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

[Shalista]

srry, perhaps my choice of words for "take down" wasn't clear enough. I didn't think any kind of hunting really involved the dog KILLING the prey, certainly not something as big as a boar.

I was just impressed that they were used in the hunting process at all for something as legendarily fierce as a wild board.

[Ari_RR]

Ridgebacks don't fight/kill lions either.

Kids seem disappointed when I break the news to them during our walks, by the way.

- Wow, looks at that dog, he fights lions!
- No, kid(s), he doesn't, that would be pretty stupid of him. Ridgebacks can keep a lion at bay, which takes a lot of courage and skills, but they wouldn't fight with one.
- Really? Bummer...

Somehow this just doesn't measure up.

[Shalista]

yeah i mean it takes way more guts to hold something than to just kill it imho. not to mention the skill involved for not getting killed in the process

[mansbestfriend]

Yesterday, Kelly dog and Max the greyhound and I were walking, and did not cause a slow painful inhumane death to any animal.

[Erica]

Cross your fingers for me -- have submitted application to KPA! I am getting more and more consults to attend to and it is fantastic, as it is directly coinciding with a dropoff in my nannying/tutoring duties. Perfect timing from a kind universe, at least in this aspect! The pay is better and I can probably responsibly consider moving out soon.

Delta now has a variety of surfaces to choose from for naps. There's the hardwood floor, the carpeted floor, the thin mat in his crate, the thick bed next to my desk, and the human bed. He'll switch between all of them depending on his mood

The new dog bed:

[DianeLDL]

Cross your fingers for me -- have submitted application to KPA! I am getting more and more consults to attend to and it is fantastic, as it is directly coinciding with a dropoff in my nannying/tutoring duties. Perfect timing from a kind universe, at least in this aspect! The pay is better and I can probably responsibly consider moving out soon.

Delta now has a variety of surfaces to choose from for naps.

Erica, Good luck with the application. I know you have worked hard to get to this point.

And, Delta sure looks comfy.

Diane

[JudyN]

At the end of our garden & beyond the fence is a strip of rough land, about 12" wide. A few days ago our neighbours put up a fence at the end of their garden. The last couple of nights Jasper has gone berserk when he's gone out before bedtime, barking through our fence and not wanting to come back in. I can't go down and see what's upset him because he can redirect when upset. The night before last when he came in he was grumping and growling for some time.

I think the neighbours' fence must have changed the behaviour of some local wildlife, probably foxes. They used to drink from the neighbours' pond so maybe they're trying to find a way in or dig under the fence, and it's sending J ballistic Last night I managed to get him in eventually by calling 'Find sausage!' but then when I was in the bathroom he asked to go out again and OH let him out Cue more barking....

I'm not sure what I can do about this apart from letting him out earlier and not at bedtime.

Oh, and good luck Erica!

[Erica]

Would J object to a short bedtime walk instead of going to the garden? I can't recall if he dislikes nighttime walks or something like that, but when Delta started obsessively investigating the woodpile every time I let him out, we switched to short on-leash walks instead for a bit

[JudyN]

It's a thought - but he tends to be a bit more 'hunty' and on edge at dusk or when it's dark - and I can't see any cats or anything else he might suddenly react to, & might not notice when he suddenly went on alert...

I had a look at the new fence and there is actually a gap that foxes etc. could get through into next door's garden - though it's close to our garden so it might mean they're coming closer than they would have done previously. What I really need is an infra-red camera so I can see what's lurking where

It's not really a problem apart from disturbing the neighbours. The neighbours on that side think J is wonderful so they should be OK and to be honest I don't mind annoying the neighbours on the other side

[Nettle]

If you are ever tempted - the cameras aren't too expensive these days - we have one and it's amusing to see who and what goes by after bedtime.

[JudyN]

What type have you got, Nettle? Could you post a link to something similar, please? DS2 was saying that he'd love one if they weren't so expensive, and I know he's happy to shell out a reasonable amount on new gadgets.

[Nettle]

I haven't checked the site myself, but OH reckons it's worth spending more to get a really reliable one, and says Bushnall has a good reputation.

[JudyN]

Thanks Nettle - I'll have a browse.

I read recently that a dog who occasionally walked on our local heath had died of Alabama Rot I met someone on the heath yesterday who commented how the heath was now getting a bad name for it and people were worried about walking their dogs there. Got home and checked on the internet - it's still just the one dog who died, and he was mostly walked in a different area entirely.

Yes of course it's still something that will be at the back of my mind, but I do think people need to keep a perspective on risk. There's all sorts of things that could happen when we walk our dogs, and given the number of dogs walked on this heath every day, the odds of getting Alabama Rot are still very, very low.

[Shalista]

Bax has backslid CONSIDERABLY in the potty training field. he pooped twice and peed three times in the house yesterday. (including once that was less than ten min from his last walk where he also pottied) im hoping hes just stressed over Zuri still.

[MPbandmom]

Best wishes Erica!

The infrared camera sound like fun JudyN. I hope it turns out to be affordable and also solves the mystery of what is upsetting J.

Dogs here are having most of their walks at the local park. Sometimes walking from the house, sometimes driving to the park and then walking, sometimes walking together, sometimes walking separately.

We had a heavy wet snow last week followed by rain for a couple of days. I headed out with Sky for a walk on Saturday and was surprised to find a portion of the sidewalk still blocked by snow. It is at the bottom of the hill with the sewer drain for runoff water to enter the drainage ditch. So this area tends to be cooler. There is a fence alongside the sidewalk preventing people from falling into the ditch, so I used the fence to support myself while walking over the pile of snow. Sky had initially dodged toward the street, but I had redirected her to going over the snow pile. All other areas were clear and we had a nice 2+ mile walk. Towards the end she started limping on her left front paw again.

The next two walks I drove the dogs to the park and walked them together to avoid getting too far away from "home" should she start limping badly again. She walked well outside, but seemed to get progressively worse when walking around in the house. She has now had two days of rest much to her dismay and didn't seem to be limping as much this evening. We will try her on a short walk at the park again tomorrow.

In other news, I finally purchased a blower and have given each dog a short blow down. Sky, who hates any form of grooming and will head into the far back corner of her crate if I so much as pick up a brush or comb, or will duck and dodge, sit down, or lie down to try and hide from being brushed or combed should I hold her collar while trying to groom her, actually did pretty well. There was an almost steady stream of peanut butter involved, which might have been a good idea with the regular combing and brushing, but I usually wasn't that organized. I did have to hold her collar, and she was standing close to some lawn furniture which made it nearly impossible to reach across and around her to get to one side,, but between OH and I taking short turns, we did get one of her haunches looking fluffy and soft while at the same time removing a good deal of undercoat. I am accustomed to her coming out looking smooth and sleek on the rare occasion where I manage to get her coat combed, so the fluffy was a bit of a surprise.

We also had some damage done to our roof in recent high winds and had that repaired this week. Sirius was not a fan, but OH put both dogs out into the back yard for the duration of the work, so at least Sirius wasn't in the house hearing all of the banging right over her head.