Trip to the Beach

Because we got that bark buster spray (compressed air), we were finally able to drive to the beach with Anika. She got a little restless about half way there, but we managed to calm her down.

It was definitely worth it! She has such a good time chasing sea gulls.

The first time she chased one, it flew out into the ocean and she just charged into the surf after it. But I think it scared her to be in so much water because she turned around the tried to leap out of the waves. Actually, it scared me that she might get pulled in from a sneaker wave. So I kept a pretty close eye on her and Steffi. We had a great time!

Doggy Booties!

I am a sucker for free stuff. A week ago, I got a newsletter from GoPetFriendly.Com--an excellent resource, by the way for finding pet-friendly places to stay, visit, and eat when travelling. In the newsletter was an offer to try some dog boots from a company called PawZ. So, I was one of the first 40 subscribers to reply and yesterday I got my sample dog boots.

They looks like balloons and come in a package of 12. They are very flexible, but don't look like they'd last forever, but are not meant to--hence the package of 12. I can see these being useful for Anika since she has split a toenail past the nub a couple of times now. The first time, infection set in and she needed a trip to the emergency vet. I can see how wearing one of these on an injured paw could help her not lick it so much at least. Also these little boots could really help during the hot summer when the girls have come home with blistered paws.

Anyway, they also fit loose around the paw so there's plenty of room for their toes but tight around the leg so they won't come off on their own.

It remains to be seen whether I end up using them. Anika tried one of them on and she didn't think too much of the experience.

We are going to Sunriver in a couple of weeks and bringing Steffi with us so might try these again on her.

Long Absence

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I posted something. I am easily distracted and this time, traveling to London distracted me.

We had a great time seeing the sites, but the girls stayed in a kennel. I wrote about my dilemma of what to do with the girls when we travel here. We opted for the kennel since I know nothing bad will happen to them there. They were tired and thin when we returned, but that didn't surprise me.

I solved one of my other major problems with Anika: the barking in the car. Well, let me say we solved it for going to the dog park. We have not tested it for a longer trip. We have plans to take her to the beach, but so far haven't done that.

Anyway, what we got was the Pet Corrector from The Company of Animals. It's basically a can of compressed air that startles them. But it really works!

Homage to William Wegman

Who doesn't love William Wegman? Almost everyone is familiar with his whimsical and ubiquitous photos of his beloved Weimaraners--on calendars, Christmas cards, tee shirts, posters, video shorts seen on Sesame Street and You Tube.

Basically, I threw together this blog entry so that I could enter the Spring Giveaway contest on Pinterest. 

But I do love William Wegman's work. 

Probably one of my favorite videos is from Sesame Street. Watch it on You Tube here. 

Enjoy!

New Fence

We have needed a new privacy fence for about 10 years. It's rotten, moldy, has green stuff growing all over it. Steffi has dug under it and escaped more times than I can count. I have placed all kinds of things in the most rotten areas to prevent inquisitive noses from investigating.

See for yourself:

So for our piece of mind and our dogs' safety, we finally scraped together the enormous amount of money to replace the fence. We have a double lot, which amounts to about 1/3 of an acre. Lots of feet of fencing!

It hasn't been an easy process. Although we have a great handyman, he is not the fastest. He said it would take about 2 weeks. HA! It's now been 3 weeks and it looks like we are about half way through. It's been hardest on the dogs. We rigged up a chicken wire fence to block off part of the yard so they could still go outside from the deck, bedroom, and garage door.

But that area doesn't give them much room to run and burn off energy. Anika basically spends her time running up and down the deck stairs and looking over the baby gate to bark at check out everyone who walks by.

As I said before, we are beginning on week 3 of this project. So far what's been constructed is beautiful, so I can't wait until it's done and the dogs and I can have our entire yard returned to us to enjoy. I've been itching to go to the garden store to add some plants to the landscape!

And the added bonus is that the cedar smells SO good that it really is a pleasure to be outside enjoying our first taste of Spring!

A Case of the Zoomies

If you have a dog, especially if you have an active dog, you have surely seen a case of the zoomies--that crazy fast run with the tail tucked under.

Our dearly departed Greyhound, Bella, could outdo any dog on the zoomies. The upside is that it's hysterical and beautiful to watch a dog (especially a Greyhound) get up a head of steam and careened around the yard. The downside is the landscape plants are trampled and the dog sometimes returns with an injury.

In fact, one afternoon I was selling a kayak and just as the guy arrived to pick up the kayak, Bella had ripped her leg open racing around the yard. It was that really delicate area on the lower leg where there's not much to stitch together. I was frantic and stressed. I completed the transaction, raced to the vet and handed over the kayak sale proceedings and then some to the vet.

Anyway, I digress.

I have never seen Steffi with the zoomies. But Anika, being the younger and far more energetic Weim, has them in the house, in the yard, but never at the dog park, where it would be perfectly OK to have them.

There's nothing you can do once the dog starts the zooming. Just sit back and enjoy the sight. And pick of the pieces later.

If you want to watch Anika zooming around the yard, click here to see a YouTube video of it.

Finding a Dog Sitter

Finding a decent, reliable dog sitter is virtually impossible. We are planning a trip to London in April and the dog sitter we had been using pretty much flaked out on us last year.

At the beginning of the year, I began trying to locate another dog sitter. I looked into local dog daycare facilities, a local doggy day camp, Craig's List, and the Internet. We had a meet-and-greet with someone we contacted through the website Dog Vacay. I was looking for someone who would be home all day. I thought I had found the perfect match, but she was worried about the dogs getting on her furniture. I don't think she was accustomed to the high energy these kinds of dogs have. We mutually decided it was not a good match.

Over the years we have used a variety of people to help us with our dogs. Professional dog sitters are difficult for us because our dogs are used to us being home all day with them and basically catering to their every whim. Most professional dog sitters have other clients they need to visit every day so you're lucky if you get two 30-minute visits.

Basically what I need is another me. A fairly young retired person, or someone who works from home and can bring her work to our house, like a freelance writer, and who loves dogs and loves to be interrupted frequently! Tall order, I know.

I do think, however, that Dog Vacay is a great website and good service. After our experience, we were contacted by the folks at Dog Vacay who helped find a few other possible sitters. But we reluctantly decided to board the girls at a local kennel. We had tried it once before with Anika and she was fine. At least with a kennel, I don't have to worry about the girls getting into fights with other dogs, getting away from the sitter, being too much to handle, getting on someone's furniture, chewing a toy they are not supposed to have, etc.

What do you do with your dogs when you go on vacation?

Thinking about Gardening

As we begin the new year, I wistfully gaze out the window at the bleak, gray landscape and try to imagine what my spring and summer garden will look like. It's a always a challenge to maintain a garden that can coexist with dogs who like to dig and run like crazy around the perimeter and through the shrubs.

I'm looking for bare spots to fill in with new shrubs that can withstand Anika racing around the yard in hot pursuit of a squirrel or just a case of the zoomies. With all the rain we get, I find new puddles and small streams where holes have been dug and paths have been created for running. Steffi is my digger and Anika gets the zoomies.

Over the years I have learned the hard way of what not to do:

• No little wire barrier fences for protecting young plants--danger! danger! Those cause leg lacerations and cost several hundred dollars in vet visits.
• No roses except in planters. Again, thorns can lodge in an ear or a leg and cost lots of money to treat infections.
• Do not use homemade compost, fish emulsion, or any organic plant fertilizer unless you want every plant to be dug up after your hard work transplanting. The dogs love the taste of that stuff and cannot resist.
• The same goes for planting bulbs with bone meal. Forgetaboutit!
• No bird feeders with sunflower seeds--they attract rats, which carry disease. I feed hummingbirds and put out some suet feeders in the winter. But even those suet cakes are too irresistible to the squirrels and then the dogs are frantic about the squirrels.
• As I mentioned in an earlier post (here), I don't use pesticides. I sometimes use an herbicide to kill unwanted weeds, but I spray it on and then keep the dogs out of that part of the yard for the rest of the day.

I do love attracting wildlife to my garden. I didn't have Weimaraners when we bought this house and I started the garden. But I have decided that with this breed it's exactly like inviting hunters into the wildlife sanctuary. No bird that has nested in my garden has lived to nest again. All fledglings have perished from the relentless canine hunters. Many squirrels have too. Some snakes. The yellow jackets fight back and the dogs end up with swollen muzzles or eyes. Thank goodness they are not allergic! Nobody has tangled with a raccoon yet, but they've come close. I'm lucky to have lots of neighbors with backyard chicken coops that are much more interesting to the raccoons, so they stay out of my hostile environment.

Anyway, I am planning for fresh bark mulch to fill in the worn out areas. I am thinking about putting in a swale to help with drainage on the west side of the house. Like this:

And finally, the big one--we have to build a new privacy fence because ours is so rotten that one big wind or a dog jumping on it might knock it over. It's only a matter of time and I can't risk that.

Until next time, Happy New Year!