Car buddies

This is a good toddler and a good dog riding in the car together (Lucy is shameless in her quest for a warm lap and Loic was happy to accommodate her).

Puppies don't understand...

.

..that moving is stressful. 

Abby and Ryan understand - Abby has moved at least 7 times with me in the past 7 years. Ryan is probably up to 5 or so. 

Maybe it's best to learn from babies. 

I read Loic this book the other night. Look at the valuable life lesson:

Also, take joy in the simple things in life. I wish chewing on tupperware made me this happy.

Abby listened to the puppy: she forgot she was stressed out and started playing. Ryan did, too, a second after this photo...but then there was too much chaos to take another photo. 

Loic looks more like an old man than a baby in his "comfy cozy housecoat".

I've lived in Erika and Rob's suite for the past 2 years and it's been the best living situation. I'm very sad to move out...but my work contract is up (after 4.5 years) and it's time for some major life changes. I've loved being able to go upstairs and visit so easily, and loved being such a big part of the family. I'm pretty sure the neighbours think we are polygamous since we refer to me as the "second wife". 

So my last day of work is Friday and I go traveling for a few months a few days after that. Abby and Ryan are staying with my parents - this will be the longest I've ever left them and it will be hard. 

On a side note, this is the huge cat that I took care of for the last two nights. He sucked on my hair all night. It was weird. 

Bye Eagle

Something you should probably stop your dog from doing....

instead of just wishing you had a telephoto lens.

Remember Tryp?

Tryp was my roommate Ffion's foster dog and was adopted back in 2006. We thought he was around 8 years old at the time. He found a wonderful home and his owners recently came across this blog and sent me an update!

"He is quite heathy, active and a happy boy.
He has slowed down this past year..tho eager to go walking every morning...it's always a hour half to 2 hour walk....it's the after supper walks that he might tell me...ahh...no...nope want to stay on the couch tonight thanks.
I let him tell me how much or far we should go...he knows clearly what I mean when I say ok buddy what you you think...should we head home now?....9 times out of ten its No..no not yet!
So far he is not limited in anything we can do.....just a bit slower...I hate to admit to myself that he has slowed down at all...but no denying he is getting older.
I wish everyone had the experience of having a great dog like Tryp...we love him to bits!"

It is so nice to hear that he's doing great :) What a happy ending for Tryp. 

Pants pants pants

I just splurged and bought these pants online:

They're Lululemon Dog Runner pants and I've wanted them for years...but every time I realize they have them in stock, they sell out before I can get any. I don't usually like buying clothes online without ever trying them on first. Hopefully these will fit well. They are lined with warm tights and are water repellent - both important things when you are walking in the evening and it looks like this out:

Salmon Run

From the bank this just looks like a regular river...

 Until you realize it is FULL of salmon. 

Salmon graveyard.

The salmon are amazing. They are solid muscle; this one accidentally got herself stuck on the rocks and managed to throw herself back into the river. 

 Seagulls and eagles were everywhere - salmon buffet.

Photo purge

It's time for another purging of the recent iPhone photos!

When dogs cuddle it's cute, even when it's forced due to tiny enclosed spaces...

Lucy's 'stay' was a work in progress when I took this photo...but at least she's been great off leash for my mom!

Abby's on a boat (on the dashboard no less)

Ryan has a spot on his eye. The vet told me what it was at his last check up and I totally forgot what he called it...

It's very noticeable (though maybe not in this photo) and I hope it's not bothering his vision too much.

Waiting patiently at the deli.

This was from our summer camping trip. Why not make your dog jump over your friends?

I love this kid. He didn't even realize I was taking his photo.

I was outside eating my lunch at work and I heard a funny crunching noise under the dock. One of the river otters was eating a crab a few inches below me!

This was on my mom's birthday hike. Only Ryan wanted to get in the water...it was freezing! 

Bosu ball

unnecessary. 

Swim laps for 18 hrs+ per day and you'll have plenty of core strength and balance. 

Hey you've got a little somethin' on your neck, there...

The Brother

I contacted Abby's brother's owner awhile ago and he sent me some new photos of Chachi. Too bad we don't live nearer to each other - I'd like to see them together again. 

He sure looks a lot like Abby - but apparently he didn't like agility. I think he's just a bit softer than his crazy sister....

Sigh.

Abby stopped weight bearing on her right hind leg (the non-surgery leg) yesterday. Ugh. It happened suddenly while she was chasing a ball. Today she is still limping but seems to be weight bearing a bit. Please let it just be a minor strain....

I guess I shouldn't have been doing this kind of stuff with her in the past couple of weeks. It's just so hard to restrict her exercise when she seems (seemed) to be walking and running normally.

Ryan is more sensible. His hind feet never leave the ground.

Confused Seal

What? Two posts in two days? Unheard of. I just happened to uncover some more forgotten photos from this summer (new faster laptop = more fun looking through photos)

Beautiful hike.

Maybe looking at nice summer photos isn't a good idea when it's horrible and grey outside!

Happy dogs on said hike.

Adorable Maelle at the farm this summer

Cropped from the photo is Erika's iced coffee from that evil fast food restaurant that shall not be named. We both got so addicted to the $1 iced coffees that we spent hours discussing the highs, the lows, how to replicate them at home if possible, why we were so addicted, when the price would go up, when we'd each had our last fix....etc.

Loic loves 'milking the cow'

Just in case anyone was wondering what "hard eyes" look like...this is them. 

Abby makes herself pretty clear.

There are some log booms near my work where harbour seals hang out with their new pups. We went to see them..

and as we were driving away (slowly, and with a jet drive engine) we turned around and saw this.

He was clearly a brand new pup and was very confused...he was trying to nurse on the side of our engine!

We stopped the boat and he soon swam away and found his mum.