Brown Dog Adventures

Fall is here, and Abby and I are quite happy! We love the fall for hiking because we don't melt under our thick chocolatey coats. We did a great hike yesterday, it was a section of the Bruce that is very hilly, it's a great workout for us, and an even better workout for the two leggers - this hike really tires Sonia out. While we were hiking, we came across an old limestone kiln, and I can jump on top of the chimney! The two leggers weren't fast enough with the camera to catch me in action, so Don took a picture of Sonia showing how high I can jump. It's pretty high:







And this is a picture of us on a very tall, upright staircase on the hike:














After the hike, this is how tired Abby was:










We have big news! We are getting a new cousin! She doesn't really have a name yet, so we're calling her Cousin X! They say she is to be a black labradoodle, whatever that is. They tell me I'll like her, I hope they are right.
I loved Sunny, my other cousin, and we all miss her terribly. But I'm happy for Grandma that she is getting a new friend, and now maybe she won't be so lonely. (I can't always be there to give her chocolate kisses to cheer her up)

Here are some new pictures of me and Abby. Abby is wearing her new pearls from Uncle Tim and Aunt Mar. Abby is quite thrilled with her pearls, and I'm pretty good looking just as I am, don't you think?

So, Abby has been with us almost a year, June 3 is the anniversary of her joining us.
Since we don't know when her birthday is, that's the day we're going to choose as Abby day. I'll have to help her open her presents, I'm sure, since I'm better at that than she is.
She and I hike together, we walk together, we play together, I just don't like to get too close to her when we're sleeping - a man needs his space, you know. But sometimes, when I'm too tired to care, she snuggles right into me, and I guess that's okay.
We spent the last week at Grandma's house - our people were diving in Honduras. We love going to Grandmas' because we get lots of love and lots of treats!
Abby especially loves the treats!

Thought I'd update you all with some photos taken since the end of last summer... Summer is just around the corner again, can't wait til they get the cover off my pool!

Wow - what a summer for E.Dog - - just over two months ago, my people got me a dog, guess they figured I was mature enough to handle one now, even though I didn't ask for one. Her name is Abby, and she is fairly well trained, but some times we have trouble with her, as in she runs like crazy if she's off leash in the neighbourhood - so we have to keep a close eye on her.
She's been great on hikes though, and the other day she came upon a big bunch of deer and ran back to us as soon as she saw them - good Dog!

Abby seems really happy with us - we have even taken her on three road trips this summer. The first one was a trip to Kingston, where my people went diving. Poor girl, the whole time we were in the motel room, she was all worried, "oh, I'm getting left here, they're gonna leave us here..." I tried to tell her that everything was okay, but she was still worried, so I fell asleep. She was sure happy to see them again... see, Abby? Told ya! I can understand though, she's had some changes in her life, and we all work to make her comfortable and happy.
Road trip number two - we went to a cottage in Parry Sound with my Grandma, and my Uncle Tim and Aunt Mar. It was a blast! I jumped off the dock and swam the whole weekend, and Abby even came in the water sometimes too! She doesn't swim as well as I do, though. She was a good dog at the cottage, she stayed right with us the whole weekend! No running or anything! Good Abby!
The third road trip was a trip to Grandma's, for the annual Camp Grandma - my people call it Camp Mary, but I don't think I'm sposed to call her Mary... me and Abby had a good time there too, there were lots of people feeding us, and again, I was running and jumpting into the pool, and doing lots of swimming!
We even went for one of Uncle Tim's walks in Kingsville, and then stopped to see my other Grandma, and Uncle Sherwood for a visit. I got to see Bear, their dog - he's a good Dog too.

And so now, we are home for a long weekend in August hoping for good weather for the pool... Here are some shots from the summer so far:
This is me and Don with our new girl at Fort Henry in Kingston.


Abby sure was tired after all that worrying in Kingston.

This is Don with Abby on the dock, with Tim returning from a sail.


Uuuuhh, Guys? Maybe the person taking the picture should have held the Doritos...


Ooooh Yeah! There's nothing like a good wriggle on the dock in the sun!

Abby looking snappy in the neck thingy's Grandma made us for Camp Grandma.

Me opening my Camp Grandma present.

Abby playing shake the Poodle, with her Camp Grandma present.

her first full day seemed pretty good - I think we tired her out on sunday though! Of course she was on sensory overload, taking in all the new sights and smells, so we decided against taking her to a conservation area that day. Instead, we took about 3 walks throughout the day, around our neighbourhood, repeating a couple of our usual paths for her to get familiar with some of the smells.



And then she hung out with us by the pool while we threw the ball in for Ender, she wasn't too keen on getting in the pool on sunday - and she seemed to really need close contact that day, so she spent most of her time right next to me, either following me, or getting petted. She is such a sweetheart!

We have discovered that she is a fairly skittish dog, and we have also discovered that after only a couple of hours with us, Ender is ready to defend her! There was a sound from the neighbour's yard that startled her - someone dragged a chair or something across their deck - and as she jumped and ran about 12 feet from the noise, big Ender came barreling over to the fence and proceeded to check things out - he didn't bark, but he was all in a huff, and certainly was interested to find out what startled her Abness... he normally doesn't give a crap about noises like that!

The two of them seem to be working out fine - they sniff each other now and then, and when ender is close to her face, he includes a couple of licks. The two of them were running through the green belt together - me on the end of her leash, as I'm not sure about her off leash skills yet, so, truthfully, the 3 of us were running around the greenbelt like big goofs - ender was off leash, so Don just got to sit back and laugh. She is so funny when she runs! Definately one of her mad lab moments, while Ender was his normal freaky nutbar self. We got a ball for her to play with while ender was jumping into the pool after his - and she was so goofy again! She loves to pounce after a bouncing ball, and after seeing her all goofy, Ender got in the mood too, and both of them ran a few mad lab/freaky nutbar laps around the yard!

Monday night, we introduced her to Dukie, another chocolate in the hood, and his people. She was VERY good - no jumping this time! But, as I mentioned, I think she was tired. She really liked Dukie though!

On sunday, our cat hissed at her, and she looked dejected for about half an hour, poor thing. But, Lucy has since warmed up to her! We spent some time together sunday, on the bed - just us three girls! We've had a chance to sit together, the three of us a few times now, with not much drama at all. Lucy is a notorious ninja - famous for threatening 4 leggers new to her territory. But Abby seems to have never encountered a ferocious feline in her life, and just patiently waits for Lucy to stop hissing or swatting, and she stays perfectly still. I think she will have the great and powerful ninja disarmed in a matter of days.

Tuesday night, being Dog night, we tood Ender and Abby to Claireville - and there, we tested her offleash skills - which, shall we say, are not quite mad skills. But there is hope that we can get her there. She is quite the treat hound, and as long as we have a treat to lure her with, she returns almost faithfully, and this was only day three, technically. It's like training a puppy again, and we have to remind ourselves of that.

We have talked trash for a long time about making a list of Mr Ender's vocabulary - and at this point, I wish we had done so. It's amazing that we take the training he's gone through, and the progress he's made for granted. But it's very apparent when we tell the dogs something quite clearly, and while Ender goes off and does whatever we've said, poor Abby leans in, looking deep into your eyes, as if to say, "sorry, what was that?" So we are starting almost from the beginning, getting her used to certain words that will someday become commands or common lingo for her.

I'm finishing this entry on wednesday night, which is basically her third day with us. She has done very well, even her itch seems to have subsided? The jump in the creek she had last night might have helped that. She has a wonderful personality, very calm,and inquisitive - she wants to learn. She and Ender do not seem to be best-friends-forever yet... when I come home from work, I find her coming downstairs from the bedroom, while Ender is still keeping his grumpy old man post on the couch, so he can yarp all day at passersby and that pesky mailman who comes every day.

We are thrilled to have Abby as part of our family, and we are doing our best to make sure she is happy with us. She seems to enjoy our company and praise, and I hope she is comfortable in our home. She really seemed to love dog night, that's every tuesday night, for the uninitiated.
We're very happy we were able to offer her a home. That said, i don't believe she would have had much of a hard time finding a home through the rescue group - because she really is lovely - but I'm really happy that she has found her way into our home. After only a handful of days, there is still a lot I don't know about her, but I'm looking forward to learning!
Time to get my chocolate butts to bed... this is BrownDogMama, signing off.
G'night.

Today, we added another smiling chocolate lab to our family - her name is Abby, and she is very sweet. She and Ender are getting along well, and she has yet to truly encounter tha Luce, but we'll get to that when it happens! Lucy saw her once and hissed, but so far they have not had contact.
Abby is a rescue, and seems to be about the same age as Ender. On her first day with us, we've taken a walk through the green belt behind our house, and watched Ender fetch balls from the pool. Abby did get into the pool just up to her ankles, she stepped in on the first step, but I'm sure she and Ender will be swimming together in there before long.
Here are a couple of picture from day one.

We went to Claireville conservation area tonight for a hike- this is a regular spot for Mr E's recreation - there are lots of trails, and a good chance of spotting deer. Tonight, as we drove into the main gate, we noticed a dog, trotting along by himself. Upon closer inspection, we were both shocked to realize that this dog was incredibly emaciated, and looked to be a pup as well. He came to us immediately when we got out of the car, and was civil with Ender as well. We offered him some treats, and realized that we just couldn't leave him there. The snow is falling again tonight, and it's likely that the temperature will dip below zero again, and this fellow was in no shape to be left literally in the cold. Neither of us would have been able to leave him anyway.
We attempted to get him into the car, thinking we'd take him to the shelter, but he was not keen on getting in the car. Since we were not keen on forcing an unknown dog into our car, Don stayed with Ender and the found dog while I drove home for the crate, food, water, collar and leash.
With some food it was fairly easy to send him into the crate. He was not happy in there though. I don't think this poor dog has been in a house or a car, nor is he very familiar with other dogs, it seems. That said, it's hard to judge someone's personality if they are starving and just focused on finding food.
After we got home, an animal services officer came to pick him up - but he spent a good hour and a half with us. We kept feeding him pieces of food, little by little, so as not to shock his poor system. We took him for a walk on leash with Ender (he has clearly never been on a leash before)
We are travelling next week, so we'll have to call them once we are back to see what is to become of him. We may be able to give him a home, or at the very least find a home for him. But at least I feel that whatever happens next will be better than starving alone in a cold conservation area.
I must also mention that Brampton animal services has told me that they do not kill dogs who are not adopted - if he is deemed "adoptable" they will keep him for as long as it takes to find him a home. I'm not completely clear on whats involved in deeming him "adoptable" but we'll find out more after our trip, once they have assessed him.

Ender was very kind to him, although he did have to lay the smackdown a couple of times. Ahh, dominance!

I would include some pictures, but it seems that blogger is not in the mood to let me post pictures tonight?

A very funny thing happened yesterday. Our charming boy Ender, enemy to squirrels everywhere, spotted one of the little fluffs of fur down by the ditch yesterday. (in the green belt behind our house) He of course took off running after the poor thing. I'm yelling, "Ender, you Fatty, you'll never catch him, GET BACK HERE NOW!!" while the squirrel runs up the slimmest, youngest tree in the vicinity, and scurries all the way to the top - the tippy, tippy top, if you catch my meaning. At this point, the tippy top starts bowing over, dangling said squirrel above ender. The poor squirrel is hanging on for dear life, but still slipping, slowly downwards towards the psycho dog awaiting him. Luckily, along with being psycho, Ender is not aware that the squirrel is being dangled above him like bait, he is still looking side to side wondering where that little fellow got to? After a valiant effort at hanging on, the squirrel loses grip and falls... falls, right on Ender! Ender is shocked, the squirrel is shocked, but the squirrel clearly recovers from shock quicker than Ender, who is still looking side to side, but quicker, now. The squirrel bolts, and Ender literally doesn' t know what hit him.
The squirrel was able to scurry up another tree, and seemed no worse for wear.

Well, summer has past, my people are soon to be closing my pool. That can only mean that we'll be fall hiking any time now, and snow season is on its way.
Here's a shot of me dock jumping at one of the cottages we visited this summer - I was lucky enough to stay at three different cottages this summer - a big thanks to everyone for inviting a little bit o'chocolate to the cottage this summer!