Fog in the Toilet

...because life at our house is never dull with a cattle dog and a husband who thinks he's Peter Pan! I had to do a little video of one of their capers.

Jake's Birthday!



Jake is one year old today! I can't believe what a wonderful ten months we have had since getting Jake. It brings back all the memories of the day we got him. The moment I saw Jake I knew I couldn't leave without him. My husband and I had talked about getting a dog before but not at the present time. However, my heart melted and I even cried at the thought of not taking Jake home.



Jake got some Purina Frost Paws Peanut Butter doggy ice cream (NFI) in a new special ice cream bowl with cow's feet. His other birthday goodies were a bucketload of training treats and two big tennis balls. Jake loves to pounce on balls that are too big for his mouth and it keeps him occupied for at least 20 minutes so why not? In fact, Jake kept leaving his ice cream to paw at the tennis balls. If Jake's new tennis balls smell like peanut butter, we all know why.



The doggy ice cream is wicked hard so the bowl kept skooching all over the table so Jake logically began to put all four legs up on the table.



Jake blissfully kept licking at that ice cream. Tired by all the licking but not willing to give up (shocker!), he laid down to more fully enjoy the flavor. (And don't worry, folks, Jake's mommy bleach wiped the table after Jake got off!) So now we're off to PetSmart and the park for a birthday walk. Thanks to all my fellow ACD owners who gave us such good advice and helped us survive his first year in our house.

The Many Faces of a Sock Thief

The Jedi Master: "These are not the socks you are looking for. You can go about your business. Move along." This sock thief uses mind tricks to make you forget you ever saw him or your socks.





The Patriot: "I did it for the breed. I admit it. I'm proud of it." This sock thief is not even vaguely sorry he stole the sock and will stand firmly on his right to freely steal.

The Repeat Offender: "Can you please take my mug shot from the side? I look better from this angle. Make sure to focus on the dogs on the socks, too." This sock thief is so used to mugshots by now that he is friends with the police photographer and just wants to make sure the picture shows what a prize he stole.

The Irish Pretender: "Can't you go easy on a fellow Irishman?" This sock thief pretends to be Irish with a blatant Australian accent to get on the good side of the arresting Irish officer.

The Blame-It-On-the-Cows Thief: "Honest, Officer. The cows -- they made me do it! I didn't want to take the sock but then they were looking at me with those big googly eyes and I fell under their spell. The next thing I knew I was standing here with you with this sock in my mouth!" This thief tries to throw the blame on the poor, poor cows. Have you ever seen a cow steal a sock?

Juvenile Delinquent: "I'm just a kid. I can't go to jail! My parents will kill me." Okay, so maybe the cows aren't so innocent. This young thief can easily be swayed to disobey the law under the influence of older, wiser four-legged creatures. Regardless of age, stealing from the hamper is still stealing.

A Cattle Dog Day

This weekend we attended our first dog show in Concord, NC. Our Carolina Australian Cattle Dog Club held our Regional Specialty in conjunction with the Great Monroe Kennel Club show. My husband and I were part of the hospitality booth team which handed out goody bags and sold raffle tickets for tons of cool cattle dog stuff. This show gave us the chance to meet more of our club members as well as other cattle dog owners across the US. It's totally true that we are all as feisty as our dogs. Our cattle dog conformation was all held in one ring so we took up residence to watch all of the gorgeous dogs under the judges' eyes. The funky arena lighting and trying to hold Jake on his leash didn't exactly make for the best photo opportunities but we managed to sneak in a few photos when Jake was holding still (that doesn't mean the other cattle dogs were holding still, though). The only time Jake seemed to be rattled by the crowd was when we were all screaming and clapping for the cattle dog in the Best of Show ring. He started shrieking, leaping and trying to get out of his collar. I was kind and removed him from the scene for a little calming down time with just his momma.



Two of our agility instructors were also at the show with their dogs for the agility competition. We snuck out of the conformation ring to go take a peak at the truly spectacular agility ring. The seating was definitely set up for the spectators to see both rings at work. Jake was beside himself wanting to get down from the stands and get out on the dirt himself. He was positive that he would have as much fun as all those dogs sailing over the jumps, whipping through the tunnels, and wiggling through the weave poles. After almost a hour of watching, Jake finally settled down and just shoved his head through the rail to keep getting a better view. There were very few cattle dogs competing in agility so we'll just have to do our best to help change that in the future as Jake gets old enough to compete. We didn't get a chance to go see the obedience or rally rings where some of our other club dogs were competing.



I couldn't get enough of watching all the cattle dogs. Red or blue didn't matter. I used to think I didn't like the look of the reds as much as the blues but then I met some of them in person. I'm still partial to the blues but I couldn't help but admire the handsome reds either. Jake got to meet some Great Danes, some Irish Wolfhounds, some Pugs, some Beagles, and even some Chinese Cresteds. Every single one of them had him so fascinated that he didn't know where to look next. I think he wore himself out trying to turn around and around and see the other dogs all at once. I know it wore me out trying to make sure Jake didn't invade some other dog's personal space. Jake truly enjoyed howling with someone else's dog across the cavernous grooming area as they tried to out-howl each other for the saddest sounding noise (of course, my husband was whispering in his ear and egging him on). The true highlight of Jake's day was when he got to play with a little red female who was only 4 months old. The two were kindred spirits in play and rolled around on the floor, happy to be out of their cages. The humans were all tired but Jake was exhausted and found himself a spot in our chairs to rest for a few minutes. Jake fell into a coma once we got him in the car to take him back to the hotel. Again, I'll reiterate, events that wear my ACD out are high on my list of activities to repeat! Thanks to all the wonderful people who made this show happen.

Warning Label Needed

I don't think a warning label attached to a cattle dog would do any good because you couldn't squeeze everything you needed to on the label. Every day I learn something new and mostly by my own stupidity. Let me set the stage for you: I'm an overachiever in the academic areas of my life. The rest I just do out of practicality's sake. I hate doing something the hard way. After seven years of working in the shipping industry, I know better than to wait until December to ship my Christmas presents so November is my happy month where I finish shopping, wrapping and shipping before the insane lines start. And so, on November 9th, I am chugging through my piles of Christmas presents which are spread out on our long, low coffee table upstairs in our office. I went downstairs for a drink. I came back at a dead run because I heard the horrible sound of someone gleefully shredding tissue paper. I found Jake in the middle of a rainbow of colors and looking particularly happy with his new toy. I yelled that idiot statement of all dog owner's, "No, Jake, no, bad dog!" He sat back on his haunches and huffed at me. His tongue lolled out to one side with a piece of blue tissue paper soaking wet and stuck as evidence. He didn't look sorry. I knew it was my own fault and removed all of the offending tissue paper to its safe haven in the Rubbermaid tub. Jake left the room to fetch his Cow and rejoined me to watch what interesting toy I might produce next. Little did I know that bubble wrap would incite Jake to all kinds of new mischief. I noticed Jake shaking his head as if to get something off his ears every time I touched a piece of bubble wrap. Since I was wrapping up an entire set of something breakable (can't list in case my friend reads this), Jake's head shaking continued. Each time I reached for a piece of tape, Jake pounced on the tape and tried to pull it off my fingers. Each time I placed the tape on the bubble wrap, Jake darted in to steal it off the wrap. Each time I put down a spare piece of bubble wrap, Jake took of with it dancing that victory skip that all ACDs have. I wasn't annoyed because Jake was having such a fun time but something that would normally take 10 minutes took an hour. I'm glad I could be so entertaining! And then I spilled an entire box of packing peanuts on the floor. I started picking them up one by one and trying to flick them off my fingers where they took up residence. Jake watched this human display of frustration for a while and then darted forward to grab a peanut. I thought he was stealing them but instead he headed for the box and dropped the peanut inside. I realized he was helping me! Jake accidentally bit one and it got stuck on his big canine and all hell broke loose. I was laughing so hard I couldn't quite grab Jake to get the offending peanut off. That's when Jake knocked the entire box of peanuts down the stairs. Jake and I have both had enough of packing peanuts for the day. Moral of the story: Keep your wrapping materials safe from the dog and make sure I know where he is at all times!

11 Months Old and Spoiled Rotten

My husband accuses me daily of spoiling Jake rotten because I guard what Jake eats, scratch his belly and fill his world with stuffed cows. My accuser himself bought Jake a doggy sleeping bag for when we go camping. Did you even know they had such a thing? It's round and even has a pillow built into it. There is a pad to insert to keep the dog off the cold ground. Since Jake loves blankets, he felt right at home in this new contraption. I think I can no longer be held entirely responsible for the spoiling process.