You are here ~~> Canines Corner~~> Topics ~~> Rescue Success Stories ~~> Rogaine

• Like A Chicken Trying To Lay An Egg - August 19, 2006
• "Strong Like Bull" - but - "Sank Like Stone" - June 07, 2003
• Don't Mess With A Redhead - Dec. 02, 2002
• Whiddlin Issues - Nov. 11, 2002
• "That's One Uggglyyyyy Dog!" - March 25, 2002
• Pupper Cappers - March 13, 2002
• Must Have Been A Sour Grape! - March 5, 2002
• Weird with a capital "W" - January 23, 2002
• Rogaine's Love of Food & Halloween Trouble - November 1, 2001
• Whose Bed Is It Anyway? - January 01, 2001

  Rogaine - R.I.P. 6/20/07

Like A Chicken Trying To Lay An Egg
Saturday Aug 19, 2006 12:36:00 PM
(excerpt - REAL Family Press - 8/19/06 - copyrighted Linda Nelson AKA "The Lady")

Underneath my workbench there is a teeny tiny bed that just fits Peanut… If she can’t be in my lap, she wants to be nearby at all costs… Now Peanut only weighs about 4-5 lbs at most so she really fits in that bed well… However, for the past hour or so, Rogaine has been trying to fit inside of there and his 30+ lbs just don’t make it no matter how hard he tries… LOL...
 

He gets his butt in there, but then his front half is sticking out onto the floor and gets cold… He gets up, pushes the bed around with his nose and tries to rearrange it again…

Gets his front half into the bed, but his butt has to stay on the floor… He’s tried at least four times already to make that bed work, but he’s just way too big for it… And ends up looking like a HUGE chicken on a tiny nest trying to lay an egg… Poor guy!!!... LOL…

I gotta figure something else for him… There’s only so much space and he’s exceeded it big time!

As Always, The Lady
(back to the top)

"Strong Like Bull" - BUT - "Sank Like Stone"
Saturday Jun 07, 2003 12:18:00 PM
(REAL Family Press - 6/7/03 - copyrighted Linda Nelson AKA "The Lady")

Mornin, Y’all… We’re going through “June Gloom” as they call it out here in Southern California… It’s a pretty natural weather event when most mornings it’s “croggy” as we call it… Overcast, dreary and spits and spats of very light rain…

Poor ole Rogaine though… He’s still wearing his “jammies” most of the day still … Some days I can take them off in the morning and leave them off throughout the day, but most days he’s in his “jammies” from morning to night… He “blackens” in the summer (tans, but in his case, he gets black where the black pigment is)… So even his “summer tan” is behind schedule~!! … LOL…

I sure do love this little ole pup… Before the “green biological disaster” of the pool and it had gotten warmed up, I put all three puppers in the pool to make sure they remembered how to swim and where the steps are… More dogs drown in pools out here because if they don’t know how to get out of the pool - they just swim until they exhaust themselves… Each year I do the trial run with all three and while none of them really care to swim, the twins can swim quite well…

Poor Rogaine – he sinks like a stone though… He’s the bravest about being out and around the pool – especially if I’m there on that side of the fence… But he just doesn’t swim well at all… He’s like this root beer barrel on toothpicks… No meat to his legs (except his hindquarters) and as barrel-chested as can be…

Put him in the water? He gets this panic look on his face and starts paddling like crazy… He’s got to doggy-paddle three times as fast as the twins do for some reason… And once at the steps and firm ground underneath this feet, he just leans into you as if to say “OMG, what did you do to me? PLEASE don’t do it again~!!!!”…

Of the three, Rogaine “listens” the best to me… And he does a lot of “real” listening, if you know what I mean… He can send me more messages with those 'mouse eyes' of his… The twins both have rounded eyes, but Rogaine’s are almond-shaped… Guess that’s why I relate so much more to him than the twins… None of them like to be separated from me, but Rogaine is a major “talker” and if separated, he’ll make sure EVERYONE in the house knows it too!... LOL…

He gets the most teasing of the three by my crew here… Paul calls him “Goofy” all the time and when hearing that word (Goofy), Rogaine immediately lays his ears back… Rogaine’s “spot” is right aside of my left thigh… And if possible, with his head on my thigh as a pillow… If he’s not allowed up on the couch, he will “dance” back and forth in front of the couch, “talking, talking, talking” to anyone that will listen…

YogiBear has this tendency to “master” the couch, if allowed to… He’ll always be the ‘alpha’ in this crew… He will not allow Rogaine to lay on him, but he’s sure not above using some part of Rogaine’s barrel frame as a pillow… So if YogiBear has managed to get on the couch first, he’ll ‘command’ the entire seat of the couch and deny Rogaine the ability to get into “his” spot… LOL…

It’s so funny to watch the three of these puppers interact with each other… The same breed or closely-related breeds, two males and one female, all raised together, but all so uniquely different not only in appearance but in temperament as well…

Rogaine will probably always be more spoiled of the three… I guess because he’s the oddest and needs my ‘protection and support’… LOL… Of the three, he seems to somehow know – don’t ask me how – how I’m feeling… He’s sorta/kinda a bit lazy though... If I leave and head to the back of the house, he’ll ‘alert’ and listen… He just about knows how much time it takes for a normal potty break… And if for some reason, I’m longer than the usual, he leaves his spot and comes to the bathroom door… When I open the bathroom door, there he sits waiting…

If it’s a really long potty break, he’ll start scratching at the door and “talking”… And if you don’t let him in, he’ll get louder and louder until you’re afraid he’ll end up scratching the door with his nails…

Rogaine’s got a whole series of sounds when he “talks”… After awhile you get to know what he’s trying to tell you between the body language, the sounds and those just too precious 'mouse eyes' of his… Paul’s just now starting to be able to interpret it because Rogaine will tell you when he wants to go potty, when he just wants to play or when he really wants to go to sleep or get his “jammies” put on… Just takes a bit of practice to understand what he’s trying to tell you…

He's also a bit sneaky too… If someone comes to the house that he doesn’t care for, or the person gets too close to me for Rogaine’s liking, he will try and work his way around behind the person, looking for an opportunity to nip them in the butt (his favorite spot to nab if allowed)… We've been working diligently on this behavior of his to stop it... (sigh)...

A few weeks ago I had someone here doing something to Paul’s computer and I had to put Rogaine on his leash because he kept trying to nip the guy in the butt… I put the handle of his leash underneath the leg of my computer trolley and without warning, Rogaine took off after the guy, dragging my trolley and computer right along with him… The computer trolley is not light at all, so how he managed to dig in and pull it, surprised me… He got stopped only when the electrical cord length stopped him… But he sure tried~!!... LOL…

Yep, he’s one strange little pupper, but he’s a real sweetie~!!... He might look a bit strange, and have strange ways, but he’s as attached to me as could be… It’s almost as if he knows what I’m thinking at times… And if I’m feeling a bit down, he’ll do things (almost) that are funny as if to make me laugh on purpose… Yep, he’s a clown, a bit too sensitive and too attached at times, but he’s one of my best friends… One can never have too many, huh?

As Always, The Lady
(back to the top)

Don't Mess With A Redhead
Monday Dec 02, 2002 12:10:00 PM
(excerpt - REAL Family Press - 12/2/02 - RVing in Lucy at Yuma with Momma and Bill - copyrighted Linda Nelson)

Poor Rogaine did his share of freezing on this camping trip… Even with his new thermal coat!  And growling at anyone that came to close to any of us… LOL...

Saturday night Momma came over to Lucy while the men were sitting outside watching the football game… As Momma opened the door to Lucy, Rogaine charged her and Momma ‘charged him back’ without thinking twice~!!... Talk about a growl from a little ole redheaded lady!... OMG~!!...

Rogaine’s not used to anyone hollering or growling back at him and he turned tail right quick, hiding underneath the table and peering out from underneath the tablecloth with those big expression-filled eyes of his… LOL…

An hour or so later, I guess he figured it was safe to come out and tried to ‘make up’ with Momma… Climbing up on the sofa and gingerly testing the waters, he carefully approached her, nuzzling her ear and when safe, proceeded to luv up on her, washing her face and trying to make ‘nice-nice’… LOL…

I spoil him – well, I guess I spoil everyone around me – so he’s not used to loud voices or being challenged… Talk about a fast attitude adjustment…

Don’t mess with the Nanna, ya know?... And being a redhead on top of it, Momma doesn’t take no stuff from anyone – dog, man or circumstances~!!... LOL…

As Always, The Lady
(back to the top)

Whiddlin Issues
Sunday Nov 10, 2002 10:31:00 AM
(REAL Family Press - 11/11/02 - copyright Linda Nelson)

Well, after four days of solid rain, we had a clear and sunny day yesterday… However, for some strange reason, the puppers all had brain flatulence after these four days of rain… Maybe they thought it was a new training program… I don't know… LOL…

But for four days, I did absolutely EVERYTHING in my power to get these three puppers to go potty outside… They'd come to me and tell me in their own special way they had to go… Rogaine stands and wolf hollers at you… YogiBear goes to the door, then comes back to you and yaps at you, then rushes to the door again…

So we'd go to the door, open it up, they'd look out the opened door from side to side, and then look up at me like Id lost my last bit of sanity… "What do you mean? You want ME to go OUTSIDE when it's drizzling (raining) and get MY feet wet? Not in this lifetime, Lady~!!"….

Thirty minutes or less, we'd go this process all over again… At times, I'd run around after them, and one by one -- open the door and shove their butts out… At other times, I'd get them all excited so they'd run to the door with me and I'd throw 'cookies' out so that (hopefully) they'd be out the door before they realized it was drizzling outside and the door closed….

I even went so far as to get their leashes and an umbrella, telling them we were 'going bye byes' and walked out into the backyard holding the leashes as I also got wet… Or I'd put on my slicker and walk them in the park to get them to do their business...

Tell me why they don't mind getting wet if they're walking in the park as opposed to their own back yard?... I don't get it… One night I even put sandwich bags on Rogaine's feet with rubber bands (because he doesn't like his booties) at 3AM in the morning (pitch black), he decided that he would go out to go potty… Maybe he couldn't see the rain and then couldn't feel the wet on his feet… However that worked only in the middle of the night and only for Rogaine…

The boys will go out (eventually), do their business and then they head for the patio door… BooBooDog on the other hand, is the smallest and takes the LONGEST amount of time to decide when or if she's going to go, and then the actual action is less than 5 seconds… Geezie, peezie~!!!... She'll stand there, hold one paw up and look at you with this pitiful look on her face, like "Mom, why are you doing this to me? What kind of a mom are you??"… Walk three, four steps, hold up another paw and give you that pitiful look again…

So yesterday, no rain and I thought, no more problems… NOT… Each and every time they had to go potty, they'd do their 'potty alert' behaviors, you'd open the door, they'd look out from side to side and STILL NOT GO OUT~!!... Lord have mercy… Now what's the deal??... I'm still running round behind them, either shoving their butts out the door or trying some trick to get them outside…

With a sick child at home during this time and these three puppers, I was just about to lose what mind I have left… I guess I was tired and fatigued from the past several days and it all broke late last night…

Last night about 3:30AM - 4:00AM, I had the three of them out going potty and the winds had picked up 'round here about 2AM… To get these puppers out late at night (I guess they're afraid of the boogie man), you have to go out and stand there with them…

All of a sudden, our shed out back gave one of its normal groanings and buckle sounds from the wind… It scared YogiBear, who standing close to the shed, took off but didn't see BooBooDog two feet in front of him… She, bumped from the butt without warning, took off like a shot out of a gun (never EVEN looking back) and Rogaine (right in the middle of whiddlin about 2 yards away) tried to run as well…

Guess males can't move that well when they're right in the middle of whiddlin'… And Rogaine would take a few steps, leaking all the way, his back legs were getting wet between tryin to run and the wind whippin' 'round… So he had to keep stopping and shaking one or the other of his back feet…

But still leakin, and still tryin' to run cause the twins were, he was doin' this 'fast walk, leakin, stop, shake a foot, fast walk' thingy all the way from the back yard to the patio door… Once he got to the back door and could go no further, he stands, looks back at me with this look at me of total confusion, utter disgust and being totally upset as he 'finishes and shakes'…

LOL… All I could do was stand there and laugh at them… BooBooDog's crouched and lookin' round like she's just seen a ghost… YogiBear is lookin' at ABSOLUTELY nothing else other than willing that door handle to turn with pure determination, not even botherin' to look at me… And Rogaine's got absolutely no idea what's goin' on, 'cept his back legs are wet and he's not happy at that prospect at all~!!!

There I stand in my jammies on the patio, in the middle of the night with these Santa Anna winds whippin' round and all I can do is laugh until I cried… And the three puppers must have thought I'd truly lost my mind because there I am, still on the patio and that magic patio door didn't open as soon as they approached it~~!!

It's time like this I wonder what goes on in their little pea brains… Sometimes from their facial expressions you can get a clue, but at other times, your imagination is a better guide… I've often wondered about this guys (yeah, I know - I gotta get a life, huh?)… I'd love to be able to understand what they're thinkin' about… I have a book that tells you to spend a couple of hours only on your hands and knees (no getting up for at least an hour) to get a clue about what they see, the sensory inputs they get and a different perspective… It's helped, but because it's just not one pupper, but the 'pack' mentality and perspective I have here, it always makes me wonder…

If nothing else, it was a stress relief to stand outside and laugh at these guys last night… I hope they'll 'unlearn' the 'rainy day training' they've taught themselves in the past week… I know this much - they're much smarter than we give them credit for, because they outfoxed me over this time and time again….

As Always, The Lady
(back to the top)

It's "Jammies" Time - Didn't Ya Know?
Wednesday Nov 06, 2002 11:48:00 AM
(excerpt - REAL Family Press - 11/06/02 - copyrighted Linda Nelson AKA "The Lady")

We’re going to meet up with Nanna and Mr. Bill for Thanksgiving with our RV at the Grand Canyon, so I was working on my list for that trip… Everyone is looking forward to this trip, but the Canyon should be cold... …

Besides making sure each bed has flannel sheets, I gotta make sure the puppers are prepared for this trip… The Canyon was 19 degrees yesterday morning and all three of the puppers have grown out of their sweaters with the exception of Rogaine… On Friday we have to take them down to the local pet store and get new sweaters…

I’m trying to locate an actual coat for Rogaine because he suffers the worse from heat changes… His sweat glands are located on his feet (unlike the twins), so anything cold, wet or hot in temperature causes him major grief… If I thought he’d keep Mukluks on, I’d invest in them for him… But I’m not so sure he would… But it sure would make it easier to take him outside to go potty when it’s wet or cold…

I tried to explain to the clerk on the phone last night at the pet store that Rogaine’s probably not got more than 100 hairs on his entire body and those are on the top of his head… But I guess the guy’s never seen a hairless dog, ‘cause he couldn’t get the drift of what I was trying to locate…

A few weeks ago, I had to take Desiree to R.E. and Rogaine did not have on his ‘jammies’ (his sweater) before I left… Paul said he looked over and saw Rogaine had his sweater in his mouth and just was staring at him – then he’d look at the garage door where I had disappeared to, and then look back at Paul --- as if to say, “now what??… Momma’s left, I’m cold and I can only get my jimmies off – not back on”…. LOL…

I usually put his sweater on once it starts getting cold in the evenings and if it’s warm during the day, I pull it off because they go in and out all day long… But that particular night I didn’t do it before I left and Rogaine’s not too friendly about anyone else puttin’ it on, although he’s gotten better about it now that I’ve “trained” him and everyone else around here about how to put it on…. LOL…

All three puppers juggle for “THE couch position” and by God, Rogaine will wiggle, squirm and jostle the twins until he gets “the” spot aside of Mom… He usually wins out finally by just laying down on top of whoever has that spot… He’s double the weight of the other two and for some reason, he’s got to be able to touch me in some form or fashion before he finally gets comfortable enough to go to sleep…

Once there, he then “licks” himself to sleep – just like a small child needs a bippy to suck on… First his front feet, then he works his way up to his elbows… If you’re close and exposing bare skin somewhere close to his tongue, you’re apt to get a mini-bath yourself~!!...

When I go fetch Desiree from R.E., I’ve taken to bringin’ Rogaine with me… He’s the best little watchdog in 20 lbs. ‘round… Not that I need one - just more for the company than anything else… No one is allowed to come too close to The Beast when Rogaine’s ridin’ shotgun…

He even gives those pulling up aside of you at a stop light a piece of his mind, making sure they know he’s in charge of security!... He’s got the routine down well now… Once we’re in the parking lot waiting, he’s on ‘dashboard patrol’ and knows exactly where The Des comes out… Soon as he spots her (regardless of how far away it is), that little worm whip tail gets to going… I guess he knows her walk by now, ‘cause he can spot The Sissy from way far away… And she’s guaranteed to get a face wash once she climbs into The Beast, “just cause”… LOL…

It amazes me how integrated these pets become into your life, ya know?... Pets can be problems I guess… The potty-training period with the twins just about drove me nuts… But now?... I don’t really know what we’d do without any of these guys… I guess we’re pretty lucky overall in this regard… They sure keep you busy, but boy, oh boy – do they ever give back tons more than they take… Talk about tons of unconditional love… All of these guys – in their own ways – have given us so much in times of need…

As Always, The Lady
(back to the top)

That's One Uggglyyyyyyy Dog!!!!!
Monday Mar 25, 2002 11:36:00 AM
(excerpt - REAL Family Press - 3/25/02 - copyrighted Linda Nelson AKA "The Lady")

And speakin’ of puppers, last week the UPS guy stopped by the house with a package… He’s not our normal UPS guy so he’s not too used to the puppers here… I’ve got the screen door cracked and one foot across the area to bar the puppers from going outside as he’s sliding the signature thingy inside… As I’m trying to sign for the package, he opens the screen door and starts sliding the box inside the house…

As long as the UPS guy was OUTSIDE Rogaine’s house, it was a ‘barking and growling’ behavior only… But as the UPS guy is sliding this box inside, he puts his left foot INSIDE Rogaine’s house and at the same time, looks down and starts saying in a VERY loud tone, “God, that is one ugllllyyyyy dogggggg!!!!!!!!!!”…

‘Bout that time, Rogaine had had enough and he darts between my legs and latches onto the flat, black rubbery part of the UPS guy’s shoe… And Rogaine stayed clamped onto it, regardless of the up-and-down, side-to-side motions the UPS guy made, tryin’ to shake him off… LOL…

With visions of the dog-mauling trial going on here in Los Angeles, my first thought is “this is all I need right now – I can see the headlines now – Ugly Dog Bites UPS Guy in Simi Valley…”… And Rogaine isn’t about to let go of this shoe he’s got either… But about the only intelligent (LOL) comment I can get out of my mouth is… “Well, you shouldn’t have called him ugly to start out with~!!”….

Thank goodness the UPS guy is laughing ‘bout it and Rogaine did nothing more but put a nice set of his teeth marks through that rubber guard on the guy’s tennis shoe… I’ve never taught nor allowed any of the puppers to be aggressive but they are somewhat protective of me… I can even pull rawhides out of their mouths in fact…

But I guess Rogaine just couldn’t take that stranger stickin’ his foot inside the house AND within 2 feet of his momma… That’s the only thing I can think of, cause I’ve never seen him do somethin’ like this before…

I guess Rogaine’s new byline should be … “Just don’t call me UGLY or you’ll suffer the consequences of your comment”… LOL…

As Always, Stay Safe, The Lady
(back to the top)

Pupper Capers
Wednesday Mar 13, 2002 11:25:00 AM
(excerpt REAL Family Press - 3/13/02 - copyrighted Linda Nelson AKA "the Lady")

Mornin, Y’all… Today is a ‘pupper Press’… This summer we have to make another cross-country drive from California to Virginia, so of course it will be in Lucy and with the puppers… With another trip upcoming, I’ve been making a point of walking the puppers in the park every day or so, in the hopes that they’ll re-socialize themselves now to make the trip this summer easier on all of us… And whenever possible, I hook up the harnesses and take them with me on errands so they get used again to getting into the truck, riding, etc.

YogiBear’s sorta/kinda a PITA when traveling as he tends to get nervous, but BooBooDog is a dream to travel with as long as she can get close enough to lay a head on someone’s lap… Generally she curls up immediately and goes to sleep, but Rogaine’s always difficult to find a spot in the back seat as the A/C bothers him, the sun beating in bothers him, etc… What can I say?… LOL... Puppers & kitties are (or should be) treated like members of your family and you do what ya gotta do, ‘cause what they give you back FAR outweighs any extra effort you have to go through…

And because they’re with me 24/7, they also tend to get very protective of me – not allowing people to approach me without causin’ a racket… It’s like having 3 watchdogs for the price (and weight) of one… LOL…

Yesterday was ‘groomer day’ because regardless of what I do, I can’t get them to look like Maggie does… Maggie always manages to get our “mudder” (BooBooDog) back to her normal white self… Clipping the puppers’ nails is well worth the $20 ‘cause they use their ‘fingers’ just like humans do… The longer the ‘fingernails,’ the easier it is for them to get into things they’re not supposed to… LOL… Especially BooBooDog who has learned to open every cabinet and door around here~!!

So I hook up the harnesses yesterday and out we go… I tend to do ‘circle trips’ to save money on gas, so I had errands to run on the ‘circle’ as well… First stop was Blockbuster to drop off the videos from when Des was sick… Don’t ask me why I did this, ‘cause I don’t normally, but as I stopped right by the drop-off slot at Blockbuster, I turned off the truck and pulled the keys with me…

I jumped out and slid the videos through the slot, turned around in just seconds and in that very short period of time, YogiBear had managed to stomp down on every button on my side of the door (which is the master console)…

So not only had he locked very door in the truck, he also managed to lock the windows, etc… LOL… Boy~!! Was I ever glad that I’d taken my keys with me, ‘cause otherwise I’d been in bad shape… No phone to call, my purse inside the truck and the puppers locked inside…

Sometimes it pays to listen to those inner voices we all hear, huh?

Next stop was Petco as all three puppers have recently been in a major ‘chewing mode’… BooBooDog had found some of Paul’s cinnamon hard candies he likes and proudly came trotting down the hall with one in her mouth… Of course, she didn’t bother to take the plastic wrapper off of it… I no sooner turned around yesterday morning and found YogiBear tossing something he’d found up in the air and catching it… Whatever it was, it was not food and for sure would mean an emergency vet visit if he’d eaten it… Maybe they were trying to tell me by being bad they were missing their pigs ears… LOL…

We go into Petco and behind the counter is this fella who’s got one of those “I don’t like my job” kind of attitudes… I walk the puppers on harnesses and they generally walk three across like a mini Clydesdale team… And I’ve taught them to do “left” and “right” by saying it… Makes it much easier to guide the ‘pupper team,’ that’s for sure…

So as I’m going up and down the aisles tryin’ to find what I want, apparently that fella heard me saying ‘left,’ ‘left’, ‘right’, etc. and had to come investigate… He popped just his head ‘round one of the aisles and Rogaine was the first to spot him…

Rogaine did his “I’m a big, bad doggie” charge (yeah, right!!) and the fella backed up without paying attention to where he was and turned over this display of doggie biscuits… LOL… The puppers thought that was great fun, ‘cause here’s all these doggie biscuits scattered all over the floor…

By the time I got them away from the area and the fella had picked up what he spilled, I’m sure the puppers managed to gobble up $10.00 worth of free doggie biscuits… Anything on the floor is fair game to them, ya know?… LOL… Guess that fella won’t be so noisy next time without paying mind to what he’s doing!

Next stop was Maggie, the groomers… And of course, Rogaine had to his ‘protectin’ his momma’ routine, but Maggie’s no pushover and after a few “Hush, Rogaine” comments, off they went to get bathed, nails clipped and BooBooDog’s hair trimming…

About 3 hours later, Maggie calls me to come get them and when I arrived, the entire shop was quiet (more or less)… I peer ‘round the corner to let Maggie know I’m there and Rogaine spots me first… He immediately starts his “mommmmmmmm” whine that he’s now so famous for…

Maggie lets him out of the kennel first and he makes a bee-line to me, jumping up into my lap and knocking me on my butt as he puts both paws ‘round my neck and starts telling me just how badly he’s been treated and how could I go off and abandon him~!!… LOL… He is something else…

And he’s a talkin’… And a talkin’… I start talkin’ back to him to calm him down and as soon as YogiBear and BooBooDog hear my voice, they start adding their list of complaints ‘bout bein’ at the groomers as well… Poor Maggie couldn’t get them out of the kennels fast enough… One by one they all make a beeline to me and all three try to climb into my lap as the two groomers are trying to get their collars and harnesses back on…

By this time, the two Samoyeds there for grooming started their howling to high heaven as well (I guess their owners ‘sweet talk’ to them as well) and they’re fussing to get out of the kennels… As well as the Schnauzer that’s there and finally the Basset Hound put in his two cents worth about it all… LOL…

Poor Maggie~!! There was complete quiet in the shop until I arrived and Rogaine started his talkin’… She couldn’t wait to get me out of the door~!!… … But because Rogaine won’t let anyone touch his toes to have them clipped unless I’m holding him, we’ve got to get that done before I can leave… Geezie, Peezie!

The entire time Maggie is clipping his nails, we’re being serenaded by all seven dogs in the shop~!!.. Rogaine’s cryin’ like he’s being killed and his ‘buddies’ were trying to show their support at the same time… Ever hear Samoyeds ‘howlin’?… It’s like wolves howling at the moon~!!… ROTFLMAO…

YogiBear jumps up on the couch in the waiting room with that of ‘yeah, I know… I go through this all the time with this knucklehead’ look he's so famous for… BooBooDog’s head is swingin’ back and forth between YogiBear and the ruckus in the shop, tryin’ to determine what exactly is going on and if she should be runnin’ for cover or joinin’ in…

Maggie calls my puppers the ‘wanna-be dogs’ but I know she loves them dearly… But I’d wager after yesterday, the price to do the puppers’ grooming might just go up so she can buy ear plugs next time! Talk ‘bout total CANINE CHAOS! Lord have mercy!

As Always, Stay Safe, The Lady
(back to the top)

Must Have Been A Sour Grape!
Tuesday Mar 05, 2002 11:21:00 AM
(excerpt REAL Family Press - 3/5/02 - copyrighted Linda Nelson)

The twins have a tendency to hoard cookies and Rogaine is a major tattle tale… If his cookie is taken by either one, Rogaine is right by my side, telling me his tale of woe about it all… “Mommmmm~!!!… YogiBear (BooBooDog) took my cookie and won’t give it back~!!”… LOL… He’s got a full set of phrases to use now that tells me exactly what he wants… Rogaine’s more of a talker than the twins are, so he really gets his message across in a big way…

And if I’ve taken his sweater off during the day and he’s settling in for his evening nap, Rogaine’s got another series of growls, pulling at my sleeve, etc. to let me know he wants his sweater back on (SERIOUSLY!)…

He’ll tolerate me not being on the couch in the family room working throughout the day but come 5-6PM, and he’s ready for his nap, I have to fuss at him… He’ll start pulling at my sweater, trying to drag me into the family room from my desk chair… And if I don’t pay any attention to him at all, he’s apt to nip me in the butt (trust me, THAT gets my attention REAL fast~!!)…

The doc told me to try and get more natural iron into my diet and I love seedless grapes, so when the red ones come into season, I always make sure to have some in the fridge watered up and ready for a quick grab… The puppers believe anything Mom eats is pupper food as well, so they’ll take anything immediately that I offer them (if they’ve seen me eat it first)… The other day, I grabbed some grapes and they were jumping on me to share, so I thought “Why not? Who knows?”…

Well, YogiBear and BooBooDog thought those grapes were something else, but poor Rogaine must have gotten a sour one… Cause he took the grape, bit into it and his upper lips wrinkled up like he’d just bitten into a lemon~!!…

He dropped the grape immediately as his face is all distorted with wrinkles and gave me one of this “How could you” growls with his obvious displeasure at being handed something so disgusting~!!… I about wet myself laughing at him as he shook his head, spit a bit and fussed at me~!!… Guess he doesn’t like grapes~!! … But he sure got his message across…

How says (or believes) “dumb animals” can’t talk?… I know mine can!

As Always, Stay Safe, The Lady
(back to the top)

Weird with a capital "W"
Wednesday Jan 23, 2002 11:01:00 AM
(excerpt - REAL Family Press - 1/23/02 - copyright Linda Nelson)


But of all the goofy things around here, Rogaine takes the cake with everything that goes on... If we spray doggie cologne on either of the twins (even across the room), Rogaine sneezes... If you turn Rogaine on his back and rub his belly, he sneezes... And when he sneezes, they're BIG WET ONES~!!

And just to get to the sneeze, he has to make all of these weird faces, squirrelin' up his jaws and wrinklin' up his face until he looks like he's a Shar Pei instead of a Chinese Crested or Peruvian Inca Orchid!... If you rub the back of his neck, he starts scratchin his belly... He gets that foot a-goin' like a fiddler in a Blue Grass band...

And 24/7, he 'talks' at you with sounds and looks that tells you exactly what he wants... Last night I heard him giving me that "come find me, Mom" noise he makes... I'm lookin around for him and can't find him anywhere...

Apparently "Ole Piglet Goofy" went underneath one of the couches after one of his toys, kept at it and then got himself stuck underneath the couch... I lifted up one end of the couch and out he comes, giving me one of those "I intended to be under there and I wasn't really stuck" looks... He then walked back over to where his red lobster toy was, picked it up, put his tail into the air and walked away like all of these events went exactly as he had planned them... Yeah, right...

No wonder at the end of the day I think I've had a busy day and haven't accomplished anything!

As Always, Stay Safe, The Lady
(back to the top)

Rogaine's Love of Food & Halloween Trouble
Thursday Nov 01, 2001 10:23:00 AM
(REAL Family Press - 11/01/01 - copyright Linda Nelson)

One of our local stores had all of their decorations and costumes 50 percent off and I couldn't resist this candy bowl with an automated hand inside of it... It had a sensor and when you reached in for the candy, the green hand would come down on yours and you'd hear "Happy Halloween" in a scary voice, or "Thank you", "Trick or treat-t-t-t-t-t" in creepy tones.....

So I couldn't resist (ya'll know me)... I sat the bowl down on the ground and threw a Good n' Plenty candy in there to see what the puppers would do...

BooBooDog 'observed' from a distance, but YogiBear had to go and investigate... The hand came down when YogiBear was a foot away, YogiBear backed up... YogiBear moved forward again, the hand came down and YogiBear barked...

But poor Rogaine? ... LOL... He just couldn't resist the smell of that candy... Rogaine inched towards the dish, bit by bit... As he came in from the side, the hand did not go down...

Tentatively at best, Rogaine moved forward -- not quite figuring out why YogiBear wouldn't get too close but the lure of the Good n' Plenty overpowered his better judgement and finally? LOL... In went his head, down came the hand and THUMPED him soundly on top of his head...

He jumped, tried to pull his head out from underneath the hand, YogiBear started barking like crazy and BooBooDog took off for the hills!... Rogaine's actions scattered the Good n'Plenty as well as the bowl in different directions... Too funny!...

All three puppers started scrambling in different points of the compass... Boy, I wished I'd had had that all on video 'cause as they're sliding to escape, they're bumping into each other and all trying to keep an eye on that bowl at the same time! What a hoot!

As Always, The Lady
(back to the top)

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
Monday Jan 01, 2001 10:48:00 AM
(excerpt - REAL Family Press - copyright Linda Nelson)

Hope everyone had a nice, sober and safe New Year's!... Our was quiet - that is until the knuckle heads next door decided to set off fireworks at midnight~!!... Don't know which of the three puppers were more upset by the disruption in their beauty sleep... But it sure did get their blood pressures going!... LOL~!!

My puppers are something else... Rogaine (the little piglet) now weighs 13 pounds (YogiBear's still only 10 pounds and BooBooDog pulls in third at 7 pounds)... For her size, BooBooDog's not one to be overpowered in any manner... If it's "HER" cookie, you better not even TRY IT... Come within 4 feet of her cookie and she'll growl you into submission without a doubt... Both Rogaine and YogiBear have learned to give her full berth when there's food she wants!... LOL...

And "the boys" have learned to sneak into The Des' room whenever they want to go back to sleep and stay warm in the mornings... Rogaine's learned if he bugs her enough (even asleep), Des will eventually lift up her coverlet and let him snuggle in... Rogaine's a major 'talker' and he'll 'talk at her' until she gives in...

If she wants to sleep in on the weekend, she'd better give in at first "talk" or he'll force awake earlier than she wants to be!...

As Always, The Lady
(back to the top)