Giving the Other Vs Equal Time

I wanted to make sure that the others (Dixy and Sara) got equal time. Here are the pups pointing another rooster pheasant. Check out Sara's honoring of the other dogs. Look at the intensity in her eyes. She is amazing.

Vizslas-Finding What They Are Looking For

Went out to Hastings Island today to take the dogs for their run. From the onset, I knew the dogs would be doing a lot of hunting. There was bird scent EVERYWHERE. They must have found at least 9 rooster pheasants. The above pictures tell the story of what our day at Hastings was like.

1-The pheasant

2-Colvin and Grady on point

3-Grady creeping up on the pheasant (yes, I know, I need to work on that with him).

After it was all said and done, the rooster went his way and we went ours. :-)

Random Thoughts On (my) Aging and International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Okay, this is kind of funny. Funny in an ironic way not a haha way. I turn 50 and my body immediately breaks down. I have my first signs of arthritis. So this is what they mean by youth being wasted on the young. I have all this knowledge and understanding (yea right) and yet...I won't be able to use it. Oh well, thanks to my friend Wendy who let us all know it is International talk like a Pirate Day...at least I can have fun with that. ARR!!

Speaking of that, isn't it kind of funny there is such a thing. I mean really, International Talk Like a Pirate Day". How fun...So in honor of Wendy and International Talk Like a Pirate Day...comments should be made in pirate.

The Pirate Life: Unleashing Your Inner Buccaneer,by Ol' Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy

Christmas in September?? Isn't That a Bit Much?

Doesn't it seem just a little bit odd that Christmas decorations are out already? I mean, it is only September 17th, almost a month and a half away from Halloween. And I actually saw them out in another store this weekend. I just don't get it. When I was a little kid, Christmas decorations didn't go out until the day after Thanksgiving. As I got older, they were put out earlier and earlier. This, however, is the earliest. If we are not careful. We will be shopping for next year's Christmas the day after the present year's Christmas. The advertising will become relentless. It will be the only way to get our attention. This holiday will become meaningless. I just don't get it.

Dixy Chilling

As hard as Dixy likes to play, she also knows how to relax. Her she is laying on her sleeping bag just relaxing. At least that was what she was doing before I pestered her to let me take her picture. :-)

Grady on Point

Here is a picture of Grady on Point. He was hunting pretty seriously, covering a lot of ground. I knew he was on a scent. I can just tell by the way he quarters back and forth and how his tail moves. About 30 seconds after this picture was taken, a jackrabbit came tearing out about 5 feet away him. Grady thought about chasing it but I commanded him to wait and he didn't take a step. I was very proud. This is the stuff he loves. Can't wait to start the training for his senior hunter title.

McCain Bumpersticker on a Prius????

There are just so many things wrong with this picture. I don't know where to begin. See if you can pick them out.

Grady's Weekend at the Dog Show

Our weekend at the dog show didn't quite go as well as planned. On Saturday, Grady showed wonderfully. He stacked out like a champ and floated around the ring. He looked beautiful. Unfortunately the judge didn't agree and Grady took last in his class. I don't believe that was the right place but judging is subjective. Still it does get discouraging when it is hard to understand how the judge made their decision. Sunday was a completely different story. He would not even stand for his exam. For whatever reason, he did not want to stand and no amount of coaxing would change his mind. He ended up being excused. The judge was very nice about it and just suggested I work with him. It really is hard we the judges only see the dogs for a short period of time. I know he is the sweetest boy and I wish all could see the same thing in him. I am a little bummed.

Good Friends, Good Food=Good Times

Thanks to Suzy and Stephan for throwing a fabulous get together. It was really a great mixture of people and the food was great. I had a great time. I love being able to share time with all my friends.

Red Dawn Duna What a Good Boy Am I

The dog show didn't quite go as well as we hoped but Duna and Christine represented the Red Dawn Clan well today. Duna took Reserve Winner's Dog. Basically second place out of nine dogs. Christine did a great job showing Duna, He looked terrific going around the ring. Let's just say that the judge wasn't partial to our type dogs though. Last week Fritz took Winner's Dog and Best Opposite Sex over three specials. Today he was last in his class. Go figure. Anyways, we are back for more punishment tomorrow. Let's hope the results are a little better.

Dixy-Where Does the Energy Come From

Dixy is definitely my energizer vizsla. It is no exaggeration to say that she can go hard non-stop for hours. Today we went out to Hastings Island and as she usually does, she found a tennis ball. In order to try and tire her out, I use the water to my advantage and make her swim. She loves to swim and it uses a lot more energy than just running. Lucky for me. I only had a little over an hour today to exercise the dogs so, I had to use that hour effectively. The funny thing about Dixy will do the most unexpected things. Today, for example, I threw the ball and, as she always does, she leaped into the water to get the ball, swimming as fast as she could. Rather than turn around and swim back, she went up the other side of the levy, ran down the road, ran across the bridge and back to me. She did this even though she loves to swim and it would have been a lot shorter route. She is just a goof.

Boy Dog Behavior

This is my sweet boy Grady. He is a little over 2 and a half years old. You couldn't ask for a sweeter boy. He knows his place in the house (girls rule). I will preface this by saying, I have never owned a male dog before. I own three girls so I am unfamiliar with the male behavior. He has been acting pretty silly lately (the last two weeks). He chases Dixy around and acts very amorous with her. He licks her ears, bites her neck, and yes air humps her. Dixy is spayed and 4 and a half. It makes me laugh really. He is so persistent. That is until Dixy has had enough and tells him off. The interesting thing is that he only stops briefly. It is like he has a short circuit with this lesson. The funny thing is that he doesn't even think about behaving like this with Sara (his mother who is also spayed). I am really fascinated with the differences in their behaviors.

Feedjit Flag Update

Here is the update. We have hits in four continents: North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; eleven countries; and twenty states. The bumper stickers are in and on my car. Anyone interested enough to want one let me know. I will send it to you-free.

Free To Run and Play

Well I finally got the staples out of my stomach and I am free to play! My mom thought it would be cute if she took pictures of me before I went to the backroom and when I came out of the backroom. Me, not so much. But she does love me, feed me, take me on vacations so her nerdiness is a small price to pay. All in all, I have a pretty good life. Okay, back to the tale of having the staples taken out. As you can tell from the photo, I am not too keen on this process. Even though they are really nice to me, nothing good usually comes for me here. I know, I know, ultimately they always make me feel better. That's not the point! Hmmm, what is the point? Nevermind. Once it is all said and done, I am always dragging the vet techs to get back to mom. It was no different today, as you can tell from the pictures.

Mom took the other pictures to show the other creatures that live here. There were the two fuzzy creatures. They are not in the least bit intimidated by me. That frightens me. Then there are the exotic fish that are beautiful. Mom can watch them for a long time. I can only watch them for so long. Then I get bored. What's the point. Sorry again, I need to stay focused. And finally, there is boa constrictor. Mom couldn't get a good picture so the sign tells the tale. Finally, the last picture shows me on my first run since the surgery. FREEDOM!

All kidding aside, I want to take a moment to remember all the folks lost in the 9/11 attacks. As someone who works in the financial industry, we knew a lot of the folks who perished that day. We also know folks who, for whatever reason, were not in the buildings when they normally would have been. Thankfully they made it. Let's hope that, we as a species can start to find better ways of dealing with each other, That is my hope,

Lunch With Tom and Patty

Met with my fellow ex-Schwabbies (actually Patty is still a Schwabbie). Hadn't seen them for awhile. We had a little bit of a spirited political conversation. I guess that is to be expected given the time and circumstances around this election. I've know Patty for years. I used to audit her team. Tom was a co-worker. He has a wicked sense of humor. It was fun. We also had a good time catching up. We agreed to continue to meet periodically for lunch. Let's keep it up you two!

Sights in San Francisco

I thought I would give those of you not living in San Francisco a flavor of some of the sights in the city. The picture of the shoeshine stand was taken as the vendor chased down a European Tourist who took a picture. As you can see from the sign, it costs a dollar. Shortly after, he chased me down. It was worth it. The others are just images I thought were interesting.

New Red Dots-Update

Seems we are getting a little traction. New flags (red dots on the Feedjit Map) are popping up everywhere. Let's keep it up. Remember, there is no requirement to comment (although I would love to have a hello from all). The biggest challenge will be Antarctica. Now let's get even more flags.

Thanks for playing.