Making Marks

Scooter Update - My Guys

This picture was taken in June (hence the clothing), but I just had to share it. I love it!

In the last month, I learned how to trim Scooter. This was an adventure for both of us! I wanted to avoid the trauma of going to the groomer. He gets so very anxious. And it's pretty expensive. I'm sure I'll get better at it once I've had some practice.

Aside from that, Scooter has a different routine in the summer when we are working at home and vacationing. He gets a lot more attention and running around, which I'm sure he enjoys!

What is fun for you in the summer?

  

Scooter update - June 08

Scooter continues to add joy and playfulness to our house!

I've recently not had much time to work with him on tricks, so we just reinforce the commands that we use every day. I think the most helpful is "wait" where he doesn't have to strictly "stay". He just has to pause until I'm ready for the next step. "Wait" works a lot better than, "Let me finish opening the car door before you hurl yourself onto the seat!"

In the middle of the winter, I was tired of fighting Scooter over brushing his facial hair. This is his least enjoyable grooming activity. So, I had the groomer trim things very short back in January. Now he's more tolerant of grooming and we like the longer (more adult dog looking?) hair length.

Here's a picture of Scooter investigating on of his adoption anniversary treats. It's several weeks later, and he still gets a little for lunch every day.

Scooter's Portrait

Here's Teresa Burgett's wonderful portrait of Scooter on a scooter! She's often clever with word plays in her art, and this is no exception.

Teresa made three sketches and asked us to choose one, and this image really captures his personality. I was going to take it to work, but I just couldn't. It's outside my office/studio and makes me smile every time I see it.

One of the things I truly appreciate about Teresa's work is her use of color. She's not afraid to make the sky green and the sidewalk purple. Somehow it looks completely natural, and I'd like to be able to use color like this, too.

Thanks, Teresa!

Scooter Update

As many of you know, we adopted Scooter in 2008, and he has become a wonderful companion. Like us, he loves the beach. When it's just the three of us walking along, we sometimes let him run free. That's when he's truly a wild dog, running, sniffing and forgetting about us.

One of my art friends, Teresa Burgett, paints delightful images of dogs and cats (scroll down to page two). I asked her to paint Scooter, and she offered to trade work with me. I can't wait to see what she comes up with! I'm working on an oil pastel for her.

Next month I'll have pictures of Scooters one year adoption anniversary celebration. He'll get to scarf down some special treats.

Scooter Update for March

Here's our little guy in the spring sunshine. He's getting better tolerating the camera, but I couldn't get him to stand with the sun shining on his face! (Sorry for the glare.) I wanted to show him with the sweet crocus in the picture, too.

I had him groomed last month and asked for a short cut. That was a bad idea! He looked almost like a Labrador retriever for several weeks. But he's back to his shaggier self now.

The news for him is that he loves a new squeaky toy that makes noise at the slightest touch. I'm glad to say he refrains from playing with it in the dead of night! While this new toy is a hit, his favorite remains the furry football, as seen here.

 

Scooter Update for Feb.

Here is Scooter patiently waiting for me to tell him it's ok to eat the treats in a little dish. He's come a long since May way in terms of obedience and patience! (This picture was originally for a birthday card about enjoying treats, and Scooter did get to chow down on these eventually.)

Most of the time he's doing much better when we walk, too. My big goal for him this summer is a reliable "heel". There are times when he pulls too much on the leash: one time when we were walking on the snow, his pulling resulted in me slipping and falling on the ground.

I realize we are completely biased, but Scooter seems to be cuter every day.

Scooter's Monthly Update

Here's an action photo with Scooter furiously chewing a new Pork Chomp bone. He loves these!

Last month was a little challenging since we had to leave him with a sitter when we were on vacation. I missed him terribly, but he was busy on his own vacation with a little girl (and her family) who spoiled him rotten.

We've been working on a new trick with two flower pots and a treat. I put the flower pots upside down on the floor with a treat under one of them. I call him over and say, "Find the treat." He puts his little paw on top of the flower pot and tips it over to get his treat. At this point, he finds the treat about 75% of the time.

I've also been trying to associate commands with certain parts of playing. Such as "bite", "give," and "get it." I also hope to teach him names for his different toys (ball, cat, rope, etc.) so he can bring a toy on command.

My goal is not some robotic creature who solely operates on command; I just want to avoid boredom.

Scooter Update, part 7

Meet the Wild Man, AKA Scooter. I have been posting pictures of cute Scooter, well-behaved Scooter, and shy Scooter. I thought you might want to see another side of the furry beast who lives with us.

This is his "What part of 'scratch my belly' do you not understand?" pose. He also has the "throw it" pose. I see that one several times a day when he appears in my office with his toy du jour. He's definitely still a puppy, which is good for us. We want him around for a long time.

Scooter is a CockerShnauz?

Since Scooter was found roaming the streets of a small town in Oregon, there's no way to truly identify his mixture of breed. Some people say he looks like a Shnauzer and others think he's just a terrier mix.

We know a few things for sure, including that he has a double coat (with a wiry top coat) and his hair can get really long around his shoulders and rear.  As I was surfing around looking at dog pictures, I found a mix called a CockerShnauz, and this pup looked like Scooter's twin. I think he also looks a lot like a Border Terrier. We'll never really know;  however, I've been known to say that he's a very exclusive breed, a one of a kind!

Scooter Update

Scooter loves the car now. He nearly had a panic attack in the car when we brought him home from the shelter five months ago. His reaction scared all three of us!

We took baby steps: I just opened the car door and got in. He wanted to be with me, so he jumped in, too. After a few minutes, we both got out. We repeated this several times. Next, we'd jump in and I'd pull out of the garage into our driveway. (Repeat.) Then we took a little drive around town. (Repeat.)

Now he knows that being in the car means spending time with us, and he'll hop right in any time. (Yes, he's completely spoiled! We put his sheepskin bed in the car to protect the seats.)

He teaches me such great life lessons. When I'm scared of or don't want to do a creative project, I know I'll be successful if I take those little steps. Rome wasn't built in a day!