The Carpet

We have a dartboard downstairs in our entertainment/fun room/man cave area. We marked it off with a strip of tape so all the boys would be know where to stand. We had to do this because of all the 'heated debates' we were having about the dartboard and where to stand.

We have had the dartboard well before Sydney. So the tape had been down on the carpet for awhile. Therefore, it was a complete surprise when we found Sydney chewing on the tape. Of course, we scolded her but we screwed up. We didn't remove the tape.

The next day, we find Sydney chewing on the tape again. This time, however, she had managed to tear a slight hole in the carpet. Now, granted, I have not liked the carpet since we moved. However, we were waiting until we got some other projects done around the house before we got new carpet. The hole wasn't too bad. So we decided to leave it, then, and take up the tape.

Sydney didn't bother it any more. We were working on other projects around the house so the holy carpet remained.

Then we get Addy and we are definitely not replacing the carpet with new puppy in the house. But we really don't think anything of the hole, we are more worried about housebreaking Addy. Big Mistake. Addy took the hole and ran with it. Literally. She some how was able to pick up one of the piece of the carpet and manage to rip it up. Much like a run in pantyhose. Instead of having a half inch hole, we now have a 5 foot long run in the carpet. Here is what it te carpet currently likes:


As I was trying to take the picture, the ham, Sydney wanted her picture taking too. Here she is at the scene of the crime.

Fourth of July - Part 2

As I noted in my previous blog, we were trying to get Sydney to not become as anxious as she normally does around fireworks. The vet gave us an over-the-counter herbal remedy to help calm her down. Sydney weighs approximately 70 pounds and received 10 drops, 3 times a day.

The bottle looked just like eye drops. The vet recommended two ways to administer the drops 1) adding it to her water or 2) giving it orally. Adding it to her water was not an option because my dogs drink out of each others bowl and I did not want Addy drinking it and diluting the volume Sydney was supposed to get. I could not make Sydney drink the water either. My option was to administer the drops myself.

Thank goodness there are no pictures of how I had to do this. I had to hold Sydney's head, open up her lips while I dropped 10 drops into her mouth. She would never open her mouth. She sat there, with her teeth gritted. She kept licking her lips to prevent me from dropping the medicine, but that just meant it took longer. In a couple of days we got to the point that Sydney would cower when she saw us go for the bottle.

Thursday, July 3rd...We only gave her 20 drops to ensure she did not have any adverse affects. In our neighborhood, Thursday was a very light night for fireworks and Sydney really did not react to the fireworks.

Friday, July 4th...Thank goodness for rain!!! It had hoped it would rain the entire day. However, once the rain stopped, it was like world war three was unleashed on our neighborhood. Stepping outside, all you could see was a haze of smoke and smell fireworks. Sydney did become frazzled and tried to go her 'den'. We did not allow her to go to her den but tried to keep her out with Addy. She did not shake. We were able to play with her. And, when it was getting later on in the night, she curled up on the coach and fell asleep. None of which she did before without the medicine.

Saturday, July 5th...I hosted an outdoor party for my husband's birthday. The dogs were in and out all day long with no problems. Around 7 pm, the first firework went off and Sydney bolted for the door. We let her in the house and she flew downstairs to her 'den'. However, when I checked on her about 20 minutes later, she was fine...as long as she was in the house.

Thus, I believe the medicine worked. We are begging to work on her behavior and hopefully we will not have to do the medication next year or during storms.

Fourth of July - Part 1

I know this is a little late but I have to talk about how the girls, aka Sydney, survived the July 4th weekend.

Sydney is terrified of thunderstorms and fireworks. We are unsure of when exactly her fear started. However, when she was a puppy, we let her outside 'to go'. She was out playing in the rain when there was a huge crack of thunder. It was the fastest I had ever seen her run. Even today, if it looks like it is going to rain, she won't go outside. Upon hearing thunder/fireworks, she will tuck her tail & head for the nearest 'den'. If there is a lot of thunder, she will shake, refuse to eat and will not play.

Obviously, I did not want to put her through this for the long 4th weekend. About 2 weeks out, I started researching my options. First, I found that my husband and I were to blame for some it. We had both tried the behavior modification before - ignoring the loud sounds, not consoling her, etc. None of that was working. Second, I found that the behavior modification wasn't going to work in the short amount of time we had. Third, there are pheromones you can release that acts to calm the dog down. Finally, there is a myriad of over-the-counter and prescription drugs we could give Sydney to calm her down.

I went to a couple of the local pet stores and really did not find what I was looking for - a week passes.

The Tuesday of July 4th week, I took the girls out walking. We have a route we do around the neighborhood and the girls know it better than I do. On this occasion, we got about 10 feet from a house in our neighborhood when a teenager steps out of the garage and shoots off an M-80.

Saying Sydney freaked out is an understatement. With her tail tucked, she sprinted to our house. She pulled on the leash so hard that my hand felt like it was going to break. She broke off our route trying desperately to get home. Since I had been reading about the behavior modification, I acted like nothing happened and I walked right past our house. I used Sydney's normal commands to keep her from pulling on the leash. Only after we pass the house and she realized we were not stopping, she stopped pulling and walked behind me with her tail tucked the rest of the way.

At that point, I was desperate. I could not watch her go through it. Finally, I called the vet the next day (Wednesday). I spent almost 20 minutes on the phone with the vet. She asked me questions like "Is she anxious?", "Is she nervous?", "Will she hurt herself?", "Do you have a cage or place she can go when she is frightened?", "How long does it take her to calm down?". Some of the questions, 'how long does it take her to calm down?' and 'does she hurt herself?', I had never thought of before. We decided since she wasn't going to hurt herself, had a place to go when she was upset and had a fenced in yard that we would use an over-the-counter herbal medicine.

So how did Sydney do? I'll post the follow-up later this week so check back then. I should note Addy was not fazed a bit.

Note: I volunteered at the Floyd County Animal Rescue League (FCARL) golf scramble this past Saturday at Chariot Run Golf Course. It was a great event and we had 76 golfers who participated. If you would like to volunteer with FCARL click here.

Housekeeping

I have been keeping this blog on another site. I am moving those posts over to this blog. Therefore, you might find some of the blog topics outdated. For example, I go in depth about Sydney's Fourth of July experience...and it is the end of August.

Please bare with me. Also, the blog will showcase events that have occurred in the past to get you, the reader, up-to-date on who Sydney & Addy are now, why they act the way they do and so forth.

As I write this, I am on one end of the coach with Sydney curled up on the other end. Addy is curled up on the love seat. Addy keeps making these clicking sounds in her sleep. I wonder what she is dreaming about...

Photo Shoot

I have had several people comment on how I got the girls to act so well for the photos in the first blog. Well, it was a small feat and took us about an hour to get a couple of shots. When we first put our 'backdrop' (I use the term loosely). Sydney went and laid right down on it. I am sure she thought it was another blanket she could use!

So that is why she is laying down in most of the pictures. I think in this picture Addy is trying to tell us 'Please, not again!'. I don't know what Sydney was looking at.

During the shoot, it was my job to get the girls to look at the camera while my husband took the pictures. Addy was drooling so much because I was holding a treat that I had to give her one. But not before she did something for it.

Can you tell where I am at in this picture?

Overall, the photo shoot took 5 treats, 2 squeaky toes, 4 hands and lots of 'STAY's' and 'NO's!

Introduction to the Adventures of Sydney & Addy

Welcome to the Adventures of Sydney & Addy. A blog devoted to my two favorite dogs: Sydney and Addy. Sydney and Addy are two full-blooded labrador retrievers. Sydney is a black lab and will be two years old this month.

Addy is a yellow lab and is almost a year and half old.

They are sisters but from different litters. We got Sydney when she was just shy of 6 weeks old and Addy when she was 9 weeks old. At one time, we had 2 dogs under the age of one! Although labs are frequently used for hunting, Sydney and Addy are definitely house dogs.

Over the course of the blog, you will get to meet Sydney and Addy. I will take you back in time so you can learn about their adventures and what they have been doing up to this point. I will also keep you up-to-date on what they are currently doing.

The topics will range from the every day happenings to trips to the lake to going to the vet and so on. Believe me, there isn't a day that goes by that either Sydney or Addy does something and I am left wondering 'Have I seen that before?'.
Just a little note about me. I grew up with labs all of my life. My family had a black lab, Suzie, for 12 years and a chocolate lab, Mocha, for 13 years. My parents currently have a yellow lab, Ella. She is used for duck hunting as well as a household pet. When my husband and I were looking into buying a dog, I wanted a breed that I knew fairly well since this would be our first foray into owning dogs.

Once again, Welcome to the Adventures of Sydney & Addy! I hope you have as much fun reading about their adventures as much as I love being a part of them!