13 posts tagged “bliss”

I have a dog. She is kind of an unusual breed and quite striking-looking. When we walk around San Francisco - especially in crowded areas - we can't get more than five feet without someone wanting to stop us to exclaim over her appearance, touch her, and ask me questions (which I guess is better than them wanting to touch me and ask her questions). I thought I would answer these questions here.

• She's a Keeshond.
• Bliss.
• Girl.
• Keeshond.
• K-E-E-S-H-O-N-D.
  
• Eight years old. She'll be nine in September.
• I got her when she was four months old.
• Yes, she sheds a lot, especially when she "blows her coat" a couple of times a year.
• The cottony undercoat thins out (I show the person the undercoat at this point).
• I'm supposed to brush her weekly. I don't.
• It takes about an hour or so and requires four different instruments (comb, brush, undercoat rake, slicker brush).
• She doesn't really need to be bathed more than once a year.
• Yes, she has a tail. It's just curly and hides. We call it "retractable."
• About 30 pounds. Not much dog under all that fur.
• No, she's not a Chow mix.
• She does okay in the heat, as long as she's not out too long.
• No, I've never shaved her. The coat protects her from both heat and cold.
• Holland.
• Very friendly.
• Too smart for her own good.
• Yes, your son/daughter may pet her. She's great with kids.
• No, she's not a giant Pomeranian. But they're related.
• Yes, she barks. A lot.
• Yes, she's very happy. And a very good girl.

Bliss

It was a glorious morning, so we walked up to Tartine, waited in the massive line, procured yummy things for a "family style" brunch, and headed over to Dolores Park. The food was incredible, Bliss had no interest in the ball (which she tried to grab out of my hand as I was packing it for the trip, but once at the park, decided sniffing was much more interesting), and we relaxed a bit.

California truly sucks.

First of all, thanks so much to everyone who commented on my post about Bliss. There was a lot of good advice in there; now I just have to see what works for her. Here is what we've done so far:

1. We sent the neighbors a bottle of wine with an apologetic note. If we were smarter, we would have sent them hard liquor. You can't hear my dog bark when you're passed out.
   
   
2. I take Bliss out first thing in the morning (and on longer walks) instead of right before I go to work. This helps her to calm down in between the time I take her out and the time I leave; she's always pretty hyper and wants to play when we come back inside.
   
   
3. We got a little baby gate to seal off the kitchen from the rest of the house. It's one of the darker rooms in the flat, and having a baby gate instead of a closed door doesn't make her as frantic as being "shut away in a room." This also keeps her over our neighbors' kitchen instead of their bedrooms, and away from the street-facing windows.
   
   
4. The kitchen turns into "doggie spa" when we leave. We set up a radio and are using dog appeasing pheremone, or "D.A.P."; I have a diffuser and I also spray it on the kitchen rugs. She also got a KongTime that dispenses treat-filled Kongs every two hours. This should help her stay somewhat calmer and entertained.
   
   
5. We set up an ultrasonic bark deterrent; it's supposed to emit a high-frequency sound when she barks. I don't think it works that well.
   
   
6. When I leave in the morning, it's kept very low-key. I hand her a Kong (if you're counting, that's Kong number FIVE), stuffed with a little peanut butter (it's frozen the night before). I tell her, "You stay here today," which is what we have always told her when we're leaving. Then I leave very quietly and calmly.
   
   
7. She's scheduled to go to doggie day care once a week with the wonderful, wonderful boarder I mentioned who is willing to try her again. I'm hoping the socialization with the other dogs will help. She'll even pick her up and drop her off!
   
   
8. I got a list of behaviorists from SFSPCA. We'll see how that goes.

It's hard to say after only a few days how it's going, but I can say that she's not nearly as frantic when I leave in the morning (today she didn't bark at all; yesterday she barked for about three minutes then stopped). And it seems as if she's calmer and not so clingy at night. I wish there was a way I could view her during the day (hmm... webcam?), but we'll ask our neighbors if they're seeing (hearing?) improvement.

Whew! Maybe this seems like a lot to do for a dog, but how could you possibly stand to see this face unhappy?

What a face

2 comments

My dog Bliss (hey, great name for a website), has transformed from a dog everyone adores into a neurotic mess and problem child, seemingly overnight. Before I get comments from people telling me it's all my fault, I know it's all my fault. I'm not doing something right or I'm doing something completely wrong. And I would love to chalk up her current behavior as moving residual, but she has gotten progressively worse since we got here. Here's a breakdown of her behavior:

1) All of a sudden, she's using indoors as her potty. Poop on the rug isn't unheard of anymore, when before it used to be a once-in-a-while kind of thing (and when, admittedly, we had been negligent). It's not every day, and luckily she uses our rugs instead of the beautiful, rented hardwood floors, but it's more than a little troubling. Last night we went out to dinner (Paul's mom is in town), and when we came back, when she saw specifically me, she let loose a torrent of pee (she had just been taken out before we left. We had been gone about 90 minutes). She also peed IN HER BED the other night. Not a little, either. Another flood.

2) The separation anxiety thing is becoming acute. Again, specifically attached to me, she whines when I'm not there, and when I get home, she yips and barks and mouths my hands. I've been told to ignore her until she calms down to avoid rewarding her for the behavior, and I've been doing so. And I hate doing it. When I boarded her recently, the nice woman who took care of her said she was out of her head the entire time, whining, yipping, barking, and even trying to crawl under parked cars when she took Bliss for walks (that's right, crawl under cars). I don't think she's welcome there anymore.

3) The barking. The BARK! BARK! BARK! BARKING. She has always been a barky dog, and we have never been able to break her of it. She's smart - sometimes too smart for her own good - and we've always thought if a treat was on the line, she could learn how to drive a car. A stick-shift. But nope, she just loves the sound of her own voice. This morning we had a note slipped into our mail slot from our downstairs neighbors. A very polite, sincere note informing us that Bliss barks NONSTOP. ALL DAY. I had no idea it was that bad. I'm upset and embarrassed.

What do I do? If you're in the San Francisco area, can you recommend any dog trainers than can help? Do the citronella dog collars work? How about doggie day care? Anyone know of one that will pick up the dogs and drop them off?

I love my dog. I don't want her to be a neurotic mess. I don't want our neighbors to hate us. I don't want to mop up anymore pee.

HELP.

Show us your favorite animal.
Inspired by the Emporer.

Is there even a question?

Bliss

5 comments

I can't believe my puppy is six years old. At the same time, it seems like she's been with us forever, a permanent family member since the very beginning (she was, in fact, born four days before Paul and I got married, but we wouldn't meet her until four months later).

Bliss at 4 Months

I went back and read the story of getting Bliss. I remembered how depressed I was because I had been laid off, and the days searching for a new job were long and lonely. I also remembered how unsure I was about getting a dog with a known health issue - our previous dog had seizures from 11 weeks old, and died at two years. He needed constant supervision and health care, and it was just a heartbreaking experience. I couldn't go through that again.

I am so, so glad I got Bliss. She's happy, healthy, and makes me laugh. She manages to charm everyone she meets - even "non-dog" people like her. I got lucky. I got a good one.

Happy birthday, little girl. Eggs and cheese await you tonight!

I may be the only person ever to cut herself with a butter knife.

You heard me.

Bliss' new tag hangs from a hook. That was all well and good, until her hair wrapped around it, thus fusing her collar to her neck rather painfully. I actually had to get out the scissors to remove her collar (I guess I'll need to take off that "Bliss Approved" icon, because I can tell you Bliss did not approve having her collar removed thusly). It then took me 20 minutes to remove the twisted hair from the tag, even with the scissors.

I finally got the thing free, and decided that hanging hook had to go. I tried to put the tag back on just using that little ring. Well, the metal hoop on Bliss' collar is rather thick, so separating the ring wide enough to slip over the hoop was quite the challenge. I used the scissors to pry the ring open, but after a couple of near misses, decided scissors weren't my best option. Oh, how smart I am!

I got out the butter knife, and it actually worked better than the scissors. I just... about... had it... when I slipped, pressing the butter knife with great force and vigor into my thumb.

And that's how I cut my thumb using a butter knife.

Bliss needs a new tag now. It's a good thing she's microchipped.

Introducing Dog Bliss!

This is my little side blog about all dog products sublime and ridiculous. It's hosted by myself and Bliss. Hence the name.

If you have a dog product you can't live without or have seen a product we should feature, please let me know.

Hey, look! It's "Bring Your Dog to Work" day!

Some comments heard upon arriving to the office:

"What is that?"

"It's a Tribble!"

"It's floofy!"

"Where are her ears?"

"It's a puffball!"

"Is there a dog in there?"

"Does she have a tail?

"Do you ever shave her?"

...and then punctuated by, "Awwwwwwww!"

Bliss and I thank you for the warm welcome to the office today.

...And we're sorry about the dog hair you'll be fishing out of your keyboards for the next five weeks.