dogs, dogs, and more dogs....and the beach!!

 thought this little snap turned out pretty cute. managed to get myself up and out of bed and to Ivy's class in time.  only 3 dogs showed up.  puppy graduation is next week.  no caps and gowns, but she will have completed puppy 1 and puppy 2.  what next, proofing and then maybe some agility classes like i did with Blossom.  just keeps me in training mode for awhile which is good.  Tusker is still in level 1 dog class.  today Ivy was the best at sitting and staying...i even heard applause!!

 none of my doodles are crazy eaters.  grazers it seems. the pups do like to wait for Blossom to finish her meal and then they go finish what she doesn't eat.  i stand by so that Blossom can eat in peace.  she seems to like me to stick by her while she eats.

 after the class i met a friend out at the trail to the beach at Kincaid.  that friend lives close to the park and i took a chance and texted her.  luckily she could join me.  after the beach the pups were pretty dirty and it was time for a good bath anyway so we stopped by the monster dog wash.

 just had to take some pictures of them afterwords.  happy to report minimal hair in the drain so so far they don't seem to be horrible shedders.  Ivy's coat seems longer and fluffy so perhaps she will have some curls down the road.  i adore her as she is, no matter what the coat does.  fun watching them grow up.

 took these when we got home.  look how fluffy her coat is.

 i really need to buy some tissues and perhaps some unexpired cold stuff. coughing sneezing and my face is currently covered in snot.  can't stop the dripping.  was nice to be on the windy beach today and blow some nice farmers blows...snot flying in the wind.  is that too much sharing, too gross. never did these blows until i moved north.  the cold really does make your nose run and who wants to deal with gross handkerchiefs all the time.   ok, i now have a roll of toilet paper here.

 spent part of the evening teaching "no bark" and we've been working on "port" and "starboard" spins.  a new trick.  we've also been working on "settle".

 barking is recent discovery by the pups.  for one thing...the pups came here in the spring and have really never dealt with darkness...now that it gets darker earlier this odd and frightening reflections from the tv or me moving in the house appear on the windows of the house.  Tusker seems the most concerned with these new flashes of lights.

 the other new thing is the people on the one side of me.  they recently bought the house which was basically empty their entire time here.  so they are there more and more and have a dog.  got to get used to new noises and lights from that side of the yard.

 loved the one above of Tusker licking Ivy Rose.

 was awake much more today than the past several days.  so that was nice.  i was pretty wiped after all this activity.  had stuff on the to do list but i came home and put on the pj's.  i think i was in my pj's by 6:30.

 oddly, sometimes i think our best news sources are the comics out there and you get to laugh while they talk.  some of them are actually pretty well researched.  i am starting to find i trust them more than the regular news sources.

 to the beach!! nice and sunny out . a bit windy, but I've been down there on more windy days.

 did get the yard picked up of dog poop and the remnants of the dog puddle pool that the puppies had started to rip to shreds.

 oh and i made cookies.  dinner was officially chocolate chip cookie dough.  that can't be a bad thing, right?

 the mud is always fun to play in and then there is the sand.  best stuff and it's all here in one place.  the dogs loved it. they were pretty sleepy by the end.

 it's not easy walking 3 dogs on leash, but it was a bit easier on the way back...

 until we ran into a moose and then suddenly realized that her baby was standing I'd guess like 25 feet from us.  she was not a happy moose when my puppies noticed them and started to bark.  detour! still working on this.

 my moose count for the day was 8!! only those two on the trail though.

 it was a super low tide today.  i generally try to check the tide before i head down to the beach.  especially with the pups.  don't want them swept away with the tide.  don't want Blossom swept away either but she is smarter than that.

 do want to try and teach them so cute party tricks...that is why i started with the turns.

 Leo had fun in the mud as well

 look at that face...haha

 we had a tennis ball for a few minutes.  it got coated with mud and then we all lost track of it.  Blossom tried to find it, she's usually pretty good, but it's tough to follow two puppies around and they are not that cautious about where they drop the thing.

 when Blossom has the ball she will not drop it for Ivy Rose.  she will drop it for Tusker though.  he charms/forces his way to all toys that he desires and the other two are powerless to stop him it seems.  he is pretty cute

 muddy dog footprint.

 it's a silty mud.  thick.  you can get yourself trapped in this stuff. we have been having pretty full moons and the tide was clearly super high last night.

 stick play after the tennis ball goes missing...another gift to the sea i guess.

 Tusker on the winning end of the stick as well.

 wrestling is pretty even...until Blossom decides to join them.  then they both still will go after Ivy Rose.  she eggs them both on...she can take it i guess.

 then we hit the sand.  figured I'd give them some sand time.  they love the stuff.  i really should just fill the back section of my yard with sand.  take out a few weeds and the pups would love it.

 several of my pics had spots from caked on mud.  it's a hazard of photography on a muddy beach with puppies.

 fun on the hill

 they ran back and forth several times.

 driving home i passed these guys. there was an older and younger male and also a female and a calf.

 the poor young guy didn't stand a chance. below are a another mother/calf pair that were seen later, closer to home.  she'd on the median munching on grass.

 cars were whizzing past her on both sides.

grateful for:  A.  beach days...fills the soul  B.  comedians   C.  that i am still capable of learning.  just learned how to spell handkerchiefs and comedian.  i've spelled them wrong for years i guess.