Desperately need a camera

Notice a certain sameness in my recent photos? And no, I don't mean that 99% of them are of Tristan. My camera is on the fritz so my IPhone camera is filling in. I'll learn Friday if the camera can be repaired. I'm missing having a real camera with a telephoto lens. The shot above is of some bald eagles at Fir Island Farms/Hayton Snow Goose Reserve in the Skagit Valley. They were majestic, however, they're barely discernible in the shot.

We hit the area and caught some of the last migrating birds. White swans and swirls of snow geese taking flight were beautiful. It's too early for flowers but we did see one small plot of daffodils.

Our next stop was Bay View State Park. Here's Tristan doing his obligatory pose.
There's a nice sandy beach just a few feet down from the picnic area.

It's fun watching Tristan initiate a game of fetch. He'll spot a likely candidate (he knows to choose men since they can throw) and scurries over to the guy with a stick in his mouth. How can they resist such an invitation? Soon a great round of fetch ensues. Tristan found a willing participant today and had a great time with his new friend.

Not to worry about the ladies though. Tristan seems particularly enamored with women and little girls. They're the ones he hits on when we're out shopping. He knows he will get sweet pets from them. Of course, little boys and babies aren't immune from his charm. Today a little two year old boy was in front of us in a check out line. Soon he was hanging on Tristan, grabbing his ears and being the receipent of soft kisses. Tristan is so gentle with little ones but I keep a very, very close eye just because he's so big.

First day of spring, yay!

The wind blown look

The weather at Mukilteo State Park by the ferry terminal was clear, gorgeous and incredibly windy today. Tristan's ears went to batten down the hatches mode.

First swim of the season - and a beaver tale

The tiny speck is Tristan doing his first swim of the season. It was definitely his choice, not mine. It's been so cold but today was practically balmy at 56 degrees. Tristan spotted a bird and off he went to investigate.

Tristan was banned from this area by me late last fall after he had a marathon session with a beaver. At dusk, two and sometimes three, beavers would swim out for what looked like their evening constitutional. One evening Tristan swam out to meet and greet. At first it was fun to watch their antics. Tristan would determinedly swim after the beaver and when he got too close, the beaver would thwack his tail, do a flip to dive and pop up in a different spot about 20 feet away. Tristan was quite befuddled but when he spied the beaver again, the merry chase was on anew.

It was fun to watch but as it got darker, I called Tristan in. Nope, not gonna to come. I was furious and then frantic as it became completely dark and Tristan wouldn't respond. I couldn't see him and all I could hear was intermittent thwacks as the two parried. I tried everything: bellowing "come", turning on the car lights, starting up the vehicle and driving along the pier hoping Tristan would fear I was leaving and so come in. Visions of disasters played out in my mind. What if the beaver tired of the chase and really felt threatened? Would he bite Tristan with his huge bucky teeth? What if Tristan swam too far out and couldn't get back in? How could I even attempt to help him if I couldn't see where he was? Tristan was in the water for at least an hour and half of that time it was pitch dark. It was a nightmare. Finally, finally he came back in.

We haven't been back until today - in the afternoon, with no beaver visitors in sight, no beaver chewed limbs as evidence of their presence and after lots of work on the come command. I certainly learned a lesson in prey drive. I beat myself up a lot over the incident. Since then I've spoken with several very competent GSD owner/handlers who have stories about their own dogs blowing them off while in high prey drive so I feel a bit better.

Today Tristan came when called. Admittedly, I cowardly waited until the bird flew off for good before calling Tristan in. I didn't want to test Tristan and have him fail but I do continue to work with him in controlled situations.

Canadian Schutzhund trial

We did a quick trip over the border to attend a Schutzhund trial. It's really instructive to watch the trial routines and to hear the judge's comments.

A difficult part though is seeing a dog flub it on the very last exercise. Two of the SchH3 dogs did great on tracking, obedience and protection - except for the very final exercise where they didn't out on command. Failure to out is an instant disqualification. How disappointing for the handlers to get so close and then have it evaporate on the last element. No steak for the pups tonight.

There were beautiful dogs in abundance and lots of cute puppies, toddlers and babies to enjoy too. It was a delightful surprise to meet up with St Nicole who helped Tristan pass his AD.

Furrari and Land Rover

Tristan has a new Furrari crate thanks to a very generous Craig's Lister. I love the Furrari name. We went to pick it up and it looked huge. It's the largest Giant size but when put together, it's perfect for Tristan.

It reminds of when I had a rental car for several weeks. I had to use a smaller (but still a large size) kennel that would fit in the back seat. Tristan absolutely detested it but had to use it so I could return the car without spending three days vacumming dog hair. It's the only time that Tristan has flat out refused a command. Sure, he's ignored me (clearly we're still training) but this was plant the paws and 'I'm not getting in there'. He complied but I had to push and shove his butt in. We were a sorry sight.

So, what's with the Land Rover? The CL'er had a mint condition vintage Land Rover that made me very nostalgic for one I used to own. Mine was a very cute small white one. It even had a winch on it which, of course, I never used but it was cool to have. I ended up selling it back to the friend I bought it from because my friend missed it and really wanted it back. I didn't feel like I could refuse. I still love the small old Land Rovers.

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