Working-K9: June 2008 Posts

Sunday, June 29, 2008
Quest

I was going to title this On a Quest but since Quest is a male golden retriever I thought it sounded a bit too inappropriate for some of my younger readers out there.

Quest is 10 months old and apparently reminds my human of me when I was that age. All frenzied an abundance of energy. I don't think he sat till for more than 20 seconds at a time.

We played with the ball and Kong toys and even let the humans join in a bit too. Ya we felt we should do the nice thing and make them feel wanted. The ball was by far the hot toy of the evening. I had the hardest time getting Quest to share the ball with me. He even took it to the water bowl, placed it next to the bowl and drank as quickly as possible. When I wandered by he'd stop drinking and snatch the ball up lightning fast just so I couldn't get it. Males. Sheesh..

I think my human was really enjoying Quests' company a little too much. She kept playing the "wait for it" game with him like she did with me when I had his lack of patience. So naturally I snuggled up with another human in the attempt to make my human jealous. It didn't work well but I did get lots of loving from those other humans so I didn't care much either.

Naturally the humans posed us for a few photos. Humans are so strange like that. My human decided to get a little artsy with this one and remove some of the background color. I think it makes us fine looking canines really look awesome. What do you think?

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Visiting the museum

Yesterday my human and her roommate tagged along with me to visit the Arizona Museum of Natural History. I had been there before once with my human but it was nearly a year ago so it was time to check it out again. Plus the roommate wanted to see it, as she is still fairly new to the area.

Because this museum is such a hands-on and kid-friendly place there were of course many little humans running around. Several of them ran up and grabbed me or petted me. Now I'm not complaining none but it did annoy my human because I quickly became very distracted.

A few of the kids were actually afraid of me. This isn't the reaction I usually get because I'm just so darn cute as you all know. One little boy was particularly fearful of me and would try to run away or would squeal when he saw me. I wanted to go over and comfort the child to show him that I'm a good dog, but my human feared it would put the kid in to an outright panic attack, so every time we had to go near the kid my human would pull me in tight to her side and hold the leash taut.

The museum itself hadn't changed much; interesting facts on space and the Earth, evolution and development of species; fossils and dinosaur replicas. Tid-bits about weather here in Phoenix and native plants and animals. There was a new section about the evolution of flight and how dinosaurs evolved feathers and eventually flight. My human loved this area in particular.

The other new exhibit was all about the uses of poop. Yes you read that correctly, it was about poop. How it's made, how nature uses it, which animals make the most, biggest, messiest, smelliest, smallest, and what all the different types looked like. They even had fossilized mammoth droppings. Ya, I felt right at home in there.

We also saw some history of the area from the first mission to the first jail. Actually the silly humans seemed to enjoy the jail cells a bit too much. It was cramped and dark and they were laughing and taking photos. There was also some history on the old west area in this area and the trip ended as the roommate tried her hand at panning for gold in a make-shift river which actually smelled more like a backyard pool than a river but oh well.

Thursday, June 19, 2008
Late Night Frenzy

It is summer here in Phoenix and it is very hot outside. That's actually putting it mildly. By mid to late morning it's often in the triple digits. This is far too hot to be outside playing for long. In fact I've spent most of the past several days inside relaxing on the cool tile floor.

You are probably thinking that I'm a lucky dog but the reality is; I get bored. I can't romp and play in the house, that isn't allowed. My human won't spend much time outside in the yard with me. It's to hot for both of us. My human hasn't been taking me with her on any mid-day errands because the pavement would scorch my feet, and that's unusual because I can handle quite a bit of heat on my feet. Still it is sweet that she thinks of my wellbeing first.

Still all this napping during the day leaves me bursting with energy all night. Thankfully I do have some very understanding humans around and we've spent some lovely evenings running around the neighborhood or playing in the back yard. I must admit when it's finally cool enough to play I do go a little crazy and transform in to Super Dog!

That's right; you'll see me darting around the yard faster than a speeding bicycle, able to leap cheap plastic tables in a single bound and stronger than your toughest chew toys.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Play Date

I have been a bit antsy lately and she knows this means I need a little doggie play time. Not being much of an athlete she can't run around in the back yard and play with me for several hours so I can burn off all that extra energy. Plus, let's face it, sometimes I simply want to hang out with another dog. So my human finally scheduled a doggie play date for me.

This play date was special. She planned a play date with the folks at Arizona Goldens and they brought Ella and Hope over. Both Ella and Hope are younger than I am so they have lots of puppy energy. In fact I think I'm starting to feel my age. I just couldn't keep up with them. Ella constantly beat me to the Kong toy as we played fletch with the humans. Hope tried to join in but being the youngest she was very easily distracted by the butterflies which are ever present in my backyard.

Hope proved to be better at playing tug with my rope toy than fetching tossed objects. However those butterflies were a powerful distraction and even that game came to an abrupt end.

Neither Ella nor Hope had much, if any experience with a doggie door so as I'd run inside for a quick drink they'd run to the door and look in through the glass with a very puzzled look on their faces. It took a few hours but they both did learn to use a doggie door. In fact Hope enjoyed that new trick so much she stopped playing with the toys and just walked in and out through the doggie door. The humans found this to be very funny.

Thursday, June 12, 2008
I Won!

Thank you, thank you. Yes it's true, I did win. I thank you all for your votes and support throughout the moments long beach wear competition.

Actually I'd like to say I had some tough competitors vying for the award but alas I was the contest. No one else showed up in a bikini so I won by default. Still, a win is a win in my book.

Other dogs were at the PetSmart party but none dressed the part. In fact the party crowd was pretty much like all the other parties, the same group of humans and dogs. It's a good thing we are all such good friends, we had so much fun.

In the end a few of us posed for a group shot. Then we went our separate ways.

Saturday, June 7, 2008
Sweeping

Since my humans' mother has been in town the floor has never been cleaner. In fact she really seems to enjoy all that cleaning. I've been amazed at how often I'll come around the corner only to find her sweeping the floor. This task is often followed by mopping the floor, then another round of sweeping.

Now I'm just a dog but even I think this is border line obsessive compulsive behavior. If she were a dog someone would have to distract and redirect her attention to help her over come such a disorder. However because she is human, and because I often see my human return to her computer time and time again; I'm starting to think that such behaviors are normal for humans.

Personally I'd rather chew a toy, nap or even lick myself but that's just me and times like these make me so glad I am a dog.

Since redirecting a behavior that she seems to enjoy so much anyways isn't an option I've decided to help her with this endless task. You all know how much I love to roll in the dirt outside. Well if you didn't know, you do now. I love it. I love waking up from a nap and going for a nice roll and flop in the dirt. Sometimes I do this after eating, playing, resting, working.... Actually I do this all the time. If I'm not doing something else you can bet I'm out back rolling in the dirt.

Sorry I'll get back on track now..

Ok so I decided to do what makes the human happy. The best way for me to help is to dirty the floor so she can sweep again, obviously. Gee she's lucky I like to roll in the dirt so much.

Now every time I see her put the broom away I go out side, roll around and come back in covered in dust, dirt and bits of dried grasses. I then stand in the middle of the kitchen and shake with everything I've got. The human comes in, sees the mess and is once again happily sweeping her heart out. I often hear her say "Sandi!! You're dirty!". I think she's pleased.

Sometimes she even takes the broom and sweeps the excess off my body before getting to the new mess on the floor. I think she does this to show her appreciation for my efforts, plus it feels kind of good.

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Puppies!!

My humans neighbors dog had puppies a few weeks ago. So today's entry is more of an "ahhh ain't they cute!!!" thing rather than an actual story.

Sunday, June 1, 2008
Botanicals

Today was a busy day. First the humans woke me up far too early in the morning, and then the humans are rushing around like crazy people. Finally my best pal Annie shows up and because of the rushing we weren't allowed to play and romp as usual. Finally we all end up in the van and heading to a destination of fun and excitement. This actually translates to; the humans get to have fun and I have to practice heeling and being a good dog. Not thrilling for me personally but at least I get to go. Annie agrees with me totally on that point.

A short ride turned in to a long ride as most of the roads we needed were closed. However we did eventually arrive at our destination, The Desert Botanical Gardens. We met up with a few other ladies making our group six humans and two canines strong. This must have been ladies day out because there wasn't a male in the group.

This trip was mostly a long hot outing on a hot day in a location with little shade. Naturally we stopped for water frequently and rested in the shade a few times to cool down.

I would have liked to sniff more of the plants and dirt but apparently that is a dangerous thing to do while walking around hundreds of spiny and thorny plants. Go figure. On a more positive note I did get to see some rabbits, quail, lizards, and ground squirrels. I would have liked to chase after all these critters and even tried a few times but a quick snap on the leash brought me right back to reality.

After the trip we all went out for lunch. I even got a few scraps this time. I think my human felt bad because she made me walk around in the hot sun for so many hours. I love it when she feels guilty. Tee Hee..