Tag Archives: Katie
I heard the red-winged sing
Daffy Daffodils
The weather guy forecasts more cold days, maybe even some snow for the coming week. But I’m not discouraged. We were momentarily in the 50’sF (10 C) on Friday and again today. We saw a tiny bit of sun. And repeatedly I’ve heard and seen the sand hill crane screeching across the sky.
But today I heard the red-winged blackbird sing which is proof positive that it is spring regardless of the weather guy’s prediction. On a quick tour of the yard Katie and I found even more evidence; little bits of green poking their heads cautiously out of the mulch.
Sedum hides beneath the fall leaves.
Brave little souls aren’t they.
Poppies poke nervously toward summer.
Katie and I went looking for the snowdrops we know come up behind the house, and there they were! Fewer this year but still blooming their little hearts out for us.
It’s springtime in their hearts.
And the clincher that it must be spring?
Almost got him!
Katie chased her season’s first chipmunk up the drainpipe.
Yep, we’ll probably be roasting hotdogs on the grill any day now.
Geranium greets spring.
Cheated!
Katie here. I just can not believe it. Never would I think my Mama would cheat on me! Not me! I’m the P.R.I.N.C.E.S.S.!
But Mama and Dad went away for the weekend and they didn’t take me! I had to go to the doggie spa! And it gets worse!
Mama with Chris and Ricky!
They went behind my back and met Ricky! Yes! THE Ricky! Without me! How could they!
And now Mama keeps talking about how cute he is. How he’s tiny. And adorable. And quieter then me.
Geeze. Well let me tell you, when she came to pick me up on Sunday I told her off. And I kept telling her off all the way home. I used my outside voice too. Even when we got home and I got to see my Dad I was still mad. And I made sure they knew it. Yes I did.
Little Ricky
You know what? They SMELLED like Ricky! Did they think I wouldn’t figure it out? Huh. Parents. What are you going to do with them.
Of course now Mom’s all like “We’ll take you with us next time Katie.” Yea sure. I never get to do anything fun.
But I got my revenge. I got my Mama up on Monday morning at 5:30. Just cause I can. I hope they’ve learned their lesson.
Now I need a nap. These people wear me out.
Another weekend another park!
I walked a long way!
Good morning everybody! Katie here. My Mama took me to the park again yesterday, but I can only give you the short version because she says she has to go to work and doesn’t have time for all this dictation.
So anyway, we went to my favorite park, but there was so much snow melting that we ran into this:
Pretty wet out here Mama!
I said we could go right through it but my Mama is a wuss and said it was too deep. So she bundled me up and we went to another park.
This one was a lot dryer and there were lots and lots of people there, riding their bikes and running and walking with their dogs and other peoples. I was very very good. We practiced some distracted heeling…cause I was distracted until I remembered the treats!
Got treats Mama?
We walked a long way. See that first picture up there? What? You don’t believe I walked over 7 miles? Huh. So you know me pretty good don’t you. Yep we walked one mile and then we turned around…and since it’s four miles to the end of the trail and 4 miles back on our way back to the car we could pretend we walked the whole way!
One mile is still a long way!
Oh hey! I almost forgot to tell you! We were almost back at the parking lot and this family was just starting out with a big standard size black poodle. The dog was all over the place. The Dad was busy texting someone and the Mom was trying to get the dog under control. My Mama told me to “HEEL!” and “watch her” and I did, I walked right by the spinning black dog without looking at it!
And you know what the Dad said after they got by me? He said, “Did you see that dog? That was a good dog, did you hear her say watch me and the dog watched her! Why can’t you do that?” And my Mama laughed out loud. Yes she did. Cause she and I know that doesn’t just happen without a lot of work.
I’m a good girl!
But I am a very good girl. Yes I am. Now I need a nap. All this talking so early in the morning wears me out. Too bad Mama has to go do that work thing.
Yep. Too bad.
Mama failed miserably at adventure
Katie here. Mama promised me an adventure this weekend. She’s been so busy we haven’t done anything fun in forever!
So this morning she said we were going to the park. I got so excited, running in circles, getting under her feet, running from door to door because I couldn’t figure out what door we were going to use that she forgot to bring my treats! Failure #1 Mama!
Then we stopped at my favorite park and I was so excited I ran around in circles and got all tangled up and Mama kept saying something about having to pee and I figured she was talking about her so I kept running in circles, winding the leash all around her. Then I figured out she meant she wanted me to pee, so I did, and then she hustled me back to the car! What the heck?! Failure #2 Mama!
So we drove for a long time and finally she parked and got me out of the car. We were at her favorite park, high up on a hill and it was windy and cold. Just my kind of weather! I dragged her down the hill, she kept saying ‘easy….easy’ cause she was afraid of falling – it was really slippery. When we got to the bottom of the hill I wanted to sniff everywhere, but there was lots of mud and Mama kept saying she was cold. And she had that stupid camera too, so I didn’t get to sniff around too much. Failure #3 Mama! And on top of all of that, this is the only picture of me you’ll see from this” great” adventure. See our car way up there?
She made me sit up here. I didn’t like it.
So Mama bundled me right back in the car again! I was disgusted. She drove around some more and then we got out in a more sheltered place and walked for awhile on the bike path. We saw lots of people out running and walking. I even got to bark at a couple of cars, but then she yelled at me and made me go back to our car. Geesh. Failure #4 Mama!
So all in all this was not that great an adventure. I think she owes me another one.
What do you think?
Need a puppy fix.
I was enjoying Sara’s photos of 2 year old Chewy back when he was a puppy. Aren’t sheltie puppies just the cutest! I need to dig out some Katie puppy pictures.
It’s Mr. Squeaky!
Of course most of her very early photos are in a photo album I call Katie’s first year. Bet you did not know dogs can have baby books! But there are a few in digital form for me to share.
Mr. Squeaky wore her out.
I think everyone needs a puppy picture once in awhile. And a puppy AND green grass? Perfect!
Finding fun anywhere
Thanks for stopping by!
This is MINE!
We’re off on our adventure now!
Spring. Sigh.
Bored
There’s nothing to do.
Katie is bored. Tomorrow we’re going to school; it’s been two weeks. I’ve been too busy with music and work to play. She’s all wound up. School should be interesting.
Right now she’s barking at me. She wants to DO SOMETHING!
Sigh…
We already played fetch for what seemed forever. Till I accidentally threw both her balls at once. She doesn’t like having to make a choice so that game was over.
Boring.
Then her dad has been tossing her one of her stuffies. That lasted till he threw it too close to the fireplace. She doesn’t really like the fireplace (it wasn’t there BEFORE Mama!) so that game was over.
So now she’s decided to just stand and bark at us. In case we can come up with something new and exciting.
Don’t want to play with my toys .
Unfortunately she is the dog of boring parents.
But this weekend I promised her we’d go on an adventure. Guess I should figure out what that is exactly. Because she’ll be waiting.
Oh yea.
Wanna play?
We got to go to the park!
This is MY park. But you can come along too.
Katie here. Guess what?! Bet you can’t guess! Huh? Huh? Guess what!!! Oh. You guessed? Cause it was in the TITLE? GEEZE….I told Mama to make it more mysterious. OK. Well anyway. I finally wore Mama down and we went to MY FAVORITE PARK on Sunday afternoon! Mama said it was stinking cold and we weren’t going to stay very long because her gloves weren’t good and her fingers were frozen. I told her to shut up and start walking faster and she’d warm up. Plus if she’d stop taking pictures (Click on the photos for more detail) her fingers wouldn’t be out in the cold so much. Sometimes Mama just needs to have some common sense pointed out to her.
This is so much FUN!
So anyway…we ended up walking around the whole park just like we do in summer! It’s about a mile around and there was lots of ice under the snow so sometimes Mama was just creeping along. I, on the other hand, had no problem. Because she was moving so slow I got to sniff lots of stuff which was way more fun then when she’s always telling me to come on.
Sometimes I am majestic. Don’t you think?
She got quite a few pictures of me (the park was pretty too) that I personally thought were stunning.
Did you hear something over there?
I hope you enjoy seeing how beautiful I am.
I still hear something over there!
I know you do.
I love you Mama!
School Days
It’s a school day! Katie says…..
Let’s GO!
…”HURRY UP MAMA!”
So do you want to hear a cute story about school today? You do? Of course you do!
Over the past year I’ve had issues with Katie coming in straight when we do our recalls. She sits at the heel position, I tell her to wait and walk all the way down to the other end of the mat, way across the big room. Then I turn and she is supposed to wait till I call her to come, then run really fast and really straight and sit right in front of me. If she gazes adoringly up at me that’s extra points.
She’s been sort of independent lately…she comes running straight at me and then sits crooked, her behind angled to the left. Or she sits straight but just slightly offset to the right. An excellent recall used to be something I could count on, but for weeks she’s been doing her own thing. Obviously she’s getting some sort of cue from me. So I try not to move at all while she’s running toward me.
This morning another dog had a small accident on the mat which the instructor cleaned up with a mop. There was a dark rectangle left behind before the mat dried completely. None of the dogs running before Katie noticed. Neither did I as I put her in a wait and walked down to the other end of the mat.
“COME!” I called, trying to remain as motionless as possible. She raced toward me, happy grin on her face, fur flowing. And when she got to the damp spot she daintily pranced around the dark patch, then returned to the middle of the mat and continued on full speed to sit directly in front of me. And eyed me adoringly.
I was trying so hard not to laugh. A princess through and through Katie wasn’t going to get her pretty little feet wet by racing through that dark patch. Not her. Of course not. Why was I surprised?
After all it’s my Katie-girl.
Yea I’m a princess.
Change Is Hard 