Shedding Season

Every spring and into the summer, Moxie starts shedding, and shedding, and shedding, and....

It really is quite impressive the amount of hair she gets rid of each year. Just to give you an idea, I have included two pictures from last year. What makes these pictures more amazing is these were actually taken toward the end of Moxie's "shedding season" last August. And if this is what we get out of her toward the *end* of the shedding season, imagine what comes out at the height of it. haha The second picture is how much of her hair I get out from under the refrigerator at this time of year.

David is really quite fascinated by the fact that you can probably sit for hours and just pull tufts of hair out from her undercoat. Brushing is a never-ending job. After 20 minutes of brushing, hair is still coming out in bunches, but Moxie has lost her patience! We brush her outside for obvious reasons, and when we are done, it looks like a small animal could have been slaughtered. lol

If only we could learn how to spin it and sell it as a "new" exotic yarn -- it would be really soft and warm, that's for sure. Anyone interested in some "Alsatian wool?"

Moxie's Latest....

We haven't been here in a while because...well...to be honest....there just didn't seem that much new going on to report. Each day blends into each other, much like the one before. But here is an update anyway:

Moxie is now a 75 pound mature german shepherd. She is very strong and capable of dragging Jenni across the front yard (don't ask how we know this -- aargh!) She is very aggressive-sounding to our neighbors despite our best efforts to train her they are all right. She goes into a "zone" it seems like that is very hard to snap her out of. It is nice to have a dog that is so protective of me, David and our home, but we'd like her to chill when we tell her it's ok. One of our neighbors comes right up to her and she shies away from her then. Big tough dog. But we are still embarrassed by her actions....work still in progress.

She has mostly grown out of her puppy ways. She still loves to play and greets David very enthusiastically when he comes home from work. I have to wait in line. haha Her favorite games are laser (she has a bit of an obsession with it really) and fetch. She is very good at recognizing patterns in our behavior and habits and responding accordingly.

After many times of being surprised when Moxie met us at the door, even though we had shut and locked her kennel door, we have allowed her to stay free now when we go away and during the night. She has *mostly* behaved herself thus far. There was an incident when I came home to find one of my leather gloves wet, thankfully not damaged. And there was also the morning I came out to find one of my envelopes of coupons dangerously torn up. Fortunately for Moxie, the coupons were still in tact, even though the envelope wasn't. Hmmmm, I wonder if she saw her life flash in front of her eyes. hahaha We do still close the gate between the bedrooms and the living room to keep her and Kiko separated, when we leave the house.

Speaking of Kiko, we have made wonderful progress with the two of them. It's only taken two and a half years! They can now be content within feet of each other, which is a whole lot better than it used to be when they couldn't even tolerate each other at one end of the house to the other. Ok, mostly that was Kiko, but who can blame him. I'm sure from his vantage point, she looks huge and menacing. David still has dreams of them spooning together on a cold winters night, but ahem....we'll have to see about that one. Still, it is very nice to have Kiko feel like he can be a part of our evenings by stretching out on the couch like he used to do.

Moxie's Milestones

A thousand apologies for not updating this sooner! Moxie has celebrated many milestones since we last were here. Here are a few of them--

Moxie's first Christmas:
Moxie loved, loved, LOVED going to Grandma W's house for Christmas! She could run around the back yard and explore three levels of house, much more room than she ever has at home. She enjoyed opening her gifts, having a bit of the tasty Christmas rib roast, and getting to know Grandma a bit better.

Moxie's First Birthday:
We celebrated with David for his birthday on January 20th. Moxie's first birthday was January 25th.










Moxie Visits her Like Kind:
Earlier this month, we had the opportunity to visit my uncle Dave and Aunt Bonnie who live in the edge of the Shawnee National Forest in Southern IL.


They have lots of land, so once again, Moxie was in her glory. They have a german shepherd puppy a few months younger than Moxie, so she made a new friend in Kate. They had their moments of disagreement, but overall they enjoyed their adventures together.

Here's a video of them playing together:














We visited my cousin Brian and his family down there as well. He also has a lot of land, so they enjoyed exploring there too. Although when Moxie met their dog, Jack, she didn't know quite what to make of him -- he is huge!

So, as you can see Moxie has had a busy time of it lately.
She has grown up so much, but we'll save the "smaller" news for another day. Love, Moxie

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!