Mental Exercise For Lucy & Duke

One of the great things about living in Florida is having wonderful weather to take my dogs for nice long walks.

On the flip side of that, one of the worst things about living in Florida is having horrible humidity during the summer months which wrecks havoc on our walks.

To counteract the humidity, I had been waiting until 10:00 at night to take Lucy and Duke for walks. While Lucy has no problem tolerating either the heat or the humidity, it doesn't agree with Duke.

But even my late night plan wasn't working out so well. One night last week, we all waited for the humidity to calm down as long as we could. It didn't seem like it was that bad, but about 10 minutes into our walk, I realized that I had been dead wrong about the humidity levels. And if I was suffering, my poor boxers were too, although Lucy showed no signs of suffering... there were frogs all over the place, and lots of great things to sniff.

It was no surprise to me when Duke laid down in the middle of the street and refused to take another step. I felt horrible, and I had no idea what I was going to do, because even if I had been able to pick up Duke and carry him home, what was I going to do with Lucy? I could have tied them to a tree and ran back to the house and got the car, but there is no way I would ever leave my dogs unattended like that even for 5 minutes. So, I plopped down and waited....

Twice more on the way home that evening, my poor boy laid down in the street and refused to move. So, I made the decision that I was going to have to find some other way to "entertain" my children until this darn humidity breaks, because there is no way that I'm putting Duke through that again.

Plan B involves the other form of exercise: MENTAL EXERCISE! As you may well know that form of exercise can be quite tiring and requires a ton of concentration on the part of the dog, and tons of creativity on the part of the human! But never fear, I've got it covered! After 1 week of this routine, Lucy and Duke will now sit, pause, and then lay down just with hand motions. We also worked on "Wait". Lucy's version of "Wait" needs a ton of work as she has no idea what her mother wants her to do as you can see by the third picture. Duke on the other hand, knows exactly what "Wait" means and I've got proof.

I am positive that this form of exercise is not only good for my boxers, but that it does a great job of wearing them out. I should admit, that it takes a lot of thought for their human to try to figure out how to challenge them and tire them out without leaving the house in the humidity. All I know is that this Mental Exercise tires us all out!

Thank Goodness For The Furbabies

Yup, I'm struggling and I'm relying on my sweet little boxer kids to get me through the struggle. The day that my then fiance, now husband and I made the decision for me to live in Florida, while he lived in Pennsylvania, it would seem we were under the influence of several bottles of wine, but we weren't! Needless, to say I am miserable being 1100 miles away from my darling husband, and if I didn't have two boxers to come home to, I would really be in big trouble!....

Lucy has NEVER counter-surfed! She's never so much as attempted to go for any of the wonderfully smelling goodies on my kitchen counter, but the other night I put her ball on the counter and I went to bed!

I was sitting in bed, buried in a book, when I heard the commotion in the kitchen. Duke was in the hallway between the bedroom and the kitchen, and he was growling. It was a low, quiet kind of warning growl. I couldn't see Lucy from the bed, so I got up and walked to the kitchen! (Thankfully, my camera was right there!)

Lucy had her front paws on the kitchen counter, and was trying hard to figure out a way to get her mouth around the talking ball! (Which by the way, I don't know the name of, but I bought it on Amazon.com for those of you who inquired.... It makes all kinds of weird farm animal noise- so if you buy one, make sure you put it out of reach because it will scare the crap out of you in the middle of the night! I speak from experience!)

I'm pretty sure that Duke's growling at Lucy was his way of telling his little sister that she was gonna be in trouble if mama caught her....

These two boxers are non-stop entertainment!

Lucy & Duke's New Talking Ball

One of the favorite toys in our home recently had to be retired and since it was the kids favorite- I sent out in search of another one just like it. What I found wasn't identical, and it makes crazy farm animal sounds, but it's great at entertaining my boxers! Have a look...





They get so wound up with this toy that their mama has to put it up after a couple hours to save what little is left of her sanity... And we don't dare drop this "obnoxiously noisy" toy on the ground when Daddy's here!

A Long Blogging Absence...

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I've blogged regularly! I guess I know now for sure one of the things that I am missing! In my defense, the past 2 months have held lots of changes for our household... A move to Orlando, a wedding for Lucy & Duke's Humans, and a new job for Mama! Lucy and Duke are holding up fantastically... it would seem that the adjustments are harder for their humans!
Lucy was a big help- or should I say, she was a great supervisor. She made sure that her mama packed up each and every one of her toys. Not that she helped by putting them all in one place or anything of that nature- she just made sure that they all made it into the box marked "LUCY & DUKE"!
My friend, Karen accompanied Lucy, Duke and I on the 2 day drive to Orlando. The boxers held up well- and were very understanding of their new surroundings- especially when I tossed out their favorite toy- The Babble Ball!
It's rather surprising that Lucy is the only pup that has decided the big white chair in our living room is the best place to hang out. As a matter of fact, every time Lucy hops up there and makes herself comfortable- Duke looks at her like she's not supposed to be up there! Even though our lives have changed in many ways, I can still count on Lucy and Duke to be themselves! They are just as snuggly and funny as they ever were...

And since I'm sure that you all caught that there was a wedding... Here are a few pictures from our wonderful day! It couldn't have been more perfect and we had a fabulous day!

Meet Caley! .... Caley's Story

Orlando, FL - The benign email from a shelter about a "skinny dog" did little to prepare a volunteer for one emaciated Boxer's condition.

Florida Boxer Rescue pulled Caley from the shelter where she had been housed after being picked up as a stray.

When Caley first arrived, she was crawling in fleas - so many fleas, in fact, that it took two treatments to kill them all.

The ailing Boxer was also found to be anemic (thanks in part to the blood-sucking fleas) and dehydrated.

In a word, Caley was a mess.

Technically, since Caley was just saved from the shelter, she is still a mess - though her many issues are currently being addressed at a veterinary clinic.

By tomorrow, tests which are being run on this suffering dog should reveal if Caley has an underlying problem, or if she was purposefully starved.

The Florida Boxer Rescue has set up a donation page for Caley - something to help off-set the many expenses which will be associated with saving her life.



Continue reading on Examiner.com Meet Caley, starved Boxer - National Dogs | Examiner.com