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Thursday, January 8th, 2009

I can’t believe that it’s been 8 days since my last blog post. I vowed to do better this year, and I have already failed you. Another New Year’s Resolution shot to hell. Sorry dudes and dudettes. All three of you that are out there. I’ll explain more in a subsequent blog, but for now, a bit of fun news (at least for me).

Tonight was the first night of agility class for us since my foot surgery last September. I was pretty excited and a little nervous thinking about how we would do. We hadn’t done ANY agility at all (other than weave pole training) during that time, so this afternoon I decided it would probably be a good idea to take at least a couple of jumps before we showed up for class.

I was pleasantly surprised by my scruffy black boy. He remembered even more than I hoped. He ran, and jumped, and stayed with me like a real pro, all with lightning speed.

And when he ran across the dogwalk he stopped in perfect 2-on-2-off position without me even asking for it. (That’s when the dog puts his front 2 feet on the ground, and his back two feet on the contact obstacle, and waits to be released).

I think he only made one small mistake in class, and that was just overshooting a jump, which I am totally cool with. The most important thing when we are working together is that he listens to me. If he makes a mistake or two along the way - no sweat!! But if he decides that he wants to run off and do his own thing - that is the cardinal sin - the worst thing he can do (as far as I’m concerned).

The other thing that I was a bit concerned about is that Micah is somewhat reactive. I think I’ve mentioned that before. He IS a terrier, and it doesn’t take much to set him off, barking and growling. He hasn’t spent much time in the last couple of months around many other dogs (other than his immediate family).

Well I’m happy to report that he and I were “in the zone” on our first night back. He was a good boy, and paid attention to mommy. Granted, we weren’t doing full courses, just short little drills, but still, after having been away, I was VERY happy with that.

Next week we will attend our 1st of 7 classes based on the book Control Unleashed, by Leslie McDevitt.

It’s an awesome book, based on desensitization and counter-conditioning for dogs like Micah (and worse) that react too much, to too many things, unnecessarily. I’m very excited about being able to participate in that.

It gives me great hope that someday Micah will have all of his fabulous energy under control, and that we will actually be able to compete in the addiction that we enjoy so much! Agility!!

Tags: 2 on 2 off, Agility, Control Unleashed, dogwalk
Posted in Agility, Fun Stuff, Micah's Journey | 3 Comments »

Halloween 2008

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

OH - MY - GOSH!!!! I can’t believe that I forgot to give you all the Halloween update for this year.
Especially after the huge Halloween post on October 22nd! Scary

True to form, Big R came through again this year. It was touch and go for a while, as the alien spaceship had a few “technical difficulties”, but when crunch time came, he pulled out all the stops. All in all I think it was pretty successful. The kids thought his alien outfit was really cool,

and the spaceship turned out great. The pictures don’t do it justice. You just can’t get the right colors, and details when it’s dark out; at least not with MY camera.

There were several kids that wanted to be abducted, but their parents wouldn’t sign the consent form. Oh well, better luck next year kids!

And there were a couple of REALLY SCARY characters that came by for a picture with the Alien.

By the way, Big R bought us MATCHING alien outfits for the occasion. I tried the mask on, but it was hot and stinky, and not at all to my liking. I guess my dedication to all things Halloween just isn’t as strong as his. Sorry dude! I’ll stick to taking pictures and refilling the candy bowl.

I’m sure he’s already working on what he’s going to do for next year!!!

Stay tuned!!

Tags: Halloween 2008, Scary
Posted in Fun Stuff, Holidays | 1 Comment »

Stanley Update

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

I have been getting a little worried about Stanley (the spider in the kitchen).
Stanley

He’s been disappearing for days at a time, and then showing back up on the kitchen window. I don’t know where he goes; wherever naughty, disobedient spiders go, I guess. I did catch him on the cupboard once, but I cut him a break.

Then the awful Texas summer finally broke, and I was able to actually open my kitchen window and get some fresh air!!! Yea!! I guess Stanley was hankering for some of the same, because he scooched by the loosely fitting window screen, and has been hanging out by the temperature gage (on the outside of the window) ever since. I mean, he’s been out there for a good 3 weeks!!! (Just so you know - I never ONCE said “hankering” the whole 39 years that I lived in Minnesota).

He’s there every time I look. Now the weather is starting to get pretty chilly at night, and I’m a little concerned. Some of the temps are dipping into the 40’s and soon will come the 30’s. Each morning I wonder if Stanley will be gone - I have no idea what temps spiders can withstand, and each morning he is near the gage, waiting to greet me. (Don’t worry - I’m not so delusional that I REALLY think he’s there to greet me). But he is there, nonetheless.

This is probably the longest relationship I’ve ever had with a “wild” critter. It’s kind of interesting. He caught a fly one day, without a web being involved - but I will spare you the details. (I actually had a picture of him with the fly in his death grip, but decided to take it down for the squeamish. That’s you Paula!! Probably one or two others as well). The truth is, I’ve kind of grown accustomed to having him around. Don’t ask me why.

So we will continue to leave the window open a crack, in case it gets too brutal out there, and he needs to come back in.

And in the words of Tom Bodett “We’ll leave the light on for you”.

Be safe, my friend!

Tags: Stanley the spider
Posted in Creepy Stuff, Fun Stuff | 1 Comment »

Fall in Texas? Could happen!

Friday, November 14th, 2008

I am SO happy that the brutal Texas summer seems to be (finally) over. I’m a Minnesota girl, and fall has always been my favorite time of year. I tease people down here that Texas only has two seasons: summer and winter (if you can really call it that. I dare say that no self respecting Minnesotan would ever call what they have down here “winter”). At any rate, there’s not much spring or fall.

But the temps have finally broken, and it’s been hovering in the 80’s and now even the 70’s for the high. Hell, that’s practically winter right there - for Texas that is. I noticed today that there are even a few trees turning the traditional fall colors. Not many, mind you, but a few. Just enough to make me feel like fall might really happen. So I had to get a couple of pics.

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It’s good dog-walking weather and sitting out on the patio with a glass of wine weather. You have to take advantage of it, because summer is SO stinking long here!!!

I had a couple of the dogs at the park the other day, working on tricks and heeling, and actually said out loud (me, not them) that the weather was absolutely perfect!!!! The dogs totally agreed.

Even though I miss fall in Minnesota terribly, I sometimes will secretly admit (to myself) that I don’t really miss the winters, although they seem to be getting milder lately. I talked to my sister in law today who lives 90 miles from the Canadian border, and she said that the temps were dipping into the 30’s and even the 20’s. Yeah, my 70 degrees sounds pretty good about now, as I sit here in my shorts and T-shirt. I guess I’ll stay awhile. At least for the fall.

Tags: dog walking, fall, heeling, Minnesota, Texas, tricks
Posted in Feel Good, Fun Stuff | 2 Comments »

SCARY!!!

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Halloween is Big R’s favorite Holiday - hands down. He loves to do something different every year (well, almost every year) and surprise the kids in the neighborhood. He tries to put up whatever it is, on the hallowed day, and by the next morning there is no evidence that anything was ever there. He gets a kick out of that. One year he did a zoo scene, complete with a gorilla (Big R) in a cage.

I think it was 90 degrees that year. I’m glad it was him in that suit and not me!!!

The year that Lord of the Rings came out, Big R made himself into “treebeard” from the Fangorn Forest. It was pretty creative, I must say, but he kept falling off his tall shoes!

He finally had to finish off the night in a seated position - not as impressive, but much safer.

One of my all time favorites was the year he did the dinosaur zoo. They were magnificent.

There was an electric fence around them for everyone’s safety.

Unfortunately, one poor fellow didn’t heed the warning and got munched by a crock.

The wolfman made an appearance a couple of years ago. He was caged behind some wrought-iron fencing adorned with gorilla heads, just to let everyone know he was Serious!!!

Big R was pretty daunting in that outfit. . .

. . . but not daunting enough to scare the mighty Micah.

I think last year was his best ever!!!! He built a movable dragon head with a mouth that opened and eyes that lit up. It was WAY cool!

He blew smoke out of his nose and scared many a little kid.

Here, Jacob gets a reassuring pat from his big sister Julia.

Who knows what evil will be lurking outside our door when Halloween comes THIS year? I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see!!

Tags: dinosaur, Fangorn Forest, gorilla, Halloween, treebeard
Posted in Fun Stuff, Holidays | 1 Comment »

Cross One Off the List

Friday, October 17th, 2008

I think most people have a list, somewhere in the back of their mind, of things they would like to do, or accomplish, or just try for fun while they’re here on earth. I haven’t made a formal list, but there are some of mine:

When I was younger I REALLY wanted to try skydiving. Now that I’m more “seasoned”, I’m not sure I could do it.

I’d still love to watch the whales migrating (is that the right word?), but I wouldn’t be able to bring the dogs.

Sing backup for Tina Turner.

STOP LAUGHING - it could happen!

I’d like to try some whitewater kayaking in a little short yak. Nothing crazy like the hard core nuts . . .

. . . just a little current to make it a bit more interesting.

I’ve always wanted to learn to play the bass guitar. (I had an acoustic 6 string when I was in my teens). A really hard driving bass and a great drummer MAKES the whole band.

Parasailing would be a blast.

I’ve also wanted to learn how to shoot a handgun, which brings me to my current post.

I have some friends that all have their own guns and shoot on a semi-regular basis. They have plenty of guns to go around, so one day big R (the husband) and I tagged along with them to the shooting range. It was kind of exciting watching the people shooting ahead of us. Some of the guns had quite a kick to them, and some not so much. The noise level was incredible, and we weren’t even in the range yet. No wonder you need ear gear.

But when it was actually my turn, I found it strangely intimidating and just . . . icky. I can’t tell you what kind of guns I shot - I think there were 3 different kinds. I remember being told that if I pulled the trigger once and nothing happened, NOT to pull it again or the gun could blow up in my face. Gee, and I found that intimidating? Hmmmm. Even reloading the gun made me feel creepy and kind of shaky inside. I don’t know what caused it, but I guess it doesn’t matter. I was very surprised though, because I thought I would really like it. Ah - no.

I’m glad I went, and tried it like a big girl, but that’s one that I can cross off my list. Don’t care if I ever try it again, and I probably won’t.

I guess I’ll just have to focus on Tina.

STOP LAUGHING!!!! I MEAN IT!!!

Tags: Kayaking, shoot a gun, skydiving, Tina Turner, whales
Posted in Fun Stuff | 2 Comments »

Birthday Blues (or Bad Dog Mom)

Monday, October 6th, 2008

I am embarrassed to say; actually appalled to have to say that I forgot Micah’s birthday!!! OMG!!! I hadn’t looked at my calendar for several days, and it just got past me. I knew I didn’t have much going on (since I can’t really do anything yet with my “gimpy” foot) so not much reason to check it. What a BAD DOG MOM!!!!

It was also Ruby’s birthday last month, but we don’t have an actual date for her, and its Turbo’s birthday in a couple of weeks, so we actually had a few birthdays to celebrate.

As I have explained, they always get “mock” sloppy joes for dinner on their birthdays. . .

. . .and vanilla cupcakes for dessert. So they had their feast for a king today.

I’ve also adopted a new tradition this year, and that is going to the pet store and letting them pick out a new toy. Well, I came home with more than a couple of toys, but that was ok. I guess the guilt played into it. I mean geeez, how can you forget their freakin Birthday?

So I got a couple of chew bones, a purple Wubba, an Air Kong Squeaky Donut,

a Chuck-It Flying Squirrel,

and a weird round throwee deal called “Pitch a Porcupine”. The Wubba’s are among the most coveted toys, but Micah and Turbo insist on chewing on the “legs” and sometimes chew off hunks and swallow them.

As you can see, our poor Wubba’s are loosing legs right and left. Unfortunately, Micah and Turbo, pretty much destroy anything that isn’t hard as a rock, within 24 hours of getting it. (I am reserving the Chuck-It for another day. I see no point in letting them destroy EVERYTHING I bought today).

I was a little annoyed at first, but after I thought about it, I reconsidered. I mean, you should have seen HOW excited they got with a few new things to play with. I guess getting them all at once is WAY more fun than one at a time.

You’d think they were destitute or something. You’d think they don’t have BASKETS full of toys!! and bones, and balls, etc!!!!!

Some of the new ones didn’t last very long, but they sure had fun with them while they lasted. The Wubba’s had to go “away” for a little while, least I have to deal with obstruction surgery from the Birthday celebration. (That wouldn’t be a good thing).

I think it’s safe to say, a good time was had by all.

Tags: Air Kong, bad dog mom, birthday, Chuck-It, Micah, Ruby, sloopy joes, Turbo, Wubba
Posted in Fun Stuff | 2 Comments »

The Greatest American Dog

Monday, September 15th, 2008

I’ve watched the whole series of this show, as I’m sure many of you have. I mainly watched because I know Bill (of Bill and Star). Well, not so much know him as know of him. I see Bill at agility trials and have spoken to him on occasion, but I’m sure if you mentioned my name, he wouldn’t know who I was. But that’s all beside the point. It’s still pretty exciting to have someone that you know even remotely, on a reality show.

I had an idea that Bill was just a big “mush” before the show even started. But Greatest American Dog has absolutely confirmed it. He’s just a sweet ‘ol country boy, who loves his family, and adores his dogs. Sounds like a winning combo to me.

After a couple of episodes, it became obvious that Bill and Star were two of the more “stable” participants on the show.

And while entertaining, the longer the show went on, the more I started to question the rational and judgement of the folks running it.

I will admit that the only judge I was familiar with was Victoria Stilwell,

and I’ve always enjoyed her show (It’s Me or the Dog), and agree with most of her training protocols. So I was even more surprised at some of the episodes.

While it was very cute to see the dogs tested on things like being able to leave a tasty treat alone, I thought the episode “My Dog Can Fly” went WAY TOO FAR!!!!

Let me start by saying that I”ve been a fan of elephants forever.

I think they are extraordinary creatures, but when it comes to one charging within a few feet of my dog, I’d have to draw the line. I’m sorry, but elephants are not the most dependable animals on the planet. And even the possibility of a 9,000 pounder veering off the intended path, and having a dog in the way, (or a person, as was part of the challenge) gives me shivers up my spine. I would have had to pull my dog if I had been a contestant.

The other exercise that I had a major problem with was the zip line (airing on the same episode). They expected the dogs to jump off what seemed like a 2 story space, into sheer air. The dogs were fastened into a harness that would keep them airborne, but of course they didn’t know that. Why would you expect a dog with an ounce of common sense to jump off a virtual cliff? And why would the judges encourage that? Was it to show how well trained they were? To show that they would do ANYTHING for their masters? Sorry, but I think they were just way off base with that one. So the dogs that decided that it wasn’t a good idea were penalized. Okie - dokie.

While I was hoping that Bill and Star would take it all - you know - the BIG prize, I was privately thinking good for you guys that Star is smart enough not to jump into “nothingness”, and that her master was smart enough to realize that he was asking for something unreasonable, and unsafe.

I had some other problems with the show too: like one of the contestants getting chided one week for his training methods, and praised the next. But whatever.

What I really wanted to say is just how proud I am of Bill and Star, and of how they conducted themselves throughout this experience. You were helpful and supportive to the other players, and your obvious love for Star is exemplary. You’ll always be winners to us, guys!!!! Good job!!!!

Tags: agility trials, Bill and Star, Greatest American Dog, reality show, Victoria Stillwell
Posted in Fun Stuff | 2 Comments »

Dog Friends Are the Best Friends

Friday, September 5th, 2008

I’m a dog person. Have I mentioned that?

The other day I met a friend for lunch at Cozymel’s Restaurant. She is a recently acquired friend, and fellow dog trainer. We had a great time yammering on about everything under the sun - that is everything DOG related.

When I think about it, we talked about many different things, but nothing that didn’t have SOMETHING to do with dogs. It’s so wonderful to network with folks that have the same passion that I do. We shared stories of recent experiences, and bounced ideas off each other. We went on for about 3 hours with scarcely a breath in between. I’m sure we could have gone longer, but you know, places to go, people to see.

She is my newest “dog friend”, but actually most of my friends are dog friends. In fact, my BEST friends are dog friends.

I’m guessing that we will remain friends until we are old and gray(er) and can’t do much but sit in our chair and mumble! (about our dogs).

Most of my activities in life have something to do with dogs, either mine or someone else’s. I remember many years ago watching an Oprah show about people who were obsessed with their pets. I actually thought they all sounded pretty normal. What in the world was all the fuss about?

I do have friends who don’t share my affection for the canine species. But not many. And honestly, I have to say that I sometimes wonder about them. Anyone who doesn’t absolutely melt at the sight of a puppy just has to be missing something in life. At least in my humble opinion.

How did I get to this point where my life pretty much revolves around these four-legged fuzzy creatures? I really can’t say, but I’m ok with it.

I guess it doesn’t matter what your passion in life is - as long as you have one.

Did I mention? I’m a dog person.

Tags: best friends, dog, dog friend, dog person, dog trainer, dogs
Posted in Fun Stuff | 2 Comments »

Cakes Gone Wrong

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

My last post was about Charm City Cakes - Wonderful!!!!

In SHARP CONTRAST to them is:

www.cakewrecks.com.blogspot

This web site seems to be a compilation of cakes that were professionally done that turned out shall we say. . . less than desirable. People actually paid hard earned money for them, but we’re not sure why.

The photos come directly from the web site. I want to give them full credit!! And if I thought their comment was particularly funny, I will put that in quotations for you.

Personally, I like knowing that I’m not the only one that screws up now and then. Take a look at some of these blunders!

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I think this one is pretty self explanatory! Makes you wonder if they’re actually READING what they write.

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(Direct quote)
What the customer said:
“So we’re throwing a going-away party for our friend, and we’d like you to write “Good luck at U.C.”, since that’s the college she’s going to. Also, she’s a big E.T. fan - you know, from the movie? - so we want to incorporate that somehow. I’ll leave it up to you; we just want something E.T.- related on it. Can you do that? Yeah? Cool! Thanks!”

What the decorator heard:
“Blah blah blah, write blah E.T. blah blah on it. Blah.”

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(Direct Quote)
“To reduce paper consumption, local elementary schools are having students practice their handwriting skills at area grocery store bakeries. More news at 11.”

If this was the visual, you’d have to believe it, wouldn’t you? Check out how the word “happy” is in all caps, but “birthday” is not. And then, inexplicably, the name is in cursive. It’s like the writer was practicing different handwriting styles - or 3 toddlers each took turns writing.

Hey, the average person should know that the word ‘birthday’ is longer than the word ‘happy’, right? Can we agree on that? Good. Now look where this person started writing ‘birthday’. Yeeeah.

This whole word-spacing thing wouldn’t have been an issue, of course, if the person responsible had simply turned the cake right-side up. (You did notice it’s upside-down, right? Of course you did, faithful Cake Wrecks reader!)
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This cake is so disturbing, I’m almost glad the picture doesn’t include the whole thing. The plastic clone babies wearing naught but mohawks is bad enough, but then they’re also riding carrots. What do you do with that? It looks like some kind of perverted vegetable rodeo, or maybe a bizarre clone military exercise, what with their little plastic fists raised high in identical salutes.

And what kind of occasion calls for a “naked babies riding carrots” decor, anyway? No, wait, maybe I don’t want to know…
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Again - no explanation required - but pretty darned funny!

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(direct quote)
Makes Ya Wonder What the Card Said

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Well guys. I could go on and on, but what’s the point? You can check out more Cakes Gone Wrong at the cakewrecks blog.

I have one final cake to share -

This one gets the “Creepiest Cake” award. A little too (no - WAY TOO) realistic for me. While I can appreciate the artwork, it seems TOTALLY inappropriate for something that you would end up having as a snack! Eeeeeuuuuuuuwwwww! Too creepy!!!

Until we meet again.

Posted in Fun Stuff | 1 Comment »

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