Saturday Morning

Finn's Saturday was a little bit like a roller coaster - up and down.  After a tough night of sleep, I decided we were going to go for a little walk.  I went to a state park which allows dogs - there aren't too many around here.  They have some great hiking trails!

We arrived early - hey, I'm no fool, it's still July and hot here.  But we no sooner started out on our walk, when Finn kept looking behind us.  She turned her head around maybe three times, and then just decided to turn back and head to the car.  Who am I to argue?  So, after a quick tick check, we get back in and go.

I didn't want it to be just a boring old day, so I had an idea!

Soon, Finn took notice.

And then the whining to play began!  I let the pool fill up a bit, and then it was playtime!  You've seen Finn in our pool before, so I'll spare the photo details.  Except for this one.   When she's splashing in the water, she tries to catch it with her mouth - I think I was able to capture it here.

Now, I'm hoping a certain someone doesn't read this blog too soon.  I had some trouble emptying the pool, and I flooded the woodchips.  Uh oh.  Can you tell?  I think I am going to head back out there and do some fixing.  Finn, don't tell Daddy.

Hope you all are still keeping cool!

Those Doors

I've been working for the same non-profit for about six years now, and it is literally housed in a house that was built in the early 1900s.  When I first began working in the house, I always felt that the building was creepy, and I had some experiences with creaks and noises and seeing lights, but I brushed them aside.  Then I had an experience where I saw, right before my eyes, a set of doors close, swing shut, and click together with no apparent reason.  No wind, no other person, no nothing.  I told a co-worker, who had replied that she had always gotten an odd feeling at that end of the house too.

Well, fast forward to this summer.  Fast forward through more flashes of light out of the corner of my eyes, more things moving or swinging in front of me, more creepy feelings.  Fast forward through rooms and hallways getting painted, a new roof going up, new construction projects going on through the building.  Fast forward through six years of visitors to the building and fast forward to me having to put up an exhibit in that end of the house this summer.

In the mornings, sometimes I will walk Finn through the building with me, and since I have been working on this exhibit, I have been going down that hallway and walking through those doors, which once closed in front of me, more and more often.  Four times out of five, when I bring Finn down that way, she will stop dead in her tracks - all four paws digging into the floor, all of her body pulling back away from me.  Some coaxing, some "it's all right" and "good girl," some pulling and pushing on my part, and we are slowly back on our way.  But the minute I am ready to leave that end, she is right behind me to get out of there.

Makes me wonder - I've read that dogs can see things we can't.  What do you think?

Sock Attack

I'd like to thank everyone for their insight on my separation issues with Finn!  You all had some interesting points, and I appreciate you taking the time to read my super long post and share your thoughts with me.  I'll keep you all posted on my $7 replacement toy effectiveness as time goes on!

On a lighter note, we have always had some problems with Finn munching on our clothes.  Usually she'll help me bring down my pjs in the morning after I take them off, she finds our baseball caps and carries them around, and she's always up for a round of eat-the-shoe.

She took it to a new level yesterday when she proceeded to undress her dad for her most favorite piece of clothing of all...the socks!!  I heard an "OW" from the other room and knew she was up to trouble!  I know it's hard to tell from these pics, but she was literally trying to pull the socks off the foot.  Oh Finn!

Separation

Sometimes I think that since I am able to bring Finn to work with me, and since she is with me then most days, all day, that she doesn't understand that there are times when she can't be with me.  We had been having some problems with leaving her alone in the house.  This could range from us being outside watering the plants for 20 minutes to us leaving her alone while we run errands for a couple of hours.  That's why I was super anxious when I left her for my mom's birthday tea, if you remember.  Really, the only thing she attacks, and I knock on wood as I type, is my rug.

It started in one corner, and she progressed to the others.  We have other rugs that she ignores, but for some reason, when we left her, this became her new dental floss.  As you can see, she's attacked three of the four corners.  Oh, Finn!!

So, I started to use this trick I read where you leave a toy the minute you walk out the door and then pick it up the minute you walk in the door.  The dog is supposed to somehow equate the toy to you coming home.  Well, I didn't want to believe it at first, but it's been working for a while now, so I thought I would share the toy which I think in my head is my replacement.

That's right.  A $7 orange squeaky with black spiderweb over it.  That's what she equates with me coming home.  Can you believe it?  I seriously can't!  It's odd too, I don't think she even plays with it while I am gone because I find it in the same place from where I put it when I left.  I also think it's a little strange that Finn generally gives me a harder time than my husband.  If I am already out, and he leaves her, she's an angel.  Whereas I had to use this trick to get her to be good.  Any thoughts or suggestions on this?  I've been using it with some success for a couple of weeks now, but I am curious as to what other peeps are doing for the same challenge.  Thank you for any suggestions or advice!

New Office Sign

My co-worker's kids are here today and made everyone a sign for their office.

Even Finn gets included, how cool is that?

Still Fits!

I used to bring her back and forth to work in this, and now it just sits in the corner of my office, holding her toys, and apparently, her too!

Pasta

Every time someone asks me her name and I say it's Finn, he or she will 

respond, "Oh, an Irish dog."  Truth is, I (Finn's Momma) am 100% Italian.

So naturally, I would raise my golden to be Italian too.

And happily, Finn is showing those tendencies.

Good girl.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Breaking Down Beach Day

Hey Sprinkles - hope this answers your question - the water looks different because it got dirty from all of the sand!  

Today some volunteers came back to break down from Beach Day.  They dug this trench so that the water would flow out from the tarp and seep back into the sand.  They thought this would be easier than just picking up the tarp with all that water in it!  Only a handful of dogs went in to enjoy the warm water, including our Finnie.  Nothing stops her!

Beach Day 2011

Our doggie park hosted Beach Day today!  I invited a friend and her pup to join us, and man, did we have fun!  They set a huge doggie pool for all the dogs to go in, with a  refreshing sprinkler on the side.

  

Where's Finn??

At first Finn wouldn't even go in the pool, and when she did, she splashed around on the edges...

Then she decided to go for it!

And, of course, the "after" picture.  Great Saturday morning fun!

Wordless Wednesday

Dental Wipes

We got a sampling of these in our goodie bag from the Doggie Social.

Ever try to use them?

Uh Oh.  This can't be good.

Where is Dad right now?

I got as far away from you as I could lady.

Please tell me you aren't my mother.

Didn't go so well!

Doggie Social

Today we took Finn to the Doggie Social sponsored by Bideawee.  I didn't really know what to expect  -  and when we pulled up, it didn't look too happening yet, so we took it easy and walked around...

Then we came across an agility demo by All Fur Fun Agility and we decided to go for it.  Honestly, I don't know who had more fun, me or Finn!  First we conquered the little hill...

Then we conquered the triangle...

Through the tire...

Through the tunnel

She did a great job - I'm thinking about looking into some classes, because she definitely had an awesome time!  

Then we caught a glimpse of this on the way home - - skydiving!  A little too close to the highway, eh?

And as an aside, a big CONGRATULATIONS to my man, Derek Jeter, on his 3000th hit this afternoon.  We came home, made some lunch, turned on the game, and found out we had missed the hit by five minutes!  Oh well...

In Finn and Other Unrelated News

Well, you all know that Grandma made a special appearance the other day...well, today is her birthday and to celebrate, I invited some of her friends and family to join us for high tea yesterday.  We had a really nice time! 

This also meant that we had to leave Finn home for a nice chunk of the day, and lately I feel that she has been acting out a little bit when we leave her alone, so we have been practicing a new routine for when we do leave her - a special toy gets left that we pick up the instant we get home.  I had been practicing it for shorter amounts of time, and this was the first time we did for a long amount of time, and everything seemed ok when we got back, so way to go girl!  (I'll keep you posted on the progress of this trick, because if it does continue to work, I will be so thrilled!)

Today I took her to get groomed.  Not my mother, Finn of course!  I can't tell if she's happy to be clean, happy to be back home, or just panting from the car ride, but I have to say that I am SO HAPPY with the place we went to.  Really great service and super nice people.  We're off to a great start of the weekend!

Before

After