Litter Mates and Swissy Friends
Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 | Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends, Ozzy | No Comments
Playtime for everyone!
Monday, August 2nd, 2010 | Beowulf, Dogs, Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends, Ozzy | No Comments
While someone was playing around in Vegas this weekend, I took the opportunity to socialize the dogs and introduce them to new situations. Are you at all convinced that I was super glad to be at home for 4 days with a puppy that doesn’t like to sleep past 5:15am? I should probably work on my delivery.
Despite my sarcasm, I did actually have a nice time at home with the dogs. As you already saw, Ozzy and I spent some time with puppies on Thursday. On Friday, we went over to Indy’s sister’s house for some play time.
Vasey and Ozzy had some fun first.
Vasey trampled her human’s plants.
She was kind enough to show Ozzy how to do it.
Indy and Vasey had some “adult Swissy” play time, which included running around like crazy dogs.
Indy rolled around while Ozzy cuddled.
Vasey thought that looked like fun, so she tried it too.
Why is it all Swissies love to roll around on their backs? There was no raccoon poop or anything…
After we did that for a couple of hours, we went home to recharge for Saturday. That was the big day, as it included our first ever trip to a house with a pool! I was hopeful that after Indy’s introduction to water in May (Lake Michigan at Bark in the Park) that she might be someone who enjoys swimming. So we tried to lure her into the pool. (All Saturday pictures courtesy of Jodi and Clare May.) It’s setup for dock dog diving, and has a nice ramp.
(Please ignore the lady in the bathing suit.)
She went in very slowly her first time, but was completely willing.
Although once her feet were off that ramp, she was not too pleased. She enjoys water, but likes her feet to be on solid ground right now.
See?
But I didn’t keep her in long. She was able to get out on her own, and wasn’t too upset.
She actually came back on her own a second time and went most of the way into the pool with a float coat on. She was most of the way down the ramp on the third try, but then changed her mind. I’m not sure if she was distracted or what, but I was very happy with her.
I did bring Ozzy into the pool for a “swim,” but I did not let go of him at all. He wasn’t entirely pleased, but wasn’t entirely upset either.
(Again, please ignore the funny looking person.)
We also met Toby the Swissy (who won our pack giveaway last year!) and his humans, in addition to our hosts Leonbergers, cute mutt Huntley, and new ESRA foster, Sierra.
None of the host dogs are worried about the water at all, as you can tell by the lovely and damp Cleo.
Thanks for looking!
Puppies, puppies and more puppies!
Friday, July 30th, 2010 | Litter Mates and Swissy Friends, Ozzy | No Comments
Ozzy and I were lucky enough to go play with some of Teri Stanger’s puppies this weekend. They are just over 7 weeks old, and start going to their homes within the next week. I did this last summer and had a hard time leaving her house without sticking one in my pocket then, too.
Here are some pics…
This is Mardi. She’s the only girl in the litter, and is staying in this area.
I think this one is saying “put that darn camera down and play with me!”
Ozzy is not used to being the big one and took a few minutes before he’d do more than sniff.
It’s nice that puppies learn how to sit before they go home. Ozzy was also showing off his mad skills.
I just love roly poly puppies!
It’s really funny for me to see just how much bigger Ozzy is. He’s all leg this week.
Then the toys came out to play.
Pretty much everyone got in on that action.
Then came nap time for some.
Although some just concentrated on being cute.
And Mardi felt it necessary to harass Ozzy again.
But some fell victim to nap time for a second time.
Even big ole Ozzy gave in for a bit.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
Blue Lou being cute.
Methinks someone went in to get food ready.
And a little more sit training.
Kisses.
Ring around the Swissy?
Yup.
Then Mardi and Ozzy got back into it. I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on these two as they get older.
Especially since she’s been biting his man-boy bits.
Attack!
Sigh. I just love puppies.
Fun for the whole family!
Monday, July 12th, 2010 | Beowulf, Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends, Ozzy | No Comments
Yup, we had that much fun!
We decided to have a few friends over with dogs (all healthy and immunized, of course) on Saturday to help with Ozzy’s socialization and just to have fun. The house seemed very crowded, but there weren’t that many people. I think it was the Leos, Saint Bernards and Swissies that made it seem crowded. Of course, when it cooled off a bit outside and the yard was all shaded, it was even better!
I think you’d prefer pictures to reading my diatribe…
Ozzy having sleepy time around the time they started arriving.
My pretty girl, Indy.
Ozzy attacking his new BFF, Cash.
Ozzy and Rufus, the puppy addict.
Leos and Swissies!
Juli, part of Juli’s human, and Cash. Juli has a blog too.
Indy was nice to Vasey’s human despite the fact that they did not bring Vasey.
Remember our good friend Reggie? He’s another blue-eyed boy.
Juli in “jail.” Sticking the face through there must be a Swissy thing. No other dog breed visiting our house (our living there) has ever done it.
Pretty Leo girl!
Recharging.
Is my puppy! Back off!
Beowulf got love too. And he tolerated Ozzy. Probably because he had Cash to torment, though.
More recharging.
I don’t know why, but I love taking pictures of Swissies from this angle. Cash was more than happy to oblige.
I think Cash needs a Swissy puppy of his own to play with, although he technically is a puppy himself.
Ozzy likes to climb on dogs when he plays with them. Most of them are ok with it, including Cash.
Cash and Huntley got in some good play time too.
See?
And then all dogs (except for Huntley) got tired and crashed.
Then humans continued on for a while, but I don’t think I’ll post any of those pics…
GSMD National in Springfield
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
Yes, the National event was last week. Yes, I am just writing about it now. Yes, I am hanging my head in shame.
The event was held in Springfield, Illinois at the fairgrounds. Because I have a few things coming up that require me to take vacation, I wasn’t able to make it for the entire week. That’s ok, though. I didn’t have any dog to show, and we haven’t been competing in any working events. (Yet.)
Indy and I drove down on Wednesday night and made it early enough to see some of the Top 20 event. The building was quite warm, and the area outside was very wet and muddy from all the rain they’d had during the week. We stayed for a little while and spoke to a few people, then headed back to the hotel.
Getting into the hotel room for the first time (with Indy) was rather interesting. I had already carried our stuff into the room before I took the last load (computer bag, purse) and the dog. Well, we got to the room, and Indy decided she didn’t want to cross the threshold. She braced herself on the ground, pulled, and was out of her collar. As she ran around the parking lot freaking me out, my hotel room door was wide open with her leash and collar on the floor. In hindsight, I should have picked that up first and then hauled arse to get Indy, but I wasn’t thinking too clearly. I just reacted as I was worried about cars in the lot. We played chase for a bit. I caught her by the scruff once, then lost her and caught her again. My (cheap but favorite) Crocs sandals were muddy and ripped. Yup, ruined. But I did finally get her in the door after much embarrassment and perhaps a bit of anger. Go figure, nobody helped.
After things calmed down a bit, we wandered around the grounds and ran into a few people. We met a cute Entlebucher named Kip. Yes, I want to steal him. And I learned that his breed is pronounced “entleebucher.” I still want to steal him.
The next morning, we showed up for the “how to” weight pull event, and then watched the weight pull. I’ve never been able to make one of the Lake Shore Club pulls before, so this was great. I was able to try on a harness and determine what size Indy wears. I wanted to get her to pull the big cart since we’ve tried tires and other smaller things, but I didn’t want to do it during the event because I thought that would stress Indy a bit too much for her first time. Well, that never happened. I’ll get her at the next Lake Shore event…
It was a lot of fun to watch the event. I took some pictures (to follow) and pretty much passed Indy around to strange people as much as possible. Well, I guess only one of them was actually a stranger to her. She did very well. A wonderful Swissy named Bridger (check out the skijoring article for more about him and his human), won the event pulling 4009.8 pounds, which is over 35 times his body weight. It was fantastic watching the two of them–they are a great team.
So, I did take a few pics. The lighting was poor, and I have been too lazy to touch them up. My apologies. But I don’t want to wait any longer to post, or it just won’t happen.
Here’s Monty in the “intro to” part of the day. They start them off on a smallish tire to get them used to the harness and having something move behind them.
Indy and her nervous ears posing.
Our friend Tank resting between pulls.
People will do all sorts of things to get their dog to pull.
Moose Moose talking back.
Here’s Louie and his human. Brian is trying to convince Louie to pull. It was Louie’s first weight pull event.
Here’s Bridger and Teresa after the record breaking pull. I cannot take credit for this picture…
That’s it for now! Thanks for reading.
RIP, Copper
Monday, May 31st, 2010 | Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
Epilepsy really stinks.
Some of my favorite people had to let their wonderful Swissy, Copper, go to the bridge last night. Copper had been suffering from epilepsy for some time now and put up an incredible fight. But it was time.
Copper got to spend some time at the beach yesterday – one of his favorite places. Check out his beautiful Swissy Smile.
Please think good thoughts for Copper’s family right now. He would want all of us to remember the good times, I think.
Run free, Copper. I’m sure Gryffin and Luna were there waiting for you.
Dog Park Trip
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 | Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
We had one of our favorite guests this weekend – Basja the Blue Dane. Since the weather was gorgeous on Sunday, we opted for a morning at the off leash park (Katherine Legge Memorial Park) with our Swissy friend, Vasey.
Basja and Vasey spent a few days with each other back in February. Remember when we were dog sitting for all the people fortunate enough to spend time in Hawaii? So they know each other. They did the whole air kiss thing upon meeting.
Of course there was butt sniffing with each other and the new dogs they met.
And there was general silliness and playing.
And of course, Indy poses for pictures. We have her trained well.
Diego the Dane was fascinated with Vasey.
I know this is a boring pic, but it’s just to show you that a lot of people were out at 8am on Sunday at the dog park.
Diego kept coming back to Vasey.
Indy doing her kangaroo impression.
Chew toy? Or another dog?
Tobias the DDB with Indy.
Please tell me why my girl dog loves rolling in wet grass so much?
This is Fred the Newf. He apparently likes kids a lot. As in jumps on them and knocks them over. So he was leashed since there were quite a few.
If there’s a Basset, I will take his/her picture.
Our esteemed weekend guest.
Why is it large dogs are attracted to Beagles?
One last quick romp…
Then it was time for home. The park is no longer considered off leash at 9am. Sad. But the dogs were happy and tired.
Thanks for looking!
We did it!
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 | Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
Yup! We participated in what I think was my slowest 5K ever. Good thing it wasn’t timed…
We were very lucky. The weather on the lake front on Saturday was fantastic. I got there around 8am, got a nice parking spot that would let me avoid most of the traffic on the way out, and was enjoying near 70 degree temps. By the time the walk started at 9am, most people (including me) had removed their warm layer of clothing. I think the weather made the event more attended than last year. This is just the area away from the registration tent. It’s not even where all the free stuff was.
This is Zera, a 4 year old girl Swissy, and part of her human, before the walk.
We walked with Lucy, a gorgeous Plott Hound mix, Zera and Vasey. It was not easy getting a picture of them together.
We came pretty close to a posed shot with just the three Swissies.
I think we were near the middle of the pack when the hike started at 9am.
It really was a gorgeous day.
Indy was interested in every Basset that we saw. Go figure.
Around the half-way point, we stopped to see if any of the dogs would play in the water.
Everyone did go in, but there was no romping around. This was actually Indy’s first time in the water. I let her go in a little bit and didn’t push the swimming part. Heck, it was Lake Michigan on May 1st. The water was still quite cold.
The funny thing is that for the rest of the day, Indy was super tired. It was only 3 very slow miles, and it wasn’t warmer than 75 degrees. It must have been all the people and other dogs that wore her out.
Thank you to everyone who supported us and the Anti-Cruelty Society!
Bark in the Park
Friday, April 30th, 2010 | Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
Tomorrow is our annual fundraiser for the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago. They are a large no-kill shelter, and this is a major fundraiser for them.
Team Swiss Lick is in the top 5 teams for amount raised right now! If you are interested in donating to our team, you can donate through our First Giving page, which you can find here.
It’s supposed to be a nice day tomorrow, assuming the rain stays in the evening/early morning hours like it’s supposed too… Check back next week for pictures!
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