Last week was the yacht club Sail School. This was the 32nd year Dave and I have taught at Sail School but the first one I wasn't able to stay at the lake the entire time. The high point of Sail School for the adults is sitting around the camp fire, sharing excellent wine to compliment the S'mores while regaling in the events of the day and resting rediscovered muscles. In the morning, while the kids who invariably stayed up too late are crawling out of their tents, the adults drink coffee by the lake, being warmed by the new day sun and serenaded by the birds. My house/dog sitter went AWOL so I ended up coming home (exhausted) to take care of the dogs and gardens each night and driving back to the lake (exhausted) after nocturnal puppy potty trips each morning. This year I helped teach the beginning Laser class. If you are not familiar with the Laser - think Porsche of domestic cars. They are really fun and fast, one person boats. The boat was designed for 190#, 6 foot tall sailors. Most of my 16 students were closer to 100# and 5 foot tall. Many had never sailed. The first thing we teach them is how to right the boat when it goes over - a frequent occurrence with short lightweights and even us heavyweights. Ma Nature did well by us. We had sun and light winds all week. The weather made herding the class around the lake a lot easier and more fun. Sixteen fast boats with inexperienced skippers, going in sixteen directions can be a real challenge to manage and coach. I don't have blog pictures. Dave had the camera all week and for some reason everything on it was just black.
Sunday I took puppy to a large AKC competition obedience trial. She was there to socialize, I was there to see what an actual trial looks like. Puppy was a bit confused. She is used to everyone with a dog having goodies in their pockets but since treats are banned in competition no one had treats on them. She did get a lot of admiring pets. I was pleasantly surprised when a woman came up and said "is that a Chinook?" She had seen us at last year's Rose City Classic.
Monday was back to the regular routine. McKenzie had her competition obedience class. Again I took puppy for socialization. She got to join in on the down stay exercise where she even outlasted some of the older dogs. As class was winding down, I put both dogs back into the x-pen in the van and returned to listen to the recap. Suddenly I heard puppy screaming. I ran to the van and found her cowering from McKenzie with a gash on her nose. I don't know what poor manners she breached that McKenzie did not tolerate. Both dogs have always gotten along very well. I drove home, cleaned the would and put steri-strip closure on it. Cedar was so concerned that her puppy was injured that she would not leave the site alone and constantly licked it. No matter what dressing I tried, even surgical glue was quickly removed by Cedars attentions. She was licking the wound so much I became concerned about a lick granuloma. By the next morning the wound was horribly infected so off to the vet we went for antibiotics. I don't know who this wound is hardest on - Cedar who can't understand why she can't interact with her puppy - puppy who must remain isolated either in a crate or on a leash at all times and can't play with her mom - or me who has to move the crate about the house, entertain and listen to the confined puppy.
puppy with her nose wound
Well, now I have caught up the past week and 1/2.