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

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

Post by mansbestfriend »

Re-found my specs today at 'our' alternative dog park a few Ks from home, luckily not skew-if and still in one piece :) . Played on the park's Agility equipment and warmed down with a walk around some mountain bike trails in the state forest. All good.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Sit.
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Good news, mbf - losing specs is such a nuisance. Great that you had a good day.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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

Post by JudyN »

Swanny1790 wrote:Wow!! Good for Jasper. That must have taken tons of self-control on his part.
I'm convinced the prey-drive switch activates a self-control/discipline switch - deer-hunting is too important to be wrecked by silly puppyish behaviour, after all. This same switch is not activated by cats, the sight of one of his favourite gravy-bone fairies, or seeing OH approach from the distance when we've gone to meet him from work, where I have to hang on for grim death and watch out for a frustration-triggered tantrum :lol:

Poor old Jasper - three nights ago, as we were settling down for bed, the breeze made the curtains billow out into the room (scary) and blew the door shut (super-scary). When I opened it again, Jasper stared out onto the landing, and then decided he'd be safer sleeping downstairs - which he has done every night since then (he comes back up sometime in the wee small hours, but I don't know what time). Last night, Jasper and I had gone up to bed before OH, and as soon as he'd had his bedtime treat, Jasper went back down to the front room. But as he climbed onto the sofa, his paw moved the throw, which moved the cushions on the sofa, which spooked him - so he went off to sleep in the study, and there's not even a bed in there! :shock:

Just sometimes I really wish I had a [generalisation alert] cheerful bombproof labrador! :lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Swanny1790
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Swanny1790 »

Chetan is getting closer. Her progesterone level jumped from C-1 to C-3, and the vet tech was donning her rain gear to dash the sample off to the airport to ship Outside as I was loading Chetan back into the truck. Depending on the result, which we'll get first thing in the morning, Little Miss will go in for her AI either tomorrow or Monday. Two days ago Doc said (with a heavy sigh) that he would do it Sunday if he absolutely must.

Today Chetan met a new vet, a "fill-in" who is a military vet on Fort Wainwright. Dr. Lane seemed quite intrigued by Chetan, commenting that she looks kind of wild and "coyote-ish". She had a difficult time with the blood draw and I was tempted to offer to do it myself, but Chetan was dealing with it very nicely and she finally was able to get the sample. Had she missed that second attempt, however.... It's kind of a "paramedic thang".

Meanwhile, the weather is just freckin' miserable. We've had the wettest and rainiest summer that anyone can remember, the dog yard is a mass of muck again (still) and there isn't a darned thing I can do about it except don rain coat and hip boots and just deal with it (sigh). As you can tell, I'm not dealing with it all that well. I am, however, remembering that it's a heck of a lot better than last year's wild fires. Honest, I'm not ungrateful, I'm just tired of being coated in multiple layers of mud.

Some of the dogs cope with it better than others. The smart ones are just hanging out inside their houses, staying reasonably dry. Aumaruq and Thowra, black dogs that show off mud like a neon sign, spend very little time in their houses, preferring to dash about and splash about. Friday and plush-coated Selene are sharing a pen, and seem to spend about half their time in their houses, and the other half digging holes.

Shadow, the border collie mix house dog, LOVES water and LOVES being wet so every hour so she's been making her rounds, counting the bunnies and the chickens and of course, the sled dogs, making sure all are still present and accounted for.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
Erica
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

Send some of that rain our way, Swanny! We've had a terrible drought this year. :( And good luck with the AI!

Rosie continues to show off every single sign of an untrained puppy. Today I had a long day at work, so I walked her in the morning before I left, stopped by around lunch time for my lunch and to walk her, and came home a couple hours later to a destroyed crate cushion. :roll: She's not confined to the crate - she gets to be in a couple rooms of the house. Normally she's outside in the yard, but after seeing a copperhead in the yard I decided, hmmm, maybe not going to leave her there unattended. Today was rainy, anyways. (I should also mention that we do a good bit of training on our walks - working on calm behavior around people/dogs/squirrels, walking with me when I call her name, and loose-leash walking - and that all of her food comes from puzzle toys.)

When I got back, I took her for a third good walk, despite the drizzly weather, then to the pet shop to see if they had the same crate cushion. That store didn't so we'll go to another tomorrow. She was surprisingly well-behaved. I let her get a felt rope toy and a few bully sticks (she got to carry the rope, but I held onto the bully sticks). When we got back, I gave her a bully stick then went to the bathroom - so she started crying because how dare I be in the house and not in the same exact room as her I am obviously a horrible person. When I was done and was back in rooms she had access to, she picked up her bully stick, went as far away from me as possible, and ate it. Dogs.

These next couple weeks are going to be pretty darn busy. I will be taking care of dogs from the moment I wake til the second I fall asleep. I tell myself I'm preparing for a puppy :lol: but of course even puppies sleep sometimes, whereas these dogs will be sleeping when I go see another dog...

Now Rosie is being very "pay attention to ME!!!" again, but sorry dear, I've got to eat my dinner at some point and that point is now! After that we'll do some training, then a short walk, then bedtime.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Sanna
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Sanna »

Hey guys :D
We've been away on holiday for 3 weeks, just got back yesterday. Precious has been on a road trip to Norway! It's were I'm from originally, and we have been visiting friends and family as well as staying at our cabin up in the mountains (no running water, no electricity, nothing around for miles but lemmings and the odd sheep).

We've been planning the trip for the last six months or so but still had no idea how Precious would cope- it's an awful lot of driving (we've done a total of 4000 miles) and of course he gets extremely excited and a bit stressy with new people and changes to his routine. We were fully prepared to cut the trip short if needed, but he did amazingly well :D Took it all in his stride, settled well in the car for hours at the time, and overall behaved very well in strange houses around new people; even when we stayed with my best friend who has a dog (10yr old female rottweiler) as well as a 3yr old son.

I'm so proud of him, yes he's boisterous and over the top and impolite and lacking in self control and I need to work more on so many things; but he was bloody brilliant considering the circumstances!

He's had so much fun, climbing mountains, finding snow in 28c heat (I have never seen a dog so happy :lol: ), swimming, going to the beach, playing in the sand.. He even got to go for a walk on the autobahn (we got trapped behind an overturned lorry for 2.5 hrs)- totally surreal walking amongst all these stranded cars, like in a zombie movie :lol:

He's exhausted now tho, and I don't blame him. He slept all day yesterday which is completely unheard of for him, but I'm sure his brain is completely fried. I'm just so happy he handled it all so well :D Will be posting some pics shortly for those of you who are interested. I can see it have a lot of reading to do to catch up here as well! Nice to be back.
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Well done, Precious! You must be so proud of him, Sanna :D
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
WufWuf
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by WufWuf »

JudyN wrote:Well done, Precious! You must be so proud of him, Sanna :D
Second that :D well done both of you.
Operant conditioning rocks but classical conditioning rules
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Third that - :D well done. That's all your hard work paying for the doing.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Swanny1790
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Swanny1790 »

Well done, Senna and Precious.

Today was a BIG day for the Stardancer kennel. Chetan, Trish and I just got back from the vet clinic. Mark May did Chetan's A.I. while Trish and I checked out the Yukon Quest volunteer party and first day of sign-up for the 2015 race. It's going to be another great one, I think. Before we left to fetch Chetan there were 14 mushers signed up for the Quest itself, and 4 for the Yukon Quest 300.

Mark said that Chetan's A.I. was "textbook". The frozen semen made the trip in great shape, with a good sperm count and motility. The timing was perfect and there were no problems at all with the procedure.

Assuming things continue to go according to plan, we should be expecting the arrival of a Hedlund Husky Preservation Project litter on my sister's birthday, October 4th. Tomorrow is my birthday, so the timing is, in and of itself, pretty cool.

Right now she's chilling out in the "big crate" in the garage, where she can stay warm, dry and clean. Mark is confident we can look forward to a pregnancy and delivery that is normal in every way.

WHOOHOO!!! Pupsickles are on the way. We can hardly wait.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
Erica
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

Congratulations, Swanny, Trish, and Chetan! Will be fun to see pictures and hear stories about the newest generation of Stardancers. :)
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
bendog
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by bendog »

When you wake up and find your not usually very cuddly dog snuggled against you. Cutest thing ever.
Of course she moved as soon as she realised I'd caught her out :roll:

I was a terrible owner and yelled at them last night :(
I feel awful.
OH was out and supposed to be staying at his friends. At 1.30am he came home unexpectedly, but had left his keys at his mates so was throwing stones at the window to wake me up. What actually happened was he woke the dogs up, and they went mad barking. I wasn't expecting him home and didn't know what set them off but was worried about them waking the whole street so told them "enough" (as in "thanks dogs, thats enough now" ) and went back to sleep. Then of course they did it again, and in my grumpy, sleep deprived, half awake state I told them "ENOUGH"

Then another stone hit the window and I finally realised. :oops:

I feel horrible. I really should know by now to trust them, but sometimes, especially on a Saturday night, neighbours coming home from the pub does make them bark. And whilst I know they are just doing their job, and they do usually shush when asked, I'm a grouch when I'm woken up.
Swanny1790
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Swanny1790 »

What's this "terrible owner" stuff? Shouting at a dog to hush doesn't make one a terrible owner in any way, shape or form. Maybe a grumpy owner, maybe a sleepy owner - but certainly not "terrible".

On the other hand... Little Miss Chetan thinks I'M a terrible owner this morning, because I won't let her into the dog yard to play with her buddies. Even our isolation pen is way to muddy and yucky to let her hang in there with a fresh incision. She is being good in her crate in the garage, though. She and I are working on leash manners while she heals. She is a very strong dog, and intent on dragging me about. She's also a really smart dog, and figuring out that dragging doesn't work, but a loose leash does. It's just taking a while.

She acts like nothing at all unusual happened yesterday. No whining or complaining, not trying to remove the (modified) cone, just trotting about at the end of the leash and trying to convince me to just open the gate and let her into HER dog yard. Actually, I think she has her eyes on Orion. Maybe someday, but not right now!

The rain has stopped, though it's likely only a temporary reprieve. Some strange, large yellow glowing orb tried peaking out behind the clouds a bit ago. I'm not sure what it is. Trish calls it the "sun", a rarely seen celestial object.

I'm not sure what we'll do today. It's my birthday and we 'should' do something to celebrate having survived six decades, but I'm really more inclined to just hang out here at the house doing this and that. Yesterday was celebration enough.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWANNY :D hope you had a great day.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
WufWuf
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by WufWuf »

Happy birthday Swanny :D
Operant conditioning rocks but classical conditioning rules
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