Toddler days

In case you do not know, I have two children (besides Oakley of course). I have a 5 year old son, Jackson, and a 4 year old daughter, Gia. They are the light of my life. I feel like I struck it rich when I look at their sweet angelic faces....but then....there are times that they are in full range little kid toddler mode. You know what I mean; the kind where you look at them when they are screaming and throwing themselves on the floor because something in their lives at that particular moment is such a catastrophe that no one understands what it is like to have such "difficult" lives. When you combine those times with a puppy that is starting to test me, I think that I am being tested to see just how far I can go before my head starts spinning on the top of my neck and steam shoots out of my ears.

Enter Oakley...the kindest sweetest most loving puppy there is. However, when it is time for this little furface to go for a walk, he puts on the breaks. I think it's the leash. He would go anywhere if he weren't on a leash but at 14 weeks, I can't afford to have him off leash and then chase a squirrel at the  same time a car is driving by. He's not ready for that. But when I put on that leash, he acts like the very thought of going out attached to a nylon rope is demeaning of a schnoodle. Some of my readers are reading this and saying, "Have you tried treats?" Yup. "A harness?" Yup. "Gentle leader?" Yup. It's kind of like he takes on the mentality of my other two children when their lives don't align with the stars and is putting on a tantrum. He lays down on the ground and refuses to move. If I pulled him, it's like I'm pulling a stuffed dog behind me.

In the above picture, it looks like he is laying down watching the world. In actuality, he is laying down and telling me, "I ain't goin".


Enter kindergarten. We decided that if we are going to play with the big dogs, we are going to have to pee in the high grass. Oakley has been enrolled in the same kindergarten program that our previous dog, Arlie, excelled. Next week is the lesson of "leash walking and puppy mouthing". It's a great refresher for Greg and me because it's been 8 years since we had a puppy! We are back in school!


His giardia seems to be on the mend. We are still playing with food because right now he is on a hypoallergenic vet approved food. I'm wondering what my readers feed their pups? I've been eying Fromm and think we might go to that. I've heard great things about that. Oh, and Master Oakley also has purified water from the fridge because perhaps VA water isn't agreeing with him.