Burnin' Down The Field...

(apologies to the Talking Heads)

Dad and Mom did a controlled burn with the Fire Dept for training on Sunday evening. You can see all the pictures at the same link as the last post. Although the pictures look pretty wild, there was no danger and everything went very well. Good training!

Well, sorry it's been a while since I updated my blog - Mom has been very frustrated with our slow connection at home, and I'm not allowed in the Fire Hall (dog discrimination!) - but there hasn't been a whole lot going on anyway.

It's been a very warm and wet winter. We only got to cross country ski three times, and the snow is all gone at our house already. Mom and Dad are NOT looking forward to fire season - it's been quiet so far (open burning started 1 Mar) - and they're hoping it stays that way. Dad is seen here doing his 'fire dance' to the gods of fire to keep them placated. I'm not sure it will work - Dad's dancing skills are, well, interesting.

Dad and Mom have been busy cutting up trees and gathering slash from around the yard - thus the big burn piles. There's still a lot to do, but they put a pretty good dent in it.

Our cross country skiing and winter hiking adventures are shown here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Daphne.ItchyDog/Winter2010?feat=directlink

Our last x-country ski trip was unfortunately very painful for Dad. Blockhead did it again - just as we were getting back to the trailhead and the truck, a big white dog came down to see us. Well, Schultz overreacted (again) and went for the submission hold on the back of that poor dog's neck. So Dad grabbed Schultz around the back end to get him to let go - there was a bit of a struggle - and he finally let go and the other dog ran back up the hill to its owner. Unfortunately, the owner skiied off before Dad and Mom could say more than "check your dog's neck" yelling "it's OK, don't worry about it" and that's when Dad found out he'd been bit. It was just the tiniest scratch, but you just can't take any chance with rabies - it's 100% fatal. We drove around looking for the lady and her dog, but no luck, so off to the emergency room we went. Poor Dad - his butt was pretty sore, because it took 4 shots of the immunloglobulin (sp?) and then a series of 5 rabies shots - he gets the very last shot this week. Fortunately, they're not in the stomach like they used to be!

So, last week we took a ride up to Dog Werks in Rock Creek - when we first got there, I was pretty worried about all those dogs being there, because one Blockhead is enough, we don't need more - but we just got to run around the yard with the dogs, which was fun! Well, it was fun for me - turns out Schultz is a big chicken, that's why he attacks other dogs - who would of guessed a big 110lb GSD would be a fraidy cat! So, Mom and this nice lady worked with Schultz to get him calmer around other dogs, and we're going to go into town for walks a lot more so Blockhead can confront his fears and realize not everyone is out to get him. Of course, that process is pretty painful on the ears - he constantly squeals at the top of his lungs when he get scared or doesn't get his way - he's just embarrasing to be around. I'm sure it will work eventually, but it's going to be humiliating for me! And of course, it's all about me!

Well, that's all the news for now - we'll keep you posted!