The Bone
Sue: I think the rawhide bone - Pearl's bone of choice - is a blessing and a curse.
P: Mommy, my bone can never be bad.
S: What about when you broke your tooth?
P: That was bad.
S: Pearl was going away at her bone when we heard a yelp. She leapt away from the bone and was looking around as though someone had hit her.
P: My bone took my tooth.
S: One of her canines had gotten stuck in the rawhide and the tooth broke right of her mouth.
P: Poor me.
S: We took her to the vet's the next day and she went under while they removed the rest of the tooth. We didn't want to give her any more bones but she loves them so much.
P: Mommy and Daddy love me.
S: I guess we thought it was a freak accident. I hope we are right.
P: Me, too.
S: We've tried giving Pearl all sorts of other bones - Nyla, vegie, and you name it, but she tears through them like they are made of sugar. Even when the package says that the bone should be long lasting, with our pug, it lasts about 30 minutes. No kidding.
P: I'm a good chewer.
S: We try to monitor her while she's chewing this means we never leave her alone in her crate with a bone and when we've boarded her, we don't allow her to have any bones. We do this partly because of the tooth accident and partly because sometimes we have to take the bone away when she gets great big pieces off and then throws it up.
P: I can just eat it up again!
S: Yuck.
P: That's right - yum.
S: I said yuck not yum.
P: Right
Walks
S: Even though Pearl is not a great heeler...
P: Or a Blue Healer.
S: Is this dog humor?
P: Yep!
S: As I was saying...even though she doesn't heel on the leash, she loves her walks.
P: It's because I don't heel I love my walks.
S: I figure the walk is for Pearl. Winter is hard because she won't go out.
P: Winter stinks.
S: The thing about walks is that they energize Pearl. When we are walking on a regular basis (about 4-5 times a week), she wants to play more.
P: I like to race around the living room after my walk.
S: In Texas, she used to do her crazy run on the front grass but I don't think she likes the grass in Rochester as much.
P: It's crunchy.
Play
S: When Pearl was a puppy, we would play a few times a day, but now that she's older, she usually wants to play one or two times a day.
P: I like to play after dinner.
S: When you're refueled.
P: Yeah. When I'm refooded.
S: Toys of choice are small soft, plush toys with squeakers. We've tried rubber, nylon and rope but she won't have any of that stuff.
P: I didn't mind the one with the peanut butter inside.
S: We did use a Kong for awhile. You can put any kind of treat in the center of it and the dog is supposed to have hours of fun chasing and rolling it, trying to get the treat. Pearl usually just sat down and licked all the pb out. There was no running or playing.
P: Eating is very important. I have to give it my full attention.
S: Pearl still has the first toy we ever bought for her - a little bunny slipper. I think it had a squeaker at one point but it's long gone. Not only does she love to play with this toy, she also uses it as a pillow at night.
P: My Baby.
S: Baby must have been washed about a thousand times. In fact, he's in the laundry basket right now for tomorrow's wash.
P: Oh, no!
Naps
S: I debated putting naps in this section because they aren't really an activity.
P: Naps are my favorite activity.
S: What about eating?
P: Yeah. I like eating more.
S: But then I thought, well, Pearl does spend a lot of time napping...Andy says Pearl has her mid-morning nap, her post mid-morning nap, her pre post mid-morning nap...well, you get the picture.
P: Anytime is a good time for a nap!
S: Except dinnertime.
P: Except dinnertime.