THE OTHER END OF THE LEASH

I can’t write much, I’ve been deep in preparation for the new seminars I’m doing in Arroyo Grande at Gentle Touch Pet Training this Sunday and we’re leaving for the airport in a few hours. Predictably, we are in the usual flurry of last minute packing, house sprucing and training of new house sitter. As much as I hate leaving Lassie and Will (I’m sorry Lassie, I’ll be back soon, I promise), I am truly looking forward to this trip. Both 1/2 day seminars should be great fun. The half day Play Play Play seminar is completely new, and I can’t wait to present it. (And will be available as a DVD sometime soon, I’ll keep you posted!) I am also, admittedly, relieved that I’ve got it finished, at least until I decide to tweak it some more on Saturday. (These things are never finished, are they?!)  The seminar has tons of video (it took me 3 hours to burn the videos onto 5 different DVDs. It takes an absurd amount of time to create videos for seminars, although you’d never know it when you see it. On Wednesday I spent 3 hours creating less than 3 minutes of video. Good grief.) and I am looking forward to discussing the ever-burning question to all of us immersed in dogs: what play is appropriate and healthy, and what is over the line? When do you intervene? And how?

I’m also looking forward to the 1/2 day on Dog-Dog Reactivity. I’ll be doing some of what I’ve always done (a la Feisty Fido) and some new things inspired by Karen’s and my revision of the Feisty Fido booklet, Second Edition. (Coming out next week, oh boy! I’ll keep you posted on that too.)

Meanwhile, back at the farm: Here’s the Black Raspberry, Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie I made on Sunday. One of you asked for the recipe: It’s simple, just use the Joy of Cooking’s recipe for Rhubarb/Strawberry Pie but substitute the raspberries for one third of it. The only trick I know is to use Tapioca as a thickener when you’re using rhubarb. I’ve never had any luck at all with corn starch or flour, (although lots of other people seem too, go figure… cooking must be like dog training!)

It rained hard again this morning; I don’t remember a summer when we’ve had so much rain. That’s a good thing for the farm, I don’t have enough pasture for my little flock and rain keeps the grass growing as fast as the sheep can eat it. We are all enjoying the bounty of summer; this is the trail behind the house to the orchard pasture, and it is edged with buckets of black raspberries. (Would that they came in buckets, instead of interspersed with lots of prickers and a bevy of mosquitos!) I’ve been picking like a fool, and so has Jim, and so far we have 6 quarts of berries in the freezer, along with 9 quarts of strawberries and 5 of rhubarb. I just love the idea of making pies in the icy dead of winter, with fruit from the lush of summer.

xx

Not going to write much, am a bit tuckered from doing an all day seminar at Happy Tails in Portland and an evening speech at Planet Dog in Portland, Maine. Both events were hosted by great folks and had educated, informed audiences that were a joy to work with. The talk at Planet Dog was on play (appropriate for a company that makes dog toys, hey?) and reminded me how interesting play is to biologists. It’s common in many species, it’s dangerous and injurious and no one really knows what makes it worth all the risks. Especially relevant to our relationship to dogs is our mutual love of “object play,” which is not very common in most species. There are exceptions, (river otters, etc.), but few species are as obsessed as dogs and people are about balls, frisbees, etc.  I’m inspired for my next seminar in July in California–an entire morning on play. What fun.

The seminar was on dog-dog reactivity, both between unfamiliar dogs and dogs within the same household. The demo dogs were great and the audience was truly lovely to work with. I am, however, a bit droopy, and I’m committed to keeping my laptop shut for TWO ENTIRE DAYS (oh my!) and visit a dear friend in New Hampshire.  I’ll be back in the ‘world’ on Wednesday. My sincere thanks to all my hosts and helpers… you were great.

Meanwhile, back at the farm: I MISS MY DOGS! (and Jim, and Sushi, and sheep……)

Here are some photos for you:

Okay, this is a trite shot of boats in a harbor, but it sure looks different than the farm!

Here’s some of the good staff at Planet Dog in their retail store. The place makes me want to retire and do nothing but play with my dogs!

This license plate is thanks to the work of BOTH Planet Dog AND Happy Tails (and others), who worked to get a state license plate whose income goes to shelters and animal care. How cool is that?  Shouldn’t we do this in other states?

“See” you next week….

Trisha