The Cocklebur Debacle

It is a humbling and yes, slightly humiliating thing when your 4legged little girl schools you in L2 handling.

Anyone with a 4legged friend know ALL burs are evil. On the scale of evil burs cockleburs rate right below foxtails.

Maizey's front leg and the cockleburs

Basically cockleburs work like really mean velcro to Cavalier hair. It's not pretty. Especially when the 2legged member of the team is wailing and bawling about cutting off Cavalier ears and split ends.

Let me paint the picture. On our recent jaunt in the mountains Maizey, Dare and Layla met a cocklebur bush. Before I knew what had happened Maizey was trotting off down the trail with both ears, two legs and a tail full of cockleburs. Of course Layla got her fair share, and even Dare couldn't manage to avoid them completely.

Enter the humiliating part. That would be me with the wailing and bawling. Of course I scooped her up planted myself on a rock and flopped her over to start taking them out. Yes, still with the wailing and bawling.

"crazymomlady, please quiet the wailing and bawling!" 

Maizey? She was completely fine. I laid her on her side on my lap and she munched the field grass next to us the whole time Marie expertly removed them. As Marie says, "L2 handling? This is L33 handling and she passes with flying colors!" I however failed. Even L2 handling specifies "There must be minimal fussing." I guess wailing and bawling does qualify as fussing.

Meanwhile Dare was a great help as she got in the bag and brought first the comb and then the slicker brush to us. When we didn't seem to use them she also helpfully brought us a poop bag and finally her leash. We tried to show our gratitude, but she did seem a little peeved when we didn't use her helpful contributions.

Thankfully, due to Marie's experienced removal, some deep conditioner, and some more Cowboy Magic all is well in the continuing saga of the Cavalier ears.

Layla and Dare say, "Don't worry we're all still as gorgeous as always!"

Maizey says, "And I still have my ears!"

The 4legged lesson? Cockleburs are not your friends!

Learning To Be Calm And Having Fun

Starting with the progress:

Ok, so I know that looks like very boring progress, but that is the princess-of-the-shrill-bark quietly sitting in her crate after starting to learn that barking at Belgian Malinois puppies just doesn't pay.

Why doesn't it pay? Barking get you covered up. Being quiet gets you uncovered. Simple equation, easy lesson. Unless your 10lb nervous system is in anxiety overdrive and the only thing you know to do is yell about it. But in the end she did lay down and rest peacefully. I was very proud of her.

After our difficult puppy class episode we had a chance in a much less stimulating environment to let Maizey hone her social skills a little more. We went with Dare and Layla to their on the road agility practice. Also there, were the two Malinois she had so disliked at the puppy class, and their mom.

This time I'm glad to say, I did not make all the same mistakes again and I did protect her better. If nothing else it was a good start to calm her little reactive self down.

But onto some fun stuff from our country getaway. Our favorite time was just lounging in the yard "tree dreaming" at the blue sky.

And of course hiking and jumping on every rock to be the perfect pose for crazymomlady and her camera is great fun.

"How 'bout this crazymomlady? Wanna take my picture?"

I just couldn't stop laughing at Maizey, every rock and boulder that she could get on she would plop into a sit and flash me her picture grin.

"I'm ready! Snap away and I'll sit here looking pretty!" 

Even when I didn't have the camera out she would run ahead of us, find a rock, hop up, turn around looking, and wait to see if I would cue her to 'wait' for her picture. It was adorable and a far cry from the last time we hiked here and her wait was about 2 seconds long. Now I think she's trying to compete with Dare, who has the best picture posing abilities of any of our 4 legged friends.

And in the end we all ended up tired, satisfied, and looking it.

Can you hear the snores?

Are You Sure The Tortoise Wins?

We hope its true that the swift do not always win the race because we are off to a seriously slow start on our 40 miles challenge. The stomach flu will do that to ya!

But we did get a little start today. Between trying to get the garden in, being sick and all the other run of the mill things that keep us going around here we haven't walked in. . .oh too long to admit, but a while now.

Maizey and I  did get started on our miles tonight with a quick little mile and a half. It was gorgeous out there this evening, all golden and glowing with the end of the day light. In a city that is all edges and harsh angles to me that glowing light seems to soften the edges of everything and make even a bad day seem somehow not so lasting. As if the anxieties of each day will melt and sink into darkness with the sun, leaving way for nothing but the possibility of an easier tomorrow. Ahh if it were only that easy. But it was beautiful. The mountains are particularly pretty this time of year while they are still covered in their winter time icing, and the valley in the middle distance is getting green and lush. But I wax poetic and it can be so better captured in a photo.

We had company in the form of my mom and our part-time boy Charley. He walks so sedately, as if he has learned that even if you don't zoom all over you still get just as nice a walk. He totally shows Maizey up for the frolicking baby she is. It was fun to have them. I appreciate very much having company on our walks.

Charleycharley says, 

"If I grin really big can I please have that treat?"

So tomorrow will come soon. Hopefully we can get the garden tilled and ready to plant and certainly get some walking in. Who knows maybe we will even get back in sync with our daily training which has been sorely lacking lately. You never know, tomorrow could turn out to be an easier tomorrow!

Maizey and Me Walk In The Rain

Yesterday it rained. I don't mean the kind of slight gray drizzle that just discourages a stroll down the block, but the kind of outright downpour we rarely see in the desert. The kind of rain that has the pups shaking out the drench before you hit the end of the driveway and the neighbors whose house backs the park, saying, "Yeah Mildred, there's some girl out there with a little dog making the dog lay down and stuff. . .Yes its dumping rain!. . .No I don't know why she's out there!" It was the kind of rain that when we put big brother  charleycharley's sweater on and let him out for our walk he made it to the end of the garage before he hit the solid sheet of rain, came to a skidding halt and rooted himself to the spot with that, "Are you totally nuts? It raining you know?" look. Big brother Charleycharley didn't go for a walk in the rain. It was the the kind of storm that when you look outside you are actually justified in saying, "Uh. . .no four legged walk today."

But there are some benefits to having a pup who throws herself into every puddle of water or snow she sees-she is a willing walking companion in the drenching rain. So we did our mile to the park and then we did recalls, sits, downs, stays, even some distance "go-rounds" with 4 perfect successes!(insert me cheering!) And it rained. And rained. Every time we started shivering we just started doing chase recalls and got warm again. It was great!

The four legged lessons learned? Maizey needs to learn to "down" on cold wet grass. And my four legged lesson? Learn how to shake the rain off like Maizeydoes you stay a lot drier!LOL

In his defense big brother charleycharley does love to go for a good run when its not raining:  

Fun In The Mountains, Fun In The Country, Fun on the Farm

We had so much fun on our trip I decided to make a whole post of the fun stuff before we get into the intense mind boggling(for me) training we did.

We did some formal training, but mostly we did fun things, with training mixed in. I might need some new training equipment for pets to use with all of the new experiences and pets she saw! This Billy Goat was just one of the exciting animals she saw out at the farm.

Of course we had to take her to the lake for some swimming. She was a little timid since there wasn't too much beach and the water was very deep, but she got wet enough to need a good roll in the dirt to dry off! I wrapped her in her blanket to try to dry her off and keep some of the mud off me, but of course the dirt roll left me needing a lot of new pets grooming supplies!

 

"Uggg crazymomlady this water doesn't taste too good!"

"Look out, I'm wet and about to get muddy!"

"Ohhh ya. . .that dirt feels sooo good!"

In between the walks in the country, the hikes in the mountains, the swimming in the lake, and of course the mud rolling, we did take time to just relax and kick back. Of course all of the dogs have their own beds and tons of blankets but Lucy and Penny, the two biggest of the girls, really seemed to enjoy Maizey's crate the best. Maybe I'll suggest to my friend she invest in some new blankets and beds for her pets just to keep them happy until I bring Maizey's stuff back!LOL

The best dog bed in the house is always the couch!

"Ahhh. . . .Maizey's crate is so nice and cozy"

Everything said and done it was a wonderful trip. Many four legged lessons were learned and even more two legged lessons! I want to thank our two legged friends for letting us come and stay and Maizey wants to thank Penny, Lucy, Zoe, Raven, Twist, Dare and of course her favorite buddy Layla for all the good times they had.

And Meeka wants to lodge an official complaint that she didn't get to share in the fun this time!

"Next time I get to go, okay crazymomlady?"