We cleaned out the closet and did a bit of reorganizing. Hobie's toys are now within his reach. Needless to say, it's dangerous leaving the closet door open...
February 2007 Archives
Sometimes it gets a little warm in our apartment, and it's important to make sure that Hobie stays comfortable. One great-tasting treat that's easy (and cheap) to make is chicken broth ice-cubes.
We just pour some low-sodium chicken broth in an ice cube tray, and after a few hours they are hard enough to be fun chew. They don't get quite as hard as icecubes, but judging from Hobie's expression, they taste really really good.
Someone should probably tell Hobie that it's not polite to chew with his mouth open.
Today was a gorgeous day in San Francisco, and we took Hobie to a local field to play a little fetch.
When working out, it is important to warm up, so first we do a few laps.
When we are warm the real exercise can begin. As you know, Hobie is a dedicated fetcher, and there's nothing like grabbing a ball mid-air. Today, however, we were working on Hobie's dancing skills. This is a new dance that we are calling "fetch."
There's a good number of purse dogs in our neighborhood. The other day I took Hobie down to the play area in the courtyard of the apartment complex. We saw a little Chihuahua who wanted to smell Hobie. Hobie froze up a little bit, and then hesitantly engaged in a little butt-sniffing.
I asked the guy what his dog's name was.
"LV."
I paused for a second. "From the brand?"
"Yes."
The guy then went on to say something about his girlfriend, but I didn't pay attention. The thought of a small dog being named after Louis Vuitton purses was just too funny.
I was doing some work when I noticed Hobie sleeping on an Ikea ottoman we have. I've never seen him on it before, but he looked pretty comfortable on it.
There's not a lot of room for about 28 pounds of Miniature Schnauzer on the ottoman, though. It looks a little cramped.
We took Hobie to Golden Gate Park today. We walked around the Polo Field, and there was another dog walking on a parallel path. Hobie was very curious, and stopped a few times to get a better look at that other dog.
He would walk up between the trees separating the two paths, and just observe, while looking very alert.
Hobie had a busy Saturday. In the morning Gladys dropped him off at Kate's Cat and Dog Salon. He was getting pretty hairy, so it was about time.
The groomers there do a very nice job, but for some reason they never call us to let us know when Hobie is done. Every time Gladys has asked them to give us a call, and this time they even confirmed her phone number. Oh well, what matters is that Hobie gets groomed well.
He started spinning around in his kennel when Gladys came to pick him up. We decided to take him to Golden Gate Park, since we hadn't taken him there in a while.
He got to play a little with one of his favorite toys, and he was very happy to run around.
Playing fetch is serious business, and it's very important to get the ball. Hobie looks quite athletic (and fierce!) when leaping in the air for the ball.
After being in the park for a couple of hours we went to B&B Pet Supplies to get his vaccinations. There is a pretty cheap vaccination clinic there every once in a while, and it cost less than $40 to get his annual shots. Hobie behaved well while waiting in line, and he didn't protest at all when the needle got inserted in his lower back.
It went much better than last year, when a another dog peed on him.
