Holiday Greetings from Chris & Riley

Riley & Chris Get Ready for the Holidays

Riley & Chris at Holiday Hound Bazaar on Dec 5th at the Coeur d' Alene Pet Resort (picture taken by Jenn Pearce).

Riley Finally Makes it to a Tubbs Hill Walk

A Golden meet and greet

Sparky, Nancy, Riley, CiCi, and Henri (foreground) hangin' on the beach.

Newman looks on.

Nancy plays with dogs, Ci Ci, Herni, Riley on the run.

A Walk in the Preserve

First Time Outings at the Preserve for Rue, Lisa Bilich's Pup, and Molly, Jon Busath's golden girl.

November 7th Riley and I were joined on a walk at Cougar Bay Preserve! It was Rue's and Molly's first time there. They gave it a 4 paws up rating.

If you are interested in dog walks and socializing, check out the calendar of events at www.dogabouttowncda.com.

Howl-oween Pawty

Riley helps her mom with announcement of newsletter!

www.dogabouttowncda.com representative Riley

Riley sees something of much more interest than the photographer. If the photographer were a canine that would be a different story. Riley would have her mug right in the lens. Maybe that wouldn't be such a good thing ... wet nose smears on the lens and all.

Squirmy Girl

Riley has better things to do than pose for a picture. There are dogs to meet at this event after all. Who has time to stand still for a photo?

Riley and her mom attended the Coeur d' Alene Pet Resort's Howl-oween Pawty last Saturday.
There they announced the new quarterly newsletter for Dog About Town. It's an on-line newsletter where one can get the local doggie dish. Sign up is at www.dogabouttowncda.com.

Friends at the Beach - Life is a Beach!

Where's the Biscuit?

Waiting for Best Friend and Biscuit!

Water Makes Canines into Chums!

Follow the Leader!

Off-Leash and Making Friends

Riley couldn't make the walk, which was a shame. Everyone had a blast! This was a "social" dog walk on Tubbs Hill park on Coeur d' Alene Lake. The dogs were on leashes (and we carried our baggies for the poo!), but we gave them a break off-leash by the water. It was the best part of the walk. These dogs were strangers at the outset, but became fast friends when given their freedom.

After Tubbs Hill, we, humans and canines, got refreshments at the dog-friendly Bakery by the Lake downtown near the park. Delicious dog biscuits are available, along with lots of scrumptious goodies for people, and your best friends are welcome to join you on the terrace.

Serious Visitors

Mama Moose and her baby

Peekaboo, wish I had a zoom lens!

Baby Moose looks my way.

Baby Moose gets on knees for apples.

We had visitors for over a week, and they hadn't been invited! Turns out they could not resist the apples on the property, so they camped out. I had to keep Riley on a tight leash any time she went outside. Sometimes our visitors were very close to the house because there is an apple tree in the side yard, 40 feet from the house. Riley thinks she is all big and bad when she sees a moose, but, of course, she doesn't realize how dangerous they are and unpredictable. For over a week I played the game Avoid-the-Moose, which consisted of leaving the house from exits that are on the opposite side of the house from the apple trees. Usually that worked, but I had to be on my toes because I spotted moose droppings on that side of the house. So the moose could be anywhere!

In the early mornings before sunrise (I'm an early riser.), the mom and baby were difficult to see in the dark. They'd stand perfectly still until I got too close and then the mom would snort and move. Fortunately for me she moved away from me and not towards me. At these times I was Riley-less. If Riley had been with me she'd have spotted them or smelled them or heard them long before I could.

One time I surprised our visitors and they jumped the five foot fence into the dog pen (the dogs were in the house.) Both mom and baby were in there in an attempt to get away from me. (I had been going to my vehicle when I surprised them.) I thought, "There goes the fence." However, they both cleared it a second time and moved on to the field below the main yard.

Mama Moose and her baby have been gone awhile. I have to say it is a bit of a relief. On the other hand, it was truly awesome to have such magnificent animals in view.

Out and About

The girls, Riley and Della, had an outing to English Point at the south end of Hayden Lake. They had a fabulous time in the new-to-them environment. Della, always the good girl, was allowed to be off-leash the entire time. Riley, on the other hand, had to be on-leash most of the time. Horses have the right of way at this park, so dogs must be under the control of their owners at all times, verbal command or leash. Well, I don't have a lot of authority with Riley at this time (I haven't truly gained top dog status yet), so for safety reasons I kept her restrained for the most part. Riley had a great time despite being on a short leash; she tends to have fun in most situations.

New Friend - Froggie

Riley had surgery (spay) and since then has had a very strong bond with a toy that didn't seem to have much significance before the surgery. The toy is a rubbery frog. At first she was obsessed with it. Sometimes letting go of the little guy was a tough choice for her, like whether to drop the frog and take a treat instead. She'd take the treat eventually, but it took some deliberating. Oh my, she was attached! At bed time there would be no rest unless the little green friend was by her side. Now that she is feeling better and back to her exuberant self, the little frog isn't her constant companion as before. Still he's never too far away, and she likes to keep him snug at night yet. Maybe she thinks he'll turn into a prince dog.

One Bed is Better than Two

Riley has her own soft, comfy bed; however, she much prefers sharing with her BFF Della. The trouble is (for Della) Riley is a bed hog. She encroaches and encroaches until she infiltrates all the bed space. (Della gradually gets nudged over to an edge of the bed and then retreats for a different bed, even though she was the first one on the now Riley-dominated bed.) It's all about Riley after all, and Della is an easygoing girl.

Screen Door Blues

Earlier this summer, Riley crashed through the screen door leading to the deck. She was startled by the experience and had seemed to learn from it with a few close put-on-the-brakes skids following the initial "accident" but no actual contact with the door. While she continued to be excited to get to the deck, she appeared to be aware of the screen and its boundary. So we thought. Then one day her friend Della was already on the deck and Riley was so thrilled to see her that she forgot all about the screen or didn't see it (again) and blasted through it. This time she bent the frame and tore the mesh. Sadly deck season is nearly over, and the screen door was a summer casualty.

Deck Time With Della

Deck time with Della is frolicking fun until the warning bell sounds, which consists of Della's fierce growls and barks - meaning ENOUGH, and then it's everyone to her corner.

Water is for Ducks and Della

Della will find water if there is any to be found. She is not above wallowing in a mud hole like a pig. There's no doubt that she's a Lab; she's true to the trait of being water loving. Some have speculated that Riley is part Labrador. Well if that's the case she did not inherit the water lovin' gene. She prefers to watch Della take a dip from dry ground, keeping her feet and everything else out of the water.

Al - Riley's 2nd best friend

Al is my ginger cat. His full name is Alexie. He's named after Sherman Alexie, a writer who comes from this area, the Inland NW. I've had Al for a couple of years; he's the pet with seniority. I found Al in a grounds of a former work place. From the windows of the building I worked in, I watched as he introduced himself to people time and again. People would stop and pet him and move on. Al looked like he was in need of a home. I suspected that he wasn't from the neighborhood, but rather had been dumped off. So I took him home.

I thought he was a girl; he was so pretty. I worried he was pregnant. When I took him to the vet's office, I relayed my concern. When the vet got a good look at him, he said,"I'd be the biggest fool in the county to spay this cat. He's a neutered male." So Al went from the name Fiona (meaning beautiful in Scottish Gaelic) to Alexie right then and there.

Being a very laid back cat, Al adjusted to Riley with no problem. There is a little sibling rivalry at times, but all in all they do well together. Riley is sweet natured and is not prey driven like my former dog Ellie had been (she tolerated "her" cats only because her pack leader expected her to do so). However, Riley is playful and must be supervised with Al. The "Don't touch" command is working well. When Riley looms over Al, I just say, "Don't touch" and she backs off. It took some work to get her to that point, but Al played along and didn't complain. Al is a very self-possessed cat and doesn't spook easily.

Gone Visiting

Riley is with me while I pet sit for a friend. She was not happy to be here in the beginning and kept going to the front door and bouncing on it with her front paws (fortunately her nails had recently been clipped). She had turned up her nose at the spacious, tree filled, fenced backyard. All she wanted was to go home. Before too long she became accustomed to her new surroundings and got back to her "happy go lucky" self.

Tansy and Brendan are the occupants of the "new surroundings." Tansy is a pup - less than 6 months old, a lab/husky mix with large green eyes and ears that, when they are sticking straight up, resemble those of a rabbit. They are really large in relation to rest of her, except for her feet that is. Her roommate Brendan is an elderly dog. He reminds me of a stately gentlemen. He doesn't interact much with the youngsters but rather observes from a distance. Brendan is a Golden Retriever/hound mix. The hound part of him is evident when he talks. It's more of a baying sound than a choppy barking sound.

Riley is accustomed to getting up in the morning and playing with her aunt Della ( a patient soul). She likes to roughhouse - tug on Della's collar and jump on her. This morning there is no Della, but there is Tansy. Tansy is a quarter of Riley's size so she postures from under my chair on the patio. When the taunts get too loud (from them both), I resort to "Don't touch" and "Enough" commands that Riley knows well. That's not to say that she complies at first. I'm not naturally an alpha in temperament (I've got to work on that.), so my commands often come out more like suggestions or requests, the tone is all wrong. I have to repeat myself and make my tone more authoritative.

With Tansy so much smaller, I've supervised the play times closely. Naturally I feel I need to be protective of my little charge, but she has surprised me. Inside of her is an alpha dog, I think. I'd given all the dogs a biscuit. For some reason Riley did not eat hers right away. Tansy gulped hers down and walked over and took Riley's biscuit right from under her nose, literally. There was no sneaking around; it was a bold move. Tansy even gave a little growl as she did it. Riley didn't care. According to her dog trainer, Riley is a "middle of the road" kind of dog. She just takes life easy and gets along with everybody. I wish I were more like my dog sometimes.

New Discoveries

In the mornings, early, before 6 a.m., I go out to the little shed that is made from the lumber of my maternal grandfather's barn. It's my quiet place, my workshop for my creative endeavors. On mornings in the spring, summer, and fall, I like to sit and read inspirational material and attempt to set a peaceful tone for the day (never hurts to try). I sit and read and drink coffee and listen to the birds sing and drink more coffee.

Now I have Riley, she joins me at the shed, but I have to attach a cord to her harness because she will bolt if she sees deer, who are frequent visitors. Riley can join me inside the shed if she chooses. There is a soft bed for her to lie on. However, being under a year in age, she has way too much energy first thing in the morning to be sedentary. She prefers to remain outside and scan the pasture next door for our vegetarian visitors on four legs, or our neighbor, Carol, who sometimes walks around within Riley's sight watering her newly planted trees.

Another thing that Riley is fond of doing is going down into the bed of bushes near the shed. She has done pretty well in the past. Apparently she found a natural tunnel, so she stayed tangle free. Today was a different story. She discovered a new opening and got herself entangled twice.
I rescued her, tramping through the damp bushes and undergrowth. I am an explorer by nature, so I rather enjoyed going into the cavernous brush, a place I'd never ventured into before, for I had no reason to do so until now. I could see that there was a secret spot in there - a place where deer bed down. I had no idea that they slept so near. I've walked past this hidden place at all times of day and night. Perhaps there were times when the creatures were in there lying ever so still and watching me with large, startled eyes while I went about my business, on my way to perform some task, like watering the flowers at the shed, being set on a purpose and not sensing other beings so near. Now thanks to Riley and her explorations, I hope to be a bit more aware of my surroundings, to take more notice of the world around me.

Up Close and Personal

Riley will rest her head on one's arm or leg and look up at her subject (usually me, but sometimes others) with her big brown eyes. It's very charming. It seems to be her way of connecting with people. It's like she is inquiring so What's up with you? Or I'm bored. So can we do something else?

Simple Pleasures

I cut some bushes back and Riley discover a three foot branch - a long stick really. It has been her favorite play thing for two days now. She has fun attempting to dominate it, tossing it, jumping onto it, chewing it, dragging it, and running with it balanced in her mouth with the ends tilting up and down. When she moves with it centered in her mouth like that, she looks like a canine majorette. She has had more fun with her stick than with any manufactured dog toy I've given her. Ahhh the simple pleasures are the best.

Bring Your Dog to Work Day

Kootenai Humane Society's AJ's Tails & Trails Fun Run earlier this summer - Chris and Riley.

Exploration

I like to take Riley and her senior aunt Della to the Cougar Bay Preserve where dogs can be off leash. The dogs love it - the freedom, the new smells, and for Della, alias - Swamp Thing, the bogs. Ahhh, the smell of wet dog and stagnant water, these can make my eyes misty just thinking about the combo.

Della is a yellow lab and can't resist a dip. On the other hand, Riley, a mutt, shows no indication of having Labrador genes; she doesn't care to step in the water and instead seems to prefer skirting along the bank. I thought Riley would follow Della anywhere, but apparently not.

We've been going to the preserve for over two months now. So Riley has become comfortable with these surroundings. She doesn't come back to check on me from farther up the trail as often as she once did. Still she tends to stick closer than my dear-departed Ellie who would put her nose to the ground and dash off into the brush, crashing away until she got farther and farther off trail. I'd call and whistle (and I can whistle very loudly) and worry until about twenty minutes later she'd grant me a viewing of her fox brush 3/4 tail, and then she'd stay closer to the trail for the rest of our walk.

Riley doesn't appear to have the scent-hound genes that Ellie possessed. Also she isn't as independent. Being a puppy (10 months) and a somewhat sensitive girl, she tends to get spooked by new things. One day, part of the path was overgrown with thimble berry bushes, creating a tunnel. Riley, who was ahead on the trail, hesitated, so Della and I went through first. After Della and I had gone about 10 feet, Riley burst through at top speed. The "tunnel" wasn't so scary the next time.