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status/mood updated 45 days ago
Member since: 06 Aug 2007, Viewed: 6903 times
My Blog
Orbit's mountain experience
Howdy everyone, after much deliberation I decided it was time for Orbit to go up to the mountains for the annual corn roast. It's a weekend long celebration that goes back generations in the host's family and years ago I was lucky enough to be invited in to this. We all bring tents, food and of course beer and other beverages and pretty much have a nice lazy weekend of eating to much, being to lazy and staying up to late.
There are always critters around, wild and domestic. Bears, raccoons and deer, other dogs and even cats have wandered in. Many people stop by and there are lots of children, this made me a bit tenetive as Orbit startles easily and if you sneak up on him while he's sleeping his response while being tethered could be viewed as aggressive, he's never bitten anyone or even charged but he has growled. For anyone that hasn't seen his profile he is blind and I don't blame him for this response anymore then I would blame someone for defending themselves for being jumped in a dark alley.
It was his first time being tied up and from past experiance I know that a tethered dog is more aggressive then a free one (the flight response is removed) and I figured there would be problems but I can't have a blind dog running loose in a area he doesn't know especially when there could be bears around. Once again, I sold the dog short, he made friends almost instantly with every person and critter there, he bonded real well with a giant chow and he didn't even have a problem wrestling while on the leash, I walked him out into the fields to do his doggy business and everytime the chow went right with us. I didn't mention the chow was a she chow (don't tell Dixie). At any given time there were half a dozen children all bouncing around him and he was having a blast, the kids were amazed that he could find his toys by scent and sound. I was worried he would get tired of it soon but after about 3 hours I didn't pay it much mind. I had to appologize to Orbit for worrying more about his handicap then he is. Once again my blind dog has taught me a lesson.
One thing though, at night the temps got down to 44 and there was dew everywhere and if anyone has ever been in a tent thats covered in dew you DO NOT touch the sides of the tent, well try telling that to Orbit. It was wet, cold and neither one of us slept much and when it was all over I think the only thing dry in the tent was the dog bed. We had a great time and crossed a few bridges thats for sure but it sure is nice to return to a warm, dry bed.
We hope our pals are doing well 
To little time
We are stopping in to say hiya to all of our pals, our dad had kept us busy lately with swimming and work outside. Usually by the time we get in it's bed time. So we'll let everyone know the latest.
Orbit cut his head the other day on a part of the fence, he went running after some birds and crashed. Our dad thought for sure he needed stitches but after cleaning it up we found out it was minor. I helped by licking it and barking. Dad said that dogs heads must be like human heads, they bleed a lot! Orbit is finally starting to put on some weight, he's still skinny but he doesn't look so funny when he's wet now.
As for me, I lost my five pounds! I guess running away from that crazy pup finally worked. I've been kinda miserable lately though, it's just no fun with it 95 outside and the sun beating on my black coat. I usually just find a shady place to lay down in. Our grandparents have been out of town for the past six weeks so our dad has been taking care of their yard too and I get to go hang out with my hound dog pal next door, he doesn't like the heat either. Orbit never stops, dad even taught him to come and get me when I'm laying down, can you imagine? A blind dog herding ME? Ugh, the things I put up with.
Well, we get to go out for our final time while dad puts out the trash. We feel bad about being out of the loop but as dogs we hope you all understand, theres always somewhere to go and something to do.
We hope you all are doing well,
Buddy
Back on the leash
Well it finally happend, my owner had to come in and rescue me yesterday and now I have to be back on the retractable 
I was swimming around like I learned last weekend and everything was fine until I came to a rock sticking a little way out of the water. Something on this rock didn't smell right so I kinda freaked out and swam farther out into the lake. I was doing fine and I think I could swim for a really long time but my owner got worried and started calling me.
I know I'm supposed to listen and that I should trust my owner but the rock smell really had me worried and I couldn't see what it was so I didn't come when I was called, I didn't really know what to do so I just went in circles and barked at it (it isn't good to bark when swimming) so my owner came in and got me out, he was somewhat upset with me because usually I listen really well and we were both wet and muddy. He made me feel better though because he understands when we dogs get scared a lot of times we act funny and do things we usually wouldn't, it doesn't mean we are bad dogs.
Well for the meantime I have to be back on the leash, actually I think I feel better knowing it is there and I can still swim fine because my harness doesn't get in the way.
I hope all of our pals are doing great!
Orbit
Hiya Everyone
Orbit here I just wanted to stop in to say hi to all of our friends. Sorry we haven't been around much to keep up with what has been happening with all of you, Buddy and I hope you are doing well.
We have been doing some traveling over the last couple of weeks, in that time we have made friends with 3 rotties, one chow and a bassett hound. Buddy saw a clown and got something called fear aggression, we just stayed away. Later on we learned that when our owner was little he had the same response.
The humans learned that when our owner says no potatoes it means no potatoes! When I fart in a 31' camper nobody escapes, after the first night I didnt get any more people food 
We are back to a regular routine now I think, we still don't have much computer time because Buddy has a goal of losing 5 punds by the next vet visit and we have been running every evening and our owner was dumb and put down a bunch of fertilizer while we were gone and now he has to mow grass twice a week. We try to help by running real fast and tearing up the grass but it doesn't work much.
Well it's almost tug time so we had better go while it's still light out, we hope you all are doing well!
Orbit and Buddy
Geese, retractables and drywall
Hi all my pals, just wanted to explain my recent and future absences.
It's that time of year again when the geese are setting up house to make little geese so it's Buddys job to let the geese know where, and where not to make their nests. Some geese get very mean when it comes to their babies so the public area of the lake needs to be nest free.
I really wanted to get a good picture of Buddy staring down a pissed 10 pound bird but Orbits with me and he has to stay on the lead so he's just bouncing around and it just doesnt work.
We are doing some drywall in the house taking other time away, I suppose someone good at doing this could do it in a day or two but I am not so this has been my project after "dog time".
Hope you all are doing well.
Buddy, Orbit and the human
Orbits video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=o33Vpc2t7Uo
Of course these days Buddy would be hooked to the other end of the tug toy. Credit for the video goes to Orbits foster mom.
Thanks again!
I've been people tagged
Due to a ocular problem of my own I'll do this tomorrow, and don't worry I'll get you all back 
Okay so I've been people tagged three times so here goes,
I'm a wanna be photographer
I like all dogs better then most people
will never have decent furniture or carpet
prefer adverse weather to sunny days
Once had all my front teeth knocked loose from playing tug (like dogs do)
I wrestle on all fours with the dogs at least a hour each day
I go hiking almost every weekend
I think alot of people have already been tagged but I suppose I'll people tag, Tanyia, Sanchodixie, Rinzou and thats about it
Why adopt a blind dog?
So I got asked this question yet again this morning, I guess for the normal person this is a valid question. My answer is simple, blind dogs need homes to but there is more to it then that. There are actual advantages to having a blind dog which I will attempt to compile here and maybe if just one person comes by and thinks to themselves "hey, thats what I need" and adopt one of these great dogs it will be worth it.
Now I know I cannot say that all blind dogs are and will act the same but I did alot of cruising the handicap boards before and after adopting Orbit and it seems they do share alot of the same traits.
So some advantages of adopting blind dogs are:
They don't tend to run off, once their territory is mapped out and they feel safe there they are just as happy as can be, they can't see whats on the other side of the fence and for all they know it could be a very bad place. This is the greatest thing in a situation like mine with neighborhood kids running around all the time.
They learn the basic commands to keep them safe very fast, "steps up", "steps down", "easy", and "stop" it's as if the incentive of not bumping your head is better then any other training method.
They are very loyal, they depend on you to keep them safe.
They are great watchdogs, they make up for the lack of sight with extremely good hearing. We play a game with the mailman and he tries to sneak up to my house and he hasn't been able to do it yet even if Orbits asleep he hears him.
They have alot of heart, the first time Orbit caught the tennis ball based on consistant bounces we were both so happy you could have tossed a million dollars in the yard and it would have gone unnoticed. Okay maybe thats a wee bit of a lie.
They teach us that adversity is just a part of life, just smile and keep running and playing to spite it.
I've read of blind agility dogs, blind flyball dogs, blind drug sniffers.
To be fair there are disadvantages to but they are small ones that relate to the human more then the dog. You will tend to forget he's blind so you need to train yourself to tell him where steps are, when to stop etc.
Never, ever leave the vaccuum in the middle of the floor, okay go ahead and do it, it's funny...
You have to be real careful when walking, sticks and other objects a sighted dog can avoid can puncture a blind ones eye. Get doggles, if the pup will wear them.
You'll have a hard time in places where smell and sounds are overwhelming at first, we got used to the beach. I don't know if we'll ever be able to just walk into petsmart without the breaks coming on but we work on it.
Don't stop, if you do you'll have a wet nose stuck in the back of your knee. This happens to me about 100 times everyday in the house.
If you are thinking about adopting, give it some thought. You wont be dissapointed.
Orbits first snow
So I left work early today for this, got the camera ready and out we go. Orbit jumps straight up in the air sorta like when you put a cat in water. Buddy just took off running the after bath type run he always does in the snow.
Orbit decided the snow was edible so he just sat there for about ten minutes eating snow, none yellow by the way. I guess whatever it is that infects Buddy when it snows or after a bath finally spread to him and he took his blind butt off at mach 2 ran a big circle and crashed right into the back of the house, I guess the snow threw off his internal map. No harm done.
He finally found Buddy and they wrestled and jumped all over the place, fighting over the ball.
After about a hour I was wet and ready to come in and neither dog would have any of that, even though they were so tired they could hardly stand anymore. I finally got them in and now after eating I have 8 up on the couch. Last time they were that tired was at the beach a couple months ago, it's a good thing.
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