Happy Thanksgiving from the 3 Dog Days!

Me and 4 dogs hanging out on the couch.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Fancy and the Turkey.

Pie takes a taste.

That's better.

Dottie does not trust the turkey.

Bad Dottie!

Is Muffin bigger, or is the turkey bigger?

Cousins!

My Godchild and only niece, and the eldest and up until Missy, only, grandchild, L, is visiting for Thanksgiving!  She came out with her Dad so we only got to see her for a little bit today, but we made every moment count.  I haven't seen her since her First Communion, so it was great for me to see her.  She is very mature and seems quiet, but you know she is really quite silly and maybe being a little reserved because she isn't at home.  Overall an amazing child and I did quite well raising her, obviously. :)

L was very excited to do everything with Missy.  She fed her lunch, helped her walk, played toys with her, carried her at the park, played in the sand with her, pushed her in the swing, took her down the slide, carried her (most of the way) back to the car, then fed her a bottle and watched me change her diaper so she could be ready next time.

So helpful!

Two cousins!

I love this picture.

Playing in the sand.

This dog is bored.

L helping Missy walk over the bridge.

Then carrying her back over.

Going down the side together.

L pushing her little cousin in the swing.

I supervise L doing the work.

Missy went down the small slide by herself.  She liked it.

Then L played by herself.

Whee!

Once we got home L helped feed her.

This dog was even more bored.

Me and my child and Godchild!

Nana and her two granddaughers!

Sadly the visit was way too short, but I was happy the only two cousins in the family go to meet.  L was also happy she was a baby so she could help her so much.

Walking!

She is pretty much done with crawling.  AND she stands up without using something to pull herself up.

Fun at Dinnertime

Once again the happy girl.  But I was tickling her.  With all her walking she is pretty sleepy the whole time she is home, and not quite as bubbly and giggly.  So I resorted to tickling.  It worked!

Missy Goes to the Park

Missy went to the park for the first time two weekends ago.  Of course Nana was there too, and since we walked, several dogs.  It was a total hit for Missy.  She loved the swing and while she didn't smile as much on the slide, it was over faster so harder to get into.  Pie was jealous of the baby playing on the equipment.  In the past when we went to the park, the dogs got to play.  So when Missy was done I released Pie and she ran around like a crazy dog, barking and jumping on and off of things.  I had to put a stop to in when some actual children showed up.

Loving the swing!

Proof I was there.

Nana takes a turn pushing.

Waving before heading over to the slide.

Close up of the waving.

Weee!  Down the slide.

Then it was crazy Pie's turn.

Bucking up for the walk home.  Do you see Fancy's nose?  She was there too.

Dottie is Recovered!

The rehab vet gave us the go-ahead to resume all our normal activities.  So she is back to going on jogs, being allowed to run around the back yard and DO AGILITY!  Tuesday was our first night back and I had planned to ease her back into it.  Good thing I had that plan since I got bronchitis and hadn't been out of bed for four days.  I ran her at 20 inches and walked the lead out, put her in a tunnel, reward did the next sequence which mean I had to run about 5 feet, rewarded, ran maybe 10 feet, rewarded, and so on.  The rewards were supposed to give me a chance to catch my breath, but it didn't help.  I was gasping for breath and cough fit to break a rib at the end.  One of the other ladies in the class offered to run her in the next go round and I was very happy to take her up on it since I was going to have to skip it any way.  I want to do agility, but I don't want to die on course.  She did a very nice job with Dottie.  Then I forced Dottie to skip the last run in the spirit of not overdoing it.  Dottie had so much fun and was very wild in her first run.  Then I let her run around like a manic in one of the other fields before her second run, so she was calmer for our stand in handler.

The lady next door (I live in a duplex) saw me up and about and said she hoped I was feeling better.  Which means I'm keeping her up with my coughing.  She said she was praying for me and I'm so cynical I thought she is probably praying I just die and get it over with and leave her in peace!  I was well enough to go into work today, but now that I am moving around the cough is getting worse, so I may sleep on the couch to give her some relief.  Those walls are way too thin.

Here's an old picture or two of Dottie doing agility so you can start thinking about her as an agility dog again.

I can go up high!

And go down low!

Harvest Festival!

A few weeks ago, Missy, Nana and I went to the Harvest Festival at the Harry Cary Historic Home in Santa Clarita.  It was also the home of Farmer John of the meat fame.  There were animals to see, different animals to pet, and some props to play with.  There were more activities for older kids but Missy wasn't quite old enough so after seeing the sights we took our leave.

Missy didn't want to wear the hat so Nana did.

I got to pet the wallaby!  It was very soft.

Dinner

With my Mom and my daughter!

Dottie Progress

Dottie is doing low jump grids! No rewards because I want to keep her calmish and the point is just to get her back in shape and keep her from getting re injured but tonight she was all excited and barky.  I started with 3 jumps all at 12, and now I have moved one jump to 16.  We have an appointment with the rehab vet tomorrow so I will confirm that those heights are appropriate.  Who knows, maybe we can go higher.  Dottie is still showing no lameness and she still wants to do more and run amock and play with Pie.  But she has not been given the ok for that yet.  Poor Dottie.

We also continue to do her stretching and core strengthening exercises- after Missy has gone to bed.  Once I left the giant peanut out and Missy thought it was a great toy.  Which is fine, unless Dottie is trying to use it at the same time.

Even with liberal applications of treats, she does not really like her exercises.  Her favorite is the hip stretches.  I don't know why she doesn't care for the rest.  Not all are pictured.

Hip stretches on the peanut.  Sometimes I leave her like this when I do chores.

Sitting on it and then I rock it gently and her core works to keep her on top.

Sitting pretty for increasing duration, and short durations on the peanut.

First Hike

Before SchH/ IPO training last Saturday, I took the 3 big dogs and Missy for a "hike" in Santa Rosa County Park.  I put hike in quotes because the trail I went on is wide and flat and is more like a walk than a hike.  But it was out in the country and it wasn't paved, so it was close to a hike!  The dogs have to be on leash, but they were well behaved, and did not pull.  Missy rode in her Baby Bjorn.  She loves that thing!  My shoulders were not loving it so much!  Since the dogs were on leash and I had a baby and 3 leashes I did not bring the camera on the walk/ hike.  I did have it in the car, so I got a picture at the end of the walk.  We ended up going 2.3 miles.  Again, hardly a hike, but the baby got really heavy at the end!

Missy babbled the whole time and really enjoyed the ride.  She also got to pet a horse (Webster) that we met in the parking lot.  The horse's owner was impressed with how brave she was.  She's used to Malinois, I don't think a horse will phase her!

After the hike we had a good time at dog training, then headed to Nana and Grandad's house.  Still no dog shows since Dottie is still out with her injury and I'm taking the opportunity to save on entry fees.

Again

Moonrise about 5:30 Sunday night.