Snow dogs
Nikon stacked 15 weeks
First, Phil has to test the lighting and positioning
Then, we have to catch the unwilling puppy
Phil uses the fake-out treat free stack lure method
I use the grab the dog by the throat method
As payback, Nikon steals my bowl and chews my computer stand
Then, we have to catch the unwilling puppy
Phil uses the fake-out treat free stack lure method
I use the grab the dog by the throat method
As payback, Nikon steals my bowl and chews my computer stand
Thanksgiving (dog version)
Wednesday definitely felt like Friday. Phil didn't have to teach so instead he distracted me at work by bringing Nikon over. We went across the Beltline to see DeeDee and got a tour of the new HR department.
Thanksgiving Day, Bolo the pit bull came over to get beat up by my dogs.
Bolo has enough and peaces out
You're going to save some turkey for me, right?
Halp she's gonna sit on me!
Coke wants to be a show dog too
It's not Coke and Nikon without a stick!
Saturday was Paul's birthday and somehow that meant DeeDee got a present, a new Sigma lens. So we headed to the park for what was left of daylight to re-initiate Samson to the pack. I am partial to my Nikkor 55-200mm VR lens (and by mine I mean the one Arnie has lent me and has become my right hand). Samson is the dog we almost adopted but Kenya hated him. Funny how that worked out....
Sunday, it started to snow...
Thanksgiving Day, Bolo the pit bull came over to get beat up by my dogs.
Bolo has enough and peaces out
You're going to save some turkey for me, right?
Halp she's gonna sit on me!
Coke wants to be a show dog too
It's not Coke and Nikon without a stick!
Saturday was Paul's birthday and somehow that meant DeeDee got a present, a new Sigma lens. So we headed to the park for what was left of daylight to re-initiate Samson to the pack. I am partial to my Nikkor 55-200mm VR lens (and by mine I mean the one Arnie has lent me and has become my right hand). Samson is the dog we almost adopted but Kenya hated him. Funny how that worked out....
Sunday, it started to snow...
More snow
In other news, I've sold my Panasonic FZ50 and will be replacing it with a Nikon D40x sometime in the next few weeks!
Nikon's first white out
Nikon LOVES snow. It's only snowed three times but every time he gets the zoomies and then snarfs it up.
I intended to get a group shot of the three dogs, but this isn't quite what I had in mind
I intended to get a group shot of the three dogs, but this isn't quite what I had in mind
Scary Lesson
I’m going to put this out here b/c even though I am somewhat ashamed to admit this, maybe there is a chance someone else will read it and be spared the same nightmare!
This has been a scary and humbling experience for me because I am the first to admit that when it comes to being clean, organized, fully in control of every situation…that is me, to a fault. When I got Nikon I rearranged parts of our house, puppy-proofed everything so that anything he can reach and bite or chew is considered fair game. I have crates, baby gates, ex-pens, and designated areas of “less nice” furniture that I’m OK with getting chewed, clawed, or muddy pawed. I have three cats that get into everything, which has lead me to be even more thorough, since cats can get in considerably more places than a dog.
That said, on Friday evening, Nikon (and possibly Coke) ate rat poison. Yes, RAT POISON!! Inside my home, the harshest thing he could possibly get access to is some Nature’s Miracle, but I live in a side-by-side duplex and between our back porches my landlord has a shed where he keeps some of his own things. In the past, we’ve never had a reason to be in this shed, but recently we’ve been doing yard work to avoid an increase in rent and we use some of the landlord’s supplies. A few weeks ago, I was in the shed looking for something and did not notice anything particularly dangerous, such as poison. On Friday we were raking leaves and I opened the shed to get the tarp. A while later, I noticed Nikon and Coke sniffing in the shed. I wasn’t worried b/c I hadn’t seen anything dangerous a few weeks before. Then I saw Nikon start licking something so I ran over and saw that he was eating some bright blue granules. Not knowing what it was, but having a gut feeling that it was bad for a dog, I made Phil help me induce vomiting. Sure enough, he threw up bright blue three times. I went back to the shed, but it was then so dark I couldn’t see. All I could thing of was to take a picture, and when I looked at the picture on my computer I saw a plastic container labeled “Tomcat Ultra”. You can imagine my panic when I discovered this is rat poison. I immediately called my vet, who calmly told me that inducing vomiting was the right thing to do and he would need to start an antidote within 48 hours, so I was scheduled for the next morning. I was so scared I didn’t believe that it was that simple, so I called the emergency vet. They said the same thing, except that they would induce vomiting until it was clear, but that there was no point in bringing him in and they recommended he see the regular vet the next morning. Phil and I made him throw up again and it was clear of blue so all we could do was watch him and wait. The next morning I went to the vet and expressed my concern that maybe Coke ate some too. He was in the shed, but in a different spot. I left with antidote for both dogs, which they have to take daily for about a month.
Besides being very upset with me between having to swallow hydrogen peroxide and throwing up, Nikon has been his usual self. He did puppy class yesterday morning and he ran off leash in the snow this afternoon. He is eating fine and both dogs think their new pills are a great treat.
Yesterday I went back to the shed and picked up the spill. I found more rat poisons and my assumption is that when the landlord came last week to fix the tractor, he put down the bait trays in case the rodents use the shed for the winter. I threw it ALL away, including un-opened boxes on a shelf above my head. I also removed the soil where Nikon threw up and threw that away.
There’s no point in blaming myself or the landlord, since I had checked the shed before and he probably is not aware of the danger, but I can’t help wonder where we’d be in two weeks if I hadn’t seen my dogs go into the shed and lick the poison. That took maybe ten seconds or less. Even being outside with the dogs, it’s easy to get distracted for ten seconds.
So, I have learned that I can never be too certain or let my guard down. Living in a human world it seems puppies are exposed to death every day (rat poison, busy streets, swallowing household items…). Having a pet or child eat rat poison is one of my worst nightmares and I would never, ever even consider allowing that stuff near my home, but I guess this proves that you never really know. Nikon the Naughty must have his own angel!
Oh, and if you don’t already have it, get yourself some hydrogen peroxide! This is the second time a $1 bottle has spared me $300 going to the e-vet.
This has been a scary and humbling experience for me because I am the first to admit that when it comes to being clean, organized, fully in control of every situation…that is me, to a fault. When I got Nikon I rearranged parts of our house, puppy-proofed everything so that anything he can reach and bite or chew is considered fair game. I have crates, baby gates, ex-pens, and designated areas of “less nice” furniture that I’m OK with getting chewed, clawed, or muddy pawed. I have three cats that get into everything, which has lead me to be even more thorough, since cats can get in considerably more places than a dog.
That said, on Friday evening, Nikon (and possibly Coke) ate rat poison. Yes, RAT POISON!! Inside my home, the harshest thing he could possibly get access to is some Nature’s Miracle, but I live in a side-by-side duplex and between our back porches my landlord has a shed where he keeps some of his own things. In the past, we’ve never had a reason to be in this shed, but recently we’ve been doing yard work to avoid an increase in rent and we use some of the landlord’s supplies. A few weeks ago, I was in the shed looking for something and did not notice anything particularly dangerous, such as poison. On Friday we were raking leaves and I opened the shed to get the tarp. A while later, I noticed Nikon and Coke sniffing in the shed. I wasn’t worried b/c I hadn’t seen anything dangerous a few weeks before. Then I saw Nikon start licking something so I ran over and saw that he was eating some bright blue granules. Not knowing what it was, but having a gut feeling that it was bad for a dog, I made Phil help me induce vomiting. Sure enough, he threw up bright blue three times. I went back to the shed, but it was then so dark I couldn’t see. All I could thing of was to take a picture, and when I looked at the picture on my computer I saw a plastic container labeled “Tomcat Ultra”. You can imagine my panic when I discovered this is rat poison. I immediately called my vet, who calmly told me that inducing vomiting was the right thing to do and he would need to start an antidote within 48 hours, so I was scheduled for the next morning. I was so scared I didn’t believe that it was that simple, so I called the emergency vet. They said the same thing, except that they would induce vomiting until it was clear, but that there was no point in bringing him in and they recommended he see the regular vet the next morning. Phil and I made him throw up again and it was clear of blue so all we could do was watch him and wait. The next morning I went to the vet and expressed my concern that maybe Coke ate some too. He was in the shed, but in a different spot. I left with antidote for both dogs, which they have to take daily for about a month.
Besides being very upset with me between having to swallow hydrogen peroxide and throwing up, Nikon has been his usual self. He did puppy class yesterday morning and he ran off leash in the snow this afternoon. He is eating fine and both dogs think their new pills are a great treat.
Yesterday I went back to the shed and picked up the spill. I found more rat poisons and my assumption is that when the landlord came last week to fix the tractor, he put down the bait trays in case the rodents use the shed for the winter. I threw it ALL away, including un-opened boxes on a shelf above my head. I also removed the soil where Nikon threw up and threw that away.
There’s no point in blaming myself or the landlord, since I had checked the shed before and he probably is not aware of the danger, but I can’t help wonder where we’d be in two weeks if I hadn’t seen my dogs go into the shed and lick the poison. That took maybe ten seconds or less. Even being outside with the dogs, it’s easy to get distracted for ten seconds.
So, I have learned that I can never be too certain or let my guard down. Living in a human world it seems puppies are exposed to death every day (rat poison, busy streets, swallowing household items…). Having a pet or child eat rat poison is one of my worst nightmares and I would never, ever even consider allowing that stuff near my home, but I guess this proves that you never really know. Nikon the Naughty must have his own angel!
Oh, and if you don’t already have it, get yourself some hydrogen peroxide! This is the second time a $1 bottle has spared me $300 going to the e-vet.
Lunch hour photo shoot
These are from Thursday at lunch break (which turned into an extended lunch break - I started going back to work when my brakes failed so I went home and waited for a co-worker to come get me).
Everyone kinda piles into each other when I first get home
Nikon bites off more than he can chew, literally and figuratively
Coke's "CHASE ME!" pose
He's always trying to go under Kenya
I really like this lens but the dogs are always running back to me and I miss body parts!
Mmmmm stick!
(I know my mom's gonna see this and say "how many pics of a puppy with a stick do you need?")
Coke portraits
Tweedle-dee and tweedle dum-dum-dumber!
Nikon looking dejected b/c Coke won the stick
Nikon bites off more than he can chew, literally and figuratively
Coke's "CHASE ME!" pose
He's always trying to go under Kenya
I really like this lens but the dogs are always running back to me and I miss body parts!
Mmmmm stick!
(I know my mom's gonna see this and say "how many pics of a puppy with a stick do you need?")
Coke portraits
Tweedle-dee and tweedle dum-dum-dumber!
Nikon looking dejected b/c Coke won the stick
About the Author
My name is Lies Rosema. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan with my husband Phil Kelder, our three dogs, and our three cats. I graduated with a BA in Business Communications from Calvin College in May 2006 and am currently employed at Calvin College. Phil is studying special education and student teaching at Alexander Elementary.
When I am not working, I am training and competing with my dogs, exercising my obsession with photography, designing web sites, reading books, or (hopefully) going on road trips.
To learn more about my work, view examples, or read my resume, please visit my home page.
To learn more about my dogs and our training, please visit their web site.
When I am not working, I am training and competing with my dogs, exercising my obsession with photography, designing web sites, reading books, or (hopefully) going on road trips.
To learn more about my work, view examples, or read my resume, please visit my home page.
To learn more about my dogs and our training, please visit their web site.