The week that was with the Wonderdog

A busy week has been had by the wonderdog. Up early every morning to undertake garden improvements, followed quickly by his interior design efforts and always looking out for his continuous improvements in the fitness arena, and to top of a hectic week he started his own face book page. Peer pressure is what it is all about. His mate Odin starred on a German Shepherd page on face book, no pages for the elite mixed breed of the wonderdog, so he started his own with encouragement from a relative of the two-legged species.

The landscaping improvements have been taken to a new level. No longer is the wonderdog aiming for China, with his excavator of gigantic proportions (Odin, German Shepherd and wonderdog sidekick with huge paws), the wonderdog is setting his sights on the North Pole and giving Santa a bit of a head start for the down under deliveries in December. So far we have had archaeological finds of terracotta (maybe Italy), leather (maybe from the wild west or could have been a gardening glove once upon a time), what appears to be part of a tennis ball (could be from his passing by of Wimbledon in his travels), and some fur from animals unknown but could it be a polar bear, maybe he has reached the North Pole but manages to get home in time for dinner (or could be the fur of one of the many deconstructed toys but let’s go with the North Pole idea, makes the wonderdog sound like a bit of an adventurer and not just a naughty Griffin 🙂 )

With all his activity the wonderdog has managed to fit in some interior design. RUGS are out, we are a bit slow on the uptake but after the deconstruction of two rugs by the wonderdog we finally understand that they are not a necessary floor accessory and that in the wonderdogs vision with the interior design,no floor coverings required, makes it more fun to slip and slide around the house.

A busy week and throw in the mix the fitness regime the wonderdog is now on. 5 kilometer walk every afternoon now the weather is cooler. And what does this achieve? A wonderdog who sleeps through the night from about 8pm to 7am and the same for his sidekick Odin. No more playtime’s in the middle of the night, too tired to bark at the reactive dog next door, just sleeping the night away 🙂

The wonderdog has also tried to stop the press from hounding him, seems where ever he goes the camera is always is his face, the paparazzi never too far, so he has started to eat the cameras.  Thankfully the paparazzi backed off and the camera was saved for another day of following the wonderdog 🙂

What is in a bark?

Not much if you are the wonderdog! One little woof is all it takes to get the mate and best friend Odin the German Shepherd, up, barking and protecting the world from untold terrors. He may not see or hear the untold terrors but the wonderdog has set him on the trail. Therefore Odin must bark whilst the wonderdog kicks back and watches the show 🙂

Lead light front/side door, entrance to the house, something I always thought was a great idea. Lets in light to a dark area and now I find out so much better than a peep-hole as the wonderdog sits and watches the people pass and barks once, Odin responds like a commando, on a mission to protect the property. And just to be sure the untold terrors leave a big lap of the house and yard, barking all the way 🙂

So pleased now that the neighbor has a small yappy dog, might set off Odin and the wonderdog but always looking for a positive, they cannot complain about the noise omitting from my yard.

Yes, yard, I no longer have a garden, I have a yard with the designated digging pit being anywhere they choose the minute you are not watching, designated pooping area would be in the actual ‘garden area’, probably as the small side garden and lawn area are where they prefer to dig. Cannot have them pooping where they dig 🙂

The new rock garden (had to fill in the craters somehow) is doing very nicely and seems to be propagating itself.Must be as quite a few rocks are appearing outside what is not eaten of the new edging and the wonderdog and his sidekick would never be naughty and dig up rocks 🙂

 

Puppy dog eyes

Puppy dog eyes are the trump card in all things wonderdog. He digs up the yard, puppy dog eyes, he rips up the rug (again), puppy dog eyes, he sleeps on the lounge, puppy dog eyes, you eat your lunch, puppy dog eyes (especially with cheese or yogurt involved) you eat ice cream, a 35kg puppy tries to be on your lap whilst giving you puppy dog eyes. And with eyes like the wonderdogs the puppy dog eyes win.
But this week on one occasion they did not win. Really have to love night-time when you cannot see those soulful eyes just looking at you, telling you the story of his sad life (saddest part of this boys life is when he gets left home while we go out to earn the money to keep him in the style he has become accustomed too 🙂 )

The wonderdog has taken to sneaking out of his bed at around four in the morning, and kicking back very comfortably on the cream three seater lounge. When confronted with his naughty ways (first mistake putting light on) you are greeted with a huge yawn and soulful puppy dog eyes that melt your heart, and with a little pat he is off the lounge and on his way back to bed. This game will continue till the alarm goes off, and off I go to work while the dear wonderdog catches up on his missed sleep.

Enter the tougher me, who does not fall for puppy dog eyes (OK, I did not put the light on). Wednesday morning, 4am off he goes again, straight to his favorite lounge and reclined comfortably for the games to begin.

Up I get and navigated to the wonderdog in the semi darkness,without even stubbing a toe (go me). got him off the lounge and sent him to his crate. Wonderdog thought this was part of the game, and headed towards his crate and then tried to detour (mixing up the game, bit of follow the leader) but the new tough me was having none of it. I steered the wonderdog to his crate and got him in it, shut the door, and went back to bed.

I left the wonderdog in his crate until a suitable hour then opened the door. I did not get puppy dog eyes, I got the look that says we are no longer friends. The wonderdog stayed in his crate and ignored me.

He finally dragged his disgruntled self out of his crate when he heard his master and best friend stir. I was talking to his master and the wonderdog was sitting with the master and best friend and turning his head away, making sure I knew he was not happy with me or the despicable way I had treated him. The wonderdog ignored me for the rest of the morning. And his mate Odin was not happy with me either for locking up his mate.

Thursday night arrives and the wonderdog and I are friends again. He can be so cheap, pigs ear to chew and he forgives the evil done to him. And the wonderdog slept all night in his bed, no 4am wanders, and Friday night and the wonderdog did not wander. Maybe I won that round 🙂

And he is back but not on track :)

It has been a while since I found the time to post on the wonderdog and his antics. Busy re-doing the back yard (I now know the difference between a garden and a yard, before Griffin was a garden after griffin is a yard 🙂 ), trying to cope with an evicted from daycare Griffin and the look of disgust when he does not get in the car to go out with me a few days a week (I now understand why some people pop their pooches in the car and take if for a quick drive), the settling in of the most adorable Odin, protector of the wonderdog, and finally in his forever home :). Life had been hectic but who would have it any other way 🙂

What has the wonderdog been up too, in a nutshell:

• Trashed a $300 rug (when it was less the 48 hours old)
• Ate most of the 6 bob cat scoops of mulch (was surprised he was not pooping splinters)
• Shredded a dog bed so well it looked like it had snowed in the craft room (he was aided in this endevour by his now ever-present sidekick Odin)
• Landscaper extraordinaire (occasionally rented out as an excavator)
•  No need for an in ground sprinkler system in the back yard, totally overrated idea, so Griffin fixed that little problem 🙂 (the picture of the wonderdog eating the in ground sprinkler system (yes he is cheeky enough to bring it inside and eat it) he is on the new rug that 12 hours later he decided need to have the edges and some of the pile removed).
• Advanced interior design skills, usually involving lots of little bits and pieces (of toys, of carpets and rugs,of ornaments, of plants, you know just the usual bit and pieces that accumulate with a puppy in the house :)) to places where it is guaranteed to step on when bare foot 🙂
• Sits on the lounge chair, gives a little tiny woof, gets Odin barking loudly to protect his Griffin, meanwhile Griffin remains casually kicking back on the lounge chair checking out what is happening through the window.
• flying kangaroo ninja kicker is how I can describe his attempt to do anything except what he was asked to do at training (class clown he is and an overachiever at it)

So as an update on griffinthewonderdog, Landscape designer (reasonable rates if you are game to  rent him out), our back yard only has half the grass it used to (BG before Griffin), with all the craters and the lack of rain in our part of Oz in the summer (oh and lack of sprinkler system), the wonderdog was winning the crater creation. From an OHS point of view, the likelihood of broken legs from the canine or human world were becoming a distinct possibility. Brainstorming undertaken – answer to problem simple, put in a rock garden to meander through where once was lawn.

YES yell we, beating the wonderdog at his own game 🙂 Yeah us, big pats on back, we win, we have a sortof decent yard with no craters, no dust and plants that have survived the onslaught of the wonderdog. The ring barked trees seem to be surviving. Sighs of satisfaction and off inside.

A new day dawns and we had underestimated the drive of the wonderdog!! As he lay in amongst the displaced rocks, casually eating the edging that held the rocks in place, with a nice excavated hole where only twelve hours ago was weed mat and rocks large and small,  we turned around, walked back inside and made a strong coffee.

The wonderdog continues to ravage the yard, redisign the interior of the house, excel at class clown in training and make life very entertaining. But here he is tired out from a hard day of work 🙂

The wonderdog is GOOD, Santa paid him a visit :)

The wonderdog does come under Santa’s definition of good 🙂 Santa visited the wonderdog and gave him all that he wanted and more.

The wonderdog hung his stocking and when he woke up it was filled with all things puppy, like fluffy squeaky toys, rope toys, rubber squeaky toys, tennis balls and squeaky balls, all the wonderful toys that a puppy would like. But the best present of all was knowing that Odin was now his official, never to leave him, always be around adopted kin. Christmas Day 2012 was and is the day that Odin was officially adopted, his play date and sleepover are now a permanent family.

For all of you out there wondering as long as you are good (at something whether it be behaving or good at destruction) Santa does visit, guess Santa appreciated the wonderdogs goodness at destruction and the wonderdog continued on his path on Christmas day. The wonderdog ate gift boxes and attempted to eat the bling inside, he ate a plant that was a gift on Christmas eve so we rushed out and bought another one and hid it in a cardboard box to save it from the wonderdog. He is like a bower bird, collects anything unattended.

Merry Christmas from the wonderdog and his most gorgeous adopted kin, Odin 🙂

PS. Today we are going to the pound to donate treats to all the beautiful animals left behind by humans with no understanding of life long commitment for the beautiful furry companions.

Until there are none, rescue one 🙂

Outdoor water features or are they really dog play areas.

Once upon a time long long ago I had a garden that was well-kept and well mulched and was a delight to behold.

In this garden I have a half wine barrel water feature with various types of water plants and succulents growing in and around this said water feature.

Griffin the wonderdog had taken to drinking out of this feature but due to his hatred of water I thought of it as my one sacred place for my plants to thrive. Well talk about a false sense of security, Enter Odin, fur-ever friend of the wonderdog, protector of the wonderdog and apparent lover of water and the one to desecrate the water features.

Now many would say with the wonderdog being so good at being naughty, it must have been him, but the dear wonderdog was bone dry not a drop of water to be seen and Odin came running in the house, slip sliding away from very wet paws, had a very wet snout and his chest was just a lot damp!

Off I go to investigate the damage and dear Odin had dragged all my plants out of the water feature and shared them with the Griffin monster and the pair of them had decided to propagate them into thousands of little plants. So now I have two landscape designers and water feature fixeruperers in my life 🙂

Always looking for the bright side. I had not put the turtles outside for a swim,they were safely inside in their tank 🙂

PS Odin is also a rescue dog just a bit older than the wonderdog, until there are none – rescue one 🙂 or maybe two if you have the room 🙂

Dear Santa, do you take addendum’s to pleadings of good :)

Dear Santa,
Do you take addendum’s to pleadings of Good??? There are some things I forgot to mention in my previous letter of yesterday that might influence your decision-making on the definition of good and how you would apply this definition to the wonderdog 🙂
Anyway here goes just in-case I need to plead the wonderdogs case just a little bit more on how good he is and can be 🙂

The wonderdog has discovered the art of dancing on the tables (with no concern for the contents of said table, but the boy has the moves, on a glass table with those paws, sliding hip hop would be the style), the wonderdog enjoyed the PS3 or should that read eating the controller for the PS3, the wonderdog chewed the cord of the Toshiba tablet, chewed the cord of the track ball mouse making them totally useless but in doing this gave us more time to dedicate to the life and times of the most precious commodity in our home, Griffin the wonderdog 🙂

Other achievements of the wonderdog that are GOOD, his ability to look beaten and pathetic whenever anyone is looking, his wonderful wonderdog ways at obedience class ( they say drop the wonderdog hears nap time 🙂 ), his ability to be so good at being naughty that one Sunday, not long ago, an old biddy on a park bench, suggested that I get my son (master of wonderdog) obedience classes for Christmas instead of the photos we were having taken of the most gorgeous one 🙂

Now Santa I don’t think you could get much gooder than the wonderdog, but alas we await your definition to see if the most gorgeous Griffin the wonderdog might get a new squeaky toy in his santa stocking 🙂

Santa you know it is not going to be pretty if Odin (his new best fur-ever friend, thank you trainer extraordinaire for introducing them) gets toys and he does not, the wonderdog has sulking down to a fine art.

Dear Santa, Is the wonderdog GOOD?

Dear Santa,

A definition of good would be appreciated for the wonderdog.  The wonderdog is very good at digging holes, chewing shoes, opening Christmas presents, eating remotes, eating prescription glasses, moving plants from pots to garden beds or sometimes just the grass, propagating plants through separation ( like lots and plenty little bits), removing ribbons from teddy bears (prior to removing their eyes and limbs),  taking golden pond frogs for a walk to the great outdoor and breaking off a leg or two, and the wonderdog is also good at being a ninja. The wonderdog ninja strikes when you least expect it, the wonderdog ninja catches you off guard and by the time you realise the ninja is in play, it is too late the destruction has begun, is half way through or usually complete 🙂

So Santa, does Griffin the wonderdog make it onto your good list, because he is very good at what he does 🙂

Could you let me know before Christmas eve as I would hate for the wonderdog to hang his stocking and be disappointed on Christmas morn.

Thanks 🙂

Who is king of the remote control??

The Griffin is now king of the remote 🙂

Father of master of Griffin the wonderdog, thinks he is, he even managed to regain control of the remote from the clutches of the Griffin once when Griffin was walking out the door with it, but alas the ninja in Griffin the wonderdog came out and he has won the battle, he has won the war, the wonderdog reigns supreme as the king of the remote control 🙂

Father of master of Griffin the wonderdog is away with work, was not a fair fight, but the Griffin was and is victorious and the father of master of Griffin will come home to no remote 😀

Dear Griffin the wonderdog helped himself to the remote, from the coffee table (on a side note he seems to have ceased dancing on the coffee table), he then took the treasured remote outside and ate it! Did not eat all of it just the end you need to point at the TV and turn it on etc etc.

So now we have no remote for the TV and father of master of Griffin will find out that he has been usurped as king of the remote by a mere puppy when he reads this blog 🙂 At least father of master of the wonderdog is used to getting his things chewed, last week – two pair of pluggers and a pair of sandals had the designer chew marks and slobber that is now a trade mark in this house 🙂

And the wonderdog is off and running and has Christmas paper in his mouth…………………… Will leave the story of his eating the Christmas presents for another day 🙂

Has he or has he not, that is the question??

Griffin the wonderdog does only child very well. He is a brat, but he is our brat. We have tried to introduce an American Bulldog to Griffin, he was a bit of a scaredy cat and very unsure of her. She just wanted a friend but was a bit too strong for our Griffin, who was only five months old at the time. Luckily rescue found her a forever home and then Griffin was an only child again. A few weeks ago we tried to introduce a small terrier of the same age to Griffin, it was hate at first sight. No-one can tell us why, but Griffin can bring out the worst in dogs. The wonderdog is submissive, socialised and just wants to be everyone’s friend 🙂 a trait some dogs do not like 😦

So an only child the griffin monster was going to be! He does only child very well and enjoys being the center of the universe. But a dog is a member of a pack, and needs to be a dog and shortly when his day care days end he will need to have contact with dogs to remember that he is one 🙂 But we tried to have a friend for him and it did not work out, so I had decided the boy was going to be an only child, with lots of play dates and walks in dog friendly areas.

Then trainer extraordinaire and Griffins most favorite daycarelookerafterer person brought a German Shepherd to obedience class. I had met this dog before when he had been under instruction from the  trainer extraordinaire and Griffins most favorite daycarelookerafterer person. He was a beautiful dog, who was pretty laid back and had now been put up for adoption (apparently shedding of hair was not on his previous owners list of things acceptable in their home ). This boy was gorgeous and he liked the wonderdog, OK they were only at the cafe waiting on us to finish coffee but they were being nice. So the German Shepherd (who goes by the name Odin) came for a play date. He still liked the wonderdog and the wonderdog liked having a friend over for a play date. Then on the Friday 30th November, Odin came for another play date with the wonderdog. This led to Odin staying for a sleepover and a week and a bit later Odin is still here having a play date.

Grififn has been very naughty this week. The only child, brat of all brats, has been out on display for all to see. He was naughty at the park, he would not even lower himself to sit on command, let alone think about recall or drop 😦 The wonderdog has eaten shoes, moved, chewed and broken expensive ornaments, chewed up a new bed bought for Odin, broken the fencing (eaten would be better terminology) this fence stops him getting under the deck, upturned water dishes, pinched treats of Odin (thankfully Odin has a placid nature and has decided the wayward wonderdog can be tolerated), and tried very hard to not share any toys.

In all of this Odin misses the wonderdog when he is at day care, misses him when we go out in separate cars and meet at the park, Odin is a bit protective of the wonderdog, (could be because the wonderdog is a scaredy cat 🙂 ), looks after him when we are out and about, and is his friend when we are home.

Today was funny, with a new fence comes new freedoms in the yard and we live on a corner. The wonderdog is not known for his bravado, and was out the back and someone was walking past, the wonderdog flies inside gets his mate Odin, and off they go to shoo the noisy people off their property. Such a brave wonderdog 🙂

Odin fits my criteria for a dog, he is a rescue dog, he needs a home, he needs a family and he needs to know he will be secure till his last breath with his family. Soon I will end the play date and start the adoption process with a boy who deserves a home with a wonderdog as his sidekick 🙂

Has Griffin or has he not found his friend he so desperately needs to share his home? He has lots of good play buddies at school but he needs a dog friend at home 🙂