Black Acorn Dogs

Monday, June 19, 2006

Had a really nice weekend. Dad, Chris (step-brother) and Marisa (his step-daughter) came in to town for part of the weekend for Marisa's flight back to Germany. They'd decided to make a day or two of it while they were here. We got to do the monument tour in downtown DC on Friday and spent the day at zoo on Saturday before heading to the airport. It was up in the 90's and we were out in the sun most of the time, so we're lucky we didn't melt them in the Virginia heat. Will post some pictures later!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Fighting Cybercrime with Cyberpowers

This was so funny:

http://wuvt.blogspot.com/2006/06/cyber-detective-case-238532.html

Friday, June 09, 2006

Things You Don't Want to Hear at Work

Something you don't want to hear while you're working away at your desk:

A voice on the intercom: "This is Security; it is now safe to enter the building. This is Security, it is now safe to enter the building".

There was a moment of silence, and then laughter from all of the people in surrounding cubes. You see, we weren't aware that it was UNSAFE to enter the building, having been in it the whole time.

Too funny.

Thursday, June 08, 2006


 Posted by Picasa


Pictures from Heather from the Brookville Rarities Show and Shiloh Shepherd Specialty last Memorial Day Weekend. The headshot of Ebony was, I think, when we were waiting outside the ring and the other shot is Ebby and I showing in the conformation ring. (Heather's site: http://www.macshilohs.com) Posted by Picasa

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Our Luck Holds Out

As you can see from the photos below, all three dogs have been together today. The photos are from a run we took out behind Diane's work, but the three dogs have been out in the house together for most of the day. There was one point where things got a bit too exciting in a stairway that ended in an hour of crate time for everyone, but other than that, they've all been communicating very well. We still have a couple weeks of settling in ahead of us, but I couldn't have dreamed things would be already going this smoothly at this point. We still can't get over how much Ben and Indie are enjoying each other's company.


Ebby, Ben, and Indie Posted by Picasa


The new Black Acorn Pack Posted by Picasa

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Photo Repost

Due to popular request for photos, here's a repost of the photos from the day we met Ben before we really thought we'd be taking him.

Playdate with Ben

Unbelievable

The boys love each other. They are already like peas in a pod. I can't believe it. I think if Indie had to pick right this minute, he'd choose Ben over Ebony. During their times out together today, they've been like two little kids running off to swap baseball cards together, or whatever the heck little kids do these days. Play on the X-box probably. Whatever. Indie even lets Ben take his tennis ball away from him, and I can assure you, that's huge. He does tolerate Ben taking it, he *lets* him have it. Ebony and Ben have been doing well all afternoon too, and it's all I've been able to do to hold off trying three-dogs-out-together until tomorrow morning. In the long run, one more night won't kill anyone (by anyone, I mean me and Diane) but waiting until everyone is really comfortable with each other individually could certainly set the right precedent with which to move forward.

We still can't believe how well this is going.

Once again, a pack of three.

So far, so good. Ben and Indie have been getting along like old buddies. It's a little shocking. We've been doing the integration very slowly, but it's going so much better than we could have imagined.

We brought Ben home on Thursday night and crated him downstairs. The only time the dogs got together was on their two walks, where we walked Ben and Ebony together and then Ben and Indie together. On Indie's walk, we kept them across the street from each other and didn't let them interact on Thursday night. Indie barked at Ben at first, and then started whining when he realized who it was. A great start.

Friday morning, we let Indie and Ben walk together side by side. They mostly ignored each other, which was perfect. They didn't seem particular about which dog was out in front, and they walked side by side for parts of the walk, bumping shoulders companionably. Indie has already shown signs of looking for Ben's reaction when there is something scary, and that's exactly what we're hoping for. Although Ben is only a year old, he is very confident with a stable and friendly temperment, and will be a great role model.

Last night, we got the party started for real, and let Indie and Ben loose together in the house. I was prepared for fireworks, but they played together more nicely than Indie and Ebby play! We had a few predictable tense moments, but Ben and Indie figured out quickly how to collaboratively tug with toys and proceeded to destroy a good dozen plush and tug toys from the toy box.

The boys tugging #1
The boys tugging #2
The boys tugging #3
The Carnage

We still got our fireworks later when we let Ebby out. All hell broke loose. Ben went nutso, tearing around the house, and then Indie started chasing Ben in a more serious manner while Ebby contributed to the mass confusion by barking and running. Soooo... three dogs loose together won't be happening quite yet. We have three crates lined up in the dining room and they all have to take turns coming out. At the moment, all three of them have been crated for the last hour to encourage them to nap, and to give ME some quiet time! Indie hasn't had any time to play yet this morning, but Ebby and Ben had about 45 minutes of nice time, where Ebby had to put Ben in his place a few times, and then taught him how to chew quietly on some of the bones that are scattered around the living room. It's so much fun to watch the dogs learn from each other.

It's official... we've got a new dog!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

A Week In The Life

Gosh, I actually have so much blog-worthy material this week that I haven't known where to start.

I got my new stereo installed in the van last Thursday. This was necessary because the stock stereo didn't have a CD player. I went ahead and added iPod connector, and I've now stepped into the grand world of iPod users. I don't own any (or many) digital songs, but I really like listening to podcasts, so I saved off many hours of podcasts for my drive Friday.

Friday I drove to Brookville, PA (near Punxsutawney in Western PA) for the big Rarities Dog show and Shiloh Specialty, including a Shiloh Regional and the National Specialty. Just Ebby and I went, and Diane stayed home with Indie. We tented on the fairgrounds, and Ebony did great! I expected her to be a little nervous most of the weekend, but she was quite comfortable, even in the tent overnight. She got a leg of an NKC obedience title, Companion Intermediate, and I took her in the show ring 4 times for the Spay/Neuter class. She took it all in stride, and on Saturday, she even "auto-stacked" both times in the ring (which means she set up her feet in the right position all by herself. For Shilohs, the position is just like you see in German Shepherd show pictures, with one rear leg stretched out behind.)

We went home Sunday night, and fortunately did not try the air conditioning, despite the heat. On Monday, I turned on the air conditioning while Diane and I were running around on errands, and some valve broke in the coolant system, stranding us at Target. The tow truck couldn't give us a ride all the way home, so instead of calling a cab, we decided to hoof it. It was about 5 miles, and the stupid part was that the heat was incredible. We bought a couple liters of water, took plenty of opportunies to rest and cool off in the shade, and made it home without incident. The nice thing was that we were able to take the bike trail (the W&OD Trail) for most of the trip back. Seeing all the other morons out in the heat ON PURPOSE made me feel a lot better about our decision. The whole incident killed any chance for a productive day off, but it was a fun adventure.

Ben comes home with us tonight. Although I've talked about him, I haven't exactly mentioned this here that he's coming to live with us (Dad, if you're still keeping up with the blog... surprise!). I imagine we'll be in for a rough week or two while everyone adjusts to having a third dog in the pack, but I expect it to go pretty well once they're settled. Both Ebony and Indie have had time to spend with Ben outside of the house and it's gone well, and I think Ben will end up as a good influence. Can't say I'm looking forward to the extra walks though... we're already thinking about getting the house together so we might upgrade to a yard again in another year or two.