Speaking of reactions, I didn't realize yesterday that Chris was about to mow when I let the dogs out and went to get a shower. I heard the mower and tried to find Reilly and get him back in, but failed. I did see him just as the mower approached the house, but couldn't get to him and of course he couldn't hear me. He was watching the mower approach, too. I was afraid it would be scary for him, but it wasn't. He exercised judgement, in moving from the grass to the edge of the carport, and sitting still while the mower went by. As it moved away, he could hear me again, and came indoors. But he wasn't unhappy with the mower. He found it intriguing, but something best observed from a distance. And that's good. Mowers can throw things with force, so I'm glad he had the sense to say back from it.
Had to go sort through a bunch of dog food brands today, trying to find a new one that is grain-free, chicken-free and low calcium...without a huge increase in protein to make up for he calcium! The one we had switched him to seems to cause mastiffs some digestive grief in the form of loose stools, so I'd rather him not have it. We were already in the switch-over to it, and I didn't want to go right into another switch, but we are. Reilly and I went to our best local pet shop, and the young gentlemen there helped us out tremendously. I told them what I wanted, and one took me to where those types of feed were in the store, and flipped bags on just about everything so I could read labels. The other looked them up online when the calcium wasn't on the bag. We ended up with a limited ingredient feed called Nature's Balance. We'll see how they do on this one. This is the second time Reilly has been in this shop, and we were recognized upon entry, with Reilly being complimented on his growth. Between the beautiful puppy and my sticks, I guess we are easy to remember!
He's learning the routine around here pretty well now. He understands breakfast. He understands that he doesn't get the same thing the others do, but he doesn't care, since he doesn't like rice anyway! (He hasn't tried eggs yet, so he doesn't know about them.) But he's learned that everyone is happy at breakfast time, so he's ready to be happy, too.
On the other hand, Murphy is convinced that if breakfast takes just One More Minute, he will waste completely away.
Yes, Murphy is so deprived. He's starving to death. Just look at him; he's skin and bones. He's also getting quite white around the muzzle. Such an old man at 3 1/2!
Reilly did some more practice this evening with "take it", "bring it" and "drop", since he was running around like crazy grabbing things. "Collecting treasures" is what we call it. While he's in a grabby mood is a good time to get him to pick up weird things. Today it was paper things. Folded paper, a booklet. He's not quite ready to bring in the Wall Street Journal, but we'll get there. New textures each time we play this game. The paper has been the thing he's most reluctant to drop.
Oh! I filled the Kongs with peanut butter this morning and left two for Reilly. He liked the peanut butter, and later today I saw him gnawing on one of them. The big guys are interested in the peanut butter, but not the Kong it's in. They're both trying to lick peanut butter without touching the toy. Neither of them ever liked synthetic chew toys. Another reason it's important to have Reilly picking up as many different textures as possible. I'm pleased to see he will gnaw on them instead of just lick peanut butter, too, as it will direct his teething-chewing, hopefully!
It's late, and Reilly is telling me it's time to go to bed.
Meg and Reilly
Ooooh, the poor darlings are *starving*
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