A Long Day Abbreviated (53)

Moss does not grow under my mothers feet. Therefore we had a very busy day and I have not had a moment to sit and blog yet. It is late and so I will give you the abbreviated version of my day.

Up at 7:15made coffee cake
8:00 AM out to Garage sales (remember it is a family illness)
first garage sale not so much of a find Only card making paper(a find for me)
second garage sale a great find for my mother who is a great grandmother of two.We took Beeker with us on this short trip. He loves to go in the car, and he sits patiently as we come and go. At the second garage sale, I parked across the street from the sale house. The owners of the home where I parked let their American Staffordshire Terrier out in the front yard. The dog just sat and Beeks went ballistic in the car. When I heard him barking I went back to the car and moved it two houses up so that Beeks couldn't see the dog any longer. He stopped barking and I could return to the garage sale.
9:00-9:30 Back home for breakfast of coffee cake, dishes and walk about in the yard
9:30 Into Champaign for more garage sales
5 or 6 sales by 1:00...lots of good finds but mostly great fun and lots of conversation.
1:00 to pet store for pet food
1:30 Grocery store for people food
2:00 home
lunch
Change clothes
2:30 out in yard for planting
planted wild flower poppies
replanted snowball verbina (we had planted it first in a shady place)
neighbor gifted us 5 peonies so dug those up
planted 5 Peonies
Planted Cannas
Neighbors came to play in yard
Neighbor worked with Max in meet and greet lesson(see pictures above)Success for both!
5:15 Came inside to shower and change for evening in Champaign
6:15 Left for Champaign
7:00 Guys and Dolls at Assembly Hall
10:30: Home
Dinner
11:15 Blog Time
It has been a great day and we are truly tired. Beeks ran around the yard and was happy to run and play with all of the neighbor kids. The youngest kept giving Beeks sticks, she figured out that Beeks likes to jump for them and then sits and chews them so she kept giving him small sticks and Beeks kept taking them and sitting and eating them. I think they were bonding. It was beautiful watching them defining a friendhsip that was developed on their own terms. They both were happy with the gifts that were just between them. They were learning trust between species at the most basic level. Awesome! Max spent a large amount of time off leash in the yard with Brad. Beeks was in the house by now, exhausted and needing some rest. Max loved going where ever Brad went in the yard and stayed by his side like a faithful hound should.

(52) A Good Time was had by All

Nana is in town and I am so thankful for her and all that came with her. Brad has been on a business trip and since he was passing through Nana's town he stopped and picked her up. If you don't know who Nana is she is my mom! Nana is the best mom that a girl could ask for. She is always willing to lend a hand and she's got a wealth of practical knowledge she's willing to share. We always love having her come to visit. So do Max and Beeker. She knows how to spoil a dog as well as any grandchild. Last time she visited she taught both dogs to roll over on command. With treats of course.

This visit she loaded up Brad's rental car with fern,snowball viburnum, sage, Canaan's,Privet and two huge boxes of Pachysandra. My family is wonderful at sharing plants with us for out large yard. I own my sister and my parents a huge thanks for all the plants they have given us over the years. I'm such a plant-cutting hog. Besides a trunk of plants and bushes, she also brought sewing projects and foodstuffs to make Brad a lemon pie. Is She great or what? This morning the weather called for rain by 6AM so we got up early to start putting out plants. We had all of the fern(@16) put out by 8 and all of the Pachysandra out by 10. Then I had to get to work on the computer project and mom continued on in the yard. The rain here didn't materialize but moved south of us. We were kind of hoping that we would get some rain for the plants.
When I came down from the office, mom had the bushes and all of the Privet planted, watered and fed. Let's hope everything survives. We will be watering for the next few days. I have to say that it is beautiful to look into the woods from the back deck and see all the fern returning year after year.

Tonight we were again visited by the neighborhood little girls and their parents. The oldest girl brought her bubble machine and blew bubbles for Beeks. I don't think he could see them. We kept encouraging Beeks to run after them but he was more interested in jumping and running after the sticks the little girls were swinging aound.

The girls figured out that Chez had escaped from the house and was under our deck. When ever he would venture out, the girls would squeal with delight and he would run back under the deck for safety. The girls like Beeks and Max but they LOVE Chez. Chez is not an outdoor cat. We try to keep him inside but every so often he darts out and runs for his safety spot under the deck. A year ago he got out in December when we had one of those days where the temperature started out at 50 degrees and ended up at 10 then went down to -5. We couldn't find him and it got dark. I left food out for him and we looked and called all night but no Chez. I had given him up for dead after three weeks but Brad (who proclaims his hatred for the cat) kept checking with animal services and the local Vets office. Then one evening we got a call from a family saying they thought they had our cat under their deck. We (I) didn't think this could be possible as they lived about 4 blocks away and by now this was 3 full weeks since his hiatus. However, it was him, all crusty, 2 lbs lighter than his 8 lbs and frost bit to boot. To make a long story short, we go after him when he gets out and he tries to hide from us. So Beeks was running around the yard with the girls, chasing sticks and having a great time, The girls were dancing on the deck trying to entice Chez to come out and generally being girls in fantasy land. The adults were talking on the front drive way and Max was barking because he was tethered up. Later my neighbor went with me to pet Maxie and he settled down once he got a smell of her. That was a huge step in Max's meet and greet school. It was a great evening. Then Beeker ran past the deck and Chez bounded out from under the deck, over the hostas and toward Beeker. He was trying to play tag with Beeks! We all get excited and went toward the deck and ...Chez went back under the deck! This happened another two times. Beeks lost interested because there was more activity in the front of the yard so Chez hunkered down until we all went indoors. When Nana went inside there was Chez at the back porch door waiting to be let inside!

After Brad got home we took him outside to show him all of the planting Nana and I did today. He was so impressed! We celebrated by letting both dogs run and play off leash in the yard. As you can see by the pictures, a good time was had by all. Max was a little tired and beeks can run circles around him.
I'm exhausted too. Nana is making her lemon pie, of course. No slowing down for her!

(51)Screams in the Night and other Frights

ATTENTION: This post may not be suitable for younger people and those that get squeamish about biological functions. This is certainly is gross to me!

To start...Just as we were going to bed last night(@11:30)the woods lit up with the screaming sounds of something. Something dying a painful death or screaming for help. It was the kind of scream that goes right to the back of your neck, a scream that I can only describe as bone chilling. As I lay there I thought of all of the possibilities. I am fairly certain that it was NOT a person dying. There were no words associated with the screaming. Just didn't seem right. Then there is of course George and Gracie to think about. I know hawks do their hunting(killing)all day. I once observed a hawk take a young squirrel while the mother (I presume) screeched, right in front of me in the middle of the day. So it could be the hawks. As I have shared before, we have heard Coyote pups at night. They kind of yelp and carry on. We usually hear them if the night is fairly still and not windy. Last night it was hot and still in the night (get it? "in the still of the night") But this sound was screaming, animal screams not yelping or howling at the moon. Brad has seen a fox walking down the lane. It could be the the fox on the prowl or mixing it up with other nocturnal animals. And of course I wouldn't want to forget the many masked faced raccoons that come to eat at my bird feeders. I know they are prey for something since we have found one or two decaying bodies near the creek. Raccoons make the most horrendous screeching sounds when they are mating so they are a possibility. My imagination could go on wondering what all the screaming was about but I think it is better to just chalk it up to night time wilderness ruccus. My doors were locked and I had two great alarm dogs next to me.

If that description did not scare you maybe this will... Brad sent me an email describing one of Beekers rudest behaviors. Turns out that the butt scootch he has been doing on my carpet is because his anal glands are full and he is trying to open them up and let the "pus" come out. Great and all I thought was that he needed to go outside to poop! I had no conceptualization of these glands and although I have owned a good number of dogs I have not been exposed to this process. I guess this is a naturally occurring issue with dogs and if the anal gland sacs get clogged then they need to be opened up and drained, or "popped". The anal glands have oil in them to help stool pass. I know that Beeks sometimes gets constipated cuz of all the sticks,ropes and other lovely items he eats. There is a procedure that I read about in the article Brad sent. I won't share what that process is because it is way too graphic for my blog but if you are a "do it yourself" kind of person I will give you the website so you to read up on it. If you don't really care to know too much about such bodily functions then you can either have you Veterinarian or the groomer do it for you (I mean your dog). The article is titled, "Anal Glands 101, Dog, Cat, and other Pet Friendly Travel Articles" and you can access this great article at... www.petswelcome.com/articles/anal-glands-101
P.S. there's a great picture too.

Well, since I don't have a picture of Beeker on the scootch, I just posted a picture of my Lilac's that just bloomed today. I love Lilacs!

(50) Friends , Feathers and Flowers

50 blogs. Can you believe it? I'm kinda getting the hang of this thing. I'm enjoying the process of writing every day and also focusing on what I do with Beeks allows me to see that I am working to enrich his life as well. Pretty good combo I think. I am taking a mandatory break from my computer project(project computer issues, not mine) and Beeks and I are getting a little fresh air out on the deck. Max looks like he wants to come out but I don't have Beeks on a tie out so I will wait to let Max out in a short time. Beeks takes little darts at squirrels he hears/sees and then comes back to the deck. I have to recall him sometimes but sometimes he comes on his own. He mostly is cruzin for sticks to chew up. Funny dog.

Late Night Wilderness PartyLast night, close to 1 AM both dogs erupted into a barking frenzy and could not be calmed down. They ran to the back windows (nearest the thick of the woods) and kept barking. I thought Max was going to knock down the plant stand) something I couldn't hear was happening in the great wilderness and it got their attention. They obviously wanted some of that action. I looked out the windows but saw nothing. Finally I got both dogs back into the bedroom and after a few more minutes they settled down for the rest of the night. I thought maybe the interruption would mean we would be getting up later this morning but Nooooooo. 6 AM on the dot Max was breathing in my ear. He has a wonderful internal clock. If I am working upstairs on the computer I will hear him getting up and start walking towards the stairs to come get me for his dinner. When I look at the computer clock it usually says 5:01. Some dog!

Playtime with Little Girls
When I do get to the dogs' dinner routine it goes something like this: I put them out in the run to go potty while I put food in the bowls. Then I let them inside the garage on a a time, depending who sits first and most patient. Then I tether Max and open the garage. As soon a Beeks is finished he and I play some games. I throw the Frisbee, or ball and I get him to jump for the rope. Since it has been nice and sunny out lately, the little girls that live next door have been riding their scooter's over when they see the garage door open. This is great practice for all of us. I am so grateful that they want to come over and feel comfortable enough to do so. They are somewhat cautious of Beeker at first,(he sometimes will want to chase them or herd them, being the cattle dog that he is) but slowly they begin to play with him wanting to do the throwing or getting him to follow them when they are scooting around. I watch this slow warming and think of the "curiously afraid" that Temple Grandin talks about. This is good for Beeker and for the girls. I want Beeks to know that squealing, laughing small people are not for herding or chasing. I want him to know that they get to say when to play and he gets to choose if he wants to follow them.
Max is a different kettle of fish. He barks and pulls at his leash. His tail is wagging and I know he would love to play with the girls but I also know that he would be too brash, too rough. Yesterday when the girls came over, the youngest girl, had a small stuffed cat that she was carrying. She got brave and walked into the garage where Max was and was talking to him. He kept looking at her like he wanted to get to her, he was really pulling and barking at her. Then I realized what was going on in his mind. He wanted he stuffed cat! I went into the house, got one of his stuffed animals, had him go to a sit and then gave him one of his own stuffed animals. He lay down and quieted right up! That was what he wanted. It is true that he is always calmer when he has something in his mouth. I think it is a Newfie thing. My neighbors is so wonderful to help us with doggy obedience school. I want Max to be okay with the girls around and not think that small people=prey. He still has such a difficult time with meet and greet. The littlest neighbor just stands at the garage opening and talks to Max, she doesn't like it that he is tethered up but neither does she like his over the top behavior. Tonight when she was talking to him, he barked real loud and it scared her, I told her that max was just replying to her and like she was talking to him, he was talking to her. She turned around and told Max, "no barking!" I am hoping that we will get a lot of tolerance practice this summer.

Rewarding Playtime
After such a long day of ignoring my dogs, I thought that they would like some play time fun, so I filled the Premier bottle and the Premier Twist-n-Treat and had the dogs sit and watch me as I put them both under a small blanket. Then I released them, to go to it. You can imagine the frenzy. Actually, Max was the more inquisitive one. Beeks sniffed the rug but Max went right for the Twist-n-Treat. I thought that he might have some difficulty opening it up to get the treats out but i was so wrong. He put it between both paws and then used one paw to turn it with pressure from the floor. Now this might not seem to much of a difficult thing but the toy only turns one way. He really kept at it and soon all the goodies were gone. It took him only about 7 minutes. Beeker is use to the treat bottle but it takes him a while too bang it all around and get the goodies out. He too kept focused on the toy, even carrying it around when he thought that Max and I were going to do some thing fun in the kitchen. It has been so warm that I think I will put some cold stuff in the Kong and the squirrel buddy so they can have cold treats tomorrow. Summer fun!

George and Gracie's Nest
The trees have filled in so much in the last few days that I am not able to see the nest so well. We have seen George and Gracie in the late afternoon, flying in the woods. They are more vocal in the afternoon and I love watching how graceful they are flying in and around the trees. They really make their presence known. We (the dogs and myself) all stop and look up when we see their shadows pass by. The screened in porch is a really good place to sit and watch all of the afternoon happenings in the woods and down the lane.

I'm working with Max when ever some distraction occurs and he gets anxious and ready to bark. I sit with him and pet him while he watches. I want him to increase the part of his brain that is able to control his impulses. Think there is a chance? He actually is doing quite well at this exercise. He may bark at first but talking to him calmly goes a long way. It seems that Beeker is the initial alert system of the pair, so I can get Beeks to stop first then maybe I can get Max to ignore the excitement too. So much to do...

(49) Weird Dog World

I am deep into the computer project and not without some dissension. Beeks is willing to lay low for a good part of the day but soon (about 2-3 hours) he wains. He starts playing with the cat, he brings me toys and drops them in my lap, when his subtle hints doesn't do him any good, he goes for the big guns, Max. When Max and beeks walk in the office together and start wrestling, I've lost the patience battle. It's time for a break.

We live down a beautiful tree lined lane. On either side of the lane are our neighbor's back yards. With most backyards come family dogs. They bark, let their presence be known and all is good with the world. When we take the dogs for a walk, we have to walk down the lane. no problem, Lots of neighbors use our lane as a pass thru to other neighborhoods. It works well for everyone. However, Max and Beeks have a nemesis. Honest. When ever we get close to "Fido's" yard, both dogs get antsy. Max pulls and almost bucks. We have worked with him over the years so that now he mostly whimpers when we get near. Beeks gets right on that band wagon. He barks his wimpy bark, letting Max and Fido know he's there too. If we continue on, all gets aligned and the world continues to function. If we pass other dogs out in their yards, Max and Beeks will strut right past like they are ignoring the dogs, or if the dog barks a greeting, Max and Beeks will pull to see what is happening in the hood. It's a dogs world and they are happy to be a part of it. It's not just Max and Beeker with this specific dog issue. Fido lets my dogs know he isn't happy aobut this territory being invaded as well. If Fido's owners walk him down the lane towards our house and we happen to be outside, there is great dog tension at both ends of the leash. When we first got Max and I tried to walk him alone down the lane, he would pull me down into the gravel. Totally bad scene. Here's the thing. When we first moved here and we had Belle and Beau instead of Max and Beeker, they too would get anxious near Fido's yard. Belle actually growled, which is interesting because Belle was the most passive of any dog I have ever met. Fido isn't naturally aggressive. He is what we call "an Olden Golden". He is a slow moving, family loving dog as far as I can see. He just gets my dogs' goats. Why is that? I can't figure out why this one dog is able to cause pure chaos when we encounter him. something to continue to think about. Maybe something to do with a specific behavior or maybe unbeknown to us, he may be an intact male. He doesn't act like it however, no other signs of aggression when we see him with his family or next door dogs. Weird dog world.

Do you remember me telling you about Beeks hesitation with jumping on the bed when I call him up? Remember that I could stand by him and tell him to "bed up" and he would jump right up but if I was sitting on the bed and try to call him up in my sweetest voice and plead with him, he just sits and almost jerks with desire but some apprehensiveness to jump? The funniest thing happened when I was working on this blog. The dogs came to the bed to let me know they wanted to get up. Beek's with his head on the bed, and sad puppy eyes. Max just up close with heavy breathing,so I said "okay, come on". Max went to his side of the bed and jumped right up. No problem. Beeks quivered. I begged him almost. "Come on, Come on, up Beeks." Then he Jumped right up. On my lap! Between me and the computer. He wants to be my lap dog! I sat with him in that position for about 5 minutes cuz I was in shock. Then he was too hot. I moved him down a bit then moved my computer so I could continue to blog.
Weird dog world.

(48) Dog Heaven

Yesterday Beeker and I went to the woodsy part of the Lake of the Woods Prairie. This always gets the dogs excited. Even when I drive up the street to get to the entry, they start moaning. There is not other way to describe the sound that comes out of them when they know they are about to go somewhere they love. The prairie and the grandparents house. Since Brad had to work,it was just Beeks and me. Beeker has not been to the woodsy part since last year because it gets just too muddy during the winter and early Spring. I put him on the 20 foot leash with out his gentle leader so that he could really track all of the smells. He is absolutely in Dog Heaven when we go this route. It's wet, its muddy, its smelly, and its got lots of grasses and sticks to jump over. True dog heaven. I so wish I could have him off lead. We have been there when we have met other dogs and owners with the dogs off lead and I always wonder how they can afford to do that. I would be afraid that I would be ticketed for breaking the leash law and afraid that Beeks would run away and not return. My fear. Anyway, he loves getting twenty feet of freedom. We were about 5 minutes into the trail and Beeks starts to put his nose to the ground, tracking back and forth across the trail. I'm thinking that he is going to find some interesting stuff, a dead critter or deer doot or something real cool. He stops and then goes for something I can't recognize but looks orange. I get to him just as he is about to swallow a tiny piece of a goldfish cracker. The tail end. Yep that's my tracker!

The trail has been bushwhacked somewhat,cleaned up, tree limbs cut and large chipped limestone put down for the runners that use this 5 mile trail. It's rugged and it has good changes in the terrain so most every day there are joggers on this wilderness trail. Whenever we see some person coming I recall Beeks and when he comes I keep him to a heel. We greet who ever we meet and I notice that we don't get a warm greeting in return. Now if you know Beeker, he isn't threatening. He looks but doesn't bark. I think that most people are fearful of any dog they don't know, even dogs who are under control. Even if they have dogs themselves. Even if they are "dog people".

We cross creeks every so often. This is the best part to Beeker. On the right is slime water and on the left, filtered through the big limestone rocks, is clear. I gear him towards the clear side and in he goes. It cools him down, it feels great and then up he comes, happy as a dog in heaven. I was able to keep him to the left for most of the creeks, except one time when he went into the left side, splashed then darted up and out of the creek bed into the other side. the slime side. When he came out his face was covered green.
By the time we got back to the car Beeks was happily wet,sandy and severely muddy. He had to ride in the way back to get home. This isn't his usual station in life but he was so tired that he didn't complain. Good thing DQ was on the way home. He didn't complain about that either.

(47) Game On

It is a beautifully warm (some would say hot even)75 degree sunny day. Since Brad is at work all day and I can't work on my computer project I had to again make a day plan. So I decided to first take my walkabout and then take Beeks to the Lake of the Woods Prairie. Only this time I wanted to take him to the wooded area where a number of creeks bisect the 5mile trail.

On our walk about the yard we discovered that the tulips I dug up last year because they were not growing in the front garden, were growing in the ash pile. This says something about me or them, I'm not sure which. In the garden they grew big leaves and then die. No flowers. I kept thinking that it was the early spring weather we were having that had prohibited the flower growth, but each year nothing, so I dug them up and dumped them where we dump all of yard waste and ashes from the fireplace. I couldn't believe it when I saw how beautiful the one Tulip was. Hence the picture. I had Max tethered out on the back deck so that he could enjoy the shade and smell the fresh air. Beeks was off lead. My mistake on that one. Beeks thought it was a great game to run near Max and just out of reach so that Max couldn't get to him. Max nearly choked himself a number of times. They would wrestle and then it would turn into Max torture again, so I stopped the play and put Beeks on the 1 foot short lead for the rest of the roundabout. I am beginning to really like the 1 foot short lead because it forces Beeks to keep at a heel. He doesn't fight it and If I want to let him off lead I can just let go of it and it stays attached but not connected to me. In other words he can keep the leash attached but not trip on it when I am not holding it.

Then after making the complete rounds of the yard, inspecting the growing fern, the newly planted vinca minor(Periwinkle), and the already blooming Bleeding Hearts we headed inside.Only to see our resident Western Fox snake at the stoop of the front door. We have seen this guy(gal)since we moved here. I think it likes the warmth from the front bricks and the coolness of the cement. Anyway, last year we found babies in the spring. Brad says we need to name him also since we are naming all of our part time residents. I'm going for Stanley. As in Laural and Harding. He is pretty big, about three feet. Western Fox snakes are common in central Illinois and are not poisonous. That's a good thing.

We went to the Prairie woods this afternoon and I will tell you all about that tomorrow. It was pretty exciting. However, I want to share a conversation that my sister and I had this morning about dogs and play. Let me know what you think.

Juli was telling me that her dog Jesse James creates and plays games. Jesse is an only dog in the family. He has lots of dog friends whom he plays with frequently. Juli also takes Jesse to the dog park so he plays with new friends as well. At home Jesse gets lots of love and attention from Juli so he is not neglected by any means. When Juli is otherwise occupied, Jess will create games. One of them that I have seen is where he takes his ball to the top of the stairs and noses it slowly until it falls down the steps. He then runs to get recover it and brings it back to the top and noses it until it falls down the steps again. Another game he created happens when he finds a fly or bug of some sort. He will manipulate it in some sort of fashion and then watch its reaction, then manipulate it again, repeating the game. I have seen my cat Chez do this game playing and creating as well. He will fling one of his cat toys and then pounce on it, or fling it in the air and then over a bench and then stalk it. He loves this solo play. Max and Beeker don't create solo games. My question to Juli and to everyone else is: Why do some dogs and cats engage in solo play when others don't? We talked about a number or possibilities which I will suggest and maybe you will have some others. Do your pets create games to play?

I believe that Beeker and Max are as intelligent as Jesse James and Chez so intelligence doesn't enter into this conversation. I believe that play has a lot to do with novelty and surprise. The sheer rush of the unknown is fun and physically arousing for all of us (sometimes positively and sometimes negatively but arousing none the less). Beeks and Max have each other to play with to get the suprise aspect of play, so when ever Beeks wants some excitement he goes to Max. Jesse creates this excitement for himself. Juli reminded me that little baby humans do this too. They drop their spoons on the floor to see what happens and we adults pick it up only to find out that the babies are laughing and doing it on purpose.
Juli also suggested that other dogs that live in single dog families don't all create games to occupy their time and need for excitement. This is true. We know of other dogs that are just hppy to be around people and except for chasing a ball don't play. Then there is Chez our cat. As I said before, he likes to create his own games and plays alone frequently. However, he plays with Beeks often and with Max to some extent. Even today while I was having this conversation with my sister Chez was batting Beeker on his rear and Beeks was rolling over for some rough and tumble with Chez. They chased each other, Chez chasing Beeker and then backing Beeker up against the wall. His back was arched but there was no hissing or growling, Just for Fun. The whole thing. So Chez and Jesse James both are able to multi-play. Isn't that a higher brain function? I'd be interested in hearing if other people's dogs and pets create games for the thrill of it.