Walking the dog

2010-01-01T20:54:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year! And I hope you had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or Joyous Kwanzaa. "Happy Holidays" is such a generic greeting, that I prefer to be a bit more specific.

Today, M made swedish pancakes (crepes) at her parents' place for brunch. And there was scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Good stuff! Loki and Cassie had some, too. Freya stayed home, since she's a bit (lot) less laid back (read: more energetic) and might have gotten underfoot of the parents.

Times are tough, but that's also when people should support each other most. So I've made small donations to two food pantries and two animal shelters. This way I'm taking care of myself and those close to me (which you have to do, first), as well as doing a little something to help the community.

May you have a safe, happy, and prosperous year!

2008-07-24T23:09:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if anyone looks (or will look) at this blog anymore, but I' m ready to start posting again. The biggest reason why I stopped is because I've been really busy on two fronts lately: work and school. Both of these have something that requires attention: deadlines. Luckily, school (assignment) deadlines are not an issue anymore, because I'm finally finished (at least for now). I now have a master's degree, which is good for two things. The first is as resume material. And the second is not feeling like I haven't accomplished enough academically. This doesn't mean I can stop studying, because my field is constantly advancing. But it does mean that I can set my own deadlines with regards to study. Yea for me! :)

2007-01-31T11:19:00.000-06:00

It's been too long since I've posted, but in my defense I've been busy .. with work, school (I'm in a Master's program which I will hopefully complete this year), more school (a welding class at the local community college), and yet more "school": I just completed the work-with-a-mentor/externship portion of Animal Behavior College's dog trainer certification program. Now I have to finish the 10 hours of volunteer work training dogs at a local shelter, which is a requirement of this program, and then take the detailed final exam.

I really enjoyed the externship portion of the ABC curriculum, and in fact I am still assisting with my mentor's group dog training classes, even though it's not required anymore. Anyway, she wrote some cool things in the "Additional Comments" section of the evaluation report she had to send in:

---------
‹Her master› has a natural, calm demeanor when it comes to working with dogs and people.

‹Her master› had an extremely good attitude that followed his intense enthusiasm.

‹Her master› is one of the best students I have had the honor of training.

I believe in time, ABC would benefit to hire ‹her master› as a mentor trainer.
---------

I really like that last comment :)

2006-10-23T22:04:00.000-05:00

M and I did the eight mile walk around the woods this past weekend. With the dogs, of course. I had her take the dogs for a minute, so that I could take a picture of her, the pups, and the trees. It was a beautiful day, if a bit cold. The trees, with their leaves changing color, were a sight to see.

2006-10-18T07:22:00.000-05:00

For those who think it's just a "dog eat dog" world:

Dog saves owner, but dies trying to rescue cat

Disabled woman suffers third-degree burns in Wisconsin house blaze

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - After a disabled woman’s cat started a house fire, her specially trained dog came to the rescue, then died trying unsuccessfully to rescue the cat.

Jamie Hanson said her 13-year-old dog Jesse brought her artificial leg and a phone she used to call 911.

“She got me outside and then she heard the cat upstairs and she went up there to get the cat and she wouldn’t come back to me,” Hanson, 49, said at a news conference Monday at Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center, where she was being treated for her injuries.

She received third-degree arm burns in the fire Sunday night at her home in Rhine, south of Elkhart Lake. Both pets died.

Hanson, who lost a leg in a car accident three years ago, said she was on the couch watching television when the cat ran over the back of the couch.

“And he jumped onto a table that had a candle on it and tipped it over and lighted the artificial plants on fire,” she said.

Hanson said she fell off the couch and was unable to get her artificial leg from the table, “so my dog got my leg for me and went and got the phone and brought the phone to me so I could call 911.”

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Okay, yes, the woman was stupid to have a lit candle in the house when she was disabled. If I ever get another dog, maybe I'll call it Jesse.

2006-10-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

Rolling around is fun! [Loki loves to roll around, too, especially in grass.]

Three doggies, romping in the woods.

A couple of weeks ago, M adopted two-year old Cassie from a shelter. Last weekend we took all three dogs for a walk in the woods. Cassie is a mix, part Jack Russell Terrier, and part Spaniel. She is small, high energy, can jump very high, and loves to roll around, just like a Jack Russell. But she has the soft, wavy fur and colors and markings of a Spaniel. She's very lucky to have M as her mommy.

2006-10-04T18:33:00.000-05:00

This is bandit. He's the neighbors' fourth dog! He's a five-month-old Australian Sheepdog. He's very friendly, and will supposedly spend most of his life on a ranch in Oklahoma. I haven't seen him for a while now, so this is probably true. Freya loves to bark and go fence-running with him. She misses him a bit, and still looks for him every time she goes outside.

I spoke too soon. Bandit is back! Now Freya can run the fence and bark happily. Until I bring her in to quiet her down, that is. And Bandit has a pretty loud bark for his size, too!

2006-07-27T13:01:00.000-05:00

We're waiting for the driver to get back in the car; put the cell phone/camera back in your pocket, get in here, and let's go!
[Click on the photo to see a larger version.]

2006-07-05T13:03:00.000-05:00

M and I were at the Naperville Riverwalk this July 4th holiday. We crossed one of the bridges to the south side of the river, and walked west until we came to the end of the official path. After that we walked the dirt/wood shavings narrow "trail" next to the condos and houses until it dead ended about five minutes later. At that dead end we saw a mother duck and her five ducklings. We stood still and the mother duck walked her ducklings right up to us! :) So then we walked backwards a few steps to give her some room. I took this shot with my cell phone camera, and since I didn't want to spook her, I didn't crouch down to take the picture, so it's not the best shot. But still, it was surprising and cool to meet a mother duck who wasn't afraid of us, even though she was shepherding five ducklings.

2006-06-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

Freya and Loki, chillin' on the deck.

2006-06-22T13:06:00.000-05:00

Freya is now maybe an inch taller than Loki, but Loki is still top dog. That probably won't change anytime soon, if ever, because Loki is very dominant (to most all dogs) and Freya is a bit timid, though she's only five months old.

2006-06-21T12:49:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, M and I took both dogs to the dog beach. It was Freya's first time there. As you can see, she wasn't too averse to getting in the water. I took this with my cell phone's camera. I love this shot.

2006-04-20T13:01:00.000-05:00

What a dirty puppy!

2006-04-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, since it was a sunny, warm day, during my lunch time I walked the doggies. But first I soaked them with the hose (nicely, of course.)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I took Freya to the vet yesterday for her second round of shots. She now weighs twenty-two pounds. Which means that she's more than doubled her weight in one month.

2006-04-11T20:24:00.000-05:00

Freya is a little German Shedder, as M would say. Loki's shedding too, but not a quarter as much.

2006-04-11T20:20:00.000-05:00

Loki has her eyes closed and is actually half asleep in this picture. How comfortable can she be?

2006-04-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've been climbing on top of this wobbly thing since I was two months old, and I can still do it, see? (The expression on her face is due to the fact that I'd just called her name so I could take the shot.)

2006-04-07T07:41:00.000-05:00

You dirty dog! Freya's growing. I've had to adjust her collar twice in the last couple of weeks. Now I have two sometimes green-eyed monsters.

2006-04-06T14:03:00.000-05:00

I am a sentimental sap. These two cups are ones that M didn't need because she bought new ones (the cup on the right has a chip that's not visible in the picture). I was happy to take them off her hands because they remind me of the good times early in our relationship. They might be worth only a quarter in a second-hand store, but they are priceless to me.

---

Last Sunday was the first day of the new season that I went for my usual run. In the past few years I’ve made it a point to run roughly four miles twice a week, normally on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I enjoy running, but I am not fast; I do it for fitness and relaxation. So, Sunday was the first day in a long while that I went for a run, and my body let me know it in no uncertain terms. After the first mile it told me I could stop now, and after the third mile it seemed to be actively battling with my willpower. However, determination won the morning.

Tuesday should have been the next running day, but that didn’t happen. My legs were still a bit sore. Today I did go running again, and while my muscles were tight, it felt very good. After the third mile my body told me that it wouldn't hurt to walk, but it wasn't actively complaining. When I got home I took the dogs for a walk as a cool down. Then I took a shower, ate breakfast, and went to work. It was a good morning.

2006-03-24T13:00:00.000-06:00

When Loki was a pup, I can only remember a couple of days where she woke me up during the night because she had to do her business. She was supposed to be two months old when I got her, but I'm starting to think that maybe she was a little older than that. Because she quickly became my 6am alarm clock.And after a few months I could actually get her to let me have another hour or two of sleep on the weekends (she'd wake me up around 6am, but after I told her to go back to sleep, she would lie back down, or I'd just let her outside in the back yard.)

Freya has a routine now, too. She's my 3am alarm clock. At which time I put on some warm clothes, take her out of her crate, carry her outside, and let her do her business. Loki accompanies us, of course. Ten to fifteen minutes later I pick her up, carry her up the deck and back inside the house, let her eat and drink a little, and then put her back in the crate. At which point she wakes me up every so often until it's 6am and I let the dogs romp in the back yard again.

Freya's still a very young puppy in so many ways. It'll probably take a couple of months for her to get to the point where she's as mature as Loki was when I got her, and I can remove her "handle with extra care" sign :)

2006-03-21T23:10:00.000-06:00

Is it a dog or is it a white rat?

2006-03-21T23:07:00.000-06:00

Freya playing outside with Loki

2006-03-21T23:06:00.000-06:00

Freya after her first bath .. in the kitchen sink!

2006-03-21T23:03:00.000-06:00

Dual dog snoozefest

2006-03-21T22:57:00.000-06:00

Puppy sleeping positions

2006-03-07T21:31:00.000-06:00

Freya asleep on the padded bench at the vet's office after her examination. Weight: 9 pounds, 4.5 ounces. [Selecting the picture will show a slightly larger and more detailed version.]

2006-03-07T21:27:00.000-06:00

Is there any doubt that a dog, even as a puppy, is man's best friend?

2006-03-07T21:22:00.000-06:00

One of the greatest inventions ever. A happy, safely occupied puppy helps her master stay stress-free.

2006-03-07T21:19:00.000-06:00

Freya really gets into the food bowl as she chows down.

2006-03-06T23:14:00.000-06:00

Loki and Freya check each other out.

2006-03-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

Say hello to Freya. She's a white German Shepherd, born January 13th, 2006; that makes her seven weeks and three days old as of today (which is almost over, since it's almost 11 p.m.)

She's very, very mellow. Which is good, since Loki has enough energy for two dogs. But she does know how to wag her tail like the puppy she is! She slept most of the way as I drove home, so I do believe that she will not have any problems riding in the car as she grows older.

So why is she part of the family now, you ask? Well, Loki has been vociferously complaining to me each time I come home lately. Apparently she is no longer content to be by herself when I'm at work. I can't really blame her; I wouldn't be happy either if I had to be alone eight to nine hours a day (though I do let her out at lunch time, since currently my work is close to home). With Freya around, Loki should be a whole lot less lonely during those hours. And they can romp in the back yard together. And they'll both go walking with me each day, too, of course. Well, they will when Freya gets big enough. Which shouldn't take that long.

Tomorrow I'll make an appointment with the vet, so Freya can meet her and get checked out. She's already been checked out by a vet last week, but that wasn't the vet she'll be seeing from now on. Loki will get an appointment for later this month also, since it's time for her yearly shots and another set of Sentinel tabs.

Okay, I'll post another picture of Loki and Freya, but then I'm turning in for the night. I might not get to sleep the whole night through with a new puppy in the house. Guess I'll find out.

2005-10-26T22:27:00.000-05:00

Loki checks out the fishing boats on the lake.

2005-10-26T22:23:00.000-05:00

Is it a lake or is it a swamp?

2005-10-26T22:19:00.000-05:00

Through the woods we go.

2005-10-26T22:15:00.000-05:00

Hot on the trail!

2005-10-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

Look! We're a German Shepherd!

2005-10-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

Snuffling in the tall grass.

2005-10-26T21:51:00.000-05:00

On a Saturday this past summer, when it was a bit overcast and rain was expected, I took Loki to Shabbona State Park. There is a small lake there, with a trail around it. It takes roughly two hours to walk around the lake, and it was a great place to exercise Loki. While we were ambling around the lake, we encountered only one other person on the trail, a guy carrying a fishing pole.

2005-10-24T23:04:00.000-05:00

M, on the way back from the Chicago Botanic Garden. Yes, I was riding my bike as I took this picture.

2005-10-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

M and I like to bike to the Chicago Botanic Garden and then walk the paths to relax before biking back. She's carrying her bike's handlebar bag in her left hand.

2005-10-24T22:22:00.000-05:00

This was the view outside my front door.

2005-10-24T22:15:00.000-05:00

M kayaked at Isle Royale this past summer. She took this picture while watching the sunset one night.

2005-10-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

After Germanfest, M and I went to Kohler-Andrae State Park. We walked along the beach, and biked along the roads and on park trails. It was a great day!

2005-10-24T21:24:00.000-05:00

M and I went to Milwaukee at the end of July to check out the Germanfest and run in the 5k. The 5k was the worst-organized race we've been to, but the Germanfest itself was fun and there was some good food there. Fireworks, too. (Ooh! Ahh!) The church was across the street from the hotel where we stayed.

2005-09-15T23:24:00.000-05:00

Lots of people and dogs at the beach!

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

2005-09-15T23:10:00.000-05:00

Splashing with the dogs.

2005-09-15T23:06:00.000-05:00

M and Loki in the water

2005-09-15T22:59:00.000-05:00

M and Loki swimming

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

2005-08-25T16:39:00.000-05:00

Posting this here to use for comments I leave elsewhere ..

2005-07-21T22:58:00.000-05:00

M loves nature. She collected these items as we walked on the beach and she perused her surroundings. That's my M!

2005-07-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

I took this picture as I was walking Loki, and M was walking Lance. I told M that I'd be posting this, but that it would be okay because you can't really see any details.

2005-07-21T22:43:00.000-05:00

Loki fetches a tennis ball that M tossed in the water. What a brave puppy dog! And where was Lance? Staying nice and dry on the beach!

2005-07-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

M holds Loki and Lance so that I can take a picture. Though they didn't hold still for long! I know, it'd be a much better picture if you could see her face, especially since she's pretty. But M values her privacy, and I respect M's wishes.

2005-07-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

Loki cavorts in the sand. I'm surprised that there are no other dogs in the vicinity.

2005-07-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

April 16th was the first time M and I took Lance and Loki to the dog beach. I only had my cell phone camera with me, so these pictures aren't the best quality (especially since I reduced their size). Loki did not hesitate to jump into Lake Michigan. She was a little leery of the other dogs (over fifty of them, all off-leash), but that's to be expected, since she was a puppy and most of the other dogs were adults.

2005-07-21T22:04:00.000-05:00

It was February 12th, the day I saw her, adopted her, and took her home. This is the first picture I ever took of Loki. I shot it with my cell phone camera. I sent it to my girlfriend (M), without telling her anything first. She called me and asked, "Is that a dog?" (Hey, I know it's easy to see here, but she was looking at it on her tiny cell phone screen.) She knew I'd been thinking of getting a dog. But I don't think she figured I'd get one quite that soon.

Notice that Loki's belly is shaved. That's because she'd recently been spayed. I also had her leashed to my recumbent exercise bike, so she wouldn't go wandering around the house. And that's the first toy I bought her, a Kong on a rope.

Loki was pretty excited the day (actually, it was night) I brought her home, so she's snoozing here. She's cute with her front paws curled like that.

2005-07-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, I haven't posted in quite a while. 'Course, that's because I've been a bit busy. But I really don't want to let the time keep going by without putting something up on the web log, so here goes.

2005-03-21T21:46:00.000-06:00

M had a good time playing with the doggies, too. Here she is wrestling with Loki, as Lance looks on, tongue lolling.

2005-03-21T21:44:00.000-06:00

It took a little while for the two doggies to get acclimated to each other, but as you can see, they had a great time playing together.

2005-03-21T21:40:00.000-06:00

Loki got a visit from Lance (Lancelot is his full name) this last Saturday. Lance is a purebred liver and white English Springer Spaniel. Isn't he a beautiful dog?

Da real story of da pizza of America, as told by M

2005-03-16T17:48:00.000-06:00

M and I sometimes exchange emails. Last May I sent her an email that included this link. Here is part of her reply:

Pizza did not originate in Italy! No way and no how! Focaccia bread is the pizza of Italy and there are different variations of that depending on the family and province. But when Americans started selling the delicious bread like pastry, they cheapened it for mass production so the American version of Focaccia doesn't do the real stuff justice.

Pizza was created by a bored baker who needed to put something on his stale old unsold bread dough one day in 1923. He found a can of tomato paste in the cupboard, some mixed frozen veggies and some spicy sausage that Louigi, the deli man 2 doors down calls pepperoni and smeared, sprinkled and layered it on the dough. He baked it and brought it home to feed his family. They liked it and wanted to know what it was called. The baker in his broken European accent said "I donno. I make it today wit a pizza dis and a pizza dat, a lillo of dis, a lillo of dat." Anna his lillo dauta say "Hey daddy, we'll call this pizza". But because the baker wasn't so smart and didn't know how to market his new creation, he made no money on it and even told this new found secret recipe to Louigi the deli man, who proceeded to market the "pizza" which took off with flying colors and made millions on it. They're both dead now but if they were alive, they still wouldn't be talking to each other.

And dis is da real story of da pizza of America, as told by M.

2005-03-14T22:16:00.000-06:00

Loki went through some milestones this last weekend. She outgrew her first collar. She gained eight pounds in four weeks, going from 21 to 29 pounds; she's now three months old. She finished her first bag (20 lbs.) of dog food, and I bought a 40 lb. bag to replace it. She also got her second bath (not counting the half-bath M gave her to clean her up after our walk last weekend).

She usually doesn't bark at other dogs, but yesterday at Petco (while we were buying her a bigger collar) she met a huge year-and-a-half old Great Dane, and after they sniffed each other a bit, Loki barked at him. M said maybe she was being playful; I think maybe she was just asserting herself. So far she hasn't shown fear of any dogs she's encountered.

She also barks at vacuum cleaners, mixers, and blow dryers. And she barks when I come home and she wants out of her crate. She's a very vocal puppy. But she can be very quiet, too.

She likes mashed potatoes, broccoli, apples, and oranges. When we're eating, M surreptitiously gives her napkins to shred and convert into spitballs.

2005-03-14T22:14:00.000-06:00

In gallop mode. I should be charging the neighbors for getting their dogs some exercise!

2005-03-14T22:12:00.000-06:00

Loki crouches playfully as the neighbor's dogs bark up a storm. Speaking of which, what's with little yip-dogs barking so loudly .. they don't have the size to back up their bark.

2005-03-14T22:08:00.000-06:00

She prefers to pick up and carry various encountered objects as we take our walks. Check out that white tip at the end of her tail, it's not snow.

2005-03-14T22:05:00.000-06:00

Loki loves snow! And chewing on tree branches.

2005-03-14T22:03:00.000-06:00

Playing with the new pad.

2005-03-14T22:02:00.000-06:00

Sprawling across the new pad.

2005-03-14T21:59:00.000-06:00

Hey! I dropped my rawhide!

2005-03-09T22:35:00.000-06:00

Loki will pick up her rawhide, put her front (and sometimes also her back) paws on the ottoman, and proceed with determined chewing. The rawhide in the picture is history.

2005-03-09T22:20:00.000-06:00

Loki is crate trained, but she'd rather not be in it. Like tonight, as I moved her crate from the laundry room to the bedroom she barked up a storm. Then she went bonkers and proceeded to race around the house, barking all the while. This after our nightly walk. She's one energetic puppy.

2005-03-09T22:10:00.000-06:00

Haloscan .. I like it. Problem is, it archives comments after four months. Of course, if you 'donate' twelve bucks that feature goes away. So no haloscan for me.

2005-03-07T22:40:00.000-06:00

M washes off the mud and dirt.

2005-03-07T21:57:00.000-06:00

A bit of a temperature difference between yesterday (60) and today (30).

Yesterday, after our morning walk (see below), Loki and I drove to M’s place, to pick her up and go to breakfast. There was a ten minute wait at the café, so M said, "Keys, please." And went back to the car to spend a few more minutes with Loki. It actually took fifteen minutes, but M came back after ten and sat on half my lap while we waited, which made my day since she’s a hottie and she did this in public as if it was no big deal.

After breakfast, we went to the forest preserve near her parents’ and walked the bike path a total of two-and-a-half hours. Well, we walked on the path. Loki walked in the leaves, in the mud, on the ice, and in the icy water. If there was a choice between a dirty, wet path and a clean, dry path, Loki took the former every time.

After our walk we visited M’s parents. M also washed Loki’s undercarriage. The silly puppy loves water, except when it means she’s getting a bath. Then she whines and complains and can’t wait to get out of the tub.

On the way back to M’s place, we stopped by the grocery store and M got Loki some rawhides. Thank you, M! You spoil Loki! And me, too.

2005-03-06T09:04:00.000-06:00

This morning was so nice and sunny that Loki wasn't even in the mood to eat or drink, she just wanted to go outdoors. So after visiting the backyard (which she does every morning) and checking out the neighbor's dogs (who always bark up a storm while Loki playfully checks them out), we walked to the trail and then followed it for a good twenty five minutes. On the way back to the house we walked a street parallel to the trail to keep things interesting. It was windy, and Loki had a great time chasing blowing leaves everywhere. We also saw other dogs on our walk, of course, including one that looked like a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, but who the owner said was a Lab. And we saw the feisty Sharpei/Lab mix and his very mellow white Pit Bull brother. And then there was the girl/woman walking her large German Shepherd. Don't know if Loki will get that large. Guess time will tell.

2005-03-05T19:07:00.000-06:00

Today I fixed the chain link fence gate. Then, with the gate closed, I let Loki have the run of the backyard. She had a great time running around, exploring. It took her at least twenty minutes to tire herself out enough to come near me so I could put the leash on her (I had fun myself chasing her around a bit). She was a tuckered doggie in the car, and had no problem sacking out during part of the drive as I ran a few errands (the library, Petco, Big Lots for mackerel for Loki).

2005-03-05T13:59:00.000-06:00

Today, Loki is eleven weeks old. That is, if she really was eight weeks old when I got her from the shelter. Was she a lucky puppy to get me as her owner, or was I lucky to get her as a companion? Or was M the lucky one?