Raven

High Jump/Big Mouth

Today, I spent some time in the scorching sun with a few die-hard companions. They found shade while I cut HUGE 1-1/2″ PVC pipe into five foot lengths. Then I cut five feet, eight inch pieces of white vinyl house siding out of twelve feet, twelve inch pieces. This was the hardest cutting so far in my obedience jump-making endeavor. I did not finish the jump by any means, but at least I got the hard part out of the way (at least I hope that was the hard part). Next weekend or thereabouts, I will continue on with this project. I had too much to do this weekend, and didn’t even get any Kongs stuffed. I’m sure I’ll hear it from Raven for that.

Speaking of the little twit, tonight when she was put into her crate for bad behavior while I was fixing dinner, she carried on a fit something fierce. I mean fierce! When I had just about enough, I gave her one of two stuffed King Kongs from the freezer. What happened next was unbelievable. When I gave it to her, she carried on a bigger fit. She didn’t want that! She wanted her dinner bowl, filled with good stuff, and nothing else. I wasn’t quite done with them, so thought the Kong would appease the beast. Nope. That Raven has no patience. OK, she has a little. That little gets her by, but barely. She seems to know when I’m at the end of my rope, and can shut her yap for about two seconds. Long enough to spare her the feel of my hands around her scrawny neck. When I finally got to doling out dinner, she got hers last. But when I opened the crate door, I almost got the bowl ripped out of my hand. Geesh! Gotta love her joy of life.

By the way, after dinner, she decided the Kong was OK to destuff.

And this is what the good kids look like waiting for dinner. They are well mannered and simply a joy to have around the kitchen! There’s got to be contrast so you know who’s who!

Helen

Crating/Building, Luigi, Ollie, Raven, Taylor

03

Aug

2008

Broad Jumps, Part II – Building Them Stalled

Helen

I was almost done building all four of the skeletons of the broad jumps after work and found that the directions weren’t quite accurate in some parts. As in there are four extra pieces of PVC. Then I also found that the last jump skeleton had a glitch. One of the two 5-1/4″ pieces of PVC was smaller than it should have been, which made the jump bow. That would have been fine if it bowed before I pounded the PVC into the joints, but this was afterwards and I could not get all pieces apart. The directions say to glue these pieces together, but I can’t even get them apart to glue them! I’m not done trying yet, as I did get one elbow undone, but it got too close to 7 p.m., and my fur babies were hungry, so it was quitting time. But I was so close to finishing that whole skeleton project, and then, BOINK! There’s always a BOINK, isn’t there? Yep.

I think Raven’s got a urinary tract infection. That’s another BOINK!

Helen

Crating/Building, Life, People Plan God Laughs, Raven

24

Jul

2008

Mind Games by Raven

Helen

What’s been going on in Raven’s mind these days? Plenty.

Here she is lusting after Annie’s rawhide. Annie gives her what for, though.

Oh lookie. Here she is making plans for a take-over of Luigi’s beloved Cuz ball. This attempt didn’t work, so she made plans to get that ball later. How? By watching Luigi out of the side of her eye until the right moment came, and she grabbed ahold of that Cuz and did not let go!

“I’m very good at this game,” Raven states. “No one can beat me at it here at Fort Doberdale. I’d guess in the whole world, no one could beat me at the ‘Gimme The Toy Game’ because I’m the best toy player there is. I am. It’s my stubborn nature. I’m beautiful, too.”

Times are, Luigi hides his toys in plain sight, yet in strategical locations. He never had a problem with this way of doing business. Who would think that anyone would have the nerve to jump up on the chest freezer for his well-placed gems? Then along came Raven. Eww boy.

Raven outsmarts a lot of us. When she does, she celebrates, and moves onto the next game she can find. She and Lilian have a rivalry. Lilian is very good at getting to toys I throw in the back yard. Raven stalks her, just as she did above with Luigi, and eventually grabs the toy. Lilian isn’t into long, drawn out tug-o-wars. She throws a hissy fit for 15 seconds, grasping, pulling and pumping out all sorts of sound affects. But Lilian eventually lets go, nips Raven a few times for good measure, and moves on. Raven gets the toy. She wins. Again.

Just so Raven keeps Lilian in her place, every so often, usually at supper time, Raven strolls into Lilian’s crate and takes over the den and all toys inside. Here she is making herself quite comfortable with one of Lilian’s prized Nylabones. Afterwards, when Lilith retakes her den, she checks to make sure all her toys are unharmed. And she adds one of Raven’s favorites to her heap. And you thought only people played mind games?

Helen

Annie, Lilian, Luigi, Raven

19

Jul

2008

J and J Dog Supplies

Helen

Tonight is the last night – like 2 more hours – of the FREEDOM sale at JandJ Dog Supplies. They have a few items that are on sale for 10% off. JandJ is a dog obedience retailer that shows up at some specialty dog shows, not in my area, but you can also buy their wonderful stuff on-line. This weekend, they had the utility articles on sale. I need them because I haven’t got any except in storage, and I can’t find where I packed them. Besides that, they are 20+ years old and not even sure if they are not crumbled up or not. So tonight, I bought a new 12-piece set. That is 6 leather and 6 metal scent articles for 10% off. You can see them here, if you’re not familiar with scent articles. Well, the dog learns to scent discriminate with sniffing these beauties.

Besides that, I got 6 boxes of OBEY treats. If you buy 6 of most of their items, you get a better deal. Six boxes of OBEY treats is a good thing. I’m going to give Raven a box a night for dinner for 6 nights to see if they live up to their name. Hmmm.