Torean at the Park photos

5 years seem too long.

This isn't a blog post about Torean, this time around, but to the sweetest woman I had ever known who has been gone from our lives for five years now. Way too long in my opinion. My Grandma. Grandma was truly one of the best people in my opinion, and losing her put a hole in our lives we are still feeling. We spent over three weeks in the hospital with her, waiting for the dementia and the massive heart attack to finally take her, and when she finally passed away, the numbness we had been feeling stayed.  Grandma was a sweet, gentle woman who loved her flowers, her gardening, and Bob Ross. Even though she would never say so, she was one hell of an oil painter, and it was something she enjoyed until the dementia began to rear it is ugly head. She was an exceptional cook, and she was a hell of a listener. Even if your problem was silly in her eyes, she would never tell you, she would sit and listen to you, and offer the best advice she could. I will never forget the things she taught me, and the memories I have of her I hold dear in my heart. Grandma gave me my love of gardening, of lilacs and of columbine, she taught me her gardening secrets, and when I grew pumpkins behind her house, nothing gave her a bigger thrill than watching them grow. Especially the Dill Atlantic Giant I grew that took me and my Mom and an old feed bag to get it into the car, and the pride I felt when I got to show it to her. So many things have happened in my life since then that I wish I could show to her, and feel the same pride I felt then. Grandma encouraged my sister and I to love being outside, she taught us about flowers, butterflies, how to peel and cut up apples, where to find the best black cap bushes to pick, and even when we came back with only a few black caps, she would put them in her tiny pie dishes and make us a pie to take home so we could show Mom. Those were wonderful times we spent with her, and I still hold those days close to me. Grandma was always waiting when my sister and I got off the bus after school, she always made sure we had treats, and our favorite pillow was in front of the TV so we could sit down and watch our favorite shows with her. We thought we had the world when she used to play games with us, and when she would let us water paint on the windows and admire what we had done. Normal things that were special to us because she did them with us. I could go on and on about the things she let us do, and the adventures we had with her, but this blog would go on and on if I did. I think I am thinking more about Grandma right now because of all the medical issues we have been going through with Mom, and I wish Grandma was here because she would have understand, and in a way it would have made things easier.  And a lot of things have happened in my life that I wish Grandma could have been a part of, like meeting the man I love with all of my heart, meeting  the man who stole my sisters heart, and she would have loved Torean to death. The things we could have done with her if dementia had not taken her away from us, the holidays we could have celebrated etc. I hope that before she died she knew how much she meant to us, and that she knows now how much we love and miss her. Love you Grandma, so much. <3 <3

Torean Loves the Park

                                                                         Peek a puppy!


Given the rash of good weather we have been having, Torean has been going for longer walks with us, and we have been taken him up to the overlook, which is basically like a giant playpen for him. We take Torean's baby gate with us, and put it across the ramp leading up to the overlook so that Torean can come off his leash and play to his hearts content. We throw some of his toys down and between those and the pine cones and needles around, he is puppy bliss playing until he is exhausted and ready to come home and nap. Below is the picture from his first play session when he realized just how fun playing with those evil pine needles can be. Torean did pretty good today being outside. He got to walk uptown to see what Grandma was up to, then he got to go to the overlook and play for over an hour pausing every now and then to soak up the sun and chew his pine cone prizes to a pulp before he was off again. Then he got to come home and spend some time in his kennel soaking up the sun, and playing with his newly freed from the frozen ground toys before he came inside. A good session of who can pet me the bestest, and now he is sound asleep after finding the right cool spot for his royalness. These are the best times with him.  Have a great week everyone!

                                             I got me a needle kill!!

                                         The Pine Cone that did not survive

                                       Getting my love on,

It Is Mine...therfore I must.....

PEE on it! Yes, our little boy has reached another stage in his development. While he is not lifting his leg to pee, he has discovered the power to mark things. Today while walking our little boy after the coyote/hound incident Torean could not walk more than three steps without veering into the snow banks to make sure he left a little piddle calling card. By the time we were done walking, the pristine white snow was marred with plenty of his yellow gifts, and Torean was immensely pleased with himself. That furry butt of his could not have swung anymore than what it did as he walked up the steps, then he had to look back to make sure he got most of his potty area before it passed inspection and he went inside. He has exhausted himself again, and is content to be lazy sliding himself across the floor until he flips over without having to get up. The snow better beware when the day comes that Torean learns how to lift his leg. Nothing will be safe and the entire world will be able to see his various designs, while the neighborhood dogs will be sure to know where Torean turf is. Love this little nut <3

Is it tail or....TOY!!

Torean has thoroughly exhausted himself playing in the snow today so time to pen another blog about the snow puppy. The snow is still coming as I write which means more playtime and walks tomorrow while Torean sleeps near my feet, on his chain at the moment because he won't stop stealing shoes and socks today! For the most part Torean is being a very good puppy aside from the slow leak plaguing his butt and us. Torean has rediscovered an old play toy, the wagging thing attached to his butt that just won't come off no matter how hard he pulls at it. Round and round he goes, when he stop nobody knows. Currently Torean thinks that if he grabs his tail in his teeth really hard, then puts his paw over his tail while he is biting it, he just might get that tormenting toy off, but to no avail. Round and round he goes some more, until he gets dizzy and plops down on his butt with his tongue hanging out sideways, his eyes glazed. Rest for awhile, then back at it again, or biting his feet because he finds it fascinating. At first we thought Torean was doing it because he was bored, so we put more toys down, kept up with his play sessions, but no, he just likes playing with his tail. Such a silly puppytash. <3

Crumbs and Super Sensitive Sniffers

Since I seem to have developed a sort of writers block, I guess this topic shall be about Torean, his new developments, and the fun he has encountered during his walks this week.

     This past week Torean has amazed us with two new quirks to his repertoire of puppiness. Super sonic sniffing, and the ever popular scrounging for......wait for it....... CRUMBS! GLORIOUS MINISCULE CRUMBS! NOM NOM NOM!!! Crumbs so small that not even we can see them, but his nose knows they must be there. The power of his nose never fails to amaze us, neither does his persistence to get to the tasties he knows have to be around somewhere...taunting him...lurking in the shadows,,,multiplying like dust bunnies..Earlier Torean presented us a lovely view of his ever widening backside as he jammed himself under the stool sniffing his customary places in hopes there might be food for him..thankfully no SBD'S followed that incident but I was tempted to get an Elkie butt shot until he moved..OF COURSE. We learned our lesson after the first day of begging/sniffing and we have moved anything that he might find interesting way out of his reach in case he gets the bouncies. And of course if we say anything, Torean gives us the offended-who?-me? look and goes into his corner for pouting of which he is the master of. When Torean gets the sniffers I am certain we can hear it from the other side of the house, and of course he is diligent in making sure everything is covered before he goes to demolish his toys. Cockiness has been the norm the past few days as well, I have lost count the number of times Blizzard batted him across the face yesterday because he would not leave her alone. Torean did finally drop to the floor and look at us trying to understand why the black meanie was teasing him. He didn't do anything of course...he was the ever innocent moose dog who would never dream of teasing the cats.........(yeah right!)  Torean is slowly learning to leave the kitties alone, and for all of her toadiness towards the puppy, Blizzard would hate to get caught kind of liking to play with him. As you can guess nothing is quiet in this house except right now when all of the critters are sound asleep with Torean doing the on his back snoozing thing. It's a hard life teasing kitties, scrounging, going for walks, playing in the snow, chasing our tail, testing Mommy and Daddy's patience and seeing what we can get away with.


   The other day we took Torean to the little park just up the road and let him play in the nice packy snow where he proceeded to sniff to his hearts content, eat enough snow to float and chase snowballs until he came home and dropped in the middle of the floor exhausted. We knew he was tired when he sat still for his brushing without trying to bite the brush or run off to chase a toy. He knows he has to sit still for his brushing, but the puppy in him demands he make it difficult. His mouthiness has backed off being replaced by his other habits until he gets bored with them and moves on to something else, like trying to chew on his crate and biting feet which really gets him in trouble! But I get off topic AGAIN! Something I do so well heh heh. Torean has been walking like a champ with the help of the EZ walk harness and some more training, we are so proud of him with the progress he is making. Torean loves the little park down the road even though he can't come off his leash to play because there is a road and a river there and he is far too snortie right now to concentrate. He does not seem to mind though because there is enough to keep him interested. When winter comes to an end there will be plenty of spring and summer smells for him to discover, and more things to do outside like hiking, and more walking, and all the fun stuff that makes a tired puppy. Winter has given him plenty of fun as well, and we know Torean will be blue to see it leave. We already have some summer travel plans made with him and we will be curious to see what his reaction to water will be as he religiously tries to avoid any little bit of water on the sidewalks because the snow is melting. Apparently it is acceptable for me to walk through it because his lard tries to shove me over so he does not have to get his pattie paws wet. All of these make us love Torean more even when he is frustrating, and hopefully someday we can add another fur baby to our little family and give Torean another furry playmate who won't hiss at him and slap him across the face maybe.. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this blog, and have a great weekend.

Love

Short and sweet this time around. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

From,

Will, Anna and Torean Alaistair.