The Dog Days of Autumn

They really should call October "the dog days", because seriously, is there any better time of year for a dog? Sunny, cool, the days still long enough to enjoy and oh the gorgeous colors.

I guess technically I missed October's post, but better late than never?

We tried to do plenty of walks and park visits.  We had a lovely walk at Potters Bridge, the only covered bridge in our county.

Samantha has the head tilt down better than the dog!

We did some training, both obedience and dock diving skills.

And I tried to get a picture of Jamie and Varick playing with a big stick together.  Varick took it as an opportunity to play keep away.  Check out his "nana nana boo boo" attitude! Jamie can still keep up with him though, even at almost 9 1/2 years old.

Next time you'll get him Jamie!

And I was able to catch a nice fall portrait of Varick, on my lunch hour today.  If the leaves and the weather hold, I'll try to get them all out under this tree.

It's all coming to an end soon.  We change the clocks this weekend!  EEEK 

One Year 9-26-13

The goal isn't to live forever.

The goal is to create something that will.

Labor Day?

So I was looking at the pictures from this Labor Day weekend, and saw that Varick probably thought it was "Training Day" because we squeezed in some training before it got too hot.  Then once it DID get too hot, we did some swimming/dock diving training.  

I got some good shots of him at the lake, and I had set up a video camera to be able to watch us training.  We just switched to using a toy reward and he is super excited to work for that toy.  We're both getting used to it, there were some awkward moments.

Varick Pre-Water

And Post-Water

I finally trusted myself (and him) to let him go off leash AND take one of his "good toys" into the water! He was perfect.  He loved the toy way better than a stick, so brought back every time.  He could also see it a lot better and didn't lose it.

A little bit of this and that

We're enjoying this summer.  The weather has been very nice for a change.  Varick is growing up and just turned 6 months old on July 26th.  Our household has been slightly disrupted this month with our house getting a new roof, new siding, new gutters, etc etc thanks to the major hailstorm we had in April.  SO the dogs have been pretty good about dealing with lots of strange guys around and LOTS of hammering and banging all day.

We have had a lovely "urban deer" hanging out on our street this summer.  She appears to be fearless, and completely ignores the dogs barking at her.  If you get too close, she will slowly wander away. 

See how close Travis got to her while taking pictures.  She is right there between the pine trees in our neighbors backyard.  Prior to this picture, all the dogs were clamoring against the fence at her.

"I got this!"

 

 Jamie is SO cute, gotta love him.  These pics are from Spring, but had to share.

 

"Stripes on Stripes"

 Enjoying his new outdoor bed.  I got tired of dragging his crib mattress in and out everyday.

 

 Varick did some swimming.

And some tugging...

It's hard to see, but here he is being "buzzed" by Travis' RC Helicopter.

 

Varick got a new waterproof swim collar.  It dries quickly, is color fast and doesn't stretch.

He looks awesome in it at the dock diving pool or the creek.

 I did find a little spare time to do a painting of the silly boy.

Varick's fur is super shiny and he gets compliments on it all the time.

Remember he was the only one in his litter to have a white spot on his chest?

Well, this is all that remains.  THREE HAIRS, can you see them?

 

And interestingly, he has tan hair between his toes now.