New Cat

After the hike at Ft Ord the dogs and I went to a local rescue group Town Cats . It was overwhelming. Cats were everywhere. There must have been at least 100 to chose from. It is a no kill shelter that pulls cats from local kill shelters as well as taking turn ins from owners.

I was looking for a middle age male to go along with my female cat Miss Cleo. After spending an hour looking at the cats-and getting confused by so many I had my choice narrowed down to three cats. We brought all three cats into the office and one by one I introduced each dog. The cat that was bothered the least- the lucky one- was a handsome grey boy Genki. He had been at the shelter/rescue group for 1 1/2 yrs. So home he went with a new name Genghis as in Genghis Khan.



After living with about 100 cats, a few dogs were nothing. Very little seems to faze him.

Hiking

My favorite place to hike with the dogs is the old army base in Monterey-Ft Ord. It is thousands of acres of basically nobody and nothing but wilderness. Old trails go through valleys and fields. The coast oak trees are covered with spanish moss. Lupine and grass fields are home to meadowlarks as well as a multitude of birds. I have seen deer, coyote, badger, cottontails and jackrabbits in the area. The dogs can run until their hearts content. As long as they come back off leash it is a very safe area to run. Over the years I have used it as a place of mental healing for me. The quiet, the beauty and the solitude help clear the mind and make tough decisions easier.

When the dogs do something special for me(like obedience titles or championship titles) I try to give back to them. What they love most in life is running free. Moving has made the trip to Ft Ord longer but not impossible.



What the dogs didn't know that day was a new cat was being added to the household. So off we went to let them run themselves into exhaustion before we went to the rescue group to pick out a cat.



They had fun with hours of free running and alittle water play. By the time we got back to the car they had run for miles and were tired. In the right frame of mind to meet and adopt a new cat. More later on the rescue group.

Heeling with Greyhounds

I have done obedience with greyhounds for 25+years and have always accepted they heel without face watching. One time I tried to train the "watch" command when heeling for one year before giving up. Then along came Whisper who heeled this way naturally. It is impressive, it was fun, it was sensational. I decided my next greyhound-Echo would learn to heel this way as well. The following videos were taken last week at the conformation shows we attended. Realize they were working with the show going on in the background.

For show people Lyric went Best of Breed 2 out of 3 days. Echo went Winners Bitch 2 out of three days for 3 more points. Darby went Winners dog and Best of Winners for 2 more points. Lyric's kids are fast approaching their championship!

But back to heeling. Although she is on leash Whisper is training for open. Notice her tail, it seems to have a mind of its own or maybe it has a lot to say.
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I am especially proud of Echo she is trying so hard to give attention and do what I want. Her tail seems to talk too!

Thanksgiving From Darby

To Lyric, thank you for the pretty! To Merlin, thank you for the funny! To Helen and Georgiana, thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing Darby Crash to become my heart.

Greyhound obedience starring Becca

Becca continues to work on her obedience training and is into week 6 of her advanced class. She's doing 3-minute sits and 5-minute downs on a long line with distractions--lots of squeaky toys and balls rolling in front and behind her. She's also learning to take and hold a dumb bell. She eagerly anticipates the dumb bell, knowing that a yummy treat will follow!! This class includes a Canine Good Citizen test (CGC) next week so keep your fingers crossed for Donna and Becca!