Dogs

A few months ago Tara's brother announced that he and his wife were thinking of getting a dog. Not just any dog, a Vizsla puppy. They had a lot of questions for Tara and she did her best to answer them.

A couple of weeks ago they got their puppy and brought him by (photo - warning: cuteoverload material). He is a bundle of energy and a lot of fun. At only 10 weeks, he requires a lot of work and training and patience and ear plugs.

Tara got the dog bug; she and I have been talking about getting a dog for the past month or so. I blame Tim and his cute puppy :). Tara grew up with dogs and she had one when we first got married (it lived at her parents place and in the end was really their dog). Tara brings treats to the dog at her barn and at her friends house. Tara loves dogs.

I, on the other hand, didn't grow up with dogs. I sneeze when they are around. I have no desire to wake up in the morning with walking the dog as my first thought. I like the freedom you have with cats; dogs require more forethought into your day's activities.

Tara likes dogs that need exercise, love to be around people and look pretty. I like dogs that are lazy, obedient and don't smell. We didn't get asked about dog breed preference in our pre-marriage counseling.

Last month Tara got in contact with an Afghan Hound breeder outside of Orangeville (Candyland Afghans). The breeder thought that she just might have a dog that would fit us both. After many long talks and a brief meet-n-greet, we decided to get him for a 3 week trial. I present to you Seamus:

Seamus is a 10 month old Afghan Hound (wikipedia link). He was going to be one of the breeder's studs but deveoped some confirmation traits that preclude him from winning in the ring. He's really hairy. He's a bit whinny. But he is house-broken and he mostly heels. He doesn't really like to fetch but he does like to run around like his tail is on fire (which is fun to watch).

If we continue to like him and if our cats start liking him he will be ours at the end of the 3 weeks. If not then it's back to the drawing board.

We picked Seamus up on Friday. Saturday we took him to the barn. Below are a few snapshots:
 

Wish us luck.

Camera update

Quick update on the camera situation. Black's eventually replaced my camera after some arm twisting and forceful reading of my warranty in the store. Surprisingly they found another D70s in their warehouse somewhere; while I was hoping for an upgrade, I'm just happy that I have a camera that works.

Lessons I've learned:
1. Keep all your documentation in one place. They asked for it often.
2. Keep on top of the store personnel - they already have your money and don't have much intensive to work in your favor.
3. As much as a pain as it was, buying the extended warranty was worth it for me. For $50 I got three trips to Nikon and then a replacement.