29 Dec: Cedar turns two (!)

The plan for Cedar's birthday was to do a day trip over to Denman Island and visit one of our favourite beaches at Fillongley Park. It being the wet West Coast, however, we woke up to rain and decided it wasn't worth the ferry fare to be wet and chilly on a distant beach. Instead we went into the woods - no driving and lots of craziness on Cedar's behalf.

With moving and all the upheaval that goes along with it, we haven't been taking many photos. Well, to be honest, Dave hasn't been doing much photography - while I've been trying, my dog photos leave much to be desired (dogs move a bit faster than mushrooms and moss).

So yesterday Dave set out to get some pics of our beautiful two year old (where did the time go?) on her birthday romp - sans brother Cosmo, who had his own walk through the mud down to the river. (Note the pics are Dave's, just have my watermark because I Lightroomed them)

Why are you fiddling with that black box stuck to your face? Can't you see I'm ready to run?!

Is there something hanging out of my mouth? A maple leaf, you say? No, that wasn't me...

So my lip is stuck. Who cares? I'm still gorgeous (hahaha).

And there you have it, folks - the original Muppet face!

 

Squirrel? Bumper? Snack? Something looks good up there.

 

Chaaaaaarge! Happy girl with a happy face, always looks like she's yelling with joy.

Here's to a great third year for Cedar and all of us, and lots more pictures for the blog!

22 Oct: What Do They Look Like Now?

It's been pretty busy lately so not many dog pics.

Thought I'd do a short post (on a terrible internet connection), so family can see what the dogs - especially Cosmo aka The Lion - look like!

Cedar and her loooooong nose.

Cosmo and his big bulbous head (I'm kidding - he's a handsome boy!)

Cedar demonstrates her worm-rolling technique. Step 1: grind your head into it.

Step 2: boogie a little to get the sun on your underparts.

Get a good stretch going so you can cover maximum area with dead worm goop.

Cosmo was too busy trying to catch falling leaves to even bother with a dead worm.

Sometimes I call him 'Jasper' by mistake...such a calm (compared to Cedar!), hippie boy. :)

Cedar demonstrates her rock walking technique in Kootenay Park. Dave is feeling chilly lol.

Cosmo poses by the river. After he'd already been in it, so the temptation to get in was reduced...

Cosmo always thinks something better is going on in the distance - or perhaps he's just enjoying the view.

Black dogs in the sun, hard to photograph - but the sun was warming Dave up!

More pics in the next while!

29 Sep: Grey Beach Day

What do you get when you mix early morning light, a rainy grey day, and black dogs?

Terrible picture-taking conditions!

Super quiet morning at Island View beach.

No one else was around - might have had something to do with the pouring rain, the cold wind, or perhaps the early Sunday morning hour.

Just as well, though, because I had a couple of complete hooligans to contend with.

Cosmo on L, Cedar on R. Each has their own toy. For now.

They were absolutely wild this morning. You'd think they hadn't been for a walk in weeks, never mind that they had two walks - EACH, including training - yesterday.

"I have the ball, Cosmo. Na na-na boo boo."

They raced around like maniacs. Cedar taunting Cosmo. Cosmo grabbing her neck and tail. Cedar grabbing seaweed and shaking it. Cosmo trying to eat sand. Wrestling in the surf. Wrestling in the sand. Running. And running. And running some more.

Each heading for a separate piece of seaweed. Not sure where the toys are...

 

Scrawny Cedar. I'm not sure what she does with all the food she eats, but she looks like a stick figure dog.

Another dark photo with dark dogs - Cedar has the ball (L), Cosmo's sampling some seaweed.

Yes, when you run non-stop for half an hour it gets tiring, doesn't it Cedar??

"Not so tiring that I can't play keep away with the ball" says Cedar (Cosmo is oblivious in the background)

Cosmo - oblivious again, with his furry mane - trying to eat sand while Cedar chases the ball. Which is the brightest thing in this pic...

Cedar wasn't quite tired enough (or maybe over-tired??), and had to have an all-out, crazy-ass fit around the front lawn when we got home.

Needless to say, they're both fast asleep now after their baths, and I'm just about asleep after wrangling them plus vacuuming out the car (again) after breakfast.

Here's to some brighter days later this week for better dog shots!

11 Sep: Cosmo on the Beach

Taking Cosmo to the beach is a very different proposition than having Cedar on the beach. Where she's winging around, running constantly, checking everything out (and putting it in her mouth), swimming & then digging in the sand...Cosmo walks. Looks. Stands. Looks. And walks.

But if something catches his eye - bird, person, fluttering leaf - he's after it like a shot! Three double blasts on the whistle and he wheels around like a horse, rearing up and thundering back towards me. He does the same when something startles him. Like, oh, a rock in the water? (!!)

We were up with the birds again - no mist this morning, but lots of geese:

Geese cross in front of the sun

More geese, this time with no sun to burn my eyes out

 Also out at this time of day are the herons - one of my favourite birds.

The heron. Whom Cosmo was specifically forbidden from chasing.

Different angle on the heron, who was able to stay put without a black furball attacking him.

I wonder if Cosmo's standing and looking around is because he's unsure, or just absorbing his surroundings. I have quite a few shots like this:

Hmmm, what are those odd white squawking things bobbing in the water?

I smell something. Rotting seaweed?

Not so sure about the whole salt water thing...

Gauging how far it would be to swim to the mainland.

When I stop to take pictures, he'll often (okay, sometimes!) sit nicely next to me or in front of me for a shot.

Handsome boy!

The ocean looks even bigger from up here!

I'm kind of pathetic when I'm not sure about new environments

But then he sees a crow flapping, or a seagull taking off from the water, and suddenly it's okay to let his hair down (and he has lots of hair!)

Yeehaw - coming back to the whistle after chasing a crow

Growing up on the Prairie, any kind of topography is challenging

 

On the move - and still watching everything going on around him.

Look ma, I went swimming!

Yup, hair fully down and flying in this one...

Something about this sandbar was particularly exciting, lots of racing around having mini-crazies

Here I come! Cedar showed me how to make this crazy face

Unlike Cedar, who gets more (and more, and more) amped, Cosmo knows how to turn it off. He goes from crazy fits to sauntering through the water in 10 seconds flat.

Just truckin' along

Aren't I a good boy? :)

Another great morning on the beach, followed by a bath, massive dog wrestling, and both now completely crashed and sleeping soundly. Time for me to have a nap!

Cosmo and me, on the beach

 

My what big paws you have

10 Sep: Is That a Dog Or A Running Sandpile (or 'Cedar at the Beach')

Cosmo was pissy tired this morning - didn't want to get up, almost asleep again after breakfast. So I decided to take Cedar out to the beach (two dogs + 1 handler on the beach is a no go, given all the interesting things to grab, chase, eat, bite, etc.)

It was a foggy morning down at Island View beach, and the sun was just coming up.

Trees floating above the mist

Sunrise on the West Coast

We were up with the birds - thankfully one of the things Cedar *doesn't* chase (Cosmo makes up for that deficiency)

Cedar's a beach maniac - she loves to race around like crazy on the sand and in the water

What's that black box on your face? You should be running, with me!

Cedar wuz here

Birds were here

Usually Cedar puts everything in her mouth. But now that she's becoming more mature (hahahahaha), she no longer gnaws barnacles off rocks, like these:

Tasty barnacles

She does still eat seaweed (not sure if this piece is going in or coming out...)

Mmmmm, salty...

And of course she found some horse poop as well as older, festering seaweed. Her favourite is rolling in smelly things, which I didn't get a shot of.

Sometimes she can actually stand (sort of) still:

Cedar with mum's shadow

I can't look at the camera, there's lots of water to swim in!

And she's off - blurry as per usual.

Checking out the water, it's K9 athlete Cedar!

Random beach wood architecture

 

Still life with hole-y wood

Still life with FLATCOAT and hole-y wood

Needless to say Cedar had a bath when we got home. And I vacuumed a pound of sand out of Margaret's car. And Cosmo was ticked off that he didn't get to go to the beach, so has been beating up on Cedar since we've been home.

Ahhh, kids. :)