So I woke up last night to a chewed-up whoppers candy box with none other than Marshy right there next to the mess.
I’ve caught him on camera being naughty jumping up and taking food off the kitchen counter.
As soon as I asked him about the mess he immediately showed signs of guilt. I had the box in my office in a grocery
bag and still he had the nerve to sniff out the chocolate and eat it.
I found out that for this behemoth of a dog that he would have to eat literally about 30 ounces of chocolate to start to develop some level of toxicity from the chocolate and given that these are mostly malt and not chocolate. He should be fine. Source: https://www.justanswer.com/pet-dog/1jnlu-dog-ate-whoppers-will-poison-her.html
Still, I have to take better responsibility and consider that he is basically a ravaging Bear at night searching for human food to steal. I’ve got to keep stuff tied up high in a tree or locked in a bear box.
He also gets amped up in my office when I watch dog funny videos:
Marshy, Bear and Jack have been such good boys to have around the house. Marshy is nearly complete with his winter coat shed. Bear doesn't shed much at all, and Jack's hair isn't as fluffy, but he's constantly shedding, but isn't as noticeable because Marshmallow's is so out of control.
We did have an incident a while back with Amazon letting the dogs out. One day it was really rainy, and it was early in the spring where the grass was not growing really well just yet, and the dogs had turned the backyard into a real muddy mess. Instead of putting the dogs in the back and having them get even more muddy, I put them in the garage and shut the garage door so they could dry off a bit and get it all over inside. Well Amazon did a delivery and used the Key app to open the garage. Unfortunately the dogs were in there. Here is a video of the driver delivering the package and then shutting the garage door while Marshmallow and Bear followed him out. The video of the door opening is cut, but shows him closing it after leaving the package.
I've found that when they do escape, Jack hangs around and doesn't leave. But Marshmallow and Bear stay together and head in a westerly direction. Out of the several times they managed to get out, here is where I've found them.
Many block south (and still east of 1000)
Several blocks west of 1000 heading towards Jensen park
Several blocks west of 1000 heading towards Jensen park
At Jensen park (thanks to Austin for helping find them)
Got a call from someone right on 1000 on the west side (less than a block away)
I've got each gate now protected with dual gates. Just in case one of them is left open, there is still a second layer of escape protection. Each dog has a "Oh Crap I'm lost" tag with a QR code for anyone to scan to get in touch with me. Given that I work from home and they spend most of the day with me, they really don't have much opportunity to just sit alone in the back and explore ways to get out.
Getting ready to head to the dog park. With Jasper (Celeste's German Shepherd pup)
I take them to the dog park about two or three times a week. And they LOVE IT. They can sense when I'm even thinking about taking them. They perk right up and give me 100% eye contact and attention. When I say the words "dog park" then their attention just goes to pure excitement and then the words "let's get in the truck" confirms their attention and Bear can't contain himself as he gives a double bark of approval.
I recently got a 360 camera and put it on Jack. Here's a short video of it:
On December 7th, Jack turned 2 years old. We celebrated by getting a monster bone from Winco and he shared it with his two brothers. We went to the dog park (which they do several times a week anyway), and they had a ball.
Marshmallow got neutered a few weeks ago. He and Bear snuck out when I was working in the garage with the door open. Jack and Rosco (we were tending him), stayed with me so I assumed Bear and Marshy were just out front, but no they took off. I found them way over at Mike Thompsons house. And got them in the back of the truck. However just as I was taking off, one of the older Thompson boys came running out of the house, "Are those your dogs?!" Yes. "Well we have a problem, they got in and got to our chickens."
Oh NO! I got out and went in their back yard with Mike and the boys and sure enough. Feathers everywhere. Well sort of. We all worked together to walk around the back yard to look for scared chickens and hopefully no bodies. Sure enough we found a couple of them hiding, but one was still MIA. Only one of them got cut up, but not too bad. Apparently later that afternoon, the one that was missing came back as it had escaped through the open gate before the mayhem included him. Whew!
However, I realized that with dogs that are intact, they have a tendency to want to go roaming looking for cute girls (and maybe some free meals). So I decided to get Marshy fixed. He's such a sweetheart, I think Bear might have been the culprit anyway.
Here are some updated pics.
We love each other.
Buddies that take up most of the space on my bed.
What did I do to deserve this Dad? It was Bear!
Poor Bear and his cone of shame.
Good Buddies
Buddies
Meeting the Great Pyranees puppy. That could be a cousin to Marshy.
Can we come in?
First time playing in the snow for Marshy and Bear for this season. They loved it.
Happy Birthday to our Bear! We sure love this boy with a bit of an attitude. He loves to run around at the dog park chasing new friends and barking the whole time. He loves to play in the water and romp around with Jack and Marshy.
So I was finding Bear getting very barky with the neighbors, and getting aggressive with Jack and Marshy just a little too much. And with him getting older and his testosterone really kicking in, I figured it is better to get him neutered now rather than later.
Marshy is such a lovable soul!
His recovery has been going really well. He is on his last day of medication. His head cone however only lasted a day with him playing with Marshy. Marshy managed to rip it off which I'm sure Bear was grateful for. But I got some zip ties and attached the cone to his collar. Good luck getting that one off buddy! I weighed Marshy yesterday, and was surprised at how much he has put on since the last time I weighed him. He was 75 pounds a couple weeks ago. He had gained weight and is now 87 pounds. He has a ton of skin and I see him still gaining as he gets bigger.
Sam loves Marshmallow.
Jack is such a good boy and plays well with them, and lets them get rowdy with him always trying to challenge him as the alpha. He is the alpha in a leadership way, but not in an in your face, I'm the boss way. When we go on off leash walks at the dog park, they just follow him around and let him take the lead in what adventures to take on. It does my heart good to see these boys get along so well.
Sam caught this picture of Marshy snuggling up in the crack of the sofa. I posted this on the Great Pyranese Facebook group and it went viral.
This meme spoke to me.
The dogs and I snuggling in the trailer early one morning after taking Cathi to the starting line of the Beaver Marathon.
Jack looking for flies to hunt down in the trailer.
The dog park in Blackfoot Idaho is pretty nice!
They ran for about an hour within the dog park trying to get the energy spent.
Buddies
Hot Tub club with Marshy wanting to become a member.
There was a dog show in the neighborhood and here is what I wrote for each dog:
1st entry
Name: Jack Gridley
Owner: Gordon Gridley
Age: 1 yr 10 months
Breed: English Setter
Weight: 45 pounds
Bred by our wonderful neighbors, Chris and Makenzie Banz.
Jack has a decent arsenal of tricks: Sit, Stay, Roll over, Turn around, Go get it, Bring it, Find it (Where's the bird?)
Jack loves to find and chase birds, go Jetski riding, run around at the dog park, and go camping. He follows Gordon around constantly and doesn't like being separated even for a couple of minutes. His growth and skill development have been blogged from an early age at: http://gordsdog.blogspot.com/
Some of the Gridley kids claim that Jack has a higher standing in the house than they do. That's Cap!
2nd entry
Name: Bear
Owner: Gordon Gridley
Age: 1 year birthday coming up 9/15/21
Breed: Newfoundland/Poodle (NewfyPoo)
Weight: 65 pounds
Cathi loves big dogs and wanted a Newfoundland breed, but doesn't enjoy the shedding so she found this breed which helps with much less shedding. Bear was also raised starting 7 weeks in the Gridley home. Bear is a very social dog at the dog park and loves to play chase with other dogs and barks constantly as his way of laughing. He tries to assert dominance over Jack, but when they are off-leash, he constantly follows Jack and Jack is the leader.
Bear has recently undergone surgery to make sure he maintains his single status and encourage a more laid-back lifestyle, hence the "Cone of Shame". More information on Bear also found at the http://gordsdog.blogspot.com/ website.
3rd entry
Name: Marshmallow
Nickname: Marshy
Breed: Great Pyranese Mix
Age: 7 1/2 months
DNA Testing on Marshy reveals he is 55% Great Pyranese and is definitely his dominant breed with his loveable laid back and loyal personality, protector of the home by invaders. He is mixed with about 8 other breeds at 5-7% each.
Marshy was an unplanned addition to the family as he was received at Cathi's wishes after winning a bet with Gordon. She had to endure a cold water dip to obtain the funds for her big-dog fascination: Fun video of the event: https://youtu.be/JVyw1yAlKrI
Marshy loves to eat, sleep, dig holes, scavenge garbage cans when nobody is looking and lazily follow his brothers around at the dog park. His loving personality and feigned innocence help him to receive forgiveness and social standing in the Gridley house.
All three dogs love to play at the dog park and find interesting smells from other dogs.
So Cathi, Sam, Oliver and I went on a cross country trip to Iowa for a marathon series that Cathi was running. We took two of the three dogs because we were dog sitting for Grandpa. He brought over
Here are all four buddies in the doggie pool.
"Roscoe" a Goldendoodle that is a little rambuxious. I didn't want Roscoe to be home alone with Isaac, so we left Bear behind to be a pal for Roscoe. However poor Bear was left alone once Grandpa came to pick him up half way through our trip.
I setup a "Doggy Pool" for them because it has been so hot lately. However I found that it get's dirty real quick, so I have to empty it about every other day. I don't fill it up very much to avoid water waste, which really isn't a waste since our back lawn is practically dying even though I'm watering it. Any extra water the lawn gets is doing it some good. Here's a fun video of Marshy enjoying the pool
Thinking back, we should have just taken Bear with us.
Anyway, we made our way to Iowa which spanned a two day driving trip through Wyoming and Nebraska. The most we drove in a 24 period was 9 hours.
We loved the trip, and so did the dogs. When Cathi was out running her marathon, the boys would take the dogs and stand by the side of the several out and back marathon course. Here are some pictures:
Here we are at Mount Rushmore.
Checking out the Mississippi River while staying in Clinton, Iowa.
The best dog park I've ever seen is in Clinton, Iowa.
Resting with Oliver in the RV.
The Buddies enjoyed wading in the Mississippi River while waiting for Cathi during her marathon in St. Cloud, Minnesota
Clinton had the best dog park. It is Prairie Pastures Dog Park in Eagle Point Park. It cost $3 for a day, but so worth it! The dogs ran the entire time exploring and chasing birds. Sam even loved exploring the diverse and lush greenery and picked up a tick. The dogs escaped tick free probably because they were running so fast and didn't really get too deep in the bush whereas Sam was trying to play hide and seek.
