Change

I am still alive!  There have been some very big changes in my life over the past month and it is about time I did a post.  I am now living by myself and am down to *just* two dogs.  Marley and Rafferty.  Dante has decided to live in luxury with my parents and keep my mom company.  Hugo left with his dad for a different life path and Becky has headed to her very awesome high school raiser.  It feels so weird to only have two dogs after always having 3-4 for the last 3.5 years.   

What does this mean?  Well for starters I am no longer involved in training Hugo for Search and Rescue.   He has started down a great path and I wish him well!  I still plan to stay involved with SAR work, though I may take the winter off.   Marley and I are hoping to start tracking training this month.  Marley may not be the ideal tracking dog, but we will have fun and see where it goes.  Rafferty has 2 months left with me and then he heads off to college for his formal training.  I know he will have fun and be amazing at whatever career he chooses!  I do plan on getting another puppy when Rafferty leaves.

As for me I am taking this time to find myself and delight in the simple joys of life.  Work continues to be challenging and fulfilling, my place out in the country is perfect for me right now, and I have re-discovered and made some amazing new friendships.   I traveled to the GDB homecoming event last weekend and was once again reminded just how amazing these partnerships are...at every step of the way.  I will have a bigger post (with pictures) for the Homecoming event and Becky's new raiser.  

Always remember

Don't wait for the storm to pass....learn  to dance in the rain.

Rafferty with his shiny black coat and golden eyes pants after a hike.

Dog Days of Summer

Here are some thoughts on summer as told by my dogs...

1. Relax and just enjoy the sun on your face.

2. Make time to hang out with old and new friends.

3. Turn bath time into fun time.

4. Be enthusiastic

5. Share your stuff.

6. Go for a swim.

7. Take a nap in the shade.

8. Try your hardest to get dirty!

9. Take a walk and enjoy the great outdoors.

10. Do something you enjoy with a friend.

Update #1

Well my goal of posting everyday in March has kinda gone out the window.  We have had some busy and fun weekends the last three weeks.  Here is the first of many updates!

 [Hugo pulls up on the rope on his orange toy as it floats in the water]

Two weekends ago we headed out to Colorado to spend the weekend at a friend's Ranch.  Marley and Hugo were the lucky pair who got to come along.  A couple of days spent romping in the pond, running with all the other dogs, and watching all the horses, donkeys, and assorted other farm animals left them nice and tired.  Here are some of the pictures from the trip!

[Marley doing his best stare down as he waits for Hugo to come close enough to pounce on]

[Hugo swims through the water with his eyes bright and full of excitement as he carries his orange Ruff Wear toy]

[Marley stands in the water while looking into the distance.  Water streams off his coat]

[A close up shot of Hugo swimming back after retrieving his orange toy.  His eyes are partway shut and there is water on his face]

[A close up shot of Marley looking pensively off into the distance.  The wind ruffles the hair on his ears]

[Howdy, a black and white Border Collie, lays down in the grass staring at what he is getting ready to herd next.  In the case it was the group of running children.  His ears are perked and he is practicing the 'border collie' eye]

River Pups

Rafferty watches Marley as he trys his luck at "fishing".

Rafferty wondering why I am snapping pictures instead of playing in the COLD water with him.

Marley "fishing" in the river.  Not sure if he was going for actual fish or just light colored rocks.

Marley planning his next nose dive into the water...

Missy, our 15 year old dachshund feeling her oats as she digs for a mouse.

Sparky, also 15, enjoys then sun and the smells.  He also enjoyed following me around and waiting for a treat.  He may be mostly deaf and partially blind, but man his nose is as good as ever!

And of course what post would be complete without a baby puppy picture.

Summer Fun

Well we did it.  Tom and I bought a raft today.  We got hooked on river rafting last summer and have been looking for a used raft.  Found one and got it!  Now to do some outfitting, get some dates set, and head to the river.  Marley and Hugo are going to have another fun summer.  Oh yeah, and we bought a big raft so the dogs would have plently of room.  They are not spoiled at all.  Lucky dogs.

Daily Blogging, Round 2

Well, May looks to be an eventful month.  One I am going to attempt to cover with daily blog posts.  Highlights to include: a recap of tonight's bowling send-off party for Paris and Jackson, coverage of two new puppies to Summit Guide Dogs, Marley's prep for Splash! Dogs, and Hugo's trip to Yellowstone for Search and rescue training.  Today's will be short but oh so sweet.

Some Sunday Stills

Birthday Outing

Sunday was Hugo's 3rd birthday. In light of his special day we took all the dogs on a hike. Fun was had by all: Hugo played with his frisbee, Rafferty played in the snow, and Marley found a deer pelvis. Yup, that's right, not just a leg or a joint, but the whole pelvis, with vertebrae still attached. Rafferty turned 6 months on Monday and continues to be a great pup, even if he does like to wake me up at the same time on weekends. Here are some pictures from our fun day!

Thank you Mimi for the help on getting the "Big Pictures". I love it!

Bad Blogger...updates!

So I have been a bad blogger lately. No updates, no pictures...I really hadn't even logged in in the last two weeks. There even have been things to blog about! I will have to keep this a shorter post, but here are some of the happenings in the land of the PC dog pack.

I attended a pre-interview with Marley and Hugo for Intermountain Therapy Animals. This was to make sure they would be suitable candidates for undergoing temperament testing to become certified therapy dogs. I went to a workshop talking all about therapy dogs, animal-assisted therapy, and how everything works. The following day, Marley and I went down to one of the rehab centers in the valley to do our test.

Now I had felt for a long time that Marley was ready in almost every category...except meeting another dog. Now don't get me wrong, Marley loves other dogs. But his first reaction is to bark and make alot of noise when he sees another dog while he is on-lead. So the test starts out easy. Loose leash walking, sit, down, stay, come...walk through a crowd, let a stranger pet him: he passed all these with flying colors. And then it came time for the "meeting of the dogs". The other dog was a very nice standard poodle...but when facing the dog across the room, with all of my stress traveling down the leash, Marley decided this was something Not Good. And so he barked. I redirected, taking him out of sight, and doing some quick obedience. And we faced off again. While better, I knew he was still not ready for the walk by. Finally, after about 3 min...I had calmed down, and so had Marley (hmmm...relationship?) We squared off and walked the dogs past each other without further incident.

At this point I was not sure what would happen. I had maintained complete control over Marley, but his loud vocalizations may make him not be able to pass his test. My evaluator told me that as long as we worked alone on visits, or only with dogs Marley is already familiar with, we would be fine. I was relived, as Marley tested SO well on every other aspect of the test. I can't wait to start doing visits with my fun-loving boy! I actually had him at a school presentation on Monday, with a crowd of 10 1st graders sitting around him, and he could not have loved it more!

Hugo tests the first weekend in March, and then I will have my therapy dogs ready for work!

Millie is still in phase 8. Lots of Stuff to Learn at doggie college. I can't wait to see what career she chooses.

Rafferty has not gotten very much mention here, because, well, there is just not much to say without sounding like an overly bragging mom. He has just been a near-perfect puppy so far...almost making me feel guilty for having such an easy boy as my fourth pup. He has been house trained for months, is a joy to take into public, a wonderful pup to have around the house, and just continues to remind me how lucky I am to be a puppy raiser.

Phase 8

Well Millie is still cruising along in phase 8. She skipped phase 7 three weeks ago. Here is what she has been working on. I will do a nice big update this weekend. Rafferty continues to grow and be an amazing puppy, Marley and Hugo are going in for their Therapy Dog testing next month, and Dante is wishing the snow would just go away. I am loving it, and trying to ski as much as possible. Maybe one of the days I will actually be able to keep up with Tom. Watching him ski telemark is almost like watching art.

Phase #7

• Guidework in extremely challenging downtown urban areas (San Francisco and Portland)
• Training on buses, light rail/subway systems and platform edges
• Introduction to low overhead clearances
• Advanced off-leash obedience
• Formal traffic training

Phase #8

• Advanced guidework and obedience training continues
• Intensive indoor mall training with crowds and slick floors
• Advanced sidewalkless training with obstacles.

Fun in the Snow

A morning pack walk with some of the Innsbruck dogs. We are having a pretty good storm move through the area, so some of the pictures are a little fuzzy due to all the snow!

The Cat Who Opens Doors

Milo, one of the cats, is finding different ways to amuse himself now that it is much too cold to go outside. Instead of just playing with a toy or hunting mice in the garage, Milo has decided to make it his mission to open any closed door in the house. Taking a shower, why not have the cat come too? Sleeping peacefully at 3am? Not once weird banging sounds and a slowly opening door wake you up. Wanting to keep the cold air OUT of the house? Milo will help (read not) by leaving the garage door open.

So far the only doors he has not been able to open have been the front door and the door where I put masking tap on the handle to keep it from moving. He is one clever boy, and Marley has taken to following him around. Once Milo gets the handle to move and the latch to release Marley will shove his face into the crack and push open the door. This would be how Marley was able to help himself to many treats out in the garage.

They make one naughty duo. Anyone else have pets that work together as partners in crime?

Too Cute Tuesday

Marley has to be one of my favorite subjects for photography. I am always taking pictures of him. He is just so different and unique in every picture (though I could say that about all my dogs): his coloring just works in so many different light/background settings. This is a picture from our morning romp. It was short since it is so cold even Marley was ready to go back inside after 20 min.

Also, are my alt tags still working? Are there ever ones that don't? The way that I put them in is different for PCs and Macs. Just want to make sure everything is up to speed. Thanks!