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My dog's Border collie heritage
Aug. 8th, 2009 10:37 amThere's always a ton of debate over what Dahlia IS as far as breed mixture. I have some people who say "oh definitely BC" (including three vets who have seen her and a handful of BC people) and then a group who says "I don't see BC in her at all" (which also includes some BC people). But then there are moments when she shows that she MUST have some border collie heritage.
This morning we went down to the park and what did I discover in the soccer fields. Two groups of geese. Dahlia loves chasing the geese and ducks at the pond but she never gets to do much of it as they fly back into the pond and I don't want her going into it (it is ICKY). So she stays on leash, which doesn't give her much room for running.
But in the soccer field? She's free to go. So I released her and she sat at my side. I squatted down and pointed at the geese, saying "Dahlia...look..." She was instantly alert. I stood back up and shouted "Go get 'em!" And she was off like a shot. Straight at the geese? Nope. She ran out and around to the left in an imitation of an outrun (she probably should have arced another 5-10 feet out to really make it a good one). Alas, she wasn't able to get behind them or anything as they flew off as soon as they saw her coming. But it does make me happy to see her attempts at herding! So she has no control, but it's still fun to see.
I let her go after a second group further down and she showed a bit more control with getting closer to them, but then they flew away when she got too close again. But boy was she a happy dog!
This morning we went down to the park and what did I discover in the soccer fields. Two groups of geese. Dahlia loves chasing the geese and ducks at the pond but she never gets to do much of it as they fly back into the pond and I don't want her going into it (it is ICKY). So she stays on leash, which doesn't give her much room for running.
But in the soccer field? She's free to go. So I released her and she sat at my side. I squatted down and pointed at the geese, saying "Dahlia...look..." She was instantly alert. I stood back up and shouted "Go get 'em!" And she was off like a shot. Straight at the geese? Nope. She ran out and around to the left in an imitation of an outrun (she probably should have arced another 5-10 feet out to really make it a good one). Alas, she wasn't able to get behind them or anything as they flew off as soon as they saw her coming. But it does make me happy to see her attempts at herding! So she has no control, but it's still fun to see.
I let her go after a second group further down and she showed a bit more control with getting closer to them, but then they flew away when she got too close again. But boy was she a happy dog!
Weekend update
Jul. 20th, 2009 07:50 amBusy weekend all around here!
Saturday we went to the CD release part for friends of ours who are in a band called The Milkweeds. The cool thing about their release party was that they asked friends to perform as well, so both David and Brandon had 20-30 minute sets. They called it Milkweed Stew and they plan to do this a couple times of year, so that should be fun!
( Some pics from the event )
Yesterday we went down to Barry Park to watch some friends play in their Gaelic Football game vs. Rochester. I know about as much about Gaelic Football as I do American Football, but it was fun to watch nonetheless. We apparently won (without a scoreboard I was clueless). Our good friend Pat was supposed to play a bit, but he had twisted his ankle really good during practice and was so on the sidelines, but we got to watch our other friends play.
( Some pics )
And then I spent yesterday evening clearing stuff off my laptop. I discovered that I head a mere 2.5GB left on one drive and 4GB left on the other (both are about 80GB). Oops. Most of the ones on the D:\ drive were photos. 60GB of photos. Yikes! I take a lot. So I transferred them all to my external 500GB hard drive and then backed up many of them onto DVD. That freed up about 35GB of space. There's more backing up to DVD to do before I feel comfortable removing them from the computer (I want them saved in two places first!).
Saturday we went to the CD release part for friends of ours who are in a band called The Milkweeds. The cool thing about their release party was that they asked friends to perform as well, so both David and Brandon had 20-30 minute sets. They called it Milkweed Stew and they plan to do this a couple times of year, so that should be fun!
( Some pics from the event )
Yesterday we went down to Barry Park to watch some friends play in their Gaelic Football game vs. Rochester. I know about as much about Gaelic Football as I do American Football, but it was fun to watch nonetheless. We apparently won (without a scoreboard I was clueless). Our good friend Pat was supposed to play a bit, but he had twisted his ankle really good during practice and was so on the sidelines, but we got to watch our other friends play.
( Some pics )
And then I spent yesterday evening clearing stuff off my laptop. I discovered that I head a mere 2.5GB left on one drive and 4GB left on the other (both are about 80GB). Oops. Most of the ones on the D:\ drive were photos. 60GB of photos. Yikes! I take a lot. So I transferred them all to my external 500GB hard drive and then backed up many of them onto DVD. That freed up about 35GB of space. There's more backing up to DVD to do before I feel comfortable removing them from the computer (I want them saved in two places first!).
Adventure doggy!
May. 14th, 2009 05:38 pmSome folks in the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
dog_lovers community suggested seeing if Dahlia would get up on the playground equipment - sort of a desensitizing her to different sorts of places and things under her feet. She looked hesitant for only a moment but then immediately followed me up with a big doggy grin on her face.
Alas, the equipment kind of sucks for dogs (LOL) and all we could do was walk up the step part and turn around and go back down. But she did go up! We're thinking of taking her to the dog park this weekend and seeing if she'll go up the A-frame and over the low jumps there.
Her reward for going on the equipment? Chasing the ducks. Right into the pond. I only allowed her to go into it about 6 inches though she managed to splash around enough to get some on her stomach and chest. She gets to go to the groomer's in another week or so, so the day before we'll let her run right in as far as she wants to and get herself all soaked. I'm determined to video tape and/or take pictures.
dog_lovers community suggested seeing if Dahlia would get up on the playground equipment - sort of a desensitizing her to different sorts of places and things under her feet. She looked hesitant for only a moment but then immediately followed me up with a big doggy grin on her face.Alas, the equipment kind of sucks for dogs (LOL) and all we could do was walk up the step part and turn around and go back down. But she did go up! We're thinking of taking her to the dog park this weekend and seeing if she'll go up the A-frame and over the low jumps there.
Her reward for going on the equipment? Chasing the ducks. Right into the pond. I only allowed her to go into it about 6 inches though she managed to splash around enough to get some on her stomach and chest. She gets to go to the groomer's in another week or so, so the day before we'll let her run right in as far as she wants to and get herself all soaked. I'm determined to video tape and/or take pictures.
Shiny happy people...
Mar. 17th, 2009 08:17 amThe first song that came on the radio this morning was Shiny Happy People. OMG I LOVE THAT SONG. It just, well, makes me happy. It was a great way to start the day!
Last night Dahlia and I ended up taking a walk around the pond. It was wonderful finally being able to do that after work! I've missed being able to go to the park. Usually by the time I get home it's dark already.
David went to the park yesterday too and got some great pictures of Dahlia and some of her with a girl who wanted to play fetch with her. For anyone who's interested...lol
( And just to prove that my dog does not ALWAYS look so dignified... )
Last night Dahlia and I ended up taking a walk around the pond. It was wonderful finally being able to do that after work! I've missed being able to go to the park. Usually by the time I get home it's dark already.
David went to the park yesterday too and got some great pictures of Dahlia and some of her with a girl who wanted to play fetch with her. For anyone who's interested...lol
( And just to prove that my dog does not ALWAYS look so dignified... )
The end of a perfect weekend...
Mar. 15th, 2009 08:03 pmThe sun has now set. This was the most beautiful weekend we've had in what feels like ages. Both days were around 50, sunny, gorgeous and calm. We couldn't have asked for a better couple days. Yesterday we went over to our friend Geordy's for an after the St. Patrick's Day parade get together. We never made it to the parade (it was much nicer walking Dahlia in this weather!), but we had a blast at Geordy's. I left earlier than David to take care of Dahlia (who's not feeling her best lately -- some treats we picked up really upset her stomach -- poor girl!).
Today was even warmer than yesterday. We had a nice lunch out and then ran some errands early in the afternoon. We found the ultimate for Dahlia: squeaky tennis balls. Yep! They make them. I had no idea. Dahlia REALLY loves squeaky toys. Of any sort. She doesn't show much interest in something that doesn't squeak. She LOVES the new balls. So I took he down to the park to let her run around and play some fetch. There was, of course, pictures.
( More Dahlia at the park pictures for anyone who might want to see them...LOL )
Today was even warmer than yesterday. We had a nice lunch out and then ran some errands early in the afternoon. We found the ultimate for Dahlia: squeaky tennis balls. Yep! They make them. I had no idea. Dahlia REALLY loves squeaky toys. Of any sort. She doesn't show much interest in something that doesn't squeak. She LOVES the new balls. So I took he down to the park to let her run around and play some fetch. There was, of course, pictures.
( More Dahlia at the park pictures for anyone who might want to see them...LOL )
Dahlia at the park!
Mar. 15th, 2009 12:03 pmWe took Dahlia down to the park on Friday evening for a nice walk and run. She had SO MUCH fun. We first just walked across the field, toss her frisbee a few times until she got bored. When we were heading back along the pond, we saw another big black dog up ahead. Well, it turned out that the dog was not only super friendly, but also looked SO MUCH like Dahlia it was hilarious. He was a bit larger than her (and will get larger still as he's only 10 months old). Apparently he's a lab/poodle mix but he sure didn't look very poodley to me. His name was Mojo (awesome name for a dog) and he and Dahlia had a blast. I'm realizing Dahlia is often the dominant one in play. Mojo was the one rolling over onto his back and doing a lot of pacifying gestures while Dahlia stood tall (I did see a play bow or two out of her though). Everytime Dahlia gave him a little warning growl, he'd roll right over. Adorable. He really liked her a lot and she liked him too. She got into her weird growly play voice, which Mojo's people had never heard from a dog before (and sadly gets misinterpreted by way too many people -- she's playing dammit, not being aggressive!).
She also met a lab mix named Buddy -- it was BBD day at the park! They also played for a little bit, though he was a bit more energetic than Mojo. She had so much fun with them both!
Yesterday I took her around the park with my camera, which of course meant we didn't meet any dogs. LOL I did get some nice shots of her and the park though.
( Dahlia and park pics )
She also met a lab mix named Buddy -- it was BBD day at the park! They also played for a little bit, though he was a bit more energetic than Mojo. She had so much fun with them both!
Yesterday I took her around the park with my camera, which of course meant we didn't meet any dogs. LOL I did get some nice shots of her and the park though.
( Dahlia and park pics )
That's right. More Dahlia pictures. *ducks and runs*
This morning I took Dahlia down to the SPCA to get her picture taken with Santa. I did a stupid thing though and didn't bring my camera too. Oh well. Here's the picture they got of her.
Then when we got back, we took her down to the park to run around in the snow. We got a good 5 or 6 inches of the crap on Thursday night/Friday morning, so there was a lot to run around in. She loves the snow. This is her first real winter. She came from a town in Ohio that gets about 16 inches of snow a year. We get 120, so she's NEVER seen so much snow on the ground like this! She had a blast.
( A bunch of pictures )
This morning I took Dahlia down to the SPCA to get her picture taken with Santa. I did a stupid thing though and didn't bring my camera too. Oh well. Here's the picture they got of her.
Then when we got back, we took her down to the park to run around in the snow. We got a good 5 or 6 inches of the crap on Thursday night/Friday morning, so there was a lot to run around in. She loves the snow. This is her first real winter. She came from a town in Ohio that gets about 16 inches of snow a year. We get 120, so she's NEVER seen so much snow on the ground like this! She had a blast.
( A bunch of pictures )
More Dahlia pictures
Oct. 12th, 2008 08:09 pmWe went back to Barry Park today and David took a bunch of pictures of Dahlia. We set up several shots where she could run to me and David could take shots of her. He got some REALLY nice shots. Some of my favourite are behind the cut.
( Dahlia )
( Dahlia )
More Dahlia pics
Oct. 11th, 2008 06:30 pmFor the past couple days I've taken Dahlia for a long walk around the pond in our nearby park. I didn't intend to take the long walk around the pond either day but it was so enjoyable spending time with her that I decided to keep going. Both days she's met several dogs. Yesterday she met a golden retriever a woman had adopted only in September. She played nicely with the dog, though the woman who owned her was nervous about Dahlia's odd "growly" thing she does when she plays. She tends to open her mouth wide and make this weird noise when playing. I tried to reassure her that she was just playing, but the woman clearly doesn't get dogs. Ah well. She also met a lab mix who looked a lot like her only a little bit bigger. Except he's only 7 months old and his legs were much wider and his paws were HUGE. Nice dog though. And she met another border collie mix who was really sweet. Today she met a miniature poodle named Maxine who was really sweet. Her owner, Steve, and his daughter were really nice. The young girl (probably all og 6 or 7) offered Dahlia some water and was smitten with her spotted tongue. Steve was wearing an Obama button. Yay! We also met an overweight border collie who was fairly friendly. And we met a 15-year-old Sheltie. As we were getting near the dog, the woman said she was old and sweet if we wanted to meet. They met and Dahlia was fine with her. The woman noted that her funny crouching behaviour when she goes to meet a dog is a characteristic of herding breeds. I figure she's pretty correct about that.
At any rate, today I went down with my camera. I took some pictures of the foliage but also took a bunch of pictures of Dahlia. I let her off leash down in the field and made her sit and wait while I walked several feet away. I managed to get 20-30 feet away from her while she sat and wait. I was most impressed! I got a lot of photos of her sitting and waiting and some as she ran back to me when I released her.
So...
Pictures...
( Dahlia and pretty leaves! )
At any rate, today I went down with my camera. I took some pictures of the foliage but also took a bunch of pictures of Dahlia. I let her off leash down in the field and made her sit and wait while I walked several feet away. I managed to get 20-30 feet away from her while she sat and wait. I was most impressed! I got a lot of photos of her sitting and waiting and some as she ran back to me when I released her.
So...
Pictures...
( Dahlia and pretty leaves! )
