Fun On The Farm

We're back!  You might think since it's been forever and a half since I posted anything, Theo and I have been sitting around watching paint dry.  Not true!  We only paint the walls just to watch them dry Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I mentioned many moons ago that Theo experienced a big change in routine when I got laid off from my job.  Unfortunately, my job hunt has been wildly unsuccessful, so Theo is still hanging at home with me.  I feel terrible about this, and even though I walk him twice a day, I still do my best to get him out and around dogs.  I figure he was neurotic enough before he stopped hanging with other dogs regularly.  I don't want him to become totally incapable of interaction.

I figured out pretty early on that the dog park just wasn't going to work.  Or at least, regular trips to the dog park.  Sure, he goes bananas when we pull into the parking lot.  He can't wait to get inside the park and bark his brains out.  But after about 5 minutes he's done.  He's said hello to the other people, presented his bum to the dogs for sniffage, and he's peed in all the spot he's interested in.  Not exactly the mental or physical stimulating exercise I'm going for.  You know what does keep his interest?  Corgis!  Of course!

I've become much more active with our local Corgi community!  I used to attend a few of the meetups every once in a while.  When I was working I would get so busy on the weekends that I missed them a lot of times.  Not anymore!  I make it a point to get some Corgi time in for Theo at least once a week.  Sometimes more!  There's a group that meets Friday mornings for hikes and walks in different spots around the area.  I could never go before because I was working, but now I'm there every week, Theo in tow!

Theo's grown to love our weekly Corgi walks so much, in fact, that he knows when it's Friday!  He waits on baited breath all morning for me to get ready, and when I finally emerge and begin gathering our things, he goes wild!  He yelps, he yips, he whines, he paces!  He makes noises I've never heard him make before.  And if I ask him if he's ready to go, the barking begins and doesn't stop until we're in the car, pulling out of the driveway!  Seriously!  It's kind of hilarious, if not a little deafening.  Husband didn't believe it until he finally witnessed it.  It took a couple extra minutes to get to the car that day because we were too busy rolling on the floor laughing.  I've been meaning to get a video of the scene, but I always forget!  It's comedy once you know that he's not, in fact, dying a slow, painful death.

Um, I'm sure it has nothing to do with that fact that there are often treats involved.  Naw....

There have also been two extra special Corgi outings in the last 2 months.  A farm!  There's a small farm about 25 miles away that hosts a very limited Corgi meetup once a month.  The owner has two Corgis, and she invites the first 12 people who RSVP to come and romp around the farm with them.  Since I have nothing better to do than check the meetup website everyday, I've been one of the lucky few twice!

One of them was just last weekend, and Theo had the time of his life!  Unfortunately, these pictures are from the time before that, which was merely an awesome time.  So you'll just have to use your imagination.

Or I could tell you about it.

He ran!  With the other dogs!  Up a hill!  I've never seen him go so ballistic over new sights and smells.  Since everything was fully fenced, we were allowed to let our pups romp around off leash.  When Theo is off leash he always sticks pretty close by me, or at least he's always obviously aware of my presence.  If he wanders away from me at the dog park, he always peeks back to make sure I haven't moved from where he left me.  Not at the farm!  If a dog could say "See ya, Mom!", he would have!  That dog would have made Toucan Sam proud with all the following of his nose he was doing.  And he peed on everything he could find!  Theo's not generally much of a marker, but that place was screaming (wafting?) "Theo" when we left.  Maybe that was his way of saying he never wanted to leave?

And since it was a farm, there were animals! Chickens, a horse, and ducks!  All safely tucked away and out of a herding dog's reach.  Except one unfortunate, lone duck.  During last weekend's meetup Theo happened across a duck they weren't able to catch and put away before the dogs arrived, and Theo made sure to teach it a lesson for it's obstinacy.  But this is Theo!  My chicken!  The dog that wouldn't herd sheep because he was afraid of getting stepped on.  Well apparently he put on his big boy diapers that day because when he saw that duck, he launched after it!  I totally lost sight of the chase, but Husband said Theo caught up to the duck and pounced on the poor thing!  Not sure what he was trying to accomplish by squashing it.  Maybe he was just trying to jump on its head?  But thankfully no harm was done.  Husband said one of the farm workers gave him a very dirty look.  What did he expect?!  Put your dang duck away next time!  But it's a good thing to note.  Theo is not scared of ducks.  Perhaps we'll give duck herding a go sometime!  Then again, perhaps it's just a singular duck he feels tough around.  A whole herd might bring him back to his senses.

It was really a special experience to wander around such a beautiful place with a dozen happy Corgis running under your feet.  And after we were done walking, we just sat on a grassy and let the dogs play.  Sufficed to say, Theo was completely pooped after both outings.  And I say a pooped Corgi is a happy Corgi!

Last weekend we lucked out on the weather, a cool 68!  But I think any future farm visits will have to wait until things cool down again.  I've had to switch Theo's after lunch walks to after breakfast or it gets too hot.  I almost got a sunburn at 8:30 this morning!  The house is sweltering and I can't afford to run the AC.  Poor guy.

And that's only the tip of the iceberg!  Ok, it's more like the entire underwater portion and there's that little tip that sticks out above the water line.  I'm talking about blog material, of course.  Theo and I have been getting up to some other shenanigans, but that'll have to wait for another post.  Which I am fully committed to posting soon!

Trudge On!

Theo went on his first hike 2 weekends ago! Like a real hike. Up a mountain.

It was kind of a random last minute thing. My friend called me the day before asking if I wanted to go hiking with him the next morning. It was a relatively short, and easy hike (6 miles round trip), and it was listed as dog-friendly, so I could bring Theo along. It just so happened that Theo had been completely stir-crazy that day, so I thought a hike would be just the thing for both of us.

The mountain we climbed was relatively short, but it took so much mileage to get up it because it was basically just a series of switch-backs. This worked out well because if you didn't know, Theo's legs are a little shorter than the average dog. So rather than trying to climb straight up a mountain, we got to climb a steep turn, then walk a relatively flat trail, and another steep turn, another flat trail, etc. So basically, for Theo it was a few high jumps, followed by mostly easy trail.

And he was a rock star! He loved every minute of it! Some of the climbing was really steep, involving climbing some pretty big rocks. I always expected him to stop and cry for me to lift him up them, but no, He worked it out on his own, figuring out the best hops and jumps to best get him around the bend. I was so proud of him! And, being the energizer bunny, he didn't slow down the entire climb. He was too happy to bother with something as pesky as being tired.

Here's a tip about those hiking guide books: when they say a hike is dog-friendly, I don't think they image someone bringing their toy poodle. I saw dog after dog on the trail, but they were all huge. Lots of Labs and Shepherds, and one lone Beagle who made a quick friend of Theo (Theo considers Beagles honorary Corgis, I think). Just about everyone we passed marveled at such a stumpy-legged dog making such a steep climb. A few people even expressed concern. All for not, of course. Theo needed to sympathy. He actually out-hiked my friend, who kept the pace a bit too slow for Theo's liking.

At the top of the mountain we took a short break for some water, then headed back down. This is the part I was most concerned about. Not for Theo. For myself! I am fine with climbing up anything, but climbing back down is always where I falter. See, I'm tall. Tall people have a high center of gravity. Also, I'm clumsy. Tall, clumsy people have a long way to fall. And I had Theo attached to me. Theo likes to climb down things. He has a very low center of gravity. He doesn't have to worry about falling down. And he doesn't understand that mommies really don't want to be dragged down steep rocks for fear of their lives. Thankfully Theo was pretty good about not yanking on the leash while I was in the middle of being precariously perched, and we all three made it down safe and sound.

It was a really great time. Overall, my favorite moment was when Theo leaped onto the smooth face of a steep rock, couldn't find traction, and slowly slipped back to the ground. What'd he do? He leaped up to the same spot again, and sliiiiiiid back to the ground. It was hilarious to watch! It looked as if he was thinking "This time I'll make it for sure!" So cute. I finally had to suggest an alternate route for him, when I could stop laughing long enough to speak. A close second was when we passed a small child who was crying and throwing a fit to his parents. He had fallen down and was hurt. Far too hurt to possibly consider continuing on the hike! Or so he was trying to convince them. Theo, distressed at the thought of an adorable child being so unhappy, ran up to the boy and started gently licking his fingers, to try to assure him that everything was ok. The boy immediately stopped cry, smiled at Theo, said "Hello doggie!" and bend down to pet him. As soon as we parted, I heard him start trying again, picking up where he left off. Sorry kid, I think your parents were on to you. Hehe!

Husband was bummed to miss the hike, he was out of town, so I'm sure we'll be doing it again soon with him in tow. Since I was handling Theo on my own, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, which bums me out. Next time!

So after a 6 mile hike full of leaping and bounding over rocks, what does Theo do as soon as we walk in the door? Well if you read this blog with any kind of regularity, I'm sure you can guess that he immediately got a toy for me to throw for him. Yes, he actually still had energy to play fetch. I'll admit, it was a very half-hearted game of fetch, but the fact that he didn't immediately keel over and take a nap stunned me. I don't call him the energizer bunny for nothing, people!





Do you have any fun hiking stories with your dog to share? Is s/he like Theo in considering the steeper the climb the better?

Vacationing With The Pups

Check out my food blog for a detailed account of our trip to Napa last Christmas! We piled the pups in the car and had a gay old time together. We only went to one winery that let us take the dogs into their tasting room (Alpha Omega), but they had lots of fun wandering the quiet neighborhoods and doing their part to water the grapes between trips.

Rex, well accustomed to the back seat, was as calm and mellow as ever, but Theo is used to ruling the car. He somehow would manage to worm his way over the seat and into Chris' mom's lap, where he would get a very nice head rub while he napped, ever-triumphant over Rex.

What a trouble maker

Our next vacation is already planned and I can't wait. We'll be in Monterey over Easter, and we wouldn't dream of leaving our furkid at home. Hopefully more fun adventures will be had!

Puppy Breath

I held a Corgi puppy on Sunday. Brian. A 13 week black headed tri. Named after the talking dog on Family Guy. One of my favorite shows. He was...*clears heart out of throat*...precious. That seems to be my go-to word for all things infantile, but he truly was.

We were at the dog park for a mini-meetup and there he was. Sitting on the bench with his mama because he didn't quite have all of his shots. She was good enough to bring Brian to the meetup just so we could fawn over him. Ok, actually it was for much better reasons, like socialization! Brian was all aflutter about the doggy commotion going on around him! He was so calm, so quite, so mellow! All in all, the complete antithesis of Theo when he was a puppy. Exhibit A: he sat in my lap quietly, content even, while I pet him for minutes upon minutes! Theo couldn't sit within 2 feet of me without trying to nip my face off when he was a puppy. Not to mention he didn't sit still unless it was to sleep.

But nevermind Theo as a puppy, we're talking about Brian here! I, of course, snagged the prime seat right next to little Brian on the bench as soon as I saw him. A few minutes later he wandered out of him mama's lap and into mine. My heart melted right then and there. He didn't seem frightened or anxious. He just chilled out, watching all the dogs play around him while I gently pet him and cooed how adorable he was. He didn't mind any of it. What a great pup!

My status as Brian's cushion made me quite popular with the other Corgis. Every few minutes one of them would run by, pop up on my legs or the bench, and give Brian a quick sniff hello. They all wanted to welcome him to our close-knit group. I ended up with a Corgi or two on my feet, and Theo, predictably, trying to compete for mommy's attention. At one point I was literally covered in sweet, adorable, goofy Corgis. I may have mentioned something about it being my vision of heaven. I came home from the dog park positively glowing. Tears might have welled up when I recounted the affair to Husband. They might be welling up as I type this. I'll never admit it, though. I am still thinking of Brian and how completely calm, adorable, and tiny he was. Puppies are dangerous, people.

But I learned something that day. Theo, from all experiences so far, which admittedly are very limited, likes Corgi puppies. Theo doesn't like puppies. They're whipper snappers! They jump all over you and nip and don't mind their doggy manners! They need to be told the ways of the world the same way Theo was told when he was a puppy. Like this:

That's how Theo usually acts around puppies. Except when it comes to Corgi puppies. Theo was so calm with Brian, and responded to him with an aloofness that bordered on friendliness! *gasp!* He let Brian sniff his ears! Crazier still, Theo pitched not a single fit to my giving all my love and attention to Brian. Whenever I love on another dog at the dog park, Theo always runs up, growls and barks at me, then gives me a look like he's been betrayed. He's not satisfied until the other dog is gone and I am patting Theo reassuringly that he is my one and only. When Brian was in my lap, Theo jumped up onto the bench, wedged himself between Brian's mama and myself, and calmly laid there. He just laid there! Every few minutes he would sniff Brian's ears, or his nose, or his you-know-what. Then he would stop and just chill out next to him, like there was no place he'd rather be than chilling with this puppy and me. My Theo. The non-chiller.

Crazier still, he seemed to get a bit protective of Brian. When other dogs would come up to say hello (ok, it was mostly Philip), Theo would chase them off! He would snap and bark at them, sometimes even jumping down to the ground to convey his point, until they ran off. He definitely seemed to be saying "look, don't touch you fur-truders!" If he hadn't started acting normal again once Brian was out of my lap, I would have suspected alien abduction and body snatching.

What else is there to conclude except that Theo was enamored of Brian. I was too. Not that I would consider anything but a Corgi for a second dog at this point, but this really drove home the point that Corgis just really love Corgis. There's definitely a camaraderie there that I've never seen him express with another breed. If we were to bring home a puppy, it would have to be a Corgi.

Not that I'm bringing home a puppy anytime soon.

But man do I want to bring home a puppy. Or just steal Brian. I think Theo would be ok with that too.

Oh, and Philip was definitely getting Theo back for his rude behavior last month. Theo might be louder and crabbier, but Philip is definitely faster! He kept giving Theo a challenging look bob of the head and then bolting with a "you're never gonna caaaaaaatch me!" look on his face. Mwhahaha! Payback is a female you, Theo! Also, Philip's owner's commentary during the whole thing was hilarious. All the Corgis were in quite a hilarious mood that day. By far the most fun I've had at a meetup!

So it's that time of year. Thanksgiving! While I wish I could say I'm getting ready to enjoy Theo's second Thanksgiving, I'm actually getting ready to drop him off at the boarding facility. I know. I'm a horrible person. But see, my only sister just had her first baby. She lives on the East Coast. I live on the West Coast. She can't travel with a newborn. I still haven't met my nephew. So guess how this ends? Yep, I'm going to Virginia for Thanksgiving to meet my nephew who is the cutest baby in the whole world! And yes, he's also extremely precious. There will definitely be more tear wellage this week. I hope she's stocked up on tissue. I am such a softy! Unfortunately, since Theo isn't small enough to fit under an airline seat. Or rather, since airline seats haven't been made to take Corgi cabin travel into account (can I write my local representative about this travesty?), that means Theo has to stay behind. He'll be boarded for five whole days. I am trying not to dwell. He'll be fine. We'll miss each other terribly. I just hope he's not too mad at me when I finally pick him up. I'm not completely depriving him of a festive good time. I think I'll try to host a holiday dinner of some kind in the next few weeks. Chanukah perhaps? Get my latke on?

The Theo random acts of cuddlage (I might just have to coin it TRACs if this keeps up!) have continued. Usually it involves snuggling on the couch on top of my favorite blanket (it's Husband's super old, threadbare, and thus super-soft comforter from college. I've promised him a divorce if ever he tries to throw it out behind my back (he's threatened!).), with a full belly, wedged between me and Husband. Now when I try to work out in the mornings, Theo is right there distracting me with wet nose sniffs and exposed soft bellies. How is a girl supposed to whip her butt into shape with that kind of a distraction? I've moved that portion of my morning routine to the gym.

Have a safe and happy holiday everyone! Moderation is our friend, for both human and canine alike! And remember to be thankful for your furkids: adorable, troublesome goofballs that they are!

Plum Tuckered

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July! Mine was fantastic. We had some friends over for the greatest feast of all time a BBQ. We don't host many get-togethers at our house because of various reasons, mostly involving laziness busyness and my neuroses about cooking for other people and hosting in general, so Theo doesn't often have people play-dates. Oh boy, does that dog love having strange new people in the house to play fetch with him. Theo painted them all as suckers within minutes and their arrival, and between my four friends that were over, I think Theo managed to spend only a few minutes of the entire evening not running after a thrown toy.

I could tell he was at the point of poop-xaustion when, as soon as the front door was closed behind my departing friends, Theo literally collapsed where he was standing. One minute he was booty-wiggling them goodbye, and the next he was flat-backed on the floor, conked out. Husband and I enjoyed closing the evening with a good chuckle.

Then yesterday, Husband and I were feeling the aftermath of eating our weight in food the day before (not to mention the second round of pigging out that happened that day as well), so we decided to take a long waddle walk around the surrounding neighborhoods. That's right, we actually ventured out of the complex. It's something we tried for the first time last week and it was marvelous! Theo had a blast marking all new spots. I don't know how far we walked, or how long we walked (since I forgot to check the time when we left), but it felt like about 4 or 5 miles. Even though we stopped frequently for water and pee breaks (Husband and I, obviously, only partook in the water breaks), Theo was so pooped, he did the collapsing on spot thing again as soon as we stopped to open the front gate to our yard. He plopped right down, and when I told him to go in the house after Husband had opened the front door, he gave me the dirtiest "you want me to move?" look he's ever given me. Hehe. He even stayed lying down while I gave him his after-walk treats (he usually likes to lessen the time it takes to get a treat into his mouth by meeting me halfway). What a drama queen!

Looks like I did a pretty good job of tuckering him out this weekend, eh?

Rained Out Again

Last weekend me and some other Corgi owners in the area attempted another mini meetup.  It was fun for about 40 minutes, until it started raining.  Why does it always rain when we see Philip?  Speaking of Philip, he and a puggle decided they were soul mates and did nothing but play together for a good twenty minutes.

When the puggle's owner went to leave, Philip was not happy.  There may have been jumping involved when the owner picked his puggle up.  Seeing a hopping Corgi is definitely a site.

Theo, ever the beggar while Sidney demonstrated his awesome "treat on the nose" trick.  He is so smart!  Theo is smart in his own way.  He managed to finagle quite a few treats from Sidney's mom.  Look at that begging position?  This is what I have to deal with every day.  I love it though.

Exhibit A of why you shouldn't bring food to a dog park.  Corgis aren't the only food mongers of the dog kind.  Hehe.  For some reason I love Theo's butt in this picture.  That ghetto booty's got attitude!

We had lunch with Mouth and Philip's owner afterwards.  I had a lot of fun (though it was a tad soggy, hehe).  Philip is so great.  I had a blast giving him lots of love.  Now if only we can get together without it raining...

(New Flickr pictures here)

Aside: A lot of people have been commenting on Theo's weight, saying how skinny he looks.  It's true, over the last few weeks he got really skinny.  We didn't reduce his food at all, in fact we increased it when he started to lose weight.  I'm guessing it was a combination of losing his puppy fat, playing more at doggy daycare, and running in the mornings.  Whatever the cause, his new figure is quite svelte!

Something For A Rainy Day

1. Due to popular demand (by one whole person!) I've put up a new poll.  That's right, I'm making you actually click over to my page from you google reader or the like. *groan*  But this is a fun one!  I wanted to know what type of swag people would be interested in if I were to do a giveaway with some of the money from the Petsmart giftcard I got for Theo's winning costume (read: I'm doing a giveaway, tell me what you want).  Here are the items I was thinking that go along with the poll items: Frisbee, antlers, plush, stocking, and chuck-it.  If you have another suggestion (which I'm completely open to!), let me know.
2. I can't guarantee anything by Christmas, so keep that in mind.  I'll do my best though.  Keep an eye out for the giveaway because it won't last long!
3. We met up with some Corgis in the area this weekend, including Philip.  Unfortunately, we were rained out again.  Why does that always happen when I meet up with him?  Well it was a lot of fun while it lasted.  This group of 5 Corgis is a really good group.  They all get along, and they're all very sweet dogs.  I'll post my pictures once I get a chance to download them from the camera.  But be warned, I got an iphone yesterday (it is awesome!!!), and I'll probably be good and distracted by that for most of the week.
4. Theo fell asleep at my feet last night.  He never sleeps that close to me.  Then this morning he snuggled with me on the couch.  The snuggly moments are few and far between, which makes me appreciate them all the more.
5. Along with cheese and peanut butter, Theo now has a love of almonds.  Everytime he hears me tilt the jar he comes running, looking expectantly at me for a handout.  No matter where he is in the house, he can hear the dispensing of almonds.  It's adorable.
6. We're wondering if we should get Theo some shoes for the snow next week.  He's a total temperature whimp, just like mommy and daddy.  Personally, I think a light coat for him would be better, and more comfortable.
7. We bought the peticure safeguard to attach to our dremel so we could sand Theo's nails indoors without making a mess (it gets dark too early to keep doing it outside).  We tried it out yesterday and it worked great!  No dust, no mess.  There was another bonus too: safety.  Sometimes when we're sanding his nails he freaks out and tries to bite the sander.  Obviously, not the best thing for Theo's mouth, and Husband kept getting scratched up by it when he would try and stop Theo from biting it.  This attachment works great for those two purposes.  

Let Us Not Dwell On The Chicken Herder

But I did want to update you with some pictures from the big day (and by big day I mean "big half hour").

As I said before, Theo didn't really want much to do with the sheep to begin with.

I should point out that these sheep were not in any way challenging or directly threatening Theo. They were "dog broken" as I believe the term is called. He couldn't have found nicer sheep if he had raised them from lambs.

After running around like a jerk for a few minutes, I finally managed to get Theo into it a little bit.

The sheep were running around, kind of chasing me, and Theo just couldn't help running around a bit himself.

Then he seemed to notice the sheep were there and he started chasing after them a bit.


And then the moment passed. He wouldn't go near them again.


Theo took a break to give Sidney a go. As you can see, he's a natural.


During Theo's second attempt, he apparently felt he had worked hard enough to earn his first meal.

Don't bother him, he's eating.





I think what really bothers me about this experience was the woman running the place. She had her hands in about 5 different things going on all at the same time. We had made an appointment with her, so I feel we should have gotten some actual instruction or at least attention. But she pretty much just put us in there to play around and then took off. That's what I meant by not very "official" I guess. I feel like I paid the woman $25 to rent her sheep for 15 minutes. Those sheep are paid better than I am! I'll let a dog herd me around for that kind of money. I think if we do try ducks, I'll look around for a place I like a bit better. Overall, I would recommend the experience, just not at the particular facility I went to. And make sure to ask about ducks!

Theo The Chicken Herder

And I don't mean he herded chickens. We took Theo to get his herding instinct tested today, and it was a very odd experience. First off, it wasn't nearly as official as I've heard other people describe it (at different locations of course). The place I went was very informal. In a nutshell it was go in the pen, see what the dog does, give advice, give money, and leave. I'll go more into it, but you can see how it wasn't exactly a "test", and Theo didn't exactly "pass".

When Theo got in the pen he went straight to the opposite side of the pen from where the sheep were. That's where it all went downhill... The lady said I should run around and herd the sheep myself to show Theo how it is done. Sufficed to say neither Theo nor I were very interested in herding those sheep, nor were we very good at it. It took a couple of minutes looking like a complete idiot before Theo seemed to notice the sheep. He seemed to get into it. I praised and praised and praised...and then he stopped herding. About 30 seconds was all I got out of him.

After 30 seconds Theo stopped dead in his tracks and wouldn't do anything besides eat sheep poop. The lady said to let Theo watch another dog try it to so he could see how it was done. Theo wouldn't get anywhere near the sheep the second time in. He only had eyes for poop. He actually started acting very badly and kept running away from me anytime I got close to him. I was not pleased, to say the least.

At the end the lady said that she thought Theo was afraid of the sheep because they were so big. She suggested we start with ducks, and after he gets comfortable with them ,we could move to sheep. Of course, we couldn't try ducks today because she hadn't caught them (I guess they're more free to wander?). And that's how we left it. She didn't really give much of a second thought to Theo before she wandered off to do something else. We paid her, then left. It wasn't a very pleasant experience for me, and I don't think it was a pleasant experience for Theo. I'm disappointed that it wasn't something fun for us, but at least there are plenty of other fun things we can do together. Maybe other herding places are better? At least Sidney had a good time.

Pictures to come!

A Trip To The...Lake?

We met up with Sidney and his gang last weekend. We decided to start with the walking trails by my house, which goes along a lake.


The lake used to be dried up, but now there is water in it again. We decided to go off trail and walk beside the water.


Theo, after cooling his paws in the nice murky water, decided that there was something disgusting amidst the clam shells that he simply had to roll in. Speaking of clam shells, I didn't know there was such a thing as freshwater clams until I saw these and went home and googled them. Hehe.


Sidney's mom is just so great at training him. She could even get him to balance a treat on his nose! I could never get Theo to do that. He always just backs away from it. She was nice enough to give me some pointers that I haven't tried out yet.


Sidney and Theo stopped to play a few times. At the time it was so obvious that they were playing, but it was interesting to come home and see how crazy dog play looks frame by frame. They were looking pretty vicious in some! Look at those teeth!


Aftward we headed over to the nearby dog park to let them play a little bit more, just to make sure they got it all out of their system.

I tell you, only in Southern California can you get a sunburn at 11am in the middle of November. Oiy, it was hot!



On a blog related note, I decided to try out the new feature they added recently. If you look at the bottom of this post you can rate the post. You can choose the rating options in the layout, but I just stuck with the default. They work for now.

A Trip To The Beach

Ugh, I wish I wasn't on travel during this NaBloPoMo! I don't feel like I'm doing these posts justice. I may need to run back through these posts after I get back on Saturday to clean them up a bit. Hehe.

Anyway, so I'm finally ready to talk about our trip to the beach last weekend. It was so much fun! It turns out Philip the Corgi's owner recognized Theo at a meetup last month and we got to talking and decided to do our own little meetup at the beach!

Theo had so much fun (and so did I)! It really surprises me, but Theo just loves the beach! This time there was no hesitation with the waves. He ran right in. He was wet and sandy from head to toe within minutes. He actually seems to enjoy it more than the dog park.

Of course, he also had lots of fun playing with Philip!

Philip was so fun to watch! He loves everyone and those big floppy ears are cuter than Dumbo's. I love them! Philip was loving everyone so much he kept following one dog and then another and then another, and before we knew it he was halfway down the beach! His owner kept having to go retrieve him back to us. Hehe. There's an issue I thankfully never had with Theo, but it's a small price to pay for such a great personality!

I hope we can meet up again soon because this was a blast!

Walking Last Weekend

Last weekend I somewhat successfully organized a walk around the walking trails by my house, like I mentioned before. I say somewhat because only one family ended up coming to meet me. But it was successful because the family was wonderfully nice with 3 awesome dogs! Chester, Bruce, and Sidney were a delight. The two old boys were Chester, a black lab mix, and Bruce, a Corgi/Elkhound mix. They were both very sweet, and to my surprise, very well able to handle the walk at their ripe old age!

Theo and Sidney, the one year old Corgi, hit it off immediately when Sidney went ahead and jumped right on top of Theo's head. Yeah, they were pretty much made for each other. They were similar in size and temperament, if not in the tail department (Sidney is tailed). They walked side by side pretty much the entire time. At some points they were actually touching.

They played so much that Theo was covered in dirt by the end. That lovely white color had a nice dirty sheen by the end. Into the bath he went when we got home!

He didn't want to leave his new best friend Sidney. I bet he would have gone home with them if he had a say in the matter! He was very forlorn when they all piled in their car and it was just the two of us again. Don't worry Theo, we'll just have to do it again soon!

One highlight was seeing this guy:

He was riding what was essentially a large scooter pulled by his three Huskies. It was so cool! A desert dog sled. Mush! Mush! Of course, the dogs ended up getting a bit distracted whenever they passed something or someone interesting, so we say him taking time to rein them in a couple of times. He was really fun to watch.

The other highlight was meeting Tuffy, another Corgi! It was special because of Tuffy's story.

His owner told us that Tuffy had been in her house alone during the fires last October that burned down so many houses in my area. She was out of town and couldn't get to him before her house burned down! She doesn't know how, but somehow he managed to escape the house with little more than some singed fur, thank goodness! And what a good boy, he was waiting right behind their back fence, waiting to be claimed by his people, when they arrived a few hours later. I thought that was just such a crazy story. Not only did Tuffy live through his house burning down around him, but he had the sense to stay close to home.

So that was our walk. I know my pictures aren't the best. Husband decided to stay home and sleep in so I had to handle Theo, our bag of stuff, and my camera all at the same time. I'm surprised they turned out as well as they did! Next time I'd like to have a little help with Theo so I can focus on capturing the event better! You can check out my flickr for more pictures of the walk.

In Which I Organize Things

The Corgi meetup group in my city meets once a month. Most times there are a lot of people, and even more dogs. Sometimes it's far away or I'm just busy that day. Overall I've been to about half the meetups since we got Theo, and of the ones we went to, only a couple I'd say Theo actually had a lot of fun at.

One of the members of the group who lives in a different part of the county often organizes walks in his area, around lakes and other scenic areas, and he invites all the other Corgi meetup members to join him. They're pretty popular I believe, but I've never been willing to trek all the way to his area. Last week one of the members finally said on the message board what I had been thinking all along. His walks are too far for her to drive out, so why don't we have one for people closer to her area? Well she lives near me so it got me thinking: why don't we?

I was in a rare state at the time...so even though I have a big weekend ahead of me involving lots of eating, and even though I hate planning things, I decided to go crazy and try and organize my own walk! Guess where? That's right, those lovely walking trails right by my house! Remember this?

Yay! It's finally cooled down enough that I feel comfortable taking Theo there again.

I'll *hopefully* be meeting a couple people with their Corgis (and non-Corgi dogs) this Saturday morning. And also, because I was afraid people would flake, Mouth and his 3 dogs will also be joining us.

I'm very excited, and if all goes well it might be something I organize regularly. At the very least I should finally have some new pictures of Theo out and about to post.

Theo At The Beach

If you haven't yet checked out my newest flickr pictures, there's a ton of Theo (and some other Corgis from my meet-up group) at the dog beach this last weekend. We had such a blast! Even Husband had fun, and he avoids having fun at all cost. He hates the beach (it's the sand of course), but he still had undeniable fun! When were leaving and walking back to our car I turned to him and said "that was fun!" waiting for the usual apathetic/grumpy response. But he surprised me by enthusiastically responding that it was fun. No one sounded more surprised than him.

Let me start off by saying that my comments on the pictures below will be below the pictures themselves. When I read other people's blogs I notice some people right above, some below, and some do both in one post! I always find it confusing, and I'm a big enough dork to actually tell you upfront. So there. Now we'll get on with it...


I was pretty nervous about how Theo would do at the beach. The meet-ups lately have stressed him out a little because there are just so many Corgis! Plus, Theo isn't a big fan of water, so I made sure not to get my hopes up. I figured at the worst we would watch a bunch of Corgis play in the water while we sat and watched.

It was pretty tentative starting off. As you can see, Theo was afraid of the waves at first. He would run out when the waves were out, and then run back to us when the wave came in. It was so adorable!

Thankfully Theo gave us a pleasant surprise: he was playful! He chased Corgis, he barked, he frolicked. And after he was comfortable with all of that, he played in the water! I've never seen him so happy. He was also very excited to discover that he could eat water, salt, and dirt all in one gulp! I was not so excited about that, but I figured it wouldn't kill him (I had fresh water standing by for when he was thirsty from drinking salt water).

He made me proud by always sticking close to us. Even when he wandered off to play, he always gave me his attention when I called his name. If you can't pick my Theo out of the gaggle of Corgis in the picture, he's the one looking right at me like a good doggy.

Theo would only go up to a few inches of water. Eventually I wanted to see how he liked swimming, so I tricked him a little. I waded out into the water and called him to me. He was doubtful, but he really wanted to be where I was, so he waded out too. As you can see from the picture, he got a bit google-eyed just going chest deep.

Then a wave came in and he was swept away! Hehe, ok, not really. He was just forced to swim a bit to get back to shore (it was only like 6 feet away). The picture above is literally his very first moment swimming. He sank a bit at first, but he figured out how to doggy paddle in mere seconds. I guess I'm a sink or swim kind of a mom.

Theo made a beeline right back to shore. As adorable as he looked swimming, he was in a panic the whole time. I felt so guilty! I'm a terrible person, I know, but I think it was a good experience for him. I think next time I'll just carry him to deep water and support his belly a bit while he gets used to it. I didn't think of it at the time.

When he got to shore Theo shot me the dirtiest look he's ever given me and ran straight to Husband for safety. He ignored me and wouldn't go near the water for a couple minutes afterwards. But like most kids when they're pouting, he got over it quickly and before long he was back to normal. Though Husband told me later than when he walked out there with him, Theo kept growling at the waves. Hehe. You tell 'em Theo!

Pulling out the tennis ball for some fetch definitely helped. Usually Theo is too distracted to play fetch when we're out with other dogs, but this time he was able to focus. And boy was he focused! We purposefully threw it out into the water to see how he would react with the waves. He was too obsessed with the game to pay any attention to the waves (he gets like that with fetch when we play at home). It was so funny watching him try to soccer kick the ball back across the sand. Hehe. It didn't work out very well for him.

We were all thoroughly pooped afterwards, and proceeded to do nothing the rest of the day except rest (and give Theo a bath, which was anything but restful...). We'll definitely have to make more trips to the beach this summer! Since the temperature is sweltering during the day, the beach is pretty much the only place we can take him that qualifies as "out and about". Is it Fall yet?

Part 3 - Mendocino Trip, Botanical Gardens

The best part of our trip to Mendocino was the afternoon we spent at the Mendocino Botanical Gardens, which is located about 7 miles north of town up the 1. We actually almost didn't go. It was the last day of the trip and I was feeling lazy and tempted to hang around all day, but thanks to my mom and Husband (and my sister and her husband for buying the tickets!), we ended up going.

It started off pretty ho hum with some ordinary plants I had no interest in identifying. Then all of a sudden it got awesome. There were these cool scraggly trees. There's nothing I love more than scraggly trees on an overcast day. Sure, it's gloomy, but for some reason it makes me happy and pensive.

After the scraggly trees were some bluffs. Who doesn't like a nice ocean view in between garden viewing?









The real treat came when we got to the dahlia garden. There were Dahlia's everywhere, with a grassy lawn in the middle of them and a artistic wooden gazebo-like structure at the end of the row. Could you imagine getting married there? You wouldn't need a florist, that's for sure. Seriously, the Dahlia garden was so gorgeous I would have gone just to see it. There were all different kinds (who knew there were different kinds?) and the colors ranged everywhere from white to orange to purple. Plus, tt was a great opportunity to use the macro setting on my new camera!








And guess what else was cool about the gardens...it was dog friendly! You can take your dog into the gardens as long as you stay on the path and keep them on a 6' leash. No extra charge. Theo had a blast. He was always looking back and giving us a "hurry up!" look when we dawdled. He wanted to see what the gardens had to offer!

The happy look on Theo's face here is because he's have a roaring good laugh over the fact that mommy and daddy had to wipe some stray poop off his booty. Yuck! Lots of walking seems to make Theo have to poop when he doesn't really need to. The rest of my family gave us a "and that's why I don't have a dog" look. Lovely.






Another cool thing at the gardens that most of my family ended up skipping over was the vegetable garden. It was a ways off the main path, but when I saw the sign my mom and I decided we'd check it out. I wouldn't recommend bringing your dog into this area. It's, well, a vegetable garden! Lettuce, zucchini, and lots of other veggies (as well as fruits) grow in planter boxes only a few inches off the ground. Very easy access to a food-obsessed pup. But they do allow people tastings, so my mom and I had fun picking a blueberry and currant here and there. Man did they taste great right off the bush! I just love the way this picture came out.

Well that's the end of my Mendocino vacation. It was lots of fun but way too short. This was my first real vacation with Theo and I think it went really well! He was really well behaved for the most part (minus the incessant pulling on his leash!), and he really helped keep me out and about (something I don't do enough!).

Part 2 - Mendocino Trip, Mendocino Proper

Theo had a blast in Mendocino. He was actually pretty psychotic from his bubbling over excitement. He was either full speed hyper or full speed sleeping most of the time, but in some rare instances of mellowness I managed to get a picture or two.

In the morning my mom and I would get breakfast together at the bakery. Here's Theo waiting patiently for me to drop a goody. This was a Mendocino first for my mom and I. I've never been awake early enough to go and get breakfast with her, but thanks to Theo, I'm now an early bird!







After breakfast I would take Theo for a walk on the bluffs, just the two of us. Theo just loved the bluffs. I think he would have been happy standing there all day just sniffing the ocean air. It was adorable seeing his nose in overdrive with the same look on his face that dogs get when they stick their head out of a moving car.










After breakfast he was usually pooped and nap while Husband and I got ready. He thought the shams and top comforter we threw off the bed was for his own personal use. It was pretty adorable.

He loved sleeping in the same room as Husband and I. In the morning he would try his darnedest to jump up on the bed, and at one point he actually did it...when the bed was empty. Husband said it was hysterical watching his facial expression go from triumph to disappointment.







After lunch Husband and I took Theo for another walk. We walked around town and did our town shopping, which included Mendocino jam and mustard, Mendocino fudge, and looking around Out of This World and the Gallery Bookshop). And then it was back out to the bluffs.

This is Theo's pirate face. Arggg!













And in between all the walking there was of course more eating of delicious food, drinking of Navarro wine, and hanging out. But Theo mostly just slept during those parts, or played fetch with my sister and her husband. Theo never gets tired of playing fetch with his tribbles.

In the evening my family played a new game called Time's Up. It is frakking awesome, and absolutely hilarious to play with your family.

It was a great vacation, with the only downside being how quickly it was over. For most pictures see my flickr album.

Part 1 - Mendocino Vacation, Navarro

I decided that there's so much awesomeness from my vacation I want to post about, I had better split it up into a few so it doesn't end up a novel (and I don't end up blogging all night, hehe). So I'll start off with our wine tasting at Navarro winery. Navarro is located on highway 128 (off 101) in Philo, which is a little ways past Boonville (seriously). The road has lots of ups and downs and all arounds, so if you get car sickness (I do!) roll down your window and take it slow. No one likes to drink wine on a queasy stomach.

The area surrounding the winery is very picturesque. They have picnic tables right outside their tasting room so you can sit and enjoy the view. Or there are other tables around the property in other pretty settings. There are flowers pretty much everywhere. We actually stopped in Healdsburg for lunch (a cute town I had never been to before...very Sonoma), and we were in a hurry to get to Mendocino, so we didn't sit and enjoy like I would have liked.



The tasting room is a friendly and relaxed setting, and unexpectedly booming considering it's surrounded by nothing but small towns. I guess they got some street cred. There is no tasting fee and they had I think about 15 wines to taste with no limit on the number of wines you could taste.

Even though Navarro is one of my favorite wineries I'm going to go ahead and say that their reds aren't that great. It makes me sad because I love red wine. A good red wine is just the best thing ever. Their reds are definitely drinkable, but I wouldn't say they're worth driving to Philo for. Their whites, however, definitely are! The winery is most known for its Gewürztraminer, I would say. It is delicious. And if you want a real treat try the Gewürztraminer Late Harvest. It's a sweet wine, but not too sweet. I don't really like most dessert wines, but this stuff is guud. It's a bit pricey though, so I just got a half bottle (sorry friends, that means we're not sharing!). Also, it may sound pricey, and it may sound silly, but try some of their grape juice. It is so frakking good. I hate juice you buy at the grocery store because they’re so sweet! I don’t taste fruit, I just taste artificial flavoring and sugar. Blech! Navarro’s grape juice tastes like it actually came from grapes, and it’s sweetened just the right amount.


And last thing I'll say about the winery is that it is surprisingly extremely dog friendly! Dog-friendly wineries is definitely not something I kept an eye out for before getting Theo. Who knew tasting rooms allow dogs? We found out by accident. We assumed Theo couldn't come in so Husband was sitting with him outside, but somehow Theo got inside and once the people working the tasting room spotted him they immediately told us that he was welcome and they'd love to have him roam around. How nice! They let him wander wherever he wanted (you can see his curious george booty in the picture to the left, they really let him go wherever he wanted!). They fawned over him. They fed him treats. At one point they even gave him some grape juice out of a wine glass!

Apparently the owner of the winery is a big dog lover. He has a daschund who goes out on the tractor with him and helps with the process or something (I'm a good listener). There's a picture of him and his dogs (one has since passed on) hanging on the wall. So it's like company policy to be dog friendly. :p Whatever the reason, any dog is welcome in the tasting room, which makes for a much more enjoyable experience, in my opinion.

I like stopping off at Navarro before heading to Mendocino because it just starts the vacation off right. That way we're all stocked up on wine!

PS: I uploaded all the pictures from my trip to flickr. There's a lot of 'em!