Camping Puppies

The friend I went camping with last week also has a puppy, Flynn, a papillon/border collie mix. They look good together.

Puppies on a stump

WW: Feetsies

Which feet belong to Pallo, and which belong to Koira?

Hiking at Walton Lake

To see the rest of our trip posts, check out Paddleboarding at Walton Lake and Camping at Walton Lake.

At the trailhead (photo taken with my point and shoot camera)

We only stayed at Walton Lake for two nights, but went on a few different hikes in that time. The one we did multiple times was the path around the lake itself. It was a mostly gravel path that stayed close to the water and followed the edge of the lake all the way around. Near the day use area on the opposite side from where we were camping, the path is actually paved for a short ways for wheelchair access. The entire path around the lake was probably just under a mile long by my best guess, and we did it multiple times each day there.

Taking a water break

On Thursday and Friday we also did one longer hike as well as the lake path and spending time on the water. We chose different paths each time, but both were similar terrain through the woods on narrow but well worn paths. Being so close to a campground, I am sure those paths get plenty of traffic (and we picked up a good deal of garbage left behind by other hikers while we were hiking ourselves).

Showing off their boots on a log

Since the area we were in can have bad cheat grass and lava rock, I had the dogs wear their boots on our Thursday hike, and had Koira wear hers while on the lake path some of the time, since it was gravel and she is pretty tender footed. Luckily, I saw no sign of cheat grass even away from camp, so for our Friday hike the dogs got to leave their boots back at base.

Dog boots back at camp, between hikes.

Paddleboarding at Walton Lake

The whole point of staying at a campground at Walton Lake was so we could go paddleboarding and kayaking while we were there. Originally, we were going to go to Green Peter, which is closer to home. But Green Peter has speed boats, which means wakes and possible danger of being hit if you are in the water. Since a friend of my mom was staying at Walton Lake for the week, we decided to go there instead, and avoid the potential danger involved elsewhere.

Kayak and paddleboard, with lifejackets, sat waiting at the lake's edge below our campsite.

Since we just have the one paddleboard, we also brought along my kayak to use as well. I like the paddleboard better, both because it is easier to load and carry on my car by myself, and because it is better for doing with the dogs. I can really only fit a single dog in the kayak with me, and it's kind of cramped.

Of course, the most important thing before getting into the water is making sure everyone is safe. I always wear my lifejacket when I am kayaking or paddleboarding. The law says I have to have one on the watercraft with me- I know, however, that if I need a lifejacket, unless I am already wearing it, chances are I won't have enough time to get it on. Same goes for the dogs. All of us always wear our lifejackets. Period.

Adorable in her blue lifejacket. 

Pallo wears the older orange lifejacket. It still works well for keeping the dog buoyant in the water, but the handle isn't as reliable on it. Since Koira is more likely to need to be hauled back up out of the water, she wears the one with the better handle.

While I can and have put both dogs on the paddleboard with me, I wanted to spend some time with each of them individually. We all have the basics down of paddleboarding, so now it was time to reinforce the desirable behaviors and work on getting rid of the undesirable for Pallo, this means no whining, not standing at the very tip of the board, and not moving from the front to the back of the board over and over.

Pallo standing in the right place, back from the nose of the board and on the anti-slip matting.

For Koira, this means no barking and no jumping off the board without specific permission to do so. She has upset the board a few times previously, knocking both me and Pallo into the water. She gets so over the top excited about being on the water, just like she does at dock diving, that her brain kind of checks out a little bit. And since she does dock diving as well, she has no hesitation at leaping off into the water. For her safety and my own, I needed to get that behavior to stop.

Koira, sitting where I want her, calm, no whining, no jumping off, no chasing ducks. 

I used the treat pouch at my waist to reinforce the desired behaviors, and stopped regularly to reward.

Overall, everyone made some great progress. Attaching a treat pouch to myself really made both of the dogs check in. I was able to reinforce desirable positioning and behaviors for both dogs, which resulted in calmer, more enjoyable trips on the lake. Now to see if we keep that when I add both dogs.

Koira, sitting centered, attention on me, no whining, no jumping. She is hoping for treats. 

Camping at Walton Lake

Wednesday afternoon, I took off to eastern Oregon to go camping for three days with my mom and the dogs.

Pallo was hanging out in the tent during our afternoon break. Koira was laying outside in the sun.

We arrived after dark on Wednesday evening and quickly set up the tent.

I set up an x-pen around the tent for the dog to hang out in while we were in camp. Easier than tethering, and the dogs like being able to go inside and lay down or hang out outside in the sun.

Thursday, we spent all day hiking and on the lake, alternating between the two. One end of the picnic table bench had all the dogs' boots laid out between hikes, while the other side had their life jackets drying in the sun between trips to the lake.

The dogs' Ruffwear boots. Eastern Oregon has a lot of lava rock and cheat grass, both of which can be hard on dog feet.

The dogs' lifejackets got dried out in the sun between trips to the lake. 

Lots more pictures, and more about our trip, to come later. 

BlogPaws Las Vegas (Part One)

Last week, me and the dogs took a road trip to Las Vegas, Nevada for the BlogPaws conference taking place just outside the city. When I first got a ticket for the conference, I debated if I should drive the 16 hours down, or fly. If I flew, it would obviously be much faster, but I would have to leave the dogs at home, have to stay in a hotel, and would have limited space for bringing stuff home with me. By driving, I spent about the same amount on gas as I would have on a plane ticket, but was able to bring the dogs along with me for the trip. We also were able to camp, rather than staying at a hotel, which I really enjoyed. Lake Las Vegas Bay campground was only 10 minutes from the hotel where the conference took place.

The view from our campsite on Thursday morning.

Compared to Oregon, Nevada is dry. This shouldn't be a shock, and it wasn't one to me. But it was kind of amazing to me just exactly HOW dry Nevada was. Previously, my only time in Nevada was limited to a few hours in the Las Vegas airport between flights. Driving out of Oregon, through Northern California, then down the western edge of Nevada through the desert was a long, dry, windy trip. Luckily, the weather was clear and around 85 during the day, which isn't nearly as hot as it can get there.

I arrived at the BlogPaws conference on Wednesday evening before heading out to the campground. We arrived at the campground after dark and quickly set up the tent and went to bed. The conference didn't officially start until mid day on Thursday, so I spent Thursday morning hanging around the campsite with the dogs. I moved our tent to a different campsite (the one I picked the night before had no daytime shade trees) and we went on a few short walks and one short hike around the camping area. I tried to reach the river I could see in the distance, thinking we might at least be able to see some real greenery there. Unfortunately, there ended up being a cliff between the campground and the river, with no good trail options that I could find to get down there. The dogs stayed on leash, since it is a national park, and when I saw the cactus and other plant life, I was glad of it. My dogs aren't used to pointy plants and might have done something stupid if they were off leash. Not to mention the risk of snakes and scorpions if they were to stick their noses under rocks or into holes.

The dogs, playing with an empty water bottle, in front of our tent

As the day warmed up, me and the dogs set up a chair in the shade and spent most of the rest of the morning reading. The shade was actually quite pleasant, as it was windy enough to keep plenty cool. I did wet Koira down once, after getting back from our short hike to find the river, as she has more problems cooling down than Pallo. We did meet a fellow blogger who was also staying at the campground during the conference, and walked around the campsite with her for a little bit, looking for a third blogger who was supposed to be staying there as well.

Koira doesn't believe in getting up early in the morning during trips.

Of course, I had big intentions before heading down that I would see some sites on the way and while I was there. Full disclosure, I ended up driving down to the strip in Vegas once, Friday evening, driving down part of it, then returning to our campsite without even getting out of the car. And other than that, we saw gas stations and rest stops along our route. The petroglyphs I wanted to see ended up too far out of our way to be worth it once I decided not to stop at Crater Lake (where the weather was supposed to be 40 degrees and cloudy). I have to face facts- I would much rather just drive through without stopping places. Stops are work, no matter how neat the place is that I plan on stopping at.

Now, this post is already pretty long and I haven't even really gotten to the part about the conference yet! So I'll leave it here for now, and post the rest later.

Sunset on the Dunes

A few pictures, taken at or just before sunset from the top of one of the sand dunes near out campsite at the coast this weekend. 

The sunset itself was rather unremarkable, as the sun simply melted down into the bank of clouds. 

Koira had fun racing around the top of the dunes in the strong wind. She thought it was one of the niftiest things ever.

The now-classic facebook timeline photo crop.

Slightly awkward as a silhouette, I still like this next photo of Koira. It just seems bouncy and playful.

While not of dogs, this is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. It was taken as I was approaching the top of the dune, of a father and two kids running around and playing in the sand.

Flyball Pictures and a Weekend Recap

This past weekend, I headed over to Redmond, OR for the Mt. Bachelor Kennel Club Dog Show. I was there for two days of lure coursing and one day of flyball.

Trix, experience flyball dog, running at our weekly team practice

Both dogs were signed up for lure coursing on Friday night. They each only needed one more Q to get their Coursing Ability (CA) title. I figured that achieving that title would be enough of a goal for the lure coursing part of the weekend. Both dogs pulled it off Friday night on their runs. Their titles are now updates in their names on the side bar. I have to say, I LOVE getting new titles on my dogs.

Bear, a rather large mini Aussie, is debuting in a week in Friday Night Racing

Saturday, I just helped out with the lure coursing, answering questions, bringing pieces of paper back and forth from the judge to the secretary, that kind of thing. It was fun to watch all the various breeds and types of dogs run. Cairn City was erected on Friday, which was two large tents full of kennels and x-pens full of cairn terriers, all competing in lure coursing. They were kind enough to shelter my dogs' kennel under their tents when we had a major downpour later in the afternoon.

Bear runs so much like a lab, flipping his feet up over the jumps and not caring in the least if he barrels straight into anything or anyone.

Sunday was all flyball, all day. My team hosted their first tournament ever as a fun, one day, outdoor, small scale tournament in Eastern Oregon. It rocked. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, the tournament ran smoothly, and overall it went off with no problems. I spent most of the day line judging (sitting at the start/finish line writing wins/losses, heat times, and flagging mistakes such as dropped balls, early passes, and skipping jumps). A team mate was kind enough to run Pallo for me.

On our team, Chester the corgi achieved his Flyball Dog (FD) title. He ran part time on the team at this tournament, and in only one heat at his last. He rocked it.



Also, he has the cutest little bunny butt ever.



Now, me and the dogs are off for a weekend at the coast. My sister's birthday was this week, so we are doing a family camping trip. Pallo unfortunately seems like he may be hurt as he was skipping jumps and bailing out on running at flyball practice this week. He is going to be so mad at being on crate rest while camping!