Thursday, August 31, 2006

Me VS. Mr. Skunk

Well late last night, mum took me to the elementary school yard next to our house for a walk. I love going for walks at night because that's when I can do my "hunting"! We walked around the play ground, the soccer field and then to the big garbage bin around the corner. So of course, I made my usual rounds around the bin to have a good sniff at all the goodies that had been thrown in there. Lo and behold, Mr. SKUNK jumped out of the bin. He took one look at me, and turned to show me his nice "butt".

I wasn't on a leash and I could hear mum using her loudest "whisper scream" (it was late, didn't want to wake the neighbours up) to get me to "leave it". However, my adrenaline was pumping, my terrier instincts were kicking in and I was ready to go and make the kill .........

UNTIL.........

I all of a sudden remembered my last encounter with a skunk who came into MY yard: it was my first time coming face to face with a skunk. I had only seen them while I was on-leash before where I couldn't get a close enough sniff or look at them because, well, mum had that scared look on her face everytime. So this time, when the skunk came into MY yard, I felt it was my responsibility to protect My properties (including mum). I ran up to it, grabbed it by the neck and shook it. It was dead alright, but I wished I was too...... HOLY c$ap could that thing ever fart, and right into my face I might add!! Of course that wasn't the worst part, the worst part was the countless tomato paste, lime juice, hydrogen peroxide bathes I had to endure and still I smelled like a skunk. MY house, MY bed, MY furnitures all smelled like the skunky fart. Everywhere I walked, people around me would comment on my "attractive" smell. I tell ya, it was the most humiliating thing I've ever had to endure.

Ever since that day, I vowed to myself that the next time I see one of those farty things, I will do whatever I can to scare the $&%# out of them but stay OUT of the shooting range!!!

So last night, even though my adrenaline was pumping, my terrier instincts were dying to come out, I was able to control all that when I came face to face with Mr. Skunk. As soon as I realized what it was, I quickly backed up out of the shooting range. However, I wasn't just gonna walk away from it since that's just not the terrier style. So I started doing big circles around Mr. Skunk while making that scary snarly, threatening noise that can send pins and needles down your spine (at least that's what I like to believe). Well, I think I got my revenge because Mr. Skunk just stood there motionless with his tail way up in the air, BUT he didn't spray!!!


I'm so proud of myself because I'm sure I scared Mr. Skunk real good, and the best part was - I didn't stink up the whole neighborhood!!! Needless to say, my mum was both surprised and relieved. She was surprised because she thought I would have just gone after Mr. Skunk like I would if it were a cat or some other critter, but I didn't. She was relieved because she was sure that she would be "de-skunking" me in the middle of the night, not to mention putting up with the nasty smell for the next couple of months LOL ........

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Meet "Teeka"

Ok, I'm writing this post AGAINST my wishes!!! My EVIL mom is threatening to give my knuckle bone to the raccoons if I don't act with proper demeanor................... So here it goes:

My acting class was canceled for this week, so mom said we were going to Buntzen Lake. I was just beside myself, full of anticipation ----- UNTIL ------- we got there and met:

The 4 months old "Teeka"


Seriously, my mother almost "melted" when she saw Teeka. She told me "Go play Sunshade" without even LOOKING at me, and went to pet Teeka!! I mean, what kind of mother ignores her own dogter and goes all mushy over somebody else's dogter??


To me, this is not an acceptable behavior from a mother, doesn't matter how ADORABLY CUTE Teeka is!! I'm suppose to be in the center of the attention ALL THE TIME you know?



I stood on the sideline watching my mother drool (literally) over little Teeka, and finally, I couldn't stand it anymore...... I marched over, growled my way in between mom and Teeka, and gave Teeka a harsh growl with the "killer look". Poor little Teeka (mom told me to put the word "poor" in), got my point and went to play with somebody else.


YES! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!


My ANNOYING mother wanted to get some pictures of me and Teeka together, so she made me "sit" and "stay" while Teeka's mom put Teeka into a "sit-stay" too. (mom is looking over my shoulders as I type and she said I have to put the following sentence in: a 4 months old puppy did a better "sit-stay" than an almost 7 year old sassyDALE who thinks SHE'S ALL THAT!! )


Uh huh, whatever you say mom, whatever you say.... Teeka just hasn't yet learned all the basics of being an Airedale - RULE # 1: ONLY do what you are asked to do if YOU feel whoever is doing the asking is behaving well. In this case, my mother was going all mushy over somebody else's kid, so she was not behaving appropriately, and I had every right to refuse her "sit-stay" command!!!


Anyway, so here are the photos:




Teeka was looking at my precious ball, so I gave her the "don't you dare" look......... (mom says: SORRY little Teeka... )



Mom kept wanting me to play with Teeka, but I absolutely refused. I refuse to play with young puppies, ESPECIALLY CUTE little ones like Teeka because I need to be "the center of the universe" and NOT them!!


I'll play with the big guys no problem,



or should I say Big Dales, such as "Basil"?



Ok, I have to go now, I have more POUTING to do!!!

Some other pictures from today

I was not happy about how mom had behaved, so I took my anger out on the "Bad Rockie" that won't float!!!



Some other pictures from Buntzen Lake:


Yummy stick


Ready to make the lunge......


OOPS...missed this one...


"NICE and CLEAN Sunshade.....good girl..."


Look at that, I blend in with the dried grass!!


Pardon me mom?? Did you say bones?


OK, I'm not mad at you anymore mom!!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

A Daily Ritual

**RATED 1A (puppies under the age of 1 year, please cover your eyes!!)

I have many daily rituals, and this is one of them..............



Sometimes I do it again with a "different" partner............



Sometimes I do it "3" or more times in a roll............ Look at that impressive hip action!!



And this is what happens after I've done it 3 times in a roll.................



Mom has no idea why I do it since I have NEVER EVER tried to hump a dog or a person in my life. It all started out with mom's......."pillow"...........for some reason, I fell in luuuv with her pillow. However, mom was not very happy about having her pillow humped 3-4 times a day, so she thought maybe if she got me big stuffies, I would hump them instead of her pillow. It worked!!

I acquired Mr. Gorilla and Mr. Elephant on my
4th & 5th Birthdays.


On My 6th Birthday (check out the cake), I got an Old English Sheepdog stuffy who is not as steady on his feet as the Gorilla or the Elephant..... He often tumbles over onto his side when I'm "loving" him.....

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

My LUCKY friends: Butchy & Snickers

Hi everybody....I'm feeling a little envious of my cute buddies, Butchy & Snickers . They are so lucky because their mom not only SPOILS them ROTTEN, she also makes them these:


Cool Denim & Faux Sheerling Dog Coat


Fluff Fur Fancy Dog Shirt


Fleece Jumper Suit


Paw Print Visor


Me with Red Visor


I love the Fleece Jumper Suit, so I have....*secretly* (dun't want ma to know) been in contact with Butchy & Snickers' mom to see if she can make me a pink one!! If you are interested in something, you can contact their mom via the e-mail listed on their Profile page (don't worry, she won't tell on you). Or you can go visit their Online Store .


Butchy & Snickers' mom can also put one photo,



together with another,



and MAKE ME LOOK THAT MUCH BRAVER!!


Photo: Courtesy of Butchy & Snicker's mom


You can read about "raccoon awareness - involving me" on Butchy & Snickers 360 Blog .

My hunt continues.......

Mom was feeling lazy today and decided to just take me for a good long stroll around the neighborhood instead of my usual beach romp. I was feeling pretty bummed out about it UNTIL..........................

I saw THIS..............



And I started to do THIS.........


The "Quiet Stalker", The "Silent Killer"


As of today, parental control is going to be turned on Animal Planet, and Discovery Channel. Mom says I have been watching the lions hunt too much, and am now putting what I have learned into practice. I hate to admit this, but mom's right.......


When I first saw the "kitty" today, the scene of a pride of lionesses stalking their prey flashed across my mind. I remembered they stalked in utter silence, moved one tiny step at a time......LIKE THIS......



They moved closer and CLOSER........



Until they got close enough to the prey............



THEN.......... THEY MADE THE RUN FOR THE KILL!!!!



Unfortunately, there is no picture of "me" for this part because my EVIL mom wouldn't let go of the stupid line that was attached to me............... I was so mad that I pouted the entire way home!!


Note to self: remember to keep the tail down next time - the lionesses had their tails down so their prey wouldn't see them.



No wonder the guard kitty was staring at me the whole time........


Here are a couple previous posts of me stalking/watching "animals":

Monday, August 21, 2006

UN-INVITED VISITORS!!!!

This happened about an hour ago, at 9:45pm...................


Mom was in the livingroom watching her show when all of a sudden, she heard all the dogs in our neighborhood barking like crazy. Since I wasn't barking, mom ignored the chaos. However, soon afterwards, mom started to hear the sound of my "bouncing off" or "BANGING" against my 6 foot fence. So she came out to the yard to see what was going on.


She saw me doing this when she came out:


And this:



From the way I was acting, mom knew there must be something behind the fence, so she waited while I continued to jump and bounce off the fence, taking pieces of the fencing panels down with me each time.


Then she saw THIS..........



OK, mom put those red hearts in, but seriously, those raccoons were NASTY and RUDE. They were making that tough hissing sound at me and even at mom. I could hear them say "damn it, that stupid dog is there again!! "and "how are we gonna get the bone?? ". So now I know where all my left over bones had gone to............ you b$st&rds!!


EXCUSE ME......WHO DID YOU SAY WAS STUPID??? So I showed them my POWER!!!


Boy did that ever shut them up!!! HA HA HA! I mean, if they wanted to come and feast in MY yard, you would think they would've asked "nicely", and not call me "STUPID".


Oh well, I wouldn't have let them in anyway even if they called me an attractive genius. Gotta keep my terrier pride ya know....... Anyway, so this is my exciting night, I'm off to bed now.


Nite nite everybody,


XOXOXOXO Miss Sunshade

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Acting class # 2

I had SO much fun in class today!! I "played dead" almost the entire time.......caught flies.........and KILLED a bee!!! You terrier buddies must be so proud of me right???

The class started out fine. Georgina, our instructor asked our moms to show her our "go to your MARK" command that we learned last week (you can read about class #1 here: DogStars Acting Class ). As soon as Georgina said those words, I sensed panic in mom even though she appeared all calm and smiley on the surface. Why panicking? Well because my L-A-Z-Y mom only practiced "MARK" (what we use) with me for a day since our last class, THAT'S WHY!!! However, I thought about the Maui Ribs that mom had sitting in the fridge, so I thought I would surprise mom with what I actually knew, and maybe I'd get some Maui ribs for din din.

So, after mom put the wooden block down on the ground, with her doubtful eyes, she told me "Sunshade MARK". Motivated by the Maui ribs, I readily walked two steps and put my one foot up onto the block with my third step. Mom screamed "good girl", then clicked, then treated me, or wait......maybe she clicked, then screamed, then treated me, or maybe...she treated screamed then click?? Anyway, one of these orders. Mom was hysterical and it was REALLY embarrassing to say the least. My mom needed to calm down. So the next time mom told me to "MARK" I decided I would purposely walk just past the block and stop there. It worked. My mom was very calm, a little too calm......she didn't scream, didn't click, and DIDN'T treat me! So again, I needed a change of plan.

Maui Ribs VS. being embarrassed by mom in public

I gave it a long thought and ultimately decided to go with the Maui Ribs. Oh well, what's another hour of public embarrassment when you've had to live with that for the last six and a half years right?

The next time mom said "Sunshade MARK", I again went right onto the block, but this time, I did it with two feet, which is the most correct way (one foot is okay). Mom again went crazy screaming and clicking and stuffing my mouth full of treats that I could barely swallow fast enough. We did a couple times more where I hit the mark with precision each time. Georgina came over to take a couple pictures of me hitting the "MARK", she thought I was a very smart girl too. When the exercise was finished, mom gave me a nice long ear rub where I let out a loud moaning noise (now that's embarrassing). She whispered to me, "Sunshade, you are my smartest girl!!" DUHH...mom...you are talking about an Airedale here. Apparently I was the only dog from my class to actually understand what "go to MARK" means since I went up onto the mark as soon as I heard the command "MARK" without mom having to do any luring or indicating of the block.

Then the FUN BEGAN when it was time to learn new tricks...................

These are the new tricks we learned today: "Crawl", "Head Down - and Lift", and "Shake a Paw".

Crawl - dog crawls on the ground and underneath objects

  1. Begin with the dog in a down position
  2. You may need to have your dog go underneath something as to give them the right idea to begin with
  3. Move both hands as to mimic your dog's paws moving while saying "CRAWL"
  4. When the dog first starts to move one or two paws towards you, this is the start of crawling (YEAH RIGHT...), click and reward
  5. Progress to having the dog crawling a little futher each time as you kee your hands low to the ground
  6. Once the dog is comfortable crawling on your command, progress to slowly standing up and requesting this behavior

So did I crawl? NOOOOOOO


Mom made the mistake of clicking and treating me when I was actually "pawing" at her hands from a down position (refer to # 4). Well, so I thought that's easy, I just have to paw and scratch the heck out of mom's hands and I get treats. I kept pawing and pawing at mom's hands, and mom kept treating me.....until that EVIL Georgina came over and told my mom not to fall for my trick. She told mom that I was just "pawing" and had no intention of moving my butt at all. Of course, mom stopped giving me treats when I pawed at her. I was wrecking my brain out trying to figure out what mom was trying to get me to do. Mom kept scratching the floor with her two hands in front of my face while saying "crawl". Had my mom gone mad??


Eventually, I decided to pull out my secret weapon trick that had never once failed me on my quests for treats - I played DEAD!! Well guess what, it FAILED!!! Mom did laugh, but she still didn't give me any food reward........ She just kept doing that weird thingy with her hands. So finally, I gave mom that "Ok, you go CRAWL" look, and went back to playing dead. I thought if mom was going to be so stingy that I might as well just be DEAD.


Dead I was, I was totally dead.....absolutely refused to get up. My eyes got smaller and smaller at the same time too.....


Head Down - and Lift - dog places head down flat on the ground or object and lifts up when asked

  1. Place dog in a down position to start
  2. Bring hand (with one finger pointing to the ground) close to dog's nose, then slowly lower hand to floor so dog follows hand
  3. Ask for "HEAD DOWN", once the head is down on the ground, click and treat in that position
  4. Ask the dog to "LIFT" his head with your hand moving up and your thumb aiming up
  5. Click and treat once the head is off the ground
  6. Repeat and slowly move your hand further away from the dog's nose
  7. Then begin standing up and moving away and asking for "HEAD DOWN" and "LIFT"
  8. Increase the amount of time the position is held

My head was down the whole time alright throughout this exercise! Except it was down flat on the side, which is my play DEAD position!!! Everytime mom got me into lying down in the upright position, I would slide back down onto my side and bang my head down to the ground and started "playing dead" or some of you might call it......."sleeping"??


I did wake up a little when some annoying flies were flying around in front of my eyes. They were so annoying so I started "air-snapping" with my jaws trying to catch them. Boy you should have heard the loud clamping sound I was making with my powerful jaws!!!


Shake a Paw - dog's paw makes contact with your hand

  1. Begin with the dog in a sit position
  2. Lure dog to one side as to off-set their balance a little
  3. Try to work on one side at a time
  4. As the dog leans to one side, gently lift the paw that is not bearing much weight, click and reward
  5. Continue to lure the dog to one side and dog will start to offer their paw to get the reward
  6. Progress to asking for the dog's paw without the lure to one side

Well, I get to "play dead" throughout this exercise since I have already MASTERED the shake a "paw" technique.


BUT THEN................


I heard this big BUZZING sound coming from the windows. It was a bee. That BUZZING sound brought back bad memories from before when a little, seemingly harmless, flying, black and yellow striped bug all of a sudden shot a needle right into my paw. I was just trying to "pet" it you know...... but the mean buggie still shot me!!!


SOO, when I saw this bee (what mom calls it) flying around in my classroom, I was determined to get my revenge!!! I ran as fast as I could up to the window, jumped, and grabbed the bee the first try. However, from my previous experiences, I have learned that you have to grab the bee with your front teeth only and quickly give it a shake and throw it down on the ground. After you have successfully knocked the wind out of the EVIL bee, you can than bite it, or pounce on it, or shake it with your teeth, or do all that, then watch it slowly go-to-h%ll!


That was exactly what I did to the bee who intruded our class!! OH, did I mention everybody (two and four legged) stopped to watch the Bee VS. Sunshade drama unfold? They were all cheering for me of course! Afterwards, Georgina came over and thanked me. She said "Thank you Sunshade for saving us all from...........a beeee..." LOL. I am so proud of me too!! (mom is giving me an extreme eye-roll as she watches me type this)


Overall, I think I did extremely well today, I mean I saved the world from a killer bee!!! Mom seems to have her opinions about how I "behaved" and "performed" in class today, but wutever... everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.


Did I get my Maui Ribs?? Well I got my beef rib alright, and mom said they were from Maui........

Friday, August 18, 2006

Buntzen Lake - my favorite lake

I have showed you My favorite beach - Kitsilano Beach, and now I would like to show you the BEAUTIFUL Buntzen Lake - my absolute favorite lake.



Buntzen Lake is usually jam packed with people and dogs on weekends, so mom thought she would take me their today when it wasn't so crowded. So in the afternoon, mom and I made the long 45 minute drive to my lake, which is located in Port Moody, about 30 kilometres from Vancouver.


Buntzen Lake is about 4.8 km long and covers an area of 182 hectares. It is the first lake to provide hydroelectric power to Vancouver. Today, Buntzen Lake Reservoir serves not only as a source of hydroelectric power but also as an attractive recreation area for public enjoyment. It provides the following facilities:

  • picnic tables, shelter and grass play areas
  • cartop boat and canoe launch areas and dock
  • canoe rentals
  • hiking, mountain biking, equestrian and nature trails
  • developed viewpoints and interpretive displays
  • parking and equestrian staging area
  • designated area for dogs
  • drinking water
  • pay phone

I couldn't wait to get out of the car after the grilling car ride, but of course, my EVIL mom had to put me through one last torture before letting me out: (I know the words "Buntzen Lake", so whenever I hear mom say those words, I tilt my head)




The "Dog Beach" is separated from the "human beach" by a wire fence that extends into the water.

Mom and I walked from the human picnic area to the doggie beach, and this is me trying to open the gate to the dog beach: (I really love my ball, and yet I don't like sand in my mouth, so I try to pick my ball up "very" carefully)

***WARNING - EXTREMELY annoying, childish sounding woman (my MOTHER!) talking.....might want to turn the speaker down to avoid deafening





I love the fact that me and my buddies have a beach that is specially for us to romp and play on all year round!!



The water at Buntzen Lake is always so clean, the air so fresh. It refreshes my mind everytime I'm there and I forget about all my "worries" and "stresses" (ie, my acting class is tomorrow, and I didn't practice ANYTHING...). Here are some pictures of me refreshing my mind:


This is me giving mom the "I DARE YOU TO COME AND CATCH ME" face........


Here is me chasing the rock mom threw..........some say I breath like a "horse"..

I made some new friends today!!!



After I was done socializing, mom and I started to walk the Buntzen Lake Trail which goes around the entire lake.


It is about12 km around the lake with some rather ragged terrains after you hit the north beach (dog beach is the south beach). The last time mom and I walked the entire lake, it took us roughly "6" hours to complete. However, I have to admit, it was probably because of me taking every detour/side trails there were along the main trail to get down to play in the water. My poor mom of course followed because I had her TRAINED!!!


Mom said she didn't have the energy today to walk around the lake "my way" (gee...what did she mean by that??), so we made it to our secret spot, then the Viewpoint, and turned back.


View from our secret spot, isn't it GORGEOUS??



I found this secret spot a while ago during one of the many detours I took. Both mom and I love this spot because the view is beautiful, and it is very secluded so not many people come down here. Mom likes to sit and relax here while I frolic around the shoreline playing with my ball, chewing on sticks, and digging for rocks.


We continued along the trail for another kilometre or so and reached our final destination for today - the Viewpoint.


Here is a picture mom took from the Viewpoint deck. The sun had already set behind the mountains when the picture was taken, but it is still very beautiful nonetheless.


There is a side trail just off the viewpoint deck that leads down to the huge rock below where people like to fish, or dive off the rock. I like to go there to smell the fresh air, have a cold dip, and fetch my ball and sticks.


Mom took "some" pictures of me on the rock below the viewpoint deck. (I swear she was asking me to pose every 2 seconds!!!)


I was ready to continue around the lake, but mom said we had been there for almost "4" hours and it was time to go home. She also said something about mosquitoes eating her or something like that........gee.....what's the crazy woman talking about? Anyway, reluctantly, I followed mom along the trail back to the south beach and then to the car.


I had no idea how exhausted I was until I got into the car. This picture was taken within 3 minutes of being in the car (not joking!!!). Guess mom was right to take me home.....


I did manage to finish my walk all the way around Buntzen Lake in my dreams!!!