Thursday, 6/1 The therapy visit went well. Penny was her calm, gentle self and she looked really good - I'd even used some conditioner on her feathers, and she was soft and fluffy. Maybe I should start using a spray-on, leave-in conditioner once a week; she's absolutely stunning when her feathers are fluffy. It doesn't matter how much I brush them, they "clump" like eyelashes with too much mascara within 4-5 days after a bath. It makes her look shaggy (but still sweet). Anyway, she's such a ham - she just loves to be the center of attention, and she does it so well! At one point during the filming, she rose from a circle of kids and moved toward the cameraman. She stopped about 4 feet short of him, tossed her head once, then settled down into a regal "sit" and just stared into the camera lens. There was a big crowd watching and everybody laughed, which of course didn't affect Penny at all. She sat there quite serenely for a good 60 seconds, then came back to the circle of kids and laid down in the middle of them. I'm still cracking up about it.

Yesterday I got a call from Chris asking me if I could drive a Bichon to Brighton for her because she was doing CGC tests and TDI evaluations at the Obedience Training Club. Last night, I got an e-mail telling me the Bichon had already been delivered to his new home but I was welcome to come up to the club anyway with one or both dogs. Since I'm going to her class in East Lansing on Tuesday to talk to the owner of a deaf Samoyed puppy and I thought I'd take Penny with me as a good example of a well-behaved deaf dog, I took Blizzard to the club with me tonight. When we got there, there were 4 Shelties there waiting to take the test. Four Shelties, and Blizzard - which one doesn't fit? Four petite, fluffy, narrow-faced, quiet, calm, well-behaved, prim-and-proper Shelties, and Blizzard the Barbarian. And of course, she was very happy to see Chris again and she was levitating off the floor in an effort to contain her wriggles of joy. (Blizzard's always very happy to see anyone she knows; even if they've only been gone to the bathroom they're greeted upon their return with enthusiastic demonstrations of her joy to see them again.) She's such a clown, and such a sweetheart (if you bend down to pet her she flips over onto her back and writhes until you rub her belly), that she made friends very quickly. After a slightly frenzied first five minutes, she settled down and did what I asked her to do, when I asked her to do it. It wasn't long before she noticed the mirror on the far wall, and took up watching herself in the mirror. (This is something she does at home, too - there's a full-length mirror at the end of the double-wide hallway to the bedroom, and the doorway to the laundry room (and from there to the back door) opens off that hallway. When I go into the hall, Blizzard will run past me, stop just past the doorway to the laundry room, and watch in the mirror to see if I'm going to break right to the laundry room or continue down the hallway to the bedroom. As soon as I telegraph the direction I'm going, she moves in the same direction without turning around to look at me. She is as adept at reading direction in the mirror as she is when facing me. I've often marvelled at her ability to do this.) When we weren't participating in what was going on in the ring, Blizzard was content to lie at my feet, watch the action in the ring, and watch herself and me in the mirror. I had to be part of a "crowd" so I put her in a down about 4 feet back from the opening to the ring, told her to stay, dropped the leash and headed into the ring. By the time I'd reached the center of the ring, she'd "commando crawled" that 4 feet and settled down with her nose just on the edge of the mat. Little smart ass! She knows just how much she can get away with, and stops just short of behavior that'll earn her a correction rather than a dirty look.

Blizzard's a lot smarter than I'd credited her for being. Or maybe I didn't recognize it behind the puppy shennanigans. I'm having an awful lot of fun with her, teaching her (and learning from her). They don't offer a pre-agility course during the summer, and Chris advised me not to take the Obed. I class that's being offered this summer with either dog. But come fall, I think I'll get each of the girls into a class - either pre-agility or obedience. In the meantime, I'll be helping Chris out at her Okemos classes in June and July; she's doing two 2-week/2hrs a week classes out there, and there will be a lot of dogs.

I need to start taking the dogs out on the coupler for a walk every night. We're going to the Dogo Nationals in two weeks, and I'd really like to be able to have them both with me instead of switching them in and out of a crate in the hotel room. Probably an impossible dream, but they might be OK if I start working on it now. I don't want to do a whole lot of mingling in the crowded show area; I'll be sitting in the stands watching agility instead and I should be able to keep them both under control. My sis might go with me - that would sure simplify things because she could handle one dog and I could handle the other. You know, I've only tried the coupler with Penny on the outside and Blizzard on the inside closest to me. I wonder if it might not work better the other way around. Penny wouldn't block Blizzard's view and there might be less pulling. I'll have to give that a try.

Monday, 6/5 I spent all evening Saturday and all day yesterday watching TV - the Children's Miracle Network telethon - waiting to see the clip of Penny at the therapy visit. It was a short clip (maybe 60 seconds?), but it was mostly Penny. They got her at her most relaxed, lying on the floor being petted by Little Miss, yawning away. Three times in that short segment, Penny heaved a deep yawn. Such a hyper, out-of-control dog. (wicked grin)

There must be a problem with the phones in this area - I can't get a connection to my regular ISP, and even freeinternet is only allowing me to connect at 28K. I'm downloading Juno even as I type; maybe they're in better shape. I never use freei unless my regular ISP is not allowing me to connect. There's a banner at the top with freei, and it really makes the reading area small. Besides, IE doesn't recognize that the banner's there when you click on "Favorites" and I can't "reach" the bookmarks at the top of the list. (Well, I can, but I have to undock the banner first, then re-dock it after I've clicked on the bookmark. Pain in the watusi.) I hope Juno's easier to work with. In any case, it's good to have another backup.

I was at the Dogo chat late last night, and I understand that there may not be enough entries in the National to make it worthwhile having it. I should hear something one way or the other in the next couple of days. I'm bummed - I was really looking forward to "showing off" with Blizzard (and Penny, too), and meeting some of the people I've come to like and admire from the Dogo message board. You know, they've been an exceptionally welcoming group. They've made me feel very at-home, and I like the philosophy/vision they promote for the Dogo. There's a different group out there (a splinter-group from The Dogo Argentino Club of America (DACA), the "parent" organization) that's using this dog for protection training (PT), Schutzhund (Sch., a protection "sport"), and in some cases, probably for fighting. All these things are condemned by DACA as being counter to the purpose for which the breed was created: big-game hunting. Besides that divergence from purpose, it seems counter-intuitive to me to train Dogos for PT or Sch. This is a dog that's naturally protective of it's home and family, that will first "body block" an attacker, next knock the attacker down, and only finally bite, if necessary. Why anyone would want to teach this dog to bite is beyond me. Anyway, I'm bummed that the National might be postponed until later in the year and relocated maybe farther away than I can travel. I had a little niggling fear that these folks would finally see Blizzard "in the fur" and tell me she wasn't a Dogo, but I "confessed" last night and was reassured that she is indeed a Dogo. There's a possibility that "Uncle GD" may come up from TX for the show anyway; if so, I'll still go. (There's a woman from the board who doesn't actually own a Dogo yet who's competing in agility with her two mixed breeds; I was looking forward to seeing them compete.)

While I watched the telethon yesterday, I did housework during the national segments. I got all the boxes scrubbed and disinfected, got the bathroom cleaned and a new shower curtain hung (I like the old one better, but several of the hanging holes have torn - I'm going to see if I can't patch it up and re-hang it), and got the carpet in the livingroom and hallway shampooed. I swear, it looks like it needs to be done again today! It wasn't half an hour before it had dirty footprints on it again. *sigh* I hate beige carpeting! I bought a new food processor Saturday, and Saturday night I did a big batch of veggies for the dogs. Now my freezer's full of veggies and beef heart, but my chicken stock is down - I'll have to make another trip to the meat wholesaler this week. Man, I wish I had another freezer! I don't know where I'd put one if I had it, though - maybe in the hallway off the laundry room? Anyway, this week's project is my bedroom. I have to reorganize the closet to fit in all the clean clothes I have now (that new washer, don't you know) and do some other reorganization in there. And the "linen" closet needs to be redone, too. So much to do, and I don't feel like doing any of it.

Thursday, 6/8 The Dogo National Specialty Show has been postponed until (probably) October - I'm really disappointed. I guess I won't go to Mom and Dad's this weekend after all, and go up next weekend (Father's Day) instead. So instead of getting out and getting my grass cut today, I procrastinated. Got some new links added to the holistic page. (More info on vax and more holistic info sites.)

Blizzard pulled me off my feet again yesterday. She did it Sunday, too. She zipped past me on the right, circled around behind me, and zipped past me on the left, encircling me with the tie-out cable . Before I was finished thinking "oh, shit," I was horizontal in the air. Sunday, I "flew" horizontally and landed horizontally; landed on my hip and elbow at the same time, and ended up with some lovely cement burns on my elbow. Yesterday, I didn't fly but landed pretty hard in a sitting position. (At least yesterday, Blizzard came back to see what was wrong - Sunday she just kept zipping around the yard with her Jollyball.) On my left ankle, the cable caught the scab that resulted from Sunday's spill, pulled it off, and made the slice deeper. It also laid a nice stripe on my right ankle. (I'm starting to look like I'm heavily into B&D!!) Dear sweet Nurse Penny keeps wanting to clean my wounds, so I'm walking around in 80 degree temps in heavy socks and trying not to bend my ankles when I walk. Blizzard's gonna kill me before she grows up!

I found an online homeopathic Materia Medica the other day, and I've been browsing. I found a remedy that's used to treat sinus problems with exactly the symptoms I have, so I'll have to pick some up the next time I'm in the HFS. I'm doing pretty good on the astragalus/colostrum regimen I'm doing (the infection's gone) but might be able to lick it once and for all with the homeo treatment.

My sweet Bubba-baby is just the dearest cat! He's very "soft" - not only fur-wise but temperament-wise as well. He's just the sweetest little love baby. Gorgeous, too. Domingo is a little sassier than Bubba, but just as soft and sweet. Man, I adore these two little boys! The Mushroom has taken up guarding me in the bathroom; I sit on the stool and he sits in the doorway and watches. He never comes in to keep me company like some of the other cats do, but sits there and watches to make sure I don't fall in or something. I hung a new shower curtain the other day, and it's driving the animals nuts - they can't see me through it the way they could the old one. I've been showering lately with two dog heads and a couple of kitty heads poking through either end of the curtain and, when I draw it back, there's a large feline audience sitting outside the tub waiting for me. (It's tough to shave my legs with the dogs trying to lick the soap off my legs - I prop my foot up in one corner of the tub, which puts my lower leg right in front of either Penny or Blizzard's nose. I'm worried that I'll shave one of their noses one of these days.)

Saturday, 6/17 It's been a busy week or so. Late Monday afternoon, I took the dogs and drove up to Mom and Dad's; got there just in time for dinner. =) (Stuffed cabbage and sauerkraut - yum!) Went to the pool with Mom on Tuesday morning; she water-walked, I floated in the deep end. Since it was cool and misty, I took Blizzard along and left her in the car; Penny stayed home with Dad. (I didn't think Dad could handle both girls by himself.) I got out of the pool 15 minutes before Mom did, got Blizzard out of the car, took her into the enclosed tennis courts, and let her off the leash to play with her Jollyball. She got rid of a lot of excess energy, and filed down the rough edges on her just-clipped nails in the bargain. =) Tuesday afternoon, I took them both to a different tennis court and let them chase each other until they were worn out.

Wednesday morning was sunny, so we went out on the boat and did a little fishing. I caught a couple of bass; one was 15 1/2 inches and the other was 18 1/2 (pretty big for a small, inland lake). Mom wanted some bass for dinner, so I kept the smaller fish for her and let the big guy go as soon as I got him off the hook and got him measured. The smaller fish wiggled off the hook all by himself and started flopping around on the deck of the boat. You should have seen Blizzard - she was very interested but very scared at the same time. Eyes wide open, defensive stance, her nose would start to move forward to check it out, the fish would flop, and she'd jump back in alarm. We were all cracking up. After we quit fishing we went to an area with a sandy shore to let the dogs play in the water. I looped one of the thin, 30-foot cotton leads onto the front of one of the pontoons, hooked Blizzard up, then called her to jump off and join me on the shore. This was Blizzard's first experience with water other than that in her water dish, the toilet, or the bathtub, and I was tickled when she just splashed right in. She went in to about 8" deep, and ran back and forth splashing and frolicking. Then she decided to go a little deeper, so she turned and headed out. grin Splash-splash-splash-plop-plop-plop-WHOA-OH!! WHERE'D THE BOTTOM GO??!! I was standing about calf-deep in the water, and I laughed so hard I almost fell in. And the look on her face when she turned around to head back in!! Absolutely priceless. I tried tossing first the Jollyball then the floating Kong into swimming-depth water to tempt her back out, but she'd only go as far as she could keep her feet on the bottom. She didn't know she could swim. So I hooked Pen to the other 30-foot lead and got her off the boat too. After they'd chased each other and splashed and played a little while, I tossed a stick out for Penny. She plunged right in, swam out and got the stick, and swam back. I think Blizzard must have thought Penny was still touching bottom, because she followed right along the next time I threw the stick. There was a quick flash of panic when she realized her feet weren't touching and she must have tried to grab for purchase with her front feet; she splays her front paws when she tries to climb anything and those big splayed paws powered by that muscular chest pushed so much water she nearly popped out of the lake. Voila - she was swimming! One "stroke" and she got it.

After that, I couldn't keep her out of the deep water! I must have thrown that Kong out 30 times, and she still wanted more. She even started "diving" for the Kong when she reached it - she'd come down on it from the top and while her head was under water she'd start her turn.

Blizzard takes a dive

After lunch on Wednesday I headed home. Halfway home, I was lost in thought when my car pulled itself into the parking lot of a county animal control shelter. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself in front of the kitten cages. A curious little black kitten in the bottom row demanded my attention; when I gave it, a little grey tiger came to get some too. Quicker than you can say "boo!", they were in a cardboard box on my front seat and I was pulling out of the parking lot. The black kitten is a male; he has darker black stripes and a smokey undercoat. I wonder if he's going to grow into a black tabby? He has a couple of white hairs low on his belly, and a couple on his "bib". He's curious, and very sweet and cuddly. (They kept popping out of the box and trying to run all over the car while I was driving. He finally draped himself across my left thigh and went to sleep.) His name is Copurrnicus. The grey tiger is a female. She has beautiful white eyeliner, a white chin, a pink nose outlined in dark brown, and a white belly with leopard-like grey spots - "interrupted" stripes. Very cute. At first I thought she was less adventurous and more docile than her brother, but it just took her 24 hours to scope out her new surroundings. She's sweet and sassy, angelic and tough as nails, delicate and ladylike, a fearless climber/jumper, and she totally dominates her much bigger brother. She hasn't told me her name yet. We're having a lot of fun here. grin They're quite comfortable around the dogs now; Penny is her usual sweet, solicitous self, and Blizzard's been very curious but gentle and tolerant with them. Copurrnicus climbs on her whenever she's between where he is and where he wants to go, and she doesn't mind. She also let him groom her ears yesterday. The cats are pretty accepting, too, though they've pretty much limited themselves to watching the kittens, and the kittens are learning nobody's going to hurt them. I woke up this morning to see them playing with Mysz and later with Domingo, so it looks like this is going to be an easy adjustment. (They're loose in the bedroom most of the time - they get fed in one of the dog crates so nobody else can steal their food. I leave the bedroom door fixed open wide enough for the cats to go in and out, but the kittens haven't shown any interest in exploring the rest of the house yet. That's OK - there's enough stuff in the bedroom for them to climb on and explore for now.)

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