The day after

For those of you that don't know Gideon, you really need to meet him in person. He is just about the best dog you could ever hope to hang out with. I have had the privilege of living with him, so of course I am a bit biased, but speaking as a former professional dogsitter (yeah, that's right) I can maintain my objectivity.

There are a few basic things I think every dog parent should have an understanding with their canine on before they leave them in my care. This can be distilled down to some basic vocabulary and phrases used: go potty, leave it, wait, crate/kennel, outside, sit, down, off, up, quiet and high five. Okay, the last one is just a bonus mostly because Gideon looks SO CUTE when he does it. I get that no dog is perfect, but if you leave them with someone else - please make sure they have some home training.

Gideon shared examples of his excellent home training while demonstrating some of the lessons he lives by, when he visited all day today.

Approach new things with caution, but don't be afraid to look down sometimes because...

...even if you feel like you're on solid turf, you should check how far you really are from the ground.

Smile for pictures, but if you have to yawn...

Go ahead - it makes for a funny picture.

If you have the opportunity to step outside and look around - do it.

Have a sense of humor about yourself.

Take time to admire the tennis ball before you demolish it.

Better yet - chew on a Frisbee instead of a tennis ball.

Nap frequently in between play time.

Comfort someone with your presence and a gentle touch.

And every once in a while it's okay to let someone invade your personal space to hug you.

Sir Naps-a-Lot

Here's a brief rundown on the weekend visit from Gozo. Friday evening: early to bed. Saturday morning: sleep in, woken up to eat/go outside and nap throughout the afternoon. Saturday early evening: got to meet Adam from downstairs, very exciting. Saturday evening: dinner and outside time in the courtyard then back to bed. Sunday morning: sleep in, woken up to eat/go out, and back to napping. And now it's about time to return him to his family.

The only thing to elaborate on from the weekend is Adam visiting with Gozo, which was the highlight of the weekend as far as Gozo was concerned. He really enjoyed getting to meet Adam and even snuggled up with him for a bit on the couch. All the dogs that come to visit seem to like Adam - seeing him can be quite exciting for them and that's great since there's not too much else going on around here ;)

As I shared on Facebook, I also learned what a genius I am with the whole license plate renewal sticker fiasco...First, I couldn't even find the thing for the past week after realizing the one on the plate had expired over a month ago. Ridiculous. A bonus from finally getting around to straightening up/organizing some things (work stuff is still all over the place) was that I found the sticker. It was exactly where it was supposed to be too. Got all excited and told Gozo we'd just wander downstairs and put that bad boy on, especially since I'd already showered for the day and everything (extremely ambitious for a Saturday). Minor problem...couldn't find the KEYS for that car. Seriously?

Okay, so I'd been on public transportation for most of the week, but still couldn't believe the keys weren't sitting where they were supposed to be...like it's some kind of joke being played on me now. Literally searched everywhere over a dozen times, thinking that in picking things up/deconstructing my bag from the days on public transportation they may have been accidentally transferred to one closet or another. Nope. No keys. Gozo thought it would be a good idea to head downstairs to visit the cars in the garage, so I gathered up all the other keys, the sticker and Gozo to make our way down there. Clearly the least obvious place for me to look...the other car. Didn't do this one on purpose, but they were in there regardless. Pretty stupid, but funny. Gozo felt gipped since he sat in one car (the driver's seat no less) while I searched, then applied the new sticker after I had the keys in hand, and no car ride was involved. To make it up to him I'll be taking him on a ride right now...the three blocks back to his house!

Technology keeps on passin' me by... [yeah, insert Pharcyde lyrics here]

The funniest thing ever just happened. It is one of those things, along with a beautiful sunset (which is also happening right now), that makes you appreciate being alive. Someone who is extremely technologically challenged, we'll call him "Mr. B" (name withheld to protect his image), just got an iPhone.

This may not seem like a big deal to anyone. Mr. B has never had a cell phone before, nor does he particularly like phones in general. Or social contact with other people for that matter. He begrudgingly has a home phone that is so ancient it puts out the kind of interference you hear on both ends of the call (what kind of phone line does that these days?). Did I mention that he never answers that phone either? Never. His screening consists of listening to the beginning of the voicemail you leave after the beep, which is preceded by the following outgoing message: "[first name] here...or not here..." and no, I'm not making that up. How could I?

I've digressed into the back story a bit here, but you have to understand the depth of this dive into up-to-date technology for Mr. B. He is anti-technology in so many ways and it is an ongoing debate we've had for years. Brand spankin' new car, bells and whistles come standard...what does he do? Ask them to take OUT the bells and whistles. Who does that? No bluetooth option, okay I see that (you don't use a cell phone, so that's logical to not pay extra for that one)...but remove that fancy navigation package that was built for your car? You drive cross-country regularly! You still have an antenna that is molded to the roof of that car...but no, the navigation has been removed. He doesn't want it telling him where to go. His words. At least he kept the power door locks and windows. But not the automatic seat adjustment controls that keep your preferences saved. Now, that one he'll tell you he regrets. Again, fancy cars come with these things now, you have to ask to get one without that stuff. When I set the clock in the car he says "how'd you do that?" as if it is the greatest mystery to him.

Don't get me wrong - the car is still pretty, shiny and a great driver's car...but if I'm going to have the little bluetooth button embedded in the wheel, I'd rather have the option to USE it instead of having it sit there mocking me. Now you'll see. Wait 'til you start getting all into the iPhone and you want to talk while on a road trip. You'll understand my position then! But who are we kidding? I adore you, I really do, but the day you "get into" any cell phone, let alone an iPhone, to the point of using it via built-in bluetooth on a road trip, is the day the world probably stops turning.

The car is just one example. Mr. B also does not own a TV. Seriously. Okay, Patrick doesn't either, but he builds computers out of duct tape, used dental floss and bubble gum. He understands technology and gets a pass from the oddity of not having a TV (he also has an iPhone, from work, coincidentally). I don't even know where to begin other than the brief things I've already ranted about. It's not just that he got his first cell phone ever, it's that he got an iPhone, folks. You need to use a computer to play nice with setting it up and transferring music, movies, and pictures. But that's okay, he doesn't have any of those things. What? Yeah, no interest in carrying any media things on the iPhone. It's funny, right?

The real inspiration for writing all of this here is because this is an adventure in itself, and one of the dogs previously written about is related to this person, so it seemed appropriate. Plus I wanted to share these quotes:

"When you get an iPhone, does the number come with it?"

And when asking if it also comes with the headphones, he was happy because...

"The last headphones I used were the kinds with the big cups at the end that make you look like a space man."

My personal favorite is this type of smart-ass comment that I am not looking forward to hearing more of...When I say that there is the matter of being hurt by a particular person I had been close to as a friend, instead of great fatherly-mentor advice I get:

"Is there an app for that? There must be. And if I do solve it for you, will you pay me $2.99?"

Following the blog?

Hi there!

If you're visiting the blog and keeping up with the adventures had by Gideon and his friends (including Gozo and Reggie), please feel free to leave comments. Comments are also the best way to get in touch with Gideon (or his human assistants).

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Even though we don't update as frequently as we'd like right now, rest assured that Gideon is out having adventures on a regular basis.

Last day

Reggie is going home today. It was great to have her visit. I'm sure she will be very happy to be back with her dad. Her things are all packed up, including a few of the new toys that are not yet destroyed. We'll have to talk with her dad first, but I'm hoping he'll meet us over at the dog beach to let her run around a bit before I drop them off at their house.

Quiet evening (eleventh day)

Celebrated some time off with a romp on the terrace as it was getting dark. Reggie loved it. I was freezing after what seemed like an hour out there (it was probably 20 minutes). Asking her if she was "done" outside would have been a dumb question. She's like - we've got this big outdoor area RIGHT here with all this untouched snow for me to eat and lay in...and you want to go back INSIDE? She loves running back and forth with the Wubba and playing fetch for as long as I'll keep throwing something. I'm convinced that she's got to be a border collie in an Elkhound body because of her energy and play drive. Eventually I put the Wubba back inside and just let her lay out there for a while longer. She'd probably be happy living out there. We have a quiet evening planned for the rest of the night. Reggie's dad also gets back later so we'll be planning how to get her back home to him soon.

The beach (tenth day)

We went to the beach this evening. Well, the lagoon area by the dog beach.

Reggie wasn't sure about the lagoon (it's all frozen over) but she liked running around near that area.

This is as close as we got to the dog beach. I really wanted to let her run around there because I'm pretty sure she'll LOVE it, but I'm not comfortable taking her off the leash to be free in an only semi-blocked off area. I'm hoping Karl will want to stop over there so she can try it out while he's there. It's more blocked off than I thought it was at this time of year, so she should be fine if he's with us.

I did my best to run along with Reggie so she could still get some play time in while we were at the lakefront. We took the Wubba out there but mostly she just ran and ran then ran some more. She likes to roll and rub her face in the snow, which is what she's doing in the picture above. She also wipes out a lot. She'll be running then just slide one way or another and down she goes to the ground. But then she's right back up like nothing happened. I can't believe she doesn't hurt herself, but she still goes 150 mph all the time.

When we got back I picked out a new toy from the secret place where toys magically come from when you want a new one (a.k.a. bins full of toys in the second bedroom closet). Turns out this one has a really high pitched awful squeak...so I'll be switching it out as soon as Reggie's distracted by something else tomorrow.