Wags to Riches

We participated in a fun event on San Juan Island this past weekend, and it was for a good cause, too!

The Animal Protection Society of Friday Harbor invited us (the Washington Mixed Breed Dog Club and...Dazzle) to come and do some doggy entertainment during their annual Wags to Riches fundraiser. Of course we agreed, and so "Two Mutts and a Dash of Dazzle" boarded a ferry and headed to San Juan Island.

The APS-FH were wonderful hosts; we got to stay in a very nice little place at the event site.

Dazzle approved of her new sleeping quarters.

Meanwhile I was intrigued by the 4th of July ducky in the shower...

The actual demo was on Sunday, so on Saturday...

...Dazzle learned to be a good swimmer!

After a full day of fetching tennis balls in the pond, she finally perfected her swimming skills.

Perhaps it was the motivation the other ball-crazy dogs provided?

Trooper (the barking Mal) would like me to correct myself. He is not ball-crazy, he is Dino-crazy.

We would do anything for his beloved green Dino-Butt.

And his sister, Zoe, couldn't care less about his devotion and was more than happy to steal Dino-Butt.

Dazzle chose to follow Zoe's lead, and also took a turn in stealing the green Dino-Butt.

Sorry Trooper.

Wally, an Aussie/Border Collie and Dazzle's best buddy, was much too kind to participate in any Dino-butt theft activities and preferred to stick with the tennis balls.

Good boy, Wally.

Saturday night we got to witness an incredible thunderstorm that passed over the island. The rooms were lighting up, the rain was pounding, and the whole house was shaking.

During the night, little miss Dazzle-the-thunder-phobic-dog succeeded in clawing me to bloody bits. She also succeeded in pushing me off the couch.

The good news: Sunday was beautiful.

The demo went fantastically well.

We did Rally, Competition Obedience, some Team Obedience, and Dazzle finished off with a trick show.

Overall the APS-FH had a hugely successful, entertaining, and well-run fundraiser!

Kappa!

Wow.

The puppy mill Eskies are quite a pitiful bunch. My own little Eskimo has some crazy behaviours that unfortunately are proving quite common for the rest of the group too.

She barks. All the time. No kidding, this little girl barks like, 24/7. She also walks in circles while she barks. Just around and around and around. She also loves to tear up my clothing, but that's a forgivable puppy thing.

After a few baths and about 16 hours of brushing (that's not exaggerating), she looks pretty decent. Pretty darn cute even.

I named her Kappa.

For two reasons - the first because Kappa are old folklore creatures who are described as "mischievous troublemakers" (a very accurate description of this little pup!) and secondly I named her after the Phi Theta Kappa honour society.

Now that I've had her awhile, she is settling down. I've been able to interrupt the barking and teach her some of the basics like sit, down, leash walking, housetraining, and of course a recall.

While she doesn't bark at me or at the walls anymore, she does still bark at Daz.

Although she's really smart and caught onto clicker training instantly, she still hasn't caught onto is the fact that Dazzle hates her. Honestly, I don't blame Daz because Kappa frequently does stupid things like, oh I don't know, jump on her head:

Dazzle isn't shy about expressing her opinions.

Anyway, after a month here little miss Kappa has actually turned into a wonderful, well adjusted, little dog. Upon returning to the Humane Society she got adopted almost instantly. Perhaps because she's so darn cute.

I will certainly miss her, but truth be told, I do hope my next foster is not an Eskimo.

Are they cute? Yes.

Are they sane? Not so much.

I think I've seen enough of these white fluffy dogs for a little while. There are still quite a few living at the Seattle Humane Society waiting for homes, and plenty more getting some much needed TLC in foster homes before they go up for adoption.

Are they photogenic? Well, yes.