Brothers!

We met up with Jedi's brother at the German Shepherd Dog Walk last weekend. A friend took this picture of the two of them together. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Me and Jedi on the left, Dozer and his mom on the right.

It's Wordless Wednesday! Hop around below and see what others are sharing today. -- K

St. Augustine Dog Walk

What happens when a German shepherd dog club and a German shepherd dog rescue decide to host a dog walk in historic St. Augustine? We wanted to find out! I found an event free weekend downtown. Another club member created this snazzy flyer and set up a FB event. Both groups promoted the walk for a month.

This was the result:

Our feeble attempt at a group photo.

The dogs just keep coming . . .

And coming . . .

And coming!

We ended at a park to socialize and take more pictures.

It was a beautiful spring day. We had about 50 dogs show up -- and no negative incidents! All the dogs were on their best behavior. We saw old friends, made new friends and gushed over all the gorgeous pups. One club member took beautiful family photos. Here's ours:

I LOVE this dog!

Then everybody broke into small groups to do some sight seeing and enjoyed the dog-friendly restaurants. What a great day!

All those smells just wore Jedi out.

It's Awww...Monday. Start your week off with a smile! I hope all these beautiful German shepherds make you smile. It made me absolutely giddy! However, a cop friend of mine said the thought of 50 GSDs in one place was terrifying. (Yes, he actually said "terrifying.") If you're like Officer Weenie, no problem. Click around and see if one of the other posts below does the trick. Happy Monday! -- K

Goodbye Gucci

Gucci in her prime

The worst thing about pets is that they don't live long enough. This morning I took Gucci to the vet for the very last time. Her 19 year old body had become nothing but skin and bones. She had been deaf for years. Honestly, we knew the day would come sooner than later. Still, I wasn't prepared. But are we ever really prepared?

Things were fine this morning. She ate her breakfast and we had our daily disagreement over my lap. As usual, she won. Just before lunch I found her lying in a weird position on the kitchen floor. She was disoriented, unstable and I suspect she had lost her sight. Thankfully my vet is open until 2:00 on Saturdays. We think she had a stroke. Things weren't going to get better. We didn't want her to suffer, so we made the decision to put her to sleep. For her, it was quick and painless. For me, not so much. I feel like shit.

15 years old and still ornery

I'm a certified euthanasia technician. In the past 12 years I've put down hundreds of animals, and have assisted with the euthanizing of even more. I know the names of all the drugs, can calculate dosages and can hit a vein with no problem. Yet all that knowledge doesn't make putting my cat to sleep any less painful. Dammit.

Gucci was a good cat. Sometimes -- OK, oftentimes -- she was an annoying, self absorbed pain in the ass. She had cattitude in spades. She was also playful, amusing, stubborn and fearless. I watched her dominate dogs 10 times her size. She was affectionate and loving -- on her own cat terms, of course. I miss her already.

The old girl about a year ago

Gucci was probably my last cat. About 10 years ago Hubby's allergies started getting worse and he asked that we have a "no replacement policy" for cats. (Mind you, he didn't say get rid of the cat, he just said no more.) In the interim he would take Claritin and wash his hands after touching her. I agreed to bathe her more often and try to keep Gucci from sleeping on our bed. (It didn't work, she was a sneaky little thing.) I doubt Hubby expected to have to suffer in silence for another decade. He loved her too though. I'd often find her on his lap watching TV or catch them taking an afternoon nap together.

I've got dozens of silly kitty stories. She was definitely a character. Maybe I'll share some of them later. Right now, though, I need to take a nap. I have a terrible headache from crying. Who knew that a little old cat could leave such a giant hole in my heart? -- K

Awww...Today's Catch

A raccoon call came in this morning with the usual hysteria: It's out during the day so it must have rabies. *sigh* We go through this every year. So please, help me set the record straight.

Raccoons are not vampires exiled to night. Just because they're out in the daylight does not mean they have rabies!!

My city is a self-proclaimed "tree sanctuary." As such, it's filled with wildlife. (You'd think people wouldn't be so freakin' weird about raccoons, opossums, foxes, armadillos and owls. You'd be wrong! And we won't mention snakes, alligators, bobcats and rats, OK?) Honestly, it's not uncommon to see adolescent raccoons exploring the daytime hours. It's even more common to see raccoons during the day in urban environments. Why? Because we have screwed them up. Raccoons have learned that if they stay up just a little bit later humans will roll out giant bins full of garbage. Why scavenge when you can have a free meal delivered to you? Also, raccoons love cat food, and we have a crazy cat lady on every block! I have seen obese raccoons push feral cats out of the way to gobble up a giant bowl of Meow Mix.

This little guy was chasing lizards at a local church, minding his own business. Unfortunately, several ignorant humans freaked out and called 9-1-1. Yes, 9-1-1. For his own protection, I relocated the little fella to a nature preserve three blocks away. He's cute, but I used a catch pole nonetheless. (I'm not stupid, they are wild animals with sharp, pointy teeth.) He was in a playful mood and wouldn't let go of my pole. He kept biting the cable and grabbing the pole with his little raccoon fingers. It took five minutes for me to wrestle my pole from the raccoon. I didn't think anyone would believe me so I snapped this picture with my phone.

It's Awww...Monday. And if this didn't make you saw "Awww" then your heart is obviously three sizes too small! Click around below and see what other awww-worthy things people are sharing today. A big thank you goes out to Sandee over a Comedy Plus for hosting this hop every week. Catch you later, -- K

It's Not What You Think

I posted about the Chariots of Fur 5K last week. I also complained that I couldn't find any pictures of me and Jedi despite the fact that there were photographers all over the place. Yesterday I was cleaning out my junk email and found something from Speedy Banana. Being that it was nestled between a penis enlarger supplement email and an ad for eHarmony, I nearly deleted it. (Maybe it's me, but the first thing I thought was "What a funny name for a sex toy.")

Curiosity got the better of me and I clicked. I'm glad I did! Speedy Banana is NOT a sex toy. Instead, it's the oddly named company that took all the pictures at Chariots of Fur -- and they would gladly sell me race pictures for an outrageous price. In fact, they had 32 pics for me to choose from. (This was my first race; apparently I've got a lot to learn.) Since it was my first race, I bought an overpriced picture. (Just wondering, why did I have to pay S&H for a digital download?) Anyway, here it is:

It was cold and windy on the beach that day. Jedi had a blast. We did the mile in less than 15 minutes -- on sand no less! And we supported a worthwhile charity. Who wants to join us next year?

Believe it or not, it's Wordless Wednesday, though you probably couldn't tell by my post. But hey, I had to share the not-a-sex-toy Speedy Banana story. (Two weeks ago it was Russians and pet store pooping. Obviously this isn't the most cultured blog on the internet!) Anyway, click around below and see what others are sharing today. -- K

Awww...Awkward? No, Ambivert

I saw this on Facebook the other day. I laughed, but then thought "It's really not that awkward."

Let me explain: I've always been a bit weird when it comes to dealing with people. Sometimes I just love people. I'll be invigorated by a large crowd. Concerts, amusement parks and sporting events can be very exciting. I feed off the energy. Other times, I may prefer intimate dinners, game nights with friends and backyard barbecues, but the rush from being with people is the same. Friends joke that if you slap a name tag on my shirt, I'll talk to anybody. If you meet this Kelley, you'd swear I'm an extrovert.  

Other times, I'm quiet and standoffish. Sometimes being around people is emotionally draining. I have turned off my phone because answering texts or playing Words with Friends is a chore. I've walked out of places feeling overwhelmed by the crowd. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I've hidden behind sales racks to avoid people I know at the store, just so I don't have to talk to them. I've spent entire weekends in my pajamas watching Netflix and eating junk food. It's not that I don't like people, it's just that I need time to recharge my batteries. If you meet this Kelley you would definitely label me as an introvert. Yet it's the same person as the extrovert above.

Sounds weird, hunh? I've recently discovered there's a term for this. I'm ambiverted, and it's more common than you think. So what does this have to do with dogs? (Seriously, this is Kelley's Dog Blog after all.)

Short answer: Everything! Dogs just "get it." When I'm feeling sociable and outgoing, the dogs are right there with me, barking and bouncing. I'll talk a mile a minute. The dogs have no idea what I'm saying, but listen anyway. And when I'm feeling antisocial and withdrawn, the dogs are right there. They'll lie next to me, enjoying the silence. They never expect me to be on, or to try to make me feel guilty for being quiet. 

Let's face it: Dogs are awesome!

So of course I talk to them more than I talk to people. No offense to the people who read my blog. (Though to be honest, my regular readers are a bunch of dog-lovin' weirdos like me -- I'm sure most of them prefer the company of canines too.) Here's another relevant thing I pulled off Facebook:

So who can relate? Anyway, it's Awww...Monday. I probably made you say "Awww...WTF is up with her?!" But I'm betting the other bloggers below will give you an "Awww" sweet enough to brighten your Monday. See for yourself. -- K

Mock Nose Work Trial

Dozer doing vehicle search. The odor is under the front bumper

of the center car. He's almost there!

Several Saturdays ago it was freezing cold and overcast. It was so cold that we actually had snow flurries. In Florida! And there was a bitter wind that just cut through the inadequate jackets we Floridians have on hand. (Northern readers can quit rolling their eyes any time now.) Smart people stayed at home with the heaters on. However, a group of crazy dog people got together at K-9 Obedience Club to hold a mock NW1 trial.

Nose work has become incredibly popular. Unfortunately, there are more people wanting to compete than there are available trials. NACSW trials are few and far between. Most entries are done by lottery. There's only a short window for people to register. Names go into a lottery and those who win have 48 hours to pay their entry fees. Sucks, hunh?

There are Level 1 Nose Work (NW1) Trials in Orlando this weekend. Six K-9 club members won the lottery, including my friend, Blondie. She and Semi went to West Palm Beach with us. She also owns Dozer, Jedi's brother.

Gunner looks for the scent on this exterior hide.

It's hidden in the crack of the cement.

More exciting news is that K-9 Obedience Club has jumped through all the required hoops and just got the approval from NACSW to hold sanctioned NW1 and NW2 trials right here in Jacksonville. The club has found a place to hold the trials (this is not an easy task) and now we're just hammering out fine details.

So all this good news prompted the club to hold a mock trial. This way those going to Orlando will have some idea what to expect. Also, our club members have an idea how to run a trial so that we do a good job later this spring. We tried to make the trial as real as possible, with volunteers rotating through various positions of timer, stewards, videographer, etc. It was a great idea. I just wish we hadn't picked the coldest day of the year to do it!

I volunteered to help run the trial. Jedi and I won't be able to participate in the real trial since we bombed the ORT last month. However, the trial site is literally 10 minutes from my house so I plan on working it when the time comes. I learned a lot. For instance:

• A trial consists of four elements: containers vehicles interior and exterior. A dog must pass all 4 elements in one day to earn the title.
• NW1 uses only birch, and there is only one hide per element. It sounds easy, but it's not. Its just not as hard as higher levels.
• NW2 uses both birch and clove. The same four elements are used, but there can be up to two hide per element. The hides can be both birch, both clove, just one of either odor, or one of each. You won't be told ahead of time either. Yikes.
• After the target odor is hidden, but before the participants trial, The judges bring in a "dog in white." This is a dog who has already earned the title. This dog searches for the odor to determine whether or not it is well placed as well as where the dog picked up the scent. Sometimes air currents and odor pooling cause the dog to detect the odor in unexpected places. The dog in white helps the judges determine where an alert would be acceptable.
• Cold air keeps the odor from dispersing, making it harder for dogs to find it. Shifting winds also make things harder for the dogs to find the target odors. 
• At an ORT the judge will tell you where the odor is should you call alert incorrectly. At a trial, the judge will only tell you yes or no.
• If your dog relieves itself on the course, you will be disqualified. This is difficult on an outdoor course with an intact pee freak like Jedi.
• You will lose points on your score if you drop food on the course. Therefore, it's best to have large, non crumbly treats.

There was a lot more, but I was too cold to remember. Anyway, I'm thinking happy thoughts for all my friends in Orlando this weekend. Hopefully that'll be me and Jedi soon. -- K