We went hiking today

Conker was like this the whole way up.

I don't wanna climb the stupid hill!

Today is scheduled to have "scattered thunderstorms" but that really means just rain here and there with possibly one thunder boom if that.  It doesn't thunder here, maybe once a year and we already had that.

But it was a nice day, in the mid 70's with a pleasantly cool breeze, so I grabbed conker and headed up to Dollar Hill.  I'm still badly out of shape and it took a short while to get to the cell tower.  We didn't stay there long and instead headed down to some neat-o rocks to take a break.

Conker sniffed around on the rocks for a bit then decided he wanted to keep going.  But I made him get a drink first then told him NO, you CANNOT chase the freakin rabbit that just ran in front of you. He was good and didn't.  So we headed down the hill at a faster clip than last time.  Okay, not fast but really fast.  I was basically running like a dumbass down the hill with my backpack flopping everywhere, my camera threatening to fly down the hill and my shoes (which were attached to the backpack) hitting me in the butt.  My guess was they wanted me to go faster.

Conker thought this was the best part of the hike!  He took off at full speed down the hill when he could, mouth open, tongue hanging out and tail streaked out behind him.  When he's having a lot of fun he runs like that but also throws in a couple bounces every few steps.  He's not running in the picture above since I never had my digital out when he was (too busy trying not to die) but it's close enough.

Oh, also, did you notice something in the two pictures of Conker where you can see his whole body?  Something's missing, I'll give you 100 internet points if you can tell me what it is.

Anyways, it was a fun little hike that went a lot faster than normal since we  RAN down the dang hill.  Except in one spot where it's killer steep.  Conker decided to do a run-by attempt at knocking me on my ass and waited until I was about 10 feet in front of him then bolted down the hill and slammed into my knee.  Luckily for him I've got good balance even on super steep grades and didn't fall backwards onto his stupidness.  The worst he did was send himself spinning into a tree.  

Lookit Grant's Pass.  It's surrounded by awesome mountains.  And rain.

Oh yeah it's my sister's 16th birthday today.  And on our way home from the hike I saw these three girls walking down the street so I freaked them out by honking at them.  They yelled then realized who it was and yelled some more then chased me and demanded a ride home.  I was nice and picked them up.

Conker, since he was such a good boy today, was given one of his birthday trachea chews.  I normally like to cut them up into smaller pieces but he was good enough to have earned 2/3rds of one instead of 1/3rd.  He made a nasty mess on my bed though, but did a okayish job at cleaning it up.

The TABLE has been Conker'd

That's right.  The table.  Conker has figured out that there's FOOD on the table, and that we tend to leave plates of scraps on the table. And that he can get ON TOP of the table by jumping up on a pulled out chair or stool.  Mom said he licked the breakfast plates clean.  So clean that they were shiny.  Thankfully it was just eggs and ham and he's had both before with no problems so I doubt he'll have any digestive upsets.

I was asleep when this happened.  I just found out a couple minutes ago when Mom came home from shopping for my sister's 16th birthday (tomorrow).

This table conquering has opened up a whole new door.  We've got a "bar" that the stools sit near and food is often left on that bar or it's used for preparation.  The bar is attached to the counter by the sink and the main counter food is prepared on.  If Conker generalizes stool + high place = food, I might have a counter surfer on my hands.
I attributed this event to the beginnings of Conker's true Shiba self-awakening.  He is only a year old and has plenty of time to bloom into what a "normal" Shiba is known for.  Dun dun dun...


In other news...

Juneau is a snake hunter!
Yesterday she was onto something in the bushes.  Conker joined in and when I saw his tail wagging I knew the snake was actually there.  About 10-15 minutes later Juneau dashed out of the bush and grabbed the terrified snake and shook it, then dropped it and tried to grab it again.  Janelle (oldest sister, now going back to Phoenix) grabbed the snake before Juneau could then gave it to me.  The snake was relatively unharmed, though quite frightened, and Juneau had no interest in it once we had it.  She was still looking for the "real" snake on the ground. Conker though, he's seen me get four snakes before he did and knows that when it's in my hand the game is over.  He tried and tried to jump and snatch the snake but failed every time. 
I gave the little snake a good examination to make sure it didn't have any gaping wounds.  The end of it's tail was gone, Juneau bit it off (I'm familiar with snake anatomy and it still had the "back end" so it was good) and since it wasn't bleeding profusely I released it on the other side of the fence.  Conker was again pissed that another snake escaped him and Juneau got two eggs instead of one in her kibble that night.

Homemade toys and a slight "redesign"

I made Conker a toy out of a strip of Pac-man fleece and a tennis ball.  I stabbed some holes in the tennis ball then stabbed the fleece through and knotted them on either end.  I made what I now call a Four-Legged Spiderball.

The Spiderball is the perfect toy for Conker.  He can fetch, tug and shake all he wants with just one toy. These are the kinds of toys I need for him since he doesn't do well with single-purpose toys.  The best part about the Spiderball is that it was completely free!  I prefer to make toys I see in the stores (if possible) instead of spending roughly $10 on something that's eventually gonna break and need to be replaced. 

The Spiderball can easily be chewed apart so it's not recommended for heavy chewers.  The Spiderball can be used in water (floats) and is compatible with a Chuckit so dogs who love water or like to retrieve will enjoy this toy.  The Spiderball can also be flung by the fleece legs so even those heavy retrievers without a Chuckit can still get some good distance from it.

I plan on making several more Spiderballs with different types of legs.  I'll be sure to post about them when they arrive.



In other news...

I made the banner image blue instead of plain ol' black and white.  (I know how to do that with real prints HOMG it's so freakin fun) so if you think it looks funky let me know and I'll mess with it a bit more.

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.