Cannon Beach

I love this place. I can't tell you how or why, it's just always held a special place in my heart. It's beautiful and quiet and just relaxes your soul. Helen and Reckon and I drove down for a visit in December for a quick get away before the holiday rush. The weather couldn't have been better. Perfect sunshine and no wind.

It was both Helen and Reckon's first time, and I know they both loved it. It was a special trip not just because it was awesome, but because I finally got to sprinkle a bit of Fyvish's ashes. I sprinkled some of Buster in CB years ago, and since Fyvish adored it there too, I found it fitting. It was sad, but also felt good to say goodbye in a place we both love.

The trip was too short, but we'll all be back. I would like to take Amigo while she can still enjoy running along the beach, and Beezer needs to fall in love with Cannon Beach as well!

Reckon had a blast, and I got some awesome shots of the handsome man.

We stopped in small towns and wandered. Some interesting finds..

It was a relaxing and fun trip full of many photo ops.

Happy Gotcha day, See ya later day and attacked by a Puma day.

What a week with we've had with the Sandberg boys.

Every male in the Sandberg household has had a day in the spotlight. However, it may not have been a "feel good" spotlight.

This Saturday Louie was taken into the vets for a large abscess on his side. It looks like he was in a cat fight. But I refuse to believe a simple cat could hurt my tough boy. So most likely, it was a puma attack. Or a mountain lion. Whatever it was, he's been shaved and patched up and will be as good as new in no time.

This past Tuesday, Nov 8th, Beezer celebrated his 2nd Gotcha day! I can't believe it's been two years since we brought this little pup home.

He has sure grown up into a handsome young man. He has come so far since we brought him home as a fearful pup. I'm so so proud of him and how far he's come.

And last but not least, for Beezer's Gotcha day, I got Reckon neutered.

I don't want to get into the reasons why it was so hard for me to get this done, but after going back and forth, back and forth I decided it was time. So on the 8th I took him in and left him to get the big snip.

And then the vets had to cancel.

Hahahaha. My life is funny.

So today, the 9th, we tried round 2 and presto! Neutered. Right now he's sleeping and it's WONDERFUL. I want my dog drugged all the time. I have to keep him quiet for 5 to 7 days. Hahahaha. Funny.

I really hope this helps Beezer and him become friends again. That was the main reason for doing it. Well, that and his increasing desire to have sex with every dog he meets. And maybe it'll help with his focus on me instead of other dogs waaaayyyy far away. And I'm really hoping it helps with his possessiveness over me and whatever else he considers "his".
And maybe it'll help with his counter surfing, and garbage can destroying, and pulling, and destroying everything in sight.

A girl can dream...



In the very least, I know he's still going to be my goofy handsome boy.

Who doesn't mind being dressed up when I get bored.

And who doesn't really know if he likes spaghetti.

My boys certainly add excitement to everyday life :)

It has turned one

That's right folks, Reckon turned one on Thanksgiving day, Oct 10th, 2011. He got to play with Luongo before I shoved him in an xpen and went to Heather's to eat turkey dinner. Happy Birthday Reckon!

I can hardly believe it!  One!  Already?!  You know what this means, right?  He's an adult now.  A responsible, mature, calm, settled, polite young man.  Hahahahahaha.  Not in the slightest bit.  He's still the biggest pain in the ass.  Handsome, but a huge pain.

We are still working on Susan Garrett's "Rough Love" program.  It's going well, he's starting to play fetch on our early morning walks, and I'm thinking about getting a bike so I can run the crap out of him in the afternoons.

French Ring training is going superb.  He's really gaining a lot of confidence, and even learning how to jump!  It's hard when your back end is a mile away from your front end.

We are working hard on being calm when being petted and when saying hello to other dogs.  That's super hard too.  Because we don't have a brain.  And everyone is just so damn exciting.  I've noticed he's starting to demand petting.  From me and other people.  We're stopping that.  We are no Golden Retriever.
I also bought him something I never thought I would purchase in a million years.  A pinch collar.  Yup.  I'm a horrible mama.  But I LOVE it.  He is just so much easier to control with it on.  His no pull harness works great for around the neighbourhood, but in busy situations in high traffic/distraction, I get dragged all over the place.  He can pull someone over who is twice my weight.  I'm like an ant behind a freight train when he wants to go somewhere or see somebody.  He can still pull like a biatch in the pinch, but I have a lot more control.  I think it itches him, otherwise he's not bothered. He's holding steady at 60lbs, and he's taller than Beezer. He may not be that fast, but he hits HARD and is stronger than he looks. Chrystal was saying his lines are famous for packing quite a punch. Good. To. Know.

Hmmm, what else?  Him and Beezer hate each other again.  Beezer is terrified actually.  I'm hoping neutering R will help, but I'm doubtful.  What if they hate each other for life?  That would be heartbreaking.
He adores Amigo (who doesn't?) and they flirt and play whenever they can.

Beezer is doing freaking fantastic in agility.  Couldn't be more impressed.  We're in a trial this weekend, our first since Regionals.  I also threw Amigo into a Jumpers run, just because she's doing really well too.  No stumbling, hiking every day, and adorable. Even though just an hour ago she jumped into my front seat and ate a Boston Cream doughnut I was saving.  Adorable

Not much else to report.  I'll let you know how the trial went.


Editor's note: Sorry for the lack of pictures. My camera didn't get to come out and play that much lately.

We are Super!

Superdogs that is!  That's right, my dud puppy Beezer was invited to apprentice and eventually join the Superdogs at the PNE this year.  From Aug 31- Sept 5th we spent approximately 12 hours at the PNE, learning, training, cheering, sweating, smiling and having a blast.

Most Apprentices aren't expected to bring their dogs the first 3 days, but we (Auntie Emma and I) were asked to bring our dogs along to practice before and after the shows.  There were 3 shows a day.  Noon, 2 and 6. We got to practice before 10:30 am and after 9:30pm.  During the shows we helped cheer on the crowd, help the other staff with whatever they needed, and of course, look awesome in our sparkly jackets.

Much to our surprise and delight, 7 and Beezer were added into the show very quickly!  We did the boardwalk opening and did the angular  puissauncs (which is a fancy name for jumping in a half circle).
Beezer isn't built to jump, so we mostly stuck with 4 and 5 bars.

6 bars was a wee bit much for us.  He did it,  but just as he was going over the jump, he'd back kick and shoot the bars behind him. Funny.

Even more surprising, the boys were added to a relay race!  We were told that new dogs don't get added to the relays for many reasons, but our boys are special.
Beezer did AWESOME. No problems with the lights, music and cheering crowds. He ran his little heart out and loved it. So very proud of him.

All this would have pleased me, but Beezer wasn't done yet.  After every show all the Superdogs do what's called a "Pat n' Chat."  Basically it's where the dogs are on a Superdog podium and a mob of men, women and children descend upon them.  Not Beezer's niche.  This dog doesn't like being handled by people he knows, let along strangers.  But we had to try.  So I armed myself with treats and out we went.  Ummm no.  That didn't last too long.  I took him out pretty quickly, he just wasn't comfortable.

The second try was much more successful. Once he realized that these people hand fed him turkey meatballs and cheese, he was enjoying himself! I was shocked. My mom was shocked. Everybody was shocked to see this head shy dog mauled by hundreds of people a day. And he wasn't just tolerating it, he enjoyed it! Whenever we were on the stage, he would leap from podium to podium. I think he liked everyone telling him how handsome he was:)

Even Reckon got a few chances to do the Pat n' Chats. I knew he'd be great with everyone, but I was a little concerned about him mouthing someone. Well, I didn't need to be concerned.  He was a superstar! He took treats gently, and loved EVERYBODY. He adored being fawned over.

I also practiced his recall and some jump grind thingys with him in the evenings. He excelled there too:)

Overall I was beyond pleased with my boys over the week.  Above and beyond what I expected of them. Even though it was exhausting, I do hope we get invited back next year. We'll keep practicing:) Maybe Reckon will be added into a show next year...

A-S-S-H-O-L-E

Hi everyone!

How is everyone doing? That's great. I'm good too. Yup. Super fantastic.
What's that? You want to know why? Well I will tell you. It's because I am the proud owner of a lovely young asshole adolescent.

He's being such a super star. Certainly not guarding the car, his crate, or food, or me. No no, not my boy. He's an asshole angel.

Ok ok, you may have picked up on some sarcasm. Honestly Reckon has been a HUGE pain in the ass. It started with guarding the kitchen, and then moved to throwing himself from inside his crate at the other dogs in the car. Any dog. Then it transferred to just picking on certain dogs outside of the car. Then he decided nobody else could say hello to me. Asshole.

It got worse and worse with stuff he considered "his" property. And I was done. Finished I tell you. Like, in tears done. Where had my friendly puppy gone?!
He was/is still fantastic with other/strange dogs, it just seems to be dogs that I work with. Yeah, that's a problem.

After phoning around to different trainers and crying on friend's shoulder (sorry Em), I opted for Susan Garrett's Ruff Love program. Basically he's crated or x-penned unless he's with me. No group hikes, no getting on furniture, no biting, and getting him to work work work.

Sigh. It's exhausting. I'm out the door walking him by 7:15, go to work, and then come home and take him out again. He's doing really well. No problems staying by himself during the day. And I've noticed slowly but surely his work ethic is increasing. I think. He's starting to pick up on the game of playing fetch, so we're working on that.

I kept having flashbacks to Beezer's adolescents. And I could NOT do that again. Hell no, I don't need two Beezer's on my hand. Being in a jumpy state of mind around your dog is no fun.

We still have a looooong way to go. I hope to eventually introduce him back into the group hikes. And hopefully, maybe get him back like he was before. Perfect:)

And the cherry on the cake would be to increase my value in his eyes. Be the cookie as Susan would say.

I won't say it hasn't been hard. It sure as heck is. But it'll be worth it right? Right?!


On a more positive note, Reckon has been doing EXTREMELY well in his French Ring training. Chrystal has noticed huge improvements. :)

We have homework every week, which we incorporate into our daily walks. His bite is much more confident, but his sit has gotten a bit lazy. And quite frequently when he doesn't feel like doing obedience, he just won't. Arrrrgggg damn teenagers. Keeping his attention in the heat is difficult too (yes, summer finally decided to stick around for more than 2 days). The Ruff Love program should help with FR training too.

No matter how exhausted I get. It's all going to be worth it.

Yes, I said that before. If I repeat myself enough times, they happen. And post-it notes around the house make it happen faster. Fact.

9 months

I realize it's summer (not according to Mother Nature, but the calender says so), and I should have galaxies worth of photos to show you, but I don't. The last time I brought out my SLR for a photo shoot was at the end of May. Horrible. Disgraceful. Especially when I have a handsome growing puppy.

At 9 months Reckon is a handful. Clocking in at 59.3 pounds, he's a big handful. He's not a bad dog, he's just exuberant. At 59.3 pound. I've also noticed he's going through a bit of a fear stage. Men are a bit scary. And when in the car he barks at people, dogs, inanimate objects. For the most part he's in a kennel, but if he's tired I'll leave him loose. I also toss cookies when he's loose and sees stuff and doesn't bark. His barking in the house hasn't decreased much. Yayyyy teenagers!

We're still going for 2 hikes a day and I try to do a bit of training with him everyday.
Saturdays we have French Ring Training with Chrystal in Chilliwack. She hasn't seen him since our initial "meeting' back in April. Well, she is impressed. His bite is deep and calm, and gaining confidence! I got him a larger tug to practice with (and save my hands) and he's getting better and better at tugging. I don't expect to get anything trophies or titles, but it gets us out training, and keeps him busy and my sanity in check.

I've also noticed for at least the past month he's started to lose the hair on his nose. At first I thought it was due to him rubbing himself on his kennel or x-pen, but that quickly got nixed. Now if you look at his profile, there is a slight raised bump under where his hair is thinning. Hmmmm. Needless to say tomorrow he is coming into work with me so we can get a skin scrapping sample. He will be knocked out with some good drugs. He's a wiggly happy boy, and won't stay still for a razor blade to the nose. Can't say I blame him...

Now to look at some handsome photos.







Quite a few people have mentioned that his color is darkening too. I see him everyday, so it's hard for me to tell. I'll post some pictures of a few months ago and recently to compare.






From these photos it sure looks like it! I like his black overlay. Hope it sticks around:)