The Face of Friday

Pretty sure that Kipp is the world's most expressive dog. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE watching his facial expressions. You can pretty much "read" his mind by watching his face.

So I'm trying to capture those many expressions and then post them here weekly for your enjoyment

Today's face-

Monday Musings

Current projects -

Still working on the Central Park Hoodie. Loving this project. I have both front sections and the back completed. Currently have the first sleeve on the needles. And no, I'm not THAT skinny. Blocking will add a few inches to the width!

I'd probably be just about done with the CPH. But I had a bad case of startitis. I've been kicking around the yarn for a couple years now (a discontinued yarn from Hobby Lobby called Mosaic)  and really wanted a blanket out of it. I'd started once, but I was knitting it and it quickly got pretty heavy on the circular needle. So I decided to crochet a blanket instead. It's super basic, since that is the extent of my crochet skills, but  I'm happy with it so far. Just not quite sure what possessed me to start it last week during the hottest week on the year...

Kipp is getting better! He just favors his leg slightly part of the time. He is super bored and brought me a frisbee today. Oops. Forgot to put that away after playing with Kenz yesterday... I did some trick training with him. He was ridiculously happy to be doing something and to be getting bits of grilled hot dog for a reward.

The Many Faces of Bored

 Kipp is bored. Really bored. He sprained a ligament in his front leg last week and has been pretty much restricted to crate rest and leash walks for 5 days now. Good news - it's getting better! Bad news - it's going to be at least another week of restricted activity...

I took the camera out today to capture some of his facial expressions.

Can't we do SOMETHING?

Seriously, put that camera down and let's DO something

Please???

Pretty Please?

See, they're playing over there! Can't I join in?

Umm, I said, PLAY, not pet. Sigh.

Life's tough when you're a bored Border Collie.

Crate Training for Kids

Kenzi Loves kids. She REALLY loves them. Put her in a yard of running, screaming kids and she is in heaven.

The nieces and nephews games for a cookout over the weekend. They all clamored to go in the kennel with Kenzi. SO I let them.

They loved it, Kenzi loved it. It kept the kiddos busy for 15 min. Which is pretty darn good for 2-5 year olds. I pretty sure we will be repeating this :D

Please note the absence of Kipp. Kipp doesn't do the kid thing. He'll play with them, but other than that? He ignores them. They are crazy, random and sporadic. Kipp likes order and consistency.

Splash!

Summer is here!! Anyone south of Michigan would laugh when I talk about it being so.very. hot when it is only in the low 80s. But it's hot for us! The dogs are not used to it, I'm not used to it. I'd actually be perfectly happy if it never got above 80 all summer. But I digress...

Today I found the floating toys and took the dogs down to the river to play. They got to the edge of the river LONG before I did (well, it was probably only 45 seconds, but I'm sure it seemed like forever to them) and started impatiently barking at me to get down there and start throwing toys.

They both jumped right in after the toys I threw (today I had a Chuckit Zipflight and Dogsavers Retriever) Kenzi grabbed hers and jumped right back up the bank so I could throw it again. Kipp grabbed his and got stuck at the edge of the river. The bank had washed away quite a bit due to heavy spring rains and poor Kipp just couldn't quite make the leap at first. But he's not the type to give easily and was finally able to deposit the toy at my feet. It's so funny watching him because he not naturally a water dog. Where Kenzi is smooth, agile and fast in the water, Kipp is just competitive and determined. He is a dog on a mission and his tenacity more than makes up for his lack of natural skills.

Switching gears to the knitting front - this summer's project is the Central Park Hoodie (psst - the pattern is on sale right now at Interweave for $3.85!) The yarn I'm using in Aracaunia Toconao in pink multi color way. I modified the cables a bit to add some interest to the knitting and finished sweater. Loving the pattern and the way this sweater is turning out!

On being "Alpha"

There is a LOT said in the dog world about being "Alpha" with you dog. In other words, you're in charge and your dog knows that you're in charge. 

While I do agree that the person does need to take on the leadership position when bringing a dog into their home, the term "Alpha" bugs me just a bit. It conjures up images of a person that is out to prove to their dog that they're the one in charge. In reality, if you're to the point where you need to prove something, then you've already missed something.

A leader doesn't need to prove they are in charge, the just ARE. So instead of thinking about becoming Alpha to your dog, figure out how you can take charge of the situation. If your dog bolts out of the door, leash them and make them sit before opening the door. If they jump on you, put a drag line on and step on it so they can't (and reward them when they settle down after figuring out they can't jump anymore!)

Maybe I'm lucky, but I've never felt like I've had to prove anything to my dogs. I'm in charge and that is that. I control all the good stuff in life (like food, frisbees and sheep!) and show them how to earn access to said stuff. Jeepers, if that doesn't put me in a place of awe and respect, I highly doubt any physical posturing will. my dogs can be pushy at times but they're dogs and they're just trying things to see what works. If I don't let it work, they won't do it. 

As a dog owner, your goal should be to PLACE yourself in charge, not PROVE that you're in charge. 

And just a hint - proving that you're in charge often relies on physical corrections, while placing yourself in charge is a preemptive plan to set both of you up for success.

 

The Honest Kitchen

 A few weeks ago I replied to a call out from The Honest Kitchen. They were looking for bloggers to review their foods.  They sent me samples of Thrive and Love for the dogs to test and me to review here.

Initial impressions - a quality food, with human grade ingredients. Something that is highly appealing when pet food recalls are prevalent. And NO ingredients from China.  Pretty impressive.

Thrive and Love are both foods geared towards active dogs (like Border Collies!) Love is grain free and Thrive is gluten free, though it does have quinoa. It's dehydrated and needs to rehydrated 1/1-1.5 with water before serving. The box recommends 5 minutes, but I let it sit for about 30.

I mixed it in with their regular Victor brand kibble. Fresh soup!!

The dogs enjoyed the food and ate with their usual gusto :-)

So, bottom line - seems like a great food with great human grade ingredients. Dogs enjoyed it (I won't tell you what they also enjoy :p). But can't quite recommend it based on just the samples we tried as I like to see how my dogs do after a few weeks/months on a food before recommending it.