Bar is back on track, or on trail I guess I should say as his running has picked up tremendously over the last month or so. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Lars’
Bar Regaining Running Fittness
Friday, August 27th, 2010Bar Has Bordetella
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010So Bar has kennel cough,, medically known as bordetella.
It is an upper respiratory tract infection that is not usually serious but he was coughing quite a bit and I feel so bad for him when he starts one of his coughing fits. (more…)
Couch Potato
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Poor Lars has been living life as a couch potato of sorts for the last few days, forcing me to break out the ‘ol pitty stick.
For about the last week the heat of summer has been in the neighbourhood of 35 degrees, making it unbarably hot for me, nevermind the little man. (more…)
Natural phenomenons, No Biggy For BarBar
Friday, June 25th, 2010Well for Lars the earthquake that we experienced on Wednesday afternoon was not high on his list of things that bug him, as he did not even move an inch despite rattling dishes and a freaked out master. (more…)
All Is Well On The Farm
Monday, June 14th, 2010Well its the middle of June and the weather is heating up for sure, meaning that the Bar does not get to go out as often as I, and or he would like.
Some days are hotter than others and on the cooler days I try to get him out as much as possible, and even on the hotter days we have lots of time to get “play time” in as we are early risers. (more…)
If You Dont Use It, You Lose It
Monday, May 10th, 2010Well now that the warmer weather is here, my ‘ol buddy Lars is back to running, his favorite pasttime.
As with most acquired skills if one goes for a period of time without performing those said skills, they can tend to lose some ability, the same applies to my 4-legged Oregon orio.
He has lost a lot of his “running” fitness, but is getting out once or twice a week and loves every second of it.
I’d like to get him out more for the sheer reason that he loves to go, but circumstances tend to get in the way so he goes as often as possible.
He has gotten into the habit of knowing when he is about to go, and begging to go, now now now, when the run is pending but not right at hand.
He will start this baby, oh-so-cute whimper that is impossible to ignore and will even do this little bleet thing with every exhale of his “pant” which is also heart wrenching.
He sure does know how to manipulate me into getting what he wants, that little devil:)
Second Time is the Charm
Monday, April 5th, 2010Well it turned out to be a case of Lars forgetting that airplanes were fun to go on, because on our return flight over the weekend, he was much better.
Aside from a little restlessness at the end of the flight, he did great, which made me feel a lot less guilty for putting him through it in the first place.
He will be taking a few more plane rides over the coming months as we travel to various out of country competitions, so it is comforting to know that he will handle them better.
Happy Birthday LarsBar
Monday, March 29th, 2010Whenever it was Luther’s birthday, I would allow him to indulge in a human delicacy of my choice, one that I was sure he would approve of.
No little piece of cheese, no little chunk of meat, I’m talking a full fledged treat that if you asked him, would be worth an entire 364 days to wait for.
Over the years, Lu enjoyed numerous mouth watering birthday presents, ranging from a Big Mac and Fries to a mini Presidents Choice lasagne, to a full english breakfast.
After much deliberation, and helped by time constraints, I decided to continue the trend with Bar, something that I keep reminding him to thank his late brother for.
Have you ever seen a dog down a Krispy Kreme doughnut? I just hope Bar had time to enjoy it while it lasted cause he’s got 364 days to go before his next “birthday present.”
Lars, Just Full of Surprises
Friday, March 19th, 2010So every now and again I like to put Bar on the scale to get his weight to make sure he is not getting to, ahem, big or to, ahem, small.
To accomplish this task, I must weigh myself, get my own weight and repeat the process with Bar in my arms to get our joint weight.
This makes for a potentially funny picture I know, but is actually a pretty accurate way, and the only way that I can weigh him without taking him to the vet to do it.
Well today was one of those days when Bar and I stepped on the scale, and to my surprise he is up to 72lbs!
He is by no means an overweight dog, and those who know me or read this blog know what I think of owners who let their dogs regress, that said it is funny to think that when I got Bar he only weighed 61LBS.
Lars and I became a team when he was only 20 months old, and he has grown a lot since then, not only in age, but physically also.
He is not the typical barrel chested lab either, being very sleek and lean with muscular legs and a thick neck.
Typically labs from what I’ve read stop growing between 24 and 28 months of age, I guess Bar would be the acception to that rule.
He will celebrate his third birthday next Saturday when we are in Florida and had the luxury of celebrating his second birthday also in Florida.
To read about our trip to Florida last year check out our Florida Trip Recap 2009
Enjoy Them While You Hav’em
Friday, March 5th, 2010Life can be a bitch sometimes no doubt about it, and just when you think that you’re having a bad day you hear of somebody else whose day seems just that little bit worse.
I recently had to let go of my own Luther and just the other day, heard that a friend of my brothers’ had to make the same tough decision I recently made.
If you can believe it, this is the second time that this woman has had to make the decision to end the life of an active service dog, and making this situation even more weird is the fact that both dogs were of a similar age.
Her dog just lost to her, developed lymphoma at the age of 7 and despite opting for chemotherapy, his health deteriorated very quickly.
He was still in full service to her, a fact that differs from my own situation a little bit.
Luther was retired, and I had already retrained with my current guide Lars, a beautiful svelt black lab.
Oh what to do?