Even in the heat, walkies are good.

Chris: "Finn, would you like to go for a walk?"
Finn: "Yes Please!!" Happy Dance!




The enemy has infiltrated our territory!

Attack!

Alas, he was too cowardly and fled to the pine tree.


Almost as tall as Chris...

Rules of Acquisition #3 Ownership

Wolfhound Rules of Acquisition #3 Ownership is negotiable.

Ownership of items, especially food or especially chewy ones are always open for negotiation. Licking confers ownership to all food items. if you can lick it, it's yours. Fun items to chew are everywhere, and ownership is usually conferred by toothmarks.


If the human takes the slipper away and says no, then find the other slipper because surely they don't mean ALL slippers are off limits.


If you can get enough tooth marks in the item (especially leather!) the ownership will be established beyond doubt, and you will be free to chew or bury it in the backyard.

Finn works the Kong!

It was filled with pieces of Alopaw cookies! He worked it until every bit was gone.

Product review - Alopaw cookies

Alopaw Hawaiian Dog Treats are dog cookies created specifically for the dog with food allergies or dietary restrictions. They are Vegan, have no wheat, no corn, no gluten, no meat, no dairy, low fat, low protein, low phosphorus. Check out the website for the whole story about the chef who created the cookies and her dog.

I asked for a sample bag of cookies to try, and a bag came in the mail in a couple of days.


When I opened the bag, Finn and I both started to drool!




I gave Finn one to try, and he immediately took it to his bed to savor. (something he only does for special treats)

They came is several fun shapes, each a different flavor. In my opinion, the pineapple one was best, but Finn loved them all.

This happened right after I set the photo up. The cookies did not survive this encounter.

I was going to eat this one (I nibbled a corner of several, they were yummy!) but the anguish on Finn's face was more than I could bear, so I gave it to him.

Finn and I give Alopaw cookies two paws up, and we have already ordered more! I am so thrilled to find a healthy wheat and corn free cookie that Finn loves.

Association and fear

Finn has never been bothered by loud noises. Loud music he sleeps though, screaming kids don't stress him. Even thunderstorms don't worry him, in fact, he loves them! (wants to be out in the wind sniffing and running around).

Yesterday evening as we were finishing our walk, we heard a loud bang from our neighbors yard. Finn stopped and looked towards their house. There was another bang, and I could see over their roof fireworks spreading up into the sky. To my surprise, Finn spun around and quickly trotted away down the street. When I called him, he came to me, but stayed right beside me in heel all the way up to our door, and could not get inside quickly enough.

This really surprised me. Last Fourth of July he didn't even notice fireworks were going off. I thought about it a while, and the fireworks sound a lot like a gun going off. This may be the clue to Finn's behavior. Last fall we had a problem where we board our horses with foxes digging dens along our fence line. They were digging down by the posts, causing the posts to fall over, and the potential of looses horses, or broken legs should a horse step in the hole.

We were dealing with it by filling the holes with rocks, and encouraging the foxes to live elsewhere. A neighbor, however, decided to take a different approach (without consulting the owner of the farm). Finn and I were taking our usual daily walk in the pasture when Finn alerted to something on the other side of the fence, next to a tree stump. When I looked, I saw a fox caught in a leg trap.

The fox was terrified, and his leg had broken completely. I called the farm owner to let them know. We decided the kindest thing to do would be put the fox out of his misery, so he brought out his gun and shot the fox. (killing him instantly) While Finn was at the barn with me when the he did this, he was watching, and when we went to talk to the barn owner (who was considerably upset about a trap being set on his property) Finn refused to get anywhere near him. At the time I thought maybe the scent of gunpowder (or cigarettes!) put him off, but now I wonder if he made the connection between the sound of the gunshot and something bad happening to the fox.

The fireworks we heard certainly sounded like a gunshot. So now I will have to be sure I have Finn in the house or contained some way whenever there are fireworks. He is very obedient, but fear will trigger his sighthound reflexes, which tell him to RUN!

Here is an excellent post on what to do about Thunder/noise fears: Pawcurious.

Tomorrow we have a yummy cookie review to share! (the review, not any of the cookies...)

Family visit

We had a graduation last week, so our house was filled with family. This included a 10 month old baby, and a 2 year old toddler. I was understandably concerned about how Finn would react to to the chaos. While he loves children, having 2 in the house for a few days is totally different than the 10 minute greet on the walk that he usually gets. Plus, lets just say our family is noisy, and leave it at that. I wasn't sure how Finn would react to that.

Everyone got here, and Finn happily greeted everyone, bestowing quite a few licks on the children. As the chaos got louder and louder, Finn simply went to the other room and took a nap. No stress at all. He was amazingly tolerant of the baby, and very careful around them, especially when walking.

He laid still for 'petting', and crawling over.


He usually napped where he could keep an eye on the baby. I think because we let him crawl so much Finn thought we were being quite reckless with him, and he needed to guard him.


Out in the backyard we had a pool and blanket set up. Finn was quite concerned about this too, circling and watching. He didn't like either of the children wandering away from the house without an adult.


When the baby was left on the blanket and started crawling towards the grass, Finn laid down with his body blocking the baby. He wanted him to stay close to the house.

Finn was also quite interested in the bubbles being blown.

He had a great weekend, and quickly learned to wait by the children's chairs while they were eating. Good snackage!