Moxie says... "Somehow (or at least I'm not telling how) I broke off part of my dewclaw on my front left paw. (The dewclaw, you know, is that odd 5th claw we dogs have higher up on the side of the paw). It hurt because it got up into the quick of the claw (the living part inside).

"Although I was happy to keep licking at it, Dave and Jenni said it wouldn't heal that way, and really weren't too keen about blood on the carpet.

"So, Jenni cleaned it, treated it with something she called, some anti-something stuff, and then taped it up. They were worried that I'd just chew it off, but I'm pretty smart and I realized that it's for my own good. It felt weird at first and I wanted to chew at it, but I controlled myself and have gotten used to it being on and haven't bothered it.

"They said it looks better this morning when they changed it and it doesn't hurt as much now. And most importantly I didn't need to go to the vet!!!"

It is now December, and Moxie is 10 months old. She still is quite the puppy, but we can also see her maturing in other ways as well. Moxie was born at the end of January last year, so we know she is probably no stranger to snow. However, our first good snow of the season, she absolutely fell in love with it! It is so fun to watch her romp around, and make "snow angels" by rolling in it. She is a very hardy soul! She has no problem staying outside for an hour at a time, even in what we consider pretty frigid weather. Which is more than I can say for David and me. Fortunately, she is pretty content these days to be let out on her cable.

Moxie is looking forward to her first Christmas. We are going to visit "Grandma W." in North Carolina, and I can only imagine Moxie will love the adventure. She rides really well in the car, so we don't anticipate any trouble there.

BTW, We have a couple more additions this month to the chewed-up list:
rosebush (completely gone -- dug up we think)
pair of boots (I foolishly left my boots in the unsafe zone, and the toe is completely missing off of one of them!) David says he'd like to see her try that with his steel-toed boots sometime! LOL

Kiko's Korner: Kiko is enjoying having the run of the house this weekend. We went to an out-of-town wedding overnight Friday and had to board Moxie, but we knew we were not going to be able to pick her up in time Saturday, so we have to wait for Monday morning to pick her up. I can't say Kiko minds not having the big black beast around! We miss her though.

Once again, I come slinking in with my tail between my legs (haha) realizing it's been far too long since I last blogged here. Moxie has discovered her independent streak the last couple months. She has kept us busy of course with good and not-so-good behavior, but we love her and are glad we have her (most of the time anyway lol).

We thought it would be fun to include some of the things victimized by Moxie's chewing habit:

computer cables (5, some expensive)
shoes (all of our shoes are missing bits)
purse (found empty gum box, no gum...or wrappers)
library book (Was about dog training! $25.00)
cell phone holster (2)
old cell phone (chewed badly)
cell phones (our current ones, only slightly scratched)
Family Bible (mostly the box it came in)
newspapers
TV remote (most of the buttons still work -- it's just "textured" now)
door mat (nice half-circle bite out of)
yard (mostly digging)
blanket throw
laptop (small chew marks on one corner)
rug in her cage (after 2 she has nothing in her cage now)
plastic bags (shredded)
pens
cloth shopping bag
back pack (missing various bits)
dog bowl (likes to gnaw on bowl after dinner)
any kind of paper she gets out of the trash
dog toys (wear out quickly)
small dog bones are consumed swiftly
bone that belongs in a dinosaur museum is more of a challenge


Obviously we have learned if it's important, don't leave it where she can get to it. Moxie has actually slowed down a bit on the chewing. David bought her a cow femur that she loves, loves, LOVES! That has been keeping her busy. All in all, she has been acting a bit less puppy-like the last two weeks or so. So, maybe she is maturing (?)

We call Moxie, Moxie Lou (after my aunt's middle name who made it possible for us to get her) Moxie is now 9 months old (born in January), she stands 26" tall at the shoulders, and weighs about 65 pounds! Yes, a big dog. Not sure if she is done growing yet either.

Moxie's quirks:

~Moxie doesn't mind if she is outside when a train rumbles by, but she hates the vacuum cleaner.
~Moxie is very jealous if David's attentions are elsewhere, be that with the cat, the computer, or even me! She whimpers and whines. She is definitely "Daddy's little girl!"
~Moxie bonks the doorknob with her nose when she wants to go outside.
~Moxie can sense when we are about to leave or go to bed, and she goes right into her kennel.
~Moxie can somehow sense that I am not as energetic as David. When David is home, she fusses to go out a lot more (I think she is hoping for a walk with him). When I am home alone with her, she rests during the day (most of the time), for which I'm very grateful!
~Moxie loves to mouth people and objects. Trying to teach her not to do that.
~Moxie seems to tire of her food quite easily. She'll eat one brand quite happily for a few days, then suddenly, she starts to refuse to eat it, until we switch her to another brand, or mix in some yummy wet food.
~Moxie loves to go on short rides in the car with David when he runs a quick errand. She enjoys sticking her head out the window and well...being like a typical dog.
~Moxie's favorite toys are her squeaky toys, a pink block given to us by my uncle and aunt, and a tennis ball toy given by David's sister and her family.
~Moxie gets very focused on her bone. She gnaws away on it for hours sometimes.
~Moxie's favorite game is laser tag. David has her chase the red dot from a laser pointer all over the house. She never seems to tire of it. She also really enjoys playing fetch.
~Moxie's biggest dream is to run free like a crazy dog. Unfortunately because we have a small yard, and can't trust her off the leash very much, she doesn't get to indulge this very much, if at all.

And the list of her unique Moxisms continues to grow.

We are considering taking her to obedience classes. Although she already has learned the basic commands, we would like to teach her we are the alphas, not her. I have not had very much extra energy lately as I have been going through a flare-up of my CFS the last month. We'll see...

It's been a long time! -- oops

I can't believe it's been so long since our last post! Please forgive us! Moxie has been keeping us busy with her entertaining antics, her newly discovered independent streak, and with vet visits.

She has recovered nicely from her spay, but she has gone to the vet twice since then. Firstly, while we were on vacation, and she was visiting "grandma and grandpa," she gave them a scare by not eating and having digestive trouble. They took her to our vet, who found fibers in her digestive tract. Evidently ate something she shouldn't have. Then, just this week, we took her back to the vet because she started limping early in the week. Turns out, the vet said she has panosteitus, which is an inflammation in the long bone in the leg of growing puppies, esp. large breeds. So, more medicine and another vet bill. She has to be on anti-inflammatory medicine for 10 days, and limited activity (no running or jumping). Good luck with that, right? A six-month old puppy???

She's doing pretty well otherwise. She is starting to show more independence and not listening to us. She also loves to chew everything in sight including David and me! Not so good when she chews through an electrical cord (fortunately, not plugged in!). We are working on these things.

She is always good for at least one laugh a day. Like the time I was cleaning for guests and she chased the swiffer duster all over the kitchen, finally attacking it. She pulled off the dirty cloth and I had to chase her all around the living room to get it back! Oh, for a hidden camera then! There are so many things she does like this every day! It's hard to keep track of all of them.

As I write this, we are sitting outside, enjoying a rare, cooler August day. She loves to lay outside in the grass. Yesterday, we did a lot of yardwork, including weeding. Moxie was "helping" by carrying off piles of weeds! We are enjoying the fruit of our labor today.

Hope to do better about posting. Sorry it's been so long.

Kiko's Korner:

I am fed up with this big black thing that is still around. I was hoping it was just here to visit, but it still hasn't left yet, so now I've decided to teach her a thing or two. I chase her down, wop her on the nose, spit and hiss and growl. I even back her into a corner. You would think she'd get the point, but no, she just comes right back, wagging her tail and prancing around. Stupid creature!

Goin' Places with Moxie

Dave here...

Partly because we want to help Moxie learn to adjust to different situations and partly because she's doing so well at it, we've taken her with us on a number of different occasions lately.





Last Saturday was Fun Day (an annual festival here in our small town). We took Moxie along to the parade in the morning. Despite the many people, and loud noises (bands, tractors, fire engines), she did quite well, sitting at my feet and not freaking out.



Later in the day we took her over to the park where lots of people were around enjoying the food, rides and exploring the vendors' tables. Looking charming with her red bandana around her neck, she attracted no small number of children wanting to pet her and compliments about her looks and demeanor from adults. Above she rests beside Jenni while we watch an impressive strong man demonstration from a distance.




Above left, she's pretty tired out from the day's activities. Sunday was Jenni's birthday and that afternoon we went to our favorite park about an hour away. She went on a walk with us along the side of the lake, again being calm around strangers and showing moderate restraint against chasing the geese. Above center she rests with me for a bit, and above right she keeps an eye on nearby wildlife. On the way home, we stopped over at Jenni's folks.



On Tuesday we went to see my sister's family in the St. Louis area. Moxie's great in the car... just naps quietly on the back seat. Again, Moxie did really well with the kids who had fun feeding her dog biscuits. Above are Senna and Ryan "helping" walk Moxie around their neighborhood.

Day 8 -- 6/22/08

Well, we learned why Moxie hasn't been feeling well . It turns out she has a nice assortment of various kinds of worms. Yuk! Worms are nearly inevitable for puppies we're told. However, the vet said she has a pretty nasty case. So, now we have medicine to give her, which thankfully she has been eating. We were actually getting concerned because she just wasn't having much of an appetite at all. So hopefully, she'll be feeling better soon.

She has been feeling well enough to start testing our boundaries, however. She has shown us a little independent streak, which we are working quickly to quell. Stinker!

We are feeling a bit of the emotional roller coaster that parents must go through. From pride to joy to worry to frustration! This afternoon, this is how we found her when left unattended for a few moments. Later, we found her like that again! It's awful hard to scold for bad behavior when you are laughing so hard!

But, we also were very proud of her for walking so well this evening with us. Coming back home, we encountered a rather rambunctious big dog who pulled the little girl "he was walking" right over to us. Moxie remained calm through it all. Kind of nice to be on the non-embarrassing side of something like this for a change.

Kiko's corner: We have a momentous progress report to give today. Although there has been a bit of regression with hissing involved -- today we let Kiko out and while David worked with Moxie to get her to a calm, submissive state (for those of you who have seen The Dog Whisperer show) which took quite a while by the way, I petted Kiko to try to calm him, and show Moxie he is an ok and accepted member of our pack. Lo and behold, Kiko ended up laying down (!) about 8 ft away from her, and we all hung out there on the floor for about 5 or 10 minutes! Wow! Keep praying!

Day 6 -- 6/20/2008

Moxie here. Jenni is really tired out so I am taking over for now. So anyway, I live with two humans now. The bigger one is named David and the smaller one is named Jenni, I think. I'm still getting them straight.

The last couple days some things have happened that I'm not quite sure I liked. Each morning, the bigger one disappears, and I can't find him anywhere. I look around in all the places I can find him usually, and he's just not around. That makes me sad and I whimper some, but the smaller one says it's all right. I don't think it's all right, but since I don't want to lose the smaller one, too, I follow her everywhere. Sometimes she seems to go back and forth and back and forth; I really don't see the purpose for it, but I still follow her, so I don't lose her. Sometimes the smaller one puts me in my kennel, and she disappears too. This is kind of scary because I really don't want them to forget about coming back and letting me out. Eventually, after a very LONG time, they come back and let me out. Whew!

I'm starting to realize when they say "Moxie" they mean me. When they say "no" that means to stop whatever it is I'm doing at the moment. They are stealing all my fun this way. I'm still learning what come and stay mean. Haven't quite figured those out yet.

The smaller one -- Jenni, I think -- has started walking with me on the leash. I was really scared of the pulling feeling I had with the leash at first, but I found out, it isn't so bad after all, and when I am willing to wear the leash, I get to go to new places. So, that's kind of fun.

One new place we went this morning, was not fun for me. It was a building that smelled like medicine and all different kinds of dogs and cats. My bigger human, David, lifted me onto a cold and slick table and then a strange human I had never seen before started poking and prodding me and feeling me all over, sticking sharp things into my skin, and sticking something into my ears. I didn't like it and was very scared, but since my humans were there, I guess it was all right.

The strange human talked to me in a nice voice, but I still wasn't sure about him. He said some things to my humans and they seemed happy about it. When we came out of the little room into the bigger room, there was another dog there that didn't smell familiar and I got scared of it and pulled away. My humans always tell me it's ok and I guess I have to learn to trust if they say it's ok, it is. We finally were able to get out of there and I was glad! My humans said they have lots of new medicines for me to take, but that I was healthy. I could have told them that without all that trouble!

My humans are a little concerned that I don't seem to be eating very much. And the strange human, which they called my doctor said I was a little on the thin side. But he expects me to get a better appetite eventually.

Well, my paws are getting tired of typing, so bye.

Kiko's Corner: Kiko made some real progress the last couple days. David let him out of the bedroom and let him come in to the living room when he was ready. Moxie was in a very calm state and sleeping. Kiko came to within 6 ft of her and stopped and stared at her for a moment before slinking back into the bedroom. The fact that he didn't react aggressively is a big step for him. Later, David had opened the door to the bedroom and Moxie was on one side, and Kiko was on the other. He said they stared at each other for a moment, but again no violent reaction.

Tonight, we put up a baby gate in the bedroom doorway so they could see each other. So far, so good. On Kiko's nightly trip in to the living room, he got about the same distance to Moxie and stopped. Moxie saw him and became quite interested and wanted to follow him back to the bedroom, but we stopped her. She seemed to notice him for the first time almost and was very interested in him after the gate was shut, but she didn't exhibit any aggressive or mean behavior. Please continue to pray for this. We expect there may be some skirmishes, but we are thankful, very thankful for the progress so far!

Day 3 -- 6/17/2008

Today we have been able to see more of Moxie's puppy tendencies. She has become increasingly more comfortable with going in and out, going potty more, has a bigger appetite now, increased curiousity about things, and exploring some on her own. She still doesn't stray very far from us, but she is getting braver.

My mom and dad and one of our nephews, Micah, got to meet Moxie today, as well as one of our neighbors. She was fine and friendly with them, albeit a little timid at first.

This afternoon, while I was planting, Moxie kept me company and even tried to "help," by carrying around the empty plastic container the plants had come in, and by trying a couple different times to pick up my hand trowel. Thanks Moxie. Now we have to teach her to stay out of the garden! David and I have been walking her around the perimeter of our yard a few times each day, so she gets the idea of a boundary there.

David has been entertaining her by running around the yard with her, and she is also very good at playing fetch. As I said, she has become more energetic today. I'm afraid for awhile this evening she was downright bored. "What else can we do, huh, huh?"

She loves her toys and would like to thank Lexi (my uncle and aunt's german shepherd) for sharing with her. Her favorite toys right now appear to be a pink block and a rope toy. She was playing fetch with the pink block earlier today. We've had fun. She is responding more to her name, too. She still has had no accidents in the house. Let's keep the streak going, Mox.

Kiko's corner: Thankfully, Kiko seemed to feel more comfortable in the bedroom today. Until tonight, when he snuck out and David took the opportunity to hold him and try to introduce the two again. Kiko was looking very intensely at Moxie and Moxie let out a low growl. After I scolded her, Kiko started growling and hissing himself. So much for that attempt. Took a while to get him to settle down in the bedroom again. Moxie also growled at a neighbor's cat for which she was scolded. We're trying to teach her neighbors and their pets are ok.

Day 2 -- 6/16/2008

Today Moxie and David and I are all getting used to each other. She seems very laid-back so far. We have discovered she has very large bladder and digestion control. She has only gone one of each type the whole day. She is eating and drinking, although she doesn't eat a lot. A large part of the day was us trying to anticipate when she might have to go outside, taking her outside (she is still very hesitant to go out or in), and proceeding to wait, walk, wait, and walk for nothing. We are still having her off-leash for now. She is developing a deep dislike for any tugging or pulling on the collar. So much so, that now, even a hint of us coming towards her collar, causes her to move away and dodge. This is a behavior we definitely don't want to continue. Any suggestions about how to create positive vibes with the collar and leash?

This afternoon, her stomach was making some very loud and weird noises, which were kind of funny and a bit scary at the same time. So far, no accidents in the house! yay! She whimpers at first when we put her in her kennel for the night, but she does settle down after a bit.

She is getting used to her new surroundings and her new routines. We are working on "come" and "stay." But I don't think she gets those concepts quite yet. She just stands there and looks at you. After you say it a few times, she may do it.

One ear is up and one ear is down. She is almost to the age where both ears will stand upright. Today, both ears stayed upright for quite awhile. So, she is getting there.

The Lord's timing is really in this, because today, my parents' dog, Daisie, who was like our dog too, died after a sudden decline the last two days. They think it was a stroke or a tumor. We are very heart-broken, but we see God's provision in providing us our own dog at just this time. We had known she had become ill and, at her age, had feared the worst in advance, so we were fortunately not greatly shocked when we got the phone call with the bad news. Daisie was 15 years old, and had led a very happy dog-life!

Kiko's corner: We allowed Kiko to come out of the bedroom and sniff around while we were out today with Moxie. We also set up a chair by the bedroom window and opened it, so he could see and hear us whenever we were outside with her. At one point, Moxie got too close to the window, and he lunged and growled at her. She seemed to take it all in stride, though. Earlier in the day, David brought Kiko out in his arms while Moxie was sleeping. (She sleeps just like a baby -- nothing wakes her up!) Kiko was not happy with seeing this strange creature he'd been seeing outside, inside HIS house, so he let out a bit of a low growl. I spent some time this afternoon resting in the bedroom with him, and he seemed to relax a bit. Please continue to pray for his adjustment to the idea of sharing.

Day 1 -- 6/15/ 2008

We brought Moxie home today. We have been at my uncle Dave and Aunt Bonnie's this past weekend where we picked out our 5 month old german shepherd puppy from some friends of theirs. David named her Moxie. She is very attached to David already and follows him like his shadow everywhere he goes. We have taken her on numerous walks around their property and she always follows close behind us. She is very skittish about any tugging or pulling on her collar, so we have been walking with her off-leash, but she will have to get over that soon.

Our ride home with her was very uneventful. She just relaxed in the back of the Blazer the whole way. My aunt Bonnie gave us a beautiful small quilt she had made to have as her blanket. Really too beautiful for a dog, but Moxie sure appreciated it! She didn't even get car-sick which we thought might happen.

She has always been outside and never has been inside. She is very hesitant to come in and go out of the house. She is slowly getting used to her collar, but still uncomfortable with her leash. We find she stays right by us when we're outside, and doesn't want to stay outside without someone there with her.

When David goes out or goes into another room, she looks for him and whimpers. Hope the anxiety separation improves soon or else I will have a whimpering restless dog on my hands the whole day while David is at work.

Kiko's corner: We shut him into the bedroom for now. We are with him at night and visit with him throughout the day, but he is still frustrated and unhappy to be shut in there.