What did Patton catch you ask? A Downy Woodpecker, I believe. Spotted wings and all.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Patton goes birding
Yes, Patton is doing pretty well after all he has been through. This afternoon while he was outside with my oldest son, he decided to go birding. My son saw the bird the same time as Patton did, unfortunately, the dog is faster then the boy. In record time Patton had his mouth wrapped around what he thought was dinner. Somehow my son managed to convince Patton to drop his snack and brought Patton in the house. My son went out to check on the bird and found it was quite alive and asked me what he should do. I told him it depended how much damage Patton had done to it. He replied it was flapping it wings like mad when he approached. I said let it be and we will keep an eye on the bird. Later on I went out to check on the bird and it had left our sandbox and moved to our neighbors yard. I could see that yes Patton had pretty much done the bird in, but it was a fighter and it was doing its best to go where ever it felt it needed to be. Its right wing was pretty much toast, checking later in the evening I could not find the bird anywhere.
What did Patton catch you ask? A Downy Woodpecker, I believe. Spotted wings and all.
What did Patton catch you ask? A Downy Woodpecker, I believe. Spotted wings and all.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Patton goes Swimming
This past weekend Patton went on an adventure. Camping!! He hasn't been camping since he was about 5 months old. It was cold and snowy, so he didn't get to enjoy all that camping entails. He made up for it this weekend.
Patton went on a few hikes through the woods. Each no more then 2 miles but a lot of very steep hills to help strengthen his hips. He did great. He enjoyed all the smells to be had from the deer to the horse tracks he had to follow. And any other critter that happened along the trail previously. He truly loved these walks. Tongue hanging to the ground, tail wagging and pulling us along to go further faster.
I think, though, Patton's favorite time was when we walked down to the dog beach. The only "swimming" Patton has ever done was with Courtney in physical therapy so we weren't sure how he would react to a lake. He had the place to himself except a few fisherman in canoes a few yards out. (They must have loved us) We left him on his lead since we weren't sure how he would handle all this. He approached the waters edge and thought, "Hey! Another big water bowl just for me!!" and proceeded to take a drink. Since Patton loves sticks we figured let's throw one in and see what he does, not too far out but far enough that he would be in the water. A toss of the stick, Patton's eyes glazed, and ran for the stick. I don't think he realized that the stick was IN water until he landed with a big sploosh. (He likes to pounce on them) With a grab of the stick and a quick bolt out of the water, "What in the world was THAT?" he seemed to look at us questioningly.
We threw in another stick, a little more tentative this time as he went in after it. And that was all it took. By the time we left, he was soaked from head to toe. It was a very windy day thankfully and he was almost dry when we got back to the campsite. He slept very well that night indeed.
Patton went on a few hikes through the woods. Each no more then 2 miles but a lot of very steep hills to help strengthen his hips. He did great. He enjoyed all the smells to be had from the deer to the horse tracks he had to follow. And any other critter that happened along the trail previously. He truly loved these walks. Tongue hanging to the ground, tail wagging and pulling us along to go further faster.
I think, though, Patton's favorite time was when we walked down to the dog beach. The only "swimming" Patton has ever done was with Courtney in physical therapy so we weren't sure how he would react to a lake. He had the place to himself except a few fisherman in canoes a few yards out. (They must have loved us) We left him on his lead since we weren't sure how he would handle all this. He approached the waters edge and thought, "Hey! Another big water bowl just for me!!" and proceeded to take a drink. Since Patton loves sticks we figured let's throw one in and see what he does, not too far out but far enough that he would be in the water. A toss of the stick, Patton's eyes glazed, and ran for the stick. I don't think he realized that the stick was IN water until he landed with a big sploosh. (He likes to pounce on them) With a grab of the stick and a quick bolt out of the water, "What in the world was THAT?" he seemed to look at us questioningly.
We threw in another stick, a little more tentative this time as he went in after it. And that was all it took. By the time we left, he was soaked from head to toe. It was a very windy day thankfully and he was almost dry when we got back to the campsite. He slept very well that night indeed.
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