Canyon hike

I keep trying to get to a specific grove, but am turning off on different trails/camping grounds out of curiosity.  BECAUSE I CAN!!!  Unlike the last several many years when I had no car.  So.  Enjoy.

PS, it was raining off and on all weekend.  I got tired of Jory's fur being wet all the time despite using towels and blankets to rub him off (I'm sure he was cold!) So we took a pre-trip trip to Petsmart for a coat.  (I thought of making my own, but decided that would be annoying and ultimately lead to him having no coat.)

oh god why!?

Of course I had to see him with a hood on.  This model was NOT a winner.

Right by the parking! 

 Oh yeah, we encountered some horse back riders loading up from their own hike.  They had black powder muskets, and had to unload them by shooting at some cans in a tree.  SCARY NOISE!!!  I entertained the idea that maybe they were putting their horses down, I didn't realize the guns were the type that need to be shot off initially.  "Just stay cool, Shannen.  If they dump of massive horse body on the trail head, who am I to snitch?"

I made the joke that I was more gunshy than my dog was, after yelping in their perimeter.  They were quite fond of Jory, (everyone that doesn't hate dogs is) but after scoping them out, he decided that they were to be warned off.  "He doesn't like the guns," the main guy commented.  "Maybe!"  Or you're four random bros in the middle of nowhere threatening him and his momma.  Who's to say?

And we're off!  (He was neutral about this coat=win) 

That guilt about "I really need to clip his nails" was not here!  Built in Paw Cleats for the mud.

My shoes that were just perfect for my campus scooter this morning...
horrible for the trail.  I didn't think I was going hiking.  I should just learn to assume.

Sacred off-leash time!

There were at least two types of birds in this bush.  One of them was about the
size of a pheasant, but looked like a dove, and was SO LOUD when it flew off!  Just its wings!

Chill puppy.
Per a weird wildlife law that says rangers can "dispose of dogs deeming to be
harassing wildlife", he was clean.  Good signs should we ever go to a National Park.

IS THIS THE END???!  No.  Drats!!!
One more bend, we'll check one more bend...

We made it!  To... something... kinda lame, actually.
I finally got the sense to go no further.  Rain was coming in again.

lick lick gulp

That fur though!

"Okay, Jory.  Let's go."  Oh, you found a stick.  Naturally.

I think I heard thunder.  Can you believe this guy?

Can you believe me for taking the time to snap a selfie?  I can.

As I thought to take a smiling photo (in case I looked too much like a hag in that one?) Jory came over to see what I was doing.  (Sticks are cool, photos are silly.  I see.)  And we're off again!

One human and a dog agree, this is nice, but the walking is getting old.

Seriously, the rain.  Here is a print from our way up, now filled with water.

So... so wet...  Still handsome.  Took a micro break.

PLEASE can we stop!!!  "Sorry!  Thunder is getting closer!"

Still a ways to go.  UGH.  Yet.. soo pretty!

wow, scooter rain cloud!

The parking!  Open ground!  I'm wet!  WEEEEE!

We were both VERY soaked.

He had taken a posture that was so regal.
I missed the perfect profile, but this gives you the idea.

"No no, Sir Dog is my father."

 
And then we went home.  Where I ultimately fell asleep under the table, where he has a blanket nest and I put a space heater.  (I was trying to jealous him back there from the living room floor, but crashed.  haha.)

The blanket nest in question.  This was him pre-hike.

Morals of the story: 

don't let curiosity drive you too far.  You're not the only one who doesn't like walking back down mountains.

Maybe avoid going into the middle of nowhere on rainy days, lest you are struck by lightning.

Wear better hiking shoes.  Leave the white shirt in the car.  No jeans.  AKA don't wear what you had on in class into the mountains.

Sprinkling morning

Gone to the dog park.  A couple gentlemen played with him.  He might learn that if he beats other dogs to the ball that they will chase him.
After they left we played fetch-keep-away for a bit, & eventually went on a walk.

Shiz in the tooobs

(The title is an inside phrase around the house.)

So.  I have to brag that I made the most EPIC dinner yesterday in under an hour!!!!  Dirty rice with not only "crawdads", but fried CATFISH.

It was funny, Jory loves scallops, so I figured the crayfish (I'm from Minnesota, haters) would be all systems go.  Oh no.  He was quite suspicious for a couple minutes before taking his time with it.  Pretty cute.  However, the crusty mix of fried skin and batter I scraped off of the pan was received swiftly.  After Poppa pointed it out to him.  (It was in Jory's food bowl for pete's sake.)  He is a little nose-blind.

Then, for dessert we enjoyed pumpkin pie.  Jory hadn't poo'd for over half the day, so I gave him free access to about 2 cups of pumpkin, thinking he'd only lick a little of it.  I think he ate a little over a cup.

Mistake?  Only if I wanted to sleep soundly in the night.  (I did)

Cleared him up after 8 hours, but, oh, the whining and pointless walks.  blegh.

Then I had class.  (Turned in my updated and prettified resume, as well as an edited cover letter.  I'd already submitted the things to our university's career page for a position, but I am banking on the fact that you upload documents to one page, then just submit links to those documents in the job descriptions.  Which will mean that once the open date closes, they may look back at my tubes and see the new and improved versions.)

I am REALLY hoping that most of this internship can be done at home, and/or that I could convince them to let me bring Jory into the office if he chewed bones in his kennel or something.

I have some homework that I printed out, so off we go to the dog park.  It's the first time I am going to actually try doing anything other than fixating on Jory at the park.  Experiences have been good thus far, but I will be sure to have my tennis racket on hand, in case teeth need to be blocked or anything.  (I probably will fixate on him anyway, because I don't love my homework.)

I work tonight, so must make the most of my day.  Looking forward to getting updates on people's feels about an employee dog party on Sunday!

Dog park

As stated.  Some videos are here.  

"I'm fickle!"

What a dapper pair appeared!  Boxers are attractive dogs.

His tail is a different brindle than the rest of him.  He has a little "wing" on his right shoulder that I hope doesn't count as a patch.

Pictures!

I have been transferring the pictures and videos that I take of Jory to my drive.  Now I'm going to see how easily I can post them to his blog here.

It might be a year before we go to a conformation show, I couldn't make the fancy one this month.  I don't know how to stack him, either.  But he is VERY good at strutting on a lead in front of me.  I do my best to make sure that he doesn't pull.  It was helped via Petsmart's "loose leash walking", but I'm terrible about keeping him from going much in front of me.  So far, this has not seemed to result in any seniority issues.  I still stop when he pulls, but I will not just turn around and walk the other way.  That doesn't seem very... teamwork-y.  We're usually on a walk for his benefit, not mine.  And if it is for me, I don't want to walk backwards!

PS He met Anna-Marie yesterday.  One fierce squirt of pee once he stopped barking/growling at the intruder and sniffed her hand.  (He was on the patio in his pool when she came in the front door, so there were several barks through the door, and a couple once I let him back inside.)  Once he decided that he liked her, he REALLY liked her.  To the point of invading her personal bubble several times in 15 minutes.  ..Unless he was pup-sterbating.  That was awkward.  We covered him with a blanket a few times.  I spoke to Poppa about it.  "Should we try to have a place for him to do that?  Or would it just be a constant uphill battle?" *shakes head no* "It wouldn't even BE a battle."  So he'll just be awkward sometimes, I suppose.

PPS He didn't bark at Julie at all when she and Don came over to make dinner.  He and I were out walking when they came in, and she called him to the kitchen.  He'd also met her once or twice before in the past.  Not sure which factor was the strongest.

PPSS He only barked a couple times when we met our neighbor with a cat outside in the common area.  There was no cat, but he liked smelling her.

Jory also tends not to bark when there is another dog: he just sniffs or whines because he wants to play.  But he DID take offense at a sinister shopping bag one night.  haha.

Well, that didn't port nearly as well as I expected.  Here is a link to his google drive folder.

You will see most all of my photos here


It would have worked OKAY if I let google sync my Android photos, but I'm sure that somehow gives them ownership of my images, like facebook does with anything you post.

Jory on the left, Jasmine on the right

Jory heartbroken after Jasmine was picked up

I was worried that maybe he was dying, it was just his emotions this time

Bro warmed right up to the puppy.
Surprised me, since he had almost hated my basset hound

Jory took a few weeks to get into "tug".  This is him wondering what Bro is doing.

Jory eventually stopped barking at Poppa whenever he saw his 6'4" body.
(There was literally a point where he was okay, Poppa changed shirts,
and Jory flipped out for another three minutes.)

Such a charmer with the keeses.

It was the first of many blankets and pillows given to the Jory Comfort cause

"Daddy, don't chew my bone!"

honk-shoo.  Yup, those are moving boxes.

Ahhh!  New patio!  I will get so muddy out here!  Excellent.

Finishing up with the cleaning details.

Le Float

Le bath... so wet!

bleeghhh

Jory threw up. Completely undigested meat log and kibble: brown.  It reminded me of a certain south park.  He had his sad ears.  Hurling is never a good time.

Sad ears accompanied blanket to the washing machine with a micro vigil.  Though I think that was more him wanting to lick what remained than sorrow.  :)

He had been going back and forth between my bed and the floor, panting much/hard, and leaning close to us prior, so now he is much more comfortable and perky.

I hope that he digests food normally after this.

Maybe it was his "fermenting" femur bone.

His morning food was okay.

Skip to a month+ in

Jory was side bumped by a dog playmate while running two days ago.  At the time he yelped and held out his leg, and we had a cuddle session until he felt perky enough to walk back to the action.  I noticed he was limping amd took him home.  Vet tech said to see how he was in a few hours: the limp disappears until he has been romping hard for several minutes.  We went on a meandering walk together today, he was doing great right up to the end when he found two of his doggie friends and got a little too physical.  Again, once he settled down at home the limp has gone away. 
Jaren and I are of the thought that its similar to a rolled ankle or something, I'm giving him a couple of days to see if it clears up before foing into the vet.  In the meantime, I'm getting worried about his other leg if he is compensating on it too much.   he rarely has a perceptible limp: but I've heard that the breed can be stoic. 
He seems happy, not just "I'm tough!"  Ehhhh.