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

[Shalista]

The weather's been very odd lately, normally we're supposed to have a couple of feet of snow at this point in the year but right now it's 60F and not a snowflake to be seen. Bax's enjoying the warm weather though. he found something delicious to roll in for ages while we were out on our walk and the best news is that he passed the sniff test when we got inside! Whatever it was it's for dog noses only i guess. He's spared the bath.

[JudyN]

This is pure boastfulness, but....

We met a 4-year-old greyhound/saluki x this afternoon. He was beautiful, big (practically as big as Jasper) and very muscly and bouncy. Jasper decided to put him through his paces, and they had a chase. Despite hardly ever running flat out now, and being three years older, Jasper was faster. The owner was well impressed, and so was I.

Then we met another pair of lurchers, and they and the saluki x had another chase. Jasper was like 'Nah, I've had my run, I'm just going to stand here and bask in glory now, and save my energy in case a deer wanders past'

[MPbandmom]

Yay Jasper!

[DianeLDL]

Hi Shalista,

Where are you where you expect there to be snow?

The weather's been very odd lately, normally we're supposed to have a couple of feet of snow at this point in the year but right now it's 60F and not a snowflake to be seen.

That's how it usually is in Maine where we finally left in January in the middle of a snow storm. OH likes to begin our driving at 4am, so we were on the highway before the snow plows.

While in Maine, Sandy' had his first experience with more than a few inches of snow. In December, we had quite a bit of snow, that when he tried to have his BM, his butt was in the snow.
So, we had our plow guy push snow off part of our grass. Then, Sandy had fun lifting his leg on his snow walls.

He didn't mind when it froze, & even though he is only 11 pounds, he was pulling me in the ice. If only I had been on skates....

Anyway, we are back in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he hates our stone xeriscape. I think that despite the snow, he preferred running on the grass, & Sandy also loves to roll in it.

Today, he is playing lapdog & lying on my lap as I write this in between reading. Nice quiet day at home.

Diane

[Nettle]

Would he like a stretch of astroturf on part of the stonescape, Diane? That can apparently be washed off after use, if water restrictions allow, and it can be put away while you are away to save every dog and cat in the district using it too.

[JudyN]

Jasper and OH survived for 32.5 (not that I was counting) hours without me while I was at my brother's wedding Jasper was a bit unsettled in the night, deciding to sleep downstairs, then barking at 12pm, and again at 1am, when OH let him out, but he settled down after that. He went out for walks without a fuss, though did search the house for me each time he came home. He was very pleased when I got home, though not frantic

In the meantime, my cousin had to miss the wedding because she'd gone to a concert the day before and her Irish terrier had done a runner on the walk with the dog walker. She came home halfway through the concert when the dog walker messaged her, found the motorway on the way home had been closed, and ended up wandering round calling her dog at 1am. He finally turned up at 3am, and there was no way she'd have been in a fit state to make the journey - and she didn't want to leave him with the dog walker again!

Nothing but trouble, these dogs

[MPbandmom]

Good to hear from you Diane.

We are working on arrangements to travel later this year to hear a guest speaker at one of the out of state dog mushing clubs. Usually we take the dogs with us when we travel, but this location isn't looking to be very Sirius appropriate. All of the motels in the area have interior corridor doors except one which states dogs must be supervised, which rules out leaving the dogs in the room while we attend the lecture.

I do have a recommendation from a friend for a kennel that was really good with a dog of hers with a similar temperament to Sirius as well as also being raw fed. Before I go with kennels though, I think I am going to check with the agency that watches the cat to see if we can do a test run of a visitor entering the house while OH and I are away. I plan on putting up a child gate to block the dogs from getting to the room with the door that the carer would come into. That way if Sirius is very hateful, the visitor will have a dog free safe zone. Of course to care for the dogs and cat, the carer would have to leave that dog free safe zone. Sirius has good bite inhibition and if the carer can follow the directions to not touch either dog while in the house, while Sirius may put up a good guard dog bluff, I don't think the person would actually be in danger of injury. Sirius might even be happy to see the person by the second or third time if the carer throws treat bombs to move Sirius around and out of the way.

Sirius has been to groomers before and to dog daycare and usually the worst part of it all is handing her over to the other person's care. But she isn't in her own territory in those circumstances, whereas with someone coming to the house, she is in her own territory.

We had a lovely walk at the battlefield today. The dogs thought it was a tad bit warm, but it was comfortable for the people with just a sweatshirt and not needing heavy coats and gloves. Both dogs are blowing coat, so they will be better suited for the warmer weather once it really arrives.

[Erica]

I'd definitely recommend having the carer meet the pups while you're there before you do the test run! Out of four times I've had to take care of dogs without meeting them with their owners, only one has gone well. The others took a lot of convincing that I wasn't there to steal their souls.

[MPbandmom]

Thank you for that input Erica.

I knew we would likely need to have a meet and greet at some point before the actual trip, as they have never cared for the dogs before and would need to be shown about their food and Sirius' medicine.

I was kind of thinking about having the test be one of feeding the dogs their dinner while we are out for the evening. OH has a very special number birthday coming up and siblings are coming to town for a late afternoon dinner which could go several hours and thus run into dog dinner time.

[Nettle]

Another vote for a test run, MPB.

I once had to look after a kennels (in the days when I did house-sitting) where the two house dogs were man-trained guard dogs. I insisted on going there beforehand, and when they were alone, going into the house with the owner concealed outside so he could rescue me if necessary. The dogs already knew me, but okay with owner present and okay with owner not present are two very different concepts. It worked fine, but unfortunately neither of us realised I needed to know the 'secret' commands to attack and to back off, and during the fortnight I was there, I accidentally used a phrase that was very similar. Luckily I saw the body-language in time and nothing went wrong.

However, the very persistent chap who was door-to-door selling had a big surprise when I told him to stay outside the gate and he thought he'd come onto the property

It would be illegal now but I was very glad for the persuasive manner of a very large huge enormous bigger than that black fluffy Alsatian.

[DianeLDL]

Would he like a stretch of astroturf on part of the stonescape, Diane? That can apparently be washed off after use, if water restrictions allow, and it can be put away while you are away to save every dog and cat in the district using it too.

Nettle, great idea, and we looked into it our first summer with Sandy. For 4ft x 4t, they quoted $2000!

They said that they would need to dig underneath and add drainage and move the stones. We don't have that kind of money to spend on artificial grass!

His indoor potty could go outside and on the covered patio, but it Is small and depends on the direction of the sun. After 3 pm, we get shade on one side of the house, and in the morning there is an alley between the house and tall wall that gets shade. So, we run out to find a park in mid day. There is on walking distance but there are other dogs, and we still haven't gotten rid of Sandy's reactive problems. Of course there are other dogs since they don't have grass at home either.

Also, around our neighborhood in Albuquerque it's hot sidewalks so the on,y place to walk a dog is in a park. There is a dog park, but we won't take him there. He has never been outside off leash as he isn't dog friendly, nor does he understand about streets and cars.

In Albuquerque, our home is near an Air Force Base (one of the reasons we bought there since my husband is retired from the US Marines and we have privileges), and near the lodging and the officers club there is a huge grassy area that OH & I can jog with him and he can roll. Only problem is in the summer, where hawks build their nests in the trees on one side of the park. OH had to fend off a hawk swooping down thinking Sandy was prey. But, if we stay away from the trees, it's okay. I think they are just protecting the babies in the nest. Occasionally, someone will be out there running their dog(s) off leash which is against the rules, but sometimes we can use the van to block them, and take Sandy on the smaller grassy area.

That's another reason we like going to our house in Maine in the summer and fall, where we have a half acre of grass to run on although not being fenced, we keep him on leash. And, it's quiet area to walk. He loves it, and his favorite is the birch tree with low branches that he lifts his leg on the fluttering leaves.

Thanks for the suggestion. Wish it wasn't so expensive. Maybe we could find something to put on top of the rocks, but I'm not sure Sandy would stay on it. We would have to cover half the yard.

Diane

[JudyN]

Nettle, great idea, and we looked into it our first summer with Sandy. For 4ft x 4t, they quoted $2000!

Could you not simply buy some off the roll, like this - https://www.expressgrass.com/ - and lay it on a convenient flat spot?

[Nettle]

Yes, that's what I was thinking - the expense ( my word that IS expensive!!) and detailed work is for when it is laid down permanently.

[Erica]

The shelter I volunteer at has an astroturf playpen. It gets hot enough to burn paws in the summer too, so I would suggest putting it in shade or rolling it up when it's not in use.

(The shelter puts up sunshades and a fancy sprinkler system to keep it cool in the summer now!)

[JudyN]

There was a dog - possibly a wire-haired vizla - sitting in the middle of the field in the wood today. Just sitting, very erect and still, like a statue... for ages. I met the owner, who had loaded her other dogs into the back of her van (she's a dog walker) and she said he always did this - she had to go over to him and put his lead on to get him to go home. I had Jasper on lead as we were crossing the access road, and he was transfixed, as if the dog was a deer. So I'm wondering - was he focusing on the dog because he thought the behaviour unusual, or could he not identify it as it wasn't moving and wondered if it might be a deer - it was about the right size and colour, but I've certainly never seen a deer sitting down

Later he made an absolute pest of himself mugging someone for treats - far worse than his usual self. Again, he was on lead as one of their dogs is a reactive saluki but being a sighthound J is convinced they should be best buddies, and I had to practically drag him away. The treats in question were Wagg low-fat treats. I might have to get some if they're that good! Normally I can trust him only to pester people who actually give him treats when he pesters, which is their own silly fault