August looms

 

Something is about to bloom, right on schedule.  Let me see if I can find last year's version of this plant.

Ah, yes, here it is blooming!

Not last year, but the 2020 version.

I made my eye appointment for mid-September.  A birthday of significance is coming up and that means the eyes have to be in good shape, as it's driver's license renewal time.  I believe that at 72 they make you take the actual drive test.  Sometime before that, I need to get myself over to the new location of the driver's testing station, to see what the local streets I'm likely to be asked to navigate are like these days.  I haven't been out to that neighborhood since 2018, I think it was.  About this time of year... beastly hot 5K/10K it was.

Saturday report

I washed my sheets.  The dog-schedule got shifted later due to Ember having some attitude issues over the harness.  She also had attitude over whether she would eat enough of her breakfast to fit my requirements for "first walk" time.

I took her outside and ran her about with a game of fetch to take some of the energy off.  Then I eventually wrestled her into the "old" vest, and we went out to leash walk.  Two episodes on the walk:  she picked up the remains of the crabapple she'd toyed with on Friday's walk and gnawed at it despite any cajoling or offering of alternative treats for about a block (once I got her off the grass).  Eventually she discarded the core and seeds, and we proceeded on the walk.

The second episode was close to the end of the walk.  She picked up one of those tiny bottles that energy drinks come in these days. She started chewing on it as we proceeded.  We made it through the running sprinklers on one yard and then BAM!  Zoomies.  She circled me four or five times, at speed, and I turned to keep up and to keep the leash straight.  I got a shade dizzy in the process.  

Then we got her calmed down.  Did the metal at the neck of the bottle "bite her back"?  Did the caffeine in whatever drops might have remained as residue kick in?  Or was it just plain puppy nutso energy, brought on by her growth phase?  I remember watching one of my dog trainer videos where they talked about the adolescent phase of puppy life when things like this might happen, and you never know the origin of the zoomies!

Regardless, we played "treats on the sidewalk" the remaining 100 yards or so to home.  I cooked breakfast, she got predictably sleepy, and I tucked her into crate time just before 8 a.m.  

The rest of the day unfolded, including a bit of a mommy nap during puppy nap #2.  This is beginning to be a "feature".  After supper, I was watching some more Susan Garrett and found she had a special going on her online training stuff.  I kept being drawn back to it over the remainder of the evening, and eventually decided, YES, I want to go all in on her "games" approach to dog training.  OMG, I joined it.  This is going to be a lot of work, but Ember is worthy of it.  

It's my kind of program, with a good deal of thinking and analysis of both the dog's behavior and the human's.  Wish me luck.

And now it's Sunday morning

I didn't get the blog posted yesterday... I was too busy with my "homework".  Today I will start playing the first game with Ember.  Hopefully I will have some time and energy to blog as well.  The first game is a simple one, but there's teaching material surrounding it, and that does take some time to go through.  

Here's hoping you have a peaceful Sunday and so do I!

Life is good!  Spark on!