Dogster

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A day in the life of Hank

Dog show the dog show!

We went to a dog show this last weekend and I got to hang out and meet so many dogs! Blits was being shown by Zarah's good friend Raven. Raven is slowly convincing Zarah to get a show dog. It's not a hard thing to sell since Zarah has been interested in getting a second puppy to hang out with me for a while now.

Now she's seriously considering a show and hunting Labrador from a variety of kennels. There's a lot of research to do. There's the whole learning how to hunt thing also. She wants to keep the hunting line going and work with us hunting. That will be fun!

She's looking forward to shooting a shotgun and competing. They say I don't have the drive to be a hunting dog but Zarah will still take me with them. I can listen and obey to keep safe. She can help me keep control of myself. :)

There's a lot of research to do and training involved in hunting. The new puppy has to learn the rules of hunting to keep everyone safe. Zarah has to also learn the rules of hunting. She's going to have to get over shooting and killing birds and deer and whatever else we will be hunting. It's also a lot of hiking, getting dirty, getting cold, and perhaps getting generally smelly... etc, etc. It's not cheap either. The new puppy will go to train in Oregon first for 1 month of obedience then 3 months for hunting. It's like sending your child to college.

There's really a lot of work so she's trying her best to prepare. I don't think she wants to dive in without having things lined up. She wants to learn more about hunting because she would love to work with the new puppy all the way to getting the MH title. That's a Master Hunter title and it's not easy to get. First you can get a JH (Junior hunter) then SH (Senior Hunter) then the MH (Master Hunter). There are other titles from different hunting groups also. I think she would eventually like to hunt with a crossbow and also with horses. When that time comes, I think that's when she will get German Wirehaired Pointer. The Wirehaird Pointing Griffons are nice too but the Germans are much more aggressive in hunting and cover much more ground which makes them great for hunting with horses. They both look very much alike and both look like Animal from the Muppet Show.

:) For now I think I want another one of my own kind. Us labs are just so cute and easy going!!

It's cold outside!

I love my back yard! I get to run around chasing balls everyday! Zarah even leaves me outside to enjoy the fresh air and sun while she's home. I love it and she does too.
We have been walking lately but not enough! She plans on walking me an hour everyday in the mornings even when she has to stay up all night for her on-call shifts at work. I'm her walking buddy!

Living in Bothell

Mom and I just moved to Bothell in a 4 bedroom house with a nice and big fenced back yard. It's been great! We have the upstairs half and the floors are all slippery because of the laminate hardwood. I really like it here because there are so many windows which keeps it bright and Bothell is surrounded by ginormous trees. We play fetch everyday and we walk on the weekends about 5 miles and during the week she walks me about 2 miles or so a day so far. Her plans are to walk me about 5 miles a day.

I'm getting a little older now, I'm 6! She had me visit Dr Yanik to have this lump by my kidney checked out. He's a nice guy. They used to work together and he has looked at my guts before. It was only a fat love lump. Mom was glad. I'm so happy people are looking out for me.

Oh, and she changed my food to Taste of the Wild - Bison. Sometimes she switches to Origen, I think the chicken kind. She's also thinking of switching me to raw food. MMmmmmm I would love that.
Nadia, on the other hand, prefers dry. She seemed to get sick on one of the wet food cans and Mom got concerned. She tried the raw lamb but Nadia just turned up her nose to it. I was all over that lamb piece. So, Nadia will just stay on premium dry food and I think she's gonna switch me to raw. Mmmmmm I can't wait.