Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Cobalt: Under the Knife
It's Spay Day! Not only for Cobalt but, by coincidence, for her sister Photon as well. L's all fretting about how miserable the next couple of days will be for Cobalt in her radar-dish collar. Me, I'm more concerned by how squirrelly she's going to be after a couple of days of no daycare, no park runs, no nothing.
Read more!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Cobalt: More From Laura and Allan's
I just realized that most of my posted shots of Cobalt from the visit to Laura and Allan's showed her being pretty passive and subdued. While Tala did have Cobalt a little reserved, she still had some fun:
In fact, she sometimes had a little trouble stopping:
Read more!
In fact, she sometimes had a little trouble stopping:
Cobalt: Visiting Photon at Cherry Beach
This past Saturday, we arranged to get together with Peter, Laura, and Jon at Cherry Beach so we could bring the big cameras to catch Cobalt & Photon in action.
I haven't got all my photos sorted out yet (I ended up taking 650, mostly action shots), but Peter got some of theirs up already -- including some video!
Photon spends most of these wrestling matches pinned on her back, but she's almost always the one who starts things! That's Cobalt making all the noise, though.
I'll have my photos -- well, a selected subset -- up on Flickr soon, with the best ones here. Read more!
I haven't got all my photos sorted out yet (I ended up taking 650, mostly action shots), but Peter got some of theirs up already -- including some video!
Photon spends most of these wrestling matches pinned on her back, but she's almost always the one who starts things! That's Cobalt making all the noise, though.
I'll have my photos -- well, a selected subset -- up on Flickr soon, with the best ones here. Read more!
Cobalt: Laura and Allan and Tala and Cody
For Victoria Day, we headed over to visit our friends Laura and Allan. Laura writes the We Move To Canada blog, while Allan writes The Joy Of Sox, and they have two dogs, Tala and Cody. The plan was to have a BBQ lunch, then take the three dogs down to Jack Darling Park for a romp.
Tala
Cody
The two pups
Part of the idea was to see how recently adopted Tala, a rescue Husky-German Shepherd cross, would react to a strange dog in her yard. In the end, it proved a little overwhelming for Cobalt. Tala was very protected of her yard and her people, and, while she never got nasty, her dominance games were more than Cobalt was used to.
This was the first time we'd ever seen Cobalt roll over and submit to any other dog! She wasn't happy about that at all.
Cobalt spent most of the time avoiding Tala after that, though Tala still had a great time chasing her Kong.
Cody, who's an older dog, was much more mellow.
The trip to Jack Darling didn't work out, though. All the parking was packed to the brim. So we returned to Laura and Allan's place, and let the pup's play. Cobalt didn't warm up to Tala much, but she still enjoyed herself.
Read more!
Tala
Cody
The two pups
Part of the idea was to see how recently adopted Tala, a rescue Husky-German Shepherd cross, would react to a strange dog in her yard. In the end, it proved a little overwhelming for Cobalt. Tala was very protected of her yard and her people, and, while she never got nasty, her dominance games were more than Cobalt was used to.
This was the first time we'd ever seen Cobalt roll over and submit to any other dog! She wasn't happy about that at all.
Cobalt spent most of the time avoiding Tala after that, though Tala still had a great time chasing her Kong.
Cody, who's an older dog, was much more mellow.
The trip to Jack Darling didn't work out, though. All the parking was packed to the brim. So we returned to Laura and Allan's place, and let the pup's play. Cobalt didn't warm up to Tala much, but she still enjoyed herself.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Cobalt: Photon, This Time With Pictures!
Here is Cobalt's sister, Photon:
And here are the sisters together:
They get along great!
Of course, they love to wrestle:
And, once again, the wrestling match ended with Photon losing a baby tooth (the other canine) and Cobalt covered in blood! Cobalt's now taken out both of her sister's canines.
Cobalt was sad to have to leave the park, but she'll be back soon! Let's hope she doesn't continue her dentistry practice on Photon's adult teeth!
Read more!
And here are the sisters together:
They get along great!
Of course, they love to wrestle:
And, once again, the wrestling match ended with Photon losing a baby tooth (the other canine) and Cobalt covered in blood! Cobalt's now taken out both of her sister's canines.
Cobalt was sad to have to leave the park, but she'll be back soon! Let's hope she doesn't continue her dentistry practice on Photon's adult teeth!
Monday, May 07, 2007
Cobalt: Photon Again!
We were having a lazy day on Saturday, just playing World of Warcraft with some friends, when we all decided we'd reached a good breakpoint for dinner. I suggested we take the pup out to Riverdale Park and let her off-lease in the valley, just to romp a bit.
We hadn't been out to a park with Cobalt since the previous weekend's visit to Cherry Beach because our dog-walker had had to run off to Denver on short notice (family emergency). We ended up expanding Cobalt's doggy day-care at Urban Dog from two days a week to five -- which she really enjoyed, but she was coming home pretty exhausted! Still, even though she was getting plenty of exercise, we wanted her to have a chance to do more than just putter around the house and back yard with us.
When you drive up to Riverdale Park, you see a pretty standard residential park in Cabbagetown: a square grassy area with paths and trees and a wading pool. What makes Riverdale Park unusual is, first, Riverdale Farm, and, second, the steep hill down from the south-east corner into the Don Valley, where there's a much larger, untreed park that doubles as sports fields and an off-lease dog park.
Our first stop was at the edge of Riverdale Farm to introduce Cobalt to the clydesdales. She didn't quite know what to make of those -- she found them quite alarming, and barked up a storm. We didn't stay long.
About halfway down the hill I decided to let Cobalt loose -- we were far enough from the streets that I didn't think she'd run after them, and besides, all the other dogs were down at the bottom of the hill. She took off like a shot, zooming all over with great enthusiasm.
When we got to the bottom, we stopped by the other groups of dogs to say hello. One fellow there took a look at Cobalt, turned, and yelled "Photon! Come!"
Just by chance, it turned out we were visiting the park at the same time as Photon, Cobalt's sister! We'd met her briefly at Urban Dog, but Cobalt was quite tired at that point and they just sniffed each other a bit. This time was very different! They chased and wrestled each other almost non-stop for the next forty minutes.
We got a chance to chat with Photon's owner, Peter Cook, as well. We'd met his wife Laura when we encountered Photon at Urban Dog. It turns out that they had considered adopting Cobalt shortly before we did, but decided on her sister instead. Their son, Jon, has periventricular leukomalacia, and they had to be very particular about the personality of the pup they adopted.
Unfortunately, in spite of having bought a new Canon G7 camera for such trips (our regular camera, a Canon 20D, is a great camera, but since it's an SLR it's rather bulky), we'd forgotten to bring it this time! So no photos of Cobalt & Photon. However, you can see pictures of Photon at Peter & Laura's blog, Chez PLJ.
The wild romp came to an end when I noticed blood on Cobalt's fur. Nothing serious, though! Photon's still losing her baby teeth, and in all the excitement, Cobalt managed to knock out her left-front canine. When Photon nipped at Cobalt, she got a little blood on her.
Blood-stained wrestler
Blood-stained wrestler
It turns out that they live over the river and through the woods -- to the east of Riverdale Park, about 2km from us, and they're in the park regularly, so we'll be getting Cobalt & Photon together regularly from now on. Read more!
We hadn't been out to a park with Cobalt since the previous weekend's visit to Cherry Beach because our dog-walker had had to run off to Denver on short notice (family emergency). We ended up expanding Cobalt's doggy day-care at Urban Dog from two days a week to five -- which she really enjoyed, but she was coming home pretty exhausted! Still, even though she was getting plenty of exercise, we wanted her to have a chance to do more than just putter around the house and back yard with us.
When you drive up to Riverdale Park, you see a pretty standard residential park in Cabbagetown: a square grassy area with paths and trees and a wading pool. What makes Riverdale Park unusual is, first, Riverdale Farm, and, second, the steep hill down from the south-east corner into the Don Valley, where there's a much larger, untreed park that doubles as sports fields and an off-lease dog park.
Our first stop was at the edge of Riverdale Farm to introduce Cobalt to the clydesdales. She didn't quite know what to make of those -- she found them quite alarming, and barked up a storm. We didn't stay long.
About halfway down the hill I decided to let Cobalt loose -- we were far enough from the streets that I didn't think she'd run after them, and besides, all the other dogs were down at the bottom of the hill. She took off like a shot, zooming all over with great enthusiasm.
When we got to the bottom, we stopped by the other groups of dogs to say hello. One fellow there took a look at Cobalt, turned, and yelled "Photon! Come!"
Just by chance, it turned out we were visiting the park at the same time as Photon, Cobalt's sister! We'd met her briefly at Urban Dog, but Cobalt was quite tired at that point and they just sniffed each other a bit. This time was very different! They chased and wrestled each other almost non-stop for the next forty minutes.
We got a chance to chat with Photon's owner, Peter Cook, as well. We'd met his wife Laura when we encountered Photon at Urban Dog. It turns out that they had considered adopting Cobalt shortly before we did, but decided on her sister instead. Their son, Jon, has periventricular leukomalacia, and they had to be very particular about the personality of the pup they adopted.
Unfortunately, in spite of having bought a new Canon G7 camera for such trips (our regular camera, a Canon 20D, is a great camera, but since it's an SLR it's rather bulky), we'd forgotten to bring it this time! So no photos of Cobalt & Photon. However, you can see pictures of Photon at Peter & Laura's blog, Chez PLJ.
The wild romp came to an end when I noticed blood on Cobalt's fur. Nothing serious, though! Photon's still losing her baby teeth, and in all the excitement, Cobalt managed to knock out her left-front canine. When Photon nipped at Cobalt, she got a little blood on her.
Blood-stained wrestler
Blood-stained wrestler
It turns out that they live over the river and through the woods -- to the east of Riverdale Park, about 2km from us, and they're in the park regularly, so we'll be getting Cobalt & Photon together regularly from now on. Read more!
Cobalt: Off-Leash
We've been really nervous of letting Cobalt go off-leash in the local off-leash parks -- not because of the other dogs, but because the parks all open out onto busy streets: Carlton, Jarvis, Gerard, Queen, etc. We wanted to make sure her recall was very, very strong before letting her loose. So all of her off-leash play has been in either our back yard or the DogPatch at the Brick Works.
A week ago Saturday, we were in the DogPatch with a dozen other dogs, and Cobalt was having a great time. More important to us, though, was that she was now checking in with us, and had settled on a comfortable distance at which she'd always return to us on her own -- and, most importantly, she'd come when we called her name.
We were so pleased that we decided to take her down to the Cherry Beach off-lease and let her run. The trip was a huge success, as you can see:
Even before we could get the car-seat harness off her, she was off!
She came back when we called her, though, so we got the harness off and let her romp.
Of course, whenever she came back, she wanted a treat...
She didn't repeat her Western Beaches trick of trying to run across the lake
But she really seemed to enjoy running in the sand
Some of the dogs were just not up for a game of tag
We also noticed a dog on the beach playing with a half-inflated soccer ball, which we thought would be a great sort of toy for Cobalt, since she loves toys that are at least as large as her head. After the run, we went up to PetSmart to stock up on food, and found a nice ball with indentations all over, just right for a dog to grab. We picked it up and stopped by DogPatch on our way home to try it out -- sure enough, she loved it.
Read more!
A week ago Saturday, we were in the DogPatch with a dozen other dogs, and Cobalt was having a great time. More important to us, though, was that she was now checking in with us, and had settled on a comfortable distance at which she'd always return to us on her own -- and, most importantly, she'd come when we called her name.
We were so pleased that we decided to take her down to the Cherry Beach off-lease and let her run. The trip was a huge success, as you can see:
Even before we could get the car-seat harness off her, she was off!
She came back when we called her, though, so we got the harness off and let her romp.
Of course, whenever she came back, she wanted a treat...
She didn't repeat her Western Beaches trick of trying to run across the lake
But she really seemed to enjoy running in the sand
Some of the dogs were just not up for a game of tag
We also noticed a dog on the beach playing with a half-inflated soccer ball, which we thought would be a great sort of toy for Cobalt, since she loves toys that are at least as large as her head. After the run, we went up to PetSmart to stock up on food, and found a nice ball with indentations all over, just right for a dog to grab. We picked it up and stopped by DogPatch on our way home to try it out -- sure enough, she loved it.
Cobalt: Graduation
Time to do a little catch-up, starting with Cobalt's obedience class graduations.
We've had Cobalt in a number of classes so far. We started with the "Puppy Preschool" PetSmart and the "Puppy Gymboree" at Who's Walking Who. Puppy Preschool is an intro obedience class -- sit, down, stay, come, etc -- and Puppy Gymboree is more of an introduction to agility training.
Cobalt's finished both those courses, and the PetSmart had us bring our cameras for the Puppy Preschool "graduation", complete with silly caps that Cobalt didn't really take too that much:
The one time we managed to get her to sit still in the cap
A more casual look
Also graduating that day were:
Lucy, Cobalt's favourite wrestling partner
Checkers
Finnegan
Read more!
We've had Cobalt in a number of classes so far. We started with the "Puppy Preschool" PetSmart and the "Puppy Gymboree" at Who's Walking Who. Puppy Preschool is an intro obedience class -- sit, down, stay, come, etc -- and Puppy Gymboree is more of an introduction to agility training.
Cobalt's finished both those courses, and the PetSmart had us bring our cameras for the Puppy Preschool "graduation", complete with silly caps that Cobalt didn't really take too that much:
The one time we managed to get her to sit still in the cap
A more casual look
Also graduating that day were:
Lucy, Cobalt's favourite wrestling partner
Checkers
Finnegan
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Cobalt: Family
Yesterday, we met Cobalt's sister, Photon, while picking Cobalt up from daycare at Urban Dog. They were quite happy to see each other, but then Cobalt's quite happy to see any dog. Photon's owner told us that they'd originally intended to adopt Cobalt, but decided that Photon's personality suited them better (Photon seemed much more mellow than Cobalt).
The mini Aussie world in south-western Ontario is very small. There are only three breeders in the area, and they all work together: Stoverly Aussies in Milton (where Cobalt comes from), HHC Mini Aussies in Alliston;, and Skoachs in Kingston. Since we got Cobalt, we've met Aussies from all of the breeders.
Our first small-world experience was at Cherry Beach, where we met Parker, a red tricolour from HHC. When we mentioned that Cobalt was from Stoverly, Parker's owner recognized her as Max's daughter.
Next, we met Bean at PetSmart. Bean is a black tri from Stoverly's very first mini litter. She introduced us to what's known as "the Aussie reserve" -- a shyness that Cobalt does not exhibit at all.
A few posts back I had a photo of the third mini Aussie we've met, Ozzy the Aussie -- he's from Skoachs.
Then, a couple of weeks back, we were in PetSmart without Cobalt and spotted a young mini who looked very familiar. It turned out to be Quiver, Cobalt's brother -- the one who originally caught L's eye and led to us adopting from that litter.
So, so far, of the five other mini Aussies we've met, two have been from Cobalt's litter, one was from another litter from the same breeder, one belonged to someone who knew Cobalt's father, and only one hasn't really had any connection to Cobalt at all.
I guess you have to expect a small world when you're dealing with miniatures.
UPDATE: Corrected Skoachs's location from Hamilton to Kingston. Read more!
The mini Aussie world in south-western Ontario is very small. There are only three breeders in the area, and they all work together: Stoverly Aussies in Milton (where Cobalt comes from), HHC Mini Aussies in Alliston;, and Skoachs in Kingston. Since we got Cobalt, we've met Aussies from all of the breeders.
Our first small-world experience was at Cherry Beach, where we met Parker, a red tricolour from HHC. When we mentioned that Cobalt was from Stoverly, Parker's owner recognized her as Max's daughter.
Next, we met Bean at PetSmart. Bean is a black tri from Stoverly's very first mini litter. She introduced us to what's known as "the Aussie reserve" -- a shyness that Cobalt does not exhibit at all.
A few posts back I had a photo of the third mini Aussie we've met, Ozzy the Aussie -- he's from Skoachs.
Then, a couple of weeks back, we were in PetSmart without Cobalt and spotted a young mini who looked very familiar. It turned out to be Quiver, Cobalt's brother -- the one who originally caught L's eye and led to us adopting from that litter.
So, so far, of the five other mini Aussies we've met, two have been from Cobalt's litter, one was from another litter from the same breeder, one belonged to someone who knew Cobalt's father, and only one hasn't really had any connection to Cobalt at all.
I guess you have to expect a small world when you're dealing with miniatures.
UPDATE: Corrected Skoachs's location from Hamilton to Kingston. Read more!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Cobalt: Soggy Doggy
Last night we were over visting our friends Robert & Allison Vanderhorst (to help with a computer problem) and we brought Cobalt along to show off.
The Vanderhorsts have a large, landscaped yard, which is great for Cobalt to run in. Robert got us a tennis ball for her to chase, and she had a great time.
One of my throws of the ball landed in a conifer bush of some sort, and Cobalt had a little trouble -- she zoomed after it at full speed, as she usually does, but when she got close she couldn't slow down in time, so she leapt over the bush.
Unfortunately, the bush was part of the landscaping around the garden pond.
>SPLOOSH<
The pond's three feet deep. Cobalt's just over one feet deep.
The good news is, she figured out how to swim. That, and she's drip-dry.
She hauled herself out of the pond in seconds, and was back to playing as if nothing happened. But the rest of us were laughing to hard to throw the balls.
By the time we left, she was almost entirely dry again. Fortunately, we have towels down in the car. Read more!
The Vanderhorsts have a large, landscaped yard, which is great for Cobalt to run in. Robert got us a tennis ball for her to chase, and she had a great time.
One of my throws of the ball landed in a conifer bush of some sort, and Cobalt had a little trouble -- she zoomed after it at full speed, as she usually does, but when she got close she couldn't slow down in time, so she leapt over the bush.
Unfortunately, the bush was part of the landscaping around the garden pond.
>SPLOOSH<
The pond's three feet deep. Cobalt's just over one feet deep.
The good news is, she figured out how to swim. That, and she's drip-dry.
She hauled herself out of the pond in seconds, and was back to playing as if nothing happened. But the rest of us were laughing to hard to throw the balls.
By the time we left, she was almost entirely dry again. Fortunately, we have towels down in the car. Read more!
Cobalt: Visiting Mattie and Wendy
A week ago, we headed down to London to meet my mother's new dog, Wendy. My mother decided to get Wendy after seeing how much fun Mattie had with Cobalt. Wendy's another Coton, a four-year-old (Mattie's one year at this point).
Oddly, though Wendy's four times as old as Mattie, she's also only about 3/4s Mattie's size.
Wendy
Cobalt and Mattie hit it off like they usually do. Wendy kept out of it for the most part.
The Chase
Closing In
The Lunge
Bop!
Wendy has a trick of her own, though: she can dance.
Of course, where there are tricks and treats, Cobalt wants in on the action!
The Puppy Two-Step
Read more!
Oddly, though Wendy's four times as old as Mattie, she's also only about 3/4s Mattie's size.
Wendy
Cobalt and Mattie hit it off like they usually do. Wendy kept out of it for the most part.
The Chase
Closing In
The Lunge
Bop!
Wendy has a trick of her own, though: she can dance.
Of course, where there are tricks and treats, Cobalt wants in on the action!
The Puppy Two-Step
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