Timber and Chico

Timber and I drove down to Orange County to visit "Auntie" Christy and "Uncle" Dylan and play with Chico the dog. The plan was to breed the two dogs. Chico will be 4 years old in June and if the breeding was successful, this will be her first litter.

My Valentines

One thing I did for Valentine's Day was spend the afternoon with my two furry Valentines, Timber and Jade. I took them on a late afternoon hike to Contra Loma where all the cows were out and about eating and competing for lady friends. (The males were fighting and talking up a storm while we were hiking, getting ready for mating season I gather, but I like to think that they were competing for a female for Valentine's Day lol)

The hike was perfect. Warm sun, cool breeze and fresh air. The dogs had a blast checking out the other dogs and their owners as well as the cows. It never fails, they always find a nasty puddle to get into and end up stinking like a pile of manure! They sure stunk up the Pilot on the way home and got the hose in the back yard as soon as we got home....I was pretty dirty too...and my shoes got the hose as well...these hiking boots I got are awesome! They truly are waterproof! Not a drop of water seeped through despite the pressure washing I gave them when they were still on me feet. :-)

Timber is 16 months old....

My beautiful boy, Timber.

*Holding steady at 70 pounds*

Disorganized Visit

Sunday I drove up to see Aimee and her family for a visit and to drop off some things for her to borrow....my attempt to lend her some of my video equipment fell through the cracks due to my equipment bag mysteriously lacking the supplies needed to do what we needed.

My job of searching through my boxes in the garage and in the storage unit will be long and frustrating. Over a year and a half after moving away from Chico, I'm still in limbo staying with my parents and it feels like most my life is still in storage or boxes buried in the garage. I have no desire to establish a studio in one of their spare rooms...that would further my permanence of living here. Yet, getting out on my own feels so far away....I'm hoping within the next 6 months. *fingers crossed*

But on to the point of this blog....

The visit to Aimee's was still worth while. I got to spend time with a great friend, enjoy her two beautiful children and since the weather was pretty harsh, driving up to the snow after the visit to play was out of the question. Thus, my pups got to run around her property a bit, then out on the patio while poor Onyx looked on through the window, unable to play rough and tumble with my crazy beasts. Aimee pulled out her camera and got a few shots while they were still enough to pose.

Jade and Timber, say thank you Auntie Aimee for the nice portraits.

Hiking mixed with a little training

I took the dogs over to Morgan Territory again for a hike after I left the Osteen Pumpkin Farm today. I decided to work a little on the commands for sledding/carting with them. Right now I'm getting them used to the words, "Gee" for right and "Ha" for left and "Hike" for them to "mush" so to speak.

Timber did most of the work when I had them help pull me up the hills, a few times Jade looked back to check something out but was jerked back to attention since they are attached together at their harnesses. I use one leash and then a "V" shaped attachment at the end that hooks to their collar or harness. I finally bought a new harness so they both have one now.

I also allowed them to run free off leash quite a bit. I'm really proud of how obedient they are when let off leash. They run far ahead of me, but when they loose sight of me, they turn around and run back to me to check in. If I whistle to them to return, they will come right back. I feel really fortunate to have such good dogs, many people with Huskies or Malamutes have trouble with recall and keeping their dogs from running off.

Since the rain last week, there was actually water in the ponds and creeks. They got so muddy and got right into the ponds in the dirty water! My car is filthy, well the blanket on the back seat mostly. I've been looking into getting a beat up truck or SUV for cheap to use when I take them out so I can save my little Civic from getting too much more beat up. Not to mention they are getting a little cramped in that backseat.

Jade is growing quickly and is about 47 pounds. She is almost as tall and long as Timber now. Timber is holding pretty steady and is about 69 pounds and he is pretty strong, yet still so gentle. I love my dogs, they are so much work, but give me so much in return.

A couple of dirty, wiped out dogs

Happy Birthday, Timber!

My handsome, sweet boy Timber turned 1 year old today! I had planned on taking him somewhere special, like Point Isabel, the dog beach in SF or maybe a really long hike in Morgan Territory. However, as luck would have it, I have come down with a head cold accompanied by body aches and fever. Timber and Jade were stuck at home with me Friday and Saturday night since my friend who takes them out when I can't was working nights.

I felt so bad, I layered on the warm clothes and had my friend, Yuliana come out with me to the dog park in Brentwood. They got to play for a little over an hour and then after dropping their Auntie Yuliana off at her house, we went to "the treat store" aka Petco to get a special treat for Timber's special day.

It's nearly impossible to give one dog a treat and not the other, so I got them a special dinner that they could share; chicken with rice and vegetables from the cold section. Good Lord, I thought Jade was a pig about eating before! She ate that stuff up so fast, good thing I put her on one side of the baby gate and Timber on the other! She would have gotten her head bit off if she tried to get to his food, which he savored just a little more quickly than normal.

In addition, I saw an edible card at the check stand...wasn't sure what it was made of, but I figured, why not? He sure has no idea that it's his birthday, but who cares? I'm a silly mama of four-legged furry friends...so laugh all you want! I don't care! Ha ha! Timber had no idea what to do with the card, I figured out that it was made of rawhide...he had no interest at all....but Jade (as usual) was quick to steal it away!

Waiting for Auntie Yuliana to come out and hop in the car...

Are you winking at your mama?
Here, rip it open! (It's too much for him lol)
My boy and me (Papa had to hold the little brat back, she refused to give him any time with me alone!)

Patiently waiting for his special dinner to be prepared...

Timber is pouting...Jade is back there hogging his rawhide birthday card!

Do you think this is a look of guilt or ignorant bliss?

Finally, he stole it back!

Within about 30 minutes, he devoured it!

Timber is 11 months old

Timber is 11 months old today and in the past three weeks he went from 65 lbs to 69.6 lbs, with more room to grow into his skin. He is finally blowing his coat for the first time and I'm having fun pulling the chunks of hair out...despite the mess, I've always loved that part of the shedding process...don't ask me why....I'm weird and think it's fun! I spent one day during my lunch hour pulling out chunks in the backyard for 10 minutes! LOL

Babies and puppies....

Tonight was National Night Out. I decided to take the dogs down the street to the BBQ. This was Jade's first walk, and first time trying out a prong collar. She hasn't reacted positively to the leash during previous trials, so I figured I would try it out to get her started early on training. On the way down the street and around the corner, she hated it. She'd stop mid-walk and I would give her a tug and she would continue. However on the way back home, she trotted along behind Timber with a hop in her step.

The people at the party were loving Timber and Jade, they got a lot of attention! Not to mention there were many children of all ages and babies. It was good social exposure for Jade, she did well.

My neighbor, Marcie's youngest son, Benji has never met a dog before...Timber is a great dog for first timers, he's so gentle...and even Jade did well!

Last day of play....

I had two weeks off from work and hoped to get chores and errands done as well as go camping...

I did accomplish quite a bit, appointments, going to the DMV to renew my license and get a new picture in record time! Also getting up to see a couple friends for a visit which were long overdue... I got my half of the divorce papers signed and noterized, then dropped them off for him to do his half. *fingers crossed that he takes care of it ASAP and mails it back to me. I will then take them to the court and once they process it... it will be finalized and back dated to mid July. What a relief.

I didn't get to go camping like I had hoped. It's tough having time off when no one else does. However, I did run off to Clear Lake last Saturday night and hung out on a fishing boat with a couple friends and my pup. I took the highway through Calistoga and Napa, it's been a long time since I've been in the area. It was a gorgeous drive and I saw many wonderful photo opportunities... I plan on going back as soon as possible when I have a lot of time to explore and perhaps do some wine tasting.... perhaps that could be my vacation for my 30th birthday! (I am still trying to figure out what I'm going to do for that week I took off; Maui? Lake Tahoe? Napa Valley? Any suggestions? Donations!? haha!)

Then Sunday morning my friend, Timber and I drove over to Mendocino Lake and rode around in his friend's boat all day. I got pretty toasty, Timber unwillingly swam several times in the lake...all the way to the shore! You think he'd get the idea that being wet and swimming cools him off....but no. He ran around on shore like a crazy dog! He rubbed his head and body all over the rocks, chewed on branches and twigs, and taunted a rattlesnake! (He's lucky he didn't get bit!) I could just imagine his thoughts... "LAND!!!!!" :-)

I didn't get very adventurous with any wakeboarding like my friend, but I did willingly jump in the lake every chance I could get to cool off...a rare occurance for me since I don't like cold water...but the lake water was perfect!

My friend Tage

A wet, less than thrilled Timber...