Team Belle,
Belle is doing well. She is much more relaxed and very affectionate! She continues to irritate Cat randomly and thinks getting swatted by Cat’s clawless paws is just a part of the fun. I don’t know that Cat is so accepting of the situation however.
We went on a walk down to our beach access, just down the street on Sunday. Belle and Emma both enjoyed sniffing the sand, drinking some lake water and exploring the beach area! Belle got her front paws wet at one point but Emma did not get into the water at all. Belle decided to sit/lay on the white sand….it stuck to her black coat! We had not gone to the lake front before so it was a fun new excursion!
Belle got a new toy this week. It was a toy purchased with her Wag gift card. It was a Kong stuffed toy that had a rope inside of it with minimal stuffing. A regular toy like this would normally last just under five minutes with Belle. The Kong toy lasted almost a half hour with a portion of it surviving until the next day! Emma was very jealous of this toy (it even had a squeaker)! While it did not last a long time, it certainly lasted longer than a normally toy and it did make Belle very happy!
We also got a tug of war toy for Carl and Belle to use. It is also a Kong toy (we should invest in some stock!) that should last a long time! We haven’t started using it yet because we have a water leak needing urgent attention.
The water leak came from the guest shower plumbing that backs up to my bedroom wall. My bedroom room has been emptied so the bedroom wall could be opened ( concerned about mold as well). Good news is that we will be able to fix it ourselves and I can do the wall repair! This leak had just began so no mold or other issues that a long time leak would have presented. We will leave the wall open for a week or two to make sure it is very dry inside.
The impact this made on Belle is that several pieces of my furniture are now in the dining room. I put my two cabinets on inside wall and pushed the table over under the big window. I have found enough black dog fur on top the table yesterday to make me think someone has found this new arrangement to her liking….! Belle appears to be using the table to look out the window. I will move one of the security cameras to determine if that is true! Darn dog!
I got a new dog book. This one is by Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. I am really enjoying it and I am also understanding our Belle more! I like to pet dog’s on top of the head. Belle does not like that – she wants to be touched under the jaw. I thought that was odd until I read about it in the book. Cesar also talks about a dog’s balance – feeling secure, feeling in place, etc. and how important that is. It makes me realize we are doing things right with our Tennessee Belle! She is much more friendly with Lois now than before she was before and I think this feeling balanced contributes to that. Lois bearing food probably helps as well! Lol!
The dogs both got new food dishes that make them eat slower. The dishes are making them lay down, hugging their bowl to work on eating all their food! It takes about 10 minutes to eat instead of less than a minute. Sometimes they switch bowls to see if the other bowl is easier! We have much less belching these days!
Emma is doing much better traveling now. I want to continue working on longer and longer distances. I would like both dogs to travel to Tennessee to see Team Belle so expect us at the end of the school year in 2016 instead of this Fall. Belle will have finished much of her training by then as well! These two roomies are starting to bond together! It makes me happy to see this! Hopefully Bella (Lois’s Cocker spaniel) will be a part of the pack by then as well!
Have a great week!
Suzanne and Carl
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