Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of the friends and family of the Matt+AM pack! We all hope that your Christmas season is as beautiful and blessed as our is.

It's been pretty busy around the den lately. Dad and Mom built a hearth pad for our new wood stove - it only took them 8 trips to the hardware store, and 1 trip to the emergency room. Yup, Mom caught her paw in the circular saw while ripping a board for the trim. Fortunately, she was wearing gloves, so it was a millimeter or so short of the nerve and artery, and while she's got a lovely scar, her left index finger is just fine. Another good thing about living in a small town - no wait at the emergency room!

We haven't been hiking much lately - the weather has been kind of crazy for this time of year. We've had some really cold weather, then it warms up and rains - no white Christmas this year! Just some leftover ice piles that are slippery as all get out. BTW, Mom and Dad invested in some Kahtoola Microspikes this year - a mini-crampon - and they work much better than Yaktracks on ice.

It's also been pretty quiet on the fire front. We've only had one chimney fire call, and that one was an easy one, and a couple of medical calls. Dad and Mom have been busy putting together some powerpoint training slides for new firefighters - since this is an all-volunteer effort, nobody's had the time (or the training) to build a real training plan or a curiculm. It's a slow process of course, but it should improve continuity and make it easier for new firefighters coming into the department.

Mom continues to sing with her church choir. They're doing the Christmas Vigil Mass tonight, with a full 30 minutes of 4-part harmony pre-Mass music, plus a bunch more during Mass, along with the normal Christmas carols. Mom has discovered that she's actually a better musician than she thought she was - the time to actually practice really helps!

Dad continues to work on reloading for his pistols - he makes it to the range every week or so. Which is a good thing, because you may remember that Mom saw a mountain lion a while back? Well, a mountain lion has been creating some minor havoc in our neighborhood - it's taken a small dog, been blamed for running a horse to death, and created all kinds of controvery between the old-timers, hunters and California-type newcomers. Here's an article - if you're interested enough to read it, make sure you scroll down through some of the comments - some of it is really amazing and kind of scary. Good thing Dad and Mom built this nice fence so me and Blockhead can run around on our property safely. http://www.ravallirepublic.com/articles/2009/12/18/news/news91.txt

Talk about everybody overreacting!

Dad and Mom have also been getting out in the evenings for fun stuff a little more often too. They've been to three concerts in the last couple of months - the Bitterroot Chorus Christmas concert (all volunteer choir), an Irish band named Solas (very good) and just last week, Kathy Mattea - she brought just a small acoustic band with her, and they were awesome! They did all of her big hits, some beautiful Christmas stuff, and a version of the Stones' "Give Me Shelter" that knocked our socks off! Next year they'll suscribe to the entire season - they didn't find out about this series until it was too late.

So, that's pretty much the news from here - have a happy, quiet, blessed and fun Christmas!

Matt, AM, Daphne and Schultz

Yummmm - Ham!

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good - we got Ham! I love ham, even though it makes me really itchy. We had a nice quiet T-Day - Dad cooked breakfast (Pillsbury sweet rolls) and Mom cooked everything else, while Dad cut up some more wood. So what else has been going on?

Well, the pack has been pretty busy around the house lately - we've been building a hearth pad for the new wood stove. Well, Mom and Dad have been building it - furry paws don't work so well with sticky stuff - it's a 4x5 ft slate tile pad, and it's turned out pretty nice. We'll post a pic next time we're in town.

Dad and Mom have been out on several more fire calls - one was at 0430 in the morning, which is WAY too early - to a very nice house down the road a couple of miles - the fire burned over a couple of acres. The owner of the house said the ash pile that started the fire had been "out" for seven days - but unfortunately, like a lot of folks, he'd left a deep pile of ashes, which held in the heat, and when the wind kicked up, BOOM - off goes the top layers of cool ash, and the sparks start flying. He was lucky that he 1) caught it early, and 2) it burned at a fairly low intensity and didn't get his house or any out-buildings. Lesson to learn: don't leave ash piles - rake down through the ashes and make sure it's all out!

One of the (multiple) reasons it's taken me so long to update my blog is Mom and Dad both got sick with the flu last month. They got their regular flu shots from the VA, and Mom was sick three days later. Then just as she was recovering, Dad got sick. Fortunately for both of them, it was a pretty mild case as these things go - although it was certainly miserable for all of us - we didn't get our daily walk twice! I hate it when we don't go for a walk!

Once they recovered, we went for a nice hike on Mill Creek, which is the same place where we first hiked with Blockhead, I mean Schultz as part of the pack. Last time we were there, he didn't even know how to cross a log bridge - this time, the big idiot knocked me off the bridge! I landed on my feet on the rocks below the bridge, it's only about 6 feet down at that point - but it was a pretty hard landing. For some reason, Schultz thought it was OK for him to break the stay he was on, and go across first - I always get to go first, I'm higher in the pack darn it! So at first, I felt OK, but on the way back to the truck, I was starting to feel pretty achy and I had to walk pretty slow, which is still faster than Dad and Mom, so that was OK. But then Mom noticed (finally) that I couldn't lay down - every time I tried it really hurt - and they took me to the vet. $200 worth of x-rays and drugs (muscle relaxers and pain meds for 5 days) later and I'm fine. Stupid big Blockhead!

A couple of weeks later, we hiked about 4 miles up Big Creek - it's a pretty deep valley, so it was all in the trees and pretty chilly, with a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Lots of rabbit, squirrel, deer and elk tracks to sniff though, so it was good! We only saw two other packs while we were out - of course, stupid Schultz had to try and dominate the only other dog we saw and he got some new scars on his nose for his trouble - big dummy! Fortunately, Dad pulled him away really quick so they aren't too bad and the other dog was fine. You'd think all that testosterone would be gone by now, but I guess not. Blockhead. Anyway, it was a great hike - I love hiking!

So, that's all the news for now. Mom says to add that we're very grateful for all the friends and family we have (even Blockhead, I guess) and that we think of all of you every day - not just on Thanksgiving. Have a great day!

Where in the world is Mom?

Here I am, stuck in the house with Schultz because it's raining out, and Dad doesn't like to get his fur wet, so I'll update my blog. Mom went to visit her brothers and friends in Tacoma, but she didn't take meeee! I wanted to visit my old friends at the Ft Steilacoom dog park, but Noooo - we're stuck here at home. Of course, that means I get to spend more time with Dad so that part is really good, but Schultz will try to take all his attention away from me - he's such a pig. BTW, if you're curious about where Mom is, take a look at the link on the left to Handsome Shrek's Swamp - that's one of Mom's brothers!

Mom uploaded some pictures from our last hike - we went up Blodgett Canyon and got to see two waterfalls - it was really beautiful. Note the blaze orange capes we're wearing - now that it's legal to hunt wolves in Montana, Mom and Dad thought they'd better make sure nobody can mistake us for wolves - Schultz is big enough, and Mom thinks I look like a really big coyote if you don't look carefully. And unfortunately, not all hunters are careful. So now we're safe in the backcountry. Mom thought we should call the capes "NAW" - as in "Not A Wolf" - but Dad says they're "Hunter Protection Clothes" because anybody who shoots at us is likely to not be in the land of the living for very long! Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Daphne.ItchyDog/SeptemberHiking?feat=directlink

Mom also added some pictures of us working around the house: http://picasaweb.google.com/Daphne.ItchyDog/WorkingAroundTheHouse?feat=directlink

And some of Dad at the Reno Air Races: http://picasaweb.google.com/Daphne.ItchyDog/RenoAirRaces?feat=directlink
Note that only Dad and Patty Wagstaff are brave enough to wear white after Labor Day!

That's all for now - my paws are tired!

Waiting...

Well, Dad and Mom are just hanging out right now, because there's a cold front blowing through right now (although it's still 80 degrees outside!) and they're on alert for the Fire Dept in case the winds, which are really starting to kick up, blow up the Kootenai Creek fire worse than it is now. A couple of our trucks and some of the other firefighters are already working the fire or are pre-staged for structure protection. Here's a link to the Inciweb site in case you're curious: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1733/

This fire started way back in July, but it's been pretty much a non-event until last week, when a cold front blew through and it really started moving quickly. Folks in the area are not happy with the Forest Service right now! Interesting enough, we (without Schultz!) actually looked at some houses in that area, and decided the roads were too windy and narrow for good, easy access. Hmmm - the Lord works in mysterious ways.

But there's other stuff to tell you about too! First, Dad went to the Reno Air Races last week, where he met up with Dave (who calls Schultz the psycho-dog, and I agree!), his son, and some of Dave's siblings and Uncle Jerome for a little while. Dad said it was fun, but was really happy to come home.

Dad and Mom have been doing quite a bit around the house too. First, they finally finished building steps from the back deck to the hot tub - no more jumping down 4.5' to reach the tub. Dad has been cutting up firewood - we're going to install a Kuma wood stove in the main room of the house for auxillary heating. We've got lots of wood, so we may as well use it! Mom has also started a new project - she's building a raised-bed garden behind the house - it's going to be 4x8 feet, and have 2 ft high dry stone walls. There's lots of rocks here, so she may as well use them for something too!

And of course, they continue to train with the Fire Dept. Last week's training was low-angle rescue with the Ravalli County Search and Rescue folks. They learned how to get a stretcher with a person in it safely up and down steep slopes. It can be pretty challenging!

And last, but not least, Mom actually saw a mountain lion last week! We've seen the tracks before, but they're usually pretty good at hiding - this one ran right across the road in front of the car about a mile from our house. Fortunately, there's lots of food for them here - there are turkeys and deer everywhere - besides, no stupid cat would ever try to take on me and Blockhead - we'd show that dumb cat who's in charge!

Mom was hoping our new internet connection (a USB cell phone antenna, with an external booster antenna from Verizon) would let us post pictures, but you'll just have to wait until they go downtown - images are just too much for the connection I guess. But it's still better than dial up!

Hope you're having a great fall!

More Hiking, Less Working

Well, Dad and Mom aren't working anymore - the Farmer's Market cut back their hours, and their are a lot of single moms there, so Dad and Mom are just on call in case someone gets sick. Which is great for us, and Mom's OK with it, but Dad's going to get bored soon.

So, we've been doing more hiking, and Dad and Mom have been doing more fire training too. See all our pictures on our Picassa Web album at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Daphne.ItchyDog/SeptemberHiking?feat=directlink

And Mom added some more pictures to the August Web Album as well; the link for that album is in the last post.

Hope everyone's Labor Day was great!

Little Stuff

Well, no new pictures, but lots of little updates. First, we sold the car I never get to ride in - yep, the Mazda is gone. So, Dad and Mom got a shell for the pickup truck, so Blockhead, I mean Schultz and I, can ride in the back with lots of room to move around in.

Dad and Mom are home a lot more now too - the Farmer's Market cut down on their hours, so they're working a lot less. That's good for me! Dad's applied for a new part-time job with a local non-profit, and Mom's applied to be an adjunct faculty member for the University of Montana. We'll let you know if they get the jobs!

It's really hot now too, so sometimes we go to the Bitterroot river to go swimming. I don't like to swim, and neither does Schultz, but it's nice to walk in the water and cool off. Sometimes Mom and Dad dive under the water and that makes Schultz really nervous - he whines really loud!

Dad and Mom got to cut up cars for the Fire Dept again last week - which is really hard when it's 90 degrees, the "Jaws of Life" weigh 70 lbs, and you're wearing full firefighter gear! But it's important to know how to do this. Since we had a lot of rain this summer, they haven't had to fight many fires, which is good, but there have been a lot of medical calls which keep them busy. I hate the pager!

We'll post more pictures and another update soon! Hope everyone's having as good a summer as we are!

More Hiking finally!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted anything - the weather here has been kind of crazy and Mom and Dad's jobs have been eating up more time than they'd like. The weather has been either miserably hot (upper 90s) or unseasonably cool and rainy, which makes it really hard to go hiking and do other fun stuff. On the other hand, all the rain has meant Dad and Mom don't have to fight fire very much, which is a really good thing!

Mom has finally caught up with technology to some extent, and has started a web album. See our latest hiking pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Daphne.ItchyDog/AugustHiking?feat=directlink

We went to Canyon Lake with part-time pack member Bob - he goes to Church and sings with Mom. It was a really long and hard hike! 9 miles, and 2200 feet of elevation gain, with over half of the elevation gain in the last half mile - it was really steep. But the lake was cool and windy so we recovered well.

We went up Bear Creek yesterday - at the 2.6 mile point you have to ford Bear Creek - there's no bridge - so we finally went across yesterday. Dad brought his Crocs, but Mom forgot and went barefoot! It was pretty cold water, but it was in the mid 70s, so we were fine. We went another mile and half up the canyon, which was OK, but nothing spectacular. On the way back, Mom thought she found a way to cross the creek without getting her paws wet, which worked fine, but there was no trail on the other side of the creek, so we had to do about an hour of bushwacking through really thick brush and downed trees. I also had to endure a lot of screaming from Schultz - he can't seem to walk on the top side of downed trees, so he panics, then screeches like a little baby, then bashes his way through, around, under or over the trees and other obstacles in his way. Mom keeps trying to teach him how to walk on trees, but I think he's afraid of heights - I know he's a really big baby! The things I have to put up with - it just isn't fair!

Hiking with a bigger pack

We finally got to go hiking again - yay, my favorite thing to do in the whole world! And we had a little bigger pack this time - one of Mom's friends from Church came along. Mom nicknamed him the Energizer Bunny because he moves down the trail so fast. This was a really Loooong hike though - we did 9 miles! And it was really, really hot on the way home - that's why we're laying down on the trail in the first picture. It's been getting really hot for a couple of weeks now - fortunately, it cools down at night, and then Dad and Mom shut all the windows and the house stays at the perfect temperature for sleeping the afternoon away.

Let's see, what else has been going on? Mom finished her half marathon - she had to walk the last 3 miles because her left IT band was acting up, but she said it was really beautiful with lots of wild flowers all around Lolo Pass.

Dad and Mom continue to respond to small "wildland" fires - usually someone letting a brush pile get out of hand - fortunately only about one every few weeks. Still can't find the fire pictures on the computers, so no cool firefighter pictures yet.

And we're trying to get a better internet service at the house so we can update this more often, but that continues to be challenging. Hope everyone out there is having a great summer!

Oh, and Dad and Mom have put the car that I never get to ride in up for sale. Why we have a car I don't get to ride in, I just don't know! Of course, hopefully we won't have it too much longer. Maybe we'll get a big truck! That would be cool. So, if anyone needs a 2002 Mazda Protege 5, let us know!

Chief Victor Days!

Well, the big excitement around here has been Chief Victor Days, held 12-13 Jun. On Friday night, Dad and Mom dressed up in "official" Victor Fire Dept "dress blues" (a little different from the Air Force - it's a blue shirt and your jeans with the most blue in them) for the big Spagetti Dinner fundraiser. They did pretty good - lots of very generous folks in Victor!

Then on Saturday, Dad got to drive one of the big fire trucks in the parade - Mom had to work - and boy, was he excited about that. Mom told him he should bring us along for the ride, but he thought we might bark too much. He's probably right.

Mom and Dad have been doing a lot with the fire department for training too. They got to practice on a fake propane fire simulator, and a simulated house fire using the State of Montana "Smoke Shack". The Smoke Shack is a series of three metal rooms built into a semi-trailer that you put excelsior into and light it on fire - it's pretty hot! We should get some pictures of that next time I post.

Dad's been experimenting with reloading ammunition for his .357s - so far, he's been successful in not blowing the house up, or blowing up a gun, so it seems to be going pretty good. Mom continues to train for her half marathon - it's next week - and she's really not ready, but she's planning on walking a lot, so it should be OK. I continue to hate Schultz, and Schultz continues to get fatter, no matter what Mom and Dad do - he'll eat ANYTHING, including spent primers Dad carved out of the old fired brass he uses for reloading. He's such an idiot - I don't understand why they don't send him baaaaccck!

Long Time No Type!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated my blog - Mom has been really busy with two jobs and Dad has been working way too much too! And the fire department is taking a lot of their time as well - which makes me very unhappy, because then I'm stuck all day with Blockhead, I mean Schultz, and he tries to push me out of my favorite place to sleep right by the door.

Dad has been working at the Meat and Fish counter at lot more than he wanted to - the owners are nice folks, but they're having a hard time finding good people, so Dad ends up working a lot. Mom has been working in the Produce department, which she likes because she is not only busy, but also gets her workout in - canteloupes and corn are heavy! She's also been working for the Census Bureau doing address canvassing, which means she drives or walks around and checks every house address in her assigned area. She enjoyed doing this until last week, when a little blue cattle dog bit her on the back of the calf! Don't worry - the dog had its shots, and it's healing nicely, although she may have a scar for a while. Needless to say, Mom is very glad this part of the Census is over, and she has absolutely no desire to work any further phases. Produce is safer - it doesn't bite!

Mom and Dad have done a lot of training with the Fire Dept - they spent a whole day learning how to extricate people from wrecked cars, using all kinds of tools, including the tools commonly referred to as the "jaws of life" and they went to a whole weekend of wildland fire training put on by the state. Don't worry, Dad and Mom have no intention of being on the front lines of any major wildfires, but they need to have the basic qualifications to be safe.

They've gone on quite a few calls with the fire dept - a lot of them are medical calls and their early military training as cadets is coming in handy, since getting to the patients and then getting the patient out of their house and to the ambulance can be very challenging sometimes - it's very much like Project X/Leadership Reaction Course for those of you who know what that is. "OK, we've got a 300lb patient in a bathtub with a broken leg - we've got to get them on to a backboard, then go down a narrow hallway with three 90 degree turns, then down an outside stairway and a narrow, icy driveway, all while keeping the patient secure and level." Like I said, challenging!

We have gone hiking a couple of times since I last wrote. Once just up Bear Creek, which is near our house, and once in the Lost Horse area. We were going to hike to a lake in Lost Horse, but they haven't opened the road all the way yet, so we just hiked up the road. Here's some pictures from those hikes.

We've also been running a lot with Mom - she's training for the Lolo Pass half marathon on 27 Jun. Her training got delayed a little by the dog bite, but we're up to 8.5 miles now! Mom plans on walking a lot since she really hasn't had the time to train as much as she should.

Well, that's all the news for now - I'll try to update this more often now that Mom isn't working two jobs. I need opposable thumbs - of course, then Schultz would be bugging me to use the can opener, so maybe it's just as well - he's too fat!

More hiking finally!

Well, we finally got to do some more hiking! Yeah! I love to hike and not even Blockhead, I mean Schultz, can ruin it! Here are some pictures of us hiking up Mill Creek - note we're hard at work carrying our own packs with food, so Mom and Dad don't have to. I don't think Schultz has been in the woods much; he didn't even know how to cross a log bridge! See in the picture where Mom is leading him across? That's on our way back to the car - on our first trip across the bridge, he just jumped in the water and waded/swam across - see, he's just not very smart, unlike me!

On the good/bad side, we're also doing a lot of obediance training - Mom has been taking us out for long walks while we "properly" heel on her left side. I don't like heeling - I don't get to sniff and run around wherever I want to, but on the other hand, it's a walk and I love walks! Even Blockhead is learning to heel - finally.

Dad and Mom start work pretty soon at the Farmer's Market. Dad starts tomorrow working the meat counter, and Mom starts Friday in produce. It's just minimum wage and a couple of days a week, but it will pay for dog food (and we go through a LOT of that now) and give us all some structure in our lives. Mom also starts training for the Census Bureau on Easter Monday, so we won't be going back home for Easter unfortunately. But the normal family party will still be happening, so contact Jerome or Joe!

Happy and Blessed Easter everyone!!!

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged - Mom has been really busy with Blockhead, I mean Schultz. Yep, he's still here - this sucks! He attacked me out of nowhere on one of our walks (OK, I do bark at him a lot) - Mom and Dad broke it up right away - and then they asked the Montana GSD Rescue to bring a dog trainer in to figure out what's going on. He said I'm too wound up, possesive and scared and I need drugs to relax me - no, I just need Schultz to go away! So off we go to the vet, and instead of drugs, the vet gives me this cool green collar that smells good and reminds me of when I was still with my mommy as a puppy. (Editor's note: The collar is being tested, it will be marketed as the Good Behavior collar by Sawyer) I felt much better on the ride home, but I still don't like Schultz - he pushes his big blockhead into everything! And he hogs all the bones!

Mom is also making us train together - she makes me sit and lie down and even heel right next to him, which just sucks! You can tell I don't like him in the pictures - see how I'm leaning away? But I'm a good dog so I do what Mom and Dad tell me to do - right away too! Schultz is stupid - he's getting better I guess - but he doesn't obey commands like I do, I'm perfect! The pictures are from us training in the house, and in front of the burned-down pile of branches Mom and Dad burned last week.

Dad and Mom's really good friend Dave came to visit us last week - he's really nice - stupid Schultz kept trying to attack him whenever he moved, and I have no idea why. Good thing Mom had him on a leash all the time. Anyway, it was really fun when he came because we went hiking up Bear Creek - not even Blockhead could ruin that too much, and I got to bark at him a lot.

Dad and Mom went to support their fellow Victor Fire Department members in official training too - Dad's gone three times, and Mom just once - this training qualifies folks as "Fire Fighter I" so they can safely go into burning buildings and cut holes in roofs to keep the building from burning down. Dad rollled up hose a lot, and Mom and Dad both kept busy building fake roof panels for the guys to practice on, so they could rest between their tests. Both Mom and Dad drive the big Fire trucks now!

Let's see, what else is happening? Mom is going to work for the Census Bureau - she starts training after Easter. Dad applied for a job as an aerial fire spotter/observer, but he doesn't think he'll get the job because he doesn't have much wildland fire fighting experience. Of course, that will probably change this year! Oh, and we got a new dryer last week - the old one finally died after 16 years. Not too bad I guess. This one is quieter, which is nice.

I think that's about it from here - I'll try to blog again soon, but if I can't, Happy Easter everyone!

It's Just Not Fair!

Well, it’s been one heck of a week, with lots going on, and I don’t like much of it. But I guess my opinion doesn’t matter - grrr. First, Dad and Mom got a hot tub - which does me no good at all, ‘cause I don’t like water - but they really like it. Mom said she saw a satellite and two shooting stars the first night they used the tub. Thanks, I’ll stay inside where it’s nice and warm - they can soak under the stars all on their own.
Second, we went for a drive on Sunday, and I thought we were going to do something cool, like hike or cross country ski or something, but nooooo - we went to this lady’s house and there were about 10 German Shepherds there. I met a couple of them, and I didn’t like any of them, but Mom and Dad loaded one of them up in the car with me and brought him home with us. I can’t believe they did this to me! He’s a big blockhead who’s always trying to shove me out of the way, and he doesn’t obey Mom and Dad very good yet. Dad and Mom decided to change his name to Schultz (Mom’s sister had the idea, from Hogan‘s Heroes) since he’s from Germany and kind of a klutz. The name fits him well - he’s big, a suck-up and not very bright! You can see him in the picture below. I can't believe they've done this to meeeeee!
Then last night, Dad and Mom left the house for Wed night Fire Dept training, but they got a real fire call just as they got to the Fire Station - it was a HUGE hay stack fire! Their truck was just the second truck on scene, so Dad and Mom grabbed the hose and headed for the fire - this was the very first time they’ve ever sprayed water, because it’s been too cold to train - nothing like on the job training. It was really hot and very hard work - but they helped make sure the house trailer next to the hay stack didn’t burn and knocked the fire down enough that an excavator could get in there and move a lot of the burning hay out of the way - they were able to save about half of the stack, but still, about 50 tons of hay burned! It was such a huge amount, and so hot and difficult to fight that the Fire Dept just made sure it couldn’t spread, and left it to burn itself out - there really wasn’t much choice. It takes a huge amount of water to put out a hay stack - there were 4 or 5 water tenders continually hauling water to keep the 5 pumpers/engines spraying water - it took 5 hours just to get it to the point were it could be left to burn.
Of course, while Dad and Mom were gone, Schultz tried to challenge me, so I let him know who was in charge - but the big dummy put a tooth into the top of my head. Geez, he doesn’t even know how to behave. Mom cleaned it up - she said he only scraped the hair off in a little tiny spot - what a klutz.
Then Dad went on a job interview today - looks like he’ll be working at the local farmer’s market at the meat counter part time, which means he’ll be gone more. Mom is going to work for them too, in produce - this just sucks! I’m going to be left with that blockhead Schultz even more - grrrrrrrrr. Well, they should get the same days off together most of the time - they'd better take me hiking a lot to make up for having Schultz join our pack. Grrrrr!

Well, they finished it :-(

The fence is done - and part of it bites! The temporary part was going to be real easy to climb over, but they did something to it and now it bites me when I touch the top of it - Mom says it's electric - I just call it mean!

But the fence being done does mean I can go in and out through the dog door whenever I want to now, so that's good - I'm not stuck in the house - but Dad and Mom can be gone longer now, which isn't so good. But it's nice to sleep in the sun. And it's beautiful and sunny today!

Here are some pictures from our hike a couple of weeks ago - we got up to the lower waterfall, but couldn't go any further - there was just too much snow. Note the tracks - the small ones are mine, the BIG one is a wolf who was evidently a few hours ahead of us - glad we didn't run into him!

Don't Fence Me In

Humming the song? I'm singing...

Well, Dad and Mom have been busy, busy, busy! They've gotten all the top rails on the fence and the big gate in. Now they just have to string the wire and wait for spring to warm up the ground enough to put the square posts at the front of the house in. The ground is too frozen to drive square posts - they shatter if you try. They're going to put in some temporary fence for the front until it warms up. I don't like the idea of a fence much, but I do like it when they're out putting up the fencing, because they give me a bone to chew on!

Other than fencing, Mom and Dad have been busy trying to get up to speed on Fire Dept ops, going on walks with me everyday, getting all our stuff organized, and various other work around the house. They also put up a pullup bar in the basement, not that they've needed to use it while all the fencing is going up - that's hard work! And we went cross country skiing again on the Gibbons Pass road near Lost Trail Ski Area and the Chief Joseph cross country ski trails - but Chief Joseph doesn't allow dogs, they say we mess up the tracks - who needs tracks?

Mom also bought (thanks Craiglist!) a new weight set with a squat rack so she can do all the crossfit (crossfit.com) exercises properly - not that she's up to using all that much weight!

Speaking of weight, Dad and Mom took me to our new vet, and he said I'm too fat! Can you believe it??? I'm skinny and fit and well, OK, I guess I put on a little tiny bit of weight, moving is stressful you know! So now I'm on a diet, which pretty much sucks. Bet I'll lose my winter weight faster than Mom or Dad!!!

Hope all of you are doing well and enjoying winter - enjoy the embarrasing photo of me rolling in the snow Mom insisted loading on my site - parents can be so uncool.

Burning Down the House - well, hopefully not!

In the great tradition of the Minutemen of Concord, Rough Riders in Cuba and Mr Hainey in Green Acres, Dad and Mom have joined the Victor Volunteer Fire Department. Yup, they're going to be saving lives and property - kind of scary if you ask me! And they won't let me ride in the Fire Truck :-(

And the very day after they joined, they got to ride out on a structure fire - yes, a real fire. They helped the other firefighters get new air bottles, dragged hoses, and learned how to operate the pumper truck.

I anticipate insurance rates for the area will get dramatically higher soon!

Lots going on, but not many pictures

Well, we've been busy, but haven't taken a lot of pictures.

Mom and Dad bought cross country skis, and we all skied up and down Skahlko Pass road - they close it in the winter. It was lots of fun, and nobody fell down!

We also went for a nice winter walk in the Larry Creek Complex, with lots of stuff to snif!

Dad's been trying to get my fence in (not that I need one, I always come back) but our road is one big sheet of ice! Dad and Mom put funny things on their paw covers so they don't slide - but then they laugh when I do, which just isn't fair. Mom says it looks like I'm dancing - 1, 2, 3 slide, 1, 2, 3, slide... - which is a good description, because I am incredibly graceful. I've also gotten to chase a lot of deer and turkeys, but it's hard to chase them in the snow.

I wanted to chase the moose that was in our yard, but Mom wouldn't let me out :-(
She did take a picture, but forgot to put it on our laptop, so I can't post it - sorry!

We've also gone to Malmstrom AFB to get Mom and Dad their official retiree ID cards - they're pretty happy about that!