Finally!!

I found a use for Winter!

Chuck him in the swimming hole and he makes excellent funny faces when he comes tearing out!

To be fair to me, I didn’t just chuck him in the swimming hole to be a jerk and get funny photos of the aftermath…I chucked him in there because it was HOT and he looked like he was on fire.

Now Fae … Fae I chucked in because it was funny.

She gets the zoomies afterward, makes for great action shots.

I’m kidding, I’m kidding!  I tossed everyone who didn’t voluntarily swim into the water because we were walking on a hot, dry, dusty gravel path and everyone had their tongues down to their ankles, so they needed to be wet.

I did NOT, however, toss Gotham in, because Auntie Fiona is a Helicopter Mommy and would’ve beaten ten kinds of holy hell outta me.

He went in on his own.  I did not nudge him in with my foot.  I swear.

Isn’t he the cutest though?

Almost as cute as my puppy Dexter (who gracelessly splooshes into any available body of water all of his own volition)

Poor Dexter, he is so deaf now.  He can barely hear anything at all, unless I’m right up close to him and speak in a certain register (IOW, I sound like I’m practicing my “man voice” when I speak to him).  In talking to some of his siblings’ owners, I have learned that several of them are quite deaf as well.  It’s called “Adult Onset Deafness” and it’s genetic in border collies.  I can tell it’s frustrating for him because he peers very sternly at my mouth, trying to lip read, and then runs through a variety of behaviours in case one of them is what I was asking for.  I have misplaced him a couple of times while hiking because he runs off to poop (another family trait – the need for extreme distance and privacy whilst pooping!) and then can’t find us again, nor hear me calling him.  Once upon a time we had a vibrating collar floating around my rescue … if I can’t locate it, I’m going to have to look into getting him one I think.  I don’t want to lose my baby boy!!

Being nearly stone deaf does not stop him from having fun though.  Unfortunately, he has fun with Peetie, so I’m stuck with her.  The things I do for love.

We went out to the dykes in Pitt Meadows today because it’s closer and uses less gas, and because I didn’t have any client dogs to walk today.  I’m very sad, because my full time client is moving out of an area that I service and I am going to miss him :(  If you know a fantastic dog walker in East Van, let me know so I can refer her to someone good.

It also means a good portion of my monthly income goes down the drain.  Poop.  I need some ideas for marketing me – but the catch is, they have to be pretty much free.  I know you gotta spend money to make money, but I can’t spend money I don’t have!  Any brilliant ideas to share with me?  I have some great clients and they are all super happy with what I do, but I need to acquire several more of them to make a go of this.  I just picked up a couple new clients, but I want to pick them up (not to chuck them in the watering hole, I swear!) faster and in greater numbers.  So hit me with your best free or cheap marketing ideas please!!  You are smart peoples, you must have some hidden gems you’re willing to share.

I shall reward you with photos of my foster puppies at the ripe old age of two weeks.  Their eyes all opened on the same day, about day 13, and now they all stare at me like I’m a Bigfoot sighting when I get into the xpen.  They aren’t very interactive yet, just eyeball-y.

Sable male remains my favourite because I think he’s the cutest, but all of them are pretty damned adorable.  When do you think we should start the naming contest?  Like, when they have more personality or sooner than that?

This puppy already has a name; he goes by Warren and he’s the same age as my puppies!

His mom said “Your foster is going to have the puppies on the ASCBC trial weekend” and I was all “Shut up!  No she isn’t!  You’re gonna have YOUR puppy on the trial weekend!” and she was all “Nuh uh!  I refuse to have a baby on Mother’s Day!” And so Mini Mama had her puppies on the trial weekend Saturday, and Hailey had Warren on Mother’s Day.  Karma is so cruel.

However, it worked out awesome because then we could get photos of them being adorbz together and being all the same age and stuff.

Maybe I should get into baby photography…I hear that (and weddings) is where the money is!  Sadly, I do not have a constant supply of puppies to increase the level of awesome.

It was a good excuse to practice compositing though.  Still need a lot more practice, but it’s super fun!

I got some other baby things this weekend too!  Handsome Terrence made me some more baby turkeys.  I hope they all turn out like him!

And the ducks made me some more ducks.

The dogs have settled into the new farm very well.  I can now leave them outside by themselves for short periods of time without worrying about them getting into trouble.  They know the boundaries now and they no longer fence fight with the neighbours’ dogs.  I still have to pick up all the eggs before I let the dogs out, otherwise they go egg hunting and eat them, but otherwise they just hang out, nap in the shade, steal apples from the chickens, stuff like that.  They really are settling in nicely.  They still bark at/chase horses along the fence, but not as often and not for as long.  They are starting to get used to the idea of horses I think.

Now the Littles have to wear their Coyote Vests again though … not because coyotes, but because Bald Eagles!  I learned the eagles have been stealing my ducks and last week I was making dog dinners, saw a huge shadow go past the window and heard a chicken freaking out … I ran outside (with the bag of frozen peas still in my hand) and saw a bald eagle with one of my hens in its grasp.  Utterly without thinking I ran across the yard and KICKED the eagle square in the chest!!  Who does that??  It let go of my hen and flew off though.  Scared the crap outta me.  But now I know where my ducks went for sure.  So Coyote Vests it is, because my dogs are NOT going to be some stupid bald eagle’s afternoon snack!

Life in the sticks is always interesting, if nothing else!

The weather is supposed to turn tonight and all of our hot sunny days will skulk back into rainy drizzle.  It would be great if it didn’t do that thing on Saturday though, as I have a day of mini sessions booked.  And the weekend after that is Regionals, also known as “Springs Annual Ring Pooping Event.”  BTW, I hear they are looking for volunteers for Regionals still … you get a stipend of I think $50 a day or something.  If you’re interested in volunteering, check out their website.

Gotham will be there, so you could meet him!