New Years Resolution: Part 1: Party in the back

My New Years Resolution (Part 1, there will be more to come) is to teach all of my dogs

to ride in the back of the truck. I bought this truck two years ago today, and the whole reason for trading in my trusty 4Runner for a truck was to get have “human space” and “dog space”. I dreamed of having a clean car where I could escape from the dog farts and mud while chauffeuring my beloved pups around town. One by one, I started making exceptions for dogs that were allowed to ride up front. Two years later, I am having to schedule my park trips around the available seats in the front seat of my truck, while the canopy area is nearly empty at times! The dogs have totally won this battle and it’s time for me to make some changes.

Life in the 4Runner was good. It was a perfect way to start my business and build my pack and I wouldn’t take it back at all. Being close to the dogs definitely had its benefits, I couldn’t stand being with wet farting dogs for hours a day. The smell was seeping into my skin and I was coughing up dog hair like a cat with a hairball. Not literally, but I felt like it could have happened any day…  If this business was going to continue, something had to change.

The day I decided to start looking for a truck, my dream truck popped up on Craig’s List. It was meant to be, and with the help of the wonderful people at Barrier Audi, I was driving home my Toyota Tundra that very same day. I don’t know about you, but when I get a new car, I make all sorts of resolutions to myself… I’ll never eat in the car, I’ll take off my shoes before getting in, yeah right…. Well my one resolution with this truck was NO DOGS IN THE FRONT.

I think it took me less than a week to go back on my dog free front seat resolution. There are many good reasons for putting dogs up front; new puppies need to adjust to the routine, small dogs (frenchies) may get trampled or upset (see Harley’s protest poop story), or sometimes I just can’t physically get the dog in the truck. The first two will always be welcome in the front until they are comfortable moving to the back, which may never happen for the little guys and I am OK with that, it’s the last category I’m talking about…  This is the main area I am focusing on with my current dogs. I know once you get a taste of first class it’s hard to go back, but those guys in back get to party the whole way to and from the park. I need to convince certain dogs that they want to join the party, not be the teacher’s pet.

My plan is to work with each of these dogs with an empty back of the truck and deep pockets of delicious dog treats. This is going to take some one on one time, outside of the park, what some refer to as “free time”, but it is going to be worth it in the long run. I think with the right amount of dedication, you can train a dog to do just about anything (at least jump in a truck), so I am dedicating myself to helping these dogs get over their fears and join the party in back. Check back to hear about my progress. I am counting on you guys to hold me to this!

 

Cozy Caves for Christmas – 50% off today!

If you have a dog that likes to burrow, a Cozy Cave is a must on your pup’s Christmas list. Luckily for you, they are 50% off today on Doctor Foster and Smith website! Click here to get this amazing deal! No, I don’t get anything for promoting this, I just like to share my excitement because I need to get Bambi one for the boat too!

The cozy cave is like a pita pocket for dogs. It keeps them warm and cozy during the winter months and ideally keeps them out of your bed, unless you want them there 🙂

Bam and Harley like to share a cozy cave, but assuming you only have one dog, I’d suggest a small for a frenchie sized dog, a large for a Vizsla sized dog, and an XL for a doberman sized dog. I don’t know why they don’t have a medium…

Go ahead and cross one thing off your holiday shopping list!

Toy of the season

Miles, Bailey and I just found our new favorite toy:  NiteIze Innovation Meteorlight K-9. It is a rubber ball that lights up when you push it. This ball is perfect for Seattle winters when it gets dark out at 4pm. I don’t know about your dog, but Bailey loses way too many tennis balls when it is dark out, and she rarely loses a ball!

The ball is powered by an LED light and it changes colors as it flies through the air. The dogs had no trouble finding the ball in the pitch dark and I was constantly entertained watching the changing colors bouncing through the dark. I bought the meteorball at the Queen Anne All The Best. They said they’ve heard from others that the battery lasts about 3 months.

I have hesitated buying this ball for so long because it is $11.99, which in my mind, is outrageous for one ball, but if the dogs can see this ball and we don’t lose it, it may be cheaper than losing numerous orange rubber balls! 

This may just be how my neurotic mind works, but I am very grateful to not worry about having to rush through my day so I can play ball with the pups before the sun goes down. Or lets be honest, this time of year in Seattle, some days the sun never even comes out….

 

Manic Monday

Monday was the fourth and last day that I was house sitting for one of our clients. I had a wonderful weekend with her two Incredibly sweet and playful King Charles Spaniels. It was an uneventful and relaxing weekend followed by the ultimate case of the Mondays.

I woke up to a torrential downpour, The news said there had already been an inch and a half of rain by the time I woke up. I went downstairs the basement to find a pipe had burst and the floor was soaking wet. I called my client and she schedule to have someone come out that evening to take care of it.

I came back after the park to find that the power was out. My phone died at the park because it got too wet through my non-Gore-Tex jacket. I was running back to the house to use the phone to call Michael because we had to leave to take the puppy (thats another story, see here) to the vet appointment in Kirkland in 10 minutes. When I realized the power was out, I let the dogs out to go to the bathroom, grabbed the Thanksgiving turkey that had been delivered the night before from the fridge so it wouldn’t go bad, and ran into another client’s house( who happens to be coworkers with this client), hoping to use the phone, negotiate some fridge space for the turkey, and heat up my lentil soup. Unfortunately her power was out too.

While I’m at my other client’s house discussing what to do about the dogs during the power outage as well as the Thanksgiving turkey, It occurs to us that the four baby chicks in the guest bathroom upstairs need the heat lamp to survive. I had to take a step back and realize that I was juggling two dogs, four baby chicks, a frozen turkey, a burst pipe and a power outage. And that is a day in the life of a dog walker…

Luckily the power was back on in an hour and the dogs didn’t even notice. The baby chicks stayed warm, the turkey stayed cold, I met the guys who came to clean up the pipe mess and my client made her connecting flight home. Everything turned out just fine but it was quite a whirlwind of Old McDonald’s Farm for a bit there.

Kelley-proofed house

A couple years ago I started walking two Vizslas, Miles and Oliver. Both dogs were picked up at Miles’ house, where there were two small children, and the house was very childproofed. A couple weeks into our service, I went to pick up the dogs and the nanny wasn’t home and the dogs were locked behind a baby gate in the kitchen. I spent a solid 10 minutes trying to figure out how to open the damn baby gate.

I knew the baby gate was intended for the kids, not the dogs, because these dogs routinely jumped 4′ fences at the dog park. It was actually their main way to enter and exit the park. So here I am, defeated by the baby gate, and trying to figure out what to do with these dogs. Knowing how much they like string cheese, and jumping over things, I decide my only option is to teach the dogs how to jump over the baby gate. It only took a few minutes and we were out the door.

Years later, I am housesitting at Miles’ house and am still defeated by all of the child proofing things. Apparently child proof = Kelley proof. These baby gates, electrical plugs and cabinet thingys are way beyond me. Apparently teaching dogs agility on a whim isn’t.

Dog pumpkin carving stencils (and pics of our Bailey and Bam-O-Lanterns)

I saw pumpkins at the grocery store for the first time today so I figured it was time to re-post this blog!

ballwalkparkseattledogwalker

We are getting into the Halloween spirit here at the ballwalkpark house! This week I carved pumpkins of Bailey and Bam – a term I would like to coin – the Bam-O-Lantern! I am pretty impressed with how they turned out – I have NO artistic talent whatsoever. It’s all about the stencil, seriously. If I can do it, anyone can do it! I have attached the links for the stencils. You can find a bunch of different breeds at The Better Homes and Gardens link. The French Bulldog stencil was harder to find, so I attached the link for that as well. Enjoy and happy carving!!

Better Homes and Gardens dog breed stencils

Labrador Retriever pumpkin carving stencil

Frenchie pumpkin carving stencil

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Honeymoon at the dog park

Every new dog park pup that I’ve taken has what I call a “honeymoon” period. At first they are calm, sweet, responsive, just perfect angels. It usually takes about 3 weeks for them to fully adjust, be comfortable, and come out of their shell. This is when their true colors shine and I see what kind of pup they really are. I love to see a new pup starting to play more, beat the other dogs to get the ball and just generally having fun!

Here is Heidi on her first day:

Here is Heidi 3 weeks later:

Where did your pup’s name come from?

Did you know: “Jambo” means “hello” in swahili. Jennifer just got home from climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro when she got her 8 week old puppy. Exchanging “Jambo” with everyone she passed on the trail is what led to the name of her new pup!

Is there a story behind your pup’s name? Share it on our ballwalkpark Facebook page!

The sacred orange Chuck-it ball

In my afternoon trip today, I was down at the water with three ball obsessed dogs equipped with three orange rubber chuck-it balls. We were off in the corner by the big tree enjoying our retrieving relay races.

A man standing next to us had a retriever who also had the same orange rubber chuck-it ball. There were a couple times during our rapid fire fetch that one of my dogs would get his ball on accident. He explained that his dog was particular and only liked his own ball so I made sure to always get his ball back from my dogs. It’s a bit of work juggling three dogs and four balls but it’s not this guy’s fault that my dogs can snatch up a ball in .0003 seconds. My dogs were the only guilty ones here, his dog would snatch up any ball nearby but would then immediately spit it back out once he realized it had cooties on it.

After a few minutes of this call juggling I decided it was time to go. I do not enjoy retrieving as much as my dogs do. Just as my last dog clears the gate to leave the beach I hear someone calling after me. It was my ball patrol friend. He told me that one of my dogs must have his dog’s ball because he threw the ball out in “the ocean” and his dog refused to go get it. Obviously, the next logical thing to do would be to track down the dog walker. If I had the nerve/time/patience to track down every dog owner at the park that may have potentially stolen a toy of mine, I could have saved literally hundreds of dollars. Maybe even Thousands!

So anyways, to get the taste test of balls set up just right I have all three of my dogs on leash, and managed to have them all cough up at their orange rubber chuck it balls. The guy takes the first ball I hand him and throws it out into the water about 10 yards. The dog swims out to the ball, grabs it, spits it back out. “whoops, guess that wasn’t it” the guy laughs. I’m starting to feel like the retriever again. Good thing we have two more rounds to go.

Meanwhile, the ball connoisseur is swimming out into “the ocean” and retrieving the original ball in question. He brings it all the way back to the store and then drops it for another one of the balls that my dogs gave up. I was too preoccupied with that combined 250 pounds of leashed dog who were trying to get in on the ball buffet to notice which ball the dog actually decided it was his. Whichever one it was it only lasted for about 50 yards before he gave it up again and tried to start the whole game over. As much fun as it was, my least dogs and I were ready to move on.

I tried very hard to stay pleasant about the whole situation, reassuring him that this was all a part of the fun of working with dogs. He was very nice and pleasant, and no doubt a very devoted dog owner.

Bottom line, what’s yours is yours and if your dog wants his own ball then you have every right to get that ball for your dog. I just wish your dog could accurately detect that sacred ball, and in an ideal world it wouldn’t involve 3 other balls. Maybe just one other to narrow it down from would be helpful. And if your dog is able to detect his own scent on a ball so well, couldn’t he just go ahead and put some smell on there that will deter any other dog? That would be really helpful. Thanks.

Life lessons from Nancy

Some of you may already know this, but Nancy and I have a history long before ballwalkpark. She is my best friend’s mom. I was a 3rd teenager for her to worry about living in the basement in high school. She was my crew coach. I was the photographer at her wedding. These days, I am writing her paycheck, but she is still my fr-om (friend + mom).

With all these different roles over the years, it’s only natural that my life would be influenced by Nancy in some (i.e. many) ways. I remember one of my first Nancy memories (before I moved in the basement, before Hilary and I were even friends) when she was my crew coach. I was trying to tell her that I was sick and couldn’t go out in the boat. If you’re familiar with crew, you know that you need 8 people to go out in the boat and while you can go out with 7, it’s definitely not ideal, so Nancy was doing her good coach role and convincing me to go in the boat. I remember her telling me that when she has a cold she likes to work out because it gets you breathing hard helps clear out the congestion, gets the blood flowing, etc. She said you just have to make yourself do it and you will almost always feel better after. I don’t think I was buying it at the time, but I realized I had no way out, so I went out for our workout and, just as Nancy said, came back feeling a lot better.

For whatever reason, her “sweating out the cold” advice really stuck with me and it has come to me countless times over the years. I’ve replayed this conversation in my head to motivate myself to not call in sick to my restaurant shift, to take Bailey for a walk even if I don’t feel like it, and these days, to make the most of my park trips even if everything in me is saying to go home and go to bed. Once you get there and get busy doing whatever it is you went there to do, you will always feel better.

Today as I pulled up to the park I was feeling pretty miserable. As I was picking up dogs I got hit with that wave of drowsiness that tells you a cold is most likely on it’s way. A blanket and couch were sounding pretty amazing, but I had 7 amped up dogs in my truck so there was no turning back. I was sure that I would be a walking zombie potentially getting trampled by my own dogs.

When I got the dogs into the park we met up with Nancy and her pack a few minutes later. Once I got busy playing with the dogs I realized how much better I was feeling. It was another one of those moments where the “Nancy crew coach” conversation came to mind and I couldn’t help but think how ironic it was that there I was standing right next to her, at our “office”, as my friend + mom + employee. Fr-om-ee?