The Illusive Merf

Bleys merfs. When he is sleeping and dreams he makes a suppressed barking sound we have called the merf. I've been trying forever to capture this piece of adorableness for years, but have met with limited success. This video is the best I've been able to come up with so far. You make have to turn up your sound to hear what I 'm talking about.

River Walk

Mom and Bleys
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Back in Big Rapids mom and I took a walk on the now completed River Walk. I think its been done for a while, but I haven't seen it so it was new to me. It was a very nice walk and here near the end we saw some brave tubers (it was a little on the chilly side that day) getting into the water. You may not be aware, but Big Rapids is the tubing capital of Michigan. Impressed, aren't you?

Readyyyyyyy

Our next trek took us to Hastings, Michigan for our first U-Fli event. We mostly just wanted to check it out and have a little fun. We ran singles on Friday night and with a pick up team on Saturday. The other team members were mostly from Overdogs, but we did race once with a Rude Dog named Melee. Everyone there was very nice, totally welcoming, and it was a great time. Bleys was the height dog and measured at 6" (which is the lowest height available and quite a bit lower than he runs in NAFA). Bleys earned his Top Flight title and got a sweet squeaky toy out of the deal. The racing situation was a little different than Florida with the crating outside. But it did make the racing arena a little quieter...not a lot, mind you, but a little. Most teams camped out in RVs right at the site and used those as their crating area. We set up in an open pole barn across from the racing building. It was just fine, but I would imagine it might get a little hot sometimes. My Mom even stopped by for a while to check it out. It was really nice to have her see it!

Baroo

While in Kalamazoo we stayed with Jason who allowed us to crash his place whenever we needed to. He has a nice big back yard which Bleys really appreciated. He got to run around a lot more than he does down here. There is a fun picture over at Flickr of him running. He's a little blurry, but I just feel like he was having a really good time after two days in the car. Here he discovers that Roland is up on the deck.

Otter puppy

Otter puppy
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

After flyball yesterday a couple of us went over to a place not too far from practice that has a dog swim area. We had an awesome time and Bleys really enjoyed cooling off in the water. There are quite a few pictures over at flickr, including some using the series feature of my new camera. Bleys doesn't realize that he can jump into water so he didn't get a series. But Jubilee (black lab) and Jake (rat terrier) both have some fun shots of leaping for toys.

Spring Fling

We attended another Flyball tournament this past weekend so I've been out of town since Friday. It was a really nice time although the facility just wasn't designed to hold that many people. The air conditioning really struggled to keep up, especially on Saturday when it was very sunny. The building is pretty much a metal box so it acts like an oven. Bleys didn't start racing until almost half-way through the day so he also struggled. He was pretty slow and we ended up spending quite some time out in the car's air conditioning at the end of the day. Sunday was better because at least part of the day was overcast, and Bleys started racing right off the bat. Bleys did very well for himself and I think everyone had a good time. Roland even ran Bleys for a couple of races! Although I'm not really sure how that went because I had to hide. If Bleys saw me, I'm pretty sure he would forget about the racing and try to come over and say hello instead! That's what happens at practice anyway.

Roland and I took quite a few pictures and for the most part they didn't turn out too badly. I'm still unhappy with the noise, but I'll have to experiment some more to see if changing some settings will allow a better result. A few of pictures are over at Flickr (click on the above picture), but most of them are at the Storm Riders website.

Now Bleys is at a new puppy boarding place and Roland and I are preparing to go up to Disney to see his parents, sister, niece, and brother-in-law. We will be back on Friday and then I'm going to just say no to traveling for a few weeks before we start our trek up to Michigan in mid-June.

Proofs

If you are interested, the professional pictures from the tournament are now available. There are a lot of them to sift through though. If you click here you can choose Saturday or Sunday and then click on any folder with SR somewhere in the title (for instance the second folder on Saturday "02 BOI-SR"). If you aren't so keen on that you can check out this folder of the pictures that Roland and I chose to get. There were some additional pictures that I liked, but it seemed like 5 was plenty to purchase...probably more than enough.

Other fun pictures include this one when I got to run Ace a couple of times, and this one of a pretty nice pass between Hannah and Cagny. I also like this one of Scotty and his "but I want both" conundrum. Ooh, or this one, this one, and this one of Deuce, Ace, and Jake showing just how far ahead of the jump they leave the ground.

Back to the Future

Pensacola is in a different time zone. Did you know that? I didn't, until the flyball team decided to go to a tournament there. It was quite a drive so some of the team didn't really want to go that far. That was an advantage for me because that meant Bleys might get some more time to run. And he did. The team was way too nice and rearranged the teams on Sunday so that Bleys could run a bunch on a team that could make up for his slower times. He earned his FD (Flyball Dog) and FDX (Flyball Dog Excellent) titles thanks to their generosity. Bleys did pick up his speed a tiny bit once he was more comfortable with things, but he is still a good 3 seconds too slow to really be a good contributor to a team. If he gets the whole catching the ball from the box thing down (which we are making progress on) I think that will help, but I just don't know how fast he will ever be.

As an added bonus there was a professional photographer there. He took really nice pictures of all the dogs and got some nice ones of Bleys. I ordered some, but they won't be ready for three weeks or so. He does have a website where the pictures (untouched) will be available for viewing and I'm sure for purchase, but they aren't up there yet. He said probably by tomorrow or Thursday. When they are up I'll post a link so you can check them out if you want to!

The other new dog who ran did amazing! Jake is a tricolored rat terrier who has been learning flyball for about a year and a half, he started about 6 months before Bleys did. He had some set backs early on with a little fear of popping the box, but it looks like he's really got it and boy is he a fast little guy. He's going to rival Kodi (one of the other height dogs on the team) for speed and cute factor. He did passing like a pro and was super fast!

All this really got me to thinking on the way home. It's not really fair to ask the team to do all that special arranging for Bleys on a regular basis, especially since there is another dog who is slow like Bleys, but who has been on the team longer. If they are going to build a team around a slower dog it should be her, and I don't know that they want to in the first place. It is a competitive sport after all. I've already committed to going to the tournament at the end of May, so I think I will still go, but maybe I'll just help out with boxloading, stats, and pictures.

Sproing

Sproing
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Roland took some really nice pictures at practice today. He also ran Bleys for the first half of practice. We should have left it that way since when I took over Bleys didn't do very well. I worry that we might be starting to see some of the exercise intolerance that accompanies a worsening of his heart murmur. We will just have to wait and see, but I'm trying to prepare myself for the fact that we might not be attending too many more tournaments. We can still play on Sundays, but if he stops enjoying it... There are some more pictures over in my Flickr stream if you're interested.

Practice

Shutter Lag
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Today we had flyball practice and we took my new camera. I didn't have much time to take pictures but Roland managed to get in a few. Including this one that shows the camera has a little shutter lag. We also found out that Julie and John are engaged! Julie is one of the ladies on the team and John started coming to practice when they started dating. Congratulations John and Julie.

One of our long distance team members drove down for a Disc Dog competition yesterday and practice today, so after practice we all drove our dogs home and then met up for lunch. I took some pictures there, but they weren't very good (you can still check them out at flickr). I still have a lot to learn about my camera and taking good indoor shots appears to be one of them. I think I'm going to have to spend some time with the instruction manual and have a chat with my Dad about how to handle it.

Intro

For my birthday this year I asked for a nice digital camera. I have a really great pocket camera that I got as a hand-me-down from my Mom, but I wanted one that wasn't all about the size. I wanted some more features, increased zoom, better pixel density (my little one is only 3 mp), the ability to manually chance the aperture size and shutter speed. I decided against an DSLR because of the cost and my ability level. Anyway, here is one of the first pictures with my new snazzy camera. Of course the first thing I look to take a picture of is the fuzz-bucket. Isn't he anerable?

Pincushion

Bleys is officially back in action! We got a pass today to go back to regular activity after his appointment this morning. We are going to do more warming up before running and at least for a while we will be jumping only the lower jump heights. But all in all he should be mended. We are going back in 3 weeks for a checkup, but other than that we are all systems go. Bleys will be delighted since he is getting pretty antsy sitting around the apartment so much.

While we were at our appointment I took a couple of pictures of my favorite pincushion.

Corner

Corner
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Photogamer hasn't been providing new prompts lately but someone on the discussion section posted one today. Take a picture of a corner.

Demo

This one was taken a while ago, but I seem to have forgotten to upload it. It was taken by one of the other people on the flyball team at the warm-up for the demo at Happy Tails Park. Bleys didn't actually get to run in the demo because I was doing the talking, but he did get to warm up before hand. Look at those ear flap! This was the day that he tripped over his ear hair a bit and I decided to trim them. I miss those long ears though.

Ret to go

The other day Bleys decided that he wanted to go to work with Roland. After getting ready in the morning he walked into the living room to find this, Bleys was totally already ready already. He was all up in his travel crate waiting to be whisked away to the land of eternal college-girls-who-think
-he-is-adorable-and-aren't-in-a-place-where-they-can-have-
pets-of-their-own. Puppy heaven.

Message

Apparently the weather has been busy in Colorado. Janice sent me some pictures around her house of all the snow they got. My favorite was this one.

In other news Bleys is doing a little better. I took him to a different vet yesterday on the recommendation of some of my fellow dog people down here. One of them is a lady who does pet therapy with me at the Renfrew center, and the other two are on the flyball team. They all recommended this lady separately which made me take notice. She specializes in rehabilitation and recovery and I was hoping that she could tell me more than give him drugs and wait. She was really nice and reminded me quite a bit of Doc. She actually did some acupuncture which was kind of neat to see. I was ready to be all skeptical of the results but when we came home Bleys totally slept like a rock. He hasn't been sleeping very well since Monday, getting up a lot and re-situating himself. So it was nice to see him actually get some real sleep.

Then today he is obviously feeling much better. Now we are going to have to keep him from being too active. He doesn't understand that I would rather put him on the couch than him jump up there, but we are working on it. I'm just glad that he seems to be able to wag his tail again.

Dumps

Bleys isn't doing very well. Yesterday morning he just wasn't acting himself. He wasn't all excited about getting up in the morning and not really very keen on eating (major red flag for him). I decided to give it a day to see if it was just a little stomach upset after what I'm sure was a super fun weekend hanging out with his girl Jubilee. However this morning he wasn't any better and eschewed breakfast all together. So it was off to the vet for us. After narrowing it down a bit we went through a series of x-rays. Although they were not conclusive the vet thinks Bleys is having trouble with his back, probably one of the thoracic discs.

I'm trying to hang on to the upside, which is that he doesn't need surgery. That would be bad because of his heart murmur (which was not evident today, but the x-ray did show a slightly enlarged heart). The down side is that he is on restricted movement. No stairs (oh wait, we live on the third floor), preventing him from jumping on and off the couch/bed, and no flyball. People can make fun of me for living through my dog, but it's the flyball that makes me the saddest at the moment. I really enjoy it and he has such a fun time with all the other dogs and people.

Nose

Nose
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Photogamer: take a picture of a nose. Bleys' nose is way cuter than mine, and much easier to take a picture of.

Fake

Photogamer for the day: Take a picture of something fake. My first impulse was to take a picture of some fake potatoes. Unfortunately we didn't have any in the house. Roland suggested I take make some mashed cauliflower, but that was little more effort than I was willing to put in. So I went for my fake fur blanket. But any time there is a blanket involved Bleys has to come take a look. So here is some fake fur with some real fur on top.

Look, they match!

I ended up with a whole lot of stuff I needed to take to the demo so I decided to make myself a little present. I wanted to make it in blue, but the only blue shades I liked were too dark to the Cavalier embroidery to show up. So I went with navy-red, in a nice micro-suede. It's quite roomy, and I thought it turned out nicely. The only thing I don't really like this that when it's empty it's a little bit floppy for my liking. I used the stiffest interfacing I could find, but what I really need is a specialty interfacing that is a bit expensive and I would have to order online. But seriously isn't that puppy just adorable?

Jumping to Digital

I couldn't resist trying again with my digital camera while I was at the dog park today.

Jumping

I had a few pictures left over on the cheap film camera so when I took Bleys to the dog park I tried to use them up. I ended up with some not so great ones, and then this one that made we wish I had taken my digital camera with me. Or that I had whatever camera my fellow flyballer Andrea has. She took some really nice portraits of the flyball dogs. You should totally check them out here.

Yet another sleeping picture

You may wonder why so many of my pictures of Bleys are of him sleeping. I think it is partly because he is so completely anerable when he is tired, and part of it is that way he isn't moving so I'm more likely to get a good picture.

A mess of Cavaliers

A while ago I mentioned going to a Holiday party for the Boca Raton Dog Club. It was a very nice time, albeit a little on the loud side as it was held in an old train depot. While there I met a very nice woman who breeds Cavaliers. She invited us over to for a play date sometime. Since January is apparently very busy with her show schedule we made arrangements to meet today. She has a nice house a bit north of here with a large (for around here) fenced in yard. We had a very nice time and Bleys really seemed to enjoy the company of this own kind of dog. Here a some of the pictures I took while we were there.

Asnorable

On the way back from Clearwater yesterday Bleys was in the back seat. We are very lucky because he doesn't mind riding in the car at all. In fact mostly it just makes him sleepy.

I do believe I'm getting tired.

It's gets so hard to keep my eyes open.

I think I'll just rest my head...

And take a little bitty nap.

Therapizing the masses

Last Thursday I participated in a Yuletide parade representing the Humane Society of Broward County Pet Therapy Pack. I wasn't sure exactly what that would mean, but they needed teams and it sounded like it might be fun. It turns out we just walked along the parade route as a group and let some of the people pet our dogs and generally let people know about what pet therapy is about. Roland was nice enough to come along and take pictures. An easy request, or so I thought. Unfortunately by the time our group actually got to being part of the parade it was full dark. Being a trooper he still took a bunch of pictures in hopes that some of them would turn out.

Here we are waiting for the parade to get a move on. The lady in the front was from the group in front of us, a Police Bagpipe and Drum Corps. They were pretty cool to listen to seeing as how we were outside so the volume of the pipes wasn't offensive.

On the left is one of the other teams that walked in the parade with us, Patrice (leaning over) and Max (lying regally at her feet). I originally met Patrice and Max during our training and certification at the humane society class. Max is a beautiful Briard and they also go to the Renfrew center, which is where Bleys and I go.

On the right are Bleys and I, waiting with a cute Rottweiler mix (check out the other pics on Flickr for a picture where this Rottweiler mix has some seriously intense eye-glare). Isn't Bleys resplendent in his tiny green vest? There are a couple more shots that I liked over on my Flickr account, but I kind of been feeling like I've been over doing it on the pictures lately so I will leave off here.

We're taking on water

Alright, this post is going to be picture heavy, because I think my dog is pretty darn cute. Yeah I'm totally biased. While I was gone Roland was awesome and took Bleys to that Splash Adventure thing again and took some great pictures. He had my old camera, which has quite the shutter lag, so it was a little frustrating, but a lot of the pictures turned out really well. We went last year (at a different park) and had a great time. We were at Disney when they did the dog day at the park we went to last year so Roland had to drive a bit longer this time, but it

sounds like a fun time was had by all.

In the first picture, which is much easier to see in the large version over on Flickr, Bleys has three - count them three- tennis balls he is sort of corralling and trying to decide which to bring. At this point he seems to be leaning toward the largest one, which clearly he could never fit in his mouth. But, I guess we should all dream big!

They don't allow you to bring your own toys and they didn't have any small balls, so Bleys ended up settling for a regular sized tennis ball. Still way to big for him, it's hard for him to get it in his mouth. But he will go after it over and over again, until exhausted. When he is swimming he looks much bigger than he really is because all his fur floats out. He looks downright chubby here!

Some of the sporting breed must be left in the Cavalier because I think Bleys likes to have a job to do. I don't suppose his job is to empty the pool of water by carrying it out one coat-full at a time, but he's going to make a go of it. Boy does that little dog soak up a lot of moisture!

Just look at that concentration, this dog is on a mission.

And last, but not least, is my personal favorite. The situation where the dog is soaking wet and looks up at you like he is saying:

"Want a hug?"

Plus, Roland got the added bonus of catching him mid-lick. What a cute little drowned rat! I love him even if much all of his majesty is lost when he gets wet.

On the way to flyball

Bleys and Jubilee on the way to flyball practice this morning. Jubilee did awesome, as expected. She didn't care who she ran for, Derek, me, whoever. As long as there was a ball involved she was fine. Bleys did all right as well. He still gets a little spooked when a dog is coming off the lane and he is supposed to go on it. And he still doesn't grok that it would be great if he actually caught the ball from the box, but it's going well anyway. I think they both had a good time.

Roland was nice enough to join me this morning to help wrangle both dogs and crates and whatnot. It was nice to have him there, but it is very early, so I'm not sure how often it will happen. Oh, and there are a couple other pictures of these two on the way to practice in my Flickr account if you are interested.

Hanging out

After a short morning at the dog park everyone wanted to hang out with Roland. Apparently that's the place to be. I wanted to spend longer at the park, but Jubilee chased about a million tennis balls and frisbees and she was panting really hard and wouldn't take a break. So we came back early. I figure if it comes down to it, we can go back later and use up some more energy.

Stowaway

Roland is at his Georgetown reunion this weekend, however Bleys didn't seems to want him to go. Here he is trying out his chances at stowing away in the luggage.

Peanut Butter Kong

One of Bleys' favorite things in life is a Kong toy filled with peanut butter and then frozen. However, we quickly discovered that if left to his own devices he would get his ears all up in the peanut butter creating quite a sticky mess. So, now before he gets this delectable treat I pull his ears back with one of my hair ties. Admittedly he doesn't appreciate this and it looks pretty silly, but the peanut butter is enough to distract him from the embarrassment of it all.

Watching

Do you ever get that feeling, like you're being watched?

Nosicle

I happened to have my camera within reach last night while we were hanging out. So, I was taking pictures of Bleys and I thought this one turned out pretty well.

As he was trying to nap at the time so he wasn't super appreciative of my activities. He is apparently sensitive to all the beeping and other noises associated with my camera. Every time I focused, took a picture, or changed a setting he had to open his eyes to check out what was going on.

In other news I had a lovely chat with Katie the yesterday. It was really nice to talk with her and it made me miss having close friends I really feel comfortable with. For some reason the people I know down here I just don't feel at ease around. Perhaps I just haven't known them long enough? I don't know. Anyhow, it was nice to talk with her.

Lime Green Pillow

This evening Bleys and I were hanging out on the couch, he was over on one side and I was on the other. Apparently at some point this became too great a distance between us. Bleys got up and moved closer and ended using my feet as a pillow. Roland was able to quietly get up and get the camera to capture this moment. Bleys' head was really nestled in there at first, but when Roland came back with the camera he moved a little before deciding that food was not forthcoming and going back to sleep.

Hide me!

Bleys doesn't really like to be bathed. I would say he doesn't like to be wet, but he enjoys swimming in lakes and loved the splash adventure last year. I think he mostly just likes water on his own terms. Which, evidently doesn't include rain or a bath.

Now after a bath I use a hair dryer to dry him off. Ridiculous? Probably, but he has a lot of allergies and a lot of hair. If I don't do the whole hair drying thing he will get all itchy and matted. Not pretty. Anyhow, he doesn't really care for this process either. It doesn't bother him so much on his body, it's more about his face. He hates it when you blow on his face too. We've come to somewhat of a compromise in which I cover his face with a towel while I dry the rest him. This past bath though, he REALLY didn't want the hair dryer near his head. As soon as I got him on my lap he burrowed his head under my arm and wedged his head behind my back. Roland took this picture over my shoulder.

Hopeful

When Bleys and I are training for flyball I leave his food in a little plastic cup that is usually just for measuring. When we finish I usually put it on the floor to show him there is no more food, otherwise he doesn't believe me that we are done. Lately he has taken to carrying it around the apartment a bit. This is absolutely adorable as when he grabs it, it covers most of his face. Unfortunately I haven't been able to snap a picture of it. However, I did get this picture of him looking very pitiful, and would you look at that, right next to his food cup. I believe I can hear him now...

"Please, they don't feed me. I haven't had a morsel in days and I'm so very hungry. Won't you slip into the kitchen and grab me a few pieces of food? I promise I won't tell."

Unfair

It just seems a little unfair that Bleys is only 16 pounds and yet takes up half of the chair. But now that he is four, I suppose he feels entitled.

Parrot

Parrot
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Bleys has recently taken to this new position. He creeps along the back of the chair, usually after a stint on the perch, and lays down with his head resting on your shoulder. It is one of the most adorable things ever. It also gives a person the biggest warm fuzzy when he does it. I mean who could resist that face snuggling into your neck? I wanted to get a picture of him with Roland, but this one turned out better instead. I think I'm still going to try to get some better ones later.

Flyball hopeful

I was lucky enough to have someone take some pictures of Bleys at Flyball on Monday. Her name is Claudia and she has an adorable little pup named Kodi. You can check out some of her other pictures from practice on Sunday. Here Bleys looks all impressive going for the ball on the flyball box. Unfortunately half the time once he gets up there he forgets what I want him to do with the ball. Despite this, we are making all sort of progress in learning this sport. When we started Bleys didn't have a clue how to retrieve and he didn't know how to catch anything in his mouth. I mean if you threw a piece of food at him he would let it hit him in the face, wait for it to fall to the floor, and then eat it. Now he retrieves reliably in the house and about 75% outside with distractions. He also catches food about 95% of the time and will actually catch a ball (when thrown gently) about 50% of the time. I thinks that is doing really well for a little less than 2 months.

Sleepy

Anne sent me an email today that I thought I would share with you. You can not resist the cutness!

Tidy

Dr J posted some very nice pictures of Leon - Dog Wonder, so I thought maybe a cute picture of Bleys was in order. He obliged me by already laying there with his paws crossed.

Fuzzy

Bleys likes to destuff his toys, and today while napping he got a little on him.

Final Installment

Blyes likes the addition of furniture to our balcony. It allows him to have a comfy place to survey his kingdom.

Jet

Since he is currently totally freaking out, we are going straight into your Bleys fix for the day.





Why is he freaking out? They are powerwashing our entire building at the moment and it is quite loud from the inside. Especially when they go near the windows...in one of which his perch sits.

Chain

And now your daily Bleys on the porch fix! Today, two more pictures that make a person think we must totally abuse this poor dog. I mean, why else would he be so sad?

Grievous

Not much going on here. I've been doing a little (uninspired) work on the website, and some work on a presentation for the nature center. Although Katie did call me earlier to tell me about a show about dogs, training, etc. so that was super cool (and I'm totally watching it right now)! I don't have anything else so, it is time for more all Bleys, all the time.

Today's installment: Pitiful Puppy.

Watchful

I don't really have much to say. Feelin' lonely without Roland, so I'll just leave you with more cuteness.

Undeniable

Welp, I just dropped Roland off at the airport. Boo hiss. He is heading out to Las Vegas to help with a gaming industry convention thing. The good thing? His trip is mostly free. The bad thing? I couldn't go with him. Well, I suppose that might be a good thing for him. He will be spending a lot of time sitting at a booth, but he's also got plans to see Blue Man Group I think. I hope he has a good time and buys me a present!

So the pup and I are on our own for a while. Before Roland left we were hanging out on the porch and we snapped some nice photos. There were quite a few nice ones so get ready for the Week of Bleys.






Holy crapulence that is one cute dog.

At Play

Bleys and I headed over to the dog park again yesterday. It was a good time and there were lots of dogs for Bleys to hang with. Here are some pictures I took whilst watching.

A group of dogs decided that it was pretty sunny and maybe some time in the shade would be in order.


But they couldn't stay in one place for long and they began to spread out again.


Wait for me...I'm coming too!


This big fella was very interested in Bleys and followed him around for a long time.


I really liked this old guy. Totally devoted to the tennis ball, and his person.

Petapalooza

Yesterday Bleys and I trekked over Petapalooza. It was a good time and there was a lot of dog related fun to be had. There was an off-lead dog play area, booths for rescue organizations, people who make and sell dog food and treats, and doggie day care/boarding centers, a Frisbee Dog demonstration, and a flyball tournament. Since we just tried out flyball for the first time last Sunday we wandered over to watch for a while. For anyone who doesn't know what a flyball course looks like, here's one.

In case people were interesed in what a flyball run looks like I took a video (although keep in mind the course is longer than my camera is wide - each side has 4 hurdles...and my video isn't very good).



A lot of the dogs that run flyball are Border Collies. They are very, I repeat, very fast, extremely smart and incredibly focused. All the traits that made them fantastic herding dogs make them superlative flyball dogs (and are all reasons I wouldn't own one). The hurdles' height are set by the shortest dog on the team though, so many teams have one small dog on them to lower the bar for the rest of the team. Yesterday there were all sorts of breeds out running.

Border Collie and Miniature Australian Shepherd


Schnauzer and Westie


Sheltie and Rottie


Weimaraner and AMBOR


Some other cool shots I took include this one of a dog turning at the box.


And one of two dogs jumping hurdles at the same time.


And one of a cute little ruby Cavalier who was also visiting the park.

I miss Mary Beth

Whilst I was visiting my sister we went to a local dog show in Detroit. It was cool to check it out and fun to watch the Best in Show action. We saw the Boston Terriers being judged as well as the Cavaliers, it was okay, but not as cool since they weren't announcing the classes so we weren't sure what was going on when. There were also some booths and some dog related demonstrations. The flyball demonstration was awesome because one team had a Boston Terrier and the other had a Cavalier. Guess who Anne and I each rooted for? Anyway, I got to thinking about trying Bleys out at Flyball. So tomorrow we are going to go over to watch a couple of teams have a scrimmage. I have no idea is Bleys will be interested at all, but I think we might go back again next Sunday when the lady who runs one of the teams holds a free class. I have a feeling that he will struggle with catching the ball out of the box, but who knows maybe he will love it.

We are also going through a refresher course for pet therapy. It's the same class we took before we were certified, but I'm feeling the need to *ahem* bone up on our skills. I'm a little confused by the instructor though. On Thursday she had us doing something called a walking sit. This is where you are walking along with your dog in a heel, then you tell the dog to sit, and (hopefully) the dog sits while you continue walking. Then you can release the dog to catch up to you. I've never done this skill with Bleys and she didn't cover it in the class we took. She seemed to assume that we all knew this skill although most other pairs struggled as we did. What really confused me was that she didn't provide any suggestions on how to learn this skill. No baby steps to the elevator. Needless to say I got very frustrated...with her. She kept reiterating that we weren't supposed to stop walking when we ask our dogs to sit as if we didn't understand the exercise. That was not the problem for us. The problem was she wanted us to perform a skill that we didn't know and hadn't worked up to at all. So this week Bleys and I are working hard to learn it.

Since he already know that when I stop he is supposed to sit, we started with that. I put a rope on the floor and I would walk Bleys at a heel up to the rope, stop, and tell him to sit. We did this for a long time until I hope he associated coming up to the rope with sitting. Then I told him to sit when I reached the rope and then kept going. He's doing pretty well at it in the house now, but not what I would call reliable. And outside is worse yet (transfer of knowledge to different locations has always been a struggle for Bleys). But we are working on it, and we have until Thursday to get better. Hopefully by then I can add in the walking down as well.

Checkup

P.W. and I ended up going to the vet today. I called to make an appointment for the vet to listen to his heart murmur (just a recheck nothing big) and they had an opening today. Bonus. We went in and the vet took a listen. He listened for a very long time and then told me he couldn't really hear the murmur. Woot! The damage to the valves is still there and he will still have to be monitored for the rest of his life and eventually go on meds, but for now...it sounds good.

Furminator

A while ago I posted about the Furminator. Well, I was lucky enought to get one for Christmas, and I have to tell you...it works. I didn't get quite the pile that Chester did, but it was close. Hopefully it will help with the heat bearability for the Doom Bringer. He also got a new collar for Christmas so he is totally stylin'.

Merry Christmas

Lord of his...poofy seat.

Need your cute fix? Here are a couple of pictures of Bleys in the back of the car during our trek up north.

Bleys surveys his domain.


Later he tries to get as close as possible to the front seat as his harness will allow. His nose almost makes it.

Battle Royale

I was looking at some pictures of Cavaliers on Flickr and found Chester who apparently uses the Furminator. Now I want one! Maybe that would help with the being so hot in Florida? Maybe when we get back I will order one.

Split

So it was a really crappy day. I'm trying to change web hosts and it's doing very poorly at this stage. I think I'm going to need to have a marathon phone session with Jason. I already tried the help people and I couldn't even get the concept of switching hosts through to them. Then we got painted out of our apartment. We went out for a bit and when we came back there was a maintenance dude out there painting the floor of our landing. So how do we get in? Oh you need to wait at least a half an hour if not an hour for that to dry. And did we get any warning that this would be happening? No siree bob. What happens when I got to the office to ask what the deal is? They lady there laughs at me when I explain the situation, tells me that the guy who is doing it "just sort of works on his own thing" so they don't really know what he's doing or when. She also "only works on the weekends so she has no idea what to do" and her only response other than to laugh at my predicament is "I don't have a magic wand" so she can't even tell me if there was any notice/memo that we might have missed. We not only get a newsletter each month that would have been the perfect place to post that sort of thing, the complex manager has the time to post fliers about her Tupperware parties all the time. One would think a similar operation could warn people that they weren't going to be able to get in or out of their apartment for a while. Then after about 2 hours the dog has to go out. No problem right? It's been 2 hours now. I open the door and there he is just starting to paint the stairs. Sheesh.

So it was a really great hour. Dave, Bleys, and I went to another event full of doggy fun today. The lady who coordinates pet therapy at the humane society sent out an email earlier this week about a water park that after they close for the winter allows a few days of dog splashing fun. We drove over there and it was an absolute blast. There were quite a few dogs there, but not enough to make it crowded. For the most part a very well behaved group too. There was even a dog who learned to play in the water from Bleys. The owner took heart when I told her about Bleys' swimming history. He totally didn't dig the water for about a year and a half and then one day he just jumped in like he'd loved it all the time. It was so much fun that it's tempting to go back tomorrow!







Watch as the adorable puppy attempts to fetch the plastic mini-basketball only to be thwarted and return empty handed.


Look carefully at the attempt to bat the ball into submission with his paws (what are you a cat?). Finally see him succeed and triumphantly return with his prize.

Howl-o-ween

Today was fun at the dog park. Roland humored me and accompanied me to Howl-o-ween down in Hollywood. There is a small dog park there and they hosted a get-together along with PetSupermarket and some other folks. There were booths for some rescues (Greyhound, Old English Sheepdog, mutts) and some dog related businesses (grooming, pet sitting, pet massage). There also were some demonstrations for flyball, Paws with a Cause, dog training. And of course a pet costume contest. Some of the other pets were:

There was a lobster and a K-9 Officer


An Italian Dinner (love the meatball on the head!) and a bumble bee


Draclua (actually there were about 5 of them) and Snow White


A ducky and a pumpkin


A soccer player and butterfly (her wings off at the moment)


The costume contest was a little weird because they had some odd categories which Bleys didn't fit into very well and the voting was by audience applause. We went with Scariest Costume and actually won 2nd place. I'm pretty sure that the lady deciding who got the most applause cheated because I don't think he really got much applause (there were a lot of larger groups there who applauded for their own pets). I think she just liked the costume. They even had prizes! So now his majesty has two new chew toys. What a great little brudder.

Excuse me, might there be any thatched roofed cottages around here?

Ok, so Cute Overload sucks just a little bit. They started posting pictures of pets in costume a while ago so I naturally sent them a picture of Bleys as Dogdor. Since then they have posted a bunch more (my current fave is the turtle shark) but no sign of Bleys. I mean seriously, he so holds up his end of the cute-o-meter.







I mean he's got wings and everything! I did have to remake the costume this year though, apparently he got longer sometime between when I made it and now. His tail didn't fit anymore. So I redid it and added the horn head thingy.

Dominion

And because I wouldn't want any of you to go without your Bleys fix. Soak up the majesty.

Conflicted

So do you want the Good News or the Bad News first? The Bad News, okay then. I was at the vet yesterday and Bleys has a heart murmur. This is very common in Cavaliers (like hip dysplasia in labs) but I was hoping we would put it off for another couple of years. We are still in the diagnosis phase at the moment. They did some initial blood work yesterday and we are going in again today for some more specific stuff. Hopefulyl I will have a full diagnosis soon and we can start on whatever meds are appropriate.

Since I'm very carefully not thinking about the implications of so early a heart murmur, my biggest issue right now is that I'm getting shuffled of on a different vet today for the appointment. This happened earlier this year but the problem wasn't a big one (even a vet tech could have taken care of it) so I didn't mind. However, I went out of my way to find a vet that had extensive experience with Cavaliers. I got recommendations from local Cavalier breeders and showers and visited a bunch of vet offices to find one that suited me. I also drive about an hour to get there each time. I guess you could say I'm kind of picky, but after Doc how could I not be? Anyway, for now I'm going to assume that they just wanted to get all this preliminary stuff done as fast as possible, but when it comes down to cases I'm going to need to have my one vet or I'm going to need to find a different facility.

Speaking of Doc though, I did email her about getting a dental scraper for Bleys' teeth (which are not responding to the tooth brush so much anymore) and so maybe she will be able to shed some light onto the situation when I have some more information. I can't tell you how thankful I am that I have that connection. Being about to order stuff that isn't readily available to the general public is such a life saver. Thank you Doc! I miss you.

Okay onto the good news. For the past year Roland and I have had Florida Annual Passes to Disney World. For any who don't know, this means you pay a certain amount for a year long pass to get in the parks. There are a bunch of other perks as well, including cheaper room rates (especially in the off season), special deals they email you about, and currently the most important, you get into new/refurbished attractions early during special Passholder Events. We took advantage of this before Expedition Everest opened. The passholders got to go back over there and check out the area and ride the coaster during a special weekend a few weeks before it opened to the general public. That was mostly for Roland (I'm not so keen on roller coasters), but now it's MY turn. When our passes expire at the end of October we are planning on letting them lapse to save some money. We have visited Disney a lot this past year so taking some time off isn't so bad. However, one of my favorite things at Disney, the Living Seas, has been under refurbishment for over a year and is set to open in November. Grrrr, I thought I was going to miss it. However, we just got an email that they are having an annual passholder preview in mid-October. Woot! Not only will I get to see the Living Seas that is smack in the middle of the Food and Wine Festival that Roland and I love so much. Plus it is in the off season so there will be less crowds and the temperatures will be going down so it won't be quite so hot! I doesn't get much better than that! I'm very excited. Couldn't tell, could you?

Wish pie

You may or may not have noticed that one of Bleys' favorite toys is a Kong toy with a Nylabone stuck in the end (so far he likes all the flavors). Roland discovered this a long time ago and we refer to it as frankentoy. It has provided Bleys with many hours of enjoyment and when we replace the nylabone there is much rejoicing. As near as we can figure he likes it because it not only provides him with some awesome chewage, but also because the Kong toy allows him to really use his paws and get a good grip on the thing for some serious gnaw action. Here are some prime pics of his cat-like paw usage.

But then I guess he got a little lazy one day because when I got up from the couch to go to the kitchen he followed me leaving behind this:

You should see him pounce on a tennis ball.

28

Happy Birthday to Bleys who is three today. He had a very full day: A long walk in the morning, breakfast, a nap, doing some therapy work which mostly involves ladies loving on him for an hour, a snuggly nap, dinner, a short nap (above), a Frosty Paws (below) in celebration of his B-Day, and now another nap. It's a good life.

Where's the red carpet?

Bleys and I have just made our triumpant return from pet therapy. It went well, though Bleys was a little clingy. I'm hoping that with some time and experience he will be more willing to hang out with the people and not be near to me all the time. He kept his eyes on me pretty much the whole time (which is a good thing, but he should be willing to get petted away from me), then again it was our first time in a new and different place with some new people about. I think, overall he did very well. Yay Bleys.

Smooshed face

One of the dangers of having a muzzle puff is that when you nap hard core you end up with smooshed face.

Some serious nappage.


Then voila...smooshed face dog. Notice the marked difference between the left and right cheeks (yes, you may click to embiggen). Sometimes he even gets it stuck on his teeth. So very cutiter wootiter.


Sorry about the quality it was too dark to see what I was taking a picture of so I was taking them blind. I suppose that is what happens when you're trying to take a picture under your desk at night.

Butter

Bleys and I are all set to visit the Renfrew Center starting in September. They haven't put the schedule together yet so I'm not sure which Sunday it will be though. I'm kind of hoping it is early in the month because I am excited to get started. I just hope that Bleys will be well behaved. I'm thinking I will go over there a little early whatever week I am scheduled so that I can let him sniff out the room we are in and get that out of his system before the people show up.

The dog we observed was very different from Bleys. Max is a 10 year old black Briard who mostly just laid there while the ladies petted him and chatted with Patrice (the owner) and each other. Bleys isn't likely to just lay anywhere for more than a few seconds...if I make him. Chances are he is going to be all up ons. I hope that they will dig that because he is just a friendly in your face kinda pooch. He also still gets very excited about new things/places and sometimes forgets to pay attention to me. I guess we will just have to see how it goes.

Observe

Well I'm all set to observe at the Renfrew Center this Sunday. I'm going to watch Patrice and her dog Max do their therapy session there and see if that might be some place I would want to go with Bleys. They have three teams that visit there as it is and one team that goes twice a month. If Bleys and I were to add on that would be each person would only have to go once a month which is what I think they are going for. I hope that it goes well as I am eager to get started. The Renfrew Center is apparently an eating disorder clinic, but I don't really know much more about it than that. I'm a little nervous but it should be fun.

Woot!

Quicky

Two quick things:

1. Bleys and I are set to take our therapy test on August 3rd. Wish us luck.

2. There have been even more changes. Your comments desired.

Sharing

While I was sewing the other day and a certain someone needed to share my chair with me. Isn't he helpful?

I just can't stop

I was doing some work on the cutting board and after moving PW off to the side (it's hard to work with a puppy in the middle of the board) he fell asleep. So, clearly it was time to take some pictures. Warning the cuteness is well nigh overwhelming.



He also has the cheek puff so sought after on CO. Behold!



But I think the thing I find the absolute best are the eyebrows. It just makes him so expressive. Plus he did really well in difficult circumstances at dog obedience on Saturday. We had a make-up class on Saturday because we've been rained out the past two weeks in a row. When we got there at 1:00 in the afternoon it was wicked hot and they had just mowed the grass. The lawn mowage might not seem like a problem, but it stirs up all the latent delicious scents just waiting to distract poor defenseless pups like Bleys. But he came through like a champ and was only minorly distracted.

I have a feeling that we may be the only team that is ready to take the test at the end of this class. The other dogs obey very well, but only when they are on a gentle leader. Unfortunately you can't take the test on a Gentle Leader. It is flat collars only. I think a couple of people were a little surprised when she mentioned this. A few of them then tried to work a bit without the GL. You can totally see the difference in the people (yes the people, not the dogs). They lose their air of confidence and instantly revert back to asking their dog to do things, which the dog promptly refuses.

There is one dog in particular that I feel sorry for. First of all, both his owners come to class sometimes, and they sort of switch back and forth from week to week who is doing the training. Not the best situation, but hey at least they are both involved? However, they coddle this dog terribly and enable each other to do so. He moves like molasses and it's plain that the dog is just being lazy. They ask him to sit about five times before he actually does and half the time when they say 'let's go' (their version of heel) he just sits there and looks at them. Instead of just putting on their leader face and making the dog do it, they mumble things like 'oh, but it's too hot for him' or something. Yes, it is hot, but if you notice all the rest of the dogs are moving along just fine. Granted it is a lot easier to make a dog of Bleys' size do something that a dog that is more like 90 pounds (he could stand to lose at least 10 of them), but it's not impossible.

Plus once you have a behavior you aren't finished. You should keep shaping that behavior to make it better. Now you only give them a reward if it's a speedy sit, not just whenever they feel like it, etc. Training your dog never ends. Bleys and I work nearly every day, granted it's only like 5 minutes a day, but it is constant and consistent. At class on Saturday we worked a little with introducing the dogs to walkers and canes. After they got used to them the instructor would walk around the dogs and drop the cane near them or make otherwise loud unpredictable movements. She commented that it was very unusual for a dog Bleys' size not to jump away from the dropped item. Why didn't he? Because I drop things near him on a regular basis. Phone books, clip boards, text books, anything that will make some unusual noise. I guess I'm just surprised at the level of the people in the 'advanced' class. Then again from what it sounded like people can come back and take this class again and again until they are ready. Guess I'm just lucky we will only have to do it once.

DFO

Last night the dog totally passed out! Notice the ear covering his eyes!



Bummer, no class tonight due to weather. Apparently it has been raining all day at the humane society and the field we use is a muddy mess. We are going to start back up next week, we hope, and go the final two weeks. I'm not sure when the test will be then, but I hope it isn't supposed to be the next Thursday after that (the 27th). Roland is taking me to Disney for our anniversary starting on the 26th so that wouldn't work out. I guess if it is, then I will have to ask her to test Bleys separately. We will just have to wait and see.

Gray mist

Last night's dog obedience class didn't go as well as the others have. The ADHD in my dog showed up and he would not stop trying to eat the grass, or something in the grass, or pay attention to me very much at all. Ok, it wasn't really that bad, he was still one of the best behaved there, but it was a little out of character for him, and I expect a lot from him. So, this week we are going to have to work some extra to see if we can not have that happen again. He did do very well with leave it though. He was in a down-stay and the instructor came around dropping treats in front of each dog to see what they will do, and he stared at the treat really hard for a while, but didn't move. Good boy!

We continue working on our newest command, stand. Bleys has a hard time with this one because his instinct by now is, when in doubt - sit. This comes from him having to sit to be petted, or jump on the couch, or the bed, or whatever else, this being a "nothing in life is free" kind of household. He is about 50% on the stand command now, but I'm just not sure that he's got it, so, we will have to keep working on it. I would also like to teach him some silly tricks, so when people ask me, does he do any tricks I will have something. So far I've focused mostly on the behaviors that are useful to me, but most people don't find them terribly impressive (even though they totally are).

I'm attempting to be outgoing a little later today. There is a group of local divers (and some out of town guests) getting together later this evening for a cookout/get-together, and Dave and I are going. Hopefully it will be a good time. I only know one person who will be there (that nice lady who went shore diving with me on Wednesday), so I will need to put on my extrovert pants for the meeting of new people. I am also bringing my homemade marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate for some s'more action. I soaked some wooden skewers in water earlier and now they are drying off so they will be ready for the flames. Who knows maybe I will meet some more people who need a dive buddy.

On another note I saw the Colbert Report last night and they had a story about my favorite restaurant...The Melting Pot. It wasn't terribly favorable toward it although the whole piece was clearly tongue in cheek. Well, what isn't on that show, right? What I can't figure out is how they came up with how much it cost to eat there. In the story a couple went out to dinner for the woman's birthday and theoretically it cost 150 dollars. I keep trying to make that work out, but the only thing I can think of is that they didn't do their research very well and neglected to notice that the meals are generally priced by the couple (not individually), hence it 'cost' twice as much as would normally be the case. Or perhaps they had two other people with them that they were paying for, but we didn't see in the footage? Or maybe they got some really expensive wine? It was a funny bit, but it won't stop me from angling for The Melting Pot every time someone asks me where I want to go for dinner. Ok, maybe not every time, but clearly many times out of ten.

Crack Puppy

Bleys loves to sleep in the cracks:

Guess Who!

Are you ready for some cutitude?

The other morning I woke up before Roland (well, that happens a lot) but this particular morning Bleys missed Roland...a lot.



Seriously, he laid there with his nose pressed against the door, waiting for Roland to get up for at least a half an hour. Later that day, after using the computer for a while with Bleys sleeping at my feet, I got up and went in the other room and when I came back...



Gak, the cuteness! The chair-stealing cuteness! Then he got really comfortable.



"Your chair? I haven't seen your chair anywhere. This is my chair, isn't that obvious?"
Then the last one was from a little while ago, but since I'm posting a Bleys-fest I figure it fits in.



To quote Cute Overload: ehn, ehhhnnnn....

Post-class

Tonight we worked a lot on heeling, and the various stays. Bleys has picked up the bad habit of going to a down during a sit-stay which we are working on correcting. I think it's just more comfortable for him, but he needs to not break the stay until I say so. When we have a choice I always put him in a down-stay so he won't be as likely to break it. He also struggles with the distractions during a stay. Well, only one distraction really. When someone else comes up to him and pets him...forget it. He totally loses track of the stay, me, or anything but that wonderful person come to play with him. The problem is that it is hard to practice that without other people to be the one petting him. Maybe I can go to the pet store with him and find some willing/bored workers there? I wish more places were dog friendly around here. In some large cities there will be certain restaurants that will allow dogs on the patio, or independent book stores that allow you bring in your dog. So far, no luck here though. They seem more uptight about it here than in Michigan. Anyway, class went well and I hope this bodes well for us passing the test at the end.

Therapy Class

Well, I'm just about to leave for dog obedience this week. Last week was fine, but again a little boring. I think we are just going to think about this structured distractions and leave it at that. Since Bleys doesn't get to see as many people here as in Michigan it's good practice before we take our test. My only wish is that this could be inside. An hour outside doesn't seem like it should wipe me out, but boy howdy, by the end I'm d-u-n-done. And we aren't even doing anything strenuous. Makes me wonder how the people I see out running at noon do it.

I'm actually kind of surprised that the instructor hasn't tried to get Bleys into a Gentle Leader. She is very into them and has just about every other dog in the class in one. Personally, I love the gentle leader, for unruly dogs. But I kind of feel like if you are going to be going into an environment like a nursing home or hospital, you should have control over your dog without one. The national tests don't allow head halters, but I guess Broward does. I can't use one with Bleys anyway. Gentle Leaders work on a couple of principles, the biggest of which is where the head goes, the body follows. Another one is pressure points, the leader rests across two different calming points on dogs, which is very helpful for the rambunctious dog. However, Bleys pretty much goes to sleep when I put his on. Taking him for a walk is really hard because he keeps trying to lay down and go to sleep. If you have him in a sit with it on, his head starts drooping and he is very sluggish. He's pretty well behaved without it so, we don't use it.

Well, it's time for me to go...

Head of the class

Our first class of obedience for pet therapy was this evening. It runs an hour a week for the next 6 (now 5) weeks. There are certainly a lot of labs and lab mixes. There were three black labs and a yellow lab and one dog that I think might be part chocolate. The only other small dog was a cute little blue merle corgi, I didn't get a good look, but I think she was a Pembroke.

Tonight was mostly administrative/introductory. We did do a little work with the dogs at the very end, but it was all review (for us) so the instructor could assess our abilities. All owner bias aside, I'm pretty sure that Bleys is one of the best in the class. Some of the other people were asking their dogs to do things rather than commanding and not getting much as a result. One other lady actually told me she hasn't actually taken any other obedience because she dog 'has always been so easy to train.' Well, good luck with that. Since I was taking Bleys through the exercises I couldn't watch everyone, but most people seemed to be struggling with things that we use as routine training, though I saw at least one other CGC tag in the group. In addition none of the other owners seemed like more than level 1 people, well except maybe for one guy who was showing some promise. Every one else, not so much.

The instructor was pretty good although I disagree with some of the things she teaches. She seems pretty okay with people using other techniques though. She encourages people to wear treat pouches so that dogs associate them with training, which makes sense if you are going to give your dog a treat every time they do something for the rest of their lives. However, I'm not into that, I want my dog to sit even if I don't have my treat pouch, or even a treat on me. So I use a bridge (the same a clicker or the whistle that dolphin/killer whale trainers use. It allows me to immediately communicate what behavior was correct and then walk to where a treat is if he deserves one, but I don't give him a treat every time he does something for me. It's like the slot machines. People (and dogs) will actually engage in a behavior (putting in a coin and pulling the arm) MORE often if they don't win all the time or lose all the time. That uncertainty increases the behavior, just ask the casinos in Vegas.

I didn't discuss this with the instructor as I'm sure that it would be taken as criticism. But it makes me all the more grateful for the training and guidance I received from Mary Beth. As time goes on I understand more and more how incredible she was and I miss her. She was my kind of people. That in turn makes me miss Shannon, and wonder what sort of craziness she is perpetrating with her new partners in crime. I wonder how they are settling into their home with introducing the twin to their horde of pets. I hope Ronda is doing well and getting back to normal. That in turn takes me over to Katie, who is apparently now into maternity clothes. I hope that she posts some pictures as she moves along, so I can sneak a long distance peek.

Well, I'm getting kinda tired and since Roland isn't home I don't have much reason to stay up as late as when he is home, so gute Nacht.

He should be on Cute Overload

Other people may not think so, but Bleys has got to be one of the cutest things on the planet. Here he is trying really hard to be as far into the couch crack as possible.





He is just so gosh dern cute. The jaunty angle of the picture was because I was trying to take it without him waking up. He wakes up pretty much every time I move, so I had to take the picture without looking in the viewfinder, with my arm fully extended. Oh well, just look at those cute little feet!

You coveteth my ice-cream bar.

Bleys got one of his favorite toys today because Roland got a soda at work today. He hadn't finished it, and brought the rest home to drink with dinner. After he was done P.W. was starting at the empty bottle with barely restrained wigglation, looking first at the bottle, then at Roland, then at the bottle, then at Roland with a barely audible whine. Finally we relented, removed the wrapper and there was puppy nirvana.

So, he's a duck?

After a trip to the vet we have come to the conclusion that Bleys must have come into contact with some fleas. It sort of boiled down to the only logical answer despite any evidence of their presence. A little over a week ago I noticed that Bleys was getting super itchy, taking a closer look I noticed some hair loss on his noggin. Four little tiny bald spots each with a little scabby bit in it. Hmmm...interesting, they seem to be in the shape that would correspond to a hind paw being repeatedly drawn across the scalp with force. He was also nipping at his hocks and licking at his forepaws. All the things that would lead one to think fleas. Now, we have him on a monthly heartworm/flea preventative and Frontline every 21 days (rather than the usual 28 days) because he is allergic to flea bites. However, living in an apartment we can't really control what goes on in our 'yard.' Some of our fellow dwellers don't even pick up after their furballs, so chances of them having them on any sort of heartworm or flea preventative are on the low end. So every time PW demands poopsies we are probably exposing him to fleas. Anyway, as soon I noticed the signs I grabbed him and started looking. Nothing, no fleas, no flea dirt, no bites. Ok, let's try giving him a bath and see what happens. He is also allergic to certain grasses and food items so perhaps he made contact with one of them. After the bath he seemed to calm down a bit for about 24 hours. But then, more itchies. I tried to prevent him from doing more actual damage to his skull, but man was he itchified.

Another day later and still no improvement so I called to make an appointment with the vet. Unfortunately she is a very popular lady so the next appointment was not for a week and a few days (yesterday). I settled in to wait it out which was hard because he was clearly very itchy and uncomfortable. I got through like 3 days and couldn't take it anymore. He was still doing all the things that make a person think of fleas. I got out the flea comb. I started going over him pretty much every evening when we were all just sitting around watching TV or using the computer or whatever. Nothing. More nothing. Then about Sunday or so I did find one! Eureka. Thank goodness. What? Fleas are a good thing? At least it was something. I only found the one and I've been using the flea comb on him everyday. I though maybe after finding that one he would have his itchy reaction for a while and then it would calm down (just in time for the vet appointment), but he continued to itch.

Finally the day of our appointment arrived and we went. Doc Cindi looked him over and like me didn't find any evidence of fleas, except the symptoms that pointed unerringly toward them. She even expressed his anal glands to check for any issues there (which is awesome because then I don't have to do for a week or two). Finally we decided to give him a Capstar, switch him to Advantage for a while (possibly permanently), add a EFA supplement on top of his food, and put him on Tavist for a while. So now we are getting him on all of that and hopefully it will help.

Then I got the bad, bad, bad news. The vet remember that I have him on Eukanuba K/O and she told me that it isn't going to be available anymore. Apparently kangaroo isn't going to be allowed into the US anymore or something. Crippity Crap. I was happy with the K/O and so way Bleys' tummy. So now I'm going to try to pick up a bit of it before the supply line runs out and then think about switching to F/P maybe? I'll probably ask Doc (the original) what she recommends.

Seriously

Living with Roland, it's like eating in a restaurant every night. Tonight was asparagus, chicken bacon burger deals that were simply delectable, and some pasta salad that Roland made just for me! He made a baked noodle dish last night and he reserved some of the noodles and made a pasta salad. It even had hard boiled eggs in it. Rockin'! It was a really good dinner, and smelled great while he was making it.

P.W. and I went to the dog park today as it was time for an expression and a bath anyway. It was a good time and he ran around like a nut. He was a little more forceful with some of the other dogs this time too, which was interesting. We've been going on a walk every morning and when we pass the dog park he leans into the leash pretty hard (for him - which is not very hard because he has better manners than that). But with the grass allergy we can only really go when a bath can be given pretty much as soon as we get home.

I also started reading my book for the AOW class Jason and I are taking in February. It is pretty interesting, but very basic. I'm sure this is because the makers of the book and classes have to aim low to accommodate a lot of people as this class is very early in the series of classes you can take (meaning many people of varying abilities will be taking it). As you move on into the series I'm sure they can get more detailed and whatnot as fewer and fewer people will be taking those classes. I hope it goes well and Jason will help me out when I need it!

Yertle

Right before Christmas we ordered a kitten I mean macho, manly dog perch for The PW. Due to some camera issues I was unable to show the world the king of all he surveys, until now.

He does like to be on top of things, even if it isn't the perch..."ahem, I think you misspelled that word"

After taking that picture I went to sit down on the couch and a little fuzzy face appeared...

"I've got my eye on you!"

But who's counting

In preparation for our upcoming vacation Roland and I worked the puppy over last night. It was about time for an expression (this link leads to Too Much Information for a lot of people, think twice before clicking) and a bath. All went well and we ended up with the usual drowned rat:




Somehow I managed to catch him mid-lick. Who could resist such piteousness? Now in a couple of days I can anoint him with Frontline. That way he will be all ready to face the kennel, clean and protected. I had a dream the other night that he had a tick on his right front leg. It was a crazy real dream. In the dream I woke up in bed and remembered that I had seen a tick on him the previous evening and for some unknown reason didn't do anything about it. Sometime during this dream I woke up and was convinced that he really did have a tick on this right front leg. Luckily (for once) my semi-conscious self decided that there wasn't anything I could do about it at 3 in the morning anyway so I decided to fix it in the morning. I fell back asleep planning how to remove the tick. Very weird.

I also finished my latest craft project. I can't post pictures of it at this time as it is a Christmas present, but it turned out pretty killer and I took some pictures to maybe post at a later date. It took me a while to work it out and I'm proud of the finished product.

Only 3 days 'til Disney!

Splorch

I feel like I got run over by a bus or something. I woke up not feeling like I slept at all. Roland actually got up before me. Then I woke up and he told me that I had a rough night, so that's probably why I feel so flattened. Apparently there wasn't any talking, but quite a bit of whimpering. Part of me wishes I could remember what it was that I was dreaming about, but part of me thinks maybe I don't want to know.

I got Bleys a backpack to carry on our daily walks. That way he can bring along some water for himself and he can carry my phone and keys. Its pretty sweet. He doesn't seem to mind it and likes the water when I give it to him. We are also learning a new trick, it is the cutest thing on the planet. When he is lying down I can give him the command "sad" and he will put his head down on his paws and look up and me. It is incredibly pitiful and super cute. He isn't totally reliable yet, but we are working on it.

Anne got a doggy doorbell for her birthday, but she says she isn't having much luck training Brogan to use it. Brodie will sometimes jump on it accidentally, but nothing consistent and Logan, well, she's just Logan. I want to get one of those for Bleys because with all the moving sometimes it is hard for him to know where to go to ask to go out. He's never really been one to bark to let us know, he uses a more silent approach with a lot of walking back and forth near the door. Its pretty subtle unless you know what you are looking for. Luckily we have him on a fairly consistent schedule so we know when its about time for him to need to go out.

While we were at Disney he stayed in Orlando because none of the boarding places down here had power. The place we found to kennel him was called Miss Emily's Bed and Biscuit (cute huh?). They were very nice and he got to spend a lot of time running about with other dogs and getting loved on by the staff. As usual they all thought he was adorable. I'm telling you, if you are a single guy and want to meet girls get a Cavalier and go to the park or something. Ask Roland, he'll tell you.

THX

Today-Bor-Day is Labor-Day!

Ever since Bleys's bad reaction to Florida fauna we have restricted him to limited grass touching and wipe him off every time he comes back inside. Instead of going to the dog park we have been in-line skating around the area. Just a small piece of advice, skating on wet sidewalks...quite slick. No, I didn't actually fall, but it was a close thing a time or two. I'm sure anyone driving by was amused by my windmilling action to prevent eating pavement. Bleys is adapting well to running beside me. His chasing instincts however are in full swing. You see, down here there are about a bagillion teeny tiny little lizards running aboot (mad props to my yooper homies - even though I'm a troll) and Cavaliers were originally bred from hunting spaniels...sooooo every time he sees one of these potentially tasty morsels he loses all focus on any training we may have done and tries to bolt after it - usually right across the sidewalk in front of me. A typical Cavalier response resulting in every Cavalier website worth its salt imploring people to NEVER let their Cavalier off lead unless they are positive they are in a fully fenced area (a dog park for instance). Anyway, because of this, erm, charming habit we are working on breaking, I do have to keep on my toes about the whole thing.

My sister's wedding is a mere 12 days away! The wedding should be a great time, although I still would like to find some new shoes to go with my dress. I'm not sure what my sister's shoes look like, but her dress is gorgeous. It is a deep red color I would describe as Burgundy (although I think they called it ruby). It is sort of a 40's Hollywood-esque dress and very pretty. I'm wearing a little black dress. Maybe I should also go looking for a necklace to wear with it. My butterfly necklace would look very nice though. Well, Roland is making cookies and I'm very interested in the results so I'm going to go see if I can snitch a little!

Watch out for that tree!

While on safari we are stalked by the rare and dangerous Puppicus Bleysium. He is seen here crouching low, half hidden in the dry grasses.

Then unexpectedly he exposes himself with a roar, exposing his rows and rows of sharp...pointy...teeth! We fear for our lives but luckily, as suddenly as he appeared he vanishes from view.

We find out later that the effort of holding his head up became overwhelming causing him to fall over and immediately go back to sleep.

P.W.

Introductions all round, this, is the cutest dog on the planet. Seen here with his favorite frankentoy (Kong toy with a Nylabone stuck in it).

Name: Bleys
Age: 2 Years
Breed: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Color: Tri-color
Accomplishments: Beginning Obedience, Intermediate Obedience, CGC

Viva la difference

Ok, so I recently moved to Coral Springs, Florida from Grand Rapids, Michigan (and yes I do seem to have a penchant for living in cities with two names). Hence my all day mission to find a new veterinarian. Let me just start by saying that I am what we are going to call an "involved" pet owner. If you choose to read "pain in the ass" pet owner that is your point of view. I want to know the what AND the why of what is going on and I have the anatomy/physiology background and animal care experience to understand if the vet is willing to take the time.

I was blessed to have one of the best in the business back in Michigan. Doc Swift would see staff pets and she was freakin' awesome. She would always listen and take our observations seriously. The vet I had chosen before I worked at the HSKC insisted that Bleys merely 'liked to have his head scratched....a lot.' Horse-pucky! Doc sent in an allergy panel and he is totally allergic to fleas (a Cavalier thing) and somewhat allergic to wheat. Wheat, you say, what does that matter, dogs don't eat pasta. Ah, but take a look at your dog food bag. Most of them have some form of wheat as the first or second ingredient. So we switched him to Eukanuba K/O , have him on Frontline every 21 days instead of 28 and Sentinel every month.

We start our day by sitting down and writing out a list of things to discuss while visiting area facilities (retentive...yes). Then we go to the AAHA website to find some practices. I had also asked for some recommendations from a couple of local Cavalier groups and gotten the name of Dr. Cindi Bossart whose facility was not on the AAHA list. I decide to visit that one and one other to start. I call both facilities:

Battle: Phone Call
Wiles Road Animal Hospital - you can come in anytime, but between 12 and 2 would be best as the vets are in surgery then.

Animal Hosptial of Fort Lauderdale - you can come in anytime except between 12 and 2 as the vets are in surgery then.

Do we see a difference already? Wiles thinks I should come when I CAN'T speak to the vet, while Lauderdale thinks I should come when I will be more likely to be able to speak to the vet.

Desicion: Wiles -1/Lauderdale +1

Next, we go to Wiles and Lauderale. I will ask for a tour and to ask questions at each facility. In location Wiles has the advantage as it is only about 10 minutes from our apartment (Lauderdale is like 3o minutes). Also some of our best friends in Michigan have the last name Wiles, so that a bonus.

Battle: Initial Visit

Wiles - Fairly pleasant greeting, person with a really irritating voice doing something on the computer at the front desk is not so nice, but incidental. Woman (who does not introduce herself) takes me on an extremely brief tour of the place except for the boarding facility. Why can't we go in there? Oh they are doing some special cleaning as its a Monday.

In my head - why didn't you say that on the phone when I asked about getting a tour?
We go back to the front where I these questions among others:

Q: My dog has allergies to fleas and wheat, how does the vet like to handle that?
A: Well, on your first visit you could discuss that with the vet.
Q: Which vaccines do you recommend?
A: That is something you would need to discuss with the vet on your first visit.
The final straw:
Q: My dog is on prescription food, Eukanuba Kangaroo and Oat...
A: Oh we don't carry that.

At this point I see it is pointless to go on. The reason I came in was to get answers to these questions BEFORE I chose the vet, not after. If you are wondering the correct answer to the last question would have been 'Oh we doing carry Eukanuba, but we could see about getting your dog on such-and-such which we do carry and does not contain wheat.'

At this point I am very discouraged. That was a horrible experience and say to myself as I get in the car "sheesh, you don't really want me to be a client do you?"

Lauderdale - Immediately greeted by Jim (who turns out to be Cindi's husband). He takes me on a tour, very friendly, shows me all the rooms, kennels, surgery suites. Personally introduces me to all 5 vets that are on that day including Cindi. Cindi takes a good 10 minutes to chat with me about my dog and my concerns, answers all my questions, and even chats with me about a food I didn't know about for heart health. They have Eukanuba K/O in stock and Jim spends a total of probably 30 minutes just with me (and I don't even have a dog with me).

Decision: Wiles -5/Lauderdale +6

Overall Score: Wiles -6/Lauderdale +7

Final thoughts: What a difference between the two clinics. I can't imagine going back to the first place, or not going back to the second place. I just hope she can come close to Doc!

Unconscious Tunes

Went to a dog park today, it was nice. They have airlocks, some agility equipment, lots of water stations, and it was only minorly muddy. We had a good time, I even got Bleys to go over/through some of the agility stuff. I did wish they had some bike racks though. It is pretty close to my apartment and I would like to ride to the park to gain health/save gas. There were a few people and dogs there as it was early in the day. I think we are going to have to go early because it was already quite warm at 8:00. I'm pretty sure I sweated off my sunscreen about 15 minutes.

At about 1:00 I was going to be all ambitious and go to the apartment office to get a key to the small gym facility. My sister's wedding is in a month and I am feeling like I don't really want to look the way I do in about a ba-gillion pictures. But they lady there was too busy (she had to go to the bank and get lunch, which I felt was a little lame) and could I please come back in two hours. As it turned out the answer was no as I got a wicked headache. The only relief seemed to be unconsciousness so I napped until Roland got home from work.

Speaking of which, he seems to be enjoying things so far. He found out today that he will be teaching Profession Responsibility (ethics) in the winter. That happens to be just what he wanted to teach so that is awesome. He went in today to take care of a lot of administrative details, but it sounds like it was slow going. Classes start next week and we only arrived in town on Monday so I think he is feeling a bit rushed. However, he does have the first week pretty much planned already.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to try to play with my iPod so I can take it to the dog park and do some walking/listening tomorrow. Anybody know if there is a way to save your ratings from your iPod to iTunes?