New Deck!

So I've finally got a way to easily get into my room from the outside. Mom's bf dude is a really good carpenter and he's been building a deckramp thing for the last couple days for the door to my room.

Ignore the trailer and ladder

Before I had some cinder blocks set up like steps but they kinda sucked. This is a lot better. It still needs to be painted but the construction is done.  Neatly enough, Conker can't fit through the bars so if I wanted to put him outside and keep him there, I can block off the ramp and hold my Shiba hostage on my new private entrance deck.


Anyways...
Today Juneau went in for her tooth extraction and cleaning at about 7:30 AM. The vet called not too long ago and said Juneau is doing fine and that we can pick her up at 4.

Sasha has been moping all day so I took her and Conker hiking. Sasha saw me grab her Approach pack and instantly knew we were going somewhere and perked up right away.

The hike wasn't too long today. I kinda cut it short by taking a trail I have never gone on before that slices through the middle of the Cathedral Hills system. It was still a lot of fun.

Haven't taken one of these in a while.

Conker wasn't as much of a dork as he usually is, mainly since Juneau wasn't around. He was still an ass to Sasha, just not as bad as he is with Juneau.

Sasha decided she wanted in on the fun.

The lack of Juneau resulted in something I hadn't really expected. It was a lot less, exciting, without her. When Juneau is around Conker is more wild, annoying, and since Juneau is a high energy dog, she is also going every direction at the same time as well. That didn't happen today. Both dogs were relatively mellow.

Sasha braving the strong winds.

Today is a strange day in regards to the weather. We don't often get a lot of wind but man is it blustery! It was so windy that I had to take my hat off and attach it to my belt or it'd have blown off my head.

Angry clouds and snow in the distance.

But that's not the only strange weather. Though our elevation is quite low, we are surrounded by mountains that reach several thousand feet in height rather quickly. Some of them have snow on them from the past few nights. It's supposed to snow some more for a while.

I ran out of stuff to write about.

The farthest Sasha ever got ahead. She was only about 75 feet away.

Oh yeah. Sasha didn't like to be too far ahead of me and preferred to keep me in sight. Funny, since Conker and Juneau will both take off and only come back when they realize that I'm no longer around or I call them. Though she doesn't quite listen 100% and will often ignore me to dine on horse crap or sniff some grass off the trail (and get ticks in the process), she is much better than Conker and Juneau when it comes to staying nearby.

Will update on the Juneau situation later.

Ruff Wear: Sqwash

One of the items I got in my package from Altrec is a Ruff Wear Sqwash.  Like usual, I got the older discounted type that comes in an orangeish yellow color instead of swirly purple berry goodness.

Older Sqwash looks like a squash.

I thought this toy would be a bit bigger than it actually is, but that works out good since Conker can easily grip it.  Like the other Ruff Wear toys, it's made out of a durable heavy rubber. It's hollow inside and the rubber isn't as thick as some other toys, so it is easier to squish.

Conker immediately claimed the Sqwash as his.

Conker began to play with it right away, then he settled down to chew on it. After a while Juneau got a hold of it and chewed as well, and while Ruff Wear says it's not a chew toy, so far neither of them have done any damage to it.

Juneau being harassed by Conker.

Juneau took to retrieving the Sqwash instantly. She loves it, almost more than a ball. The Sqwash, being lighter and thinner than some other Ruff Wear toys, can get some pretty neat air when it hits the ground, or shoot of at strange angles when it hits something. The dogs have to be paying attention when they play with it or they might lose sight.

Juneau patiently but excitedly waits for me to throw the Squash.

I decided to be stupid and took the Sqwash hiking on Dollar Hill (Mountain).  I figured I would only use it where the trail was flattish, but I did not do that. I began to toss the thing down the trail and watching the dogs chase after it as it ricocheted off the trees and down the hills was quite entertaining. Then, the inevitable happened.

It bounced down the hill, over the edge of the hill, and down into a ravine-thing that was about 250 feet deep. FFFFFF-CRAP! My brand new, $9 toy that I'd had for less than 4 hours was down there somewhere, and I'd have to go look for it, and it happened to be the exact same color as the leaves covering the ground.  I was not in a good mood.

I watched the dogs run around looking for it, and saw it in Conker's mouth a couple times, but being a Shiba he did not bring it back when I told him to. He bugged off and did other things more important than listening to me.
As I prepared to climb down into the ravine to find it...

Juneau returns.

I saw Juneau approaching, with the Sqwash in her mouth!  Good girl Juneau!  She got much praise, treats and loving for returning the toy to me, and while for a moment I wanted to chuck it back down there to see if she could do it again, I refrained from doing so.

Juneau brings the Sqwash back.

So, as a word of caution to you, DON'T PLAY WITH THIS NEAR BIGASS RAVINES!  It will inevitably end up at the bottom, and unless you have an obsessive retriever with you, you probably will not find it.

Overall, this is a very good toy. Lots of fun even if your dog (Conker) doesn't retrieve so well, since it gets their chase-and-catch instincts into gear with it's erratic bouncing.  Like Ruff Wear says, I wouldn't recommend it as a chew toy since it's not meant for that, but you can load it with treats or kibble and use it like a Kong if you want.

The Sqwash retails for around $12 on Ruff Wear's site and many other online retailers, but if you are like me, you can find it for cheaper if you look hard enough.

Coot

The other day I went Quail hunting. I found no Quail but stumbled upon a pond full of Coots. I knew what they were (and yes, I can legally shoot them) but they are known amongst duck hunters as a trash bird, "mud hen" and other nasty names since they supposedly don't taste good at all. However, I have also heard from other people that they do taste good, so I was a bit confused as to what the truth about these funky birds was.

I decided to shoot some. I bagged two. I only took two despite the high bag limit of 25 since I was unsure of what these things would taste like and didn't want to kill a bunch if they were nasty.

The two Coot I bagged

After shooting the Coots I realized that the rope I'd brought with me was about 10-15 feet too short. Crap. I had to go get them, there was no way I was going to leave something I killed in a pond.  So I took off my jacket, vest and valuables, left them on the side of the bank and waded in.  The water was freezing, probably something like 40 or colder since it was only about 45 at the Wildlife Area.  At one point the water came up to the middle of my chest but that was only for about three feet or so. After that it was only about knee deep.

I retrieved my Coots and went back to my things. I decided right then and there that I needed a gun dog if I were going to ever shoot a water bird again, unless it was plenty warm out and going for a dip actually sounded like a good idea.

I brought the Coots home and dressed them. During which, Conker and Juneau showed a LOT of interest. Conker wanted to eat it and tried to steal one of the coots. Juneau also tried to take them, but only got a mouthful of feathers.
I saved most of the insides for Conker and will freeze them for a while before I give them to him.

Coot legs and breast meat

The Coots weren't the most amazing smelling bird when opened up. But then again, this was the first time I've ever dressed one so I don't know what I would compare it to. However, they smelled fine after the meat had been chilled in the fridge for a while. Speaking of the meat, it's an odd, deep reddish purple color. Doesn't bother me though.
Later on I took them out and hacked them up a bit. I separated the breasts and legs from the rest and saved the frames for Conker.

I cooked up one of the legs and half a breast as a taste test. I tried it. It was good. Quite good, actually. I don't care what duck hunters say, they are wrong about this bird. If I had to describe it, I'd say Coot tastes something like a mixture of chicken and beef, only better.  It's a very strange taste but I like it enough to want to go out and get more Coots even if it ruins any chance of a reputation I could have with duck hunters.

I think I am going to train Juneau to be a gun dog.  I do not know how far I will get, she is terribly noise shy. But I've got a couple good resources on getting a noise shy dog to be habituated to the sound of gunfire and if I can do that, the rest will be cake. Juneau is already an amazing retriever.


Note: Any comments that bash me or hunting in any way whatsoever will be deleted. I will not tolerate that crap on my own blog. If you have a problem with it, write about it on yours, not mine. This is going to be a recurring subject now and if it bugs you that much, don't read it anymore.

Pack Fun

Not pack as in "wolf pack" (since, you know, that's a load of crap) but pack as in...

Reflective striping stands out due to flash

Pack!
I took all the dogs hiking today. There was an unusually large number of horses at Cathedral Hills so the dogs were on leash for about 75% of the hike. Conker and Sasha couldn't really care less about the horses but Juneau... I'd rather not see what she will do when she meets a horse off-leash. She shows way too much interest in them for me to attempt that.

That was some niiice horse crap!

Sasha was really good and was allowed off-leash in some places Juneau wasn't. Conker was pretty good most of the time and only ignored me on a couple occasions.

Bad pun: Conker shakes things up

But when all the dogs were allowed off-leash they minded me pretty well. Juneau is still getting better but continues to need a bit of work, she's progressing nicely though.  I hope to have her to the point where she'll listen when other people are around sometime soon.

Conker being quite boring.

I got several compliments on the dog packs. Normally they aren't noticed as much, since I usually only had one pack on a dog in the past. But since all three wore packs I guess they stuck out a lot more.

Sasha was usually at the back of the pack.

Conker is increasingly getting on my nerves when he and Juneau are off-leash. He gets up in her face and bites her, makes noise and is an ass, and I know she does not like it. Conker does not listen to me when I tell him to knock it off either. One of these days she's gonna snap.

Juneau did a lot of pulling.

One guy suggested I get a skateboard when the dogs were on-leash. I've thought about it, or maybe a mountain board or beefy scooter since dogs pulling bikes is somewhat freaky, fun but freaky.

Anyways, today was a lot of fun. Conker was really worn out, and Juneau and Sasha somehow got covered with mud.  Conker and I barely got any on us but the girls were soaked.

Outward Hound Urban Adventure DayPack

One of the items I received in the package sent to be my my Shiba Inu Forum secret Santa was a small pack.  I love packs (if you can't tell) so I was psyched to try the little green thing out.

The little pack is made by Outward Hound but I can't find any information on it on their site or much else on the web. Either way, it's a cute little thing and I liked it at first sight.
It weighs only 4.1 ounces (116 grams).

It's made out of water proof/resistant (haven't tested it yet) nylon fabric and is lined with what my guess is, is a waterproof lining of similar material.  There is mesh on the top and wrapped around the chest strap.

There is no padding on this pack but the mesh on the chest strap does protect against rubbing and ensures a more comfortable fit.  It has two points of adjustability.  Since the bags to not attach to the straps any lower, they do flop around and smack the dog's sides somewhat.

There is a small plastic D ring sewn onto the top.  I am a bit hesitant to use this as a leash attachment since it does not connect to the rest of the pack's straps very well.

Green camo accent matches my dog-shit bag dispenser.

The pockets are quire roomy for such a small pack, and each pocket has a smaller outer pouch.  The pockets are closed with velcro and have a small pull-tab on them for easier opening.  The small external pouch with the logo is also closed with velcro, but the other side is not.

Conker immediately knew what the pack was.  He is not fond of having anything put on him, but once it's on, he doesn't show any signs of giving a crap.  We tested the pack out by walking down to MPM and even threw in a couple brisk jogging sessions.  The pack was empty on the way there.
On the trip back Conker carried one small Zuke's Z-Bones in each pocket.  We walked, and jogged, back and the little pack did not shift one bit.  I was somewhat surprised since it has no connector between the two straps to help it stay in place, and also has no belly strap.
I decided it needed a better test run.  I took Conker hiking.

Conker sporting his Web Master II and DayPack.

I was first going to take off the Web Master II that Conker always wears on car rides but due to the presence of another dog and several people on the trail, I left it on.  I think this could have affected the stability of the pack in a small manner, but I have to do more tests to be sure.

Fuji is good at capturing motion blur.

Conker didn't notice the pack which was loaded with his Hydro Bowl and some crap bags.  It was slightly unbalanced but the pack did not shift.  I was starting to really like the little pack.  I encouraged Conker to give it a better test and told him to run, so he did.  The pack did not budge.  He rolled on the trail and scrambled through a bush and even then the pack stayed in place.

This little pack has thoroughly surprised me.  I figured it would slip and slide a bit or come loose but it did not.  It stayed in place and kept it's snug fit the entire hike.  I have taken it on a couple more hikes and it still has yet to totally slip around or do something strange.
I have actually been looking for a smaller pack for Conker since his Ruff Wear pack is a bit big for day hikes. This little pack fits the bill perfectly, and if you can find it, I recommend you buy one.  I cannot give a price since it was a gift and due to not being able to find many places to buy one online.

Note: This pack is made in China. If you aren't into that, don't buy it. Regardless, I still like it a lot.

Arizona Adventure: The White Tank Mountains, Part 1

I totally forgot about this until I started to try to find a place to hike with non-flat trails.

While in Arizona I took Conker to the white tank Mountains located on the far western side of Phoenix. It was a short drive from my grandparent's place and unfortunately, we only went once.  I would have liked to have gotten in more desert hiking but it just didn't happen.

 The trail we took (Ford Canyon and connectors) started out as an easy walk. It was flat, the trail was wide and there were relatively few people around. Conker had to stay leashed (park rules) or he's have been let off to roam the trail at his own pace.

Never complete without a Shiba butt photo or two

Conker didn't seem to notice that the plants on the sides of the trail were sharp. He stuck his nose into many, got stabbed, then stuck it right back in to take a second shot at it. He even tried to bite one. He is not very cactus savvy.

Speaking of cactus...

It has been some years since I'd seen a saguaro.  Like the other cacti, Conker got stabbed by this one too. I also happened to step on one of it's spines that had fallen to the ground (remember, I wear those thin-soled Vibram toe shoes).

So we continued down the nice trail. We didn't see too many animals but every now and then one of those desert jackrabbits would show up and Conker would go bonkers. He wanted to chase them really bad, so I guess it's a good thing he was on a leash.

Conker being adventurous

A small ravine popped up out of nowhere. Conker, being his usual fearless self walked right up to the edge and leaned over.

After the ravine the trail got more interesting. It stopped being flat and well groomed and turned into a jagged, rough and rocky trail. This is what I'd been looking for, something that made you pay attention to where you're going.

Grass!

We came around a large bend in the trail and found something somewhat unexpected. A large flat expanse of grass! It was pretty cool seeing the short grass in the desert, I had never really seen that before despite living there for 19 years.

Conker didn't much care though, so we kept going after I snapped a couple shots of the grass.

Interesting...

Eventually we came up to a sign. A set of signs... warning that the trail was hazardous up ahead. I was quite interested to now what "hazardous" meant, and if it was anything like the trails I'd normally hiked while living in Arizona.

Part 2

First Look: Ruff Wear Palisades and Approach packs

The Palisades Pack

Remember this?

Sneak Peak picture

It belongs to a Ruff Wear Palisades Pack! I found one at Cabelas (in AZ) for $70 which is a steal for this pack.  Normally they retail around $125, so a Palisades for half off was something I couldn't pass up.
If I had been thinking when I first saw the pack, I would have bought the two that were there. But like Conker's Approach II, I was not, and when I went back the next day one of them had already been bought.

Anyways...

Palisades pack and harness.

At first glance the Palisades appears to be very well built. Sturdy material, good stitching, some nice features like waterproof zippers, refletcive trim, etc. make this pack very attractive.
The pack is a multi-purpose, high capacity pack meant for longer backpacking trips. It comes with two water bladders that have their own pockets and can easily be accessed for ease of water delivery.
 
The Palisades, unlike the Approach and Singletrak, has a really cool feature that sets it apart from the other packs.  The bags can come off leaving a fully functional Web Master Harness still on the dog.

Web Master without pack.

The Web Master is perhaps one of, if not the best, dog harness out there. I have seen many others but this harness is the only one that really got my attention.  Ruff Wear uses the Web Master as a frame for their packs and it works out very well. In the Palisades' case, you get two items in one. Which is probably why the pack costs to much.

Pack without the harness.

The other half of the Palisades, the actual packs, is a pretty good piece of dog gear as well.  The pack is held in place with four buckles and two optional velcro straps that attach to one of the harness straps to prevent the packs from banging your dog's sides as he travels along. The detaching feature comes in handy if you need to cross a river and don't want the gear inside to get wet, or if you want to give your dog a break and don't want to take off the whole harness.


The Approach Pack

Ruff Wear logo strip

After I got the Palisades and took it on a couple short hikes, I decided I needed another pack for whichever dog didn't have one or was left at home. I scoured the net for a good deal on whatever I could find and found one at Backcountry Edge for $60 on sale.  That is a pretty good price since the Approach retails around $75.  I could not find another Palisades for less than $80.
On the site, if you joined up and became a new member you'd get an additional 12% off, so that knocked the price down to just under $53! 
It was actually a tough decision between the Approach and Singletrak which was also on sale for just $67, or $59 with 12% off. I went with the Approach this time, but still want that Singletrak.
(The sale is no longer on. It ended some time ago.)

Profile view

The Approach comes in blue and green. It is meant for day hikes or shorter backpacking trips.  It does not come with water bladders and is not detachable, but is still a very high quality pack and has the same other features as the Palisades. Reflective trim, waterproof zippers, awesomeness...

Top view

The Approach can hold somewhat less than the Palisades and is not as bulky. It is designed to be a day hike or overnight pack.  The Approach can still be used on longer hikes and trips, it just isn't as convenient.

Upside-down

The harness of the Approach is the same excellent Web Master used on the Palisades, only lacking a bit of reflective material that would otherwise be covered up by the bags. It also has loops for the straps (not velcro though) to keep the pack from banging against your dog's sides.

Why you make me wear this...

I am looking forwards to giving these two packs a nice thorough testing out in the coming months. Probably not over night trips (not until it warms up), but hikes longer than 2-4 hours will be taking place.

Both of these packs are size Small. They fits dogs with a girth of 21-30 inches which is bigger than most Shibas. The Palisades does not come in XS but the Approach does.
Keep an eye out for a future post that will explain how to turn an Approach pack (Approach II) into a Palisades if you want a Shiba sized pack that can detach from the harness.
Edit:  Instructions for modifying an Approach into a Palisades:  Version 1 and Version 2.

First visit to Cathedral Hills in the year 2012

Argh it's 10 days into 2012 and we hadn't been to Cathedral hills yet! So I packed the dogs up and drove them down there for a quick 3 1/3 mile hike. I went a bit later than I normally do and ran into school traffic (buses, school zones, etc.) on the way there. I usually hit that stuff on the way back, and around that time, a lot of people flock to the hiking trails so I thought it might have been a bit crowded.
It wasn't at first, but it sure was when we left. There was a line for my parking spot.

Blurry!

Of course the Fuji messed up every picture I took, so there are no good ones to show.  We had fun though, and for the most part the dogs all listened well enough to be off-leash for most of the hike.

Conker and Sasha expecting treats.

Juneau actually had better recall than Conker, which isn't usually the case.  She gets better with every hike but still has some spots that need working out here and there. Sasha, I don't know if I'll ever get her to fully ignore the fresh horse crap that's abundant on the trails.

Derp Dog

But when she does listen, she's very enthusiastic about it.