Queen Kayloo and the Sparkling Strait of Georgia

I absolutely love walking the dogs down by the water. Look at how it glitters. Love it.

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Movie Weekend

This weekend was one of those mind-buzzing weekends. The kind where you walk into rooms, forgot why, walk out, have a flash of brilliance and remember, walk back into the room... and then promptly forget again and do something else entirely.

PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS DAYS LIKE THAT.

Since my brain wasn't working it was the PERFECT weekend to zone out and watch movies. I am so out of touch when it comes to what is out and what was winning at the Oscars... last night was the first time I had heard of the The Hurt Locker. Where have I been exactly?

John & I watched:

1. The Informant! with Matt Damon- he rocked that fuzzy little mustache like nobody's business;
2. Avatar- I'll admit, a part of me kind of wanted to be all, "Meh" about the whole thing but I TOTALLY got sucked in AND I CRIED. No lie. I'm a sucker for a great big humongous blue head;
3. The Corporation- Umm. Please go watch this movie. It's a documentary so right off the bat you'll be smarter for having gone to the movie store and PASSED OVER the first Matthew McConaughey ab fest flick you could get your grimey paws on... but more importantly it's a great movie. You'll have some ohmygod moments. It'll be good for you.

Here are my dogs waiting patiently for me at the movie store. They hadn't heard of The Hurt Locker either.

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Divine Days of Awww

John and I went away for a couple of days. I'll write a more complete post about the Divine Days of Awww, but in the meantime: Oh. My. God. Heaven. We slept. We ate. We walked around.... we slept, we ate... and after all of that we looked around and sighed:

Well, well. This is what the world looks like after a whole entire 8 hours of sleep, fresh salty air swirling around our care-free heads and a belly stuffed full of scrumptuous food SOMEONE ELSE MADE.

Did you catch that? I showed up in a room and deLICious food magically appeared on a plate before me. It was culinary wonderfulness that appeared out of thin air and, get this: THE DISHES CLEANED THEMSELVES. Love it. LOVE. It. I NEED ME ONE OF THOSE FAIRIES.

It was a pup-free few days, and although we missed them... I think they missed us for about as long as it took them to high-tail it around the corner to their own personal version of canine heaven: Doggie Daycare.

Here we have Mickey at the gate. As you can see, he is looking decidedly unsure. And it looks like his tail is broken (I can ASSURE you his tail is perfectly UN-broken. We just happen to have a dog with a red-headed mustache attached to his butt):

And Kayloo is PUMPED. She is ready to ROCK this daycare, get all up in some fancy chihuahua's grill and flop all around in a steaming pile of crap or two. Good times.

So, the dogs got to slop around in fields of mud all day long and we got to... not have a schedule.

Good deal!

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Fuzzy Cushions

Sometimes the only way to deal with a thing is to wedge your whole face in between two fuzzy cushions and wait for things to improve:

This is something I can appreciate. Kayloo is a smart dog.

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My Happy Place

That is my husband. Those are my dogs. The sun is shining.

Things are good.

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An Olympic Leap For Noodle Head

Here we have Kayloo on Rock #1:

And here we have Kayloo on Rock #2:

These photos probably don't seem ALL that interesting, but I had to share them with you guys because it took a BLOODY LONG TIME to get these shots. And NOT because I had to snap so many photos.

Oh no.

It's because Kayloo thinks she is as wee as a can of tomato soup and that her little ol' four-left-pawed self was embarking on an epic leap across the English Channel.

She seemed quite pleased with her feat. Well done, Noodle Head (that is one of her nicknames. Nope. Dunno why).

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8AM on a Saturday (!!!) Morning

Early morning walk before Kayloo's (successful! BOO YA!) Therapy Dog test.

8am on a Saturday morning is damn early, people. Damn early.

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Therapy Dog in the House!!!

ShweeeEEEEeee! Kayloo passed her Therapy Dog Test!!!!

(If you're reading for the first time, I wax on about this crazy test here and here).

Look at Miss Kayloo, lookin' all dignified and important in her snappy 'kerchief! Who knew they would give her her own parking spot?

And now I need to level with you: HOLY CRAP I AM SO GLAD THAT IS OVER.

I know this wasn't ABOUT me, but HOLY smokes, I was nervous. Okay, it was kind of about me because if she had failed it wouldn't have been HER fault. It would have been MY fault for being a spazz and stressing her out (Patch O' Pits and Barbara have very good points in the Comments section on this post).

It was quite a day. The test started at 10:30am and the dogs and I were up and at the park by 7:45am. The plan was to give Kayloo enough time to nap before heading out to the test. But, for the first time in her life Kayloo DID NOT NAP. Hu? Next to chewing on Mickey's ears and eating, sleeping is pretty much Kayloo's favourite past time. But no. Apparently not on Test Day.

As a direct result of the marathon morning, while we were impatiently quietly waiting for one of our test sets, Kayloo woefully crooned this "yeeow-eeow-eeeow" noise. Translation= Deep slumber about to commence in 5, 4, 3, 2....

I started to write this very blog post you're reading now in my head: Well, we gave it our best shot folks, but the evaluator said she wouldn't evaluate a dog that was UNCONSCIOUS.

I managed to coax Kayloo onto her feet and off we trotted across the sunlit auditorium to prove she wasn't going to turn into a Red Zone Psycho Beast in the presence of another dog. She managed to get through the exercise fine, but after we sashayed across the floor she dramatically slumped into a sit, huffed a big sigh of exhaustion, and continued to theatrically flop out into a full-on snooze-sprawl with an unmistakable Wake-Me-When-Dinner's-Ready look of contentment.

Much to the entertainment of the other Therapy Dog Wannabees in the room. OH SURE NOW SHE WANTS TO SLEEP.

Maybe we got extra points for entertainment value?

In any case, SHE MADE IT! Zooming wheelchairs didn't faze her, 1/2 dozen excited hands patting her made her beam and her easy going temperment shined through. I AM SO EXCITED TO GET STARTED!

I'm not going to lie, I was bragging at the dog park this morning:

Me: Yeah, my dog is a Therapy Dog. Pre-tty big deal.

Them: Oh yeah.

Me: Big test, BIG TEST. Big, big, big.

Them: Hmmm...

Me: Gave her her own parking spot...

Thank you guys for being so encouraging! I've really been looking forward to sharing this exciting news with you and I will definitely keep you posted on all the shenanigens she is sure to get up to "on the job."

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Positively Thrilled and Burnt Cliffs

I took this photo last weekend; the last weekend of January 2010. I love how the brush  looks like it's burnt and Kayloo and Mickey looked positively thrilled to be a part of it all.

Two years ago I didn't have dogs. I don't think I noticed things like rusty crimson cliffs and how beautiful a tree looks balancing beside a dilapidated old barn.

If I did, surely I didn't appreciate all this quirky wonderfulness nearly enough. 

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1/2 Week to the Therapy Dog Test!

Okay guys! Kayloo's Therapy Dog test is this weekend. We are DOWN TO THE FINAL STRETCH!

We just got back from a wonderful walk. An AMAZING walk. Dare I say a THERAPY DOG TEST ACING WALK!!!

No, I don't dare say that... I'm a wimp... I take it back... Quick somebody throw some salt over your shoulder or give me a rabbit's foot OR SOMETHING (actually, don't with the rabbit's foot, I think that is probably horribly cruel and as you can clearly see I can't afford to carry around ANY bad karma with me at this particular juncture thankyouverymuch).

I've been checking out the Canine Good Citizen requirements and I think we're mostly okay on most of the tests:

• Test 1: Accepting a friendly stranger- I think we'll be okay here because Kayloo thinks almost everyone is her new best friend. It's a little of: HI! Oh my god, I love you! I'm so lucky to meet you... and OH! You too! Come a little closer so we can attach at the hip. It says however that she isn't allowed to "break position." If the "position" happens to be threading her tongue up into the evaluators nose, we should be fine.
• Test 2: Sitting politely for petting- I'm concerned about the "polite" part, but she will be all over someone oozing attention all over her.
• Test 3: Appearance and grooming- Kayloo's hot. Check. Check. Check.
• Test 4: Out for a walk- She is doing much MUCH better, but she is not perfect. She'll be in a completely new place so she will be very curious.
• Test 5: Walking through a crowd- She's usually pretty great about this, unless one of the people in the crowd has a skateboard. If someone has a skateboard she may stop and tilt her head this way and that way and thiswayandthatwayand... forever and ever until the evaluator falls asleep and/or kicks us out.
• Test 6: Sit down on command and staying in place- We should be good here.
• Test 7: Coming when called- No problem (unless some sly dog has a steak behind his back. Then we're toast).
• Test 8: Reaction to another dog- Kayloo will be fairly interested in the other dog. The plan is to have her good and played out before the test, but it is very unlikely she would walk away from an opportunity for a good hearty "get all up in your grill" bum sniff.
• Test 9: Reaction to distraction- There will be lots of head tilting.
• Test 10: Supervised separation- Apparently we won't be tested on this, but if we were Kayloo would be like, "Hey, where did that blonde- HEY NEW PERSON I LOVE YOU, WHO ARE YOU?!!!"

Kayloo will do just fine. If not, we can always take the test again, right? RIGHT?! Just kidding, I'm actually not freaking out that much. The only way Kayloo can do well is if I am nice and chill so please send lots and lots o' chill vibes our way in the days leading up to having a total kanipshin doing our very best.

Thank you, much!

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Puppy Lovin'

Reason #63,000 why having dogs rocks...

Coming off of a mega-weekend of renos for John's office. It's exhilerating, it's exhausting... it's kinda high-inducing because paint thinner is wicked WICKED stuff. Did you see that TEN FOOT TALL BOUNCING RUBBER DUCKY BOUNDING DOWN THE STREET?

What?

And now we're home. Home, lovely home. We are about to down the pasta MOTHER LOAD and wash it down with some well-deserved wine. We are likely going to stare at the boob tube for some mindless entertainment. AND we are going to play with our sweet pups.

I mean, LOOK AT THEM. They love each other. It's fabulous.

Makes me wanna squish 'em.

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Duck Hunting II

Do you see the ducks in the background there? Kayloo wanted to be buds with them. She was clearly disappointed when they waddled away in uncoordinated terror. She even managed to look a little confused, like, Don't you know I'm practically Therapy Dog material?!!!

Back in the day at this very same park Mickey discovered ducks as well (here's a pic). They didn't like him either. Bitchy, elitist ducks.

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Happy Thumping Tail Test

So, I've been going back and forth and back and forth on whether I want to tell you this next bit of news or not. It's not a HUGE big deal I guess, but it involves taking a test. A TEST! Ack! It involves ACTUALLY BEING TESTED, which means I could potentially FAIL this test, which means I am telling you about this being tested thing before I have gone and ACED said test, which means I could totally be setting myself up to look like a great big loser! Omigodcanshehackit?!!!

My A-type personality side is freaking out a little bit here. Okay, here goes:

In a week and a half Kayloo and I are taking the Therapy Dog certification test so she can wear a fancy little kerchief and share her happy thumping tail with anyone who will take her (this test is for extended care facilities). A week and a half. 12 days to be exact. 12 DAYS, PEOPLE!!!

Ho. Lee. Crap.

12 days from now some people are going to be telling me to do stuff and I'm going to be telling Kayloo to do stuff, and if she doesn't do it I WILL HAVE FAILED IN MY DUTY AS A THERAPY DOG TRAINER HANDLER PERSON.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Let's take a couple steps back before I give myself a hernia. First, why do I want to get my crazy pooch certified as a therapy dog? There are three main reasons:

I think she would be suited to it: She is an incredibly loving little mutt. When you hug her she is happy to stand there while you smother her, and she'll stay put for however long you need. Even if it's a ridiculously long time. If you're near her but not quite close enough to touch, she'll slither and nudge and scooch on over until she cozying up to you someway or another, maybe with her soft little muzzle or her entire gigantic black and white cow head.

It would be good for her: I think dogs are happiest when they have a job to do and I think Kayloo would do GREAT employed as a soft and slobbery love monkey. She would get a bunch of additional training and she would get a HUGE mental work out wtih all the meeting and sniffing and patting from dozens of new people.

Getting out into the community: We all know dogs are a huge stress reliever and I would love to be able to share Kayloo's goofy wonderfulness with others. The fact that she is a pitbull cross and a rescue dog is an important consideration for me also as I think it is important to show people how wonderful and non-scary pitbulls and rescue dogs can be.

Did I mention it's in 12 days?!

They won't tell you everything she will be tested on (I have no idea why, like you're going to cheat or something? Can dogs cheat? NO THEY CAN'T), but as far as I can tell she is going to have to be able to do everything required on the AKC's Canine Good Citizen test.

That's all for now. I'm sure I'll stress more in the coming days. Have to do a bit of training with Miss Thang (GET OVER HERE SOLDIER, DROP AND GIVE ME 20!!!). And then we're going to snuggle because it is very important she gets that part right.

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Head Tilting Tizzy

Here is a little Kayloo Action to send you off into your weekend. We came THIS close to her twisting her head right off today. I dared to utter the word "dinner" and she vibrated into a head tilting tizzy.

Here is another photo of her ridiculousness, and as you can see she has improved her game. Thank GOD. Would have really sucked to end up with a slacker in the head bobbing department.

Happy Friday!

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January is Walk Your Pet Month (Unless You Have a Snake)

Turns out that even though right now John and I are living in the Big Dusty Office Build-Out Extravaganza (I bitch intelligently discuss the process here and here) the world continues to turn AND...

January is Walk Your Pet Month!

So, if you'll allow me to get up on my little soapbox, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about how important it is to walk your pet.

BUT, before I really get rolling... I'm not so entirely sure how important it is to walk ALL pets. I don't know, do people walk their pet llamas? Feel free to educate me here, guys. How about snakes? Snakes don't have... legs... Although, I was at a gay pride parade in Toronto once and I had my picture taken with a HUMONGOUS 10 foot tall bare chested Amazon man in shiny chaps with a GIGANTIC... boa constrictor (heads out of the gutter, people) languidly drapped across his shoulders and wrapped ever so frighteningly around his neck.

WHAT?! I told you to GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER!

Okay, stay with me. We're getting back to dogs.

Dogs.

I think it is very valuable to bring this topic up every now and then, because even the best intentioned of us sometimes forget how important it is to get our dogs out for a structured walk every day.

Every. Single. Day.

Even when it's bitterly cold. Even when it's grey and miserable. Even when it's been raining buckets for a kajillion days straight and if it rains for one more bleeping second I AM MOVING TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING SAHARA DESERT I'MNOTFREAKINGKIDDING DON'T-PUSH-ME-I'M-SERIOUS-THIS-TIME!!!

Three little points to keep in mind:

1. 1 hour, 2x a day: Unless your dog has some kind of health issue, chances are he would appreciate a brisk one hour walk 2 times a day. 2 TIMES A DAY?! That's right. I know Cesar says at least two 30 minute walks a day, but let's be honest with ourselves. 30 minutes innocently turns into a skimpy 7 1/2 minutes down to the corner and back, doesn't it? So let's go with the oh-so daunting 60 minute walkathon. Twice. You can do it. I have faith in you.
2. The park doesn't count: It really just doesn't. The park is AWESOME, don't get me wrong, but Fido needs structure in his life, just as you need structure in yours. So head down to the park AFTER you've hiked around with your pooch close at your heels- he will benefit from the discipline and you will reinforce your role as Da Boss.
3. A big backyard doesn't count: See #2. Go on. I'll wait.

1, 2, 3! Super easy, right? If you walk your dog THE WORLD WILL BE A BETTER PLACE. I am not kidding you:

If your dog is exercized he will be LESS likely to wreck your stuff, which will make YOU less likely to have a crazy flip-out spazz-fest, which will make you MORE likely to be zen and get along with your partner, who will probably take you out to dinner where you will have a FANTASTIC spicy tortellini paired with a scrumptuous, oaky cabernet sauvignon and I am pretty sure all those things together are the recipe for WORLD PEACE. I'm pretty sure. If you google it you'll find it. Yes, there it is.

So, enjoy Walk Your Pet Month! Go celebrate by, oh I dunno... walking your pet maybe. Especially snakes. And make sure you go to the park after your walk because look at how much fun Kayloo and Mickey are having in this photo!

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Pretty Darn Good Day

Kayloo's antennae are up. Mickey is gnawing on something soggy and disgusting, after which he probably rolled in it so we could all enjoy the aroma for HOURS AND HOURS TO COME.

Yeah, I'd chalk that up to a pretty darn good day...

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Puppies and Paint and 5 Seconds of the Globes

This weekend was a blur. I don't want to be a drama queen, but there was drama and there were Queens (okay, not really, but there WAS Dairy Queen ice cream wonderfulness in there somewhere so THANK GOD for that).

There WAS however, painting. And painting. And painting... and since I'm too damn lazy to write about it right now I am going to share my weekend with you in pictures.

As mentioned, there was painting:

There were also the puppies who had their socks walked off because we felt guilty for being lame Painter Freaks :

A bunch of spicy takeout...

More paint...

A bit of sarcasm:

Me: Oops! I'm not in your way am I?

John: Yeah, actually you are.

Me: I think what you meant was, "Of course not, darling. You could never be in my way."

John: Ha, ha.

.... silence...

John: Seriously, get out of my way.

There was week old red wine in a handmade mug with my name on it. Cuz, when you're walking around with a bunch of dust on your face who cares how your alcohol is served:

A whole bunch more paint:

Five seconds of the Globes:

And now I'm ready for bed.

Good night.

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