Our OKC Adventure

Arik and I had a rough time getting to OKC. Originally our plan was to stay overnight in Salina or Wichita KS, but low and behold, some baseball tournament was going on IN OKC, and caused every single hotel within a 400 mile radius to be booked -_-.  We ended up having to drive straight to OKC, arriving by around 5am, and attempting to sleep in the car in a Bass Pro shop parking lot until 11am.  The volunteer ended up running late by about 90 minutes, which admittedly did give us a chance to walk around the downtown OKC area with the dogs. They seemed to enjoy this and had a nice time:

Posing with pink flowers

Posing with red flowers...

And then, finally, at around 1:30, we got to meet Ahri!  She greeted us by running up and sitting, and then flopping over for a belly rub. Within a few minutes of having her meet Winry briefly before being lifted into the back with her, we were off again, back to Colorado.  We made stops every few hours, and eventually made it back by just about midnight.

Needless to say, we are TIRED, and it should take a few days to fully recover from the adventure.  The whole ride, we kept saying, "Poor dog...we'll have really high expectations of her after going through all this trouble...she better be worth it!" Fortunately, as will be discussed in the next post, she really has been above and beyond our expectations!

And while OKC was nicer than I thought it would be, I'll have to keep these photos for memory, since I doubt we'll be going back maybe ever again!

Hiking in South Valley, Littleton CO

While pretty, I'll admit this trail kicked our butts.  We only did about two miles and were all panting pretty hard by the end of it! I think a nap is in store for all three of us for the afternoon...

Poses from Staunton State Park

My handsome boy :)

Winry insisted on keeping an eye on the deer nearby, in case they snuck up on us.

My boys <3

This is actually Roxborough Park, the area we're hoping to get to move to in the next year.

Garden of the Gods Photos

Sometimes it takes a while for me to recover photos from our trips, but it's enjoyable to go back and look at them.  Years from now, I will be happy to go back and find memories of my dogs in one place :).

In any case, these were from a few months ago, back in March I believe.

Warmer Weather = Less Food, and More Bullying?

The weather here lately has been reliably great.  Our heat/AC has been off for several days, and there isn't a chance of precipitation in sight.  Unfortunately, this has been having some unusual side effects for Ferguson and Winry.

In the past when it's gotten warmer, Ferguson has become a picky morning breakfast eater.  He will either pick at his food, or go back and forth with it several times (which is a big pain in the neck when I'm in a hurry trying to get to work and have to police his bowl to make sure Winry doesn't help him finish it).  I normally wouldn't care as much, but since the weather is nicer, we've been able to walk a bit more and he is quite thin.  I did recently buy some wet food to make sure he at least gets at least one cup in the morning, but this is an expensive habit to maintain.  He is fortunately not like Winry in that his stomach gets upset if he goes without food to long (Winry will even vomit if it's been more than 12 hours), but in general it is still a pain.  I still soak both their food in a bit of water, as well as add glucosemine oil on top...this makes it very difficult to pack up and re-serve later.  It's a mystery to me why he does this every so often, usually once it gets warm.  *sighs* Silly dog.

Winry on the other hand (er, paw?), has been maintaining her own means of annoyance, but lately to other dogs on our dog park adventures.  In the past, she's always been an angel; very submissive, dog savy, gets along with everyone, etc. Since we've been able to visit more often, she's lately become more of a jerk in her behavior.  Her favorite thing to do the past few times we've visited is to single out one dog and mercilessly try to play with them, when it's obvious the other dog does NOT want to play with her.  She circles them, play bowing and dancing, and the other dog often tries to avoid her, hide behind their owners, and otherwise show disinterest (granted, they don't growl or snap at her).  She is so fast, it's been a HUGE pain to grab her and keep her away from the other dog (she just runs right back unless we leash her, and will do the same thing once she is unleashed even if we get far away).  Not to mention how embarrassing it is to have a dog act like a bully, and how her little brain tends to focus on ONE thing at a time.  It's also bizarre, because it is so unlike her, being a naturally submissive and sensitive dog.  The last time we visited, we were FINALLY able to get her away from the dog and get her to just let loose and run a big lap; after she did that, she was no longer a brat and didn't pester the other dog we were walking with/near.

What's also a bit unusual is that normally Ferguson is persistent with her, though not exactly rude. He will just chase her if she runs, and then trot along beside her until she starts running again, but he will wait and keep a 1 foot boundary between himself and her, while she sniffs and walks, or, lately, starts to pester other dogs.  In any case, there is her brother, right there beside her, waiting to play with her, but she insists on starting to hound these other poor dogs...*more sighs*

As far as fixing it/working with her, it is difficult. We don't have a private yard to play with her to practice, and when she does it is inconsistent. It's possible we can try to go to the park during slower hours when there are less people around, but the warmer it gets, the less likely that will be.  When she's not busy being a bully, she has a great time...I hate to deny her that.  I suppose she will just have to stay leashed if it's too busy and at least get a nice walk and some friendly sniffs in; or perhaps we can try to entice her with a squeaky toy or bring a racket and tennis ball to get that good strong run in to get a burst of energy out of her to get her back to acting like a normal, amiable dog.

While I don't have the money for it now, I kind of wonder if a vibration collar would work well for her in that type of situation; just something to correct her without any pain that would work well from a distance when she flies out of our reach across the park to bug someone. *Shrugs* who knows?  Until then, poor Win will have to visit on a leash until we can better control her manners.

Waiting for the Snow to Cease

While Colorado weather has generally been kinder to us than east coast weather, the occasional bursts of snow have been quite a downer when it comes to taking the dogs out adventuring to nearby parks and hiking trails.  It's hard to complain when the weather goes from 70, to 30 (when it snows) back to 60 the following day (something my friends and family in MD would wish upon a thousand stars for lately after having 12 snow days already this year).  However, it makes for a very muddy, mucky ground that never gets a chance to fully dry, keeping us out of the parks and trails for weeks >:(.

As I didn't explain as well in my last post, what seems to help especially Ferguson get out of his nearly autistic need for structure and order is a dramatic increase in exercise.  Day-to-day, we do our best to provide both he and Winry with an hour-90 minutes total of exercise every day, but when the weather is as it has been, this is usually restricted to leash-walking briskish walks.  Our solution to wanting to go out unexpectedly in the  middle of the day or evening is to take both dogs to one of the gigantic dog parks nearby that range from 6 to 60 acres of fenced-in land so they can really run full blast, frolic with some other dogs, and also hike with us from time to time...all of this in addition to our daily walks, of course.  This isn't usually especially demanding and takes about an hour or two (depending on the park), but precipitation certainly has caused some rifts in our plans, as I never feel comfortable letting the hounds run in the wet, slippery mud.  In a best case scenario, they will seek out mud puddles to lay in once they're finished running to cool off, and the dirt here is very, VERY clay based, making it slick and nearly impossible to get off the dogs. I also worry about them slipping and tearing a muscle, or worse, breaking a bone.

So lately, while the weather has seemed to improve (as in, it looks like it will stay nice with no precipitation for the next 5+ days), as well as the addition of daylight savings time, I'm most looking forward to taking the dogs to the park or on a hiking trail a few more days a week to keep them  more active, stimulated, and happy (and hopefully, more easy-going!).  Hiking especially in Colorado is a dream most of the time; insects are especially not-bothersome and only appear if you really look for them, the dry air prevents you from getting sweaty, and the landscape is pretty much always breathtaking!  It helps that Ferguson is the best hiking dog I've ever had, perhaps in thanks to his overly attached, OCD nature that prevents him from letting me out of his sight ;).

"Tired of the Cold!"

More Photos (from the fancy camera)