Pongo and I went for our first hike of the Summer today, which was long overdue! We headed up to Arctic Valley to explore for a couple hours. Driving up toward Arctic Valley, it looked like we were going to be completely socked in by some ominous looking rain clouds; but as we rounded the last corner that took us to the trailhead parking lot, low and behold: SUN!!! Well, brief moments of sun but at least no rain, and that’s what’s important!
Well…figuratively speaking….
Pongo is now sporting his brand new, bad a** Doggles. They were ordered under the guise of “keeping Pongo’s eyes safe.” Personally, I think Steve ordered them with the vision of him in the driver’s seat and Pongo as his co-pilot cruising around town in a sporty Mini Cooper. What more could two stylin’ guys ask for?
My sister Sarah, who lives in South Carolina met me for 4 days in Seattle before I headed back to Anchorage. We packed the days with gardens, hiking, markets, posing for some fabulous “Senior” pictures, and nightly dinners at my new found love: Whole Foods.
After hiking, we ate an incredibly scrumptious vegan lunch in Bastyr University’s Cafeteria.
I was in Fiestaware heaven at this store…
Watch out for the man who runs off with your baby to the public restroom?!?
University of Washington Botanic Garden and Bellevue Botanical Garden
We found a Hobbit door!
We made it safely to Seattle from Bozeman and got Bev, my mother-in-law settled in with her very gracious Grandkids. I am patiently waiting for my sister, who is flying in from Charlotte, NC to play in Seattle for a couple of days before I head back to Anchorage. Unfortunately, her flight was delayed which caused her to miss her flight to Seattle. She arrives tomorrow. This is the first time I’ve really been alone since coming down to the Lower 48. And now that things have slowed down a bit, I’m realizing how much I miss my boys!
Steve reports that Pongo was out of sorts for a while after I left on Saturday. To hopefully wear Pongo out, he worked Pongo with a good long game of frisbee, quite a few rounds of nose work, and finally POOL TIME! Pongo loves his pool, especially with the hose running for him to dunk down and grab.
This is my test post as I am posting from the iPad. I’m off to Bozeman tomorrow to help move Steve’s Mom and brother to Seattle. My plan is to take only the iPad and not my laptop. I don’t know how much I’ll have to post as the main character of the blog is staying behind with Papa. But who knows…I may have a guest blogger every now and then filling all of us in, me included, on Pongo’s antics, which there have been plenty of lately (picture Pongo standing on the kitchen table making himself known to the dog next door. Yes, I wanted to wring his little neck right then and there but I refrained).
This picture was taken up at Byers Lake on a what was to be kayaking day trip but ended up a frolic by Troublesome Creek because the lake was still frozen.
This video was posted by a friend on Facebook. I almost peed my pants watching it! Enjoy!
Pongo started his new class today: Street Smarts. It’s a 4 week class that meets in different locations around town each time. I am super excited about this class because it takes Pongo out of his comfort zone of the training facility at Alaska Dog Sports. While the guise of this class is to give Pongo more practice out in the real world, it really is for me. I am the one who needs the practice of managing Pongo’s leash reactivity out in the real world.
For our first class, we met at Delaney Park Strip. Most of the 6 dog class was already there when we arrived, so I was expecting some reaction from Pongo as we unloaded from the car and approached the group. He was pretty hyped up and barked a couple of times but he was able to calm down quickly and get focused. I think once he realized that we were there to work, there was no need for being obnoxious on leash.
We practiced meet and greets with other dogs and their handlers, sit-stays, down-stays, recalls on long lines, and walking up and down the sidewalks around Delaney Park Strip. At one point, Liz our instructor had us pull off the sidewalk and put our dogs in a down-stay while a group of 3 unknown dogs walked by. I was so proud of Pongo who was alert to the strange dogs but gave absolutely no reaction–not a single bark! He did have a hard time staying in his down-stay but I’ll take that over the barking, lunging fiend we sometimes get.
Besides eating copious amounts of goose poop which was the biggest distraction for Pongo today, he rocked his first Street Smarts class. Next week, we venture to Petco and shopping carts at Michael’s.
While cleaning out the storage closet today, I came across Pongo’s Fantastic Mr. Fox “Ash” Halloween costume that he wore to Dog Tired Doggie Daycare’s Howl-O-Ween Party. As soon as I pulled it out, Pongo bolted from the room. I have no idea why his Royal Cuteness would flee from Mama holding his Halloween costume?!?
And while we were thoroughly amused to see Pongo sporting his “Ash” costume once again, Pongo clearly was not.
Spring break-up means new ways for Pongo to entertain himself…
The Pongo Experience 