May Flowers...lets chat

Today is Hot Shots gotcha day :)  Just like the day he  came to our home  7 years ago, it has been storming all day.  He has been relatively calm tho, only had to have "Thunder" pills last night when it got really rowdy.   As long as his Dad is in sight he has been doing well with the storms.

Lost a posting from yesterday. I probably hit the wrong ket somewhere.

Congratulations to Hot Shot and family.

Took Sky to a dog park in Mankato.  A service group sponsors a large park on the Minnesota River. 2 fenced large areas for just running, walking trails for off leash walks, archery range, bike trails, etc.  Very nice.  First time at a dog park for Sky, and he had a blast.  All sizes, from ankle biter  to mastiff, all having fun.  Several pittys, lots of terriers.  Sky took up with a 105 lb Lab, about the same age but really big.  Sky was given several manners lessons, but he was really well behaved.  Might have to add this to the activity routine.  He slept really well.  

Rhubarb crisp in the oven right now.  We have 3 clumps going.  One is ready now, the others are coming along a little slowly.  More for later.  Rhubarb sauce on ice cream is fantastic.

The extra walking time on leash is really paying off as training time.  His loose leash heel is getting better every time, and he can pick up, return, and spit the dummy into my hand from 3 feet out.  Also does "stay" as I walk away from him .  Going to sign up to run him through "Control Unleashed" for another try.  Focus is the problem, but he is older now, not quit as crazy, and does listen.

Kate I am so very sorry to hear of your Dad's passing.  -- now that they have the "more than one page button" fixed now I can check in here more often.

Doug - your Iris are beautiful!!  (and I love to see wild bunnies - and I make sure Luna never gets that chance!! LOL)

Happy Gotcha Day to Hot Shot!  Ginger, give him some ear rubs from me.  I'm glad the storms haven't made him too upset.  I was thinking of you guys when I heard about the insane weather patterns crossing some sections of the country and wondered if you were feeling any of it.  The news footage is scary!

I've never had rhubarb sauce on ice cream . . . but I love ice cream, so it sounds like another way to kick the "yum factor" up another notch!

Callie, I'm glad the page number thing is fixed -- we've missed "seeing" you!

We had fabulous weather on Saturday -- so warm that I actually wore sandals and shorts all day.  Cooled off a bit yesterday, and today I'm back in layers, but I won't complain because we desperately need the rain.  Ruby won't be able to sunbathe this week, but that's okay because DH gave her a bath last night and it would be nice if she'd stay clean for more than 12 hours.  We've got lots of grass and we put out a couple towels for her lie on, but 95% of the time she finds an empty flower bed and lies in the dirt and bark dust.  Goofball!

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I would like to introduce all of you to our new family member.  He came to live with us on Saturday and thanks to some help from Callie he is a very happy and healthy boy.  

Meet "Garth"    didn't want to introduce him til we had him settled and had a name :)

Welcome Garth. You look like a real fur bundle.

Hoping this post works as I tried to post earlier and it didn't post. Headed out of town for a couple of different agility trials within the next month. One we will be staying at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe Vermont. When you make the reservations, they ask the size of your dogs ,so that they will provide the right size beds for them. :)  And yes these are descendants of the Trapp family from the sound of music. Just last year the last of the original family singers (George Von Trapp's children) passed away at age of 99. Looking forward to this trip. Another trip we will be staying in Saratoga NY.  Still need some more qualifications for Nationals and hope I get them in the next few trials.

Bought some plants ( annuals) the other day. Now I've got to get the energy  and time to plant them. Busy right now making the house presentable for the pet sitter. She stays right at the house. Really like that she does that and that she is someone you feel very comfortable with staying in your house.

Didn't see all of Garth's pictures the first time I looked. What a little cutie.

Garth.  I like it.  Old dog has that "What did you do to me" look in his eyes.

I keep telling wife that Sky needs a puppy to play with.

OMG!  Puppy love!   Welcome Garth!  Of course, there is a 2 year old GSD at the shelter......

We had to turn the heat on yesterday.  Seriously?  The heat, humidity and pollen was so bad for 4 days, think 90'ish and 80 plus % humidity....and now its cold??  We actually had a frost warning last nite and FREEZE warnings in the higher elevations.  Winter right to summer and NOW it wants to squeeze in a bit of spring???  Gotta just love Mother Nature.  Or not!

OMG, Ginger -- he looks like a little bear cub!  So cute!  How old is he?  What does Hot Shot think about having a new "roommate?"  I bet you're not getting much done other than cuddling that little ball of fur!

Glenda, I talked to a friend in NY today, and she said nearly the same thing you did.  Several days of hot weather and now super cold again.  She said, "I even painted my toenails because I was wearing sandals.  I don't think anyone will be seeing my toes now!"  Crazy weather.

Maureen -- good luck with your agility trials.  And if you have time when you're not competing, you can entertain yourself by breaking out into a rousing version of "These are a few of my favorite things!"  

Garth was born on Easter night at a farm in our community so he is very young.  His mom is a full Pyrenees.  Although she was good with them the first several weeks by week 3 she was done.  The farmer has sheep and chickens and lots of yummy veggies.  We were actually thinking about adopting an aussie mix pup the same age as Garth that was at a local rescue.n  While waiting for those pups to get old enough we found  that this little guy  needed a home and Ron fell in love with that fluffy puppy.  

Hot is not impressed :)   I think he was kinda getting used to being the only one.  He has taught the new boy a few things and we are hoping he will continue to be a good Grandpa :)

oh my word! Welcome Garth - I love the photo of Garth curled up with Hot <3

Had a fun day today with agility demonstrations at a local elementary school. They have what they call Earth Day every year and bring in all sorts of different things for the kids. As far as dogs alone, they have one group ,of which I was a part of, doing the agility, another group doing Rally and I think they had some Seeing eye dog people there. Also have some people from some of the different Animal welfare groups teaching different things. I helped out for a few years, when one of the groups taught the kids about the right way to approach a dog and what to do if a dog comes running at you, etc. Used to have a dog who was great for that and would let all of the kids pet her (after they asked of course). They have people teaching about wildlife...one of the rehab people I know she is one who is there every year. She has some of her birds which can never be returned to the wild so they get to part of classes such as today. Looked like there were some groups there teaching different types of science experiments. They've had the fire departments there as well with their trucks. It's just an all around great experience for the kids. Corey was pretty much the star of the agility. Kids go crazy about him as he is so fast. They love it. They loved all of the other dogs as well. It was a long day as we had 5 different classes. The best part of the whole day though, and what keeps people returning is the food. Oh my gosh they put on quite the menu for everyone. It's all done by the teachers and they do fantastic. They've got it laid out on several different tables...hot food, cold food, bread, meat tray, veggie tray, salads...just tons of great food. And to top it off they've got quite the desert table as well..cookies, fruit salads, cupcakes, cakes, cinnamon rolls, you name it. It definitely helps to bring the people back year after year. Great day for the kids and all involved.

Inch and a half of rain last night.  Twister north of us.  Weather maps had lots of bright colors.

Hit the dog park again.  Had to drive by it on an errand, so took Sky.  Guy with a 7 week old Pitty pup.  Pretty pup, bold and strong.  Sky liked him.  Sky was playing with a standard poodle.  Rough play.  Sky seemed to enjoy it.  All the dogs seem to get along.  You watch little groups form for a task, like chasing a ball, then separate and other groups reform.  Grass was a little wet, so dirt stuck nicely to paws.  But he needed a bath anyway.  He slept on the way home, which is a first.  

Amazing how fat some of the dogs are, and out of shape.  The lean dogs just keep moving, but the others tire out and/or overheat right away.  Woman showed up with a pair of pugs.  Nice dogs, but almost dragging on the ground.  Walking from the parking area to the pen almost did them in.

Pulled a few dead falls out of a Maple tree yesterday.  I may have to get an arborist in to thin a few trees.  I don't enjoy tree climbing anymore, especially with a chain saw..

Need to get Sky signed up for a class.  It starts the 27th.

Doug you are right about how fat some of the dogs are. It's so sad as it is so hard on them to breathe. People don't think about how much tougher the heat is on dogs because they don't sweat as we do and then you add the way over weight into the equation and the poor dogs have a terrible time. I've been following a story about "The Over Loved Shiba Inu"  Don't know the history of where the dog came from but these people adopted him, as they were looking to adopt a dog that had some special needs, and they already had a Shiba Inu. This dog weighed in the neighborhood of 105 pounds when they got him. Poor thing could barely walk and his legs just stuck out when he lay down. They've done a great job of getting the weight off. I think the last I heard he had lost about 40 pounds, which is about the equivalent of one Shiba Inu. Seems to be that the weight loss is dropping back and so they were going to be changing his food to see if that would help. Though he still needs to lose he is now running and happy. What a difference they've made for that dog.

Don't blame you about climbing the trees with a chain saw. Wish my husband would call someone for one of our trees. He keeps saying it needs to come down at some point. I'm like I think it still has a few good years left but at least get someone to come to take down the dead limbs before they fall on one us or the dogs. Don't see it happening that he'll call so will have to just keep my fingers crossed whenever I'm out there.