SouthHaven County Park

I took a random day off in the middle of the week and decided Finn needed to get out (read: I needed to get out.)  So, we headed down to South Haven County Park; you can find them here.  In 2009, the county's fine legislators voted to make it dog-friendly.  Thank you!

Our day started out nice enough, and took this picture laughing to myself, "Finn's definitely on the leash, but I'm not too sure about being under control, but we're working on that."

So, off we go for a little walk....

Nice trails   

Big lake

When we got to the lake, I thought Finn would be interested in jumping right in, but she was a little hesitant!  Maybe it's that slime...

 

She walked around the edges for a while and then gently made her way in.  I think all the quacking and ducks had made her curious.

Well, we continued on our walk, when we encountered...an UNLEASHED DOG.  Now, I am walking little Finn and this dog comes sprinting at us from across what is essentially an RV field.  I scoop up my 35 pound dog and hold her while the owner takes his sweet time walking up to us to get his dog back.  Now, I get it, the other dog wants to sniff and be friends, but in the meantime, he's climbing all over me, all over my dog, and I am getting really annoyed.  When the owner finally made his way over, I ripped him a new one and we got back in the car.  I mean, c'mon mister!  I was so miffed!  Finn however, was psyched to sniff all things, people, and other doggies new...

so I would probably make my way back there again, but I've got my eye out for you Buddy (what I affectionately called the other owner  :) ... you know who you are!!

Wordless Wednesday

Smile!

I've been trying to get Finnie to smile for me!  We went for a walk this morning and I got some of these I-am-extremely-happy-to-be-walking-with-you-right-now photos....

...or these half-lip shots.  I refer to this look as the "Elvis look" and I then I start to sing "I'm All Shook Up."  Poor dog is probably very confused.

my personal favorite so far!

Is the command "smile" trainable?  I've been trying to say the word and move the lips up and reinforce with the treats, but I am wondering if this is a worth-while cause?

*Bling*

I should probably start out by saying that I am a brand new pet-owner.  Growing up, I didn't have any sort of pet - no dog, cat, hamster, rabbit, gerbil, ferret, anything.  I'm sure between the ages of five-ten I probably begged my parents to let me get one of something, but they said no.  It's ok, I didn't have any major emotional scarring from it  :)

So, that being said, all these things that Finn's going through for the first time, I am going through for the first time too!

During the week, the license from our county came, and I took off Finn's collar to put it on.  I then noticed that my little puppy owned more bling than I did.  She's got her license bling, her if-I-am-lost-scan-my-chip bling, her rabies bling and her I-am-one-day-old-and-a-girl-so Mommy-bought-me-a-faux-diamond-studded-name-plate bling...

...not to mention her blingy bling collar that we bought her because the first collar we bought her was too big!  (She's on the last hole, a couple of more weeks and she'll grow into the bigger one.)

All that being said, I'm thinking it's time for Finn's Momma to get some new bling too!  I'm a little jealous!! 

Easter Math

 +

 

=

(- 1 pink egg)

Happy Easter!

Finn Kept Momma Company at Work Today...

...as she has done many times before!  But today as I was looking around, I glanced at my blanket that I bought in Mexico ten years ago, and I thought I'd ask for some advice too...

January 2011

As you can see, I had to move my blanket up a few more shelves because she goes sniffing for more books to munch on.  I use that sour apple spray whenever I catch her munching on something she shouldn't, which isn't that often, but it never seems to work on my bookcase...any suggestions?

Today

Gone Fishin'

We fear for the fish.  :)

Lunch??

Dog Day!

Today we took Finn to Old Westbury Gardens, the former home of John S. Phipps, built in 1906.  You can check them out here.  You've definitely seen the house and grounds in movies (think the last scene of "Hitch" where everyone is dancing at the wedding reception), and twice a year they open the grounds up to dogs to go for a stroll.

Can't you see Will Smith, Kevin James and Eva Mendez dancing here in your head?

Stairs?  No problem...

Looking around for some other doggies!
Doesn't anyone else want to play??

Getting sleepy...but there's tons more to see...
and sniff!

It's cold here today, and there's threatening rain, but there were plenty of people and dogs around.  We actually didn't have a chance to take any pictures of Finn playing with them, because we got so busy talking to the other owners.  But, she definitely had a great time!

 

And we think she's going to sleep well tonight...this is her after being in the car for about thirty seconds on the way home.

We're looking forward to going back in October when they let the doggies in to play again!

Running Running

We have a little fenced-in dog run right behind where we're living.  It is so wonderful just to let Finn run and run and, quite honestly, tire herself out so we can enjoy some down time too!

Her new thing is to chase after the ball, and then to lie down and wait for one of us to approach her.  When we do, she jumps up and starts running around again.  Great exercise for everyone involved!

Tonight there was some attention competition - some kids playing in the tennis courts adjacent to the dog run  - she's getting more and more curious about everything! 

Let's Go Yankees!

It's a big weekend here in New York, and I'm glad Finn's got her loyalty.

Wordless Wednesday

Don't Mess with Bedtime

The other night I decided to do some laundry, and the sheets from our bed were top priority. 

I guess they weren't done in time before Finn usually gets put into bed to fall asleep.  I thought the house was a little too quiet - I went upstairs to make the bed after the laundry was done and I found her!

She watched me re-make the bed and then was finally able to get some appropriate zzzs.

Go ahead, I'm all ears...

Mommy and Daddy giggle when I flip my ears around!