Chewy.com

We were contacted by Catherine of Chewy.com a while back in regards to trying out some products they offer in exchange for our review.

We received our April box for grooming and we couldn't be more excited - who doesn't love mail day?

Hanky is a short haired yellow lab.  He shouldn't shed that much right?  Well wrong!  Hanky is the sheddy-est dog ever!  We vacuum at least once a week and we really should do it about every other day.  We were in need of something to help us contain all of the hair, especially now with Caleb.

Catherine was so kind to send us the FURminator Dual Brush for Dogs.  We were excited to try it out and Hanky is always excited to get attention that includes petting and loves.  We headed out to the backyard and let the hair fly!

Along with the grooming brush, Chewy.com also sent us some yummy treats for Hank to try out.  He got the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Trail Treats Chicken Jerky and Chicken Wild Bits.  We were supposed to receive these in March and they sadly never came.  When I notified Catherine of this, she apologized and made sure to ship them and the brush first thing and we got them within 3 business days.

We do not give Hank treats on a daily basis.  He is a hunting dog and his rewards are given in other ways then food, but who doesn't love a little something special every now and then?  Hank must think that he hit the freaking jackpot this week with all this extra love and attention he is getting.

I love what Chewy.com has to offer and they even carry Hank's dog food - which is hard to find at normal stores - so that is a plus for us also!  If you haven't heard of them or checked out what they can offer your doggies or kitty, go run over there now and see!

I was not paid to write this review

but did receive items in exchange.

All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Already? It Was Awkward!

Hank
Can
Procreate.

Three words that I knew would be coming some day, but already?  This pup-mama wasn't ready for it.

We have always known that since we selected a male pup that we would stud him out one day.  He is part of a great bloodline and we would want to help contribute to more gorgeous puppies if able.

Fast forward to last week, Hank is 18 months old and over 100 pounds and had the chance to work his magic for the ladies.  Okay, okay - there was only one lady and she was a 3-year-old small gal named Roxy.

Ryan was contacted a couple weeks ago from a lady saying that she loved how Hank looked and wanted to breed her female with him.  Ryan agreed and she jumped right on it.  Her little gal was already in Heat so things happened very fast.

She brought her little gal to our home 3 times and we let the dogs do their thang!  And by we, I obviously mean my husband and little lady's mama.  Can we just talk about how awkward it was?

I was only there one time when she brought Roxy over, but it was so uncomfortable!  Hank is my baby!  I would never dream of watching anyone get their groove on with another person let alone one of my "babies"!

Ryan said that everything went well and in the next couple of weeks we should find out if it took.

Dog procreating is too much for me...and I am not a modest Nelly over here.  Who would have known?!?

So The Cops Were Called

Before I tell you all about the title, let me first say that I am in no way blind to the problem, I just think it was taken too far.

Hank Hughes.  You know, that giant yellow lab of ours?  The biggest lover in the world.  Well Saturday night we received a text message from our neighbor stating that the cops were at our house and shinning their flashlights inside my car.

Let's set the scene shall we?  I live in a town with a population of 3000.  3000!  We have a police department with about 5 deputies.  We don't have a lot of crime, most of the calls are for drunk drivers that are driving on the highway that cuts through the middle of town.  We are surrounded by farms and it is a quiet town.

So while we are driving home and receive this text we call the police department and see what is going on.  If there was a conflict or something wrong with our house we wanted them to be there with us when we arrived home, since we had Caleb and all.  We were informed that an officer would meet us at our house to discuss the issue at hand.

We show up and so did the cops.  We find out that they were there because they received complaints about Hank's barking.  WHAT?!?  Seriously?

About 3 weeks ago we received an anonymous note on our door stating that Hank's barking was waking their children up too early and we needed to take care of it.  We talked to both of our direct neighbors and neither of them claimed the note.  We talked it over and decided that we would try to do something about it, but we have to go to work.

Now, 3 weeks later, after no other forms of communication, we have the cops at our house warning us about our dog.  To say we were upset is an understatement.

Now let me explain.  I understand that barking dogs are annoying.  Trust me, we don't want Hank barking either.  But we are pretty sure we know what is happening.  I leave for work Tuesday - Friday between 5:15 and 5:30.  I put Hank out in the backyard with his breakfast, water and toys - a.k.a our backyard because he is still a puppy and is chewing and digging right now.  Our neighbors put their two Boston Terriers outside to go potty around 5:45 and I assume that the doggies say "Good morning!" to each other.  We assume that this sets another neighboring dog off and that dog starts to bark, but that dog is inside their owners' room and not outside, thus waking them up.

I don't understand how this is a major crime?  Aren't there bigger issues that the police should be looking into?  Apparently not in our small quiet town.

We were then held to a 20 minute conversation about how we need to do the following to stop him from barking:
||remove the dog from the residence - because he is just a piece of trash that we can move around as we please
||get a bark collar - because we never want him to bark to protect us
||kennel him - because I would love for him to get a bladder infection after being in his kennel for 10 hours 4 days a week
||leave him inside my house - because I don't value any of the things inside my house that he will destroy from boredom
||let him out later in the day - because I just put him out at 5:30 for shits and giggles
||MOVE - because everyone has a disposable income that makes this a possibility

All of their suggestions made me 100 shades of red I'm sure, but they are ridiculous.  I'm sorry officer, but are your pets not part of your family?  Would you just send your pets away?  And better than that, I own my house.  I pay property taxes and help pay your salary, these complainers are renters - if it's who we think it is - and they can move if they don't like it.

I don't understand people.  I understand that you have a problem with my dog.  But did you really think it was at the point where you needed to call the police on us?  I have so many emotions about it.

It must be nice that you don't have to get up and go to work this early.

I am pretty sure that it is your dog that has the barking problem, not my dog.

We live by train tracks, you can sleep through that but not a barking dog?

You left an anonymous note and never came and talked to us yourselves, how old are you?

We have come up with a solution and it makes Ryan angry that he feels as though these jerks are winning.  But when we are getting threatened that Hank will be taken by the Animal Control - which just try and take my dog, I will fight you on that one - we have to figure out something.

We are lucky enough to have one neighbor who is awesome and her oldest daughter has offered to come let Hank out later in the morning after the kids are all in school.  Today will be the first day of this and if it doesn't work then everyone else can just suck it.

We are trying.  We don't want our neighbors to hate us but Hank is part of our family and he isn't going anywhere.

So for now, we have a law breaker living with us.  Poor Yellow! ::his nickname most days::

Jealous Dog Problems

You remember that cute little puppy we got two Christmases ago?

Well he is now over 100 pounds and the big brother, instead of the little brother.

When Hank was 6 months old we sent him to training.  He was in training until he was 9 months old.  When he got home we had moved and I was wayyyyyyy more pregnant.  Everything was fine.  He was our big baby and such a good boy in the new house.

Fast forward to September after Caleb was born, and now we have a very jealous puppy.  Hank was supposed to go back to school the week of my due date and after being there for a week he got injured and had to come back home.  We had planned it so that he wouldn't be there when we were in the hospital so that he didn't feel "abandoned" but he had different plans.  We sent him to my in-laws and they watched him for us until we got home with Caleb.  We brought Hank back home after one day home and everything seemed fine.

Hank is the sweetest dog with Caleb.  Never, ever, has he tried to snap or been too aggressive with him.  He gives him loves all day long and is obsessed with knowing where he is.  When Caleb cries, Hank will come find one of us to make sure we know he is crying - except for in the middle of the night, please, that pup doesn't get so cute from not having his 12 hours of beauty rest each and every night! LOL.  I love how he is with Caleb and I can't wait to watch them grow up together.

Doesn't sound like a jealous dog right?  Well here comes the bad stuff he has done.

Hank is kennel trained but he is such a good boy and sooooo cute we just don't kennel him when we leave.  We trust him did trust him.

Since we have had Caleb and left Hank, inside or out, he has destroyed the following:
Dug a whole, half way to China, in our backyard
Chewed and ruined one Cable remote
Chewed one TV and ANOTHER Cable remote
Eaten one pacifier
Chewed and ruined one baby toy
Chewed and ruined ONE Stiletto
Ate a container of eye drops
Ate a container of travel hand sanitizer
Disabled our automatic sprinklers
Brought all of our recycling cans & bottles from the side yard to the back yard & taken them out of the bags
Dug ANOTHER hole, this time to our sprinkler pipes
Took off the insulation around our outside pipes
Chewed the top off of our hose
Chewed a hole in the hose
Chewed another hole in the hose - bottom line, we need a new hose
Destroyed his 5-gallon bucket for water
Took the firewood that was nicely stacked and distributed it around the yard
Torn up about every inch of nice grass we had in the back
Took all of our shoes from the garage and put them in his favorite spot in the backyard - didn't chew any though

We give him love and attention as much as possible, but during the day, when we are all gone, he has to be outside and be a dog.  He gets mad and destroys things.  Poor guy knows he is in trouble when we get home too and then he is so cute all sad and pathetic looking.

Do you have any suggestions on how to help our poor jealous puppy out?  We don't like him being in trouble and we try to take away all possible items to get him in trouble, but we can't put outside things inside when he is outside... LOL

Help our sweet boy not be in so much trouble so often now that his brother is around.