Next up for the pup

Next up for Audrey is going to be a practice run at her Delta Society therapy dog evaluation. She is ineligible based on age (she needs to be 1yo to be evaluated) but I would like to see how well she would do right now. Mackenzie and I are members of WAGS (Wonderful Animals Giving Support) so we are hoping to squeeze Audrey into the summer evals/workshop to see how she does. She is still quite shy when people approach her but overall I think she has the perfect temperament to be a therapy dog because she adores people.

Mackenzie was the first dog I've actually done dog stuff with, so she started much later in life. I got her while I was in college, so we didn't quite have the time or resources to start doing stuff while still in New York (although I kick myself now). Mackenzie became a therapy dog shortly after her 3rd birthday and didn't enter the obedience ring until she was nearly 5yo. Now, since I sort of know what I'm doing, hopefully Audrey can get a head start on her dog "stuff" career at a much earlier age. That being said, I will never force her to do anything that she is uncomfortable with or that I feel she is not ready to do/or capable of doing just because Mackenzie did it. :)

Stacked at nearly 8mo

My girl takes some properly stacked photos (well, as close as we can get).

She'll be 8mo on May 27th and as one of her breeders said about the pics, "she looks damned good to me". I totally agree. :)

Los Caminos

One of the people we meet up with is the Executive Director of Los Caminos del Rio (www.loscaminos.org) "Los Caminos del Rio began as a Texas Historical Commission exercise in historic and cultural preservation back in 1991. Fresh investment from the Meadows Foundation has reinvigorated our pursuit of National Heritage Area status for the Corridor from Laredo to Brownsville. Through a robust mix of place-based education, support for the arts and outdoor sports we make the Valley a more interesting place to live. Los Caminos promotes cultural heritage, ecotourism and active outdoor living on both sides of the Lower Rio Grande."

He has invited us to help promote and recruit for a kayaking day on the river with people and their dogs. I'm totally excited. :)

Thursday Adventures

The evening started out by us meeting up with a few friends and their dogs at a school yard just like we did a few weeks back. Things were going good and the dogs were running and playing and Audrey was exploring her perimeters every chance she got (trying to find a way to escape and give me a heart attack - did I mention this area isn't entirely fenced in?)

After a few minutes we looked down the road and decided to try and go to another school yard a couple blocks away which looked to be empty (and was fenced in completely). The other ladies I was with walked to their cars and said they would meet me there. I begin walking back to my car (on the other side of the school we were currently at) and the realization hit me. Somehow I knew it was a bad idea to park on that side again because last time I came they locked the gate right behind me as I was leaving. This time, it was already locked since we had stayed a bit later than last time. After a few minutes of desperately searching all over the school for a custodian or someone to let me out to my car, I decided to just walk to the other school yard we were meeting them at.

For someone who used to walk an hour and a half to class at Cornell, this little two block stretch was nothing for me. It was actually quite a nice little stroll. Since it had been several minutes since I told the ladies I would meet them there they were driving around looking for us and found us walking. Once we got to the other yard it was lovely and had a nice gate and we let the girls off leash to run around.

A while later one of the women I was with said she was meeting someone at the bar, so she was going to leave and she would meet us there whenever we were done playing. So she left and we stayed playing for a while longer. As we were just chatting away we see two men looking straight at us from across the school yard.

One of them comes up and starts telling us the following:
-dogs are not allowed in this area (even leashed) because they poop and poop is dangerous to the children who go to this school and play in this yard regardless of whether you pick it up or not
-he has been advised that if he finds dogs in this yard he is supposed to call the McAllen Police
-but he likes us and doesn't want us to be upset with him so he won't call the Police
-but he has to leave so when we're done playing if we could just lock the gate behind us so no other people (with dogs) can get in that would be great
-so really we're not supposed to be there and don't come back, but for now, stay as long as we want.

It was kind of odd, but we appreciated him not calling the Police on us. Shortly after he left we leashed up and got out of there. My friend drove me to my car and we then drove another couple of blocks over to the Bar.

The bar (Roosevelt's at 7) was really awesome. The outdoor area was super nice and all of the servers were extremely accommodating to us and the dogs. They have a giant water bowl for the dogs and they loved petting them and talking to them. Not to mention the bar-goers also really enjoyed the dogs too. I had a Pear Woodchuck (well, two) and OMG it was amazing. They have like 40 different kinds of beers/ales and it is a really classy place. I didn't get to go inside, but from what I saw it looked just as nice inside.

The conversation was equally great. These people I hung out with are all around my parents age or older and they've got these fantastically interesting lives. We had a few drinks and slowly the bar really began to get busy. When we first got there (~7:30PM) we were the only people in the patio. By around 8:30 or so it was nearly completely full. Like I said, most people came up to pet the dogs or made a comment about them and they were having a great time.

We decided to order some food and I must say, it too was incredibly good. But before my food arrived however, Audrey, who was attached by her leash on a carabiner to my chair, decided that the other ladies I was with should be sharing their food with her from across the table. So she proceeded to jump onto the table, and this was a high table, taller than my elbows as we were seated. I quickly shooed her off and once my food came she had settled down enough to have some of my panini.

As we were eating a surprise guest showed up. Sir Kingston and a half-naked woman called "Jaguar". They just pranced all over the bar and people took pictures with them and of course we asked to take a picture with them too.

Apparently you can hire him, Sir Kingston (www.sirkingston.com) to help you advertise your bar or restaurant, which is what Jaguar was doing. I think. Once they left we finished our fabulous food, chatted for a few more minutes and paid our tab and came home. All of that, more than 5hrs of being out and about, and Audrey still got the zoomies with Spencer when we got home.

Seven Months Old

The A-Team!
April and Audrey waiting to go back inside (and cramming both of their big butts onto one mat).

Took some pictures of my goofy little Audrey outside after breakfast. She is a total natural at posing. :)

Not as exciting as Illegal Dog Park

Instead of an exciting update about another visit to Illegal Dog Park and the dog-friendly bar Roosevelt's, I went to the Doctor for an infected spider/bug bite on my leg. :(

If you really want to know (possibly TMI) I've got a bacterial infection so I got some hardcore antibiotics. Not all was lost though because Audrey did get to go to the pharmacy with us. While waiting for my prescription we walked around outside Walgreen's and she flipped out at a fire hydrant.

Luckily since I'm a true Dog "Mom" I had emergency cookies in my bag. I introduced her to the fire hydrant from a short distance away and she ate cookies just fine. Unsatisfied with just that, I placed cookies on the lower level of the hydrant and she reluctantly sniffed and then hesitantly ate them off of the hydrant. Slowly but surely I got her to sit and then released her to eat cookies off the entire bottom circle of the fire hydrant. Still unsatisfied, I put cookies on the top level of the fire hydrant and she jumped up to get them and actually stood on her hind legs balancing her front half on the hydrant asking for more cookies! Success!

I forgot to add that earlier this week she attended PetSmart's annual Pet Birthday party and did WONDERFULLY. She met tons of dogs and people and took everything in stride. She was super outgoing and friendly with the other dogs and was even going up to people to say Hello. She was absolutely great and I was so proud of her progress.

Illegal Dog Park First Visit

I call it Illegal Dog Park because it sounds sneaky and mysterious, but really what we do is go to vacant schoolyard playgrounds and let the dogs off leash.

We don't actually have a real dog park in McAllen, but we do have a group of people and dogs who meet up at another elementary school on Sunday afternoons. Because I work Sunday I haven't gone in a very long time. Working on Sundays is not the only reason I don't go though. The main reason I don't go is because it is an Unofficial Dog Park (see that doesn't sound as cool as Illegal) there isn't a seperate place for big dogs and small dogs. The other reason we don't go anymore is because Spencer is not happy or friendly with Little Kids Who Steal HIS Frisbee. Again because it is unofficial, there are no rules against bringing children to the dog park. But that is a different story/rant for a different day.

Anyway, tonight there were a few people and dogs who are trying to start a mid-week play group at another elementary school on Thursday evenings. So I decided to take Audrey by herself to see how she did. And because at around 30lbs right now she is by far my "biggest" dog and I knew it was likely going to be just large dogs.

The school yard where we met was a small grassy area surrounded by shallow ditches and fenced in on three sides and leading into a parking lot. Since it was 6:30PM or so when we arrived, there weren't many cars so I wasn't worried about it not being totally fenced in since the parking lot was mainly empty with very little action. As we were walking across the parking lot I took off Audrey's lead and we walked toward the other dogs. The dogs were Buster, a very VERY large Lab X, and Grace a 4-5mo GSD (who I just graduated from puppy class) was roughly the size of Audrey just a bit taller.

At first the other dogs hadn't noticed us but when they did Grace came barreling at Audrey and Audrey was OFF like someone had lit a fire under her nubbin. She made it all the way to the parking lot area when I decided to call Grace to me. Once Grace came running towards me Audrey decided no one was going to eat her so she came back. Her recall throughout our time there was fabulous by the way. Every time I called her she would drop what she was doing and run her crooked little bum all the way to me and I would love her up and release her to play again.

For the next half hour or so the dogs (now including a huge Doberman named Brando) chased Grace's Chuck-it ball, played with my water bottle, hung out with each other and were having a lovely time. When the other dogs were getting tired and just laying around Audrey got bored and decided to explore the ditches surrounding the area we were in. She went all the way into the shallow ditch at the far end of the fenced area and I saw her get something in her mouth. I knew if I made a big deal she would come and show it to me so I started yelling "AUDREY WHAT DID YOU FIND, GOOD GIRL? BRING IT HERE, LEMME SEE IT!!" She loved that and came flying back to me with a rabbit carcass (I'm guessing that's what it was) in her mouth.

Once she got to me I told her to drop it and surprisingly she did (good girl!) The other dogs each stole it one by one and got it in their mouths before we covered it with a water bowl. Then they postured and growled at each other while they all guarded it (Audrey was not involved in the guarding, she was already moving on to another adventure). Once we had disposed of it, Audrey could tell things were boring again so she went back to her ditch and brought what appeared to be a jaw bone, or wing, or bone of unknown origin. Again she ran right back to me when I called her like an obedient little hunting dog. After a brief victory lap with the bone in her mouth she dropped it and Buster crunched it up and ate it.

Overall she did really great, aside from her wonderfully naughty retrieving skills. Her recall was amazing and she seemed totally happy and at ease with the other dogs and even the people. She looked like the most graceful, beautiful dog I've ever seen while she was running towards me and again when she would stop and sniff the air or strike a pose.

We had a great time and next week we're going to go again, and then afterwards there is a bar down the street from the school that apparently allows dogs out on the patio. So that will be our next adventure. :)