Our crazy dogs

It is the highlight of my day to come home from work and find two white fuzzballs going psycho at the door waiting on me to come in. Sure, they've been barking since I locked my car and the horn honked, because they know what it sounds like when mommy and daddy come home, which hasn't put us in the best spot with our downstairs neighbors. But you know what? I don't care, because Charlie and Sheldon are awesome. And a little bit crazy. I guess the adopted apples don't fall far from the tree. Need proof? Don't worry, I have plenty. 

Charlie takes comfort in sitting in corners, hiding under tables, hanging out in the closet under the clothes (which is why all my clothes are perma-coated in Charlie fluff), just under stuff in general. It's his safe place. I assume he learned this trick when he lived with a household full of small children shortly before coming to live with us.

Here's a double whammy, against a corner and under the shelf. Everyone who has seen him do this comments on how weirdly he sits. 

He really enjoys the new side table we put in the guest room. At this point, he was hiding from the vacuum cleaner. 

One day I came home from work to find him hanging out in Sheldon's crate. Even though it is a little small for him, I guess since Sheldon could care less about going in there, Charlie has claimed it for himself. I think he goes in there to hide from Sheldon honestly.

Now let's take a brief intermission and look at a picture of Charlie being adorable. This is what he does 99.9% of his days. 

 And just look at how sweet he is cuddling that stuffed animal! Precious.

It's really rare for him to be that kind to a toy though. For the remaining 0.1% of his day, he obliterates every toy in his path (he doesn't chew on anything other than toys, which is awesome).

This was about 30 minutes after giving it to him. It really looked like he was going to be nice to that one, but he had us fooled. 

There has only been one toy that Charlie has ever loved, the vampire chicken. It was a rubber chicken bought from PetSmart around Halloween, and he picked it out all on his own. Really, he found it on the floor and carried it around the whole store. We tried to buy him something less ugly, but he wouldn't have it.  Unfortunately, over the years (yes, years, not hours) the vampire chicken got a bit destroyed. Not by Charlie, but by a dog we fostered in college, and our own little hell-raiser, Sheldon. Shane and I have looked high and low for a replacement, but nothing worked, until the bikini duck. Bought on clearance with the rest of the summer toys, it was exactly the same texture, size, everything as the vampire chicken, except this time it was a duck in a purple bikini. Should work, right?

 This is all that remains of the bikini duck. For weeks, Charlie protected her just like he did with the vampire chicken. He got angry whenever anyone stepped on it or squeaked it (he thought that hurt it) just like before. So what happened? I'm pretty sure that Charlie sacrificed her in a "if I can't have her, no one can" sort of effort. He got frustrated that Sheldon would steal the bikini duck from him, so he did the only thing he could do and took the duck out of the equation. 

So what has Sheldon been up to this whole time? Probably chewing up some paper somewhere, which is his favorite pastime. Or, maybe he's carrying some laundry around the house? 

 Dirty, clean, doesn't matter to Sheldon. As long as he can reach it (which is pretty much anywhere, since he has learned how to get on our bed), it is scattered in the floor somewhere. He even pulls dirty clothes through the holes in the laundry basket, since he is too small to reach them from the top. 

Oh yeah, he's learned how to climb up in chairs too. Charlie is scared of getting in the desk chair because it moves, but not Sheldon. If we don't move the chair away while not in use, he likes to either: a) hop up there and wake up the computer while we're trying to sleep, 

b) eat a whole box of Girl Scout cookies, or c) destroy your favorite pair of earbuds. I can only assume this is what it's like to have cats.

 Those Girl Scout cookies? Tagalongs. The chocolate and peanut butter kind. And he ate the whole box (minus the two I had eaten). I know, I know, chocolate is bad for dogs, but I didn't even know he had eaten them til much later. He didn't seem sick at all, just hyper as usual. I guess it is true, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

He also likes to hop up on the coffee table, just to chill out. He was actually asleep up there until I pulled out the camera, of course. He can't really get up there by himself, but if the ottoman is nearby or the table is pulled up close to the couch, you can bet Sheldon will be on the table. Just like Charlie's safe place is in corners and under stuff, Sheldon likes to sleep on cold, hard surfaces.

Since we've had Sheldon, Charlie just seems *so* big and heavy. I love Charlie, but with Sheldon, I can do the silly stuff you get to do with small dogs, like making my hoodie into a papoose.  

My sister gave Sheldon a sweater, which she had bought for my parent's dachshund but was too small. Sheldon didn't mind it so much, but he looked pretty silly with all that fluff.

Sheldon hasn't been to the groomer for his first hair cut yet because the first bath I gave him wasn't much of a success and I want to get a few more baths under both of our belts before I set him loose on some poor unsuspecting groomer. Considering a lot of Malteses look like this, his hair is actually pretty short by comparison. So in the meantime, to keep his hair out of his eyes, I have resorted to extreme measures.

 Hairbows don't work. He had this one out in two minutes. Hair bands don't work either. I think it might be time to make that appointment after all.

 Before we got Sheldon, I had dreams of Charlie taking care of a puppy, snuggling it at night, pretending like it's his own baby, whatever. Yes I know I'm delusional. But one night it really happened! 

 They're each on their own pillow, so it's not like they're really snuggling each other. And I covered them up with the blankets. But in my mind, even though this was a semi-manufactured moment, all I could see was an adorable puppy slumber party.

 Meanwhile, when they do this on their own, acting all innocent, I can't help but think they're up to some sort of trouble.

Hey wait, is that a piece of bikini duck stuck to Sheldon's mouth?