Orchid Dog in Training

[Mrs. Paph]

I just had to share some pics of my Samoyed puppy Kody (Kodiak) - aka Orchid Dog in Training! It takes me almost twice as long to water my plants now, with half the time spent making sure he doesn't need to be let outside or pulled back just before biting an orchid, but he's getting better now about laying down and waiting quietly while I water

8 weeks - little white marshmallow dog :rollhappy:


16 weeks - chilling in the 'sun' from my main plant stand

 

[likespaphs]

super cute!

 

[NYEric]

QT Thanx for sharing.

 

[nikv]

Cute! Those shelves aren't nearly full enough. oke:

 

[Hera]

Cute! Those shelves aren't nearly full enough. oke:

I agree, you have good lighting and way too many spaces.

The dog is a doll!!!!

 

[Ernie]

Cute!

You need some more plants to fill those shelves!

-Ernie

 

[nikv]

So is your doggy a Paph Pooch?

 

[SlipperFan]

Interesting -- in the top picture, the puppy looks tiny. But in the second one, he looks fairly big.

 

[ncart]

He is soooooooooooooooo cute.

 

[Mrs. Paph]

Thanks He's cute And he doesn't trigger my allergies like many breeds/mixes do, so he's the perfect dog for me! Everyone with allergies is different, but I've also found that the smaller but similar American Eskimo breed doesn't bother me either. Something about the proteins in their dander is different, which is also thought to be responsible for the fact that they don't have the usual 'wet dog' smell, so that's another bonus!
And yes, I know, Way too many spaces on the shelves...I'm really trying to save and plan for the future when I can get a greenhouse, so I'm pretty selective about what Paphs I choose! I also tell myself I'm keeping the obsession somewhat under control by concentrating on Paphs, but now that I'm down south and found so many things that can be virtually thrown outside for the summer and ignored, I'm ending up with more 'other' orchids too! Oops And I'm close to a local orchid society now too, so that should take care of the open spaces pretty quickly - but feel free to send me your best divisions if you want to help me fill them up faster! LOL

 

[Mrs. Paph]

Dot - the ad from the photo hosting site gets in the way a bit, but under that I did label the photo, and he's 2 months in the 1st one, and 4 months in the 2nd He's 17 weeks now, and 24 pounds when I weighed him today. Based on his parents, he'll probably get to 45-55lbs. when full grown.

 

[etex]

Your puppy is a doll!
What lights are you using? Your light set up looks great!

 

[Lanmark]

Pets are great! Your dog is adorable! I agree: you need more plants on your stand!

My cat has actually finally decided to leave my orchids alone. It's a miracle! :drool: For seven years I've kept a constant supply of oat/barley/wheat grass growing for her. I keep at least two and sometimes three pots in rotation, so there's always more grass sprouting up. She eats it like a cow :rollhappy: but up until a few months ago she would still chomp on the orchids if given the chance. I don't know what's changed, but I'm grateful she's stopped. She still eats the grass, though.

 

[NYEric]

OMG! If I had a cat and it did that I'd end up w/ a new hat!

 

[Lanmark]

OMG! If I had a cat and it did that I'd end up w/ a new hat!

:rollhappy:

I learned very quickly to keep her separated from the orchids.

 

[SlipperFan]

Dot - the ad from the photo hosting site gets in the way a bit, but under that I did label the photo, and he's 2 months in the 1st one, and 4 months in the 2nd He's 17 weeks now, and 24 pounds when I weighed him today. Based on his parents, he'll probably get to 45-55lbs. when full grown.

Ok -- that explains a lot!

 

[Mrs. Paph]

Diane, I use 40W 'sunshine' tubes (not to be confused with the Plant/Aquarium lights that put out more heat). There are a couple different brands that make full spectrum lights that list all the same specs on the packaging (and measure the same with my light meter), so I buy whatever happens to be cheaper at Home Depot or Lowes at the time I need to swap out the bulbs. The key thing that I look for is that they say they provide the full spectrum of light - that way I don't have to keep track of mixing both cool and warm bulbs, and the plants and blooms appear the same color that they do outside in natural light.

 

[nikv]

So have you trained yoru dog to fetch your slippers yet?

 

[Mrs. Paph]

Photo update & strange plant issue (non-orchid!)

Here's a more recent pic of Kody! It snowed Valentines Day morning, so I had to photograph my little snow puppy in action!

He's still behaving around my orchids when I take him in the room with me, but he has a strange obsession with one of my outdoor plants - lemon balm. I made the mistake of rubbing the plant and then putting him near it to smell it when he was still a tiny pup, and now I caught him rummaging through it this afternoon! It's still mostly dormant and covered with old leaves, but he goes over to the plant repeatedly and grabs dried up chunks off of it Other than me not being pleased about him disturbing it, does anyone know if lemon balm is something that would be bad for a dog if I can't get him to leave it alone??? I looked through a couple lists of plants dangerous to domestic animals and didn't see it, so maybe it's fine and it'll just give him lemon breath?

 

[Hera]

That's no dog, that's a stuffed animal. Too cute!!