Ossi's First Christmas

Ossi's Christmas present from Doggie G-Maw Susie...
an Ossi-sized blanket!













Ossi has officially made it through his first Christmas at the B-Dawg/L-Dawg household. We all made a road trip up north to visit the fam and he did very well in the car, although he wasn't a big fan of his doggie seatbelt.

He was great in the hotel, only barked once Christmas morning to let us know he was still there and that he had to go O-U-T! And, in addition to his new Ossi-sized blanket (which he loves) he also got doggie treats wrapped up like sausage links from Great Aunt Winnie and Lenny the Hippo from B-Dawg and L-Dawg. Lenny got his new hippo name because it turns out Ossi kind of digs on Lenny Kravitz, and now so does the hippo.

Now, not only is Ossi a celebri-dog in the Twin Cities, he's a big hit up north too! He met his cousin Angela and his cousin who's not really his cousin Betsy. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Angela because she took him on lots of walks and wore him out. He also met a new girlfriend in Angela's neighborhood, a small chocolate lab named Sophie. They played and played and Ossi pushed Sophie into a big, icy puddle of water. It must be love. Watch out Sugar!
Ossi also pretty much remembered his manners when meeting Great Doggie G-Maw 'Rene and Uncle Mikey and Auntie Ann. Except for when he stole Uncle Mikey's pack of gum. Fortunately, he was busted before he got through the wrapper.

Ossi hopes you had great holidays too and that you didn't get busted with gum. Merry Christmas everyone!

Betsy, Anj and Ossi

Ho Ho Ho

All Ossi wants for Christmas...
well, on one of his many walks he met his *new* girlfriend Sugar (turns out his old girlfriend, Lucy, doesn't really like him all that much) and he was admiring Sugar's Gentle Leader training collar. As Ossi and Sugar were having a sniff-fest, B-Dawg and L-Dawg learned about how great the Gentle Leader is in getting dogs to stop pulling on their leashes. So, while Ossi probably wouldn't appreciate it one bit, there's a distinct possibility that *someone* is getting a Gentle Leader all wrapped up in paw print paper.
In the meantime, happy holidays to all...

...and to all a good night!

Ossi Has A Snow Day!

It finally happened...winter has officially arrived in the Twin Cities. Over the past few days we've been dumped on by six plus inches of heavy, wet snow. And Ossi is *loving* it! One of the funniest things we've ever seen is Ossi frolicking in the drifts, his short little legs disappearing in the snow. Everyone watching us walk past has cracked up laughing because all they can see is a little dog torso and a long tail moving through the fluffy white stuff.
After a brief trip to the post office today, Ossi and L-Dawg took a walk by Minnehaha Creek. It was truly a beautiful winter wonderland and we'll definitely be back.
But first, B-Dawg and L-Dawg have Intro to Doggie Training class tonight. It's the pre-requisite to the actual dog training and it's humans only. Geez...we didn't realize we'd have to get a degree in dog training to get Mr. Wiggle Butt to come when we call!! Can you fail Intro to Doggie Training? Now I'm nervous.

Ossi's latest thing is to hop up and curl into B-Dawg's chair during the day when he's not around. It's kind of cute because we know he's doing it because he misses B-Dawg while he's at work. It's not really cute though because we don't want him to wreck the chair. He knows he's not supposed to be up there and usually hops down as soon as he's busted. However, upon being busted the other day, he just sat there and looked at L-Dawg like, "What? I'm not doing anything." So...here's a picture of Ossi being cute. He doesn't get any pictures on B-Dawg's chair. It would only encourage him.

Settling In

"Cartoon" Ossi takes a play break












Turns out we can't start dog training class until the beginning of January so I guess Ossi won't exactly be learning gentlemanly manners for his Holiday visits and visitors. He's getting to be a better listener though. He will sit (mostly when B-Dawg tells him to and just when he's not distracted) and we're working on "wait" when we cross streets. We've been making lots of new doggie friends around the neighborhood on our twice daily walks too! Ossi's "girlfriend" Lucy lives across the street (though it seems Ossi likes Lucy better than Lucy likes him), his buddies Toby and Thor live right down the street and his new pals the Three Wise Labs live just a block away. When summer comes we'll be going on doggie playdates like nobody's business! In fact, his pal Toby was adopted just one week before Ossi was adopted and has taken a galloping adventure through traffic as well!

While he's soooo happy to go on walks and to play in the yard, Ossi is most content laying out on the rug with both "his people" there. We're all hoping this doesn't get boring for him as the weather is getting colder and colder and L-Dawg is becoming less and less excited about zero degree walks across icy streets. However, we're all keeping that good ol' holiday spirit and (as you can see) Ossi is learning to put up sparkly lights!

Ossi in action! Trying out the new Nobbly Wobbly toy

So...the meeting between Ossi and his little buddy Dylan didn't necessarily go so hot. Apparently there was a little "boot in the nose" incident that may or may not have cause Ossi to decide to show Dylan who was boss. There was a little nipping at and some growling but no one lost an eye so we'll try again another time. Ossi did, however, step on the window button in L-Dawg's car on the way and close his own head in the open window. There's a little bit of B-Dawg in him after all. Ha!

Ossi starts doggie training class this week and B-Dawg has been trying to give him "hints" in advance of the class so he'll have a leg up (no "doggie pee" pun intended) on the competition. We switched to new dog food because he was *not* a fan of the first stuff we tried. We did a day of half-old/half-new to "transition" him, but I guess that wasn't enough because on the way back from his two-mile walk at Nine Mile Creek he barfed in the car. Then he decided it was a good idea to lick the windows from top to bottom and "clean" them to make up for "un-cleaning" the seat. So, Ossi was one pooped out puppy with a tummy ache today. And to add insult to injury, he decided to hop into Nine Mile Creek instead of drink out of it so he was Ossi on ice too. All that together added up to this...

The weather is starting to get very chilly in the Twin Cities so today, after coming in from our icy run through the park, Ossi got all bundled up.
Then he followed me around with the "why have you humiliated me by dressing me up" look on his face. The answer...he's too darn cute!

Today is Ossi's one week anniversary being home! We can barely remember what we did before he got here.
We're celebrating by going to meet Auntie Clara, Uncle Dave and little buddy Dylan. Monday night L-Dawg's book club met here and Ossi was a little gentleman and a charmer (at least, I hope he was and people weren't just being nice) but tonight's journey will be our first "off-site" visit so it's sure to be an adventure!!!

"Curious O" is what we call
this look...when he's curious
about something, Ossi gives the
head tilt

P.S. Doesn't he look handsome in
his new collar?!?








These past two days have been big days for Ossi. Last night was the first time we left him in his crate alone while we were out for more than an hour. He did great! No crying, no whining (at least that we know of) but BOY, was he excited when we got home. He was just happy to be near "his people" for the rest of the night. He even gave B-Dawg a puppy hug, which was the cutest thing *ever*!

He had his first visitors today. Doggie G-Paw Jimbo and Doggie G-Maw Susie stopped by with Great Doggie G-Maw Frannie! He was very well behaved and very, very excited to meet and love everyone. He even "performed" a little and stuck his head in his Intelli-cube toy to get his bone, walking around with the cube on his head for a minute. That one's a classic. Always kills 'em.

Then Ossi got a loooong walk in the slush at Nine Mile Creek. Along the trail, he saw a little boy making a snowball (more like a slush ball) with his dad and Ossi had to investigate. He said HI a few times (much to the little boy's delight) and was on his way because there were places to be and things to sniff. He was soaking wet, but happy and he had quite a nap when we came home, as you can see.


A slightly irritated
Ossi wondering why I
can't just let him nap.

It's NOT a Game!

Ossi having his first bath














After enduring the indignity of having his first bath here, Ossi was damp, but generally happy to lay in front of a nice fire in the fireplace to dry off with "his people". The collar he came with was a heavy metal link collar that stained his fur so when we gave him a bath we took it off so he could truly be a naked dog (which he seemed to enjoy).

After drying off while napping in front of the fire (tough life, huh?) L-Dawg went to get the mail. Stupidly, I blocked the way to the front door with my body thinking I could just reach into the mailbox, grab the mail and poof! I'm back inside without Ossi even noticing. Yeah...notice I said, "STUPIDLY". He shoved my feet aside with his nose and took off runnin' and I mean running.

I threw on a pair of clogs and my jacket and started chasing him down the snowy street. Man, can this dog run. REALLY fast. He was three blocks away (toward the busy street) before I was even at the end of our lawn.

B-Dawg ran one way and I ran the other trying to keep up with a dog that A) we just adopted less than 48 hours ago and doesn't know his way home B) has no real obedience training that we know of and c) has no collar or tags. I realized there was no stinkin' way I was going to catch him because he can run much faster than I can period, but especially through inches of snow with my backless clogs filling up with said snow. I hopped in the car and starting driving very slowly around a six block radius with my windows open, hollering Ossi's name. Occasionally, I would see a yellow tail bouncing through the snow, but when I stopped, opened the door and tried to get him in the car or got out and tried to get him to come to me (or even get close to him) he'd take off running like a maniac. He thought we were playing the world's greatest game of "Come and Get Me"!!

Not only was I getting mad, I was freaking out because he was headed toward the very busy street four blocks away from our house. I saw him running in the lawns along the busy street, pulled into someone's driveway and got out of the car to try and get him. He ran out into the street, weaving in and out of cars coming his way, drivers on the road looking terrified that they were going to hit this little guy who thought all the cars were playing chase with him. A nice man and his little boy happened to be out shoveling their driveway and he said, "If you get him to run this way, we can get him cornered in our neighbor's backyard. They have a fence." So that's exactly what we did. It took us 15 minutes to get the little wiggler cornered behind the garage and by the fence. I tackled him, we put his collar and leash on and I carried him to the car, thanking the man and his little boy profusely for their help. Without them, Ossi would have been road pizza. In fact, they said they had a pretty little Brittany Spaniel who'd run out into the same busy road, had been hit and killed just six months ago.
Wow "Road Pizza", you really lucked out on this one.

Ironically, when he squeezed his way out the front door, we were literally five minutes away from leaving to get him a new collar at the pet store so we could put his ID tags on. It was scary but we realized how much we both love this dog already because we were both thinking, "What will we do if he gets hurt or killed or if he just disappears and we never see him again?"

So...it's off to obedience training next week (a week sooner than originally planned) because "someone" needs to learn sit, stay and come. And a good lesson as to why every dog should have a collar and ID tags on at all times!!!


Ossi resting after
his "big
adventure"

We're so Proud!

After 24 hours of Ossi, Ossi, Ossi we're pretty sure he understands he's home. He is fully taking advantage of the large backyard and, this morning, even found a stick back there and let me throw it for him! We are having our first "real" snow of the season here in Minnesota and he loves to bound around out there and chomp on the snow (seems a little confused when it disappears, but whatever...)
We're also so proud of him because he learned how to use his rope toy last night! After a few attempts of us shaking it around, pretending to pull on it between the two of us, trying to get him to head butt it (the whole time having him look at us like we're complete idiots...no comment) he finally realized we were giving him the A-OK to pull on it. He loves it and we're soooo proud of him.
We also discovered that the little plush balls with the squeaker inside are a hit, only because he finds a seam and picks at it for five minutes until he gets a hole in it and pulls out the stuffing to get to the squeaker. So, out of the four plush balls that come with his "cube" toy, one is left. At least he doesn't eat the fluff or the squeaker. That, honestly, is as naughty as he has been since he has been here.

We pooped him out with so many walks and so much playing yesterday that he went into his crate on his own to nap around 7:30pm and decided it was bed time when he went into his crate about 10:30 and flopped down as if to say, "Gooooood Night!"

We are so lucky that we adopted the perfect dog!

Welcome

Ossi's first night home, pooped out from all the excitement and playing








Welcome to Ossi's Dog Blog!
Updated when we're not outside playing in the yard to let you all know how things are in Ossi's world and also to share how wonderful adopted dogs are.

We adopted Ossi last weekend (11-19-05) at an adoption event for Homeward Bound Rescue in the Twin Cities. After seeing his stubby little legs and big "smile" the website, we just had to check him out. The event, at a pet store in Maplewood, was chaotic--to say the least! There were dogs and cats everywhere and meowing and barking and people milling around and peeing on the the floor (the dogs...not the milling people) we spotted Ossi right away and I said, "Here's my driver's license, we're taking him for a walk." They handed the leash over and we got to test drive the 2004 model Corgi/Yellow
Lab cross.

There were other people there to see Ossi that day, but because I'm not so patient (and maybe not so polite when there's something I really want) we were the first to see him and we knew right away he was the dog for us. He was the right size (about 30 lbs...big enough not to be a "silly" dog but small enough for me to walk him, not vice versa ), he was a great walker, only barked once when he saw a group of doggie friends he wanted to play with and didn't chase any of the ducks at the pond. Oh...and he was lovable. Soooo lovable. And, this is probably one of the best things about adopting a shelter dog, he was already potty trained, already crate trained and had a little (from what we can tell) sit-stay-come training.

So, we set about buttoning up our really big, fenced in back yard and making sure there were no places Ossi could wiggle out of. Then I had a grand idea...put in a small, fenced in area within the yard for the dog to do his business in, which we then began referring to as the Puppy Pee Pee Palace. It's about three feet wide by 15 feet long, fenced on three sides (open "door") and I even found sod in the end of November in Minnesota, nothing short of a miracle. Then I put in what's called the Pee Post...I'd link to it but it doesn't seem to work, so save your $12. It's supposedly soaked with "pheremones" that encourage your dog to pee in the area. Upon opening the box, it did, indeed, smell like urine. I guess it only smells that way to humans though because ever since his arrival, Ossi has done nothing but ignore it and proceeded to pee in every other spot in the yard. You know what they say about the best laid plans...

Ossi's first day home, Thanksgiving, has truly been a day to give thanks for how great we have it. He is the perfect addition to our little family. He slept all night in his crate, never cried once. Loves to run around the backyard and chases the squirrels away from the bird feeders so there's more food for the chickadees, bluejays, cardinals and whatever else is out there. Good boy!

Here are a few photos of his first night (pooped out from the long car ride home and getting used to his new surroundings) and enjoying his first full day in his new home. Welcome home Ossi and we hope further updates will encourage people to adopt a shelter dog.

PS He's neutered too. As Bob Barker always says at the end of each "Price is Right", "Remember to spay and neuter your pets."

Ossi enjoying his
Kong...just about
the best dog toy
ever invented!