Montana Day 1

Marlin and I are away on "Summer Vacation".  I couldn't be happier. We decided to rent a little cabin in southern Montana

Today was a travel day so really all we did was drive. We did stop briefly in the Lewis and Clark National Forest for a short hike though.  There were two little waterfalls on the route that were nothing amazing, but it was nice to get out and stretch our legs.  The dogs enjoyed the freedom of running loose for a bit too.

Despite everyone's efforts we didn't see any wildlife.  ;)

We are now hanging out in a little cabin that is literally just steps from the river and are  excited to spend some time hiking, fishing and relaxing.  Hopefully the weather is OK. It is supposed to rain (or snow!!!)  a couple of days this week but I'm hoping that will be the worst of it.

Practice

I'm photographing an older dog tonight.  I'm not normally nervous before photo sessions but for this one, I know the dog isn't going to be running around making my job easy.  I know I'm going to have to pose him in front of things and get "pretty pictures".  I really don't set up shots very often so I felt I should go check out the area see what the light is like at this time of year and practice.

I'm so glad I practiced.  My first 50 or so shots were so bad they were very comical. I'm not exaggerating.  They were horrible. It took me a while to get in the groove of things.  :)

But between me and Coulee, we figured it out eventually.  I really couldn't ask for a better model.  She just sat or laid down wherever I asked her to, perked her ears and looked at me (or rather the toy in my hand).

Her only downfall is getting her to stand on command.  As soon as I said "stay", she'd sit or lay down as she knew she was going to be there a while.  If I told her to "go around" which is basically to back up more and wait for the toy to be thrown, I could get her to stand still but her final location wasn't always that predictable, but it worked out for the most part.

I'm starting to feel I should attempt this more often.  Maybe on holidays (next week!!!) I'll try it a bit more.  :)

Waterton Weekend

We  had plans to go hiking in Waterton this weekend with my Dad and his wife Shelley... what we hadn't really planned on doing was camping overnight but at the last minute we decided to go for it.  It was our first trip of the season if you can believe it!  We got there pretty late on Friday (it was already dark) and thankfully Dad and Shelley had gotten us a site as the campground was full. We couldn't believe that is was full this late in the season, but it was such a gorgeous weekend, I'm not sure why we were surprised.

We spent Saturday hiking up to, and around, Bertha Lake. Dad and Shelley had never done the hike before and Marlin had only done it once, so it was a good choice. We hit the trail fairly early and didn't see many people on the way up. The way down was another story.  I had to actually carry Lacey across the bridge at the falls as I wasn't sure how she was going to navigate the small space jammed with people.  I was literally weaving in and out of them trying to get across.

We saw a few people walking around with their cameras in the hands and one guy hauling his up with his tripod attached and full extended.  I guess he truly wanted to be ready at a moment's notice.  It was the second time I wore my Cotton Carrier on a hike and I was pretty happy with it, although I haven't tried it with a big heavy lens yet.  By the end of the hike it was feeling a bit uncomfortable, but so was everything else.  :)

Today I spent hanging out at the trailer while Marlin golfed.  It was super peaceful.  I napped and read and just hung out with the pups. At one point I thought I might wander around and take pictures but that seemed like too much effort so these are all from the hike.

The One and Only

There is no doubt about it.  Boone is one of a kind.  He's staying with us for 2 weeks and he fits in amazingly well. He COMPLETELY ignores the cats.  So much so, that Jack doesn't even flinch when he is in the same room as him.  Boone likes his "safety" area (which happens to be the bathroom attached to our bedroom) and we let him hang out there as much as he wants. The first few days that was pretty much the entire time, but now he is mainly out and about with us.

These are just a few of my favourite photos from this past week.  He is super fun to photograph and he rarely sits still.  Today happens to be his 10th Birthday - hence the balloons in the photo above.  :)

Left to my Own Devices

Marlin's been working out of town a lot since the flooding a few months back so I've been left home alone to work and look after the pups... and to shop online.  :)

Not too long ago I became obsessed with dog activity tracking devices.  I blame Pack and the newsletter I write for them. The newsletter makes me browse the internet to find cool stuff for dogs and it seems to result in me buying stuff.  :)

Anyway, a few weeks back I mentioned activity tracking devices in the newsletter.  There are quite a few out there and they all look pretty cool. Some have GPS so if your dog accidentally gets out of the yard, you can track them and find them again (this only works in the states at the moment - something to do with cell phone carriers).  These also tend to have monthly fees that I didn't like.  Then there are ones that only track their activities but not their location - like FitBark and Whistle.

I figured a device like this would be great at tracking my dogs' activities as they age.  I think some times changes are so gradual you don't really see them but these devices would help you see things in black and white.  I also thought they would be good at tracking how much is too much, and how much is too little, when Coulee's feet aren't doing so well.

And well... I like gadgets.  Gadgets are fun.  So I decided to back FitBark on Kickstarter.  It was my first Kickstarter "investment".  To be honest, if I had discovered Whistle before I had done the Kickstarter, I probably would have gotten that one - I like stuff to arrive NOW, not later, although I'm trying to be patient. :)

As I browsed the internet looking at reviews of these different gadgets it was impossible not to stumble across similar gadgets for people and I managed to talk myself into one of those as well.  (Too much time home alone is never a good thing!).  I've signed up for an exercise program starting in September and I decided it would be cool to see what my activity levels were like before, during and after the program.

Earlier this week I received my FitBit Flex.  At first I was just going to track my activities but then I decided I wanted to see how easy it was to track what I was eating too.  So far, I've done a good job of not eating more calories than I've burned but I'm eating too much to reach my "weight loss goal" that it helped me set.  It has definitely helped me decide to pass up desert or an evening drink that I don't need though. :)  It is also making it extra clear (I already knew this) that if I could stop drinking Chai Tea Lattes, I'd have lots of extra calories to "spend" somewhere else.

The activity information above is from yesterday.  It is a pretty typical work day, minus a dog walk. (Coulee's limping at the moment but we are going to see a rehab vet today to hopefully get that all straightened out). I worked a split shift and was off between 10 and 1... which is obvious by the lack of movement during those times.  :)

It also tracks my sleep but it pretty much told me what I already knew - I wake up a few times each night.  It's funny to see the consistency.  Something happens at 1 a.m. each night to wake me up. I don't remember Coulee barking at the train this past week, but maybe she has been.

I will try not to become an exercised obsessed, food tracking fiend - at least online. ;) I'm excited and scared for the exercise program to start in September.  Because of my work shift (and the lack of showers at the facility) I had to sign up for the 5 a.m. class.  UGH.  There were so many class options but that was the only one that worked for me other than the 7 p.m. one. By the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is exercise so a morning class was better.  I just wish it didn't have to be quite so early!

She Has Her Moments

Coulee is generally a pretty serious dog, but she has her moments of goofiness.

On this particular night I had brought a second toy for Lacey.  Usually Coulee is very "loyal" to her chosen toy and no matter what I do, or what I play with, she won't switch even when I want her to.  The exception to this is if I bring out a ball or cuz toy - they trump frisbees and "bumper-like" toys, but I can't switch from ball to ball or frisbee to frisbee or from frisbee to bumper, etc.  Some days it is annoying but most days it is useful as I can play with Lacey without Coulee trying to steal away the toy.

But on this particular night Coulee was feeling mischievous and kept stealing toys right out of my hand.  Whatever one I had, she wanted.  It cracks me up that I can see her mood even in the photos.

Sorry for the crooked horizons.  I was shooting from the hip in order to catch her expression accurately.  :)

SUP with the Pups

I think it was a picture on Ruffwear's catalogue that first caught my attention. Then back in May they did an article on their blog about "How to SUP with your Pup".  I was smitten with the idea but had never seen a SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) before and  I even looked at a few local websites to see if anyone rented them and couldn't find any.  A facebook friend in the states mentioned it a month or so ago and I was again reminded about how I wanted to try it but I didn't do anything about it.  Then on Friday night, somehow it came up in conversation and Marlin said he'd love to try.  Really? OK!!

We found a local place that rents them and decided initially that our first trip would be without the dogs.  The last thing we needed to deal with were the dogs setting off our balance.  We went off to the store first thing in the morning and it was a bit confusing.  They sort of had one to rent, but not two, but maybe they could do two but they weren't really sure....  Errrr???  Do you rent them or not?  It wasn't that they had a bunch out already, it was more like they sort of rent them but not really.  It was weird.

Anyway, they had what is called a "Versa board" - (think of a hybrid between a SUP and a kayak) that was definitely available for rent and they got approval from the manager (who was off site) to rent us a SUP that was brand new and not actually supposed to be rented.  I heard the employee quietly describe us as "older" on the phone to the manager.  I think what she meant by older was "responsible".  ;)

Once I saw the Versa board, I knew for sure the dogs and us could manage that.  So we changed plans... got loaded up, picked up the dogs and headed out to Keho.  Oh what fun.

The SUP was definitely more of a challenge but was more manoeuvrable in the water.  I think an experienced SUP pup could ride on it, but it was too much for our girls.  So we ended up with both the dogs on the Versa and the other person alone on the SUP.

Lacey was awesome.  She'd find a spot and generally just stand there. Whenever we headed to shore for a break, she'd hop back on no problem to go again.  Her tail was down for the most part, but I think Coulee was affecting her quite a bit.

Coulee was not so awesome.  She whined and paced and whined and paced.  I'm actually wondering if it makes her feel nauseous.  Every time we headed to shore she'd eat a mountain of grass (which is unusual for her).  In the end we just let her run along the shore and swim around and she was much happier as was I.  My thighs were quaking like leaves trying to maintain balance on a constantly shifting board.

We also brought our Waboba ball with us and it was the first time we had a chance to use the "person one". (I've taken the fetch out with Coulee before.)  It bounces on top of the water... it is super fun.  The dogs of course also thought it was fun and Coulee got a tremendous work out playing monkey in the middle.  It was nice having someone retrieve it when we had a bad throw though.  :)

The horseflies were brutal!  We were constantly beating them off our legs while paddleboarding.  They showed up in quite a few pictures looking like helicopters while we were playing with the Waboba.

 Lacey swam for the promise of a cookie.

Whenever she got the ball, she'd run around on shore shaking it and not giving it to anyone.  :)

Coulee just wanted us to throw it again and again. so she'd deliver it when Lacey was tired of it.

It's funny how sometimes the GoPro catches what looks like "product placement ads".  :)

This is Coulee playing monkey in the middle and me trying to catch the ball.  Sorry for the crooked angle - I must have been leaning to the side to get the ball.  :)

Delivery service at its best.

PS - All the images are taken with the GoPro on a timer interval.