A nice little casual conversation with a random Bostonian...

Random Bostonian: You should have a muzzle on THAT.
Ant: Excuse me, what did you say?
RB: THAT. That pitbull needs to have a muzzle.
Ant: This puppy is not a pitbull. She's a Plott Hound, and I have the papers to prove that.
RB: No it's not, that is a pitbull.
Ant: No, she's a Plott Hound.
RB: Well it looks like a pitbull, it should be locked up.
Ant: You look like you could be a pedophile, should I keep my kids away from you?
RB: I've never been so insulted in my life!
Ant: Then you have been very lucky then!

All about Josie...

I know this blog is Tula's but this is also about her big sister Josie, too. She is our biggest helper in raising Tula. She is incredibly tolerant with her (we always said she had a mothering personality) and she teaches her what is acceptable doggy behavior. She won't allow Tula to misbehave, sometimes lets her win in Tug-o-War, but never let's her eat her food or drink her water until she's had her fill (leader of the pack!). Most people buy fish tanks to calm them down by watching them swim all day long. I can watch these two play all day long and my stress is reduced tremendously. Josie is our first girl and she always has that connection with us. As soon as we can, Josie and I will go out for a nice jog together by the beach! (now that she is feeling better from her cold).

They Grow Up So Fast, Don't They?

Tula had her first vet visit this evening, and we found out that Tula is actually 1 month older than we thought she was! Apparently, puppies lose their teeth like clockwork at 16 weeks, and we already found a tooth on the bed. It's very cute. She got her first rabies shot, so we are monitoring her carefully for any abnormal reactions to the vaccines. She's absolutely exhausted and just laying in her bed right now. She is such an angel when she's not biting everything like a little crocodile!

Smart Ass

So we got Tula a halti (the Gentle leader). It's based on the principle that it gives you more control during the walks without pulling, and does not hurt. They use it for horses. It basically goes around the mouth and clips behind the ears, so they can only pull with their necks, which isn't as strong as the rest of the body. It works really well for Josie and she doesn't pull. In the beginning, we've had to wrestle her to the ground and pin her down and take about 20 minutes of fighting to get it on her. She's worked out NOW that if we try to put it on her, all she has to do is open her mouth nice and open wide! Little cheeky monkey, she is!

Tula Video

Full of loveable sweetness!

One Tough Cookie

So, we took Josie and Tula down to the park for a walk. There was another guy walking his 2 dogs, one was an old retriever and the other a pit. Josie has a lot more confidence with Tula-belle around, so she went up to the retriever to sniff some noses. The retriever goes for her (what is it with old dogs attacking Josie???). What does a tiny little Tula bear do? She goes for the retriever herself. Then the pit. She is going to be one loyal pup.

Purrrrrrrrr

It's official, we have a purring dog.

And by request (soon!), we will have more photos on this site tomorrow or so!

Tug-O-War

I'm trying to watch Heroes, enjoying a cup of tea....when all of a sudden these 2 dogs come running over with the same squeeky toy playing tug of war, both growling at each other and neither one letting up. Josie always wins....

Then Anthony claps his hands and they break up, lay down, and play with their own squeeky toy. I feel bad for my neighbors right now!

One of the Pack

This weekend was very eventful. Tula learned just how wonderful the belly rub actually is. She is like a little crocodile, always nipping at things....so to see her stop doing that for a second to enjoy a little belly rub is a real treat. Ok, so more for her obviously. But it's fun to see the wheels turn in her head of "must nip, must chew.....oooooo". She also resembles a little bat when she goes upside down and her ears flop out like bat ears.

She gets to start out sleeping on the bed with the rest of the pack but then she gets put back in the crate and she curls up in the back and sleeps. She had another bath to remove all the peanut butter that she got all over her fur from her Kong treat (she was left for an hour or so we could go grocery shopping-she needs to learn to be on her own eventually!) We also found that she gets cranky when she needs a nap. Just like a toddler.

However, she has given her nasty West Virginia kennel cold to Josie! She does what the vet calls an "inverted sneeze", where dogs try to clear the mucous from their throat. Her stomach gets all big and she looks like she is going to throw up. Her little heart races like mad. So the vet put her on antibiotics. And we also found out that she is a little stressball and has a touch bit of colitis, so she is now on some anti-inflammatory for her intestines. With her pancreatitus, we are trying to guess what the next "itus" will be. Hopefully NO MORE! She is feeling a lot better now, as we can see she tolerates Tula a lot more. So much so, that they cuddled and she allowed Tula to take a nap in her bed. Awwww.

And today, I was greeted at the door with 2 wet noses, when I came back from work! Anthony and Josie were really happy to see me. Wey-hey! Ok, just joking, it was Tula and Josie.

Rough night

Tula decided to wake up at 3AM this morning....and she wanted out of the crate (however she peed in it so we figured taking her out was no longer urgent!). We removed the towel, gave her a fresh one, and she thought it was play time. She was so riled up with energy that she wanted nothing to do with the crate, but wanted to play with Josie. This was not the time. I am sure our neighbors did not appreciate the whine and bark at 3AM! We allowed her to calm down a bit on the bed (mom was sleeping slightly and felt this bounce of a little 11 pound puppy everywhere on the bed) before putting her back in the crate, which she then went back to sleep until 7AM. Thankfully she has been holding her number 2's! No hoobybooboos number 2 in the house, fingers crossed it stays that way!

First Bath!

We had a urine in the crate issue and felt it was time to get her back to the new puppy smell by giving her first bath. Daddy decided to do it, with mommy videotaping. She had no idea what was going on, but was too small to jump out of the tub so she had to put up with it. And she did! I wouldn't say she enjoyed it, but she certainly tolerated it. She did enjoy the drying off part, playing tug of war with the bath towel! Stay tuned for the video on You Tube!

Meeting the neighborhood

After a few days of walking Tula several times a day (potty training is very hard work, but it's keeping us in shape!), we found it quite difficult to get down the street without everyone stopping to ask how old and what kind. And Tula is extremely excited to meet everyone, wagging her tail and being very excited. I thought I was just special when I come home after work to see her tail wagging at me....but no, she does that to any stranger she sees walking down the street. She loves meeting other dogs, and even met the rotty down the street. She even helps out Josie with her anxiety of meeting other dogs (possibly using her as a test decoy???). The neighborhood kids adore her, and have gatherings outside just for the glimpse of seeing her walking down the street with her own leash in her mouth. A few kids at the corner even stopped their water gun fight "Is that not the cutest puppy you ever saw? For godsakes, hold your fire!". She gets all the kids respect!

First Few Days at the New Home!

Welcome to my blogpage! This site is dedicated to the ins and outs of anything and everything Tula. She is our new hound mix, brought to us from West Virginia through Save A Dog from a lovely woman named Shirley. On May 3, we took our unnamed pooch to her new home to meet her new older sister Josie. She had very minimal contact with Josie, as she wondered who this little black thing was! It took a day to finally come up with a name for her, and we rather liked the Jim Henson muppet theme however we felt that nothing Fraggle Rock related really fit her, so we named her Tula. Tula is one character of the Hoobs, a UK children's show done by Jim Henson's Productions. We thought this discription fit her extremely well as she is quite independent for a young little puppy! However her older sister is quite the alpha female, and her first interaction with Josie, she was on her back and asking for acceptance. A very good start to the new family. Mommy can't stop smelling her, she has the new puppy smell! We have our hands very full with potty training and keeping her entertained and under control!