JACKED

Mom's Helper

2011-10-30T21:51:00.003-06:00

Good Plan

2011-09-17T23:36:00.001-06:00

Subtle Plea

2011-09-05T16:24:00.000-06:00

Keep on Truckin'

2011-08-04T15:50:00.003-06:00

Phew

2011-07-24T17:02:00.000-06:00

Redux

2011-07-06T16:09:00.000-06:00

A shadow of himself

2011-06-05T23:03:00.002-06:00

Caged.

2011-05-29T20:02:00.000-06:00

2011-04-14T21:06:00.000-06:00

Climbing

2011-04-03T21:37:00.000-06:00

Too cute

2011-03-03T21:35:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T08:20:00.000-06:00

Why?

2011-02-07T19:00:00.000-06:00

He's a Hazard

2011-02-06T20:18:00.000-06:00

Border Collie Style

2011-01-26T19:57:00.000-06:00

Epic Truth

2011-01-01T20:56:00.001-06:00

Neighbors

2010-12-31T21:39:00.000-06:00

No, really! I left it in here Mom!

2010-12-30T22:00:00.000-06:00

Embracing New Technology

2010-12-29T22:01:00.000-06:00

It's good, but it's not THAT good Ep.

I Heart that Dog

2010-12-29T15:41:00.001-06:00

... Even though he has rank gas.

My Return

2010-12-28T21:29:00.004-06:00

Epic was left behind for Christmas, as he isn't as *social* as some dogs. The running joke was that he was home, in bed, trying to find something to rhyme with "Mommy is gone". Also, forgive my absence.

Christmas Spirit.

2010-12-10T22:55:00.000-06:00

Frenzied.

2010-11-02T22:19:00.002-06:00

Wouldn't touch that if I had a pole, and a hockey mask.

2010-10-27T22:24:00.002-06:00

Volume Control... We Has None.

2010-10-20T22:00:00.000-06:00

Valid Point.

2010-10-18T21:59:00.000-06:00

A Watched Pot.

2010-10-15T09:16:00.001-06:00

Hacker.

2010-10-13T07:12:00.001-06:00

A Mouse in the House

2010-10-09T16:09:00.003-06:00

Keeps Epic very busy.

Unfortunately, the mouse seems to enjoy the dog food cupboard. It has been emptied and filled with mouse traps. BUT... to start, we tried the good ol' fashioned, organic method of pest removal.

*I smells it mommy*

Which really means... we put Epic in the cupboard.

This was very exciting and funny, until he started to deconstruct the cupboard to gain access to the space underneath the stairs.

Epic kills a lot of time looking at the cupboard now. We haven't seen any signs of mice OUTSIDE of that space, so that's kind of nice. I find myself a little squeamish about the monsters. Luckily, Epic doesn't feel the same. Heaven forbid he ever sees one.

2010-09-29T10:07:00.000-06:00

Still unpacking.

2010-09-26T17:05:00.001-06:00

That's probably better than I could have done.

2010-09-22T21:43:00.001-06:00

It often gurgles...

2010-09-04T08:32:00.000-06:00

My favorite view

2010-09-01T20:30:00.000-06:00

Mom is Back at School Again

2010-08-29T08:42:00.001-06:00

Sucks.

Return to the Wild

2010-08-19T14:56:00.002-06:00

We haven't been to the offleash park in quite a while, basically, because I'm a big wuss about the man-eating mosquitoes that live there. We finally braved it the other day, and found the park to be blissfully empty. I suspect that has to do with the ridiculous height of the grass, and the swamp-like nature of the ground after a wetter-than-normal summer.

BUT... an empty park meant that Dixie got to have her first run offleash, and she behaved fabulously.

^See what I mean about the grass? There are THREE dogs in this picture!!

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^Two dogs. One of them is Epic, and damn is he cute.
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The park also has a lovely slough. TONS of fun for the four-leggers. I *maybe* should have bathed Epic after, 'cuz he suffered with a rash on his undercarriage for about 3 days. Ever try to keep a teenage JRT from scratching his 'little epic' raw? Not fun. Sometimes kinda funny... but not fun....

BFF

2010-08-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

Meal time

2010-08-10T11:41:00.000-06:00

It's hot out... AGAIN.

2010-08-08T10:41:00.000-06:00

Mommy's Little Helper

2010-08-07T11:23:00.001-06:00

...Zoom... Dixie!

2010-08-05T00:01:00.000-06:00

*Oh Hai!!!*

...Zoom.....?

2010-08-03T00:01:00.000-06:00

Zoom...?

2010-08-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

Bed time

2010-07-31T00:01:00.000-06:00

Portrait

2010-07-30T12:32:00.000-06:00

The Bed is...

2010-07-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

Comparisons

2010-07-28T00:01:00.000-06:00

Wiener Roast

2010-07-27T00:01:00.002-06:00

Scary

2010-07-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

Epic Lessons

2010-07-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

shhh

2010-07-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

Go-to-Ground... urbanized.

2010-07-23T00:01:00.000-06:00

Not all fun and games.

2010-07-22T13:48:00.002-06:00

I haven't just been playing around with some Epic comics this last week... I've done some 'work-ish' things too. Epic has found new ways to annoy me:

Why, yes. That is my painting tape he's pulling off the wall.

Maybe pat that first..

2010-07-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

Shining Knight

2010-07-21T00:01:00.000-06:00

Friends

2010-07-20T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hate.

2010-07-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

Surfing

2010-07-18T00:01:00.000-06:00

Unloved

2010-07-17T22:43:00.000-06:00

Rawr!

2010-07-17T00:01:00.001-06:00

One more, for good measure.

2010-07-16T16:04:00.000-06:00

A new beginning?

2010-07-16T09:37:00.002-06:00

An Epic comic adventure:

No coffee is safe.

Morning Hrrmphs

2010-07-15T09:20:00.002-06:00

Morning is a dirty fighter.

If given the chance, it's best to not engage this enemy.

At least Epic had the choice. Dixie got me up at 7:00, and then Bailey puked on the couch.

The End of Crabbiness

2010-07-12T22:01:00.001-06:00

Hooray! We have pictures!

Unfortunately, we haven't been up to much in the last little while. Rally-O, flyball, and some schoolwork have kept us busy. So busy, in fact, that all of us really enjoy our time just sitting around in the new house. Some day I'll get off the couch and paint, until then... I'll throw Dixie's toy.

*Oh hi! Throw my toy. Not asking.*
Incredibly subtle, no?

.
When Epic's not running around like an idiot or noshing on... well... things that shouldn't be noshed on, he can be found doing this ^^.
.

^^This is even better, 'cuz he can see out the window too. Yes, laying here does involve a fair amount of skill, and the mashing of one's boy parts... but the payout is so worth it. We live right near a large park, where plenty of people walk their dogs. So no cats around here, but plenty of dogs to tell off from ones throne.

Prince Attitude has been a bad boy lately. He's destroyed a few articles of clothing (I know you know what I mean), he pulls stuff off my bookshelf, he broke the roomie's closet door, and he pulled out some attitude at a doggy demo the other day. How am I ever going to survive the terrible twos?

Technical Difficulties

2010-07-12T17:19:00.002-06:00

Blogger hasn't let me post pictures in forever, and it's starting to piss me off.
.
Bah! Stay tuned. With any luck I'll figure out what the problem is before my head blows up.

My doG, I'm blogging!

2010-06-23T15:42:00.003-06:00

Miss me?

It has been a busy few weeks. We moved into the new place, I defended my thesis, and hey! Today's my birthday!

Eppers and Dixie would like to show you their new yard... they like it very much.

*This way please*

It's huge!

We're not exactly unpacked yet, but we are living quite comfortably. Epic is getting used to the dogs next door (we're completely surrounded!), and doesn't spend TOO much time barking like an idiot anymore. We've been away from flyball for about a month now, but we'll be going back this week. In the meantime, Epic is rocking Rally-O, and I'm floundering through academia.

Lazy Day

2010-06-09T16:49:00.004-06:00

7 comatose dogs. Brilliant!

I lost him there for a little bit. It's a bit of an unusual sleeping spot.

Homeless

2010-06-08T17:16:00.002-06:00

As mentioned before, Epic, roomie, roomie's dogs, and I, are all camping out at my parent's place while we wait to move into the new house. We've been here for a week now. Considering there are 7 dogs in this house right now, it has gone fabulously well! Mom and Dad have a really large yard which the dogs are taking full advantage of. It would be better if it would stop RAINING SOMETIME THIS $%$#@ING CENTURY, but hey, i'll take what I can get... without TOO much complaint.

These pictures were taken early last week. It's considerably grosser out there now

^^ Notice the only crazy dog in the picture is Epic. This is my life.

PLEASE let it stop raining. PLEASE. In the last month Saskatoon has gotten something like 7 inches of rain. 7 inches of rain makes for a LOT of muddy feet to wipe, or floors to mop. Epic and I were at our first Rally-O class last Thursday, watching a big ass cloud roll in over the trees. One torrential downpour later, and so-endeth Rally-O class. I'd REALLY prefer if it didn't rain anymore this week... I'd like Thursday's class to be less wet, and I really don't want to move in the rain again :(

Almost Time!

2010-05-29T23:08:00.003-06:00

*Really? Don't forget me.*

News Flash!

2010-05-27T15:44:00.003-06:00

We're moving!

*Wait... what's moving?*

That's where we go live in a new house Epic... but don't worry. It's not far from here.

*Oh. Can I keep my bed?*

Of course! You can keep everything! But we're actually going to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for a while, so you'll have to do without for a little bit.

*WAIT! Can I keep my stick!?*

No. All you do is eat it, anyway.

*But I loves my stick! nom nom nom...*

We don't get ownership of the new house until June 11th, so that'll be a bit challenging. Good thing there is family nearby willing to take Ep and I in!

In other news... Epic starts Beginner Rally-O on Thursday! It'll be nice to have something else to do, as playing flyball once a week just isn't enough to wear Epic out. And he needs to be worn out. We've had an insane amount of rain here in the last month, which means some moisture has come into the basement. So the sump pump is running. It has been for two weeks. This went unnoticed by Epic until Tuesday night, when he decided the sump pump was a demon-cat-from-demon-cat-hell, and spent the ENTIRE NIGHT in the basement barking at it. Just thinking about it makes me want to kill him.

Award!

2010-05-21T08:34:00.003-06:00

Our friends over at the Feisty Three nominated us for an award today. Thanks guys!

This seems to be an award/game, so there are a few steps:

1. Thank the dog/person who gave it to you - Done!

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award on to others you have recently discovered.

So, here are 7 things about Epic!

1. Epic likes to sleep under ALL the covers.... even when it's 30 degrees outside.

2. He REALLY hates cats.

3. He gets really mad at the teaser ball, and pushes it around screaming.

4. He's able to get onto the garage roof, and is not afraid to do so.

5. He is 13 months old, but probably won't slow down until he is 13 years.

6. He has taken classes in both flyball and obedience... and is better at obedience, although he's going to compete in flyball.

7. He LOVES marshmallows and snap peas.

I'm not really good at passing things on, as I can never think of who would be interested... but it's a fun little game. Maybe Gio would like to try it out!

Tournament Update

2010-05-13T13:52:00.002-06:00

Well, Ben did fantastic. I love that dog. I never realized how 'easy' he had gotten to run until AFTER I got Epic. He used to make me crazy at flyball, as his ball-lust often outweighed his common sense. This meant I could never quite be sure where Ben was going to go... his box? The ball box next door? Would he come back to me? Chase someone down in the runback? This is ridiculously frustrating when you're running a (half) Jack. The terrier side tells him to do bad things, and he often got himself in trouble on the lanes.

This weekend's Woof Wars tournament marks the beginning of Ben's 4th year in the sport he loves, and the boy is a gem. I now KNOW he will always go down, get HIS ball, and bring it back to ME. At 8 years old, he runs 4.7 so consistently that those who generally follow him complain that Ben has 'wrecked' them, as they can't seem to pass anyone else. He's easy. He'd run for anyone, anytime. He's a good boy.

Also a good boy? Epic! He wasn't exactly a superstar this weekend, but he did soooo much more than I was expecting that I'm still over the moon. He recalled like a pro, and completed three successful runs during warm up... bringing the ball back and everything! He ended up getting thrown into a heat (!!!), but his box turn sucked, causing him to go wide and miss the jumps on the way back. I'll take it. He's my hero.

1 Going on 8(0)

2010-05-03T11:30:00.004-06:00

For a 1 yo Jack Russell Terrier, this guy sure gets a lot of sleep in.

He never fails to amuse me. He loves the back of the couch, but the soft pillows make for some interesting sleeping positions.

This coming weekend is my flyball teams annual tournament. Epic is going to hit the lanes for warm-ups on Sunday... and that's all I'm going to say about it. I'm not going to get into it, because I don't expect *amazing* things. I think he'll be fine on the recall, but beyond that I'm not sure.

Epic puppy

2010-04-27T18:41:00.002-06:00

is just too cute.

And Because I Don't Write About Him Enough...

2010-04-23T08:12:00.004-06:00

... I bring you Benny!

^^ Most awesome dog, filled with extreme awesomeness.

^^ Look at that tuck! This was last spring.... he looks a little bit like a coffee table right now. Tournament season is upon us though, so he's eating a bit less and getting more exercise.

Only for Benny would I drive through THIS, in APRIL, for a tournament:

A couple weekends ago the flyball team went up to Lloydminster for a tournament. Unfortunately, there was a hell of a storm that Friday. We were supposed to be heading up to Lloyd the night before the tournament, but we held off until Saturday morning. HOWEVER... with the bad storm, Ben was trapped out of town. So the roomie and I packed up all the dogs (as it turned out, someone was viewing the house that evening and we needed to get out), and braved the roads. The above picture represents the roads when they were still GOOD! I didn't have too much trouble getting out to Allan, but getting back was hell. I ended up getting stuck... but luckily, it was right by the potash mine during shift change. The most fantastic boy to ever walk the planet pushed and pushed and pushed... until he found his tow rope and pulled us out. All the while he was doing this in only a sweater, in blizzard conditions, in wind so intense it would blow you over if you weren't braced on something. I plan to, um, *stalk* the mine this summer as I intend to marry this boy. Or at the very least, buy him a cake.

But, we lived. Roomie lived. Ben and Epic lived. We all made it to Lloydminster and raced a great tournament (well, Ben did... Epic gets his first *kick at the warm-up can* on the Mother's Day weekend).

I is Gonna Eat Your Head.

2010-04-22T14:47:00.002-06:00

*Hey! Hey! You there!*

.
*Yeah! You!*
*I is gonna eat your head*
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*Um nom nom nom*

Happy Birthday Eppers!

2010-04-15T16:31:00.002-06:00

Well, today is the real one... Epic is now a year old! It's so hard to believe that a year has passed already. Sure, some of my days with him have been long and trying (very, very trying), but I love this little boy in a way I never knew was possible.

To celebrate, his grandma and mommy each bought him a toy, and some sardines to put in his supper.
^^Toy. In the tree.

The quarry has been spotted.

May the tugging begin!

^^Tug, tug, tug, tug, tug. Flap. Tug, tug, tug.

Below is a full year of Epic portraits! Make sure you click on it to view it larger. I can't believe how big my little dog has grown. The middle photo is his one year portrait, and it makes him look like such an old soul.

So Happy Birthday my Eppers! May you never cease to surprise me.

Prison Break!

2010-04-06T15:26:00.003-06:00

So the little rescue made it into general population today. She has previously had limited access to the pack, as she LOVED to chase the little boys. I let her out into the yard with them today and she did very well until Epic got the zoomies... then she thought chasing sounded fun. HOWEVER, I only needed to say her name to call her off!

Epic thought the new playmate was a great thing... actually, a little too great. He was a bit annoying at first and would NOT let her be.

^^Note the eyes.

A couple quick corrections from me, and we've settled in. They are generally just pleased to share the yard with each other, and there have even been some overtures of play! Good girl Dixie!

^^Dixie's idea of a joke.

We've won!

2010-03-27T10:48:00.001-06:00

We won an award!

Very suiting, no?

Big Thank You to our friends, the Fiesty Three!

Tagged! Fun Friday!

2010-03-26T14:11:00.003-06:00

We've been tagged by the Fiesty Three in a fun game. It's easy to play... open up your first picture folder, and post the 10th picture.

The 10th picture in our folder is actually a "failed" portrait... this is Epic breaking a down-stay.

They can't all be winners.

Owner Interlude

2010-03-24T23:01:00.003-06:00

*I love my puppy. I love my puppy. I love my puppy... I'm about two barks away from wringing his scrawny little neck... but I love my puppy...*

Ben is SOOO much easier.

Epic Awards - For you!

2010-03-19T18:50:00.002-06:00

Life is pretty dull without homework to stress about. Huh. Who knew? So to fill up my boring day yesterday I played around with some blog content. As such, I present to you some Epic Awards! Poor little Epic... he never wins ANYTHING. So why not celebrate those mundane achievements?

Good awards, huh? I thought so. Please keep in mind that it was after midnight when I made them, and I found myself quite funny at the time. These badges are YOURS! FREE! for use on your blogs, dear blog readers!

Flyball Fanatic

2010-03-18T14:35:00.002-06:00

I'm done my thesis! Not really! But I can pretend that I am!

I've sent my thesis to my committee now for revisions, and I have a bit of time to myself again... I'll be meeting with them sometime in the next three weeks. Three weeks! That's a lot of time!

There's nothing really new on the Epic front, but it occurred to me that I haven't updated you all on Ep's flyball progress lately. Little man can do it! I've had a lot of trouble getting him to return to me with his ball (getting ball = game over), but last week was a smashing success.

His lovely aunty took some pictures of him on the box for me... photo-evidence that the puppy is more than teeth, tongue, and stinkiness.

You'll notice that he's looking directly at the camera in two of those pictures. Such a poser!

Also, if you look closely at that last photo you can see a tuft of hair along his back... long, long hair. The boy is shedding/growing coat like a maniac. I cannot adequately express to you how much I love this dogs coat. He does have a 'problem' with some whiskers on his, um, 'willy' though. They're quite long and mess up his 'flow' if-you-know-what-I-mean. I'll leave you with that thought.

11 months!

2010-03-15T13:10:00.003-06:00

It's the 15th! That means that Epic is 11 months old today!

11 months! Old!

Epic thinks to his future:

*I'm done with cookies. I need more snap peas.*

Oh Hai!

2010-03-12T10:27:00.004-06:00

Mommy asked me to update the blog as she's too tired. Something about a thesis I guess... it's the same thing that keeps her from playing with me, so it makes sense that it keeps her from blogging as well.

^^ This is me and my tongue.

It was hanging out like that because I got to go out to Allan and visit my Grandma and Grandpa recently. I got really excited.
^^ This is me playing with Callie. She's not too sure about me.

^^ This is Benny and his toy. Which I wanted. He wouldn't let me take it. He's a bad big brother.

^^ This is me today!! We went to the offleash, and guess what?! We found spring!

Mommy said I'm supposed to tell you she'll be back to blogging soon. In the meantime, I'm going to go bark and Bailey. It's really fun, and it makes mommy look up from her computer and chase me!!! WEEEEEE!!!

Dumb Ass Dog

2010-02-27T22:35:00.003-06:00

attempted to eat our roommate today.

Apologize Epic.

*Me? What? No. Never happened.*

I swear to doG... some days I just want to string him up by his toes and let little kids tickle him.

*Mmm... maybe a little sorry. Yup, feelin' some sorrys over here. No tickles please... kthnxbai.*

If he keeps going like this, I'm going to get a lot of use out of that "Bad Puppy" label.

Don't even THINK

2010-02-26T15:33:00.003-06:00

about waking that puppy. You'll make God cry.

I swear, I SWEAR to you dear blog readers.... this dog has not had a nap in a week. A whole week. A week the included offleash walks and not one, but two, TWO, flyball practices. A whole week of nice weather for outside zoomies and nothing has tired this boy out. We play. He plays. He barks and torments the other dogs. He barks and torments ME. My cute little puppy is an adolescent, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to strangle his cute little self.

I miss the way he used to run and run and run, and then fall over exhausted and sleep for 3 hours. I miss how 1o minutes of ball throwing and a little bit of training would put him in a little puppy coma.

Mostly, I miss my sanity.

Do NOT be fooled by those eyes! He does NOT want to cuddle with you. He wants to lure you close, and then eat you.

10 Months!

2010-02-16T12:12:00.002-06:00

Epic was 10 months old yesterday! Happy Birthday big Epic boy!

I didn't get any really fantastic photos to mark the occasion as there is sucky light inside, and the mountains of snow outside make everything look sorta blue.

Epic wishes I had marked the occasion with cake, not pictures.

*Mommy's suck*

We got outside today for some photos, but it ended up being a series of FAIL.

Cute fail, but still fail.

We thought maybe we'd play some stick instead.

*Why'd you throw thish schtick away? Thish a good schtick*

Random booger interlude:

Mmm... tasty.

AND... to end off the play session outside, the near demise of my camera.

*Close enough now, Miss BossyPants?*

I'm still in a holding pattern with my thesis waiting for the list of revisions to make it back to me. I figure this down time sort of makes up for the abandonment issues the dogs were suffering while I was finishing up the writing. Everyone got my attention out in the yard this morning (playing stick! And cleaning up nasty things), now we're settled in for some naps that may or may not suck me in. It is very hard to keep one's eyes open when everything around you is snoring.

These Last Two Weeks

2010-02-11T14:37:00.005-06:00

Have been HELL.

Hi Guys! Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've JUST finished up the first draft of my thesis so I'm back!

Epic has suffered from my lack of attention in these last couple weeks. In some ways I'm sure he's enjoying it... he has gotten either a stuffed Kong or RMB almost everyday this past two weeks, as well as some rawhide chews. Other than those perks, he probably misses the attention. I can tell this, as he is DRIVING ME NUTS finding his own things to do.

One of my less-than-favorite-moments was this:

What's this? Look harder.
It's a McDonald's bag that happened to blow up the street and cause the little JRT to SCREAM bloody murder and hurl himself at the window over, and over, and over again until I was able to wrestle him away and into his crate.
.
And because I am TRUELY blessed, the moment I let him back out the $%#ing bag blew back down the street, attempting to escape in the other direction.
.
Other than that, Ep has spent the nice days playing outside with his brothers:

Dixie has also been suffering the 'Tash has abandoned us in favor of her career' boredom.

There was no saving the toy.

We've been Deliquent

2010-02-01T21:16:00.003-06:00

And we will continue to be deliquent for a little bit longer.

To which Epic says:

*GASP!*

Reflection

2010-01-21T16:42:00.002-06:00

So NOT!

What we've been up to...

2010-01-20T22:46:00.002-06:00

Nothing! 'Cept for Epic... he learned to fly!

That's not true. I'm in the middle of what I hope is the final(ish) push to get the first draft of my thesis done and in for revisions. It has become quite clear to me that this will never happen and that I should just give up trying.

Epic thinks so as well, although he's too kind to say anything. Instead, he shows his distaste for my distractedness by being a BAD. PUPPY. Seriously, the damage the little Jack tornado does is astounding.

I've also noticed in the last few days (okay, at flyball on Saturday) that Epic's right hind leg is not as strong as his others. Actually, it's VERY weak compared to them. This is the leg that was occasionally limpy during puppyhood so I'm not surprised that we're having this issue. I'm not entirely sure how to strengthen it, so I'm doing it the good ol' fashioned way... lots and lots of tricks. Specifically, I've taught Epic how to walk on his hind legs as this forces him to use it to balance himself. We've also built a High Five. To do this, Ep has to pop out of a sit and slap my hand with his paw. At the very least, this tires him out!

9 Months!

2010-01-15T19:18:00.004-06:00

Happy 9 months baby Epic!

*Boop. Gotcha Mommy!*

Epic thinks to his future:

*STILL needs more cookies*

Have you seen my beachballs?

2010-01-13T14:02:00.002-06:00

Cones are off, the berries are gone... the smell is just as gag worthy.

*Wait, I don't understand. WHERE did they go?*

I learned something this last week. Dogs wearing cones are EXTREMELY dangerous. When he wasn't using it as a battering ram, he was trying to saw my leg off with damn thing. Epic's cone was a little small and he was still able to reach himself with the right configuration of limbs. We ended up adding a rolled up towel around his neck. We covered that in vet wrap to make it stay, and it restricted his movement just enough that he couldn't convort himself into position anymore. Home remedy WIN.

Bubble Boy

2010-01-07T12:30:00.002-06:00

Isn't wild about his cone.

He does look damn cute in it though. His surgery went well, and the challenge now is to keep him from licking. We're on our second cone, and this one is still not quite big enough. He's fairly agile and inventive when it comes to licking positions. If he keeps it up, I'm switching this one out for Dixie's border collie size one. She's a very good girl and is behaving well after her spay... unlike SOMEONE I know.
*Hmmm... no cats. Should go back to the vet, they had a nice cat to chase*

*HATES you Mommy*

Goodbye '09, Hello Brand New Epic!

2010-01-04T17:04:00.002-06:00

It's the New Year! Lets pretend I'm posting this on the 1st. I'm obviously too late. Actually, lets pretend I didn't post this on the 1st because I went on a 3 day bender to ring in 2010. I didn't, but it seems like a good reason not to blog.

Lets reflect on 2009:

In 2009... I got Epic! Hooray for me!

Benny got his FM in August.

Benny turned 8 in October(!)

Epic completed Puppy Class.

Epic completed Beginner Obedience.

Epic completed Advanced Beginner Obedience.

Epic completed Beginner Flyball.

Epic got on my nerves.

Epic cuddled a lot.

Epic continued to get on my nerves.

I loved them both tons.

Goals for 2010:

Ben continues to run flyball safely.

Epic completes Beginner Agility.

I complete Beginner Agility.

Epic completes Intermediate flyball.

I'd be thrilled if Epic got his FD, or FDX this year. I don't intend to run him much yet.

Work on Epic's heeling, in hopes of starting Beginner Rally-O in the summer.

Last year we went from this:

To this:

And tomorrow we say goodbye to these:

About frickin' time. Everyone wave goodbye to Epic's man berries, and say hello to a brand new year with our favorite JRT! (Don't listen Ben! You're my favorite mutt of all time!)

Dixie

2009-12-30T13:53:00.002-06:00

Meet Dixie!

Things have changed around here a bit! My roommate has been looking for a new dog after the passing of Sam. I say 'looking', but really, we pass time by looking at puppy pictures… we never SERIOUSLY looked. It so happened though that a 15 month old female border collie fell into our laps. Dixie is a failed cattle dog, in that she was supposed to be able to go into a cattle herd and instinctively know what to do with no real training. While she has the instinct for it, her herding abilities were not being harnessed and she was spending her life on a tie-out. So Dixie has waltzed into our lives as our new little foster girl.

Unfortunately, Dixie isn't going to be the next forever dog in this house. She is truly lovely, but she needs a home that is willing to work her to her full potential. Right now she'd like to herd the little dogs in the house, and that's something we're unable to put up with. Although she's mostly fine with Epic, poor Bailey seems to draw her wrath. She does respect Tucker, the large dog, and would no doubt be fine in a home with larger dogs. She would be a great agility prospect, but is probably a bit drive-y for flyball. She is very toy motivated, and is as cuddly as can be. Dixie is truly a people dog, and although she does like to romp with Tucker, she is most happy cuddling up on the couch or running around the yard playing fetch.

Since Dixie came to us, she has learned to 'sit' and 'down', and is learning about her crate. She settles VERY nicely in her crate, and sleeps there peacefully at night. She is also working on housetraining, as she was previously an outdoor dog. She is also scheduled for a spay on January 5^th.

So, if you know of anyone interested in a beautiful, sweet, lovely little sports or working prospect… give me a shout!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T07:47:00.003-06:00

*Why did I only get coal Mommies?*

"Because you ate my bank card Epic."

*Oh.*

Bad Puppy!

2009-12-17T12:39:00.004-06:00

The other day my sister commented that I rarely have any pictures of Epic being bad on this blog. She thought all the good puppy pictures were an unfair representation and she wanted to see some of the REAL Epic.

I can rectify this.

For instance, Epic likes to chew. He likes to chew things he shouldn't chew. In the back room we have a table and two chairs. Epic likes to use the chairs to get onto the table, so one of them sits on the other side of the room, and one is turned towards the wall with the inside door leaning against it. Epic has figured out how to get onto this chair, but doesn't have the room to get off once he's up there.

So he finds fun ways to pass time during his self-imprisonment. You'll notice that in the above picture he is chewing on the door. He SEES me standing there... but he KEEPS CHEWING! Brat.

*Oh hi mommies. Wasn't doin' anything. Could I get a lift out? Kthx.*

*Uh, mommies? You gonna help me? Why you so mad? ...maybe I don't want to come out...*

You should see the chew marks on the chair from when I DON'T catch him in time.

I've been able to control the chewing pretty well recently, as I made a fabulous discovery! I started out by trying Bitter Apple spray, but Epic just took that as a challenge... and undoubtably I would be the one getting the stuff in my mouth. One day, by chance, my roommate and I stumbled across the answer... VICKS! He HATES it! All of his favorite chew spots get a healthy slathering of the stuff, and we're good for a few days.

8 Month Portrait

2009-12-15T19:02:00.004-06:00

8 months old today! He looks like such a big boy now. There's no puppy fat to be seen, his face has filled out, and he has one heck of a beard.

He's also being neutered early in January. Everyone wave 'bye bye' to Epic's boy bits!