Sunday, November 30, 2008

Those Darn Stairs

Kort is going to be 7 months old on Thurs. He still will not walk down stairs....I have been patient with him, collies all move at their own speed..he's just moving slower then most!
When Wendy & I went to Writing On Stone there were many many stairs...stone stairs, but stairs none the less....we came upon the first set & I had to pull him down, after letting him try & decide to come down on his own. Collies can develop crazy fears if you push them too hard, a bad experience in their heads & that's all it takes for them to remain afraid forever. Anyway, it ended well, Kort was doing stairs like a pro by the end of our walk, I was encouraged!
The stairs at home are different, they are not rugged & they are steep, at least in Kort's mind, but there are only 6 of them. I decided today to try & "make" him do the stairs. The main reason is he is getting bigger, & gaining weight. I'd guess him to be maybe 50 Ilbs now, I have pulled the muscle across my chest, no doubt from the numerous times a day I need to carry him down those darn stairs! It hurts, bad, I can hardly drive, or turn my neck without my chest hurting.
Ok, I put his leash & collar on, & walk him toward the stairs armed with treats, no go, he backs up & pulls. I pull him gently back toward me encouraging him all the while, no go, now he's getting worried. So, I take the bull by the horns, or in this case, the collie by the collar, & pull him screaming & pulling down the stairs, all the while telling him how brave he is!! He gets treats galore at the bottom! We go back up & this time he goes down much easier, but jumps the last 2 stairs..ok, up again, he jumps just the last stair. Then the most exciting part, he follows Tate down the stairs all by himself!! Yippee!!
However, this does not have a great ending! In his fear he blew his anal glands, if you ever have smelled them you know how unpleasant they are! So, I have to wash his butt to get rid of the smell, & later I realize after being outside, that my house stinks of anal glands too! So, I wash the rug at the top of the stairs hoping I have gotten the spot where the foulness may have dripped!!
But alas, don't get too excited about Kort's achievement yet, I just asked him to come down the stairs a half hour ago & he ran away!! Back to the drawing board I guess!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Role Reversal

Sooooo, interesting morning!!
I took the dogs for their regular hour walk this morning, when we got to a huge area where I knew it was safe, I let them off leash. Well, Kort still drags a leash, just in case I need to catch him!! We were having a great time, I threw the ball, they ran & chased, then, Tate got the zoomies & Kort ran after him. The more Kort chased, the faster Tate ran. When I thought Tate was going too far, I called for him to come....he kept running! So my next thing is to yell NO! COME! , this always works as Tate hates to be in trouble...not today apparently! So with Kort merrily chasing his big brother, I yell again, Kort stops dead in his tracks, turns to look at me, then turns back to look again at Tate still running along, & decides to come to me!!! Hurray for Kort!!! What a party we had when he got back....Tate on the other hand did not get a party, Tate got some very firm words & tone to my voice, which usually melts him. Today he just looked at me & took it! Bad boy Tate, no more running loose for you! Bad Jolene for thinking Tate is perfect, shame, shame, he's really just a dog! Lesson learned!

Monday, November 24, 2008

One Eyed Jack(ie)!!

When I posted about Writing On Stone the other day I mentioned Jackie.
She is a sweet border collie X that Wendy is fostering right now. She was rescued by Amanda & Natalie of the Prairie Dog Canine Rescue here in Lethbridge. You can read more about them on their web site posted under my favourite blogs....Anyway, Jackie is really a wonderful dog, after our hike with our own dogs, we had some one on one time with Jackie, & you could tell she felt really special! She needs to find her own family soon though, I think she is getting pretty attached to Wendy, although Wendy won't admitt it!

Isn't she just the cutest little thing!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

More Writing On Stone

Some more favourites from yesterday......
Kort in the tall grass......
All the kids running down the hill toward Wendy...Tate holds up the rear!!......
The boys & I pose in front of the HooDoos......
Wendy & the girls......
Wendy likes to take these kind of pictures of the dogs!, & I love them......

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Writing On Stone

Today Wendy & I went to Writing On Stone Provincial Park....I have never been there, & what an amazing experience it was. It was absolutely breathtaking! We brought along the dogs & they had a blast. Here are a few pictures from our day.....
All the dogs at one point or another had the "zoomies", here they are in their crazy moments!......
Tate......
Kort......Coulee......
Lacey......running as fast as her little legs would take her!......
I took a bunch of pictures of Wendy with her dogs, but I really like this one of her by herself with the dogs playing in the background......
Check out these two pictures of Tate just being natural , I love these!!!......
Jackie was a very good girl & waited in the van for us to get back. Wendy & I sat at a picnic table to have a bite to eat & Jackie got to join us.....here's a picture of Miss Personality! giving me a big kiss!......
We took Jackie for a walk up the hill to the visitor center, & when we got back there were deer by the van......
Then to make the day even more wonderful, we saw a herd of Pronghorn on the side of the highway on the way home! This was my first time seeing them......
What a great day!!......

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Old Blue

Last night on my way to dog school with Kort, I noticed Old Blue,aka., my van, was quite a bit louder then he normally is. Upon arriving at class I took a peek underneath, & it didn't look good!
So, early, very early, this am., Old Blue had emergency surgery.
Before surgery...... Now, if any of you gals out there take care of all your car repairs yourself, you know what it's like to walk into "man's land". There were 3 men in the shop this am. when I walked in, they were having a manly discussion I'm sure. Of course when I walked in the discussion stopped & it became silent, uncomfortably silent. I had to wait for my van for an hour, & these men were there for the hour also. They weren't waiting for their cars to be repaired, that became quite obvious , rather they were just enjoying hanging out in "man's land" together. They did resume their conversation after a bit, motorcycles, fishing trips, garages, & vacations were some of the topics of the day. I felt in the way, like I was listening in on something! Anyway, I was glad to leave, & the men were still there when I left, probably glad to see me leave too!

Old Blue after surgery, $235 later & good as new!......

Monday, November 17, 2008

4 months later

I enjoy comparing pictures to look at how much puppies change...here are some"then & now" pictures, 4 months apart.
Wendy says, in the above picture, I look like I'm praying for Kort to be good, if only for a day!









Sunday, November 16, 2008

For Dave!!

Hi Dave!! I had Wendy take some pictures of Kort today, I thought I owed you some nice ones after that joke I played on you with Kort's ears!! Hope you like them! To see some more just check out my Flickr site...
"Show Shots"......
Goofing around!......

Hope everyone else enjoys them too...thanks again Wendy!