Winter Hike

I'm tired of walking through town, so I decided to take a walk up Farmington Canyon on Friday afternoon.

I parked my car at the entrance to Farmington Pond, then Shady and I walked up the canyon for a while.

I was hoping that the gate on the bridge would be closed so we would have the road to ourselves, but my hope was in vain.

The road was plowed and we only encountered a few vehicles until we got to the point where the pavement ended. At that point the road was not plowed, and there were a bunch of people racing snowmobiles up and down the road. On our way back down the canyon we detoured on to the fire break road for a while.

Note the noble bluetick coonhound in her natural element. She was very excited about following deer tracks. I'm trying to decide what I could do to make hiking in the snow with her easier. I have some old cross country skis, and while it would be great to have her pull me up hill, I'm afraid that having her pull me down hill might be a disaster. I've been thinking about buying some snowshoes, but you all know how cheap I am. I'd like to find some at the DI, but I don't have much hope for that. Trucks had driven on the fire break road, so while the snow was packed down, it was also extremely slippery. What I really needed were cleats.

Eric recommended a head collar instead of a pinch collar to curb her pulling. It doesn't stop her from pulling, but it does take away some of her strength. When she catches a scent that she wants to follow I don't think anything could stop the pulling.

She absolutely hates the head collar, and she stops every couple of minutes to rub her face in the snow and try to get it off.

It has snowed another 5 or 6 inches today. I know we're not as bad off as Erie, but I am really getting sick of this. I hate to be cooped up in my house. It looks like the snow has tapered off now, so I guess I should go shovel my driveway for the second time today

Settling In

Shady is adjusting well to her new home. This picture shows you what happens every time I forget to close the bathroom door, but other than this she has been pretty good.


Shady and Connie Francis met on Saturday night, but we were too busy holding onto our respective puppies to get pictures of the meeting. Ava is very protective of her baby. My baby is freaking out about playing fetch, so that is all for now.

Swiper, No Swiping!

Barnes family, it is beginning to frighten me how much this animal reminds me of Copper. Everything from the shape of her body, the texture of her fur, her pleading eyes, and her desire for destruction.

She did really well while I was at church yesterday and while I was at work today. She seems to be completely potty trained now, so I don't know if she had some previous training or if she just caught on really fast. Friday night and Saturday morning she had a number of accidents, but the first time I caught her going potty outside and gave her a treat for it she seemed to catch on.

While she has done really well while I am away from home, this is what I walked in on when I got out of the shower yesterday. I'd brought down a roll of paper towels to clean up one of her accidents and I left the towels on my night stand just in case I needed them again. Apparently she had great fun shredding the roll of paper.
What I was unable to capture in a photograph is that while I was trying to clean this mess up she was leaping up onto the bed, snapping at my hands, leaping down, running in a circle, then repeating the process over and over again with a look of absolute frantic glee on her face.

Another Naughty Bluetick Hound

This is one of my favorite commercials of all time, and it is also what first made me fall in love with the bluetick hound. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGppj1PdZlA

1st Trip to PetsMart

Our first trip to PetsMart was an absolute disaster. First of all, what was I thinking when I decided to take a big, unruly puppy to PetsMart on a Saturday. Between trying to drag the cart and the dog through the crowded store I lost my hold on her twice and literally tackled her both times right in front of the doors. Imagine me soaring through the air and landing on my stomach with my hands wrapped around my dog's leg not once but twice. We did provide a lot of laughs for the cashiers and the ladies who were selling cats. I can't believe I actually caught her both times. She is now the proud owner of both a nice leather collar that is too tight to slip, AND a pinch collar that she will wear whenever we go outside.

Meet Shady

I went up to the animal shelter right after work today and picked out my new dog.

We were wondering if she is really only 5 months old because she looks like an adult, but she sure does have the energy of a puppy.
I've had her for just over 2 hours now, and in that time we have taken a long walk, had a bath, raced around the house like a wild animal, and taken another walk. I wish that someone had been here to take a picture of me after the bath, because I was just as wet as she was.

She is finally starting to calm down, and she has been enjoying a rawhide and a hoof, so my house does indeed smell like a circus right now.

Wish me luck with my wild puppy!

Narrowing It Down

I went back up to the shelter today, this time accompained by Colton and Jo, Jo's friend Lori and her son. A lot of the dogs that I looked at earlier in the week are gone. The Australian Shepard and the Pit Bull are no longer options, although there was an even cuter Pit Bull puppy today. I think that I have ruled out the Pit Bull just because I like to take my dog to work now and then, and I think that their reputation would make parents object to that. So here are my two favorites.

This is the Bluetick Coonhound that I looked at earlier in the week. She is a biggger than I remembered. The card on her cage claims that she is 5 months old, but we think that she is an adult. Lori tried to get a look at her teeth, and they appear to be adult teeth. She is also about 20 inches tall, so she shouldn't get much taller. On the plus side she should be out of the chewing stage, and while she was very excited to see us she wasn't very vocal. One thing that I worry about with a hound is that my neighbors will kill me over her baying.

This little puppy is three months old and they are calling her a Catahoula Cur, but she is clearly a Bluetick Hound. For those of you who don't know what a Catahoula looks like (I didn't) refer to the photo below. While she is absolutely adorable, she was chewing on my fingers and the bars like crazy, and she was howling her little head off.

I put a hold on the older dog, but if little is still there tomorrow I could change my mind. Feel free to give me your input, and feel free to suggest some names as well.