Now for something a little different

Yesterday we managed to take the following video of Louise with yet another fancy camera, one that takes video footage at faster speeds than normal. This let us get some entertaining slow motion video, you can see some on Greg's blog since he has been playing with it for a little while now.

This is also my first attempt at uploading a video directly on Blogger instead of uploading to Youtube and blogging it from there. I find it is similar but different, if that makes any sense. Blogger videos don't seem to allow text to wrap around them, for one thing. By the way, I'll also put this on youtube in case some of you are used to seeing the videos there.

So this video is a clear example of what Louise looks like when she 'licks her nose roll'. That's pretty much it. I hope you enjoy it. :)

More photos from the visit with Nikita

Well it seems that we have more photos to share from Louise's visit with Nikita. They packed a lot into just a few days, including a few car chases! As you can see, the 'car' in question is a remote controlled toy that Louise had fun running after. I haven't been back to work yet so I don't have all the details but getting emails with photos is certainly better than emails with complaints!

Judging by the pics I'd say that Louise had a swell time and got along well with Nikita and little Josh. She seems to also have found their sofa and blanket, just like she would at our place. Crazy little dog, I bet you didn't even ask before hopping up.

One thing we have noticed since getting back is that Louise has a bit of a sore throat. We notice it in her breathing, it is a little raspier. I'm guessing that with the extra activity and barking that she wore out her voice box a bit! Also, she only ate about half of her food while away and was looking rather thin. Now that she is home with cats roaming close by her food, I suspect she will return to eating more regularly though.

Thanks again Yvette for taking your turn looking after Louise while we were away. We really appreciated knowing that Louise was staying someplace comfortable.

PS - I forgot that I thanked you last post! I guess it's still too early in the morning for this sort of thing.

Visiting with Nikita

Sometimes Louise gets a change of scenery. We dropped her off at a Nikita's house for a few days and she got to meet baby Josh. I haven't heard any complaints yet, so I can only assume that Louise has been on her best behaviour.

Please please PLEASE don't embarrass us, Louise. Please.

After this visit, Louise will be off to the next place. It's quite a little adventure for her and I'm hoping she is enjoying it. Judging by the photos we got here, I'd say she is.

Oh and Yvette, thanks again for looking after Louise. We all really appreciate it.

Extra photos at the end of the week

Here are several extra photos that I took over the past week, but didn't manage to post earlier. Hope you enjoy!

At work on a Friday

Louise didn't get to come to work last Tuesday because I had a training course in the morning. So it was a lucky break when Friday opened up on the 'dog schedule'. The informal rule at work is that we try to limit things to one dog per day (there have been exceptions - sometimes it has been fine, at other times, less so).

It has been raining most of the week, so regardless of the day, I was faced with bringing in a wet dog. She didn't do too badly though - at least it was mostly water and she didn't get muddy. I think that is partly because it was 'Vancouver rain' which is to say, heavy drizzle most of the time.
Ever since the time change, I've noticed that I live in darkness. I wake up and it's dark - I travel to work and the sun has not yet risen. By the time I leave at the end of the day, the sun has gone down again. Either that, or due to the rain it never really comes out to begin with. Today was one of those days. Heck, it's been one of those weeks.

But enough of the boring weather talk. Louise was in the office today and was very excited to be able to come along. She ran over to greet Viearn, our secretary (who always has a stash of broccoli stalks for Louise) and was also able to meet the nurse we brought in to administer the flu shot to those who wanted one. Oh, and she also has slowly been winning over more of the staff. Not everyone was excited to meet Louise - snoring loudly in meetings wasn't welcomed by all equally. But today we heard from one of my co-workers that he started warming up to her when he saw Louise come into the office with her cast on. Nothing like a little sympathy to win over new friends.

Not that Louise really has a shortage of friends or fans at the office. We even make a special point to mention the dogs in our interview process to ensure that new hires are comfortable with the idea of canines roaming the office floor. No, I think part of why Louise likes coming to the office each week is due to all the attention she gets from the people working here.

Sea wall on an Autumn Saturday

Once again we had some running around to do on the weekend, so my Saturday morning began with taking Louise for a nice long walk. The kind that would leave her tired for the bulk of the afternoon, so we could get some errands done. The rain had let up so it was the perfect time to get going and I was able to spend about an hour and a half walking little Louise's legs off. Or maybe that's the other way around, sometimes it's hard to tell.

We saw the usual gathering of people and wildlife along our walk, which meant several stops by other dogs who wanted to take a sniff and say hi. No incidents to report this time, Louise was in a good mood and spread her happiness to all the other dogs, including the puppies that normally cause her so much grief. (They just move too darned fast, you see.) But there were plenty of older people relaxing on benches and that more than made up for it. Louise was having a good morning, to be sure.

When the weather is wet, a walk like this generally means that Louise will return to the house pretty wet and maybe a little muddy too. Since she isn't all that big, cleaning her up is pretty easy - assuming I am able to do it BEFORE she hops back on the sofa. Don't worry, nothing like that happened, but we have come close at times. Normally it's because she is excited to be home and see people again. A few quick wipes and she is allowed on the furniture again.

I got a few 'action shots' this walk too. As I said, Louise was in a good mood and in part that meant she was running around enjoying herself quite a bit. There are lots of open green spaces that she can run without too much concern, so long as she doesn't start chasing traffic - but I've complained about that habit too many times before. She was good on this walk, so we will leave it at that.

The other thing we saw was a very large flock of migrating birds. They would fly in for crash landings in the middle of hundreds of birds that were already floating on the surface, and then very soon after dive under, presumably for food. Dozens would dive at a time, and I managed to catch a bunch of them resurfacing afterwards.