Aren't you glad you use Dial?

So Brody loves to eat!  If you a have read my blog you know that eating is his favorite.  I sometimes think his entire day revolves around when he will get his next meal..much like Keith.  If we go in the garage he follows us hoping that it might be time to eat again even if he just ate a few minutes ago.  If we go in the kitchen he just sits in there and stares at us hoping that we might drop something and he is Johnny on the spot to lick it up.
Last Tuesday morning I got into the shower in the morning and noticed that the soap was gone.  I knew we were getting to the end of the bar, and Keith takes his showers at night, but I didn't think he used the rest of it.  I grabbed another bar (I should add that we use this Dial Cranberry soap that smells really sweet).  That night Keith came home and took his shower and I noticed that after he go out Brody was standing in the shower licking the soap.  I told him to get out.  The next morning I got up to take a shower and low and behold the soap was gone!!  He must have gotten up in the middle of the night and ate the soap!!  We have decided that after this soap is all gone I will not buy Cranberry Dial anymore.  Evidently he is so food driven that he will eat anything the remotely resembles food.  And no, so far there has been no side effects!

Where has the time gone??

It's been a long time since I have blogged about Brody.  Trust me it's not due to lack of stories!  I guess I have just been busy and by the end of the day I just get tired and forget.  So here is a quick update on Brody I do have a few stories to tell but I will save those for future (I mean with in the next few days) blogs.

Brody is now 6 months old!!  He turned 6 months on Saturday July 23rd.  To celebrate his half birthday he jumped up on the counter took a large piece of cooked tri-tip, I was planning on eating it myself, which left over from Friday nights dinner and swallowed it whole.  When I saw him with his front paws on the counter I yelled at him to get down and pushed him off.  He began to choke then cough then cry.  I was worried he might "cough up" the steak so I brought him outside where he continued to whine and cry.  It really must hurt to swallow a piece of steak whole.  Eventually he stopped.  I figured this was when he finally swallowed his steak.  Later that night I dropped a piece of hot tortellini on the kitchen floor and Brody was right there to eat it up as soon as it hit the ground.  It must have burned his mouth because about 30 seconds later up came the tortellini along with his dog food and lastly the tri-tip...still whole.

Just in case you are keeping track he now weighs 52lbs. and is almost as tall as Roscoe.

He's all legs and this is how he like to rest

The Graduate

Brody's final puppy class was on June 6th.  We knew this was the day of his final exam to see if he would get his completion certificate.  We arrived at class and were told that each dog would have to perform all the commands they learned in class.  Mike, our instructor, told us we could take the dogs into the store and practice (I guess this would be like cramming before an exam) and he would call us in one by one.  Below is a video of his final, but let me preface it with this Brody gets very excited when he sees people and it takes him a little while to calm down.  When we took him into the store he did every command as we gave it.  



Surprisingly enough Brody passed.  This video might tell a different story.  He is still a work in progress and we have to constantly work with him on his commands but he is getting better. 

First Trip to the Dog Park

The little man got his rabies vaccine yesterday and he know weighs 38lbs.  The next step is to get neutered and Keith and I are debating on when to do this.  Keith says if we wait a little longer he will grow bigger and stronger.  I think he is already going to be big and strong and we don't need him any bigger.  I mean he is only 5 months old and already weighs 38 lbs.  We haven't scheduled the "de-manning" of Brody yet but it will be coming up in the near future.

On Memorial Day it was actually warm and sunny out so we decided to take the boys to the dog park here in Folsom.  I was a bit nervous because in the past Brody has been know to bark and jump at other dogs when he sees them.  I am not sure if he is saying a friendly "Hello" or if this is his attempt to assert his toughness.  In any case he needs to start socializing with other dogs so instead of putting him in doggy day care (I know it sounds ridiculous but it's good for socializing) we decided to take him to the dog park.  We took out the leashes and both dogs went ballistic!  We finally go them settled and set off on our walk.  Brody was so excited he just kept jumping up, and when he jumps it's more like a hop because he gets all four feet off the ground at once. He bites his leash and holds it in his mouth as he walks sideways down the sidewalk.  He really is not very good on the leash and in dog class we were told that when a dog pulls we have to stop the walk.  The reward for not pulling is to continue the walk.  Well that lesson has gone down the crapper because if we enforced that rule I would still be standing right in front of the house, 5 days later, where the walk started.  Half way through the walk Brody began to tire out and the walk went a little more smoothly.  Although, he did periodically jump on Roscoe and bite him in the face, but Roscoe is used to it and it didn't seem bother him too much.

When we arrived at the park we lead the boys into the fenced area and took off their leashes.  They immediately ran around and chased after each other.  There was only one other dog there, a Labradoodle.  The Labradoodle came trotting up to Brody and Roscoe and the usual sniffing occurred.  Brody was a perfect gentleman although he was a little weary of the other dog but after a few seconds they all ran around together.  At this point I took a deep breath and relaxed.  About 10 minutes later two other dogs came into the park.  I am not sure what they were.  They sort of looked like Chihuahuas but they were bigger maybe 10-15 lbs.  Brody noticing new dogs had arrived ran up to these dogs and tried to say hi but they snapped at him.  The poor baby was so scared he came running over to my crying.  In Brody's defense these dogs ran up and barked at a little kid too so I don't think it was Brody who was mean but these other dogs.  After his run in with theses bullies he stayed close by his big brother Roscoe for the rest of the time at the park.

We stayed at the park for about 20 more minutes then decided we better start the walk home before the dogs and the kids were too tired.  All in all it was a good day at the dog park, Brody did very well and if it ever stops raining we will take them back again!

What can I chew on today?

Today Brody turns 18 weeks old.  He had his final set of shots last week and he tipped the scales at 33.5lbs!!  He goes back in 2 weeks for his rabies vaccine, then in another couple months or so he will get neutered.  It's hard to believe that a handsome boy like him will never get the chance to raise little terrors of his own.  But the last thing we need in this house is a testosterone driven dog that may reach 100lbs.

Like most puppies his age he loves to chew stuff.  Thank heavens he hasn't done any major damage to anything in our house.  I think he is a bit of a hoarder.  He runs into Taylor and Katie's room and grabs something, usually and article of clothing on the ground or in the rare case that their room is clean he will jump on the bed and grab a stuffed animal.  Once he finds his treasure he bolts outta the room and into our bedroom where his bed is.  He sometimes softly chews what he found, but usually just drops it in his bed and goes to find something else until he has a nice collection going.  Occasionally, he runs into the front room and will leave his article in there.  In any case at the end of the day we have to go around and pick up everything he has moved around throughout the day and put it back where it goes.  Tomorrow is another day and he will find all news things to move around the house.  


One of his favorite things to chew on and destroy are twigs and sticks that have fallen.  This is pretty great because 1. They are free 2. We don't care if they get destroyed and 3. It seems to satisfy his need to chew.  The one itty bitty problem with this is that he likes to chew them in the house.  Since the weather has warmed we like to keep that back door open and the dogs can freely come in and out.  So Brody goes outside and finds his stick and then drags it back into the house where he continues to chew it into little pieces.  The pieces are too big to vacuum up but little enough that picking them up by hand is a chore.  Oh and they also really hurt when you step on them.  But I guess to date he hasn't caused any real damage to our house or our possessions so I can't complain too much I will just have to get on my hands and knees and pick up the twigs in my carpet. 


There are only 2 more weeks of puppy class so I will for sure give and update after graduation!

Pictures of Brody's dog family

Brody's mom and dad its very small but it's the only pic we have

Brody's mom and siblings

Just a quick story I have to share

Brody is getting so big so fast I don't think he realizes how big he is.  On Friday night I was in the bedroom folding laundry and Roscoe and Brody were running around the house chasing each other and making all sorts of noise.  Eventually, they both calmed down and Roscoe climbed in his bed and fell asleep.  About 10 minutes later I heard some whining, I recognized it as Brody's whine and looked around to see where it was coming from.  I got down on the floor pulled up the bed skirt and sure enough there he was under our bed.  I looked at him and said "what are you doing under there buddy"  He looked at me and whined and wiggled.  I quickly realized he was stuck!!  I yelled for Keith to come see.  Keith came and said "what a dummy". I had to lift up the bed and Keith had to pull the poor guy out.  He was so happy when he got out that he took a couple laps around the house and then came bolting back into the bedroom...and back under the bed!  There seems to be a pattern here with his learning curve.