Poop!

Hey, I'm a mom and a dog owner. The topic was bound to come up sooner or later.

Malcolm suffers from a tad bit of Separation Anxiety, which causes stomach problems which causes diarrhea. Pudding poo - sometimes thick and creamy, sometimes the consistancy of snot. Poor guy has been doing his best the past week to hold it till we get outside. But there were a few occasional, "oops, sorry mom. I just couln't prevent the butt leakage" moments. They wern't too horrible to clean up. My little spot cleaner machine did a good job. But I wasn't going to be able to keep my sanity if this got out of hand.

I knew that the cause was him getting so worked up when we left that it would get him salivating and his stomach churning. I can't really stop that immediately, it's something that will take a long time for him to get used to.

So, to the all knowing internet I went. Everything from new diets to human diarrhea treaments to just letting it happen "it's a cleansing process." I'm a fairly lazy person so I first look for the easiest thing I can do. Mmmm, canned pumkin (not pre made pumpkin pie filling, but the plain puree'd pumpkin you start with for the pie). Two tablespoons with feedings. Luckily I had a can left over from last holiday season whipped that thing out and plopped two dollops of pumpkin puree onto Malcolms dinner. I mixed it in really good. You'd of thought he was starving the way he scarfed it down. He really likes pumpkin!

Two BM's later he was laying nice log type poo again. Yippie!!! The miracle pumpkin cure worked. It supposedly works for constipation as well.

Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,

Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,

With an eeps, opps, sodapops,

Hey Mr. Lillypad and went Kerplopps!

A New Do

Ainsley agreed to get her hair cut! The long, straight, in her eyes all the time no matter what we did with it, look wasn't working for her anymore. Besides that she likes the new one because it won't hurt so much to brush.

I think it's so cute, but then again I prefer short cuts.

Growing Pains

Chloê has bouts of mood swings. Nothing unbearable, just periods of time when she's grumpy or sensitive. I've especially noticed it since school started and she doesn't get the opportunity for afternoon quiet time anymore.

This morning she rudely demanded that I make her oatmeal. It had the potential to be a polite request, but it wasn't. It was more her expressing to me that her expectation of oatmeal had not been satisfied. "Make me oatmeal, now! I'm hungry. DON'T put apples in it!" Well I just simply looked at her and said, "no" then pointed the kids to the toaster. Ainsley and Nic were thrilled with the prospect of toast for breakfast and proceeded to make themselves some. Chloê made it clear to Ainsley that she did not want toast for breakfast and then started to cry on the couch (all of this fairly quietly I might add, if there were such a thing as a silent tantrum this would be it.) A few minutes later I sat down next to her on the couch, to relax a bit and watch some TV and she was balled up at the other end quietly sobbing. She sat up and proceeded to tell me how hungry she was and tried to explain to me that oatmeal would be the only thing to satisfy this hunger. She was whining, which I have little tolerance for. She's been in her room ever since. I'll let her out at lunch time at 10:45. She'll probalby be expecting a ham and cheese sandwich, I'm feeling evil today so I'll be sure to make her peanut butter and jelly.

Malcolm's New Pad

So the old crate was a bit smaller than Malcolm... instead of a crate it was more like a cocoon.

I went out today and got a new crate more appropriate for crate training my Standard Poodle Mix Pup! No more pretending that he's a Dachshund. He's a big boy and needed a big boy crate.

He's doing really well in it. Seems to be comfortable, though if I go out of site he still gets anxious. At least he goes in it when I'm here, we'll keep practing being in the crate when I go to pick up chloe from school and take her to gymnastics. He'll get the idea after a few weeks. (I hope)

:( Goodbye Greg

Well we had a little pary for our friend Greg. He's got a cool new job in Seattle and has to move away. We're going to miss him.

There were 4 dogs at this party and some arguments happened. I think the problem can be resolved with a bit of a quieter introduction.

Chloê showed off her rad moves on her new skateboard and she even got a short lesson from Greg on steering.

People came to the party, but everyone seemed a little sleepy because they were up all night. Needless to say other than the dogs and the skakeboarding the party was a bit of a snoozer.

Ryan did bring a spiked watermellon which cheered some up a bit but alas we needed more to get the party going.