Tag Archives: Dogs

My Student

Dogs & Other Animals, ,

We just completed Week 5 of 6 sessions of the Therapy Dog training class that I am teaching. All of the dog and handler teams have shown improvement. I was so happy this evening to see the dogs performing their sits, downs, and stays.

Most importantly, they have all got the idea that they should pay attention to their handlers. This is such a big step. You can’t teach your dog anything if he won’t pay attention to you.

There is more work to be done, but this group of dogs will get there. The improvement from the first class to now is notable. As with anything, you proceed forward step by step, with an occasional step backwards. Persistence is the key to reaching your goals.

Above is my student, Remy. I just love him! I am sure he is capable of reaching his training goals. For now, I have the pleasure of spending time with him during class. What a lovable dog!

A Tired Dog Is a Good Dog

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals,

Zekie had a great couple of weeks. He has a job now and it suits him. He is my husband’s shop dog. Every day he’s been heading across the driveway with my husband in the morning when it’s time to start work.

My husband paints, runs the saw, and uses the automatic staple gun. Zeke lays under the plywood sheets on the sawhorses or under a workbench and supervises from there. The noises don’t concern him too much. He doesn’t really like them but they are a small price to pay to be near one of his humans.

If my husband doesn’t get out to the shop early enough, Zeke sits by the door and gives him the look. Come on dad, we have work to do. He even went across the driveway with my husband one Saturday when I was home! Work calls.

My husband is taking the pellet stove out of the shop and one day last week he pulled out the old flue pipe which left a hole in the side of the building. As soon as the hole was visible, so was Zekie’s head. He shoved his head through the hole in the building to see where my husband had gone and what he was doing.

That Zekie. Always on the job!

Having a job tires Zekie out. Burning up some energy is a good thing. A tired dog is a good dog. And Zeke needs all the help he can get.

The Dogs Have a Busy Life

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals,

It’s been a busy week for dog activities so far. Nikki and Shelby did their bi-weekly nursing home visit on Monday evening.

Then on Wednesday evening Shelby was my assistant for therapy dog training class.

This lizard and the guinea pigs are just a few of the animals residing in our classroom.

The other dogs are enthralled. Shelby remains unimpressed.

Zekie has been accompanying daddy across the driveway every day to keep an eye on him while he’s working in the shop. Apparently this is very exhausting. At least it keeps him out of trouble!

The Long Winter

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals,

Throw the ball, dad!

Winter can be long and boring for the dogs. Between all the snow, cold, rain, and ice, they don’t get as many walks or as much outside time as they would like.

The snow is not too bad. They can still go out in the fenced pasture and run around playing with toys or sniff things.

In the cold they can be out for limited amounts of time. Cassis, the greyhound, stays out for lesser lengths of time than the others.

During the winter rains the dogs don’t go out to play because, well…mud.

And the ice makes things too slippery. I am especially leery of it since I slid, tripped on a hunk of frozen ice/snow and landed on my shoulder a month ago. It is slowly recovering.

Sometimes it’s just better to hang out inside!

A Holiday Dinner

Cooking, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

In our family, Valentines Day is a family affair. My husband started the tradition because he wanted to do something special for all the women in the family and it became a couples event. There is much planning, shopping, prepping, cooking, and baking that takes place.

We get out the good dishes. There are decorations, and flowers.

And of course there is cake made from scratch! This one was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

The menu was:

Homemade potato vegetable soup with heavy cream

Marinated salad with cucumber, olive, onion and other delights

Flank or tuna steak from the grill with reduced mango sauce

Fettuccine

Asiago Cheese Bread

Carrot Cake

Occasionally a guest joins our family to partake of the fun. Sadly, this year was an adults only event since my nieces were sick. We didn’t get to see them in their matching tights with hearts on them. We did have three guests of the canine persuasion in addition to our own so it was still an exciting event.

My Valentines

Dogs & Other Animals,

May you be so blessed as to have Valentines as wonderful as these!I am never alone and I am always loved.

I have a companion for every activity. Baxter the lab-rott mix is always ready for some frisbeeing or hiking. Cassius the greyhound is ready to play with toys, or for snuggling, your choice. Zeke on the bottom right is up for running, hiking, and anything that involves spending time with me. The two sheltie girls always accompany me on nursing home visits. Shelby with the bandanna also hikes with me and helps me teach a class at the vocational school. Shelby is my right hand pup. I can count on her to do a good job no matter what it is.

With these pups as part of my family, how could I not say…Life is good!

The Handsomeness!

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

This dog came up on my Facebook memories from last year when he was up for adoption. I wonder where this dog is and what he’s doing? I miss him.

Now lest you think that I missed out because of a mad rush of adopters applying, not so. I have never met this dog and never attempted to. He’s just one of the many dogs that shows up every day on my Facebook feed and I fall in love with. Does anyone else do this?

I know my daughter does. She comes by it honestly. She gets it from her momma. About once every couple of weeks she texts me something along the lines of “I just want all the dogs”. I know how she feels.

So, to the gorgeous guy pictured above, I hope you are happy, healthy, and well-loved.

Playing Fair

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

Hey look, it’s Bat Dog! I think Cassius looks like a bat with his ears standing up and his fangs showing.

He was trying to stay warm in our subzero temperatures last week. Cassius doesn’t generally like to wear clothes but it was so cold that he tolerated a sweater.

Our dogs really are our kids. They even wear hand me downs. The sweater Cassius is wearing belonged to our greyhound Phoebe who has been gone for a couple of years now.

The sweater still has a pink heart and Phoebe’s name embroidered on it. I did remove the white satin bow before I put it on Cassius. But I couldn’t bear to remove the pink heart. I did promise Cassius that I would add another heart in red with his name on it.

That seems like playing fair to me!

Be Careful What You Wish For

Dogs & Other Animals,

Apparently Zekie was worried that he might lose his status as our problem child. He hasn’t been able to chew himself out of his “armored” crate, see below, so he tried a different tactic.

While he was incarcerated in his crate, for maybe two hours, he took his collar off and chewed it into 6 or 7 pieces. The piece above is the only one I saved because it has his tags on it. Maybe he was trying to say “you’re not the boss of me” by getting rid of the collar.

He also was extremely reactive to other dogs on our walk over the weekend. I’ve always said I don’t like dogs that are too easy. Be careful what you wish for.

Smiles All Around!

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,

It’s a happy day. A friend contacted me about finding a home for this dog that an acquaintance of hers cannot keep. I do shetland sheepdog rescue. This is a red merle border collie. She is a 2 1/2 year old, spayed little girl.

Since the couple got her, the wife’s health has taken an unfortunate turn and the husband is working long hours now. This pup is loved but needs and deserves more than the family is able to give her with current circumstances.

I had a number of suggestions. Find a neighbor to walk the dog. Or contact a training club or 4- H group about adoption. Post a flyer at the vet office. Anyone who is there takes care of their dogs. Our rescue could do a courtesy post.

But look at that face! What would happen to her? I worry about these things. I spend time sitting around pondering options. You might say I become obsessed. It is in the forefront of my mind for hours. When I am presented with situations like this, my brain takes responsibility. I have to exhaust all avenues open to me to fix the situation. Dogs well-being, if not their lives, depend on it. I do not take this lightly.

I was copied on a post of someone who was looking for a sheltie. Or possibly a small collie. We don’t have many shelties in rescue right now. I thought, hey, they’re willing to consider a sheltie or collie, they don’t really have their heart set on a specific breed. A border collie is a herding breed. Maybe they would be interested in this dog. After hearing more about this person, I am confident they would provide a very good home.

So, long story short. They are going to meet this little border collie girl on Saturday and probably will adopt her. Sometimes things just fall into place. This appears to be one of those times. Smiles all around!