Ferdinand Misses Out on Wrestlemania

My middle sister, Lindsay, came over to visit and meet Ferdinand.  We had a really great time and she had fun snapping pictures of Ferd.  Here are a few of him just enjoying being outside.

He's a model.

She gave him her car keys to play with.  She almost didn't get them back.  He had fun chewing on them.

He also likes to chase the cats around the house.  Normally, they will run under the bed.  While he was under there, he would poke his feet out and try to catch my feet.  Or he would try to bit my feet.  So, we started to play (which is why my face looks so dumb in this picture).  Doakes (who is watching from the safety of the bed) was saying, "Mom, you're crazy."

This was our standoff.  I was trying to get him to come out the whole way and he was not having it at all.

Here's a video of Ferdinand being a typical crazy puppy and how he will go after anything.

He was pretty dizzy.

Basically, after this, Ferdinand became a hot mess.  Derek and I were getting ready for our trip to Miami, Florida to go to Wrestlemania and Ferd was just a terror.

We had arranged it that Derek's parents would come to our house to feed and check on the cats and we would leave Ferdinand at my parent's house.  The 2 weeks before we left for the trip, Ferdinand was just a mess.  He had me at my breaking point.  He was constantly biting us, destroying things in the house and peeing every chance he got.  

We would be outside with him for 15 minutes, he'd go to the bathroom twice, we'd bring him back inside and then he would look at you and pee.  I mean, I felt like I could have killed him.  I basically had to come home every day at lunch because if I didn't this is what I came home to.

If you can't tell, there is a huge pile of pee next to his cage.  And normally, his playpen would be against that orange wall.  Yeah, he moved the whole thing and peed next to the kitchen table and then in the center of the kitchen.

Finally, the day came that Derek and I had to pack our suitcases.  Because he was driving me crazy and I couldn't trust him to not try to eat the cats, I had him on the guest bed while I picked out my clothes.  As angry as I could get at him, these faces just make me melt and think, he's only a puppy. 

This is that look where he is saying, "What the heck are you doing?"

This was the point when he was trying to help me pack my clothes in the suitcase.

And this was the point when he was saying, "Okay.  Nothing is going in this suitcase."

Ferdinand wasn't the only animal in our house that wanted to help me or didn't want me to leave.  Dexter immediately jumped inside the inner pocket and decided that she was going to nap and not move.

This was funny because when you stood at the foot of the bed you couldn't see her in there.  When she moved it was kind of creepy.  Because of this, I called Derek in the room and decided to pretend I had no idea what was in the suitcase.  He literally grabbed his shorts and pulled them up, pushed me toward the bed and ran out of the room.  If I would have known that was going to be his reaction, I would have video taped it.  It was unbelievable.  

The night that we went to my parent's house was just awful with Ferdinand.  He was just so bad in the car. I don't think I had ever sworn so much in my entire life.  By the time I got to my parent's house, which is less than an hour away, I was on the verge of tears.  I had just had it with him.

Derek and I filled my parent's in on his routines and how bad he had been.  While we talked, we let Ferdinand and Lily play.  

Ferdinand was smart.  He would hide under the dining room table and mess with Lily from there.  She couldn't get under the table, so he was good with messing with her.

We set up Ferd's playpen in the bathroom and that's where he was going to stay while he was there, in case of any accidents, especially since he had been so bad about them before.

Before we left for the airport, I stopped at my Grandparent's house to say hi.  I took Ferdinand with me and got this awesome picture of my Grandfather with him.

As a matter of fact, my Grandad just turned 75-years-old on April 10.  

So, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDAD!"

Derek and I boarded our plane later on that day and had a great flight.  We arrived at the Bahia Mar hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Flordia.  This was our view.  

Partial beach view.

Partial marina view.

So, as we enjoyed our vacation, my mom would send me videos of Ferdinand.

Here is one of him playing on Lily's bed.

Apparently, he took over her bed and had a blast with it.  Guess we need to get him one.

She also sent me this video of my Dad playing tug-of-war with him.

They seemed to have a good time and Ferdinand didn't even miss us.

So, while my parent's enjoyed having Ferdinand, we enjoyed the break.  Wrestlemania was AWESOME!  Here was a picture of where we sat.  

The palm trees got in the way of seeing part of the ring, but it was still an awesome experience.  

One of my favorite's is Randy Orton.  Here he is looking so hot on the big screen.

And here he is in the ring.

I took lots of pictures on my phone, but they didn't turn out so well.  

Here's a picture of Derek and I that his Uncle Phil took of us.

When we got home, we asked how many accidents Ferdinand had had while we were gone.  I almost died when I heard how many.  2...and they were after he had played really hard with Lily.  He made it all day long without an accident while my parents were working and no accidents at night.  I was stunned.

My mom said that she thought that he was having the accidents during the daytime at our house because the cats were messing with him.  And the more I thought about it, she could have been right.  I've seen Doakes tightrope walking the playpen when he's in there and it drives him nuts.  

We didn't get home until almost 11:30pm that night and we were exhausted.  I figured I would come up with a new plan for keeping him penned up while we were gone for work in the morning.  We did our normal routine of Derek getting up, taking him out, getting ready for work, taking him out again and putting him back in the playpen until I get up.  Well, I woke up to the dog next to my bed and pee on the kitchen floor.  I immediately called my mom telling her she was a liar.  She suggested moving him into the bathroom since he had done so well at her house there.

This is my new set up in the bathroom so that he can't chew on the vanity, garbage can or toilet bowl cleaner thing.

Ferd now has the full bathroom to himself and I leave the radio on for him in the morning.   So far, we haven't had one accident while leaving him home for a full 8 hours.  I've never been more happy in my entire life.

His attitude is so much better, he is calmer, he is happier to have space away from the cats and he isn't as chewy.  He's just so much better.  Thank God for my mother.  

Tomorrow, we go back to the vet for his check up.  I can't wait to see how much he weighs.  He's so heavy that it is difficult to pick him up!

And just for fun, here's a picture of the audience I had tonight while writing this post.