Woo Hoo!!!

Zee has been here for five months now.  Can you believe it?!

And today was the first time, yes the very first time, that I took them for a walk together.....at the same time.....by myself!

Jim and I walk them all the time.  Almost every day.  Sometimes more than once a day.  And we've been training them, and me, as we walk.  We are teaching them to truly "heel", which is to stay behind us for most of the walk, unless we say otherwise.  They're getting really good at it.  The "training me" part is that I've been, sometimes, the only person walking them, but with Jim by my side.

Together they outweigh me.  With two leashes, they could split me apart like a medieval torture device. We have a "magic" leash connecter, however, that makes everything good.  Luckily, different things interest them, so they regulate themselves when they're tied together.  Still, I've always wanted Jim there as my back up.....just in case.

Today, I was ready.  We went out and we did amazingly well!

They "heeled" whenever I asked, sat whenever I asked, both managed to do all of their business without doing it on each other (always my fear when they have to stay close together), and we even encountered most potential challenges and passed the test.

We went by other dogs.  We were followed for about 100 yards by Bucky, the unaltered male, standard poodle.....though both dogs walked looking backwards rather than forwards for most of that period.  We passed a small road repaving project with a bobcat scraping gravel, and we got got less than a block away from the garbage truck!

I was smart, and I waited until all of the school busses had already gone by for the day, and we didn't see any wildlife out on the walk.  Those two things could have put us over the edge for the morning, so I'm very thankful that we didn't encounter them.

Now that the weather is cooling off, we might truly get back into our morning walk routine.  :)

Lazy Weekend

Because if you're going to take a nap, why lie down to do it?

Just hanging out in the back yard.

EMDs love when summer's over and it starts cooling off.  They're just hanging out, enjoying the breeze, while Daddy splits firewood for the winter.

Occoquan

Last Saturday we went down to the Occoquan National Park.  It was a nice, long walk with the dogs.  Some along the river, part of the time up in the woods.  It was the first 'almost' cool morning that we had had in months, so it was fun!

On the way back, there were more people, but I stepped away to grab a picture of the dogs and Jim near the water with my phone.

It's a good thing Estrelas like babies!

This little one ran right up to the dogs and gave them hugs and kisses!  Even crazy Zuzu seems to know that she needs to be gentle around little ones.  The dad (with him) told us that the mom is a veterinarian, so the child loves animals.

Zee was super tolerant as well.  We only let him pet them for a  couple minutes before we went on our way.

And yes, Zee jumped into the water, while Zu barely got her paws wet.

And this was Zee on the way home....one happy, happy, dog!!

The Phone

Have you ever seen a dog do something it shouldn't be able to?

The other morning I was rushing around, trying to get stuff done, and I had misplaced my phone.

Out loud, I asked, "WHERE is my PHONE?"

Zuzu got up, walked to the kitchen table, and poked it with her nose.



You can't make this stuff up!

Spoiled, Rotten, Zee

The other night, I asked Jim to feed the dogs while I was making dinner. He gave them bowls of kibble.

I have given them plain kibble before, especially if there are any belly issues going on, but it had been quite a while since it hadn't been dressed up in some form (cheddar cheese & hot water, cooked meat, broth....whatever).

Zuzu sniffed it, backed up a little, and glanced over at me.  I ignored her, so she started eating.

Zee sniffed, looked at me, and I ignored him too. 

He sniffed again.  He looked towards Jim.  He looked towards me.

Then, he picked up one piece of kibble, carried it over to me in front if the stove, dropped it at my feet, looked at me, down at the kibble, then back up at me like, "WTF, Ma?!"

I almost fell over, I was laughing so hard!

I went to the fridge, grabbed lots of doggy yummies, mixed them into his food, and he ate.

Hey - if he's that smart, he deserves more than kibble!

Zuzu Herds a Pedestrian

This one is more funny/strange than funny/haha. About a week after Zu's heat was over, Darby took her out into the front yard to do her business.

I heard her start barking loudly almost immediately, so I headed out to join them. Darby had gotten Zuzu to sit, but she was still barking at an elderly gentleman walking down the street.

The next thing she did was lie down, with her haunches crunched back. For Zuzu, that's her perfect 'spring-loaded attack' position. The unaware human relaxes, and she shoots out!

Sure enough, she was off! Darby flew forward onto her belly and her hand hit the slate border around the base of a tree, causing her to lose her grip on the leash.

Zu ran out to the old man, running circles around him and barking. I ran out and pulled her away. The man just stood there calmly, arms by his side, in the perfect 'Zuzu, I'm not going to either attack OR play' position and once I had her under control, he commented on what a good dog she was and that she just wanted to play.

I don't know about other people, but I don't consider my dog a good girl if she pulls my daughter over and runs, barking, around a poor old man! I was mortified!!

Jim thinks Zu is convinced that Darby needs protection and was just letting the man know that he was not allowed to come anywhere near her.