What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

[delladooo]

Hmmm, I think it would be a good idea for me to start carrying a spare lead. Originally I didn't because I only use double ended leads for mine so if one snap broke we'd always have a second (and I didn't consider a harness failure). I considered getting one once I'd seen a roaming dog on our local park - apparently this dog lives nearby and takes itself to the park quite often although I've not seen it in a while.

I wouldn't usually consider putting a lead anywhere near a dog that wasn't mine but after MiMi's incident at the park I've been very wary to take her out alone and as a last ditch resort in that situation I think I would have risked being bitten by a strange dog who's walker was completely oblivious than subject MiMi to the sheer mindless panic she experienced which carried its own very high bite risk from her simply for being "in the way". The jury would always be out on whether I would use said lead in a similar situation unless it came to it

[JudyN]

Yesterday Jasper got very excited by something on the other side of a barbed wire fence I couldn't see any sign of deer or rabbits and as we were only a few feet away from the gate and I didn't want him climbing through the barbed wire, I called him through the gate. He immediately went into a bit of rough ground, sticking his nose in the air to scent and then rootling around on the ground. I was flummoxed, until I finally saw what had caught his interest...



If you look closely, you can just see the bird feeder above his nose

Today we passed a young girl wearing a onesie - I'm not sure if she was supposed to be a cat or a teddy bear, but it was pink and fluffy, with a hood complete with little ears. Jasper didn't know what to make of her. I took quite a wide detour round her as I didn't want him to suddenly decide she was a cat when we were at close range. I would love to know what was going through his mind - was he seeing a strange human, or a strange cat, or what?

It's his sixth birthday tomorrow - where have all the years gone?

[mansbestfriend]

Max the GH seems fairly out of his shell now (after about 12 months total) but still surprises from time to time. The other day while walking, a very nice but overly friendly young Collie escapee rushed up all low and wiggly but straight into Max's space. To his credit, Max simply gave an air snap while backing away, and looked overwhelmed by all the sudden excitement.

Happy sixth birthday Jasper. Time flies when you're having fun.

[MPbandmom]

Happy 6th birthday Jasper.

[Shalista]

I'm getting increasingly depressed about bax's peeing but i'm resolved to work through it. snapped a bunch of treats in half and im carrying them around in my hoodie pouch to start treating when Ki barks. thought we were makign progress and then found a streak a mile wide. Bax pees a lake every time

Happy bday jasper! hope you got something yummy for it!

[Nettle]

Happy birthday Jasper!

[Erica]

Happy birthday to Jasper

Delta managed to scratch his third eyelid and it's been bothering him a bit so we went to the vet, saw the dog vet we hadn't met before and got a glowing review of his behavior Always good to see him being patient and accepting of handling. I found out our agility "table" cue works on the scale too, which is pretty helpful.

We'll see how his behavior is when it comes to having ointment put on his eye later tonight...

Edit: Yeah he was like "???" but he let me put the goop in his eye without moving, and then I gave him some treats so hopefully it's just as easy the second time, when he knows what's going to happen.

[Shalista]

I live in the middle of nowhere, there is only one woman that walks her dog anywhere near me and YET the sheer number of times that we chose to walk our dogs at the EXACT same moment is staggering.

I was out walking Bax today and he was going super slow, way at the end of the leash. usually he's pulling ahead or right at my side so i was puzzled. he was also stopping to water every begonia we passed. Looking back i saw 200 feet away this golden retriever being walked. She was going pretty fast so i stepped aside. The dog seemed nice enough despite the MASSIVE spiked prong collar digging into her neck and i felt bad when Bax pulled to say hi and she pulled to say hi back and she got leash popped for her efforts. Anyway i didn't want her to get distracted and leash popped again so once they were past Bax and i abandoned our walk and went home.

Still, what are the ODDS that we both go walking at the same time!?!?!?! Bax isn't dog aggressive at all but he does desperately want to say hi so walking anywhere near another dog isn't practical. You'd think me living so far out in the country it wouldn't be a problem.... small world i guess.

[Erica]

I don't understand - we've had Marble since 2011, so that's a good four years in which the entire family should have had plenty of time to learn not to leave unattended food on the edge of the counter

And yet after I released Delta from the back room where I had been drying him (after a bath today), I walk out to find him chomping down on a pound cake sitting RIGHT at the edge of the counter.

So I've texted my mom to say I'll remake it if she gives me instructions, because she's memorized the recipe and only needs a list of ingredients.

I just hope Delta now associates the blow-drying with getting pound cake because he still is not a huge fan. x3 But now, if I've got one hand of treats, I can dry his head and neck while he nibbles at the treats, so that's improvement!

[Erica]

Spent the evening watching the AKC show and the GSD doesn't look quite so deformed as you'd expect! I am pleasantly surprised, but still sad that the whippet didn't win.

[Nettle]

How clever of you to make the pound cake/Delta interface into "Positive"

How you train people, I do not know.

[Shalista]

found a silver lining to Bax's pottying issues. I go through so many rolls of paper towels cleaning it up that i have tons of empty tubes to stuff with MORE paper towels and treats. I knew there was a plus in here somewhere

[Erica]

Good job looking on the bright side hehehe!

Delta's armpits got a bit matted while I had pneumonia and didn't have the energy/strength to brush them, so I had to shave them...he says they feel weird.

I do love how sculptural his feet look after grooming, especially since the fur between the toes is darker, so it really accentuates the shadows. Very artistic.

It also appears he used his whiskers to help him position the ring for ring stacking? He had been doing great - getting multiple on in a row - but last night after I shaved his face clean, he barely got it near the thing. Maybe he was just having an off night...we'll see. I wish I could shave his face but spare his whiskers.

Agility tonight! I hope I can keep my energy up. I didn't even try to stand up the whole hour of handbell practice last night, because about halfway through I could tell I was running out of energy. I'm recovering and I can tell that I am - but I want to have my energy back! (I am eating healthy and nutritious foods even more than normal, so I know the fatigue is from the pneumonia recovery.)

[Erica]

Happy holidays everyone, and to spread the winter cheer here's Jax being gorgeous and sweet at a "pictures with Santa" thing:

And here's Marble, being herself.


Agility went well, I could breathe the whole time, and Delta is awesome. We definitely are still learning, but we may be ready for (super easy) trials soon. Just reaalllyyy have to work on weaves. So much. I wish Delta were old enough to do 2x2s; he would probably pick up on that quickly. It's so fun though, and watching Delta fly over jumps and scamper up the A frame is so awesome to watch.

[Nettle]

Song From Babydog:

I rolled in some poo
And what did she do?
Got out the shampoo
And now I stink - phew!

The poo smelled much better. I don't know why she does this. I brought her a lovely smell, and she did that.