The Seager Sagas – the perception of a bad dog

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For friends and family and the vast connection of people known only on social media, there may be the perception that Seager, our now teenage German shepherd, is a bad dog.  “But why?” you may ask…truth be told, though many candid Seager shots are posted to my Facebook page (who can resist this pup’s adorable mug?) there are also public complaints posted by yours truly…

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I admit – I fail to make Facebook posts that say “Seager appropriately chewed his bone today!” opting instead to rant when he ate my photo books (I won’t lie, tears were shed that day), or vent that he chewed on the only two area rugs in the house that I care about (yep, he managed to bypass the one that I’d like to be rid of).

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Judging by my vents and rants, those who haven’t met Seager may assume that he’s just a “bad dog.” Not true…he’s a very good dog, when he’s not being naughty. He’s mostly calm (except first thing in the morning!), he’s mostly well-behaved (except when he eats our valuables) and he’s 99.9 percent house-broken (except when he pees all over the house when my husband gets home from work).

Without fail, after my vents and rants, I get lots of comments (and some suggestions) about what Seager needs in order to be “a good dog.” I see lots of “he’s probably bored” comments…which I follow up with my assurances that he is walked nearly 4 miles a day (that’s all this gal has in her these days), and that he has lots of playtime with his very own German shepherd buddy “Chesney.”

Yep Seager ate part of this bench

Have no doubt, Seager has access to a boat load of toys (our house looks like a Petco truck overturned!) and he gets a good deal of attention (I obviously work from home), but sometimes, he’s naughty, and typically, it’s because I have failed to appropriately confine him when we are away from home (nope he’s not 100 percent trustworthy yet).

Truth of the matter is just this – he’s still a puppy and he’s going to be “bad” sometimes. I have no doubt that he will grow out of this stage of his life, but I can’t promise that I won’t rant on Facebook the next time that he decides to use those big old teeth on something that I care about.

(more about Seager here)

The Seager Sagas – silence is dangerous

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For those of you with kids, you are likely familiar with the “silence can be dangerous” phenomena. Those times when you catch yourself savoring a rare moment of quiet, only to realize that someone (your little one) is up to no good.

Such is the case for Seager, our now “teenage” German shepherd. Seager, aka “no no Seager” is reminding me of when my children were toddlers (my kids are both teens now). Those years when silence from the kids might mean that I had new Crayon artwork on the walls, or toys in the toilet.

These days, during the day, our house is quiet – both kids are at school, my husband is at work and it’s just me and the dogs here at home.

It’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of contentment during these quiet times…I’ll admit, I haven’t had to be a “round-the-clock” watcher of dogs for many, many years. Our (now) oldest Germans shepherd, “Chesney,” is six years of age and she is quiet and easy – 100 percent trustworthy. Our recently deceased elderly shepherd, Lily (who we lost at 13 years of age) was equally trustworthy for many, many years prior to her death.

Chesney and Lily

Chesney and Lily

Not so for young Seager – while it is true that most of the time his quiet equates to sleepy time, there are time when it means that we have a new hole in the backyard (we have a dog door for the dogs, so they come and go as they please). Or it means that my daughter lost yet another pair of underwear, or someone no longer has a sock.

Seager is wicked fast with his destructive teeth – I can lose the heel of a shoe in less than one minute. Yes, not long ago, after returning from a rare place that required me to wear a heeled shoe (you’re more likely to catch me barefoot or in sandals), Seager managed to chew off the heel of my shoe while I did something mundane, like got myself a glass of water or went to the bathroom.

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What is a dog owner to do? Apparently, wait it out until Mr. Seager matures enough to realize that we don’t appreciate our clothes and shoes being eaten, or our yard having new holes. Trust me, we have plenty of chew toys in the house (looks like a doggy romper room in here) and while those may suffice most of the time, there are moments when Seager just has to be naughty.

(Read the last installment of the Seager Sagas here)

The Seager Sagas – we’ve got a talker on our hands!

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Welcome to installment #2 of the “Seager Sagas.” Our rescued German shepherd puppy joined our family in May and it didn’t take long before he showed us that he is a talker. In fact, I think that somewhere hidden in this adorable German shepherd body is the spirit of a husky (we all KNOW how vocal huskies can be).

Within the first few days of Seager’s arrival to our home, I left for an errand and when I got home, I let him out of his crate and we promptly ran out back to ensure that he didn’t have any potty accidents in the house. Seager proceeded to start screaming as soon as I sat down on the back deck with him.

Screaming in a way that I have never heard a puppy scream – in fact, I was pretty sure that he was dying. I proceeded to look in his mouth, run my hands over his body – looking for the source of his obvious pain. After finding out that he was fine, I started to breathe normally once again and worked on getting my heart beat to slow down to an acceptable rate. It turns out that Seager screams for joy when you come home…13179426_10153696578618403_6493750216965228418_n

A few days later, Seager ran down the staircase in the house and upon stepping onto the landing at the bottom, he started screaming and spinning in circles. My kids and I rushed to his side – I thought that maybe I missed him falling and maybe he had a broken leg. The screaming continued for what seemed like hours (more like 2 minutes) while I once again did a full body check to see where he was broken. After examining his legs, hips and feet we discovered a Himalayan cheese “bone” that he apparently stepped on. Crisis averted – we believe that he hurt the pad of his foot when he stepped on his chew. Apparently discomfort means intense screaming when it comes to Seager.

Seager doesn’t scream as loudly as he did the first day when he was overjoyed at my return, but he does yip and spin while making a unique sound that is something like the sound you get while putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth, raising your voice and “twirling” your tongue. Not sure exactly how to explain it…it’s a Seager-ism for sure.

Walks are another story…when Seager walks with me, he is a perfect gentleman. When Seager walks in public or with my husband and our other dog, he sounds like a crazy hyena. No lie…Seager is a head-turner on walks, and not for his good looks. On a recent walk in our neighborhood, he began yipping and screaming so loudly that our neighbor thought that a puppy was dying. Seager was upset that Kurt and our other dog were 18 inches in front of him. At the park, people stop and stare. We went on a popular hiking trail not long ago and I went to the bathroom while my husband sat with Seager and our other shepherd, Chesney. Seager screamed and yipped so much while I was out of his sight that a family sitting nearby shot daggers with their eyes at my poor husband, who they assumed was somehow killing poor innocent Seager.

And we can’t overlook “Sassy Seager.” Yes, this pup talks back like a naughty child. Tell him “no” and he looks right at you and starts barking. Oh boy.

We love this little guy – but he’s a talker. As we often say…thank goodness (and no wonder) puppies are so cute.

Find Installment #1 of the Seager Sagas here.

Introducing the Seager Sagas – a day in the life of a mischievous pup

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In early May, our family welcomed a rescued puppy named “Seager,” into our lives. Seager, a German shepherd, flew from San Diego, California, to Seattle, Washington, in the company of my sister, who happened to be vacationing in the area at the same time that Seager needed a lift north. 13178011_10154233964554589_3456207475113257327_n

Seager (who came to us with the name “Wesley”) was given his new name by my son, Andrew, who is a fan of the Seattle Mariners (older generations tend to think of singer Bob Seger when they hear the name). The three-and-a-half-month-old pup was a trooper on the flight, as well as the trek home from the airport. Suffice to say, when we walked through the door after midnight, we were all exhausted.

For the next couple of weeks, Seager was exceptionally mellow – apparently traveling, getting a new family, meeting a new canine sister (Chesney, also a German shepherd), and non-stop growing, was making him want to do nothing more than sleep all day, and all night.

The days of marathon napping have since subsided and now he is full-on rambunctious puppy. Seager is a character – he has tons of personality and without a doubt, he is the most vocal dog that I have ever encountered.

In fact, on a recent outing to a popular park, a mother and her two kids stopped to meet Seager and his non-stop yipping and whining prompted her to encourage me to not only capture video of him, but to create a Facebook page to chronicle his silly antics.13133283_10153672955453403_2078543354595135630_n

The Seager Sagas will be a regular part of the Pet Rescue Report – you, the fortunate readers, will get to read all about Seager and his puppy drama. We could all use a bit of levity in our lives…stay tuned!