It's a Dog's Life 2

It's been a long week and I've been soooooooo boooooooored! Mom hasn't been taking me for all the walks she promised me this summer. She's always got some excuse - gotta go paint her classroom, gotta work on her computer, rain or heat or something. She won't throw the ball for me, either. Something about her arm hurting. (She's been wearing something on her elbow a lot, too.) But today - YAY! - we went for a walk!
I didn't think we were going to at first. She started out knitting this morning, then she and Lexi got in the car and went somewhere, without me, of course. Well, I figured I'd teach her a lesson and get into some of her things while she abandoned and ignored me for another day. Something on her table smelled good...
Anyway, when they got back she changed her clothes and grabbed...MY LEASH!!! The cool extension one that lets me run a bit! Holy cow! It's been so long I had SO many little news articles to read and had to leave my own information for the other neighborhood dogs a few times, too. You know what I mean, that little sign to tell them, "I was here, too." Hey, I'm an intelligent dog and I need to keep up with the news. I need the mental stimulation. Mom's a pretty smart woman and she says she reads, but she sticks her nose in papers or on the computer. I've smelled those things and even tasted them a little. There's no news there. 
So I checked out all the hot spots and tried to get the latest updates on who's been where recently. I had a great time. She even called me a good girl and I got to roll in the grass and run around the yard a little...it was hot, though, so I didn't do a lot of that. Mom brushed me before she would let me in. I guess I got some dead grass or something all over me that she didn't want in the house. At any rate, she said maybe we can go to the park later if it's not too hot and Dad wants to go. I haven't been for a ride in the truck for a few weeks, so that would be fun. She even said we might get the hose out and play later if it's too hot for a walk in the park! She really learned her lesson!
I have to admit, I was really surprised. Usually when I punish her she doesn't comply with me so quickly. Then I found out why. It turns out she didn't actually know I had taught her a lesson until we came back in and she found the evidence...

She wasn't very happy with me then and called me a bad dog. I sure hope I don't cough up those tissues.

AHA! They Tricked Me!

I found out why Mom and Dad gave me a great treat weekend at Pet Play Station. They went to visit Alli!!! No fair. I never get to see her now that she's off somewhere probably playing with other dogs. Oh, sure, she says she's studying to be a photographer or something. Sure she is. I've seen how other dogs react to her. Mom even posted an entry about other dogs that come around when she's "taking pictures." Mom says Alli tried to talk them into getting me a new Kong flying disc, but they wanted something squeaky. Well, I guess it's OK. 

I mean, it flies and it squeaks when you find just the right spot. And, OK, finding the right spot to bite makes it a neat puzzle challenge. Alright, I'll admit it's fun to play with, but they still should have taken me along to play with Alli. Oh, well. I guess I had fun anyway and I like the new toy.
*sigh* I guess I'll forgive them all...this time.

(Note from Mom: Storm actually does *sigh* a lot. She's very emotionally expressive :D)

New Friend or New Toy?

One day a couple weeks ago an odd thing happened. There I was, minding my own business, laying in the new grass around the patio (because it's so lush and comfy!) and I saw a strange "thing" in the yard. It had a hard back and looked like a ball but it had a head. I wasn't sure if it was someone to play with or something to play with.

I went closer to investigate, but when I tried to play with it, the head disappeared! I was going to roll it over to look for it, but Dad called me back. I watched it, just the same. You just never know...

Without the head sticking out, it really did look like a ball I could roll around. I love playing hide-the-ball games but I usually play them inside. This looked like a great idea for a new hide-and-seek! But Dad and Mom both got a little too excited about it and wouldn't let me play with it. Ya know, out here in the middle of nowhere it's not that easy to make new friends...or find new games to play when you're bored. They just don't understand.
(Note from Mom: A few days ago she also tried to befriend a groundhog, the size of a dachshund or a little bigger, that was sitting up on its haunches looking for all the world as if it wanted to meet her, too. She walked up to it so nonchalantly I couldn't believe it - but we saved her from that encounter, too. Unfortunately, I couldn't grab my camera quickly enough. ;)

My Mini Vacation

It's been a pretty quiet week, not counting the storms that kept Mom and me from playing outside very much. We took a nice walk one day and played out a little a couple other times, but it was too wet and miserable to do much of that on the other days. We're hoping to start walking every morning as soon as the weather lets us. That doesn't mean I haven't had any fun yet this summer. You saw the post Mom made about my new Li'l Devil, right? Well, one of the first things we got to do was go to the Pet Play Station. (By "we" I mean me and Li'l Devil. Mom didn't stay.)

Last year I went to Pet Play Station a few times. I made some friends and tried a bit of swimming. I had a great time! When I got there this time, I was so excited I couldn't stop barking and running around like an idiot. Then I realized I was probably making Mom feel bad that I wasn't absolutely despondent that I wasn't going home with her, so I kept acting like an idiot but tried to make it look like I wasn't happy to be staying and was desperate to leave. She said I was embarrassing her and hurting Jamie's feelings, but I couldn't help it - SO EXCITED!!!
Jamie is a lot like me - full of energy and a little hyper but cuddly just the same. I have to admit I was a little nervous about this stay. There were two loud dogs that kept everybody else (including me, at first) barking. They were only puppies. One was four months old and one was five months old. Usually PPS is pretty much a puppy-free zone. They need to be potty trained and able to take behavior commands before they get to stay at the resort.

 PPS has an agility area that looks like a lot of ...well, work, actually. I used to do agility training when I was a puppy but the family got too busy to keep it up and I'm not sure if my joints could take it these days.
That's OK, though. There's plenty to do all day. I made friends with the other dogs. Most of them were smaller than me, which is nice because I like smaller dogs. Mom says I like to "mother" smaller dogs. Whatever. They just make me comfortable to be around...usually.

They weren't all smaller dogs. I also got to meet a nice Mastiff.

Nice Mastiff I made friends with...btw, this isn't Jamie but she's nice and fun, too :)

We ran around together a bit over the weekend and had a lot of fun. I like to watch more than I like to get involved though. I take my glucosamine to keep my joints from aching, but sometimes being around a lot of other dogs can be overwhelming. Let's face it - I lead a pretty quiet life most of the time.
Jamie and I take walks through the woods, which is nice but I'm never sure if I should go there. Mom and Dad keep me out of the woods for some strange reason. They get really irritated with me and call me "bad dog" if I don't stop short of the woods when I'm protecting the yard from tree rats. (Note from Mom: Dad is very allergic to poison ivy, which abounds in the woods around our home...and "tree rats" are squirrels.) So whenever Jamie takes me walking I usually try to turn back right away. Well, I have to admit it's not just that I'm not sure if I should go in the woods. I also have a need to check on everyone and make sure they're all OK. Mom says that's part of the Shepherd in me. I'm sure she probably read that somewhere or saw it on Animal Planet.

I do have one particular activity I indulge in, though. Last year I met a cute GSD - I think his name was Beefcake *sigh* - and he taught me to swim.  I wasn't sure I'd remember how at first, but it came back pretty quickly. The water felt so good I just dived right in!

It's not like the hose at home - SO nice to be able to get all of me wet at the same time! I'm particularly fond of what Jamie calls "cannonballs." I don't know what she's talking about, though. I've jumped in over and over and never found any balls in there. Humans are so silly sometimes.
I hope I get to go back again sometime this summer. Maybe some of my old friends will be there next time. I made a few friends down at the campground over Memorial Weekend, but I never get to see those dogs again...well, except Rocky and Charger and Beckett, but they aren't new friends. They go with us every Memorial Weekend. Anyway, I was really hoping some of the dogs I met last year would be at PPS this time to go swimming with. OK, I was hoping one particular dog I met last year would be there to swim with. *sigh* Maybe next time...

Happiness Is...

...a little red devil with a loud, high-pitched squeaker. :) 
Storm's favorite toy bit the dust, or rather she bit it to death. The poor thing's squeaker fell inside it and it was getting to the point where the little shards of it were getting chewier than they should have done. The time was ripe for replacement so I snuck away to Petco last Sunday and found her a new Little Devil. It tasted funny at first, but the squeak won her over.
The fun of Storm's mind is the educational quality of it. Whenever she kills a squeaker in a toy, she always finds a toy that squeaks and plays with them both together, trying to teach the broken one how to squeak again. ;) It cracks us up. She wouldn't let me get video of that. Every time I went for my camera she posed. She's so vain! 

But the little devil isn't the only squeaky toy she likes. We have a Chuck-it because, well, I throw like a little girl - no, really, little girls usually throw a little better than me with just a little practice. So I love the Chuck-it, too. Only I found a replacement ball that she really likes to chase: a squeaky tennis ball! Now, if you combine the regular ball with a squeaky ball and alternate throws, pretty soon her teaching brain kicks in and she has to play with both balls and won't let me throw them anymore. You guessed it - she tries to teach the regular ball to squeak like the other one. It's just too funny!
But for now she's pretty happy with the new little devil ball...

Storm Clouds

Usually when you see a green sky and storm clouds, you expect a nasty little storm brewing. These aren't those kinds of storm clouds, these are Storm clouds - she sheds her undercoat constantly year-round. With this heat her brushing sessions yield a small dog a day. This week has been rather breezy, though, and I can't quite catch all the fur from the brush right after I brush her. Occasionally a batch will form from smaller strands and lift in the wind to carry itself past the window and land in the grass.

 They make such interesting formations when they finally finish twisting and turning in the air and land. We're hoping for some actual rain this weekend to help a new patch of grass grow...yes, the patch where these particular Storm clouds landed. It's her favorite place to lay these days - lots of shade, long and cool grass, generally kept damp to help it grow. The tough part is that I can't exactly vacuum the grass like I do the carpet areas she loves best.

A good deshedding brush is vital to living with a GSD. She has a thick undercoat to protect her from weather, but it also tends to trap heat - great for a snow dog, but not so great for a hot Missouri summer. Water play is essential. Today she got to play in the hose before she got brushed. Unfortunately, that helped in the formation of the Storm clouds today because the grass and the hair were both damp. I had more stuck to my hands, too...and my pants...and my feet...

It's Back!

I got my backyard back! I didn't have to be on the tie-out cable for the whole time I was outside, they took all their machines and tools and piles of stuff and left! Yay!!!

If you recall, My Yard was under reconstruction over the weekend AND I was humiliated and scolded for barking at the contractor's dog. But I have proof that dog was not to be trusted. As soon as the guy packed up to leave yesterday and took her off my cable, she tramped through his hard work! These are her tracks, not mine. I'm a good dog.

The view from the deck is definitely different. I'll have to get used to it, but at least I can use my regular door again. *sigh* Thank goodness! I was getting so distressed and depressed over the whole business of trying to find the backyard from the front door and staying out of the construction zone - it was a nightmare! But now I can get my favorite outdoor toys AND take them off the deck to play with them!

It's actually pretty nice, compared to what it was like before. More room than the old sidewalk and higher than it used to be. It'll take some getting used to.

 

But a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do...especially when she's the queen and her throne is being remodeled. I'll manage somehow. *sigh* It's gonna be a good evening.

 

Change is Never Good

They never consult me about this stuff. They just make their decisions and the next thing I know, my whole world has changed.

The backyard is mine. They didn't even ask! Dad just took the steps off the deck and invited strangers to bring in all this equipment and dirt and bricks and rocks and...and...CHANGE everything! How am I supposed to use my potty area? From the front door? That's just weird.

Then Mom says she's taking pictures of "the progress" of the "project." Yeah, right. She's just taking pictures of me imprisoned on the deck. I can't help it if that's My Door and they took away My Stairs to My Backyard. Silly parents. Just because I have no thumbs I have no say? Not fair.

Then, as if it wasn't bad enough, Dad says he'll fix it so I can lay out in the yard...and he puts out the CAMPING stake and cable in the FRONT YARD! I'm so depressed...and insulted. He was washing the car and wouldn't let me play in the hose - "too cold out" he says. I can't get off the deck - "no stairs" he says. Like he can't put those back on! I saw them on my way to the potty area. They're leaning up against the back of the house. Those guys didn't even come back today! "Saturday" he says. Whatever.

I fooled him. He wanted to check on the camper. Apparently, mice like to camp, too. So I agreed to go help him - but when he let me off my cable, BAM! I plunked myself down on the only scrap of yard those guys left me anywhere near my usual hill. This is where the sidewalk used to be. Well, it's next to it. I never really laid on the sidewalk much.

I found my hill, in spite of the fact they parked their equipment on it. *sigh* It's just not quite the same.




 

Camping...from a dog's point of view...

So, they got me all excited...a ride in the car...loaded the camper and hooked up the truck. I knew we were going to a state park!!!

 You know what that means!!! I get to walk and explore and chase squirrels...Yay!!! :D

But did I? Oh, no. We went camping. That means there are other people there and I have to be on a tie-out all the time. Oh, yeah, we took a lot of walks, but I have to stay on the leash all the time, too. I let them know I was ready to go home about an hour after we got there, but they kept setting up stuff and sitting around. If I whined enough they took be for a walk. Big deal.  I tried to chase a squirrel and almost yanked Daddy's arm right out of the socket. Stupid leash.


Saturday morning was beautiful and bright - perfect day to play outside. Know what they did? They let me walk and lay outside for awhile, then they put on a movie for me and made me stay in the camper while they went sight-seeing! I've already seen all those movies!!! I took a nap.
So when they finally got back you'd think it would be play time, right?
Wrong.

Daddy wanted a nap and Mom was writing. I'd chew up her laptop if I didn't think it would make me sick. Anyway, I figured Daddy would like to play if he realized I had my Good Ball with me.

"Daddy? Play? Play ball, Daddy?"

But no. As tempting as that squeaky li'l devil is, the man just laid there sleeping. *sigh* What's a dog to do??? Mom took me for walks, Dad took me for walks, but I never got to chase a single squirrel. And do you have any idea how many weird animals live in the woods??? Oh, my goodness the sounds! I totally forgot how scary the camper is when they leave me alone in there!
By the time dinner rolled around I was exhausted!

I barely got my dinner down before I fell asleep! But then they wanted to sit outside and watch a movie. I kept telling them the streetlights were on and it was time to go in, but Mom was downright rude about my little reminders to come in. She shut the door! Can you believe it? I mean, really.
My nerves were completely shot. Thank heavens they came back inside when they got cold or I wouldn't have slept a wink all night.

My Most Sensitive Child

It's a rather dreary morning - soggy and windy, overcast, just generally blah. And my faithful companion is at my feet - or heels - anywhere I wander or sit today. Dad's at a golf tourney, Lexi's at work...which just leaves Mom to play with. But Mom isn't straying far from the restrooms today, so a hike is definitely out. Wanna see the face that's greeting my every move today?

Now who could resist that? She's lain on my foot, leaned on my knee, and generally hung around me all morning trying to make me feel better. What's more, she did the same for Will last night when he wasn't feeling well. Such a sweetie! 

She won. I gave her a cookie :)

Watch me...

Storm's a good dog. She's been easy to train and very skillful at almost every task we've set before her...except "watch me." She'll do anything you ask, follow any of her known commands almost without thinking, but when you say "watch me," she looks away. In other words, she'll act on your commands, but only because she chooses to, not because you want her to do whatever it is.
She's brilliant, don't get me wrong. This dog can tell time and knows just how to charm that extra cookie out of her loving parents. But she only looks you in the eye when she wants something, not when you want something from her.



Top of the list this summer in her training is "watch me." The "here" command is good...unless she's distracted by a really interesting smell...

The Trouble with Spring

The little white dots are petals from our Bradford Pear. It's a stinky tree but gorgeous. When the blossoms fall the yard is covered in what looks like the waste from an industrial hole punch.
The big poofs? Those are Storm shed. I had to scrub her back end and feet and give her a thorough brushing just to allow her back into the house. 

The trouble with spring is that she's full of energy and excitement and can hardly behave herself. She was out for a few minutes and took off into the woods to chase a frog or something she imagined she heard or saw - maybe a squirrel, who knows. I called her back right quickly, but she came back through the mud and a puddle or two...you know, gotta check out everything to make sure it didn't get into anything valuable, like her grass or something. 

The mud is usually not an issue. She's a pretty fastidious dog and doesn't generally play in dirty places. But she has no concept of the other dangers she picks up and brings in from the weedy edge of the woods: poison ivy. Will is extremely allergic and protects himself with a full coverall whenever he has to work in the brush out there, but she trots merrily through it whenever she's "on the hunt" and brings it in on her fur...along with a few chiggers when the weather gets really nice out in the summer. Unfortunately, in the spring the weather isn't quite warm enough to hose her down in the evening and get her dry before sundown.

So she wasn't happy about getting a rough scrubdown with a wet, soapy towel. I wasn't happy about the towel.  ;)

One of Those Days

She's having one of those days...

 Daddy wouldn't stay home and play hookie to play. If I lay on Mom's foot she won't be able to leave me and she'll have to play with me sooner or later.

*sigh*

Poor baby. She had to stay home and pout alone...again...because we got up and went to work anyway. ;)

The Return of Winter Stealth Dog

"You can't see me. I'm not here..."

This is when she really cracks me up. At the moment she's pouting in the basement because I made her come in out of the snow. I had to!

"That spot was getting hot. Is it okay if I lay here awhile?"

She kept getting up and moving because the ground would get "too warm" under her! 
I let her stay out a while longer after this, but when I called her to finally come in, she thought it was going to be okay to just run right past me and into the house - hahahaha!

 ...and then came skidding to a stop when I blocked the doorway with a towel to dry her off! Joke's on her ;)

New Leash

I have plans this summer for lots of early morning walks to the park (Storm does NOT ride in my Mustang!) for leisurely writing/photography time. I mentioned that plan to my husband and he purchased a new leash, extra long, so Storm can explore a little bit while I'm parked on a bench/rock/patch of grass for an hour or two. Alli came home, so we decided to try it out.

Now, understanding that Storm has had the winter to enjoy free run of the campsites, she's a little put out to be on a leash at all. The length doesn't matter much. But since there were several campers this weekend enjoying the first nice weather weekend of spring (OK, it rained Saturday and didn't really turn warm and nice until Sunday), she had to start dealing with life as she used to know it.
On top of that, Alli and I took advantage of the lovely weather to go farther than usual.

We started out with the usual lap around the campground, but when we got back to the car Alli suggested we keep going. It was getting late, but not that dark yet. Thank you Daylight Savings Time! So we kept going down to the Lake Buteo Area.

There was a family fishing in the lake and Storm wanted to meet their three dogs. We declined to bother them ;) But we got some nice pictures of the dam. Alli went down beyond the dam, but it was too muddy for Storm and me. I was in flip-flops and Storm doesn't need to get muddy feet before she gets back in the wagon.

By the time we finished, Storm and I were feeling the hour. Alli? Well, she had been driving home from Ohio so she needed the chance to stretch her legs...not to mention she's just plain younger. Just for my own benefit, I drove the path afterward. It was roughly a mile and a quarter. We're going to get fit this summer. Walking from our house to this part of the park is roughly a mile and a half and then we'll have to walk back again. *whew* OK, nice weather, bring it on! :)

Tigger & Patches

We've had a lot of snow days this year. Storm, the Snow Dog, has thoroughly enjoyed having me home more this winter as well as having more and more snow to play in. However, all those days home took away a lot of days I would have had spread across the remainder of the school year. Consequently, when we still had a day off for Presidents Day in February, I took advantage of the 3-day weekend and my loving husband's generosity to drive out to Ohio and visit our daughter, Alli.

Alli is a photography major. You can catch up with her at her own blog: Diary of a Photo major. We had a busy weekend together. One of the many activities we shared was a photo session in the park.  

She had an assignment to photograph things in motion. 

I immediately wished there had been some way to bring Storm along, as she would have LOVED to play in the park and have her picture taken repeatedly! (as evidenced in previous posts ;)


As luck would have it, when we got to the park there were a pair of friendly dogs available. Meet Tigger and Patches. 

They were out having a lovely day in the cold with their owner, a nice man who offered to let Alli photograph them in motion doing their favorite park activity: going down the slide. I wanted to go for it, but Alli (to my total bafflement) declined his generous offer. That didn't stop me from snapping a few of them playing with the ducks in the pond ;)

They actually got into that frigid water a few times...just to their toes...maybe up to the knees a little. The ducks didn't stay by them too long. They preferred our side of the pond for a bit...then realized we weren't carrying food. But I guess they were happy at least that we didn't have any dogs with us ;)

Rainy Day Games

So there I sat, minding my own business, folding laundry, when a hopeful face appeared through the holes in the basket. I peaked around it to find the rest of the face. She was remembering a game she loved as a puppy. I guess she took me seriously when I told her I was running out of blog material ;)

 This is how the game goes: you take Storm's favorite ball and "hide" it under the basket. Then Storm chases it around until she remembers how to tip the basket over and retrieve her toy. The catch: she isn't allowed to bite or chew the basket. Hey, that's my good laundry basket!
  


Today's basket wasn't as much fun as the one I had yesterday. Yes, that's right. Not only do you have to play the game with the right toys, you have to use her favorite basket, too. This one doesn't slide as well.

It just depressed her and she quit. But I got pretty cute video of the game yesterday. Enjoy :)