House of I

A little bit about my pad. I live in a shack by the river, and I run the place. I have my crate , my couch, my I'm the guard dog here. Don't even think about it. The chickens stay in line because of me. Damn the rooster. If you plan to visit, deliver mail or heating oil, move the neighbors, or be a neighbor, prepare to meet me. Up close and personal.

And if you are princess, the baby GSD like me, welcome! I'm so excited for your visit. You are lovely, take a look: http://imageevent.com/dogonfitness/beard

No more Lampshade

I'm back to my old self again. Let's toast my recovery, and my not having any more accidents in the shack. Hey, I've been under a lot of stress. Imagine not being able to socialize or do your usual thing--running, jumping, playing in the creek-for two weeks. You'd be a little bit of a mess too.

My new trainer, Eileen at the Capital Dog Training Club thinks I'm great. But she has a thing for GSDs. Man, there is one yellow lab in my class -- I swear, she must be a little slow. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm not really paying that much attention to the other dogs in this class -- I'm not allowed. I'm there to work. Some job, getting treats for the amazing feat of sitting and paying attention. But isn't that really the the secret to success with most stuff in life?

Have I mentioned that I love swimming? I played a lot today, now I have great friends, and now I need a bath.

Oh, and we get to have a dog visitor. Princess is coming here during Thanksgiving weekend. She's another 6 months old shepherd. Let us know if you are homeless/familyless for Thanksgiving, we're having a shack feast and you can come too.

Lets Play

See what I mean?

Conditioning

I don't want to dwell on the surgery. Suffice it to say, I have staples and a lampshade, and I'm hiding from the camera. I'd like to see you try to feel pretty in an, "Elizabethan Collar," which earns me the nickname conehead. At first I was having trouble walking a straight line, but today I'm back to running in the creek. This is problematic with the lampshade, which works like a big scoop and gets water all up in my face.

Today I also got a new trainer. She's pretty great, she has a huge 11 year old GSD named Getty, and she spits cheese out of her mouth to him. I hope I can live up to her standards. Or at least get her to spit some cheese my way.

Annie Minnesota will be pleased to hear that the rain felled a dead tree behind our house, and perhaps she'll be unsurprised to hear that the tree is still performing evil deeds--today as a final vengeful act it reached out to grab my lampshade and caught me.

If you need me, I'll be in the henhouse, playing with my chicken friends.

Dark Days

Feeling of foreboding started with coming home on Monday and missing Jake terribly, having that limping, moping, sleeping feeling.

Then there was a blood test.

Someone's unwell (I tried to nurse her back to health by licking her wounds. I'm sweet like that).

And I fear someone is about to be.