Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Musings from Mr. B

Our Wednesday's posts on our daily walks in 10 pictures will resume once the weather warms up. It has just been too cold for A and even the pooches to be out long enough to leave our neighborhood. While waiting for the State of the Union address, I decided to write about our future from my past. This weekend we are expecting a new bed frame, which is going to replace the metal bed frame with casters I  had my whole life. It is strange how the pooches influence all of our purchases, including our new bed frame. So I decided to write ourselves a few reminders of how to live with dogs.
Forget the furniture. Well, buy furniture that we are not afraid to get dirty (which is why our new bed frame is gray and not white), but remember that any furniture, like our white sofa, can be cleaned. After some time, we found our white bed skirt to be dark brown from the pooches rubbing on them and our white sofa also to have the same dark brown on some spots. We almost went with a white cloth for our new bedframe and headboard, but quickly changed to the dark gray because it will hide the stains better. However, we found a place that will clean our white sofa for cheap, so I guess it is possible to have white with dogs.
Forget the floors. When I first moved in, I would stress out over every little scratch on the hardwood floors, then came Mr. B. Mr. B does not know the meaning of slow or walk, but lucky for us a friend of ours just had her floors refinished and stained for a reasonable price.
Not only have a strong stomach, but a weak nose and dark colored rugs. A number of times, we have woken up to find puke and/or diarrhea all over our bedroom. Lucky for me, A has a strong stomach and not a great sense of smell, so she is willing to do the cleanup. We would spend hours trying to remove the stain from the rug using Nature's Miracle and our rug cleaner, but we wisened up and just bought a brown rug for our front room and replaced the carpet in our bedroom with hardwood. Though the accidents have decreased, it is nice that we don't have to worry about visible stains and cleanup in the bedroom is a lot easier.
Establish rules. When A and I started hanging out, I would let Ms. M on the sofa and bed with me whenever they came over. When A officially moved in, she established the same rules she had at her place and wouldn't let Ms. M snuggle with me on the sofa and bed anymore. Though I was upset at first, it really made our life easier. Not only was there a lot less to clean from Ms. M's butt stamping our cushions and sheets, but we didn't have to worry about our food. At my place, Ms. M would counter surf, but once A established the rules, Ms. M realized her boundaries and now we can leave food out on our counter.
Crate train...or tepee train. Giving the pooches a home base, gives us a place to send the pooches when we want our space.
Be a heavy sleeper...especially with Ms. M. She snores all the time and lucky for me, I can sleep through almost anything, except through Mr. B's smelly toots.
Beware of pit bulls. They will follow you everywhere, try to give you smooches and wait to get petted. They are loyal, gentle, adorable and lovable and it will make you want to start a blog.
Love...how lucky are we to receive such unconditional love...

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dogs are the greatest! I am always amazed at how much we can learn from them.

Anonymous said...

Your last two paragraphs - ain't it the truth!

Unknown said...

Great advice :)

Brenda said...

I too have experienced "dogs on the couches/beds" and then not, and while I resisted the "not" at first, like you - I've been won over to this way of thinking. It IS easier. Especially when you live with BIG dogs. :) I love that last photo. Wonderful.

Mia said...

lol!!! are you sure this post wasn't about pugs instead of pits?!?!? the two sound very much alike!!! Great post and great advice!!

Jess & Lilo

The Heartbeats said...

AMEN to the hardwood floors! Our HUGE couch is from Big Lots (My grandmother would roll over if she knew.) Crates encompass our den, also it's easier to let dog slobber dry and then scratch it off. I said this matter of factly one day and my co-worker looked at me like I had 3 heads. Oh well. My dogs are more fun than my co-worker!

Anonymous said...

Your use of "butt stamping" and "smelly toots" have made my day!

Anonymous said...

gosh, mr b is becoming such a sage figure. i wonder if, soon, he will open a business, offering life advice to people and dogs who feel that they are on a wayward path?

aleksandra
follow our foster: loveandaleash.wordpress.com

Corbin said...

I have a shirt from Pitbulls.org that has a similar Beware of Pitbulls warning :o) We've definitely made some adjustments to the things we bring into the house and where we put them, since Corbin joined our family :o)
-Corbin

Slomack said...

Are "butt stamps" common to pitties? We have a pit mix (our first ever...disguised as a "boxer/lab" mix in the adoption literature...LOL), and I notice that when she sits a certain way, she does indeed leave, uh, a mark. We've learned to put a top sheet over our comforter (easier to just throw that in the wash), but wondering if others experience this as well?

Kari in Alaska said...

My favorite part of our current apartment is that it is mostly tile (some hardwood in the bedroom). No scratches or stains

Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

Anonymous said...

Luckily, our dog has never had diarrhea in the house, but in her advanced age, she seems to have developed some issues with reflux. Even though we are giving her medicine at bedtime, there are many early mornings when her stomach is rumbling and she will throw up. Thankfully, she usually walks off the rug onto the hardwood to do it, and her hacking always wakes us up anyway (I'm the lightest sleeper ever).

So true - there's nothing like the unconditional love and devotion of dogs! It makes dealing with floor scratches and dirty furniture worthwhile :)

orange sugar said...

I have no idea what a butt stamp is and I have a feeling I don't want to know.

Princess said...

"Beware of pit bulls. They will follow you everywhere, try to give you smooches and wait to get petted. They are loyal, gentle, adorable and lovable and it will make you want to start a blog."

Couldn't have said it better myself!!

Unknown said...

I love how real this post is. Great job. I live with two dirty, stinky, snoring Bostons myself and wouldn't have it any other way. :)

EGG said...

I hear ya Im so glad I got a brown couch before we even had dogs cuz they love to walk under the armrest and scratch their back on it and of course they lay all over it (ever see a 15 foot long L shaped couch hogged up by 3 dogs and a cat it is a site to see) and I cant wait to be able to replace my carpet with pergo or those cool tiles that look like hardwood. And yes I cant tell you how many times a day I will stop and get a nose bump in the butt because someone is following a little to close and cooking is a challenge with all 3 dogs wanting to lay all over the kitchen floor (only when you are cooking of course) but they do work out well as clean-up crew and its a great way to figure out what veggies/fruit they like (broccoli a fav who would have thunk it)

Two French Bulldogs said...

Oh my so true. Us kids infuence purrrty much all decisions
Benny & Lily

Shauna (Fido and Wino) said...

Awwww- that was nice :)

Kitty+Coco said...

Amen Amen on the hardwood. We took up the carpet in our bedroom also and were HORRIFIED at the nastiness underneath. Best money we have ever spent.
Kitty is also a fan of the follow/lick/pet me routine.
I love sweet Mr. B!

Maggie said...

What a great post!! So true. Although, I'm working to be as enlightened as you are: I have to remind myself over and over (and over and over...) not to worry about all the scratches in our wood floors!

Anonymous said...

My mom said that when they went to buy new carpet, they tried to get the best match to cat puke. Heehee! My mom also said that all pets from now on are either gonna be light or dark. NOT both. That way she'll know what color clothes to buy. Oh, and between you and me - I think scratches give hardwood floors character!

Wiggles & Wags,
mayzie

houndstooth said...

I have to agree, they are the greatest! It's worth rearranging things in your life for, for sure!

Martine said...

The best thing we have done with these little dogs and crate train them!

Our quilt on our bed is white... I'm constantly washing it. It's amazing the thing hasn't fallen apart! I don't think our next bed set will be all white!

jet said...

Our carpet was bad when we moved in and now it is positively disgusting. The problem is priorities - travel in Europe or replace with hardwood flooring? :P

ForPetsSake said...

Beautifully written. There's quite a few things we put up with re: living with our girls, but I'd never give it up ;)

jen said...

Over the years our house has been reformed to anything that hides slobber and dog hair the most!
We have laminate floors with rugs in every room except for 2, those are coming soon:)

the booker man said...

this post made me smile.
i was just rug shopping at lunch today and trying to find that perfect color to camouflage asa and booker's fur, dirt, etc. good thing i like shades of brown because that's the best color for my house.
your last paragraph about pitties following you everywhere, giving you smoochies, and waiting to get petted is so true. i'm so glad i have a pittie! :)))

the booker man and asa's mama

Road Dog Tales said...

You are so right!!! Hmm, except the part about staying off the sofa & bed - we have to bend that rule here :)

The Road Dogs

Daisy Dog said...

What a great post! I feel the same way, but I let Daisy on one of the chairs and Roscoe well, he is on anything.

Megan {The Brick Bungalow} said...

I just found your blog and I LOVE that you are trying to get the good word out about Pits! They are incredibly sweet and loving pets. I have a dog that is maybe a part pit (although I've known others too) and she's exactly like you say - she will follow you and beg for kisses. Good luck with Shy! I wish I could adopt her or help out but I just can't right now. I'll try to spread the word though!

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