Wordless Wednesday: Fighting the Heat

Baypath's Bark in the Park 2012 was a Wonderful Event

We wanted to get the information out about the Blogville Olympics yesterday, but we wanted to thank the Baypath Humane Society for sponsoring Bark in the Park at Hopkinton State Park. We spent Father's Day walking with our Dad and Mom to raise money for Baypath and got to do some other fun stuff while we were there.



This was us hanging out as we were waiting for the walk to begin. We met so many cool dogs. Many like us were adopted from rescue, others shelters like Baypath. We met a Sheltie alumnus of Baypath. He even walked in the parade of alumni's they had later. Mom was excited to meet a collie. The collie's owner was equally excited to meet Shelties as he had never met any. It made for an interesting exchange.



This walk was a little longer and hillier than the Whisker Walk or the other walks Mom has been doing as she recovers. She was quite tired when she was done. Therefore, after the walk, the humans got lunch and we rested and got quite comfortable and dirty in the black mulch. We looked like mulch creatures when we got up.

There were some fun booths and agility tryouts. Bailey did well at a sniffing event. Katy cheered from the sidelines.

Mom has finally admitted we will not be entering the Olympic swimming events and not due to the lack of water. We were allowed at the beach near the boat docks and while many dogs were wading and jumping in, we refused to put paw in the water although we did walk on the docks watching the other dogs enjoy the activity. The other Sheltie owner said his dog refuses to go near the water, too. We are hoping this makes our case stronger with Mom as she has been hopeful we would come to enjoy the experience.

The Blogville Olympics is Coming

The Blogville Olympics is Coming!

Animal athletes of all kind are welcome to join in the festivities. The Olympics will begin with the opening ceremonies on July 27th and end with the closing festivities on August 12th.

Start helping your athletes train now and get those pictures prepared. The Olympic events will begin accepting pictures for each event on July 9 with the deadline for pictures to be received midnight of July 18th. This will allow All Blogville Olympic athletes to be SCREENED fur Bugs. No early or late entries will be accepted.

Katy and I will be hosting squirrel hurdles and we will have information regarding our event up soon. The schedule of events and the blog locations for information on those events are available below.


Fri. July 27th.
OPENING Entertainment Extravaganza, Parade of Athletes, and Short Speech.

Sat. July 28th.
Window Nose Art/Snot Smears
Swimming

Sun. July 29th
Crazy Sleeping SINGLES
Synchronized Sleepers
Bouncing...... Narrative Style

Mon. July 30th
Cross Neighborhood Walkabout
Catch me IF you Can
BEACH Ball

Tues. July 31st
Gymnastics
Couch Potato Peeling

Wed. Aug. 1st
Tongue Curling / aka the Raspberry
Critter Stalking
DISCUS/frisbee

Thur. Aug. 2nd
Stick (s)
Pole Jumping

Fri. Aug. 3rd.
Marathon Chewing
Digging

Sat. Aug. 4th

Tuneful Farting
Keep Away

Sun. Aug. 5th
Equestrian
Camera Avoidance Tai Kwon Do

Mon. Aug. 6th
Synchronized Peeing
DE-Stuffing

Tues. Aug. 7th
Free Style Zoomies
Roaching and Rolling

Wed. Aug. 8th
Squirrel Hurdles
DRAW your Peeple
Snack Sack Race

Thurs. Aug.9th
Boxing
EXTREME Weather Sports

Fri. Aug. 10th
Turbo Track
Snoopendous SniffAthon

Sat. Aug. 11th
The Great Tennis Ball Tournament
Bathtub Wrestling

Sun. Aug. 12th
Closing Ceremony

Wordless Wednesday

Bailey 5 Garter Snakes 1

The totals are in, after this weekend with two additional captures, five garter snakes relocated, one escaped. The niece was back after Dad located another snake in the bulkhead. Turns out there were two and one actually made his way into the house. While hunting the first one the second one slid into the house. Thankfully, the basement is cold and it did not like its sanctuary. When the first one was relocated, Dad and the niece closed the bulkhead and figured if left alone it might return to the heat of the bulkhead. Sure enough, after an hour, they checked and while stubborn, he was captured and relocated. During his capture, he also gave away the location of the snake entrance and exit. Dad has since boarded this up, so he has high hopes this will reduce or eliminate snakes in the bulkhead.

Dad said I was instrumental in locating and flushing out the snakes. However, I was also responsible for the snake that got in the house as I got between the snake and the niece in an attempt to protect her from the snake. As a result, it was able to make its escape. I was very glad when it was caught later. I am also hoping that Dad's patch works.

Katy is getting tired of me working all the time. Yesterday, we had our first good yard zoomie in ages. While Mom was doing her yard walking exercises, I chased Katy through the hosta and lily plants. She was so happy. Katy also reminded me that we need to practice for the Blogville Olympics. We are hosting Squirrel Hurdles and while I have been hunting snakes, my training for clearance of hosta and other floras have been limited. Katy while shorter has a much better clearance range than I do right now. Yesterday she showed me some amazing moves. I have some work to catch up.

Whisker Walk 2012

We had such a good time at Whisker Walk. There is something magical about this place. Last year it was one of the first places Katy really opened up and enjoyed herself outside the house. She came home a much happier dog. This year she got out of the car a little scared, but instead of taking up her usual spot right next to or underneath me, she had a new companion, Dad and Mom's niece.

I confess I get excited at events like this. There are many things to see and smell. Dad was going to walk Katy and I was going to go with the niece. Well I did take advantage. Dad has a firm hand on the leash. I know I cannot get away with pulling and tugging. So, they decided to try an experiment. Katy would go with the niece and Dad would lay down the law with me. We were worried Katy would shake and panic, instead she blossomed. No more clinging to me, she found her own path. She completely bonded with the niece. Mom and Dad were thrilled.



Along with the walk, we were able to visit some of our favorite booths. The niece was thrilled with the carnival food. Do to the nieces car trouble we arrived later than last year, but we still saw just about everything. I finished the agility course this year. Dad was so proud of me. They decided since Katy had such a great day that she would just watch and cheer me on. Last year she refused to try anything but the tires.





At the Tennis Ball Fetch, I was able to win prizes, Katy still is not anxious to participate.



One human had donated handmade jewelry as a prize so for the first time Katy and I gave the niece a birthday present we won ourselves. She was impressed. She had never been given a birthday gift that a pet won for her.



We had a wonderful time. Our rescue, New England Sheltie is in CT and does not participate in these events. Therefore, the past two years, our group has walked for the sponsoring organization the Sterling Shelter. Mom got a purple t-shirt for the donation our group made.

We are looking forward to attending Baypath’s Bark in the Park on June 17.

Bailey Takes on the Garter Snakes

This looks like a harmless bulkhead, but I have been warning Mom and Dad for months that it harbored the most feared garter snakes. Yes, not deadly or really even harmful, but greatly feared in this house. Neither Mom nor Dad are fans. Not just one, but a family was living here. I barked, I walked up on it, I sniffed, I scratched, but nobody would pay attention to my snake alarm. We had snakes.

Then came the niece who rescued us when Mom was in the hospital. Mom and Dad asked her if she would help clear the veggie gardens for planting since Mom is under doctor's order to do no physical stuff for a while. While she is terrified of spiders, she has no issue with snakes. Now I had a partner to work with on getting the snake issued solved.

While she and Dad were working on getting the gardens cleared Mom told Dad she thought I might be on to something and sure enough while the bulkhead was clear earlier, when Dad checked after my warnings a snake had dropped in for a visit. We even learned that snakes can climb stairs. The first snake was relocated much to Mom's relief. I however, knew this was not an isolated bachelor or bachelorette. This snake had family. When the bulkhead was closed I put nose to the ground and found another snake. When they took a break from veggie gardening Dad could not believe there were two, but Mom convinced him to check. This one tried to twist himself into a place where he could not be pulled out. However, my barking and her quick speed had that snake relocated as well. They eventually went back to gardening, but I knew we were not done. These snakes are tricky.

Sure enough, I found the scent and Mom had Dad come over and only Mom and I really believed there would be another. This one was small and angry. It had plans and no desire to relocate. He tried to bite and I rushed down the stairs in full attack mode. Nobody bites my snake wrangler. The snake moved out of its protective area allowing it to be trapped and again relocated. We found one more outside the bulkhead, but it was worm sized and too small to catch.

It is so wonderful to finally be listened to and have a partner who is not afraid to deal with these snakes. Katy patrolled the back fence all afternoon to prevent the snakes from coming back. We hope they like their new digs better. We do not want them in the yard again.




Dad has since cleaned out what Mom called the snake garden and put an Eggplant in it since there was no room for it in the Veggie gardens. Mom and Dad's niece has promised to come back and remove any other snakes that might decide to make an appearance. It is so good to have a partner in your work.