Wordless Wednesday - testing out the new bike trailer

What do you get when you cross a Husky with a Corgi? And more kayaking with Bender

Today I spend most of my time hanging out with an old friend at her garage sale. I think I missed the rush, but there were still quite a few visitors while I was there. One was this cutie.

Her mum was keen to show off her tricks. Her name is Honey and she is a Husky cross Corgi. Can you see it? She had just been shaved and they weren't so happy with how she has been clipped. How cute is this beg?

Yesterday I took Bender out on the water in the kayak again. He was a fair bit better in the boat but I have to convince him that floating around with me is more interesting than what is happening on the shore. We were out on the water for about 15 minutes straight, and then when I got him out there again, he decided he had enough and jumped out a fair way from shore and swam in. I had to paddle back in and make sure he didn't get into any trouble!

I think I will win him over eventually, the idea is that we can all go for a paddle together by the time it gets nice and hot in summer.

A Famous Bike Riding Golden Retriever

This dog is called Li-Li, and he is famous for guarding his owner's bicycle and then climbing on the back for a ride.



Notice how he barks when he's ready to go! I was looking for videos of bigger dogs balancing on bicycles, and found this. It was awesome.

I also found a blog from 2011 which is mainly just photos, a guy rode across Australia with his faithful Kelpie on the back of his bike and raised $26,000 for the Cancer Council and the MS Society.

It's worth having a look if you want to get an idea of what the Australian outback looks like. Coffee is awesome too. Their website is called Carrot and Coffee. I would love to do a trip like that with a dog, but  my dogs are 30kg each which is a lot of weight to be propelling with my weak little legs. I think I need to borrow a smaller, hardier dog for the trip.

Spish Splash - Bender's first time in a kayak on the water

Today after running some errands we took the dogs down to the river - I wanted to see how Bender would go in the kayak when it was actually on the water. I think he did pretty well for his first time out! He has pretty good balance on the boat, though the kayak isn't going to tip over anyway, it has a flat bottom like a barge.

Here is the result of our outing:



Bender the kayaking dog! I think soon he will get the hang of just sitting or lying down on the front, facing forward. I will need to phase out the treats soon though because they make him go a bit manic just trying to steal more and more of them out of the treat container.

Barbie waited fairly patiently on the shore line with Nic. She did try to get in once but she wasn't all that keen on it. She doesn't really fit in the little boat as she is too long. If Bender really enjoys kayaking I might trade up for a tandem boat, but at the moment I'm happy with my little stumpy Bic Oaussau.

Flashback - Barbie and Bender play biteyface

They are quite sweet with each other most of the time, but Bender does like to bite Barbie's ankles. When he gets rough she comes and hides behind me, or squeezes herself into the corner of the couch.

Wordless Wednesday

Incompatible hobbies?

I have two hobbies that I absolutely love, but neither are very compatible with the dogs. The first hobby is cycling, and I do run Barbie with the bike, but she can't go very far, or very fast. If I had a smaller canine I would take him/her out all the time.

The second one is kayaking. I decided to buy a second hand, stable, short, 'sit on' style kayak to give the dogs a go at kayaking with me. It's a wet stormy night, so I dragged the new 'yak inside and introduced it to the dogs.

Bender was a natural, he was a bit dismayed by the sound that the plastic made when he transferred his weight, and it moved a bit on the rug, but he was OK with it. When he realised there were treats on offer he wouldn't let Barbie get in!

Barbie wasn't very keen, and would just put her front paws in. I decided that a bit more padding would entice the Princess.... and I was right. I had to put Bender outside though, because he would not hold his stay and would just leap into the boat before Barbie had a chance.

There is still a way to go to build her confidence, but I think I will also have to get her a lifejacket before I really want to take her out on the water. I will be taking Bender out on the water first I think.

Bell's Rapids Fun and Games

We drove out to Bell's rapids this afternoon. There were a lot of cars and people around the main car park areas, and a decent amount of water in the river. We decided to do the 'long walk' but the signage is not very good up there, so I think we may not have done the whole 'long walk'.

There was a lot of climbing and descending so we decided to let Bender go off leash, and he was a really good boy! He waited for us when I asked him to, and he came back when he was called. He met a very pretty young ridgeback girl who he flirted with for a while, but they were both unfamiliar with the rocky uneven terrain and I was worried Bender would hurt himself! He lied down when he was tired, and we continued on our way.

On the way over the narrow bridge, two small children squealed in delight when they saw Barbie, placed their hands on her back and ran along with her as we crossed the bridge. I don't understand what it is, but all the kids who meet Barbie seem to want to run along side her with their hands on her back. Does anyone else's greyhound get that response almost universally from small children? Barbie doesn't seem to mind, but I don't get it? Maybe it is because she is tall? They don't try to do it to Bender, if they did he would probably stop, turn around and lick them in the face.

Barbie did really well with the rocky landscape, though it was clear that it was tough on her feet and she was getting a bit hot and bothered. She decided it was time for a rest and found a nice grassy, shady spot to curl up in.

Bender joined her momentarily, but she was ready to go again after a few minutes. She got up and started dragging me back down the hill. There were a couple of points where she was going faster downhill than I could, four leg drive and all, so I let her leash go. She didn't do anything naughty, just continued along the trail until I could catch up.

We also came across a rock called 'Buttock Boulder' - you can see why from the picture. This was a butt the dogs were not that interested in sniffing.

There was a muddy puddle on the trail, which the dogs both decided would be good for a drink. Then Barbie decided she wanted to have a mud bath!

Everyone we came across on the trail after that said "eeeeew YUK". When we finally got back down to the river proper, I made Barbie stand in the water while I rinsed her muddy butt and tail. There was no way she was bringing all that stinky mud into the car!

She didn't really appreciate being washed with freezing cold river water. The car seats appreciated her relatively cleanliness.