Where were you?

I went out of town and left the pack at home. Alone. A friend and some of her family came over to let the dogs out and give them Kongs until my return.

Everything went well, all the dogs behaved, returned to their crates with only a minor bit of confusion and then I returned.  It should have been a happy, we're-so-glad-you're-finally-home greeting.  But it wasn't quite like that. It was more where-the-heck-have-you-been-and-why-do-you-smell-like-that?

Well, I went visiting.  I went to see some people and their rescued animals.

I haven't been around horses before don't know much about them but quickly learned that if you stop petting this one, he'll give a nudge with his nose and almost knock you off your feet! A true gentle giant and it was fun to hang out with him for a bit.

There were also these - 

And another dog and a sheep.  (no pictures due to camera issues)

The pack spent a few minutes sniffing and sniffing while giving me accusatory looks. 

"Oh but wait" I say.  "I brought you something from the plane ride!"

Pretzels?  A little bag of free pretzels?  You think that is going to make up for leaving us alone and then returning smelling like other dogs and farm animals?!

It's been a couple of days, the clothes have been washed and I think they have forgiven me. I feel a little bad that I tried to bribe them with pretzels, but hey, I think it worked. Either that or they really do love me and am glad I'm back.  I know I love them and am glad to be back with them.

What did you buy us?

The pack is always interested in the results of a shopping trip.  They typically assume that bags containing groceries must be for them.  

If they could, I am sure they would ask, "What did you buy for us?"

Unfortunately for the pack, often there is nothing for them.  They seemed to be a bit displeased with the recent shopping trip.

After literally ripping into the empty bag and finding nothing, I got the look. You know the one. The one designed to make you feel guilty and makes them look like they are unloved.  

Blind Brook decided to take matters into her own paws and "look" for something good from the grocery shopping.

This is what I saw as I turned around grabbing a couple more items for the fridge.  Seems that she could smell something good in there.

"There must be something in here for us."

Yes, the jar that has captured her attention has a label on it that is "TREATS".  It is some of the beef heart that was dehydrated for them.  

Then the decision.  Do I give her and the rest of the pack a treat since she found them and as a result reward that behavior?  Is it really such a big deal to reward that?  I can't see her being able to open the fridge on her own, but...she is smart and those are yummy treats.

But...how could I not give her a treat after she "looked" at them for so long. Practically begging. 

Yes, they all got a treat. After all, that's what I dehydrated the heart for.

Jump!

This video is from a couple of days ago.  It's only 30 seconds long but shows how high a (silly) blind pup can jump.

This is also a great example of the exuberance that is common at our home.

That big jump in the first five seconds is what Breeze was doing for a few minutes before I got the camera on her.  

Just another day at our happy home!

Another project.

Not all of the dogs are always allowed to participate in projects around the house. Using an electrical saw and trying to keep track of three blind dogs at the same time is multi tasking that is more risk taking.  

It was a nice warm and sunny day so the blind trio went outside to explore the yard while the dangerous activities were being done in the house.

 

Since Azule is deaf, the noise of the saw doesn't bother her and she was always laying around getting covered in sawdust.  Of course Forest was there too, not wanting to miss anything. He is curious about everything. Quite the change from the severely neglected and terrified of everything pup that he was when we adopted him just over a year ago.

 

Azule is very much a typical Australian Cattle Dog in her desire to be with her person at all times.  It is a common trait of the breed to be a "velcro" dog.  She will always look for me (a bonus when off leash in the wilderness!) and loves to be close.  She isn't demanding attention, she is just there.  A little wave in her direction or a quick pat and she wiggles with happiness.  When I was painting in the hall, I sat on the floor and within seconds, Azule was on my lap.

Bill wandered through the kitchen to see what was happening but being a bit nervous of anything that is not routine, he preferred to stay in the living room or outside with the blind trio.

"I'm not sure about this mess."

At one point, Forest helped by suggesting to Azule that she stay out of the way.

 

"Azule, we can't go over there right now."

Once part of the floor was installed, Forest couldn't wait to check it out.

"Ohhh...this is nice!"

The renovations are almost done and we'll soon have more time to get out and wander the wilderness.

Wordless Wednesday - Popcorn party!

Tasty Tuesday - we got heart!

Since the dehydrated chicken hearts were such a success, I decided to (spend most of the grocery budget) purchase two beef hearts to dehydrate for the pack.  I had to visit a couple of stores before I found one that would order them for us.  Interesting thing about that - the butcher asked if it was for a dog. He said that there have been a few people asking for organ meat for their dogs. As the conversation went on, he mentioned that as a kid, his Mother would cook beef heart for dinner.  I sympathized, we were served that too! 

The two hearts cost just under $35 but yielded a vast quantity of meat for dehydrating.  I decided to slice and freeze it so that I wouldn't be constantly dehydrating for days on end.  I was surprised that it didn't smell all that much.  As with the chicken hearts though, the kitchen was a popular place for the pack to hang out with their noses in the air!

No pictures of the hearts or slicing, not very nice to look at.  However, I did take a picture of the dried and finished product.  

Some of the slices were a bit thick and resulted in more of a chewy, jerky type treat with others being more dried and crunchy.  I am storing the treats in a jar, in the fridge to keep them fresh, not that they will last long!

Here are various pack members and their thoughts on the dehydrated beef hearts.

waiting patiently.....

"I see the treats!"

Forest likes to sit on the (securely closed and latched) kibble storage tote for his treats.

 Callie was so excited, she almost stood on her head!

Azule, how good are these new treats? 

"These treats are super yummy!"

So, if you have a dehydrator, we would highly recommend dehydrating beef hearts for treats, it is acd6pack approved!

Internet upgrade?

All the dogs were outside enjoying the early evening sunshine and then they all came in, except for blind Breeze.  Nothing unusual in that, she often stays out by herself as does blind Hiker.  They enjoy wandering the yard, sniffing and exploring.  After about a half hour, I went to see if Breeze was ready to come in since she rarely barks at the door.

Seems that a local internet supplier dropped off some information. Dropped being the key word.  I can only assume that it was dropped over the fence instead of being placed in the mailbox since Breeze found it.

Of course, once the others saw that Breeze had something, they had to rush outside to get in on it too.

"But that was mine, I found it!"

 

It had been in a bag and it looked like Breeze had a great time ripping it open to get at the papers.  She has a thing for paper and loves to shred it.

Breeze to Brook: "See this bag? It had paper in it!"

It might have been a good deal on an internet upgrade but we'll never know since we're not going to try and piece the papers together to read about it.

No harm done. We don't own a computer.