October Chatting

Very excited about your Home Visit tomorrow, I am sure it will go well .  I am also so happy that your breathing is normal :) what a wonderful change for you.  Lots of healing vibes for your sis.

Tracy I love that song, "Dog and the Butterfly"   now every time I hear it I will think about Sky and  butterflies.

Gotta run putting out fires today  

The nose news is good news story. (sorry)    Breathing is always a good thing.

Pheasants start tomorrow.  Sky is ready.  I hope it is sunny, as I am a fair weather hunter.

We are going to the East coast to visit BIL and his family.  Leave Monday.  Sky will stay with friends.  One doesn't have a dog, but met Sky and fell in love.  Hard not to.  Then, when we get back, I will probably have to start reconditioning the dog.  A week of easy living with lots of treats will probably leave him soft and fat.  Checking out the routes to take, and dropping into Iowa gets us past Chicago with out ever seeing Chicago, and ads 15 minutes to the estimated drive time.  Having driven through the Chicago area several times, I will drive a long way to avoid that traffic.  The section through Iowa is actually through the scenic parts-Think Grant Wood country.

Glenda, good luck with the home visit! That is exciting, as is breathing more easily!

Doug, Sky will rest up while you're gone so he'll be ready to go when you get back. Safe travels!

It rained a bit here tonight but the weekend is supposed to be gorgeous. Rock and I have "pet therapy school" tomorrow--we're working/interacting with children. (He seems to love everyone so I'm not worried about that.) He was wound up tonight but is now fast asleep, snoring up a storm. All of the crew got to "practice" their obedience. tonight and demonstrate for "Grandma."  Ronnie is a super-star--he loves it!  I have never used  a leash on him for indoor training/practice. Mozey is fast and bounces a lot--her "downs" are more like spring board downs with a bit of bounce for good measure. (She only does sit, down and come.) Rock is mastering sit and down--yeah! I've figured out he can have dried liver treats (limited) without any ill effects (and he likes them), so that has helped. (He has an amazingly sensitive stomach--crazy!) Progress noted for everyone.

Sky and I went out for a while yesterday.  His breeding is to hunt, and he is good at it.  Lots of hunters out (governor actually promoted this area and had his opening day hunt near here)..  Jr and I walked about a quarter mile into the WMA, Sky circled out to a fence line and sent 2 birds my way.  The one I shot fell in 8' high weeds in a swamp.  Jr went in and found it.  He didn't retrieve it, just found it and pawed at it until I picked it up.  Then we went home.  1 hour, one bird.  Works for me.  We will work on picking up and retrieving , but I was happy with his behavior.  It takes time and practice, and I have the time.  I will have to let the birds get farther away, or use lighter shot.  Bone it out, cut into small chunks, fry in cream of mushroom soup with carrots onions, etc, serve over rice.

Good job Sky!  

Sky, you'll get the retrieve in no time. Good dog!

Rock was wound up at his pet thapy class on Saturday, but he settled niceley when he practiced visiting his "peeps"--the Elders/seniors. he loves visiting with them. he got to visit some familiar folks (he sees them every week) and some new folks. he is doing well on "sit" and "down" at home but seemed to have never heard the words in class. That's my hound!

Mowed the lawn yesterday--it is raining this morning, soI am sure I will get to mow again. Got some of the winter rye planted in the garden ("green" manure).

hello all, can any of you help this person http://community.dog.com/f/29545/t/122727.aspx ?

The home visit went very well. The pup DS fell for has already been adopted. HE is interested in one coming up from the Carolina's.....poor pup was starved, badly neglected and is not crateable. I felt the heart strings tugging for a little 12 month old female who is deaf. Even with her disability I think she'd be far more trainable. I'm thinking that they must make a collar that does nothing but vibrate? Just to be able to get her attention? I'd not want anything that could cause discomfort, but maybe a vibration would be ok? I'm a total marshmallow when it comes to critters and I wouldn't want to do anything that might be wrong or in any way unkind. What do you guys think?

Sis is home and still in a lot of pain, but she's able to shuffle a bit to get around. She found that her side walker was too cumbersome in the condo so is now using a special 4 footed cane inside and the walker outside. Long road for her.....

Glenda happy to hear the visit went well.  I know your DS is probably disappointed about the other pup being adopted.   I have seen so many BMD's and mixes up around that area, I know that there is a very special pup for you guys,  a very lucky pup for sure.  

I am happy to hear that your sis is doing better.  I know it's a long road ahead but sounds like she is on the right track.  What about you, feeling good I hope?

Kate how old is Rock now?  I need something like that for Garth eventually.  He needs some focus.  He needs a job to do.  

Glenda, I know the right dog will find you (and vice versa!). For the dog who is deaf: I am sure there are vibrate collars that don't have a shock setting--and the dog would likely pick up hand signals, too. A sound clicker would be out, but you could use a light instead (e.g. a small flashlight).  

Rock is around 5 years old (that's a guess, but I think it's on target). He was a hunting dog (coon hound), so he was used to having a "job". In our class, there is one dog under 1 year old (a shepherd puppy), but most of the dogs are at least 2-3 years old. There aren't hard and fast age rules for the dogs, but they are very careful with puppies/dogs under 1 year to make sure they are ready. There are mixed breeds, purebreds, rescues, etc. Most are a lot calmer than Rock :-) He is the largest dog right now--he's 75 lbs., but there aren't any rules in this organization about the size of the dog. (And, any pet can be a therapy animal--one woman is working with her rabbit.) I like visiting the Elders and Rock does, too, so it's a good match for both of us.

Cold weather is coming--we have a freeze warning for Sunday, so it's time to bring in the plants. (It was in the 60s today, so it's hard to believe it's going to get so cold already.) Maybe I won't have to mow again :-)

I am pretty sure Garth is not old enough for Pet therapy class,:)  he needs to learn some more manners and keep his focus.  

Today  a beautiful day in NWA.  Had just a bit of rain last night which we really needed.  It was 87 yesterday and the cold front has chilled us down to 65.  This is the big Craft's Fair weekend.  There are many locations all over the area.  I probably wont get out amongst them this year.  

Have a great weekend !

Shoot, cold weather is here.  Was 38 when I got up this morning, rather late, and is already down to 35.  I picked everything that was left in the garden, and pulled out most stuff.  A few things I left, but covered in straw.  Also got my garlic in today.

However, before I could do any of that, I had to go up in the attic and get out winter coats and gear.  It is far too early to have a hard freeze, but we're heading down to 24 tonite and 20 tomorrow nite.  Sigh.

There was a good layer of ice in the dogs' outdoor water bowl this morning, so I guess we had a good freeze overnight. It was right at freezing when I checked the thermometer at 7:30 this morning. I do not want to crank up the wood stove yet! I did pull put my winter gear, but I am not ready yet. It is sunny today and Mozey is out soaking up the warm rays with her black fur. Picked the last of the peppers yesterday and got Mom's house plants moved inside.

Glenda, keep us posted about the adoption process!

Ginger, I know what you mean about focus! My Rock loves to pay attention to everything--he is a curious boy and loves to look at what's going on. I think it's good to think ahead about what Garth might want to do down the road.

Is Doug back from his trip to the East coast yet?

Back after a fun filled week in VA.  Got lost in Ohio and took a road most don't ever see.  The Portsmouth road through the mountains.  Snake track with lots of little steep hills, narrow lanes, narrower bridges, and little mountain settlements.  Very pretty but drive it slow.  The trees were changing so the trip was beautiful.  Amazing how fast cross country travel is at 70mph.  Beautiful sunshine the whole time.

Visit Charlottesville if you ever get the chance.  The old down town is a walking mall and is fantastic, the University of Virginia is there and worth a visit, Montecello is right outside town ($25 per person) and history is everywhere.  Don't visit the Chocolate Festival.  Misnamed.  Good food.

Illinois surprised me.  I pictured Chicago.  It is a corn prairie .  Miles and miles of corn fields.

Sky went nuts when he saw us-he was not mistreated and was complimented for being a good boy, except on leash.  The friends who had him last did not want to charge for 4 days of care, but we dropped some money and ran.  They can go out to dinner.

Wahoooooo!  We can get Dixie on Sunday!  After I spoke with the adoption coordinator on Friday, she emailed me the contact info for the gal down south who has her.  I passed her test this morning so we will soon have a furry friend in the house again.  Off I go to the library tomorrow to see what books I can find to brush up on hand signals and any tips on dealing with a deaf dog.

I no more than got home tonite from picking up DH from work and the little girl next door burst in to tell me that her grandpa caught the bunny!  The backstory.....this bunny is about the right size to have been an Easter present and she suddenly appeared in the neighborhood a few weeks ago.  We haven't been able to catch her so on Friday I put a small metal crate outside, made a nice straw bed inside and then covered it with both thick towels and then plastic, figuring she would at least have a warmer place to hang out until we could catch her.  She's in my kitchen now, in the crate, and DH will call the HS director in the morning to arrange to drop her off.  They have a ton of small animals, including ferrets and bunnies and certainly know better than I do how to care for them.  I put water in the crate, some fresh lettuce and stuck a fat carrot through the side for her to gnaw.  She doesn't seem unhappy in there and she does like to be talked to.

Doug, so glad you enjoyed your trip.

Kate, I can't believe how cold it got!  Our low Saturday was supposed to be 25, and 20 last night, altho when I got up this morning it was 19!  Yikes.  Two nights in a row pretty well wiped out anything left in the garden.  I had gone out Saturday to pick whatever was left so didn't lose anything but I didn't pull everything out, seemed too much like conceding to winter, but will have to tomorrow.