Rapids In My River

My recent post The Middle Of The River had pictures of me way out in the middle of the Susquehanna River looking back at my mom. Well I went down to the river again on 10/8 but this time I was in for a real surprise. Everything had changed.

I like when my human sister goes with me. I get to sit on her lap. 

Heraclitus was right. It was a very different river than I had stepped into just last week. There was no way I could walk out to the middle. The calm flowing streams and ponds with stepping stones were covered by raging white water rapids.

And there were several people with kayaks checking out the swift currents. What have they done with my river?  I did some searching and found this article from yesterday.

 $4 million whitewater playboating park below Holtwood Dam tested, about to open to public. (click if you would like to read) 

Here is an excerpt from the news article. A kayaker from Safe Harbor said he .......

....expects the waterpark to return big dividends of its own. “We’re hoping we will host a world event here in the future,” he says. That would bring hundreds of kayakers and thousands of spectators.
Also, he foresees the park being used as a training ground for first responders in the region for swiftwater rescue. A vehicle could be submerged for underwater rescue training.
“I think it will be real good for the area,” Samms says. “The facility itself can do good for the community.” 

I am not sure where they will park if they get thousands of spectators. There were only 8 kayakers there when we went and the about 10 available parking spots were filled. We had to park way up McCall's Ferry Road at a spot that said "No Parking" and hike down. Really guys? You ready for hundreds of kayakers and thousands of spectators? 

Check out the video I made. I caught one guy rolling upside down. Looked like fun. I just might have to buy a kayak. Or a playboat. Or whatever they call them. 

Hey buddy, where can I get a boat like that? 

This post is now over but here is a bonus thought Papa Duke taught me. Except he used the word dog instead of man.

Heraclitus was right when he said;

"No man ever steps in the same river twice."

Was he referring to the river, or the man?  Or both?  Think about it. 

Columbus Day

You won't have to get the mail today because it is Columbus Day. Don't bother going to the bank either.

My sister Dingo stopped in for a visit Thursday. When she comes we always have a good time and get a great workout. She brought along some special soft Frisbees to play with. They are nice to catch and carry. Easy on the gums. She also told me that Columbus had a dog. I didn't know that so I asked her what kind. She said "Newfoundland!"  Get it??   Hahahahhahha. She is so funny.

Dingo brought soft Frisbees. Very nice. I am used to playing with rocks.

After we were all tired from playing mom got us together for a photo. We are not really sticking our tongues out at you. We were just exhausted from running around non stop for about an hour.

This is after we exhausted ourselves playing.
All other photo's were a blur, because we are both really fast!

My human sister put the following photo together to show how much we have grown. She is good at stuff like that. We are really getting big, don't you think?

3 1/2 months old already. Time flies like the wind.
(but fruit flies like bananas)

Below is a 1 minute clip near the end of about an hour of hard playing. You can see why our tongues are hanging out in the picture up above.

Have a great Columbus Day.

Roundup Practice

A snippet from an Ohio paper. They said it was "Udder Chaos".
They really did.  I wouldn't "steer" you wrong. 

Since the invention of the barbed wire fence there hasn't been much use for cattle dogs. That's why I decided to become a blogger.

I saw in the news that a cattle truck crashed in Ohio and there were 70 cows on the loose. They were asking for help.

It got me thinking. That could happen here. So I thought I should keep my herding skills up to speed. I need to be ready.

My grandma doesn't have cattle but there are horses over there. I thought I could practice on them. If you are good at herding it doesn't matter if they are cows, horses, goats, sheep, or buffalo.

So I went over to do a little honing of my skills. Here is a short tutorial from the Coopster on herding.

1. Get the big picture. Take note of the terrain. Escape routes. Plan the path and direction you will be taking them.

First you have to get the big picture. The lay of the land. 

2. Study your client. Take your time. Watch their every move. Learn their tendencies. This may take a little time. Possibly 20 to 30 minutes.

It is a good idea to practice on only one client at a time in the beginning. 

3. Position yourself. Slowly circle and get the client between you and your desired destination.

Make very slow movements. You don't want to alarm your client. 

4. Always listen for your owner. And when he says "Get back here on this side of the fence" it is a really good idea to listen. That means practice is over for the day.

When your owner calls run back under the fence as fast as you can. 

Whew! I was getting really close to that white horse. I thought my owner guy was never going to call me back!

Small Potatoes

Do you know what a microchip is? I have one but I really didn't know what it was or why I had it.

On my last trip to the vet mom told them to give me one. Why? I don't want a tiny potato chip. Give me a big one. Or maybe a whole potato. I like veggies. Those little baby carrots are good. I even like bananas. Surely the vet would have large chips. Or maybe even veggies.

Then one evening while watching the news I saw this story about Nika. A Toy Fox Terrier from New York who was lost for over two years. She was found in Florida and reunited with her owner guy. All because of a microchip. Wow. How did she go so long without eating it? What willpower. Click on the news clip to check it out.

How did she end up over 1,000 miles away from home? 

It turns out a microchip is not a snack at all. It's an electronic device with information on it.

Click this picture if you want to see more information.

My mom has my chip registered with HomeAgain.

I think that dog's name is Snoopy. He doesn' have a blog. 

Today's take away:

A microchip for pets isn't a tiny potato chip. They call it a microchip because its easier than saying "I want a monolithic integrated circuit made of semiconductor material with RFID technology".

Yikes! Danger Outside My House

I was doing my thing (chewing on an old boot) when I heard my mom let out a scream down by the mailbox. I rushed to see what was wrong. When I got there she was running in the other direction.

As you can see it was a harmless dead garter snake.

I saw a garter snake. It was only about 2 feet long. No big deal. And it was already dead. My first instinct was to immediately lay down and roll in it. But my owner guy yelled at me so I didn't get the chance.

It was good my human sister didn't step on it. We just walked that way over to my grandma's house right after dark the night before. Maybe she did step on it. Wouldn't that be funny! It would be hilarious if there was a whole nest of them living in the plant around the mailbox pole! Hahahahaha.

Oops! Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Sometimes my human mom and sister read this blog. If they get that idea in their heads they will never get the mail. My owner guy will have to get the mail every day. So if you are reading this guys I was just kidding. I am sure that is probably the only snake left in the entire county. I hear they all go south for the winter. (wink, wink).

Where are you going? It's OK. It's already dead. 

The most dangerous thing in the picture above is the toxic plant around the mailbox. I learned that from Dingo's guest post on Friday. You can learn a lot by following my blog. The take away from today's post is:

Be careful when you go out to your mailbox in the morning. You never know where you might find a toxic plant.