When it gets chilly here in Idaho, there's lots of ways to stay warm. Shadowfax has probably mastered them all over the years.
Shadowfax demonstrates the sunbeam on left side, space heater on the right side warming technique. This is a pretty advanced technique, not for newbies.
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Shadowfax maximizes her cozy-laziness potential, the perfect way to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving. She may not have a tummy full of tasty leftovers to digest, but she won't take any chances.
She's an impressive beast, sandwiched between a comfy dog bed and a blankie, with another dog bed folded in half for her pillow.
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Last week was our 12 year anniversary with Shadowfax. We had to go way back through the blog archives to find our original announcement post from 2010 when we told the world "It's a Girl!"
These are the first few pictures we got of her when she was being fostered and the first pictures we posted of her here at the world famous Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes.
It's hard to believe that we've had this silly beast in our lives for 12 years. She has slowed down a bit from her initial levels of puppy craziness, but we still have bouts of racing around and needing to roughhouse.
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We've gotten some comments that all of the recently posted pictures of Shadowfax are of her napping or sleeping, or even snoozing. She does do stuff, but it's sometimes hard to capture her in all her majesty. Chasing after a squirrel in the backyard is tough to catch on camera.
When we had Shaak Ti we didn't give both of the dogs bones to chew on. The dogs would get weird and start resource guarding and being prickly towards each other, so we decided that we just wouldn't give them bones. Now that Shadowfax is an only dog we can give her things to chew on - bones, bully sticks, and other tasty items.
Chewing is a good low key way for her to release some energy, when she's too tired to play but not tired enough to nap. Chewing or licking is also a good soothing mechanism and keeps her relaxed.
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Cold weather is upon us here in Boise, Idaho. Cold rain and snow overnight led to a lovely day of gentle snow flurries throughout the afternoon.
Shadowfax is prepared though. She's got her comfy bed and fluffy blankie from Chewy.
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We spent a few days last week at the Oregon coast, our new favorite place. John had to work most of the time, but sitting at a computer with the ocean in the background isn't the worst office environment.
The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm most days with some tastes of fog and ocean breezes.
Shadowfax accompanied us and enjoyed early morning walks on the beach. Because she's reactive to other dogs, we had to walk early in the morning. But that's OK. There was a full moon and the we had the silvery, shimmering moonlit beach to ourselves at 5:00 am.
Alycia's friends came to visit too and spent the day hanging out with us. They doted on Shadowfax and gave her love the whole time.
Between the walks on the beach and all the extra attention, Shadowfax was exhausted by the time we got back home and had to sack out in her comfy dog bed.
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Shadowfax never fails to impress us with her majesty. Majestic, noble, the adjectives could go on forever. Or we could just let a picture do all the talking for us.
She's a majestic beast all right. Other dogs might like a fancy orthopedic dog bed, but Shadowfax? She's happy with a stuff sack filled with old t-shirts and washable duvet cover for a bed. Head squished against a nightstand, teeth showing, that's our delicate lady.
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We had some family in town for the long weekend. My sister and her 3 kiddos, all boys under 12 years old. Even though they have dogs of their own, Shadowfax was a great attraction for them. We supervised carefully and explained what it meant that she was deaf. The boys were great with her and she enjoyed loving on them.
Shadowfax had kisses, hugs, fetch, tug-of-war, and more pets than she knew what to do with. Our house wasn't equipped for them to stay with us but they did visit for a few hours each day and Shadowfax had far more activity than she is accustomed to. Now that they've left, Shadowfax is exhausted, just completely done. I think it will be a quiet week around here as she spends a lot of time in bed napping.
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