test blog #10

We had a bit of excitement last week, and I realized I shared it only on Facebook. I'm sure wmtc readers want an answer to the burning question, What is Cookie up to now? This is what she's up to!  She Who Cannot Be Contained must have put her paws on the kitchen counter -- I had been cooking and she was looking for morsels -- and on the way down, hit the stove, turning on a burner. The Instant Pot lid was resting on the stovetop.  I was on a zoom meeting with my door shut, but Allan (who has almost no sense of smell) smelled fumes -- went downstairs -- and found the kitchen and hallway filling with smoke. The smoke detector never went off. The smell of burning plastic lingered for days. New Instant Pot ordered. Batteries in smoke detectors changed. Guards for the burner knobs ordered.   Reading reviews of various knob guards on Amazon, more people needed them for dogs than for children! In case you are wondering, Cookie is still finding ways to leave the house -- u...

I've been stashing these in a folder, but it's been years since I've posted any! I don't know about you, but I could sure use a break.

Cookie recently had a fear reaction, and we're working on desensitization. I thought I would share our experience with changing fearful behaviour.  Diego Not long after we adopted Diego , we learned he had an extreme fear reaction to anything involving his ears. Neither Allan nor I can remember exactly how we learned this, whether he growled at the vet during an exam, or something else. But I distinctly remember that, when he saw a Q-tip in my hand, Diego showed his teeth for a split-second -- then instantly looked sorry and guilty. Poor guy! The vet could see that Diego had a very severe ear infection. Not wanting to traumatize him further or cause him pain, she suggested general anesthesia, a full-on ear cleaning, then a program to desensitize him to ear-touching.  Diego was highly  food-motivated, so it was not difficult to re-program him. First we associated the Q-tip or cotton ball with the treat -- so that he earned a treat just for seeing the Q-tip, then for smelli...

I've been putting off the recall training. We have equipment, and we have advice, but we don't have a plan -- because we haven't made it a priority. Honking big flashing neon note to self: make it a priority . This morning I when called in both dogs from the backyard, only Kai appeared. And she appeared from behind some foliage. Hmm. I called for Cookie a few times, then followed Kai to the back fence. And there it was, well-hidden behind tall flowers. A tunnel.  You might not think our girl could fit through that space. But she's very skinny. And very determined! This escapes marks a milestone for She Who Cannot Be Contained. It's the first time she's breached the main perimeter fence. The new fence which cost many thousands of dollars. Sigh. I grabbed Cookie's collar and leash, and my car keys, assuming I would have to drive around looking for her. Once out in the road, I saw a neighbour, several houses down, was talking to Cookie, trying to keep her occup...

Cookie does not, will not, come when called. She is just not interested. At mealtimes, "wanna eat?" will bring her running. And if she's in the backyard or on the deck, the sound of the clicker and the treat jar will usually work. But at the beach, she has no intention of coming back to us. We've done the high-value treats, we've done... everything. The beach is simply too wonderful to leave. I am Cookie, and I answer to no one. Last year, on a wet, cold day, I was waiting outside the library for Allan to pick me up. He was late. I knew he had taken the dogs to the beach in the morning, and knowing he soon had to clock in to his own work, I thought he forgot about me. When Allan showed up, I learned that Cookie was still at the beach! It was getting late, he knew I was waiting, didn't have his phone with him -- so he left (with Kai)! Now he was going to head back to the beach to get Cookie. I was worried and scared! But a few minutes later, Allan and Cookie ca...

It's been a while since I updated wmtc readers on the continuing adventures of Cookie and Kai. Short version: they are doing great. They are healthy, happy, and a constant source of entertainment, not to mention love and affection. But when it comes to dogs, who wants a short version? The great escape. Cookie has matured and settled in -- but she is still a wild child, and very independent. I have to lock my closet door, and if I forget she will find a shoe to use as a chew toy. Now that she knows she'll earn a treat for coming inside, she stands on the deck and waits for me to put my hand on the treat jar before trotting in. She's that kind of girl. You may recall that shortly after we moved in, we discovered that (a) the backyard fence wasn't very good  and (b) Cookie was an escape artist. When she first let herself in , we thought it was so cute and funny. But when we forgot to lock the front door and she let herself out , not so much. So we have a beautiful new fe...

It's been a while. 1. Mom went home. My mom went home two weeks ago, after spending seven weeks here. I was sad to see her go! We had a great time, and it got better as we went along and settled into a routine. The dogs must especially miss her. They loved to hang out in her room, and she adored them. 2. I took union training. I was in Nanaimo this week, participating in some training with my union, the BCGEU. I had three days of courses, plus a full day of travel each way, so I was gone for the whole work week. My workplace has an interesting union model. All the frontline staff are members of CUPE, and the professional staff -- librarians, senior librarians, and library managers -- belong to the BCGEU. This means I'm the only BCGEU member in all five of my libraries. However, there are BCGEU members in many other workplaces in my area. It's a very diverse union that represents social workers, administrative staff, BC Liquor and BC Cannabis workers, correctional officers, ...

As we enter the last week of my mother's extended visit, we took one last day trip, out to Grant Bay, on the west coast. As I've mentioned, there are no paved roads to the Pacific coast in the North Island. In fact, only two roads on the whole island go to the Pacific coast. In the North, the west coast is only accessible either by backcountry hiking or on logging roads to a few isolated beaches. We've been to San Josef Bay (Sanjo) several times, and I'm sure we'll go again, but we were very curious about Grant Bay. We heard it was a smaller version of Sanjo. This turned out to be true. We also heard that the beach was a five-minute walk from where you park. This turned out to be false. It's quite a bit longer, but not so long as to be prohibitive. So first there's the long, slow, bumpy drive on the logging roads -- about 2.5 hours, a bit closer than Sanjo. Then there's a short hike through a lovely bit of rainforest. Not knowing what we'd find, we ...