2016 start

well our girl definitely loves the snow! We suspected she did based on her behaviour with the inch or so of snow we got a couple weeks ago but that was covered by an equal amount of ice. We got maybe three inches of light powder last nite and this girl is thrilled! Dixie. Certainly not me! We went out this morning ans she peed right away but then it was time to play! Very windy today so a leaf blew and Dixie looked ate for permission to chase it. She caught it and pummeled it then it was time for mom to play. She is such fun to play with. She leaps and spreads her front legs wide as if fo r a hug and loves to slip and slide. Goes nuts in the snow! Once my non fur covered body started to freeze all I had to do was pick up her lead and stop in her favorite poop spot. Whew. I hate the multiple trips out to finish.....especially when it involves multiple layers and boots. I may have found the solution. Pee play poop. Someone pass me the rolled up newspaper or just whack me on the head with it! Although cold and windy here nothing like the weather Doug is having. Thankfully!

Skin continues to improve. Yippy skippy!!! Such a relief not to have itching burning painful skin.c

Hey y'all.  Been a while since I joined the conversations here... hope all of you are well.

Welcome back.  Sorry about Gracie.  How you doing?  I would tell you about Skylar, but it sounds like boasting when it's actually modesty and understatement.

At the dog park today, it hit 14F.  6 of us running our dogs, standing in a small group to suck up sunlight.  Get them tired before the cold gets here  for the weekend and we have to wear hats, gloves, and zip up the coats.

nice to see you!

Thanks Doug.  She went down with a fever of unknown origin, and 5 weeks later, her battle with lymphoma was over.  I wish time went backwards so I could live our life together all over again - we had a great thing for those 12 years.  She's my baby no matter where she is.

I'm ok.  Obviously still sad, 4 mos later, but you all understand.  Please feel free to "boast" about Skylar!  :)

I hear you on the cold front.  We got about 6" last night - about the most snow we've seen all winter.  Another Nor'Easter alleged for this weekend.  Who knows.

How are you Glenda?  Guess who I saw at my club's show this weekend.... a former idogger with GSDs!  I recognized her instantly, and she says it happens all the time at dog shows. lol

Paige it is so good to see you.  I am so sorry to hear about Gracie. RIP pretty girl.

I have thought about the 2 of you often.  I hope we will see more of you.

Glenda, I wonder if that leg spreading thing is a Pyr trait.  Garth has some really interesting things that he does all the time that are so much different than any of our other dogs.  The nocturnal barking is definitely new to us and not something we like at all.  

I wish we had read up a bit more but it doesn't matter he is barely over nine months now and still stubborn but also loveable.

Sunday has a forecast high of -9F.  Uff da, you betcha.  The overnight looks to bottom at -20F.  And I live in southern MN, the warm part.  Get Jr out today  and tomorrow for some running,  but may just spend the weekend huddled in the basement in front of the big screen.. Not going to drag out the toboggan.

My favorite son gave us an apple TV device and I can see it getting some use.  I haven't figured it out yet.  I got it hooked up after an hour of frustration, then watched my grandson use it like a pro.  It has features I didn't know about-local team scores- that he flips through.

Think I'll take the camera to the dog park, get some shots of Sky running and playing (and trying to hump everything in sight).  Another guy there with his two standard poodles was having the same problem with his younger dog-love was in the air-and was using a remote collar.  Not too effective through all the hair.  My collar uses a vibration to distract the dog.  I think I'll try that.  Tutoring in a few weeks though.  Get a little cash built up again.  Xmas gift credit card bill was heavy this year, along with property taxes, insurance and car repairs all in one month.

Wifes' knitting club was at our house yesterday when I got back from the dog park.  Sky was well behaved.  I sat him on a rug in the kitchen where he stayed until calm and released.  Then he quietly met the group, who all agreed that he was beautiful and smart  and gentle.  A tired dog.  In the summer the knitting club becomes the garden club and sometimes the wine tasting club.  Plus side is they always have extra treats left over.

Keep warm.

I'm good Paige. Thanks for asking. Had sone insane medical stuff going on for several weeks but all fixed now.

I'm so sorry about Gracie. Run free sweet girl.

Ginger yep nocturnal barking is a breed characteristic. Fortunately Dixie didnt get that memo. She also didn't get the one about being aloof to strangers. She still hasnt met anyone she doesnt love.

I cant tell you guys how thrilled I am with the change in my skin! Not clear yet but no longer qualifies for horror movie status! YIPPEEEEE!

Doug you are much more devoted to getting your dog out to run than I am. And your temps have been downright brutal! If it takes more than ten minutes to get all the layers on its too blasted cold! But then the wind has been pretty intense here lately.

It's not devotion. It's necessity. Energizer bunny. You don't let him unwind and I think he will blow. Plus it's a social event for the owners also.

Got back from the park and he needed a bath. Saliva all over. He was playing with a 90b pit type and they spent a good part of the time drooling on each other. The pit seemed to realize that he was bigger and stronger, so he dialed it back a bit. Good dog sleeping on my foot right now. Several of us were trying to tire the dogs out while we could. Sat and Sun will be cold. May have to wear gloves. And zip up the outer coat. Or stay in and drink something adult.

You only layer when it gets cold, and today was balmy. A young African kid (from our college) was running an Alaskan type dog. Said he has taken the dog home during the summer for a few weeks. No quarantine, only $200 to fly the dog. Just needed vet statement about health and vaccinations. The only problem he had was the dog kept killing and retrieving chickens. Oh well.

Posted photos in gallery. Click on the front pic and it opens up a slide show. At least it is supposed to.

Thanks Ginger. I kind of dropped off for a while for a variety of reasons (technical, work restrictions). I found I neglected a lot of things in order to spend all my "free time" with Gracie. I just knew I needed to. As her littermates and training buddies passed away, our time together became more important to me than much else. We did some training, as you know, and then retired her in late 2013 and we spent the next year and a half getting every minute of beach, field, car ride, snuggle time we could. Gracie ended up out-living all 11 of her littermates. Somehow I knew that would happen - she always wanted to be with me.

After she passed, I suddenly had all that "free time" back (which is a really sad thing. My brother-in-law was present the first time I started to say "I can't stay for dinner, I gotta go home to take care of Gracie... oh, well,... I guess I don't." He wanted to celebrate that. I did not. I cried.) Anyway, I found myself with "free time" and cleaning up boxes of stuff I evidently hadn't touched since 2012/2013.

I'm still in that mode of revisiting the past we shared and trying to figure out the future without her.

Tell me about Garth. I've evidently missed a lot.

Paige, it is so good to see you, but I am so sorry to hear the news about Gracie. (((hugs)))

I have three now--I think you've only "met" Mozie, whom an iDogger from Pittsburgh helped me adopt. I adopted a one-eyed Lab mix (Ronnie) about  a year and a half ago and a Treeing Walker Coonhound (Rock) in late May. They are both from West Virginia. More on them later. When I was trying to figure out what kind of harness to use with Rock for scent work, a former iDogger on a German Shepard forum had the answer--I bet it's the same person you saw at  you club's show!

Doug, your winter pictures are beautiful--you sure are getting the Arctic blast right now! We're cold but the snow we had is gone. It's supposed to storm again this weekend, so we'll see.

I'm off in a bit to the last day of Rock's first Pet Therapy internship. We'll start working with college kids in a couple of weeks. (I think he'll like that even more than the Elders!)

Glenda, I am so glad you are feeling better! Yeah!

More soon-gotta run to catch the ferry.

Oooh!  I love coonhounds.  So Rock does pet therapy work and nosework?  Sounds like a dog with a job - love it!  

(And I bet you're right re: the idogger! lol I just never expected her up this way!)

So, where are people spending their time on dog.com lately?  I got some approvals for Training & Behavior, but nobody responded.  I still find this place weird to navigate.

It is way better than it was in the beginning, Doug could probably fill you in  :)  he has been pretty good about keeping up with us.  Unfortunately many left and didn't come back yet but you are here so there is some hope of seeing old friends again.  I have finally broke down and caught up with many on FB but it is still not as personal as here.

Yeah, TPTB sort of left  me in the dark after the transition. Glad to see that Doug has kept consistency!  :)  I still only have Lani & Karen as FB friends.  I think the benefit of here is to help others you would not know otherwise.  To help positively influence dog owners who just don't know how to do any better.  It's sort of like paying it forward, right?