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Hmmm... Here's a story from this past Sunday, Mother's Day.
We have two Aussies; *my* 5 year old red-tri girl, Denali, that is as friendly as any dog could be and *his* 13.5 month old blue merle boy, Spur, that is so afraid of humans he's been a real challenge for us.
We took Denali on a 2.5 hour road trip to a herding facility that accepts Aussies. We participated in a one-hour long private herding lesson. Her first herding lesson, ever, and the first time she's seen live sheep. (She has a sheep skin that lies on the floor beside my bed that she uses as her bed, or a tug toy depending on her mood. Sometimes I ask her, "Where's your sheepy? It's gonna get away!" And she'll grab it and shake it vigorously. Too funny!) In anticipation of the class, I purchased a video camera last week.
Denali was able to enter the ring 3 times during our class period, running the sheep round and round for about 5 minutes max each time. Then we'd bring her out and let her and the sheep rest. The trainer would talk to me about what I didn't know, where I ~should~ be standing/moving, what we can do at home with her since we don't have sheep, etc.
We video taped each time she went in the ring. It really is so cool to watch her do what she was born to do.
When we got home, we plugged the camera up to the TV (well, first we gave Denali a partial, lower extremity bath) to watch the videos on the big screen. Spur, our 13.5 month old problem fur-baby got all excited when he heard her on that big black box. He sat down to watch. Intent on the television screen, he began getting antsy when he realized he couldn't join them. On the second two videos, only the trainer took her in (I stayed out at the fence) and as Denali would run over toward us, she fell off the bottom part of the video. Spur's head would dip down and he'd look under the TV to try and find his big sister. THAT was a HOOT watching him do that!
Update on the goat: I've been keeping him in the back yard and he busted the latch on the gate of the picket fence so it's temporarily wired shut. Last week when I was in Roanoke I ate at an Indian restaurant and I saw that they have several dishes that feature goat. Might have to try it next time I'm up there and see if I can get a recipe!
Back to Roanoke today to see the doc again and then to that Indian restaurant. Tried one of the goat dishes with lots of curry and it was absolutely delicious. I wonder if Costco carries 55 gallon drums of curry for that big old boy!
Our Agility club held its first agility tournament of the year. I was going to enter Chaos but was not even sure I had the weekend free in time and still have not gotten around to getting her USDAA #. This is just too busy a time of year. I did end up having the weekend free so was a jump setter and took my camera so I could take some photos. We have a young girl I think she is around 12 in the club and her little rat terrier. She is actually very good as unlike us old folks she has a memory so can remember a course she also is young, thin, fast and agile which helps when you are running a dog. I thought I had taken some photos of her .Before I did started jump setting so when the Masters ring finished I walked over to watch the other ring and she was getting ready to run again so I thought that instead of taking photos I would film her ( being my camera does both). She starts her run and her dog takes off but instead of doing what she is told to do she has a bad case of the zoomies and races around taking some jumps of her own doing and totally ignoring her handler.Before her little show of disobedience was over she pooped in the ring. It had been a long hot weekend and I guess this was her way of saying " I am so done here". I felt bad for the handler but she took it all in stride and laughed. She is a great kid. I was bummed because the dog picked the one time I decided to film a run to be bad and it turned out I did not get any photos of them as I think I had to go to the masters ring and work before they ran earlier.
Insomnia had me up at about 2 am and so I let the dogs out for a quick pee. Zack, the biggest old guy was first out and I'm not sure why he started to bark and then turned tail and ran back to the porch at his fastest pace when he is the one to usually ramble around for quite a while.
I think it may have been that all the fireflies lighting up in the yard and the trees spooked him.
My dog, Izzy, is a 2-1/2-yr-old male border collie, and he is one of the biggest scaredy cats(dog) ever. I got him when he was 9 weeks old, and he was frightened of absolutely everything...cars, people, other dogs, objects, heck, even concrete. He's managed to overcome a great many fears, though some do remain at a more subdued level. In other words, he's a work in progress.
A few weeks ago I bought a copy of "World War Z", and later that evening Izzy and I sat down on the sofa, me intent on watching a scary zombie flick, Izzy intent on snoozing. Well, partway through the movie there is a scene on a plane, with a little dog running up and down the aisle. At one point the dog starts getting agitated and begins barking, and a stewardess approaches him, wondering which passenger he belongs to. When the little dog began barking, the sound apparently woke up Izzy, as I noticed a low rumbling sound emanating from beneath the blankets beside me. I looked over and there was Iz, head peering out from his blankie, and looking at the tv screen and growling a soft, "ggggggrrrrrr" under his little doggie breath. Then all of a sudden on screen, the unexpected happened (unexpected to me, as I hadn't seen the movie before this). A zombie burst forth from behind the washroom door, snarling and drooling and doing what a zombie does best. And when this happened poor Iz, my little nutcracker of a wuss, leapt up from the sofa with the loudest "ROWRROWROWROWROWROW!!!!!!" he could muster, hackles on his back raised, teeth bared and eyes - now huge as saucers - fixated on the tv. The poor guy just about peed his little doggie pants in fear over the zombie that was, no doubt, sent straight from hell to seek out and eat every border collie he could find. And for the next half an hour or so there was no consoling my poor pup at all.
Zombie apolcalypse? If ever there is one, I can say without a doubt that I'd be on my own, and I'd be the one saving my dog, rather than the other way around.
That's sooo funny Basset, but poor Izzy! I guess you're gonna hafta screen movies and make sure you don't watch only D (dog) rated with Izzy around, LOL
The dogs set a new speed record this morning when they went out. With the snow belly high on the big black lab and higher than that on the little chocolate one it was tough to get them to even go down the steps to the back yard.
After fixing and consuming a cuppa coffee I got into my muck boots and went out with the yardstick to get a measurement. Yikes - 11.75 inches. Not long after I came back in it started snowing again. It's still coming down at a very good clip and I imagine it will add at least another inch, maybe two to what's already there.
Neither of them show any interest in playing in the snow - guess they are like humans, when you get old the snow is not so much fun as it is for youngsters.
Today Calypso, my little chocolate lab, turns ten. We've been though a lot together. Her health issues as a pup when she went to deaths door 3 times in her first 6 months, moving from CA to VA when she was 2 and being attacked by one of my foster dogs in 2009. She was very badly injured and it took three surgeries, three months and $3,000 but today you'd never know she had gone through such an experience.
She's no brighter than a 7 watt night lite and her nickname is Boo-Boo or Boo-Boo Head. But she's really sweet and loving so what's a mother to do? Every meal to her is as exciting as winning the big jackpot in the lottery, swimming in the mucky pond and coming out covered in goo is heavenly but a brief rinse with the garden hose to remove the worst of the muck is pure torture.
My other dog is a big black lab that I adopted a year and a half ago and he will be 14 in August. So far his health is excellent but I know that with the seniors things can turn on a dime. I wonder if Calypso will finally get her wish to be an only dog or if some other old black lab in need of a new home will come along before too long and I will take her/him in. I haven't been a one dog household since I got Solly, my first black lab and heart dog extraordinaire, back in Dec of 92.
At 64 I know there will never be another puppy in my pack but when I was at Petsmart the other day to get Boo-Boo a birthday present I saw a 6 month old black lab and oh the desire for just one more was strong. Or maybe I will soon be ready to foster again since I've now had a couple of months off. Maybe the return of warmer weather will re-energize these old bones and I'll feel up to it. Of course when fostering it is not likely to be a lab but a breed that I'm not so wild about, a big hound mix or beagle mix or ...who knows what.
We have about a half dozen antlers for two pups. If I let them choose which one they want, they'll chew for a few minutes, then, ultimately, they want the one that the other pup has.
About a month ago, my youngest (Alpha with attitude!) got brazen and took the antler right out of the mouth of my older girl (she's too sweet for her own good. Absolutely no Alpha in her whatsoever.) My girl let him take it and did not fight back to keep it.
Since then, the two have taken to sharing one antler at any moment. One will chew for 10 to 15 minutes until tired and leaves the antler and the other will walk by and take the antler without a fight. The second dog will chew for 10 to 15 minutes until tired when the first comes by to take the discarded antler. This has been going on beautifully and without incident for about 2 weeks now.
Tonight I witnessed something even more amazing...
"Alpha" was chewing on the antler for about 10 or 15 minutes. He got hot and tired of chewing and wanted to go lie down on the tile floor in the kitchen to cool off. Along the way, he picked up the antler, walked by his sister, dropped it by her face and continued into the kitchen. "Here, I'm done for now. Your turn." She happily began chewing.
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Thoughtful pup?
