second video
The second video: http://vimeo.com/3951846
Not toooooo exciting but I know you guys want every record you can get of the big brown boy.
Findog digs to China
WELCOME BACK TO LAND!!
Sorry to Finney's parents for not updating for a long time. I figured that since you guys were in open water for a month we could take a break from blogging. Oh, that and the fact that life is busy and since we are in a recession I am now having do do the job of three people at work while also helping with Cooper his stuff. It is ok, Nathan and Naomi, if you guys want to wait it out and keep sailing, Finney is always welcome to stay!
A few Finney stories:
We have developed a new habit of going a our own private dog run by the train tracks (when the trains are not around) and race each other...until Aunt Assi gets tired...then we play ball. Now that Aunt Assi works from home she gets to spend lots of quality time oohing and ahhing over Finney all day. I realize now how great it is to have a dog around to get me outside every few hours...otherwise I would never leave!
Cooper and Finney have a very strong male bond. This morning I got up, took Finney out for his morning walk, fed him breakfast then Finney said "Ass'n, I don't really want to start my day until Cooper is awake." So he went upstairs and sat outside our shoebox bedroom until Cooper woke up...2 hours later.
Tonight we went to the dog beach and took a bit of video: http://www.vimeo.com/3951270
I have another video loading...I'll share that one soon.
WELCOME BACK TO LAND!!
Finney goes to Washington
So, I didn't get to spend too much time with Finney and Cooper in Washington but from what I saw Finney was having a fabulous time. Although freezing cold he still went swimming in the bay and out swam the local dog pack. Luckily, the four dogs who roam the land near Cooper's dad's house accepted Finney (which they don't normally do to dogs) and one dog ended up befriending him like Finney was her long lost pal/leader.
Cooper and Finney have have an honest to goodness bonding experience...Cooper admitted he loves (actually loves) finney and even let him sleep on the bed with us while at his mom's house (every night!)...something he vowed he would not allow. Cooper + Finney = Love
Too nice out to be blogging!
Sorry we have not posted in so long...the weather has been too nice out to be by the computer blogging for a dog (ha!). Instead, I've been taking your dog son outside every chance we get. Saturday we went to the dog park in Richmond and Finney managed to... hold on he just jumped on my lap for some lap time so I have to give him some love...
Ok, we are back.
So Finney managed to find the one and only three legged pit bull at the dog park to follow around and attempt to hump...unfortunately he couldn't quite catch on that it is hard to wrap your dog arms around another dog's legs when his is missing a limb (plus the pit was wet so finney would slide off very easily). But, the boy sure did try.
Sunday we walked from our place in Emervyille to Berkeley then along the water to get home. There was mass amounts of swimming and ball digging in the sand going on. He dug a three foot hole and loved sitting in it when he'd take a break. All you could see was his little head peeking out. I wish I had our video camera.
Yesterday we went to a different dog beach and watch one dog hump another dog's head over and over (so funny).
Today we went to a different dog park and wore the old guy out.
Needless to say, we've been outside a lot. Thank goodness we have dog parks all around us and some amazing spots to go play.
OH! And next week Finney get to take a trip to Washington! Cooper is driving home and I'll be flying out for a few days. He'll get a lot of forest/mud time, no doubt.
Happy Holidays and Happy Birthday, Mom!
Well, with the crazy-busy-ness of the holidays, poor Finney didn't make it to the park once this week. :( Bad dogsitters... But the good news is that with all of the rain Finney spent a lot of time curled up inside by the fire, which he seemed pretty happy with (although you never know with that poker face of his). He is getting pretty mellow these days. I can't imagine a year ago being able to keep him inside with no exercise for a week and not have him go berserk.
We had a very nice Christmas morning at home (see photo of Finney's hand-me-down stocking). And the only time Finney went truly berserk was when Cooper and Ali showed up Sunday night to pick him up. Boy, does he love them. Holden even showed off their new trick: Finney stands still while Holden crawls under his legs like a tunnel. Finney doesn't really see the appeal but Holden thinks it's the most fun thing ever.
We'll miss old Finney, but I think Kevin's allergies are looking forward to some hair-free time.
Happy Birthday, Miss Naomi!!
Pine cone cake
Happy Birthday Finney! The Fin-dog is now 35...and older than Cooper and Ali so he is the sage one in our apartment. We go to Finney to answer all the tough life questions. On his 5th birthday we treated the wise one to a pine cone birthday cake (his new favorite toy...the boy is going all natural these days), a lonnnnnng walk at the dog park, a stocking full of cheap toys which he says are not as fun as pine cones, and an extra special dinner...his dog food with a little egg in it. We sang, we danced, we drank. It was quite the celebration.
The photos I just uploaded are of Finney the wet head. My favorite photo is when I caught him blinking...so cute! Finney told me that he loves playing in the rain so we played ball outside in the vacant parking lot outside our place (our new daily routine several times a day) for the longest time. We both came back soaking wet but it was worth it.
More video!
Finney has had a grand time during Thanksgiving...best time to be a dog, really. He LOVED the turkey liver...we saved that especially for him.
Actually, Cooper's family came down for turkey day and Finney was the center of attention the entire time. Here is his newest trick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9NKUeX8peU
Thanks to Finney I was able to escape the "chaos" when needed and take a breath of fresh air (aka a trip outside to pee).
Side note: his ear is doing much better. We were able to take the gauze off but not the tape...so he now has a tape earring on one ear. He gets lots of looks from the ladies. I take that back, I think the guys are giving him looks. We have found that Finney prefers boys.
Why did it have to happen on our watch?
So Kevin took Finney and Ella to the dog park on Saturday morning to give mamma (who was in bed with the stomach flu) a break. After just a few tosses of the ball Kevin noticed that Finney had what appeared to be a lot of blood all over him. Maybe I should have prefaced that phrase with FINNEY IS PERFECTLY FINE, THERE WERE NO VISITS TO THE VET. Yet. Anyway, in more of a panic than he might have been had this been our dog and not just the dog of some very good friends who don't have kids yet and so this IS their kid, Kevin threw Ella and Finney into the car (I hope he put Ella in her carseat) and did they rush to the vet? No, they rushed home and made mamma get out of bed (again, she had the flu) and get her to tell them what to do. Mamma's not a vet, guys. Mamma doesn't know everything. After spraying off Finney and rinsing all of the blood off I found what appeared to be a 1-2 cm long cut on the very, very tip of his right ear. All of this blood cannot be coming from that tiny cut, I thought. But I guess the ear has a lot of blood vessels in it because not only did it bleed a lot, it bled for a long time. Have you ever tried to tape gauze onto a dog's ear? And once you finally got it to stick on there and actually stay put, have the dog take one swipe with his paw only to fling the gauze across the room? But you have to keep trying because it keeps bleeding. Anyway, Finney finally gave up on that game and left the bandage on (see latest photo). It did stop bleeding and we still don't know where or how he got the cut. But let's hope it's the only injury until mom and dad get home.
Procreation, anyone?
I hope you two are planning to come home and start making babies because Finney is READY to have a little brother or sister (preferably both!). We surprised Ella at school with Finney in the car and went to a dog park that overlooks the bay (I think Finney's looking for your boat in picture 4). Finney didn't even mind that Ella has a weak arm and could only throw the ball a few feet. He happily retrieved it each time and let her throw it over and over. And Holden's runny nose is at just the right height for Finney to help keep his face clean (yuck). We finally got the boot from the dog park when Finney the Studmuffin tried humping the wrong schnauzer - her mother was not amused so we made a quick exit.
Trips to the beach
Old man Finney has totally made himself at home in our little apartment. He has his favorite blanket, his favorite spot on the couch and his favorite ball which he treats like a baby. He fits in very nicely at our place, I'd have to say. Perhaps too great. Maybe he should never leave. Ha! Just kidding guys, I'll give him up but it is going to be hard.
This past week we have: played ball every evening; he loves "lap time" with Cooper (see photos); we've gone to a couple of different parks thanks to the 70 degree November weather; he's been swimming a few times; we saw a dead sea lion and dead dog both washed up on different beaches (sorry, that was a debbie downer); we've taken a bath, actually just Finney did...I didn't bathe with him; the fun never ends!
He is also relieved to hear that his ma/pa made it to Cabo with Cyril and grandpop. He told me he can't wait to hear stories and really wants to go for a sail when you guys get back.
Back to Camp Skaggs
On the night of November 4th, 2008, possibly the most historic night of my life and certainly the most historic night of Ella's life, as I tried to explain the immense significance of the evening's events to Ella, the only question she had for me was, "Yeah, but are we still borrowing Finney tomorrow?"
And so we did. We drove to Emeryville in the morning and picked up Ella and Holden's play thing for the week. We made a stop on the way home to visit an old friend of Finney's: Kona the lab. They remembered each other immediately and Finney promptly mounted Kona and start humping her. It should be a hedonistic week for Finney out in the country.
Halloween! and some videos
Finney has been a busy boy in our new space....this is what we did when I had tons of boxes in the middle of our living space:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv0gZFu8Ylc
And this is what we do when we want to clean our floors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP5LGq_QOqw
We've ventured to several dog parks, gone swimming a few times, had long romantic walks at sunset (just me and Finney) and play ball whenever we get a chance.
Today being Halloween we thought it would be fun to do some dog trick or treating...but unless I was doing something wrong Finney doesn't fit into his costume anymore. At least the hat fit!
Tomorrow is our first stint at Happy Hound while Cooper and I shoot a wedding. I bet he'll be happy to have a little change of pace and dogs to play with.
Um, so we REEEEEAAAAALLLLLLLYYYYY love Finney and after only the second or third day here we decided we want to keep him forever. Sorry, Nay Nays!
Hangin' in the 'burbs
Finney had a mellow week in the 'burbs. We hit the dog park a few times. Finney met a Chessie cousin who looked exactly like him but she was at least 50 pounds heavier (a little chubby). They played nicely together. The week was spent mostly sunning himself in the back yard, trying to get that bleached out look he gets after a good vacation.
He went ballistic when he saw Cooper on Sunday night. Now it's time for some city action.
Ella: "I really like it when we borrow Finney."