I Can Feel It in My Bones

As usual, I was allowing him to have “free” reign on a long lead. He saw a dog on the other side of a fence, and both were crazy to meet each other. Guinness started running in circles like a whacko dog. When he is about to reach the end of his leash, I yell, “Easy!” which usually has an effect on him before pinching his neck with a jerk as he reaches the end of the line. Eventually he shot off next to the fence in a straight line looking for a way to get through, almost yanking my arm out of the socket and pretty nearly pulling me flat on my face. Some day Guinness is going to pull me to the ground and drag me. Today was almost the day.

He Still Has His Own Language

Guinness wanted a walk today. I knew he did, but I was too busy. I took him out for a potty break; he refused to go potty even though it had been hours. He stood looking at the stairs leading to the driveway. So I decided to give him a mini-prom around the property. We had not gone far when he went potty. Then I turned around to come home. He kept jumping at me and trying to grab the leash out of my hand. In other words, “No, Mom! I do not want to go home! Take me for a walk!” Poor boy…

Hotel Stay, June 24 - 26

We had Cousin Camp with four couples gathering to have a gabbing good time! Gary and Ruth brought little Sam, a Yorkie, and Guinness came with us since the Microtel allowed pets. At 11:30 Saturday night, Grant was in bed, I was getting ready for bed when the room phone rang. It was the front desk saying that the people in the room under us were complaining of thumping on the floor. I said, “That is strange. My husband is in bed and I am washing my face and cleaning my contacts, but I am not thumping my foot.” After I hung up, I considered that perhaps Guinness jumping off the bed could make a thump beneath us.

The next morning, I asked at the desk if the people beneath us were still there. “No, they checked out this morning.”

“I wonder if the thumping they heard was pipes in the wall.”

“I don’t know what they heard, but, when they checked out, they said that they heard thumping at 1:30, 4:30, and 6:30.”

I said, “Maybe it was ghosts!” but I was thinking … uh-oh… Every time Guinness heard something in the night, he jumped off the bed and ran to the door barking. And the timing was about the same as when they heard thumps.

The second night, Guinness was used to the hotel situation and never jumped off the bed to bark at exterior noises. It was somewhat of a treat for us to sleep in a queen size bed instead of a double with a 78 pound dog.

Learning Guinny's Language

Guinny has not had a walk for a couple of days. This morning, after Grant left the house just before 7:00, Guinny would not let me stay in bed any longer. Then he played his Chase Game repeatedly – one thing after another – my handtowel off the rack, an item from an open drawer, and envelope off a desk. I realized that he was telling me in no uncertain terms, “Mom, I NEED a walk!” So we went for a big walk.

Where is Mommy Supposed to Sit?

Guinness likes our new lawn chairs...

Life Almost Ended

Guinny and I almost died today. I was crossing the street beside our house where the highway ramp comes down to our street. A woman had NO intention of stopping for her red light. We were crossing on a white walk light. She hit her brakes and slide sideways to miss us. I got her license no. and called 911. They are SOOO annoying. They ask the most asinine questions that have no bearing on the situation. After I told her I was walking, she asked what street I was driving on. I finally said, "Can I just tell you what happened?" And, of course, the answer is no. They wanted to know what make, color, year, etc. of car. As if I cared!!! I was panicked and focusing on catching her license no.! It sure makes you think about your life ending at any time!

Lots of Company

Guinny enjoyed the activity and people in our yard today! I enjoyed it as well. I love work. I could sit and watch it for hours!

Improvement

When Emmett and Daddy arrived home late afternoon and we all stood around the driveway, Guinness was enormously good. He tried very hard to not jump on Emmett. When it was more than he could take, he jumped on me instead. He looked down the driveway as if he was considering going to see what or who could be down there, but, with my reminder, stayed where he was. Before Emmett left, he did his “happy dance” of running in circles as fast as he could go around Emmett’s car. He certainly had the freedom and opportunity to run away, but he did not! In fact, it almost seemed like he was a bit skittish about running on the far side of the car as that was approaching the barrier line.

Good Morning, Mom!

This morning I was awakened at 6 AM by something warm and furry with stiff, somewhat prickly things mashing into my face. It happened twice before I opened my eyes and jumped up. At least, he didn’t lick me. He simply pressed his face into mine.

Bark Busters

www.barkbusters.com

Scored Survey Results Survey Score: 75

OK... He needs some training... (surprise, surprise)

---

A Score Of:	Means:
19 - 27 = A	This dog is extremely well-behaved. Congratulations!
28 - 50 = B	Dogs in this category are typically wonderful family dogs with a few rough edges. This dog could easily move to the "A" grade with some training.
51 - 85 = C	While these dogs need training, frequently they don't receive it because their annoying behaviors are "just not bad enough". It's unfortunate because "C" dogs can improve quickly and bring great joy and happiness to families. And, with training, the owner can be assured the behaviors will only get better -- not worse.
86 - 139 = D	This category of dogs has issues that can be serious if not addressed soon. Owners of these dogs are constantly being annoyed and irritated by their behavior and are beginning to think "Something has got to be done." Fortunately, dogs can change their behavior quite easily, so these owners should seek help immediately.
140 - 200 = F	Most people with dogs that rate an "F" are desperate for change, but many don't know what to do. These dogs are out of control and serious problems can arise if they are not trained. Owners of these dogs sometimes consider putting them down. However, the vast majority of dogs can be saved with training, eliminating the owner's grief and guilt.

Bunny

There seems to be a growing population of rabbits in our area. When we first moved here, we rarely saw a rabbit. Now there often is one in our yard when we go outside. While I was cleaning up sticks in the yard, Guinness was chasing a rabbit. I was standing in the garden, behind the plantings, next to the wooden fence tossing sticks into the woods on the other side. The rabbit was trying to escape by running the perimeter of the yard next to the fence. He tore past me brushing my foot!!! He obviously was less frightened of me than of the big brown dog. Guinness seemed to be confused about where the rabbit had gone. He probably did not expect the rabbit to have run past me either. Clever rabbit.

Crazy Boy

I went to pick up Guinness from Holly’s Pride this morning. He has been there for 10 days. While we were away, I found a golf outlet store and shopped for a left golfer’s glove with open fingers to wear in the summer while walking Guinny. It is pink leather with a mesh back to avert suntan lines. Hopefully, wearing such a glove will prevent me from losing layers of skin again. I put it on when I arrived at the pet hotel, because my finger is not healed up yet, and I certainly cannot handle Guinness without some protection on that wound.

As I entered the office, two couples were waiting to pick up their dogs. First, two great danes came out for the one couple. They were very excited to see their masters AND me! There were jumping on me too. After they left, while we were waiting for the other couple’s two Goldens to appear, I mentioned that the great danes were just as excitable as Guinness. The girl at the desk said, “Well… no one is as excitable as Guinness. He wins the prize for being the craziest.” What?! After paying out bill, I asked if the “mattress” we had improvised is still working well. She said that it was a fabulous idea to do that. “He doesn’t lie on it until bedtime, though. He spends his day lying at the door watching everyone go by. Then after 6:00, he will get up on his bed and lie down.”

Before bringing him home, I had unpacked most of my suitcase, sorted piles of laundry, and had stacked things in different places to be put away. First he found a washcloth in a laundry pile. Next he took some tissue paper that had been wrapped around new clothes. The third thing he stole was a shocker: my blue jeans!!! They were folded up into a neat square; he grabbed them and ran.

The crazy boy was exhausted! This is how he spent his day. We did go for a promenade around the property late in the afternoon. The glove works like a charm! I let him run loose dragging his leash in the yard while I cleaned up some things. I neglected to check if the landscapers had left my jerry-rigged fence intact when they mowed last week. Without warning, he dashed through the fence, as it was not all put together, to get to the street sidewalk! A man was walking his labradoodle. By the time I caught up with him, they were happily dancing around each other and the man was holding Guinness’s leash.

I have been contemplating finding a personal trainer, and now I need to call fence companies tomorrow to see if we can do something more sturdy than my flimsy fence.

Paint Swatches

A painter came today to give an estimate on doing our 3 levels of hallway and foyer. She left a ring of paint swatches for us to decide on the color. When she gave it to me, I set it on the kitchen counter and forgot about it after she left. Yep! You know what happened. I had to chase him around the house. By the time I removed the slimy pages from his mouth, he had managed to mangle one of the swatches and several others were bent a bit. I wiped off the pages and set the blender on top of the book to make the damp pages lie flat. It worked! They looked pretty good after it was all dry. In fact, the painter said that it was fine and I did not need to give her $30 to replace the book.

Near Disaster

My normal way to walk Guinny is to put him on a 20 foot cotton web lead connected to a heavy leather leash which I loop over my right wrist and use my left hand to control him. Since he is pretty good about “leash respect,” this system works well to allow him maximum room to roam on his own and have some fun rather than have to walk at old Mommy’s pace. Tonight we did a prom on the long lead in the back of the property, but, when we come to the front on the sidewalk near the road, I have to loop up the long lead and hold the cotton lead in my left hand with no room to roam. He must have seen a bunny or something, because he uncharacteristically bolted from the sidewalk towards the road. I screamed and tried to hold the cotton leash, but it was cutting through the skin of a finger on my left hand. He stopped short of the road, and I felt like my index finger had been sawed off at the second joint. Many layers of skin were gone, yet it did not bleed. Fortunately, we are going to FL for a week and he goes to the pet hotel tomorrow, which will give that wound time to heal before we venture out on a walk again.

Maturing

Yesterday and today, our walks along the bike path proved that Guinness is growing up and developing some sensibilities. It is almost like reaching age 2 was a magical turning point. Yesterday, we encountered the older man and elderly dog. Today we met a year old Havachon and the blind dog, Winnie, that we have met before. Guinness was very gentle with both dogs.

Later, we were out on our property and met up with a neighbor and her teensy Yorkshire Terrier granddog. We have never allowed Guinness close to Toby, because he is just too rambunctious, but he was calm, and gave Toby a chance to bark at him.

The Gingerbread Man game is slowing a bit and he readily gives up his prize – usually. Grant ordered new business cards for Emmett and himself. Guinness grabbed the unopened pack of Emmett’s cards leaving some teeth marks in the plastic packaging and denting the top and bottom cards. Emmett will love that, because he says that he and Guinness are soul-mates.

Surprises never end

Guinness found a surprise rubber soccer ball on our back driveway. It must have blown there from a neighbor's grandchild. He had a ball with his ball until it popped. But then it was fun to rip apart.
We went for a walk along the bike path today. Along our walk, we met up with an older man and his 14 year old dog. Obviously, a 14 year old does not want to play. BUT Guinness was surprisingly calm around the older dog and older man! He is definitely learning to discern less able dogs and people! The man and I chatted as we walked along, and Guinness slowed his pace to ours (I let him roam on a long lead on the path). He never tugged on me. Sometimes the two dogs would sniff the same interesting spot together. When we reached the ballfield area, I released Guinness to run where ever he wanted. He didn’t run. He stayed with us. He was enjoying having a companion even though it was not a playmate. After we circled the field and headed back down the path, Guinness became his Guinny self and ran like a crazy man in circles around us. He didn’t jump on us, but just raced as fast as he could go. It suddenly stuck me what he was “saying!” He did not want us to leave the ballfield! He wanted to wander around some more with the nice man and congenial dog.

This afternoon, I screwed up the monitor for a new thermometer on the deck. Guinness was extra good while I worked. He wandered the yard, then stood near me until I was done. I patted his head as we walked inside as I told him, “Good boy.” After I put my tools away, I wanted to go out through the garage to clean up leaves that had accumulated there. I called to Guinness to come. No response. I called again and again. No response. So I went looking for him, assuming that he had something he shouldn’t and was refusing to come to me. He was no where to be found. Then I started to worry… did I leave him outside? Before I went to look, I did one more sweep of the house. He was not in the house. As I went outside, and no Guinness in sight, I recalled that he DID walk in with me like a perfect Hershey would have. Is it possible that he followed me into the tiny furnace room when I put the tools away and that I closed him in there? YES!!! Poor baby! And he didn’t even cry! Hershey would have done the same thing.

TWO YEARS OLD!!!

Guinness was treated to special frosted birthday bones. After dinner, Daddy brought home a real veal bone!

Guinness spent the day outside watching us set up our new patio furniture, then using it to share a drink with our neighbors. While he plays with a new toy, a neighbor obliges him with a tummy rub.

Guinness is bad for Mommy's well-being

A year ago, I lost use of my left thumb for a few months. I eventually deduced that it was from Guinness’s leash yanking on it. I am damaged again. When I am away, he doesn’t get a good walk. Daddy takes him on promenades around the property, and the pet hotel takes him on 15 min. walks daily. So he was wild my first time out with him, yanking on the long lead and jerking my ligaments. I was sore for the week before going to NC where I began to recuperate. Now I am home again for him to jerk my sore muscles around again. Not good! My left thumb is close to useless again. Will this Wildman ever calm down?!

Paper Thief

He has become very creative with the items he steals. Today, he enjoyed the papers from the recycle pile. Later I noted paper napkins on the floor, then found him with his mouth full of them!

No more Rawhides

Grant kept him in his crate for the first two nights I was away after eating the bread and egg. He vomited both nights. Then he had diarrhea on the Oriental in the kitchen and the dining room. Yesterday (the day before I came home), he was in pain when trying to have a BM, so Grant had to take him to the vet. The diagnosis: rawhide-itis. His colon was inflamed. He is on Metronidazole for a week and will not be able to have a rawhide at the pet hotel over the next week.

Egg for Breakfast

He did not vomit, but he did not ask for breakfast either. Before my packing was completed, Guinness found the Easter candy I was taking to Greg and his family. He ate the large chocolate covered, cream filled egg I had bought for Greg and Cathi. For certain, he is going to vomit sometime...

Things that go wrong when Mom is busy

I leave for Texas tomorrow, so I had much to do today. Guinness needed a good big walk and got into mud from yesterday’s rain necessitating a bath. In cool weather, I hook a hose up to the laundry room sink to have warm water and bathe him outside the garage. He was too wet to allow in the house, so I barricaded him on the deck in the sun and gave him a large pressed rawhide bone to keep him happy until he was dry. It kept him happy for two hours until it was entirely devoured. He has had them before will no ill effects. Today was going to prove differently.

Interesting items that he stole today included a frozen banana I had left on the counter to thaw for making banana muffins and Greg’s property tax bill from my desk. I bought some groceries this afternoon, but was too busy with pressing business to finish putting them away. The next time I passed through the kitchen, there was nothing left of the new loaf of bread except a bit of the wrapper and one crust.

Caught with a crumb on his face!

He was banished to his crate for overnight as we suspected that he might vomit.

Drenched

It is still March, but we had a teeming April thunderstorm most of the morning. After lunch, the sun was shining brilliantly, it was 51 F, and the grass even is beginning to look green! In spite of the gorgeous day, I didn’t want to take Guinny for a walk outside due to the mud. We headed for Home Depot. After wearing off some energy, I continued driving around town accomplishing some errands. Being a warm day, I rolled the back windows down about 3 inches. One stop was at the bookstore to buy gifts which took some time. While browsing, I heard torrential rains and looked out the window to see the rain pelting down on a strong slant. Surely Guinness was getting wet, but I was not about to soak myself for the sake of keeping a water dog dry. By the time I finished shopping, the rain had almost stopped. I found a drenched Guinness sitting in the front seat. The back seat was far wetter than I had imagined it could be. I dried him off with a towel. Before banning him to the back seat, I saw that there was white fluff all over it. I assumed that Guinness had made mincemeat of his stuffed toy, so I picked it up off the floor to see what he had done. There was nothing wrong with it. I reached back to see what the fluff could be. Hailstones!!! As large as lima beans!!! Poor baby! He had sat through a hail storm. By the time we reached home, some were still not melted, so I grabbed my camera.

HELP!

This waggish humdinger of a dog uses anything he can pick up as a game token. Last night, he picked up a hammer! This morning, as I stood over him, he reached for a glass knickknack! A few minutes later, he tried to take a small briefcase off a table. He is having way too much fun, and this is beginning to get out of hand. We may need some professional advice.

So I posted this on the Labrador Retriever Lovers Yahoo Group:

THE GINGERBREAD MAN

Guinness, who will be 2 in one month, is driving me nuts (though I can't stop laughing at him). He LOVES playing the Gingerbread Man Game of "you can't catch me..." Once he was old enough to stay out of his crate during the day over a year ago, he began this game of turning me into the retriever. We quickly learned what were his favorite objects to steal and kept them out of his reach -- like shoes, hand towles, anything in the kitchen sink, etc. It is a game with him; he is not being destructive (unless we don't catch him with the object and he has time to mutilate it); he loves making us run after him -- literally.

Nina (and Guinness who is in time out in his crate)

What a good idea to post on the Yahoo Group! There are some breeders and experienced trainers on the group that always give great advice.

I learned that Guinness is brilliant! He is a self-learner! What he is doing is called a “trained retrieve.” He just needs to lean to return the object to me with a Give command. They recommended books to assist with this training. Actually, Guinness is a little genius! I don't have to teach him to take something. He learned that on his own! Now I need to teach him to give it back.

Hershey lived to play fetch. Obviously, Guinness lives to play the Gingerbread Man. He would make a great field/hunting dog. All labs need a job. Hershey’s was to fetch objects – especially the newspaper. He was a pro! Guinness’s job is going to be returning objects to me.

After reading more about the training process, I need to suit him up with training collar and leash, then teach him to return objects to me.

It may be a while before we accomplish this. The recommended book is not an easy one to find and is quite expensive, so I need to see if I can order it from the library on inter-library loan or read the essential parts in a bookstore.

The Game Continues

We had a nice long walk on the bike path today, but it did not inhibit his passion for sport. Throughout the afternoon, the rapscallion continued to snatch anything his little eye spied.

Oh, my...

This morning was bright and sunny but below freezing. Great day for the beach! Off we went. It was a glorious walk! No one was on the beach, so I released his leash. He had a marvelous time running wherever he wanted to go! The 20 to 50 feet of frozen ice along the shore is gone. There are only large, dirty chunks of ice piled on the beach about 5 to 10 feet from the water. I walked on the side of them away from the water hoping to keep Guinness away from the lake, but that didn’t work. He went in the lake repeatedly as I screamed, “Come! Come! Guinness, Come! Treats!” He was pretty good about coming on command, so he had free range for the whole length of the beach.

We saw some Longtails in the ship channel and Trumpeter Swans napping in a cove of the lake. A pair of Lesser Scaups were among the Longtails. That is the first time I have seen them up close. Guinness was extraordinarily good to “Wait” while I used my binoculars and took photos.

Since he had icicles all over his tummy, we walked back along the walkway to stay away from the water.

I threw my gloves into the driver’s seat and dried him off a bit before opening the backseat door for him. Before I closed his door, he had my gloves in his mouth. And I thought a good, long walk would slow down the Gingerbread Man? When we arrived home, I took him into the sideyard with a towel to dry him off. He wasted no time in swiping the towel out of my hands and racing around the yard with it. What a character! He keeps me laughing. He had to grab one more thing before going inside: the remains of the decorative cabbage plant which has been under the snow until now. He raced around as if he thought I was going to try to rescue the dead plant.

After running free for most of an hour, he was still full of energy (or was it beans?). He has become a huge male tease. His joy in life is to make me chase him. He pulled my hand towel off the towel rack in my bathroom; as I carried an armload of laundry downstairs, he pulled a towel out of the bottom of the stack. All the while, he is laughing his head off.

Here he is with a piece of mail. He isn’t interested in tearing it apart; he just wants to chivvy me. Finally, he settled down and rested for the afternoon.

Dinnertime

I can’t believe we have done this, but we have. None of our other dogs have ever been spoiled in this way. When you teach a dog Down, with a treat in your hand, you signal to the ground to encourage the dog to lie down to get the treat. The next step is to teach the dog to Stay in the Down position by using treats to reward for a good Down/Stay. I think our fancy dog training school pushed that reward more than any of our other schools. Eventually, you put the dog on a Down/Stay, walk a few feet away and remind them when needed,“Stay,” and walking back up to them periodically to reward them saying, “Good Stay.”

Naturally, dinnertime is a good opportunity to work on this lesson. So we put Guinness on a Down/Stay beside the table and continually rewarded him for staying there. We are now at the point, after doing this for a whole year, that we have to treat him throughout our dinner while we eat to keep him on a Down/Stay. Initially, I didn’t want to waste store-bought treats on this, so I gave him ice cubes. That worked great, until one day we decided to treat him to some carrot sticks. He loves carrot sticks! Now he won’t take an ice cube at all. We never give him food from the table. That is a definite no-no. He might have a scrap as I am cleaning off the dishes at the sink, but never food from the table. At least, we have that much smarts!

Grant is away for a few days, so I was on my own for dinner tonight. Since I had been snacking, I was not hungry at dinnertime (usually around 6 PM). At 7:00, Guinness let me know that it was dinnertime and that he was not going to wait any longer for his carrots.

Too Much Energy

I was away for the weekend at a Crop-A-Lot Retreat, the company I founded! If you ever want a fabulous retreat to accomplish some scrapbooking, go to a CAL Retreat! (www.cropalot.com) They are they best! The new owners put on a fabulous retreat. I spent my weekend working on dog albums. I had created a darling “Genuine Boy” mini album at CKU two years ago. I completed the album with photos of Guinness from 5 days old to a few months old, and carried it in my purse to show off. One day, it was no where to be found. I was sure it would turn up somewhere, but it has not. So I took my class instructions and more of the Genuine Boy papers and recreated the pages to which I now need to add photos again. The second thing I worked on was Hershey’s album. I got a good start on it right after we lost him, but then Guinness was old enough to be out of his crate all day. If I try to scrap, he plays the Gingerbread Man game with my supplies. I have had to cover my paper rack with an old sheet, because he started pulling my scrapbooking paper and cardstock out of my rack. Really attractive, don’t you think? And you will note that the wrapping paper covered box on top, holding pages from classes, had some of the wrapping paper ripped off when it sat on a low shelf. I wonder who did that?

I think I might be able to get back to scrapping now, but maybe not, as you will read…

Due to being away, being tired, being lazy, plus with bad weather for an excuse, Guinness has not had a walk since Friday. Due to missing mommy over the weekend, not having enough activity, no one to play with, and not having had a walk since Friday, Guinness had a potpourri of thieveries: hand towel, portable phone, paper out of trash, important envelope off Daddy’s desk, camera case, seat cushion, and on and on. The funny thing is that he steals something, goes to the dining room, lies down with it, and waits for me to check on him to see what he is up to. Then he grabs whatever it is, and runs around the house forcing me to be the retriever. Destruction is not his goal, though sometimes that happens just from being in his mouth full of canine teeth. I got the message: tomorrow he HAS to wear off his energy with a long walk.

One of Guinness’s favorite things to steal for the chase game is a placemat. When I clear off the table, if I forget to put the placemats away, one will be in his mouth within minutes. Our placemats have been washed recently more than they ever have been.

While removing clothes from the dyer, Guinness often sticks his head in the door to the dryer. As I pulled out a sheet, he stole a placemat and off he ran.

On our walk today, when we reached the ballfield, Sonya, a one year old yellow lab whom we have met once before, was there. They had a ball playing; they would wrestle with vicious looking teeth, then close their mouths and you could see their smiles. They had so much fun.

On our way home, Guinness fell in a mud puddle, and it was only 27 F today. He probably slipped on the icy coating; I didn’t see it happen. I was not pleased. That meant I had to pull out the “clean” hose, hook it up to the laundry tub to have warm water. First, I had to hose out the garage as it was full of winter yuck, but that was a good thing that I was forced to clean the mess. Guinness then had his bath with warm hose water in the garage and was banned to his crate to dry off.

He's no Bonehead

This is another unique characteristic of Guinness: he sorts his toys into one place. Here he sorted all of his bones plus his beloved Santa. Oh, yes! There is another major difference from Hershey. Hershey never had a stuff toy for more than 10 minutes.

Indoor Walking

The outdoor world is melting creating a yucky, muddy mess, so we went for a walk at Home Depot again and than at Petsmart. Even after having some exercise at Home Depot, he went bonkers as we entered Petsmart. He was uncontrollable with his elation to be there. Oh, my… It is a good thing I am not shy, because we definitely are the center of attention.

Petsmart has cat rescues available. The last time we were at the store, there was a beautiful black adult cat that seemed VERY interested in Guinness. He came up to his window and watched Guinness’s every move. He did the same thing today – got up from his snooze to watch this amazing dog. I think he wants to come home with us.

Patient and Obedient

There is one and only one way that Guinness surpasses Hershey: he is very good about having his training collar and leash attached before leaving for a walk. Hershey went bananas until he was old as I tried to prepare him for a walk. He was just too excited to relax for a few seconds. Guinness, on the other hand, stands still and waits while I gear him up. Shocking!

We braved the coldest day of the winter yet and trudged to the bike walk. It was very difficult walking because the path was several inches of packed snow frozen into a slippery mass. The snow beside the path was like a brick of Swiss cheese with deep, frozen footprints which were equally difficult to navigate. No one was around, so Guinness ran freely for most of the walk. He even escaped into someone’s backyard, but came running when called! Good boy!

Crunch, Crunch

We had a beach walk today. Due to the weather (very cold and not easy walking), there were very few people out. As we walked the length of the beach, it was very sunny, though well below freezing. After the 6 or 8 inch snowfall followed by rain and then freezing temperatures, the snowfall was compacted to about 5 inches and frozen solid. We walked on top of the snow with ease. It certainly was easier to walk on the smooth, crusty surface than where people had sunk several inches into the snow leaving frozen sunken footprints making walking treacherous with the landmines that could break ankles. I noted black and white ducks scattered in the lake instead of in their usual bunched together positions. I assumed that they were Lesser Scaups. But, when we reached the ship channel, ice flows were moving fairly rapidly out to the lake. The longtails could not float in peace in the channel. They were the ducks dotted over the lake. As we started a loop back, I spied a purple and white “ball” ahead. Fortunately, Guinness didn’t see it or it would have been in his mouth. It was a beautiful head of a duck, but I don’t know what duck has a purple head with white stripes. By the time we were back on the snowy beach, the sun had begun to melt the frozen snow so that our feet sunk an inch or more with every step, and our previous silent steps now crackled . It is fascinating to observe the changes in nature.

Lots of Pets

I received a call asking if I would like to have my home air quality tested. Yes, in fact, I do want that done. They said that they were doing research and wanted to collect two air samples from our home; could they come within an hour? Sure! Then I checked out the company on the Web and made a call to them to be certain that this was not a boogey man coming to my house. To avoid needing to crate him, Guinness wore his training collar and dragged his leash so that I could prevent him from mauling the person. It was a very nice young man who came and gave Guinness lots of attention, tummy tickles, and ear rubs while he collected air samples.

As soon as he left, we headed out to run errands. After having a virtual blizzard all day yesterday, then rain all night, I did not want to go for an outdoor walk today through the puddles and slop. Our first stop was Home Depot where we could walk up and down every aisle of the store for our exercise. This was our third time to use that store as a place to walk on bad days. Every time, it is a bit better. He was so excited as we walked through the parking lot, even squealing, that he had exiting customers laughing. He did not charge ahead, but walked beside me quite sedately. I had to give him constant reminders, “You don’t have to say ‘hello’ to every one.” “No sniffing.” “Side!” which means he is to walk at my side, not ahead of me. Of course, there always are a few who look at him with a little fear in their eyes. Most find him amusing. If he saw someone that he thought might be friendly, I would have to use two hands to prevent him from jumping on them. Many in the store, sales people and customers, asked to pet him, complimented his good looks, and gave him the attention he craved. Even two young children petted him, and he was very gentle with them. Hurray! They have a lab/shepherd mix at home, so they understand dogs of this size and exuberance. We picked up some light bulbs and a new indoor/outdoor thermometer. I was shocked and pleased with the patience he exhibited while I made my selections! As we approached the self-checkout, a goofy woman, much like myself, was audibly responding to the talking register. She made a big fuss over him, as she has a 160 pound Mastiff at home.

The Gingerbread Man

For fun, I tried to keep track of the items Guinness stole for playing his Catch-me-if-you-can Game this past week: a washcloth, my Uggs (repeatedly), a sponge, the album of Kevin while still in Russia, a Kleenex box, Tupperware, placemats (repeatedly), mail with Grant's health card replacement form, and a glove. Of course, there was the mixing bowl incident, plus I caught him trying to take from my desk an ancient picture of me in my youth! Grant was packing his suitcase and set his underwear out. The next thing we knew, Guinness was running around with a wad of underwear in his mouth. He does keep us laughing!

Morning Surprise

Grant and Guinness were up before me. When that happens, Guinness eventually comes back to bed to rest some more or to tell me to get up. This morning, I was aware that he jumped on the bed, but I went back to sleep. When I awoke and lifted my head to rise, Guinness’s Santa toy rolled off my head. ICK!

Loveseat

At last cleaning, I noted that the loveseat is beginning to show wear. It is Guinness’s favorite spot to rest throughout the day. Since Daddy thinks he is cute there, it is time for some protection. I was very pleased to find an acceptable slipcover. Guinness thinks it is nice too.

Snow Day

Today was one of those perfect days for a winter walk: light fluffy snow falling with a new blanket of six inches on top of the frozen snow and ice. Hardly anyone had traversed the bike path before us, so we were almost breaking trail. Well, Guinness did break his own trail! No one was around, so I released his leash and he joyfully bounded through the snow. When he started to wander where I didn’t wish him to go, he was excellent about coming on command. We were the lonely walkers except for a woman with two greyhounds. They let Guinness know quickly that they had no intention of playing. I love it that he always backs down – just like Hershey did.

Cake

Grant made a cake today for the first time in his life! I was rather shocked when he proclaimed this to be his first cake ever. When I thought about it, he never used to eat cake. He didn’t like cake; he only liked pie (or bread pudding which I have never made). While it was in the oven, we heard a thump. Even though it was rinsed out, Guinness had checked out the mixing bowl.

Here is the baker with the final yummy product (Guinness was not offered a piece).

Neat Boy

He isn’t always neat, but quite often we notice that his toys are all in one place or in a row. Here is an example: 2 balls and 2 Christmas toys (which, you will note, he still has not chewed up!)

We Made it to the Beach

As we approached the beach, Guinness went bonkers with excitement. It was a challenge to keep him on a sit/stay while I hooked up his long lead, as a dog-friendly man walked by egging Guinness on to be crazy. No sooner had he passed, and I was trying to get the car locked and mittens on, when another dog-friendly man came along encouraging Guinness to be overly friendly. Here he is posing in the seagrass.

I was determined to do my part in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Two Ring-billed Seagulls flew past us over the edge of the lake. There was a phenomenal build-up of ice flows blocking my view of the birds that might be on the lake. The normal gatherings along the beach of Mallards, Canada Geese, and Trumpeter Swans were nowhere in sight. As we approached the ship channel, I could see hundreds of black birds huddled floating on the lake. I tied Guinness to a tree so that I could try to get a good look with my binoculars to identify them. I am quite sure that they were Lesser Scaups, but I cannot be positive. While watching them, a black duck suddenly popped up out of the ice flows about 50 feet from us. I cannot be sure if it was an American Black Duck or a Gadwall. It was very dark in color and had a bright white wing patch on its side. In trying to get closer to the duck, we encountered this sight. (Click on the picture to get the full effect!)

In the ship channel, there was the usual sight of hundreds of Longtails. Eighteen Trumpeter Swans were hovering at the edge of the channel singly or in twos. I tied Guinness to a tree as it was way too slippery on the pier to be safe. He managed to come loose, but did not try to run away. Thank goodness!


Our walk ended with a bad omen. A black bird with white under its tail fell from the sky into the ice flows. It was not large enough to have been electrocuted by the high power lines overhead, but perhaps it accidentally ran into a wire and fell to its death. We did not get close enough to identify it, as I didn’t want Guinness to find it.

Here is my exhausted boy:

Snow Drifts -- Annoying and Fun

Today is the Great Backyard Bird Count. I was looking forward to taking Guinny to the beach and counting the Trumperter Swans, Longtails, and any other avian creatures that might be there. I considered whether it was a good idea to be driving there as the parking lots might not be plowed. Without a 4-wheel drive vehicle this winter, that could be a problem. But, I bundled myself up for the frigid temps, put my binoculars and camera around my neck, stuffed a BGGC list for my area in my pocket with pencil, got Guinny leashed up and in the car, then backed out. Into a snowdrift. Stuck! Guinness was NOT happy to be going inside instead of for a walk. Fortunately, BMW’s have “free” emergency service. So they came and towed me out a couple of hours later. But I was no longer in the mood to go so late in the day.

When I went out to run some errands, we drove to the beach to check out the parking lots. My normal parking lot has not been plowed, and it would be iffy to park there. But another lot is totally plowed! Guinness was quite distraught that we did not park and cried big doggie tears. I promised him that tomorrow morning we will be there bright and early! We have four days in which to turn in a bird count.

Before going into the house, we made a potty stop in the yard. I decided that he needed some big muscle activity, and we have not practiced jumps in months. So I told him to jump over a 2.5 foot snowdrift. He did, and he jumped back to me on cue. We did the jumps several times and even over a taller drift. He did great!

After the Blizzard

For 36+ hours, a blizzard raged leaving over a foot of snow, mostly blown into drifts. After being stuck inside for two days, when the sun started shining, we just had to get out. The bike path had not been plowed, but we had fun anyway.

Doesn't he look like a happy dog?

Here he is digging in the snow to uncover a substantial stick.

What a handsome boy!

Before the Storm

As snow was beginning to fall, Guinness found a blue balloon dancing across our yard. At first, he was frightened and barked at it. Then he followed it around and picked it up in his mouth. He looked so cute with this big blue balloon in his mouth that I ran inside for my camera. When I came back, it had popped.

Gentle

We took a walk at the bike path where we met a nice lady with some type of terrier who likes to play. We allowed them to be free at the ballfield and have a fun time. The terrier was territorial with his stick, but Guinness was fine with that. While the woman and I were chatting a mile a minute, I missed seeing a young mother with stroller and two dogs come along. Guinness didn’t miss them, but the dogs were not going to allow this crazy man near their baby. Since Guinness is not an alpha dog and backs down to anyone, it was not a problem, and I was able to grab his leash even though he would not respond to my “Come!” However, I am sure, it was frightening for the young mother. On the way home, I again was preoccupied with dropping waste into a trash can as a couple came along with a blind Golden. Guinness ran to them before I knew they were there. They were worried about their dog as he is blind and fearful of other dogs. I was so pleased to note that Guinness was not being his normal crazy self, but was actually sniffing the dog and being quite gentle. He obviously was sensing that this dog had special needs.

Poop-scicles

For over the first year of his life, Guinness loved eating his (or any dog’s) excrement, so we had to pooper scoop immediately. Thankfully, he has lost his appetite for such things, though I always clean the yard as soon as it is dirtied. Now that we have snow on the ground, it is not always possible to pick up the messes immediately – especially in the dark. I have discovered that he enjoys digging down to find his prize and eat it. Yuck! Before leaving for Texas, I warned Daddy that he needs to clean up the yard as Guinness is back to his old tricks. He did not heed me, so Guinness found some picnic items in the snow. Unfortunately, they caused him to vomit in the house. Daddy had to acknowledge that I was right.

Icicle Beard

Today we walked the bike path again. It was only 19 degrees when we left the house! We met a German Shepherd mix who wanted to play at the ball fields. They ran and ran chasing each other around a spruce tree. So funny! By the time we arrived home, I noted that he had icicles in his beard! So I had to take a picture.

Camera day

We went back to the bike path today with camera. New snow was falling, but the beauty of two days ago had dissipated. I did take a movie of him doing a come from being distracted. If you watch the beginning closely, you will see that he is happily sniffing the ground, then suddenly looks at me attentively before I have said a word. So I missed capturing him from a “cold start.” Come!

I took a few shots of him in the park, but I should have used a flash since it was overcast and snowing. This one taken in our yard when we arrived home turned out better though still could have used a flash.

Then he found a lawn sprinkler behind a holly bush which I had forgotten to put in the garage in the fall. So you get to see a little catch-me-if-you-can game. The Gingerbread Man

Why didn't I take my camera?

Some one turned off the global warming switch and winter has descended upon us. Yesterday we had a blustery day called “wintry mix” – freezing rain, sleet, and snow. It was too yucky for anything except a double “prom” (aka promenade) around our property. Today, it is only 17 degrees with enough sun diffusing through a layer of clouds to create bright spots and shadows. I donned my winter dog walking outfit: purple sweatsuit, super warm double-layered purple jacket, purple windproof pants, purple Uggs, topped off with a black neck scarf tied across my nose and mouth. My warmth was not in question.

Guinness and I set off for the nearby bike path. I was concerned about how slippery the walk might be, but the frozen precipitation on the ground is a hard crust of ice and snow dimpled by sleet creating fair traction. Our normal destination on the bike path is the ballfields. If no one is around, I drop the leash, allowing him to wander, dragging the leash behind for easy retrieval if necessary. When he is distracted by something, I pull out treats and call, “Come!” from across the field to test his recalls. He races barreling towards me and does a front sit. He has become so used to this drill that, after wandering on his own for a while, he will stop, stare at me expecting a come command. If I don’t respond promptly, he bolts without being called and sits before me expecting his treat for being such a good boy. I can even allow him to wander out of sight, and he will still respond with enthusiasm.

We usually cross the soccer field, round the baseball diamond, then cut behind the row of trees, mainly spruces, which create a secluded walkway. Today, as we took that turn, we were facing the sun. Guinness’s dark brown body ran over the white snow creating a striking contrast (winter is the best time to take a chocolate lab’s photo!). The deciduous tree branches, laden with a thin coating of ice and arching over our path, were loaded with tiny bulbous diamonds sparkling due to the soft glowing of the sun directly ahead. The snow was something I don’t think I have ever seen in my sixty years! It was as if Swarovski crystals had been finely ground and dusted over the landscape. Blue, green, and red glints were dazzling my eyes! Even if I had had my camera, I don’t think I could have pulled it out, turned it on, and snapped in time to catch that fleeting visage of brown dog on white snow with diamonds over his head and under his feet. It is doubtful that the amazing glistening crystal snow could ever be captured on film or CF card. But it is in my memory – a phenomenal sight!

When we arrived home, I looked to see if the Swarovski fairies had sprinkled their magical crystals in our yard, but they weren’t there – only colorless clear sparkles twinkled.

A New Greeting

“Have a Guinny Day! (That means bouncy, happy, loving, fun filled and nutritious.)” My husband wished that for me today. Ü

You ask: what does Guinness eat that is nutritious? Carrots! While he was in his fancy obedience school, we started training him to lie under the table and be a good boy while we eat meals. At first, we used the mini-treats used for training. We wanted to get away from using treats, so we started giving him ice cubes, which he loved. For some unknown reason, we gave him carrots instead of ice cubes once. That did it. He would not eat an ice cube during dinnertime again. He insisted on carrots.

Just yesterday I was wishing we had never started this treat-while-eating business. If we forget to keep giving him a carrot, he will sit. If we don’t notice him sitting and waiting for his next carrot, he will paw at one of us. How do we end this?! We have created a vexation.

The power of suggestion through thinking

I heard Guinny prancing around making funny noises. When I walked out of the den, he raced from the dining room – his favorite place to chew on things he shouldn’t have. There were rippled pieces of white plastic on the floor. I did not recognize them. Of course, he would not let me near him. I grabbed a treat to get this over quickly. He had the lid to my blender. Some of the edge is chewed off, but it is still useable (I think) though it looks disgusting.

Earlier this morning as I made my smoothie, I was thinking how grateful I am for my Waring Blender! It was a wedding gift almost 38 years ago. It had very irregular use until a couple of years ago when a friend hooked me on smoothies for breakfast. Now it is used every day. I bought a blender “for Greg,” so that I could make smoothies when I am at his house. It is not nearly as good as my old Waring Blender. In fact, when I have used blenders at anyone’s house, they are not as good.

Fred Waring was well known for his radio show and as the founder and conductor of the singing group, the Pennsylvanians. The summer of 1973, we attended a concert of Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians at Chautauqua Institute. I learned that night that Fred Waring was the financial backer behind the invention of the Waring Blender, making his name a household word. I had no idea that my kitchen blender was related to the musical Fred Waring!

In recent years, I have thought that my blender, even though it is a superb performer, appears dated. Then I saw a Waring Blender in a Williams Sonoma store for about $100 which looked exactly like mine. No wonder the performance of the average $20 to $30 kitchen blender does not match mine!

While making my smoothie this morning, the memory of my dated-looking blender and the cost of a new one, looking equally as dated, crossed my mind. Now that I am officially an “old” person complete with pension and senior rebates, I wondered if mine will last my lifetime. As is my custom every morning, I made my smoothie, rinsed out the blender and lid, placed them upside down beside the sink to dry. Today is the last time I will do that.

My smoothie recipe for 1 serving:
½ cup orange juice
1 banana
4 frozen strawberries (or other frozen fruit)
½ cup of low-fat yogurt

My favorite combinations:
Strawberries with cherry yogurt
Mango with raspberry yogurt
Peach with blueberry yogurt

Body Language

We picked up Guinness from his 13 days at the pet hotel on Tuesday morning. At this stage in life, I am always a zombie for a day or two after a trip. Guinness is also a zombie his first day home again. He slept at my feet or in his crate all day. I still was not ready for a big walk on Wednesday, though he was. He had to wait for Thursday, when I had a bit more energy and felt more in control of life being put back together again. For a reward, we went to the beach. He was so cute leaping through the water! The other beach walkers enjoyed his show as well.

If we walk to and from home and go to the pier at the far end of the beach, it is an hour and a half walk. I prefer to only spend one hour walking. There are other things to do in a day. So when we were three quarters of the way down the beach, I turned around to head for home. Guinness knows that the beach goes all the way to the pier, and he was not going to miss out on one inch of his beach walk. He jumped at me repeatedly and barked. His body language told me in no uncertain terms, “No way, Mom! We are not going home until we finish our walk!” I had to give in. How could I say, “No”?

Walking the Lake Ontario beach has many similarities to the NC beach we enjoyed over the Christmas holidays. The main difference was the water -- the lake was perfectly smooth today, unlike the roiling ocean. And the birds, except the Ringbilled Gulls, are different. Here we have the Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards, and Longtails. In NC, we had mainly Pelicans and Sandpipers along with two or three species of gulls. And then the dolphins pretend they are birds, leaping out of the water.

When Guinny and I finally were on our way back down the beach towards home, we encountered a 10 year old German Shepherd. He didn’t have Guinness’s energy, but he was happy to meet a friend. The two of them frolicked on the sand, then Copper led Guinness into the lake. That was the first time that I have released the leash and allowed him freedom in the water. I knew he would not run or swim away from Copper. He has not had the opportunity to get out in the lake far enough yet to need to swim. I look forward to that day, but with trepidation! What if he swims away from me too far? I would prefer him to experience that with a dog friend who will bring him back to shore.