Dog Park Fun - Ball and Coonhound

Here are a couple of videos of Ralphie at our local dog park.  It's interesting how his behavior has changed from a puppy to a 2 1/2 year old pup.   As an adult dog many times he's content playing with me and only me!  I throw the ball far with the ball launcher and he runs and runs and returns.  Back and forth he goes, then he gets bored.  I pull out the frisbee, throw the frisbee, he catches it, back and forth he goes.  In the meantime the other dogs are romping around with each other...but Ralphie is just as happy playing with his mama.  Here's a slo-mo video of Ralphie fetching the ball at the dog park (gosh, I'm having fun with my new iPhone slo-mo video feature).

 ...and there are times he's in the mood to play with the other dogs.  This Redbone Coonhound loved Ralphie.  He kept howling at Ralphie as if he were saying, "come play with me".  They played hard, running and running.  The coonhound was a bit obsessed with Ralphie and dominating him, but Ralphie knew how to handle himself when enough was enough he told the coonhound.  LOL  They had a lot of fun together.  This is the first time I've actually seen a Redbone Coonhound...beautiful boy and I loved his baying.

Taking The Day Off

Is it so strange to take a day off from work to be with your dog during the day because you're going out in the evening and don't want your pooch home all day and all evening alone?  Well some of my coworkers think so,  maybe to the point they feel I'm obsessed with my fur babies and a little strange...who does that?!  I believe a pet is a responsibility just like having a child to care for.  I know some people wouldn't think twice about leaving their pets home alone for hours and hours.  Not me, every day I rush home from work knowing I have two fur babies waiting for me.  But today our department planned a going away get-together for our boss who's leaving and I partake in the festivities.  So what do I do...

I took today off from work.  I just couldn't see working all day and going out straight after work. I know Ralphie and Ollie are waiting for me.  That's too many hours alone.  Ohhh, I have a fun day planned for Ralphie...to begin with, a nice long morning walk and then off to the BEACH we go.  Little old Ollie sleeps all day...that's what he likes to do at this stage in his life. :(  But he's getting his share of hugs and cuddles.

Looking forward to a FUN day with my fur babies!!  Happy Friday!!

Update....Slo-Mo at Crystal Beach....

It was a fun day!  Ralphie loves the water and boy this was great exercise for him!!

Vizsla Summertime Allergies

Round 3 ... this is Ralphie's 3rd summer.  Summer = Allergies.   In my past blogs I seemed mind- boggled by "why is Ralphie losing his hair".   Right now Ralphie has the most gorgeous shiny red coat.  No bare spots.  Thick.  I give him one fish oil vitamin every day...which he gobbles up like a special treat.  I began feeding him in the midst of his hair loss last year grain-free Trout & Salmon limited ingredient Zignature kibble with a tablespoon of grain-free Evanger canned food.  So if it were his food that was a problem in the past...it's solved.  His beautiful coat reflects that.

Ralphie hasn't jumped in the pool yet this year.  The bugs aren't a problem yet.  This year will really determine what was the cause of his thinning hair in the past years.  If he keeps his silky coat throughout this hot summer ... then it was his diet.  If he starts losing hair during our hot, humid summer of swimming in the chlorinated pool ... then it's an allergy to chlorine with seasonal allergies.

I pray he maintains his thick shiny red coat this summer.  He's always getting compliments,  Not to brag about my fur baby, but he is the most handsome boy ever.

This is the year ... food allergies or seasonal allergies.  We will see.

5K Run With Ralphie

This Saturday morning Ralphie and I woke up bright and early at 5:30am for our first group 5K run.  It was an event that was held by the organization that I work for.  Rarely are pets welcome at a 5K race, so I grabbed at this opportunity when I heard "pets allowed"!

It was an informal 5K run, not chipped timed.  So I timed it on my iPhone.  We all gathered at Starkey Park, which is a beautiful nature park located in a county north of me.  Ralphie was very excited!  He really would of loved to free run, but the park rules is to use a leash.  Actually it was slightly longer than a 5K, it was two 1.9 mile loops, my iPhone calculated 3.66 miles.  I wish I would of known we were going to run in sand though, about 50% of the run was on sand.  I wore my good running shoes and what a mess they are now after running through sand.  On a positive note though, it was mostly shaded because we were running through the nature trails where the trees served as a sun umbrella.  It was a great time.  Ralphie loves the outdoors and of course he did his share of sniffing throughout the run, making our running time slower.  But I certainly cannot put all the blame on Ralphie for our time with his sniffing and poop break; I'm not a fast runner anyways.  I welcomed the breaks during the run, knowing I can blame Ralphie for our slower pace per minute.  LOL  Actually, considering all that, our average pace was 12:19 per minute.

I wish more races welcomed dogs.  It was a fun, invigorating more for the both of us!  Love him.

Ready to start our first 5K run!

After run...we're both happy!

Love him!

All tired out..."Let's go home Mama!"

Happy Easter from Ralphie!

Easter photo shoot....

Babka (Easter Sweet Bread) & Poppyseed and Nut Rolls for the Humans. Eggs for my fur babies.

I'm SO HAPPY!!!  (Look at Ollie in the background...nope I won't have my picture taken!)

Mom, I look like the Easter bunny!

Mom, you tricked me, those are fake eggs!

Are you almost done taking my picture with these silly ears?