Events in June: Staying at kennel for the first time! A.A.’s parents invited us to go to the Hells Canyon Dam Tour on the 14th of June, and of course, we couldn’t take Sophie and Misha with us, so we decided to board them at Escape the Crate in Boise for two nights. As you see the service on the Escape the Crate Web, they are not open for 24 hours. We had to leave early in the morning and came back late at night, so Sophie and Misha were boarded on the day before and picked up on the 15th. I believe that it was a good opportunity for both to socialize other dogs and be in the different environment without us. According to the staff at the boarding, they behaved well. Overall, I rate this boarding facility 8 out of 10 and recommend to others if someone doesn’t mind to leave dogs alone at night, around 8 to 6 in the morning. Yes, only thing I didn’t like was that nobody stays there after 8 at night to 6 in the morning. Honestly, if I can find similar boarding facility with 24-hour service, I might consider those, because I’m still concerned about leaving dogs themselves for almost 10 hours. When we boarded Sophie and Misha, the staff said they were working on setting up WebCam, which was good. I hope it is available now. Back to the story about Hells Canyon Tour: it was very nice and enjoyable tour. Of course, because of A.A.’s family plan, there was a little happening in the beginning. Our boat delayed almost one hour!!! If there were only A.A. and me, we would have left. A.A.’s parents were more patient, and we waited and waited and waited. At last, we saw the boat and thought that they would pick us up, BUT they didn’t. We were so disappointed, but we could do nothing. A.A.’s parents were very patient and we just kept waiting. Then, finally, after almost two hours since we got there, tour guides picked us up!!! We were so glad that we didn’t leave. We enjoyed entire tour and got so wet. I thank A.A.’s parents that they offered us such incredible opportunity!
Back in Boise, A.A. and I picked up Sophie and Misha next day. They were soooooooo happy to see us and seemed like their tales were almost ripped off by wagging so much.
Second important event in June was 1st Great Dane-meet up at Morris Hill Park. There were quite few, 10 to 15 danes got together for the first time. Sophie was so small among them; probably she was the second smallest dane there. But, of course, she enjoyed socializing with other big ones. We cannot forget about Misha, too: she just loved it!! Even though she was small (weighed less than 100 lb), she was so excited that she chased other danes, or was chased by them.
Events in July: One thing we enjoyed in this month was the second “Dane-meet up” at Morris Hill Park.
Events in August: On the 7th was A.A.’s 30 some birthday. This year, I didn’t bake anything for him, because he wanted Ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery. It was delicious.
Events in September: School got busier and busier. I wonder why I was kind of stressed out: I have only one class and most of my students behaved. Oh, I remember that I had an intern, who was troublesome. I gave him some work for first a couple of weeks of this semester, and then I let him go as I felt uncomfortable having him in my class.
Events in October: First snow on the 10th! I saw snow on the Foothill.
Events in November: Sophie & Misha enjoyed playing @ Eagle Island State Park quite a lot. I’m so glad that we live pretty close to the park. It’s not a off-leash park, but with 15-foot leash or occasionally w/o leash, they ran like a horse (Sophie) and a cow (Misha).
Events in December: A.A. and I went cutting down a Christmas tree on the 12th with Sophie & Misha. We could find a decent tree at Grimes Creek. There was an almost accident: Sophie almost jumped into the frozen river!!! Unbelievable.. well, A.A, said yes, it’s believable, because it’s Sophie. I saw her front paws were in the water, but probably frozen and very cold water scared her, so she came back right away. And, Sophie & Misha had to stay in the car while we were ting a tree on the top of our car. She ruined her play time. I’m glad she didn’t drawn in the river and A.A. and I never expected that we would see similar accident near future.
On the 16th, A.A. and I took them to the Eagle Island State Park again. It was the day after snowing and chilly, but sunny day. Both of them were off leash and running around like crazy at the park. While we were walking on the path, Misha, somehow changed the direction and just went toward the frozen pond. We called her name, but no response. A.A. raised his voice, “Misha!” And then, she turned around looked at us, suddenly, the ice broke. I was so scared to see her face was under the water. A.A. walked into the frozen pond and broke some ice to help Misha swim or walk back to the bench. We were planning to enjoy a sunny day in the snow, but things changed. Misha’s coat was a half frozen (she is a double coated, but still..) and of course, A.A.’s pants were all wet. We headed back home immediately (Sophie & Misha still wanted to play, though). We won’t be back to the park until the ice melts. They are so unpredictable. At least, I knew both Sophie & Misha were safe with us.
Overall, I pretty much concentrated on my school work, dogs & cats and my diet for six months. Fall semester is now peacefully over and I’m getting closer and closer to the goal of my diet. I now need to focus on losing at least 10 more pounds within a couple of months. Misha turned one on the 29th of November and Shoe turned 8 on the 27th of December. I wanted to make a birthday cake for Misha, but too much things were going on around the time, so I couldn’t. For Sophie’s birthday,which is on the 9th of February, I hope I will be able to make something. Last a couple of months, I have been feeding Sophie & Misha human consumption such as hamburger, chicken and salmon with their dog food. It works great: I don’t need to wait for them to finish eating meals, which means that they just love to eat the mixture of meat & dry food. The idea of feeding such cooked meats came to my mind when their dog food was out and store was closed the day. I cooked vegetables and meats with rice or homemade pasta. I did make meals for a few times, but I figured that it cost and took time. So, I decided to cook partially, like adding cooked meats in their regular food, and it was successful.
I hope it will be a happy year for everyone.
