Two of his favourite things
7:18 pm | No Comments » |
How could I say no to that face?
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Jake’s diet hit a roadblock last week … in the form of peanut butter cookies. Oops!
It wasn’t intentional on my part, honestly, it wasn’t. I was just craving peanut butter cookies (which don’t do anything for my waistline either) and I had to bake for an event and it just happened.
I know our RoadDog loves cookies, especially when he can smell them fresh from the oven. I know he’s crazy about peanut butter. I just didn’t put two and two together, for some reason, and realize that I was about to drive him out of his hairy little mind.
But there he was in the kitchen, big brown eyes staring up at me, tongue out just enough to be adorable, one front paw lifted up in the air (that’s his new thing when he either wants something or is feeling tentative about some situation). And there went my heart, slowly melting. Okay, I admit it, quickly melting like an ice cube on a hot August day.
I held out from giving him any dough, even though I know that’s the best part of making cookies. However, when they came out of the oven and our beloved Cairn was still there under my feet looking up at me, I broke and gave him a piece of my cookie still warm from the oven. And then, just maybe, another piece of another cookie which was not quite as warm as the first but still delicious.
I just can’t say no to those eyes and I don’t even try to ignore that tongue when he sticks it out just so. I’ll have to take him on a long walk to make up for our transgressions.
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May 7, 2012
Who says dogs can’t talk?
3:57 pm | No Comments » |
He may not speak, but it's often pretty clear what Jake has to say about things.
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Our RoadDog may have been giving us a message on Sunday.
You see, Steve and I have decided to forego riding for a few weeks to try to get some work done around the house. We don’t like it, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what you have to do.
We didn’t get the house and garage painted last fall. Before we paint this spring, it only made sense to replace the shingles on one section of the house with clapboard, a task we’ve been doing gradually for several years. That side had to be done this year, so that’s what we’ve been working at these past two weekends.
While Jake enjoys being outside “supervising” our undertaking, he looked rather glum yesterday as bike after bike went by on the road. I looked at him at one point after three rather loud motorcycles zoomed by and he was so low in the doorway of the garage that he looked like a small bearskin rug lying on the concrete.
I told him we’d be able to ride later this summer after we get our projects done. He did not look impressed. I wasn’t convinced he understood what I said or the sentiment behind it.
However, about 10 minutes later when I declared a coffee break, I wasn’t so sure about that.
I transferred Jake from his tie-out rope to his leash and headed for the door. Our beloved Cairn terrier took a short detour, trotting over to where we’d been cutting clapboard and, not a foot from one of the sawhorses, relieved himself. He then looked up at me with what seemed a pretty clear message in his eyes. I’m fairly certain our RoadDog was saying, “Pee on this, I want to ride.”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed out loud. Dogs may not be able to talk, but Jake gets his message across loud and clear.
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April 30, 2012
Where oh where shall our RoadDog go?
11:48 am | No Comments » |
Jake gets involved in planning our road trips.
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It’s time to start thinking about where we’ll travel this riding season.
Steve and I are always preplanning to some extent, bouncing around ideas, making suggestions about places we might like to visit, roads we’d like to ride. But this morning when I looked at a calendar and it sunk in that it’s the last day of April, I realized it’s time to really get serious about where we’re going to go this year. And out came the maps.
We already have a few things more or less planned. We know we’re going to PEI for Atlanticade at the end of June, after which we’ll be checking out a new “find” — Steve’s discovery this time — not too far from Pictou. It sounds wonderful, so we’re pretty excited about that.
As of this morning, thanks to a Groupon offer, we know we’ll be spending a night back at the fantastic, beautiful, relaxing Milford House, hopefully this time taking the bikes instead of the car as we did last fall after Steve’s tumble. We love it there, as does Jake, so we can all look forward to that.
Our little motorcycle trio will likely be meeting our friends Heather and Dennis again in August somewhere in New England. Hmmmm, we should really start narrowing down some options there so I can start researching dog-friendly places. I heard talk of New Hampshire again and also of Vermont. There are so many choices, old favourites and new discoveries, that it’s always difficult to decide.
And dare I put it on the list again, since we didn’t get there last year? I really want to go back to Cape Breton. I want to ride the Cabot Trail again, feel the air in the mountains, see if our favourite coffee spot is still there in Baddeck, share lobster sandwiches with Jake at a picnic table while looking for whales off the coast. For some reason, I can really breathe in the Cape Breton Highlands and I want to really breathe for awhile.
Huh, it seems we maybe already have more plans than I realized. But then again there’s always more places to ride, more things to see, more RoadDog adventures on the horizon. And our RoadDog is always ready to roll.
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April 23, 2012
On the road again
9:33 am | No Comments » |
Are we really going riding? Let's go. Let's go.
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RoadDog rode again this weekend.
Steve and I had a very happy dog on Saturday afternoon. We had told him we were going to go riding and he seemed to grasp what we were saying by the happy smiles and twitching tail, but when he heard Steve start his bike outside the garage I thought our boy was going to lose his hairy mind.
He was “helping” me hang laundry on the clothesline from the upper deck when the pipes roared to life. He raced to the closest railing and peered down, tension in every line of his body. When he looked up and I said, “yes, we’re going,” he ran to the door. We then couldn’t get our jackets and helmets outside fast enough for him. He was all around our feet full of excitement in the entranceway.
When I opened the door of his carrier and went to pick him up, those front legs reached up and he jumped from my arms inside with a happy smile, ready to roll.
The three of us travelled the Bridgewater-Lunenburg-Mahone Bay loop, with an extra stint through Indian Point and on to Chester Basin. We then returned for another of Jake’s favourite things, after all his first day of riding for the season would not have been complete without a stop at Tims. Diet or no diet, we decided it was a two bit day and Jake happily devoured his treats on the waterfront. We took a quick stroll and then headed home.
The look on Jake’s face when we arrived home was priceless. He honestly looked euphoric. He was just so happy and I’m pretty sure Steve and I looked about the same. Here’s to the 2012 riding season — it has finally arrived.
That is one happy RoadDog.
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April 16, 2012
Dog-tired of waiting
12:08 pm | 2 Comments » |
Our very tired RoadDog crashed in his bed.
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Our RoadDog is dog-tired today.
Jake had a busy weekend that seems to have left him worn out. And no, before you ask, we did not go riding, although we did get ready to go riding if that somehow counts for something. As bike after bike passes by on the roads, I keep trying to tell myself it does.
On Saturday afternoon, Steve and I took Jake for a walk at Miller Point. Our boy did his usual running and romping all around. Over the two-kilometre walk, we joked that Jake probably travelled closer to 10 they way he zigs and zags and scampers.
Jake then spent the remainder of the afternoon rolling in the grass, sniffing about the yard and generally overseeing our work as Steve and I cleaned our bikes. We cleaned and waxed and wiped until everything was shiny. I cleaned the seats and the saddlebags and Steve cleaned and waxed Jake’s carrier.
On Sunday, the three of us were back outside for the afternoon. Steve put the batteries back in the bikes and put the seats back on, then took the motorcycles down off their lifts. We put the saddlebags on and he installed our RoadDog carrier. We are now officially ready to ride.
We then worked in the yard for a couple of hours, with Jake continuing to keep an eye on us to make sure we raked the lawn and cleared the gardens to his exacting standards. My parents came over for their birthday dinner — Mom (who tells me she doesn’t have birthdays anymore) had some sort of a day on Wednesday and Dad had a birthday on Sunday — so all in all Jake had a very large and tiring sort of day topped off by birthday cake (well, maybe just a bit of the icing that somehow ended up on the end of my finger). By last evening, he was crashed in his bed and hardly opening an eye if we disturbed him.
Our boy was still tired this morning, but I’m thinking that will be a thing of the past tonight. I’m going to move the bike jackets, chaps and helmets downstairs to the front closet. That will wake him up and have those big, brown eyes shining.
Now we just have to hope for good weather this weekend.
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April 9, 2012
A toy story
3:30 pm | 2 Comments » |
Jake with his spoils of war.
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Sometimes, when you have a rough-and-tumble boy dog, you have to make allowances. Sometimes, you even have to get a little bit creative.
I’ll explain.
I’ve often written about Jake’s indoor toys and about him playing with snowballs and pieces of ice outside, but our RoadDog has a couple of outdoor toys too (other than the ill-fated soccer ball that never made it outside a few weeks ago). He has a favourite outdoor toy that he’s had for several years now and he’s recently decided to play with it … a lot. He and I chase around the yard with it, pull it, shake it and generally have fun with it.
It’s actually kind of an odd toy. I have no idea where it came from and I’ve never managed to find another one, which becomes relevant later in my tale. It’s a small rubber ball that looks like a soccer ball, maybe five or six inches in diameter, and it has a small towel through it. Yep, right through it, sticking out both sides.
Jake loves to run with it in his mouth and shake it, then he’ll pull at the towel with his teeth while holding it down with his front paws, then he’ll shake it again. I’ll grab an end and we’ll both pull on it and, no, I’ve never found that tugging games make him more aggressive. It just helps him burn some of that terrier energy. And, frankly, shaking and ripping at that towel also helps burn off some of that terrier terror — the urge to destroy. It works out well for both of us.
The problem is, as you can imagine, all that pulling and shaking and the subsequent washing, left that poor beleaguered toy looking worse for wear. Then, over the weekend, a bad thing happened. One end of the towel just kind of shredded, which Jake thought was fantastic. He stopped playing immediately and strutted around the yard with a piece of red towel in his mouth, very, very proud of his accomplishment.
What was left of the toy.
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But it left the toy pretty much done, which left me with a problem. Then I decided I could replace the towel and set about doing just that. I cut away the remaining glue holding what was left of the towel in place, twisted and twisted and twisted the new towel into the ball, then pushed it out the other side with a knitting needle and, ta da, the toy was as good as new. Jake watched the whole procedure with some trepidation, but was quite delighted with the result.
Please be careful with that.
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We were back outside tugging on that toy in moments. Plus now I know I can fix it.
And back at it. Yay!
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April 2, 2012
Angry bird = Happy dog
11:19 am | 2 Comments » |
Jake with his new favourite toy, which already looks slightly dedraggled.
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It’s time for another one of my confessions … it’s possible I spoiled Jake just a little again recently, although this time I wasn’t alone. Steve was there to help.
There’s a new pet store in town and I love it. It could not have opened at a better time. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed shopping at our previous store, at least I did until a recent encounter of the scaly kind on the check-out counter. Seriously! And this thing was big!
That left me with two choices — I could ask Steve to do Jake’s shopping or I could buy on-line. I support local business as much as possible, so the arrival of the new store was perfectly timed. And it’s wonderful.
It sells Jake’s favourite staple foods and treats, along with lots of other treats and foods that are corn and wheat free. (Our boy can’t eat corn and wheat seems to increase his ear issues.) It was like a shopping paradise when almost everything I picked up would have been okay for Jake to eat.
We were well stocked on treats at the time, but we did pick up two new kinds of food for our boy to try. He was crazy for the first one which is chicken and salmon in some sort of pumpkin soup with other veggies. Honestly, it looked good enough to eat, which made me happy and he absolutely devoured it and came back looking for more. I will definitely be buying more of that in the near future.
That wasn’t so much the spoiling part though. We also bought him new dishes. The store had this really cute bone-shaped bowl holder (and a fish for cats) which we couldn’t resist. The rubber around the bottom of Jake’s old bowl was tearing away (which Steve told me, I admit I hadn’t noticed), so the timing was good on that too.
The last purchase, I admit, was totally my doing. I couldn’t resist. Our RoadDog hasn’t had a new toy since Christmas, I’ve been cutting back on his food and treats (which I can assure you he does not appreciate) and the Timbits have been few and far between as we attempt to help him drop a couple of pounds. When I saw they had stuffed Angry Bird toys, I was tempted. When I heard the great noises they make instead of the usual squeakers, I couldn’t resist.
Jake likes his new dishes because, of course, we put food and water in them. But he loves his new Angry Bird. It’s his new favourite toy.
Angry Bird equals happy dog.
And the fun new bowls that are now hanging out in our kitchen.
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March 26, 2012
Batty for Mt. Battie
7:29 am | No Comments » |
My boys atop Mt. Battie with Penobscot Bay as a backdrop.
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It’s no secret to anyone who regularly reads RoadDog’s adventures that I love the mountains. I really don’t know why, except to say it has something to do with the vastness of nature, the peace of a simpler life, a place to just breathe.
Because I live in Nova Scotia, perhaps I take the sea for granted, but the mountains call to me. I love to sit and look at the ocean, but I could just “be” in the mountains for a very long time.
So when Steve and I were contemplating a stay in Camden during our trip to New England last August, I was excited to read about Mt. Battie, just a few minutes to the north. It didn’t take a lot of effort to convince Steve that we should take the drive up the mountain. I sold him with the winding road and a place for Jake to run about, which I also enjoyed, but it might have been a shameless bit of guile on my part to get up the mountain. (Sorry dear, but I don’t think you really minded.)
Mt. Battie is in Camden Hills State Park and offers fantastic, sweeping views of Camden, Penobscot Bay and the surrounding islands. They say that on a clear day you can see Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park (in case you remember my November musings about that mountain). We were lucky to travel up Mt. Battie on a stunning day and it was as if we could see forever.
The three of us wandered around for a long time that afternoon, enjoying the picturesque views, exploring an old turret, scrambling about the rocks and paths. It was one of those places where, although there were a lot of other people around, you could almost imagine being alone in the world, or at least that little piece of the world.
I was particularly intrigued by a plaque mounted on a stone. I was previously unfamiliar with Edna St. VIncent Millay’s “Renascence” but I could totally and completely relate to it in that place in that moment.
It was a great day and Mt. Battie is on our list of places to visit again … and maybe again and again.
Jake and I on the edge of the world ... well, the turret anyway.
The mesmerizing plaque and poem.
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March 19, 2012
Dreaming
2:45 pm | No Comments » |
Napping, or he was until the camera and I disturbed him.
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Like many dogs, our Jake sometimes dreams. We can tell when it’s happening because his legs kind of twitch as if he might be running in his mind and he makes little noises, sort of like quiet yaps, as if he might be barking.
But Saturday night, or more accurately Sunday morning, must have been a dream like he’s never had before.
I was sound asleep, at least I thought I was, until I heard him. Jake was relentlessly chasing something in his mind. Usually if one of us speaks to him or gives him a bit of a shake, it pulls him close enough to the surface to quiet the dream, but not this time. I talked to him and I tried to shake him awake, yet the dream went on and on.
His legs twitched as he chased after something and those silly little noises kept going and going. Steve eventually quieted our boy down, but I was left pondering (by then quite fully awake) just what Jake might have been dreaming about.
We’d gone for a walk at Miller Point Saturday afternoon so he might have been dreaming about chasing squirrels. He doesn’t usually chase them but he seems to like to think about it, sort of standing their watching them, considering his options.
As a result of Jake’s diet, we’ve cut back on his Timbits a lot. He had one last weekend for the first time in close to a month, so he might have had visions of Timbits dancing in his head, gulping them as he bounded after the images.
However, Saturday was also a very, very nice day. It was warm. It was sunny. I know my mind turned to riding and, although the roads aren’t sufficiently clear of salt and sand and gravel yet for us to head out on the bikes, the temptation was definitely there.
I have a feeling our RoadDog was dreaming about riding.
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March 12, 2012
Thinking about picnics
12:32 pm | No Comments » |
Jake enjoying a stop at a picnic park in Sable River last summer.
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This fantastic weather (it’s 14 degrees outside as I’m writing this) has me thinking about the outdoors and, for some inexplicable reason, going on picnics.
Maybe it’s because our riding season was cut short last year or maybe it’s because it’s been a long winter of waiting, but it seems like it has been so long since our little motorcycle-riding family sat outdoors at a picnic table enjoying our lunch. I almost can’t remember the last time our RoadDog sat at my feet trying to convince me to share something that he probably shouldn’t have. (Those eyes, those big brown eyes.)
It really was a shame that it rained so much last summer. I know I’ve written before about our bike club’s annual photo jaunt where we’re given a list of places to photograph our bikes during the riding season. There’s often a theme and last year it was an entire list of picnic parks. Steve and I were kind of excited with great plans to pack lunches and head out on various day trips around the province. The photos really are just an excuse to go places we haven’t been and see places we haven’t seen.
But then it rained … and rained … and rained. And then my husband and a ladder fell off the side of the house. (Notice dear, I got it right this time — you didn’t fall off the ladder, you and the ladder fell down together. For some reason, that difference matters rather a lot to Steve.) The weather finally got nice in September and October, but we couldn’t ride. There were no picnics.
In fact, I think we only visited a handful of those picnic parks last year. I know it wasn’t enough to even bother submitting our club photos at the end of the year. It really was a shame too because there are some fantastic little parks around that so many of us drive by without ever stopping. We’ve visited some of them and usually really enjoy it.
Jake especially loves a chance to stretch is legs and roll in the grass. Of course, he likes it even more if we stop long enough to eat. Our boy is all about his belly.
It sure would be great to be able to hop on the bikes right now and head out for a picnic. I’m thinking we’re going to have to so that this summer, list or no list.
The bikes take a rest in the shade.
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