Kirby went to a carnival!

Kirby got his first real opportunity to herd children last weekend. My sister-in-law's birthday was last weekend, and instead of a traditional party, she throws a little carnival for the neighboring children and her cousins' children. Children as young as 3 were out running around in the yard, and Kirby was right there with them. We had to put him back on the leash once the 1-2 year olds came out, just because his recall isn't fast enough. He would topple them.

He also enjoyed attacking cones, and being photographed in general.

I forgot to mention- both of our families live in Portland- a 2 hour drive from here. Kirby is a rockstar in the car. He sleeps some of the way, sits up and watches the view for a while, or he'll just chill and gnaw on his ball. He's a great car companion... but that's all from the safety of a giant crate. I think if he was out of the crate he'd go nuts. How do you transport your dogs? Tomorrow is puppy class, and I don't have the car that will fit the crate, so Kirby is going to have his harness attached to the seatbelt. I'll let you know how that goes...

Back in action

Kirby is 16 (almost 17) weeks now. He's looking more like a dog and less like a pup every day.

He's been pretty mellow for the past week or so- the cough syrup we've had him on has really slowed him down. He's done with that now, and we had almost forgotten what a little ball of energy he can be. He's rediscovered the cat, and how fun barking at the cat can be... :P

He's also decided frisbees are a lot of fun, but hasn't quite worked out how to catch them in the air yet.

He has found the perfect method to bring them back to me though.

I'm excited that he's back to normal. We'll have much more to post soon, as he'll actually be able to leave the house!

Really, blogger?

Okay, so I know I'm behind on reading everyone's blogs. (erm.. sorry about that) I'm sitting here on a sunday night, trying to put off going to bed and starting work tomorrow... (haha) and so I decide it is a great time to catch up on doggy blogs.

I don't know about you guys, but the way I most often catch up is using my own little sidebar- it has the 5 most recently updated blogs posted- and I can click "see more" to.. well... see more. This has worked until today. Today, I got Wordless Wednesday from both Charlie and Dash, and when I click on Dash's entry it has a photo of their wedding, and then it says that Dealing with Dash doesn't exist. Additionally, I haven't seen updates from Simba, Noah, or Eva. They just aren't showing up! Any ideas on what's going on? Totally weird.

PS: I forgot to mention that Kirby weighed in at 21 pounds(!) when we went in about his Kennel Cough. He's 15 weeks old. He's currently sitting with me, munching on a bully stick. He's been really playful, he has a great appetite, and he still loves to bug the kitty. He whines when it's time to take his pill/cough syrup. Not because he doesn't like it, but because I'm not getting the pill wrapped in peanut butter fast enough. I have never seen a dog beg for medicine before, but I'm not complaining. He gets annoyed if I squirt the cough syrup too fast in his mouth, he likes to lick the drops off the end of the syringe. What a goofball. I'm glad he's feeling okay though. OH, and I apologize for the lack of photos lately- I promise, it will be remedied. :)

Home again, Home again... life update!

So, we are home! We have also been very, very busy. I got called while on vacation for a long term sub job. I'll only be working 6 hours a day, and it's offset a little bit from Stan's job, so he should make it home before I do. I start on Monday!

Kirby got his last set of vaccinations last Monday... except for kennel cough. The vet tech that does vaccinations said he's too young. I was skeptical, but she said they haven't had public (as in non-shelter) cases of kennel cough in quite a while, and he's good to go. I explained that we planned on some hard core socializing- dogs we meet on the street, even dog parks. She smiled and said, "He should be fine!"

Guess who has Kennel cough?

Yep, Kirby started coughing yesterday afternoon. He continued coughing.... and continued.... and suddenly it was morning! I called the breeder last night when he was a coughasaurus rex, and she told me to give him some bread and butter to ease his throat, and he would be fine through the night. She doubted it was KC because she's never had a case since she started breeding (1970...something). She was pretty surprised when I gave her the positive report.

The good news is that he's still as rambunctious as ever, eating like a piglet, and he's pretty happy all around. He's not coughing too often, and the vet gave us antibiotics to prevent the KC from moving down into his lungs, as well as a cough syrup so he can get some sleep. Healthy puppies need their beauty rest too!

I hope you'll forgive me for skipping the photos this time around. I wouldn't want my photo taken with weepy eyes and a drippy nose. :(

Moral of this story? Get your dogs vaccinated. We have to miss class for as long as he's showing symptoms. He's under house arrest- so he can play in the yard, but um... that's it. Poor guy is used to walks at the least, and he LOVES visiting friends. So that's our week! It's good to be back in blogland. :)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

On vacation in Brookings, OR.... Without Kirby! :( Hope you're all having a great week. This is one of the first times I've been able to log on and do anything... the service (phone and internet) is awful down here! Having a great time, besides missing my pup. Excited to catch up with you all next week! :)

Award Alert!

Wow, we won an award?!

Check that out! Versatile! I'll take it. :)

We were honored with this pretty little thing by one of Kirby's big cousins, Ryker. Thanks Ryker! (Ryker's Mom, too!!) Kirby and I are honored. :)

So now, 7 things about Kirby I suppose.... Hm. Where to start....?

1. Kirby's given name was "Justin." His breeder's grandson named all the puppies after his friends.

2. Kirby is super aware of whether or not we're watching him. Today in puppy class we worked on leave it (which he is good at if the subject is not our cat) and he was a pro... until we were talking to the trainer, and he moseyed on over to the giant dog biscuit and ate the WHOLE THING. This wasn't 2 minutes after we worked on leave it, and he acted like he didn't even want the biscuit. Gotta keep an eye on that guy!

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3. Kirby is sort of afraid of heating/AC vents. He was lying on one once and his collar tag slipped between the slats and rotated, so that when he stood up, the vent cover came with him, leaving a big hole for his leg to fall into. (He's way too big to fall all the way in) He yelped and ran a few steps before the tag was jostled out and the vent cover fell.

4. One of Kirby's favorite things is to lick the condensation off of a cold drink, especially a pop can. He comes running when someone opens a can, and goes nuts trying to lick it. He has absolutely no interest in cans that have not been refrigerated.

5. Kirby puts everything in his mouth, but he's really particular about what he'll swallow. You can tell when he's not planning on swallowing something because he gets this weird lip curl thing that looks like a snarl while he moves it around with his tongue. We're (constantly) working on keeping weird things (at his first checkup with us the vet found dirt in his mouth... the day after we brought him home) out of his mouth, but it's good to know he knows better than to swallow rocks.

6. Kirby is not a one person dog. He loves both Stan and I equally, and is SO happy when one of us arrives from somewhere- even the bathroom, after 2 minutes or something. He's wagging his tail so hard that his body curls up like a C, and he runs up to us sideways and bumps into us with his side, or his nose and his bum at the same time.

7. He's really funny. Almost like it's intentional funny. I don't know if that's possible, but here's a for instance- Today at class, he was wrestling with the only other puppy, and she was biting his face, and he cried out a few times. When they were finally off leash, Kirby made a bee line for her, hit her at top speed, and (I was a little worried at this point) then he.... sat on her. He plopped right on her chest, and she was wriggling around under his bum, trying to escape. He just looked at us and smiled, tongue out.

The next part of the award is where I mention (new?) blogs that I read and love.... well, to me almost everything is new, since I've been at this for less than 2 months, so I'm cheating this part... but only a little. ;)

http://goldensimba.blogspot.com/

http://photosandpretties.blogspot.com/

http://sharper43.blogspot.com/

http://ouraussiepuppy.blogspot.com/

http://miniaussieace.blogspot.com/

http://dealingwithdash.blogspot.com/

http://completedog.blogspot.com/

http://noah-aussie.blogspot.com/

http://ohcharlietheminiaussie.blogspot.com/

http://doggiesandstuff.com/

http://boccibeefs.blogspot.com/

http://dogblogemma.blogspot.com/

http://aussiepup.blogspot.com/

http://ghfsheepdogs.blogspot.com/

http://milshelbsblog.blogspot.com/

But now, for the ultimate prize handoff.... who will it go to? The blogger I see as totally super versatile is.......(drumroll)

House of Carnivores! This blog is about 5 pets that are not even the same species. Hats off to you HOC. :) If you haven't read this blog, go check it out at:

http://houseofcarnivores.blogspot.com/

Thanks again Ryker for the cool award. I'm feeling pretty spiffy. ;)

It's like herding cats...

Okay, actually it is about herding cats. If you've read posts involving Riker in the past, you know that he is not allowed outside. He gets the runs if he even looks at grass/leaves/weeds/organic matter the wrong way. Riker also looooooves the sun. He finds a sun spot in the house, and sleeps on it all day, moving with the spot as it moves around the room. We didn't have a problem with him trying to escape until Kirby came along. I think there's a jealousy thing going on.

So yesterday, while Stan was out with Kirby, Riker manages to slip out. Stan sees this and rushes to get him back in the house, but he's kind of a slippery cat, and not the easiest to catch. He's struggling, trying to keep Riker from munching on the greenery, when suddenly along comes SUPER DOG!

Kirby apparently noticed what was happening and started... HERDING. I know. He was bred for this- but he's inside with Riker all the time! Riker usually just bats at Kirbs when he tries this, and Kirby runs away. Not this time! Kirby circled around Riker and when Riker wouldn't move, Kirby nipped the AIR next to Riker. Riker was a sitting duck, but Kirby didn't bite, *yay*, he feigned and got Riker off his butt. He then circled the other way to block off the other side of the door, effectively giving Riker one option- go inside. Riker did, and Kirby followed him in, stub wagging. He was promptly praised and given treats- Stan was SO happy to have a helpful partner in cat wrangling.

Okay, I know. This could have been luck; maybe Kirby just has bad aim and that's why he didn't nip the cat, or maybe Kirby was just trying to clear the way so he could get inside without the threat of claws. But, maybe, just maybe, Kirby saw a situation and just instinctively knew what to do. I'll take it.