a little of this and a little of that.

First off, I apologize that I don't have any pictures to share with you all from the past week. As you may have read/seen on the Facebook page, Claire injured her paw and therefore spent a few days gazing longingly outside and sighing with complete boredom. Just as I was about to take her to the vet, though, she bounced back and now it's like that paw is as good as new!

We've continued working on training and Claire is making excellent progress on the reactivity front. I know that it will take a lot of time, consistency, and positive reinforcement, but I'm really happy with how she's been doing since our session with Debbie. We BOTH learned a lot and are working very hard each day (I'll post more about our training session a little later for those who are interested). We're also working on come when called, which somewhere along the way became come when you're done exploring. This is a tough command for Claire, who is a hunter by nature and thus easily distracted by anything that moves. And when her options are (1) listen to me, obey, and get a liver treat, or (2) chase the rabbit and either outrun it and catch it or give it a heart attack and catch it, I usually come in second place. But hey, I'm used to taking on challenges, so we'll keep working at it!

An interesting shift in the dynamics around here is that my mom has been referring to Claire as her dog. She's cute, isn't she?! She even came home this afternoon with some raw beef marrow bones that she picked up while running errands. Claire's love languages are words of affirmation and receiving gifts of bones, so she was ecstatic and sat by the freezer door sniffing around for awhile. Mom also keeps telling me that it's going to be a long drive back to Nashville alone, since Claire will be staying up here on the Cape with her. Ha! I can counter that with, "So you're going to be redecorating by keeping the sheets on the furniture?" Aaaaand... checkmate!

My relatives are visiting the Cape this week and the place they rent is right down the street from our house. I took Claire for our usual early-morning walk/swim on the beach and then we swung by afterwards so she could say hi to everyone. We snuck her in, since dogs aren't even allowed on the premises, but of course the first thing she did was go up to the bay window, put her paws on the window sill, and look out over the pool area. Way to be inconspicuous, Claire! On another note, can I just mention how soft Claire's fur has been because of the salt water? She might smell like seaweed, but her coat looks beautiful and feels like down feathers!

I'll try to be better about taking pictures this week, and in the meantime, I hope you all are enjoying the last few weeks of summer!

last week's headlines.

Headlines from the past week include:

1.  Claire meets the neighbors!

2.  Claire gets beaten up by a cat!

3.  Claire watches the Red Sox!

4.  Claire takes over the car!

5.  Claire continues to swim!

I've been letting Claire roam around the front yard over my lunch break because, well, she needs to be able to run and explore, and most people are at work during the day so there are even less cars running through our quiet neighborhood. Last week I attempted to play frisbee with her, but I'm apparently too boring, so she trotted over to my neighbors yard to sniff around their bushes for rabbits. As I called her to come to me, my neighbor opened the door to say hi and Claire just waltzed right in. My neighbor thought this was hysterical and didn't mind at all, so as we caught up, Claire explored her house. Every so often, she'd come back to the front door to check in with me, and then she'd run off to explore their house some more. At one point, I asked where she went and my neighbor found her snuggling on her daughter's bed among her stuffed animals...

In other news, my mother's forsythia is a hiding place for the neighborhood cats. Claire stumbled upon them one day and tried to engage them in playtime. She wasn't catching on that the hissing wasn't an invitation, and she was ignoring me as I told her to leave it. In an split second, one of the cats swiped her across the face and scared the hell out of her. I think it's safe to say that she's learned her lesson and gives the cats a wide berth when crossing their path now. We'll see how long this lasts before they have to teach her another lesson. In all fairness, she did get a variety of warnings...

Massachusetts is, of course, a state that mainly consists of Red Sox fans. If there's a game on, you can bet we're watching it in my mom's household. The Sox played the Yankees (boo) a few days ago and Claire joined my mom and her boyfriend to watch our team win. Please note that while she got to sit on the couch, I was relegated to the floor -- which is also where I am sitting currently as she snuggles with the fam once again. Super! (Also, check it out: the furniture is still covered haha!)

With the car trouble that I've had lately, a family friend offered to help out and fix what he could while I'm home -- especially before I make the 19-21 hour drive back to Nashville in a few weeks. In addition to installing new brakes, fixing a broken visor, rotating the tires, and completing a 60K check, he changed my cabin air filter. Now please, don't judge me -- think of who my main passenger is! Can you imagine what the inside of my car looks like if this is what the air filter looks like? Can you imagine what my LUNGS look like if this is what the air filter looks like? Good grief...

Claire and I took a very long walk on the beach over the weekend. It was the PERFECT day in terms of weather, I was feeling great, and Claire was ready to get moving. I drove down to the beach and we walked a few miles before stopping for a swim. It still takes her a little while to get used to the waves rolling in before she goes swimming, but after running along the shore for a few minutes, she's brave enough to bound in. Rumor has it that people have spotted some sharks off the coast, so hopefully neither of us will run into them over the next few weeks. I'm not a fan of JAWS reinactments -- though I'm sure Claire could take 'em, I don't want the chance to find out! Here's my happy girl walking along the jetty right before our swim:

 

cape life.

Here we are, a full month after our last post. Where does the time go?! Claire and I took a little road trip from Nashville to Cape Cod last weekend and we'll be here for the next month. Whenever I'm here, I feel like I can just exhale. I can't think of any other way to put it, so... that's that.

Can I just say that it is a VERY long drive from Tennessee to Massachusetts? It was quite eventful, too, as the air conditioner in my car broke halfway through the extremely large state of Virginia. If it hadn't been a sunny 90*F day, I would have tried to ride it out until we got here, but because it was just so hot, I had to stop and get it repaired. Thankfully it was an easy fix and we were able to get back on the road after three hours or so -- and I have to give Firestone a huge shout-out (the one in Nowheresville, VA) for being so awesome and letting Claire hang out in the lobby. They even gave her treats and water while we waited. Talk about service!

We finally made it to Harrisburg PA where we stayed in a hotel for the night. Claire got her own queen-sized bed, which she was quite excited about, as you can see by the blur of her wagging tail in this picture:

 

We made it to the Cape the next day without any hiccups, and I cannot emphasize enough how glad we both were to get out of the car. I actually have no recollection of what we did that night because my mind was blank from driving for so long. The one thing that I did not anticipate was how rough the drive would be on my body. My fibromyalgia flared up like mad and after a full week, I'm finally feeling better. Note to self for the next time: break up the drive into three days, not two.

 

The next morning, Claire and I woke up early and took a long walk on the beach. It was her first time there, and y'all, I can't wait to post the video of her reaction. But that will have to wait until I get back to Nashville, so hang tight in the meantime. At first she was afraid of the waves, but by the end of our walk, she was running straight into them. She tried to drink the water like she does when I take her to the river in Nashville, but the salt from the ocean made her sneeze. Puppy sneezes are the cutest! But she didn't try to drink it again, which was a safe bet. And hey, this is a picture that I took of the sunrise that morning. Can you tell that it was the perfect day?

 

 

 

 

Later that day, one of my besties came to visit and it was AMAZING to see her. It had been a year since we'd seen each other, and I fully intend for us to visit a lot over the next month!! We went out to lunch to catch up and then spent the afternoon hanging out on the beach. Claire was so tired after her morning romp in the waves, so I didn't feel bad leaving her for a few hours. She needed the rest!

 

 

I know some of y'all are connected with us on our Facebook page, but for those of you who aren't, you need to know that part of my mother's preparation for our arrival included putting sheets all over the furniture to "protect" them from Claire's fur. Clearly, we never had dogs growing up. Anyway, Claire's new favorite lookout is the window behind the sheeted couch, which gives her a good view of one side of our neighborhood (and, more importantly, of the squirrels and rabbits), so she's been spending a lot of time here. Again, please note the happy tail.

 

 

Interestingly enough, my mom forgot to cover one chair in the house, which has become a great place for naps. Claire is smart enough to curl up here when my mom isn't home. I don't have the heart to tell her to get off, especially when she's as cute as she is. Who wants to disturb a comfortable dog, anyway? Not me. That's just mean!

 

 

 

Of course, I still have to work during the week (though I'm so thankful that I can work remotely!), but Claire and I have settled into a routine that seems to be working well. My "office" is in a room that I only go into while I'm working - I thought that would help Claire understand that I can't play when we're there. We get up in the morning and go for a long walk, eat breakfast, and do a little training, and then I get the work day started. Claire hangs out with me and naps until lunch, alternating between the floor, the couch, and this cozy little pallet that I've set up for her next to my desk.

 

 

 

I've got an hour break for lunch, so after grabbing some food, Claire and I spend some time playing frisbee, going running, and doing more training. After she's gotten out some energy, she's ready to lounge around while I finish up the second half of the work day. At night, we've been heading to the beach after most of the tourists have left, and we'll go for another long walk/run so I can unwind and Claire can get back outside for a bit. Then it's time for dinner and playtime (she likes to play tug with her stuffed animals, and four of them have already succombed to her destruction), and then we hang out with my mom and her boyfriend before calling it a night.

 

 

The other night we went for a walk at the Harbor instead of at the beach - mainly because I was feeling nostalgic for a place where my friends and I hung out a lot when we were in high school. There were a couple other dogs around and Claire did really well by not reacting to them. I was so proud of her! Anyway, while we were walking on the docks, Claire saw ducks for the first time EVER and was absolutely fascinated by them. She didn't cry or whine or bark, she just sat there transfixed. Birds in the water? Who would've thought!

 

So, now you know what we've been up to and where we've been lately! I'll be posting again next weekend, for sure. And of course I'll share more pictures too. Hope you all are well and have been enjoying your summer!

 

what we're looking forward to.

So. After doing a lot of thinking and planning and talking things through, I have decided that Claire and I are going to go home to Cape Cod for a few weeks this summer. Like... for a whole five of them. It'll take two days to drive there and two days to drive back, but Claire did great on the trip home in 2011, so I think she'll be great this time too. I'll be working remotely, so I won't have to use any vacation days or anything. And when I'm not working, I plan on taking Claire for lots of early morning and twilight runs at the beach, lunch time swimming breaks down at the pond by my house, weekend walks on the bike path in Woods Hole, and play dates for Claire with my brother's dog Lexie (and maybe Brianna and Asya if she's lucky!). And a whole lot of quality time with family. I think it's going to be really good rest for my soul, and it'll all just be so exciting for Claire. I'm really really looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I've been creating a wish list of things to buy before we head up north. I'm sure that there's a whole bunch of things that I haven't even thought of, so share your suggestions in the comments section if I need to add things! As for what I have so far...

This dog bed and bed cover by Boots&Barkley

which is perfect for lounging while I'm busy working.

This life jacket from Ruffwear

to keep Claire safe while treading salt water.

This 30-foot leash so Claire can roam in the yard
while I enjoy some quiet time in the mornings on the porch.

An extra set of elevated dog bowls by Popware;
they're so great that I think I need to keep a set back home too for future visits.

Any other ideas of things to buy for our trip home?

scenes from a sunday stroll.

My friend Carrie and I have tried to make plans to take Claire and Tucker hiking for the past two weeks. We cancelled the first weekend because it rained, and we cancelled last weekend because we were both so tired and needed some downtime. When 11am rolled around this morning, I texted her to gauge the "level of laziness." Not only was she feeling up to it, but our friend Patrick was too, so he brought Rylee along also. It was quite a happy reunion for the three pups - lots of jumping on each other, lots of kissing, and lots of tail wagging! We did three different trails and let the dogs play in the river, and it was gorgeous out so it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon! We'll be hiking one of the longer trails next weekend, if the weather's nice, so I'll try to get some more pictures while we explore. Maybe it's even time for an updated picture of me and Claire together?!

weekend recap (and a celebrity sighting!)

Guess who was hanging out in Nashville this past weekend. A celebrity, y'all: Lauren from Life with Desmond. And friends, let me tell you that she's as awesome in real life as she is in the blogosphere. Her husband is equally as awesome, and I really think he needs to guest post over at LwD, too. [And please feel free to get comment-happy on her blog to try and get him to agree to this idea]. Of course, I didn't think to get an autograph a picture with them, so there's no real proof that I actually met them, but I can promise that we all had a great time chatting for hours at dinner. I'm really hoping they come back to visit - and I'm still hoping that maybe Desmond will be able to come along too so that he can hang out with Claire.

What else, what else... My goal this past weekend was to spend as much time outside as possible. Claire was more than happy to come along. We hung out with friends at the park, went swimming in the river [attached to a leash, which wasn't ideal, but hey, I learned from last time], and took a walk through the woods - we even had a close encounter with a bold little fawn before he pranced off through the fields [perhaps he would've stuck around longer if Claire hadn't been jumping around and screeching with frustration that she couldn't go chase him]. All in all, I'd say it was an excellent weekend for both of us!

A big thanks to those who emailed, FB'd, and commented on this blog post from last week. I feel much better knowing that Claire's response is a normal one, but I've also decided that I need to engage with her more while we're together at the park. Over the last couple days, instead of sitting on a bench chatting with friends, I've been making a point to keep moving -- we walk around the park, run, play fetch, etc. I've noticed a big difference in Claire in that she not only plays with me, but she also has been spending more time actually playing with other dogs. I'd say that these trips have been much more fulfilling for her, so we'll just keep on doing our thing!

Hope you all had a great weekend too. Don't they just go by way too fast?

    

our bucket list.

So, by now, most of you have probably heard about this sweet story of a boy who created a bucket "lick it" list for his terminally ill service dog. When I read it, of course it got me thinking about all of the things I'd like to do with Claire in her lifetime. I have my own bucket list that consists of 90+ things that I'd like to do in my life [getting a puppy was one of them], but I decided to put together a separate list for me and Claire. Here are some of the items, in no particular order of importance.

1. Fence in the backyard so that Claire has more room to run when we're not at the dog park.
2. Go on a vacation to the beach, just the two of us - spend our nights staying at a dog-friendly hotel and spend our days playing by the ocean.
3. Share a cone of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.
4. Walk a 5k together [I'd say that we'd run, but that would be a nightmare because she would think we were playing a game of chase, and I would die of either exhaustion or of embarrassment].
5. Have my friend and fellow photographer Erin do a photo shoot of me and Claire.
6. Let Claire lead a walk.
7. Have a birthday party in my backyard with a cake from See Spot Eat, and invite all of her friends. Send out real invitations, hand out party favors, and have decorations fit for a queen!
8. Go for a ride in a convertible. [I'll have to hold on to her so she doesn't jump out].
9. Take a picture of Claire in a field of sunflowers. Print it on a canvas to hang up in the house.
10. Get a tattoo of Claire's paw print.
11. Get 100 followers on Google Friend Connect, and reach 200 followers on our Facebook page. [This is obviously a personal goal, but I still felt that I needed to add it!]
12. Create another masterpiece and sell copies to raise money for the Nashville Humane Society.

What should I add to this list? What's on the bucket list for you and your dog?

  

a tired dog is a happy dog.

I can tell that Claire had a fun day at school because as soon as we got home, she put herself right to bed. She didn't come when I called her for dinner, which was odd, and when I went to get her, she had completely passed out. I brought her dinner to her in bed, which she was quite happy about [as evidenced in her wagging tail] and she ate while lying down. I'm not kidding. There's that quote: "a tired dog is a happy dog" - it's quite true! And I'm happy knowing that Claire is happy.

You might be wondering why Claire is so tired. Well, this is what she did today while I was at work - and please note: this is the first time that she willingly immersed herself in the kiddie pool! We're making memories, here, people! When I got this picture, I was so happy to see that she was having such a great time! Courtney said that Claire would stick her face in the water, splash around, and then go zoom around the yard. She does that at the river, too - it's like she just gets so excited that she can't contain herself!

Share pictures of your dog's summer fun on our Facebook page - we'd loved to see what you all are up to!

   

stubbornness apparently runs in the family.

Claire was ornery today. Maybe it was because I left her at home for a couple hours while I went canoeing, or maybe it's because she's three and feels like she can be a big girl and do things by herself. Who knows. But when we were at the river this afternoon, she out and out disobeyed me by swimming across the river and scaling a cliff. It was only about seven feet high, but still. I saw her gazing longingly toward it beforehand and told her to leave it, and though she looked right at me, she still went and did it anyway. I called and called for her to come back down, but she didn't even acknowledge me until I told her that I was going to go home.

It wasn't until she started barking and crying that I realized that she was stuck and couldn't figure out how to get down - which is when I got scared. So I just jumped right in (fully clothed with sneakers on), swam across the river, climbed halfway up the cliff, and somehow managed to persuade her to jump into my arms so that I could carry her down. And then I didn't trust her to follow me to the car, so I carried her there, sopping wet, sneakers squishing all the way.

Now she's happily laying on the couch gnawing on a marrow bone without a care in the world. She doesn't even remember that just an hour ago, I risked my life in snake-infested waters to carry her to safety! But you know what? It's fine - because she's back on river restriction until she remembers how to do an excellent recall. Which we will start working on tomorrow.
 

every dog for himself?

If Claire was a person in a life-threatening situation, she would be the one to push everyone else aside to save herself. Bold statement, right? Well, I have evidence to back it up.

I took Claire down to the river when I got out of work today because it was a balmy 90*F at 5pm - far too hot for the park. Chase was down there with his parents (Alexandra and Josh), and he and Claire were having fun chasing each other around and wrestling in the water. Now, Claire can swim well, but she still gets a little nervous in the deeper water. So when Chase swam farther out, Claire leapt onto his back as though he were a raft. Which he is not. And so he went under. Did that make Claire get off of him? Nope. She just kept holding on to him, pushing him under again and again. I looked at Alexandra, and she understandably had frozen with a very panicked expression on her face. Eventually, by some miracle, poor Chase made it over to the shore, saving himself and Claire.

There you have it. Case and point.

pushing the limits.

My schedule has been a little ...different... lately due to unexpected circumstances, so I have been able to spend a lot of extra time with Claire. And this time with her is such a blessing amidst much the chaos and confusion. The better part of our days have been spent at the park and the river, and Claire has gotten pretty bold throughout her adventures. Her new game involves swimming across the creek, jumping up the riverbank, and going to explore the woods. I wouldn't have such a problem with this if she would come when called, but lately she looks at me - from the other side of the river, mind you - like, "Mo-om, this is soooo not a big deal - I'll be back later" before she turns away and continues exploring. NOT OKAY!!!! After two days in a row of such behavior, the Little Miss has been placed on river restriction. What does this mean, you ask? Basically: she's grounded.

  

sunburnt and waterlogged.

We hit record temps in Nashville this weekend, and, naturally, Claire and I tried to spend as much time outside in the sunshine as possible! Yesterday we hung out with friends at the river and at the park (check out some pics at the LWC Facebook page), and today was solely a river day as it topped out at 90*F.

I don't have any pictures to share from today's adventures, though, because I was floating down the river in a raft. That's right. And it was awesome! Our pals brought some inner tubes, so off we went! I was a little nervous because Claire has never had the chance to swim long distances, and I really didn't want her to drown. [I mean, that would really put a damper on the weekend, don't you think?] But when she saw me begin to drift away, she dove right in, and then alternated between swimming and walking along the bank with my friends' dogs while we floated down the river. She needed lots of encouragement, but she did it, and I'm pretty confident that she had fun!

It's gotta be tough to be a black dog in the summer spring heat. Claire gets tired so quickly at the park because she can't cool off, but when we're at the river, she can play for hours. I have a feeling that we'll be down there every weekend until October. And Claire has already had more practice swimming this year than in the past two years combined, so she's reached pro status. I wouldn't say that dock-diving is in the near future, but hey, we've got time to work on it!

  

  

the perfect day.

You know what day is my favorite? The first day that you really get to enjoy the summer season. There's something about it that just makes me so happy - longer, sunnier days... warm weather interrupted occasionally by a cool breeze... and finally being able to enjoy it instead of being cooped up inside at work. Interestingly enough, this perfect day showed up early this year - yesterday, to be exact. It was a warm, cloudless, 80*F Sunday. In mid-March. I couldn't wait to get up and get going. Claire must have felt my excitement, because she was up early too and was ready to play!

My goal was for us to be outside all day long, and that goal was certainly accomplished. We went down to the river with our friends for the first time this year, and Claire had so much fun leaping through the shallow water and diving into the deep! I've found that she is really a great swimmer, she just needs something to focus on - and for the majority of the day, her focus was on a very precious thing: a new tennis ball with the squeaker intact. Her little webbed paws came in handy with all of the swimming she did to fetch that thing!

We took a quick break from the river to go see my friend Brianna and her dog Asya [who you may remember as Claire's snuggle buddy from this post] at the farm that Brianna works at. Asya gave Claire the grand tour of the farm, and they spent some time exploring the barn and chasing each other through the pastures. Claire's excitement was palpable! She would run off with Asya and then bound back to me, jumping around with her tail wagging, and then they would dart off again. It makes me so happy to see her so happy!

We went back to the river to meet up with some more friends, but after awhile, it was clear that Claire was pretty tired. She withdrew from our little group and went over to the field across from the river to rest. I loaded her up into the car and she immediately curled up in the front seat and fell asleep. When we got home, we both struggled to stay awake through dinner, and then we went straight to bed.

Yesterday was one of those days that you just want to relive again and again because it was just so great. But with summer coming early this year, hopefully we'll have many more days just like it!

    

hello, springtime!

Today was sunny with a high of 75*F, which is absolutely perfect weather - I wish it could be like this every day. I love this time of year so much - it's marked with mild sunburns, a dusting of freckles, a lot of activity, and loads of smiles.

Josh and I met up at the park for awhile, and though Samson was having fun running around this morning, Claire was too hot to do anything. Her black fur attracts the sun and she gets hot so easily! We stayed there at the park for a bit and then decided to ring in the spring by heading down to the river. As soon as we pulled in to the parking lot, Claire knew where we were going, and she was so excited that she practically dragged me (slipping and sliding in the mud) down the riverbank. It was Samson's first time at the river and he loved it - he kept splashing and barking and leaping around! Claire ran as fast as she could from the shallow area of the water, jumped over the rocks, and took a flying leap into the deeper water! She certainly remembered how to swim, and she was absolutely loving it! Josh and I let Claire and Sammy play in the river for an hour or so, and then we took them back to the park for awhile so that they could dry off and get out a little more energy. It's safe to say that the dogs (as well as me and Josh) spent a solid six hours romping around outside today, so I don't blame Claire for putting herself to bed right after her bath. I'm as exhausted as she is, so I am not going to be awake much longer either! Hope you all had a great day, too!

learning to swim.

For a dog who is part lab, it took Claire a little longer than expected to learn how to swim. We had headed to the river on multiple occasions since she was about five months old, and she loved prancing around in the shallow water, but my sweet girl didn't learn to actually paddle those paws in the "deep end" until she was about a year old - which was around this past Memorial Day. For the rest of the summer, I only had to mention the river (or water, or swimming), and she would wait by the door for me to grab my shoes and her leash so we could get going.


When she first learned to swim, we were with some friends who brought their dog too. My friend's husband was part swim-instructor and part coach. (I apparently played the part of the overeager lifeguard; when Claire went in a little too deep and lost her footing and started flailing around in the water, I was about to jump in and grab her...) He shook a branch right under the surface of the water, and waited for Claire to grip it between her teeth. Then, when she had a good grip, he would drag her around until she started to paddle. Pretty soon, she was jumping in and fetching tennis balls with the rest of them! Now that I think about it, Claire's experience learning to swim was a lot like mine - minus the branch, that is...

Showing off her new swimming skills!