Look at this face…..what a cutey. It is hard to believe that the skinny guy is 60 today…..gosh that sounds so old. When I think of someone who is 60 I get the image of a senior citizen…..that’s not Don. He’s still a lean, mean machine. No one believes him when he tells them his age. We are going to the Hardware Grill for dinner with Susan and David. I’ve never been there before but it has very high ratings from customers and critics.
Happy Birthday DAD from the 2 and 4-legged kids!!
Filed under Two legged family
I know my ‘kids’ have a ton of toys already but I couldn’t resist buying this one. It is a giant yellow and green crocodile with 16 squeakers in it. There is nothing Wally and Tango love more than a stuffed toy with a squeaker….but 16 of them…..now that is a toy! It was a big hit with all 3 dogs. So far they have only killed one squeaker…..no holes, no missing appendages and it is still fully stuffed.
Every day there are more and more signs of spring in our garden. I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and trying to capture some of the beauty around me.
I found a local Cavalier King Charles Spaniel group on Meetup. Now that Tilly has had all her shots, we can finally go to one of the group get togethers. We met at the Doggie Style Deli on Sunday. It was the first time that she actually really got to play with another dog. At the off-leash park, all of the dogs we encounter are either so much bigger than her, they play too rough or they aren’t interested in her…..so she has never really had the opportunity for a good play session. Although all the Cavie’s today were bigger, they all got along very well. The owner of the Deli had a German Shepherd that was really interested in Tilly and played much more gently with her than Tango does. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera so I had to rely on my iphone. I got some fun video and a few blurry pictures of the gang together.
Back: Honey (Cocker spaniel), Cecil, Chloe Front: Tilly, Charlie
When we were trying to decide which breed we should get, one of our most important criteria was that the dog had to be great with kids. Up until now, the only interactions Tilly has had with children was walking by a few at the off-leash park. Today we spent the day with Susan and her granddaughters Petra and Gwen. Tilly definitely lived up to the Cavalier promise of being great with kids. Even when the girls got excited, jumped and made loud noise……Tilly seemed to take it all in stride. At first she was far to excited, jumping up and licking the girls like crazy. It took a few minutes but she quickly settled down and just enjoyed being with them. The visit ended with Petra and Tilly curling up on the couch together……so sweet!!!
Today is kind of a bitter sweet day for us. On the happy side, we are celebrating Tilly being 4 months old but on the sad side, this is our last play date with Garnet. Tonight Garnet will be leaving his foster family that he has been with for the last 14 months, and moving on to a new foster home. He is such a sweet, wonderful dog and of course he is incredibly handsome like his father Wally. Yes, Garnet is another one of Wally’s children who hopefully will go on to help someone as a Guide, Assistance or Autism Service Dog. Goodbye Garnet…..you will be missed by everyone!!!
Here are a few pictures and a video from our last puppy play date:
This afternoon we attended a graduation ceremony for guide, autism and service dogs. There were a total of nine graduates. The dogs were from 3 different litters, C, E and F. When I looked out over the group I realized that all 9 of the dogs were Wally’s puppies (he has sired 51 in total). It was wonderful to see how his genes have been passed on and how successful they have become. The E-Litter is the first litter that has had all puppies make it through the training program and be successfully matched with a partner.
Back: Everest, Enzo, Eddie, Finn, Chase, Chloe, Ebony
Front: Elliot, Cessco
Sam and Ebony
One of today’s graduates held a very special place in our heart. Ebony was our foster puppy from 2007-2008. She and I learned operant conditioning (clicker training) together. She was amazing. I got her at 7 weeks old and in her first week with us she learned her name, sit, down, come and she could retrieve a set of keys. By the time she was 5 months old she could retrieve or carry anything, take off my socks and help me undress, empty the washer and dryer , and turn on the light switch. At 5-1/2 months old she flew with me, in the passenger cabin, to California to attend Clicker Expo.
There was nothing that Ebony couldn’t learn how to do and she loved to work. Just before she left us, I taught her how to paint. I would hand her the brush and she would make strokes on the canvas. Many of her original pieces of artwork were sold at a charity auction. I presented her partner Sam with a framed print of one of Ebony’s best works of art. She painted it during the summer of 2008 when the Beijing Summer Olympic were on TV….to me, it has a real oriental feel to it
Ebony with her paint brush
Another one of our previous foster puppies, Charly and her partner Larry, came to today’s graduation ceremony. Charly graduated a few years ago. We were lucky enough to be able to get a picture of Ebony and Charly together with their partners.
Larry & Charly with Sam & Ebony
Filed under Clicker Training, Foster Puppies, Wally
Does this look like a happy face? Actually, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she didn’t seem to mind getting bathed in the kitchen sink. She just stood there quietly and when it was all over she climbed into the towel to get dry. Now she smells like a combination of lavendar and rosemary. Very smoochable. Of course, as soon as she was dry she went outside and starting digging in my vegetable garden. I think we are going to have to put up a Tilly-size fence to keep her out.
I was thrilled to discover that spring may have finally sprung. I noticed that I have some beautiful crocuses blooming. I just love the first sign of spring. I look forward to going out into the garden each morning to see what is peaking up out of the cold ground.
On the weekend we always try to get the dogs out for a few off-leash runs. Tango lives to play with her chucker and Wally and Tilly are just happy to be outside with us. Here are a couple of videos from our weekend. The first one is just video of Tilly and Wally enjoying being at the off-leash park. The second one is Tango playing with her chucker. She is obsessed with it. If you watch her closely you will see that when she is chasing the ball, she makes herself more aerodynamic by flattening her giant ears against the top of her head. As she closes in on the ball they stand up straight almost like air brakes to help her slow down.
I walked into the family room this morning and got a real chuckle…..it is not hard to tell that this is a ‘dog house’. The carpet was covered with toys, stuffing and of course dogs.
When Tilly wants to cuddle or sleep she seems to prefer Wally but when she is in the mood to play, Tango is definitely her first choice. Here is a cute video of her doing her best to get Tango to play with her. When she does succeed at getting herself a playmate…..she is almost overwhelmed by the intensity of the game.
My beautiful (inside and out) golden boy is 9 years old today. I can’t believe it. He is still so young at heart but the greying muzzle gives away his true age. This is what he looked like the day he joined our household:
2001 June 22 – 10 weeks and 5 days old
And this is my handsome boy today:
Here’s a slide show of him growing up:
Filed under Wally
Today was a big day for little Tilly. This morning, bright and early, I took her to meet our Vet and get her 3rd set of shots. She did really well, with just one small cry when he stuck the needle in. She weighs a whopping 2.8 kg. That means that she has only gained .1 kg in the last three weeks. She was a big hit in the office and one of the Vet techs took her in the back so that everyone could oooh and ahhh over her.
We got Dr. Scott’s blessing to take her on her first trip to the off-leash park. I wanted to go at a quiet time so that her initial visit wouldn’t be overwhelming with all the dogs and people. She was true to her Cavalier heritage and was a complete social butterfly. She had to run off and meet every dog and every human. I was really proud of her. She even managed to come back when she was called.
Then it was off to Don’s office to meet his co-workers. She was pretty tired from all the running at the off-leash park so she was on her best behaviour. They all smooched her up. It turned out to be a very long day for wee Tilly. We left the house at 8am and didn’t get home until 2:30pm.
Filed under Tilly
We hope that the Easter bunny hid some tasty treats for you to fill your basket with!
I am laughing so hard that the tears are running down my face. Poor Tilly just learned another life lesson the hard way. I’ve been in the den getting caught up on emails for the last hour or so. I looked around to see where Tilly was and I saw her curled up and sleeping with Tango. She had positioned herself between Tango’s tail and her hind legs and she had her muzzle parked in Tango’s butt. I mean she was literally nose to rectum. I quietly grabbed my camera and took this picture all the while thinking what a crazy place to sleep.
Then I hear the all to familiar sound that most dog owners can relate to……pheewt….Tango has farted and its a whopper. It takes a couple of seconds….but poor Tilly’s peaceful sleep has been rudely interrupted and she is shaking her head and snorting her nose trying to figure out what happened. Ok….I admit it…..I’m like a child when it comes to flatulence…..it just cracks me up. I’m still laughing and having trouble typing this out. Life in the dog house……you’ve gotta love it!
Life In The Dog House 