Goodness. It has been awhile!

Henry, Otto and Vivika (the cats) and Sue and Greg (the Peeps) have spent summer and fall traveling with the loaded SUV tugging the Burro and following a moving van North. We have been busy relocating from sunny Whittier California to beautiful Anacortes Washington.

Mama Peep needs to unload boxes so this is going to be quick, but she is rather sick of unpacking, so the Henry Blog is a great excuse!

On our trips back and forth from Whitter to Eugene to Spokane and Loon Lake to Port Townsend and Anacortes, then doing it all over again - some of it three times, we did have some fun beyond seeing scenery.  My cousin has grown up from the nipper half my size to that huge lanky lady in the foreground of the photo to the top left in just a few months over summer and fall.

There was time for the staking out the favorite fishing spot at Loon Lake on a couple of trips.  Nothing caught yet but those dang fish keep teasing!  Mama Peep and Henry went for boat rides on Loon and the wind swishes our hair back sooooo dramatically!

  

Doggie Playground Toutle River Style

My brother Roger has been a busy guy.  Check out his pile of stacked wood - no really check it out!  It is a dog run! Henry's cousins Bentley and Daisy have tried it out and have put their stamp of approval on the thing. I'm thinking it would be a challenge to fit through the doggie door to clean up the interior, but the dogs would probably like knowing the space is theirs alone.  I'm sending Roger a huge thumbs up on this one!  Henry is anxious to get up there to explore the space.

Downstairs ? ? ? ?

What's this about? Mama is carrying my toys and treats and food and blankie down the stairs and into her studio. Sure,  I spend time with her down there when she putters around.  Yep, I do. But this looks different.

We've been preparing for Dana's baby blessing on Saturday and Dad's retirement thing on Sunday and I've been a great help, giving Mom suggestions, and correcting her mistakes. (Who would have thought she'd think all my doggie hair and Otto and Vivika's kitty fur had to go?)

But now? The kitty toys and structures are going into the bedroom wing and my stuff into the basement? Mom said some non-sense about low stress environments and that it would only be for a few hours each day.

Humph. That's what I say. Yep. I say, humph. I'll show her! I'm going to spill all the water until she needs to get me a bigger dish and then I'm going to dump that out too. She's not going to get away with this nonsense.

Humph.

Weekend Preparations

Henry the helpful has been involved in the weekend preparations.

Saturday is a Baby Blessing at Henry's home and Sunday is his dad's retirement open house.

The windows are clean, the flower beds are weeded, the house is as good as it gets....but for Henry, so what??  The big deal is that while mama works, Henry gets a bone.  Life is good in the doggie world.

He prefers a bit of dust on the floor - he considers it seed stuff for his next bath.  Spotty windows just makes his view outside more interesting...and weeds? Why pull them.  They are green and have great healthy flowers.

He will allow the work if he has that tasty treat though - so its his bonus bone for patience.  Good dog.

Hopeful

The hummingbird is just so close. Yes, Henry has himself confused with a bird dog. That is not going to work out for him. He just doesn't have a stealth mode.

Fluff Ball

Henry took a trip to the "you groom" with me today. He is fluffy and pooped...so back to his baby bed.

He is so handsome and he knows it! 

Henry is Three

Still a sweet baby clinging to his baby bed.

Happy Birthday buddy!

Almost Three

Henry is a getting to be a teen-age pup.  He will be three on Monday.  He doesn't seem to care that the years are stacking up.  Henry still gets crazy excited when one of us comes home.

He also lets us know when he needs a little extra love....like during the recent 5.1 earthquake.

There wasn't much damage here - other than one of Stephanie's ceramic pitchers but Henry seemed to think it was a good time to cuddle up close and personal with his human mom and dad after discovering that barking doesn't stop the aftershocks.

And finally, yes, Henry still reverts to his little tiny baby bed.  He has always liked it better than the grown up beds scattered hopefully around the house.  They just don't interest him.  Silly boy.

Kitty Damage Times Ten

What can I say. Cats love to use furniture as scratching posts. We've been good - we've purchased kitty scratch goodies for the doors, for the climbing structures, for the floor. They do use them but the favorite by far is the couch. Sooooooo tempting!  We finally gave up and purchased a neat new sofa. It is so comfy. And since the old set is retiring (instead of sitting under an all-concealing-cover) I decided to give the internet "cat destroyed couch" suggested fixes a shot. 

So, here is my start point. Yes look closely. It is pretty bad, right?

 

I have fabric reclaimed from the matching throw pillows to cut up use for my experiments.  Of course, now that I have purchased a great new couch - just two weeks from delivery - I realize I still have well loved kitties who like the idea of a fresh kill couch. Ah well.

So here is how it can be done.  I used a fabric glue that is both flexible and stretchable.  I cut the fabric attempting to match the designs (with varying degrees of success). I glue hemmed the fabric where it seemed appropriate like exposed corners and glued the piece in place with a ribbon of glue along the under edge.  Then I pinned the glued section in place to give it a little tension and support while drying. Then when dry, I went on to the next section.

This worked pretty well, but is not going to be an option on our next sofa since it is a light solid color and without forgiving - disguising patterns.Henry and cats, Otto and Vivika can't figure out why it is a big deal. After all, Henry gets to rip up his stuffed squeaky toys. He has done it tons of times and this is just one couch.  I'll try to explain again before the new sofa arrives.

Henry and the Flipper Car

For Valentine's Day, Henry got a trip to the flipper car.  It's just his size, but the doors were locked, so he couldn't take me for a ride.  Instead, we travelled to visit his doggie pal, Grover and then went for a return visit to the dog park.  

I think Henry liked the flipper car better than the trip to the dog park today.  That cute little girl pup didn't show up - just some handsome, but yappy little guys who did a lot of chasing. They were half Henry's size.  I'm going to pretend he was afraid of stepping on them and causing injuries.

     

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  

Rio San Gabriel Doggie Park

Henry and I had a great time at the Rio San Gabriel Dog Park.  Its in Downey California about nine miles away from our house.  I didn't know it existed until I started searching for news about the new dog park in the pre-building phase in Whittier.

When we first went into the "below 15" at the shoulder" compound, Henry acted like he was attached to me with a tether.  Any distance over ten feet sent him scurrying back to mama - tempted but not ready to commit.

Although my boy was a bit hesitant at first, in the end Henry and I both thought it was great, and we will be visiting it again.  The dogs and their owners were all friendly.

The cute little lady on the top right was Henry's favorite.  He seemed to think she was just the right size and she must have smelled great, because there was lots to doggie sniffing going on. 

The pups didn't do a lot of chasing and running - okay, I must admit I was hoping to get out of our exercise today - they just seemed to want to hang out together.  There was a lot of wandering going on.

Supervisory Canines

They should get along! Grover looks like a giant untrimmed Henry. However, the two boys have struggled a bit.  Grover is a puppy and is very active.  He is four times Henry's size and doesn't recognize that size does matter at dog playtime.  Henry has spent a fair amount of time hiding under chairs, mom and bushes.

Finally though, I've figured it out!  All I have to do is leave the area.  Grover quits herding Henry away from his mom.  Henry quits growling at Grover in irritation.

Suddenly they are satisfied with parallel play.  They don't really interact much. It is more plopping down next to each other or following the other around in case they discover something interesting.

Under Henry's expert direction, the wall is done. On the other side is a delightful room for the new baby.   And Henry - well, for being such a good supervisor - he scored a marrow bone when we got home.  Trained by Grover, he guarded it just in case his two cat friends decided they wanted a taste.

Laptop Kitten

The only thing that would make this cozier is if the kitty was in your lap.  That cat looked so comfortable with the whole typing situation!  Nice.  My kitties would never help me tilt my laptop.  Ah well.  They do have their own very special jobs in our house.  Otto traps stuffed animals and carries them around at night announcing his captures.  Vivika terrorizes Otto and Henry.  She is definitely top cat.

Henry and Otto

We have three animals - beyond the human ones living in our home.  The two boys are Henry and Otto.  As long as Henry settles first, Otto is welcome to join and take a nap in my lap.  While the boys sleep, Otto's sister is by the window trying to decide if she can manage to attack the humming birds through the glass.  Its a cozy day.

Oh My, DNA Results

Goodness.  Nobody guessed this one - or at least not all of it! We were pretty sure Henry was part poodle, but my guess was poodle/terrier mix.  Nope. At least we got the poodle part right.  For Christmas, Samantha and Ryan gave Henry and I a DNA test kit.  I mean, after all, we could not find him on Ancestry.com.  So, finally the results arrived.

They also sent along some sheets that are intended to help with understanding the identification. So, I will add them to the blog too. Henry was appalled by this one.  He is a buff tough Henry dog - he would never consider a sissy cut like that grey poodle.  He might stand back and admire, maybe….

If you check out the second pup from the right, there is some evidence of Henry - but he is way, way cuter and has tons more personality--of course.

I see absolutely nothing to make a Australian Shepard connection.  That said, I guess I could consider it logical.  His doggie cousin (owned by his Tante Kathie) is an Australian Shepherd.  Does that count?

And then there is the mixed breed ancestry sheet!  I have heard of the the short haired dachshund. They seemed to think that was most likely for some of the mix part.  Hum.  I see nothing there. I haven't even heard of the second dog and the third, well I did think he had some terrier.  He does try to snap the neck of his stuffed toys.

For those who want to be "in the know" there you have it!  Henry is perfect.

Grover and Henry

Henry's fluffy puppy friend is Grover.  Doesn't live with Henry and our cats. They do a bit of visiting....but here is the story. Grover is just a pup and he consumes whatever he can fit his jaws around. The latest tasty tidbits are ladies underwear, tennis ball parts and drywall. The underwear, he snatches out of the hamper. The tennis ball was a toy, but the remains show a pretty big chunk missing. The drywall, apparently, he chewed off a sheet stored for the current house project. 

Right now, Grover's not feeling so great. He has had a $750 trip to the vet with a sonogram and antibiotics (just in case the stuff tears something on those delicate insides). The results of inappropriate eating appear to be in both the stomach and colon. We are hoping it will appear on the lawn in a neat puppy poo package - but we aren't feeling too confident.

Updates to follow.  Here's the project. Hope to have the drywall up and completely encased soon, but that probably won't stop Grover the explorer.  I am thinking he is not going to make the connection between inappropriate eating habits and his current predicament.