Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Spot the difference



So, just an FYI: Tuesdays are always a little crazy, I will not post on these days. But today would end up just as nutty, due to no fault of mine. That that is a story that has nothing to due with Sparkle, so on with the tale of the day. Sparkle loves to go in the car. She loves to go places and if she gets to go into some places even better. Most days are nothing that exciting; trips to the girl's schools, to the store, 
gymnastics and dance. Yes the life of a domestic engineer is so glamorous! Real house wives of 
Beverly Hills, my ass, they wouldn't last one day doing what I or any REAL housewife does! Ok, off that soap box (another FYI, I might go off on things now and again, but at some point I will make it back, it runs in the family, my little sister is the worst). So Wednesdays (usually) in the morning, I take the girls to school. The little one is in preschool so that means I travel to two different places. Time consuming for me, loads of fun for the dog. Load up kids, check, load up dog, check, me in car with purse, check.... Off we go. There are dogs that bark in the car and there are dogs that pace in the car and there are dogs that puke in the car. Sparkle is none of those. Now wait, I'm not just writing this to brag, that will come later. No, Sparkle has to be different, because that's just how she rolls. So randomly, or so I thought, she would whine. So the other day I started to just take note of when she was whining and not correct her; and by that I mean telling her good girl when she was quite and ENOUGH when she was whining. She would whine at a stop sign, or not, she would whine driving round the neighborhood, or not, she would whine driving down the highway or not; you get the idea. I started to notice something. So this is where the game comes into play. In the two pictures there is a difference, and in 
that difference is the key to her whining. CARS, and I'm not taking about the band (please refer to the 80's and 90's search on google if you don't know what I'm talking about, youngin'). She would only whine if there was a car near. Not just around, but near. So either she's concerned or she wants to say hi 
to everyone. I'm more inclined to believe the latter, as she thinks everyone is here to say hi to here. Like duh, to me, she is a look at me dog after all, as stated in the first post. So I guess this is just something 
she is going to do, and hopefully like my Rottie barking at motorcycles, she will grown out of it. Or maybe not?

Monday, December 17, 2012

No, no, save yourself....

(The picture that goes with this blog, did not what to load. I blame the dog. Check twitter: @SparkleTheDog for picture and proof)
As anyone with kids can tell you, having a schedule or routine is the best thing. Not only for the kids but also for your own sanity. And the whole family gets to know and expect that routine. Well, every Monday my friend Brianne comes over and we workout. We have done a few programs together, finishing Insanity and just recently ChaLean Extreme. Mondays are the best day to workout together, as both of our little ones are in preschool; ahhhh, peace and quite! Oh, wait, that's right I have a Dalmatian puppy. It's always hit and miss on how she will handle it. Either she will curl up on my husbands chair and sleep or she wants to be right next to me; not the best thing while trying to lift weights. So Brianne came over and Sparkle did her usual greeting; "Oh, my gosh, it's you, it's you, I've missed you so much, love me, pet me, oh I can't believe how much I've missed you, why do you stay away so long?" Once that is out of the way it's time to work out. Sparkle was perfect; but please don't tell her that, I will deny that statement with every fiber of my being. You can't let a puppy they are perfect it will go to their head faster then telling the head cheerleader she was perfect. Anyway, we are working out, Sparkle is just hanging out laying on the floor, at some point she got up and on to my husband's chair. Then, came the push-ups. For some reason she has never liked it when anyone does push-ups. I don't know if its the positions our bodies are in, the movement or the swear words coming out of our mouths while we are doing them. Either way, it's almost impossible to do push-ups in my house. Which, in reality is ok with me. Like most sane people I do not care for push-ups; hence the swear words. So thank you Sparkle for your "help" today.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Accessories

"But mommy she needs accessories." Was what my four year old said to me when I asked her what and why she was putting a braclet on the dog. Sparkle was sleeping quietly on the couch, because that's where she sleeps (a whole other story), when the Little One decided she needed a braclet. Dogs and kids always offer opportunity for a laugh, especially when the dog is a young dog. But there is also the unknown element, what will happen when said dog and said child are doing the unexpected, how will either of them react? I was sitting next to Sparkle when this all went down. I watched as my Little One put on the first braclet, which woke up Sparkle. The braclet didn't fit, so she adjusted and on the third try it was a fit. Sparkle just lay there the whole time my four year old was putting on and taking off the braclet. She was happy with the accessories she had given Sparkle and went on to continue playing dress up. Luckily the cat was sleeping in her cubby, or she might have gotten a hat. I'm waiting for the time when Sparkle walks around the corner with a tutu on (yes I will post a picture of that). I am a firm believer that proper socialization is key for any dog. And that starts at birth. Miss Sparkle was around a lot of kids as a puppy, thanks to her breeder and friends. But with that being said, you should, and I never do, leave young kids unattended with a dog, that is just trouble waiting to happen. Ok, of my soap box. Sparkle walked around for five minutes with her lovely braclet on before I rescued her her. She was fine and really didn't care that she had it... Good dog!
Special thanks to Anne of Oakwood Dalmatians, Sue of Paisley Dalmatains and friend Patti for all the extra kid socialization.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Ying and Yang

It always amazes me how one minute Sparkle is trying to goad the cat so she can chase her. Then they are just curled up on the couch. They usually don't sleep this close to each other, so this is a first; but they will share the couch. The cat is Mama-Kitty a 17.5 year old Siamese. She lived with (and out lived) my pervious Dalmatian, Kay'Lar, our two Rottweilers, Connor and Cora, another cat and her daughter, Killer and Goober. Plus the 70+ rescues that came through our door. She was over 11 before my husband and I had kids; she puts up with and deals with a lot. So watching Sparkle use all her "puppy power" to try to get her to run is really funny. She bites at the cat's tail, pushes her with her nose, licks her face. The cat is annoyed but the look on the face says it all; "Please is that all you have?" She treats the puppy as she does the kids, just lays there with the look of asking "are you done yet?" She doesn't scratch or bite but about once a every other month she'll hiss at the dog to put her in her place. Poor Sparkle, she's so hurt when this happens. She will lay at the cats feet and look at her with sad submissive look. I'm thinking this is a result of one of those days. Earlier she was trying to chase her, mostly licking her face, which if you're a cat that has to be a huge insult. Anyway I went upstairs to wrap Christmas gift, came back down stairs and this is what I saw. An extreme difference
in an hour.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

First post...

This will just be a little "spot" to talk about my life with Sparkle, the second Dalmatian to own me. Yeah, I know, Sparkle, right, not exactly a "dog" name. That's what I thought too when I first heard it. But she is a total "look at me dog" which is, by definition what things that sparkle scream. Sometimes I will refer to her as Spotty or "The Spot" if she has done something wrong. And something you should know about me, I'm dyslexic, so please, I know there will be misspellings and grammar issues. Deal with it, or don't read. So the picture is of Miss Sparkle. She really wanted to go out and play in the snow. For some reason she is not aware that she in not a snow dog. She had just come in from being outside without a coat, she was in for five minutes then wanted back out. So I put her coat on and opened the door. This was the look she gave me. "Hey, I really want to go outside. Oh, you put me coat on... Yeah, really... I changed my mind." That is the door, wide open and it's 15 degrees outside. I tried to tell her she needs a coat. So I closed the door and took her coat off. She is know pacing and whining, wanting to go out. I know what will happen if I put her coat on her... If you don't know, re-read the above. So, more then likely I will just give in and let my "snow dog" out without a coat. I would never let my kids get away with this sort of manipulation. Off to let the dog out and contemplate how, what and when I will be posting. And also very thankful for the auto spell on the iPad.