Couples Furniture Assembly

One of the few things we miss about our old house in Idaho was the gas fireplace insert that we had installed in the living room. Our new house doesn't have natural gas and we were missing the warmth and ambiance of the fireplace. I'd seen some entertainment centers with built in heaters that look like a fireplace, so we started looking and found one. 

Plus our current entertainment center stand was a 20+ years old IKEA item and has taken a beating. It was actually a dog bed stand at our house back in North Dakota and provided a perfect perch for the dogs to look out over the neighborhood.

We haven't participated in the stereotypical "couple assembles IKEA furniture together and hi-jinks ensue" sitcom story line before. It actually went well and we were on speaking terms before, during, and after assembly.

Shadowfax helped. What she lacks in opposable thumbs she more than makes up for in her abilities to sigh disapprovingly and look bored. 

Our project turned out quite well. The entertainment center and heater provides some ambiance on a cold evening and the heater helps keep the room nice and toasty. It's not quite the same as the gas fireplace insert, and doesn't put out as much heat, but it is much safer and looks quite nice. After all her hard work, Shadowfax took a nice nap in front of the new entertainment center. 

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Traveling with Shadowfax - Car Safety

We spend a lot of time in the car with Shadowfax, both on local trips around town and longer road trips. We're on the overprotective end of the dog guardian spectrum and want to make sure that everyone is safe in the event of any sort of accident. We try to harness our over-protective feelings to mitigate any possible issues before they happen, so we can have silly Shadowfax in the car pictures like this and still be safe.

 

There is no intention of shaming anyone who doesn't keep their dog restrained when they are in a vehicle, whatever works for your lifestyle, budget, or personal preference. My sibling and their spouse are first responders though and have numerous awful stories of what happens to pets in vehicles during accidents. Crates, harnesses, and seat belts are no guarantee of a safe outcome from a crash, but like people wearing their seat belts, safety measures can decrease the odds of serious injury or worse in a crash.

When we go on longer road trips or vacations, we take our slightly larger vehicle that fits Shadowfax's large wire crate. The crate is roomy enough that she has room to stand up, stretch out, and move around enough to make herself comfortable. On longer road trips we stop every few hours and take her out, let her walk and sniff and do some business, and just be out of the crate for a little bit.

 

On shorter trips into town we take our smaller vehicle. The back seat has a washable seat cover and we keep Shadowfax in her harness and attach a lead from the harness to the seat belt. She has freedom to move around the back seat, look out the window, and lay down, but is fully restrained.

Again, this isn't meant to shame anyone or make them feel like they are inadequate pet parents. This is what we do, it works for us. Nobody wants to be in an accident or think about what might happen to their pets, but life can happen at unexpected moments.

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Time Travel Back to 2014 - A Shaak Ti Video

Let's hop in our trusty time machine and travel back to 2014. This is probably the first video we ever made of Shaak Ti using our iPad. Our camera work is shaky, unrefined, and needs significant improvement. Our technology and camera skills have improved dramatically since then.

We used to feel a little self conscious about taking a ton of pictures and videos of our dogs, especially out in public. But as time passes and dogs leave us, the photos, videos and memories are all that we have. We no longer care or feel self conscious and take every effort to document our daily lives. There will come a time when photos and videos will be cherished.

Shaak Ti loved a vigorous tummy rub and butt scratch session, you can hear her grunts of approval. While this may seem a bit rough, she loved being squished and manhandled. Loved it. We greatly miss Shaak Ti and think of her often. We were so glad that to have gobs of photos and videos to remind us of what an awesome little pup she was.

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Activities Change with An Older Dog

We discussed in a previous blog post, Minor Modifications at Home to Help an Old Dog, which mostly consisted of adding more area rugs, elevated dog beds, and helping her down the stairs. We've made some changes to our activities with Shadowfax as well.

Due to her reactivity we generally only go places where there aren't many other people or dogs. We try to visit local parks in early morning before they get crowded. Shadwofax reacts badly to other dogs getting near her, so when we're out we keep our head on a swivel and won't hesitate to turn around, or get back in the car. And as she's gotten older, there are fewer long walks and more slow sniffing strolls around a parking lot or through a small park.

We also spend more time taking her on errands with us, to the post office or grocery store. One of us will go inside and the other sit in the car with Shadowfax and just let her be out of the house for a little bit. It gives her a chance to get out and watch the outside world and smell some new things without the physical demands of a long walk or hike.

Shadowfax demonstrates her zoomies. She's not a puppy anymore, but she can still bring it. We try to limit these sessions to a few minutes at a time. If she runs around too much or for too long she'll get sore or stiff the next day and we may need to augment her medication regimen with some additional pain relief (she is already on Gabapentin and Carprofen for pain management). There is a fair degree of needing to protect her from herself.

Along with managing her aches and pains, we try our best to give her all the help that we can to keep her healthy. Her Cushings Disease is well managed by the prescription medication Vetoryl, she's been on Cosequin for joint health for years now, and her diet is partially vet prescribed kibble augmented with fresh fruits and veggies. For some reason she goes seriously bonkers for zucchini.

 

In our eyes she's still an energetic puppy but she needs a little more attention now that she's older. A few changes to our routine and activities enable her to share more of each day with us.

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Captain Lowry and Lennie - Search and Rescue Dog Team

We were incredibly proud when our big sister, Captain Lowry of the San Diego Fire Department, and her search dog partner Lennie recently passed their certification with FEMA to be an official search dog.

Lennie was rescued from a shelter and was thought to be a suitable candidate to become a search dog. Numerous handlers from the Search Dog Foundation assessed and trained him daily for many months until he was "matched" with his handler. The end of the first stage of the process is an official matching ceremony between handler and dog.

After several months of intensive training the handler and dog team take the next step toward certification, a Foundational Skills Assessment, finding people pretending to be victims in various simulated (but very realistic) disaster areas. From there it's on to Virginia where they perform a full rescue of an unknown to them number of victims from a realistic disaster scene. Only after successfully completing this final test are they certified by FEMA as a search dog.

Lennie is a German Short-haired Pointer (GSP) and they are pretty common in the search and rescue world. What makes him a good search and rescue (SAR) dog? High energy, endurance, easy to train, athletic, and above all else a single minded focus on the greatest thing in the world - in Lennie's case, his favorite dog toy or a tennis ball. 

His favorite toy or a tennis ball is his reward for scampering around a huge pile of rubble and finding victims. Lennie (like all SAR dogs) has a borderline neurotic obsession with his favorite toy or tennis ball. All he wants to do is play with it, day and night, and that obsession is what is harnessed to train him to become an SAR dog. To him it's just a big game, wander through a disaster site and find the people, because if I do, I get to play with my toy.

We are incredibly proud of our big sister and the months of training she and Lennie went through to become a SAR team. It's hard work, training happens daily, and recertification happens on a regular basis.

You can follow them on Instagram - searchdoglennie or check out The Search Dog Foundation on Instagram.

A Winter Day at the Beach

We've had several weeks of mostly rainy weather here at the Oregon Coast. It happens and is expected in Winter. So when the rain clears and there are a few sunny days, we seize the opportunity to get out, explore, and get some Vitamin D.

It was a lovely day to eat at my desk and then spend my lunch hour strolling the beach. As usual after the Summer tourist season, I only saw two people in an hour walk.

The big rains that we've had turned every possible drainage into a stream. In the Summer this particular spot is usually little more than a small trickle. I didn't have my rain boots (this is cool new term for galoshes apparently) on and didn't want to get my feet all wet, so I turned around here and made my way back home.

The day ended with a lovely sunset. The Oregon Coast never fails to disappoint, even if there are some days where the rain changes our plans, it always makes up for it.

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Napping Choices

We've got so many options for a dog to nap around here. Many comfy dog beds for whatever particular napping session you're looking for.

 Look at all those available dog beds. So many to chose from.

 

Naturally then instead of using one of those beds, we're going to take our nap on this old bathroom rug that we use to put on our hiking shoes so we don't get the carpet dirty. Sure, that makes sense.

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Minor Modifications at Home to Help an Old Dog

Shadowfax is 14 years old and still gets around pretty well for her age. We've tried to do everything we could to keep her healthy for as long as possible. Even with her Cushing's Disease (which we have posted about before 1st post here and 2nd here) we have managed to be pretty lucky with her health.

As she has gotten older we have made some minor changes to our daily activities, we help her up and down the stairs and monitor her more closely when she's outside on the deck when it's raining and slippery. We're also keeping her active. Our two walks a day may be shorter and slower, but we still do them, rain or shine. Allowing her lots of time for sniffing on walks keeps her brain engaged as well as her body physically active.

In the house we've started adding more area rugs and runners so she can easily get from place to place. We've noticed her feet slipping every once in a while on the tile floor and the rugs seem to help her keep her grip on the floor. 

We have also started making it easier for Shadowfax to get in and out of bed by stacking her dog beds, raising their height. Since we have a lot of dog beds, we put the less popular ones on the bottom and they aren't missed.

When Dog Beds Attack!!!

We have a cover for the back seat of our car for Shadowfax to sit on, and for safety we always have her harness on and secured to the seat belt. But we figured an additional dog bed designed for a car on top of the car seat cover, would give her a more comfortable spot to sit.

The bed has made car rides more comfortable as we try to take Shadowfax with us when we go into town for an errand. One of us will run into the grocery store and the other will sit with her in the car. We've also started integrating stops at small parks in town to let her spend some time sniffing.

The other day I was dropping off Alycia to pick up her car from the repair shop. Sahdowfax was apparently very concerned that Alycia was going to abandon her forever so she started thrashing about in the backseat. And in 10 seconds ended up like this...

I did what any self-respecting dog parent would do, make sure she wasn't in any immediate physical danger, then take some pictures. Shadowfax realized that she'd gotten herself in a pickle and stopped thrashing and let me help her out of her predicament.

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Thoughts on 16 Years of Blogging and a Throwback Picture from 2017

Time travel back to 2017, Shaak Ti and Shadowfax snuggling on the floor with Alycia at our house in North Dakota.You can find the original post here.

This blog is at 900+ posts, spanning the last 16 years and four states. It started as a way to easily post stories and pictures to family and friends that were spread across the country. Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes has been many things over those long years: a low stakes vehicle for creative writing, a place to try to become a paid interweb blogger (didn't work), a burden that could never be alleviated, a source of guilt for not posting enough, a medium for expressing love and grief after losing Tito and Shaak Ti, and finally a place to document a life well lived. 

We've finally come full circle and are back to where we started, a place to share stories to friends and family near and far. But now instead of inducing guilt, it feels lighter. A hobby that I get to when I have time and inspiration, or to post a quick photo. Not a burden or a source of unfinished work. Most importantly I've come to realize that it's a way to chronicle a loving history of amazing people, places, and pets. A living photo album that will never be completed, to be enjoyed as a guided tour down memory lane.

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A Very Tall Tree and Shadowfax Sleeps On

 Wow it's been months since we've posted. Sorry.

All is well. Shadowfax is a happy camper.

We're enjoying the Oregon Coast and all the rugged outdoorsy beauty it has to offer. 

Blogging is great fun and we enjoy sharing our stories and pictures, but there are really tall trees to go check out too. Sometimes posting takes a back seat.

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Assorted Weekend Projects Starring Shadowfax

We spent some time this weekend in the garden working on a few projects.

There were a few plants that John had gotten on his birthday trip to the local nursery that needed to get in the ground. Shadowfax stuck to her core competency of supervision. She's more of an idea person than an action person.

Shadowfax was more focused on recharging her batteries than pitching in to help. Supervising from her various spots on the mulch.

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Town

Shadowfax got some quality time with the Grandparents when they came for a visit recently. She was extremely excited as she hasn't gotten to see them in a few years as they weren't able to travel during the pandemic. 

She spent a lot of time going back and forth for pets and love and would instantly be on full alert if there was any activity in the kitchen. Treats were dispensed in a manner that only Grandma and Grandpa can. After they left Shadowfax spent the next few days recuperating from all the attention she got.

We had a great time visiting, took them to see some of the sights, and ate fish & chips with abandon. They lucked out and had some pleasant weather as well, so the coast of Oregon made a good impression.

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Pup Cup Follow Up

We posted about Shadowfax getting her first pup cup a few weeks ago. It took exactly one pup cup for her to go from "Wow this is an unexpected and neat treat" to whining in the back seat and staring at the barista as soon as we got to the window. 

We ordered our coffees and also a pup cup. The barista laughed at me when I ordered it, but we assured her that if we left without one there would likely be an epic tantrum and a lovely Sunday ruined with pouting.

Beverages in hand we drove a few miles down the road to our favorite spots and strolled around and sniffed the forest.

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Earth Day Spectacular - The Solar Powered Pittie

We took this picture yesterday and were in the process of conjuring up some witty "just recharging our batteries this weekend" comment, but we realized that today is Earth Day.

In honor of Earth Day we present the solar powered deaf pittie (patent not pending) Shadowfax. 

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Monday Morning at the Office

It's another Monday morning here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes world headquarters. There is a lot of work to get done. And we'll be having none of it. Though we will contribute in our own way, mostly by snoring at a distractingly loud volume and having periodic groaning stretch sessions. 

I like how this picture shows the full measure of her gigantic noggin', squishing down the side of her dog bed. "Well that's probably an old dog bed" you might be saying. Nope, it's relatively new, but not load rated for this level of pittie noggin.

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Shadowfax and Her First Pup Cup

I'll get this out of the way now. Yes were are horrible dog parents. Shadowfax is 13 years old and has never had a pup cup before. In our defense we almost never go through drive through coffee shops, the kind of places that would hand out a pup cup.

Here at our new homestead on the Oregon Coast, there are a couple of drive through coffee shacks. On weekend mornings we will often pile in the car to visit a lighthouse or state park and stop by a coffee shack as a special treat. Our favorite place always offers Shadowfax cookies, which she has now come to expect. We never thought to request a pup cup and were always happy that Shadowfax was excited with special cookies.

But today we hit up a different spot that offered us a pup cup. "Of course, we'd love one!" we immediately responded. Shadowfax was initially skeptical but quickly realized that it was tasty deliciousness and gobbled it down.

We'll return to this coffee shop for sure and post additional pictures of future pup cups. 

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Wildlife Sighting - A Bear in the Yard

We knew that our little corner of the Oregon Coast was more rugged and wild than any of the places that we had lived before. A few weeks after moving, something was cruising through the backyard in the middle of the night that Shadowfax could smell through the open window. Her crazy barking fit sent whatever it was scampering on their way.

Chatting with our neighbors also alerted us to regular bear activity in the area. Supposedly there are cougar and coyote as well, but we haven't seen any sign of them. Other than the occasional deer sighting on our early morning walks, we hadn't seen much else either. Until yesterday.

I was pouring our evening tea and looked out the kitchen window, spotting this bear eating grass or (maybe grubs) in the lawn. Alycia decided that the bear had probably recently woken from hibernation as the bear looked a bit dazed and spacey. Some hurtful comments followed comparing how I look when I first wake up in the morning. Those comments will certainly not be posted here. 

Don't fret though, we take all necessary bear related precautions - removing our birdfeeders in Spring and Fall, securing our trash cans, and making sure there are no fruiting trees in the backyard. And when we venture out on our walks we always carry bear spray, just in case. It's fun to see cool animals like this bear, and with a few small adjustments on our part and a little bit more situational awareness, we can all coexist happily. The bears were certainly here before we were.

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The View From the Back Porch

 This was our view from the back porch yesterday. 

A day of showers and wind cleared out by the end of the day and left a dramatic evening sky. The lights from the back porch illuminated the trees and made for a spectacular photo. We are very much appreciative of the beauty of the Oregon Coast.

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Double Rainbow and a Beach Stroll

The coast of Oregon is truly enchanting. Rugged and windswept beaches collide with dense forests. There's something for everyone. This morning I was working and looked out my office window to see a double rainbow.

The afternoon prior I had an hour to take a stroll on the beach. The temperature was in the mid-40's and light winds, enough to make your face red and your nose run, but not too chilly. This is the view to the South, footprints in the sand but nary a soul in sight.

The view to the North was equally deserted and no less gorgeous. 

There's something special about feeling like you have the whole beach to yourself. The only sounds were the waves breaking and the gentle rush of the ocean breeze.

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A Scenic Sunday Morning Drive

Sunday was a break in the rainy weather we've had for the last few weeks. A warm front was also rolling through that gave us temperatures in the 60's, balmy for this time of year. 

We piled into the car with Shadowfax for a quick morning trip. We stopped at our favorite coffee stand for coffee and dog cookies and drove about a half hour north along the coast to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We've been a few times before and it's a lovely spot to watch the waves crash, look out for cool birds, and let Shadowfax mosey along and sniff.

It was a beautiful morning.

Shadowfax did a whole lot of sniffing, peeing on stuff, and barking at threatening Pomeranians. She was tired and spent the rest of the day in her dog bed-on-a-bed pile. She has a tough life.

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First Christmas at the New Homestead

We're spending our first Christmas at the new homestead in Oregon. It's a quiet day inside, with coffee and breakfast, and blustery rainy weather outside. There are lots of family and friends to chat on the phone with, catching up with the Holiday happenings and wishing good tidings.

Shadowfax is pooped from all the festivities. She's spending the morning in her cozy bed with a blankie and some heating pads. We're going to make our Fake Meatloaf (recipe here) and mashed potatoes for supper. It's a holiday favorite around here, the perfect gluten free vegetarian meal for a special occasion. 

We leave you with a photo from last week when we were exploring, watching waves crash at sunset. The official geo-located photo tag location is called "Devil's Elbow". There are a lot of Devil names here - Devil's Churn, Devil's Punchbowl. Some very creative names indeed. 

We hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

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Our Big Secret...Revealed!

It's time that we tell you the big secret that we've been skillfully keeping under wraps the last few months. We have have moved to Oregon!

The last several months have been a whirlwind of activity and attempts to find our new normal all while working at our respective jobs. Shadowfax is doing well and enjoying her new surroundings and new state. I'll insert our standard apology here for not posting for months and add the same stock promise to return to regular posting. We think you all know what that promise is worth.

The picture above is from Cape Perpetua, about 10 minutes from our new house.

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No Cookies You Say

"So you say it's not cookie time. OK. This is a nice pink pig you got here, be a shame if something were to happen to it. You sure about that whole no cookies thing?"

Please note that no pink pigs were harmed in the making of this blog post.

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Shadowfax on a Road Trip

We recently took a road trip out to the coast of Oregon. It was slightly longer than usual due to a rock slide that closed a highway and forced us to backtrack and take a longer detour route.

Shadowfax is really good in the car, she generally just lays down and sleeps once the car starts moving. She really only gets up and looks out the window when we slow down and pass through a town. This is her after a nice tour through a rest area, so many good things to sniff. 

We take car safety seriously, so we have her stay in her harness (it's a RuffWear Harness) while she's in the car. It has front and back clip on spots which makes getting in and out of the car easy, and she can stay leashed to the seat belt but still have some freedom of movement. 

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Summer Shadowfax

Summer has arrived here in Idaho. We went from pleasantly warm Spring temps to 80's and 90's quickly. Spring has been an incredibly short season here the last few years and we have gone from nighttime temps below freezing to summer-like weather in a matter of weeks.

Shadowfax was perfectly fine with the early arrival of sunshine basking season. There will be a lot more pictures like this.

And where have we been for the last few months? Well we've been busy and we have a big announcement in the works, but we'll have to leave it at that for now. Stay tuned. More to come. 

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