The Diet

How can you put Beethoven on a diet when he sits by the pantry in the kitchen waiting for the Pup-Peroni to fall out and hit him in the head? If not waiting for food there, he sits in front of the refrigerator waiting for shaved ham. He does his tricks- laying down every time someone looks at him or sneezing constantly. Beethoven has allergies and is on medication from Dr. Ferber. Without the medication he has asthma attacks. Sometimes he has received his medication with shaved ham wrapped around this pill. So he thinks that by sneezing 20 or 30 times, we will give him his pill with shaved ham. Very Smart!!
We would appreciate any ideas on how to help Beethoven lose weight. We are walking him more and cutting out the snacks but he always seems hungry.

Jeff

Jeff is the "kid" next door who is , 21 years old, 6'5" and 260 pounds. He has lived next to us for 16 years, so we've known him most of his life. Today, Beethoven ran over to visit with Jeff and we started talking. He has graduated from the Cordon Bleu Cooking school, he worked at a restaurant, has worked as a body guard( consider his size) and now is looking to getting involved with a football team. He is the kid who had a dog named Kramer who would attack anyone who came near Jeff. Kramer was a 10 pound white poodle mix who liked to chase cars.
Now Jeff has a Labradoodle and another little dog that loves everyone. When my Mom was visiting in December, Jeff approached my Mom and hugged her. That says a great deal about someone- something really nice. We are pleased and proud to be neighbors for these past 16 years.

Beethoven is home

We were out of town and had to board Beethoven at Dr. Ferber's Animal Hospital. One of the employees, Donna, has been working there for 17 years. We have been patients there for 23 years and we both agreed that we were aging gracefully together.(Not really!) All the employees play with Beethoven and take him for frequent walks so he doesn't feel like we left him alone.
He was so happy to be home and to pee on Jeff Osman's tree.
Beethoven saw Patch again but this time did not fight with him. They played and sniffed but no growling. Patch is a puppy and just wants to play. While standing near our lamp post Beethoven and Patch took turns peeing on the post at least 12 times each. Beethoven won.

Butch, the Giant Cat

Butch(not his/her real name- I just named him/her that because he/she is so mean), lives next door with Patch. Butch is so mean that he/she can not live inside the house.He is at least 40 pounds. He/she lives on top of the car belonging our neighbors. No one can determine the sex of Butch because every time you try to get close, he/she tries to scratch your eyes out. So, my hero, Beethoven decides that he is in control of his neighborhood and that a "cat" is not going to dominate him. One day during our outside time, Butch was perched on the car. Beethoven happened to see Butch out of the corner of his eye. Butch jumped down onto the driveway and stood defiantly awaiting Beethoven's attack. Beethoven raced at full speed towards Butch and then came to a screeching halt. Butch stood his ground, did not move and stood up on his back feet and bared his claws and teeth to Beethoven. He then jumped on Beethoven's back and started biting and scratching until Beethoven began to scream for dear life. I ran quickly to Beethoven and scooped him up while Butch was still jumping to grab Beethoven' throat. Fortunately, Beethoven was not injured but he will never venture into Butch's yard again.

Patch

This is just a quick note to let you know that a new puppy has moved in next door. His name is Patch. He is a tiny little white poodle mix with one small patch of brown on his back.

Beethoven wants to kill him.

Patch wants to play and jump all over Beethoven. Beethoven is not happy. I must watch the Dog Whisperer to see why Beethoven has become so aggressive with other dogs. He loves people but hates other dogs.

Food Junky

Last summer I decided to teach 12 year old Beethoven some standard "dog tricks" such as lay down, dance like a girl, and sit. In order to get his attention and to motivate him I used shaved turkey. That was a big mistake. He learned the tricks in record time and he would impress any visitors to our home with his awesome performances. But once the teaching stopped, so did the shaved turkey. Well, Beethoven decided that he liked shaved turkey more than anything in the world and he refused to eat his regular food. He also started laying down and dancing like a girl in front of the refrigerator without any command from me. At first we thought this was funny. But soon the shaved turkey became an obsession with Beethoven. Now, he has started a really annoying new habit of sneezing repeatedly in order to get food(we got rid of the shaved turkey). He will sneeze no less than 20 or 30 times just to get a tiny little bite of people- food.
Now that he must go on diet, I can't imagine what will happen next. It won't be pleasant.

Chunky Monkey

Beethoven is a chunky monkey. We knew he seemed a little heavy but did not know how much until Friday when I had to rush him to Dr. Ferber's Animal Hospital. I was taking Beethoven on his favorite activity outside and suddenly I heard him screaming and holding up his front paw. I scooped him up in my arms and hurried inside. When I looked at his paw, I found a 3 inch long needle shaped thorn embedded in his paw. I quickly pulled it out and called Dr. Ferber's office. We arrived and the front desk receptionists( who all were cooing at the Beethoven they love) asked me to put him on the scales. I was shocked. 20 pounds!!
Beethoven was given several shots- one penicillin and the other an anti-inflammatory medication for pain. When we arrived home, Beethoven refused to walk on his injured foot. We had to carry him everywhere he needed to go. The next morning, Beethoven was healed and walking on all 4 legs! But now he must go on a diet to lose several pounds. This will not be fun! More on Beethoven, the food junky, tomorrow.