Happy 6th, Chip! Here's a bed just for you!

SUMMARY: How can he possibly be 6 already?!

Zorro always takes possession of All The Things that are fluffy and large. I treated Chip cruelly a couple of months back by replacing my huge recliner with two smaller upholstered chairs that he finds uncomfortable.  As an alternative, I got him a big comfy bed for the living room.

Note to other supposedly experienced photographers: Always remember to remove the *$%#@ sun shade from the lens when using the *#%@^* built-in flash to avoid casting huge #(@$% shadows on your photos.

Note to other supposedly experienced photographers: Have the camera ready when you first give the dog the new bed so you can capture him rolling around in it and chatting happily while trying it out, not after he's done all of that bit.

Is reeely mines! Wooo!

Hmmm, what is me do with large and fluffy?

Me is bite, prove is mines!

Is bitey bitey bitey!

Come on, Chip, it's a bed, not a toy, no bitey please.

Me is gots big toy, maybe is pulls out the stuffingses!

Leave the stuffingses in there, please, Chip, really, it's a bed!

Is the hard workses, me is lye downs and chewy chewy the toy.

Ooooooh, Chipster Dudes! Is gots new toy is fluffy and large which is Alls My Things?!

Backs away, naughty Z, is Human Mom sayses is toy of Chip!

Fine. Me is chew on better fluffy and large All My Things.

Is chewy the hole in mine bigs toy for gettings the evil stuffingses.

Srsly, Chip, please do not destroy your new and pricey bed.

Srsly, Human Mom, is not tell ME no bitey bitey pulls out stuffingses!

No no Human Mom iz Chipses toy for bitey bitey no tell me no!

ME SAYSES NOS!

Oooh, me is sorry, Human Mom, is pleez don't take away the toy bed thing.

the end

Dogs Try Hard

SUMMARY: Just sayin'--they're usually good pups.

I have not yet moved the dogs into sleeping off the bed at night. Chip isn't the problem. You know who is.

At least now Señor Z moves off my side of the bed when I tell him to Move. Firmly. Maybe even only 2 or 3 times.  I thought we'd never get there.  Even Tika, who was stubborn about it, was moving on command within a month or so of starting on the bed (as I recall--certainly didn't take 2 years!).

They really do try hard when I give them a chance. And they both know so little. They’d love to spend more time with me. I’m still just feeling meh about it.

AKC has just announced a new Tricks titles progression, and a friend (Sparkle's/Ben's/McKenzie's human mom) has announced that she's going for it and is teaching tricks.

This half motivated me.¹ So in the last few days I've done teeny tiny bits of tricks work:

• (a) Hold biscuit on nose. (b) Then toss it up and catch it.
  This is new for the boys. Chip wants to lower his nose. Zorro wants to raise his.
  
• Crawl or walk backwards (Z & C, respectively).
  Have worked casually at this for a while. Very casually. Almost invisibly.
  
• Shake left, shake right depending on which human hand is offered.
  (C has done this for a while. Z is not completely solid, but almost.)
  
• Spin Left or Right on command.
  (Have been working on fading the hand/finger swoop assistance. Getting there slowly.)
  
• Touch nose to (a) hand (b) target.
  (Both do hand very very well. I've lackadaisically worked on a separate target.)

Others that we've worked on in the past:

• Find It.  I hide a treat in the other room, dog has to find it.
  Also part of this--dogs have to stay in Down in first room while I'm out of sight hiding the treat.
  
• Paws Up. Front paws on whatever I indicate.
  Z does this naturally pretty often. When I practice, I combine with "Off" (as another "trick") . As in, Off (treat) Paws Up (treat) Off (treat) Paws Up (treat) Off (treat).
  
• Roll over.
  Jeez, I started this with them once and never went back to it. I should. This is in the basic half dozen things that every dog should know. IMHO.
• Blow bubbles in a bowl of water
  (I got stuck on making progress and so stopped working on it)

Things my previous trick dogs (Remington, Tika, Boost, Jake, Amber, in that order) have done that I would add to the list if I were really working on tricks:

• Figure 8 around my legs (a) standing still, (b) with me walking.
  
• Speak.
  (Well, actually only Rem ever knew this. Only thing I succeeded in this with Tika and Jake was that they no longer barked at things that used to make them bark. Opposite of what I was trying for.)

Everything we work on, they behave so differently from each other!  Style differences in napping--

Both cute, though.

---

1 Not that I'm likely to ILP these boys with AKC. But, who knows--a couple of years back I bookmarked this other organization that started offering tricks titles. Just didn't want to pay the fees for them, either.

Puppy on the bed all night!

SUMMARY: Luke succeeds at sleeping with the big dogs!

I have tried periodically to let Luke sleep on the king-sized bed with me and Chip, but every time I've lain down, he starts climbing all over me and biting at me and will not be deterred.  I usually give it 5 to 10 minutes, depending on my patience and fatigue level, but he has always ended up back in his crate.

Last night--success! Only about 2 minutes of trying to be an annoying puppy and then, voila, he slept on the bed quietly all night!

I kept thinking:

• On the down side, it would probably be nice long-term to have dogs who don't sleep on the bed.
• On the up side, getting him out of his crate every morning, when my back has is usually at its worst, has been a pain in the backside, literally. Often a very big pain. So, if this keeps up like last night, I'll no longer have to worry about that. (Just the small amount of bending required to release him. Tellin' ya, this back thing of mine is not playing by my rules.)

So, well, anything is possible, and we'll see how the champ does tonight!

Sleeping Together

SUMMARY: A small Luke milestone.

To date, I've been unable to take a nap or go to bed at night before first putting Lukers in his crate. Otherwise, he's all over me and/or Chip.  I've tried it occasionally, with no success.

Last night before I got into bed, he had hopped up there and was lying so quietly and sweetly (I've seen it before, mind you) that I thought I'd try it again. Worked very well for about an hour an a half, until I needed to get up again for a brief couple of minutes, and then it was all over.

So into the crate he went again. But, still, that's progress on that front. (Assuming that I want to eventually let him sleep on the bed, too, which I think I want.)

That's all.

Well, This is a Bit More Complicated Than Expected

SUMMARY: Luke and company.  With only 2 interruptions.

This new dog is not, by any means, housebroken.

I'm trying to start over from scratch. I take him outside every time he comes out of his crate, after he's eaten, after he's played, and before I bring him into the house if he's been out in the yard for a while. And yet I had TWO pees in the house today:

1. He and Chip were playing in my office, and then he played alone with his newly discovered Love, the Giant Dog Cushion.
   
   
   (This is after I had to soak with bitter apple the corner of the cushion's cover where the zipper pull is because he was determined to chew it off.) I was counting some things while sitting at my desk. Luke stepped away from the cushion and stood there panting. I dropped the file back into the drawer so that I could take him outside, and I said, Come On, and he bent his back legs and peed right there on the carpet. I had taken him out and watched him pee less than half an hour before that.
2. I was lying on the couch. He and Chip had been playing. As often seems to happen after play sessions, it ends with Chip lunging and snarling at him. I managed to talk them apart and was soothing Chip. I stood up and walked briskly towards the door, saying, Let's go, Luke! and he briskly dashed ahead of me, stopping suddenly to pee on the sofa cushion leaning under the dining table.

Jeez. I don't know how to manage this!  I suppose I should post a photo of the huge pile of rags I've used in the last week.  I've had to refill the Nature's Miracle squirt bottle 3 times from the gallon refill.

Yesterday I think it was zero times, but he was in his crate and I was gone for over 8 hours total.

The day before, 3 times. Once I wasn't paying attention, and the other 2 times, somewhat like today, I was paying attention. And a few other times in the preceding days. Potty training feels like it's getting worse, not better.

I had not expected this.

[Hola! Just now it's been just over 15 minutes since last pee. Since then, a bit of playing with Chip, a bit of chewing on a bone, and then Luke just got up and started wandering around, nose down. Whipped him outside and sure enough he peed a bathtub-load! Where does a little dog like him KEEP all that pee? This is the problem--peeing. all. day. long, and me taking him out--all. day. long. But this time, at least, I won.]

I don't like the way the play often ends between the two of them, and I can't see what's making it happen that way. I'm delighted that they'll play wrestle for 3 or sometimes 15 minutes, and often in that casual we're-both-lying-down-and-gently-interacting kind of play. But, so often, suddenly Chip is going after Luke, and Luke today is starting to return the action.

I don't know whether to try to keep them separated all the time, or to just break up the play quickly after it starts, or what. Darn it.

Luke does not return thrown toys and in fact doesn't even always chase them. If I try to play with him with a toy, he ignores me or he grabs my hand & wrist & fingers (whatever's available), neither of which is lovely.  I thought that it wasn't hard enough to hurt, but sometimes it is when I'm not in an easy position to get him off, and I'm realizing that, yep, after a week, my wrists and hands are bruised.  (Here's a truly gentle finger grab.)

 I can interact with him with food, and that's mostly it so far.

He has definitely graduated from finding dog toys everywhere (for days I kept being amazed at how well he knew which were dog toys and which weren't for the most part), but now he's in full-on assault on anything that I might have worn (shoes), touched (something that fell on the floor), moved (wastebasket full of stuff), etc.

On the up side, he's still just as cute as ever.

He's very smart. I love it when he makes that eye contact to get a treat for something.

He made me laugh (and curse) at the same time,  as I tried to keep him in the kitchen with me by closing the doors during the times I was there--and within a day he had figured out how to jump down (and back up) through the railing overlooking my carpeted office.

Like Boost used to do.  Of the six dogs I've had in this house, these are the only two to do that. (Jake used to jump down, but never back up.)

[Whoa, look, now he has a pair of my underwear!  We're not into "Drop it," apparently, and I have to get his attention that I have treats before he'll consider whether it's worth it to come back for it. Nope, doesn't want the kibble in the pocket. I race for the Zukes in the cabinet while he races for the yard. Didn't I close off my bedroom door? Oh, right, moved it when I went upstairs for pain pills a bit ago. Up I go to close it off again.]

He never stops moving until he sleeps.

I managed to get some of his sewing-needle-sharp toenails clipped this morning, but it took a long time; I'd hold his paw, stick a treat in his mouth, grab my clippers, line them up on his toenail, and he'd be wiggling and grabbing at my hand already.  Not a lot, not like in terror, but like as in come on don't keep sitting here holding my paw!

He's getting better and better at sitting in the back of his crate and waiting for a release when I open the crate door (thank you, crate games), but getting onto the floor and back up, or bending to do it, even if I drag a chair over every time (which I stopped doing after the first day, jeez).

[OK, he's decided that it's time to jump on my hands and grab them, and I have to disentangle him and get him into his crate again. DEFINITELY nap time again, even though it's only a little before bedtime. Just like a toddler, I can tell when he needs a rest by the increasing level of brattiness. So far, he's never giving himself the luxury of just lying there.]

He comes in from the garage quickly after I go out for something and come back in, even if he's distracted, because he comes when I call (not from anywhere else, but from the garage).  I always have to remember how very long it took for Tika to decide to pay attention when I called her in from the garage.  A long long long long time, and I think she was older than Luke when she got here.

But All day long during the times when he's out of his crate (back in every couple of hours so I can rest or when he starts acting like a brat) it feels as if I'm constantly practicing back-away-from-the -treats-and make-eye-contact or stay-away-from the table-top or don't-get-into-the-trash or please-go-pee or I dunno whatever, dispensing treats often for many things and some things I see improvement but jeez I am physically exhausted.

Tired.

TIRED. And sore.

I keep reminding myself: You knew he'd need work. You know that you'd have to give it at least 6 weeks to figure things out into a calmer life. You knew these things.  I just didn't expect to be working on the things that I'm working on, I guess.

And with all of this, I completely forgot about Chip's class yesterday morning, darn it.

Happiness is a Cushy Chair All To Yourself

SUMMARY: Wordless Wednesday.

(Pre-Luke)

>>  Visit the Wordless Wednesday site; lots of blogs. <<

More Fireworks and Bored Dogs

SUMMARY: All the shots are edited, and the dogs are tired of it.

The rest of my fireworks shots are here--I recommend playing in slideshow mode.

This dog is somewhat bored.

This Collie is boreder.

I'm not entirely sure why they both have bright blue patches. I swear I haven't been painting them.

Increasing the Potency

SUMMARY: Next magic potion for itching.

I called the vet yesterday after Boost continued scratching into the day. He replaced the previous pills with prednisone.

Well, as any student of fantastic magic (or science, for that matter) knows, if you up a spell's potency, there's a higher price to pay. I still remember how bad I felt when Remington was on pred for some reason, and I left him in his crate for 3 hours while doing something important, and came back to find him and his crate soaked in urine, with him standing there, looking miserable, trying to keep his feet on the only one or two barely dry spots.

So I know about this drinks-more, pees-more effect.

My thinking on this itching thing is that, if it's allergies, a really thorough house-cleaning might help, too, whether there's a stray flea involved or not. So I've been vacuuming like crazy (usually do one room at a time), and last night washed all the pillows, dog beds, sheets, and blankets in the bedroom and put fresh sheets on and a fresh duvet cover, too. Ahhh, felt nice!

Last night, middle of the night, Boost jumps off the bed and starts wandering around. That could mean: Tika rolled over and got too close to her, or: Looking for a more comfy place to sleep, or: Bored, or: Is thinking about maybe having to go potty. What I normally do to forestall the first three is just invite her (or insist) back onto the bed. She popped right up, lay down, and went to sleep.

I always figure that, if she really needs to go out, she'll let me know (like she did Thursday night, twice, by whacking the door with her paw).

This morning, I woke up, she snuggled, and I noticed her entire left thigh was soaking wet. Sure enough, on further exploration, the duvet cover is soaking. And the down comforter inside. And the sheets underneath. And the extra sheet I put over the electric mattress pad. And the electric mattress pad. And the anti-allergen zipper cover on the mattress. And, yes indeed, mattress sopping wet.

Interesting, looking at a couple of very small previous stains on the mattress top. They might very well be from the weekend Jake died, when he first had a major seizure and emptied everything--that's where he was sleeping. So, other than this new, huge stain, that's all that's ever gotten through to the mattress.

Dang, I wonder how deep down the liquid went?

The nice thick, absorbent dog bed ON the bed? Dry as an antler, which, I forgot to mention, I finally spent a bunch of $$ on because so many people rave about how their dogs love chewing on antlers. My dogs? Took them from me, dropped them on the floor, and haven't looked at them since. Gah.

But I digress. I hosed Boost down, stripped everything back off the bed, soaked everything with Nature's Miracle, and am working my way through the laundry. Not what I was planning on doing today. But poor Boost, poor me, guess I'm not going to assume anything at night while she's on the pred. And maybe I should put a ton of extra padding on their side of the bed for the next week or two.

Oh, and I forgot to mention--only a couple of very brief scratching incidents in the night. So the pred seems to do what it was intended to do--and is exacting its price.

Wordless Wednesday Snooze

SUMMARY: Boost shows how it's done.

Part 4 of Packing for an Agility Weekend, Then and Now

SUMMARY: Fourth in a series comparing my 1996 gear to my 2010 gear, and transitions between.

[Previous parts: Part 1, transportation and others.; Part 2, shade, crate covers, mat.; Part 3, clothing]

Seating:

• Then--
  
  • 1996: Short-legged beach chair because it was small & so I'd be sitting at the ground level with my dog.
  • 1998: Double-wide folding chair because at a trial, another friend had one, and Remington sat on the chair with her and snuggled.  However, he never did that with me on MY chair.
  • 2001: Folding chair with built-in foot rest. Because of my back injury at the time, I couldn't sit in the normal position.
  • 2004: Foot rest kept getting in the way. Couldn't find a purple chair, so bought a blue folding chair.
• Now--In 2005, a single friend with 2 matching purple chairs generously traded one of her purple ones for my blue one.

Sleeping over:

• Then--Tent. Ground cloth. Sleeping bag. Air mattress.
• Now--Thick chaise lounge pad and down comforter in the back of MUTT MVR.

Dog beds and mats:

• Then--Old beach towel.
• Now--I have all of these, and use different ones depending on the circumstances:
  
  • Hand-made roll-up bed with ties, bought my first year for Remington from some ladies at a trial who made them as a fund-raiser.
  • Thick white furry mat with blue trim that I bought for Jake.
  • Purple faux fur (plush) mats that always stay in the wire crates in MUTT MVR.
  • Another purple plush mat usually used when sleeping in van.
  • Two ivory-colored plush mats, usually used in soft crates on cold or wet days.

Dog water and containers:

• Then--Water carrier: Gallon tupperware cannister, because that's what I had; kept in the pantry between trials. Bowls: Water bowl from house went into car for weekends, then back into the house.
• Now--Water carrier: Two one-gallon jugs with sturdy screw-on lids that pop open for pouring. Kept in MUTT MVR at all times. Bowls: Metal pails that clip into soft crates. Anti-spill one-piece bowls for wire crates in MUTT MVR. Two-part anti-spill bowl that also lives in MUTT MVR at all times for class or when dogs are loose in car. Folding bowls in suitcase for hotel use.

Dogfood and bowls:

• Then--The first year, came home every night no matter what, so didn't have to take food. Next step: Food bowls from house went into car. Food was premeasured into individual labeled quart zip-lock bags for each dog and meal so I didn't have to take my measuring cups with me.
• Now--Dedicated gear bag for food stuff, including metal bowls that always stay in that bag, measuring cups that always stay in that bag, and filled-up gallon  zip-lock bags.

Competitive Dog Sports -- Another Pass-Around Thang

SUMMARY: About me & my dog sports.

Found on Facebook. I'm posting here because I've answered many of these questions before and I'm just going to link to 'em. If you want to do this note on facebook and tag your dog-sport pals, copy & paste these instructions as well as the rest of the content:
Copy and paste the content below, then erase the other person's answers and put in your own. Tag as many Dog Nuts as you can think of, including the person who sent it to you as "first tag." Don't be shy to make your answers long, if need be.

NOTE: This will be a very long read if you also read the links in which I answer some questions at length. Don't you have something better to do with your time?

List the dog sports in which you compete. If you have a particular favorite please tell us, and tell us why!
Agility!

Is there anyone you'd like to thank or BLAME for getting you into competitive dog activities?
My obedience instructor started taking agility classes and recommended it to me. For my active, eager dog. Who is also clearly to blame.

Please tell the story of how you got started in dog sports. Where/when (year please, don't be shy!)/why/etc.
Remember, you asked. (First competition: January 1996.)

What is your FAVORITE thing about dog sports, and what is your LEAST FAVORITE?
One answer, from June 2009, on "why agility?"
What I hate about agility? Disappointing myself, sometimes; the expense; the amount of time it takes away from everything else in my life.

What breeds or mixes thereof do you/have you owned? Please list their name, their breed (or mix thereof) and then their BEST quality as a sport dog and their WORST quality as a sport dog.
Whoa, can you believe I've never done a post on this? (At least not that I'm finding.) This would make a good future blog post. Summary:

• Remington, Squirrelhund (Lab/Shepherd probably). Almost never dropped a bar. Loved to learn. Could be pretty fast. Extremely sensitive to my moods and shut down a lot.
• Jake, Semidachshund (sheltie mix probably, maybe beagle?). Took forever to learn anything new. But once he got it, very reliable.
• Tika, Craussie (Aussie cross, maybe Husky?). Pretty darned fast, loves doing agility, easily distracted, fights the "rules" every step of the way. 
• Boost, Border Collie. Extremely fast and driven. Loves to learn. Very focused. Wants to do agility. Light on the concepts of keeping bars up and doing weaves from beginning to end.
  

How many dog beds do you currently own and what did you pay for the most expensive one?

• Double-thick bathmats once were primary dog beds. (3 or 4, bought on clearance for about $15 each in the early '90s. Tucked away now or used at trials when sleeping in the van.)
• Official dog mats, thick pile fleece with blue border. (3, one in kitchen, one in crate in bedroom, one for trials. About $15 each at pet stores through the years.)
• Raised PVC bed frames with rip-stop "hammock". (3, one in office, two in kitchen. Bought one at giant February AKC dog show at the Santa Clara County fairgrounds. Two bought at USDAA Nationals in Scottsdale. $55 each in 2001. )
• Big thick dog bed cushion with zippered cover. (2, both in office, one on a PVC bed frame--which the dogs take turns using--one from Costco about $20, one won in agility trial raffle.)
• Down-filled bed with stuff bag. (1, stored in closet, won in raffle.)
• Giant fleece/fabric sturdy throw used as dog bed in my bedroom. (1, won in raffle.)
• Smaller fleece rectangle with raised sides in my bedroom. (1, won in raffle.)
• Spiffy actual nice plush dog bed, bought for Jake with a Christmas gift certificate to PetSmart (so it was either free or $79.99, depending on your viewpoint, which could make it the most expensive). (Jake died only a month later, but he loved it while he had it. Tucked in the corner of my office, Boost uses it all the time. Tika sometimes uses it.)

(Short post in which this photo originally appeared.)

What is the most you ever paid for a large bag of dog food? Probably $55. Same thing sells at a discount at nearby Pet Club for $35.

What is the most you have ever paid for a dog toy, and what was it?
No clue. Probably in the $20 range from time to time.

List the vehicles you have bought specifically for traveling to and from dog competitions.
MUTT MVR! Read my 2005 post about it in the Quintessential agility car.

What is the furthest you have ever traveled in order to attend a dog event?
Scottsdale, Arizona (USDAA Nationals 2004,05,06,07,08).
Second furthest: Either San Diego, CA (USDAA Nationals, 2000 and 2001), or Eureka, CA (2002, chasing the last gambler's let for Remington's NATCH).

How many dog-related pieces of clothing do you currently own?
As of March 2007.

How many dog toys do you own? Don't forget to include the ones in the car and in various closets and at your in-laws' house.
As of November 2008. (Remember that you can click on a photo to see a larger version of it to make out more details.)

(Read the original post that goes with the photo.)

How many dog-related books do you own?



Remember that you can always click on a photo here to see a larger version of it if you want to browse bowser titles yourself. (Read the post that goes with the photo.) Here's the list of the books as of 2006. (Read the short post that goes with the list.)

Have you ever been bitten by a dog? If so what were the circumstances?
Accidentally when Jake and Remington got into a fight between me, the couch, and the coffee table.

Has your dog ever peed/pooped/barfed someplace that they really shouldn't have? If so, tell us what happened!
Are you kidding? I own dogs! Duh!

Has your dog ever stolen a major item of human food? Tell us!
Not that I recall.

When competing in dog sports, did you ever admire someone else's dog from afar so much that you will always remember that dog? If so, please tell us all about it.
So many dogs! Several Border Collies stood out, including one who would eventually become Boost's mom. Several mixed-breed dogs! I love their distinctive looks and how well they do even against Border Collies.

Of all your friend's dogs, which dog would you like to take home and keep if you had the chance? You can list three, just to be fair...or just one if you're ruthless!
I've had such a wide variety of my own, I now know that there is no perfect dog. Any one will have its issues and its successes. I don't covet others's dogs.

What has been your most embarrassing moment thus far while competing in dog sports?
Probably a tie between:

• Me and Jake running a beautiful first half of a Pairs Relay course, to have our partner cry, "Where's the baton?!" as I came racing in, empty handed. (That's an automatic disqualification.)
• Running into the teeter totter. Read about it here.

What has been your most shining moment thus far while competing in dog sports?

Oh, so very many! Jake's MAD (the first I ever earned). Remington's NATCH (my first dog's championship, FINALLY). Winning Full House with zillions of points over and over in CPE trials with Tika and Boost. Boost doing the weave poles correctly! Winning a ribbon at USDAA Nationals with Tika in an individual event. Making Team finals at the USDAA Nationals with Tika. Finally getting Jake's 5th Gamblers Q for his ADCH. Finally qualifying for Grand Prix semifinals with Tika with a smooth and beautiful and aggressive run. Having a Perfect Weekend with Tika. Earning a trophy at CPE Nationals with Tika--one Q away from a perfect 3-day Nationals with 1sts or 2nds in everything (and I mean of everyone competing, not just her class). Remington getting excited about agility again and running like when he first started. Jake jumping into my arms at the end of a run. I dunno--I could go on and on. 220 trials over 14 years--lots going on in there!

What are your goals for the future with your dogs?

Not sure any more. Once upon a time it was to win More First Places and Make It To the Nationals Finals. But now, I dunno, I'm thinking "retire and do a lot of hiking."

If the Dog Fairy could grant you one wish (sky is the limit), what would it be?

I love my dog family the way it is now. Love the dogs, love how they get along together, love how they've come along in their training. Don't want to have to start over again. Keep them around and healthy and active for many many years.

Groaning In So Many Ways

SUMMARY: Waking up to dogs, groceries, and death, and groaning in a major way at the very end.

I love waking up in the morning with my dogs. It's one of the few times of the day when they'll snuggle, and they're [mostly] so gentle at that time. Boost might stretch out while I'm stroking her face or her tummy, eyes closing blissfully. Tika for some reason will curl up right against my body until I'm fully awake, then move to where I can barely reach her with my fingertips and glare at me reproachfully if I don't pet her. She particularly likes having her face rubbed--I put my palm over her eyes, one thumb near one ear, middle finger near the other, and push and rub, and she presses her head into my hand and moves it around to get everything rubbed--or she wants her ears massaged, and leans into it, groaning. Ahhhh! That's the life.

Today was Michael Jackson's memorial service. Apparently millions of people, literally, tried to get tickets to be in the actual stadium for the 2-hour performance/service, and the whole thing was broadcast live over TV and radio. I groaned. Sad celebrity death, very talented but very odd man. Only 50. There have been four major untimely deaths in my lifetime that I remember clearly as being media circuses during and after, with worldwide outpouring of grief and dismay and coverage that went on for weeks afterward: John F. Kennedy (at 46), Elvis Presley (only 42), Princess Di (a mere 36), and now Michael Jackson, the old man in the crowd at 50, which, darn it, is younger than I am, and I still think of myself as young. Well--young enough.

I decided to hit the grocery stores, since there seemed to be a huge number of people (judging by their FaceBook entries) glued to the TV for the service. I tried to be efficient in 2 ways:

(1) First, I tried Safeway.com to pay to get my groceries delivered so I wouldn't have to drive 5 minutes to the store, go up and down the aisles, stand in line, and drive back. Would've probably taken 45 minutes for this trip. My past experience has been that it takes as long or longer to order online as to just find the stuff in the store, but every year or 2 I decide to try it again.

First, the interface wouldn't work with my browser. Took a while to figure that out, let's say 10 minutes. Switched to another browser.

Search for dairy. There, search for nonfat milk. There, scroll through the choices, of which there are a couple dozen, to find mine. Faster than going directly to the shelf where I always get my milk and popping it into the cart? Maybe not. AND I can't check the "use by date" but have to rely on their shopper to get me the freshest bottle. Search for "whole wheat sourdough bread". Only one choice comes up, no photo. Not sure it's the one I usually get. Waffle about whether to select it, but OK. Want some small bananas. Have to choose between regular and organic. have to type a note in a separate window saying "please choose really really small ones" except I apparently have only about 20 characters for "custom order info," so have to experiment with phrasing.

Am I saving time? OK, half an hour into this event, I've got 7 things in my shopping cart and I'm not done yet. Groaannnnn! Abandon ship!

(2) Drive to the store--Lucky's is next to my bank, so that's where I end up. Fill my cart halfway within about 10 minutes. There's only one checkout line open with 3 people standing in it, so I go to the self-checkout lanes, all of which are open. Figure it'll be faster, right?

To ensure that you aren't cheating, you swipe the item and then MUST put it onto the bagging area shelf, where it weighs it to be sure you're not sneaking in some unpaid extras. So what happens when I put my own shopping bag onto the shelf? Error! Clerk has to come clear it. I foolishly don't put all 4 bags onto the shelf to sit there and wait, so the clerk has to clear it again and then again when I add more of my own bags. Doh!

Next, you have to put each item onto the shelf before swiping the next one. So, sure, you can pick up 4 small items, but you must swipe, set it down, wait for acknowledgment, swipe, set it down, wait, etc. Not efficient. And you can't just put the big items like boxes of soda back into your cart; it won't progress until they're on the shelf with everything else.

Thirdly, for produce, you have to find the info in the database. Bananas are easy, they come up as "common items" on the first screen. But the cantaloupe? The clerk has to come tell me that it's under "melon", not under "cantaloupe." I have to search for Kiwi, then type in how many I've got. And so on.

Then I have to rearrange everything in the bags because I couldn't bag them in the most effective combinations while scanning them. Then into the cart. Not efficient. I groaned when the clerk had to come over to do special processing when I wanted to write a check; OK, I said to her, I guess this wasn't the wisest thing to do with this many items.

By the time I'm done with my 30 items or so, the one open checkout lane has processed probably 4 or 5 people. OK, I love the self-checkout for half a dozen or fewer items, but from now on, with more than that, it's the regular check-out lane.

Usually I take the merle girls with me when I go to the bank or shopping, and then we walk for 10 or 15 minutes in that area for something new to scratch and sniff. Today I didn't because it was a tad warm and I wasn't sure there'd be shade. There wasn't, and it took me long enough that I'm glad they stayed home. Dogs were happy to see me; annoyed that I then sat down at my computer again.

And now, I just wanted to share with you what some dogs have to put up with to get their four square meals a day, because it made my morning when I read it in the paper: Don't say I didn't warn you about the groaning.(Source: July 7 2009 strip at http://www.gocomics.com/duplex/.)

Today's Briefing

SUMMARY: Upcoming events, rodents, Jake's ghost

Only two weekends to our next actual trial. It's a CPE trial, so I'm hoping that I'll be more relaxed and focused on using it as a training experience with Boost (although CPE doesn't allow training in the ring, there's training and then there's training). On the other hand, I'll also be Big Chief Running Score Table Czar, being the resident expert on CPE scoring, so who knows how relaxed I'll really be. Fortunatly we've got a bunch of people who are good at score table.

Then--I planned my calendar out for this entire year. I was supposed to be doing another CPE trial 2 weeks after that. However, for whatever dumb reason, I missed the fact that the premium was out, and now the trial is full and I can't get in. Have I mentioned before how very much I despise limited trials for exactly that reason? There go my year's plans, down the tubes. If I had been counting on that trial for a specific purpose (as opposed to simply "convenient trial on convenient date", I'd really be floating my begonias. (Whatever THAT means. Sounds distraught, though, doesn't it?)

However, conveniently there's an ASCA trial the same weekend, and closer to home. ASCA agility is now the way NADAC agility was originally. Simple--Standard, Gamblers, Jumpers. And all the usual normal equipment. But I haven't done any of that in so long, that really I can't count it as a weekend for earning legs, because they'll be of pretty much no use to me. But they do allow training in the ring like NADAC did/does. So it's a fun match. A pricey fun match, but a fun match none-the-less.

Tika made it out of Novice to Open and Elite in NADAC, but so few of those were dual-sanctioned with ASCA that in fact according to them she's still in Novice Jumpers and open Gamblers. But apparently I can run her in Elite and they'll just apply any Qs to the levels I'm missing. For me, it wouldn't feel fair towards the other competitors to put her into Novice or Open, so Elite is what I'll do.

Apparently I didn't even bother to register Boost with NADAC or ASCA. So I had to send in her registration to get a number. Get this: It costs only $10 to register a dog. But you have to be a member to register a dog, and the minimum membership fee is $10. So what they're not telling you is that it costs $20 or more to register a dog. It's all in how you phrase it, I guess.

Her, I *will* enter in Novice because that's about where we belong, IMHO!

Even though she seems to be channeling Jake's ghost.

I used to have this old, low-slung, wrap-around-backed chair that was so crappy and ugly that I always had it covered with a throw. I kept it only because the dogs liked it. Jake in particular. One of his big hobbies was digging enthusiastically at the throw cover until he had bunched it up into a useless glob or thrown it off the chair entirely, and then going off on some other urgent chore. I'd put the throw back on. Next time he came by, he'd notice this travesty and do his artistic rendering of a lump of fabric again. This went on several times a day, for years.

When Boost came along and tore the chair into a zillion pieces, I finally got rid of it. Poor Jake, his main hobby out in the trash. I finally got him a nice replacement bed, a soft outer part with a removable inner cushion. In January of this year. Talk about bad timing. Anyway.

The bed has been sitting there. The other dogs have used it on occasion. But over the last couple of weeks, Boost has used it more and more, and Jake's spirit seems to have taken over her brain. (Sounds like a bad horror movie, doesn't it?) I've noticed her on occasion digging and pulling at that center cushion until she gets it out of the bed, and then she goes off on some other mission. So I put it back. Next time I notice, it's out in the middle of the floor again.

It's nice to know that some dog hobbies can be passed along from generation to generation.

I'd like mouse-catching to be one of those things, but apparently catching mice in the house is a lot harder than catching them outside. Outside, you can dig under the compost bin, then push on it until it tips over, then, after spending half an hour eating all the really nummy bits of kitchen waste that were inside the bin, you can actually get at the mice or rats and dispatch them. Not so easy to do with a fridge in the kitchen.

Maybe it was yesterday's weather--very unsummerlike, overcast and gloomy and windy and looking for all the world as if it wanted to rain (apparently did in san francisco & a few other places around the bay)--but the "mouse" that I have had in my kitchen and bedroom was hyperactive all day yesterday. I could hear him digging and chewing and dashing around in cabinets and behind the fridge and under the stove and dammit there was nothing I could do about it. Even saw him dash across the floor several times. Even the dogs were going nuts. They wanted to go into the living room, next to the kitchen, and were poking around eagerly at the couch as if they had seen and/or smelled the furry little beast right there. Boost even stood or lay in the kitchen for about two hours, ALMOST catching him as he scurried out-from-and-back-under. Driving me nuts.

So I finally took the two traps that had previously been sprung but caught nothing, and reset them and placed them more strategically carefully under the sink. I had barely sat down at my computer when i heard one go off. Bingo! I disposed of him in the trash can, sat down at my desk... and the other one went off. Got another one of the little buggers.

It's heartbreaking at the same time as it's a relief to catch them. I don't want or need their diseases and their pee and poop all over my house. But I do really love little furry wee beasties, and opening the cabinet and seeing the little bright black eyes (deceased) and little sweet furry bodies, oh, it tears me up. But catching them live and turning them loose outside isn't going to help me or whoeve else's house I'd put them near.

So I put THAT one in the trash can, along with the trap (I dont' bother trying to separate ex-mice from the traps--they all go to the dump together), went back into the kitchen... and heard one scamper among the items stored under the sink at the SAME TIME as one was gnawing under the cabinet on teh opposite side of the room. This morning, my housemate reported that one ran into his bedroom and back out again right in front of him. Dammit!

Anyway, bought a ton more traps today. Set them all over the place in clever strategic areas, but there doesn't seem to be quite as much hyperactivity in the heat of this sunny summerish day. Still, sat down at my desk, and heard one under the sink go off. Disposed of that one, set another one. Later--heard it go off again. So that's four down and I could've sworn that when I went up to my bedroom to set traps up there, I heard scurrying.

I've never had a mouse problem like this before, and it's a little intimidating. How many of them are there? One female can have up to 10 litters a year with up to a dozen or more babies per litter. Yikes. I might be doomed. We'll see whether I can get 'em all with billions of traps. I don't really want to use poison bait, which seems to be the more effective but scarier method.

And on that note--I'll be off to Wednesday Night 8:15 class shortly. It'll be a quiet night, as our usual instructor Jim is gone (Nancy's taking his place) and three class members--that I know of--are also out of town, including Ash and Luka, who won ALL THREE tournament events at the northwest regional last week. Jim says that he can't remember any dog ever doing that. So when they're back in town, we'll have a big old celebration. It's just amazing to think about how far he's come since he first joined our class as basically a novice, seems like not that long ago, but I guess at least 2 years now. And here the rest of us are, putzing along...

But it's good for a lot of celebrations. I hope he doesn't get tired of it and decide that it's all too easy. Although rumor has it that he might be thinking about a second dog so he can play with the big dogs--

The Jakester

SUMMARY: Just a couple of Jake photos.

Jake taking a snooze in the brand-new bed he got for Christmas, thanks to my sister Ann and her family.	The last 3 (?) digits of Jake's tattoo, maybe 8 years old. Can you tell what numbers they are? I just got Tika and Boost tattooed, and I hope theirs don't look like this in 8 years.