Call me the Dog Wrangler

Sadie caused quite a stir this afternoon - by getting out of the fence!

Just call me the Dog Wrangler, because Chester and Sadie went running around the neighborhood with me chasing after them. Luckily, many of my neighbors came out to help (and laugh).

I was visiting with a neighbor in her yard when the dogs suddenly streaked by - "Oh my god, those are my dogs!"

And I booked it to the house to get my car keys while screaming over my shoulder to ask her to keep an eye on where the canines go.

I raced down the street with several neighbors pointing me towards Sadie. I got to her just as she came nose-to-nose with a dog down the street that is NEVER on a leash or supervised (don't get me started!).

When I got out of my car, I took stock of the situation and saw that, so far, all was peaceful. I had a quick mental convo with myself - telling myself to leave my fear in the car and remain calm over the situation.

It worked too!

No dog fights!!!! Sadie came my way and got in the car like a good girl.

Sure, I was upset about the running away, but at the same time, I was thrilled there was no blood!

Um, then I remembered Chester. Thankfully, one of my neighbors was able to get him to go into my house while I was wrangling Sadie.

All ended well - and Sadie jumped straight in the pool to cool off after her adventure.

Camping catasrophe

I know this is Sadie's blog, but this entry is about poor Chester and the camping trip from Hades.

In an effort to "get away from it all," Kevin and I drove a couple of hours up to SE Nebraska to spend a weekend camping, hiking (Kevin), studying for finals (me), and relaxing.

It started off near idyllic, our only struggle coming from wet wood and a smokey fire. Our camp site was beautiful and secluded - a must for Sadie and her barking issues.

We had a tasty dinner of sausage and corn and snuggled with the dogs in the tent. Sadie was great throughout the night. She only barked a couple of times and we found out why in the morning, thanks to little raccoon footprints all over the picnic table.

Breakfast took awhile to get started, but was super tasty by the time we sat down to enjoy. Then, Kevin and Chester got themselves ready for their hike while I readied the hammock for my studying.



I was just getting into a great study groove, when I heard my name from across the clearing and turned to see Kevin and Chester returning after less than an hour.

"Hey, back already?"
"Come here."
"Ok. Is everything ok?"
"No. Come here."

Wow. Ok. I scrambled out of the hammock and booked it to the boys.

"What's wrong?"
"Look," he said, pointing to his shirt. His shirt that was covered in ticks! "They are all over us."

And they were. ALL. OVER. THEM.


We managed to wipe most of them off Kevin because he was pretty well covered by his clothes and they hadn't embedded themselves, but Chester was a different story.

DOZENS of them were embedded.

Somehow, we'd forgotten tweezers so Kevin went into town to buy a pair. Thanks to roadwork it took him more than two hours to drive the "17 miles" to Falls City! I got a lot of studying done during that time, at least.

Anyway, after Kevin finally returned, it took us hours to get them all out of poor C-Dawg. I tried to count them, but stopped at 53 - and I was only half way through the bottom of the bottle.

Chester handled the removal process as well as could be expected. His stress passed on to Sadie at times and she went a little nuts, but you do what you gotta do for those you love, right?

Needless to say, we were TICKED. Once we removed all of the parasites, we packed up the car and got the heck out of there.

Like cats and dogs...

Improvement ...

Well, Kevin finally convinced me to try a choke collar on Sadie.

We took her for a walk late last night, a new approach we're trying to lessen the distractions around her, and she jerked his arm pretty badly. While we were at the hardware store today he handed me a choke chain and said it cost less than $3 and was worth a try.

She figured it out within the first block and we had a pretty good walk tonight! One of my cats, Buddie, even tagged along. I took a couple of videos of our stroll - when we get to far away, Buddie hollers at us to wait up. It's the cutest thing!!

In Training ....

Sad thoughts

A friend of a friend lost their "puppy" this weekend and every time I think about it, I get teary.

Eddie is getting old and Sadie will one day (God-willing) and the thought of losing them breaks my heart. When I thought Eddie was gone, I was miserable. I was lonely and I missed hearing him follow me around the house. I even missed his need to sleep on my head in stormy weather! With Sadie, I will miss watching her act like a cat, watching her do yoga and miss her hugs.

My thoughts are with Kevin's friend as she copes with the loss of her four-legged friend, may she rest in peace.

Of a Sweater ...

Petsmart had a 50% off sale on sweaters and jackets. I wish I had bought more!

Smiles and Snows

Love and Loyalty

After a morning spent playing sled dog with Sadie and Chester, Kevin and I picked up coffee, donuts and a Sunday paper. Then, we settled in on the couch to get warm and read the latest in Kansas City.

Kevin stumbled upon the latest column by John Grogan in Parade magazine. Grogan wrote Marley and Me and always hits a soft spot in my heart because of Sadie's similarities to Marley.

This column was no different. By the end of it, even Kevin was crying.

Grab a box of tissues and read it here.