We didn't go to bed until shortly after midnight last night, but Jedi was awake with the birds this morning. I wonder if I got black-out shades if that would improve his sleeping habits? The good news is that since he's not in a kennel at night he doesn't wake me up with barking, but he does come and jump on top of me. If I ignore him he settles back down and I can go back to sleep. We probably finally got up around 8:00. For breakfast this morning we worked on backing up the stairs since it's been a while since we've done that one. I left for Viroqua with Secret and Kaiser a bit after 9:00. Jedi stayed home today because, well, he's a distraction and with Kaiser's issues of late I really didn't need the focus to be on the puppy.
Jedi had a really boring day, but he did really well with it. I got home from Viroqua probably around 11:30 or so. I was debating driving to Rochester, MN to visit a private dog park with a pond and a dock to play on, but I ended up falling asleep and napping. For about two hours. Jedi didn't get his lunch until after 2:00. We went downstairs and worked on the cone just long enough to get multiple turns in both directions, and then we moved over to playing on the donut. We went outside to clean up the yard after that, and by that time I didn't think it really paid to make the 90 minute drive to Rochester. The best I can tell the dog park closes at 5:00 and we would have only had about a half hour there.
Instead we ended up with another one of those outings that really didn't serve much more purpose than providing photos for the blog. I shouldn't say that, it's also good practice at his stay/posing skills. I took Luke along today -- Not because he loves to pose for pictures (quite the opposite), but because I knew it would be a low-activity outing and right up his ally. Just outside of Sparta, in a little town called Angelo, there is a company called Fast Corp. This company makes fiberglass figures for all sorts of things. There are animals, slides, figures, etc. They have a few finished pieces out by the road that they encourage people to stop and take pictures with, but they also have a "graveyard" of sorts out back that contains unfinished and/or broken pieces.
I remember going to look at the figures when I was a kid, but I wasn't entirely sure of what the policy is these days. I found some reviews on the Facebook page that expressed gratitude for them being available for public viewing, so off I went. If nothing else, it was late Saturday afternoon and I figured at least there wouldn't be anyone working there. Even if we weren't allowed, it wouldn't be the first time I broke the rules to get photos for Jedi's blog. :o) There were no signs posted anywhere, with the exception of a little laminated sign next to the cows out front encouraging people to take pictures.
We started at the finished pieces, which are facing Hwy 21. I've more or less stopped caring what people think when they see me posing my dogs for photo opportunities. Jedi did well, but he was high as a kite from having not done anything all day long and he kept trying to play with his leash when I set him up for a stay. As we moved around the large lot looking for photo opportunities Jedi started getting more and more impatient about posing. When we got to the back corner by the elephant he was more or less done and took off for the neighboring cornfield. My puppy has reached the independent teenager phase where he doesn't need to listen to me anymore, I guess. I wasn't going to play his game and just started to leave with Luke. This worked in that Jedi did decide to follow, only at that point his leash got stuck on a figure that he was trying to jump over. He looked like he was going to try to go back to the cornfield as I approached, but he was a good boy and held his ground while I freed him. At that point we went back to the van because it was clear that both boys were done. It was only 82 degrees, but it was sunny and surely felt warmer than that.
To make up for the self-serving photo op outing, we stopped at Fishermen's Park on the way home so that Jedi could swim. The lake is getting more algae and that algae is starting to move in front of the boat launch area, so I'm not sure if we'll continue to use this spot as heavily as we have been. It's not the dangerous blue-green algae, but it's gross and sticks to the dogs, so there is that. There was a large group of people having a get-together in the park today, but they weren't using the water entrance so off we went. I let Jedi swim a lot today since he didn't get to do anything else. I also enforced him coming out of the water every time, so much so that by the end he was actually starting to come up on his own before I took the toy away from him.
I let Luke tell me when he was ready to swim because I'm not sure what he feels up to these days. It soon became clear that I had to be careful when I threw Luke's bumper or else Jedi would try to be a toy hog and take them both. Luke has never really been one to compete for toys, so if he sensed that Jedi was going to get his bumper he just didn't go out or came back, depending on where it happened. I'll give it to Jedi, there was one time when he actually managed to bring both bumpers back to shore together (that would be his puppy bumper and a standard sized bumper). Another time, though, he actually abandoned his bumper way out yonder and turned around to get Luke's instead when I threw it a bit behind him. Stinker. Luke saved the day and went way out to fetch the baby bumper. It was much further than I wanted him to swim, but he managed to do just fine. After that I made sure to not throw Luke's out until Jedi had his in his mouth, and then only threw a distance where I felt Luke would beat Jedi to that bumper. Jedi is doing some pretty big distance retrieves now, so we had plenty of time/space in which to play.
When it was time to leave I again grabbed Jedi by his collar and led him over to the leash. He was, like usual, not happy about this and as soon as the leash was on (and my hand off his collar) he tried to bolt for the water. Sorry bud, that's what leashes are for. We went for a little walk around the park to allow the boys to dry off a bit before going back into the van. Other than when he was peeing and pooping, Jedi was pretty much always straining towards the lake trying to get back in. I was impressed then, when I accidentally dropped his leash while cleaning up after Luke, that I actually managed to get him to come back when I called him. As I saw him scampering away with the leash dragging behind him I thought surely he was going to end up back in the lake, but he was a good boy and came back!
Dinner tonight was spent on the peanut. I made the mistake of not having Jedi go outside before dinner, and as a result he ended up having an accident in the basement. He was totally stealth about this (or I was just oblivious) because I totally didn't see it happen. I saw him standing up on the donut where he had spent lunch, and then I turned my back to prepare the peanut, and then he jumped on the peanut. When we were done he went over by the donut and sniffed a big puddle on the floor. I was so flabbergasted by what it could be that I actually was looking up trying to figure out where the leak could have come from. Then I remembered that he had been standing there before we started. My suspicions were confirmed by the fact that it was warm when I cleaned it up.... Oh well, I need to remember to put the puppy out before dinner.
We didn't go to bed until shortly after midnight last night, but Jedi was awake with the birds this morning. I wonder if I got black-out shades if that would improve his sleeping habits? The good news is that since he's not in a kennel at night he doesn't wake me up with barking, but he does come and jump on top of me. If I ignore him he settles back down and I can go back to sleep. We probably finally got up around 8:00. For breakfast this morning we worked on backing up the stairs since it's been a while since we've done that one. I left for Viroqua with Secret and Kaiser a bit after 9:00. Jedi stayed home today because, well, he's a distraction and with Kaiser's issues of late I really didn't need the focus to be on the puppy.
Jedi had a really boring day, but he did really well with it. I got home from Viroqua probably around 11:30 or so. I was debating driving to Rochester, MN to visit a private dog park with a pond and a dock to play on, but I ended up falling asleep and napping. For about two hours. Jedi didn't get his lunch until after 2:00. We went downstairs and worked on the cone just long enough to get multiple turns in both directions, and then we moved over to playing on the donut. We went outside to clean up the yard after that, and by that time I didn't think it really paid to make the 90 minute drive to Rochester. The best I can tell the dog park closes at 5:00 and we would have only had about a half hour there.
Instead we ended up with another one of those outings that really didn't serve much more purpose than providing photos for the blog. I shouldn't say that, it's also good practice at his stay/posing skills. I took Luke along today -- Not because he loves to pose for pictures (quite the opposite), but because I knew it would be a low-activity outing and right up his ally. Just outside of Sparta, in a little town called Angelo, there is a company called Fast Corp. This company makes fiberglass figures for all sorts of things. There are animals, slides, figures, etc. They have a few finished pieces out by the road that they encourage people to stop and take pictures with, but they also have a "graveyard" of sorts out back that contains unfinished and/or broken pieces.
I remember going to look at the figures when I was a kid, but I wasn't entirely sure of what the policy is these days. I found some reviews on the Facebook page that expressed gratitude for them being available for public viewing, so off I went. If nothing else, it was late Saturday afternoon and I figured at least there wouldn't be anyone working there. Even if we weren't allowed, it wouldn't be the first time I broke the rules to get photos for Jedi's blog. :o) There were no signs posted anywhere, with the exception of a little laminated sign next to the cows out front encouraging people to take pictures.
We started at the finished pieces, which are facing Hwy 21. I've more or less stopped caring what people think when they see me posing my dogs for photo opportunities. Jedi did well, but he was high as a kite from having not done anything all day long and he kept trying to play with his leash when I set him up for a stay. As we moved around the large lot looking for photo opportunities Jedi started getting more and more impatient about posing. When we got to the back corner by the elephant he was more or less done and took off for the neighboring cornfield. My puppy has reached the independent teenager phase where he doesn't need to listen to me anymore, I guess. I wasn't going to play his game and just started to leave with Luke. This worked in that Jedi did decide to follow, only at that point his leash got stuck on a figure that he was trying to jump over. He looked like he was going to try to go back to the cornfield as I approached, but he was a good boy and held his ground while I freed him. At that point we went back to the van because it was clear that both boys were done. It was only 82 degrees, but it was sunny and surely felt warmer than that.
To make up for the self-serving photo op outing, we stopped at Fishermen's Park on the way home so that Jedi could swim. The lake is getting more algae and that algae is starting to move in front of the boat launch area, so I'm not sure if we'll continue to use this spot as heavily as we have been. It's not the dangerous blue-green algae, but it's gross and sticks to the dogs, so there is that. There was a large group of people having a get-together in the park today, but they weren't using the water entrance so off we went. I let Jedi swim a lot today since he didn't get to do anything else. I also enforced him coming out of the water every time, so much so that by the end he was actually starting to come up on his own before I took the toy away from him.
I let Luke tell me when he was ready to swim because I'm not sure what he feels up to these days. It soon became clear that I had to be careful when I threw Luke's bumper or else Jedi would try to be a toy hog and take them both. Luke has never really been one to compete for toys, so if he sensed that Jedi was going to get his bumper he just didn't go out or came back, depending on where it happened. I'll give it to Jedi, there was one time when he actually managed to bring both bumpers back to shore together (that would be his puppy bumper and a standard sized bumper). Another time, though, he actually abandoned his bumper way out yonder and turned around to get Luke's instead when I threw it a bit behind him. Stinker. Luke saved the day and went way out to fetch the baby bumper. It was much further than I wanted him to swim, but he managed to do just fine. After that I made sure to not throw Luke's out until Jedi had his in his mouth, and then only threw a distance where I felt Luke would beat Jedi to that bumper. Jedi is doing some pretty big distance retrieves now, so we had plenty of time/space in which to play.
When it was time to leave I again grabbed Jedi by his collar and led him over to the leash. He was, like usual, not happy about this and as soon as the leash was on (and my hand off his collar) he tried to bolt for the water. Sorry bud, that's what leashes are for. We went for a little walk around the park to allow the boys to dry off a bit before going back into the van. Other than when he was peeing and pooping, Jedi was pretty much always straining towards the lake trying to get back in. I was impressed then, when I accidentally dropped his leash while cleaning up after Luke, that I actually managed to get him to come back when I called him. As I saw him scampering away with the leash dragging behind him I thought surely he was going to end up back in the lake, but he was a good boy and came back!
Dinner tonight was spent on the peanut. I made the mistake of not having Jedi go outside before dinner, and as a result he ended up having an accident in the basement. He was totally stealth about this (or I was just oblivious) because I totally didn't see it happen. I saw him standing up on the donut where he had spent lunch, and then I turned my back to prepare the peanut, and then he jumped on the peanut. When we were done he went over by the donut and sniffed a big puddle on the floor. I was so flabbergasted by what it could be that I actually was looking up trying to figure out where the leak could have come from. Then I remembered that he had been standing there before we started. My suspicions were confirmed by the fact that it was warm when I cleaned it up.... Oh well, I need to remember to put the puppy out before dinner.
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