The Mystery of the Icer - By The Lady

On Friday January 19th, Hailey, Phod and I went for a very early (like 5 am) morning walk. (Emma finds it too cold so she cuddles in bed with the Man on our early morning walks).  It was dark, but not too cold. It was a fine walk. On the weekend we didn't walk because I was resting my legs (this 30 day yoga challenge is causing me some pain), but we had lots of play time outside and chase and fetch. It is important to note, I only wore my shoes on the weekend.

The remaining icer

On Monday January 22nd, I went to put my boots on to take the dogs for a walk and noticed one of my icers was missing. (Note: An icer is a thing you put on your boot to give you traction. I had a pair of Lee Valley ones for 5 years, I had re-studded them last winter. There are many brands of this type of thing). I looked around the front entryway but it was no where to be seen. I thought maybe one of the dogs had grabbed it and moved it. I decided we would walk without it and I could look some more when I got home.

It wasn't too icy so the walk wasn't too bad, but I did slip a few times because my boots are warm, but have no grip. I came home and we searched for the icer, but could not find it. I guess somehow it came off on the walk Friday and I didn't notice. This seems odd to me because they do add some weight to my boot and I wouldn't have been walking evenly. I guess I was not awake enough to notice.

Tuesday we had a lot of freezing rain. It left our world covered in ice. Tuesday I ordered a new pair of icer type products because I realized I couldn't safely walk the dogs without them. I bought a different type, Snotek, because they were half the price. Thought that made them worth a try. Because I didn't want to pay the ridiculous postage to get them rushed (it was going to double the price of the product), we had to wait a few days. On Friday my new ones showed up.

This picture was taken on Sunday - 5 days after the rain. You can see how icy our world remained and why it  could be very dangerous to try and walk the dogs without proper footwear. 

Saturday I got them on my boots and went for a short walk with Lee to try them out. They are lighter which is nice and they seem to have a good grip. When walking on a surface to the ice (like the garage), I notice how the studs sit differently then my old ones, but on the ice I haven't noticed a difference.

You can see the rubber of the new Snotek on the toe of my boot

Here you can see the bottom of it. 

I have not thrown out my remaining icer in case the other one mysteriously shows up! Maybe I will find it in a ditch in the spring. Until then we will use these and see if they allow us to have safe winter walks! 

Helping A Wonderful Cause

Lady has mentioned her new favourite charity here before, Safe Pet Ottawa. This charity provides foster homes for pets for women fleeing domestic abuse. On the weekend, Lady and Man went to the inaugural Safe Pet Masquerade Ball. Lady heard about this because one of her coworkers is a member of the Safe Pet Board.

We were left home alone for hours, in the wind. We were very good and the house was fine when our people came back.  We would like to be annoyed with them, but they brought home a basket of goodies for us. They bought it in the silent auction. We even got a treat right away, in the middle of the night.  That never happens.

The first wonderful treats, little cupcakes, with paper

While we don't like to be left alone, we are glad our people were able to help out such a wonderful cause.

Safety Week - Wild Animals Encounters - by Hailey and the Lady

Lady: Thanks to Sarge and Bites for organizing this wonder safety week. To view all the blogs participating, go to the hop at Oz's site.

Lady: Today we are talking about wild animals encounters. I admit I hadn't thought too much about this until  we moved to the country. We live in the Gatineau Hills and have deer, wild turkeys, otters, groundhogs, foxes, racoons, skunks, porcupine, birds, squirrels, toads, frogs and chipmunks in our yard. This increases our encounters with them. We also have a Hailey who is a great hunter.

Lee: Thank you Lady, for acknowledging my great hunting. I have caught a groundhog, and instead of taking a picture and framing it on the wall like human hunters, they took it away from me. Also, the groundhog didn't end up in my bowl, they just threw it away . . . so not cool. It was a waste. They don't appreciate it and they don't appreciate it when I try to climb trees to get a squirrel (I got one once . . .). 

Hailey trying to get a squirrel

Lady: Ok Hailey, everyone knows you are a great hunter. But while this is not a vegetarian house, we love nature and would like to keep as much of it safe as possible.

Lee: If you knew what Red John (the squirrel) was saying, you wouldn't want him around either.

Lady: I am sure you are exaggerating Hailey.

Lee: Nope, I would never exaggerate. 

Lady: Well, anyway, it isn't all about you not hurting the wildlife life, it is about the wildlife not hurting you. They could cut you or bite you and you may get really hurt. Remember when you got stung by the bee?

Lee: I learned my lesson with the bee, but those others aren't fast enough to stop me.

Lady: Ok, you may be super hunter, but other dogs, like Phod may not be, they may be unsafe. Also, in many places it is illegal for dogs to chase and harass wildlife.

Lee: The wildlife harasses first . . . . .but I agree some dogs may be slow and unsafe. 

Lady: Ok, so we have finally agreed, we need to learn to live safely with wildlife. Here are some things you can do to keep everyone safe (taken from a variety of provincial websites):

A deer in our yard

- Keep your dog on leash in areas/times of day the wildlife encounter is likely to happen.

- Keep your cats inside or take them outside on leash

- Do a visual check before letting dogs out/off leash (Lee: This may help some but those sneaky groundhogs can just pop out of a hole when you least expect it. They are wily.)

- Make sure to use chew-proof leashes/tie outs to prevent your dog from breaking free. (Lee: aka stifle your dog).



- Train your dog not to respond to wildlife. Keep in mind that even highly trained dogs may not listen when faced with the tantalizing sight and smells of wildlife.

- A secure fence may keep some of the wildlife out but if you are facing wolves etc it needs to be very high as they will jump over it.

- Be loud when outside. This could be wearing bells, stomping you feet etc. That will scare many animals away and prevent the encounter in the first place.

- Keep garbage in animal proof containers and don't put it out early.

- Pick up dog poop, it can attract wild canines.

- If your dog is in heat, keep her inside!

- Don't leave small dogs outside unattended, they may be confused as prey by some wildlife.

- Don't leave your pets outside overnight. Most attacks on pets happen at night.

- If you come face to face with a predator, don't run. Yell, scream, throw things, be loud, maintain eye contact and don't turn your back.

Lee: The most important piece of advice, don't lick a toad. They taste yucky. 

Lady: These are some of the tips you can follow to help live in harmony with nature. 

Lee: Or you can just let your LeeLee out and she can take care of all the groundhogs, squirrels, ravens etc and it won't be a problem.

Phod: Or you can be like me and gently catch the groundhog and bring him home as a pet.

Lady: Another rule, don't keep wildlife as a pet, that could be its own post.

Phod and Lee: Lady you are no fun!

Lady: Thank you for joining us for safety week.  Have you every had a wildlife encounter? What did you do?

The Real World Approaches

"Not the real world!"

After 2 glorious weeks off, I go back to work Monday. I am lucky, I really love my job (I work with individuals with autism) but I have  enjoyed the time off. I got all my organization projects done, the pups and I have had more exercise and spent more time outside. On Thursday I tackled the stinging nettle that was creeping into our yard. I will tolerate a lot of weeds (I refuse to use pesticide and hate gardening) but the nettle had to go. Hailey stayed on her tie out happily and Phod just pupped around as I dug up 108 nettle plants.

This last weekend before back to the real world is a busy one. Today, Phod gets to try the car out again as we head to the vet for his annual check up. Let's hope he travels well! We will also be picking up Bagheera's remains. I will be glad to have him home. As it is quite the trip into town (about an hour to the vet) we are heading to the dog park for a run after.  On Sunday, Aunt C, Uncle D and human cousin Maggie are planning on coming for a visit so the dogs can meet her. We really want Hailey to get use to Maggie ASAP so hopefully she won't be as scared of her as she grows up.

A special thanks to Love is Being Owned by a Husk for this. We really are lucky to have him.

Remember next week is Safety week. Thanks to Sarge and Bites for organizing all of this. There is going to be some awesome information. Come back on Tuesday to see our post on Wild Animal Encounters. 

Be Safe

We would like to express our sincere sympathy goes out to the 6 families in Langley B.C. whose dogs lives were cut short. For those of you who may not have heard this story, a dog walker has been accused of leading to the dogs death by leaving them in a hot car. You can read the story here.  It is such a tragic accident.

I found this reminder online and am sharing it!

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If you haven't heard, there is a great auction going on to help The Baby. You can click here to learn more.

We will be off the grid until next week as Lady goes to Chicago for a conference. Lady hopes to use some of her spare time to catch up with all our friends (she has been crazy busy trying to get ready to be away for the weekend). She does have free wifi in her hotel!

We wish all our American friend's a wonderful Memorial Day!

Be Safe everyone!