The Duke of Wisconsin

 Maddy and Matthew are LOVING having Duke live with them.  They're on about 3 weeks now of being doggy parents and every few days, Maddy let's us know the shenanigans that our golden boy has been up to.

He has faked being SOOO tired that Matthew has to carry him up the steps.  And then the next morning lopes up them for Maddy.

He is not able to climb into their car without being lifted.  Got stuck behind the drivers seat and they had to unpack the car part way through a six hour drive to get him free.  

Yep, he's already traveled with them to Minnesota and met his other doggy grandparents!  They love him now too.

  

After proving to these two that he's old and frail, Maddy finds him all the way in the basement nosing around OR trying to climb the steep steps to the 2nd floor of their house.

They're learning what to do and not do around him also.  For example, don't expect him to be able to get home without a nap if you play fetch with him at the park.  And don't leave a sandwich on the couch and expect it to still be there if you have to dash to the kitchen for something.

I guess Duke has to break in their house too but hopefully not like he did for us.

Here is a post JUST about him 9 years ago.

Looking forward to seeing all three of them soon.

Planning Tomorrow's Nap and other Weekend Adventures

So Duke got to come into our living room one last time as a resident.  He'll be back as a visitor.

 Leon loved him up good and said good bye.

Meri and I took off as soon as she got home from work on Friday with Duke in the kennel in the van.  He rode the six hours really well.  We stopped half way through at a spooky rest area (it was getting dark) and each of us took turns walking him while the other ran into the restrooms.  

I gave Meri the keys and she was able to drive through the big city with the quirky turns without any problems.  It helps to be 11 pm and minimal traffic...  We hit TONS on the way back through.

We got to Maddy and Matthew's around 12:30 and they had stayed up to greet us.  We got the dog walked and settled down for the night.  Matthew has never had a dog before so they've both been excited for their new addition.  

The next morning, Matthew had to work, so Maddy, Meri and I went up town to the local farmer's market where the girls admired this dog.  

We love their farmer's market.  

It stretches for a LOT of blocks with entertainers here and there.  Got some authentic tacos and some crazy flavored, frozen fruit pops.  YUM!

Then hit up the Dollar Tree for iron wreath frames and Hobby Lobby for flowers to put on them.  Maddy was on a decorative mission and we were her partners in crafting.  We also went to Ross Dress for Less.  We love that place!  Meri got lots of clothes and even a cat dress...

We spent most of the afternoon making the wreaths.  Meri and I each made one large one, but Maddy had four to make.  Oh shoot.  I didn't get a pic of her trio of smaller ones...  They were adorable!  Then a larger one for her kitchen.  It's in the kitchen pic further down where they're making bagels.

I had asked Maddy if she wanted some of the plants from my landscaping before I'd left home and she said YES PLEASE!  Two of each!  I dug up three black eyed susans, several clumps of basil and a few tender shoots of lemon balm.  I was surprised to find the lemon balm!  I thought the basil had overgrown the whole herb garden!  Love that stuff.  It smells so good.  

So I got out her gardening tools and got to work on the side garden.  Digging out weeds and planting things.  The black eyed susans went out front of the house.  

While I did that, the kids all took Duke for a walk.  They went a LONG ways and on the way back, Duke was tired.  He stopped at each house sidewalk and looked up at each house.  "Is THIS it??!... pant pant"  darn.  Next house, stop, "How about THIS one?  Can I be done yet? pant pant pant." shoot.

By the time they got back to their own yard, he had saliva dripping from his mouth and he was dog tired.  He crashed as soon as they got inside and napped a good long time.

He excels at napping.

While they were gone a neighbor across the street had come over to chat with me.  He hadn't met the new owners yet and thought I was them.  He brought me a rose from his garden...  He also knew the previous owner and informed me that I was planting things on top of some tulips.  hmm  I hadn't seen any evidence of that and told him what I was planting.  He heard basil and lemon balm and actually scoffed at me!  "You can't eat THAT!"  and proceeded to go get me some tomato plants that he'd been gifted and a 5 gallon pail of mulch.  So Maddy has a couple tomato plants now too!

Then the kids got back and after he was introduced to everyone and chit chatted a bit more, he went home.  Maddy brought me something cold to drink and the girls dragged around chairs to sit in and helped me out.  It all got done and I hope the plants all survived the trip.  They looked pretty bedraggled.

I played a two player board game with the girls that afternoon.  What a fun game!  Klask.  We're going to have to invest in that one for home...

and Maddy and Matthew played with Duke a lot.  

Matthew was determined to get Duke to use the new dog bed they'd gotten for him, but Duke would rather just lay on the hard wood floors.  It's probably cooler...  

Matthew got him to "stay" but when we left him alone out of our sight, he went back to the floor.  They'll figure it out.

Maddy had burgers in mind for dinner so we all participated in the prep and made "juicy lucys"...  I'd never heard of them either, but you put a piece of cheese inside the hamburger before broiling.  Wow, was that good!  Also on the menu was grape salad, a favorite.

After supper was cleared away, they pulled out some board games and we had a great time playing Bears vs Babies and Exploding Kittens.  I'd never played the Bears one, but it was a riot!  And I'm terrible at it.  But I'll get better...  Meri has it at home too so we'll get some practice in.

We also walked a few blocks away to a wonderful little musically themed ice cream parlor and got their musical flavor of the day.  I don't remember the name of the one that we got, but Meri got the Elvis, which was a peanut butter ice cream.  Oh dear, that was good!  But I think she left the leftovers of it in Maddy's freezer...

After we got back to the house, Maddy wanted to make onion bagels for breakfast and a late night snack.  I sauteed the onions 

and the girls worked on the dough.

I'll post the recipe another day.  It was 10pm by the time the dough had risen enough to form the actual bagels and I was exhausted so I bowed out and went to bed.  They promised they'd wake me up for a fresh warm bagel, but they didn't!  Meri said she talked to me when she came to bed, but I don't remember that either, so maybe they DID offer me one...  Oh well.  We had them for breakfast and they were SO yummy.  Maddy had made bagels for a 4H fair project years ago and that knowledge has paid off!

On Sunday, after church, Meri and I headed for home, and I only took a wrong turn once!  Apparently we'd been talking and suddenly we're in a city with stop lights... I don't remember this from the way out.... Dig out the GPS quick!  We had to backtrack five miles.  Then Meri drove and we took a couple more wrong turns, but she's blaming my navigational skills of not repeating what the GPS says.  I'm blaming her for not listening to me or looking at the signs...  We got over it and enjoyed the rest of trip. Once we knew where we were...

We got back home JUST in time for a birthday party for Jen and Ryan.  Robb had knocked himself out cooking all the sides, making the cake and grilling.  The massive amount of dishes used just got done getting cleaned up this morning. 

Ryan and Jen's birthdays are just a couple days apart.  No photos were allowed, but I got one of the cake a split second after they blew it out together.

All in all, it was a good but bittersweet weekend.  Meri was pretty emotional at parts but is happy that Duke will be well taken care of.  

She's planning a friend's trip out there soon for a another weekend to see Duke again and of course Maddy and Matthew.  

They're well settled in their house by now and Maddy is having a great time with the decorating.  Owning is so much more fun than renting!  

Until you have to kill spiders or mow.

Big Dumb Beautiful Dog part 2

Big, Dumb, Beautiful dog part 1

Duke is going on an adventure this weekend and moving to Wisconsin!

Since Maddy and Matthew now have a house, they want to share it with our big, dumb, beautiful dog.  Out of all the dogs in our house, they had to choose this one...

11 years ago, Duke was the most rambunctious puppy we've ever raised.

Not only did he eat a cell phone and any article of clothing left on the floor, he ate some drawers, deck spindles and our siding.  Some have yet to be repaired.

He was trained and walked without the aid of a gentle leader anymore.

He is the only dog in our household that had a legit birthday party when he turned 1.  And Meri invited everyone!  A guy that works with Robb even showed up and gave Duke a packet of hotdogs for a gift!

Meri has had so much fun with him.  We all have.

He grew into a caring dog that loved us all.

And he loves Rock and Roll...

 A few more memories of Duke.

aka Dukas, Dufas, Dukey Wukey, etc.

If we could have gotten him into modeling, he'd be a big, big hit...

and then he got married.  Married life seemed to settle him down and then all he did was lay on the furniture.

 

or us.

He's going to love his new home.

And Maddy and Matthew will give him the one on one attention he so deserves in his old age.

Good Dog!

Oh Happy Dog!

 Duke rolled in something nasty... like in early December.  

No one has wanted to pet him all winter, poor thing...  

Well, we decided if we're serious about selling these puppies, then the puppy daddy needs to look sharp!  

So we took Duke in to Petco on Saturday for a bath and groom. We got there a few minutes before his appointment so we browsed with him.  You can bring your pets into that store.  As soon as we got to the shampoo aisle, we got mobbed.  We had to warn 3 employees that he's not smelling too good so back off!  They didn't heed the warning and fawned all over him.  He loves it...  He's a lady's dog...

We left him there for the next couple hours and ran other errands, taking Meri's friend LinZ home, picking up Robb, going home for lunch, picking up car parts, groceries and other things.  My car started having fits on Friday... RIGHT after getting a new alternator and battery.  sigh... The story of my life.  Bad cars...

BAD car BAD!

So anyway, Robb and I picked up Duke after I got a call from the groomer who practically fawned all over Duke WHILE talking to me on the phone.  "He laid down right after I got done brushing him and said, PET ME!!!!!!  DUKIE is just a big teddy bear!!"  Yeah, that sounds like Duke and they truly have the right person in that position...

He was gorgeous!!! And they even gave him a little bandana to sport around his neck.

SHARP...

 

A little girl in the store asked if he was a good dog and we said yes, so she pet him.  I SHOULD have told her that she could have her very own if she waited two weeks.  

Oh well, missed opportunity.  It won't be my last.

We had to stop for the groceries after we picked him up, so we left him in the car.  Remember the LAST time we left Duke in the car alone?  Yeah - you don't want to do that when his doggy wifey is in heat in the house...  You can see the damage to the door in this shot. 
Eventually we'll get some duct tape or a new door.

Maddy drove this car to college for a couple months after Christmas while we had her car worked on and this car now has the nickname amongst her and her friends as "The horny dog car".  

It's probably not the best named car for a Christian college...

Rabies galore!!

The puppy started yapping this morning in the backyard and sounding much louder than she usually does. Meri was surprised, so she went to bring her in and scold her. When they came back in, Meri tore down the back hall frantic, with Elly on her heels. "Mom! Duke has rabies!!!"

I guess it takes more than that to wake me up... "Uh huh dear... I don't think so... what makes you think that?"

"There's a bunch of foam on his mouth and he was running toward me!"
"Did he attack you or growl?" no real concern in my voice... mostly skepticism.
"No - I slammed the door in his face so he couldn't!"

Poor Duke... Because he's not the problem dog anymore, he has to stay outside while the barkers get brought in... And not only that, but he's getting the door slammed in his face!

Apparently there is another dog visiting on the outside of the fence getting our dogs excited and running around. Thus the presumed rabies foam...

I went out to check on him and there was slobber hanging down both sides of his mouth to almost the ground. Thick wet goobery slobber. One of the strings of it flew around and wrapped itself on the back of his furry neck when he shook his head running toward the door.

I slammed the door so I wouldn't get any on me...

Dog Days of Spring

It's one week after we threw an enormous party for our son. Why not throw one for our dog! Meri remembered that our dog Duke's birthday is some time in May, so she started making invitations and handing them out to our neighbors and some select friends of hers and at Robb's office. She also had Duke lay down on some paper and she traced him. Then she colored it in for a birthday poster to hang in the front hall. It's still there.

So I was out of town most of the day to the American Sewers Guild meeting, workshop and then to Maddy's piano recital at 4. I got home and started preparing for the party, which we were pretty sure not many people were coming for. My main prep work was putting away all my sewing stuff off the dining room table.

Ryan's friend, Amy came over mainly because those two and Maddy and a friend were going to the movies, but they were here for the party. Then Meri called the neighbor kids next door and reminded them about the party.

We served dirt cake that Meri & Robb made while I was gone and we bought the obligatory Twinkies for the dogs. Meri smeared whipped topping on them and for the final touch put a doggie treat sticking out of the top. The dogs ate them up and Duke was very happy. So happy that he scared the neighbor kid (Nick) and Nick climbed up on the kitchen counter to get away from him. Duke can be a bit scary. So Duke had to chillax in his kennel for a while until Nick and his sister had a chance to jump on the trampoline and eat some treats.

The surprise guest was a friend of Robb's from the office that was invited, Wavern. Wow! A grown-up coming to a kids dog party! We had great time visiting. I used to work in their office too up until four years ago.

So anyway... Duke is two years old now. He better quit the chewing up everything he sees bit, or there won't be a third...
Dog photos courtesy of Meri photography... There are about 50 of them between the two dogs. I'm so glad things are digital these days...

Pee Yoo!

Since the graduation party, the dog kennels have been in the garage, so the dogs have slept out there for the last 2 nights. Last night, Ryan brought them in from the yard and locked them away for the evening, however he must not have latched Duke's kennel properly.

This morning the garage wreaked to high heaven! There are big piles of dog poop here and there... Plus, Duke must not be feeling well.... Not good, when you've got a Golden...

I didn't even touch it... Ryan is up and in the shower and I'll surprise him with it when he comes down...

WHEW!

Aren't you glad I didn't have my camera handy?

Big Dumb Beautiful Dog

We have two dogs. A basset hound named Sorsha(I'll blog about her later) and a Golden Retriever named Duke. Dukus, Doofus, whatever.. He's got many nicknames. My blog today is about Duke. Meri got him about 3 years ago as a pup. He was the gentlest, sweetest pup in the litter. That is, until we brought him home, took him to the vet for a checkup and found he was full of worms... Once he kicked that with a ton of meds, he turned into our own personal version of Marley.











This dog is a chewer. He has eaten countless stuffed animals (which I'm not totally against...), a cell phone, bird feeder, the heated dog food dish with cord, all the plastic parts of our gas grill, all the plastic, metal & rubber parts of our turkey fryer, the cord off a borrowed drill that was left on the patio table for 2 minutes, the trampoline net and padding, among other things. I built a gate for our deck so the dogs could still come up on the deck, but not run around to the front of the house. We also have a huge fenced yard for them to run around in. We had to block off the deck when we discovered that our big dumb beautiful dog was bored and was chewing on our siding. The siding was getting dried out in the sun and was a bit flakey on the bottoms. We had been planning on getting the house re-sided eventually, just not so soon... Duke chewed so much siding, the back of the house looked like a gingerbread house. How aggravating... We had my handy man brother in law re-side just the back last summer with Ryan.

Then to top that off, he started chewing on the deck railings. The railing is held up by spindles and he started gnawing on them until they broke loose, then he'd rip them out and chew them at leisure around the yard. We then blocked off the deck steps, but now he's working on the spindles at the bottom of the deck steps and the deck looks terrible.




Hopefully we'll have the deck railings fixed before graduation as we've depending on having some of the guests out on it... The dogs will definitely be at the kennel for that weekend...

Someone had told me about some HUGE smoked bones you can buy at Walmart. They're great. However they don't last as long as I'd like. AND Duke doesn't share. Poor Sorsha. I'll give one to Duke and give Sorsha another privately. Within minutes, Duke will have both next to him as he gnaws happily and Sorsha is sitting a little ways away just staring at him in amazement.

Last week, Duke got out of our yard. I made Ryan walk all the way around the fence to check it out and he found a hole under the fence. We put Duke on a chain until Robb and I could get the hole fixed, which we did yesterday and then we let Duke run again. However around 8pm, we got a call from a neighbor who had found him out. We guessed that maybe he had jumped up onto the top of the dog house and over the fence from there, so we moved the doghouse away from the fence.

Just a little bit ago, I heard Ryan yelling for Duke out front of the house. He had made the great escape again and we don't know how he did it. He's in our kennel for now until we can figure out how he is doing this. When we caught him this last time, he was frolicking through the neighborhood with a big dumb beautiful black haired dog. I think I know which neighbor she belongs to... So Ryan is on the rampage to get Duke neutered, but I don't think Meri will stand for it. She's desperate to get a girl Golden and start her own little Retriever litters...

More later, as the saga WILL continue.