Late night walk

Conker and I went for a walk last night.  I decided to try something and clipped the d-ring near the handle to the snap and let Conker drag the rest of the leash.  He did AWESOME!  He was very responsive when he got a few steps too far ahead or lagged behind, stopped when I did when we came to cross streets and didn't chase after the cat we saw across the street (I grabbed the leash then to be safe).  When crossing streets I held the leash for obvious reasons but once across I let him drag it again.
I hope Conker will continue to be an a-typical Shiba and be reliable off-leash.  The couple times I've taken him off-leash in the creek (where he can't escape) he's done really good as well.  No true off-leash excursions until he's a bit older though, I'm not ready for that.


Since I STILL haven't gotten any film (I'm very reluctant to buy Fuji) I've been relearning how to use my stupid point-and-shoot.  I still hate the bejeebes out of it and want to kill it every time I touch it.  Despite that, I did manage to get a semi-cool shot on our late night walk.

Focus on the sidewalk whoop whoop.  Not my intention but hey, it's an automatic with no manual focus whatsoever, no control over the F stop (only quarters of stops from -2 to +2 in auto setting, hardly useful), very little shutter speed control (you can set it at 1, 1.3 1.6 2, 2.5 3.2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 or 15 seconds or full auto)  There is NO ZOOM period and it tends to not focus on the subject.  If it does, it's usually not the part I want it to.  Like a patch of fur instead of a nose.  If for some stupid reason I decide to use the flash I have to wait at least five seconds for it to decide when to go.  It used to be instant but now it takes it's sweet time and when photographing dogs you can't do that.  Because they move.

Pictures from today

Hasn't been much going on lately.  Real boring, even though there are a ton of people here.  The adults went wine tasting today, younger-taller brother and I took the kids to the local "air park" which is a room with a ton of trampolines in it and such.  Us bigger folks didn't jump but the kids had fun.

Conker's been really bored.  Almost to the point of pencil chewing, so I took him and Juneau to the dog park since Sasha already got a walk today.

After a bit of playing with the chuckit I took them to the creek to cool off.  It was a bit warm today and they looked somewhat hot.

Conker gets really excited to go into the creek now.  He's also started swimming in the deeper parts.  If there's another dog he has more fun that he does by himself.

Juneau got about 20 more minutes of fetch in and had nearly dried off when they got to go back into the creek.  The video above was actually from the second trip in.  There is a patch of tall grass next to the fence that Juneau likes to lay in during cool-down periods in between games of fetch.

Conker got really dirty after the second creek trip.  He also played a bit of fetch, then tug with a busted tennis ball.

When we got back it was time to feed the Girls.  They got Lamb flavored TOTW with some tuna in there.  No real reason behind the tuna, I just decided to be nice.  Sasha gets a bit of water in her kibble to slow her down, I just recently found that out.

Conker was his usual self while the Girls ate and put cute Shiba mode in overdrive.  It didn't work.



In other news...

My uncle apparently thinks it's okay to "let" Conker eat a piece of stinkin pizza.  My cousin came in and saw Conker eating it and TOLD my uncle that he was, but uncle didn't even try to take it from Conker since "it was already in his mouth."  Tell him to drop it you moron.  Thanks for letting my dog eat shit that'll make him either barf or have cannon ass tomorrow.  Or tonight, and if he does... I'm gonna fucking blow a fuse.

Chuckit!: Review

I got Conker a Chuckit for his birthday, but it was mainly for use with Juneau.  I never did get one with Conker since he isn't that big of a fetcher and will also loose sight or interest if the ball goes too far.  Or another dog will get it first.
But when I began taking Juneau to the dog park, I knew I had to get one.  Constant throwing of tennis balls for her made my arm hurt even though I was throwing the ball correctly.  So off I went and got myself a bright orange Chuckit thing.

It cost me $11.99 at Mini Pet Mart.  It might have been cheaper at The Grange but I didn't want to drive all the way out there to see.  Petco was about 15.99 so that wasn't even an option.

I got thew older model Chuckit since I didn't even know if the dogs would like it.  And at first Juneau didn't. She was afraid of it, like she always is with new things.  but after I showed her that a ball goes into it and gets thrown really far... now she loves it!

The Chuckit takes a few throws to get used to.  If you just huff it the ball will fly straight up or way off to one side.  You have to throw it gently for the first few tries to get an idea of where the ball is released.  After that though, go at it, you fetcher will love it!  I'm normally able to throw about half the length of the dog park (it's kinda small) but with the Chuckit I can almost get the ball completely to the other side.  I don't know the exact distance but it's pretty darned far.

One of the only problems with the Chuckit other than getting used to the release point is that you need to be aware of who or what is around you.  I whacked a tall dog on the back with it once (but he didn't care) so make sure there aren't any dogs or kids in the general vicinity if you're going for distance.
Another thing is that your arm will begin to hurt after a long while.  Not how throwing a ball normally does though.  The top of your lower arm, where the hair grows, whatever that muscle is, will get tired.  I guess since it's used for stabilizing the Chuckit and keeping it upright when you swing.  Go get a stick and swing it around and feel for the muscle keeping it upright and you'll know what I'm talking about.

All in all the Chukit is a very good toy for dogs who love to fetch.  It's not too expensive and if you get the standard or "medium" variety you can use any kind of regular tennis ball with it so you don't have to buy the Chukit balls if you loose one.  Like I did with mine on the fifteenth throw.
It's also very durable, as long as you don't let your dog chew on it.

Chuckit!  Juneau approved.

Happy Birthday Conker!

Today is Conker's birthday!  He is one year old.  I got him when he was four months so I've had him for eight.  He is by far my favorite dog that I've owned and am looking forwards to many more years with him.

Conker's presents are:

An orange Chuckit (that I actually got for Juneau) and some Lamb flavored Jerky Naturals.

Three beef trachea chews (all natural, from the farmer's market) and best of all...

A Cornish hen!  Conker freaked out when he saw the take the hen out of the fridge.  Up until then he'd never seen it but instantly knew what it was and he had this amazed look on his face, it was priceless.  It was almost like he was thinking "Is that whole chicken for me?  Really?  And I can eat however much I want?  No way!  This is so awesome!"  And he about did eat the whole thing.  He left a bit if meat and bone that he'll get tomorrow since he ate so much today.

Yep!  And that's that.  We're probably gonna go to the dog park later and play around with the Chuckit a bit after Conker's had time to digest his meal.

Happy Birthday Conker the Shiba Inu.

30 days of RAW

June is over and with it the 30 days of RAW!  As I've been calling it to myself... I am weird like that.  This is going to be about that, pretty much it, so if you aren't interested in rawfeeding then skip this one.

June 30th

Yay, relatives are here!  Mom and Pop (grandpa) were just arguing about... something pertaining to younger-taller brother and I.  Probably about how useless and lazy we are since I "caught" Pop out in the backyard cleaning.  I didn't know he was out there, nobody told me to get up a clean, and honestly?  I'm not gonna set an alarm and wake up to do something I thought was already done.  Plus I'm not gonna set an alarm to get up regardless, especially if I didn't even stay up late and if I did it was due to people (relatives and Mom) making noise until 2 in the morning.


In other news... Conker was smelling a bit funky and I guess I was too so we took a shower last night!  I have discovered that my camera is fine with water but not with steam and fogged up every time I tried to take a picture even if it wasn't anywhere near the shower.  Oh well, I did get one semi-funny shot of a wet Shiba.

Skinny shower Shiba does not like crate that rains inside.

Conker spent most of the shower on the floor away from the water.  I angled it so he would have some "dry" area while down there.  He didn't like it, but he wasn't pissed off.  His tail stayed up the entire time, even when I briefly held him under the water then put him back on the ground to give him a nice massage.  He dried off a lot quicker this time since he has almost no winter fluff anymore and a good thing too since I hit the sack right after that.

Mom's friend Jill who owns Lucky and Star stopped by to pick up a fax (who uses those anymore?) and asked me about the dog park down the street.  She seemed interested in it, so hopefully I'll see her down there sometime.


Today Conker got:  Bone-in chicken breast with chicken heart and liver, beef kidney, lamb scraps.

Yesterday

Okay so Blogger is stupid and wouldn't let me post entries or comments on anything yesterday so I'm writing yesterday's entry today.

The relatives plus one arrived yesterday.  They were supposed to arrive today but they underestimated an entire day's worth of driving and somehow made it from Phoenix Arizona to Mt. Shasta in Northern California in one day.  Mom got a surprise call from them starting that they'd be here in three hours.  She flipped out since the house was still a wreck and got my brother and I up to do some super-fast cleaning.  We did and made the house look a bit better before the relatives arrived.

So far Conker's doing good with them.  I don't think he even really cares.


Yesterday Conker got:

Turkey back scraps, meat and half gizzard, chicken meat, heart and liver, beef kidney, lamb scraps, egg.  And his weekly Vitamin E.

Random Dog: Leo

Leo, named after Leopold "Butters" Stotch from South Park, is the only Pug I have ever met that I have actually liked.  He is somewhere from 7-8 months old, is in amazing shape and has an owner who is trying very hard to keep him healthy and fit.  Leo is a dog park semi-regular.

Leo and Conker get along very well.  Most of the time Leo or Conker is the smallest dog at the park.  Though Leo is a bit smaller than Conker the two are matched perfectly for playing since Conker tones down his intense play to match Leo's level.  Leo is very tolerant of other dogs too, even the slobbery Juneau who decorated his back when she first met him.

It's somewhat hard to see in this picture but Leo's back is completely wet.  Juneau will obsess over small dogs and follow them very closely often getting post-fetch drool on their backs.  Fortunatly for Leo neither he nor his owner cared.

Leo doesn't bear much resemblance to the pedigree Pug, probably because he came from a sub-par breeder. He is a light version of brindle, has a noticeable and functional muzzle, isn't shaped like a barrel (he has a chest and tuck!) his eyes don't bug-out and his tail isn't uber curled.  In my opinion, Leo is a better looking Pug than any pedigree Pug out there, not to mention he's a lot healthier.

All in all, Leo is a great dog.  He gets along with people and dogs well, is very loving and is fun to watch.

June 28th

In a couple days some relatives will be coming up from Arizona for the Fourth of July.

Hopefully, since they will be staying at our tiny house, the relatives will be willing to follow my rules with Conker.  There are going to be six additional people in the house: My grandparents and my uncle, aunt and their two kids.  Conker hasn't met any of these people yet.  He's been really good about strangers coming into the house lately but it's never been more than three people at a time. 
Grandma and Pop are getting here on Thursday, the other four on Sunday, I think. So it's not going to be everyone at once but in a period of four days, six new people will be in the house and won't go away for a while.  I hope Conker doesn't flip out.

Conker's birthday is drawing near.  He will be one year old in July.  I'm thinking of getting him a Cornish hen for his birthday meal and letting him eat as much of it as he wants, within reason. I imagine that something like that he would have no choice but to chew and would enjoy eating.
I also need to get him some more treats, I'm completely out.


Today Conker got:

Chicken meat, drum, heart and liver, lamb and pork scraps, beef kidney.

Dogs can be stupid.

I've discovered that Juneau can get along with other dogs!  If she is introduced to them slowly, off-leash, she will get along.  If she's kept on-leash or they come barreling up to her all bets are off.  I've been working with her for a while and she is good enough to take her to the dog park during slow hours when only a few other dogs are around.
She still has a few problems with smaller dogs, smaller than Conker, but for the most part she is doing quite well.  What she does with these smaller dogs is locks on with her Border Collie eyes and follows them really really closely and obsessively. Some of them don't like it and I often have to take her to the other side of the park, have her sit and try to distract her with a ball.  But once I can get her attention on the ball...

 That's all she sees.  She turns into a typical Border Collie with gottagettheball syndrome.  She will fetch until she collapses but I don't let her get to that point.  I will end the game and walk away and let her lay down and mouth the ball or lay her head on it. 

 

When asked if I can have the ball she will let me have it.  On a return if she drops the ball too far away I can tell her to pick it up and bring it closer.  A lot of the time she will put it right where I point.  Sometimes she will end the game before me and go and lay in the grass and mouth her ball.  And a funny thing is that once she picks a ball that is the only one she will play with.  There were eleven tennis balls at the dog park yesterday and she would only play with one.  If I threw another ball she would chase but not bring it back.  She would stop and sniff it then search frantically for her chosen ball, and if she couldn't find it she'd come back with a confused look on her face.  

Conker on the other hand, he fetches when he wants to, brings it back when he wants to, puts it where he wants to and will stop playing when he wants to.  He will also "hunt" Juneau (or any other dog for that matter) while they are returning the ball.  He will lay down and concentrate on the dog then rush and do his stupid Shiba growl thing at them and try to get them to drop the ball.  If they do he marches away all triumphantly.  If not, he tries again on the next return.

Juneau got fed up with this yesterday and growled, barked and attempted to correct him.  Conker took that as a personal insult against his righteous self and attacked.  And wouldn't stop.  Sometimes he is so stupid, he just doesn't know when to quit.  Juneau is two and a quarter times his size and easily put him on the ground.  Did that stop him?  No, that made it worse.  I puled Juneau off him and got her to stop.  He again kept trying to attack.  Not until after I shoved Conker away did he calm down a bit but still tried to get a bite on on Juneau.  

Funny thing was, even though he looked like he was trying real hard to rip her face off he was the one who got hurt.

I checked them both over real good and this was the only thing I could find.  And frankly, he deserved it.  He is such an ass sometimes.  I try not to let him do that stupid thing with dogs who are fetching since sometimes they can be possessive, but with Juneau he just wouldn't quit.  So he got leashed and after about ten minutes since he was still pretty riled up had to sit quietly by my side as Juneau fetched a couple more times. He didn't attempt to rush Juneau again, but I doubt he's given it up entirely.

Today Conker got:  Beef meat, liver and kidney, chicken heart, lamb scraps, turkey neck piece.