Wordless Wednesday - Camo-Dog

Winter Wonderland

Hi furiends! Sorry I've been AWOL again...this time my human's excuse is something called "Krissmuss- prepurayshuns" which has been keeping her furry busy. No time for blogging. But I gave her a stern talking-to today and said I needed to catch up with my blogging buds. So here I am!

The picture above was my first experience with that fluffy cold white stuff! That was way back in early March when I was a wee pup. I really didn't mind it which is a good thing, since I was being potty-trained.

We had our first snowfall of the season last week, and Boy Twin threw snowballs for me to eat (I mean, catch!). It was so much fun.

A couple days later, my human took me back to the off-leash woods for a walk. It was so beautiful, with the ice glistening on the branches like crystals.

Remember those cool berries from my first walk? Look at them now...like whipped cream on cherries!

We saw so many doggies also out enjoying the winterscape...my human forgot to take pics 'cuz she was too busy yakking with the other humans while we doggies romped together in the snow. I love going on these walks 'cuz we both get a great workout, going up & down ridges...I'm always so tuckered out when we get home.

Does it snow where you live and if so, do you like it?

My Kennelmate is a Star!

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Update: my human is home from jury duty, yippee! The plantiff decided to drop the lawsuit.

Did any of you catch the National Dog Show in Philadelphia which was broadcast on Thanksgiving Day? If you did and saw the Sporting Group portion, you saw my kennelmate, Solo (a.k.a. Ch. Honeyrun's Lord of the Dance). He's one of the top Tollers in the country! I'm proud to say I knew him back when he was just a feisty adolescent. Here we are together (that's me in the background):

He was given his call name Solo because he was the only pup in his litter; pretty unusual, huh?

The minute my human set eyes on him, she knew he was destined for greatness.  He just had that special je ne sais quoi about him.  After watching him strut his stuff in the clip above, don't you agree?

Jury Doody

No, that's not a typo. Doody. As in, poopy. Kaka. The stuff we leave behind on our walkies which our humans collect in little plastic baggies. That's what I think of this thing which has kept my human away from me for two whole days. Which may stretch to four more. Harumph!

No off-leash walkies, no ball-throwing, no belly rubs...what's a pup to do? I know it's her "civic doody" and all, but frankly, I don't care. I just miss her!

But does she miss me? Apparently, not! I heard her telling my human dad that after she survived yesterday's juror vetting process and was chosen as one of six jurors, that she was actually looking forward to serving and seeing the justice system in action. Then they basically sat around for most of today and it looked like the parties might settle instead, and she was disappointed...but at the end of the day, they were called into the court room and heard the judge's instructions, so it's on after all.

All this to say, you might not hear from me for a while. I will try to get my human to log me on to the 'pee-yoo-ter, but once the sun sets she loses steam, so I'm not holding my breath. I feel bad that I don't know what's been going on with all my furiends...I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and got lots of leftovers!  Catch you all later.

Thankful for You!

My human has been busy-busy-busy getting ready for something called "Thanksgiving". I know it involves turkey (and hopefully lots of scraps for moi!) and being grateful. So I would like to let you know that I am thankful for all my doggy-bloggy furiends! I've met so many nice pups since I started blogging in April and have really enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you.

So now you know why I haven't been posting in a while...I'm starting to figure out that before a major holiday or event like the kids' birthdays, my human gets all frenzied and has no time to log me onto the 'pee-yoo-ter. Just 'cuz she's hosting 16 people for a meal on Thursday (with 6 of 'em staying for the long weekend)...what's the big deal? Pick up the phone, order some pizza and you're done! But she won't listen to me...harumph.

Luckily, today she realized how much she's been neglecting me and took me on a fantastic walk in the woods, OFF LEASH!!! I was so excited to be free, free at last! It's a park she discovered when Girl Twin had a soccer game there, where dogs are allowed off leash on the wooded trails. I was very well behaved and didn't run off. If I got too far ahead of my slowpoke human, I'd turn around and wait for her to catch up. She was very pleased about that since she didn't know how I'd do the first time out. A couple times, we encountered some other dogs on the trail and she was glad I remembered my recall lessons.  I do much better with just one other dog; if two or more come up to me at once, I get a bit nervous.

A tree with trail markers.  I wanted to jump into the stream but my human nixed that idea!

A beautiful stone wall

Some gorgeous berries

Surveying the domain

When it gets warm again, my human said I could swim here!

All tuckered out from all that running around.

Rally Cry

I've started my Beginning Rally class! What is Rally, you ask? Here is a description borrowed from the organization that created Rally, the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers):

Dog and Handler teams navigate a course with numbered signs indicating different exercises to perform such as Sit-Down-Sit, Straight Figure 8, Send Over Jump, Recall Over Jump. Teams navigate the course at a brisk, continuous performance without direction from the judge. Handlers are encouraged to talk to their dogs during the performance. All dogs, purebred, mixed breeds and dogs with disabilities are encouraged to participate. Rally trials can be hosted by any organization. Trials typically include Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 courses. A team earns a Rally title after successfully completing three course runs with qualifying scores. Titles can be earned at each Level and teams may also earn Championship titles, National Ranking Awards and a special Award of Excellence.

According to an instructor at our training facility, Rally was created as a sort of backlash against Obedience competition (my human's interpretation, not the instructor's) ...a more relaxed, more fun approach to evaluating the dog's knowledge of commands and dog/handler teamwork. During the trial, the handler can encourage the dog verbally and even use treats (sparingly), whereas these are forbidden in Obedience competition. My human served as a Steward at a Rally trial hosted by our club, and she thought it was so fun to hear the different ways the owners would praise their dogs throughout the course ("GOO'BOOOOOYEEEEEEEEEE!!!!") She said the dogs looked like they were enjoying themselves almost as much as the owners!

Apparently, Rally has really taken off while Obedience entries have fallen. Now, the AKC has gotten in on the act and is also sanctioning their own Rally trials.

So here's a clip of me at my second Rally class. I am the youngest in the class and it shows...I get distracted pretty easily at nice smells on the floor, at my human cousin who's taking the video, at the other dogs working the course...but I still had fun! My human says I need to work on my "place" (sitting at her left side, right next to her and close to her leg)...I have a tendency to swing out wide to sit. So you'll see her using a treat to try to get me closer in. Hey, she has lots of stuff to learn, too! You'll see her mess up one of her "about turns" (or was that supposed to be a 270 degree turn?). Enjoy!

Dony, No Swiping!

Do any of you have young'uns in the house?  If you do, you may be familiar with Swiper the Fox from the T.V. show Dora the Explorer.  Swiper is notorious for sneakily absconding with various objects from the heroine, Dora.  Or rather, he tries to swipe them, only to hear "Swiper, no swiping!" from Dora, Boots the Monkey, and millions of preschool viewers around the country.

Well, lately I've been hearing the refrain "Dony, no swiping!" around here, and I'm getting a little sick of it.  My counter surfing escapades have been seriously curtailed (heh-heh!).  How am I supposed to survive the long hours between breakfast and dinner with no snacks?!

Here's what I mean.  Little Boy wanted to make oatmeal cookies.  Of course, I offered my assistance.

   

Did somebody say cookies????

Double-checking the recipe.

I'll just skooch these measuring spoons over to Little Boy.

Time to sample the batter...it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

D'oh!!  Foiled again by Little Boy!

But even he can't stop the quickest tongue on the East Coast!

(That's a Dorito, in case anyone's wondering)

So there you have it...I've been reduced to scrounging for tiny morsels instead of my usual entire cookie/apple slice/bacon slice/fill-in-the-blank.  I feel like a junkyard dog.

BTW, I got a kick out of your comments on my Wordless Wed. pic...Cole got it right, I was under a lounge chair on the deck when Boy Twin took that picture from inside.