Snow Hiking

I took Dhali hiking today.  It should have been snowshoeing, but I was silly and didn't bring my snowshoes.  The snow was deep and fluffy - so lots of exercise!  We only went about a mile, but it's up some steep hills and with the snow it was tough.  I'm pretty sure Dhali didn't want to go any farther...two words - snow balls.  Brrrrr!  That has to be pretty cold!  The snow was taller/deeper than Dhali, so he had to jump and wade for most of the mile.  Maybe I should get him some snowpants!

It's weird, but the whole time when we are out I'm thinking about Tibby.  So many different places on the trail reminded me of her - there's the spot where she sat for a picture in March, or where we took a picture together last fall, or the spot she chased Zoe, ect. 

 It's not as bad as if she was actually gone, but I still miss her when I'm doing things with Dhali.  I guess this is my first time having two dogs and I feel a little guilty about not taking her with us.  But the Dr. said she should avoid all possible places where she could have a reaction for at least a month.  We didn't see any dogs today (or people), but I can't guarantee that we wouldn't stumble upon a dog or worse a skier (which she hates). 

It's better for her to stay at home, but I still miss her.

Snowballs

The pups day - in and out into the snow and then they took breaks to melt their snowballs onto the floor.  Thank goodness for heated floors - I'm sure that's what the dogs were thinking LOL!

My floors are now very clean!  And I have lots of wet towels to wash.

Dhali was really busy today.  Cabin fever?  He unrolled the toilet paper not once, but twice!  He's only done this once before when he was a little baby and my Mom was watching him.  I realized today that he doesn't really care if I get after him - uh oh!  He's like, "What?!?  Did you want to unroll it too?  Let's play!"  He also chewed up one of my shoes!  Sad, because I liked those shoes and they were only a couple months old.  Also sad because I didn't think he would chew up my shoes!

Good reminder that he is still a little baby puppy :)

Finders, Keepers

I have been trying to get a good picture of Tibby laying on my lap.  She does this all the time, but it's hard to get a picture of it.  She has to have a pillow to support her head.  If it's not perfect and she isn't comfortable or properly supported then she jumps off.  However, if everything is perfect then she lets me rub her belly!

Tibby wearing her superhero walking costume :P

I had Tibby wear her Thundershirt on our walk today and we had a lot of success.  It's not a miracle cure or anything - I still used the cheese and did our little focus game when there was a potential reaction trigger.  My goal is to keep Tibby from reacting.  I don't want her to rehearse that behavior ( any more than she has already).  Our walk was 100% successful!!

At one point I was basically luring her past some triggers, but it's Ok with me.  If that's what I have to do at this point....that's what I have to do.

The luring part we were walking by - man walking alone (biggest trigger), man mowing lawn, woman standing in yard with arms folded watching us and an off leash dog barking and moving toward us (another big trigger).

Yes I had to lure her past them, BUT she was able to actually eat the cheese and be lured.  It hasn't always been that way.  I almost lost her when the barking dog started to move toward us, but then she came back to me :)  Good thing I crossed the street when I saw the off leash dog up ahead.  She isn't ready for a moving dog right next to her yet.

We also met a nice older couple that wanted to pet Tibby.  I'm not sure when Tibby went from the outgoing/crazy/jumping on every stranger puppy to the shy/timid/ducking an outstretched hand dog.

But she didn't bark at them!  Yay....

Finally, a public notice.  If you lose your balls in front of my house....I will keep them.  Yes, I'm the mean neighbor that keeps the neighborhood kids' toys.  I give them the overnight test.  You have one day, one night and one day to claim your balls.  If they are still there the next night - then they are mine!  We aren't really interested in any other toys....and they only ever seem to lose balls....hmmm?

These are the latest lost toys - a spiky ball and a super heavy purple ball.  The purple one is really heavy - I've never seen a ball like it before.  Yay!  Free toys!

Tennis Ball Training

Tibby has never loved tennis balls. They were one of the first toys I bought her, because my childhood dog, Jessie, always loved them and we had fun playing fetch together. However, Jessie was a senior rescue and she was never able to learn to fetch outside. I have been trying from day one with Tibby to do lots of fetching inside and outside. Of course, the weather hasn't cooperated. Remember winter? Maybe that's why Jessie never learned to fetch outside?

Anyway, up until the end of Jan. it didn't really matter if it was -30 or 75 degrees outside. Tibby didn't like tennis balls!! Ewwww they're fuzzy! Or maybe her mouth was too small? Well, now she likes them! Yay! I mean really how was she going to be a flyball dog if she couldn't fetch a tennis ball?!? Just kidding, the nearest flyball club/team is 3 hours away. Agility I will drive for. Flyball maybe not. I don't think Tibby could handle all the dogs running near her. But who knows? She surprises me all the time. Like now she loves tennis balls.

Video of Tibby 'fetching' tennis balls. Yeah we're working on that.....

Visit To Grandma's

Today I took Tibby to visit my Grandma and Grandpa.

They have a cat named Rata.  She was NOT impressed with Tibby.  Tibby couldn't figure out why Rata didn't want to play.  Catty plays with her - why didn't Rata like her?  It was so confusing for Tibby.  For her efforts to make friends, she got a nice smack across the nose from Rata.

Rata- Tibby.

Tibby - Rata.

"You are an evil dog."

"Awww shucks, I'm not evil."

"Where's she going?"

"Hello again!  Do you want to play?"

"NO! GO AWAY!"

"Are you sure?  You look like you want to play."

"GO AWAY!!!"

"Really?  You don't want to play?  How 'bout if I just sniff you a little?"

"Grrrrrrrrr!"

"Please GO AWAY!"

Grandma and Tibby.

"Kiss!  Kiss!"

Grandpa and Tibby.

Look how big Tibby is in these pics!

She looks like a giant dog!

Thank goodness for rawhide.  Tibby is chewing on a bone in this pic - not my Grandpa's foot!

Tibby settled down to chew her bone.  It only took 4 hours for her to settle down.

"Who?  Me?  I'm chill."

Tibby had a busy weekend.  She played with people from 10 to 87 years old.  She took orders from an 11 year old.  It took her a while to understand that I wasn't giving her the directions, she had to pay attention to someone else, if she wanted a treat.  Once she understood she was 100% on all her commands. 

She also took 2 long car trips.  Tibby is a very good traveler.  I wouldn't think twice about taking another long trip with her.  She curls up on the backseat and goes to sleep or she chews on her bone.

I brought her new puzzle food ball with us to my Grandma's house.  It kept Tibby entertained for a while, until my Grandpa felt sorry for her and opened it to give her all the treats.  I couldn't get him to understand the concept of a food dispensing treat ball!