Scarecrow dog!

We have done a lot of work on the garden in the past few weeks and Hershey has been watching us with great interest the whole time. She really liked the smell of the earth being turned and was puzzled by the wheelbarrow full of dirt (and ants!) that we put asside. She has also been "helping out" by chompin' on the long strands of grass and chasing the birds around the yard.

She did run right through the garden at one point over the weekend and stepped all over one of our brussel sprout plants, but for the most part she's been very good. We have put up some fencing that Chris made... just in case! Here she is just lying in the grass with her nose at the base of the garden!

Birthday Doggie!

On Saturday we celebrated the 1st anniversary of having Hershey in our home, or, as we have come to call it, her 2nd birthday! She was about 1 when we got her, so it makes sense!

I came home early from my conference specifically to spend the whole day with Hershey. We started the day by letting her sleep on the bed overnight and then in the morning after having had a bit of her normal food, I made her a special "salad" with all her favourite things (lettuce, egg, bacon bits, cheese). She LOVED it!


Then, we did leave her for a little while as Chris and I both had some errands to do - but I had got her some new cookies and Kong Stuff'n Paste (basically some foam that taste like pate - ew!) so she was happy to chew on that for a while.

Once we got back home, we took her to the dog park where she played with doggies, went for a walk, and got to fetch sticks in the river. We were out there for a good 2 hours, and she had a great old time. Here's Hershey playing with Chris - she's jumping to get the frisbee toy.


Here's Hersh bringing back a stick from the river!


When we got back home, she had some dinner, and then a short while later, our friends Brian, Ariel and their dog Scooter came to visit (and watch the hockey game - Go Oilers!) Hershey and Scooter got along okay - but poor Scoots just wants to wander around and sniff stuff and ends up in places that Hershey doesn't like... for instance, he wandered into her crate and holy crap - Hershey went bananas. Nonetheless, I think she enjoys having dog company, and, frankly, it is helping her learn about more social situations.

After our guests left, we capped the evening with a special "cake" for the birthday dog. She got to have a small container of wet dog food (stinky duck pate flavoured dog food!) with a few beef jerky "candles" in it. She inhaled the whole thing in no time! It was past midnight when she went to bed in her crate, and she was so tired, but I think she had a really great day!

Mouser!

A week ago, Hershey was enjoying the lovely weather outside and being nice and quiet, so I didn't think too much about what she was doing out there. We've found her just sitting in the sun and enjoying the fresh air of late, so I thought nothing of it. But when I went outside to call her back in, I saw that she was staring at the bag of bird seed with her ears all up and a possessed look on her face.

There was a mouse stuck in the bag and trying to get out.

Hersh was facinated by the little moving thing, and hadn't tried to bite or hit the bag yet, but she certainly was transfixed.

I called Chris, and together, we held Hershey back and tried to get the mouse to jump out of the bag. It ran to the fence and dissapeared from our view. We let Hershey go, and started to clean up the bag etc. But then Hersh ran to another spot on the fence at CAUGHT THE MOUSE in her mouth! Chris saw and told her to "drop it" which she did, and it ran away. Hershey ran after it, but it had gone through a crack under our porch stairs. Poor mouse! Thing must have been totally freaked out!

One Year Ago...

We went to visit Hershey at the dog shelter - it has been a long year - but in a very good way! We have loved every moment with Hershey (not so much the times where she's barked and freaked out at strangers, but, she couldn't help that)!

We have also noticed that Hersh has mellowed out - quite a bit in fact. She is much better with strangers and loud sounds, and even better, she doesn't seem to react as badly to people walking in the back alley when she's in the yard. She's content just walking around and lying down outside. She calmer in the house too - not incessantly playing with toys or tearing around the place.

We will be celebrating her 2nd birthday on the day that we brought her home (June 10th). Although we have diverging opinions on how to celebrate, we will definitely be getting her a special dinner.

In other news - Hershey was at the kennel for 5 days two weeks ago while Chris and I were on a trip. She wasn't thrilled at first to be there, but apparently was very good (and quiet!) during her stay. We are so happy that things are going well for her!