Rusty and Marco Poodle , the Condo Dogs

[Yvonne Smith]

After thieves broke into the shop and stole Bobbys tools about 10 years ago, Bobby decided to get an outside guard dog to protect the back yard and the shop. We found Rusty listed on Craigslist because people had found him wandering on the street and hungry; so we adopted him.
He has been an inside/outside dog, but not actually a house dog either.
He likes being outside, but not when the weather is too hot or cold, or raining, and he has had a crate inside the back door in the kitchen where he sleeps when he is inside.

Bobby has been doing some remodeling in the kitchen this fall, so we decided to get one of those large portable dog crates for Rusty and move him into the living room. It will be warmer there in the winter time, too. It took Rusty a few days to get used to the new housing , but he has lots more room, and now he really likes his new “condo”.

However, as soon as the condo arrived and Bobby started setting it up, Poodle thought it was going to be HIS, and he was really jealous that Rusty has a condo and Poodle didn’t, even though he can sleep anywhere in the house that he wants, and spends his nights sleeping by my feet on the bed.
Whenever Rusty went outside, Poodle went right into Rusty’s condo and snoozed on Rusty’s bed.

Finally, I saw a small one on sale at Amazon, so I ordered Poodle his very own condo, and now he has one, too. He still sleeps wherever he wants; but he is happier knowing that he has a condo.
And we have half as much living room…….but that is okay, too. ( Here is Poodle looking at Rusty in his big condo, and Poodle inside his very own condo. )

 

[Marie Mallory]

After thieves broke into the shop and stole Bobbys tools about 10 years ago, Bobby decided to get an outside guard dog to protect the back yard and the shop. We found Rusty listed on Craigslist because people had found him wandering on the street and hungry; so we adopted him.
He has been an inside/outside dog, but not actually a house dog either.
He likes being outside, but not when the weather is too hot or cold, or raining, and he has had a crate inside the back door in the kitchen where he sleeps when he is inside.

Bobby has been doing some remodeling in the kitchen this fall, so we decided to get one of those large portable dog crates for Rusty and move him into the living room. It will be warmer there in the winter time, too. It took Rusty a few days to get used to the new housing , but he has lots more room, and now he really likes his new “condo”.

However, as soon as the condo arrived and Bobby started setting it up, Poodle thought it was going to be HIS, and he was really jealous that Rusty has a condo and Poodle didn’t, even though he can sleep anywhere in the house that he wants, and spends his nights sleeping by my feet on the bed.
Whenever Rusty went outside, Poodle went right into Rusty’s condo and snoozed on Rusty’s bed.

Finally, I saw a small one on sale at Amazon, so I ordered Poodle his very own condo, and now he has one, too. He still sleeps wherever he wants; but he is happier knowing that he has a condo.
And we have half as much living room…….but that is okay, too. ( Here is Poodle looking at Rusty in his big condo, and Poodle inside his very own condo. )

View attachment 33View attachment 34

LOL, we have one like Poodle name Foxy, she thinks everything is hers. I like the little condo's. Of course none of ours are meant to be house dogs so no condo for this spoiled Foxy.
What kind of dog is Rusty?

 

[Jake Smith]

Last night 34 degrees we let Getty sleep in the house, now she doesn't want to go outside.



"Foxy", is like, don't even think you are staying inside.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Now that the kittens have decided to become house cats (I think they do not like winter, these are summertime kittens !), they have to integrate with Poodle.
Poodle is used to having the house to himself, and now he has to share with three kittens.
The kittens like Poodle, but they think that he is a crazy dog. Poodle has about 2 speeds…… fast asleep, or jumping up and down to go outside.
He does not pay attention to anything when he starts jumping.

Three adorable cat faces sit there watching Poodle jump, their heads going up and down, tracking every move as Poodle jumps. If he gets too close, a little (velvet) paw will come up in the air, as if to say....”Wait, there is a cat right here “, which Poodle also ignores.
You can see on their wide-eyed expressions that they believe that the jumping dog has completely lost it, but they know he is harmless.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Time to order new clippers for Poodle !
The last set of clippers has lasted many years, but they have stopped charging, and won’t work if I can’t charge them. The clippers still work fine, just the battery seems to have given up. I put them on the charger and will leave them there to see if there is any chance of them charging again, but I don’t think so.

The new set I just ordered is actually better anyway. It has several sized heads that are interchangeable, one each for body, face, and paws, plus it has the nail grinder head so I can do everything with one set of clippers.
It also comes with an LED light, so that will make it easier to see what I am doing with the clippers, and should be here by Friday.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I ordered a new bed for Poodle and it just got here today, and Poodle already loves it ! It is soft plush on the inside, and almost like faux fur.
I put his old one in the cat room for them to sleep on, so they will enjoy that.
It is plushy and comfortable too, but we have had it for close to 10 years, because it was Chipper’s bed way before he died and then we got Poodle a year or two later.

Also, an update on Poodle’s Condo.
He still loves it and knows it is his own private residence, his own room. No one else is allowed in, and he growls at the kitties of they even look like they might go inside his condo.
Poodle is one of those dogs that likes something for a while and then could care less, so when I got the condo for him, I didn’t know if he would actually keep sleeping in there or not, or if it would end up as a cat condo.
But, it turns out that Poodle really likes it, and even though he sleeps anywhere in the house he feels like, he knows the condo is the one place that is only for him, and him alone.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Somehow, Rusty’s Condo got a small tear just under where the zipper goes. I noticed him snoozing in his condo with a foot sticking out. We were going to try and sew it up, but Bobby was able to fix it temporarily with some super glue.
When I looked online, Walmart has one that is convertible from a crate to a small playpen, and it is on the list of things for free with a review; so I ordered one of those for Rusty.

The crate is a little smaller than the Condo he has now, and the playpen looks a little larger, so we will have to see which will fit in the corner where his condo is at. This is much sturdier and has a regular door and not a zipper, so it should last a long time.
This shows what it looks like.