The Ghost of Halloween Past

Nessie has been gone a little over a year now but I'm sure her ghost won't mind being resurrected for a little Halloween greeting...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM ALTA-PETE FARM!

Painting

While Scott does fall chores outside, I have things to do inside. Anyone who has been to our house knows that every time I declare that I am going to paint a room it takes me more than a year to peel the old wall paper (the cats help out alot but I still have to do most of the work) and actually start to paint. Well I've finally got the walls clear on the off-the-kitchen hallway and the painting started today.

Of course the animals are all a little bit curious about the work and want to know if there is any way they can help. BOBBY AND SALEM! STOP RIGHT THERE!

I'm sure little green paw prints would add alot to the look of the house but I'll pass on that this time.

Fortunately Skid is keeping an eye out for anyone else who might walk into the paint.

Raise the Roof

We're trying to get some important last minute chores done before winter. This building is one of the ones the previous owner pulled the roof off of to make a greenhouse for his pot. We'd like to use it as a storage shed for our dog equipment but we needed to brace it so the winter winds don't blow it down. I actually didn't expect Scott to go up on the roof.

All I know is thank goodness he didn't get hurt or I'd be stuck doing all the work this winter!

The Party - Part Deux

The day was here. The day Skid had been prepping for all month. Weenie dunk time. Skid studied the dogs in the first rounds.
Then it was his turn. They put four weenies in the bowl. We'd only been practicing one at a time. It would be a challenge. He took a deep breath and plunged his nose deep into the bowl to grab one, two, three, up for a breath and a mad dip back in to eat the fourth one. DONE! He raised his head and found that he had won his heat.
Now he had to move on to the next level against Wicca the corgi. The winner would race Jane the Jack Russel, the undisputed champion. It was close but he just couldn't beat Wicca. She went on to the finals against Jane and won! Just to make sure Jane knew she was beat, Wicca proudly displayed her crown.

We had no hope of winning the next game: Musical Mats. The objective is to walk around the mats until the music stops and then the dogs must sit on them. Whoever doesn't get a mat is out or if there is a dog not sitting on their mat, you can steal it. Skid knows how to sit, but chooses not to -but then someone said the magic words, "hot dogs". Yes. We could use bait. OK, now we were back in the game. We started with four dogs and three mats. The music stopped and quick, Skid was on his mat and sitting, waiting for his treat. Then down to three dogs and two mats. Skid continued his record sitting and we were on to the last round.

Round and round we went and then the music stopped. Hurry, hurry and he was on his mat and sitting. The Bernese Mountain dog we were competing against sat too, but not fast enough and SKID WAS THE CHAMPION!

Yea! Ironically, he won a plastic squeeky hot dog. A fitting prize for a dog who worked so hard just to eat a little piece of a hot dog.

Our last competition we came in fifth. Barrel racing around chairs. We ran as fast as we could but it was easily won by a beautiful loping Flat coat retriever. Oh, well, can't win them all. Skid and I had a blast on our day away from the farm. I must say thank you for the invite to Paws On the Run-dog daycare, the Go Dog Go Agility group and of course to Sara and Amanda who organized it all.

The Party! (part one)

Today Skid and I went to town for our Halloween party at Paws on the Run Doggie Daycare. Here's a few of the clever costumes that outclassed us...
This one was frightening - at least for the dog. She's afraid of poodles. Mean owner to make her dress up as one!
The cute lady bug (she had a crush on Skid) was just dropping a subtle hint that she'd like some treats in that bucket.

Can you see the pearls on the Diva's neck?And then there was a pony

This one was my favorite. Sara, one of our hosts was Dorothy and dressed her dogs up as the scarecrow, the cowerdly lion and that's Jane as the tin man. Gyp the lion deserves a close up! Gyp used to live at Alta-Pete Farm. How's that new home goin' for ya Gyp? (If she's talked to Skid lately she's probably told him how much better it is to have an owner who buys nice costumes for you instead of tearing up sheets and calling them a costume)

They gave out awards for different categories. Guess who won the "Scariest Costume" award?

SKID - the mummy!

Ignore the fact that it's barely even on him anymore.All he cared about was getting his costume off and digging into his goodie bag.

Tomorrow, The Party Games!

Dress for Success

Sigh. I'm afraid Skid is not going to win the costume contest this Saturday at the Halloween Party. First off, it just didn't turn out the way it looked in my head. He's supposed to be a mummy.

Of course, he HATES it.

Tell me how you really feel Skid.

He said he didn't want to wear it and took it off as fast as he could.It took a little work to get it off so a nap was in order.

I guess we'll have to concentrate harder on winning the weenie dunking contest.

Kickin' Back

I know I haven't blogged in a few days but there isn't much to say right now. It's fairly quiet around here with Scott away and very few customer dogs in yet. I thought I might pacify you with a few pictures of Kit relaxing with her charges. Enjoy it while it lasts, sheep. Work starts again in two weeks.

Pick a Little Talk a Little

The chickens complain alot.They complain about the weather, they complain about the dogs. They even complain when I give them fresh straw. Usually I ignore it but today they took particular pains to flag me down.

They were most distressed about my habit of eating poultry on holidays. Today is the Canadian Thanksgiving and they wanted to put a halt to this barbaric behavior.

I explained to them that I would not change this habit. I love to eat poultry but I promised never to eat anyone who was laying me eggs.

Needless to say, the girls got back to work.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING CANADA!

In Training

Skid is working hard and getting prepared. This is serious. His competition is tough and I hear unbeatable but with strict training we plan to overthrow the Queen.
Who is this ruthless athlete?
Remember Jane?

And what is the test you ask?

Bobbing for weenies.

I was informed this weekend that there are those who want her dethroned. The match will be in a few weeks at the Halloween party and Skid will be ready.

Jane, prepare to meet your better.

'Tis the Season

My favorite time of year is here again! I love Halloween and enjoy the preparations. Consequently, the animals have to get in the spirit too so my dogs all got together and carved their own pumpkin. Since Poe is only partially black, he felt that he didn't have the luxury of just lounging around a pumpkin looking Halloweenish like Salem can.He figured he better work on his scary cat pose instead.(He doesn't quite have it down yet)

Skid has been invited to a Halloween party and after contemplating the whole Halloween experience,

He jumped on the computer to pick his costume.I'll let you know what he decides.

Rough Life

I don't think anyone really understands how much hard work it is being Skid.

Curses! Foiled Again

I don't know who did this (our choices are Skid or Bob) but I wish I could have been there to see the look on their face when they realized what they had just ripped open was cat litter and not dog food. To top it off, the cat litter wasn't even used yet.

Take Time Out

I'm supposed to be working but I got distracted.

The sun is shining and it's October now. It won't last much longer. So on my way to the barn I was waylayed by watching the pure joy of games in the warm sun.

Perhaps I can tell my self I'm just taking time out to get a healthy dose of vitamin D.

Nah, I'll call it what it is. Lazy.