The Chase

Lilah has this annoying habit of running away when she has something that we want, something like, oh, I don't know, let's say a small clay pot plate. It's not so much that she wants it, she just likes the game of being chased and outsmarting us.

My tactic was to chase her around the yard until she either got too tired to run away or ended up dropping the object by mistake. It looks dumb, takes a while, and probably reinforces her bad habit. So now I use a different technique: "Ritter, go get Lilah!"

Now, I'm not sure how much Ritter understands verbally, but he sees Lilah running around with something in her mouth and he immediately wants to take part and takes off after her. The only problem is that she isn't too keen on sharing. So instead of me chasing her around the yard and trying to squeeze in between plants I'm not supposed to, Ritter dashes after her.

There are two major problems with this tactic though.

1) If Ritter manages to break a piece off for himself, I have to chase two dogs.
Ritter used to be okay about letting us take objects he shouldn't have away from him. But I think he's learning a bad habit from Lilah, and has taken to slinking away when possible or using his large head to block access to the wanted object.

2) Lilah is known for her stamina and incredible energy reserve; Ritter not so much.
After a good five minute runaround, Ritter stopped at the water bowl to fill up, then trotted over to his place in the dirt and sprawled out. Lilah on the other hand was still up to the task of evading me.

Recently though I have developed a new tactic: "Oh Ritter, you're such a good boy! Ritter want treats?" Lilah is an incredibly jealous dog sometimes and gets her to my side better than showering Ritter with attention. Ritter is very good about coming inside because he knows he will be getting a treat and he loves food. So if I just make a big deal about it once we're inside the house, Lilah comes shooting out from wherever and either kicks or body slams the door open.

Another cheap way to get her to drop what she's doing is to pick up Ritter. For some reason this really pisses her off...

Opposing Play Tactics

Lilah likes to play with Ritter, except Ritter doesn't quite understand how to play.

This evening, Lilah retrieved a ball from their (well mostly Lilah's) toy basket. Similar to a playful cat, she batted it about with her paws, chewing on it occasionally. From his bed, Ritter watched with rapt attention, studying the ways in which a dog would play with a ball. Or more specifically, how much pleasure Lilah derives from playing with that specific ball.

He finally gained the courage to step past the safety of his bed and moved towards Lilah who at this point was lying on the floor and chewing on the ball. Ritter didn't hesitate in grabbing the ball in his huge maw and bounding back to his bed where he would happily chew the ball until it no longer held its shape. Of course I wouldn't allow that and tossed the ball back to the middle of the room. Lilah skillfully caught it in her mouth.

She baited him, giving him that butt-in-the-air play signal and making soft barking sounds. He had caught her off guard at first. This time though, she was aware that he wanted the ball and so, being a smart dog made a game of teasing him. Lilah, being the ever-playful dog that she is, pawed the ball and made some encouraging noises at Ritter. He made a move for it, but she quickly got her mouth around it and prevented him from stealing it.

Now Ritter himself isn't a dummy. On to her game, he formed his own tactic: deceive Lilah into thinking that he was playing with her by wrestling, and when she let her guard down, steal the ball. He started by biting her legs and neck. Instantly Lilah was nipping back, rolling on her back and kicking with her feet, happy that someone was paying attention to her and playing. As soon as he saw his opportunity, Ritter grabbed the ball and ran for it. This happened multiple times.

I was lucky enough to catch it on video:

All My Effort

I spent a good amount of time this weekend removing some dead birch trees from the backyard. It's pretty tough dirt so sometimes I encourage Lilah to dig around the base of the trees (this was before I gave them a bath). Well I guess she was just too hot or too busy with Ritter to offer a lending paw because I had to do all the digging myself.

But guess who is right there when I finally rip the stump from the ground? Then she has the nerve to haul it away as if it's her prize, her award for all the effort she put into the project. Ritter also shares the blame.

Kiddie Pools + Water + Ice = Fun

Today was water day! With Southern California's heat wave bearing down on us this weekend, we decided that it was time for the dogs to play with water. They were already dirty and in need of a bath, so letting them get wet and roll around in the (dead) grass/dirt wouldn't really matter. They'd get their bath in the end.

A while ago my mom bought two small kiddie pools for the dogs, anticipating the hot days of summer. For our dogs, the perfect formula for water day = kiddie pool + water + ice blocks. As soon as Ritter saw my mom bringing out the blocks of ice purchased specifically for this purpose, he went running around the yard in excitement, but that was after he played around in the pool as I was filling it. Lilah enjoys the water and the ice too, which sometimes causes problems when possessive Ritter is already playing with the ice. Cue high pitched barking.


this perspective makes it look like Ritter's licking the ice

After a couple hours and several ice blocks, the dogs were thoroughly tired, extremely dirty and incredibly content.

We gave them outdoor baths since the weather was so nice. Usually we use the bathtub inside, but we have this nice bolster?booster? bath that makes washing them outside easier on our backs.

Ritter going for that Mother Teresa look.

Now the plan was to take them out for a walk after their baths so that they could dry in the sun, but it wasn't meant to be. As soon as we walked past our front door, Lilah started with her high pitched bark, which triggered Ritter to start his woof-woofing. There was lots of pulling and whining and barking and this was all before we even made it to the sidewalk. Oh and how can I ignore the fact that an elderly couple passed by while all this was happening. Back inside we go.

Okay, so for some reason the dogs are too amped up for a walk. How about a car ride? Well I'll just cut to the chase. My mom tripped on the way to the car and ripped up her knees. Ouch. At least this time my neighbor and his friend arrived after her fall, and only witnessed us sitting by the car. Back inside we go.

Patch up mom. Calm down the dogs. Into the car for a nice air conditioned drive. And to pick up dinner. Finally.

Look at how handsome/beautiful they look, all clean and brushed in their side-by-side crate/beds.
Bonus footage of their water day:

Crazy Hot

Nothing interesting in particular. Though I did put some ice into the dogs' water bowl today in the afternoon. Lilah got so excited she chewed up some ice and started doing that "I want to play" butt wiggle pounce posture. Then she quickly ran around the table in the breakfast room at breakneck speed as if she had just taken a large dose of coke or something. It was pretty strange. Of course once she started running, Ritter had to chase her. So there I was, sitting in the beach chair with my cup of ice water, watching the dogs race by me as they ran circles around a five foot wide table.

I was so tired and hot that it didn't occur to me to grab my camera. Oh well, at least I have some after-the-fact evidence that Lilah pulled ice cubes out of the water bowl several times.

Logger Pups

Well, this morning was a repeat of yesterday except an hour earlier and minus the DWP guy. But on to today's topic: yard cleaning.

Believe it or not, Lilah is a big help when I do yard work. Well actually, Lilah can be a big help when I do yard work. I can sometimes count on her to help me dig up and rip out some roots. There's something about her claws that break through the dirt and get around tree roots like no one's business. She's also got one strong jaw, which she uses to loosen up stubborn roots. One time she helped me pull down some vines that had grown up two stories in our trees.

Today I decided to cut down some dead birch trees in the backyard. They were over 12 feet, but not that thick/heavy. The difficulty was due mostly to the overgrown morning glory vines which tangled all the birch tree branches together. I got around it by cutting each tree in half with a saw, nothing special.

Lilah, despite her size, is very wily and surprisingly strong. She loves to chew on things in the backyard. So while I was battling the vines and the branches, Lilah was right in the thick of it, running the risk of getting hurt should the tree suddenly fall. She was tearing at vines, chewing on the cut edge of the trunk, whatever she could get her mouth on.

When I finally tossed the freed trunk aside, Lilah was right there chewing on an end and dragging it to her little shade patch. She lay in the middle of graveyard of dead birch tree. While she was busy chewing on a tree trunk, Ritter was content with his little branch.

Strange Wake-up Call

This morning was pretty strange in all sorts of ways. I woke up to the sound of scratching at my bedroom door. Okay, I though to myself, Lilah obviously broke through the barrier on the stairs. It has happened before so not such a big surprise. My mom and I had overslept so the dogs were antsy and needed to go out. Understandable.

So we're all outside, enjoying the cool morning in our backyard, when Lilah starts barking like crazy at the gate. A brief glance reveals a man in a safari type hat and yellow shirt leaning through a gap between the fence shared with our neighbors. Quite shocking.

Apparently it was that time of the month for the DWP to read the meter in our backyard. Usually they use mirrors or scopes to read the meter without requiring direct access to it. But I guess this time, since we were right there, he asked us to open the gate so he could read the meter accurately.

I was still in my sleep clothes wearing my funky, worn orange slides, my contacts still in their case in the bathroom and my mouth still funky. I had to corral a barking and ferocious looking Lilah inside. Luckily, Ritter was still deciding whether or not to bark so he followed me inside pretty quickly. I let DWP-guy in, he reads the meter, and leaves.

Then it occurred to my mom that maybe we shouldn't have been so quick to allow him access as there have been recent robberies resulting from the thieves claiming that they're from AT&T or the city. Oops.

Well, I offered, Lilah's bark is really loud and I don't doubt that she'd try her best to inflict some sort of damage. Though what dog owner doesn't hope that to be the case, right? But then I realized, Lilah has some fears/phobias. Cardboard boxes, any type of cycle (bi or tri), baby strollers. Those are what I know of so far.

So it is highly likely that the thief would be successful in getting past Lilah if he was walking in a cardboard box, riding on a bicycle, or cruising in a stroller...the whole time.


See, look at how vicious she is barking at that dangerous looking bakezori (courtesy of MidnightHunnyRun). And yes, that is a beach chair in our breakfast room...Good luck navigating past that in your baby stroller, potential-robbers!

Ritter's Head

It might seem like a weird topic, but I wanted to discuss Ritter's head today. From pictures, you might think, "hey, he's got a nice looking head." True, I wouldn't disagree with you. However, I want to point out that Ritter's head is H-U-G-E!

It's mostly a matter of perspective though. I mean, when Ritter first arrived, I thought to myself, "he's got a pretty big noggin and muzzle. Kind of like Snoopy." But when you see Ritter next to Lilah, you realize that it is big. He has big, brown eyes that at first seemed to me to bulge out of his head. His ears are so big and floppy that you can cover his eyes with them. His muzzle and nose too, are sizable.

Of course though, I only have Lilah as a point of reference. Lilah herself has a smaller head and a finer bone structure. You could even say that Lilah's head is a bit small for her body even.

So we have Ritter with a big head for his body and Lilah's a-little-too-small-in-proportion-to-her-body head. See, I had to properly describe Ritter and Lilah's heads so that I could relate the following story.

The other night I was sitting downstairs in our breakfast room where the dogs usually hang out. Ritter and Lilah were play-wrestling. When Lilah finally rested her body onto her small rug, Ritter came over with playfulness still coursing through his veins, and managed to fit Lilah's whole head into his mouth. And she didn't seem to mind...

Laps and Lawn Chairs

I had spent the past couple of days cleaning up our cluttered backyard patio so that the dogs could have more space to run and I wouldn't have to worry about being crowded out by abandoned pots filled with spiders and earwigs. In the process, I discovered we had a completely functional and more importantly comfortable reclining lawn chair. Apparently, my brother had inherited it from his previous boss who had moved away. His junk, our gain.

It was pretty dirty, but after a good scrub down and spray with the hose, it was as good as new. Whenever I go outside, I feel it a waste not to sit down and recline in something so comfortable and convenient. That and it's pretty fun reclining.

Then a thought struck me! Pick up Ritter, set him in my lap and recline. Genius! Ritter is 10lbs heavier than Lilah and harder to position on a lap in a normal chair as his bones seem to be thicker. That and for some reason Lilah gets incredibly jealous when Ritter is being carried or placed in someone's lap that she barks incessantly and nips poor defenseless Ritter. But with this reclining lawn chair, we would be higher off the ground, he'd have my whole body to lie on top of and we'd have some added protection from the arm rests of the chair.

It was a success, though I did have some trouble picking him up just due to the fact that he's harder to get a good hold of. For the most part, Lilah left us alone. I think she was doing her own thing and chewing on a rock. But better than that, Ritter seemed to really enjoy himself. His tongue was doing that throat-clicky thing and he was relaxing in the little dip my body made thanks to the reclining nature of the chair.

After doing this a couple days in a row, I suggested my mom do it as Ritter is her dog and she should enjoy this experience with him also. Lilah, jealous that my mom was giving Ritter attention or jealous that Ritter wasn't on the ground with her, began to make a big fuss. Hilarious pictures below:

"Peaceful happiness on momma's lap"

*Enter jealous lover*

"How could you?" *sob*

*Start incessant barking*

"How dare you!"
*CHOMP*
Poor mom, stuck in the middle of a lover's spat.

In the beginning...

When Ritter first joined our family in February 2010, we weren't quite sure exactly how things were going to turn out. We hoped for the best but were preparing ourselves for the worst.

Lilah, my dog, has lived with us since she was a puppy and enjoyed having the house, but most of all our attention, to herself. She's willful and stubborn, incredibly smart in that evil-genius way and sometimes sweet. Dainty and lady-like, almost refined in how she eats and sits. And yet at times so earthy when she's chewing on a spider web or dribbling water all out of her mouth. To me, Lilah truly does represent a city-dog: pedigreed and attractive on the outside, but a bit bitchy and spoiled at the heart of it. See, it's not offensive because I say it with love and honesty.

Ritter on the other hand was raised in the countryside. He's sturdily built and masculine in his own way, but so gentle and sweet it makes you want to cry. The fact that he's always appreciative of affection just makes you want to hug him more. He's also got a truly goofy sense of humor. *sigh* he almost seems like an ideal boyfriend, right? Oh and don't let his rural upbringing fool you, Ritter's a great thinker and problem solver. But I shouldn't ignore his faults like not chewing his food properly and always pooping.

The first couple of months were tiresome. Lilah would constantly bark at Ritter and not allow him to leave his crate on the few occasions he felt the urge to. He was a bit skittish and shy around everyone, but soon warmed up to us. Lilah began to mellow out and allow him a little more freedom. We even taught Ritter to play with dog toys and to play fetch to some extent.

It's been about four months since Ritter arrived and though things aren't quite hunky-dory between them, there is an odd relationship between the two that seems to work for them. Maybe it's "the pack" mentality, the fact that they're the same species and/or breed, or they're just compatible enough to get along most of the time. Whatever it is, I'll be there to take pictures/videos of them and present my opinions regarding their relationship to the world, a lot like those trashy entertainment shows that you get suckered into watching before the good prime-time shows on network stations. Damn you Access Hollywood!