His and Her sides of the bed

...complete with divider pillow.

Rusty Math

Today I was taking mental inventory of Rusty's progress and what needed work when I realized he has only lived with me 6 months as of August 26 (adopted 5 of those). How did my sisters miss a chance to point out my bad math in a previous post?

Anyway. 6 months of Rusty:

• He doesn't get up every morning hunting cats anymore, but if they happened to cross his path, well...
• He has given up on Pascal entirely - only Pascal knows why.
• He can't see or hear well at all. His vision is really bad at dusk and dark. He also doesn't see curb or storm drain transitions. He got his foot caught in the storm drain last month - it was traumatic for both of us.
  
• A stranger could be chainsawing down the door and he probably wouldn't even get up.
• He is so serious about his leash work that I have a hard time getting him in front of me for a photo.
• He sits at most intersections.
• He downs in public.
• His recall is coming along on long-line or within the fenced area (provided he hears me or there is not something fabulous running from him) but I doubt I will ever trust it.
• I am a better handler because of him.
• OH! Guess who is slowly warming up to having his nails dremelled? Yes, that would be Rusty too.
  

I was thinking of Rusty's progress because Nim starts his obedience one next week as well as puppy agility. If I brought home Nim on July 10th than it is only about a month and a half of Nim. When you think about it that way, I should really give him more credit for everything he has already learned.

Nim can be defiant; but he is also really bonding tight right now. He learns super fast and I am trying to take advantage of it before the adolescent months hit. Since Rusty already broke me, I am really on my training game right now.

Nim is more comfortable with the long-line work on the service roads than the leash work we are doing around town. I probably prefer the service road work with him too; since I am grooming my hiking partner.

This is about as active as it got today for Nim. Seriously Rusty has more energy this past week. Nim is also losing teeth fast now. I think between the teeth loss and the growing, Nim is pooped.

Pups swimming

Nim and Rusty again had appointments at Aquadog spa in Kent with Cindy Hickman.

Supposedly the second visit is supposed to be the worst, but for Rusty, it was the third. I practically had to scrape him off the decking to get him in. :)

Notice Rusty when he swims:

Rusty is all business. He usually is aiming for the wall or the steps; but so peaceful with minimal splashing. His head is hardly wet.

Now notice Nim:

26 pounds of desperate water churning power:
Looking just a little bit better with his soaked little head... :)

Nim tries out swimming

As promised, Nim got his chance in the water after Rusty's second session. Rusty tried to dig in right on the edge of the tub, but once he was in, he settled much quicker than last time.

Nim was properly overwhelmed. He had an extremely fast front stroke but mostly because I think he wanted to climb out. :) The back-end did so-so trying to keep up: sometimes he used the back legs, sometimes he forget. He had a nice strong hold on Cindy whenever he could which was pretty funny.
Nim also turned 12 weeks on Wednesday (swimming day). He is all legs right now.

The elk also have invaded the yard with their little babies. For the amount of time they spend either eating in my yard or clogging the driveway they are really disagreeable when it comes to holding still for a photo.

The babies are even more difficult to photograph. They stay more in the edges of the woods.

Rusty goes swimming

Monday, July 26th was Rusty's 6 month adoption anniversary (he has lived with me 7 months total)! I decided what Rusty needed in celebration was some water therapy. :)

Today was our first appointment with Cindy Hickman of Aquadog Spa in Kent. Really great place, I liked the spa tub quite a bit and the room was open and dog safe. And Rusty made me proud by not marking in the building. As a side note, he also hasn't tried to mark any of Nim's accidents. Considering this is the dog that lifted his leg on my wall, that is impressive.

It was almost a little emotional (in a good way) to watch him go through this session. He has come so far and I have put him into so many new experiences. He was pretty high stress at first in the appointment, but you can tell by this photo he relaxed into it wonderfully. Then he was interested in making eye contact with me and interacting with Cindy. Cindy did a great job reading him and letting him work through the experience.

And as it turns out Rusty can swim - actually pretty well. The spa tub is a good size for him to swim a lap but not overdo it.

This is another great option for Rusty's aging body. Next appointment we will introduce Nim to the pool as well. Dobermans are not exactly known for their love of water or swimming so this should be interesting.

Bear in the apple trees

I wish I was a better photographer and these had come out better. It was also dusk and in the dark part of my yard, so it was a no win.
I could hear the tree crashing from my detached office and once I walked out the door I knew what it was, so I got my ladder and got on my main house roof to try and get better photos.

There are two apple trees (at least) right behind my fenced area and behind the main house.
Then I could also hear better once I got on the roof and realized there was more than one so I got back off my roof and sat on the stairs next to the office door. Nim could also hear them vocalizing (it was actually very neat, I have never got to hear that) between each other from his kennel in the house and that was some pretty low barking coming out of him. Rusty on the other hand probably a. couldn't hear them, or b. simply didn't care (doesn't show any house protection). I am sure he just slept through it.

Jailed

Today while frantically trying to deal with my homework I suddenly lost my Internet connection. I reached down to restart the computer and when I looked under my desk:

X-pen was set up in the office shortly thereafter. Nim is not pleased.