Well, that was interesting

For this post to make sense I need to give you a little back story. Point 1: Gus is now 9 years old and Llelo is 5. During walks Gus tends to dawdle, follow along, and be the pokey little puppy. Llelo is much more energetic, always at the extreme front of the leash, trying to drag us along faster. Point 2: As a New Christmakahstice gift Rachel gave me a fitbit. It's a nifty little thing, kind of like a pedometer on steroids. It's got an altimeter so it can measure the number of flights of stairs you have climbed in addition to steps. It also estimates number of calories burned and you can measure your sleep efficiency, too! And for those not in the know New Christmakahstice is a mash up of New Years, Christmas, Chanukah, and Solstice. ;) Point 3: It's a dark, rainy, winter evening in the Pacific Northwets (started as a typo, but somehow seems appropriate!).

I've been wearing my fitbit daily since I got it. It's really cool. And today after I got off the bus this morning I took the stairs up to the office, fitbit read 11 flights for the day so far and I hadn't even gotten to my desk yet! I've been wanting to get Llelo on a proper walk for a while now. After our potty walk I decided to drop Gus back in the house while Llelo and I went walking. I managed to grab my reflective vest as we scooted out the door. Llelo was stoked, fast walkies, awesome!!!

We got down to the main street and headed north up to the stop sign and then another right up the hill. I hate hills, they piss off my knees and I huff and puff my way up. Turns out this hill was a little steeper than I'd realized but we kept on going. At one point, maybe a third of the way up the hill, I pulled out my phone to look at a map. It occurred to me I wasn't very familiar with the neighborhoods behind the new condo so I wanted to look at the map and get my bearings. My goal was to do a big loop around, I'd work towards my 10k steps per day and Llelo would get some exercise.

We finally make it to the top of the hill, the very, very steep hill. Still need to pass a few streets before we can take our right turn. Well, there are no sidewalks at the top of the hill. And there really aren't any streetlights, either. We cross the street to be able to walk towards on coming traffic. I am so glad I am wearing my reflector vest, but I'm still nervous given the speeds the cars are going. We plod along and come to the sharp right turn. I'm a bit spooked, there is no shoulder, no sidewalk, no lights, and plenty of fast moving traffic. We make the turn and continue southbound until we make it to the stop sign, then turn left. Once I realize we are about to head down another sizable hill I decide to scrap the mission and head us home the way we came. Of course, by then it's started to rain, not really hard, but definitely steady. Back through the hellish corner only this time there were dogs barking at us, yay! Then back down the hill. Finally, back into the world of sidewalks and streetlights! My knees are screeming 'WTF are you thinking, first you make me go up the hill, now down?!? Surely you are joking!' Finally we reach the bottom of the hill and then it's only a few blocks back to the condo.

After drying a very damp Llelo off I take stock of my own situation. Jeans soaked through, sopping hair, sweated through my t-shirt. Jacket under rain shell very wet, too, I think not having the hood up added to that one. Sneaks soaked because I took a short cut across some grass at the very start. Then I pulled up gmaps to see how many miles we'd traveled, must have been at least 4 or 5, at least. Well, gmaps said it was about 2.5 miles round trip! Really?!? That's it??? The fitbit confirmed it, though. Sigh. The part that blew my mind was number of flights of stairs: 58!!! Tells you how steep that frickin' hill was! Holy cow!

I've now had a shower and got warm dry clothes on. Llelo is sacked out on the couch. And Gus is laying next to my chair, still a bit miffed that he was left behind. I think it's been a good exercise day and it's now time for supper!

Dog Frolicing Video

I've taken lots of outrigger video and had a great time editing posting them online. My brother asked me if I ever planned to shoot anything other than outrigger. Here it is:



My regular dog park buddy is Marcus and his two corgi, Henry (black headed tri-color) and Katherine (red & white). My next door neighbors dog came along, too. Lucy is a lab mix and sports that styling red jacket. Our other corgi pals Linda and her corgi, Cody, and Leslie and her two corgi, Edgar & Wyatt, arrived as we were headed out. By that time I'd put the camera away and didn't think to get some vid of them. The early arrivals were already pretty pooped out so there wasn't the level of play there normally is with Cody, Edgar, and Wyatt. Next time, there's always next time.

Introducing Hiwa

I've been without cat love in my life for about 2.5 years now. Dog love is different than cat love, not better, not worse, just different. I have some friends that regularly rescue cats and dogs. Last summer I went to their house to meet a kitty that needed a home. I wasn't ready to take anyone home yet, but she was a very cute little girl. Last weekend I finally decided I was ready to bring a cat into my life. Llelo has been wanting one for quite some time, now.

Sabine & LeAnn had been feeding this black cat since at least last summer and had seen him around the neighborhood for awhile before that. He started out with a bed and food on their from stoop and attacking their other cats at any opportunity. That meant he'd never be able to move in with the others, 4 cats and 3 dogs. As winter progressed he was given a bed in their finished basement. He showed that he was quite cuddly and loved being petted.

They arrived with all his luggage around noon on Saturday, litter box, food, catnip socks, and laundry basket bed. He found all kinds of great places to hide and I spent a fair amount of time on hands and knees pulling him out from under furniture. When I insisted he sit in my lap he was quite cuddly. Sabine & LeAnn hung out for over an hour making sure he was going to be ok. They had some concern given his length of time being an outdoor cat.

Over the course of the evening I decided to call him Hiwa (pronounced hee-vah), which means choice, jet black (entirely black, as pigs offered to the gods, and of a desireable blackness) in Hawaiian. His eyes are a vivid yellow and his coat is short, very dense, and plush.

So, now there are three critters in the house. We are still adjusting and getting used to the change in dynamics but things are going well. More stories to come...

Da Boyz is Famous!

One of the blogs I follow is called I Has A Hotdog and it's corresponding I Can Has Cheezburger where people submit animal photos and they are captioned and posted. Some are cute, some are odd, some give you a big laugh. I submitted a few photos of da boyz and when I looked this evening there they were!!



I really like this one, it hasn't been posted on the site yet, still in the voting section



Another in the voting section



Arthur was soo tolerant of the baby Gus puppster.



Guess I need to upload some more pics of da boys!

KERPOW

Having my thumb bandaged up blows. It makes it hard to type and it still hurts, too. Pout, pout, pout. I'm not going anywhere tomorrow. It is a difficult place to have bandaged. I've taken off the massive gauze wrap that was to help keep me from bumping it and the band aid is peeling off and not doing a good job of sealing the wound. I may need to buy another box of band-aids, a different shape, a different size, something is bound to work.

A funny thing happened Monday afternoon. I took the dog boyz to our neighborhood park for a little run around and our neighbor, Kyle, came along, too. The boys always like to have a good run after the Chuckit Flying Squirrel. Gus races for the toy and Llelo races after Gus. On our way there we saw a neighborhood dog that Llelo likes to play with so they turned around and came back to the park to play with us.

Now Gus is very, very passionate about his fetching. Corgis are fast, a passionate corgi going after his toy is very fast. Llelo was racing around like a crazy man with Riley, the yorkie on steroids (he huge for a yorkie, over 15 lbs). Neither dog is even aware of the other one. Can you see where this is going? I throw the flying squirrel and Gus takes off, Llelo is making a loop with Riley hot on his heels when WHAM Gus and Llelo collide. Both are knocked back over a foot they have hit so hard! Llelo actually looks stunned for the briefest of moments, then shakes his head and takes off again. You could almost see the little birdies and stars circling his head. Gus had already taken off for the flying squirrel. Silly dogs.

been a good week, but Gus doesn't think so

It's been a pretty good week. Late Monday night I received an email from Ross at Open Ocean Outriggers wishing me happy birthday. Once I moved beyond being a little weirded out (how did he know it was my birthday? ah, from a form I filled out on a demo day in December) we started chatting about the race last weekend, he'd raced OC2 and done much better than I did, for that matter everybody did much better than I did except for that one person behind me! Then I mentioned to him I was on the verge of getting and OC1, a dealer was willing to work out a payment deal for me. I decided to ask if he would consider such a deal, never hurts to ask, the worst they can do is say no, which is totally ok. You just never know how often they might say yes if you never ask. And from personal experience yes happens a whole lot more often than you'd expect! Anyway, Ross and I chatted, he spoke with his business partner, and came back with terms we were both happy with and much better than the other deal. I'm getting my new boat this Sunday, it's a Hypr Pahoa. I could wait until mid-April when Ross is planning to come down for a race and pick up a boat he's buying, but I am totally down with immediate gratification! I think it may have something to do with being an inaugural member of the MTV/80's generation! Anybody want to drive to Vancouver Canada with me Sunday?

Gus is having a bit of a rough time, though. Last May he got a slab fracture on an upper premolar from chewing on a cow knee cap bone. It took a few months for it be be painful to him. Last October it was effecting his chewing so in we go for extraction and while he was under had the remaining teeth cleaned. The crater left by the tooth removal took a good long while to heal up. This began our weekly vet visits because shortly thereafter Llelo had his infamous goose poop incident. Around New Year's both guys were finally feeling pretty fit. Then in mid-February I noticed Gus wasn't eating his chewy things I left for him when I went to work. Open up and sure enough there is another chipped tooth, same tooth other side. He went in for that extraction yesterday. It was otherwise a very healthy tooth because it took Dr Reeves 45 minutes to remove it and I hear he was sweating up a storm because he was working so hard. When I went to pick Gus up last night as soon as he saw me he started whining, really pathetic, prolonged whines, too. It was truly heartbreaking. The technician said while back in the kennel he was perfectly fine and this could just be a special for mom performance. Probably true, but still pulls at the heartstrings.

The whole ride home, whiiiiine, whiiiiinnnnne, wwwwhhhinnne! And he was still a bit woozy from the drugs, too. We get home, more whining. Llelo is thrilled to have his big bruddah home again, let's play now, ok, let's play! To his credit Gus didn't even snap at him, I did that! Supper was tough, I had soaked some kibble in hot water to soften it and added extra canned, not interested. Had to go to straight canned food and even that was hard. I got him up on the bed and he made all kinds of cute wookie sounds mixed with the occasional whine. This morning we skipped the softened dry food and went straight to canned only, gave him his pain meds and antibiotics. Watching him eat the canned food was so sad, even that was painful. Fran, misery loves company, when is your next dental appointment? Gus certainly can feel your pain. Llelo was hovering in the background, waiting for his turn to lick out the dish. Gus seems to be napping right now. Hopefully he will heal more quickly this time. We started the antibiotics straight away this time rather than waiting a week like last time. Poor Gus.

It Keeps Getting Better

It is really beginning to feel like a comedy of errors, one thing begets another... Will it ever end?

I was supervising breakfast this morning and noticed that Benjamin had a steady drip of urine happening, steady enough that had it been a faucet you'd have located a new washer for it asap! From the food dish into the kitchen for a drink and back, drip, drip, drip. I tried to locate a belly band, a velcro'd band of fabric to wrap around the boy parts to catch the dripping, couldn't find one large enough here in town. Mail order would just take too long. We are making due with a ratty dog towel and safety pins. He's making a real fashion statement! We have corrected his gas problem, switching him from the chicken based to the lamb based food has cured him, huzzah! I seem to be getting the old guy dialed in pretty well. (photo - Benjamin with make shift belly band)

I've been driving Marth's Chevy Tahoe, it's large enough to handle all four dogs easily. It's also as large as my parking space, much larger than my Subaru Forester. This morning as I was backing out of my space, trying not to hit my neighbor's car, the rear view mirror clipped the cement post. D'oh! The housing was fine but the reflective surface popped out and landed on the ground. The severe spider web pattern of broken mirror was there before it fell out, I don't think I'm the first to do this. It's just one more thing. (photo - Bogey, ready for his closeup)

I found a small lump on Gus' back Saturday. My gut told me it was probably a fatty cyst or something benign, but I needed confirmation from the vet to rest well. And Llelo needed his distemper booster shot, too. We went to the vet this morning. She aspirated the lump and got clear fluid! Excellent, benign, don't need to worry about it. However, the other tooth he's chipped is very tender and needs to be removed. I'll likely have the cyst taken off at the same time, if he's going to be under anesthesia might as well change the oil and rotate the tires. Both boys got lots of cookies, the staff just can't help themselves, they both got jabbed with needles, after all! (photo - above Llelo recuperating from his shot, below Gus not wanting another tooth pulled)

I went to All The Best Pet Care to get more Petastic, the enzymatic cleaner for neutralizing urine odors, and then off to Trader Joe's for more lamb based dog food. Once back at the apartment I met with the manager and have arranged to have the carpets cleaned on February 29.

So, I started out this posting feeling facetious but I'm actually feeling like things are starting to work out. Getting everything dialed in. It's just somewhat of a tiring process. If Bogey can keep it under control it will end up being a pretty ok day. I did get out for a short OC2 paddle this morning with Minnie, it was a glorious morning, bright and sunny, no wind, a bit chilly. A little time on the water helps make everything else seem more manageable.

If Two Are Good, Does That Mean Four Are Better?

As a pet owner it's always a bit dicey whenever I need to leave town, who do I trust enough to care for my beloved pets, with the understanding, of course, that nobody can do it as well as I can. Sort of a similar thing when you need someone to look after your people kids for an evening. You are entrusting someone to be responsible for those lives you hold most dear. Diane, thank you for trusting me with your boys, it was an honor to spend the evening with them and I would happily do it again, preferably on a non-paddling night.

Marth has gone out of town from Friday to a week from Sunday and has entrusted the care of her two dogs to me. That means I now have four dogs in my 700 square foot apartment, along with all the other standard clutter that is my life. It feels a bit more lived in here now. Benjamin is an elderly lab, sweet but a little flatulent, and Bogey is the weirdest looking chihuahua I've ever met. After the initial barking, barking, barking upon arrival things seem to be settling down. Bogey is learning the command, "No barking", thank goodness. Benjamin has co-opted my boys dog bed preferentially over his own which I brought over and set in front of the wall heater, not like they use it much. Gus prefers my bed and Llelo prefers me. Bogey has taken Benjamin's bed which looks ginormous as backdrop for his 7 lbs.

Dinner will be interesting. Llelo will eat anything that looks like it might be food and Benjamin and Bogey are not known for finishing their meals in five minutes or less. The only reason Llelo doesn't try to finish Gus' food before Gus himself finishes it is that Gus and I would rip him in two. The rule is once the dish has been abandoned it's fair to go scavenge for for any flavor crystals that may have been over looked. There will be many flavor crystals in the visitor's bowls, I'm certain. Well, after a meal or two of going a little hungry they will likely finish what they are given. Nothing like a little competition for resources to make you finish your supper.

More tales (tails) and photos to follow ...

btw: sinus infections suck! I've actually begun to feel a bit worse and this is after being on augmentin for 10 days already, which is why I didn't get around to posting last night, was busy having headache and chills. Went back to the doctor today, got some new antibiotics and some predinsone. Fingers crossed I'll start to feel some better within a few days.

Recovery Day

I figured after yesterday's adventures I deserved a leisurely day, not that I really need any excuse to be lazy ... I rolled out of bed around 10 and only then because I felt guilty about the dog's bladders. Got the dogs out and then fed, got my coffee going and started to think about what to do today, if anything. Since the dogz had spent the day home alone a trip to the dog park seemed like a good plan. As we were getting collars on the building wide fire alarm sounded. Stop, pack up the laptop, grab the passport that was still on the counter from yesterday, get the leashes on and get away from that evil sound. We hung around for a bit, no fire, just alarms, so headed out to the park. We saw a number of corgis we'd met on previous outings, had some good fetching and running around, got good and muddy and came on home. I decided today would be bath day after which I was overcome by a major nap. Pedicures would have to wait. Woke up, did all the nails and started on baking a sweet bread pudding. It's still in the over and smells great. I'm trying a tip from a friend, I've soaked the raisins in water in hopes they won't rise to the surface and burn, as they typically do. Fingers crossed. Hope you all had a great lazy Sunday.

PS I got the final results from yesterday's race. They came clean and said the race distance was 7.5 miles! There were three in the master women category and I took second, there were only three women who paddled in the race of 31 paddlers.

What's in a name?

Now I have to start this post out by saying I am not copying Fran, our minds just seem to be in sync here. I came up with the same idea after I finished yesterdays post and she posted her's 1/21/08.

Gus' registered name is lame: Skiak's Paws-n-Effect, he was one of the Paws litter. The others were The Paws That Refreshes, Paws-a-traction, and Paws-a-bility all of them dumb, in my opinion. She wouldn't let me use this for his registered name but I chose Angus Mac Og for Gus, the Irish god of youth, love, and beauty. I'd have called him Angus except his breeder kicked up such a fuss, he'll be fat if you name him after a cow! Funny, I always thought it was more about diet and exercise. And what about Angus Young of AC/DC?!?! I relented and went with GusGus, the chubby mouse in Cinderella. The breeder had a much better theme for Llelo's litter, they were all named after James Bond movies and I got to choose which movie. Llelo is officially Skiak's Goldeneye. Desmond Llewelyn was the name of the man who played the character Q in all but the most recent Bond movies. Also, I'd been reading the Sharon Kay Penman series, which begins with Here Be Dragons, an exciting trilogy of 13th Century England & Wales. Llewelyn was the name of the last independent Welsh Prince before the conquest by Edward I. As a boy, at least in the books, he was called Llelo. And for those wondering Skiak is the breeder's kennel name.

Arthur was named for King Arthur. He was the first orange tabby cat I've had. I had been reading a book about Guinevere that began with her learning of Arthur's death, don't remember the title, though. Arthur is always described as being fair and blond or red headed, it seemed to fit the orange cat. He could pull off a regal bearing when he sat in the sun, not so much otherwise. Nemo was a pound kitten, very tiny when I brought him home. He was at the pound back in the day when they kept many cats in one cage. Each time I went to visit him he was all wet, the adult males tormented him and he tended to get backed into the water dish. He needed a nautical name, what better than the captain from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I still haven't read. The photo was the day I brought Nemo home, I was 18.

Hamlet was a Russian Blue cat that showed up at our back door. The mother said I couldn't keep him if I named him something stupid like Nemo! Who knew?!? My brother and I suggested this name and that name, she suggested Hamlet, we kept trying other names which she poo poo'd, hence Hamlet. A sweet but very twitchy cat. Tigger, well, I was only 9 and he was a grey tabby. He was the grouchy old tomcat, but I could do anything to him. I have an old photo somewhere, he is laying with his head on a pillow between 2 teddy bears and covered with a doll blanket. My first pet was a calico kitten that I named Tuna Fish, after my favorite food. I believe I was 5 or 6. Tuna disappeared before she reached adulthood and I couldn't eat tuna for over a decade. The mother had a grey tomcat named Brother Violet. He was 3 yrs older than me. The story behind the name: my mother though it was a female and had already been calling him Violet. There was a tv show with an Uncle Elizabeth so Violet became Brother Violet.

My brother over the years had cats Psyche, Rose, Kuan. We also had Freyja. Psyche was the great hunter. She'd bring home kill for Brother Violet when he'd reached advanced age. Freyja was the little match stick girl, her fur was always rather rumpled and looked as though she needed a good shampoo and blow dry. Rose was a cat of very little brain. Kuan had entirely too much.

When the mother was growing up she had cocker spaniels. I remember tails of Buzz and Zzub, who came after Buzz. The dogs would go along for ice cream cones and would get their own. And at least one of them was trained to wipe it's feet by running in a circle on the door mat. She had Helga, the german shepard, when I was a baby. I learned to walk using Helga to pull myself up. Whenever I became too annoying she would lick my face until I went kerplop on my diapered bottom.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. -- Roger Caras
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. --Will Rogers

I have to agree with these statements with the caviat "cats, too". Ear rubs and tummy scritches to all.

Run that buy me again

We haven't had much snow in Seattle this winter (knock on wood). And last winter the dogs had so much fun playing in it I thought I'd take a day trip up to Snoqualmie Pass for a run around in the snow. My friend Scotty joined us heading out on I-90 eastbound. We took exit 44, I think, or nearby anyway and headed south off the ramp. A couple of blocks in we saw a number of cars parked and figured this would be an excellent place to park. We geared up, I put on my boots, got the poop bags, toys to fetch, and my digital camera and off we went. It was a perfect day, bright and sunny. The dog boyz started racing up and back and peeing on every perceived thing that could be peed upon, you know how dogs are. Llelo started going turbo and had the snow been packed at all he would have gotten excellent speed, as it was he looked like a rear wheel drive truck on a patch of ice on an uphill, just spinning his wheels; only he would occasionally get some footing. He'd go a few steps and sink into the snow, stall a bit, and then regain purchase and continue on. You really had to see it. Gus was actually the chasee instead of only the chaser, he was really having a good time, too. Gus is on the right and Llelo on the left (full body showing). And the obligatory self portrait of Scotty and me.

After we were finished walking, both dogs had stopped running like crazies, we headed into North Bend to hit the outlet malls. Can't go all that way and not do a little shopping. Besides I had some coupons to the Jockey underwear store, that would expire the end of January, I needed to use them or loose them. Scotty found something he'd been coveting for a while in the Black and Decker store at a much better price than the big box stores. Riddle me this: I spent a flat $26 in the Jockey store and in doing so saved $105.54!!! How does that work? Well, you walk in the store and everything is 30% off lowest marked price, I had a coupon for 20% off any purchase of $50 or more, and I had a $20 gift certificate for having one of their club cards. A fleece pullover initially retailed at $28.50 cost me $3.05 and some underpants initially retailing at $8.50 cost me $0.91. How can they make any money? Is that why the economy does funky things? And we as a nation demand that kind of pricing forcing manufacturing overseas into ... , well, I'm just gonna stop here, because I do it, too. I like the low prices. However, I am trying to check labels more and am making an effort to buy more US produced goods. Just have to keep at it, the more you look for US produced goods the more the market will have to offer them.

Life's too short to drink bad wine, but bad beer is probably ok ...

That was the screensaver on the computer in the lab where I did my graduate research, on the old 486 running Windows 3.1. Life is too short for a lot of things and if people remembered that I think, as a people, we'd all be much happier. I was miserable living in Rhode Island in a job that made me very unhappy. Life is too short to live that way so I quit my job and moved to Seattle. There were a lot of twists of fate, ultimately it felt like bad things would have happened if I hadn't moved forward on the opportunities presented. I have been much happier with the various ups and downs life has presented since moving to Seattle.

Life is too short to wear clothing that makes you feel ugly, even if it's only your self perception. My mother passed away last March and I took many of her clothes including the two cashmere sweaters. The pale aqua cardigan makes me feel good and happy, the olive green crew neck makes me feel down and dark. I gave it to a co-worker who really likes that color. She really didn't want to take it from me. I finally insisted that even though it's a great sweater and was my mother's I was never going to feel good wearing it, life is too short to wear things you don't like, regardless of how nice they are. I have plenty of other blouses and sweaters that I will never part with, the colors and styles make me feel good, why do I need one more sweater that I don't like.

Life is too short to vacuum the apartment every day. I'd much rather take the dogs to the park for a fun run around than vacuum all the time. I'm ok with some dog hair, a lot of dog hair, in my life. The joy it brings me watching Llelo sprint like a mad man around the park with a handful of dogs racing after him and Gus swimming for his ball makes neglecting the housework all worth it.

Life is too short to sit back and watch it go by. My mother's passing really was my wake up call. I believe I had fallen into the watch it happen trap, to a degree, and now I'm working hard to get out there and be a more active participant in my life. I realize that I have spent far too long waiting for Mr Right to come knock on my door, I need to get out there and look for him. We all know guys can be resistant to asking for directions, maybe he's out there looking for me and has gotten himself lost! I've been on a few online dating sites, I've answered a few craigslist ads. I've gone on some dates and met a some nice men and a couple that so weren't Mr Right. I'm still looking, it doesn't have to happen today, tomorrow, or even the next day/week/month/year, I just want to enjoy the journey, be an active participant. So, if you know of any nice single guys ... Life's too short to not have another first date!

My dog made me do it

Gus loves to fetch and if he can swim while fetching all is good in his world, no, all is excellent in his world. It is common knowledge that corgis are not particularly leggy, by a lot. At Magnuson Park we would head down to the dog beach for some swimming and fetching, nothing better than a happy tired dog. Our problem arises with the fact that most other dogs tend to have more leg than corgis. Gus is swimming in six inches of water, other dogs are walking in 20+ inches of water. I try to time my throw such that Gus should be able to get the toy without interference, on busy park days I spent most of my time cajoling other dogs to give back Gus' toy and Gus spent most of his time frustrated that I don't throw the toy for him. I finally decide that Magnuson is a big enough park that I should be able to find another place for Gus to swim and fetch uninterrupted.

One day we drove around the park looking for a good place to swim. On the north end of the park I found a lovely little boat ramp, plenty of parking right there, the perfect location for Gus to swim and fetch. With no other dogs around Gus was much more willing to swim deeper, too. One day while swimming and fetching this boat full of people comes paddling towards our lovely little boat ramp. I started chatting with the paddlers, asking more about the sport and I decided that I should give it a try. I went out with them the following week and have never looked back! So there you have it, my dog, Gus, got me involved in outrigger canoe paddling. How many people can say that!

Now all this happened before Llelo was even born. I feel like he needs a little shout out, too. I live alone, it's common knowledge. Living alone I tend to leave the bathroom door open, a habit born of having cats for so many years. The door is closed they need, nay, REQUIRE access to the other side of the door, entering into a cyclic situation, hence I just leave the door open. Gus will come in and lay down at my feet, Llelo will check and see if cookies are forthcoming. I keep a small bowl of cookies on the bathroom counter. The other day I decided a little trick training was on the agenda. You know how some dogs can hold a treat on their nose and then with a command will flip the treat into the air, catch it and eat it. I tried this with Gus, he just tips his head down and eats the treat off the floor. Llelo seems hard wired to flip it in the air and catch it. He hasn't caught it yet, but he's pretty close. Now for the $64k question: which is the smarter dog?