april 30 2021

 we is sold out... praises be !!!! purple board is up... fo r those new commers... the 2100 numbers in the "normal" board... go specifically to the payroll... so i am always relieved to get that number sold out... the purple egg division is for those extras.. and it is a second shatting.. where a purple dyed egg is boiled for a minute, then tossed in the air.. and th closest pruple number to the yolk gets a separate prize.

and sunday i am going to try and email each of you a "surprise"

however it will be no surprise if i screw up this computer and it does not work.. but i will try.

-----

i love my dump trailer--- .

there is no way we can keep grass on teh place where people walk dogs thru the pond gate.

2021 4 30

 

I used to have those flat stones or rocks there but unfortunately we needed those someplace else and pulled them up so there's a shortage of flat rocks ----- then I remembered Georgetown building supply right up there by where I get a sandwich now and again so I drove in there with that big trailer on behind -----I did have the usual three dogs in the back----- my car is boldly labeled service dog project in the back window so as I was wandering around the stone yard a great big 53 foot dump trailer pulled in behind me.. it was from Bentley Warren which is the place I go to buy sand and stone dust.... I didn't realize they supplied the stone dust to Georgetown never thought about it----

-at any rate I was blocking traffic so I started to move out of the way of this big truck when the guy got out and said.... " I know these dogs" at which point it looked like half the people who work there piled out to make a fuss over the dogs.. result of the whole thing was that instead of buying a whole pallet a very flat organized simple to use rocks----- I ended up asking the owner what he was gonna do with all those partial pallets.. and he said I could have because of the dogs.. I was thrilled because a palette of these rocks is from $400 to $600 so he started putting the partial pallets on my trailer and after he put on two of them he said why don't you come back for the rest because the weight  was getting to be significant----

he thought maybe I had 10,000 pounds on the trailer already.

so the problem of trying to go back for the rest meant that I had to get these off the trailer here and it was pouring out so I just pulled down back in full view of the puppy Hill camera and thought if I could just get people to take out a couple rocks at a time every time they went by maybe in a couple days I'd have it done and could go back and get the rest. I probably don't really need the rest .. but it's against my religion not to take something that's free even if it's rocks.  in new in New England.

Luckily ben  was here overnight-- so I asked if he couldn't stay ----it probably would take him only an hour or not even that to just drop those rocks out of that trailer which means I could go back and get the rest of them today we'll have enough rocks around here to do all sorts of things.. ..

 

Plus this rock project is a perfect project for COV people I mean people who would prefer not to get a vaccine we're going to have to work outside 10 feet away from everybody else -----

which should work out fine----

while my trailers hooked up I think I will go get another load of the topsoil and dump that and maybe I could go back to Bentley Warren who is the supplier in the area of rock type things and get some of that I think they call it tailings --------pretty much 4 to 6 inch crushed rock and maybe finally getting that wall repaired by the guest house.. I built the original wall very carefully with all the flat pieces of those rocks facing the driveway however......... it has been hit so many times by tractor trailers it has made me realized that it's impossible to build a Stonewall from the top down---- So what should happen is to take that wall down and start again at the bottom and build up. ------ I know from when I did it the first time that I was a little bit short of rocks.. so now if I'm going to redo it and now that I have a lovely dump trailer.. I think I will need another half scoop of those four inch things and maybe we could get that wall fixed before the summer is over..

--

to further report on my gardening episodes I'm sorry to report that the spreader does not spread the topsoil out of brickends farm.. Ben put about 6 shovelfuls of the stuff in the spreader and that's where it still is ----not totally sure how I'm going to get it out of there about gotta get it out of there not by spreading it..

however it may require sitting on the ground underneath it with a ice teaspoon the flick the stuff that's packed in..

it was a good idea that didn't work. and since it's supposed to rain for the next week it's a good idea that's not gonna work.  so the flat field will just have to go the way it is until we get some other idea.         I do like the green grass because when we first moved in here everything was gravel however years of horse manure

or more probably donkey manure.. and llama... and pig... and chicken... And cow and bull and calf and emus and turkeys and Peacocks and rabbits and pigeons-- 

they have all made their contribution to living green...

 

which .. as of today.. really needs cutting...

------

It’s International Dance Day and Eve was invited to perform with her amazing instructor at the Fred Astaire Studio dance party night. Sorry for the not so good videography.... 

Finn is getting so much more comfortable with people dancing all around him while maintaining “boredom” he keeps an eye on all those moving feet though! 🙂

Afterwards we gave him some time out of vest and he sure worked the room for scratches! Everyone is always so impressed by his good behavior and seeing how he’s all business when dressed and how sociable he becomes out of vest. And he LOVES Eve’s instructor! He knows right where to scratch! 

The video is too long to send via email but here is the link on FB if you want to see it. Hope you are all well!

https://fb.watch/5bg6MBCbNK/

april 29 2021

question.....  do we have someone in germany who could unravel teh  current rabies restrictions  again about  trying to get a pup  from czech to frankfurt for export.???  i really like the direct flight to boston... we did once try prague to lisbon to boston...i think that  24 hours is too hard on the pups.. so  somehow ...

.i also like the petair out of frankfurt. who are very nice and will go pick up pups... but they could get stopped at teh  german border..  there is a litter due there in may... which could be flown mid aug-- there is one other kennel in denmark who has bloodlines that could work for us.

it jest ain't easy to sort thru it all..... just have a look at the parents-- always lovely dogs.. then hash out the pedigrees which in europe has much more  to study.. and it is  possible to find photos of past relatives  and  show records. -- when did they die and of what??

----

meanwhile .... jiminey.. star of teh day.... went to  the hospital dr appt yesterday and was... darn near perfect. from jumping out of the car and waitng for what seemed hours while i made the only harness i had in the car large enough to go round him... i ordered these.-- my design... from china---mr moon... and because i had to order hundreds, i wanted them to fit everyone, and be comfortable.-- consequesntly all the straps are very long---- a good thing---- but held in place by those-- double back in out impossible plastic double rectangle...it is one of those... if you work hard enough, you can get it to fit pups to jiminey size.. you can not be in a hurry but it will get therer...

you can not be in a hurry to go anywhere now...i went thru the usual door...  not reading the signs.. a little man hopped out from behind a plexaglas screen and told me i had used the wrong door..-- back out and in.. get my temp taken -- mask adjusted to meet requirements....and plastered with a sticker"i have been screened"

2120 4 29

i made i t to the elevator where....there is a line... one person ( or family) per elevator... which is not bad for me with walker and tiny  little 150 pound jiminey... Gemini is really good at elevators ----on my left you go in and swing around and he stands perfectly facing the door and panting only a little bit.   at least nowadays I don't have to worry about a door opening and someone standing right in front of it who then takes one look at the dog and has a heart attack.. the six foot spacing is not all bad.. and it gives me plenty of room to inspect the elevator inspection sticker.... one of my favorite elevator pass times..

 

I wish they had inspected elevators as well as they expected me to get in the place.. I know that Bella and George feel the same way about that... becausr

a while ago before COV...  Bella s assistant and the school was not with her when Bello got on the elevator with a friend and with George... and preceded to get stuck between floors.. Luckily Bella had her phone with her and called her mother to say that she was stuck in an elevator with a friend and George and Rachel didn't waste anytime calling 911 who then took a few minutes to get there-------- one reason we gave Bella the dog is that Bella  does not waste time either turning her head off or filling it full of nonsense--- so  Bella.. being a student of mine----    there wasn't much to do in that elevator except look at the inspection sticker and she found out not only was it overdue for inspection but the sticker that it had was a rejection one..  fire department’s 3 huge trucks arrived- sirens blaring....they did get the door open.. and a janitors ladder got the kids out.... I did not hear the details of getting george out... I am sure that is a "one only "story of that fire department.

 

all of that was not wasted on bella’s mom... or me.. when I found that it is building inspectors who are responsible for the checking of elevators. Both bella’s and  the one that electrocuted me--- no one knew when that hAD EVER BEEN INSPECTED --- they only knew that the maintenance had been farmed out  TO KONE.  who was the manufacturer of the elevator.. but there was a big disconnect between maintenance and inspections---- obviously.

I can not ... at this time get into a dissertation about my life with building inspectors.. being “only a woman” –

---  moving away  from that fiasco....------all these kids that we deal with have sn atterndant.  --- a person to be with them during school to help them be able to participate in normal school functions---   this is certainly one reason that our dogs are so incredibly helpful because the dog stays with the kid---- as witnessed with Bella in  the elevator ---- her attendant was nowhere to be found ------way back when we first got going we interviewed a kiddo in a wheelchair who had an attendant in school who would constantly leave her sitting in the Hall while the attendant writing to an office or bathroom or whatever ------getting left in the Hall like a sack of potatoes so.. is a common occurrence the kids in wheelchairs.. it just seems so much quicker then they have to get the wheelchair through a door or whatever -----  the problem with that first kid.. was that she was constantly getting left somewhere and did not always get taken to lunch ----resulting. ..  she was very thin.. that was the equivalent a bella getting stuck in the elevator without her attendant-------the fact that--- if a dog did nothing else other than to stay with the child--- even that was going to be better than an attendant..

 

The other sideline here was explained very well  BY ERICA... Who now has Asher.. she wanted to be a lawyer but was very conscious of the fact that because of her neurological problems people would stare at her she ambled about but now that she has Asher they all look at the dog and not her -----the ultimate result in that was that  as first year law school she and Asher were King and Queen of the barristers ball.. and she has gone on to working in  LAW in Manhattan where she now has full confidence walking into a courtroom.. with the attitude of. “lookout world here I come”..

 cov is a money saver.........The possible exception of the infection called Amazon I find that the COV experience has pretty much been a money saver as I say there is that possible exception of ordering widgets from Amazon which will arrive in 24 hours..  I did find in my last go round with Amazon that they now have lockers where you can go and pick up an order and they are many and fairly local so I have yet to figure out if that means you could pick up something within a few hours or is that still at 24 hour deal.. For sheer efficiency I don't know of any system that does any better then Amazon.. I don't know if they ever got involved with the distribution of vaccines but somehow the relationship between Amazon and vaccines did cross my mind when everybody was trying to figure out how to get the vials out.. FedEx is good UPS is good but when you see some of the details of Amazon you gotta wonder is that going to be our third POLITICAL party ???

as they run around with all their electrical vehicles already... and the poor old United States post office still running around and glorified garden cartS

---

? garden carts????100 years ago when I was driving all over with crates of rabbits or Roosters I tried to buy one of those Postal vehicles which I figured had to get good mileage and had great big doors for carrying cages and things but by the time they give them  up you need more than a Briggs and Stratton engine to keep them  running ---they're pretty beat up -----   that is about the time I decided to give up the whole animals in commercial business.   and settle down to service dogs.

   which is which is every bit as challenging.

------

THAT fake meat sausage was not too bad--- when compined with a "easy oover" egg which was still goopey, it was not bad at all/.

 

april 28 2021

 i always try and find some new idea to shake up this  crowd--- last night it was cooking an egg in toilet paper???? nat'l geographic has  had an interesting guy  swinging from ropes 300 feet over gorges....with  unexspecting clients in places like norway or iceland... eating  bugs and swimming nude to catch fish... and then the egg...  teh guy plus his one client. are alone on these jaunts except for an occasional  helicopter pilot...

 they found a seagull egg so to cook it  they wrapped it in toilet paper and.. poking a tiny hole so it did not explode... they set fire to it.. and it got cooked !!!

now that is one we will have to try. -  we do have the ocasional egg  of unknown age.  around  here  with all these chickens laying them hither and yon... 
---

now... i do own.. somewhere a ghillie kettle ??

2021 4 28

 A ghillie kettle --  will bring water to boil within a matter of minutes using whatever solid fuel is naturally occurring in the area - sticks, grass, pine cones, bark etc. ! it is said---- by the irish -----that it can make a cuppa hot tea  in a minute with 2 sheets of newspaper.

I have tried that .. and it is not far wrong... Somebody stole this chimney concept with a quick fire starter for charcoal briquettes with a couple pieces of newspaper in a short pipe---- stuffed the bottom with a couple pieces of paper and somehow provide good airway and as the flames go up and into the few pieces of charcoal briquettes it does work...  the other place that I've tried this general concept is it is possible to take fire bricks.   I don't know whether regular brick would work but it certainly works with fire bricks  and by putting them in the square and providing the center chimney area open it is possible to get a very small fire going which will cause a pot at of the top of all this to get very hot very quickly. I had one of those going for awhile outside the T tent before somebody stole the firebricks ----   the whole concept of fire having a draft. causes plenty of oxygen to burn. I am shocked to watch people try and build a fire  from the top down.....  And is the reason for the hairdryer inb the bending metal project....... AIR is the key to having fires whether intentional or unintentional.. Houses with a central staircase over 2 floors can burn very quickly with that   central chimney .  Unfortunately I know about that one too.

 

So back to the man swinging in the trees there is a huge talent to the handling of ropes one year at dogfest we had Zach here. he is our tree trimmer...... staying on the ground   he could swing a rope..  can land it exactly over some tree limb 80 feet in the air.. By carefully packing his supply of ropes all he has to do is pull on that light rope to feed the heavier rope up into the tree limb after which he literally climbs the rope ----sort of walking up it one step at a time---- it was very amazing to watch.. but that's what this guy was doing in Iceland.. they introduced people to absolute terror.. of both Heights and eating scorpions and cooking eggs with toilet paper.. it's kind of an  interesting  show to watch and it is at the moment replacing doctor Pol frequent appearance.  that's that's how I found it.

 

I thought a rope slinging  set up might be interesting at dog fest.... and now that I have a proper hitch on my golf cart..  maybe a trailer backing up  “booth” might be interesting too.

Sunday being shatting day.. I am in my usual panic about  chicken bricks.    You all do such a fantastic job of donating the $10 for the number on the chicken shatting table--  we seem to manage to sell out most of the time as there are a  lot of you who wait ti l the last minute... I just looked at the board and usually there's 6 to 8 people a day who by a brick..

But yesterday 32 people got their number..  and when I look back over the last  10 years..  most of the buying is done the last three days.  which is always hard. On. my nerves..

But we seem to get there.

 

I'm always afraid but there are people who read this. dd   religiously..   and don't realize what this  chicken brick thing is all about..  so if it's news to you please ask anyone in the comment column or go to our web and click on the chicken and see if you could make your way through the memsic board.  And donate $10  

there are 2100 numbers every month which will eventually end up on the chicken table where the hens will pick the winners..  that's done the first Sunday of every month----

reese goes for a check up this morning... lynn will do that...

APRIL 27 2021

 

EVERYTIME I THINK OF BELLA DRIVING THEIR TRUCK......---I JUST QUIT THINKING...HOW DID SHE GET THAT OLD?????AND HUNTER????HE LOOKS LIKE AN ADULT-- WELL ALMOST... AND EVE WITH DANCING WITH. TEH STARS?????? AND JOSH DOING GREAT NOT EVEN WITH DAISY FOR THE 6 MONTHS OLD STAGE THAT I ALWAYS THINK OF AS "WHEW... THEY MADE IT"   every time I see a photo of Josh and Daisy first I smile (a big smile) then the tears come. The joy in his face, Daisy’s pride, the places they go! It’s almost more than I can take in. It fills my heart. As a parent I imagine the worries and fears and exhaustion of his parents. They must be so happy. The gift of this match is enormous, it is enough. You can rest on your laurels, you have done so much good for so many. Just look at that face! Ever grateful,  Sue   NERVOUS????   WHO ME????   YOU FOLK DON'T REALIZE HOW TERRIFIED I AM EVERY TIME I SEE THESE KIDS WALKING DOWN STAIRS FOR THE FIRST TIME.-- EVEN THO THE CHOICE TO LET THEIR KIDS DO THAT IS ULTIMATELY THE PARENTS... ...I KNOW HOW accidents can be so darn accidental..... LIKE SHOELACE MANAGEMENT.... OR....jpsh at teh beach.... you all are thinking how beautiful a smile. .. teh sun , sand, breeze. and i am thinking "did we get her trained in horseshoe crabs????" ... PRIDE GO-ETHE BEFORE A FALL.... MOST ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE OUR DOGS FALL AT SOME POINT FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS.... IT IS ONE THING TO HAVE A 6'4"  ---220 POUND GUY FALL... GENERALLY THEY GET UP.. BUT A KID WITH BRITTLE BONES????? I TRY AND MAKE IT VERY CLEAR TO ANYONE GETTING A DOG-- WE DON'T GUARENTEE A THING.... WE CAN POINT YOU TO A PROCESS WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE WORKED IN THE PAST... BUT ANYONE WITH ANY EXPERIENCE WITIH ANIMALS WILL TELL YOU THERE IS NO 100% WITH ANY ANIMAL-- NOR IS THERE A 100% GUARENTEE WITH PEOPLE-- AS A MATTER OF FACT I WOULD GIVE OUR DOGS 98% AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC ... MAYBE 42% -- I ONCE WAS SEVERELY CRITICIZED FOR DONATING A DOG TO A MAN WITH ANGER PROBLEMS-- HE HATED PEOPLE.. BUT LOVED HIS DOG.... SOMEHOW I DID NOT THINK THAT TO BE A PROBLEM...  AND THEN THERE IS THE GUY WHO ARRIVED IN OUR OFFICE JUST HAVING SURVIVED SUICIDE BECAUSE THE KNOT IN THE ROPE DID NOT HOLD.. ONE OF OUR DOGS LITERALLY CHOSE HIM... SO. I GAMBLED.. AMID CRITICISM.. BUT HE HAS GONE ON TO PAY IT FORWARD AND NOW TRAVELS NY STATE LECTURING ON PTSD..  ( AND WRITING A BOOK "KNOT TODAY" - AMAZON). SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO GO WITH IT... WHATEVER IT IS.  GOOD OLE RUDYARD  "IF YOU CAN KEEP YOUR HEAD WHEN ALL ABOUT YOU  ARE LOOSING THEIRS AND BLAMINIG IT ON YOU  YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION !"   THERE IS A COFFEE MUG WITH THAT ON IT SOMEWHERE IN THIS HOUSE... ------------- SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW THIS STORY...  ..... 100 YEARS AGO MY MOTHER PUT UP POEMS ON OUR MIRRORS EVERY WEEK TO MEMORIZE... AND IN THE HALL WAS RUDYARD KIPLING'S "IF". .. WE GOT $10 FOR MEMORIZING  THAT.... THAT WAS A LOT OF MONEY BACK WHEN $10 WOULD TAKE A FAMILY OF 5 TO DINNER AT A SPAGETTI JOINT “JOE’s”   ON A FRIDAY NIGHT.-- THE REST OF THAT STORY IS -----ONCE IN A WHLE MY FATHER WOUDL FORGET TO CASH A CHECK AND WANT TO BORROW MY $10 usually to go to dinner with another couple....-- SO I WOULD LOAN IT TO HIM FOR 10 CENTS A day. And hope he forgot for a few days.... ********-thus was my introduction to banking.  The plastic netting is holding the chickens off the newly seeded gras area for the new puppy pen...  7 feet tall... it is nearly invisable---- no dog has run into it full tilt yet... so it may be something to consider on the long runn maybe folding it back in half?   DecisionS around here must remain flexable. You all may also know I have a mouse/rat management plastic tub.... being the expert at the setting of the rat  trap..... I wait for judy to ask ( and I am told gizelle and family are back)  so to get hold of judy to set in motion the setting of rat traps... her special email is sdpvisits@gmail.com   Well-----I also have a plastic tub of 50 years of hose connecdtions,, historically if we needed a short hose I bought the shortest easily available. 25 feet.... we needed about a 5 foot hose and just dragged the rest around thru whatever.... it took me30 years of collecting “fittings”  to realize I had all the makings of brass quick connects to alter the size of the hose from25 feet to 5  five footers.........thus eliminating the drag component...and evenbettter eliminating the eliminated stuff it was getting dragged thru. Also kennels 1 thru 10  - some had brass quick connects.. some plastic that almost fit and didn’t spray too much.... -- seeing as the Ipswich river has been declared as one of the 10  most threatened water source in the country , spent  1 day so far making my shoulders ache from pushing those connections on the hose so our leaking dribble will do our part to  save the river. Which..... here we go.....  we borrow water ?????  we get it from wells... run it thru some system ( including us) and put it back in the ground somewhere not close to the wells.... and the ground sifts it back to clean????? Very closely related to  if you are at the very peak of the  rocky mountains. Any “fluids” released..... will go to which ocean ....... Atlantic or pacific?

..we need to get back and finish the pawprint project..... PLUS... GO BUY A CHICKEN BRICK OFF OUR WEB....

april 26 2021

TRAINING...... 

2021 4 26

Dog training is sorting out purity of thought.

 

I have just done exactly what I've told you people never to do------ I have very carefully taught lockie not to retrieve anything----- I have done this before---- I do it every once in a while and it's bad .. the exact details ??? -----he's mouthy so I threw one of my brand new monkey fists across the floor and he chased it and he picked it up and I said good boy good boy good boy and as he came toward me he dropped it and I said that was good boy   I picked it up and TOSSED IT.... said go get it again ------ wrong ...Because in his head the last good boy good boy good boy I said was just after he dropped it so now he's got it in his head that he's a good boy to drop it and in my head I'm thinking Oh no just a few minutes ago he went and got it but that's long gone out of his head ----he's dealing only with the current set of instructions which was to drop it now I can't even put the thing in his mouth -------I've been this road so many times before it's pitiful ------I get so excited that they've actually picked something up in their mouth that I praise them too many times that it's often after they've dropped it ..

 case in point----getting the basket for mail call...... JIMINEY----- again mouthy dog ----pick up anything --run around with it and I hit the wrong button at the wrong time and praised him just as he dropped it so he figured dropping whatever he had in his mouth was the critical thing.  So in his head....maybe he wasn't supposed to pick it up --------I finally spent a lot of time putting the basket in his mouth and praising praising praising as I tell him to hold it and then taught him to drop it at which point he got it------- he figured out the good thing was to drop it when he was told to drop it ... it got further complicated by my setting the basket on a shelf and tell him no don't don't pick it up just now ...so the way it is now works is if we put it up on a shelf he won't touch it ------if we put it on the floor he'll grab it and come bring it to me for Mail call --------you gotta be very careful what you're teaching these dogs because he was very carefully taught not to take something off the shelf----- so that don't wonder why he refuses to pick up the basket if it's sitting on a shelf--------- 

there is that purity of thought that sometimes is difficult to sort out ...I have a feeling that the first time lockie picked up the monkey fist and ran into the living room with it I said “ Judy he's got my monkey fist”. or whatever ----forgetting that she would very rightly take it from him and bring it to me which apparently she did and probably said oh give it to me ---being good boy ---so we let go of it there again that let it go of it was the critical part THAT he got praised for doing and NOW he will NOT pick it up at all he won't even let me put it in his mouth AND TURNS HIS HEAD SIDEWAYS WHEN I PICK IT UP CLEARLY TELLILNG ME..” YOU are nuts !!”

 

the current result in my training effort is... I finally got him to lie down and chew on the monkey fist... the phone rang.. wrong number..and by the time I turned around h e had eaten the rope handle.—it is 6 inches of ¼ inch cotton... I hope it goes thru.

Here's another training faux pas of which I'm not usually guilty ....many people teach their dog to lie down for example------ and they give him a cookie and they walk away--- I have two problems with that -----once you start feeding cookies you've tuned the dogs head to l the cookies and not whatever they're supposed to be learning-------- so I find that even carrying cookies is detrimental to actually learning anything ----but the second problem and even worse is that most people walk away and forget the dog or continue talking or whatever and the dog finally gets up and wanders off------ well in that case what you've taught the dog to do is to decide for himself when he can stop doing whatever you've told him to do---------- that can be a very difficult thing to overcome --- so if you've given a dog a command of some kind you really have to pay attention to the fact that you need to tell them when they are released from that command with an OK or in polite society it's always impressive to say” thank you you can go now “---I have watched obedience training classes where they don't tell the dog when they're off duty and that can be very confusing and confusion.  can just mean months of trying to undo what you did by mistake like telling lockie he was a good boy for dropping them monkey fist .

I do have a feeling ----that if you very carefully plan the young puppy as we try to do with spoon feeding . you're basically programming the young pup to learn and part of that learning is to know when it's recess or they can go do something else ..... my way of releasing is to say OK but more often is to spread my fingers and wave it in front of their faces 'cause I'm very often dealing with more than one puppe at a time .

---

with that mind I really must be in on the 4:00 o'clock feeding ---- yesterday it was a disaster ..well the real problem is cindy is entirely too short to deal with four great Danes all at once and carry food dishes ... it should be absolutely no problem and I think I better pay attention to that for a few days--- what should happen is we. should put out the feeders---- those raised feeders that we use---- put a dog at each one and tell him to stay there ---then go get the dishes ---otherwise you have a potential dogfight going on again and we already know that that can be a problem ----it didn't evolve into a dogfight yesterday ----chaos very nicely let locky eat her dinner because by then she'd stuck her face in somebody else's --- it was not a controlled situation .. the presence of food in itself can cause a flashpoint for dog behavior ----so it's the ideal time to get control of it ..

that's why so many places have you teach the dog to sit then you put the food down and tell him it's OK to eat it and that routine is fine I need to get ahead of that one ----at one point yesterday there were all six dogs in the living room ---- that's a lot ---- probably not the best idea in the world ----  as it turned out we finally took CC down to the barn as she's the least controllable of the whole bunch---- she's like her mother .

Photo op of the day is Josh at the beach...  look at that smile both Josh is and the dog Daisy------ happy dog ---happy kid  perfect situation---- now to try and figure out -----which of the next bunch of pups could be a kids dog ... they gotta be pretty bombproof and the kid has to take care of the dog so they become a bonded pair

----

Good morning! Josh and Daisy enjoyed an afternoon at the beach on Friday. Never has he been able to explore the water, tide pools and shoreline debris completely on his own two (plus her four) feet! Thank you to everyone at SDP 

APRIL 25 2021

 i wonder if the news about  having to bring your own oxygen tank to the hospital in india... will have any effect on the people in japan carrying signs saying cov is a fake.---- personally... i am pleased to be one of the ones to wear the badge of " i took mine in the arm..."  and  around SDP.  as teh  younger and younger become eligible.. i hear comments like "i got the first!!!" 

the "taking it in the  arm". sticker made me wonder... if 43% of americans are still not intending to get the shot in the arm....... what would be teh percentage if  this shot required you get it in your rear...  saturday night live would have a field day.

oxygen-- one of my favorite things.. along with water.. so back when this stared i came to a "sale" on those personal o2 generators... so i bought one... and since then i have inherited a second one.  which i may have to loan to choas who is having breathing problems........ she is having to struggle to climb the hill.     i want to try teh wagon today if i can get someone to help before it rains... it will be necessary to explain to her what we are doing and why....  because as bright as she is... which is significant, i don't think  she can forsee a future event... like ..." here i am at the bottom of the darn hill and now she wants to play with  getting me in a cart????" .. altho ever since teh tree episode where both bailey and chaos were photographed  on the tree limb for teh calendar....she has got to the point of -- like yesterday... when her rear gave out gettin g onto the sofa.she sat and waited for someoen /me... to help lift her up.. a more inexperienced dog would have turned quickly and rushed out of  a situation where they could be deamed vulernable by other dogs and subject to attack.  most animals are like that.  

the zoo... in columbus... had a situation where one of the wild reindeer ?bulls?    needed a hoof trim so they shot a traquilizer dart and he  slouched down falling asleep... while the crew franitcally  chased away all the rest of teh reindeer bulls who thought " great now we can eliminate him" 

back to chaos... and bentley--- he has gone thru a stage of not jumping into the car... but if i stand  on his right, he will get both front feet in then wait for me to place one rear foot on the  step.. at which  point he just lifts hinself in.  he knows.. and waits... we need to achieve this level  of understanding with chaos  about tthe little wagon....  which is almost too small for lying down... but my test case.... ... sizzle.. was comfortable sitting...

so there will have to be a "why do i have to do this when i am already in trouble." ...  this is where if i can just convince her to have faith, she will quickly see the benefit.. i wish i cou d do it on camera, because it will be interesting... but i can not ask her to go down to the puppy hill camera- which will be an exhausting trip in itself... once she understands. then i will bring her down... assuming we get that far.

it is also supposed to rain at some point.  chaos does not do rain./ i just checked teh radar.. ? rain??? it is the dark gree  yellow blob  of rain til late afternoon.... so maybe then.

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at least teh puppy tipi  soon to be grassy. area will get wet....

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animals and their understanding.... there are horses ... then there are mules and donkeys....  the only horse i ever saw that would do anything constructive on it's own was roy roger's "trigger". who i now realize only ran from A to B and photoshop did the rest..

for those oldtimers who were  fortunate to know m"mary" around here...will remember the photos of  her studying the table saw when the carpenters were helping with the kennel building. there were thousands of times she pulled off something far beyond th capabilities of a horse.  one of which was to pull an antique wagon in ipswich 350th aniversary parade..... WITH NO PRACTICE????  5 POUNDS OF CARROTS 

A 6-year-old mule is being hailed a hero after leading two hikers to his owner who had fallen off during a trail ride and was injured as a result.

Isn't it unique that as big as Clyde is and how close he gets to the goats or Harley, he NEVER steps or even accidently bumps into them. He is such a sweetie.  YUP... A MULE...

ALTERNATELY... IF YOU DON'T UNDERTSTAND THEM YOU CAN BE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE OF A BATTLE OG IQ's 

AND SOMETIMES TEH DONKEYS WIN.

apr 24 2021

 i know more about.  grass today than i knew yesterday.. the plan for the puppy pen.  was/is.... to cover with topsoil out of brick ends farm i got 2 dumpp trailers full... it is an interesting place to google. between the cafeteria leftovers from harvard and bu.  plus  the local horse shlt - the combination makes the grass grow green..and puppies very educated...

as for the seed... what i uisually do is cover it with rye-- really cheap... grows very quickly only once---and then cover with normal grass seed which will continue to  grow next spring.

i planned to  put the 7 foot netting around to keep the chickens off it.. but since ben  got drafted for overnight duty,   i had no help yesterday... impatiernt that i can be... i wondered if teh chickens would eat the  seed.. so i expiremented with the rye...

the answer to that question is... yup... they eat seed-- i can not immagine they ate it all, but clearly i need to get teh fence up today to get  seeded and ahead of tomorrows rain.

i don't know.  if you can see it with the puppy hill camera... but i put sand in teh 14'circle where the tipi will go... it should be a nice place to sit and talk with pups...

we may have to address teh chicken  population...i do enjoj the guinnea hens-- they are so pompus and official looking...as they race around  making a heck of a racket-- eating ticks as they go.  the seed damaging bunch are the hens... and they visiting significant otheres.   of which we now apparently have 6-- it is supposed to be impossibel to keep them like that---i am told we would  have fights- so far all we have is a very noisy barnyard... with at least 2 of the roosters being people chasers.  three are a bona fied  childs pet.  i think the logic is.. if they were not a kids pet then they would have been turned loose in the forest as coyote meals.... but to be kind, parents drop them over teh fence in the beautiful  meridith farm where they have several pastures close to the road for people to enjoy  as a drive by exhibit... that is where elvis lives.  -- the mini zebu with golden balls on his horns-- and donkeyus and the other 2 white goats... etc. janine's collecton. meridith does not like  roosters.. so they get graduated to crazy acres-- where  i have lost count.

except i now have a fight between me the roosters and the grass seed.

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altho it is intereesting to have them all loose-- and egg hunts happen daily...  they may present a problem with sitting on the ground in the puppy pen.... it may mean we put up this lightweight plastic  netting as permane   puppy fence-- you can easily see thru it.. and it did last for years in the "V" puppy pen.  ( now the yolk house....

it was always hard to explain why our pups went from that  light weight vinyl netting to heavy duty chain link fence- heavy duty because they could and did push thier way thru the lighter weight chain link...so why not the netting??  i think it was because it was more like a 7 foot wall that they could not stand up on  it. or get a hole started... thus proving  that  the first step to any project is the critical one.;

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now there is an FYI-- i bet alot of you never heard of a capon- when i was a kid roast capon for sunday dinner was the thing...and i suspect why my grandmothers chicken gravey was so memorable.  that part of my family is definitely farm family--- and i suspect grandma or grandpa  and probably my father....  knew how to caponize a boy chicken ---so it would eat more fight less and  be more flavorful.. you got it. a "neutered" rooster was in my youth  sunday dinner.--and i am told there are parts of europe who prefer capons-- problem is the process is not conducive to mass production - but teh old timers knew what to do with all the extra roosters.

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somewhere i have a picture of my father driving  himself and  his siblings to school in a pony cart where the pony  had a shed to eat hay all day and then carry all the kids home again.  and we complain about  school busses?? 

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the chaos buggy.... i may have to enlagre it-- sizzle rode in it with out a problem. but she is more agile at turning around to get orff...  so it .. too is a work in progress...

GM CARLENE..ONCE AGAIN YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY WITH DD..CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH OUR “ONE & ONLY” CHAOS IN HER VERY OWN WAGON..HOW WONDERFUL OF YOU..MAYBE HER LINDA WILL RIDE ALONG..LINDAAAAA..

APR 23 2021

 here we go with another hairdryer special...-i can not imagine 99 % of you will find this useful..... but i sure found it  an amazing. project to have some fun with..... IN THE WIDE OPEN SPACES. -- COV STYLE PROJECT...

the problem is.... chaos... is getting up there. 12 YEARS. .. and not what you would call slender---well she maybe slender under all teh various lumps and bumps... at any rate -- getting back up the hill is discouraging to her.  i have seen her stand at the bottom of the hill and wonder if GOING OUT FOR A WALK WAS WORTH THE STRUGGLE WITH THAT HILL BACK TO THE COMFORT OF THE COUCH. AND INTELECTUALLY SHE IS  RIGHT ON THE BALL.... QWE WENT THRU THIS WITH BAILEY.. AND QUITE A FEW OTHERS.... AGE IS NOT FOR THE MEEK. TEH VARIOUS 4 WHEEL WAGONS.. OF WHICH I HAVE A FEW... ARE TOO HIGH.. AND THEN I REMEMBERED THE LITTLE 2 WHEELED DUMP CART I FOUND  FOR DOGFEST IN CASE ANYONE WANTEDD TO TRY  BACKING UP A TRAILER...  BUT NEVER  MANAGED TO GET A TIGHT ENOUGH HITCH TO PLAY WITH IT..  WITH  CHAOS STANDING THERE SAYING "PLEASE DO SOMETHING"  TIME HAS COME.

THE REAR OF MY GOLF CART  IS TOO H IGH TO HOOK ON THE TRAILER-- TEH ANGLE WOULD THEN DUMP CHAOS BACK ONTOT HE GROUND,, SO  TO KEEP I T LEVEL I HAD TO DROP THE HITCHING PART 10 INCHES.

WITH A RIGHT ANGLE AND 6 INCHES ON  THE TOP AND ANOTHER RIGHT ANGLE AND  A HOLE TO DROP A BIG BOLT IN IS WHAT I NEEDED... I USED A STRI[P OF  CARDBOARD TO  GET TEH DESIGN RIGHT..  I MENTIONED THIS TO  YOU ALL CP'S IN GENERAL.. AND GOT BACK THE DIY VERSION OF IRON BENDING... BECAUSE CHAOS REALLY NEEDS THIS WITHOUT WASTING TIME HAVING ME LEARN TO BEND METAL, I TOOK WHAT ASSETTS I HAVE ( MONKEY FIST MAKING) AND WENT TO MY HANDY DANDY  WELDING COMPANY. LAWTONS.. IN TOPSFIELD..   I WISH I HAD LEARNED TO WELD...... HOWEVER.....

2021 4 23

LAWTONS does big welding jobs like scaffolding and things like that but through the years I've gotten to know the owner a little bit so I just pulled around the back and sat there with my bent piece of Cardboard till somebody finally came out and wondered why I was there---- there was a little bit of confusion because the owner as apparently retired and I had new people to train to some of the idiot things I might have need to have welded ---so I handed my little piece of Cardboard to a very confused welding expert and explained to him what I needed and he said fine can we get it for you tomorrow or do you need it right now I I said tomorrow would be fine I was making great progress so I went away and in a couple hours got a phone call but it was done beautiful it's probably 3/8 inch metal absolutely perfect right angles holes where I needed them and a ring at the bottom for the pin perfect so for the cost of two monkey fists and two calendars and THE WAGON IS HITCHABLE....

Just a small aside I had pulled around to the back door of this significantly sized welding establishment full of large hard working men who were flabbergasted TO FIND A  little lady routine at their back door WITH the three great Danes .. Luckily the two men who came out love dogs and were thrilled to have a dog to Pat for a few minutes---- so after I'd given them my piece of Cardboard one of them stayed behind to help me back out which was very nice of him and I explained that if I hit three things in one day I had to stop driving but I could see he was very nervous I told him he should have been there the day I pulled around there with my horse trailer----- it had an awful time backing out but I made it sometimes being the little old lady with Cardboard patterns    has the entertainment value THEY’LL  go home and have a beer someplace it'll give him something to talk about

WITH buds ability to BOLT  it to my golf cart we now are making great strides to being able to get chaos up the Hill ..

 

I'm going to have to cover the wagon with that blue stuff that we have all over the floor in the living room from pig company   I don't know what they call it but it's wonderful it really sticks well and provides traction aside from that---- the little wagon needs a little bit of decoration----- I'm sure somebody will take care of that---- put on racing stripes or something ----because it is sort of a dreary black at the moment ..

so back to the camera person telling me how I could have tried bending the stuff myself .. I never heard of this process but I can see where it probably would work and he OUT

LINED  the details  with charcoal bricks and a hair dryer

How to bend  iron  if an acetylene torch is not available.  A CRAZY ACRES PROJECT IF EVER THERE WAS ONE.

You will need a way to heat the bend area to cherry red and bend them using a big vise and hammer.

The way to do this is with charcoal briquettes (used for cooking food) and the exalted hair dryer.

Using a Grill (or other suitable container) stack the charcoal briquettes on top of some sand in the container to make a ‘blacksmith’s forge’. Light the briquettes and apply a blast from the hair dryer, as needed, until the coals are very very hot.

Now bury one end of the steel plate within these hot coals to heat the area to be bent. The whole plate does not need to be heated, just the bend area.

Keep the hair dryer directed right at the coals and the buried plate end so it is heated very hot right at the intended bend point. You want a bright red...or straw color, if you can achieve it.

Apply additional heat right at the bend point, using propane or MAP torches if you have them. Use two if you can. The hotter you keep the bend area the easier it will be to bend.

Note: Rounded radii at the bend points is best, to reduce stresses. Sharp bends cause stress risers and are not desired.

When it is as hot as you can get it, quickly remove it from the ‘forge’ and clamp the end in a big vise with the long end standing up, and the short end clamped in the vise at the bend line.

With gloves! Pull on the long end and use a big hammer, at the junction of the plate and vise, to persuade the plate to bend over 45 degrees. Use a template of a 45 degree angle cut from wood to help judge when the angle is achieve.

The propane torches should be used to apply heat to the plate at the bend point while it is in the vise and being bent, so it stays hot. Remember, the hotter the better during the bending process. If it cools, reheat it.

Let it cool on its own. Do not place in water to cool. It needs to be flexible, not brittle.

Drill the holes to suit using lots of edge-distance.

Bolt one end tightly to the tractor hitch point with a big threaded bolt , big washers and one or two lock nuts. If it is attached tightly to the tractor it acts as an extension of the hitch. All the pivoting should occur at the trailer attach point at the lower end.

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WOW...  WITH THAT INFO ....NEXT TIME COULD BE INTRERESTING.

IN THE MEANTIME TODAY WILL BE TRAINING CHAOS TO  UNDERSTAND SHE CAN GO AND VISIT DOWN BY THE T TENT.. AND WE WILL GET HER UP THE HILL TO HER SOFA.

INTELECTUAL STIMULATION IS SO CRITICAL FOR THE AGING..