Photo Filler

Conker and Juneau in the creek near the dog park.

Stuff going on

The family is going on a "Memorial" trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of the month. It's for my Dad (died in 2005) and his cousin Glenn who was a firefighter in LA. If you heard about that earlier this year, the firefighter who died when the roof of a house collapsed in him, and the resulting huge service for him afterwards... He was a really neat guy and was fun to be around.

Anyways, we'd be going from the 23rd to the 30th. A whole week! Boarding Conker is NOT an option at all, and I am NOT comfortable leaving him here. He WILL destroy something from boredom or get into something he's not supposed to, and honestly? The backyard fence? He chooses to stay inside. That's how crap of a fence it is. If Conker wanted he could easily escape, which I know he would if he were left here, even with a dog-sitter who was here the whole time.
While he doesn't have bad SA he does have it to a point, and me being gone for a whole week... I'm not willing to find out just how long it takes him to decide to come find me.


While dogs are allowed in the campground (6 foot leash) and State Park itself, they are NOT allowed on the trails or the beaches. I can understand the beaches but the trails? What the hell are people who bring dogs going to do the whole time? Sit around at camp and play 6 foot fetch? Unfortunately my relatives (the problematic ones) have this favorite campground that's super far away from EVERYTHING fun to do at Tahoe that's located in the stupid un-dog friendly Sugar Point State Park.
I know there are some dog-friendly places at Tahoe and I'm going to do some research on them since I'm 100% not going to board or leave Conker. That decision is completely up to me, nobody else, and even if the relatives don't want Conker there if I go, he goes. I'm fine with not doing a couple activities with them (since they always tone everything down and somehow make it un-fun) and finding things to do with just me and Conker. Besides, I did just buy 8 rolls of film, and Lake Tahoe is a gorgeous place. I want to photograph it from the places most people don't go.

Fuji

Okay... I finally bought some stinkin Fujifilm. I got two four packs, one 400 speed and one 800 speed. I loaded a roll of 400 into my old Minolta and took 13 shots today at the dog park. I was mainly just messing around, trying to regain the feel of that old camera. I forgot how heavy it is with the 75-205 zoom lens on.

A dog I've never met before came, a little brindle Carin Terrier. She wasn't there long. Then the Westies came, then Snow the Saint Bernard. Snow is fun, she looks like a huge puppy when she plays. The first time Conker met her he wasn't sure about her but this time he played with her. That was fun to watch.

I'm hoping some of the pictures I took end up alright. I can't remember if the built-in light meter is screwy or not. I was using it so hopefully it works fine.

Creek

Sometimes my stupid little camera surprises me.

Gonna try something

Okay so while in the petstore I checked out the bargain section and found some Zuke's Mini Bakes for $3.00.  There was only one box and it was the cherry and chicken flavor.  It was a steal since those treats are normally $6.29 at Mini Pet Mart (where I was) and even if Conker can't eat them Juneau and Sasha can.  So I bought them.  And a squeaky ball.

The box was kinda busted and taped up so I'm guessing that's why they were marked down to $3.  The squeaker ball was $1.49 but that's what I originally went there for so I was expecting that.

Funny thing though, since I kinda go there a lot Conker is pretty much always given a treat of some sort.  They aren't the best treats out there, some sort of beef stick thing, but Conker's never had a bad reaction to them so I allow the employees to give him one if he'll get close enough to them to take it.  Anywho, the cashier, this young guy who really likes Conker didn't give him one right away and Conker just stood there staring at him.  Like he was trying to use his Shiba powers to will the guy to give him a treat.  It apparently worked, cause he came around the counter and crouched down and held pieces of the treat out to Conker.  Conker was being his normal inside self and wouldn't let the guy touch him but got close enough to stretch out and quickly take the treat from him.  This is better than last time where Conker took it and ran.  He stuck around this time.  Hopefully next time Conker will be a bit less skittish.

Anywho, I'm going to attempt to give Conker one or two of the Mini Bakes and see how he reacts, since they contain TWO things that have given him problems in the past. Chicken and potatoes.  You'll know right away if he does have a reaction.

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.