Beach Bunny

Our friend Seaerra was visiting from Wyoming - so we went to the Oregon Coast. This was Honeydew's first trip to the beach, and she had a blast (click on the images for a bigger view).

She was afraid of the waves - running away from them when they would come rolling in. She loved the game of finding the nastiest and smelliest dead thing laying on the beach (crabs, kelp, etc.). She chased some gulls (bad dog) and climbed on the sea cliffs and driftwood logs.

She also made a few other puppy friends on the beach - including a big black lab boy, and a rambunctious standard poodle. Honeydew said we could go back anytime!

Terrible Twos?

It has certainly been a while since a post about Honeydew. Partially, because she is just working on being a plain ole' dog - so there isn't much in the way of excitement to write about. However - she did just turn two years old (March 18), and it would appear she is going through a bit of a rebellious stage. Sigh....

She has started being destructive when we aren't home. She has chewed through all of the TupperWare from the kitchen and anything made of paper in the house - including books - appears to be fair game. As a result, she is going to spend much of her alone time this week in her kennel. Going back to square one in terms of setting expectations for good house manners.

Luckily, she loves her kennel - so she will likely be fairly content. We will also, of course, get her into doggie day care for a bit to burn off some of that never-ending energy. Maybe a pup at doggie day care gave her the low down on being destructive at home? It would be like Honeydew to run with the wrong crowd at day care.....

The pictures are of Honeydew's new favorite toy -- which is also a great tool for helping her burn off some energy. It is this great little plastic egg/ball that she rolls around the house - and occasionally it poops out a kibble. Tonight, she ate her entire dinner this way - provided a good 15-minutes of mental activity!

She has figured out how to get it unstuck when she gets it trapped in places (like under the chairs at the kitchen table), and she has perfected a move that sends the egg spinning like a top on its end - which results in kibble flying out in all directions.

I think she especially enjoys this toy because so much of her Guide Dog training was for her to refuse to eat stuff (human food, kibble, trash) that she found on the floor. So with this, she is essentially "breaking the rules" - which makes the kibble that much sweeter. You know how that is....

Lap Dog

Honeydew is certainly a bit spoiled now that she isn't a Guide Dog in training! She has decided that her goal in life is to be a "lap dog". Nothing makes her happier than snuggling on someone's lap (in this case, pictures are of Honeydew with a friend visiting from Nevada).

Band of Brothers

Honeydew just spent the holidays at our family's house in Bend, Oregon. This place is like Disneyland for dogs. In addition to having lots of acreage to run, squirrels to chase and deer poop to eat...she gets to run with a pack of big male dogs (her favorite, being the big American bulldog named Tony). I think she likes trying to show these boys who's boss. The pictures are from a walk we took yesterday - through a winter wonderland!

In the group photo you can see the pack (click photo to enlarge), "Honeydew's Band of Brothers"...from left to right: Tony (American Bulldog), Larry (Boxer), Cooper (Border Collie), Mackenzie (Golden Retriever), Fosters (Australian Sheppard), and then finally Miss Honeydew (well, her rear end anyhow).

Look At Me!

Today there was an article in The Oregonian (click the link) about the doggie day care place that we take Honeydew. A fellow Guide Dog puppy raiser emailed us about the article -- because Honeydew is mentioned.

I couldn't imagine why they would have written about Honeydew - I mean, there are probably over 20-30 other dogs there at any given time. Why notice Honeydew?

Well - I think the description of her in the article says it all! The need to be the center of attention! How embarrassing! At least it is confirmation that she does indeed have an absolute ball when she goes to day care. No wonder she comes home so tired and has to sleep for two days to recover!

In case the link above doesn't work - here is what the article said about our little girl:

"Honey Dew, a compact yellow lab, doesn't mind being second-best, as long as she can be the center of attention. No wonder she's spinning madly and yip-yapping among the two or three larger retrievers who give chase until their target throws herself onto the ground, paws in the air and chest exposed for playful whacks and nips. "

Honeydew Sausage!

Today, Honeydew experienced every lab's dream.

While we were at work she somehow got into her dog food container. She ate, and ate, and ate - until she quite literally couldn't fit another kibble down her gullet. Which, for a lab, is a lot!

She is currently walking around the house like a little stuffed sausage! It is really more of a waddle. Normally she has a nicely defined waist - but not anymore! In the picture you can see that she can't get her back leg all the way down to the ground because her belly is in the way!

Don't let her fool you with this pose - she isn't as miserable as she looks in the picture. Actually, she is quite smug and has a bit of a smirk on her face.

We will keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't have any medical problems - but I am guessing she is just going to feel like most of us will in a few weeks after Thanksgiving dinner!

Doggie Day Care!

We tried a new experience today - Doggie Day Care. I tried taking the Dew to a dog park the other day, but she is so intense and her energy level so high that she got the whole pack at the park worked up. I decided that day care might be a better, more controlled option.

Based on a friend's recommendation - I took her to a place not too far from downtown, which will work well in the future since I work near there. Honeydew had to pass an evaluation - and she did fine.

They then let her into the large yard with all of the other dogs (I am guessing there were 40 dogs in there). She immediately went running around the yard at full speed - a total spaz. She finally calmed down and spent the next 20-minutes smelling every square inch of the enclosure.

I came home to see if I could find her on the web cam feed they have -- I can catch little glimpses of her only now and again because she is always on the move. Just a few minutes ago - on the web cam - I could see the all of the dogs running in big circles, followed by staff trying to calm them down...only to realize that the chaos was being caused by none other than our little Dew, who had convinced the other dogs to chase her wildly around the yard. How embarrassing. Hopefully, she doesn't get kicked out!

Pictures are of her when she first entered the yard.

P.S. I am happy to report that Honeydew officially had a blast and was invited to return. They said Honeydew seems to think that doggie day care is the best invention ever, and that during the entire 4-hours she was there, they only saw her sit once - and then that was only for about 30 seconds. They said she ran and played the entire time. It must be true, because she immediately feel asleep as soon as she got in the car to go home.