Eight Photos of Happiness Challenge

We were nominated by a couple of blogger friends to participate in the Eight Photos of Happiness Challenge (thanks to Talent Hounds, Fiona King, Welcome to the Menagerie and Earl's World).  

Here are the guidelines for this tag:

1. Thank your nominator(s) and link them to your post.
2. Link to the creator of the tag, Ariel's Little Corner Of The Internet.
3. Post your eight photos of happiness.
4. Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it, or just let the photo do the talking!
5. Spread the happiness and tag up to 10 other bloggers.

I have absolutely no idea what Mr. N was endeavoring to do in this photo but every time I see it, it makes me laugh.

Mr. N and the blueberry mascot at the Berry Festival.

Mr. N says blogging is such hard work.

Out for an urban hike with all the flowers.

Mr. N being a hipster.

One of my favorite photos of Mr. N and Sage together.

Mr. N chomping on a stick and being all fierce and mighty.

Zombie Dog.

I think most everyone has been tagged at this point so if you're reading this and haven't been tagged, consider yourself tagged!

It's the Hard Knock Life

Lure Coursing i.e. Mr. N's Favorite Thing Ever

Mr. N positively adores lure coursing. It is his favorite thing ever. The dogs chase a plastic bag on a line pulled by a series of pulleys. 

The non-sighthounds run the CAT (coursing agility test). Small dogs (under twelve inches) and brachycephalic dogs run 300 yards and the big dogs run 600 yards. The dogs run individually and in order to pass, the dogs must complete the course in under a minute and half (300 yards) or two minutes (600 yards). 

People with their hounds at the starting line. I think they were competing for best of breed. 

The trial we went to had the sight hounds running in the morning and the CAT test in the afternoon. Mr. N is registered as an All-American (the AKC term for mixed breeds) but due to a registration snafu, he was initially listed to run 600 yards. While he probably would have loved it, I switched him to his proper division. He also happened to be the only small dog running that day so he ran first. 

I was just asking someone if she minded taking photos of him while he ran when I was told Mr. N was up. So there are no pictures of him running. It's also incredibly difficult to get a good picture of a tiny tan dog running in dry grass so I doubt the photos would have been good anyway.

About to cross the finishing line. 

Obviously, he's an off-breed for the sport. That's the purpose of the CAT. But I guess due to his small and fluffy stature, he's even more off. He was running the CAT with Belgians, Bouviers, Dobermans, Border Terriers and a Pumi among other dogs. I usually get a couple of quizzical oh.... you're running him? remarks. Which admittedly is much better than being told I was being cruel to make him run so much (which has happened). This is an instinct test and if your dog doesn't want to run, they won't run. 

This Dalmatian was super excited and dragged his owner to the starting line.

But once people see him run, they change their tune. Mr. N gets so excited when he sees lure coursing, he literally quivers. I'm glad that is his preferred reaction rather than screaming at the top of his lungs like some of the other dogs. At his first trial, he was the fastest (and smallest) dog in his division. It's a pass/fail test and there are no rankings but it's still pretty cool to know that he is super fast! He runs with great enthusiasm and he never loses sight of the lure. He completed his run in good time (not sure of the exact time, this club doesn't keep track of time) and won a ribbon. He would like to do it again now please. 

Mr. N posing with his ribbon and the giant Milkbone that he won. Mr. N wants to go back to the field now.

Rain Dog

Mr. N forgot how to walk in the rain. 

Visiting Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market overflows with people during summer weekends so Mr. N rode in his carrier for most of our visit and was carried for the rest. It was entirely too busy to let him walk on the floor. I wouldn't recommend it during the busy times (summer and weekends) for dogs that are not exceptionally good with crowds (and won't mind getting stepped on!).

Mr. N got a tiny nibble of the famous Beecher's cheese. I recommend their grilled cheese sandwiches. 

There are tons of booths featuring produce, food and crafted items and of course their famous fish stands. Mr. N's nose got a major work out. He especially enjoyed sniffing the fish stands. 

If they had a dog-themed one, I would seriously have thought about buying one.

There were some buskers with a very calm dog who mostly napped.

Where have your dogs gone on vacation? 

Seattle Skyline

PNW Dog Blogger Meetup and Hike

We're still recovering from our weekend jaunt to Seattle. While we were there, we met up with the Cascadian Nomads and You Did What With Your Wiener? and we went for a hike with the dogs at Camp Long. Mr. N even went home with the Nomads who kindly hosted him for the weekend. That's a story for another post! 

From left to right: Huxley and Brychwyn and Wilhelm from the Cascadian Nomads, Chester and Gretel from You Did What With Your Wiener?, and Mr. N 

Have you met other bloggers? Is there a particular one you'd like to meet?

Sleeping on the Job

The Buddy System for Dogs

Lots of things want to eat Mr. N. Birds of prey. Coyotes. Other bigger dogs. So when we hike (especially off-leash), we usually go with bigger dogs as a safeguard.

I refer to Sage as Mr. N's "muscle" and she will run interference occasionally and charge other dogs when they're bothering him and won't back off. When Sage is overwhelmed by a mob of kids, Mr. N is happy to soak in the attention and perform tricks while Sage retreats. The buddy system works for dogs too!

We were at 1000 Acres the other day when a woman asked, "who does the small dog belong to?" I responded and she told me there was an eagle across the river and to keep an eye out for it. I did keep a wary watch on it but it didn't try to make a grab for Mr. N or anything. Maybe because Sage was usually within a few feet of Mr. N.

But mostly the dogs just hang out together and play together. Mr. N plays with sticks more often due to Sage's influence and he likes playing in water a smidgen more. I'm not quite sure what Sage has picked up from Mr. N.

Does your dog have a hiking/playing/field trip buddy?

Playing in the Water

Even Mr. N decided to play in the water today! 

Food Puzzle Toys (Mini Green Slow Dog Feeder and Nina Ottosson Mix Max Treat Puzzle review)

During therapy dog visits, I explain to the children that Mr. N does puzzles too only instead of the satisfaction of putting it together, he does it for food. He then demonstrates and the kids always enjoy watching him.

We recently added two new food toys to our arsenal, courtesy of Company of Animals. We were sent the Mini Green Slow Dog Feeder and the Nina Ottosson Mix Max Treat Puzzle, Advanced Level. 

Mr. N doesn't/won't eat kibble so I put some jerky pieces in the feeder. After eating the treats around the edges, Mr. N approached the feeder like he does food puzzles and tried to tip it over. He had trouble reaching the ones in the middle. I think his muzzle isn't long enough to nab the treats there effectively.

Overall, I think this would be an excellent tool for most dogs that like to gulp down their food and I like the design. This is also dishwasher-safe. Brachycephalic dogs and some of the toy dogs with short, snippy muzzles may have trouble getting all of the food out.

I specifically asked for an advanced food puzzle because Mr. N does all of the ones at home in less than a minute and it completely ruins the point of having him be occupied for a while. The MixMax comes in three difficulties (easy, medium and advanced) and can be combined with the other levels.

There are four yellow round pieces. The dog needs to slide the yellow piece out of a corner and slide it over to an exit in order to retrieve the treat. The treat needs to be small enough to fit under the circle but big enough so that it can't be retrieved through the hole. Mr. N ate all the small pieces I put in initially through the holes.

It took him a little longer to solve than his other ones and he enjoyed playing with it once he figured out he couldn't "cheat" anymore. This toy is perfectly-sized for Mr. N but for medium to large dogs, I think the pieces are too small to be played without strict supervision.

This is Mr. N's triumphant "I got the food out" face

Does your dog(s) play with food puzzle toys?

This post was sponsored by The Company of Animals. They are not responsible for the contents of this article. All opinions expressed are our own. 

Piano Concert

You Never Know Who You Might Run Into (or in this case what)

Mr. N and I have seen lots and lots of weird things on our walks. Living in Portland, it's part of the territory. We've run into people from the Easter Bunny crawl (people dress up as bunnies and bar hop), a couple that regularly walks around with giant puppets, and giant beer bottle mascots napping in the grass.

A few days ago, we were walking in a park that we haven't been to in a while and stumbled across a piano. What is a lone piano doing in a park by itself you may ask.

The piano is part of Piano! Push Play!, an organization that rescues old pianos, teams up with artists to decorate them and puts them in public spaces during the summer for people to play. After the summer, the pianos get donated to community centers and schools.

This particular piano is in Cathedral Park and dubbed the Scarlatti. It was decorated by Mette Hornung Rankin. Definitely one of the coolest things we've seen on one of our walks.

Have you run into any cool or weird or interesting things while out on a walk?

Author Photo

The bf says this looks like Mr. N's author photo

Love the One You're With

It's easy to fantasize about Next Dog who will be perfect. Or nearly perfect. Especially when you're struggling with a training issue. But instead being caught in that trap, it's important to focus on the here and now and the dog(s) you currently have.

Mr. N and I suit each other very well for the most part. I enjoy having a driven, energetic dog who regularly tries to outsmart me. He's one of those dogs that genuinely wants to be good and takes pleasure in being right so I've never had issues dire enough to consider re-homing him or anything drastic but I admit he's driven me to tears once or twice.

Mr. N posing with the treats at Cycle Dog

He is leash reactive towards other dogs and has a moderate case of separation anxiety. I think most of my frustration with his reactivity stems from sheer embarrassment. I put hours and hours into his training and when he barks and lunges at another dog out of frustration, it looks like he's one of those stereotypical yappy purse dogs. We've worked and worked and he has made huge leaps and strides and he is much better than he used to be and I harbor hope that he will be "almost cured" one day.

His separation anxiety is fear-based, however, and it's heart wrenching. When we first adopted him, he would go into a sheer panic attack and bark almost incessantly the entire time I was gone. It's hard to leave the house knowing that your dog is freaking out over your absence. And he's not even one of the hardcore cases where he is being self-destructive or tearing things apart to try to get to me. These days, he'll mostly bark on and off for a few minutes and then settle down to nap and watch the window for my return.

Our flaws and our experiences make us who we are. Mr. N survived a barren puppy-hood that had no toys, no socialization and no love and attention. His issues derive from that period, I think. I can't blame him for being terrified of being left alone when he was left alone for so long that he never knew if anyone was coming back for him. When he was so under-socialized that when he went into foster care, he was a wisp of a dog that had to be taught everything from scratch as an adult. He is slowly getting past his past and now he's a dog that overflows with joie de vivre and is always ready for an adventure.

I do think occasionally about my mythical next dog that will be well-socialized and have toy drive and can stay home alone without flipping out. But Mr. N is the almost perfect dog for my now and I wouldn't replace him for all the issue-free and perfect dogs in the world. And we work constantly on his "issues" because it will improve his quality of life as well as mine.

Besides if Mr. N was perfect, he'd be insufferable. Nobody likes perfect people. Or dogs. They're too hard to live with. Love the one you're with.

I'm pretty sure Mr. N thinks he's perfect. More perfect than any of these dogs anyway!

Welcome to First Monday's Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Please share your responsible pet owner positive pet training tips by linking a blog post or leaving a comment below. Any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are also always welcome. The Positive Pet Training Blog Hop goes all week long. Our next hop will begin Monday, August 3rd and continues for a week. The August theme is becoming a better trainer and fixing our training failures. 

The Oregon Trail River Crossing Dilemma

To ford, float or take the ferry? 

Mr. N decides to ford the river. 

Running Away to the Coast

As a respite from the heat wave, we drove down to the Oregon Coast with the dogs. Both dogs were very excited to be able to run around like maniacs for the first time in days. Well Mr. N always runs around like a maniac. 

Mr. N and his friend Sage are totally "bros." They even trot in unison.

We found this little wooden structure. Sage is like new beach house! Mr. N thinks the house is lacking in modern conveniences.

Then we ran into one of the beach guardians. A dragon methinks.

Mr. N thinks riding on a dragon is a grave responsibility and should be taken as such.

Three hours into our beach walk, Mr. N is still full of vim and played chase with another dog on the beach.

Uh oh. Mr. N is trapped by the incoming tide (no dogs were harmed in the making of this photo)! I "rescued" him and he went off to solicit sympathy from strangers.

Mr. N is a social butterfly and made friends with random people on the beach and demanded petting and posed for photos.

I had to call him away from all his new friends so we could eat lunch and head home. Where do you and your dogs go to escape the heat?