisk walk and then increased slowly to a run. By the time we reached home, she was actually running forward, like a normal dog.

One pass around the neighborhood made me realize it's not just the prospect of physical harm that will keep me from running with Ruby right now. We're not trying that again anytime soon.

Chow Hound

Ruby has always been a food gobbler. She consumes every meal like a Minute To Win It contestant. I don't know if it comes from the days of getting muscled out of the chow line by 7 other puppies, or if it is just a bad habit. It isn't the most charming of habits, that's for sure. Shortly after eating last weekend, she was having issues keeping her food down. This happened with two meals in a row, food so unchewed that with a quick rinse, it could pass for fresh but instead was cleaned up off the floor and thrown away.

Now I'm no pet expert, but the first thing I thought of was that she needs to eat slower. My first attempt at slowing her down came with her early morning meal Monday. I went simple and dropped a tennis ball into her food bowl. When I gave her the OK to eat she was confused, but managed to work around it. Still inhaling instead of chewing, I made her stop several times. She knocked the tennis ball out and I put it back in until the last bit of food was gone. I did some Internet searching that morning for ways to slow her down and found that they make some nifty bowls that have domes or dividers in them. But none of them will fit into her food holder so she can eat at a decent level. And a big dog eating off the floor will also make them puke. So I came up with my own brilliant solution.

It's a small bowl turned upside down inside her big bowl. I wish I could have captured her on video the first time I presented it to her full of food. I gave her the OK and she just stared at it. So I gave her another OK and she looked from me to the bowl in puppy confusion. She finally started to dive in, but was forced to take her time. I think that first day, each meal took her close to 10 minutes to fish every last morsel out of the bowl.

Five days later, I'm still using it and she has adapted well. I actually heard her chewing yesterday for the first time. Hoping it will be just a training tool and she can go back to a regular bowl someday. But for now, this is working nicely.

I recalculated how much she was eating and it turns out it wasn't enough. So part of the reason for the gobbling may have been true hunger. Dr Burk gave me a formula to use as she grows, but I didn't write down a critical component of that, so I've just been guessing. But I found a sweet calculator online that did the trick just fine. I was feeding Ruby about 3 3/4 cups a day and she needed about 5 1/2. She now seems satisfied after a meal so I think all is well.

In other news, Ruby got to run errands with me one night, running kids back and forth to events. She was being very sweet, so I let her ride shotgun. Since she didn't try to climb in my lap, I think she'll be a good co-pilot. As long as there's room for her and we're just scooting around town. Long trips will still have her safely in the way back.



All for this post...