Best park play ever

Tonight I had the best ever time at the park.

Nature gave us sun today. It was beautiful and crisp but not cold and the air smelled like leaves and grass and water. At the park tonight there were many dogs. I chased dogs I knew and dogs I didn't know. And then I played! I haven't found a good wrestle-chase-wrestle-friend in a long time.

Wheee! I'm upside down! Do you call this a dog pile?

Hello doggy friend?

Hello? Doggy-friend? You seem to have forgotten me. I am left here on the stairs. There are many human feet nearby. I worry I may be stepped on. And there's another problem. I seem to be upside down. Why am I left here upside down where humans put their feet? Where did you go without me? Help!

My Puffie

I love my Puffie. I take good care of him. I groom him lots and cuddle with him to keep him warm. I protect him from my people who like to step on him and make him whonk. I don't know why they do this. I bark to tell them that this hurts Puffie, then I take him someplace safe. He is my Puffie and I love him very much.

On trucks and teasing

I spent much time today sitting in the truck waiting for Momma C. This was okay. When I wait in the truck I watch out the windows for a bit. Then I make a ball with my body on her seat and nap for a bit. Then, after I've had a sleep, I watch out the windows again. Twice today I got to run in a big field. I also got to chase a soccer ball.

We got home late, but Momma B and my littlest person still weren't home. I waited and watched for them until they came home too. I worry when the people in my family are lost. I like it best when they're all at home with me.

Even though sometimes they tease me. Tonight my littlest person took my tube and made a funny noise with it. Then she stepped on Puffie and made him whonk. I think this may hurt him. I don't like it. I am very gentle with Puffie. I lick him carefully and give him cuddles. Please don't step on Puffie.

These two things are mine. Stop teasing!

Silly park day

Almost every day I get to go somewhere fun. In between fun places I sleep, play with my toys and chew on things. Also I play with my people.

Today the fun place was UVic Dog Park.

At UVic Dog Park I felt very silly. I ran lots. I played lots. I chased lots.

And then I needed to drink lots.

UVic Dog Park was fun today.

Surprising sun

Today was supposed to be rainy, but instead Nature decided to make sun. I went to Mt. Doug with all my people. We climbed almost all the way to the top. Our littlest person found us a soft place to sit. My people ate snacks. I ate a stick. We watched birds. It was nice to be out in the sun.

You say we live down where?

My people call this little thing "slug". I gave it a lick and then my tongue felt funny.

Goodbye hamster

One of our smallest friends died last night. She was very old. For many months this little friend could not see out of her eyes, but her nose was good and she was always very busy at night. She liked to eat sunflower seeds and crunchy food from the cat bowls.

(I like to eat crunchy food from the cat bowls too, only I get in trouble when I help myself.)

My littlest person spent a long time on the bed this morning making noises like a little puppy. My Momma C was also very sad. I never understood this friend, but I know my people liked her.

Good-bye little hamster named Pip.

The dot

My person does something strange to my nails. I'm not sure what it is, but it's not nice. She takes this thing in her hand, holds my paw, and then makes the end of my nail come off. This feels funny. I don't like it.

My person calls this evil thing "nail clipper". I used to run into my crate when she got nail clipper out of my basket. I would tuck my paws under my chest to protect them. Then I would turn my head away and pretend that I couldn't see her.

But one day my person made me a deal.

There is something else in my basket. This thing makes a dot. A very exciting dot. This dot jumps all over the place. I get to chase. And bounce. This dot makes me feel silly inside. I like this dot very much.

So my person made me a deal. She put evil-nail-clipper on the floor next to thing-that-makes-dot. I looked at evil-nail-clipper. I looked at thing-that-makes-dot.

Then I gave my person my paw. She did the horrible thing to my nail, and then the dot came and I got to chase. Nail, dot, chase. Nail, dot, chase.

I still don't like evil-nail-clipper. I give my person my paw, then I turn my head away so I don't have to watch. But I do like the dot. So I am willing to trade.

I can never catch the dot, but that's okay. I like to chase best anyways.

The dot goes everywhere.

Even up high.

The cats also like the dot, but not as much as me. They think the dot is a bug. I do not. I know the dot comes from the little thing my person calls "laser pointer". When I see laser pointer, I get very excited. The dot makes me feel all crazy. It's lots of fun.

My people don't bring it out very often though. Mostly just with evil-nail-clipper. My person says something about dogs getting obsessed with the dot. I'm not sure what obsessed means...

But oh look...
There's the dot. There's the dot. There's the dot. There's the dot. There's the dot. There's the dot. There's the dot...

Flowers

Oh look, I found flowers in our garden!

Guinnie who swims

When today started, the sky was raining very hard. After I got out of my crate-den, I went outside and I stood on the deck. I needed to pee, but the rain was too strong. I did not want to go out in that rain. I told my person this with a whine noise, so she got something called an umbrella. This umbrella was a bit scary when it first flapped open like a very large bat, but my person held it up towards the sky and it stopped the rain for us. So finally I could pee.

After we went back inside the sky started growling. I think Nature had some strong feelings this morning.

Later, Nature changed her mind and it got very sunny and warm.
So we went to visit the puppy named Guinnie.

She is larger than the last time I met her. She is still smaller than me, but her paws are very big.

She was fun to play with, as long as she remembered to listen to me. I didn't like it when she put those big paws on my head. I also really didn't like it when my person gave her lamb. But then I got lamb too, so I guess it was okay.

She was actually quite polite for a puppy. We had fun doing little chases in her yard.

After a while we went for a visit to the beach. Guinnie likes to run. And she is learning to fetch. This is good. I like dog friends who fetch. They please my people, because my people like to see fetch. They also please me because I like to chase.

I do not fetch.

Guinnie also decided today to learn how to swim. This pleased her people very much. Since she is a puppy, I was pleased too. I am sure I am a good influence on her. Even though I do not swim.

After the beach-run-fetch-swim time, we went back to the place where Guinnie lives. I played a fun game with my littlest person.

Then Gunnie had to go for a sleep. Puppies like to sleep even more than me.

This was all fun. I would like to see Guinnie again, and her people too.

Excuse me, those are my people you're chewing on!

Fall walk

Today we went into the forest.There were many smells. The air was full of fog, but it wasn't too cold. It was a very interesting place to be.

Interesting meeting

My person forgot her camera this morning. This made her sad because we met someone really interesting at the beach. I saw him first, when he was lying on the shore. My person named him Sea Otter. He went into the water when we got near, but he stayed close. He went underwater, swam in a circle, then popped his head out and looked at us. I looked at him. We watched each other for a long time.

The air was Fog again today, but I'm learning not to mind it as much anymore. Nature was very calm. There was no wind at the beach. The water was very far out and it was very still. I had fun wading, and chasing a dog called Murray on the slippery rocks.

Are you shy?

Cobi's Person: I was talking recently with one of the Smart Dog trainers about things we teach our dogs that backfire. She was describing teaching her dog to touch noses with her. It sounds cute in theory, but what happens now is that when a person bends down to pet him, her dog launches at their faces and nose-bonks them. Whoops.

The "whoops" in our house is something called "are you shy".

We got Cobi when her littlest person was six years old. Most of her five and six year old friends were not very comfortable around dogs, especially rambunctious, half-grown puppies. To mitigate this, I taught her this new trick.

The behaviour goes like this: I bend over slightly at my waist and move my feet apart, then I give the verbal cue which is "Are you shy?" Cobi circles around the right side of my body and moves between my legs, facing forward, and sits.

The idea was this:
1. The dog moves away from the child and behind my body.
2. The dog situates herself between my legs, where I easily have control over her.
3. The verbal cue "are you shy" is for the child. If the dog is shy, the dog won't be scary, right?

So this actually works. It's incredibly cute. And it's so cute, it's taken on a life of its own. This position is highly reinforced. She gets a huge amount of petting and treats and attention in this position.

And since we often practised this when meeting new people, she seems to have extrapolated that this is a good greeting.

In our house, a greeting usually starts with people knocking at our front door. Jacobi is asked to go into her crate. The people come in our front door and enter the living room. When the dog seems relatively calm, she's invited out of her crate to meet the people. The people usually make lots of loud, excited "happy to meet dog" noises, and then bend over at the waist to pet her.

And guess what the dog does? She shoves, pushes, or otherwise inserts herself between their legs.

And guess what the people do? "Awww, aren't you cute!" Pet, pet, pet, attention, attention, attention.

And the behaviour is reinforced.

This has backfired a few times. Imagine, if you will, my father's cousin coming into our house. She lives in Montreal and is in town for a visit. This is her first time at our house. She has never had a pet of any kind, and is very uncomfortable around dogs. She's also in her mid-seventies, has a bad knee, and is, of course, wearing black pants.

I had shut Jacobi in the other room, wanting to have complete control over their greeting. But my father, who adores his grand-dog, goes looking for her as soon as he comes in the door. Cobi comes bursting out, immediately spots my father's non-animal-lover-bad-kneed-elderly cousin (wearing black pants), launches at her, and shoves between her legs.

The cousin shrieks, leaps in the air, and then runs for the kitchen where she focuses on fiercely brushing the dog hair off her pant legs. I grab the dog who has a big smile on her face. I'm sure she's thininking something like, "That was fun! Where are you going? That was fun!"

Whoops.

Here's another example of a time this backfired. We were at Parksville and had just come up off the beach. I was washing my feet with a hose and Jacobi was chasing the spray. A guy, probably in his early twenties, was standing with his girlfriend, waiting to use the hose after us. He was clearly a dog lover. When Jacobi danced past him, he bent over and called to her.

She promptly circled around behind him and tried to push through his legs.

But he was wearing board shorts. Very low-hanging, baggy board shorts. Halfway through his legs her head got caught. She thrashed around down there, trying to free herself, for probably fifteen or twenty seconds before he helped untangle her.

Fortunately, as I mentioned, he was a dog lover. And when she was free of his pants he bent down and gave her a big rub. I, on the other hand, was very embarassed and apologetic. Um, yes... I did train her to do that... Erm...

Whoops.

Here are Jacobi and her littlest person demonstrating "are you shy".

More fog

Today was a farm day. I had fun.

Tonight the air is doing "fog" again. It is full of water. I wonder why Nature does this?

So I am staying inside in my favourite bed.

Don't you want to pet my belly?

No more sharing

Today one of our cat family peed in my crate-den. I've changed my mind. I don't want to share anymore.

Earlier today Momma C took me to Dallas Road. The air was funny. It was full of water. I couldn't see anything but grey. Momma C called this "fog". It was hard to hear and smell too. Suddenly there would be another dog, or a person, very close. On this walk again I was not feeling so good. It was hard to have fun. Plus the air was so strange.

Tonight I felt better. I played and chased at Dog Park. Now I am chewing on my bone while I wait for Momma B to finish cleaning my den.

After the event

At the SPCA event I ate: large dog cookies, small dog cookies, mushy dog cookies, stinky dog cookies, old dog cookies, kibble of six different colours and smells, stale popcorn, blueberries, and something called "veggie dog", which smelled a little bit like hot dog but felt funny in my tummy.

Yesterday I did not feel good.

Today I feel mostly better. My person shows me these pictures. She says they are old. I wonder who is the puppy? I don't believe it can be me. I was never that small.

 

Paws for a Cause

Today we went to something called "Paws for a Cause". My people told me this gathering of peoples, dogs, and other animals was to support the SPCA. They told me that the SPCA helps animals who don't have people to love. They told me that the dogs there sleep in cages until a person takes them away to a warm house. But this can take a long time. I met some dog-friends today who are "up for adoption". The were nice. I am glad the SPCA can help them. I hope they find people soon.

Hey slow poke

Hey slow poke, hurry up!

A different sort of morning

Today we started our morning like what my people call "week day". But Momma C forgot to take me with her. This was okay though. I stayed with Momma B. We left the littlest of my people with a bunch of people-friends her size. We do this often. This is usually boring. But right after, we went somewhere I didn't expect...

Dallas Road!

I am fierce with stick. Grrr.

At home, our chickens' heads have turned very red. I wonder if this is to match the leaves?
Here they have little bird visitors who like to share their seeds.

Running and playing

My person doesn't like these photos because they're blurry, but I like them because I'm having fun! Here I am running and playing with Whiskey and Phoebe.

Whee!

End of summer dogs

Summer is turning into fall. Night comes much earlier now. My instinct tells me it will continue to get darker and darker, and colder and colder. This is Nature.

But tonight it was still warm enough for people (who have no fur) to be outside for a long time. Tonight it was not raining. Tonight there were many friends at the park.

First I chased with Coco.

Then Phoebe came. We played a bit, then she did the Fetch and I did the Chase. Phoebe is very fast. After a few chases I had to take a break.

Then Whiskey came. Whiskey loves to chase balls. She is very good at Fetch. I love to chase Whiskey. I am very good at Chase.

Whiskey is not as fast as me, so I weave around her. And because I don't need to go too fast, I don't get tired too quickly. This is much fun. I can do this for a long time.

Sometimes dogs don't like to be chased. Sometimes they bark or growl and say Go Away, Stop That. But these are all my friends and they don't mind me chasing. Tonight was most satisfying.