One of the big differences between Julius and Ray is their various levels of food motivation. Julius is completely food motivated and Ray is more treat motivated, in the strictest sense. Ray has never, ever been one to wolf down his kibble, no matter what kind it is. True, when I switch food, he may have finished a new one more quickly, but as a general rule, he has always been a grazer, if left to his own means so I nearly always have to put some sort of topper on his kibble.

Treats, he loves and there isn’t really anything he won’t eat if it’s hand-fed to him. This includes all fruits and vegetables that have ever been offered. The only other quirk is that he wants someone there while he eats. A kong given to him before our departure is usually left untouched until a human returns home, so I’ve learned to not stuff a huge kong and freeze it for him but rather give him a kong with a bit of peanut butter smeared on it with maybe a small treat inside.

Julius, on the other hand LOVES food of all kinds…at least he loves the idea of it. I have not yet worked too extensively with Julius on commands, though he knows “sit” and sometimes remembers “down,” but some words he always knows are “breakfast,” “dinner” and “who wants one?”

The proper responsed to breakfast and dinner is that Julius runs to his crate and the proper answer to “who wants one” is a polite sit. Julius learned that really quickly but “one” can be kind of tricky. Julius always wants “one” but has been pretty shocked on more than one occasion when “one” has turned out to be such delicacies as asparagus, broccoli, beans, or romaine lettuce. His shock and disbelief is almost comical: not only is that “one” not tasty, but his big brother LOVES it.

Does your pooch have a picky palate?

My friend/co-worker, who I spoke with last week said she lost two dogs within nine days and neither was sick so it was a total surprise. It was one of the worst weeks of her life and she said only a fellow dog lover would understand.

One of the families I met at the PetSmart adoption event, was in with their beautiful, gizzled dog. They had gone to several locations looking for some of the advertised dogs available but kept just missing the ones they sought. Their stately elderdog was ten years old and has cancer. He was well loved and a cherished part of the family who had been with them since being rescued nine years ago. This family was looking to add to their household, not replace an aging member of the family but to expand.

They say you shouldn’t outlive your kids, but we will all outlive many of our own furbabies. Each one will take a piece of our hearts with them. Asia and I were talking about Ray and Julius the other night. I never imagined that I would have two dogs, much less two who were so close in age. “Muffin,” the baby, arrived after Ray but will never remember life before Julius, she will always have the two. She will grow up with the boys, just as I did with Samantha and learn to love and properly care for animals. She will carry on the animal advocacy of her Mom and her YaYa and be a good steward for the next generation.

This past weekend was PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend and I was honored to be a part of that on Saturday as Asia and I volunteered to help find some great pooches forever homes.  I got the text early Saturday letting me know that Asia would be handling Hoagie and I would have Pop Tart.

Pop Tart

Hoagie

If we’re friends on Facebook, you may remember I shared Poptart (Poppie) about a week or so ago.  She had been fostered by our Director’s friend, adopted and then wound up back in the shelter through no fault of her own.  I love that phrase because it can cover so many things, but in this circumstance, it was no fault of her own.  Unfortunately, the former foster was not able to refoster, so Facebookers pulled together to network her fast and furiously but in the end she was transferred up to Allen County where we would have a shot at placing her in a perfect forever home. 

Sometimes in adoption you find really good homes, you find great homes and every once in a while you find perfect homes.  While Hoagie did not make a love match this weekend, Poptart scored the ultimate: the perfect home.  Her adopters were supporters of the SPCA, and former adopters.  In fact, they had adopted the cutie pie formerly known as Lane. 

Lane and Asia at PrideFest

I met Lane, know called Tyson, when Asia and I volunteered at Pridefest and he was simply adorable.  His new family were looking for a sibling for him to play with.  They fell in love with Poptart, but had to go get Tyson to see if it was going to be a love match.  Sweet Poptart had been, in the space of twenty four hours, transferred from one shelter to another, two hours away, slept in a strange environment, taken by a treat bearing stranger to a large store where there were many, many other dogs and cats looking for homes.  To say she handled it like a champ would be an understatement.  She got into a couple of shouting matches with some other dogs, but when she met Tyson, it was kismet.  They just were like two peas in a pod and Poptart, now known as Khaleesi, took all of his puppy lovin’ in such a good natured way that I couldn’t have cooked up a better recipe for success.

 I’m super excited about the updates already and just know that this was a great love match.  As for Hoagie?  No match this weekend, but this little guy just has so much personality that I’m sure he’ll be in a home of his own very soon.  The good folks at Allen County SPCA will see to that.

Thanks to PetSmart, the volunteers and staff at not only Allen County SPCA, but also all rescues and shelters all across the nation for giving your time and talents to this great cause.  I’m sure thousands of dogs and cats found their forever home over the weekend.  It’s what we do until there are no more.

Bedtime in the Peaceabull Kingdom is usually a pretty routine affair; the boys have a last potty break then settle in on the sofa with me to watch a little TV. Everyone has their place and falls asleep rather quickly. Within about 30 minutes of this type of rest, I can usually scoot myself out from under Ray. He sleepily opens his eyes but doesn’t move a muscle while I lift Julius off the sofa. Actually, three weeks ago I was carrying Julius to his crate, but these days, I lift his front legs off the sofa and he groggily walks to his crate and lies down.

I cover Julius and kiss him goodnight then return to the sofa to cover Ray and give him his goodnight kiss. Early on, I had Ray sleep on his mat in the kitchen behind the baby gate because I didn’t want him nosing around the crate and making Julius feel trapped or threatened. While I still keep them separated like that during the day when we are at work, I have found that Julius seems to take comfort in having Ray sleep close by, so this has worked out well.

There is another bedtime routine however; it’s an alternate arrangement for when Kevin is out of town for work. It’s Ray’s special time as we go out for the last potty break and I say, “After potty, you can go night-night with Mommy.” During the first week or two that Julius was living with us, Kevin went out of town and Ray and I had our usual little slumber party. I felt that this was Ray’s special time and I was not going to offer the opportunity to Julius for quite a while.

This past week, though, we started out with our usual routine, we tucked Julius in his crate and Ray and I headed upstairs and settled in for the night. Or so I thought. Ray lay down at the end of the bed, facing the door instead of in his usual spot and after a few minutes I heard it: Julius was whining. It was such a sad pitiful little cry, that it melted my heart, but I wanted the choice to be Ray’s. I said to him, “Should we go get Julius?”

We got up and Ray ran downstairs to Julius’ crate door, so I let him out and both boys headed back upstairs and were lying in bed before my aged legs made it down the hallway. I love how Ray is bonding with Julius like that. Although at TV time, Ray still is the one who gets to lie on Mommy’s lap, he is willing to have Julius nearby and they slept well together. Even better is that they both went back to the original sleeping arrangements without a thought when Kevin returned home.

Do your pooches get special or different privileges when one parent is away?

Earlier this year, when we were seriously considering bringing King into our home, my biggest hesitancy was due to my fear that Ray might suffer by comparison. King was so calm and stable in every situation that I had him in, whether it was on a walk around the neighborhood, a visit to the office, or just a lunch date, he was a steady-Eddie.

Ray was becoming much better both in the house and out on the town, though he still occasionally got amped up, especially when hot and/or tired. Possibly coincidentally, just after we got the news that King had found his forever home, Ray morphed. As if he crossed some secret threshold, he suddenly seemed more mature like he just “knew.” Ray may have just started growing up earlier than I expected, he may have been maturing and I just didn’t notice or secretly he knew he was being compared to King. Whatever the case, it took me aback somewhat, as I didn’t really expect it until after he turned two.

Bringing Julius home has been even more of an enhancement to Ray. Julius is so easy going and confident that he and Ray have been able to play well together and as a result, Ray has developed some social skills that he may have never developed in a one-dog household. Ray has also been able to showcase his maturity in a contrast to Julius who is still very puppy-like. Ray is more relaxed around the baby because he knows that he can get up and walk away. She kisses him, he kisses her, she takes is toys and he takes hers, but not from her hand.

Recently as we were preparing dinner, Asia and Julius went outside while Ray, the baby and I stayed inside. The baby was carrying around a tortilla that she was gnawing on and Ray was following very close behind her. I knew he wanted a bite, but was so proud that he didn’t even lean in for as much as a sniff. When Asia and Julius returned, Julius took one look at the tortilla and thought, “Don’t mind if I do,” grabbed an end and helped himself to a portion. That was Ray’s cue to go ahead and take a bite of Juli’s piece, of course.

That’s what brothers do.

Recently, OhMyDog asked “what would your dog’s theme song be?” Because I tend to first react then over-think, that question kind of threw me. Ray would kind of be easy, because although this isn’t really a song, Ray’s theme would be Chris Farley singing “Fat guy in a little coat.” (Sorry, Ray-Ray.) Ray is large, but doesn’t know it and his life is full of silliness. He’s an 80 pound lap dog who is completely a Mama’s boy and I truly believe that in his mind, he is still the 6 pound puppy I carried home a year and a half ago.

Julius was a little bit harder to figure out. He had a quality about him that I didn’t recognize at first. When I first met him, I knew Julius would be great for Ray and it turns out that I was right. He has helped Ray be less socially awkward and I can see that he will most likely be the leader between the two. As I was watching them play, that word that had been eluding me finally came to light. Julius is confident. Julius is the good-looking, confident guy that everyone wants to be friends with. He’s the quarterback on the winning team, the student body president. Julius can walk up to anyone knowing full well that he will be well received. Juli’s theme song is “I’m sexy and I know it.”

So we want to know: what is your dog’s theme song?