A Well Behaved Pup

Saturday, October 31, 2009

What a change from the rowdy, mischievous, bread stealing, shoe chewing pup I had in my house just a few short months ago.

Look at Ninja now, on Halloween Night. We go a little crazy with decorations on Halloween. We have the two fog machines (yes, two), the graveyard in the front yard, a ghost that shrieks when you walk up, and on and on.

The last couple of years I've had to keep Ninja on leash for the festivities, because, let's face it, all the action and hundreds of costumed kids shrieking and running around was just too much for a puppy.

Ninja was never aggressive, but he wanted to greet everyone and see what they had and check out why the house is all crazy with fog and ghouls.

But I think this photo says it all. He's curious and watching, but won't go an inch nearer to that door unless I release him from the stay command. Now that's success!

Happy Halloween!

Ninja's Shiny Coat

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Ninja loves avocados. He nearly knocked me over one day while I was eating one, and that's not like him. Usually he's very polite. But he just loves them, and they are making him sparkle! He has a beautiful coat to begin with but after eating avocados for a couple of days he is brilliant.

He's also blowing out his coat right now which is pretty miserable for everyone. Dog hair everywhere! My husband suggested we shave him. I don't have the heart to do that. Look how beautiful that curly black coat is. Could you shave it?

I called the local groomer to see what it would cost to get him a trim. They start hair cuts at $60. Good heavens! I don't pay that to have my own hair cut! I talked with my friend who is married to the breeder where we got Ninja, and she said it would be easy to just trim up the hair on his hind quarters myself, which is where the biggest problem is anyway. Here's a picture of how long his hair was in back.

So the other night I sat down with a shedding comb, a rake comb, a brush, some trimming scissors and thinning scissors. Ninja loved being brushed and clipped, although he likes to lay down during the process and that makes it a bit hard. I filled up an entire grocery bag of hair.

I had a hard time getting a shot of his clipped hind quarters. He seemed so happy with his new look. He certainly bounced over to my husband when he got home, and my husband even commented that he seemed to be showing off a bit. This was about the best shot I could get.

One word of warning- the ASCPA site claims that avocados may have a toxic substance in them to dogs, but it appears to be mainly Guatemalan avocados. All of ours around here come from California or Chile, and Ninja doesn't seem to be having any negative side effects after a week of eating them. But if you let your dog have them make sure to not give him the pit. They can choke on it. And maybe check with your vet- my dog seems to have an iron stomach after surviving chocolate and rat poison.

Ninja Goes on a Trip

Thursday, February 5, 2009

My family went on a trip to Lake Arrowhead at the end of January, and Ninja went to visit his mom and brothers and sisters for the weekend. I'm not sure he wanted to come home when I picked him up on Monday. He seemed to have a great time!

Here is Ninja in the car with his sister Gracie and sister from another litter, Shelby. It's a long story, but at one point we had six dogs and two people in the car while it poured rain outside.

All the six Aussies were from the same parents dogs and we were being featured in a story in our work newsletter (the owners all work for the same company). By the time we got them all to work and got the picture taken, this is what my pants looked like.

I'm not sure what possessed me to wear khaki pants for this trip, but now I have pants that are a badge to my love of Aussies.

Ninja the Super Hero

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Just before Ninja used his X-ray vision . . .

Don't you love it when you catch the red eyes of your dog? It's a little eerie looking.

My husband says this is a picture of the "Devil Dog." Devil Dogs are something you eat, not a behavior.

I think he looks like a super hero ready to use his eyes to melt the bad guy. :)

Another Hike up Mt Rubidoux

Monday, January 12, 2009

I'm a bit behind on this blog, but partly it's because Ninja is actually getting better. Apparently there is this magic thing about when an Aussie turns two, he gets out of that puppy stage and all the lessons you've been droning on and on about finally start to make sense. So that means I haven't had a lot to write about lately. That's actually a good thing!


So on December 31, my daughter and I celebrated the New Year by hiking up Mt. Rubidoux. This time we took the steep route up. The road is getting a bit cracked in places. They stopped allowing cars on this road in 1996. Looks like it was a good idea! This trip was about 2 miles (one way), whereas the less steep trip is 4 miles.


It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Look at the view halfway up the hill. The mountains in the distance have a nice sprinkling of snow. Ninja was very happy to carry his pack up the hill. Many people smiled and commented on how smart it was to let the pup carry his own gear on the hike. That's one neat thing about this particular hike - there are always a lot of people around, so you don't feel isolated. Not that Ninja would ever let anyone hurt us, but it's nice to know it probably won't come to that on this hike.

Here we are stopping for a water break. Ninja seems to like the view here!

Mt Roubidoux Hike

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Is this one happy Mini Aussie or what? He's got his backpack on because we all went on a hike up Mt Roubidoux in Riverside on Saturday. We braved the chilly weather, but of course Ninja didn't seem to mind at all.

It was about 4 miles up and back and Ninja was flying at first but settled down as we got into a rhythm. At the top of the mountain there is a very tall cross you can see from miles away. There is also a huge American flag, and lots of plaques. Mt. Roubidoux is famous for its Easter Sunrise Services.

We climbed up the trail and had lunch at the top. We had picked up sandwiches from our favorite place, Butch'sGrinders, which is right by the entrance to Mt Roubidoux Park. The kids had turkey and cheese and I had an Italian sandwich. Of course Ninja had his share of all of our sandwiches and chips!

As we headed down it started to sprinkle. You could see the rain coming across the valley toward us, but luckily it never got too rainy. Just cold and misty.

I'll post more pictures of the hike shortly. I thought this was just such a cute picture of the pup!

Ninja and In N Out Burger

Sunday, November 16, 2008

A few nights ago my husband worked late and stopped at In N Out Burger for a bite on the way home. In case you aren't from Southern California, In N Out is a Hamburger drive-through that you either love or you don't. Ninja and I love it. I suppose I've spoiled him because he always gets the last bit of my Double Double. I purposely order a bigger hamburger than I can eat so he can have some. Sometimes I even order him his own burger.

So it should come as no surprise that when my husband came home late and set his food on the table, Ninja expected that he would get some. I was asleep. My husband set down the box of food on the sofa table. It comes in a little box with no lid. He went into the kitchen to wash his hands, then came back and. . . no burger. He told me he had a moment's confusion and thought perhaps the burger had fallen out of the box and was on the seat of the car. But he looked outside on a whim and there was Ninja munching away on the double double. The ensuing roar woke me up, sent Ninja scurrying away to the corner of the yard, and the neighbor's cats home in a hurry. My poor husband went to bed hungry but Ninja slept well with a belly full of hamburger.