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Yesterday it was a balmy, breezy 70 degrees, today we're covered with ice (including my tiny Hens'n'Chicks pictured here). I can't pretend I'm sad--I like Spring in Spring, not Spring in Winter and Fall. And I'll always find some magic in dragging Sweet Husband and the pups out for a walk in a quiet, sparkling night encased in ice.
For several years I've been searching for an advent calendar. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find one that's appealing to people over age 8. I really love the advent house in the movie Christmas Vacation, but I just can't see blowing my whole Christmas budget on one. Sooo....that leaves me waiting several years until we maybe have kid and I can live vicariously through him or her or still searching.
But this year I think I've found a solution. Inspired by this pretty countdown tree, I got a tiny fake potted tree at the craft store, a little ribbon, some tasty, all natural, apple pie flavored doggy treats (they smell incredible!), and--wahlah--a pretty and grown-up little advent tree.
Do the dogs get that we're counting down the days until Christmas? Eh, no, but they understand treats every night, and that's perfectly wonderful to me.
(On a slightly ironic note, however, the day I made this tree for the pups was also the day we had to put our Christmas tree IN JAIL to protect the presents underneath from the very same diabolical duo--I ask you, where's the gratitude?)
We got our "Santa Paws" pictures back the other day. The Humane Society had their annual animal fair--at which this picture was taken--a little early this year, methinks so people could have their pictures back in time for Holiday cards. Aside from many ohhs and ahhs about how sweet my little darlins' look (with poor Santa holding onto Porter's leash for dear life and clinging to Moe with what looks to be a wrestling hold), the pictures got me thinking about how a lot of animal shelters could really learn a lot from the Lawrence Humane Society (LHS).
Granted, I only have knowledge of one other place to compare it to, and I know that Lawrence (dog-heaven) is a bit of an anomaly; but in the town where I grew up (not mentioning names) Humane Society fund raising consisted of coffee cans placed by cash registers of local businesses and a thrift shop that sold things for its benefit. And (although the shelter has since raised money for a better facility) you could tell. The few times I was there, the dogs were kept several dogs to a run in mostly outdoor runs. They weren't necessarily kept clean. What's more, all you had to do was show up and pay the fee to adopt a dog or a cat--no checks to make sure your landlord allowed pets, no checks to make sure you weren't going to take the dog or cat and do God-knows-what with it. The whole place had an air of desperation about it. Desperate animals, and people (very kind hearted people, I have to add) who were desperate to get them adopted to make room for more.
...from a very full Thanksgiving with family and friends. It was nice to have a long weekend for some extended catching up. Usually our trips home are so busy seeing family that it's hard to find time for friends too, but this weekend we had lots of both. And our hometown is one of those little Midwestern ones where everyone seems to come home for the holidays and you always run into people you haven't seen in forever--very nice! Pictures are here.
For the second weekend in a row, the Moe-man and I got up early for some dog related activity. Thankfully, this morning we only had to go to the far side of Kansas City (that's KC MO, for us) so Moe could take an ATTS temperament test.
What is this temperament-test-thingy, you ask? Well, it's kind of a walk in the park, or at least that's what it's set up to simulate. You and your dog go through 10 different stations involving all kinds of stimuli like different sorts of footing, meeting a friendly (and later a not-so-friendly) stranger, hearing a gun shot. Your dog's reactions are judged based on its breed, age, and the kinds of training it has had. If your dog shows undue aggression, panic without recovery, or extreme avoidance, the dog fails. If not the dog passes and earns its TT (that's Temperament Title). (For further example, there's a video of Porter's T-Test here, although it's not the greatest.)
It all started with me sitting on the couch being bored. There was nothing on TV, no new books around the house to read, it was too dark and cold to take the dogs for a walk, and Sweet Husband was at the Studio working away. The boxes of Christmas decorations in our storage cubby--taking advantage of my moment of weakness--began calling to me. "It's only a week before Thanksgiving...it's not too early...c'mon just come open us up and see what's here." And then, despite a solemn vow that I was going to wait until at least next weekend, before I knew it....
Well, maybe I shouldn't promise...because I just can't seem to stop. It's become my new consuming hobby, taking pictures of the pups, that is. And now I'm starting to get a yen for some new subjects--I keep saying I'm going to start advertising for them soon.
But, anyway, this is, of course, my darling Bella showing off her beautiful face. There are s'more shots of her here, and a ton of Moe and his beloved dino-squeaky here.
Today we went to St. Louis for an AWTA (that's American Working Terrier Association) trial. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive, and the trial started at nine, so you can guess about what time we had to start out. To add to that it was cold! Cold, cold even.
But I was still excited to go. AWTA structures their test in three levels (Novice, Open, and Certificate) and if you pass one level you can bump up to the next level that same day (unlike AKC). The Open and Certificate level tests are very similar to the AKC Junior Earthdog test--which Moe passed quickly and easily--so I was almost positive that he would go all the way through all three levels without any trouble. That's what you get for taking things for granted!
He passed the Novice level swimmingly, no troubles, no problems, no sign of anything to worry about. Then we went on to the Open tunnel. This is Moe going into the Open tunnel--there are a few more pictures here.
He charged in like gangbusters as usual, scrambled into the tunnel for about the count of ten, and then scrambled right back out. For a second I thought he might go back in, but when he spotted the judge and went over to say "hi", I knew we were done for.
Between the drive and the cold, I have to say I was a little disappointed--especially because I know this is something he can do. But, as Sweet Husband consoled me on the way home, who knows what Moe was seeing in the tunnel that might have spooked him. And as big as he is (much to big to actually hunt real quarry) even a slight constriction in the tunnel would probably be enough to make him unsure. Maybe this tunnel was so much darker than the Jack Russell tunnels a few weeks ago (which are covered with hay as opposed to buried in the ground) that that threw him off. Or maybe he just wasn't feeling it today....
But really--I have a happy, tired Moe snuggling with me on the couch, Sweet Husband and I had some nice conversation on the road, and we know what we need to work on for next Spring. So, although it was definitely a wee bummer that he didn't qualify, to paraphrase a popular saying: even a bad day earthdogging is better than a good day doing a lot of other things.
I had the day off today. Didn't do much exciting--cleaned house, disposed of our Jack'o'Lantern, did some laundry--but as I was walking out to get the mail, I noticed that the tree in front of our house had dropped some gorgeous leaves. It was a beautiful little woodland carpet, and I couldn't resist bringing out my favorite two little muses for s'more Fall pictures.
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