Dog Fence Drama

Things have been busy around here. About 2 weeks ago we decided to purchase an invisible fence to keep our dogs contained to our yard. We are lucky enough to have wonderful neighbors who like our dogs visiting but I don't think they enjoy the "presents" the dogs leave behind. They would never say anything though. We have always let our dogs roam the area and it has never been a problem until recently. In the past they always did their business in the woods, not the neighbors yard. So, the new purchase. From the start it turned out to be way more of a problem than expected. It took us going back and forth across town from store to store trying to find one. We finally got one at Cabela's. Brian spent the afternoon installing it in the double loop formation described in the directions. This is used to keep the dogs only in the back, instead of the entire property. Long story short it ended with Brian laughing as the dogs yelped and me very upset. The use of the fence is put on hold, I research and decide that we need to do a single loop around the whole property. We wait for the rain to stop to try again. Finally we get a sunny day and it's a Saturday. Brian did a quick and FANTASTIC job of redoing the wire. He even put up the flags, that was supposed to be my job. I ended up house hunting, another story. Sunday evening I find time to train the dogs to learn their boundaries. I walked them on leashes around the perimeter physically pointing out all the boundary flags. One mild shock each and we have dogs who seem to "get it". Our neighbor's dog even came by and the dogs stayed in the yard and away from the perimeter. I feel confident that it is all over and done with. Silly me. Today I had the dogs out, they are staying around but are a little too cautious to explore the entire yard. As I pay close attention to them I call them to various areas of the yard. Everything is great, until I relax. I am enjoying myself helping Brian wash our windows. I go over to the neighbors to return a toy and I hear Jinx cry out. She ran thru the dumb fence!!!! In the meantime Kelsy is freely wandering the neighborhood with her collar on! What? I guess that her collar was not on tight enough. Jinx is still traumatized, hours later. She hasn't stopped panting and shaking since the incident. I hope she doesn't have a heart attack. I remain determined to make this whole thing work. I have to say I think the product is great but some how, somewhere I have failed to grasp some important concept. The worst part is I have been driving Brian nuts with my research, testing of the fence and collars all to make sure everyting works properly. Back to the drawing board.

Sunny Days

The sun has made an appearance in our gloomy state. Friday was a nice day, slightly brisk and very sunny. Warm by the afternoon. River and I met some friends at the farmers market, grabbed a bite to eat and walked to a nearby park. Good to see friends, good to be outside and best that my sister was able to meet us at the park as well. As the park fun came to an end, my friend Lindsay and I took our little ones for a stroller ride around Capital Lake. It was just to nice of a day to go back home for naps. We did eventually make it back for naps and Brian and I wrapped up the evening enjoying the fresh air in our yard and playing with River.

Today was AMAZING!!! It felt so warm. I haven't checked to see how warm it got but it was almost HOT! It felt close to 80 degrees. Unbelievable. We started the day with a bike ride on the Chehalis Western Trail. Brian only wore a t-shirt and felt a bit chilly at first. We stopped at our halfway point to let River stretch his legs and we all had a snack. We sat in grass and soaked up the sun. River ran around in the grass and stuck close to us and listened to us when we told him he was going to far. He really is getting to be a good boy. We could feel it warming up with every minute. Had an enjoyable ride back. After we got home, Brian mowed the grass and cleaned out the garage. I did my usual house work but found excuse to go outside here and there. We actually had to WATER our grass! After River woke up we drove to Safeway, got some bottles of water and walked from there to a park. About a 25 minute walk each way. River played at the park and climbed the little hills he called mountains just so he could run back down. Brian joined him in the mountain climbing adventure. River even got some pink cheeks from all the sun. When we were at the park a slight breeze came up and it still felt so warm! We didn't leave the park until 6:30 or so and it was almost hot walking back. After River was in bed I stepped out on our back deck in a t-shirt and I was completely comfortable and warm. So hard to believe. Just Thursday I went walking at the Nisqually Refuge and had to wear a jacket because it was just chilly and grey. Now today was like a summer day. I loved it. So did Brian and River. I love these kinds of days because River just plays so hard and doesn't have the energy to test limits. We are thankful for a break from the grey weather that is so constant here.

Happy Birthday River

Tuesday the 1st of April was River's 2cnd birthday. We had planned to have a big hamburger party for him. However, I was recovering from being really sick, Brian had a minor cold and so did River so we had a "just us" celebration. We ordered Pizza and had peach pie. While Brian had River outside I put his presents in a pile on the floor. When he came in he saw them and got to open them. It was so fun. He first told us to open the presents but opened them all on his own after we told him he had to open them. He got a Thomas train, monster truck, farm animals, books and movies. He also got a really cool work bench with foam "wood" and a working drill/screwdriver. He wanted to look at each present before moving on to the next. After we finished pizza we sang to him and had him blow out his #2 candle. I think that he liked the singing the best. I can't describe how he looked but it seemed like he really felt special at that point. As we were cutting pieces of pie he was singing Happy Birthday to himself. Very cute. It was a relaxing evening and a good birthday celebration. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins will be coming on Friday for an official birthday party!!! Can't wait!!!