New Friends and New Tricks

It took a few days, but Barley and Zaphod have figured out how to play. They like to have play time after their morning swim. Here is a sample of it.

During our morning swim on Wednesday, Phod learned a new trick. It goes like this:

I have one ball, can I get 2?

I have 2 balls can I get 3?

No I can't, but don't worry little ball, I will be back. No ball left behind.

Phod learned he can catch and swim with 2 balls. This was great when the other pups missed where balls went because he would bring them back to shore, and he was good at letting the other dogs get theirs if they were around.

Note: While at times the dogs go out far to get balls, it is not very deep. As far as they go is likely only waist deep on a adult so if someone got into distress (although we watch closely for signs and end play before anyone gets too tired) one of us could run in. 

Phod has had a wonderful time at the beach. He has been his gentle, quiet self, although he has been slightly more dominant (perhaps because there is a second male here) and a bit more confident (he managed to take himself for a second swim).  He has been wonderful with all the kids we have met, but slightly cautious meeting new men (especially a neighbour with a cane, very unsure of him). Overall, he has been wonderful, and my parents are not worried about having him at all in the fall for 2.5 weeks. (The same can't be said for my beloved Hailey, but they will all be fine). There was a little mischief, we will share next week! 

Today we take the long journey back home. Wish us a smooth trip!

Wordless Wednesday - Synchronized Swimming

More News from the Beach

I forgot to share Phod's mischief yesterday. My parents have their deck gated so their pups can go out and enjoy the sun (there yard is not fenced). Phod figured out that the gate at the bottom of a set of stairs was jumpable and he jumped over it and took himself for a swim at the lake. (The deck is out front and from it you can see the lake from it). Steps have been taken to block the stairs so others can enjoy the deck without us worrying about someone jumping.

Chew time

Part of Tendra and Barley's after dinner routine consists of having a kong followed by having a chew. Phod is refusing to eat his kong at this house (he doesn't love them at our house, but will eat them). I assume it is because we use different peanut butter at home. Tendra is loving having 2 kongs a night. Historically, Phod has not enjoyed raw hide either (he is a really picky eater), but Sunday night he stole part of Tendra's and chewed it a bit. When given his own Monday, he wouldn't eat it. He is a silly boy.

Night Two, Phod only slept with me about half the night and around 2 am decided to go back to his own bed (which I brought with me). I must admit, while I love the snuggles, I do enjoy the leg room when he is on the floor.


Yesterday was my whole day away to visit my grandmother. How was my boy while I was out? As you can see from these pictures, he was very stressed:)

Stress pose 1

Stress pose 2
Note Barley in the background and yes my parents bought a couch to match the dog! 

Beach Life is Tiring!

Hailey Update: The Man reports that Hailey's paw appears to be 100% better. Lee was able to go on a run with the Man this morning. So either it was a little strain or perhaps a second sting. At any rate, we are just thrilled she is better.

Now to Phod and his first full day at the beach.

Phod who normally sleeps on the floor (hates to be on the bed) slept at the bottom of the bed all night. He slept and slept and slept and I am not 100% sure he was ready to get up when I woke up at 7 am.

More love from Brooke and Kayd

He adjusted well to the routine here. Bathroom break and then a wait for breakie at 8 (my parents are retired and if they feed Tendra when they get up, she would have them up at 4 am, so they have a strict 8 am feeding time). After breakie it was walk time. My dad took Barley for a walk on the beach and Phod and I joined my mom, Tendra and my cousins for a road walk. While he pulled more than usual he did well. He whined a little when he saw dogs he couldn't say hi to, but other than that, was a champ.

Shortly after morning walk I had to get ready to go to town. I was having lunch with a family friend. He stayed here and apparently did great. He was having a great time playing fetch at the lake when I returned.

After beach, my aunt and uncle came for a visit. Then my other aunt and her son came. We were a party of 9 and Phod was his regular calm self. Everyone loved him. Some of my family admitted to have a prejudice against German Shepherds. They admitted to being a little nervous around them. Phod changed their mind about this and they all learned not to judge a dog by his or her breed. I told Phod he should be the poster boy for German Shepherd's Rock!

After all this company has him pretty tired out!


Today, he will be at the house without me for most of the day as my dad and I will be going out of town to visit my 92 year old grandmother. I am sure he will be an angel for his Grammie!



We are still hopelessly behind in reading all your blogs (all this company is great but interfering with our routine), but did finally have enough time to catch up with the FFHT (which we loved). We think after tomorrow the last 2 days will be more relaxed and reading will be in our future!

Road Trip

First a Hailey update: By Saturday morning the swelling was all gone in her face and for the most part she was walking without a limp. I could tell she was still being "light" on her leg, but was happy to see she was improving.

ROAD TRIP!

Phod and Brooke

The Man stayed up late to give Phod his anti-puke drugs. I didn't give him breakfast to help. At 6:05 I tried to get Phod into the car. At 6:11 I called the Man to help get Phod in. At 6:13 am we were on the road.

The first 250 km Phod was pretty anxious. He never threw up, but was drooling - a lot. Given the challenges I had getting him into the car, I was worried about our first rest stop, but my worries were for naught. While Phod was happy to get out of the car, he was equally happy to get back in the car. It was after the first rest stop he started to relax. At the second rest stop I gave him his bed (as I knew he wasn't going to be sick) and he was happy. By the time we were done our trip - 750 km, 8 hours and 15 minutes, my boy seemed happy in the car. YAY!

Kaydee with Phod

Given the nature of our lives and Phod's car sickness, he has never been to anyone's house before. Phod settled in with no issues. He was happy to see my parents and their dogs Tendra and Barley and my cousins Kaydee and Brooke. The only "issue" we had was a meeting of the neighbour . . . at first he was terrified, he jumped out of the way, but quickly realized the neighbour was a friend and was asking for pets.



I think Phod's favourite moment of the day was the discovery of the beach. My parents place is on Lake Huron, so they have a great beach!

The pictures I have at the beach were taken by Kaydee, a budding photographer, while Brooke, the expert stick thrower, amused Hod.

My Poor, Poor Girl

First, thank you all so much for your kind notes regarding Gheera's death. It was much appreciated. I will blog more about him in the next week or so.

Yesterday I worked my butt off to get all the work I needed to get done before my vacation. Shortly after 3 I finished with a  huge sigh! I took the dogs out for a play time while I just chilled for a bit (my plan was to do some writing and then visit all your blogs).

Getting some love

Hailey was happily playing in the yard when shortly after 4 she was stung and hurt her front left paw. As soon as I realized what had happened I raced to her and got her inside.

I spent a great deal of time checking out her leg. I wasn't sure if she had been stung on it or if when she rolled she had hurt it. I checked it and touched it and pulled it and while she didn't want to put a lot of weight on it, it didn't seem to hurt too much.

The Man arrived home about 15 minutes later and that is when he noticed her face. The left side of her face had started to swell up. This is when I got really worried and called the vet. Fortunately our friend and vet was at the clinic and available. I explained what happened and he told us what to do. For the sting, if she had been severely allergic to it, we would likely have seen the distress already, so we were likely out of the woods for that. He asked what anti-histamines we had in the house. All we had was Reactine, so he gave us the dose for this, suggested Aspirin if needed and ice for her face and leg. He of course went over the serious signs to look though (but again, he wasn't as worried about these as it had been about 30 minutes since the sting).

The swollen face (on the right in the picture)

My poor girl has been miserable every since. She is not feeling well, she can't get comfy.  We will rest her leg as best as we can. [Note the swelling went down within a couple hours].

Because life isn't crazy enough - Zaphod and I are leaving, bright and early on our first road trip. Yes, I am taking my really, really, car sick getting dog on a 650 km (400 mile) trip to visit my parents for a few days. I decided I could only handle one on my own at the rest stops etc, and since Phod has never gone (and will be easier when I get there), he won. So life is not going to get any better for my girl tomorrow.

We will be blogging from the beach about Phod's adventures, how LeeLee is doing and of course will have time to catch up on the Fryday Hairy Tails we are so looking forward to!

Fractured Fryday Hairy Tails - by Hailey

Today we are participating in Murphy and Stanley's:

The rules: Take the target sentence or inclusion statement and write whatever you want!

Here is our story:

My ears perked up as I heard the wheels on the gravel. It wasn't my Man or Lady's vehicle, it was big vehicle. I barked and barked and barked and barked as the UPS guy left a huge box on the front porch. 

I had to wait for 87 million hours for Lady to get home and bring the big box inside. When she put it on the floor, I sniffed it. It smelt like dirt and something else I couldn't put my finger on. After a good sniff, it was time to open it. 

 “When I opened the box I was startled to find . . .”


Darth Groundhog!

Picture from: www.funnywildlife.com - without permission

He leaped out of the box with his light sabre. He was yelling something in Groundhog language I didn't understand while he was waving his light sabre. He was very angry (maybe because of that incident recently with Junior . . . .)

I was momentarily so stunned I couldn't move, but then as he came closer I knew what to do.

I picked up the box, dropped it on his head, causing him to drop the light sabre. I kicked it out of the way, we dogs don't need things like light sabres, we have paws and jaws! I grabbed Darth Groundhog by the tail, put him back into the box, sealed the box.

I scratched at the door until Lady opened it. She let me out and I dragged my box outside.

I stood over it as it was bouncing with angry Darth Groundhog sealed inside, deciding what to do.

Should I mail the box back to timbuktu? 

Should I drag it to the lake and drown him? 

Should I bury it in the yard?

Should I left him go and try and call a cease fire and work on a peace treaty?????

Let me know what you think I should do!