The First Annual Peanut Butter Bath

Today Sammy was a little more cheerful than yesterday, and certainly the day before! Sammy has the After Christmas Blues, and it looked like he was gonna be normal happy Sammy today. I had to go and mess all that up!
As discussed before, Sammy likes the tree water. He loves the tree water. He is ever so careful about it, so it really isn't a big deal. I just had to make sure to water the tree every single day. The only problem with the tree water, is the tree retaliated with dripping sap all over my pup! Our tree, in our itsy bitsy apartment, is skinny so luckily it really only dripped on his little head and those giant ears! I gave him his normal baths during the season, but did you know how sap is shampoo resistant! Even after multiple baths!
After research (google-ing 'remove tree sap from fur') I got the answer as peanut butter. This didn't sound like fun, so I decided to just wait until after Christmas, because he is bound to just get more in his fur! So today was the day. Our tree is almost dead so it shouldn't cause anymore problems to his fur.
It was the first, I'm sure not the last, in fact I assume ever year we have a real tree, he will have an annual peanut butter bath to end the holiday season. I don't know if anyone reading this has ever done a peanut butter bath with their dog, but it's really less fun than it sounds. And, it doesn't sound fun at all. We went into the bathroom and we did the first part of our weekly bath routine. Clean the ears and brush the teeth. Then as the water was filling, I pulled out the peanut butter. Sammy was excited  because he loves peanut butter, but it faded as it was put on his head and not his tounge. Don't worry, I gave him some, too.
What I found out in the bath was that I put too much on! Either it was too clumped on his head or I didn't knead it into his fun enough, either way, it did wonders on his fur, it was just horrible to get out! He is walking around with a residue in his fur right now. He didn't enjoy me playing with his ear trying to get the peanut butter out. We were in the bath for 45 minutes! He was not having fun, and honestly neither was I. But it worked! It's nice to not have weird dark clumpy, sticky mats on his head!
He was a very good sport about it. It was hard for him, but overall he did very well. So he got ice cream for his troubles. And he pranced around after his bath to show off how handsome he is!

The After Christmas Blues

Sammy love, love, LOVED Christmas. Or this Christmas anyway. It was his first Christmas! We started by leaving for Axtell on Tuesday, December 22nd. Not much of a highlight for the Samster. All night Monday and into the morning on Tuesday Erik and I were trying to finish our handmade gifts that we procrastinated about. And now I can say what they were! They were handmade snowglobes. Very fun...when finished. So we were up all night then got up early on Tuesday to fill them with water before hitting the road. We wanted to be out of Omaha by 2 so we would miss the incoming snow. Well, when we woke up, the acryllic gel that we mixed with paints and painted really cool bottoms, all peeled up. They were in fact water resistant, but if just one droplet of water can get underneath, that's all it needed to peel right up. That left us in a bind. We then tried to pull something together to gorilla glue and silicon adhesive the figurines back on and get drying before leaving. And....we hadn't even packed yet! Sammy saw us losing it! Then we had to pack ALL of our supplies, all the presents, our clothes and shoes plus nice clothes for 2 days worth of Christmases, Christmas movies, wrapping paper now, his food, treats, toys and christmas sweater, his kennel, and all the Christmas presents for my Christmas we were going to hit coming back into town. Yep, he didn't like seeing almost all of our belongings getting trucked outside. After a little bit he was on my heels, then he jumped on my legs while I was walking and if I stopped. When I sat to pack things into suitcases, he jumped on my lap and licked my hands and arms. He was very worried.

Once we got in the car though, he was A-Ok.  Sammy figured this had to be some kind of great adventure. It was, it was Christmas! We got out just in the nick of time. By the time we were on the highway going to Axtell from Kearny, we couldn't even see the trees along the roads because of the blowing snow. It was not a fun last hour. Sammy was a bit worried as well. He likes to look out the window, but he couldn't see a thing. Plus, he got to hear lots of happiness from the driver's seat! However, once we finally made it to the house, he bounded out knowing exactly where we were! The family dog, who is very chosey and anti-social loves Sammy and walked right past up to look for Sammy! They began playing right away!

They didn't stop until, not the next day, but the following, Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve, the weather took a much less fun turn. That's when the real blizzard decided to come. Erik's sister and her fiancee were on the road that day. We were very nervous for them. But they made it! Sammy enjoyed opening presents. Not for any presents, no...because Sneezy, the kitty, would get behind paper and into boxes and Sammy would try to find him! They really do like each other, we learned. After everyone else had gone to bed, we jumped on the computer to check the weather and those two laid down right next to each other calm as can be! They were both too tired to play, and they knew it! It was a very sweet, temporary moment. The weather told us, we weren't leaving on Christmas Day. My family Christmas has been postponed until January 2nd anyway. It's a good thing we got clothes for Christmas, we didn't have room for any extra! This meant more playtime for Sammy and Shithhead (I've decided to try a double H, so I don't feel as bad about her name). Sammy, unlike Shithhead, was beyond excited about the blizzard. He begged to go outside. Sammy might be at a foot tall now, but the snow drifts we many times that. He didn't mind a bit! The wind was whipping upwards of 40-50 mph. Didn't phase him for a second. It was nice to be out there where we could just open the door and let the crazy one go out and run around to his hearts content. He found the biggest snow drifts and just bulldozed right through! Erik's parents live in what looks like the classic farm house. They have a nice two story house with a few other buildings scattered around their "yard" (I don't know if that's what it's called in the country). They have a nice tree line around their property, a huge flower bed and a small vegetable garden. Their house is positioned on a dirt road surrounded by fields (I think all corn??). This meant we were target A for the snow! No matter where the snow fell, it was going to be blown on the surrounding corn fields into the property to build up and drift along trees, fences, garages...you name it. It was quite a sight to see, actually. We actually went out in it! We went to see Avatar in Kearny and on the drive home, the wind had made a wonderfully large drift on the road where we were stuck. The three boys took to their pushing and shoveling positions. Us girls all got out to relieve some of the weight. Once we got out, I couldn't see anything. The wind was so strong their, if it wasn't for being planted in the snow, I would have blown away! Once we got out of that wind stream, we just decided to walk the rest of the way. It wasn't very far. Somewhere between a half mile and mile. But, we could kind of see the lights to the house through the blowing snow, and I kept thinking of my Sammy in his little kennel upstairs, all alone! So I went to! We walked right into the wind for the last leg of it! I couldn't get my hat on! I had to just cover my face with my hands. It was one of the most amazing sites I had ever seen though. It looked just like movies and all the hollywood stuff. Just perfect! Once I turned into the driveway, those boys got the darn truck un-stuck though. Oh well, I still beat them. I sprinted up the stairs to get my little Sammy. I pulled him out and then I shuddered at the thought of going back out. It didn't even seem to phase the little guy. Well, that's probably because the house was well guarded at this point by the ever-building snow drifts! After almost 10 minutes, we had to drag the little snow pup in, unwillingly. The day after Christmas we got up ready to get going. The interstates were still closed for chunks of our drives. So, I took Sammy out to play in the snow. I didn't get too many photos of us playing in the snow, because I was having too much fun, but I did get some of the snow. And since there wasn't much to do, I edited them and put them in black and white! What I learned from this adventure, is that Sammy has an advantage only being 30 lbs! He didn't sink as much as I did, so sometimes he could get further than me!

The blizzard was done where we were, but it was still snowing back home, so the roads were far from clear. That's ok, Sammy and I had lots of fun in the snow! Then he was able to play with his buddies again!

At the end of the day, the roads were open. That meant we were going to get to go home! Yay. We tag teamed it with Erik's sister and her fiancee, who also live in Omaha. Their were tons and tons of cars on the side of the road. Plenty of ice on the road made it so more cars were ending in the ditches.

When we got home, we had to just park and then had to pull out the shovel. Erik shoveled a spot for his car so we could just back it along the "yard" for our apartment. He shoveled a little path and shoveled our porch so we could just unload our stuff through our door rather than up the stairs to the building, up the stairs into the building and down the stairs to first floor! While he did that, I had to clean up our snowglobe mess so we could set it down. Then he shoveled a spot for my car and shoveled out my car while I unloaded our million and fifty two things! Sammy was on his rope the whole time, wondering why we had to resort to these stupid leashes and collars again!

Once we got in and settled he crashed. He slept the rest of the day and night. He got up the next day and just looked as sad as can be that he doesn't have his buddies to play with. And he doesn't have a big yard with endless possibilities. Poor dog. He just looked sad. It was such a let down for him to come home.

Sammy's sad puppy eyes: (He didn't even want a yummy bone!)

Backyard Adventure

Yesterday Sammy, Erik and I went to our friends, Sara, David, Izzy and Grant's house to celebrate Christmas a little. We will be leaving town tomorrow and won't return until late on Christmas day, so we wanted to spend some time with them before Christmas. They have a nice yard for Sammy and Grant to play in. Grant is a minature schnauzer about 2 months older than Sammy. Sammy also loves getting to see Izzy, Sara and David's 15 month-old daughter. He loves kids!
We took gifts and sent the dogs out to the yard while the gift opening was going on. Especially for Izzy, she has enough trouble standing while those two run around like crazy dogs. It made us really jealous of their yard, let me tell you! We still have some snow around and it was really funny to watch Sammy bulldoze right through as Grant hopped in his trail. Corgi's have two layers of fur, so Sammy wasn't feeling too much of the cold and wetness like Grant was. When they came in, Grant was shivering and shaking and dripping wet. It didn't slow him down. They have so much fun together. Poor little Sammy is so short compared to Grant that at times Grant just stood over him! Sammy didn't give up, he just pulled Grant down by his beard!!
Izzy likes Sammy as well. She would pet him (more like a pat on the head) and I swear Sammy's smile couldn't get any bigger.
Here's some pictures of their backyard adventures:

When we came home, Sammy was good and tired! We had to finish up with our Christmas gifts. This year we are making them, and I can't say what "them" is just so nothing gets leaked. I took this picture of Sammy on his tippy-paw trying to get a bone from the bottom of his toy box!

Better?

Over the last couple days we have come to a startling discovery. Not only does Sammy not know his own name, but apparently he believes his name is Better. Yep.
Ever since we got him, we have had a hard time getting him to respond to Sammy, other than when he is just curious as to what we are saying. He likes to watch people talk and try to figure out what is going on, so he generally looks when you say "Sammy," but only if he isn't too busy. Sammy knows his full name, Samerson Wegener and more importantly knows that means he is in trouble. He doesn't know many words, I'll give you that, but his name? Surely over the past four and a half months we have had him, he would know his name! Anyway, by some weird chance Erik said better and his popped right up!  Like my dog, Max, growing up would jump to "Max."
We have tested it since then, and now I truly think that he is "Better." Sometimes I think that he is just messing with us, and he is just smarter than all of us. Perhaps he gets a kick out of it. But then, more times than not, now I'm not sure what to think. Anyway, I took a short little video while he was chowing down on his candy cane. (This is not the orginal candy cane, this is a new one. He takes rawhides down pretty fast.)

Christmas Present Practice

After all the nice things I have said about Sammy, only tearing up or chewing things that aren't a big deal (paper notes) and never messing with things he shouldn't. Like he had a special sense about what would be too far, like my shoes! Like the time he pulled each peice of gum out of a gum packet and set it around the room, but never chewed any (that I can tell) or hurt anything. It was just a reminder that he was lonely and so I had to pick up gum for going to class. Or the fact that he just drinks the tree water. He has sniffed the tree itself, but never any more. I believe that it because he has this sense that it is very big on the naughty list, that his mom loves Christmas and needs the tree to be pretty! He chews bones on top of my flip flops and (faux) berkingstocks almost in a way to remind me he is a good dog and knows his limits, and that I need to always remember that. He doesn't attack any hanging decorations for any holiday, no electronics, doesn't chew on any furniture, nothing. A very well mannered pup. He is very responsible while we are gone, which is why he has never been kennel trained at home.
Well, maybe it was the last blog where I talked about how he wasn't a "normal" dog for not attacking the bones on the tree. Or that when he did get a human candy cane, he didn't even eat it, but got it stuck in his rear end. Now I have meant all these things as compliments. In our house, weird and weirdo are (98% of the time) compliments. Weird is usually a different way of saying unique, proud individual around here. Maybe I need to sit Sammy down to explain that to him. Anyway, with no further ado I present Sammy's mischevious side. Here is what I came home to yesterday:  (it's cell phone photos, all I had at my fingertips at the scene of the christmas crime)

I sent the photos to my mom, and the first thing she said was how innocent Sammy looked. Why yes, he looks very innocent there doesn't he? He isn't even looking at it, like he is above such destruction! Just after the picture he looked up at me like, "But mom, it's my first Christmas, I just wanted to practice opening presents even if it wasn't mine! And you wrapped it so pretty with the gold Merry Christmas paper, green ribbon and poinsetta...."

To Eat or Not to Eat, That is the Question

I have said this before, and I have absolutely no doubt I will say it again. Sammy is a weird dog.
He does all sorts of things everyday that I have come to get used to, knowing that is my pup. Then we travel somewhere, or I talk to a friend with a dog, or even remember the dogs I grew up with and then I realize, he is not ordinary, but extra ordinary. One thing he has enjoyed recently, drinking the tree water. Yep, the water was only put there so he could have a bowl closer, so he would not need to go all the way to the kitchen for water (an extra 5 feet from the tree). He gets under the tree and around the presents ever so gently as to not disturb a thing. Some dogs feel the need to test the tree, not Sammy. I don't think he even realized it was weird to have it there, even though we did have to move his toy box. Furthermore, on our tree, we have rawhide candy canes, not regular people candy canes.  Yet still he does not feel the need to climb to get a candy cane, just to slink under and get some water. Now the back of his head is sticky and crunchy from the sap. Weirdo. 
The other day, when I was leaving for school my overwhelming backpack knocked one of the three people candy canes (to the twelve dog candy canes) off the tree. Erik was still there and I asked him to just check the floor before he left. He didn't see the candy cane, and I know this because Sammy did. Now I know that this is the part where some crazy story comes from his eating the candy cane, like he stained the carpet red from the dye or he got sick or something with the plastic, but this is Sammy. Sammy broke the candy cane into a few peices, but apparently didn't think it was a tasty treat. I found three large chunks on the floor with the wrapper still wrapped around it. From the three peices it had to make up at least 90% of the original candy cane. When I come home, Sammy always needs to say hi, he hops up on his hind legs onto my leg with his ears back and puppy eyes. This with a little scratch on the leg means he wants to be held. (Sounds crazy but if you don't do it he follows your walking jumping on his hind legs until he gets his hug! Even more weird "hold you" is one like 10 words he knows and jumps on my leg when I ask him "do you want me to hold you?") When I picked him up upon my arrival I felt candy cane on his rear end! The little peices got stuck on the back of his legs and hips! There were like 4 or 5 peices that all together made the size of a hershey kiss. Not a single stain on the floor, nothing. Weird!
Yet the night before that, while I was writing my paper, I had to pull a q-tip out of his throat while he was trying to swallow it!
Anyway, I will finish with a couple pictures:
the first is of Sammy anxiously awaiting his giant candy cane rawhide (we didn't put this size on the tree),
and the second and third are Sammy helping me with school work on the worst couch ever!
the fourth is Sammy and his Santa in front of the tree
the fifth is me and Sammy in front of the tree
and the last one is Sammy and Erik at my mom's watching the Nebraska game couple weeks ago

Snow Pup

Last night was the beginning of the snow storms expected this week. Currently we only have maybe an inch to two inches on the ground, but that is certainly enough for Sammy to play in. We had snow before on his sixth month birthday, but that was nearly two months ago! I wasn't sure how much he would remember from then, I just hoped he would still enjoy it!
The snow began yesterday during the daytime, but it wasn't really accumulating. Not until late, late in the night. When we went out for our potty trips, each snow flake became more and more inticing! He bounded like there was a foot of snow, not centimeters. He didn't want to come in! By the end of last night Sammy learned the word snow. That means his word recognition is now up to: Sammy, sit, kisses, treat, walk, breakfast, dinner car ride, Petco, walk ....and snow! No, not stay, lie down, up, or down, come, or any of those other "normal" doggie words.
This morning enough had accumulated that I told him as soon as I got home from class we would go to the park next to our complex and play in the snow. It's a nice little neighborhood park that has very few visitors. There is a little playground where Sammy has learned to slide and sit on my lap to swing! He usually goes right for it so he can run in circles in the sand. There is a pool in one corner with a basketball court and tennis court next to it. Behind those courts and next to the playground is a baseball field, which currently is covered in snow, so it looks like a big snow field. On the other side of the baseball field is a small incline covered with trees and picnic areas. The baseball field is a nice place to let Sammy have his freedom, no leash, so he can run like a crazy dog on special occasions like today!
When I came back, we (Erik and I) got suited up while Sammy paced in front of the door just waiting for us to hurry up!! He couldn't understand what I was doing getting two shirts, a coat, two pairs of socks, waterproof boots, hat and gloves on when he could just walk out the door. He pulled and pulled as hard as he could down teh parking lot right into the drift  made by the plows. Then once we got to the end of the tennis court, I let him free. He ran and ran and ran as if it was his first and only day to run. It's amazing how fast his little legs can go! I know I couldn't keep up with him, but I tried.

He had so much fun running around and eating the snow! He would bury his head and then shake it! He just loves to run around in it. Almost too distracted to do his business, I hope that wears a little in the future. Sammy ran and ran in big giant circles. I ran after him, then he ran after me. We raced, and he won everytime! The cold didn't bother him a bit. Then he started following his own trails, sniffing like a little hound. Just so much fun!

We are expected to get more snow today and many inches through the night as well as into tomorrow, so I am excited to take him back out. He was upset we had to come in so fast, and wouldn't come in the door! I had to pick him up and bring him in because I was too cold to mess around with that! It should be interesting once we get a few more inches and his legs are too short to just barrel through! Hopefully it will happen at a good time, it is dead week at school, so I don't have the most flexible schedule to entertain him in the snow unfortunately. It's a good thing he is a good pup and will love it no matter when we get to play in the snow!

Dear Santa...

First, before I start my blogging of the day, I should mention Sammy told me he was jealous of all these other corgi sites we have visited and how beautiful they look. He is more jealous that the other corgis get their pictures right at the top and it's personalized. I told him I would try to make our snappy, and put his cute little puppy face right at the top. He was elated. How hard could it be right? Well, I'm here to say that after about 2 hours of reading crap and clicking buttons I thought correlated to what these site were saying, and a little bit of frustration, I ended up with a photo of Sammy that was about 3 times the size of the screen! I asked Sammy how hurt he would be if I just clicked another template and called it good, he said he was ok with that. Thus, we have this brighter, snappier blue thing on our page. (Better than the white I almost went with. Another day I will give it a go.)
As for our Santa story...
Petco was sponsering Santa coming to the store and getting pictures with the PALS members' animals that make a purchase! Boy have I been counting down the days for this event. The flyer has been on the refridgerator for almost a month. I held off the Christmas shopping for Sammy's cousins until this day! We went in and I can never make it past the darn seasonal display, so Sammy got his holiday sweater. Sammy's cousins are older dogs and don't enjoy sqeaking on toys for hours upon hours like him, so we picked out the bones we are going to give. Then I was a little sad that it meant we weren't getting the package of toys, meaning Sammy couldn't have one. So I narrowed it down to three. Sammy ended up with two: a tree that has a squeaker and a rope that runs through it (perfect for tug of war), and one of the long loofas in the shape of Santa (it also squeaks). Next was hitting up the cat section for his kitty cousins. I made an observation there, and that was kitty seasonal toys, not nearly as fun as the doggie toys! We did get kinda seasonal cat toys. Our animal Christmas shopping is done! No Petco trip is complete without a trip to the buffett! We got some Christmas pretzels (red and green) and a couple of his other favorites. I wanted to get him rawhide candy canes, but we have found them cheaper at Hy-vee.
After making our purchase, we got what we came for: Sammy's picture with Santa! I don't have a scanner to upload the real pic, so my cell phone photo will have to suffice:

And here he is after:

I think he had a good time! The second picture came out blurry, but he did not enjoy sitting still for a picture. I wanted to try to capture his "unbridled" excitment! Cute little puppy! It was really fun to get his picture taken with Santa. I'm sure it makes me one of the crazy dog people, but it was cool! There were lots of other dogs AND cats (yeah, people brought their cats) there at the same time! Sammy went ADD dog. I've learned that his ADD dog loses cuteness with age, sad...I don't think the ADD moments will go away. We ended up spending more time walking around so we could go up when there were as few other animals as possible. When it was our turn, there was one other dog there, and Sammy couldn't take his eyes off him! I had to resort to asking Sammy if he wanted to go for a car ride behind the lady taking the pictures to get him to look that way. That was after the squeaking toys, yelling his name and making barking sounds had no effect. Santa seemed to enjoy him though, I think they bonded.

I hope Sammy asked him for a yard.....