Good Dog(18)

Wow, today was really busy. Beeks and I had numerous errands to run in Champaign but first we returned the movies to the Library. So... Here is my short editorial of Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Last Orders: Sunshine was weird as I had suspected it would be, however it was also somewhat interesting because it was so different than most "love stories". It was erratic, moving flash forward and flash backward so often that I had to pay close attention or else be lost in the plot. I thought of it as a stream of consciousness/dream that would cause anyone to sweat. Not in a scary way but in a "loss of control" way. It was interesting to watch Kate Winslet in such a whacked out role. Very different than she usually plays. If you want off beat...go for it. Last Orders is a guy's buddy movie. It won best ensemble cast Academy Award in 2004. It immediately reminded me of the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes or Steele Magnolias, only for guys. Lots of reminiscing and very s-l-o-w. Enough said. Tonight however we are going to watch My Dog Skip! I love this movie and it has been so long since I last saw it. Beeker will love Skip! If you haven't seen it please rent it. It is so worth your time if you love dogs. I received a forwarded email from Chelsey of a really funny Utube video and I am pasting it here for you to watch. It's sort of long but worth watching how determined this dog. Tenacity is the word that immediately came to mind. If you don't have the time to spend 10 minutes watching, cut into it @5 minutes. Its a cattle dog and Beeks is part cattle dog so I especially like watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jpNpWooS8U

Sometimes the best adventures come when you don't plan them. That's what happened today. Beeks went with me to run our errands and on our way home, we passed Meadowbrook Park. It has been a long time since I have taken Beeker there so we stopped and walked around the Sculpture Garden. This was high excitement. It was drizzling and all of the snow has melted. The prairie has not really begun to green up. So there were lots of new scents and places to explore. I recently read an article of games to play with your dog. It was in Bark Magazine and written by an animal behaviorist. One of the games she suggested was for the owner to find things to share with their dog when on a walk,like bird nests, little holes to smell. She suggested this is a bonding experience that encourages the dog to see the owner as exciting and involved in the exploration. She says this assists in practicing recall as well because the dog wants to be with you finding interesting treasures as well. So Beeks and I tried this on our walk. I gave it my best shot. Tried to be as enticing as he found the saw grass and the creek and the prairie grass. He is a "smeller". He smelled the grasses from to to bottom. I wonder if he can smell what kind of animal scented it and how long ago it came by. He really studied everything. By the time we got back to the car Beeker was exhausted. As we drove home the country roads, we passed a field that was flooded by all the rain. The culvert near the road was also flooded and in all that water were about twenty geese. Beeks didn't even notice because he was so exhausted. Here was my chance to show him something interesting, so I stopped the car and rolled down the window and pointed to all the geese squawking. Then I was something! Beeks got right up and put his head out the window just looking for the longest time. I really wanted to open the door and let him go for it, but my fear of him running off was too much for me. I think he would have loved to chase them. Brad is fond of saying, "a tired dog is a good dog". And so it is. Beeks is down for the count tonight. Good dog!