WELL!

Well, Corgi World, I have been put in my human place. I came home and in my absence Finn has taken to howling. Howling! She barks so much more and then she "waa waa waaWHHOOOOhOOOhOOO!!!"s. It KILLS my ears! A long time ago I vowed that I would not have the kind of dog who monopolizes attention because they don't behave. No repeating commands. So yesterday we had to practice "quiet" a lot (treats were involved! it wasn't terrible!), and Finn does not like being told what to do. So maybe she was already upset beause The Enforcer had come home, I don't know, but she put up a royal stink about wearing a collar yesterday and I totally lost.

I found two collars at petco for almost nothing, and put Finn's cute little tag on and clipped it around her neck and-- she had a tantrum. I even took a video for you all of her sulking, and Fiona the cat and I trying our darndest to get her to lighten up, to no avail. She sulked ALL afternoon and evening. She really sulks, too. She shakes. she sits and stares at the wall in a corner, with her back to me, or she sits and stares at me and shakes every few seconds. She tried to bite at it, and rub it off, and wiggle out of it, and corgi gods save me when I tried to pull her out of a corner by it!! She reared and fought and I had to wrap her in a hug to get her to stop and tell her sternly that enough was enough!

I was hoping that I'd get up this morning, let her out, and she'd just get over it. That she'd wake up and somehow, miracrulously, think it had always been there. I foolishly told her that in a battle of wills I would win, since I was older and hopefully wiser and quite stubborn in my own right! Hah. she said. silly human. I am a corgi. I am famously determined! You just watch.

Well she was right.

I let her and West out this morning and came in for a while, leaving them to frolick, and just now Finn trotted up to me with her normal pep and energy and I thought she looked oddly happy, given the little Eeyore-like thunder cloud she's been dragging about with her.... And, you guessed it! She got the collar OFF.

Only, she didn't just get it off. No, no, that would be too simple. She had to make a statement, send a message-- she had to kill it. The collar is open, not in the circle it would be if she'd pulled if off like normal, and the buckle is completely gnawed through and split down the middle; the whole thing is covered in slobber, and the sizing buckle has been chewed clear off. As if she knew nothing of it, Fiona the cat lounged luxuriously on the big dog bed out there, cleaning her long white leg. I could just hear her shrugging melodramatically and saying she had nothing to do with it. They are all in cahoots! And I have no idea what to do about Finn needing an ID collar.

So, as it stands:

Sam and collar: 0
Finley: 1



any ideas?! haha....

Collar Questions!

Helllloooo from the west coast! Home again. :)

I am on a mission: to buy Finn a collar for wearing all the time, so she can wear her ID tags and medical tags, etc. Andrew bought her the cutest name tag when I was out there visiting and now she needs something to wear it on! I expect a bit of a fight, since she hates her harness, but c'est la vie. It is something she needs.

A lot of you use martindale collars, which until The Corgi Questionnaire I had never heard of! They sound like just the thing for a corgi, too, since they're made for dog whose necks are wider than their heads :)

I am wondering, ahem,

1. Do you leave the martindale collar on all the time, neck jewelry style, or only for walks/outings?

2. Did you find it effective for training?

3. What size did you get? Some of them look so wide and stiff, and Finn seems so small (though muscular compared to other small dog breeds) in comparison.

4. Do you use the martindale with a chain or material?

5. If you don't use a martindale collar, what do you use?


I can't wait to read what you all have to say!! I think I'm going to get a normal little collar just for the interim, since I'll probably have to save up for a martindale collar a little bit. Once I find something I can't wait to show you her little name tag! It's a little over the top. I love it :D

"Finley misses you" + a new cousin!

I've been gone for almost two weeks, and Finley apparently has been a little pesty back at home-- I got this text message from my dad about a week ago:

"Finley misses you"

Apparently she's been waking my parents up every couple of hours during the night for silly things, which she never does normally, and shredded Westly's dog bed in the green house. How nice! I wonder if that really does mean she misses me? I really miss HER! Andrew has been assuring me that puppies bond with a person and then don't forget them, and that I'll still be her favorite when I go back home, but I can't help but worry! I just haven't been shredding things to express it... hehe. Instead I stare at her little face on my keychain :)

I also got very exciting news the other day from T, who, if you recall, has been through lots of adventures with Finn and myself! He texted me a picture of the new, long awaited, member of his family!!

He is as yet unamed (I hear Skeeter is a possibility), and they have no idea what cocktail of dog DNA he is, but we LOVE mutts around here (Finn is the first dog that's not from the pound we've ever had; she's supposed to be all pembroke, but is paperless) and I CANNOT WAIT to meet him. I hope that he and Finn will be friends! T says he is a little under a year, and is about the same size as Finn! I rather think he looks like a George/Georgie myself. What about you??

The continued papery adventures of Finley, The Shredder

Finn has not grown out of shredding. Not by a long shot. She has, instead, become more polite about it. She's gotten shredding manners. I don't have to fear for my socks anymore, nor my shoes, and she leaves, for the most part, papers or bags or other things on my floor alone. What she does, instead, is steal empty paper rolls from the garbage or bits of amazon boxes. Then she proudly brings her new prize into whatever room you're in, and lays down with it in front of her and gnaws on it! It seems her preference is cardboard, though she'll take newspaper if you give it to her :)

When I was working on grad applications I would rip a flap off of a cardboard box and give it to her, to occupy her late at night when I had to get work done. And last night I threw her cardboard paper roll into my parents room, and Westly snatched it up, took it to bed and put one paw on top of it so Finn couldn't get it! haha... and then Finn ran back and forth through the room's doorway, barking and looking around for someone to get it back! It was very funny.

I was making little labels the other day on the back of notecards, and gave Finn one. I took a quick video to show you how content she is, laying there and shredding. Ignore my cheesy narrating :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Aren't the antenna cuuuute?

corgi withdrawl

I am heading to the east coast for two weeks to see my boyfriend, who's in the navy and between being out at sea! It looks like I'm getting there just in time for some more crazy amounts of snow, too YAY. But...I am really sad that Finn can't come. I know it's silly! It's only two weeks, and she'll be just fine without me-- playing with West and Fii and hanging out with Mom and Dad-- but I still wish she was going to go, too. I've gotten so used to being near her nearly 24/7! She is the best welcome home greeter ever, and she keeps my feet warm at night and wakes me up in the morning, and we watch Bones, White Collar and Castle together all in a row, off the DVR, on the weekends. It'll be good to come home and have her back, is all. Maybe I'll find some cool dog paraphernalia while I'm over there and bring it back.

I found this photo on my mom's phone today and immediately thought of the picture I just posted a bit ago, of me holding Finn on her back after she hurt her foot and being amazed at how long she'd gotten! Check out what threeish months of shredding, playing, eating, sleeping and corgi growth will do!



 In case you want a better comparison, here's the photo from earlier this month. I can't believe how long!

My my, how things change, and at the same time don't! I still carry Finn around, she still falls asleep in funny positions, and she is still cute, even if not in that fuzzy, miniture corgi way :) I have a few posts all ready for while I'm gone, but I'll still be around to write and comment and such. Hope you all have a great weekend!

It's the little things...

like eating a potsticker and unwittingly amusing the whole household.

I had to take a video once I saw what was happening the other morning. My mom made potstickers for brunch (I know, weird, but good! it was one of those grocery-less days :) and after we'd all had our fill, she gave Finn and Westly each one, slippery dumpling on their own private plate. Otherwise Finn, the little piglet, will eat Westly's, and since Westly is such a wuss she'll just get out of the way. But the potsticker was really slippery! It was wet and slid around in a little bit of soy sauce. When Finn finally got it, it made me think of her catching a little fish. I missed the very first confusion, so I took the plate away for a second to grab my phone and record :)



I'm not sure if it's my computer or my camerawoman skills that make it a little blurry as the camera moves, but I think you get the idea! She chased it around the plate for a bit, and then ate it like corn on the cob! Munching back and forth with her very front teeth, and then eating the noodle shell. Haha...she must think human food is so strange.

May I just say,

the Furminator is AMAZING! You all were so, so so right. I am working my way through the Great Corgi Questionnaire and I had asked you all if the hype I'd heard about the Furminator was deserved and if you all used it, and most of you said it was, you did, and that it was essential. And Wow. I had no idea Finn had that much fur when we started using it! It gets all the loose long furs, but also all the downy fur underneath!

I found it on Amazon for a great price (under $20), in case anyone out there needs one (they're usually between $40-$50 at Target and Petsmart)! At least three times a week **(ahh, what would I do without you all?! my 3 times a week is apparently over-zealous, and I risk making Finn dull and itchy! that's awful. It would have taken me forever to realize this on me own. I'll keep my new hobby down to once a week, or less. I can do it! I'll just make it one good brush session and then go for the cat. Thanks guys! Go team corgi!! hehe :) Finn and I cuddle on the couch and I brush her, and not only is there less hair all over her bed, which then gets everywhere else, but she is so much shinier! I actually find it satisfying to see how much fur I can brush out, and how smooth her coat gets. My mom even teases about spinning the loose hair into thread, there is so much of it. I even use it on our fluffy cat, and she actually gets upset when I stop!

So thank you all for insisting, you were dead on and I am so thrilled with the results. I can even wear black again! because petting Finn doesn't equal instant hair magnetism for all lose bits in a 6 foot radius! Because-- muahaha, I am slowly brushing it all away. YES. I will win!

See how happy?? ;)

Happy month number two of 2010!

Hello hello! Happy February! :) I hope all is well with everyone! I would like to apologize for the not-nearly-as-frequent-as-I-would-have-liked amount of posts lately...I feel bad, given how genuinely happy your comments always make me! I am sorry I haven't responded to them all. Things have just been...a little nuts. As if to prove this, I am writing this post at the normally detestable hour (for me! I know morning people are staunch supporters of these wee, dim hours) of 6:36 am. I am not, in case you can't already tell, a morning person :) I prefer working late at night, but sometimes it goes too far and I end up like right now-- it is nearly 7am and I have realized that the only way to get my poor body clock back to normal is to stay awake. I just had breakfast, Finn is looking at me like I am crazaaay, and it is my Mom's brithday-- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMM!!! I love youuuu!

Things with Finn are going well! We had a bit of an upset over a hurt toe earlier this week, but I think it's just a nasty bone bruise. She has gotten really good about woofing when she wants to go outside, but we're still occasionally having accidents in our green house, which is connected to the back yard she and Westly have roam of during the day.... I think it may be because Westly hates going to the yard in the rain and Finn doens't like going to the yard without Westly, and we've been getting a lot of rain. Dominos! But it has to stop.

My friend T came to visit and went on a dog walk with us the other day. We ran into a lady and her dog, whom Westly really likes, and they chased eachother all over (Finn is very disinterested when this happens and goes off to snuffle). I really think Finn is helping West be more comfortable with strangers and play with new dogs! She lets this lady pet her now, and while she has known T ever since we've had her, only recently has she come over to T to visit and be petted. It's pretty wonderful :) Finn, however, loves T unabashedly. It's pretty darn cute.... We have a semi-regular movie night and she likes to cuddle with him:

Finn hurt her toe by zigging under West while West was running+jumping on our walk with T. West tried not to land on her, but caught her left front leg. She hobbled over and cried a little on my shoes while I felt her all over, looking for hot spots or something really wrong, but there was nothing to find. A minute or so later she wanted to go back to sniff around and play so I let her. She still limped, but she ran after the big dogs and went off in the grasses and didn't seem to care otherwise. We came home early and watched it. She's been limping a little, but yesterday it was almost gone. Fingers crossed! I'm keeping my eye on it, anyway, just in case.

She really loves to "leap" through the nice lush winter grass we get this time of year. It's just about as tall as her, and I want to lie down and wiggle my feet in it, too! She looks cute, immitating Westly's graceful arcing jumps over pompus grass and shrubs in her little, more bunny-like fashion.

Finn is also turning into quite the little piglet-- she loves mud puddles. She doesn't roll in them, at least not yet, but she loves to wade into them and dig in the mud and drink the water and bite at grasses and stuff in them! Of course she had already gotten all wet when she hurt her little toe, so I tried to carry her wet-side up, hehe. I remember when carrying her like this was soo easy! Now she is almost too long. T insisted on taking a photo :)

She wanted to stay in the grass. Or ride like normal, draping her wet little tummy over my shoulder. Not happening! Here she is, willing T to aid her in her escape.