27 January: Spring?

Well the sun has been shining and the wind hasn't been TOO bad - everyone around here is talking about the s-word: Spring!

We've been lucky enough to be able to walk out at our friend Shelly & Steve's place. On the weekends they come with their dogs, Bella & Fresca - the two girls are littermates and *tolerate* Cedar (just)! :)

Doggy 'cave art' on the coulee slope

For the first time in a very long while, we walked all the way down to the river. With all the warm weather there's been a bit of melting - which some dogs think is an invitation to get wet! I'll let you guess who took the (half) plunge - the open water near shore isn't quite deep enough for a full-on submerging & polar bear swim.

Mmmmm, fresh river water. Tastes like goose poo and cold, with an undertone of dust particulates.

Yeah I got wet! Isn't this great!

Bella was far more self-contained - she and Fresca declined to take the polar bear plunge...

Who you callin' silly?

More to come on our lovely springlike weather - also makes for good picture-taking conditions!

23 January: Exercise is Good For You!

Our walks sometimes take the form of a calisthenics routine.

First, there's the warm up. In this case it involves 'leaving' the toy. Cedar's approach is - if I don't look directly at it, it must not be there:

Looking to the side....

Looking up...

Through half-closed eyes...

And we have toy touching!

Haha this is easy, now that I've touched it I can leave it, no problem!

After the 'leave it' stretch, there's the 'downward dog' pose: crouching low to the ground & feigning invisibility whilst waiting for the toy to be thrown.

And here we see the flat-coated retriever trying unsuccessfully to blend into a harvested lentil field...

Once she gets the toy, though, all that stretching has got her revved up to DANCE:

Complete with flying snow effects

On three legs, too!

After all the stretching and dancing, it's time for a little digging.

Hmmm I smell something. Could be the single deer poo out of 10 million that I missed eating!

Snoof, snoof - I know it's down here somewhere!

A bigger hole is always better

Particularly when you really put some muscle into it!

Helllloooooo! Anybody home? Where's that deer poo at?

After all that exercise it's time for the cool down, which includes actually standing still

No I'm not just about to bolt down into the coulee...

Secondary cool-down exercise - sitting:

Still looks like a little girl sometimes.

Pondering....what's for dinner? haha

Yup, that looks like a pretty tired sit. Lots of exercise today!

Awwww, Cedar and mum...

21 January: The Times They are A-Changin'

The last month has been full of milestones for Cedar. Turning one year old, behaving at class once (then misbehaving the next time haha), and coming into season! Yes, she's now biologically an adult - emphasis on biologically. She's also 61 lbs and ~22" tall at the shoulder (give or take 2-3" since she was squirming while I measured....) - how did that happen??

Cedar will be spayed after this single season based on veterinary research. Lots of pros and cons to balance when making spay/neuter decisions! Lucky girl will only have to wear diapers once... :)

Surprisingly she doesn't mind them - she's a natural model haha. Unfortunately she likes to wear them gangsta style, down around her hips, which sometimes defeats the purpose...

I'm not looking now, but I think something's following me...

Unobtrusive yellow haha - she also has navy blue & pheasant feather (thanks Christine!)

To celebrate her newfound maturity (trying not to laugh here), we went out to visit Liz at Blazingstar for an ear trim. Long overdue according to Liz lol! Today was the first good photo day since Friday's trim, so I present to you the Mature Cedar!

Who you lookin' at? Typical adolescent 'tude

We're lucky that we're able to walk our friend's property (thanks Shelly) - having a dog in season in the city is not the easiest thing!

The view across Shelly's property

Setting out into the flatness

But we quickly get some topography - Oldman River in the background

Surveying the landscape

Pensive along the fenceline

Running as per usual - no more flying ear hair! :(

The last of the snow patches  - gotta make the most of them, including eating & rolling in them of course.

And of course the obligatory head shots - apparently she has a nice flat-coat head, but we think she's pretty great all around!

A view of the right side

The left side

Look at that jawline lol!

Add some grass blades for effect...

Tee hee, nice lip caught on her tooth

Growing up also means learning some manners - we practised a few down-stays and she didn't do too badly.  But imagine if a deer had run by just at that moment... :)

Yes, I'm learning to behave...

It's been a great first year, she sure is a character - more good years to come!

Looking out over the river...

January: Snowstorm Day 2

The past few days we've had our usual 90 km/h winds, which have stripped away the majority of last week's snowfall and turned any remaining snow into ice. But we can still enjoy second day of last week's snowfall vicariously through pictures!

We'd tried for a 'forest' walk. Ha, a forest on the prairie, good one. Basically we stuck to the narrow band of willows and dead cottonwoods along the edge of the Oldman River in Popson Park. It just so happens to be a great place for burrs, unfortunately - Cedar had a serious combing session after this walk!

The deadly burr

January: Snow Day!

About 2 minutes after the chinook winds (which howled for about a gazillion days in a row) had removed every last bit of snow from our backyard, a blizzard came up from Montana and dumped another 25 cm on us. Not that Cedar minded - snow = fun in her books! We took her for some fun in the middle of the storm to enjoy the weather and have the dog park to ourselves.

Getting out the heebies after being inside until *GASP* 2pm!

January: New Year New Skillz

Cedar is happy to show you the puzzle she did on New Year's Eve, all by herself (well, maybe with some help from birthday Hedgehog...and maybe Mum and Dad too...)

Aren't I an excellent puzzler?