Dhali's First Dog Park

We went to the dog park today.  It was Dhali's first visit.  He liked it a lot.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  Tibby had a nice time too, but Dhali had more fun - racing around and jumping.

He LOVES to jump.  His favorite thing is to run up behind you and jump on your back.  He jumps as high as my shoulders and uses me as a springboard to do a turn and then run away again.  Or sometimes he just jumps, jumps, jumps as you are walking.  He likes to get as close as he possibly can - trying to trip me?!  I'm sure this isn't good for his growing body, but other than keeping him on a leash (and he still does it then) I don't know how to stop him.  And he's having so much fun.  Such a silly puppy.  I do wish he would watch where he is landing though!

He finally got to run full speed in a big area and wow! he is so fast!  Tibby couldn't keep up or catch him.  He's like a little race car!

Dhal-baby

I have been wanting to post this all week, but I couldn't find the time. Here is Dhali being totally awesome and a smart fun puppy on Monday! This video makes me soooo happy! He can do a tunnel!  He really knows what I want too.  And only in a few easy training sessions!  :)  P.S. Look at me throwing a leash like a real agility person LOL!  I watched people doing that on Sat. and couldn't resist doing it myself.  It's fun!  P.P.S.  I got some nice deep holes in my arms/hands from our play session.  You can hear me say that we need a toy.  Uh, yeah!  I'm getting eaten!  But I try not to show it, because I don't want Dhali to stop playing.

Yesterday we had a not so great training day, but today he is back to acting like he did in this video. Play, play, play! I think the difference may be the amount of Tibby time he gets. So restrictions are in place. They get to play, but Dhali has to be willing to come to me if I call while he is playing. No come = tied to mommy for a while. Fun for both of us LOL!

Yesterday he was willing to do heeling, ride his skateboard, balance on a ball in front of a busy store. However, later when we went to a park he blew me off - wouldn't come/didn't want to tug. The park was empty. Weird little guy. He might have been too hot....but then again today it was hotter and he was playing like crazy at home. Not sure. Just have to keep on trying different things.

Today I was very happy when we were playing in the living room after a breakfast clicker session, Tibby was resting on her dog bed and Dhali was able to ignore her. We worked our way across the room until we were right next to her and he kept playing with me. He tried to go see her a couple times, but thanks to Mr. Always present Leash he quickly redirected back to playing with me. We will keep working on this every day.

Getting Behind

I'm getting behind in the picture posting!  They tell me the 2nd baby has fewer pictures?  Poor Tibby doesn't have even ONE picture until she was over 14 weeks!  So Dhali is way, way ahead already LOL!

These pictures are from last Wed. - 4 days ago.  We stopped at a park on the way home from our tour of the Top Dog Country Club - nice place, by the way. 

I like this picture, because Dhali is walking underneath Tibby - funny!

Follow you every where...

Run!

2 bodies, 1 head

Yay!

Helpful

Daily Dog Challenge

268 - Adjective - What's the first adjective that comes to mind when you think of your dog? Take a photo that shows us what it is.

Playful and cute would be the first thing that comes to mind for Dhali.  Tibby would be sweet and cuddly.  BUT I had this cute picture!  So helpful is the word!

Bark In the Park

We survived Bark In the Park!

I didn't get to pass out my fliers with Ellie's info.  Everyone that stopped to pet her said they had enough dogs.  But I tried!  They were both good.  Considering the situation - tons of people, tons of dogs, outside, noisy, food every where. 

My Dad with Ellie.  She how cute she is in her vest?

Tibby sees a dog going down stairs.

The girls.  I think it's funny they looked a little bit like that elderly couple in front of us.

This is when we were waiting for the dog parade.  The Bark In the Park was hosted by the local humane society.  They had a lot of adoptable dogs there.  They were jealous of Ellie's cute vest!  You can see the ones that they made for the adoptable dogs - upper left corner.  They are green vinyl adult bibs with "Adopt Me, Please" written in magic marker.  Some of the Humane Society volunteers asked about Ellie's vest and I told them how to make one.  They are going to make some for a parade on Sat.

Ellie!

While we were waiting I taught her a new trick.  "Jump"  She can jump straight up in the air now on cue - about 5 feet up.  I have to get it on video.

While we were waiting Ellie decided that this was the perfect time to try playing with Tibby.  Tibby was not pleased.  I had to separate them a few times.  It's hard for me to tell what is playing and what is going toward fighting.

Ellie is so relaxed in this very stressful environment.  Nothing scares her.

Zoe and her Mom.  They are now an official Hospice therapy team!

At the end of the doggie parade.  SO MANY DOGS.  Wow.  If I wasn't trying to get Ellie adopted I would have never done that.  It was "slightly" difficult to navigate 2 dogs through that crowd, but we managed.

Full stadium of people and dogs.

"I'm cute and friendly!  Adopt me!"

"Wa' baseball?"

She liked to rest down underneath the seat.

Tibby sat on my lap.  She didn't want to play with Ellie.

Tibby is huggable!

Ellie and Zoe say "hey".

They had little events on the field between innings with different dogs.

Zoe and her Mom.

Zoe's Mom had a squeaky toy for Zoe and Ellie was OBSESSED with stealing it.

She is also very good at finding ANY dropped food.

Relaxing.

Tibby!

"I like baseball!  Balls!"

She's resting her little feet on the seat in front of us.

Watching the game

"Is that an old M&M?  Food!"

"Don't forget I'm cute too!"

Ellie watched the people behind us for the longest time.  She was very interested in the little boy sitting a few seats behind us.  She likes kids a lot!

Now I have 2 very tired dogs.  After we walked home I let the girls run their stress out in the backyard.  Zoom!  They had a nice long game of chase.  Ellie also played some fetch. 

Now unfortunately she is in a covered crate.  I gave her a treat of a frozen turkey neck and she had an issue of growling/snapping at Tibby.  Tibby was just walking by Ellie's crate - she doesn't like turkey necks.  I covered the crate and she stopped, so I hope that will be OK.

Dog Park Fun With Lucy

Tibby had a play date yesterday with Lucy.  You might remember Lucy from here and here.

I picked Lucy up from her house and we headed to the dog park.  As we left Lucy's owner called out, "Oh  by the way, Lucy sometimes gets car sick!"  I had Lucy sit in the front seat and she was fine.

Let's recap Lucy's history:  Besides Tibby, she has never played with any other dogs.  She is about 4 years old.  She has never been off leash.  If she goes outside she is on a tie out or has a gentle leader on.  Let me say that again - She has NEVER been off leash.  As in EVER. 

As we walked up to the dog park gates, I was thinking about that and having second thoughts about this experiment.

Did I mention that her owners were at first afraid to let Tibby play with her, because she is 'mean'.  Yeah, so maybe I should have thought about those things before we got to the dog park.
But then again, I like to have adventures.

~

We went into the dog park and there was a HUGE lab plus something playing fetch with its owner.  The lab had an e-collar on, so that made me a little nervous.  Turns out he was super-duper friendly!  Yeah, a lab.  He kept bringing his ball to me and then his owner would have to walk all the way back to get the ball.  It was, as it always is to me, interesting to see how Tibby interacts with a new dog.  She was very good.  She wanted to play with him, but when I called her off, she came to me.  I was better than another dog!  Yeah!  Lucy did her own thing.  She was fine.  It was sweet to see her realize that she was off leash and could do what ever she wanted.

Tibby would have liked her to play a little more, but Tibby was respectful and didn't annoy her (too much!).  They did get in some good zoomies!

I loved seeing Tibby come to me away from 1) a new person 2) a new dog 3) her friend Lucy.  If it was a choice between going to any of those OR following me.  She chose me!  Apparently she does love me.

So Lucy can now - play with another dog, ride in the car and go to the dog park.  In other words, she is a normal dog and not 'mean' at all.

I put the zoomie pictures into a slide show.

Trail Run Fun - Part 1

Today was my Mom's (Tibby's Grandma) big 10k trail run day.  Tibby and I did lots of cheering!

The trail run is in honor of a man that died during a local triathlon. 

"What are all these people doing?"

Ready!  Set!  Go!  Run!

"Now what do we do?"

We wait for them to come back.

Tibby was fast - she got to the finish line first!

Here comes my Mom!

Go!  Mom!

Run!  Run!  Faster!  Faster!

That's my actually cheer.  I also say Go!  Go!  Go!

"Now what?"

Now the runners rehydrate and we wait for the results.

Look at all the people - big people, little people, babies, men, women, kids and strollers.

"But who won?"

You'll have to see part 2 to find out who won.  It was exciting!