Those of you that remember Katie know that every spring mom took her somewhere to do a yellow flower photo-shoot. It started out as a joke, since mom’s yellow flowers aren’t all that exotic.
But it turned into a fun outing for them and mom got some really sweet photos of Katie smiling at her parks.
Well now, mom doesn’t want to give that up so guess what mom and I did last week?
I suppose that wasn’t very hard to guess, was it!
Yep, mom rushed me over to Katie’s park when the sun came out one day. She had seen lots of yellow flowers in people’s yards and she figured as long as the park staff hadn’t mowed we’d be good.
And we were!
There were sooooo many pretty yellow flowers that I could hardly decide where to sit. In fact I didn’t want to sit at all.
I mean, if you’ve got the space and time, why not run through the yellow flowers with the wind in your furs? Right? So I did.
Several times.
Mom says I’m a very good model. I say as long as she has treats I’ll be a good model.
Cause if there’s one thing that Katie taught me it’s that you only have to sit for one photograph as a time and the flow of treats should be constant. And when the treats are done, so am I.
Thanks Katie-girl. You’re the best big sister ever!
Now I have to go comfort mom because she says that after looking at these pictures she realizes that I’m growing up too fast. She says she wants to slow it all down, but I gotta tell her, there’s no slowing me down!
Shhhhhhhh! It’s me, Penny! I’m trying to give you an update on things I’ve been doing without letting the mom know. Cause as you can see, she’s not giving me nearly enough online exposure. So I’m doing what they call an ‘end run’ around her and getting on here myself.
Mom has been taking me on lots of walks in my parks.
She’s sharing lots of stuff about her silly birds, and hardly anything about me and my adventures. All you’ve seen of me is the Easter picture. And to be honest I did that under duress. I mean pink is not my color!
“Hey mom! I didn’t bark at those bikes!”
Anyway.
Since I last wrote to you all I’ve been very very busy. I had a play date with Levi at his dog park which is about an hour away from my house.
Me and Levi. I was watching my mom come back from the car.
We had lots of fun and I made Levi chase me a few times.
We both love to run.
Mostly we did our own thing, you know? He was into running and chasing his frisbee…
Levi loves his frisbee.
…and I was just into running.
I just love to run!
Levi is a very handsome dude and of course the moms wanted a picture of the two of us together. And of course, as is stipulated in the sheltie bylaws, we made it very hard for the moms to get said picture.
“OK here’s the deal. We never both look at mom at the same time.”
Sit next to each other? No way. But maybe on our next play date we’ll be nicer to the moms. I guess it depends on the quality of treat being offered.
“Listen, mom, we’re not going to SIT. So get the shot and let us go play!”
And I also did a Rally Trial where mom signed me up to do two runs. A run is where you and your mom or dad walk around in a ring doing a bunch of stuff at little signs. You’re supposed to take your cue from your mom or dad who is supposed to be able to read the signs correctly.
Frankly it’s a bit boring because they don’t let you have treats while you’re in the ring. And without treats, what’s the point anyway?
Mom said I did great and she’s proud of me.
I did real good on the first run, I got 96 out of 100 points and second place in my group. But then mom rushed me right over to the other run without any breaks (and no treats!!) and we were all of the sudden in there walking around and I was sort of more interested in getting out of the ring, and also I forgot what the word “sit!” means.
Mom says she’s always glad when we make it to the “finish” sign!
I guess I just had a mental block. I don’t know what the big deal is, mom has those all the time! I still got a qualifying score, 80-something, but I didn’t place. Mom says that’s just fine. She says we have two legs of the three we need for a title in Novice Rally.
I’ve been taking her to doggie school every week to practice reading the signs. Between you and me, this past Tuesday afternoon she couldn’t read much of anything right and I got really frustrated with her. So I decided I didn’t know how to sit straight anymore. Or heel. Or wait. Waiting is my hardest thing anyway.
Mom says we’ll be in the basement working on that stuff this week.
Come on down, mom! And bring the cheese!
In fact, talking about the basement, my friend Lance and his folks came over and Mom and I did some work in our new basement, teaching me the tricks of Beginner Novice Obedience! Mom say she has great plans for me. I say I’m all in as long as there’s cheese involved.
Lance and me being patient with the moms.
Oh – and on Friday evenings I’ve been going on group walks with another trainer and a bunch of other dogs and their people. We’re walking around small towns and getting used to traffic and other people and other dogs. Mom says it’s working. I don’t go as crazy now when we’re out and about as long as mom has treats on her. She’s pretty happy with me and we have a lot of fun on the walks!
A perfect evening to walk around an historic little town.
I just know there’s more news to tell you, but mom’s almost done cleaning the kitchen so I better go inspect. Have I told you that the kitchen is my favorite room in my house? I call it the Food Room. You never know what will appear from hidden places there.
Mom’s been taking me shopping too. I don’t know what the point is, she never buys anything.
I am between laptops, the old one is being migrated over to the latest version of wonderfulness. (That was sarcastic, you know I hate change.) It’s a slow process, mostly because of pictures. So while I don’t have full access to stuff stored there, and now other places, I have been trying to wean myself away from the camera.
It’s not easy.
Cedar waxwings
My husband says I had over 250,000 images stored on the laptop. No wonder it was just chugging along. I know that I don’t need all of those and I had started the process of weeding. But I got bogged down, and that was before I was knew and became intimidated by the sheer number.
Lake Michigan
Anyway.
I will find some images to add to this post, pulled from an external hard drive, of which I think I now have 4. How about I randomly just pull some pretty pictures and stick them here and there in this post and see how it turns out?
Katie
I’ve been wondering, but not seriously, if I could pick just my favorite images and put them in a file folder and let the rest go. Of course this wondering was way before I knew there were 250,000 to choose from.
I wonder how big the favorites file would become?
Magnolia in Florida
And would the favorites have classifications? You know, like Katie, and night skies, and barns and Penny, and Alabama, and camping, and family and my Great Lakes?
Wait. That’s kind of what I have now.
Chippewa Nature Preserve
Maybe I should just find another hobby to obsess over. But I haven’t learned all I want to learn with photography yet.
It’s the same with watercolor painting. I like to paint, but what do you DO with all the stuff you produce?
Ingham County barn
I need to learn to be ruthless and throw stuff away.
We remodeled the basement, and in that process moved everything that was piled down there out to the garage, into the guest rooms, the dining room, the living room. What once were slightly disorganized piles of stuff hidden away are now slightly disorganized piles of stuff all over the house.
Milky Way and the Harrisville lighthouse
The remodel is essentially done and it’s time to move this stuff back. But would it make more sense to put most of it at the curb? Perhaps without even looking at it? Because if I look, well, that’s how I ended up with 250,000 images stored on my laptop and me with decision paralysis.
Norway
Stay tuned. Or not. We can always figure it out tomorrow. Or next year. I think I’ll go look through some old image files.
Mom and daddy say that it’s time that I stop all my temper tantrums at home and the barking and lunging at doggies at school, and the chasing cars and joggers and bicycles thing. Also my very loud and insistent objections to things like the shower being turned on, or the refrigerator door being closed without me getting anything.
You know, stuff like that.
It’s a new day, mom!
So they had a lady come over to the house to meet me. She’s very nice and has the best treats! After initially barking at her and then jumping on her I decided to show her my very best behavior and I sat. I sat a lot and stared expectantly at her.
Do you have the GOOD treats?
And every time I looked at her while something noisy was happening in the house she gave me a teeny tiny barely there treat. I thought this was the best game ever!
So now mom and daddy are trying to anticipate my outbursts and get my attention before I go off on them. I seem to be getting more attention and more treats lately. We’re only a few days in but I like it!
All this training is wearing me out. I think mom and dad are tired too.
Then yesterday mom took me out to a park and we practiced heeling and downing and sitting and coming and stuff. Lots of treats there too.
Coming in for the cheese, mom!
I may have hit the jackpot!
And then…last night, just when I was settling into my after supper nap which leads to my after supper sleep, mom woke me up and put me in the car and we went to a little historic town nearby where we met up with the same nice lady and another family with their dog, and we walked around town!
This is kinda weird. I’m usually asleep by now!
Well! I’m not real happy about being near noisy cars and I was a little bit hyper but the nice lady and my mom would just make a sound that reminded me to look at them and then I got a treat!
Mom brought cheese!
We walked around and around and around this little town and I was mostly good. Sometimes I couldn’t help it and I’d forget to look at mom and start barking and twirling over something, and a couple times she had to hug me to calm me down, but overall I am beginning to learn that mom’s got my back and I don’t have to protect her from anything.
Thanks, mom (and nice lady) for always looking out for me. And for the cheese.
Maybe.
I bet mom and I will be having more of these adventures. I can’t decide if I like them better than my park adventures, but if there’s cheese…well…I’m in! Right after I take a nap.
So…after we get the car washed what are we doing next?
Penny here. You have probably noticed a definite lack of posts from my mom. She’s neglecting this blog, yes she is, but that’s not all she’s neglecting!
Did you know that February 11th was my Gotcha Day? No you did not. Did my Gotcha Day get celebrated? No it did not.
Mom tried to make it better by telling me that they celebrate me every day, but I’m not buying it. Strike one for mom.
Then I hear very late in the day that yesterday was National Love Your Pet Day or something like that! And did I get presents and cake and streamers and stuff? No I did not.
Well! Enough is enough and I am going to file a complaint about being neglected unless I get a whole bunch of treats, and they better be the good kind too, not just part of my daily allotment of kibble.
Otherwise it’s gonna be Strike three, mom!
I ask you, how much should a Sheltie girl take before she pulls rank on the mom and dad? Now’s the time to organize! Now’s the time to protest! Now’s the time to take control!
Who’s with me?
PS: All these pictures were taken this week when mom took me to some parks to play in the snow and up to my breeder’s house to play with my dog mom and my niece Sarah. (so maybe mom doesn’t totally neglect me….maybe.)
So apparently my parents don’t get that my breed originated from frigid Shetland Islands in Scotland where the weather is worse than anything they’ve endured. And that shelties, as a breed, love winter. Because when the temperatures here were forecasted to be below 0 F (-17.7 C) mom and dad dug out my sister Katie’s boots.
These are not a fashion statement, mom!
They said if I would please wear the boots on our abbreviated trips out to do my business, they would feel much warmer themselves.
Uh huh.
So yesterday mom started putting boots on my feet, all four of them, every time we went out. I didn’t resist but I certainly don’t help her. By the time she’s got all 4 on me she’s usually sweating.
I guess they don’t look too bad against the snow.
Then she has to get all her own paraphernalia on, sweatshirt and hat and scarf and coat and mittens and boots (only 2 for her). By then I’ve usually decided I don’t really have to go out after all. So I stand still in the foyer and refuse to move.
Yep. Mom loves it.
I think I’ve changed my mind, mom. I’ll stay in for awhile, OK?
Mostly I’m just messing with her. The first three times mom took me out I managed to throw off one boot every trip. But then that naked foot got really cold and I stopped running around and held it up and looked pathetic and she carried me back inside.
Win for the sheltie.
Well, they DO give me an elevated look, I guess.
Today mom has perfected the boot placement and has them on nice and tight and I can’t shake any off, so I decided to dance around out there and find sticks to chew on and play in the snow and not go to the bathroom, cause it was so fun.
Win for the sheltie.
Can I get these off now mom?
Mom does not appear to be having fun. Did I mention the wind-chill is -15 F? That’s -26 C! Mom says she’s leaving the stinking boots on my feet, even inside until I pee when we go out. But she was only kidding. She took them off when I asked nice, and I took a nap.
This boot thing is exhausting.
They say by this afternoon the temperatures will be back in the teens, maybe 14 or so (-10 C) and heck, that’s a heat wave, I can go out to pee without my boots, and I very likely will…cause between you and me?
Who’d of thought that I’d be writing to you a mere week after my last contribution to mom’s blog? Obviously mom’s life is pretty boring if she’s willing to hand over communication control to me!
But I’m a sheltie — I never ignore an opportunity to communicate! (Sheltie moms and dads know this is true!)
So anyway. We got a bunch of snow last night. Not as much as some of you, but maybe a little more than 4 inches. It’s soft, powdery snow and mom had this brilliant idea that I might want to play in it. Cause, as you know, I’m a sheltie and stuff.
Me on the road outside my house.
Yesterday mom had been up at the neighbor lady’s house drinking tea and talking about important stuff like me. The neighbor lives on a big lot, way back off the road and has a wonderful yard that backs up to woods. Mom thought it would be a fun place for me to play, far away from the road.
So when we woke up to all this snow mom got permission to take me up there to play. Unfortunately she didn’t clear it with me first.
So mom and I are trotting up the nice lady’s driveway and I figure we’re just out there for me to do my job, so I pee and mom says good girl, and I turn around to go home. Because that’s what I always do after I pee, I go home.
Me in the nice lady’s backyard under protest.
But mom says, no, no, baby girl we’re going to keep going up this driveway. Well! I hadn’t been up this driveway before and there was a big camper up there with a cover and there were cords swinging in the breeze and they were scary so I barked at them a lot and I turned around to go home!
And mom said, no, no, baby girl come on up this driveway and she drags me up there and around to the back of the house and I’m scared and I don’t understand and mom finally figures out I’m shaking so she picks me up and cuddles me and walks, carrying all 27 pounds of me, around the yard a bit until I settle down, and then she puts me down figuring I’ll run around sniffing some and I immediately poo.
And when I get done pooing I pull mom toward the driveway so I can go home! Cause that’s what you do after you poo, you go home! And mom is looking for a bag to collect the poo and realizing she forgot to bring one and all the time I’m pulling her back toward home.
Me heading home where I belong.
Mom decided to give in and we trotted all the way back down the driveway and back to my yard, where, once I was safe and sound on familiar ground I played with my leash and attacked her boots and chased snowballs just like normal.
And after I went inside mom walked all the way back up the nice lady’s driveway with a bag and collected my poo.
When she finally got home she was pretty cold and wet and discouraged so we took a nap on the sofa. I slept on top of her to make her feel warm and safe and loved in return for her carrying me around that scary yard.
Me keeping my mom safe and warm.
But before we have another adventure like that I’m going to have to have a serious discussion with mom. Yep, no more surprise adventures when we don’t even get in a car! How’s a girl supposed to know it’s an adventure anyway!
Seriously, mother?
Talk later, your adventure-less girl, Penny.
The nice lady’s house is way up there, far away from my house!
Change Is Hard 