The "bad"

Nah, she's not really bad, but she IS a crate escape artist. We came back from Christmas brunch only to find both dogs hanging their heads down the stairs at us. Hmmm...

Here is the crate and the space she somehow weaseled out of. I still can't imagine how she managed it. She hasn't been crated since :)








Here she is with Tonka. No problems with cats at all, gives them respectful distance.

The good, the bad, and the yummy.

The Good.

Xena is doing very well. The first day she was here she whined so much I thought even I would go crazy! She is just so insecure and any time you paid her the tiniest bit of attention she would just get so worked up. It broke my heart, but I had to ignore her any time she started. You can't reinforce that kind of insecurity with touching or talking of any kind, you need to just go about your business and demonstrate there is nothing to get worked up about. She has gotten immensely better and now only rarely gets into whining which only lasts a few seconds before she realizes it isn't getting her attention. I tell you though, that first day it was SO hard to find moments to reward the behaviour I wanted (i.e., quiet, calm).


Fortunately, I caught a couple excellent opportunities to give her lots of affection while she was relaxed. She soon realized that she got all kinds of lovin' except when she was stressing out about nothing. I really, really hope whoever adopts her will realize that coddling her is the worst thing you can do for her. She is still super submissive but is less nervous, more confident and much more playful. She really had no idea how to play with a toy. How sad is that?? Sasha told me how Hazel (our dog) showed Xena how to play by repeatedly throwing the ball at her. Too cute! Now it is her favorite thing to do.

I also did two 5-minute training sessions with her today, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. She knows nothing basically. She is like a 3 month old, not a 10 month old AND she is not highly food motivated. She will ignore a Kong full of peanut butter if she's the least bit stressed. I honestly didn't think it was physically possible for a dog to ignore peanut butter, lol. Fortunately, she is also smart and learns fast. She also likes my Zukes treats. I think roll-over or something would be even better for her.

Yikes, I gotta go right now. The bad and yummy to come...

Fostering Xena.

About a month ago, my husband came home from work, took one look at my face and said, "What?" with a slightly reserved tone. I asked if he would be ok with fostering a humane society dog for the holidays this year. I believe if you are going to do something like this, everyone involved needs to be on board. I'd be crazy to think a shelter puppy wouldn't effect both of us. I held my breath. Of course, he said "yes" without hesitation, I've been wanting to do this for years.

This is Xena.

She is quite a good girl, very timid with people. There really is no reason that I can see why a dog like her ended up in a shelter. I have my theories but don't know any of her history. It helps in a way; I get to know her based on her actions, not preconceived ideas I have based on what has happened to her. I have to go finish Christmas dinner prep, but I will post more photos later.

Justine.

Meet Justine. I am in love with her. I've never ridden her, mind you, I just hang out with her in the paddock sometimes. I first saw her while getting Calico out of the field one day. She looked at me with her liquid brown eyes and snuffled my arm with her super-soft muzzle. I melted. She was calm as I pet her and looked her over. Not pushy, not skittish. Aww.

The next week, I wasn't riding Calico, but I went out to see her anyway. I just scratched her and walked around with her following me. Neat.

The week after that, I brought a carrot for her. And a camera. The pictures aren't very good, I know.



I started asking around about her. Apparently, they've tried to start her and she is "crazy". Really? Like, crazy as in she doesn't do flying changes, or crazy as in wants to kill you?? Somewhere in the middle should be do-able, right??!





Justine was following me around, so I turned around to kiss her nose. Isn't she cute? I am no conformation expert (always learning though!), but that neck looks pretty good to me. The rest of her is pretty good too, nothing spectacular, but not bad. She toes out a bit in the back, and clearly needs conditioning...but I put my hand on her and I just want to teach her things. Yes, the red mare is always by her side.


This one really is bad, in a cute kinda way. The funky markings on her back are just drips of water from her walking out of the walk-in to come say hi to us (my hubby was with me, told him he had to come see my other love, lol). Her head is lowered as she was approaching Sasha. I told the BO I'm in love with her, but even I don't think I'm really the best person to take her on, although that depends on the alternatives!

*sigh*

Look Ma, no reins!

Well, ok, there is nothing to look at for this post. My lesson on Monday was just awesome. After warming up for about half an hour, we did the rest of the class without reins. Now, I have posted before how I wanted to ride bare-back in a lesson but the other ladies in the class (who are quite a bit older than I am) don't like that idea at all. Fair enough. Instead, our instructor had us lose the reins. We did walk-trot-canter and some poles. I was pleasantly surprised that my balance was actually really good. I could post and two-point no problem and we did exercises like arms straight out to the sides, top of head, behind the back etc. Even at the canter! I was so excited after, I felt like I could take on the world, lol. This is the first time since I started riding again that I actually felt what it meant to deepen your seat. I didn't realize before how much this can help your seat, I was just focused on the saddle. I can't wait until next week.

Pork tenderloin with mushrooms in cream sauce wrapped in puff pastry.

Served with a green bean-tomato salad. This is a very simple dish that seems to wow guests. I saute mushrooms in butter/olive oil until lightly browned, add a splash or three of sherry or white wine, some fresh thyme and s&p. Take off heat and stir in some heavy cream (half and half will do ok). Roll out one sheet of puff pastry, spoon some of the mushrooms down the centre. Lay pork tenderloin on top of mushrooms - season the tenderloin! - top with remaining mushrooms, fold up pastry and bake. Great, now I'm hungry.

Hello, October? We need to have a talk.

They say pink is the new black, and 30 the new 20. Now, apparently, October is the new January.

I actually like snow and prefer it greatly to the muddy-brown of late fall/early winter. But really, October? This picture was taken earlier in the week and I wish I had taken a picture the next morning as it was pretty incredible. Hazel was thrilled! Today was around 13 C so the snow is mostly gone, leaving a mucky mess behind. And so it begins.

Happy Halloween.