Yesterday I took Daffy to Action K9 Sports up in Escondido.  It was her first time to really be on a farm, and actually get to deal with cows, goats and sheep.  The purpose for heading up that way?  To see if she has a good instinct to chase and herd animals.  Of course she does, it’s what she was bred for.

Daffy did absolutely wonderful.  She has the instinct, she needs to do this.  Unfortunately I’m the one that needs to learn more.  I’m not that great at it.  With time I’m certain that will change.

Daffy got to chase sheep twice yesterday and had a blast.  She was so happy all day out there.  Makes me wish that we lived on a farm just so she could have this every day.  Maybe one day in the future she will.

She and I got there stupid early so we went walking through one of the fields and through a dry creek bed on the property.  While in the creek bed she saw a lizard and charged at it.  Once she caught it she consumed the little devil in no time flat.  It cracked me up.

Looks like for the next few months we’ll be going every other Saturday.  She’ll be a great herding dog

Took Daffy to Fort Funston for the first time. What a blast that was. I always loved walking through this park with a dog. It’s definitely fun, sandy, and no leash is required! Of course we got to meet a lot of new dogs, and Daffy had fun chasing this beagle around in circles while we were on the beach. Unfortunately Daffy isn’t trained enough to be without a leash when there are a lot of people, dogs, cars, and bicycles around.

To give her room to run, and figure out training her to come when she hears her name no matter what we hit up PetCo at first. I needed treats, more food, and crap bags. I also bought one of those extendable training leashes. What a great idea. She can run away from me, then I can call her, if that doesn’t get her attention a slight tug on the leash with her name gets her attention and she bounces right on over to sit and get a treat. It’s certainly a blast having a puppy and realizing that she can be a very good dog as long as I spent time playing with her, walking her around, and training her.

I wanted to hit up REI and Nordstrom yesterday. Still working on that mythical ultralight pack. I’m still aiming at 15 lbs minus food and water for spring, summer and fall, and should I ever decide to go where it’s snowy and cold up to 20 pounds. Down side is 2 pounds is always going to be taken for a bear box in certain areas of California. I also need to carry twice as much food and water because of Daffy.

Since California is mostly temperate, or fucking hot as hell, I really don’t need much in the way of a sleeping bag or quilt. For about 30 bucks, much cheaper than a quilt or bag, I found Thermo Lite 2.0 from Adventure Medical Kits. I had no idea they made things like this. I have three first aid kits from them of various weights depending on what could be needed. Modified them to have enough to survive as well keeping the weight under a pound, in some cases well under half a pound. That right there took about 2/3rds of a pound out of my gear. Good deal in my book!

As I mentioned in one of the first posts after I fixed hatred back up I’m rather out of shape and a bit over weight. I’ve been using RunKeeper Pro a lot more to keep track of most of the walking I do, either just to the store, and the walks Daffy and I take through Golden Gate or through the city. Tracking something definitely helps keep your goals in mind. Makes sure you’re not lazy. Too bad I forget to turn the damn thing on when we go for walks in the middle of the day or at night. A few more months of this and I should hit my weight goals and can set new ones.

Last night was definitely good times. Exhausted as I was I couldn’t say no to going out to see Throbbing Gristle with the Irish. After all one of them bought me a ticket, which I still have to pay back for, and they are a band I have enjoyed over the years. Of course I haven’t listened to them in far over a decade and don’t currently have any mp3s in my iTunes.

I had forgotten what good music it is. Unfortunately I forgot that they are fans of the single eight bar loop played over and over while Genesis P-Orridge sings some rather off the wall crap, and the occasional sound out burst from other samples or instrumentation. Perhaps it was how tired I was but I couldn’t really get into it too much, not enough to dance, only bob my head. All in all I’m glad I got to see them. Chalk yet another band off my list that I have to see before either they, or I, die.

I’ve created Daffy’s page on hatred. This means that her dog collar now has 100% legitimate information. Registered with pet link, collared, has a tag, now she just needs her rabies shots, which she’s too young for. Just need to watch out for those Rabbis or else she might get infected *g*

One final note. Seems a lot of my neighbors have moved, probably due to the bad economy and needing something cheaper to live in, but there are these Iraqi’s next to me. I was taking out some trash and as usual I let Daffy follow me, she’s not going to be able to get out of the apartment building. The neighbors opened their door for some reason and all of a sudden she was like “ooh! open door and no leash!” She charged in all tail wagging, low to the ground showing she wasn’t a threat and everyone in there freaked out and started jumping on couches. I couldn’t stop laughing at it because Daffy was just being a puppy and wanting to meet new people. Oh the joys of fatherhood.

My apartment seems to be haunted. As you can see there’s a little ghost running around trying to be cute instead of scaring me. Though sometimes she lets out the puppy rage, as in from 28 Days Later, and goes absolutely ape with the kisses and running around like a crazy dog on meth.

It’s been almost two months since Daffy came into my life and I have to say she’s quite the little bundle of joy and chaos. She’s generally pretty good, and listens when there aren’t other dogs or people around. Just gets too god damn excited for her own good.

We have been going to the fenced in dog park over by 38th and Fulton so she can be better socialized with dogs and work on no leash training. Unfortunately a good many times I’m there people have some pretty crappy dogs there. Ones that are gigantic, and meant for hunting, not being well behaved. They see Daffy running anywhere in that park and all of a sudden they start thinking rabbit and wanting to kill. It’s god damn frustrating.

The last time that happened we walked over to one of the lakes near the park and I let her off the leash so she could run around me as I walked. She saw her first mallard duck and went *bark* and chased it right into the lake. Obviously she has no issues going swimming like Banjo did. She was very happy when she got out of the water. Unfortunately for her that also meant bath time.

If any of my friends out there have dogs, add Daffy to their dog book

It’s no secret that I’ve been wanting a puppy, and am getting one in March.  Yesterday a coworker and I drove down to Stevinson California to meet the litter I get first pick from.  I have to say seeing a bundle of seven three week old cattle dog pups was a sight to behold.  The amount of cuteness, and how needy they are was almost enough to melt anyone’s heart.  How could they not be cute?  They were like 3 or 4 pounds each and fit in one hand still.

They all made cute little piggy grunts like Banjo used to, and probably still does.  They would wiggle when they walked around and kept in a pile nursing with their mother.  I couldn’t make a choice yesterday, but I believe the one in the picture is going to be the one.  She was adorable, seemed to have some personality, and was very clingy every time I held her.  This is almost like a mail order bride from Russia.

I also got to see the other litter the guy had.  I think it was seven or eight one week old cattle puppies, and they were very tiny and cute.  Can’t really tell much about them, but like I said, very cute.

Lucky for me, he had a year and half old girl from the mother I’m getting my puppy out of, and the color on her was incredible, the type of blue I really want.  The father of the litter was smart, and loved to jump, hopefully my dog will be a frisbee dog as she gets older.  This is going to be fun.

All the photos I took yesterday can be seen on my Flickr.