Today I am thankful the peace that comes from the fact that Ember does not bark at squirrels. I can't even take credit for it, even though I was careful not to use the word in front of her or excite her over their existence. I think a good part of it is just in her genes!
Here's a link to a video of the squirrel running across the top of the fence. If you turn on the audio, you can hear the absence of barking. Ember was sitting right below on the shed pad, with me.
Life is good. Spark on.
One thing I neglected to mention about Friday morning what's the smoke. There was a fire to the South and west of me, maybe six or seven miles away. The smoke was so thick before sunrise, it was as though the whole neighborhood it started up their charcoal grills.
The reason I mention it now is that Saturday morning I woke with phlegm on the cloudy side. I think I breathed too much of that Smoky air before it cleared off. It got better as the day wore on, but Sunday morning, still seeing a less-than-ideal nasal discharge.
As a result, I kept the weekend pretty quiet. Ember and I did a morning walk on both Saturday and Sunday, and a trip to the dog park between puppy naps #1 and #2 each day, too. I did dash out to get groceries, as well.
Here's Ember, sunning herself on a cool and breezy Sunday afternoon shortly before I tucked her in for puppy nap #2 of the day.
Monday morning as I type, and it is Thanksgiving Day in Canada and some other nations around the globe. Traditionally, I post gratitude every day between Canada's Thanksgiving Day and the US Version. This year that will be 45 days this year. I am no longer restricting myself to no duplicates, as that's too much keeping track for me. I am also going to do a little projection this year, not just what I'm grateful for, but what I think Ember and The Prisoner might be thankful for.
I promised the family that Day 1 (Today) my gratitude would be for the kindness of strangers. Specifically for all those strangers that come to my rescue when I am out and about with Ember and she goes into her "no legs" routine, refusing to get back in the car for the trip home.
Sunday when she did this at the dog park, a very fit young man was walking a tiny dog back to his own car, and he volunteered not just to hold the leash for me to lure her. "I can just pick her up and put her in," he declared. Most of my helpers of late had been older, like me, and having them hold her leash while I tempted her from the other side of the car had become my go-to strategy. This young dude schlepped her up, same as my son does, and into the back seat she went, quite happy with her reward (being picked up is apparently a reward).
People are awesome! I am grateful for every parent, schoolteacher, store owner, pastor, mentor, etc. who helps children develop into kind and respectful young people who are ready to take their place in adult society. Kindness rules! For this, I am thankful.
Life is Good. Spark on!
The photo on the right is me holding Rawlings in 2011. That year I did a once a month (on the last day of the month) progress photo for a year, then followed up the next year, month by month, with a recreate of the same pose, showing the effect of fitness training while maintaining weight.
Thursday was a bit of a dumpster fire around here. Ember not only refused to get into the car to go to the dog park, but she proceeded to tear into a bag of clover seed. She also ate an apple core she found in a bush on our leash walk Thursday morning. I sacrificed a cardboard box to her to keep her from barging into the cat's room while he was there.
On the plus side, we did "the big loop" on our leash walk for the first time, covering 1.24 miles total. She would have been familiar with both the start and the end parts of this walk, but the connecting stretch was totally new to her. The apple core was close to the beginning of the walk. Perhaps the length of the walk contributed to her reluctance to want to go run with other puppies, too.
End of the day, I was feeling bummed and low energy and went after sugar in the kitchen. I was also worried about my cousins in the Tampa, Florida area. The one that I ran a half marathon with down there had a tree fall on her garage during a pretty awful night of Milton coming through. Her mom fared OK, though, and no people in the family were injured, so that's always the good news.
Friday morning, Ember and I had a shorter morning walk. As we were on the far corner, we came across a garage sale. For sale, among other things, were three dog crates.
The photo is "after" I got it home. The seller helped me collapse and load it into my little Dexter (Honda Fit), and asked if I had someone at home to help me unload it. I said no, but that I was sure I could handle it, and I was right. I reassembled it in my kitchen/dining area and put a couple of towels that I'd been using for Ember "hot zones" inside.
After letting Ember out of her original crate and working with familiarizing her with the big training one, we got in the car and went to the dog park, where she ran around with her doggie friends.
When we got home, I made us salads, and after she finished hers and I was eating my own, I heard those sounds of... impending loss of tummy contents. Yep, she lost a whole tummy full!
Looked like something she picked up at the dog park (a beggin' strip?), plus some of her partially digested breakfast, assorted treats, and of course, her "salad". Cleanup on aisle seven! I did what any fur-mommy would do, went back through all the things that could have contributed to her upset tummy, including the apple core, her habit of inhaling EVERYTHING, and the car ride.
She stayed there snoozing for 15-20 minutes before moving out to lay by the back door. I had left the door open the whole time.
I sang her to bed in her plastic crate after a little, put a load of laundry in, and came upstairs to blog.
Life continues to be good in Emberville. Spark on, everyone!
What started this whole thing is that the lyrics to the song came back in a strange order. Here's what I sort of remember (and I learned this from a plastic record that we played at 78 rpm on a kid's record player when I was pre-school age).
"How much is that doggy in the window? (arf, arf) The one with the waggly tail?
"How much is that doggy in the window? (arf, arf) I do hope that doggy is for sale.
"I must take a trip to California, and leave my poor sweetheart alone. If he has a dog, he won't be lonely, and the doggy will have a good home (arf, arf, arf).
"I read in the paper there are robbers. With flashlights that shine in the dark. My love needs a doggy to protect him (arf, arf), and scare them away with one bark (arf, arf, arf)"
I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I can tell you, the chorus came back to me first. The love needing a doggy to protect him and scare the robbers away came next, but I couldn't remember "read in the paper"... that was the last bit that came back. I remembered "I must take a trip to California" third. And the doggy would have a good home came back before "if he has a dog he won't be lonely".
And I marveled at how memory fills in gaps in an order of its own choosing. I did not look any of this up on Google, by the way, and still have not. Anybody else remember the lyrics the same or differently?
"I don't want a bunny or a kitty. (arf, arf) "I don't want a parrot that talks.
"I don't want a bowl of little fishies. (arf, arf) "You can't take a goldfish for walks. (arf, arf, arf)
My little love, playing tug with me this morning, holding the flirty lure bit with her paws. This episode, and for that matter, how we are learning to play tug with toys that have a puppy end and a human end, turned my mind to "this is how puppies learn the laws of physics". Action, reaction. That cord that I'm holding the end of is a bungee.
Life is good. Spark on!
Mom actually watched most of the game, on TV, while the Cornhuskers seemed to be reviving their old winning ways. Knock wood! They are now 5-1 on the season, having defeated Rutgers in the heat.
Mom calls this one a moment of peace. A warm puppy and a biocoffee in the mug.
Ember slept outside the crate for puppy nap #2 on Saturday and had at least part of her pupsicle in her X-Pen. As warm as it was, it was a good day to just chill.
Sunday morning challenge was that Mommy put on a different pair of shoes. Mommy did her distraction thing to get the focus on other things. One thing that startled Ember on Sunday morning was the discovery that if she dropped her big bone on the tile floor, it clattered loudly. She went into indoor zoomies over that one.
Sunday featured a morning neighborhood walk, and a late morning visit to the dog park. I seemed to have a hungry puppy on my hands.
At the dog park, I walked Ember on leash outside the fence for a bit before going into the "free play" area. Someone had brought a child that looked to be five of six and said child was hanging out around the entrance to the park while parental unit was chatting with another adult. I was concerned about the clump of dogs, the child, and Ember the adolescent puppy who loves people but doesn't always greet appropriately!
Still, we got inside. Given that I had a pouch full of treats, I attracted lots of dogs. I would ask their owners if it was OK to give them treats before I did, just because. Another dog owner had an "open bar" bowl of water at his picnic table base, and Ember took advantage of both that one, and one at the entrance before we left. On Sunday I figured a way to get her back in the car without assistance of another human! I crawled into the backseat myself, and across it, and out the other side, turning it into an agility "tunnel". Ember followed me in once I got out the other side, and happily allowed herself to be clipped into her seat belt.
At home, there was a roast in the crock pot, and an ounce and a quarter of that became the topper for Ember's supper kibble. She ate the roast pieces, but did not polish off the kibble. All the treats from the morning filled her up.
Monday morning, we had a fly inside the house! Given that we keep the sliding door open at lot for ease of Ember entrances and exits, this should surprise no one.
I was distracted for a minute and left the flyswatter on the counter. One of Ember's favorite toys. Flyswatter. Dust pan. Empty plastic bottles. Anything she can destroy.
We had a neighborhood walk before Mom cooked her own breakfast. Mom kind of overdid the fat and sugar and even some flour Sunday night, trying to regulate her feelings after Ember chose the basement level to use like a giant pee-pad... both pee and poo. I cleaned it up. I put her to bed and then I went nuts in the kitchen.Sunday night I did not sleep well. I cannot do the night before / morning after thing these days. Too hard on the body. I was therefore not hungry Monday morning at the usual time. Ember did not seem to mind going for a walk without waiting for Mom's breakfast. We used to do it that way when the sun rose earlier, anyway.
It was a bit of a shuffle to get Ember out of the way, into the back yard, and later into her X-Pen, so as not to interfere with the young man's work.
After he left, we did a reward trip to the dog park. Ember raced around with a whole new group of dogs. She's getting to expect this level of exercise, and I truly appreciate how calm she becomes afterward. From just three trips to the park.
We'll see how Tuesday goes!
Life is Good. Keep Sparking!
... you get the dog trained to ignore it!
Next time I get some fool idea in my head about "fixing" something the dog has damaged, remind me... If you cannot manage the environment to keep her away from it, she will attack the replacement "fix", too.
We have tried "train", we have tried "manage", we are down to "ignore and hope she grows out of it?"
I wasted my money having that door replaced. It did not keep her out of the basement level of the house, and once she found she could get purchase on it with her teeth... matter of time. I am not going to spend more money having them come and uninstall it. Eventually I will get around to doing it myself.
Yes, Ember has plenty of approved chew things around. Yes, I can sometimes distract her, but it's temporary. No, I can't gate her off of this one. I am all out of baby gates, and when she really wants to, she can get through them.
When she can't get past a gate, she sometimes goes after the wall, too, stripping wallpaper, and putting tooth marks on the drywall.
When does this usually happen? Pre-sunrise! Before I can get her outside to run, chase balls, and play. I do try to distract with training games, but until I get the crate games training figured out, I'm putting my blinders on.
It also happens when she is bored. Saturday afternoon it was too hot out to take a leash walk, too hot to play chase the ball, she was napping on the floor in her new sized harness.
I ordered this harness a couple of months ago about the time she got spayed. Now it fits. We will take it for a spin with a leash walk on Sunday. Sunday's supposed to be about 20 degrees cooler for its high!
My favorite political sign. It seems to say we're all neighbors whatever our political philosophies may be. I snapped this photo Saturday morning while walking Ember.
Life is good! Keep on Sparking!
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. Normally this phase hits me in about July. It came late this year. Just one or two too many social things, including social with dogs, and it becomes that proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for me.
This photo was an experiment, taken Thursday morning, pre-sunrise with a flash. It shows Ember chewing on the playhouse ladder, while two tennis balls I attempted to distract her with lay on either side of her. We do try to play a bit of chase the ball, even before the sun comes up.
It's been a busy couple of days since the birthday dinner for DIL's mom. I had my personal trainer session on Thursday morning. Ember and I did a turn around the block on leash before I went to my workout.
Then in the afternoon, with naptimes somewhat skewed again on Thursday, I took Ember to the dog park for the first time "solo". We had gone a couple of times when we were coordinating with when my son and his wife were bringing Carl to the "big" dog park.
This time I took her to a smaller one, and we got very lucky. There was a nine-month old Rottweiler named Cora, and an 18-month-old Bernese Mountain dog named Neffie, and it was just the three musketeers (would you believe Ember is 8 months old now?) For the first 15 minutes or so, it was just them, and then a few more dogs showed up with their people.
Ember was not particularly happy with the thought of coming home, but someone who was just arriving with her dogs helped me lure her into my backseat, and home we came. She was tuckered out and went to bed easily.
Friday morning's leash walk ended in our own back yard with some off-leash time playing with Barnaby. Unfortunately, Bill (Barnaby's human) and I did not handle the entry very well, and Bill ended up on the ground when Barnaby took off with Ember in full flight. Bill was mostly unharmed, no broken bones or anything, and we sat in lawn chairs watching the canines cavort, but we're both already strategizing on a better way to enter the back yard. I think we need to insert Barnaby through the gate before letting Ember out through the back door... it was particularly hard this morning as they greeted one another on-leash at the sidewalk/driveway intersection before we tried to get them into the yard.
Human lessons learned. Bill had a bit of a scrape on his elbow, and I checked in via text later in the day to make sure he was washed up and patched up and OK. We'll do better next time. As Bill said, Barnaby needs to run like he does off leash with Ember. And I have this big backyard space, we may as well get the use out of it!
During Puppy nap #1 on Friday, I filled out my ballot for the November 5th election. When Ember got up from her nap, among other things we went for a ride in the car to go put that ballot in the election commissions drop box. I can now ignore the political ads for the remainder of election season. Did my civic duty. The ballot issues are worth watching in our state. I mean, we are unique... we have only one legislative house, the Senate. "The People's house", if you will, in Nebraska, is not a "house of representatives", it is the voters. And we take our role seriously. We the people of the State of Nebraska will decide by our votes if we want to fund private schools out of our tax dollars, if we want to de-criminalize medical marijuana, and if we will leave the issue of abortion between a woman and her medical providers.
Enough about politics... my favorite political sign is up the street. In red, white and blue, it simply says "Dogs / 2024".
I promised Ember that if we took that ride, we'd stop somewhere fun on the way home, and we did. We stopped at the park closest to the home where I grew up and got out to sniff at just about every tree in the place. The park has changed since I was a kid (obviously).
There is now a disc golf course in the park, a nice cushiony floored playground, and the drainage is now protected from children exploring it the way my brother and I did as kids.
The park was in good use while we were there, in the 11 a.m. to 12:30 time frame. A mom and her child on the playground. Several disc golf players. A couple picnicking at one of the tables. Someone sleeping on the wall at the edge of the playground. And a caretaker with her wheelchair-bound charge.
Ember got pets from a few of them, and in general behaved very well. At the end of our visit, I prevailed on one of the disc golfers to help me entice her back into the car.
The short trip home was too much for her little tummy. We got home to a seat-cover full of what used to inhabit her stomach. Poor baby. Got her inside and settled, then cleaned up the car. I pretty much let her nap outside the crate until suppertime. I fed her and tucked her into her crate. I came back upstairs, where I'm typing this out to let folks know, that Life is Still Good, here in Emberville, and to remind us to Keep Sparking!
Today I am thankful the peace that comes from the fact that Ember does not bark at squirrels. I can't even take credit for it, even t...
