Mud and Pity Parties

Our snow is melting. Melting and melting. We have a pool in the backyard. Would anyone like to go swimming? It's spacious, airy, and as an added bonus comes with a free mud pack. Oh, and did I mention the 95lb lifeguard? You'll never feel safer . . . or more disgusting.

Kilo and Chase went out to go potty this morning and came in covered in enough mud to send even the most hardened of mops running. Well, there went my morning. Bathtub here we come! I'm hoping the weather either freezes again or dries up the backyard. Until then, Kilo's getting walked on a leash.
Recently Kilo's been amusing us all with his childlike emotions. He has a puzzle toy that is basically a jug with a rope coming out the end. Food is placed inside and then Kilo has to tip it over/pull on the rope to get the food out. Initially it took him awhile to figure out how it worked. Now, he's a pro at it; but it's still his least loved puzzle toy. Every time I put it out for him he spends five minutes fussing over it. He cries at it - using his puppy bark he fusses and whines, whacking it around halfheartedly with his paws. Eventually he'll come back to it, grab it in his mouth so the end faces the floor and expertly dump the food out bit by bit. But first, he has to have a good cry over it. It's just too much work mom!

Kilo threw a similar 'temper tantrum' last week when I sat down to trim his nails. Usually I have him lie down and wait; he gets a treat or two after each clip. He hates it, but he likes the food enough to tolerate the ordeal. This time I had him lie down and wait as usual, but as soon as I brought the clippers near his feet he jerked away. Reiterating the 'wait', I tried again. This time he stared at the food longingly before jerking away and whining. The same whining, puppy bark he uses when he's not getting his way. He threw a nice little pity party and once he realized that wasn't working for him, lied down and was still for his nail clipping. I had a good laugh at him.