6 inches

Well, we got an additional six inches of snow over the past day.



And, I've been told by my family that I have an unhealthy obsession with taking pictures of my dogs in the snow. But really, how else do you get good pictures of dogs other than taking a ton all in one session? I normally get a lot of blurry ones, many with the dog partially or fully out of the frame, and most of all, pictures of my dogs' butts.

Though some of the butt pictures are actually pretty nice.



Pallo has been getting better and better at staying still long enough for decent pictures, but remains difficult to get good, focused pictures of.



Koira for some reason has always been easy to get good pictures of. She even takes good pictures when moving. Though, perhaps, not always the most graceful pictures.



However, as always, Pallo managed to trump Koira in the totally not glamorous picture department



He is kind of a fun dog to take pictures of now though, because he is just so plain goofy, I always get a good laugh looking at them all afterwards



The dogs have had the zoomies for the past day and a half constantly now. We never get snow, and when we do, it is an inch, maybe two at the most. Deep snow is something I don't think my dogs have ever had a chance to run wild in.



Koira was zooming around, snuffling the snow, digging up toys that have been abandoned in the yard for days or weeks, since now, with the snow, they are exciting again. Her butt tucking zoomies last about as long as we stay outside and active, before she had to come in and thaw by the fire.



Pallo gives me this look every time I call him to head inside. He would rather stay out, so I get to get glimpses of him zooming past the windows, snow flailing behind him, as he runs like a crazy dog around.



Overall, I have to say we are enjoying our snow day.

Border collies are loud

We woke up to snow this morning.

Not a whole lot of snow, for sure, but it was snowing like mad, and begged for tracks to be made in it.

Koira was happy to oblige



Pallo just wanted me to throw the damn ball already



But, we had a visitor. A visitor named Possum. A very pretty border collie visitor named Possum. A very loud, pretty, border collie named Possum



She likes to do the signature bark-scream if the frisbee doesn't get thrown right away. And then growls up a storm at Koira when the frisbee does get thrown, since they both are frisbee dogs.



Koira even reverted back to the days of chasing other dogs rather than the toy, letting Possum win the frisbee more often than not.



Not to say Koira doesn't love herself some frisbee lips of her own.



They even got into some pretty intense tugging for a while, using the frisbee.



I'm starting to this this frisbee might not last as long as I was hoping. Though, for a soft frisbee, this Ruffwear one has lasted over 8 months already, which is pretty good, considering how hard on toys my guys can be.



Pallo thinks frisbees are stupid, and wants me to just throw the damn ball already



Contrary to what the snow may imply, it was not all that cold out there this morning, as Koira was happy to indicate with a huge, panting mouth and tongue the size of my car.



She was content to run after the frisbee as long as I would throw it though. She even started to pick up her own bark-scream from Possum's example. Though, I have to say, border collies are much better at being loud and obnoxius. Koira, try as she might, just can't get that earsplitting high pitched note into her pleading barks.

Training Seminar

I had the good fortune to attend a training seminar taught by Touch N Go this weekend. For those who don't know, they are the world record holding flyball team in U-Fli. Obviously, they have a good bit to teach the rest of us, as they are the first (and I'm not positive, but they may be the only) team to break below 15 seconds.

I attended all three days of the seminar, starting with Green Dogs/Young Dogs on Friday, then with more advanced dogs on Sat/Sun.

A few things I learned that I am going to use on my dogs:

First, a game that cures ball dropping, called the Hand game. I especially plan on teaching this game to Pallo, as he has the ball dropping issues, but I'm sure Koira will benefit from learning it as well.

The idea is that first, you teach the dog a simple hand touch with their nose. Quickly moving on, you teach them to pick up a toy and touch that to your hand. Moving as slowly or quickly as you and your dog are able, you gain distance and variety of toys, as well as eventually making your hand a moving target, first as an empty, wide open hand, then eventually as a fist holding your tug toy. The idea is that in competition, the dog will still bring the ball all the way to your fist, then grab the tug once there.

The other training tip is using a touch stick to train a box turn. Both of my dogs currently have a box turn that isn't terrible, with Pallo's being pretty good. However, I believe that teaching them the touch stick method, and a wall turn, will help their box turns improve and become faster, snappier, and with less of a chance of double hitting.

Pallo picked up right away that the name of the game is to touch the end of the stick with his nose, click, treat. (Generally not a clicker training person, but it makes this particular game easier.) He occasionally forgets, but pretty much has it down. Koira on the other hand started out afraid of the stick for some reason. It wasn't until this morning when she saw Pallo touch, click, treat over and over while she didn't get anything that she even would touch her nose to the stick. Hopefully if I keep up with it, they will progress to doing over-and-backs using the stick quite soon, and from there to wall hits. I haven't decided if I will use it to retrain their box turns, or just do touch stick and wall turn training to help build muscle memory of a proper turn, and see how well it transfers over.

There was a lot more information at the seminar, including jumping drills, striding corrections, and more, but for now, I think these two games are what I will work on. Though, if I can get someone to video tape Pallo's full runs, I might add striding props if it looks like he needs them.

Raw feeding update

Well, raw feeding has been going amazing. My dogs are a great weight (even Koira, who is now over her chubby phase), their coats look amazing, and they have great energy.

Their meals take a lot more time and effort for them to get through than kibble did, even soaked kibble. Now, they get something different almost every day. They get different tastes, textures, complexities of meals.

Working on some beef rib sections:











A single, complex meal of meat-on-bone, such as this, occupied my dogs for a good 30 minutes. This particular meal involved non-edible bones that I removed once they got the meat off of them, but it fed not only their bellies but their minds as well, making them really think and work for their food. Even the more simple days of a chicken quarter take more time and thought than a bowl-full of kibble ever did.

In addition to the dogs, I have started offering chunks of meat to the cats as well. Martha, who seems incredibly non-cat-like, doesn't seem to realize it is food, though she did eat a chunk once. Kitty supplements her kibbles on her own with mice, birds, and other various animals. Sassy though is ancient, and while she used to do her own hunting, and thrived off of the various creatures she was able to catch and eat herself, has declined since stopping hunting. At 18 (or possibly 19) years old, I figure this cat can eat whatever she would like to, as well as do just about whatever she wants to.

Sassy started begging to get food when I prepped the dogs' meals in the morning, so I started cutting off chunks to feed her. She loved it, and took to it right away. I have been offering raw meat chunks (chicken, turkey, beef heart, chicken liver, and salmon so far) to her since Thursday. In the five days that have passed, Sassy has put on weight. Her hips no longer stick out, her backbone doesn't stick out, and she doesn't feel nearly as fragile. I have been shocked with how much her condition is improving just with the addition of a few mouthfuls of meat offered a couple times per day.

If Sassy will excuse the very inelegant picture:


I don't want to be one of the people who starts trying to force everyone else to feed raw. Its a personal choice, what you want to feed to your pets, and I believe we all feed them the best we possibly can, based on our budget and what food works best for them.

At the same time, I am floored by the results of five days of raw feeding in a really old, fragile cat. She is still old, but no longer fragile. And, while my dogs did just fine on kibble as well, they are doing great on raw, and I am very happy with the new feeding plan.

Snow Day

My birthday was last week, so for my birthday, me and my family went up to the mountains for a snow day. I haven't been sledding in years, and it sounded like a lot of fun.

We checked in, and then started hauling our tubes up the hill.



And then sliding back down again



The dogs waited in the car, but looked super pathetic.



Pallo loved the snow when he got a chance to come out. It induced immediate frolicking on his part, and a major dose of the Weasel Dance.



Koira is a bit of a naked girl with her lack of fur. She had to wear her sweater to stay warm, but I forgot to put her boots on, so she had to have freezing feet the whole time.



I did have the genius idea, after towing the tube up the hill twice and getting hot, sweaty, and winded, of having the dogs pull it up. Pallo did fine, but didn't really put his back into it, so while he helped, I still had to do a lot of work. He did enjoy the way back down though.



Koira got excited as soon as she saw the tubes. She normally comes to the river with me every summer, and does some rapid swimming and tube riding then. Watching the people come down the hill on their tubes made her strain at her leash and whine a little, so I had to give her a chance to go too.

Plus, she was a major help hauling the tube up the hill. Unlike Pallo, who gives up when he feels a little too much pull (though not when I am the only thing at the other end of the leash, go figure), Koira really put some effort into it. Her shoulders would hunch forward, then she would throw herself up the hill, towing the tube after her.

And, she had a total blast on the way back down. She knew the drill from doing it in the river over the summer, so all I had to do was pat my lap once, and she hopped up, turned around, and settled down. Then off down the hill we went.



Of course, we only got to go a couple times before the guy working at the ski resort asked for the dogs to go away. Each dog got two runs, so I sent them back to wait in the car for us to be done.

All in all, it was a great day, and a great way to celebrate a birthday.

Happy Gotcha Day

Technically, Pallo's Gotcha Day was yesterday, and Koira's is tomorrow, but the one day in between sounds like a great time to celebrate for both of them.

Koira came into my life three years ago, starting with this picture:



I'm not sure how anyone could possibly pass up this face



My little girl has grown up a lot in the past three years since I first brought her home



She is always patient, humoring my slightest whim



Taking naps when she gets the chance, even in so exciting a place as the beach



And being unfailingly dog friendly, despite her pit bull genes, from puppy to adult





She is my baby girl, my heart dog



She just wishes I would get her a bigger bed




Pallo has been with me and Koira for one year now. In that year, he has gotten his CGC, FD, FDX, FDCh, and FDCh-S, as well as warmed my heart and become Koira's fast friend and play buddy.

From sad, pathetic, unwanted, ear infected, fat little stray



To what he is now, as a patient, tolerant, all around well behaved dog. He no longer gets snappy with his feet, ears, or tail being handled. He has a whole collection of tricks and behaviors, and is always eager to learn something new. Pallo has become that fast learning, attentive dog every dog trainer wishes for at some point.

Just look into the future, the sunny future (okay, the sunny center of a lake, but you know what I mean).



May he continue to bring as much joy into this house as he has for the past year. I am so glad I picked him up out of that pound, and wouldn't trade him for anything.

Food Post: French Toast

I had some left over french bread that needed using before it went stale. French toast seemed to be the perfect solution, since we had a ton of eggs in the fridge too.




I tossed in some cinnamon and nutmeg, along with two capfuls of vanilla and a little bit of baking soda.



And soaked the bread in the egg mixture for a couple of minutes



Before frying it in cast iron to a nice, crispy brown.



Then served with powdered sugar and maple syrup.



And a whole mess of bacon as well.