She's adjusting well...

She's staked out her claim on top of pillows on the couch.  She'll run
from one end of the couch to the other, but she doesn't spend a lot of
time on the floor (of her own free will...we scoot her down every so
often...) even though she can get up and down on her own.

Ian has attempted to play with her a couple of times, but she just
responds with growls and he goes and finds something else to do.  They
will sit on the couch at the same time, but not on the same cushion...
He still tries to "mount her" from time to time but she has no problems
getting rid of him.  He also doesn't try very hard...

She's only on her leash when we go out to go to the bathroom, and she
hates it.  She digs her paws in, slides her butt and tries to chew her
leash off.  We have her leash free in the house because she kept
getting tangled up in everything, so now if she's not on the couch it's
a little bit of a chase to get her rounded up and to get her collar on.
She doesn't really like to be outside and wants in right away, but
she'll go once she realizes that we're not coming back inside until
she's gone!  On a side note, I tried to take her out on her own (Ian
was sleeping in his crate in the bedroom) and she wouldn't go and she
cowered by the house like it was a big doggie magnet.  So I went in and
got Ian (who LOVES the snow!!!) and he trots out, does his thing, and
then she relaxes and goes to the bathroom. 

She let us touch and pet her the first day we were home.  She still
runs when she's on the floor, (not actually a run, but trots away..)
but if you sit down she'll walk right into your lap and plop down.
She's had one or two accidents, we didn't catch her so we didn't scold
her, but we made sure to make it clear that we wern't pleased.  And you
should have seen the dirty looks of disgust Ian gave her!  Ever since
she hasn't had any accidents....that we know of...

She barks and growls at what appears to nothing...it's kind of
weird...She'll be all growly and barking, staring off into the corner,
and Ian will be on the floor gnawing on a bone, completly oblivious...
Not sure what that's all about, but I'm not to worried because it's
only happened a handfull of times.

She sleeps on our bed..she likes it because it's the plushiest, softest
thing in the house.  At this point she can't get up by herself, it's a
little too tall, although I wouldn't be surprised to find her up
jumping up there on her own someday. 

Anyway..it's only been a few days so we're still learing about each
other.  We gave her a bath (she STUNK of nervousness!!) on Sat. and she
took it rather well.  Not as good as Ian, but she wasn't the little
tasmanian devil that she could have been!  Ian doesn't seem to be put
out by the fact that we got another dog, but he does like to claim
ownership of all doggie toys in the room.  He doesn't get all mad when
Tomu hops up on "his" spot on "his" blanket on the loveseat, he just
hops up on "her" blanket" on the couch..or he plays with a toy..or he
just hops up on the loveseat and sticks to the other cushion.  He'll do
a little sniffing, but he never pushes his luck. 

And that's how the dogs are doing. 

Did you get lots of snow?  We got 3.5 inches.  Winter finally arrived!

Josh

Tomu is adjusting slowly.  She's moved off of the couch and is more
active now, but now she's a little more anti-social then she was
before.  (with people, Ian and Tomu get along well enough..they're not
"best friends forever" or anything, but they run together and interact
without growling or scuffles, so that's good)  She wags her tail, so
she's not unhappy, but she likes to be around the corner from the rest
of us, and she'll walk\trot away when we approach her, even when we're
low to the ground.  She's still on a leash outside, and she goes to the
bathroom outside, mostly, just fine.  Still a few accidents now and
then, but Ian went throught the same phase.

She's developed a taste for the Eukanuba, (we've been mixing it in with
her other food) and she LOVES any and all meat.  She's less picky than
Ian is. 

On a side note, my parents have been pestering me to ask you about a
dog for them.  Here's my mom's e-mail address "ldawson@midiowa.net" I'm
going to give her your address and let you two talk amongst yourselves.
Her name is Linda Dawson, and my dad's name is Rick Dawson.  Hope you
don't mind!

Anyway, it's a busy day, so I'll have to chat later. 

Josh

Well, it's been a while and I figured you were overdue for an update,
so here goes...

Ian is doing great.  His hair is quite a bit longer now, it almost
touches the ground between his legs.  He still treats our friends and
family members with extreme caution, even the people that he's had
hours and hours and hours of exposure to.  He doesn't let other people
touch him, and he follows them around the house as if they might steal
one of his toys... 

Tomu is...getting better.  There's still a lot of pooping in the house.
She'll be good for about a week to a week and a half and then it's a
few days of multiple piles around the house.  She goes in several
different spots, and yesterday she did it right in front of me!  She
will come and get Crystal or myself to let her out when she's good, and
we've been taking her out every two hours or so if she wants to go or
not.  (Ian always wants to go..)  When she's naughty she's in her crate
when we're gone or sleeping, but she does NOT like being in the crate.
She whines and whimpers and tries to dig her way out.  She also shakes
and stinks REALLY BAD when she's let out.  It's good for punishment but
we do feel a little guilty leaving her in for hours when she hates it
so much.  Any suggestions in this dept?  She's been going in our
bedroom (where Ian also sleeps, Tomu likes the living room) and in the
living room, and the hallway in between.  It's hard to patrol the whole
house at once, and we feel bad for Ian when we close off the bedroom
because that's where his crate is and he likes to nap in his crate. 

Otherwise, Tomu is getting friendlier.  She likes Crystal and mimics
Ian with the "paw paw" action when she gets home from work.  When I get
home (or leave) she "bitch barks" so hard that her whole body jumps off
the ground and she'll move forward or backward.  I can hear her barking
all the way out to my garage!  (Even when Crystal is home she does
this...)  I'm not sure if she's complaining about me leaving, not
inviting her, or what, but it's also a habit that we could do without.
It's a higher pitch shrill of a bark, and she'll do it for about 5
minutes.  Louder than the kennel during your open house.

She treats me like Ian treats strangers; she'll get right up to them
and sniff, but when I try to pet or even open my hand she'll hop
backwards and stop, or she'll trot away.  Not a run, but just far
enough so I can't reach her.  If I'm sitting on the floor I can pet
her....sometimes....but never if I'm standing or squatting down.

She's a garbage disposal.  If it hits the floor she's on it.  Meat,
corn, chips, peanuts (my god she LOVES peanuts) she'll eat it.  Ian
won't.  He's a food snob.  He'll sniff, but he's a meat-only dog.  (We
don't give the dogs all the weird food, we try to get it before they do
when it falls on the floor...except peanuts.  She likes them so
much...)   She likes the same kind of dog food as Ian, and they both
have their own food bowls and share a water bowl. Since we leave food
in their bowls all day they don't hide food or snarf it down. We give
them each a cup of kibble around 8 a.m. (only when the bowls are empty
or really low) and every day there's usually kibble left in the bowls.
They get people food after we're done eating (by 11 a.m.) but other
then that they both eat out of each others' bowls.

Anyway, I've got some pics on the camera at home that I'll send in the
next couple of days.  Nothing spectacular, but at least you can see any
changes that might have taken place in the last few weeks.  (Tomu's
hair is getting longer as well!)

Talk to you later,
Josh

I'm not sure if you have high-speed internet, so I'll send the pics in
clusters so it doesn't kill your modem.

Look for a longer message...it's coming, I swear!

Josh (& Crystal & Ian & Tomu too!)

The Backyard

Well, no excuse for waiting so long to write.  Sorry about that, life
moves fast when we least expect it to!

Ian and Tomu are doing great!  The people that "know them" say that
they are better behaved then most people's children, the people that
don't think they never bark! 

Ian suffered from what we(the vet)suspects are allergies.  When spring
hit and everything opened up, (we live in a nursery so there's LOTS of
pollen) he started scratching and rubbing on everything. Not even a
week had gone by and he had a small bald spot on his butt\tail and
another one on top of his nose. (I still feel a little guilty for not
noticing sooner) Vet gave us a steroid (prednisone?) to give him every
other day for a few weeks.  He stopped itching right away and his hair
is (slowly) filling in.  (You can only see it when his tail is up...)
Tomu also scratches, but no more than a dog should. ;) 

Tomu is doing well, she enjoys being a house dog very much.  She's
figured out her place in the pack really quickly a few weeks ago when I
was combing mats out of her belly.  She does NOT like to be combed and
she gets all wormy and wriggly and she snaps at the comb whenever it
gets near her head.  Well, she snapped and bit me on the face.
(bottome of the chin)  I don't think she meant to actually get me, she
bit and latched on and didn't want to let go.  Drew a little blood.
She immediately straightened up and since then she's been a whole new
dog.  Super friendly (compared to Ian) to friends and familly, and
she's actually somewhat obedient.  (As much as an Apso can be!)  Ian
still doesn't care for most of my friends and family.  He's not mean,
he just won't let anybody pet him and he follows them around like
they're going to steal something.  (just doing his job, I suppose...)

Tomu also hates to wear a collar or a leash.  She won't walk with one
on; she tries to chew it off the whole time.  I'd like to take the dogs
to the park but Tomu doesn't want to go anywhere.  When she goes
outside she pees and then wastes no time as she bounds to the door.
She likes to lay in the sun on the front porch, but would rather lay in
her dog bed on the floor in the living room.  Ian doesn't mind the
collar but he also doesn't want to go anywhere.  In fact, he'd rather
YOU didn't go anywhere either! (Especially if it's storming.  He's
terrified of thunder, Tomu could care less!)

The dogs treat each other like brother and sister.  Ian's the older
brother and Tomu's the younger sister.  There's still accidents in the
house from time to time and the dogs like to tattle on the one who was
bad.  If Ian was bad Tomu will chew and gnaw on his ear and squeal\bark
at him.  If it was Tomu Ian will jump up and give me the paw paws until
I get up and follow him to the "evidence".  Ian likes to steal Tomu's
toys but she likes to chew them up until they have to be thrown away.
(His toys are all in good shape, except he kills squeakers...)

We're still buying them Eukanuba. (Small breed\Adult)  They're still
eating it.  Ian LOVES cheese, beef, and that cheese that has the beef
in it.  Tomu LOVES anything that's food or food related.  (I think
they're still around the same weight as when they lived with you.)

We self groom, but I do it only when I have to.  Ian has REALLY long
hair.  I keep it trimmed by his feet (no mats b\w his toes) and he gets
brushed at least 2 or 3 times a week.  (He likes it, I like it,
everybody's happy.)  His hair on his head he likes hanging in front of
his eyes.  He flops his head forward so his bags cover his face, but
his bangs go to at least his nose, so you can't really see his eyes
unless he stands on his back feet doing the "paw paw."  I swear he
loves it.  (Crystal doesn't like it very much)  Otherwise his coat is
getting very "full" or "thick" and I'm thinking he'll need it thinned
out before summer's over.  I'll try to get some pics your way so you
can see how he went from "champion" to "raggamuffin" in less than a
year!  (I think he likes his hair long and he likes to tromp around in
the underbrush in the yard because before he couldn't let himself "go"
when he was still competing.. Just my opinion.)

Other then that everything's going peachy.  Dogs are fine, we're fine,
and we hope your'e ok too!

I like the new webpages.

Sorry to hear about the gompa puppies. :(  I'm confident that there
will be some gompa pups in the next few years.  (Gut feeling~ several
puppies by 2011...so then I can have one!)

Take care and enjoy the day!

Josh (and Crsytal. and Ian. and Tomu.)
 

Another batch of pictures. 

Tomu is sitting in front of the grill.  She likes the grill because
that's where the cooked meat comes from.  She always checks out the
grill on the way in and out of the house, just in case there might be
some food that we somehow forgot.

You can see how shaggy Ian's getting. 

Do any of the other Lhasa's like to play fetch?  Ian LOVES it but Tomu
doesn't like to play.  We'll throw a sheepskin ball that's about twice
the size of his head and he'll go crazy and shake it all over and bring
it back, wanting us to throw it again.  This repeats until YOUR'E done,
then he throws it around himself!  He also does this with a little
cloth frisbee and a toy squirrel.  (No, he doesn't catch things in the
air, he just likes to go and "find" and "punish" them...)  Funny story
about the sheepskin ball:  He killed the squeeker in it eventually but
the ball is in excellent shape, so he's had it for months.  We got him
another one, an excact replica, and brought it home.  I brought it out
and squeeked it and the look on Ian's face was priceless!  He was SO
MAD!  He ran up, grabbed the ball and went to town shaking the ball
around the living room.  I got home from work (not even 24 hours later)
and went to play and wouldn't you know it, the squeeker was dead!  He
killed it in 24 hours!  Once again the ball was otherwise in perfect
shape; no lumps or tears or rips or anything, just a dead squeeker!

Anyway, I'm sure your'e busy.  Enjoy the pics!

Josh

Oh, and by the way, I think we've seen the wiggle dance from Tomu.
Only she squeals like a PIG when she does it!  She also "shakes with
delight" when we're eating steak because she knows she's going to get
some.  One time she barked at me because apparently she thought I was
"taking too long" and Ian jumped up and knocked her down and put her
back in her spot. (The dogs eat AFTER we eat.  No scraps or food
before...)  That was the last time she barked, but she still sits and
stares. (and shakes\vibrates)

She also continues to bark like crazy when I leave the house.  (She
knows I'm leaving because I've put on my watch and shoes) She looks
forward to it and now she starts barking when I stand up to turn the TV
off.  Ian just sits there with not a care in the world.  (He doesn't
even come to the door to see me off)  She does the same "bitch bark" at
the vacuum, if that means anything.  Also, the whole time she's barking
her tail is wagging like she's having a good time...

Anyway...

Josh

Here's some really good photos of Tomu and Ian on vacation.  We went up
the north shore of Minnesota for a week.  Tomu LOVED it, Ian liked
it...

Expect more in a later message..

Josh