Morning Hrrmphs

Morning is a dirty fighter.

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

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

Lazy Day

7 comatose dogs. Brilliant!

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

1 Going on 8(0)

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.

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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

is just too cute.

Don't even THINK

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.

Old Man Winter Apparently Hates Trick-or-Treating.

Can YOU spot the puppy?

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Epic thought he might like to go as a blob of snow for Halloween. I told him there was no way he could stay still long enough to sell the charade.

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It's frickin' cold here these days. Winter. In the middle of October. How very... Saskatchewan.

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Epic spent some time pondering what it means to be a short coated dog in a cold climate on our walk today. He decided this meant running really fast to keep warm.

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Sometimes I feel sorry for the people who live in areas of the world where they don't have 'winter'. I mean REAL winter... winter where the temperature falls to -40 and your nostrils freeze shut every time you take a breath. Winters where frost crystals form a veil between your scarf and your toque. THOSE kinds of winters. If you don't have those kinds of winters, you don't get to experience the bliss of coming in out of the mind-numbing, swear-inducing, penguin-killing cold.
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There's nothing better than just kicking back, relaxing, and warming up, on those frigid winter days.

And on the Seventh Day...

Little Mr. Epic had his rabies shot yesterday. He took it like a trooper, but now I'm seeing a lot of this around here:

The vet told me he might be pretty sleepy for a day or two.

A comment to which I replied, "That would be nice".

And so it was.

Busy Busy Puppy!

Makes mommy very very very tired! The good news is he makes himself tired as well. Yesterday was my birthday, and Epic and I spent it running errands. It did, however, take us out to Grandma and Grandpa's where baby Epic got to run around their HUGE yard with his pals.

And this plastic cup.

Showin' off his lines.

Callie! Callie! It's Narnia!

This morning he was driving me NUTS so we worked a lot on reacting to his name, his sits, and downs. We also learning 'spin'. He and I also took a very short leash walk (just up and down the block) to work on our leash skills and to overcome his general uncertainty about the world. He tends to get overwhelmed and sit down, or sniff heavily in one area. As such, I'm trying to put into practice the idea of "1,2,3... Let's Go!". He is allowed a moment to collect himself, he has "1,2,3" to finish up, and on "Let's Go", I start walking again. He gets a treat once he catches up to me. The idea is that he learns it's okay to take a moment, and this way I won't yank him off his feet trying to move us forward. Obviously, learning this will be a long process and is something i'll have to be very consistent about if I want him to associate those words with our walks.

All our running around and work these last two days has made him pretty gosh darn tired. Last night he slept from 11:00pm to 8:30 this morning! I was the one who decided his little puppy bladder needed to go outside. He was toast most of the morning, but could use a good romp this evening.