Old habits die hard

   I've hardly eaten a meal at home, undisturbed, in 15 years. And although Gyp hasn't eaten for days, she still moves in, puts her paws up on my leg and sticks her face an inch from mine.
She's the reason my dogs don't get table scraps--I learned my lesson long ago, after creating this monster! She often used to jump on my lap and wave her paw wildly, trying to knock the food off my fork as it neared my mouth.

What a good, bad kitty!

Too Smart for her own Good?

   Shibas are known for being smart. Good hunters. And driven. I'm not sure how well known they are for comedy, but living with them has kept me laughing. Ever heard that curiosity killed the cat? Well, it may get Aki one day too.
   Last week I took them down to the basement to give them baths. I bathed Taylor first, while Aki waited in the next room. I finished with Taylor, dried him, and went out to retrieve Aki, only to find that she had bitten a giant chunk out of the bottom of my bookcase! At first I was furious. Why on Earth would she DO that??? It only took a quick glance under the bookshelf for it all to make sense. Apparently I had very recently caught a large mouse in the trap hidden underneath. Aki smelled it and was frantically trying to get at it (probably to make sure it was really dead). When she couldn't get under it, she decided to go through it, chomping the bottom shelf. Sigh. I wasn't happy, but it's pretty funny when you think about it.
   Similarly, Aki loves her toys, especially a bright orange ball which is hollow. I fill it with treats and she'll spend an hour rolling it around the whole house with her nose to get the food. Often she drops it down the stairs so the food bounces out with little effort. And even more often, she makes the game harder by rolling the ball under the entertainment center. I've seen her do it so often that I'm *certain* it's intentional.
   On several occasions, though, this has gotten her into trouble. If she can't reach the ball with her jaws or her paws, she says, "I'm goin' in!" Which always leads to her getting stuck underneath & needing to be rescued. She starts whining and frantically swimming her legs... pathetic!

"I'm very disappointed in you, Aki."

   The moral of the story? Aki always gets what she wants; even at the cost of canine humiliation.

(And for the record, Tay isn't stuck in the deck railing, though he fooled me!)

Talk to the paw!

'cause the whiskers don't wanna hear it!

Dog Park Fun with Friends

   Brett met me at Stoll Park tonight, to give my pups a good, long romp before I leave for San Francisco for a few days. He brought his pup, Sam, and his kids, Shane & Jenna. My pups had never met the kids before, but they were pretty much enthralled by all the extra attention.

Shane worked on getting Aki to jump...

And, WOW! What a jump!

Jenna sweet-talked Aki into a high-five:

Shane caught it on camera:

And then Mr. Tay moved in...

Tell me this isn't the happiest dog you've ever seen:

Mobbed for treats:

Run, Shibas, Run!

But watch out for that spiky tree!!! (A honey locust...?)

And watch out for that wild boxer!

And even wilder Wheatie!

   Okay. We all know kids and poodles and Shibas are cute—but ALL of us were upstaged by a lil' man named Porter. He's an 8-week-old Bernese Mountain Dog: ten pounds of adorableness.

He was a little hard to photograph: always moving!

All the dogs were jealous.

Off into the sunset...

And again I have to ask, this is March?! Are we sure? 'Cause it's almost 70 degrees. Where is the proverbial lion?

Troublemakers, Reformed!

   My dogs have a lot of energy. There's a reason we run together 2-3 times a week, and visit the dog park once a week. And why I have Mary Ann come over periodically to spend time with them. And confine them to the kitchen during the day, so they don't go on a mission of destruction in the house or chase Gypsy while I'm at work. They go wild when I return home, whether I'm gone for ten minutes or ten hours. We have a lil' howl-fest in the kitchen every day; that burns some energy. And while they sleep in their beds, they are leashed up to the nightstand, so they don't go on a nocturnal rampage. 

   ...And all this on a normal day, when they don't have all kinds of pent up energy from being sedentary during the excruciatingly slow process of letting my ankle heal.

Arooooooooooooooo!!!

   While I was in LA visiting Kelley, Brett graciously came by and picked them up for a long hike in Shawnee Mission park, which they no doubt loved. But two weeks of very little exercise was creating a ticking time bomb. And it went off this week!

   I came home Thursday night to find that they had torn into the bag of recycling that was hung on the door. It has been there every day for weeks, and they've never touched it. There's nothing to eat in it: just junk mail, newspaper, bits of plastic. No matter: they used it to make confetti and have a party in the kitchen. I was not overjoyed to find it, but their expressions cracked me up. I posted this photo on Facebook and it got a ton of likes and comments. I was amused.

   Friday night, however, when I came home from work, I was no longer amused. Taylor (presumably) had reprised his dog-burglar role from December, in which he used the handle of the stove to scale the countertops, snatching a plate of cookies and cake and gorging himself. (Not to mention leaving telltale claw marks all over the handle, which Mary Ann repaired beautifully!) This time he snatched an unopened newspaper and shredded it. Now, I can't argue that the KC Star is probably better shred than read, but this was just bad behavior, and it has to stop.

   I wasn't sure yet what to do, as I am not yet up to more than a little walking, much less running. But today I needed to run to the east side of town to pick up Gypsy's prescription food and medicine at the vet, and that gave me an idea. I loaded up the brats and...

   NO, I didn't drop them off at the animal shelter!!! We drove to Happy Tails dog park in Lee's Summit so they could run to their hearts' content while I stood around. The park has a flat, circular, paved path all the way around, so I knew I could take it easy.

    Happy Tails also has several pieces of agility equipment, and I had brought a pouch full of small treats. I couldn't run, but I walked between obstacles and led the dogs around and around, scaling the a-frame, walking the dog walk, jumping through the tire, traversing the tunnels, and jumping over the bar. Over & over again.

   Aki had fun. And Taylor... is a NATURAL at agility! He flew through the obstacles excitedly with little hesitation, and he even hit all the contact zones properly. For a beginner, he was fantastic. Turns out that being full of energy and being HIGHLY food-motivated is a boon here!

   We spent a full hour at the park, and for most of that, the dogs were attentive, despite being off-leash, and despite the dozens of dogs and people milling around. They had their share of running and playing, but were amazingly focused while I was working with them. I'll need to start training them one at a time, but I think they both will be really good at this!

      And okay, they may not be completely reformed yet... but this was great progress! Hopefully after a few more weeks of healing, I can look into an agility class for my boy. And read my newspaper, unmarred again.

招き猫 「MANEKI NEKO!」

   My dear Gypsy has begun to eat again after a week of feeling puny and dropping significant weight. I was so afraid I was going to lose her suddenly! But she seems to be back to her spunky self, though I'm still having to put out fresh food all the time to entice her, rotate different foods frequently, and monitor how much she's eating. Here's a cute video where she demonstrates how lucky she is (with the added cuteness of her crocheted doppelgänger!)

Visit from the Fam

   Dad, Diane & Lindsey drove in from Columbus this evening. And they delivered this amazing painting by Tamara Peterson, of which I am now the proud owner. Have to figure out where to hang it. The dining room is probably the place. Which is perfect, because now I can sit down and stare at it all day because I love it so much.

   Tam was one of a small handful of my very very favorite instructors at CCAD, and I owe a lot to her for all she taught me about design, color, craftsmanship, work ethic, and life in general. She was a critical influence during my most formative years as an artist. And now that I'm leading a team I realize how important all the "other stuff" she taught me is, too... and holy cow, that lady can PAINT!

No caption needed. Huge smile says it all!

   My animals especially liked Lindsey. She seems to be a natural with them, and Gypsy even does "招き猫" for her. Though she looks slightly annoyed in this particular photo:

Lindsey tries to capture The Gyp doing Maneki Neko.

   I called my home phone from my cell phone to show off Aki's best trick. She howls every time it rings. No idea why. Taylor doesn't get it either. But I think it's pretty charming!

Aki does her howl-at-the-phone trick, right on cue

   We made it a low-key evening since we all had to get up early in the morning for Dog-n-Jog...