Sophie's weekend/Animal communication with Ilga Cimbulis

Big weekend coming up.

Sophie is meeting with a possible adopter Friday evening. She'll meet part of the family, as one member is out of town, so if they like her we'll wait until the following weekend to meet again.

Saturday is the frolic at Stone Mountain Pet Lodge in Blaine. An animal communicator will be there and I want her to do a reading on Sophie to see if she can tell me anything about her vision, plus will be a fun thing to pass on to any adopter. My co-worker just asked me if I believed in that. Yes, I do! Ilga sold me a few years ago when I had her do a reading on Thor at the Pet Expo. This was about seven or eight months after we first started fostering so we had had three fosters by then, and had just gotten Rune, the bunny.

What Ilga does is sits quietly with the dog and then speaks to us humans telling us that:

Thor wants you to know he thinks you should practice a little population control. Funny! Thor was the kind of dog that wanted to control all the activity, the collie cop.

She asked us if we used to do a lot of running with him because he was showing her how he loved to run and that he missed it, so could we please start doing that again. KJ spoke up and said he used to take Thor on a leash while he rode his bike. 

Then the clincher.

Ilga said that Thor wanted to let us know that the cat has peed on the couch.

Without knowing anything about this (Ilga), we knew that Speedo had started revenge peeing on the couch every time we got a new foster. We had a leather couch, so it was usually just a puddle that was easily cleaned up, but apparently we had missed a spot!

A year ago, we had her do a reading on Prairie, who was being treated for Lyme's Disease. Prairie was doing a lot of moaning and I wanted to know if he was in pain. Ilga told us that his moaning was leftover as a habit of telling his former owner that he sympathized with her about her medical issues and that Prairie himself wasn't in any pain.

Saturday evening we're doing a home visit for an applicant who wants to adopt another dog on the website. I'll bring Sophie, as they like us to bring a dog when we do these.

Here's hoping we can all chill on Sunday.

Dog park pictures of Sophie and a MWCR collie

The way I look at it when taking pictures, especially with my cell phone, is take many, keep few.

So here's Sophie at the dog park. She LUVS butt scratches.

 The last picture of the sable is Scotch. He came in shortly after we did. He was adopted from MWCR four years ago, before I was involved. Cool to see. He's a big beautiful boy.

Update on Bunker and Sophie's webpage

Got an update on Bunker He's been with his new family two weeks now and doing well. It really does take two weeks and longer for a dog to feel comfortable to where you'll see the true personality.

Hello!  Wanted to update you on Bunker's progress.  He is doing great!!  He and Jenna now run and play in the yard.  He really isn't shy about much of anything.  He has decided his cousins next door are just fine too.  He isn't going there for play time yet as he is still adjusting but hopefully soon he can go over for a little time when we are at work.

He is eating well, putting on some weight, and learning all about toys.  Our house is a disaster because we have a dog toy box we keep stocked with a variety.  It is now empty with the toys out all over the floor.  He follows me around when I clean them up and within minutes they are all back out again with him in the middle

___________________________________

And Sophie's officially available!

http://www.mwcr.org/2012/sophie-marie.htm

Time to get the doggies outside before it storms!

Sophie in the very popular bedroom chair

You know, I really don't let the dogs on the furniture. Really, I don't. KJ does. It's funny, when I'm home alone they are not on the furniture. When he's here, they just hop right up. I often come home to a mussed up bed, especially since my bed is a great spot to sit on and people/squirrel/dog watch out the window.

The one exception is my bedroom chair. If I'm not in it, there is a dog in it. Woodson doesn't fit, but he makes the best of it. Sophie didn't use it until a few days ago.

Sophie's bio prep

A promise to get Sophie's bio prepared this weekend. She can go up as available after Sunday. I've been behind in getting this done. I got a great picture of her on the chair in my room. I'll post it as soon as I get it off the camera. It's funny that she's been vying for a spot on that chair. Usually it's Brett and Woodson competing for it. The competition is so hot that I can't even get up to brush my teeth without one of them hopping up. I thank them for keeping it warm and motion them off. It's leather so the hair doesn't stick. I think most collie owners prefer leather furniture!

Two days ago, Sophie started making her claim on the chair.

This morning KJ told me to make sure I add burping to Sophie's bio. Yes, she is a burper. It feels like she does it on purpose, similar to being a human who can make himself burp.

Sophie now poops on the leash FINALLY! It still takes her awhile, she has to trot in circles. Brett does that. I can get dizzy waiting for them to find the right spot. Sophie definitely bugs me when she wants to go outside. If I ignore her she will paw my leg, so then I know she means business and doesn't just want attention.

She tends to lay in the worst places, mostly just because she wants to be in the room with you, so will need more training on that. The worst place is along the cupboard in the kitchen. My kitchen is really tiny, so any dog on the floor in there is not good. Still, she's not a velcro dog. I think when I don't know where she is, she's hanging out in the basement because it's cooler. She definitely wears her own permanent blanket.

MWCR June newsletter

Good stuff on what we can grow in our gardens that are also good for dogs! And much more, including an article on Striker (who was my foster dog, Swiper). Thanks to the producers of this great newsletter!

http://www.mwcr.org/Newsletters/newsletter.pdf

Sophie update

I haven't been online a lot lately. Sophie is doing well. We've been taking her with us to the dog park and each time she seems to enjoy it more. Brookdale Park dog park isn't big compared to other parks I've heard about. It's the only one I've been to. I've heard the Elm Creek one is huge, wooded and has a small lake, but I've also heard that the water there is stagnant. Brookdale is wide open with a big hill. Woodson loves to run up and back down kind of in his own world. Sophie is starting to join him. I need to get a picture of her when she comes racing back to me, full white ruff waving up and down as she runs. 

Sophie will probably need a fenced yard. She doesn't like being tied out and will only pee on the leash. I walk and walk up and down the park waiting for her to poop and I know she has to go, she even looks like she's looking for her spot, but she never does. She's been holding out for when we go to the dog park, which can be two days sometimes, before we get back there. 

Sophie is a strong nudger. Insistent. She's not a velcro dog, but does like to be near you. Her and Woodson play, a lot. She's barky and yippy at times. Barks at outside noises, but it's not a lot. I think she's hungry! At her old house they kept a bowl of dogfood down all the time, so she's used to eating whenever. Here she gets two scoops in the morning and that's it. 

I haven't brushed her yet, but plan to later today. Can hopefully get a few pictures. My real camera has dead batteries. That camera drains batteries!