Wally the Gourmet

My son was home with the dogs this evening while dh and I went to an appointment than grocery shopping. He said that he heard a crash in the kitchen. There was Wally running around with half a loaf of French bread. Dh said that he thought that he had put it high enough out of Wally’s reach.

What’s really funny is that earlier in the day I heard a crash. There was Wally happily eating the garlic oil that I had made for the French bread. At least he has good taste.

Breakthrough

Today Wally and Bean had a major breakthrough. To back up yesterday they actually sniffed noses. This morning the boys we’re play wrestling in a friendly manor. Wally is also starting to walk with his tail up more in the house and isn’t so skittish around Bean.

Today Wally and Bean saw a little white dog. The combined pulling of Wally and Bean made the 2 boys hard to manage. I will invest in a no pull harness for Wally. After walking Wally and Bean it was Oscar’s turn with Wally. Wouldn’t you know it? We saw the same exact dog. Oscar isn’t a puller so Wally was much more manageable.

Wally is a little gentleman. When I come in to get ready for bed he will be sprawled all over the bed. When I finish getting ready he compacts himself up in the middle of the bed and leaves a nice space for me. When I get settled he will put his head on me.

And talking about no privacy, I had all 3 boys in the bathroom with me this morning while I was fixing my hair.

Building up the miles

Wally walked 2 miles with me today around the lake. He than went running for 3 miles with my husband. Dh wants to build Wally’s distance up gradually. Dh says that Wally does really well on his runs.

Oscar will now be in the same room as Wally. Bean is still being a little Bully.

Poor Wally cried for a whole hour after my son left to go play lacrosse. Wally likes to snuggle with my son after school which he didn’t get to do today.

Handsome Boy

Wally and Bean got lots of compliments today walking around the lake. Somebody made the comment that they are a cute pair of Beagles. Wally let a toddler try to straighten out his tail. Bean managed to snag a piece of bread from a kid trying to feed the ducks.

After walking Wally and Bean it was Oscar’s turn. One person made the comment that Oscar and Wally are two very different types of dogs. One lady saw Wally and commented that he was such a handsome boy. She said that she grew up in coon hunting country and misses the sounds of the dogs. She wants to get a coonhound but her husband doesn’t want a dog. She sat down on one of the benches and Wally climbed right up and sat beside her. The woman really loved the attention that Wally lavished on her.

Wally did not like having to go in his crate after his walk. I needed to go get the emissions checked on my son’s car. The car passed and is good to go for another 2 years.

Did Bean Grow?

It’s so funny. Dh and I just walked out our front door with Bean, Wally and Oscar. One of our neighbors saw us and said, “Oh, that explains it!!!” She thought that Bean had eaten a lot of food and had grown really fast in the course of one week. She didn’t realize that Bean and Wally are 2 different dogs.

Daddy's Boy

Wally has turned into a Daddy’s boy. He follows my dh everywhere. Dh and Wally are now out for a run. Bean has been very protective of me; he doesn’t like Wally getting to close. As a result Wally would go to dh for pets so he has bonded with his dad.

Dh is really happy. He thought that when we got Bean that Bean was going to be his dog but Bean decided that he is definitely a Mommy’s boy. Oscar is also a mommy’s boy. Dh likes that Wally is becoming his dog.

Wally decides that it's shoe washing day

Wally sees another dog. I didn't realize that I was standing in mud so I lost my footing and Wally managed to pull me along. Bean's head is in the bottom of the photo.


Wally looks wistfully at the water.


Wally spots another Beagle about a 100 yards off and trys to get it's attention.

Wally has decided that its shoe washing day. We we’re getting ready to take the dogs out for a walk and we saw Wally’s but sticking out of the closet. Dh went to investigate and there was Wally happily peeing into our son’s shoe. He really managed to soak the shoe.

I was surprised when I went to bed last night. Wally and Bean we’re lying down butted up next to each other. There are still some scuffles but they are starting to abate.

We took the dogs for about a 3 mile walk today, the weather is to nice not to be outside. Wally and Bean like to greet the dogs that they meet. They met a 21 year old Chihuahua, a Golden Retriever and a pug. Oscar ignored all of the other dogs.

Oscar Snuggle

Oscar decided to snuggle with me tonight. He loves ear cleaning time. Bean and Wally do all the work by getting their ears cleaned and they all get a treat afterwards. Oscar gets excited when he sees the ear cleaner bottle come out. It seems like he is almost gloating to the other two that he doesn’t have to do anything for a treat.

Double Walks

Wally gets to go walking twice for our noon time walk. I don’t want to try walking all 3 dogs at once until they are really comfortable with each other. I’m hoping that by taking him out one on one with each dog that the dogs will bond.

Wally and Bean walked around the lake. I’m really surprised that we didn’t meet up with any other dogs. Wally spotted a squirrel and wanted to go after it. I don’t know which is the sniffing master; Bean or Wally.

I was really surprised to see two toddlers run down to the dock area way ahead of their dad. A kid recently drowned by losing their balance and falling into the water at this spot. When my son was little I held his hand at all times near the dock.

Wally than got to go out with Oscar. We went halfway around the lake and than doubled back which means Wally and I walked almost 4 miles.

Bean is finally starting to ease up on Wally. He lets Wally wander the house. Bean still wants the spot right next to me.

Wally pictures

Yesterday Wally decided to read a book with my son(ds). He did the same thing today when ds got home from school. Today he layed down on ds' stomach. He than decided to lay down on ds' calc. book when he had moved to the floor.


Wally hides behind me. Bean had been telling him who the alpha dog is.


Wally gives me a big yawn.

Bean the bully

Bean has been a real bully to Wally. Bean doesn’t want Wally to come up the stairs from the entry way. Both dh and myself have had to assert our alpha status with Bean and bring Wally up into the main part of the house. Bean will actually herd Wally back down to the landing. I hope that Wally will realize that he is bigger than Bean and that he can push his way by.

Oscar stays away when Bean is enforcing his alpha status with Wally. Wally did assert himself with Oscar to get onto the bed. Oscar now realizes that he is the low man in the pack. I do give Oscar lots of pets and reassurance.

Wally is such a huge love bug. He loves to snuggle. He likes to sit on my computer chair while I type. He also loves to watch me cook. His nose is right by my elbow. He is learning not to put his paws on the counter or table to see what I’m doing. He is a very enthusiastic eater. Bean will horn in on Oscar and steal his food. Bean knows better than to try this with Wally. I can’t wait until I have to loosen Wally’s harness because he gained weight.

Wally's first day

Wally misses his foster mom. He has been crying off and on. I've been petting him and giving him hugs. He is a big cuddle bug. My son laid down on the sofa with a book and Wally climbed right up and laid on top of him.

Bean has been asserting his dominance. Wally knows that Bean is the alpha. I sent Bean and Oscar out with my husband and son so that Wally could relax and explore the house without 2 dogs being territorial. I realize that it will take a while for the dogs to adjust to each other.

I took Wally out for a long noon time walk. Dh took him for a short run tonight. Dh is looking forward to having a running partner. I’m to nervous right now to have Wally go on long runs because he is so thin.

Wally's first night

After our bedtime walk Wally sat beside me while I was on the computer. When I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed Wally whined and barked. He didn’t like me out of his sight.

I’m surprised at how such a large dog can compact himself into such a small space. He managed to squeeze himself between myself and dh between our pillows. Oscar was at the foot of the bed and Bean was between us. This morning Wally managed to squeeze himself into the computer chair and sit behind me.

Bean is asserting himself as top dog. There have been a few scuffles. Bean is definitely the alpha. Both Wally and Oscar look at Bean to see if they are allowed to do something.

Adjusting

Tue. Evening

Wally followed my son all around the house, he even tried to follow him into the bathroom. He than followed my husband around and than settled down on the sofa by Bean and myself. Oscar has been hiding in our bedroom. Poor Wally wants Oscar to like him. It will take a while for Oscar to warm up.

Wally is very thin. He was at a trainers and had lost a lot of weight. I was afraid that he wouldn’t eat. He had no problems with eating. I added a little beef broth to his food and he eagerly ate it all. After finishing he started marking his territory, right into the water bowl. I had to clean and sterilize the water bowl and clean the carpet. He than made himself at home on our sofa.

It was pouring rain for our bedtime walk. There was also a cold wind blowing. Wally did his thing and ran right for the door to come inside. I was impressed that he knew which door to run to.

I am thankful that Wally’s adoptive mom took such good care of him. Thank you, I’m very grateful that you trust us with Wally.

Wally's Home

We picked up a Treeing Walker Coonhound today. His foster mom is really sweet. The dogs like Wally, Bean greeted him right away. Oscar is still being standoffish but will warm up.

As soon as we got the boys home we took them for a walk down to the lake. Wally wanted to jump right into the water. He got to meet Sammy and Michael, two little poodles. He was good with the little dogs.

I walked Wally around the house on his leash. After giving him the tour I let him walk around loose. He immediately went for the water bowl and took a nice long drink. He than followed dh upstairs. It’s so funny because I pulled out a snack for myself. Wally heard me crinkling a wrapper and came running. I had 3 dogs staring at my snack. After giving the dogs a treat I came upstairs to update this site. Wally is laying nicely beside my chair. I will post pictures later in the week.

I want you to look just like me

Bean has a stuffed moose that he carries around. He gets annoyed if anybody else picks it up. Oscar likes to tease him by picking up the moose and running around with it. Bean customized his moose to look just like him. He chewed the tail off and left a little stubby tail. It’s funny because Bean hasn’t chewed anything else on the moose.

Bean and Oscar enjoyed walking around the lake today. They got to sniff noses with a little pug. The weather was perfect. We mostly had the lake to ourselves so the New Years Resolution exercisers have finally abated. I don’t mind exercisers, I exercise myself. I get annoyed with the Resolution runners and walkers that will hog the whole path and get annoyed with the fact that there are dogs walking. There was one group running 4 abreast.

No Privacy

It’s funny, everyone told me once you have kids you won’t have any privacy. It’s not the kid, it’s the dogs. Bean needs to know where I am at all times. He can open doors. Once he figures out where I am he’ll nudge open the door and walk away. I think that I’ll have to put a better lock on the bathroom door.

It is drizzling rain here today. Last night it was raining hard. Bean had his little coat on so wanted to take his time and keep on sniffing. He really doesn’t like rain and we would literally have to push him out the door for a walk. He’s finally figured out that his coat keeps him dry, maybe a little to dry eh?

Crane

The dogs spotted a crane on their morning walk with dh.


The dogs get closer


The dogs scare the crane away.

Anniversary

Lake in the evening-photo taken by dh in Nov.

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary. We didn’t go anywhere. We made a nice meal and will make fried ice-cream later. We we’re going to take the dogs to Assateague but the weather report called for rain later in the day. I think that we’ll have to wait until spring for the weather to co-operate. It’s to far of a drive to take a chance.

The weather was really weird today. This morning you could go around in short sleeves. By evening the wind was blowing. Dh had shorts on when we took the dogs down to the lake. I think he started to get a little chilly with the wind. The sunset tonight was gorgeous. The dogs met a corgi mix.

I’m going to get the squirrel

Today was perfect for our noon time lake walk. The temperature hit about 61 f with no wind. We met a large Golden Retriever that both boys liked. Bean liked the Akita puppy, Oscar was standoffish. The Akita puppy was a little shy. They also met a Bearded Collie-gorgeous hair, and a half Beagle. There we’re other dogs but the owners clearly didn’t want their dogs interacting which is fine.

Bean is determined to get a squirrel. Luckily the squirrels are to smart for him. It does make for a very long walk if I let the boys sniff everything that they are interested in.

I’m really hoping that we can meet the Treeing Walker Coonhound this weekend. I am grateful though that his foster mom is waiting until she feels that he is ready.

I’m in the market for a handheld sudoku game. I have one by techno source that I can’t stand. The numbers are impossible to read. I like my husband’s Franklin by Nikoli but was disappointed that it only came with 99 games. The games are handcrafted and symmetrical. I might go ahead and buy another palm and buy sudoku for the palm. I have a 1st generation palm which the software is to old to work with the programs that I would want.

Poor Doggies

I feel like such a bad mommy. I had a killer migraine this morning and couldn't move without feeling nauseas. My poor boys laid in bed beside me looking worried. It’s such a gorgeous day outside; I only took the boys out long enough to do their thing. Hubby said that he would take the boys out for a long walk when he gets home.

The boys could tell that I wasn’t feeling well because they didn’t nudge me to go out. On a normal day they will let me know when it’s time to go out. Bean will come up to me and nudge me with his nose, Oscar will start his doggy talk with me. It’s so cute, it’s like a low growl cut up into sentences.

Hopefully if it’s nice out on Sunday we can take the boys down to Assateague. We did try the local dog park once. Bean got slammed into by a big dog and started to limp. I realize now that if we go again that Bean will need to go into the area for small dogs. The same dog knocked me over. The poor owner was really worried. It was an accident and the dog was playing doing what dogs do. The owner still kept asking me I was okay and would my dog be okay. Oscar ignored the other dogs and sniffed everything.

Windy Day

The wind was blowing very strong for our afternoon lake walk. You could actually see white caps on the lake. There was also a tree that had been blown down that was blocking the pathway to the bridge. The tree wasn’t a big tree, probably about 6” across the trunk. There we’re a lot of fallen branches that the boys had to sniff and mark. We didn’t see any geese today.

There we’re 2 nice ladies walking around that wanted to pet the boys. One said that she used to have a Beagle. Bean is friendly to most people, Oscar is getting standoffish in his old age.

I didn’t realize that today through Fri. is half days for the high school kids due to mid-term exams. It’s my own fault because the school calendar is hanging up in the kitchen.

Gray Day

It was a gloomy day with intermittent rain. The poor dogs didn’t get to go around the lake. I don’t mind walking the lake when it’s cold but dislike rain, wind and cold. Bean doesn’t like walking in the rain either; you literally have to push him out the door. Oscar resigns himself to walking in the rain.

Dh and I had some chocolate calzones tonight. Bean’s nose was really twitching. He looked so disappointed not to get a piece. I won’t give my dogs anything with chocolate. Oscar got into Dh’s Christmas chocolates a few years back. A friend of ours had given him some chocolates imported from Germany. Our son (DS) was home from school because it was a snow day. DS decided to go sledding. He thought that the chocolates we’re out of dog reach. Oscar ate the whole box. Ds called my hubby up in a panic. Poor Oscar, he had the results of his foray coming out both ends. Dh had a nice mess to clean up (he had gotten home before I did).

Ds had a friend over to work on a project for school. We put out sub makings for the boys. I’m amazed that his friend made a sandwich out of half a loaf of French bread and managed to eat it all.

Hiking

Bean sniffs the trail of a deer herd.


Oscar poses nicely, Bean is busy sniffing.

Dh and I took the boys hiking today in Patapsco State Park. It was in the upper 30's or low 40.'s I wore a windjacket under my coat so was quite comfortable. We saw a herd of deer cross the path. Bean's nose went bonkers smelling the deer trail. He sounds like a little train engine or pig snorting when he scents something.

We went up a steep trail where we had to walk single file. Both boys did well on this trail. Round trip we probably hiked about 3 miles. We didn't go further because we didn't want to tax the boys. Oscar is a senior citizen and Bean has a bad back hip. If Bean goes to far he will start limping. Oscar will lie down and refuse to move if he gets tired. I'm afraid to push Oscar to hard because of his heart murmer.

Cold Day

Oscar and Bean at the lake 1/15/06

Dh laughed at me when I bought a coat for Bean. His opinion was, he’s a Beagle-he won’t feel the cold. It was 27 f this morning when dh took the dogs down to the lake. He was looking for thin fragile ice that forms on top of water to photograph. He was out for about a half hour and noticed that Bean was shivering. He realized that he better bring him home. Bean made a bee line for the door and ran the whole way back. Dh felt bad when he noticed that Bean was shivering. He realizes now that if the temperature gets in the low 30’s or below that he will need to put on Bean’s coat. Oscar on the other hand loves the cold weather. One time it had stormed and Oscar pulled my dh around like a little sled dog through the snow drifts.

We we’re going to take the dogs to Assateague today. I don’t enjoy walking along the beach when there is a cold wind blowing. I do enjoy collecting sea shells. Last month I found a really neat spiral shell walking the beach in Ocean City. Oscar loves running along the beach.

Dh has decided to reshelve all of our books. He has some weird idea how he wants to organize them. I had my books by author, he wants to put them by genre. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as I can find what I am looking for. I do need to go through my books and get rid of the ones that I no longer need or have lost interest in.

Random Thoughts

For an entry about Saturdays walk please see the post Oscar and Bean in my husband's blog The Occasional Photo

Dh and I went to a nice food party tonight hosted by one of his running buddies who is a chef. He was kind enough to demonstrate his techniques and share his recipes. It’s funny because we we’re jokingly dividing ourselves into runners and non runners.

I'm waiting like a nervous momma to see if we can adopt a Treeing Walker Coonhound. I hope that Oscar and Bean like this dog when they meet him. I also hope that the foster mom approves of our family.

I can tell that some people think that I am crazy for wanting to adopt another dog. My friends that know me really well think that was a great idea. I’m home and have the time to work with a dog. I also plan to become more involved with doggy rescue. I can help with adoption days and I can transport animals.

I honestly don’t understand people that don’t treat their pets like members of the family. My dogs are allowed on my furniture and they sleep with me. Growing up I knew some people that kept a German Shepard in a small outdoor cage, probably about 4’ x 6.’ The dog was rarely given any attention. He was provided with a dog house. The bottom of the cage was concrete which was covered with excrement. The poor dog paced back and forth all day. I wished that this was an isolated occurrence. As a teenager I knew another family that kept a dog in the same manner. I just don’t get it.

Sleeping like a Baby

It stormed here last night. I could hear the rain and the wind. I couldn’t sleep but the dogs had no problem. Bean was snoring very loudly with his head on my pillow. It makes me so happy that Bean trusts me enough to fall asleep that deeply snuggled up against me. Dh has commented that I haven’t complained about him snoring since Bean came home. Oscar was snuggled against my feet. He does his little running when he dreams. He also makes little noises. I wonder what he dreams about.

Sleeping with Bean is like sleeping with a portable heater. I never realized that Beagles threw off so much heat.

Oscar's story

We adopted Oscar 1o years ago from the Humane society. He was 1 year old. The paper work said that we we're his 2nd owner, I talked to a former worker and found out that we we're actually the 3rd owners. He was very shy and timid. He almost didn't pass the temperament test so that he could be adopted. Luckily one worker at the shelter saw Oscar's potential and took the time to work with him and socialize him. He was very fearful of men when we 1st got him. I think that he must have been abused. He would roll over and pee when dh would approach him.

The lady that adopted Oscar before us only had him for 1 week. I want to go tell that lady off. She didn't even give him a chance to acclimate to a new environment. She said that he was very nervous and needy, of course he was. That's to be expected getting use to a new home. My opinion of her is very bad words that I can't post here.

Oscar was very nervous and suffered from bad separation anxiety. He did chew a lot too but after all, he was still a puppy. Giving him proper toys and making sure our things we're out of his reach helped solve that problem. Crate training him also helped. I didn't want to worry about his time alone in the house that he would get into something that would seriously hurt him. I wanted to be sure that I would come home to a nice happy dog.

I can't believe that he is 11 years old already. He is the sweetest dog. He seems to know when I need doggy hugs. I have gotten spoiled because I can leave both him and Bean out if I leave and the house is not destroyed. The boys do counter surf which is to be expected. Dh made a nice foccacia and thought that he put it out of doggy reach. The boys enjoyed it, they we're to full to eat their dinner.

Oscar is getting quite curmudgeonly in his old age. He doesn't have as much patience with high energy little dogs that he did when he was younger. He still loves kids. At one of the weekly race series there was a toddler trying to straighten out his tail. Oscar acted like he didn't even notice.

Cloudy Day

One time around the lake is 1.8 miles. From our doorstop around and back is exactly 2 miles. The boys get very dissapointed if they don't get to go all the away around for their afternoon walk. Bean tries to be slick and start pulling us towards the lake for his bedtime walk. The boys get 4 walks a day minimum, sometimes more if the weather is nice or they want to go out.

The lake is finally returning to normal, the New Years resolution runners, walkers and bikers has abated. Today the boys met up with 2 dogs, a Golden Retriever and a large handsome mixed boy. It took us less time to walk around since we didn't have to dodge cranky bikers and runners. Most exercisers are okay, I do take my dogs off to the side if I see them passing. I get annoyed with the bikers that feel that dogs have no business on the paths. I will get out of the way if you ring your bell or say biker on the left. I don't appreciate yelling in an annoyed voice to "move the dogs."

It was one of those rare days where you could see the moon during the day. It was a very pretty site over the lake.

The squiralls we're teasing Bean. There we're 2 squiralls on a tree trunk, it looked like they we're saying Nayah to Bean and daring him to chase them. It was really cute.

Bean Before and After

Bean was a very skinny dog when he came home last Jan '05. He was very scared and unsure of himself. He came from the Humane Society. He was a stray. I can't imagine anyone letting such a sweet dog get away and not try to get him back. He is 3-5 years old.



He quickly adapted to being an inside dog. I don't think that he was indoors much, he had no idea how to climb stairs. He loves to snuggle aganist me.














I would live to know who docked his tail. The vet thinks that maybe somebody tried to pass him off as a Jack Russell when he was a puppy. It's also possible that he may have gotten it caught in something.


Here is Bean almost a year later, Christmas '05. He loves to snuggle. Hubby says that we should have named him HRH for His Royal Highness. Bean knows how to get his way with lots of belly rubs.

Beautiful day

It is warmer than usual here for this time of year, around 60 f. A light jacket was even to warm. There we're 2 ladies walking around the lake in high heels. I don't get it, the ground is very uneven, why risk twisting an ankle?

The dogs enjoyed their noon time walk around the lake. They met a large Yellow Lab that weighed about 100 pounds. There was another lady that was walking a young dog that was clearly fearful of her dog rubbing noses with any other dogs. She is going to be in for a miserable existance trying to always keep her dog isolated.

Poor Oscar is slowing down. He is 11 years old and is very healthy for his age. He takes longer to get going in the morning, I can see how much stiffer his joints are when he walks down the stairs. At least his joints do loosen up as the day goes on. He has a heart murmer, so far it hasn't interfered with his quality of life.

Doggy Heaven

Dh and I just finished watching the Twilight Zone Episode "The Hunt." A man goes out coonhunting with his dog. His dog falls in a lake and the old man jumps in to save him and they both pass away. He comes upon a gatekeeper that insist that it's heaven but won't let the dog in. The old man decides that he doesn't want to go in if his dog isn't allowed. Needless to say he finds the true heaven and dogs are welcome there. The place that tried to trick him is hell.

I'm the same way as that old man, if I was with my dogs and they said no dogs I would be sure that it isn't heaven.

Coming in from our evening walk dh accidently knocked Bean (Beagle) with the door. Bean will hold a grudge. He's eating it up letting me pet him and comfort him. He won't look at dh and when he does he gives dh the most dirty looks. Beagles have such a great personality.

I love the Eskimo personality too. We've had Oscar for 11 years, Bean joined the family last year and promptly became top dog.

Disjointed Thoughts

Today is a gray 100% humidity day. It was raining earlier, now it's a light drizzle. The dogs got a shortened walk since I didn't want to be caught out on the other side of the lake if it started to pour.

Rant: There is a dog bag station and a trash can. Some dumb@@@ let a huge dog do it's thing right in front of the post and didn't clean up. I don't understand rude dog owners, it gives the rest of us a bad name and ammunition for people who don't want dogs in public places.




This picture was taken by my husband in early Dec. I took the picture from his blog The Occasional Photo

For some reason Bean doesn't like having his picture taken. When he sees hubby pulling the camera out he runs and hides. We think it's the sound of the flash that he doesn't like.

Tues Afternoon

Bean


Oscar

Oscar and Bean enjoyed their walk around the lake today. The New Years Resolution runners are finally starting to thin out. The boys met a large Golden Retreiver mix. They also got to sniff noses with a small white fluffy dog. It's amazing though the number of people who walk dogs and have a sour outlook on life. They definately give out a don't say "Hello" to me vibe.