Lots of News

SIX weeks without an update! Technically seven, but six makes me feel a little better.

When I last reported on Ruby's endlessly eventful life, the family was getting into some pretty hard and heavy kitchen renovations (hence my temporary disappearance). Now that life is settling back in, I have time to breathe and give a new report. Ruby was, um...not helpful...through almost all renovations. She spent a lot of extra days at 'camp' and as always, that was worth every penny. Between the renovations and the lousy weather, camp was about the only outlet for her boundless energy. She's still chasing squirrels and has had a couple of near misses. One crossed UNDER her one day and hit her. I'm not sure if Ruby was more scared, or the squirrel!



Watching the BIG blizzard.



The vital stats. Her growth has leveled off and a visit to see Dr. Burk for her annual checkup last week revealed that she is 'only' 99 pounds. We all expected bigger. Dr. Burk thinks she will fill out a little more over the next year, but probably won't top 120. SOME people in this house have taken to calling her Runt. But I prefer 'petite.'  When she runs through the house on one of her crazy puppy runs (yes, they still happen), she sounds like all of her 99 pounds and then some. And she has the gas of a 1000 pound gorilla. Come ON what does this dog EAT??

Next, her gift for finding trouble continues. She's still obsessed with socks. And with burying every toy she has in the couch located in the front living room. She has all but destroyed it with her digging, despite all our attempts to cover it, move it, remove the cushions, and pile things on it so she can't get to it. She manages to find a way in every time and the couch continues to go south. When the cabinets came in the house, she immediately started tasting them all. We have no idea why, since none of us had the desire to lick the cabinets and find out what the appeal was. But lick them she did, until she finally responded to getting yelled at. At one point, she walked by a piece of cabinetry and promptly opened her mouth on it like it was a brand new chew toy. Fortunately I caught her in the act and she has yet to make a meal of any of the cabinetry.

This past weekend I was painting the sliding glass door and she was watching, never far from my side. Then decided she needed to see what white semi-gloss paint tasted like. It's apparently not as tasty as stained cherry cabinetry, because she only licked once and then spent the next 10 minutes trying to get the paint off her tongue. Idiot. She's also destroyed dozens of dog toys (I've not had time to sew the random parts back together), and one remote control. No reason. It was just there one day. So she ate it. Remarkably, it still works.

I finally got a vehicle a few weeks ago. A 2003 Jeep Wrangler. Ruby immediately claimed her spot in the back seat. And then truly christened it when I took her to the dog park. The magnetic forces of the big soupy mudhole were too strong and she immediately waded elbow-deep in the slop. And then I had to find a way to get her in my Jeep without the Jeep wearing the mudhole too. I finally gave up and just let her jump in. Mud dries and then vacuums out. Hey, it's not really a Jeep until it has a little dirt on it, right?

My favorite Ruby-being-Ruby story...several weeks back I picked Ruby up from camp late in the afternoon. She was in her usual manic post-camp state of mind and leapt into the backseat of the truck. Before I could back the truck completely out of the parking space, I heard a pop and a fizz and realized immediately what she had done. The six-pack of 24 oz bottles of Diet Dr. Pepper were no match for one of those giant teeth. One bite and soda was spraying all over the back of the truck. It took me just a few seconds to ram the truck back into the spot, throw it into park, and get out and open the back door and throw it out to the ground. By then probably half of it had sprayed, mostly into Ruby's mouth and onto the door and floormat. And, of course, all over me as I pulled it out. It was all I could do to keep myself from marching her right back into camp and telling them to keep her overnight. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Behaviorally, I'm sorry to say I'm not always seeing things I like to see. I've finally classified her as very passive-aggressive at home. Now that we've examined her angle behind some of her quirky habits. Like drinking Sophie's water instead of her own. She only does it if Sophie's food bowl is near hers. When we moved their bowls into the new kitchen and they are across the room from each other, Ruby stopped going anywhere near Sophie's. Similarly, the day of the big blizzard, we came home to yet another poop and puke mess as Sophie had managed to get Ruby's food container open and eaten herself to a state of bloat that really had us worried for her health. Ruby's reaction was that for the next week, she INHALED her own food, and then, you guessed it, puked it up almost immediately. She saw Sophie taking all her food and she went into survival mode, eating it all before Sophie could. And lastly, when given the opportunity, she takes Sophie's bed and drags it, jumps on it, scratches it, and basically beats the hell out of it. Then leaves it in a heap in the middle of the bedroom floor. Sort of a 'take that, Shorty.'

Beyond those quirks, she's great with other dogs and anyone she knows, but very very timid with strangers. And tonight, my biggest fear was realized when that timid nature gave way to an aggressive outburst while I was walking her. A woman walked by and Ruby was sitting waiting for her to pass and when she did and smiled down at her, Ruby barked and leapt toward her. Something I've never ever seen her do. Complete with a viscious growl, snarling, and lunging. The whole nine yards. I had a close hold on her leash so no harm was done, other than scaring the crap out of this poor woman I've never seen before.

It scared the hell out of me too and my immediate reaction was to body slam Ruby to the ground and lay on her to get control. In the few seconds I was laying there, I came to a decision that obedience training wasn't an option any longer. She popped up like nothing was wrong, tail wagging, tongue hanging out. Oblivious to what had just happened. I will NOT tolerate her acting like that. Had she been at home and reacted to a stranger in the house, I could use the excuse that she was protecting the home front. But we were walking on a public sidewalk. Whether she felt she was protecting me or herself, I can't take the chance that she's going to get aggressive like that. So I came home, looked up a dog obedience training program I'd heard about and found that the class she needs starts this Thursday. So to puppy training we will go.

That's all I have time for tonight. I'll report back after the first night of training and let you know how it goes.

Favorite picture of the week. She was actually asleep like this. By the way, the ottoman doesn't count as 'on the furniture.'