Paint and Pools

Last evening we finally got around to painting the office. As you have seen from the pictures of our office from when we moved in, it was UGLY. Split pea soup green should be reserved for just that, split pea soup. We settled on a nice, bright, cheery blue called Isle of Capri. The painting process was a challenge due to the green color fighting back. We bought the new Behr paint that is a primer/paint combo so you don't have to do multiple or as many coats, but alas, we had to do multiple coats. It seemed that just when we thought we had covered up the green it would poke its ugly head out again. It took two solid coats and then touch ups throughout most of the room. We really like the result and I don't know about Ryan, but I feel much more relaxed in this room now.

In addition to painting yesterday, I also purchased a plastic kiddie pool. As the weather only continues to get warmer I thought that it would be nice to have a pool to drape my feet in while I sat in the shade. I also was hoping that maybe Hank would want to cool down in it as well. I rather enjoyed my time with my feet in the pool yesterday. I took my book out, set up my tiny lawn chair and relaxed. Hank on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the pool. He did like having a giant water bowl available though. Ryan and I were convinced that if Hank just got in the pool he would realize that it wasn't so bad, so in went his toys. Hank being the intelligent dog he is decided to try and find ways to get his toys without getting in the pool, which worked with the toys that floated. So, Ryan and I got smarter that our dog and found toys that would not float and therefore force Hank to get in the pool to fish them out. This worked. Although hesitantly, Hank did get his paws, first two then four, into the pool. Before that though he did try digging the toy out of the water. Little does he know you can't dig a hole in water, but there is a short video of him trying :). We started kicking his sunken tennis ball around under water and Hank actually enjoyed himself trying to get it and wagged his tail for us. Unfortunately, he will not go in that water for any reason other than to get a toy AND even then it is his last resort. If we are not out there to coax him into the pool, he just finds a different toy.

Other than no new news. It is supposed to 100 on Monday and 102 on Tuesday, so we may go to the beach again. Hank and I have doggy class tonight and we will see what new obstacles they throw our way. Hank has actually been doing an amazing job with our training and we are very excited with the progress we have made already.

Escaping the Heat: Beach-style!

Due to the unbearably high temperatures to hit our neck of the woods, we decided to wise up. And by we, Hank told us that it was way too damn hot for him because of his thick coat and demanded we go somewhere cooler. So without any hesitation, we went to the beach on Thursday.

We had taken Hank to the beach last summer when we first got him, so we knew he had an appreciation for it. This time around, however, we did not know how he would react. Mostly, it was the water. Hank is terrified of the water in any form: from the hose, from the sky, puddles on the ground, creeks, etc. However, when it comes to the ocean, Hank was balls out. As the pictures below will show, Hank and I went pretty deep and he was loving it the entire time. I could not believe he willingly came into the water with me, even when I took his leash off later and ran through the water. Jennifer and I eventually ran him to death by playing with his soccer ball and chasing him through the water. We tried to take multiple breaks to preserve his energy, but it didn't work. Hank's body language is a dead giveaway when he has had enough and was quickly in the back of the car, sleeping the majority of the way home. Overall, it was a great day and Hank told me that he appreciated the cooler weather at the beach (around 75-80 versus the 95 degree day in Portland today!).



In other news, Hank's Reactive Rover class has been going well. Last night was the first night where all the dogs came to the class. Each dog had their very own barrier so they wouldn't freak out at the sight of the other pups. We worked on the "look at me" command, which is supposed to be the deterrent when Hank sees another dog while we're out. I thought Hank was the best behaved dog there and did a pretty good job with the "look at me" commands. Needless to say, I thought wrong...

One of the exercises was using a realistic-looking fake dog to practice the "look at me" command, realize what the dog's threshold is (How long they will respond to "Look at Me" before they could care less), and see what it might be like if Hank encounters a dog that does not react to him at all (won't yap at him, but also won't cower and back down). There were stories about how "The dog might actually attack the dog" and that "dogs have shredded the fake dog before", but I put Hank above all that because he's pretty bright. We walk Hank across the room so he sees the dog, we do the "Look at me" and he looks up, followed by immediate praise and a treat. We get a little bit closer and once he focuses on the dog, try it again. Jenny and I brought Hank to the point where he was tuning us out and that was his threshold (about 10 - 12 feet). The group leaders then told us to walk Hank up to the dog to see what happens. As I eluded to before, I figured Hank would understand the dog was fake, do nothing and just sniff it or walk away. OH NO MY FRIENDS! Hank went right up to it as happy as could be, pounced on the dog, knocked it on its side, then happily looked up at a mortified set of parents. (For the record, I was embarrassed as hell. I even let out a pretty loud "Wow, really Hank?" in front of everyone.) To make matters worse (for me), the dogs who were terrible at listening and doing the "Look at me" command did nothing to dog - not one. But that's our dog Hank, the big dumb idiot.


Aside from all the Hank news, Jenny and I have been just hanging out: floated the river once (going again tomorrow), had some get-togethers with friends and playing darts (By the way, I put in a dart board in the garage). We have made an effort to cook meals at home instead of going out, which is better for our bodies and for our wallets. We make a menu of 4 - 5 meals every Sunday, get the ingredients for those meals and (usually) take turns preparing one of the meals every day. It's been working out pretty well and gives Jenny an opportunity to work on her below-average culinary skills. :-)

And without further ado, here are some new Hank photos from the beach and even...(wait for it)...Hank videos! I know Papa Loveless will be ecstatic about these!

VIDEOS!!!!!!

Updates

Here are some updates from our exciting lives:

1) Today we are floatin' the river with Ryans family. Don't worry, we will be sunscreened up, have life jackets, and floatation devices that hold air. It's about a 2 hour float and with as hot as it has been, I think it will feel great!

2)We found out that Hank is VERY territorial, not sure if this is due to dominance or fear, but he became aggressive towards another dog who was on our property. The dog belonged to our friend who was coming over for a doggy playdate. Needless to say, the playdate didn't go well. Everyone is fine and there were no serious injuries. We were able to walk the dogs together and Hank could have cared less about the dog during that time. Due to his reactive behavior to other dogs when on walks and apparently when they are threatening his property, we have enrolled our family in a Reactive Rover class at the humane society. It will be Wednesdays and lasts for six weeks. We are hoping that this class will either A) reinforce the strategies we are already using and/or B) give us some more guidance on how to change or modify his behavior. This class is for dogs and owners, so we will get to work with other people and their dogs who are in the same situation as us. His little display towards the other dog did enlighten us to the fact that we will not be getting a companion for Hank and will just wait to get a puppy until Hank is no longer with us, which hopefully won't be anytime soon.

3)For my family, we were thinking of having a BBQ for you guys, so you can see our house, on the 18th or 26th. Let us know if this works. We just BBQed for Ryans mom and brother last night and it was great. We had good food, thanks to our kick ass grill, and we had fun playing darts as well. We also have a foosball table and big backyard for other recreational activities you might be interested in. Hank would love it if you would play soccer, or throw his ball or rubber bone or even just a stick for him :)

4)We picked out a pretty blue color to paint our office, although it probably won't get painted before you come up to visit. It is called Isle of Capri, I'll let your imagination do the work.

5) We got curtains for our bedroom. Yay! They are just a boring white, but they do their job.

I believe that is all the news we have. Let us know about the BBQ by either commenting on this OR by e-mail OR phone