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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

pablo and his babies



No, Pablo doesn't have real babies. That's the name for the stuffed toys he carries around the house in his mouth. More generically, it's the name for anything he carries around in his mouth - because sometimes it's a sock, sometimes it's the stuffing from inside one of the babies.

I about died the first time I  heard Chad say, "get your baby, Pablo. where's your baby?" and he ran off
to find his favorite orange monster. The toy basket at Chad's house was always full of nicely cared-for babies, tugs, and balls. Every now and then Ramsey would kill a baby (remove it's stuffing), but for the most part, she and Pablo were very well-behaved and just used them to play keep-away. Socks were almost never in the baby pile, and there definitely weren't balls of baby stuffing laying around for Pablo to play with.

And then came Suvi...poor Pablo, his babies now have the life span of a mosquito. Suvi LOVES anything with a squeaker. Rather, she LOVES to surgically remove the squeaker from anything that has one. And along with that comes the stuffing. Non-squeaky babies? She LOVES to tug with Ramsey, especially when it's with a brand-new fuzzy baby. We're working on being non-destructive...and only tugging with appropriate toys, like ropes and balls.

No more "poor Pablo". Don't worry - we make sure Pablo has plenty of healthy babies. We've finally got a few that have lasted a few months. His recent favorite is gingerbread man-shaped baby we bought from Target in November, and the girls have learned they're not allowed to touch it, unless it's to play keep-away with Pablo! We have a baby variety stockpiled in a kitchen cupboard, just in case a baby goes missing.

Every time one of us comes home from work, Pablo runs to grab a baby and greets us at the door. (It was fun to hear that other dogs do this too, in the comments from the last blog post!)

When he wants to play, he grabs a baby. Then comes to sit RIGHT next to either Chad and me, or his sisters - and growls. And if you don't pay attention, he comes closer, sticking the baby right at you - and then either runs away, or turns his head and growls. "Play with me!"

Chad always lets him win. I mostly let him win. Ramsey tugs gently, plays for a while, then usually wins. Suvi just steals the baby (carefully) and runs away. I wonder if he chooses who he's going to play with based on how we play back?

My favorite is when he sleeps with the babies, using them as a very small pillow, his chin rested right on top. It's not a protective thing - he just really loves to be next to his babies. And they're really perfectly-sized Pablo pillows!



I still chuckle at Chad calling them "babies." Oh, the things you don't see on camera...




16 comments:

  1. One of my fur kids loves to remove squeakers as well but it is selective on the color of the toy. I know dogs are supposed to be colorblind but the toys that are red, orange and yellow last much longer than blue, green or purple! I love reading how different Ramsey, Pablo and Suvi are because it reminds me of how different my three are! It's just delightful!

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  2. hahahahaha omg XDD!!!! that is hilarious. Our guide dog poodle in training just learned the wonders of "fetch" (i.e. we can keep on playing if you bring me back the toy. if not, party's over buddy). So maybe one day when I'm not hauling him everywhere I go in public and classes at the university and he actually gets to stay home for a day, he'll greet me one day with a toy in his mouth and say "play with me, momma!"

    When I saw the title of this post i was like....babies? When did Pablo get- ohhhhh BABIES LOL!!

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  3. My chihuahua, Bear also has a ton of babies and his daddy also calls them babies! Our office is the official toy room. Bear doesn't really do tug of war. He is the most selfish puppy dog. Lots of the toys he stole from our Beagle Amber who doesn't play with any toys anymore(I wonder why). For some reason I continue to encourage this selfish behavior and buy him more and more babies. His favorite one is a curly haired monkey for small dogs that I bought at Petsmart. I have replaced it twice and and it needs to be replaced again but I can't find it anymore. This baby is called "monk." I enjoy your stories and photos.

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  5. My 3 chihuahuas play the same way. I just bought them a toy stuffed rabbit today that they LOVE! They try to take it from each other and I played tug o' war with them too. The biggest one, a girl, who is a whopping 9 pounds (but is not overweight, just big boned), is so strong it's unbelievable. She tugs and will NOT let go. I had to let her win simply because she was so determined (and so sweet). :) My dogs have their "babies" and they are MY babies. Love all 3 of 'em!

    Love your new blog. Keep it up!

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  6. I think that is adorable...my brother has a chihuahua named Tikki and she is the prettiest girl you will ever see and she has her "babies" as well. Her approach is a little different from Pablo's though....she will sit at our feet and whine at us holding her "baby" until we get down on the floor and play with her. She is very loving and considers all of us in the family to be her "Humans". I think she would make a great girlfriend for Pablo...if you want to see a pic for consideration let me know. LOL!

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  7. My female Doberman is the dog who has to carry stuff around in her mouth! She almost panics, like she's committed some sort of social faux pas (or paw), if one of us comes home and she can't find something to pick up. Plus, I don't often get them squeaky toys, but when I do, she's the one who has to surgically remove the squeaker too! Then She'll carry it around by itself, but not squeak it. I'm always impressed by how non-neurotic Ramsey is! My Dobe's nuts!

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  8. mi chihuahua MILKY.. loves when i put my arm like his pil low o something to put the chin to rest. hahaha thats very fun to see. kiss and hugs !!

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  9. See now this is why the puppy momma is bringing the whole P,R & S experience to a whole new level! Thanks puppymomma, we 'needed' more info after 5 years of videos :D - greetings from Honduras - Ale

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  10. I love this blog always makes me smile to hear all the antics! My chihuahua Tibby had a manky 'lion' baby he used to carry about we'd find it everywhere!

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  11. Now that last picture is one happy content Chihuahua.

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  12. Thanks for the behind the scene look at your pups. I am definitely a huge Ramsey fan since I own a Dobie mix, but oh my, if those Pablo pictures of him with his baby don't melt your heart, then there is no hope for you. Pablo you are a doll!

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  13. I loved reading this post and am loving your blog so far! Thank you for sharing your stories/ pics with us :-) My chihuahua, Cola has lots of 'babies' as well (we got into the habit of calling them Mr. Dog, Mr. Bear, etc) which he will play with every now and again, but (like Pablo) he mostly prefers to use them as pillows!

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  14. So cute!! I love Pablo! At the first picture he looks like a "shorthair-clone" of my Chihuahua.
    Greetings from Germany! :-D

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  15. It is wonderful to see pet parents sharing how devoted they are to each other and their pets. Makes my husband and I feel a little less like "those people" and alone. Love all the stories, and adore how alike Pablo is to our Chihuahua Steve McQueen. All this time I thought Steve was weird in some of the things he does (carrying around "babies", pouncing on the bed to play, etc) but apparently he is being a typical, awesome chi! Thank you and Chad for sharing your family with us!!

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  16. I was watching Dogs 101 Animal Planet today and found you and your family. I have cats now but I was reminded of a time when I had two wonderful dobermans, Duke and Duchess. Ramsey reminds me of my female Duchess in the way she moves and speaks. I certainly did enjoy watching your video's. I hope you have as many years of doggie happiness as I did. Thank you for sharing.

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