Wordless Wednesday

Look ma, no cavities!

On the road again..

Finally! Hazel's feet have healed up pretty well and we were able to get out for a run. We're staying away from rocky areas for another week, so Sunday we set out on a soft dirt trail. (which is actually an abandoned old dirt road once used by farmers).

It was a beautiful day, though a little warm since we didn't start running until late morning. Hazel got to spend a lot of time off leash which was awesome.

We actually had to take a quick shade break!

Can you put your phone down and just RUN?!

And here is Hazel with her sister playing in the park.

I am afraid to speak too soon, but knock on wood, Hazel has improved so much when it comes to being too rough with D. She hasn't head butted/air snapped/pounced on/arm grabbed (you get the picture), in a looong time. Dare I say, I think she has learned how to appropriately live with a child! ;)

Meez tries mama, meez tries

It just goes to show how much patience can sometimes be required when adding to the family. I see a lot of people give up and return their dogs when things aren't "perfect" immediately. I never expected perfection, but did want to make sure I could keep D safe while not stifling Hazel's spirit.
I think we have found a great balance. BOTH girls needed to be taught boundaries. D just turned 7 and I still have to remind her not to send mixed signals to Hazel.

For example, just the other night she was playing with her inflatable ride on "pink puppy"..a toy Hazel would love to sink her teeth into. I let Hazel know that she couldn't put her teeth on it, and put Hazel in "place" to allow D to bounce around freely. Hazel was behaving herself perfectly when D took "pink puppy" up to Hazel and "talked to her" via the puppy. I told D that she was not setting Hazel up for success by "taunting" her when Hazel was trying really hard to behave.

I cannot stress how important it is for our family to work together, and all be on the same page.
I am thrilled with the progress we've had.

Throwback Thursday

This picture is not a "happy" throwback photo. This is Hazel on "death row", aka Animal Care and Control. Our county boasts the second highest KILL rate in the nation with California being #1, and this is where she came from before being rescued. Pit bull type dogs have the very highest euthanasia rate, (with Chihuahuas being #2, at least here in Arizona), so the fact that she made it out alive means she beat the statistics stacked against her. For that, I am ever so thankful.

She went into foster care and started to blossom, then...

BAM, there's my smiling girl.

Happy Friday eve! I am *praying* that Hazel is feeling well enough to have some fun this weekend. She has been extra spunky at home and had the doggy crazies last night, so am taking that as a sign that she may be ready! We'll definitely avoid the mountains for awhile. :(

Wordless Wednesday- Video Version

Totally normal, right?

Owie Update

Sooooo...we thought our girl was doing better..she was moving around just fine at home and started getting a little frisky Saturday evening. By Sunday afternoon, I started to feel so bad that she had not been out in days, so we loaded her up and took her to a very soft, grassy area. We had bought some new toys and just wanted her to have a chance to sniff and play a little.

When will I learn??! She ran after a ball a couple of times before I realized that *probably* wasn't tbe best idea. Our outing was cut short when the human sister had to do some business, so we left.

When we got home, Hazel started favoring her hind back leg more than she had since she got hurt. :( We looked her over really well and the only thing we can see is a little "crack" that had opened a little. I am hoping that's all it is and that she didn't strain anything more. Needless to say, we are keeping her as quiet as possible and hope that she is back to herself soon. I feel so bad that she is stuck inside.

I also have not been out for a run myself. I don't have the heart to leave without her, (she knows when I am wearing my running attire), but sista cannot continue no runs, so I am going to have to sneak out.

I miss our active life together! I have to say, she has been so good though. Usually she starts getting mischievous when it's time to get out. Today the human sister had the day off from school, so they are home together building forts and getting some snuggles in. I can't wait to join them.

My baby got hurt-bad mama moment

Right now I'm at work and it's the last place I want to be. I can't stop thinking about my girl and just want to go home and cuddle her.

My babe got hurt this morning and I feel just terrible about it. We were running very early this morning as usual, and occasionally we run up to a city park that has very large, grassy (lit) baseball/soccer fields. At 4am in the morning, NOBODY is out and it's a great chance for us to race around off leash. We don't do it often, but when we do, Hazel loves it so much. This morning she "asked" to go there (by pulling when we got to the trail that leads to the park).

We were having a great time until Hazel decided to run up a mountain that is at the edge of this park. A very rocky mountain. In pitch dark blackness. There is only one very narrow actual trail, but the rest of the mountain is loose, very sharp rocks, cactus, and other vegetation.

She simply disappeared. Just like that. I called her back as soon as she started running up but she was gone. I used the flashlight on my phone to find the trail and head up after her. I could only hear the sound of the bushes rustling, and knew she was way ahead of me. I suspected that she was close to the top and would be heading down the other side, so I went back down to the base and ran over to the side I thought she would be coming down from. I was panicked. What if she caught up with a coyote? What if she ran into cactus?? I was terrified thinking of all the things that could happen to her.

Finally, I heard the sound of heavy panting, and knew my girl was close. She had already made it down the other side as suspected, and came running over to me. I was so relieved to hear her, and turned my flashlight toward her to check for injuries. All four paws were bloodied. :( I removed one small cactus spine, (thank GOSH there wasn't more) and checked her pads to make sure she was ok to walk. We were about a mile and 1/2 from home, and she *appeared* to be ok and was not limping, so we set off for home. She was not herself and was moving slowly. We made it home and I immediately checked her out. All four of the lower part of her legs were also bleeding. The hind legs are scraped up, but she has deeper cuts on the front legs. I can also see some scrapes on the barrel of her chest.

I cleaned her wounds the best I could and put some antibiotic creme on them. My poor girl curled up and went immediately back to sleep.

I had to leave for work early this morning, but hubby is home. He said she is mostly sleeping, but when she does get up, she's moving very slowly and is sore.

I feel like such a terrible mom who didn't protect her baby. Hazel needs to have some freedom and has been doing so.well. with recall when we're out, but my "recall" was no match for whatever scent she caught this morning. I feel very lucky. Things could have been much worse. I've never had a dog hurt "on my watch". :(

I can't wait to get home to her.

Weekend Roundup

We had a fun packed weekend! I was feeling soooo lazy Saturday morning and if I'm honest, wanted nothing more than to snuggle on the couch and drink coffee. However, I knew I really wanted to get in a sunrise run, and I've never regretted a run once I'm out. It's hard sometimes to shut out the "let's stay home" voices but as always, I'm glad I did.

This is what it looked like when we got out of the car. I like to go when it's still a little dark so that we are on top of a mountain for the sun rise.

Because we got an early start, we were rewarded with some off leash time. Hazel loved jumping up on huge boulders to take in the view.

The Queen of her Queendom ;)

I had a different route in mind, but when I saw the beginning of intended trail head already getting crowded, Hazel and I took a detour.

We ended up taking another detour because for the first time in FOREVER, we saw a coyote on top of a mountain. You would think that would be common, but it's really not! I see more coyotes in my neighborhood than I do here. So, our detours ended up leading us on a killer route. MANY steep hills for miles...We ended up hitting three different trails, the last being a blast from my past..one I had not been on in years, so it was the first time sharing it with my girl. It included about 1 mile that was all down hill. Whooo hoo! This is where the little kid in me comes out. There is nothing more exhilarating than running down hill,leaping over boulders, side stepping rocks, and letting out "whoo hoos!"

Sunday brought a new experience...D, Hazel and I attended a large rescue event. Several rescues had booths set up with their animals up for adoption, lots of vendors, and fun activities for the dogs. Among the activities was the chance to try the lure course. I have been thinking about trying this with Hazel anway, and found a club that offers it that I am checking in to. I thought this was a great time to get her paw wet to see if it was something she was interested in. We had to wait in line for a bit, but when we got closer to the "start", she saw what all the dogs were so excited about. The squirrel. It.was.on. It took all of my strength at times to keep her in check. Thank GOSH for the freedom harness!

Of course true to our luck, when it finally WAS our turn, the time keeping clock went out. (I could have cared less) but the guy running the show was on a mission to get it fixed. Hazel lost all excitement.

Waiting to start

She did "ok". She handled all of the hurdles well, but did trip at one point. I thought she would shred this course because she's so fast. She was running at a decent pace but then came to a screeching halt when faced with a "hoop" that she was to jump through. Everyone laughed, and finally, our girl jumped through and finished.

I was really excited about the prospect of this sport for her, but now I'm unsure. It has nothing to do how she did, but rather the worry wort in me coming out about potential injuries...I dunno, we'll see.

Saturday night, we had a girls "slumber party" in the living room floor. We plop the mattress from our Murphy bed down, watch movies, eat yummy snacks in bed, and get lots of cuddle time.

We ended Sunday with yet another dog friendly outing, (no pictures), that included romping with dogs, and more off leash zoomy time.

A great weekend indeed!

Da Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend with lots of runs, playtime, sweet snuggle sessions, an emotional break through, and a new "recipe".

First things first. We kicked off the weekend with a morning run. We waited until the sun warmed things up before we set out. It was really bright out there and from the looks of Hazel in this photo, someone needed some shades!

So yeah, the tumbleweeds are soooooo lacking in beauty, but we loved this run because we had a dirt trail all to ourselves. It was flat and went on for miles which is just what my body needed after so many hilly runs last week. Hazel got to flush out birds and sharpened her pointing skills.....

I'ma pointer I iz

Things were just fantastic. At a point where I had to decide whether we would keep running or turn around, I saw a coyote up ahead of us in the bushes. Thank GOSH I saw it first. I immediately told Hazel to stop, and then leashed her up very quickly. We turned around and headed back a little earlier than I would have liked. Hazel didn't even see the coyote so I didn't have to deal with her wanting to go after it. We come across them all the time if it's early morning/evening, and she wants to give chase. We didn't start running until after 9am, so I didn't have the fear of coyotes this time, so this completely bums me out. I am never going to feel "safe" letting her off leash in this area. :( As it is, even in my own neighborhood, I cannot let her off leash in the "greenbelt" areas where many people in our hood let their dogs off to play fetch,etc. It is rare that we *don't* see coyotes when we are out in the early morning hours, so it has really taken our freedom away.
While I live in a heavily populated "suburb", the coyotes and other wildlife "hunt" in our neighborhoods. Cats and small dogs are their easy prey. It's not their fault and I do not blame them.

Last week a good friend asked if I had ever made Hazel bone broth. I had not and then remembered an article I had read about the benefits quite awhile back, but had since forgotten. I decided to give it a whirl, and oh.my.gosh, what an experience! Let me just say I nearly fanited..more than once, but at the end of it all, the "bone soup" as we call it, was a wild success.

It doesn't look like anything special, but Hazel loved it. I forgot what was is supposed to be an important step, which is adding a little cider to the bones and water. Oops.

Later that day we met up with a doggy friend to blow off some steam...

The standoff

And to top off the weekend, we had lots of snuggle time.

I'll tell you my secret if you tell me yours.

I mentioned earlier in the post that we had an "emotional break through", at least from my perspective. Just a few days ago, my hubby brought up how in tune our past girls were with our emotions. When one of us was upset, they always responded to us. He mentioned that because at one point last week, D was crying and Hazel seemed oblivious. We have been waiting for a "sweet and sensitive" side to appear but so far, hadn't seen it. Well, it happened. Yesterday I was upset about a dog on the E list and I cried in front of her for the first time. Actually, it was not in front of her. Hazel was asleep on the couch in the living room, and I was in the front room. My girl ran over to me and gave me her version of a "hug", and licked my tears.
While I am madly in love with Hazel, I have sensed her holding back, and still having some walls up. I hadn't seen a truly sensitive, "sweet" side as of yet. It's nice to know she is ready to share that side of her with us. I know there is more to come, and we will be patiently waiting....

Happy New Year's

Our New Year's was very low key. We had an apple juice toast with the human sister at 7pm...(figured it had to be midnight *somewhere*), and hit the sheets by 8:30. Hazel was not a fan of us blowing our little horns so I crated her for a few minutes. She also had no interest in wearing a New Year's tiara...go figure.

This was the first "fireworks" holiday we have had her so I was curious to see how she reacted. We don't live close enough to the big downtown party they were having, so we just had to deal with a few people in neighboring blocks doing their own thing. Thankfully there wasn't alot, and Hazel slept through it. Sadly, other dogs were not as lucky, as there was a huge influx of lost dogs the next day.

Here in the desert, we are still experiencing freezing temps! We even had snow flurries in the city (which I did not see since that would have required staying up until 11pm).

For New Year's day, we "braved" the frigid temps to go on a trail run/hike. We left later than normal and there was a lot of cars in the parking lot, so I expected to have crowded trails. Instead, Hazel and I had part of the mountain all to ourselves. Albeit, it's not the most scenic part, but I would rather trade a little off leash time and peace for crowded, beautiful trails.

Try not to be so miserable Hazel ;)

I lucked out the day after Christmas and found two jackets and a sweater for 50% off. We don't need heavy outwear here, but I wanted something for these freezing mornings! While Hazel HATES dressing up (like say costumes, tutus, tiaras), she seems to appreciate her jackets and I know she loves her sweater because she threw a tantrum when I took it off, and "asked" me to put it back on. Really!

Does this jacket make my butt look big?

I like this jacket because it's light weight and has a soft, warm lining on the inside and is reflective for those pre-dawn runs. It has a cute reflective bone design on the back with a pocket for poo bags.

I'm outta here!

The rest of the day was pretty lazy.

put.the camera.down

I am introducing a rescue dog to Hazel this weekend to see if they are a good match for us to foster. Our rescue keeps getting a ton of females, and I would prefer a male, however this girl seems to get along with everyone, as does Hazel, so we'll see. We haven't fostered since our little boxer mix was adopted...mostly because those two were CRAZY together and made us decide that while we will foster, two dogs may not be in the cards for us. There was never a moment's peace and their play was too intense for me. I am hoping that some day, we will foster a dog that just clicks with us, and seems like a natural fit.