The Daily Bear (well, maybe not EVERY day)

The photographer and his subject

2008-01-21T19:49:00.001-05:00

104of365, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Still his favorite place

2008-01-10T07:08:00.001-05:00

Bear1.8.08, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Since the second day he lived here, Bear has claimed the back of the couch as his perch. He's a lot more confident up there now than he was then! It's easier now to shoot his photo, since we've taught him the command "watch."

Bear Whisperer

2007-12-25T09:43:00.001-05:00

BearWhisperer2, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Bear absolutely loves my playmate Sarah. I think I shot off a dozen photos of the two of them and every single one turned out great.

Bear Napping

2007-12-05T17:32:00.001-05:00

BearNapping12.5.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

A spoiled, lazy, happy boy.

Bear Trap

2007-11-25T07:03:00.001-05:00

BearTrap, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

The guys like to trap Bear between the ottoman and the chair and watch him try to wriggle out. This is one of the many ways they play/torture him each morning before school. He loves it.

Evil Vacuum

2007-11-15T17:31:00.001-05:00

EvilVacuum11.15.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

The ears laying back. In a down position. This is Bear's way of dealing with the evil vacuum cleaner. At least he doesn't bark at it. In fact, it's about the only thing he doesn't bark at!

I Have All I Need!

2007-11-14T09:09:00.001-05:00

I Have All I Need!, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

My cozy bed. My mom's Susan G. Komen t-shirts, my flossing towel, my favorite PetStages chew toy, and my squeaky squirrel (upside down)

He goes for the throat!

2007-11-02T08:45:00.001-04:00

Bear&Don11.1.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

The Blessing of Bear

2007-10-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

BearBlessing10.7.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Just got this new photo of Bear at his blessing. Thanks for Laurie Ritter for sharing it!

Bear Ate My Homework

2007-10-26T16:32:00.001-04:00

Bearatemyhomework, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

The little handout I had from collegeboard.com that would tell me what to do each month to get Nate ready for college. And I was planning to use this to write a series for the paper.

Yeah. And see that little white fuzzy thing at the top left? That's his squeaky alligator that his Aunt Nannette gave him. And the fuzzy thing center, bottom? His squeaky squirrel that he loves. A hand-me-down toy from his Aunt Chris.

TiredBear

2007-10-23T13:03:00.001-04:00

TiredBear, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

One tired dog after frolicking in the woods for an afternoon and throw up on his mom's leg!

Doesn't Look Like a Dog That Would Eat a Hole in the Family Room Carpet

2007-10-14T15:36:00.001-04:00

Bear10.14.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Fire Dog Bear

2007-10-13T18:52:00.001-04:00

FiredogBear, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Actually, I found out the Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Department is full of "Breedists." They say Bear can't be a fire dog because he's the wrong color!

Peaceful Repose

2007-10-12T12:01:00.001-04:00

Peaceful Repose, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

or perhaps the title should be "Absolutely Spoiled."

Hey! They Say You Should Floss Every Day!

2007-10-09T06:29:00.001-04:00

Flossing, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Aunt Tambri & Bear

2007-10-08T10:21:00.001-04:00

AuntTambri, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Here is Bear and his Aunt Tambri, from whom the gravy train comes. She is the purveyor of his Vera Bradley attire and also the t-shirt he wore for a few minutes this weekend. We took Bear to the Blessing of the Animals yesterday. Hopefully we'll have a photo of that soon.

The Dog's New Clothes

2007-10-07T08:30:00.001-04:00

Bear10.6.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

They are a little tight, Mom.

Aunt Tambri bought Bear this great t-shirt to wear to the Blessing of the Animals this afternoon. But it's a little tight. He can't move his legs freely.

He refused to pose for this shot. He just wants it OFF!

Don't Fence Me In!

2007-10-05T16:46:00.001-04:00

dontfenceme in, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Like Candy

2007-10-04T07:56:00.001-04:00

Bear10.3.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

He loves these rawhide chews. It takes him only about 10 minutes to eat each one. I like to use them to distract him from his paw after I put medication on it. (He's got a bare spot on his left paw)

9# 2 oz at yesterday's puppy visit! We've had him a month now and he's grown 2.5 pounds. And he got his first jewelry...his rabies tag. So he's all good until the snipping in December.

A Noble Puppy

2007-10-03T08:23:00.001-04:00

Bear10.2.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

I think Bear will grow to be a noble dog. I see definite muttly royalty here.

Line 'em Up

2007-10-02T08:17:00.001-04:00

Bear9.28.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

I found his toys lined up like this the other day.

Combless

2007-09-27T07:07:00.001-04:00

combless, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

The chewies have set in with a vengeance. This 25-year old doorstop was the first victim.

The Yoga Master

2007-09-26T07:37:00.001-04:00

Twist, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

He has not named this supine spinal twist pose yet.

Fashion Statement

2007-09-25T07:58:00.001-04:00

Bear9.20.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

What? Yes. It is Vera Bradley. Thank you for asking! And yes, I am manly enough to wear pink!

Well, You'd Better Just Stay Out There

2007-09-23T20:57:00.001-04:00

Bear9.19.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

We have a mockingbird that lives in one of the trees in our front yard. I hate him. Bear does too.

I think Bear looks ready to beat the thing about the head with his trusty crunchy toy.

Coke Head

2007-09-18T12:32:00.001-04:00

Wild Boy

2007-09-17T07:53:00.000-04:00

Looking less like a puppy and more like a dog, I'm thinkin'

Bear in Motion

2007-09-14T21:39:00.001-04:00

Favorite Toy

2007-09-14T06:18:00.001-04:00

Bear9.13.07, originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

This is Bear's absolute favorite toy...the brightly colored one he's holding here. There are a few others he really likes, so we torture him periodically by poking him with one while he is playing with another.

Working

2007-09-12T07:37:00.000-04:00

This is where he hangs out while I'm working.

Yesterday we had several successful notifications of the need to go outside. Of course, there was a series of them right at suppertime...something like 5 requests in 45 minutes. He did actually go potty every time, though. I know that he will start doing that just to get out, but for now it seems like I need to respond each and every time just to reinforce. I also need to figure out something soon to involve sound. He's just too quiet about the notices and we miss it sometimes. Soya was like that. Actually, she did not go to the door. She would come sit and stare at you. If you were sleeping? Too bad. She'd just sit there. About a foot from your face. For as long as it took. It made for some startling wake-ups.

We also had an accident. Again while everyone was home. So the human training continues.

I'll try to do a video sometime of him playing. He has two favorite toys and it's a real trip to mess with his mind and offer him one while he's playing with another.

On Top of the World

2007-09-11T07:12:00.000-04:00

Bear frequently jumps on top of the back of the couch when he wants to see what I'm doing in the kitchen. I think he'd probably land pretty hard if he tried to jump down from there. So far he hasn't. If you look closely, you can see that he does sort of look a little worried.

Puppy Love

2007-09-10T08:17:00.000-04:00

I submitted this for D40 Challenge this week. The challenge was "Love."

Contemplation

2007-09-09T09:06:00.000-04:00

His First Boutique Shot

2007-09-08T08:58:00.000-04:00

I think this is my favorite shot yet. Although today Taylor and I went to PetSmart to get a couple of behavior books and a couple more toys (and toothpaste...$68 for 5 items! What a racket!) and Taylor has been reading the Jack Russell Terrier book and said "if we let him chew on his leash at all, this book says we are DOOMED!"

So we'll try to train him away from that.

We have been reading about distraction. I bought "Dog Training for Dummies" and it talks about not using the word "NO!" at all. I'm not sure if I can do that. A sharply uttered "NO!" can go a long way, in my book. But distraction is definitely the thing to do.

Bear is waking up and getting more comfortable now and is starting to romp and play more. This means more of the mouthy stuff that puppies like to do. So we are accumulating a lot of toys to have around and when he does this with his mouth, we distract him with toys.

The house training is coming along. He actually told me he wanted to go outside yesterday. He went to the door and tapped it with his paw. I'd like to put a little bell down there about his height on the wall and have him smack it when he wants to go out. Mensa Boy mentioned a miniature chime. That would be cool. If we can keep Bear from biting either of those items. That behavior may need to come later.

In the meantime, I am relying heavily on my friend Sarah for puppy advice. She has a golden retriever puppy she is training and I can tell she's quite adept. Sarah. The puppy is coming along, too.

I'm glad Bear is small.

Day Two: Still a little wary

2007-09-07T08:51:00.000-04:00

We are definitely still in the honeymoon phase with Bear. He sticks to me like glue. Gets bothered if he can't see what I'm doing. Which is good, since he's not house trained. It's easy to keep him in my sight all the time because, well, he's right under me all the time.

I took him to the high school this morning. It's a 6 minute drive. I want him to be trained to ride in the car. I don't think he's going to have trouble, though. Wednesday he rode pretty much all afternoon in the car as we went from Lancaster back to school to pick up the guys and then on up to the vet to be de-loused. And then the ride home. He did throw up in the car, but he'd been there for about 90 minutes, riding around before he did that. It was easy for me to forgive him, too. He's a puppy.

Besides. It wasn't my car. It was Nate's!

So anyway, he went with me to school to get Nate's parking permit for his car. He charmed the socks off the principal and a staff member. And did not cry in the car. Crying is not tolerated. I'm glad I'm able to take him around with me. My parent's dog cries in the car, which really adds a lot of stress to trips. If this dog is going to travel with us and go on outings, he needs to be portable.

Introducing: Bear

2007-09-06T08:22:00.000-04:00

This is Bear, our new pound puppy. He is 13 weeks old. Taylor has chosen his birthdate: June 2, 2007.

He's part Jack Russell, we are pretty sure, and we don't know what else. Lately I've been wondering maybe dachsund.

On this blog I hope to chronicle his membership in our family and also work on my photography skills. Puppies are hard to shoot! They never stop moving! I can set my shutter speed to very high, but then it's too dark. I need to do me some book learnin' on that topic.

But. Bear. Out of laziness, I'll just copy his story from the other blog, "No Food Left Behind:"

"We've been kind of murmuring about a dog for most of the summer. Many of you know that we lost our beloved Soya 3 years ago. At the time, Taylor was about 9 or 10. He said, "I don't ever want to get another dog because then they die."

Just in the last few months he's been mentioning a dog. Mensa Boy has not been a big fan, but said he wouldn't stand in our way. Nate has been supportive, but not really pushing it.

Taylor and Soya were pretty close. She was mostly my dog, but she always spent a lot of time sleeping next to Taylor as he watched TV or played video games. He would talk in her ears.

Nate will be graduating from high school next spring and going off to college and that will leave Taylor here as the only kid. Also, our carpets are in bad shape and need to be replaced.

So it seemed like no time like the present to house train a puppy.

Bear was owned by a family in Chester who tried to surrender him to the Lancaster Animal Shelter. They would not take him because there are so many surrendered, found, or taken every day that they can't also take animals from other counties. The woman sounded like she didn't want to go "all the way" to the Chester pound. So B.J, a volunteer, said she'd foster him.

He's about 13 weeks old, according to the vet. (note to self: have Taylor pick a birthday)

He's very cuddly and for the first two days he was quiet and slept a lot. He was also crawling with fleas, which we had killed before we even let him in the house. We took him the local vet and they gave him a magic pill that killed them all in about 30 minutes. I just gave him another pill today and put on some Topspot. We also had him tested for a skin condition, which he passed, but we have another culture working for ringworm. He's got a spot on his front leg that he's been chewing on.

Buddy Sarah loaned us two Kennel Cabs, one he just fits in now, and another he can grow into. He's very good about it. We let him out, tell him he's going to bed, and he sleeps all night. Hasn't said a word for 2 nights. Each morning he goes straight outside from there. I suspect we are in the honeymoon phase with that.

He's not a great eater. In fact, I suspect all the food he's getting right now is what I put in his little Kong. So I put puppy food in there rather than treats. His foster home fed him scrambled eggs for breakfast. At my house, dogs eat dog food. So he's going to have to get over this pickiness. NO ONE is allowed to be a picky eater.

His personality is starting to come out now, and I suspect we will be referring to him as "the terrorist" soon. Tomorrow I'll have to take Taylor to a bookstore to find a training book. We'll need to keep a firm hand on this one. We do, after all, suspect that he's mostly Jack Russell Terrier.

My circle of buds have been teasing me now, saying they want to get me a pooch purse. A big, flowered, pooch purse. HA. They are soooooo funnnnny!

My assessment of this whole thing is now I've given my adversaries (and believe me, there are adversaries with this library thing) a pretty good response when I tangle with them:

"I'll get you, my pretty! And your little dog too!""