FHP and Zinc
mochimommy and mochidaddy were gone long dime one Friday back in May. We both returned home at about 8:30 pm to find that mochimommy had forgotten to close the office door. Mochi got into mochimommy's work bag, which contained feminine hygiene products (FHP) and zinc lozenges among other things. As we cleaned up the *clean* FHP bits all over the carpet, we found what remained of the wrappers of five or so zinc lozenges. Various search results from googling "dogs zinc" and a $75 emergency phone call to animal poison control later, we were told to watch and wait, and call back if he started vomiting. Yay. Nothing ensued, except heartburn for mochimommy. (See also "Zinc-y.")
Camping, aka "I want your baby."
--ala Fat Bastard, licking his chops, from "Austin Powers II - The Spy Who Shagged Me"
Camp Hackamura was lots of fun. Mochi got to go camping for the first time and we got to try out our brand-spankin' new camping gear. (We went all-out Coleman just about.) Did we mention that it was fourish days of four people with four dogs? One of them Mochi's half-cousin Arago, the lovable but deadly police dog? Oh yeah, by the way, Arago doesn't like little animals. He hunts them...including Mochi. Crystal and I caught him on more than one occasion hunting Mochi (there was a slight rustle of leaves as Arago slowly stalked his intended prey) or outright glaring at him (think Iceman's bite toward Maverick in "Top Gun"). Oh, but other than that, Arago was just as happy a puppy as he could be...
The Cardboard Tube
Just like mochidaddy's parents decided long ago, we have decided that we're not going to spend so much money on expensive toys, because really anything cardboard will do (minited, ca. 1980, of a Kleenex box: "It's a boat! It's a shoe!"). Such is the case with Mochi's well-loved cardboard tube.
After I finished off a roll of wrapping paper I left the tube out to see what Mochi would do. Just as expected, he co-opted the tube as a new toy. What's even funnier, he has tried to go through his dog door with it centered in his mouth. I heard him struggle, pause, and then just bust through to the outside. He never realized that all he had to do was turn his head.
This is the tube's condition today:
I guess I'll have to use up some more wrapping paper soon...
More misadventures
Needless to say, Mochi has given us many reasons to laugh, shake our heads, and try to discipline him even when we're laughing so hard from the humor of whatever he's done lately. Here are more things he's been up to in the last few months.
- Reading. Mochi, ever bored while mochimommy and mochidaddy are at work, has taken to, ahem, reading our magazines (and occasional newspapers) while we're gone. He seems to like "Budget Travel" and "Eating Well" best, but he has also taken to "Diablo" and even boned up on self-training one day. Look closely...
- Cantaloupe. mochidaddy blogged about this one. See below.
- Chores. Mochi has taken to "drying the dishes" and "putting away napkins" while we're away. This generally entails stealing the towels off the stove and freezer handles, or taking napkins off the dining table. Mochi has trained us to leave the kitchen towels hanging high and not leave napkins on the table. Good boy.
- Chewing. Yep, the chewing is back. With a vengeance. Enter bitter apple. We'll see who wins this one.
- Swimming. Mochi isn't a big fan of swimming, but he tolerates it a whole lot more than his cousin Joey does. We've been trying to get him used to the water just so he'll
- New friends. Mochi, ever the social butterfly, has made a few new friends, including Bonnie and Clyde down the street. Bonnie looks like Mochi's long-lost little sister (chihuahua/terrier/daschund mix from the same county shelter; she's actually older than him but with her doxie blood she's smaller).
- Gardening. As I was working on this post, I heard a strange noise behind me...and found that Mochi now enjoys gardening, even in the house. But where did he get that. Oh, that's where.
