Torean's first birthday is rapidly approaching on the 21st and we are in full swing trying to get ideas and a little party for him planned. If the weather is good I am thinking about taking Torean out to get a doggie sundae or even being bold enough to make a cake for him myself. Either one I think would make him incredibly pleased. In the past couple weeks we have noticed a change coming over him. Little by little his baby fluff is leaving him, and he is getting more mellow and loving. His patience with Simon is never ending, but he also loves his little alone time at night when he gets his walk and a little walk time around the yard to sniff to his hearts content. During that time, Simon is hopelessly deprived of his chew toy and completely lost, and when he sees Torean coming back in, he will literally bounce to him, and then starts the growling and romping until bedtime, then starts the whining from both boys because they don't want to be apart. Right now the current battle is over the fan, and I hate to tell them, but they are going to have to share with me because the humidity in the house is killer right now. At night Torean gets his own fan, so does Simon, but apparently the fan in the living room must be better for them by the way they fight. Last night Torean was determined to win going so far as settling on Mom's lap to get the air grinning down smugly at Simon who then proceeded to hit the fan so that he got the air and won the battle. Too bad they don't do any of this when a camera is handy...
Simon is still growing like a weed and doing very well with his vision impairment aside from getting panicked when something is right up in his face which we are working on. Because of that I have been looking on the internet for a vest for Simon to wear that warns people of his vision. Thanks to some excellent advice from the Elkhound group I am in on FB I found some patches that can be added to a vest or harness so I think that is the route to go for him. Simon had his first outing in Petco the other day, and he did phenomenally well sucking up attention and meeting different people and dogs. We met a younger couple there with two absolutely adorable boys who train service labs, we got to explaining about Simon and while we were talking they were more than willing to let their boys play with Simon. Simon did so well with them petting his head, playing with his ears and feet, rubbing his stomach and fussing with him. We were immensely proud of Simon, and we got some tips for him too. Simon seemed to love the floor most of all, frogging his heart out and beating on the stuffed elephant we bought him for being so good. Nothing beats a puppy to get people talking, and we hope to keep doing this with Simon to keep his world open, especially around different dogs. Simon was thrilled about all of this, but he was even more thrilled when he got home to chew on big brother Torean for awhile. Simon loves playing with Torean a bit too much though, which is why potty training him is a bit more difficult than it was with Torean but we are confident Simon will get the hang of it with plenty of patience and diligence on our part. When Simon does get outside he is usually more interested in sitting in the grass and killing those evil grass blades, once he focuses though he is great about sticking to one area to potty unlike his big brother! When Torean was a puppy he thought that the leaf pile we made for him to play in was an excellent potty spot, and left us shaking our heads. Puppies can be so fickle sometimes and it makes us laugh must of the time. I have so much more material for this blog, but I think this is enough for tonight.
On a side note, thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog, and thank you to the people who have left some very kind words for me. When I started writing this, I never imagined that I would get very many page views, let alone be on the verge of hitting a thousand page views. I hope to keep writing this blog for a long time to come, and I hope you all will stick with me through it. Thank you again, from all of us <3
Too bad you aren't closer. Freya would love to celebrate Torean's birthday!
ReplyDeleteI know! Torean would love to have another Elkie pal to play with, especially to celebrate his birthday. Time is flying by so fast! I almost cried the other day when Will bought adult dog food instead of puppy! (Mommy emotions)
DeleteI have your blog bookmarked and favorited (thanks to the Internet for giving us another new word!), and laugh silently to myself all the way through them :D You have a real gift, and not just because I'm biased :D
ReplyDeleteHaha, thank you. You should write a blog too. If anyone in this family has writing talent, it is you.
ReplyDelete