Toby's Bed!

One of the benefits of taking a couple days weeks months off was that it gave me the chance to gather some ideas for posts! Like this past Christmas!
When I first got Toby I got him a simple crate mat, a thin "sheepskin" covered layer of fluff. He was so thin that i knew he had to be uncomfortable on such a hard surface and I felt bad. So for Christmas I decided to buy him a new, better bed. I set out to do my shopping and soon became very discouraged. His kennel is 23 by 34 and none of the beds were the right size! I wanted to get him a foam bed so that he would have better cushioning and the only ones I could find were several inches too big or too small. I was about to buy one that was a few inches too small for about 25 dollars when my mom suggested that we look into making one. We went out to a craft/fabric store and checked the price on foam padding. It was pretty pricey! So we went home and found a store coupon online for half of any product! I got a piece of 2 inch thick foam cut to the exact size of his kennel. we found a very cute, machine washable fabric, and a zipper for just under 25 dollars! We brought it all home and my mom sewed the fabric and zipper into an awesome and removable cover for the foam pad! (She is really good at this stuff!)

On Christmas morning Toby got his new bed and loved it! If I bring it out to another spot he always lays on it, before he would just lay on the floor if his mat was out. The fabric we chose wasn't super durable and now has a few little holes, but I know that if it gets too torn up we can make a new one for just a couple bucks!

It has been a long time!

I was reading another dog blog today and I really missed posting here! I am going to make this one of my homepage tabs so that it will remind me to write! Today I thought I would write about the boys' vocabularies. Toby's is mostly taught to him intentionally with a few self taught words, Todd on the other hand only cares to learn certain words.
Toby knows: inside, out, bed, go potty, come on, off, come, sit, down, stay, heel, roll over, crawl, spin, hold, shake, high five, wave, settle, walk, car, wait, leave it, get a drink, dance, okay, penguin, ball, toy, get it, no and of course, good boy!
Todd knows: car, walk, potty, outside, inside, come on, dinner, dance and good boy. He sorta knows/is working on: sit, spin, kennel, wait and off.
Not to mention they both know their names! Each of these words has a specific meaning to them, and the same word may mean something different to each dog, to Toby "go potty" is something I say when we are outside and he needs to stop playing for a minute and focus on doing his business so that I can get back inside before the neighbors see me in my pjs and messy hair at noon. To Todd "potty" is something I say when he is standing at the door for the billionth time that day and I am asking if he actually wants to go out or if he is just watching for cars he thinks are coming to see him.