The Great Adventure of Sanders: August 2008

Yes, it has been WAAAYYYY too long since we have posted anything on our blog. Things were so busy during the month of July. It is a relief to have August here...even though it is really really hot (which Sanders does not like).

Let's catch you up on the happenings in Sanders' life!

First, we gave Sanders a bath around July 1st. Thought it was about time to do it...then on July 2nd, he went and found some other smelly substance (dead animal? Rotten vegetation? who knows....) and decided he preferred that odor to the nice perfumey smelling shampoo we'd washed him in. So he proceeded to bask in that not-so-delicious-to-humans smelly thing right before we left for the July 4th weekend, where we were staying at Tony's brother's house. So, my nieces and I got to give Sanders ANOTHER bath (which, he loves....not so much). This time, we had 8 hands involved instead of 2. (Yes, there are only 6 below. 2 of them are taking the picture).

I think the entire time we were sudsing up Sanders, he was thinking "Please help me....if anyone from PETA out there gets ahold of these pictures....Please help me. They are removing that wonderful scent from me that I worked so hard to find and roll in"

After washing/rinsing Sanders in the bath (where we didn't have a special hose to rinse quickly), somehow, someone (or 3 someones) made him look very L.A.

After stepping out of the bath, he gives another pleaful look to anyone out there who can help:

Yes, I think in this picture, he is thinking "Why didn't they name me MATT?" After this bath, his ENTIRE coat/hair turned into one enormous mat. It was HORRIBLE. They say some Pulis get their cords/dreadlocks in over the course of a few months....Because of the 2 baths in a week and the way the planets were aligned, Sanders got his overnight. He was sooo matted after this. We have been spending about an hour a night just pulling apart the mat little by little into some sort of ordered dread locks. They are starting to look a lot better now.

So.....with Sanders clean, we were able to head to Louisville for the long weekend with a good smelling dog. Sanders quickly realized that Rob has a bird named Buddy. He wanted to play with Buddy so badly. We decided it probably wasn't a good idea, because one chomp, the bird would be gone, and one peck and the dogs eye would be bloody. So we let Buddy play the role of Tweetey and Sanders played the role of Sylvester. Looks just like a scene out of your latest Looney Toons, doesn't it?

We went to the Old Fashioned Celebration just down the road from Rob's house. We took Sanders and he loved all the smells and people. He also loved the attention. These two cute girls wanted to hug him. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap this shot!

And what great fair, isn't complete without a snow cone? Certainly not this one! We got a snow cone for Sanders to enjoy:

Look at how properly he eats the snow cone:

We started getting rained on just before the fireworks! So we took a trolley back to the intersection close to Rob's apartment. They even let Sanders ride!

The next weekend, we went to the annual Hancock County 4-H fair. With my nieces back from Texas, they were able to have all their baked goods judged again this year, and then auctioned off in the food auction. Unfortunately, I didn't get to buy too much of their stuff...I did get a Cherry pie that Jess made. It was delicious (made from the cherries from the tree in front of her house). I also got to bid on a cake that Tony pointed out to me. Doesn't it look like this cake has a black and orange Puli dog on it? Weird, huh? I wonder what the little kid intended for these to be...caterpillars? Surely, not Pulis....

We've been going through obedience classes with Sanders. He is getting pretty good! On Tuesday of this week, he got his diploma for the Novice class. On Saturday, we are starting with Agility classes. And on Wednesdays we'll be doing the Advanced Obedience classes. I decided I want to try to start training him so I can take him to Nursing Homes or to the Children's hospital. He is such a nice dog, I'm sure people will enjoy looking and petting this strange little guy...as long as he hasn't went out and found his favorite scent!

Below is a picture of Tony and Sanders getting ready to heel.

Below, Sanders is in a 5 minute down stay with many other dogs

Here, Sanders is coming to Tony and finishing up with a By-heel. Sanders was picked as one of the fastest dogs in the class! Yep, he's little, but really fast...just like Bob Sanders!!!

The other thing we've been busy with has been getting ready for my mom and dad's anniversary party. We were cutting up boat loads of veggies last Friday. Sanders even got into the fun of it all and was helping. He carried some of each vegetable into the living room and put them in piles. See the onion, cauliflower, broccoli, and cucumber peel?

My mom and dad looked so beautiful for their 50th wedding anniversary!

Here is the cake I made...there was none left!!!!!

We also got Sanders a bed earlier in July....he doesn't really sleep in it much, but he knows when we say "bed" that he is supposed to go lay in it. I think it makes him hot.

I've been really busy with my garden. Sometimes Sanders comes out and helps me with things. Here he is standing around, smelling the wind in front of my Tomatoes!

I've also got quite the orchard going. My trees are absolutely loaded this year! Look at all these peaches that were on just one of my trees! I picked 3 bushels from this tree! It made a great filling in mom and dad's cake.

My pear trees are also loaded....only 3 more weeks until I get to eat those!!! YUMMY!!

Here is a close up of some of the peaches.

I also have some grape vines. This is the best they've ever done! I've managed to keep the bugs/japanese beetles away for quite some time now. Pretty, aren't they?

I thought this was funny. I came in from picking peaches one day, and I found Sanders laying at the front door...not sleeping, just keeping one eye open to see what was going on. He had no desire to get up and say hi. What a lazy dog! :) In case you can't tell....he is on his back, and nose is facing the camera with one eye open. His legs are in the air and one is against the wall. It's getting harder and harder to tell which end is which!

Oh yes, and Sunday after everything was finished for the anniversary party, Sanders joined me in the backyard to check on the fruit trees. He managed to pick up an apple and chew on it. Guess my dog is a healthy eater. He likes his fruit!