EXPENSIVE TASTES

Hi Hoomans! I diddunt forget to write the rest of Abby’s story, Mom just wudden give me any computer time until now. Don’t you think I deserve my own laptop with Dragon Dictation on it?

Anywaze, you probably want to know how it all turned out. Her Sunday evaluashun was durned good for a dog who had just spent three weeks in a shelter. Mom found that Abby was disctrackted (what terrier izzent??) over the birds and (sorry YumYum) guinea pigs and hamsters but not to the point of lunging at them.

Abby was friendly to all the dogs and all the hoomans she met at the store. She even kissed a baby that was in a stroller! Dad said she might have been tasting the baby but Mom knew better. They walked around the store for over an hour and at the end of it, Abby had learned that the word “Halt” means to stop walking and stand beside Mom and the shopping cart. Ackshully, by the end of the hour, Abby was halting automatically without having to be told to do it. She did want to run with some boys who were being hooligans in the store, but hey, that’s just to be expected!

Then Abby spent a few days with her foster family and played with their dog alot. That was Guinness. They really liked each other and it was hard for Guinness to tell Abby good-bye when it was time for her to go live in Auburn, AL.

BUT – her new family takes her to work with them and got her a new bed with her name embroidered on it and her new dad built a stand for her food and water bowls that has her name on it AND he is building her an air-conditioned dog house for when she wants to be outdoors during the summers. They took her to the spa to get a bath and a haircut too.

And Mom got a text message from Abby’s new dad this morning that said Abby has expensive tastes. Over the weekend, she chewed up her mom’s Chanel sunglasses and her dad’s Costa del Mars sunglasses. And you know what that means, right? It means Abby really really loves her new family!

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

before spa

after spa

Abby is AAAROOING with happiness!

MORE ADVICE TO THE DOG-WORN

DEAR HOWLING HOOLIGAN,

The neighbors decided to use the corner of our yard as a parking lot, and yesterday, our dog, Ruger decided he was afraid of the one and a half cars that were parked half in our yard and half in the street. (Yesterday morning, there was food, or something, in the street near where one of them had been parked. My husband Mark said it looked like cake and ice cream. Whatever it was, he took the hose out and washed it down.)

Now Ruger doesn't even want to go out the front door. Once I get him out the door, he won't go near that area of the yard, even though the cars aren't there. He'll walk west, quickly, with his butt tucked. But coming back home, last night and this morning, when we get four houses from our house, he sits down and absolutely refuses to move. Last night, I started playing with him and got him running and ran him past the next door neighbor house. This morning... no go. He'll pull backwards until he hurts himself with the prong collar, then do it again. So I carried him, all 60 pounds of him, until we got to the neighbor house, then set him down in the middle of the street. He immediately tried to go into the yard across the street, then finally rushed past the neighbor house and home.

<sigh>

I've walked the area over and can't see anything, like a snake or wasp's nest, that would make him so afraid. And if it was the cars...they're in their yard today. Where the food was smells bad, so I'm going to take vinegar out there and wash it again, but...since when does a dog mind the smell of rotten food?

Any advice?

Veronica

Dear VerRoNIca,

YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE RUDE.

First of all, you need to go over there and ask them NOT TO PARK IN YOUR YARD.

Then, go get some kind of permanent structure to put in that corner so that they cannot park there.

Ruger thinks that part of the yard belongs to someone else, that it's not his property anymore. Someone may have thrown up or urinated there, who knows? But that's what's probably going on with him. Mark may have to go out there at midnight, take Ruger with him, and urinate in that corner. Seriously. Let Ruger watch him do it. Of course, Mark should stand with his back to the neighbor house so that they don't see him doing it <grin>.

And he may have to do that several times before Ruger gets the point. You can also take a chair over there and sit in that corner with Ruger and read a book for awhile. Don't make a big deal about it, just do it.

Wow, your neighbors must have really unpleasant body function odors to make a tough dog named Ruger too scared to even go past the house.

Sincerely,

The Hooligans

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

DEAR HOOLIGAN HOUSE

DEAR HOOLIGAN HOUSE,

Dad's and Mom's beloved Westie (West Highland Terrier) died of old age and kidney failure. Zack was Mom's reason for getting up everyday. My sister and I decided that they needed a new dog. I went on Petfinder and found a Westie rescue group in N. Al. It happened that the lady in charge was delivering 2 dogs last Thur and she had a dog she thought perfect for them.

My husband and I drove to Montgomey to pick him up. He was a puppy mill reject. They called him Chops as someone had cut off his tail. He was found a month ago after he was attacked by dogs and then tossed in a dumpster to die. he is appox. 4 yr old and only 14 pounds. He is very sweet but very very nervous. He shakes from fear and hides in corners. We went out to dinner and before we left he was in a crate that had been stuffed with a huge pillow. The door was left open. Dad put out a bowl of food. He gets canned mixed with warm water as they have not seen him drink. When we got back the bowl was empty and he was hiding in dad's office in a corner between the bookshelf and the wall. There was only enough room for him to sit.

If you have any ideas on how to help this little guy, PLEASE let me know. Thank you.

Nancy

Dear Nancy,

Thank Heavens for Rescue Groups! It breaks my heart to hear stories like this. Someday, maybe, there will be no more puppy mills.

I do have suggestions on initial help for this dog. You have to proceed as though he is in triage, as though this is an emergency situation. And I have very firm rules about how to help him.

First of all get him completely checked out by a vet, blood work and all. Then, don't force anything on him - not even affection. Go about life as usual and pay him as little attention as possible. Don’t leave food down all the time. Two meals a day at set times so he gets used to a routine. Give him a week or so to start adjusting. Your parents need to be committed to letting him figure out on his own that he is safe and can trust them.

After about a week or ten days, please get in touch with me. I will be glad to help in any way I can.

Mom of Hooligans

Abby's DPA started Saturday

DPA.  That means “Dog Personality Assessment”. I’ve noticed that hoomans like to use abbreeveeashuns. Guess they think it makes them sound smart.

We don’t have enough time to tell you about the whole test and Mom said you would prolly get bored reading all of it anyway. I don’t think you would get bored because you enjoy reading about Hooligans already but I don’t argue with Mom. Much.

Maggie woodent let Abby play with any of our toys at first. She grabbed Jack’s green Frog away from Abby and growled and took it to her crate. Abby was real nice about letting go of the Frog. And when Maggie went around the house collecting all our toys to take to her crate, Abby just watched her. Mom said that meant that Abby is not possessive about stuff.

Maggie put all our toys that she could find in her crate and then lay down on top of them. Mom said that just proved Maggie is a real @#*&^ and that you would know what that means. Do you?

Mom locked the door to Maggie’s crate and left her there in what Mom calls rotten splendor. Maggie had the dog den all to herself while the rest of us, including Abby, had to settle for treats. Yummy, bacon flavored treats. Mom told us to sit and wait while she held a treat out to each one of us. We all sat like gentlemen and Abby watched us and did what we did. When it was her turn, she took the treat very gently from Mom’s hand. She didn’t try to steal treats or food from us the whole time she was with us, so we know she is not possessive or growly about food. Maggie howled because she could smell the treats and she wanted one, but Mom said “too bad, Maggie, you made your bed and you can lie in it!”  (Mom can be tuff like that.)

Later that afternoon, Mom put the other Hooligans in their crates. I stayed out so I could be a nootral dog, and watched her and Abby do some more evaluating. I had to stay very quiet on the sofa while Mom threw a squeaky toy for Abby and Abby ran right after it and brought it back and dropped it at Mom’s feet! She can also catch a treat in the air when somebuddy throws it to her, just like I can. And, she learned how to lie down and stay for 3 minutes while I was sitting next to her, and she learned the “leave it” command real fast and she did it much better than Maggie and Buddy do. It was fun and me and Mom and Dad were very impressed with her. But not everything was perfect. After supper that night, the parents caught Abby trying to take hooman food from the table. And that wuzzent all. Abby likes to collect stuff just like Maggie does. She collected socks and shoes and a remote control and a magazine and, well, just whatever she saw that looked intrustring. Whatever grabbed her attenshun, she tried to put in her mouth and run away with it. But she wuzzent growly about it and when Mom or Dad had to take stuff away from her, she didint get mad. I think this is prey drive but it’s not crazy prey drive like Maggie’s is. (Did I say that out loud?)

When the house evalyuashun was over, Mom let me and Abby go out in the back yard for a romp. We played bitey face and tag and we chased skwerrels and barked at the neighbor’s horse. We had FUN!

So that was Saturday. Sunday, Mom went to PetSmart to observe Abby around strange hoomans and other pets and loud noises and unexpected happenens. I’ll tell ya about that tomorrow. In the meantime, y’owl go get yursevs a good treat. I’m gonna do the same!

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

playing bitey face

INTRO TO ABBY!

We met Abby yesterday afternoon.

Me and Jack and Buddy are all delighted to have Abby at Hooligan House. Mom introduced us one by one. She had Abby in the front yard first, on her leash, and Dad brought me out there to meet her. We sniffed and sparred and sniffed and sparred and then Dad told me to go lie down and stay in the far part of the yard. I did.

He went in and got Jack and Jack was even more polite than I was. Jack doesn’t sniff another dog unless that dog starts the action. ‘Course, his real name is Gentleman Jack. Dad never lets the rest of us forget that. But Mom has some real good Hooligan stories about Jack from when he was young and before he got all obeedeeyense trained. Jack said hello to Abby and then he went over to his spot by the gate and lay down.

Buddy was kinda rambunctious and thought Abby was his new dog.. You know how it is; Buddy thought that her being there meant he had moved up in the Hooligan hierarchy. So he postured and growled at me and Jack until Mom squirted him in the face with vinegar water. That pretty much knocked the sense back into him. He went over to the flower bed and scratched off in protest, but he lay down like he was sposed to.

Sissy dutten like to be sniffed by any other dog and she dutten like to play with anydog except Jack and the Gkids’ dogs, so the parents just kinda bypassed that introduction. Sissy walked around Abby and Abby stood very still. I guess she was reading Sissy’s body language loud and clear. But it’s okay. Like Mom says, dogs don’t hafta get along with everydog they meet, they just hafta be polite.

And then there was Maggie. OH MY dOG.

Maggie is the princess, remember? She lost no time in letting Abby know it. Abby is juss a liddle girl, only about a year and a half old, and she hasent had any dog ettikett lessens yet. She didden know what the heck Maggie was growling and snarling about. Abby finally juss sat down and looked up at Mom. Mom squirted Maggie with the vinegar water, too.

Mom and Dad know better than to let Maggie be alone with a puppy because she would have bossed Abby around sumpen turrible and made Abby feel shy and unsure. Puppies, even older ones, go through deevellopmenttal stages where anything can scare them and ackshually give them a phobia for life. So Jack is the guy at our house who trains puppies.

Jack is what trainers like our Mom call a “neutral dog”. Jack knows from his gut what body language to use to talk to individdyouall dogs. He knows how to send calming messages to dogs that are nervous. He settled Abby right down after Maggie went back into the house.

Mom said Abby has typical terrier resilience and adaptability. That’s because as soon as Maggie went inside, Abby perked up and started playing with us boys while Sissy watched from the porch. Abby didden think twice about Princess Maggie. At least, not while we were playing tag. When we all went into the house, there was a slight kerfluffle over who the toys belong to. But I’ll get to that part later.

Oh, Mom says to tell you all that Abby is precious and sweet and HIGH OCTANE and Mom wishus she could keep Abby with us forever and ever. I think Abby loves Mom, too. Here’s a picshure of Abby cuddling Mom’s foot last night after us Hooligans went to bed.

Saturday, I’m going to have Abby all to myself to play with. I can’t wait!!!

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

AIREDALE HAPPY DANCE

What is Duke drinking?

What is Duke thinking?

Duke invites Maggie to dance

Is Maggie hatching a scheme?

Maggie goes after Duke

... and keeps going after him

and all Hooliness breaks out!

and around!

and around AGAIN!

And DOWN. Good Night, Ladies! Oh wait, there's only one of her, isn't there?

Whew, she made me dizzy!

AAAARRROOOOOOO!!!!

WE ARE PANTING WITH EXCITEMENT!

This time tomorrow, Abby will be here at Hooligan House! Can you believe it? Another Grrl to help get ready for her forever home.

Ms D is bringing her from New Orleans to Gulfport and Mr & Mrs B will pick her up and bring her to Mom. Thursday morning, Mom will take Abby to our vet to be spayed. She will spend that night in the clinic and Mom will whisk her away from there Friday.

WOWOWWOWWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOOOOWOWOW

Mr & Mrs B and their Airedale, Guinness, have offered to be Abby's foster family for a little while. There's a family up in central Alabama that is really really hoping that they will turn out to be the perfect people for Abby. I'll be sure to tell you what Mom does to assess Abby and how the evaluations go. We are gonna LOVE having her around.

Right now, we have to go out and put the back seats down in Mom's SUV, and then vacuum out the travel crate. Mom & Dad will slide the crate into the back of the SUV and put a comfortable pad in it. Abby, I hope you can hear me when I say:

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

How many Airedales does it take to make a Coincidence?

Abby will be here Wednesday afternoon!

She will spend the night with us and then go to the vet the next morning to be spayed. She’ll spend that night at the vet and then we’ll go pick her up on Friday. WE ARE JUST TREMBALING WITH EXCITEMENT! ‘Cause that’s when the shenanigans will begin.

But there’s sumpen odd that happened over the weekend, and us Hoolies do love a good mystery.

Abby’s real name is one that the breeder gave her and it is unusual so Mom thinks it has to do with the kennel where she was born. We are just calling her “Abby” because we think she looks like an Abby. Mom says we can’t reveal her real name so I’ll call it “Alakazam”. Here’s the coincidence:

Yesterday my groomer sent Mom a smartphone pitcher of an Airedale Terrier named Alakazam! She groomed her Saturday and said she’s sweet but hyper. (Well, NATCHERLLY she’s hyper! She’s a Hooligan!)

Mom just about fell out of her chair when she saw that pitcher. She said, Abby and this Alakazam are probly from the same kennel and might even be SISTUHS because they are about the same age. So she is gonna ask the grooming salon to ask Alakazam’s hoomans to phone us. Mom wants to try to find out this week where Alakazam was born because the more information she can get about Abby’s dog parents and where she came from, the better for the new forever family AND for Abby. Mom might even be able to get medical histories and all that stuff!

I don’t know why they need to do a telephone call to find out if Abby is related to Alakazam..
All they gotta do is let the girls sniff each other....

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

This is Alakazam

TO THE RESCUE!!!

Another Hooligan House Adventure!!!

This is ABBY. Her family had to give her up because they couldn't afford to take care of her. She is leaving a shelter in Mississippi today and going to New Orleans for a few days and then she will be coming to Hooligan House! Mom already has a foster home lined up for her AND a possible forever family. Abby just needs to spend some time in foster care so that Mom can evaluate her and be sure the applicants will be a good fit for her. ISN'T THIS GREAT?? WE ARE VERY EXCITED AND CANNOT STOP ARROOOING!

Besides the evaluation Mom will do, we Hooligans are gonna do a Hooligan evaluation, to see if Abby is worthy of joining our ranks. We've already heard that she is very high energy, so that's a real good sign. Hope that adoptive family knows what to expect!

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

Howling Hooligan's Advice Column

Dear Howling Hooligan,

My dog is unable to reverse. Is this normal or simply more proof that her mom and dad were indeed brother and sister? Thanks for your time.

Sincerely, Suzy's Mom

      Dear Mom of Suzy,

 

Dogs can develop fear of any person, place or thing. Hoomans call it having a phobia and they go to hooman vets and get spensive trankwillizers to cover up their phobias. Dogs just hafta deal with their issues.

If Suzy had anunfortunate puppyhood all on her own without kind hoomans to help her, she might be refusing to go backwards because something turrible happened to her one time when she did go backwards.

Maybe she stepped on a nail or a piece of glass. Or onto something blazing hot. Or maybe some other dog attacked her from behind. It’s hard for hoomans to understand dog fears sometimes, because we don’t think exactly the same way you do.

Is it really important for Suzy to walk backwards? If it is, my mom can probly help you come up with a beehavyer modafacashun plan that will help Suzy. But it won’t happen right away. You will need alotta paeshense and compasshen and you will need to help Suzy take tiny steps toward the goal so that she won’t feel presshured.

We hope this helps. You seem to be a nice Mom, in spite of your strange sense of hoomer.

AAARRROOOOOOOO!

REAL FEEL

Temperature

98.1 °F

Real Feel: 125 °

 

Buddy is hot

 

 

Maggie is hot

Duke is never too hot to pose

But we are really some very HOT DOGS!

 

DON'T ASK

No pictures today, Mom says. But she wants you all, especially Maggie & Mitch, to know Buddy had anaventure last night. She said Maggie & Mitch gave him the idea. Buddy's gonna get anuther bath this afternoon, but it will be alot different than the one he got Sunday.

 

DOGGY DE-SKUNK RECIPE and DIRECTIONS:

1 quart peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons dishwashing liquid (I use Ivory Liquid because Dawn isn’t quite strong enough for this kind of problem)

Mix the above ingredients in a plastic bucket and sponge all over the dog. Mixture must be used immediately. Wash pet promptly and thoroughly, working the mixture deep into the fur. KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOUR EYES and YOUR DOG’S EYES.  Leave remedy on for about 5 minutes or until the odor is gone. Some heavily soiled areas may require a repeat wash & rinse.
For very large pets one quart of tepid tap water may be added to enable complete coverage. Rinse very thoroughly and dispose of all remaining mixture.


(p.s. it wasn't a skunk, it was anarmadillo. but it was dead so it smelled almost as good as a skunk. )