Happy 1st birthday Scorchie!

When I first met you, I knew your spunk and attitude were exactly what I was looking for.






And clearly, you felt it too.


I didn't know how I was going to survive after losing Jack, but you became the light of my life, the little bit of hope and love I needed.




You were such an itty-bitty precious baby, but so smart right from the beginning.




Your brother grieved hard for Jack, but it wasn't long before you won him over.




And surprisingly, grumpy-pants Norman fell in love with you.




You were one cute puppy.




And even in your gangly, awkward stage, you were ALWAYS handsome.








So here we are Scorch, a year old and I'm more in love with you than ever. I cannot imagine a life without you. You're everything I hoped you would be and more. I look forward to many more years of companionship, and your sure-to-be-stellar obedience career.

Wolfie thinks Scorch is weird

Occasionally, Scorch decides that he would not like his breakfast. For me, that's the equivalent of not wanting to breathe. Every dog I've owned or fostered has eaten like they'll never see food again.

I've learned to accept it as one of his idiosyncrasies, but that doesn't stop me from attempting to encourage him.

Today, I set his chicken leg quarter in front of him. He sniffed it, turned his nose up, and went to lay down by the sink. I brought him over to it and started cheerleadering him.

"Get the chicken Scorchie!! Get that chicken! Good boy!"

I would praise him every time he touched it or licked it, and all I ended up with was a dog who was enthusiastically targeting the chicken. Great.

So I picked up the meal and brought it to his crate. He leaped into the air, twirling and dancing the happy dance, then ran into the crate eagerly awaiting the leg. I put it in there with him, shut the door... and he pushed it aside, laid down, and sighed.

I left him in there for a few minutes, then decided he wasn't going to eat it and let him out, shutting the crate door behind him. Wolfie, at this point, came up to see what was going on, and why his moronic brother wasn't touching a perfectly good leg quarter. Scorch lay against the closed crate door and apologetically cowered while showing Wolfie his teeth.

I patiently explained to Scorch that he could not guard his chicken if he wasn't prepared to eat it. Apparently, he did not agree. Eventually, Wolfie's desire for the abandoned food overrode Scorch's desire to be a stubborn jerk, and he is currently munching away inside his crate.

...I just don't get it.

October Tampa Show

There is an obedience trial in Tampa in October. I think I can have Scorch ready by then if we just step up the training schedule. We're going to start Novice classes at the SOTC (if they will let us jump ahead of Basic) in a few weeks.

Right now our goals are:
1. Stand for exam. The current state of this command is wretched. I'm ashamed to have neglected this exercise for as long as I have.
2. Anticipation of commands. "Come" and "sit vs. down" in particular.
3. Longer stays.

Other than that, we need to polish up our heelwork and start proofing. Oh, and be neutered. :) I don't know that I can bear waiting until 11 months.

Pictures from the park:

Wolfie is a whole lotta crazy.




Cherry, a rescued Newf.


Harvey, her Newf brother.


Sammy, an older Lab.


I don't know this dog's name, but he enjoyed spending time with my pups.

Good lord, keep her away from photoshop!

Um, I may have gotten a little carried away playing around with photoshop. :)

It certainly does make me feel better about using the Kodak point-and-shoot though. I do hate that blogger snips my pictures on the right though. Any way to fix that?











Yes, I like vignettes. Shut up.

My puppy is gone

I'm not sure where he went. One day, I had this little fuzzy thing...


...and now he's gone. In his place is this hairy beast:


I guess this guy is pretty cool too, so I'll keep him around.




Wolfie approves of the obnoxious adolescent.


Wolfie tries for regal...


...and then FAILS.


So my mother is lending me her camera. I hate it. But it's better than nothing. I've been scheming ways to get my hands on a digital Rebel sometime soon... we shall see. I'll still want a point-and-shoot most likely, but I may wait a little longer and go with the Rebel first.

Sarasota is still fantastic. I am happier here than I've been in a long, long time.

Even when Scorch sets out to prove that he can remove all of his toys 100x faster than I can put them away...

My camera is broken

So no pictures today, unfortunately. I've tried taking it apart... basically I've tried everything short of actually getting it professionally repaired, because for that cost, I might as well buy a new one.

Anyway, we're in Sarasota now and it's gorgeous here. We haven't gone to the dog beach yet because I went to Casperson (which is connected and right down the street) and the rip current was pretty intimidating. So we've stuck to the "dry" dog park down the street.

We've made some friends there, including a dog named Lunchbox. We're going to a bay side park this morning, so hopefully the dogs can swim safely there.

I'll post pictures and a training update as soon as I can.

Another beautiful day at the lake

Yep, this is where we hang. The water was clear enough today that we could all be sure there were no gators.


Scorch was a little worried about the gators, though.


The wookie was worried that his face wouldn't show up in the photos.


He was correct.

Scorch was worried about big floofy shepherds and sleek greyhounds.


Loki was worried that Scorch is the only one with balls.


Despite what this picture may lead you to think, Scorch is still the only one with balls (not for long!).


Wolfie was worried that he wasn't covered with enough sand.


Scorch was worried that I would decide to keep taking pictures instead of throwing the ball.


For a while, he was correct, and he yelled at me.


Throw. The. Ball. NOW.


Scorch was worried about the wookie who couldn't retrieve his own damn ball (notice the ball on the right).


Loki was obviously not very worried about his ball. Loki was clueless.


Wolfie was worried that he wouldn't get enough face-time in this blog entry.


Don't worry Wolfie! You're certainly easier to photograph than Scorch.


The border collies were worried that the wookie might be here permanently. (GET OUT OF THE SHOT, LOKI!)


Don't worry boys! Loki goes home to Dr. B tomorrow, and you two can be the stars again.