Monday, April 30, 2012

Mutt Strut 2012

Jake and Dega, with unknown new friends

Melissa with Dega

At the brick yard
Every April the Indiana Humane Society holds a fund raising walk at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The dog owner pays one fee to walk how ever many dogs you own around the 2 1/2 mile racing course. For whatever reason, Mother Nature likes to rain on this event. This year was no exception. Throw in a brisk wind and temperatures in the 40's, and it became a real challenge.

One of our friends from the dog park, Melissa and her Wheaton Terrier, Dega, joined us on Saturday morning. This is the first year I've been able to attend, the event always falling on a weekend that I had family obligations in Chicago. The walk starts promptly at 11a.m., so I timed our little trot. We made it in 54 minutes, mainly because Jake and Dega were literally pulling us around the track. I swear Jake kept looking for the parking lot. My boy was wet and probably cold. But we had a great time, saw a great many dogs, and got some exercise.

Next year it will probably be 98 degrees....
Linda

Friday, April 27, 2012

Dogs at Play

Yes. I do want this, Jake.

Phooey!

Look at the way he uses his paw

Mine. All mine!
There are times that I think Jake is part cat. He uses his front paws to grab objects, knead me, fluff pillows, you name it. He is also a nester. But one of his most endearing qualities is the ability to not give in to Gracie. If she wants something she has to work for it. Not that the boy won't occasionally let Gracie take a toy or treat. But the majority of the time, he just ignores her barking and whining.

I had set the camera to "sports mode" when the dogs where playing the other day. I now have a series of photographs of Gracie's tongue going out and in. I am such a dog mom.....

Have a great weekend.
Linda

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Tug of War

Mine!

I had it first, Gracie!

We're going this way.

Mom! He's being a brat.
It takes so little to get them involved with a game in the yard. All I have to do is pick up one of the tug toys and pretend that I want it. And they're off. Another way to get them to play, run around a bit, is to exit the house with the shedding combs in my hands. Boy, do they play then. I imagine the thought process behind this little avoidance maneuver is "if we are playing and getting some exercise, she won't try to comb us." Gracie is a master at avoidance.

We've been walking in the woods at one of the local parks, on dirt paths that climb and wind around. I am enjoying it, and I think the dogs are too. New smells, new sights. They also get to go in the creek to cool off their paws. This weather has been perfect for our hikes.

Have a great day.
Linda

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Spring Flowers

Heirloom Iris

Columbine

Bees Balm

the last bud on the flowering crab tree

the dogs ignoring their mom

It is a beautiful, slightly chilly spring day. The light is perfect for taking photos, so I just came in from snapping the above. Rain is in the forecast, and I'm afraid I won't get too many more shots of the Heirloom Iris that just opened up yesterday.

For the first time since I bought the house, there are nesting birds in the flowering crab apple tree. I am thrilled. I love to hear the sounds of birds right outside the kitchen window. No little heads are popping up, so I'm not sure if I missed the babies, or they have yet to hatch. I hope there will be more nests. I have planted 6 trees around the house in the past 3 years, along with a variety of shrubs and perennials.  To me, it just isn't a home unless there is a garden.

Enjoy yourselves.
Linda

Monday, April 16, 2012

Spring Flowers

"Pinks" that grow along the sidewalk leading to the front door

This is a small clump of Columbine in the front

Love these tiny flowers

Another view of the patch alongside the sidewalk
I love gardens in the spring. They still look fresh, with such a variety of greens in the foliage. As I was downloading these photographs into the computer, the local weatherman stated that we will be down into the 20's, at night, by this weekend.

Well, crap! I tried to protect the Hibiscus out front with grass clippings last week. It worked on one plant, not on both. So I will be putting out old sheets and towels over plants when this cold front hits. It was such a mild winter, I guess Mother Nature is making us pay for it now.

Stop and admire some flowers today. It will lift your spirits.
Linda

Friday, April 13, 2012

Random Thoughts




I haven't made any greeting cards in over a month. I miss it, so today I plan on getting into that room and working, if only for an hour. Found these two cards on one of the work tables. I had forgotten about them. The first card was done with a Crafty Secrets stamp. That company, one of my favorites, is going digital and will stop producing stamp sets this year. Makes me sad. The second card is with a new line of Bo Bunny paper. Cathy received a stack of samples and gave them to me. That works.

About a month ago, I cut down the decorative grasses that I have planted around the yards. The one that grows on the north side of the house gets to about 4 1/2 feet, so I thought it would make a great decoration for the house. After cutting and banding the grass with a pull tie, I was off to Hobby Lobby to purchase a container. My intent was to buy something in metal, but when I saw this green glass, I fell in love with the muted color. This is still a work in progress. I think. The last photo is the redone wall in the living room. A little furniture rearranging, and the wall just came into being. This is also not yet done. Sometimes you just have to live with it for awhile. I am like that when creating something as well. If I'm not sure if I like it, I just walk away and let it sit. Go back the next morning and look at it, maybe leave it, maybe complete the project.

Yesterday I decided to walk the dogs at a park we don't often visit, Washington Township Park in Avon. The trails are all dirt with many tree roots, so I have to be careful when walking. The dogs were in heaven. I think Jake lifted his leg on 5 trees within 25 feet of the parking lot. They both got to cool off their paws in the creek. I forgot to grab my little camera and regret it. It was so peaceful, so beautiful. We saw hundreds of wildflowers. I think we'll return today.

Have a wonderful day. Enjoy yourselves.
Linda


Thursday, April 12, 2012

I Don't Think So...

We have started putting Gracie into the big pasture, in preparation for driving the sheep. The difference between herding and driving is that the human (me) is in one place, not walking in front of the herd. You are calling instructions to the dog to move the sheep to a specific area. Gracie will be ready to do this, once she stops diving into the herd at the entrance. This is my biggest problem right now. Once she is in and she has gathered the sheep together, she is a terrific littler herder. Really.

So because of that diving problem, she had split the herd of 6 head on Sunday. 3 were in the middle pasture, 3 in the big pasture. We had tried, for the first time, to have her gather and drive the herd from the middle pasture, through the gate, to the bigger pasture with me manning the gate. Leah, our coach, had Jake on leash watching. Leah and I tried to get Gracie to leave the sheep and come back and get the remaining 3 head. No, that wasn't going to happen. She was going to guard her herd, and we all could just stand there and talk all we wanted.

Leah, having far more experience than I, said okay, we'll use Jake on leash to drive these 3 towards the gate. I would open the gate when she got them close. There was one little problem with this. When Leah started walking with Jake towards the 3 sheep, Jake took a long look, looked at me, and went behind Leah. His face was saying, "I want my mommy!" He did NOT, under any circumstances, want anything to do with the wooly beings in front of him.

The boy loves to lay at the fence while Gracie is herding, watching intently the entire time. Sarge, my Sheltie who died last year, wouldn't even look at the sheep. He sat with his back to the activity. But now I realize that Jake is not so much watching the sheep, but watching me. I guess he wants to make sure I am not leaving through another gate, that I will come back out to get him. My little rescue guy.

Ya gotta love it.
Linda

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Lambs

Because Gracie needed a job.....

Notice the little guy in the background with the brown patch

Love the look on the sheep's face. "Really? Right now you want to eat?"
When Gracie was about 8 months old, I hired a dog trainer who came to the house every week. He told me that Australian Shepherds need to be worked. They need a job. Now that job could be agility or obedience training on a regular basis, rescue work if they have a good enough nose (she does), or herding. When I heard about herding being within an hour of where I live and reasonable in price, I chose that endeavor.

I must have been nuts. I have hit the ground at least 18 times in the past 18 months. This past Sunday I tripped in the pasture, went down, and my darling little Aussie drove the herd around me. Have you ever tried to get up off the ground with sheep crowding you, the entire time being noisy as well? "BAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The one aspect of sheep herding that bothers me is the exposure to different attitudes towards animals. I fully realize that farmers can't get attached to farm animals. The sheep, cattle, llama, and herd guard dogs are workers, not hairy kids that sleep with you at night. Logically I know that. But it breaks my heart when you encounter a lamb that you know is not going to make it. Look at the little guy in the second photograph, with the one brown patch on his left hind quarter. He also is tinged in brown on the very edges of his ears. This lamb is about 2 1/2 weeks old. For whatever reason, he lost his mom in the herd. Or she has abandoned him. But he was staggering around last Sunday, so Leah decided to give him some liquid vitamins and a bottle. To do that, I had to help. I held that guy in my arms, talking in a low, soothing voice, and helped feed him.

When a sheep lays down on the ground all the way on their side, they are probably going to die. I don't know why, I just know this is what they see at the farm. This cute little one laid all the way down several times while I was there on Sunday. Jim, the farm owner, finally picked him up and took him in, hoping that a little TLC would get him back on his feet.

Sometimes shit happens. There isn't a whole lot you can do about it. But it still bothers me. There were 30 lambs born this spring. Leah changed the feed for the herd, so there was only one single birth, the majority twins, and two or three sheep had triplets. I'd like to see all of them make it, but one little one died about 6 hours after being born, and one sheep passed leaving her lamb motherless within hours after birth.

I could not be a farmer. I'd be crying all day long. Have a good one today. Be grateful.
Linda

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Enjoying the weather


The dogs were tired yesterday afternoon. They had spent 5 hours at doggie day care while I did a lot of errands. So while I mowed grass, trimmed around trees, and watered the new tree, they basically sat and watched me. "Good job, mom!" Uh huh.

I wanted to add some flowering shrubs and trees in the backyard this year. Then another dog person posted a link to the ASPCA's list of toxic plants for cats, dogs, and horses. Dang. Wisteria is out. So is flowering plum and english ivy. My plan had been to plant english ivy along the bottom of the vinyl coated chain link fence, and let it climb up the fence. All ivy is toxic to dogs. If you need to check this is the link.

Have a great day.
Linda

Monday, April 9, 2012

Slowing Down


Llama will protect the herd from predators

Two of the older babies
I had a very relaxing day on Easter. We left early to drive to the farm, stopping at a rest area. The dogs like to get out of the car and sniff, walk around a bit, on a longer drive. It seems to calm them down. Once we arrived, I helped Leah get 6 sheep for Gracie to herd. At this time of year, it isn't easy because the lambs stay close to the moms. There are very few dogs Leah will allow in the pen with the lambs because we don't want them to get hurt. So while Knuckles, one of her male border collies, was stirring and holding the herd, Leah would grab sheep that had not just given birth, and I was opening and slamming shut the pen gate.

We then had Gracie drive the sheep from pen to pen, through gates, into the large pasture so we could work. Simply sentence. Just doesn't convey how damn hard that really is. Found myself smashed by 6 sheep against the first gate, slammed into the second gate, and once again, folks, on the ground in the pasture. The first time was my own fault. I tripped. When I tried to get up, Gracie was too close to the herd and that drove them forward, over me which in turn knocked me down again.

I didn't get hurt. Guess the reason for that is I'm so used to hitting the ground I've learned how to fall. But it was an enlightening experience. I now see very clearly what my little Aussie is doing wrong. She loves short cuts. No more. I'm onto her now. Gracie must think she worked hard yesterday, well, wait until next week.

The other light bulb going off over my head yesterday was that I have been just too busy. My life had turned into me running in 3 different directions constantly with work related obligations, and then adding the dogs into that mix was the topper. Getting too old for this shit. Time to slow down again. One of the reasons I had not posted on the blog for weeks is that I had no new photographs. I had stopped doing something that I dearly love. So starting today, I am taking a deep breath and making an effort. Life is just too short.

Enjoy your Monday. Stop and smell a spring flower.
Linda

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Happy Easter

Born yesterday. Out in the yard with mom.

One of the set of triplets, about 2 weeks old

About 2 weeks old

We went sheep herding this morning. It was a little chilly to start, but warmed up nicely. I can't think of a better way to spend a sunny morning, then watching these beautiful animals. Hope your Easter morning was filled with joy.
Linda