Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Category Archives: Katie


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The squirrelly one

Katie 1967The good part about not being employed is that I get to take the Katie dog to school on Monday nights.  We missed last week because I had to work, and I was scheduled to work tonight and next Monday night too.  Good thing I got layed off!  Because missing even one week has turned Katie into a squirrel.  Really.

She was extremely excited to be going to school, running out to the car and standing on her hind legs to get lifted into the back.  She pulled as usual, eager to get into the building once we arrived.  But inside she shut down almost immediately.  I cooked fresh chicken that morning, and had little chunks of it in her treat bag on my hip.  I gave her a taste before class started, so she’d know what she was working for and she spit it out.  Great.  That’s the first sign she’s not going to pay much attention to me.

There were 12 dogs this week.  Three Shelties, a few German Shepards, a totally deaf dog that sort of looked like the dog for Target, some Goldens, a Border Collie and I can’t remember the rest.  Katie got totally freaked out doing healing around the ring, running to keep up with the dogs in front of us, and never ever looking at me, so she was always surprised when we turned and went the other way, or slowed down, or sped up.  And certainly had no clue when we were going to stop.  Sit when we stopped?  Oh no, not going to happen.  Chicken?  Who likes chicken?  Not Katie for sure; makes her feel sort of ill.  Apparently.

We did long recalls.  Both times she sat while I walked away but ran to me immediately after I turned around, long before the instructor told me to call my dog.  And both times she ran right past me, did a victory lap around me and than wandered.  She never does this!  I’m going to have to tell them I need to go back to her rather than call her for the next couple of weeks.  And probably not go so far away from her either, until she gets used to the building and the class and feels better about being away from me.  After the second long recall she asked to be picked up she was so scared.  I didn’t….pick her up that is.

She was weird for 45 to 50 minutes of the class, spooked and distracted.  It wasn’t till we were doing returns, pretty much on our own and I moved away from the others that she settled down.  “Front did you say Mom?”  OHHHH FRONT!  Well OK!.  HEY!!! You have CHICKEN?!!  Why didn’t you SAY SO!.  Watch me sit and look expectantly at you!  Watch me strut my stuff and look at you adoringly!”   And then we did stand for exam, which she rarely ever does correctly.  And she stood right there when I asked, waited her turn and let the instructor come up and PET HER WITHOUT MOVING! And then the instructor and I stood there and talked and Katie still didn’t move!  Way to go Katie!  You redeemed yourself!

So.  Tomorrow we go back to the park.  But maybe we have to go somewhere else, somewhere she’s less comfortable, to practice tomorrow.  Wednesday is a fun match, where we can go and pretend we’re at an obedience trial.  It’s in the same scary building.  I guess I’ll see how she is tomorrow.  Or..today, since it’s almost morning here.  She’s having no trouble sleeping.  Me?  I’m still kind of weirded out myself about not having a job.  Guess we’ll both have to learn to adjust!

Katie 908


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Another mountain

The Miley Cyrus song struck home this week…”Always gonna be an uphill battle…Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose…”  Though I’m not particularly a Miley fan, I thought it was an appropriate song to hear as I was driving home from work Monday.  Because Monday night I got let go due to budget issues.  Though it wasn’t a surprise, it still hurt.  I got to work the rest of this week, but today was my last day at the library.  Apparently it’s going to be an uphill battle for me to find the perfect place, to work the perfect job, to feel like I’m contributing in an environment I love.  Just another mountain along the way.

I’ve been in management most of my career, and I’ve done my share of letting people go, but I have to say I’ve never been let go before.  I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, and though I know I lost my job through no fault of my own, it still stings.  So I’ll take the weekend to do a bit of healing, and Monday I’ll figure out what to do next.  There’s a certain freedom that I haven’t felt for the past eleven months, and I think I’d like to enjoy that for a bit, but there’s also a sense of urgency hovering around the fringes of my mind that reminds me not to waste time or lose an opportunity that might lead me to that perfect Librarian position.

So for all you readers out there that enjoyed the library stories, well, you’ll have to settle for more stories about Katie.  Or the weather or the fall colors or other contemplations.  I’ll try to make those entertaining.

Meanwhile, as Miley says…”The struggles I’m facing, the chances I’m taking…sometimes might knock me down but I’m not breaking.”

And Katie says -“WELCOME HOME MOM!  Wanna play?”

Katie 821


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The great turtle escapade…staring Katie the Sheltie Extradonaire

Late this morning I happened upon a tiny little baby snapping turtle on my driveway.  I had moved some flower pots, emptying the now mushy stubs of summer flowers.  I think the little turtle may have been hiding among them and was left out in the open when I moved the pots into the garage.

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I picked him (her?) up, put him in a container and took him to the park where there are several ponds in the wildlife area.  Kate, of course, went along for the ride.  No one gets to go to the park without her!  And of course she needed to supervise the release.

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I put him down gently on the soft grass right next to the water.

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Katie was very happy that we had saved the tiny turtle!

Katie 1965

Since we were at the park we decided to go for a walk through the beautiful fields of drying grass.  Today it is going to get up to 70 degrees, the first day in a long time that we’ve had anything that warm.  So we enjoyed the sunshine as we wandered.

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On our way back to the car we stopped by the turtle release site to see if he had moved.  He wasn’t on the bank where we left him, so I was glad that he had moved on.  Then I realized that there was a big dark Northern Water Snake, about 3 feet long, coiled in the shallow water right off the grassy spot I had left the turtle!   OH NOOOOO!!!!! I felt TERRIBLE!  I hadn’t saved the little guy just to have him end up as lunch immediately!  I felt so SAD, and glared at the snake, who I assumed was resting after his big meal.   Katie didn’t notice the snake at all.  I guess she’s more of a princess than a nature dog.  Then the snake moved his head side to side slightly and I realized my little turtle was just below the surface of the water, up next to the grass.  And the snake was beginning to make his move!

“NOOOOO!” I shouted, and the snake, startled, swam back out into the pond.  I swooped MY little turtle back up in my hand, put him back in the container, and Katie and I drove him home.

Once there I walked my little guy across the street to the neighborhood pond, where I should have put him in the first place.  It’s the pond his mother likely lives in.   I  had  thought he’d like the nature preserve pond better.  Right.  I  thought the poor thing would be totally traumatized, but he was now moving  around the container more than he did at any other time.  Across the street at the pond I gently placed him in the water near a shallow spot where he could climb out of the pond if he wanted to.  He seemed happy, sunk a little in the water and stuck his snout out, looking around.

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Can you see him?  I wished him luck, and went back home.  I don’t know if he’ll make it or if our neighborhood blue heron will have him for lunch.  But I hope he thrives.  I hope when I see turtles sunning as I drive by, one of them will be him.  I like to think about him exploring his new home.  I know the snake needed food, but I don’t think it needed lunch delivered.  At least not by me.

Meanwhile, Katie is checking out behind all the pots just in case there’s a sister or brother waiting to be heroically saved by a Sheltie.

Here’s most likely his Mom:

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She was over by the pond earlier this summer.  Amazing, isn’t she!

Katie wasn’t interested in her either…though I didn’t take her over there to see her up close.  She’s a snapper, and a big one.  Katie needs a nap now.  I have to go to work.

Katie 1934


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A contemplative afternoon in the park

Katie 1939 I’ve been promising Katie for what seems like days, and probably seems like weeks to her, a trip to her favorite soccer field/park.  Today I wasn’t scheduled to work, it wasn’t raining, and even more motivating was the fact that there were contractors in the basement sawing a window well and a crawl space door into the wall.  After hours of listening to the screaming, grinding saw Katie and I ran away to the park for the afternoon.

Since we missed doggie school last night because I had to work, Katie and I practiced our heeling quite a bit today.  She did awesome, probably in part because she hadn’t been fed yet so was highly food motivated!  This makes me know for sure that she knows how to do everything.  Sometimes she choses not to do them, but she sure knew how today!

After we did about 30 minutes of heeling, sitting, staying, stand for exam and recall I switched her to her long leash and we went exploring.  I was looking for pretty places to get her portrait.  She was more interesting in sniffing stuff.

Katie 1940

As we walked along I saw this tiny little nest that was in a bush right at the side of the walking path.

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I stuck my finger in this shot not because it’s such an attractive photo, but to give you a sense of scale.  I wonder if it’s a hummingbird nest.  If not, what other bird would be that small?  Maybe a chickadee?  I need to look this up and see what I can learn.

After our walk through the fields we wandered back to the pond.  Katie actually stepped on a garter snake!  Her back feet sort of hopped up which is what she does when she steps on a thistle or a stick, but she kept on going.  I glanced down and realized it was a snake!  I didn’t get a picture of it as it slid slowly off into the tall grass, but I got a picture of another one we came across, about the same size.

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Do you see it? Katie never saw the second one, though she did wait patiently while I photographed it.  She’s used to waiting on her Mom while she takes photos I guess.  We sat by the pond for quite awhile, listening to the quiet and watching water bugs on the surface of the calm pool of water.  Then she heard a chipmunk.

Katie 1952

And off she ran to investigate.

Katie 1950

Hmmm…I thought.  Here’s a good chance to see how she is on distracted recalls!  So I called her in my school voice; “KATIE!  COME!!  And instantly she turned and ran right back to me!

Katie 1951

And then of course she sat for a treat.  Like a good girl.

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She’s adorable, and I’ve been a bit grumpy with her lately.  So as we sat pondering things, watching the water, I told her I was sorry I’ve been mad, and promised her we’d come back to the park more often this fall.   She said she forgave me.  Cause she is, after all, Mommie’s girl.

Katie 1946


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Back to school

No, not me…Katie and I went to doggie school tonight.  In the past 8 days we’ve been in obedience classes three times.  You’d think she’d be back in the swing of it.  But no such luck.  Tonight’s class had 20 dogs, 4 other Shelties, 4 Shepards, an Irish Setter, a Whippet, a Roti and several others that I lost track of.   Katie was excited to go to school, pulling on the leash as we approached the building; but once inside she was overwhelmed by all the activity.  Her focus was nonexistent, and she wasn’t tempted by treats again this week.  And the one thing that I can always count on, perfect recalls, fast and straight with an immediate sit..well…she ran right past me tonight!  She’s never done that before!  She was, however, simply wonderful on her long sits and downs.  Probably because she was afraid to move!  I wish I had a picture of her sitting there next to a Mastiff, a Roti and a Shephard!  She’s so tiny!

Now that we’re back home she’s fallen asleep.  Upside down of course, against the back of the sofa.  I tried to get a picture, but of course that made her wake up.

Katie 1916

And now she’s a CRANKY sheltie…so I have to go!

Katie 1917

We’ll be practicing in the driveway this week, especially on our heeling and our figure 8’s.  Maybe I can get her confidence higher.  And mine too.

Katie 1923


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Stand for exam

I decided Katie needs to go back to school.  She’s out of control and doesn’t listen to me at all.  I think she needs more structure in her life.  Plus she used to love going to school.  So, given my random work schedule, I found an obedience class that allows us to drop in on the Monday evenings that I’m not working.  Tonight was our first night.  New building, 14 other dogs, most new to her, different smells, sounds…it was all a bit intimidating!

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She reverted a bit to her initial school behavior of refusing treats.  That worked out fine though, she THOUGHT she wanted a treat so she pretty much did as I asked, but when she earned a treat she held it in her mouth and then spit it out.  Apparently the stress of being in school again.  I remember when I first took her to school, they thought she wasn’t motivated by food!  HA!   And like previous classes, she has a 45 minute attention span.  Then she’s just DONE.  And isn’t afraid to express her feelings either!

The best part though?  We did “stand for exam” where she’s supposed to stand from a sit, then let me walk away from her and allow a complete stranger (the judge or teacher) to walk up to her, pet her and move away, and she can’t move her feet at all!  She has never never never succeeded at that.  Either she won’t stand, or she shys away from anyone walking up to her, or if she knows the person, she jumps on them in happy greeting.  Tonight she was perfect!  She stood when asked…and let TWO strangers walk up to her and pet her without moving her feet!  I think she was just scared, but I’ll take it!

GOOD DOG!

Katie 1810


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It happened

They warned us that we’d get a frost.  I didn’t want to believe it, and almost didn’t pick all the flowers in bloom out in the garden.  After all, it was barely October, I should have a few more weeks to enjoy the garden…right?  Well, it’s a good thing I cut everything:

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…because this morning we woke up to this:

Katie 1914

The frost was thick on the grass and the air was thick with fog.  Katie was curious and uncertain about the frosty grass, tentatively stepping on it, sniffing.  Then she got excited about trying to eat all the frost she could.  Silly girl.

I already miss summer.

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Irony

This morning as I make my way down the driveway to the mailbox I am struck by the irony of the two cards I am sending.  One is to my husband’s aunt who turns 94 this week.  The other is to a friend whose father died this week at a young 72.

I am slapped up the side of the head again with the fact that you just don’t know how long you get.  Walking back to the house I smile at the little sheltie girl waiting for me behind the glass door.  She’s happy Happy HAPPY for TODAY, right here, right now.  Not going to worry about tomorrow Mom, going to have fun RIGHT NOW!

Lucky dog.  Lucky me.

Katie 1847