Tonight! Finally! It's been a long time coming. Go Ollie Go!!!
That is all :)
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Weekend o' Dog
Amanda told me I should write a blog post...so here we go :)
It was a great weekend full of lotsa doggie fun. I had to work on Saturday so I took the kids for a run and then they hung out in my office with me. Ollie figured the window sill was a pretty warm, sunny spot to keep an eye on traffic.
Later that afternoon, it was a dog people reunion at Jolene's Scentsy party. I knew I was at the right place when I pulled up outside and all the cars had paw print decals on their bumpers. It's always fun to eat someone else's food and buy stuff I don't need!
Then we met my friend Wendy from Paws on the Run for a little photo shoot. She takes awesome silhouette shots and I was happy to lend my models to the cause. My friend Julie and her crazy boy Rosko came along for the fun! I couldn't be more thrilled with the result! I have a huge blank wall above my couch and I'm already envisioning a series hanging there. Thanks Wendy - they are stunning!
A little choir practice (yup I'm that dweeby) later that afternoon and then it was a lazy evening on the couch, when I should have been doing laundry. A busy weekend but tons of fun!
And now Monday is here, complete with a time change and enough emails full of drama and nastiness to make me want to crawl back into bed permanently. Can I just say, I love my friends and it's just not gonna sit well with me when someone comes after them - 'constructive criticism' or whatever you may like to call the personal attack. I wish I could be the kind of person to just play nice, smooth things over, and bite my tongue. But alas, I also wish I had a toilet made out of gold so I guess it's just not in the cards for me.
Good thing it's the Bachelor Finale tonight and I have something to live for. Go Lindzi!
It was a great weekend full of lotsa doggie fun. I had to work on Saturday so I took the kids for a run and then they hung out in my office with me. Ollie figured the window sill was a pretty warm, sunny spot to keep an eye on traffic.
Later that afternoon, it was a dog people reunion at Jolene's Scentsy party. I knew I was at the right place when I pulled up outside and all the cars had paw print decals on their bumpers. It's always fun to eat someone else's food and buy stuff I don't need!
Later that night, I ran the 6km race in the Moonlight Run. 6 kms doesn't seem very far, but when the last km and a half is uphill...well, let's just say I ain't walking quite right today. What a great turnout though - 2500 people ran, which made for crazy moments down in the coulee bottom in the pitch black night, but I think everyone survived.
And the dog fun continued on Sunday! A quick off leash run with the pups to work off steam and then we headed to the Rally Fun Match. Both Marley and Ollie did a novice and an excellent course. Ollie has been through a few rally classes already, but Marley is still pretty green, and she is doing her best to keep her focus. Surprisingly, Marley took a score of 96 in the novice course. I think that was third or fourth place, and she beat Ollie, who came in at 94.5, if memory serves me. But it was all handler error so I'll still consider my little Mr. Perfect to be still pretty perfect.
And then Ollie blew my socks off with a 99 in Excellent! Only one point off for a crooked front. We even managed the 'down, walk around' - all he needed was a whole hotdog shoved in his mouth. Marley did great...really she did...that girl frustrates me sometimes but that is my own demon. She tries hard for me, but the environment is still so stimulating for her. We know what we have to work on. And it's work on my part. Such a learning experience to train Marley when I'm used to Oliver.
Here are their videos from the excellent course, thanks to Jo!
And now Monday is here, complete with a time change and enough emails full of drama and nastiness to make me want to crawl back into bed permanently. Can I just say, I love my friends and it's just not gonna sit well with me when someone comes after them - 'constructive criticism' or whatever you may like to call the personal attack. I wish I could be the kind of person to just play nice, smooth things over, and bite my tongue. But alas, I also wish I had a toilet made out of gold so I guess it's just not in the cards for me.
Good thing it's the Bachelor Finale tonight and I have something to live for. Go Lindzi!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
365
Yesterday we celebrated Marley's 365th day of torturing me.
She's older than a year - maybe around 3? But she needed a candle so I decided to count the years she's been making me pull my hair out, rather than guessing on the years she's been alive.
She's a funny girl...totally knew she wasn't supposed to be at the table. It took her a while to get into the cupcake, but once she did, all rules went out the window.
Now that's the girl I know and love - up on Grandma's kitchen table.
As a birthday (anniversary? gotcha day?) present, I've started vehicle shopping. Yup, because of Marley, I'm upgrading and welcome any thoughts on SUVs. I need something with more room, ie. can fit a large crate, as I don't care to fix another car seat to the tune of $700.
It's been a wild ride, Mars...here's hoping for many more years. Love you big girl xoxo
Friday, February 10, 2012
Miss Marley Mack, Mack, Mack...
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
I'd be lying if I said I didn't sing this (slightly modified) clapping game to Marley...It's suiting - talks about jumping fences, which is totally Marley's thing.
(beautiful photos by Lorelei Hoffarth for the Windy City Canine Rescue/Lethbridge Fire Department calendar fundraiser)
Marley steamrolled my life almost exactly 1 year ago. She was just another foster dog through Windy City Canine Rescue...she wasn't supposed to stay. She welcomed herself into my house and in the first night she (literally) bounced off the walls, flipped out in her crate and bent all the wires, and ripped a huge mouthful of beautiful white hair out of Ollie's tail. She was an absolute, complete and total spaz.
Marley was surrendered to the rescue - something along the lines of boyfriend and old girlfriend had the dog, new girlfriend didn't like the old girlfriend's dog. When our volunteer went to pick her up, Marley (then Harley) was wearing a studded collar, had never left her back yard, never ridden in a car, never walked on a leash. Oh yay. She was shedding like mad, covered in dandruff and her coat was dull. So, we changed her name, put a smiley face collar on her, started her on good food and vacuumed her daily :)
Her spazziness escalated in the car - she would snap, snarl and scream at every car, bus, bicycle, pedestrian, skateboard we passed. I ran her for hours everyday, slowly working off the steam and the seemingly years of pent up energy. Slowly but surely she started to mellow out. Slowly but surely, she wormed her way into my heart. Don't know why an easier dog couldn't worm it's way in instead...
I fostered Marley for 7 months. For 7 months we searched for a home for her. We had only one inquiry and it wasn't a good fit. Nobody called, nobody emailed, nobody even wanted to ask a question about Marley - and we hadn't even told anyone how crazy she was! I cried the day I was hanging up rescue posters and this is what I saw:
That's the poster for Marley right there in the middle. Not one single phone number taken.
So, we continued on. Got her into the fundraising calendar. Did extra blog posts about her. Showed her off at Meet and Greet park days. Took her thru manners training classes. Still nothing. Maybe because of her pitbull looks? Maybe because she is big and black? Maybe because I secretly loved her a lot and she already knew she was home?
Late last summer I signed the adoption papers. It was shortly after she had whupped the pants off my other foster dog and we were all worried about what to do with her and where she could go. A normal person would have sent her away. A sane person wouldn't have touched her with a 10 foot pole. Not me. Noooo...I decided to keep her psycho savage badass-ness in my life for good. But I don't regret it :)
Wait, nope I regretted it on Tuesday night when I came out of Tim Hortons and my car looked like this:
It's been a learning experience to say the least. She is the complete opposite of Oliver in every single way. I've had to learn to be patient and calm, to speak her language and anticipate her triggers. To only put her in situations where she is bound to succeed (ok, so I didn't do such a great job of that on Tuesday) She has separation anxiety, leash aggression and is highly reactive. She is smart as a whip, has a strong bond to me, and tries so, so hard to keep me happy. She is beautiful, striking and athletic. She is tender and gentle with kids. She's my couch potato at home. In public, well that's just a different story altogether. She chases vacuum cleaners, fishing lines, and the automatic car wash sprayer thing. She throws herself around with reckless abandon, over 6 foot fences, single leaps down a full flight of stairs, shreds her way out of a soft crate at agility class in 13 seconds flat. That was also my bad. Our first teambuilding agility class we spent at the far end of the field away from all the other dogs, so she could collect a semblance of focus. Now we can make it through a rally-obedience class working beside all the other dogs, with maybe only one or two spaz-attacks per hour. We're working on it...little by little...we'll get there.
She's one helluva snuggler, my personal bodyguard, and the prettiest girlie in town. I wouldn't trade her for a million bucks...and I mean that.
Besides, if I sold her for a million bucks, who would lick my dishes clean?
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
I'd be lying if I said I didn't sing this (slightly modified) clapping game to Marley...It's suiting - talks about jumping fences, which is totally Marley's thing.
Marley steamrolled my life almost exactly 1 year ago. She was just another foster dog through Windy City Canine Rescue...she wasn't supposed to stay. She welcomed herself into my house and in the first night she (literally) bounced off the walls, flipped out in her crate and bent all the wires, and ripped a huge mouthful of beautiful white hair out of Ollie's tail. She was an absolute, complete and total spaz.
Marley was surrendered to the rescue - something along the lines of boyfriend and old girlfriend had the dog, new girlfriend didn't like the old girlfriend's dog. When our volunteer went to pick her up, Marley (then Harley) was wearing a studded collar, had never left her back yard, never ridden in a car, never walked on a leash. Oh yay. She was shedding like mad, covered in dandruff and her coat was dull. So, we changed her name, put a smiley face collar on her, started her on good food and vacuumed her daily :)
Her spazziness escalated in the car - she would snap, snarl and scream at every car, bus, bicycle, pedestrian, skateboard we passed. I ran her for hours everyday, slowly working off the steam and the seemingly years of pent up energy. Slowly but surely she started to mellow out. Slowly but surely, she wormed her way into my heart. Don't know why an easier dog couldn't worm it's way in instead...
I fostered Marley for 7 months. For 7 months we searched for a home for her. We had only one inquiry and it wasn't a good fit. Nobody called, nobody emailed, nobody even wanted to ask a question about Marley - and we hadn't even told anyone how crazy she was! I cried the day I was hanging up rescue posters and this is what I saw:
That's the poster for Marley right there in the middle. Not one single phone number taken.
So, we continued on. Got her into the fundraising calendar. Did extra blog posts about her. Showed her off at Meet and Greet park days. Took her thru manners training classes. Still nothing. Maybe because of her pitbull looks? Maybe because she is big and black? Maybe because I secretly loved her a lot and she already knew she was home?
Late last summer I signed the adoption papers. It was shortly after she had whupped the pants off my other foster dog and we were all worried about what to do with her and where she could go. A normal person would have sent her away. A sane person wouldn't have touched her with a 10 foot pole. Not me. Noooo...I decided to keep her psycho savage badass-ness in my life for good. But I don't regret it :)
Wait, nope I regretted it on Tuesday night when I came out of Tim Hortons and my car looked like this:
It's been a learning experience to say the least. She is the complete opposite of Oliver in every single way. I've had to learn to be patient and calm, to speak her language and anticipate her triggers. To only put her in situations where she is bound to succeed (ok, so I didn't do such a great job of that on Tuesday) She has separation anxiety, leash aggression and is highly reactive. She is smart as a whip, has a strong bond to me, and tries so, so hard to keep me happy. She is beautiful, striking and athletic. She is tender and gentle with kids. She's my couch potato at home. In public, well that's just a different story altogether. She chases vacuum cleaners, fishing lines, and the automatic car wash sprayer thing. She throws herself around with reckless abandon, over 6 foot fences, single leaps down a full flight of stairs, shreds her way out of a soft crate at agility class in 13 seconds flat. That was also my bad. Our first teambuilding agility class we spent at the far end of the field away from all the other dogs, so she could collect a semblance of focus. Now we can make it through a rally-obedience class working beside all the other dogs, with maybe only one or two spaz-attacks per hour. We're working on it...little by little...we'll get there.
She's one helluva snuggler, my personal bodyguard, and the prettiest girlie in town. I wouldn't trade her for a million bucks...and I mean that.
Besides, if I sold her for a million bucks, who would lick my dishes clean?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Why Hello!
I guess this officially welcomes me to blogland!
I've been a blog creeper for years - reading, following, stalking others. I guess it's high time to join the game.
I suppose my ramblings will be mostly about my dogs Marley and Oliver. Maybe this first post should introduce one of them. Let's start with Ollie, since I'm rather P.O.'d at Marley today. I'll share the story behind that next time.
Everyone say "Hi Ollie!"
Oh shit, close your eyes - caught engaging in mildly inappropriate behavior with his sister.
Let's try again...
Nope...mildly inappropriate item at the grocery store.
One more time...
Nailed it :) - apologies for the iPhone pics
I adopted Ollie from a local rescue about 3.5 years ago...I was in the midst of house renos, so he grew up with paint fumes, drywall dust and pliers to chew on instead of bones. He seems no worse for wear. Well, except for that lazy eye, but I blame that on the fact that his dad was also his brother. True story.
Ollie is a lot of things. He's gentle and quiet. Slow, steady, and careful to never step a foot out of line. He's my heart dog and makes me so, so proud (except when he eats poop). He is THE supreme dweeb and if he were a real boy, he'd totally be the kid stuffed in his locker with his ginch pulled over his forehead. If he was on Glee, he'd get slushied three times daily. He is the self-appointed manners police, is the first to referee any sort of rowdy behaviour, and has no qualms about telling off other dogs who dare to sniff his butt. He drinks his tea with his pinkie out and expects you to do the same, thankyouverymuch.
He has fun toodling around the agility field to the beat of his own drum. And every Tuesday night, my heart bursts as we make the rounds at the senior's home - he's a certified Therapy Dog with St. John Ambulance. His coolest accomplishment to date.
My friend, Amanda, came up with the best theme song for Oliver. Every dog should have a theme song, no? Ollie's is rap. And it's awesome.
With that, I'll end this first post on a high note.
Round 'em up, ride 'em out.
I've been a blog creeper for years - reading, following, stalking others. I guess it's high time to join the game.
I suppose my ramblings will be mostly about my dogs Marley and Oliver. Maybe this first post should introduce one of them. Let's start with Ollie, since I'm rather P.O.'d at Marley today. I'll share the story behind that next time.
Everyone say "Hi Ollie!"
Oh shit, close your eyes - caught engaging in mildly inappropriate behavior with his sister.
Let's try again...
Nope...mildly inappropriate item at the grocery store.
One more time...
Nailed it :) - apologies for the iPhone pics
I adopted Ollie from a local rescue about 3.5 years ago...I was in the midst of house renos, so he grew up with paint fumes, drywall dust and pliers to chew on instead of bones. He seems no worse for wear. Well, except for that lazy eye, but I blame that on the fact that his dad was also his brother. True story.
Ollie is a lot of things. He's gentle and quiet. Slow, steady, and careful to never step a foot out of line. He's my heart dog and makes me so, so proud (except when he eats poop). He is THE supreme dweeb and if he were a real boy, he'd totally be the kid stuffed in his locker with his ginch pulled over his forehead. If he was on Glee, he'd get slushied three times daily. He is the self-appointed manners police, is the first to referee any sort of rowdy behaviour, and has no qualms about telling off other dogs who dare to sniff his butt. He drinks his tea with his pinkie out and expects you to do the same, thankyouverymuch.
He has fun toodling around the agility field to the beat of his own drum. And every Tuesday night, my heart bursts as we make the rounds at the senior's home - he's a certified Therapy Dog with St. John Ambulance. His coolest accomplishment to date.
My friend, Amanda, came up with the best theme song for Oliver. Every dog should have a theme song, no? Ollie's is rap. And it's awesome.
With that, I'll end this first post on a high note.
Round 'em up, ride 'em out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)