BG and Gavin's Blog (32)

DK people really are the nicest.  And so are their dogs.  Today Gavin and I had a fun meet-up with Julie and Max.  We went for a long walk and the boys got plenty of time off-leash to play and romp.  The humans never ran out of things to talk about either. Thank you Julie for the fun day and for your hospitality.

The adorable Max and Gavin are introduced:…

Meet Raven, an 11 month old Great Dane.  She was Gavin's playmate today.  This gorgeous girl made Gavin look like a small guy in spite of the fact that he is 29in at the shoulder.  After a good romp, we took the two for a nice walk.  Looks like she may be coming back for more tomorrow :)…

Just had to brag :)

http://www.theobserver.ca/2013/04/12/therapy-dog-helps-relieve-student-stress-at-lambton-college

Happy Birthday Gavin!

From this:

To this:

I never imagined my life would be so enriched by a dog! And the bond continues to…

Gavins spent Canada Day at the cottage. 

He posed by the Inukshuk, 

showed off his maple leaf bandana,

went for a sunset stroll in the water…

Okay, I read “Inside of a Dog” so should have a reasonable understanding of what a powerful tool a dog’s nose is.  However, what Gavin did recently astounded me!  Here is what happened:

I had a big retirement party for my DH on Saturday.  He received several gifts and at least a dozen greeting cards from well-wishers.  On Sunday DH sat down in his comfy chair to begin opening the cards.  Out of nowhere Gavin rushed into the room and plunged his head into the cards in DH’s lap. …

I took Gavin to the vet’s to get his heartworm/lymes test and Revolution meds.  First step of course was to have him weighed.  I thought there must be some kind of mistake and had him re-weighed.  The number on the scale:  73.8 lbs!  That is a full 7 lbs more than he weighed at his last check up in October!  I was in a state of disbelief.  The kind receptionist tried to sooth me by saying “maybe he is just carrying a little extra winter weight.”  How could I tell her, that last week I was on…

Gavin got his summer cut today...

I'm sexy…

What a glorious day!  We are experiencing record high temperatures and sunshine.  It was perfect weather for a long walk along our city’s waterfront.  Mylie uses a gentle leader, but I don’t feel comfortable using it on her because she hates it and I am don’t like the feel of having her on it while Gavin is on a collar.  So I bought a martingale collar for her and started training her on it yesterday.  She did pretty well and was mostly good on it today.  There were many challenges for both…

Our neighbour down around the corner is looking after Gavin while we are away for a couple of days.  We sent a baby gate as she was unsure how her two cats would react with him.  She messaged me this morning, the gate has been ditched and Gavin has been wonderful with her cats.

 …

I could not be more embarrassed.  Today an old colleague and friend of mine who I have not seen in several years, made the trek to our fine city to visit.  I was not sure if she was a dog person or not, but now she most likely is not!  Gavin was his usual good-natured self upon greeting, but once we sat down to visit he decided to put on a little show.  You see she was clearly not showing him the attention he deserved.  So first he came out with a chew stick and placed it at her feet.  Next…

Okay, I just have one dog, but to look at the “leashing station” inside my back door, you would think I have 10 dogs!

From left to right: a Christmas collar, old leash for rainy days, leather leash for “good,” every day tag collar, prong collar, light weight long line, carabineer, reflective leash and arm bands for night time, car harness, bandana, every day…

About six weeks ago a little poodle mix named Molly went missing.  She was spooked at the groomer’s when a fire truck went by and somehow got away, with no collar on.  The skittish three year old was rescued by her current owner Joanne, two years ago.  An army of volunteers responded to her owner’s plea to help find Molly.  A facebook page was formed with 1450 members.  People were searching in organized teams day and night.  Feeding stations were set up complete with surveillance in areas…

I died today. You got tired of me and took me to the shelter. They were overcrowded and I drew an unlucky number. I am in a black plastic bag in a freezer now. Some other puppy will get the barely used leash you left. My collar was dirty and too small, but the lady took it off before she sent me to the Rainbow Bridge .

Would I still be at home if I hadn’t chewed your shoe? I didn’t know what it was, but it was leather, and it was on the floor. I was just…

I met a family yesterday whose back yard backed onto a park we frequent.  The mother peeked over the fence and asked if Gavin would be interested in playing with her 1 year old Newfoundland dog.  Ahhhh, yaaaa!  So she opened her gate and the two ran back and forth between their yard and the park.  Her beautiful pup was chasing Gavin who was enjoying being in the lead for a change.  Gavin dashed into the back yard, with Marley the Newf hot on his tail.  Gavin decided to take a short cut…

Hi Everyone!  Missing you all as I enjoy an extended stay at the cottage.  Found a hot spot and decided to post a couple of pics from Gavin's first boat ride.  He took to it right away!  Funny how they automatically know that they are supposed to go to the very front of the boat and stick their nose into the wind!  Hope everyone is well!!…

In yappy hour Friday I was talking about a big family reunion I was attending today.  There were 950 direct descendents on the invite list and there were nearly 350 attendees.  I spoke of the cousin's quilt that had been made prior.  The pattern is called the Irish Chain.  Each of the original first cousins came up with an idea of how they wished to be represented and a square of the quilt was made for them.  The other squares were filled with things that represented the family as a whole…

Here is a nice link I got from Dogster today.  Thought I would share.

Virtual Pet Behaviorist

It has all kinds of information on everything dog-related, plus you can ask questions and get expert answers for free.

Turn up the volume on your speakers and see what we can learn from our precious animals.  Perfect message for a Spring Sunday.

http://www.dogwork.com/kddk2b/