Stewart Creations

so I found a very good article about what colors dogs see. http://www.predatormastersforums.com/k9colorvision.shtml
the thing is, the site is all about hunting predators … you know, coyotes, foxes, i suppose hawks, they’re predators. anyway, that’s really not something i can get behind, but who am i to judge?
the interesting thing about it is that they use dogs to lure the coyotes out. seems cattle dogs are real good at it. well, they are agile and smart, why not. I would worry that the coyotes would beat up the dog, but i guess that doesn’t happen.

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I found an Arizona ‘traditional’ cookbook that has a sourdough starter. I very much want to make some sourdough wholewheat bread. Something like what Sunflower markets has, but my own and with nuts, bran, etc.
In the book, there is mention of making use of wild yeast cells that apparently are just floating in the wind. So i googled …..I found a great breadmaking site, www.wildyeastblog.com/
fires me right up.
Mom used to have a batch of sourdough on the counter all winter, made this chocolate cake to die for, also buckwheat sourdough pancakes.
Anyway, I digress. back to the dogs.
Nununda is very happy in her new home. Her new name is Shawnee, and she dances with her new folks just like she did with me. She likes the fifties with all the shananah and shoop-dee-doops. With me she danced mostly to 60′s rock, but she likes anything she can dance to.
We went to Mom’s place in Ajo, AZ this weekend, Mom couldn’t make it. It rained … well, a lot for Arizona, an unheard-of amount for May in Southern Arizona. And it was so nice. Out of the triple digits we were headed for and back into the 60-80 range. We found some of the washed (arroyos) still with great puddles, the dogs like that.
Here’s dome pics.

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I think Nununda has found a home. The people were over to see her today, I think it will be a good home for her. The guy was almost in tears, he liked her so much. They had just lost one a couple of weeks ago and he was grieving.
I am a little worried that they didn’t have an autopsy done, seems a mystery why a 7 yr old cattle dog would just keel over one night. But I guess they weren’t that curious. They have 2 other dogs of mixed breed, medium to large in size and they all sleep together. Nununda is used to sleeping on the bed, and hell, anywhere else she wants, I guess, if I had to say it plainly. Seems like these folk have the same attitude. She should feel right at home.
They have a nice back yard, and I am going to try to make sure they get her out frequently. Dogs need new sights and smells just like we do.
Dave needs to say goodbye and also needs to check these guys out himself, so I told them we’d bring her over tonight and Dave could meet them. I told them to expect another interview. I grilled them pretty hard.
I fed the dogs frozen hard-boiled eggs while the people were here. Everybody calmed down real well and Nununda seemed to take to the guy right away, laid down at his feet while we were talking, even.

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Sunday was pretty hot, so I stayed inside a lot. Coming up on the time where I get cabin fever for a few months, it’s too danged hot to go outside. I actually ended up cleaning the fridge (not all the way, just a half-assed job like Sherry Bobbins recommends), and found a couple pieces of toast in a baggie. Cold, hard toast.
I broke it up and went out to toss it to the birds, and the babies (Reddy and Nununda) were so cute in their interest that i made sure to leave biggish chunks. They had a great time snagging toast and chasing birds.
I was in the kitchen watching in swamp-cooled splendor.
That piece of toast entertained them for at least a half hour.

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Nununda, Fae and I went to Mom’s the other day and spent the night. Fae loves it there, and Nununda got along just fine with the chihuahuas. I was real proud of her.
The two hour car trip didn’t bother her, either. She’s a pretty steady dog.
Middle of the night, Mom tells me Nununda got up in bed with her. I didn’t even know she was gone.
Mom felt hot, so got up and turned on the cooler, and walked Nununda down the hall. She got back up on my bed and was there in the morning.
Go figure.
She really liked my mom.

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Lur MacKenzie found a great home with a guy who really understands him. Lur’s new name is Boyd. Boyd has a bunch of grass around his house and for a couple of days couldn’t figure out where to poop, so he just didn’t. We suggested that Boyd’s new friend take him out to gravel or dirt. So now the routine is to go for a run off-leash and he gets the job done. He’s a good boy and goes to the garbage off-leash and to the mailbox off-leash. (It’s a quiet and self-contained place, perfectly safe).
Boyd’s new owner wanted both Reddy and Lur but his mom told him it might be too much at once. I actually agree, but what I liked is the fact that this young man (who owns his own place, has his own life) listened to what his mom was saying. That’s when I was really sold on this kid taking a pup.
Before, I was worried that he wouldn’t be a good candidate because his condo doesn’t have a back yard and he’s YOUNG. really young. But he’s a real level-headed guy and I guess Boyd and he are getting along just great.
I am so happy for him.

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Lur is feeling his old self again. He hasn’t bulked up to his size potential yet, but he may have just been bulky from puppy fat before he went away.
Someone else is interested in him. We are looking to hear from him today.
Actually, this brave soul wants both Lur and Reddy. he really loves the breed and figures they’d be good company for each other. And he’s right, it will make it easier to keep them happy in the long run, but TWO puppies is a real handful.
These two are real good guys, though. This week at puppy school, Reddy and I learned “leave it”.
Reddy got it in three tries.
3. What a smartie.
What you do is, you hold a treat right under their nose and say “no!” “Leave It!” and keep the treat right there, don’t let him have it and repeat yourself.
The minute he looks away from the treat, you give him the treat.
On try two, Reddy figured out that if he pretends like he doesn’t want it, he gets it. Pretty smart pup to find out how to get that treat so fast.
I could see his brain hook it up.
“Okay, can’t have the treat. What’s that she’s saying? leaveit, leaveit. hm”
Looks away, puzzled
“Oh, WOW I got the treat!”
“Look another treat! Boy this is my lucky day…what? NO? leaveit, hm “
Looks away by accident. Gets the treat!
The third time, he looked away almost immediately when I said leave it.
It was a good lesson, he actually was leaving treats all over the floor and just not giving it any energy, just leaving it. It was great. So I watched him figure that out and felt really lucky to be there. What a good dog. He even fell asleep during one long “leave it”, he was so casual about it.
I think he was tired from running around at the dog park earlier. We went to meet the guy who wants to adopt the boys. Reddy is the dog that this guy wanted from looking at the ad, but we took Lur along and he fell for both of them.
We are going to offer him free babysitting services.

So this morning I was doing the “leave it” with Lur, and he acted like he already knew all about it! I guess he was watching the lesson. DH had him around the store during Red’s class, he’s getting pretty socialized. It was Saturday and there were a lot of dogs at PetSmart. He’s not perfect, but he’s doing a lot better. I don’t think he’ll ever be one of those happy-go-lucky puppies that wiggle up to everybody, even if they are strangers. Cattle dogs are not usually like that, although I saw a couple of really friendly ACD pups in the store. Next time (if we ever have pups again) we will take them out in public before four months, to heck with the vet’s advice.
Turns out we are just a couple of over-protective old fogeys.

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