On the Inside, Looking Out

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Galen is a funny pup. This picture of him sitting at the back door, gazing at his yard, depicts a sight that is not uncommon. Who knows whether this is about some form of canine longing, or maybe idle curiosity? If he has serious business to take care of, he finds a way to convey the urgency and does not settle for subtle signals. Sometimes it is the barking. But, often, if I am sitting, he has a different signal. He puts a paw on my leg to get my attention, looks into my eyes, and a sound comes from him that clearly says, "This is serious. Would I lie to you?" I have learned to heed that message. He isn't kidding.

Barking, on the other hand, may alternatively mean that he simply wants to go out. In those cases, when he does get outside, it is a toss up as to what he will do. He may be going out on business. But, there are times when he simply has a burning need to check out the newest smells in his territory. On another day, he just feels the need to sit on the edge of the berm in the yard and survey his kingdom. He is clear that that realm extends far beyond the fence that borders the little yard. Sometimes, he patiently watches riders go by on the trail to the south. There are days when his main duty is keeping an eye on the neighbors' horses and dogs on the property east of us. There have been times when I would swear that he is admiring the sunset.

In some instances, going out alone is not an option. He wants one of us to go outside and play with him. On those occasions, he has no use for private time in his yard. He wants to be the center of a very small universe—just Galen and at least one of his humans—sometimes it has to be the entire family. Nothing less will suffice. Other times, he watches from inside—perching by the door, or lying on the window sill, taking in the world out there.

Long, Long Days

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Lately, I have been terrible about commenting, and genuinely miss making my daily web rounds. Tuesday was another one of those days that took me completely out of the loop. Our trip to Los Angeles was a particularly long, hard day. In my opinion, any day that begins at 4:30 AM is apt to be an exhausting one.

Now, I don't like sleeping in and can rarely stay in bed past 6:30AM, even if I am not well. But, this 4:30 stuff is a little outside my range. The stress level was high enough most of the day to stifle impulses to yawn in anyone's face, but I wasn't exactly bubbling with energy. Since we didn't roll back into our garage until after 9:30 PM, I was glad to see the day end.

Meantime, Galen becomes better friends with all the folks at the day-boarding facility in town. Everyone there loves him. The adrorable manager of the kennel section (the pet food store is up front) is crazy about our pup and always has to be the one to deliver him to us. She brings him along with his personalized "report card" and a little bag of treats tied with a colorful ribbon.  Galen's report cards are always filled with glowing remarks about his good humor and excellent behaviour. Thank goodness he likes everyone there. (Little secret: Galen loves everyone. He thinks people are keen and that surely everyone lives to play with him.) We missed him desperately for two whole nights, a day, and two mornings and are relieved to have him home with us. I think he like us okay too.

You Do Not Want to Miss This Video

You are invited to the gala premiere of Galen's video. Now ready for the big screen.

For the best viewing, click the lower right button and enjoy the full screen version.

 To avoid interruptions, give it a few seconds to load. It is a large file.

Sorry we can't serve popcorn, here.

Family Walks

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You didn't honestly think I could last more than a week without posting photos of Galen, did you? That's what I figured. Just didn't want to let you down.

My regular daily walks consist of walking from the back door, around the house and tractor shed, out to the road, and back. If I include a trip around the circular drive out front, the entire route results in a quarter-mile walk. That's just about my speed these days. I usually do that at least one a day and combine that with walks around the perimeter of Galen's domain out back.

Some days, The Husband walks with me to keep me company and encourage me. And, on many of those occasions, he brings Galen so the pup can enjoy some new smells. That particular day, I just couldn't resist pointing my camera at our beastie, since he was being so cooperative.

Walking is good stuff under most any circumstances, but walking in your very own little bubble of love and warmed by the sun is especially fine. The photos of Galen are nice mementos of one of those special afternoons.

Window Seats and Bounce Flash

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The window seat in the title is obvious. The critter is Galen, the Shetland Sheepdog—obvious if you have read my blog for a while. The bounce flash? That's another story, but a very short one.

Shortest story first. When I first began getting the hang of using off-camera flash, I struggled, but I have learned some basics. I soon learned that it allowed me to get some photos that would otherwise be impossible, and I learned to take the bad with the good. When I took these photos just after Christmas last year, there wasn't nearly enough light in our bedroom to make a photograph and bouncing the flash off the wall allowed me to capture the moment. I imagined the pictures being something that would make us smile and remember the day Galen discovered the window seat. It would be a charming occasion to recall.

Hah! Turns out the window seat was not a passing fancy with young master Galen. He is quite taken with it, thank you. It makes a fine perch from which one can survey one's back yard. This is a most  important task, don't you know. There are birds out there that bear watching. Moreover, you can never tell when one of those smelly underground creatures will pop up out of one of those holes out there, or some cat will have the gall to ignore the fence. It pays to keep an eye on one's kingdom.

Alas, watching over an entire yard, in addition to one's humans (not to mention toys) is a considerable responsibility for a puppy. Having a lookout tower of sorts offers a welcome advantage to a dog of rather small stature. Windows are placed unecessarily far from the floor and give a poor dog almost no help at all.  A nice wood window seat is also cooler than the carpet, when one's belly wants a bit of relief from the heat. So, you can see that, all in all, window seats are lovely things.

Last night our watchdog decided that he needed Pony to assist him with his responsibilities. He jumped up on the window seat, holding Pony in his mouth, and settled down to the task of surveying his realm by the light of a full moon. By that time, The Husband and I were already snug in bed. I wasn't about to climb out from under the covers and try to make a picture. Perhaps the ones here will get things started and your imagination can fill in the details.

Why Eat When You Can Run?

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If you ever consider getting a Shetland Sheepdog and do any research, some of the things you learn may give you pause. One is the issue of grooming. The Sheltie coat is thick with quite an undercoat. The other drawback is that Shelties (as they are often called) are extremely high energy dogs. You can either have a well-exercised dog and enjoy the relationship, or a dog who doesn't get exercised and drives you absolutely bonkers.

Galen is a fairly typical Shetland Sheepdog. Very thick coat and, unfortunately, we are not responsible groomers. Shame on us. Fortunately, the grooming hassle with Shelties is offset, in my opinion, by the unusual habit they have of bathing themselves. As a result, they stay surprisingly clean. In the exercise department, however, there are no mitigating factors. Too many hours without some sort of play and this pup is a madman. Furthermore, like most dogs of his breed, he has a bark that will make your ears bleed. Believe me, when he gets nutty, there is no peace. With some exercise, he is extremely well-behaved. Without his workouts, there is misery afoot.

Galen has a good appetite; but, with a choice between eating and running, it's no contest.  He is of the opinion that while food can always wait, one should never pass up an opportunity to get outside and run. We make it a point to see that our pup get gets some exercise every day. Although the Husband has carried the brunt of that workload for weeks, I am beginning to be able to pick up a bit of the slack. It is a joy to watch our energetic pup flying around his little domain.

You can see some more photos of Galen enjoying life, Sheltie style, at these links 6510 and 6528. The links will take you to two more action shots.

SanDisk and Shelties

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A belated but sincere "Thank you" to all who offered me information and the encouragement to switch to the SanDisk Extreme cards. I appreciate the responses to that long ago post. I finally got around to buying two of the Extreme cards and I am a happy shopper. Sure enough, the faster cards are not going to eliminate my yen for that 1D MarkII, but the superior performance of the Extreme cards somewhat eases the itch.

Truthfully, I couldn't manage a 1D now if one appeared on the dining room table. I am nowhere close to getting my reflexes up to speed, much less my arm and hand strength. But, I am relishing the improvement in those departments. I do enjoy the challenge of action photography.

When photographing a madly running Galen (or Lightning, as we call him occasionally), I genuinely appreciate any improvement in emptying that buffer. The upgrade in speed produced a slight twinge of pain in the wallet; nevertheless, I can't imagine now returning to my trusty old Ultra II's for action photography. Heck, who knows? I may end up with Extreme 1V's before you know it. Ouch, I think I felt that twinge again.

Cleaning Up Memory Cards

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We were quiet here, yesterday. No party hangovers. No hangovers because it had been quiet at our place New Year's Eve, as well. We wished one another "Happy New Year" somewhere around Buenos Aires time, wrapped things up, and the day ended as early as usual for us. Ahh, party animals we are not. The tail end of my cold, flu, whatever, along with The Husband having a version of what is probably the same bug left us both a bit washed out at the end of 2010.

Not only was I quiet yesterday, I was downright lazy. I can't point to a single thing that I accomplished. If I were always that lazy, I wouldn't have any photos, or blog, or much of anything else for that matter. I suppose my batteries needed recharging after a brief burst of energy over a period of a few days earlier in the week. It was a crash-after-the-high episode.

On one of my more productive days, I had found some photos of Galen that I never downloaded from a memory card. This one was taken in late May soon after he became part of our lives. Of course, I love him looking all grown up now. Still, I can't help missing that round little puppy for whom everything was brand new.

While cleaning out those files, I faced the fact that I will make an exception for Galen and keep pictures that are nothing more than family snapshots. I almost never hold on to pictures that are mushy soft or hopelessly framed. I already have too many external hard drives. When it comes to photos of Galen, however, the rules change. After all, he's family, and he will never be that puppy again.

Caution: Training in Progress

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The offspring of Brangay's Quick Draw finally has a name. Well, this name has stuck for a few day, but I confess that every other day one of us comes up with at least one, “We should have named him ….” The answer came while scanning a list of Gaelic names—his ancestors are Scottish, after all. I came upon Galen and it had a nice sound to it. When I tried it on the husband, he didn’t sniff and wrinkle his nose—yes, that happened with a couple of my submissions. Instead, he cocked his head to one side, narrowed his eyes, rolled the name around on his tongue a couple of times, then finally pronounced it a fine name, indeed. When I tried it on the puppy, I got a somewhat similar response. Well, the cocked head, at least. So, for the moment, Galen it is.

Our training is proceeding quite satisfactorily. Without fail, I throw on jeans and shoes to get puppy out to the back yard for a brief walk between 6 and 7 AM, prepare his breakfast, gulp down some water while a cup of coffee heats in the microwave, and check to be certain that there are treats for the big walk that will follow puppy’s breakfast. After Galen’s private business has been attended to, the longer walk includes hitting all the important checkpoints along the edge of the yard where we check to be certain no marauding invaders approach the castle. If I should become distracted at any of the checkpoints, Galen sits, patiently reminding me that castle-guarding Shelties don’t come cheap. While he indulges me, I dig in the treasury of goodies for a treat, and after the brave knight has been lavished with praise and the treat has been consumed, we happily make our way to the next checkpoint. I am happy to report that my concentration is improving, and I am getting better at instantly catching the desired behavior. After all, that’s what I am being trained to do.

When all the work and recreational period that follows has been completed, we return and the help is allowed to eat. (The help would be me, of course.) After breakfast, I prepare more puppy treats including cooking more chicken if necessary, then slice yummy chicken into pea-sized bits and tempting cheese into similar sized bits. By the time I finish all my kitchen chores and get properly dressed, it is usually time for another walk.

Fortunately, Galen is also being trained. He got the “sit” command down in nothing flat. “Piece of cake” he seemed to beam. Of course, I admit that occasionally, when stumped, he sits because he’s pretty darned sure that putting his fanny on the ground makes us happy; but, for the most part, he is getting his cues straight. “Down” as in put the belly on the ground, was more challenging. For both of us. He didn’t get it at first and getting lower to the ground to cue him did my back no good at all. Now, I don’t have to get as close to the ground and I certainly look forward to reaching the stage where I can give the signal from a full standing position. “Watch me” is coming along nicely. Yes, I freely admit that, at this stage, the pup has his eye on the treat next to my eye, but we are getting there.

The biggest advance in my education is successfully coping when Galen gets totally nuts and believe me this dog adds new dimensions to the adjectives “excited” and “stubborn”. I have learned that turning my back and becoming totally bored with the ball of furry resistance on the other end of the leash produces calm. In the beginning he would occasionally plant that cute little fanny on the grass giving me the “Make me follow" look or throw himself against the end of the leash in a dramatic tantrum. I learned to stop, show him my back, and take time to admire the clouds, trees in the distance, or the tall grass waving in the breeze. Soon, a nose would touch the back of my leg and a somewhat contrite Galen, would look up as though to suggest politely that if I might be interested in a walk, he would be most happy to follow. There is little if any resistance now and those result in the briefest of pauses. On those occasions, the moment the furry creature has come around, off we go for more of our duties and just plain fun.

Ain't Love Grand?

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Naturally, I love all the fun suggestions for a name. Keep them coming, please. Day 3 and we continue to discuss and negotiate. He is still Puppy.

Whew. I am relieved to get pre-approval for more self-indulgent pictures of our canine version of the Energizer Bunny. The one above is no more than a poorly done snapshot. But, I ask you, "Would you rather play with this adorable creature, or be stuck behind a camera, or perhaps be staring at a computer monitor?" My answer is that I am typing with one finger because the creature is using my right arm as a pillow and taking a brief nap in my lap. Sigh. Ain't love grand?

McGraw’s Kid

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It’s always something with me, isn’t it?

This time, the distraction is eight weeks old and weighs maybe four pounds. So far, his only name is Puppy, although he is occasionally referred to as “Mcgraw’s Kid”. His sire, Brangay Quick Draw, is known to most as McGraw. Does this mean Puppy needs to have a name such as Wild Bill Hickock, or Wyatt Earp. I hope not.

One thing is certain. Not only is Puppy the center of attention, but hunting him down and preparing for his arrival totally consumed every waking moment for more than a week. I could say now that he is here, life will be more normal. But, that wouldn’t be smart, now would it? It is a fact that life will be different.

By the way, brace yourself for occasional puppy pictures. If you are one of those who can’t handle syrupy sweet puppy photos now and again, step away from the blog.