Heaven Baby, Pure Heaven

Leaving for the lake couldn't come fast enough for Brutus today. He seemed to know as soon as I got in the shower that it was going to be a great day. I needed to run to PetSmart, so I didn't even bother packing my stuff for the lake in the car before running errands, because I knew Brutus wouldn't understand. As soon as I put a suit case of any sort in the car, it's time to hit the road.

Brutus and Kiera "Mousing" in the Heat

As soon as we got to the lake, Brutus was out of the car and gone. He was down at the wood pile seeing if his chipmunk "friends" were still around, and then checking out the lake. If either Don or I went anywhere near the car, he would panic. He seems to know that Friday means mom and dad meet their friends for dinner and leave him in the house. Dogs are so incredibly smart. It just amazes me that he can figure out that on the day we get to the lake, there is a very good chance that we will lock him in the house and leave for a few hours. Kind of on the same level as Brutus heading out to the garage to wait for dad to get home from work in the afternoon. He seems to have this sense of what time it is, and he scratches at the door to get out. I don't even have to leash him anymore. He goes out in the garage, I open the door, and he lays there and waits to greet Don when he drives in to the drive way. It's precious, every single day.

I just didn't have the heart to put him in the house tonight. He had been so miserable in the city this week. It was way too hot to go walking, so he had pretty much been in the house the whole week. I decided I would stay home so he could be outside and play. I suggested to Don that we skip going out for dinner and just have some cheese, crackers and a cocktail down by the lake instead. It turned out to be perfect. Brutus's girlfriend Kiera just happened to be outside with her mom Catherine, so Kiera got to come over and play for a couple hours, and Catherine came over and relaxed with us. It was wonderful all the way around.

Brutus's Girlfriend Kiera

The dogs, especially Brutus, played in the wood pile, knocking several pieces of wood over, but it was completely worth it. At one point Brutus caught a mouse and decided to take it swimming. It had already passed away, but he played with it in the water until it sunk. Then he couldn't figure out where it had gone. Brutus's friend Kiera is afraid to go in the lake, so she was jumping all over furiously trying to get him to come back out of the lake. It was hot outside, and I walked Kiera down to the lake to try to get her to go in, but she just wouldn't do it. She is an American Bulldog with very thin fur, but she was getting way overheated from playing so hard, so about 8:00 her mom took her home to cool down, and Brutus went up the hill for an outdoor bath with the hose. I absolutely love having hot water outside the house so we can bathe Brutus (thank you Bob!!).

Don headed out to play pool with his buddies, and Brutus and I cozied in to the house. Unfortunately, I wasn't good enough. Brute still had a couple tantrums, and threw all of the pillows off of my sofas. He isn't allowed to touch them, so he was being really naughty, and ended up getting himself locked in the bedroom with me. Finally he settled down and dozed off. He LOVES his daddy, and I guess he wanted him here. There's just so much we can give in to his wants! lol!! After all, I think we are in charge??

Have a great weekend everyone.

Can Anyone Say POUT???

Holy bow wow Batman. Brutus went from being let out the front door to play all day at the lake, to being stuck in the house in the Cities, and he isn't a happy camper. Putting it mildly, huh!! Not only are we having a record breaking heat wave, but he just doesn't have the freedom in the city that he does at the lake. We have spent more time working with him on his boundaries at the lake, mostly because we're more relaxed at the lake and spend a lot more time outside. And, we want him to be able to swim and play. In the city, those boundaries are a LOT more clear to the neighbors, and watched. Sometimes right through a great big glass window!

Yesterday morning I let Brutus outside to go to the bathroom, and I didn't put him on his outdoor tie. I don't trust him if I'm in the house (and it isn't legal to have him unleashed), but I was standing in the doorway of our screened in porch watching him. He was tooling all over the yard looking for a place to do his business, and just wasn't finding one to his satisfaction. We hadn't been here for the last three weeks, so he was out of his usual habit of peeing on the pine tree and then backtracking to poo on the hill. So after looking around for about five minutes he took off for the neighbor's yard. I was still in my pajamas, so I didn't go running after him, but was definitely yelling for him to come back home. He found a lovely spot to poop right in front of the neighbor's big family room window, and I could see them in their family room watching the morning news. Ugh. Way to go Brute!! Time to put on a bra and grab a plastic bag. So of course, the minute I get half way across the lawn to pick up his poop, still in my jammies (looking like hell), my adorable neighbor comes outside to let her teeny tiny poodle outside to go potty. I immediately start apologizing, and she says "Sheri, what are you doing here?" Are you kidding me? You didn't just see that 90 lb. lab pooping in front of your window??? I wanted to die. I pointed to the ground and said "that's why I'm over here". She started laughing, and thanked me for coming over to pick it up, but they honestly hadn't even noticed him. I guess I'm not the only person who is still sleepy in the morning. We had a nice visit anyway, and caught up on each other's kids. It would have been even nicer if it was ten hours later and we had a glass of wine in our hands!! Oh well. I picked up my "little" Brutus present and headed back home. Brutus was waiting patiently in the porch, as if to say "where have you been mom, it's hotter than blazes out here". It was 8:00 in the morning, and already 96 degrees. So yucky!

Tomorrow he gets to go back to the lake. I haven't even dared to tell him, or he would be down by the front door waiting to get in the car. He has learned the meaning of "lake", "boat ride", "go for a ride", and "w..a..l..k". Yes, he's learned how to spell. He had learned the meaning of "walk", so we started spelling it, just in case we couldn't actually follow through with our word, and now the little goober has learned how to spell. Time to Google synonyms!!

And time to turn this frown upside down. :D

Busy Busy Busy Boy!!

Wow, where does the time go. I was talking with my Father in-law this weekend about my Brutus Blog, and he mentioned that I don't write updates nearly as often as I used to. I told him that I tried to update about once a week, but he pointed out that I hadn't written an update since the end of June. He wasn't kidding. Summer time hits, and the company arrives, and we just get busy. So, it's time for a Brutus update. Brutus is definitely a summer boy, and he would spend every single minute at the lake if he could. Whenever we go back to the city, he pouts, and will stand by the car door and beg to get back in to the car, as if getting in the car will magically take him back to the lake. At least we know he's kind of smart!

He love love loves to chase after chipmunks. Thankfully, this summer he doesn't seem to be killing them. Last summer he wasn't trained to stay in our yard yet, so he was on a long leash outside. Somehow, he managed to catch little chippies all of the time. It made me nuts, because he would bring them to me and drop them at my feet and kind of pat them, wondering why they wouldn't play anymore. Obviously, they couldn't!! This summer he's a "big boy", and for the most part stays very close to our yard's boundaries. We're so proud of him. It took a little over a year of training, but he finally "got it". It was so important to us that he be trained to know his boundaries so he could run and play and swim, and honestly, be free. Coming from the horrible situation that he did, we wanted him to be able to enjoy his life to the fullest, while still being safe. He runs up and down the hill, swims in the lake, chases critters, gets overheated and comes up to sit in his little purple pool, and then does it all over again. It melts my heart every time. We're on year number two for the purple pool, and I'm going to be sad when it wears

out. It's getting in pretty rough shape from him jumping in with his rough nails, so I'm afraid this summer is going to be it. I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for another one next Spring, much to my husband's dismay!! It isn't quite manly enough for Don's taste. lol!





Brute's other big love is boating. He loves to ride on the pontoon, and if Don is going out fishing, Brutus ALWAYS goes along. Don made the mistake of leaving without him this last Saturday, and Brutus pouted big time. On Sunday, Don couldn't go anywhere without Brutus shadowing him. There was no way that that was ever going to happen again!!

Waiting to Get On The Boat

Bringing Dad The Buoy....Um Yeah..lol!!

The Best Seat In The Boat!!

 The Other awesome thing that Brutus has learned to do is to take treats from someone very gently. When we first adopted Brutus, he would practically take your hand off if you offered him a treat. Now he will take the treat slowly with his little teeth, and your fingers will remain intact. Grandpa was giving him some treats on our boat ride. He and Grandpa got along really well. Grandpa likes treats almost as much as Brutus does, so they did a good job of sharing. :D

Thank You Grandpa!!

So, that's what Brutus has been up to the last few weeks. Mainly just loving life, and doing a good job of being as spoiled and loved as he possibly can. Life is good. :D