Multiple [Dog] Personalities

When I look at my dogs I often don't see them as dogs.   They have such personalities that I constantly have to remind myself they have four legs, not two.

Charlotte is convinced she is a princess or of some noble blood line.  I am positive that could she see, she would have watched the Royal Wedding this past weekend and pranced around the house acting as if she was Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Clearwater.   I often think that she dreams of being a descendent of some important tribe in Mexico.  Dare I tell her Chihuahuas originated from Indian tribes that used them for food?  No.  I think I'll keep that bit of information to myself.   

But what surprised me was to see how completely different all three of my dogs are.  Once I had gotten used to Charlotte's royal ways, I expected the next dog to act the same way, chalking it up to "just another Chihuahua".   But Chelsea is completely different.   

Chelsea on the other hand is convinced she is a wild dog, maybe even a wolf.  She definitely has the physique to prove it, if it were true.  Her tail is fluffier and she even has some what of a mane.   She has no idea what it's like to be an indoor dog, or a family pet.  She loves being part of a pack, but when her pack is inside, she wants nothing to do with any of us.  If she could, she'd spend all day outside laying in the shade.  It's like two different dogs in one.  Inside she is scared, reserved, and lazy.  Outside she is alert, curious, and on guard.  It's the weirdest thing, but once she steps through the door way and sniffs that fresh air her tail goes up and away slips that nervous dog that hides in corners.   I think it is because outside, she gets to pretend she is a wild animal, living on the edge, but then she comes inside and realizes she is just a house pet and it depresses her a little.

Chloe, has the personality of a Diva in what she thinks is the body of a Great Dane.  No one has explained to her what a Great Dane really is.  She thinks she is the biggest and most important thing in this house.  I try not to baby her too much since I don't want to create a problem with the other two, so since I've stopped babying her, she's moved on to demanding attention from everyone else in the family.  When Daddy comes home she carries on a fit until he picks her up.  When she is running free and see's Charlotte she immediately runs over to her and smacks her in the face with her paw, as if to say "excuse me, look at me, I'm over here!".  She has no clue Charlotte can't see her and assumes every time Charlotte walks into her it's a game of "tag - you're it".   Poor Charlotte is NOT amused by these antics but even if she did want to fight back, she wouldn't even know where or what to snap at.  So Charlotte has begun to walk into the kitchen, where she can barricade herself, and then barks non-stop until Rob or I pick her up and bring her somewhere safe, which brings me back to Charlotte thinking she is a Princess...

It makes me wonder where these personalities come from.  Did I create it in my mind?  Or do I make my dogs act this way?    It's so strange, but whatever the case may be, it makes for some great entertainment. :)

An Unlikely Pair

On Tuesday after Rob got home from work, we headed over to the pool for an hour since it had been so hot outside.  When we returned home we noticed that Chloe had found a way to push her play pen away from the wall and get out.  So she had been running around with the big girls for the hour while we were gone.   One of the main reasons why we have her in her pen, aside from keeping her out of trouble, is to keep her away from Chelsea and Charlotte who don't appreciate her constant jumping and pawing at them.  When we aren't home to monitor her, I don't want her out for fear she may upset them and they correct her too harshly.

One thing I completely forgot is they are dogs.  It's their nature to correct each other.  When one dog thinks the other is going to far, it's okay for them to tell the other dog. It's how they communicate with each other.  So for me to assume I have to do it for her was me being a typical human thinking my dog is my baby. 

Yesterday,  I decided to do a little "experiment".  I let Chloe free.  The very first thing she did was run onto the balcony and try to play with Chelsea who loves to spend most of her days out there soaking up the sun.   I was surprised when Chelsea didn't run at the sight of Chloe.   Normally, I'd put Chloe on the couch with us and Chelsea would take off running.  Now I realize it was because every time she'd show her teeth I'd correct her, but I shouldn't have.  I should have her let establish her own boundaries and without her showing her teeth, Chloe wouldn't know when enough was enough.  I wasn't letting my dogs just be dogs.  

So a few minutes after going out there, Chloe began jumping all over Chelsea, who seemed not to mind too much until Chloe got in her face.  That's when Chelsea disapproved and bared her teeth.   After a few attempts at "testing" her, Chelsea finally snapped at Chloe.   

My first reaction was to jump up and yell at them, but I noticed Chloe wasn't hurt and was still looking to play.  Chelsea wasn't looking to hurt her either.  I'd seen dogs attack each other and this was far from one of those moments.  Chelsea looked calm and relaxed even when nipping at her.  And even after being nipped at,  Chloe still looked playful and excited.  After an hour of this back and forth, Chloe settled down and the two of them laid down to relax.

Very quickly Chelsea set her boundaries with Chloe and then the two became good friends.  By the end of the day, Chloe was laying with Chelsea in the same bed and was following her around everywhere.  Chelsea started taking on the "mother" role.  Whenever Chloe would get out of hand she'd correct her.  

At one point, Chloe brought her squeaky ball over to Chelsea and the two of them tugged it back and forth for a little bit before Chelsea gave up and let her have it.   Because of this new development, Chloe was able to spend almost the entire day out of her playpen and got so much exercise that she wore herself out and ended up falling asleep way before any of the us did (which is unusual because we usually all go to bed and she cries in her kennel before falling asleep).

Chloe is a little brat though.  The typical puppy and showing signs of the 3rd child syndrome. :)   Every time I give a toy to Chelsea, it doesn't matter how many toys Chloe is surrounded by, she wants the one I gave to Chelsea.  Poor Chelsea.   And if the toy squeaks, forget about it.  She goes NUTS.  What is it with dogs and toys that squeak?  She ripped apart her toy ball and pulled the compartment with the squeaker out and just sits there making it squeak for hours.  She thinks its the greatest thing ever.

Anyway, that is the latest.  Charlotte and Chelsea are buddies, and now Chelsea and Chloe are buddies.  Charlotte tolerates Chloe but does her best to stay away from her.  

Here are some photos of the girls I took recently:

Also, I have created a YouTube channel for all the videos I've taken of them.   You can view them all here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSolomonSisters?feature=mhum#p/u.  Take a look when you have some time.  There are some funny ones like "Chloe Has A Humping Problem" and "Chelsea, The Big Bad [Overdramatic] Wolf."

I'll leave you with one of my favorites, clips from Chloe's first trip to the beach this weekend, which was a success! :)

The Solomon Sisters Get A YouTube Channel

Just a quick update to let you guys know that I created a YouTube Channel for the Solomon Sisters.

You can now view all their video antics here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSolomonSisters?feature=mhum#p/a


Enjoy! :)

Happy Easter!

Wanting to wish all our family & friends a very Happy Easter.  Wish we were back in New York & New Jersey to celebrate with all of our loved ones, but we are there in spirit.

Today is a pretty quiet day for us.  Rob is making a pork tenderloin roast, which I am sure the girls will be very excited about.   :)

Chelsea is doing excellent!  She now goes and sits in the corner by the gate when she has to go out and when I come to her to put on her harness she lifts her paws up for me so I can get it on her easily.  Major improvement from when she'd just run away and one of us would have to hold her.

She also had a moment last night.  Charlotte climbed up on my lap and was licking my leg like it was chicken bone.  Not sure what possessed her to do that all of a sudden but Chelsea was just staring her down the whole time.  Finally, after a minute I felt Chelsea's little nose sniffing my arm which was right next to her face, and she gave me three very little kisses!  I was shocked and she probably would have kept going had I not gasped and startled her.  I just wasn't expecting it from her, but after that she put her snout under my arm and fell asleep like that.

Today, Rob had the brilliant idea to try and "play" with Chelsea.  So she jumped on the couch to try to play and she of course took off running and actually came to me.  I sat down on the floor and pet her to tell her it was okay and when he got up and came over I picked her up to keep her from running so he could come over and make nice with her again.   At that point she latched onto me like a baby and put her head on my shoulder.  It was very cute but when I put her down she didn't run away, she just backed up onto my lap and stayed there.  So I pet her and told her what a good girl she is and then Charlotte came over looking for some attention.  At one point Charlotte put her head under Chelsea's head and the 3 of us were cuddling as I pet them.  It was very cute and I almost wonder if Charlotte even knew she was cuddling with Chelsea or if she thought it was me.   But that was also an improvement that Chelsea came to me when she was scared.

Charlotte is being Miss Affectionate lately.  She is always up on my lap or kissing our feet or legs.  She just can't give enough love, and of course whenever we pet her she nudges us to tell us she wants more pets.  It's one of my favorite things that she does.

Chloe got a new bone today.  It's a special bone for puppies who are teething.  Since she loves to chew and her poor stuffed animals are taking a severe beating, I wanted something a little more durable for her to chew on.  She is loving it and now prances around the house with it.  She literally takes is wherever she goes.  It's too adorable. :)

Chloe is also learning new tricks!  I've already taught her to "sit", "lay down", "roll over",
"high five", "shake", "dance",  "crawl" and "speak".  I'm working on "play dead", "bow", and a few others... though she keeps confusing "lay down" and "play dead". HA!  She is smart as a whip! 

I'll leave you with a video of some of the first things I taught her.  

There Was Nothing "Good" About This Friday For Chloe - Vet Visit Part 2

Today was Chloe's follow up vet visit.  Being that she is only 12 weeks old she was due for her 2nd set of puppy shots.

The whole situation reminded me of the part in "Look Who's Talking Too", where the brother and sister are at the doctor and the little sister is all excited because there are toys and everyone is so nice, but the little brother tries to tell her it's gonna get worse, and then the doctor gives her the shot and she freaks out.  This is exactly how this played out.

Her first visit to the vet was with her big sisters two weeks ago.   That visit was fun and exciting to her.  She got all the love and attention while her sisters sat there shaking, huddled together in the corner.  I'm sure to tiny Chloe she had no clue why her sisters weren't as excited about how much fun this little adventure was.  In fact, Chloe didn't even have an exam, she just enjoyed being passed around between the employees, getting lots of love and kisses while her sisters were poked and prodded.  She got some cheese from the vet and then some treats with her sisters when she got home. It was probably the perfect day out for her.

Well this time was drastically different.

When we arrived a poodle and a golden retriever were having a conversation in the waiting room and the noise was deafening.   I will say though, it was adorable to watch the poodle yap away and then the retriever responding with his deep bark.  It seriously was a conversation.  One would bark, the other would answer, then the first one would bark again, and the second would answer.  But never at the same time because  I guess they figured that would just be rude.

Anyway, Chloe was already shaking in her carry case.   So I opened it so she could sniff around.  She watched the dogs but seemed terrified.  Last time she couldn't wait to come out of the case, this time didn't want to come out of it.  It was almost like she could foresee the future.

The vet came out and we chatted a bit about Chloe acting so scared so she immediately reached in and picked her up and took her around to everyone in the back to get her used to them all.  I guess it worked because she came back with some cheese (they give the dogs cheese to distract/calm them).  She was still a bit reserved but was excited about the cheese.

Then I handed her to the receptionists who were cuddling and kissing her.   Finally, we were taken into a room where Chloe was then brought to me, since she was still making her rounds when we were called in.

The poor vet tech had to get a fecal sample.  For those of you who don't own a pet and don't know what a fecal sample is, it is when the vet tech takes a long stick that looks like the wand you find in a bottle of bubbles (with a thinner circle) and sticks it in the dog's butt in order to pull out a sample of their poop to check it for worms.  It is just as disgusting as it sounds.

Chelsea didn't seem to flinch when they did it to her last time, which made me curious as to why the dog who runs away from lizards doesn't mind someone coming up behind her and putting a stick in her butt.  But anyway...

Charlotte has always hated it.  Poor Charlotte can't see what is in front of her let alone what is coming up behind her so every time it happens to her, her eyes bulge out of her head like a cartoon character (see example photo below).  It's always so hard not to laugh at her when that happens.

Well this was Chloe's first time and let me tell you, she absolutely hated it.   I can't fully blame her but her reaction was worse than any dog I've ever known.  She screamed bloody murder.  I don't speak dog, but I can only guess the words "help" and "rape" were somewhere in those cries.

Once that ordeal was over she trusted no one.   Every time someone walked into the room she latched onto me like a monkey.

The vet had to preform most of the exam with her in my arms.   At one point the vet felt around by her tail and Chloe let off a warning cry to tell her she was getting to close to her danger zone.

Chloe got 2 shots and luckily the vet was able to distract her with some more spray cheese which she was so busy licking off the table that she didn't even blink for her shots.   But after that she just wanted to either be in my arms, on my lap, or in her carry case.

The vet tech took a few photos of her to get a good one for her file.  This is what they were able to get:

After the entire ordeal I decided to stop at the bank since I had something to sign for my account.  Chloe stayed in her case and came in with me but of course the lady at the bank I sat down to work with wanted to hold her and pet her, and I was surprised that Chloe was calm about it.  A few times she looked back at me with a very unsure face, but she didn't yelp or freak out like she had at the vet.  

No she is curled up with her favorite stuffed animal and laid there with the most depressing face.  

I guess she is reflecting on her ever so traumatic morning at the vet.  Dare I tell her she goes back in 3 weeks?

New Bed = End Of Life As They Know It.

Rob and I have had the same mattress since we moved in together 6 years ago.   The poor "pillow top" mattress that we picked up at a cheap mattress warehouse in the Bronx was almost completely shot.  So this past weekend, after growing tired of waking up with back pain, we decided to look into mattress deals in the area.   We found a place that was offering a free flat screen TV with a purchase of a mattress, and since we don't have a TV in the bedroom and had been shopping for one of those too, we figured why not kill two birds with one stone?  

We spent two days deciding which mattress to get, visiting the store twice and spending more than an hour and a half there each time.  In fact, on the first night we stayed until closing just to decide we'd "sleep on it" (no pun intended) and come back the next day.  On day two it became apparent that we weren't just going to replace our Queen sized pillow top mattress, no we decided to go all the way and upgrade to a king sized bed.  One problem, our current bed set only fit Full/Queen mattress.   So then what started with just a harmless mattress turned into looking for a bed frame to go with it.  I couldn't help but wonder if maybe it would have been a better idea to impulse buy on night one because then we would have left with a Queen mattress and nothing more.

Of course, they didn't have the frame we originally had since we bought that at JCPenney and it was discontinued since then (just my luck).   But we noticed then that the bedroom sets were also on sale and offering free TVs with a purchase.  What we had hoped would be a quick stop at the furniture store turned into another night spent sitting on a whole bunch of beds and couches hiding from the store salesman so we could have a private moment to make a decision without pressure.

An hour later we decided we didn't need a whole bedroom set, but after sitting on a couch for nearly an hour we did want the couch!   So since that set also came with a free TV, we were getting 2 free TVs out of the whole deal.

Now we were ready to check out.  Our total damage: one king sized mattress/box spring, one king sized bed frame with head board, and one living room set (including a leather ottoman, sectional couch with pillows, swivel chair, a TV stand and the free TV).  

The new bed

This new living room set (the swivel chair is in the corner, kinda cut out of the photo)

We knew the sofa set wouldn't be delivered until May 18th, but the bed and frame were scheduled to be delivered today, so the morning started out with us getting up extra early to move the old bed set into the guest room where it will now live.  Of course the dogs were in sheer panic mode because they couldn't understand why we were up so early and why we were rearranging things in their space.

Once the bed was out of the bedroom, Charlotte wandered aimlessly around the empty room searching for the bed she used to jump up on.  Chelsea stuck her nose high in the air and sniffed around with uncertainty but dared not to move from her "safe" spot on the couch.  Chloe, who I had moved to her playpen in the other room was whining and yapping away trying to figure out what was happening.

The old mattress set was in the living room so it was out of the way of the delivery guys and so they could take it with them when they left.   Chelsea was the first one out of the bedroom and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the giant mattress set resting on the back of the love seat in the living room.   She ran back into the bedroom and refused to come out.

Charlotte walked right into the thing, in typical Charlotte fashion.  She was startled and bounced backwards a little and then continued to walk into it until she figured out where the end was and how to get around it.

I let Chloe out to investigate it, since she wouldn't calm down.  She immediately decided it was a giant jungle gym and spent 10 minutes running around the couch, through the gap between the sofa and the mattress and around the mattress.  She did this several times before I wrangled her and put her back in her pen.

Around this time I heard the delivery truck pull up.  So I quickly herded the big girls into the guest room where I made a nice little bed of blankets on the couch in there and turned on the TV to keep them from hearing the delivery guy's voices.   I do this whenever the maintenance people come in because Charlotte has this thing where as soon as she hears an unfamiliar voice she freaks out.  Every hair on her back stands up and she goes into attack mode.  I'm not so worried about her hurting someone, but there is always the possibility that she will hurt herself, like the time she freaked out and jumped off the chair headfirst onto the wood floor in our old apartment.   I swear she is a cat and has 9 lives, but I'll save all that for another post.

Chloe stayed in her pen since it was out of the way, but at soon as the delivery guys came in they all went gaga over how cute she is.  She very quickly turned cute into crazy when one of the delivery guys reached down to pet her and she started yelping like he tried to kill her.  He hadn't even touched her.  He felt so bad because he didn't mean to scare her, but she was so freaked out she ran into her kennel and barked from in there until they left.

Her tiny little yaps set off Charlotte, who I had worked so hard to distract.  The only one not freaking out ironically, was Chelsea, who was fast asleep on the couch when I looked in on them, despite Charlotte's obnoxiously loud barking.  I very quickly opened the door, and told Charlotte to "SHUT UP!" and shut it again.  That calmed her down for all of 30 seconds and the barking began again.

Now Chloe and Charlotte were competing for the loudest bark, and I can assure you Charlotte was winning.  I was just so happy that the delivery guys got everything done so quickly and left in under 5 minutes.

Then it was time to let the girls loose.  Charlotte wandered around sniffing and then made her way into the bedroom where she must have still "smelled" the delivery guys because she stood there staring at the corner barking for another 2 minutes before the new object in the room caught her attention.

Chelsea came running in to check on Charlotte and stopped dead in her tracks.  She sniffed the bed and around the bed and then decided she did not like the presence of this new furniture and climbed up on the couch and laid there with a very disapproving face.

Chloe ran in and seemed completely unfazed by the new bed until she realized it wasn't as easy to run underneath it and then it became too frustrating for her.  She gave up after her 3rd attempt of crawling on her belly and then went back into the living room to play with her toys.

By the time the dogs had been "introduced" to the new object in the house, they slumped into depression mode.   Chelsea and Charlotte laid on the couch together looking at the bed, well Chelsea looked at the bed while Charlotte looked in it's general direction. Chloe laid in her pen with the saddest eyes I have ever seen and only when I picked her up did her tail wag and the excitement kick in.

The dogs seriously acted like the world was coming to an end and this new bed was some apocalyptic message.

For me, I couldn't be happier.  I grabbed my laptop and the phones and climbed in to "break it in". I rolled around for a minute and was in heaven.  Of course, the entire time I was basking in the glory of this new bed, the dogs stared at me from their couch like I was the ultimate traitor.

After a while I figured out why they were all so upset.  The bed is now too high for them to climb up on!  Charlotte could barely make it onto our old bed and now this new bed it 2xs the height.  Chelsea only jumps up from the bottom of the bed and now there is a frame there so she can't, and Chloe, well whatever hope Chloe had for growing big enough to climb into the old bed, she has completely lost faith now.

So there I was in my big bed, looking down on 3 sad little faces and all I could to do was.... stick my tongue out and say "na na na na poo poo!" :)

I just can't wait until the living room furniture comes.   >:)

Saturday & Sunday Shenanigans

Finally, I had a break in my very crazy (and stressful) day today, to sit down and write a blog about our weekend!

On Saturday night we had a lovely unexpected (and sadly short) visit from Rob's aunt Christina who lives in Miami.  She was visiting friends in Orlando and drove over here to see us for a little bit.   It was Chelsea's first time having company (other than the maintenance guy or her rescue mommy Cynthia stopping in to check up on her).  She was VERY good.  She let them pet her, even though she looked terrified the whole time.



She mostly kept to her self but at one point she was laying with her head on my lap, sleeping, and Christina was sitting next to her on the other side.  So she was definitely relaxed even though we had company.  I was very proud of her.

Charlotte did well too.  Everyone was petting her and giving her lots of attention and she was loving it, which probably helped Chelsea calm down.  

Chloe was the star of the show of course.  Because she is so tiny and cute everyone wanted to hold her and pet her.   At one point she yipped and cried like she was hurt but we realized she was warning our guests that she didn't want to be picked up anymore.  She came running over to me wanting me to pick her up because she was tired of all the unfamiliar hands coming at her.  But other than that, she did very well.  I doubt we'll have too many problems with her being social.




Sunday morning Rob and I went to church and came home to a house full of sleeping dogs.   Rob spent a little bit of time playing with Chloe who doesn't get to spend time with daddy much during the week since he is at work all day.   She was loving it.  She'd run around and he'd chase her and she'd run so fast she'd start to pounce around in order to move quicker.  It was cute.  

After about 10 minutes, Chloe wore herself out and then joined Rob on the balcony where she got a nice little belly rub and took a 1 minute "cat nap" ... or maybe she was just trying to tan her little pale belly.  :)

Then after making some breakfast, Rob and I took Chelsea for a walk.  She does so well on our walks and really comes out of her shell.  Her tail goes up and wags around.  She is really in her element when she goes outside.

Every once in a while I catch her doing something really cute.  Like on Saturday when she was laying on her back sleeping, dreaming and pawing at her face...

Anyway, after our walk Rob and I thought it may be nice to take Chelsea over to the dog beach for a little early afternoon fun in the sun.  We wanted to give her some one-on-one time and while we thought the dog run may be good to help socialize her, she still isn't ready to be confined in a space with other dogs.  We think the beach is a good way for her to be around other dogs but not be stuck dealing with them just yet.  So we drove over for a little bit and hung out with her there.

We took turns walking her up and down the beach while the other sat with our stuff.  Then, Rob and I sat on the sand bar where the waves were coming in and creating a little shallow pool of water.  It was half a foot of water and sitting in it watching boats go by.  Chelsea was hesitant to go in, so she just walked back and forth with her tail wagging and watching us and everything else going on around us.  Finally, after a few minutes of ignoring her she made her way into the little pool with us and was standing right there next to us enjoying the water.   We were proud of her mini accomplishment!   A few minutes later we saw a pod of dolphins swim by which was a really nice treat. 

When we came home we decided to take Charlotte out for a walk since we didn't take her to the dog beach, but Chelsea wanted to go too, so Rob took our little pack out for a nice afternoon walk...

Which was followed by the big girls (Chelsea & Charlotte) cuddling up on the floor in a blanket and taking a nap together. :)

All-in-all a lovely but busy weekend.