9 months

http://www.youtube.com/keysa71#p/a/u/0/5oBwey38Dw0

Blogspot was having video upload troubles so click the link above for the latest video until I get it posted correctly....

Max is enjoying having fun outside in his new home. This isn't the highest quality video since it was taken on a cell phone but you get the idea! Max loves having lots of space to run, roam, and explore. Some unplanned explorations have led to a seriously smelly dog - but dogs will be dogs! He is also learning to use his nose like a bird dog - he sniffs out wild turkeys that live close by and loves flushing butterflies! Many new people are in and out of the house on the remodel projects so he has many new human friends!

Crickets in my blog!

Loyal Readers,

It's been quite the month remodeling a home on our new farm, but Maxie is in heaven! I promise to try to get some great pics of him tomorrow to share! If it lets you know how things are going, Maxie accidentally got a snootfull of drywall mud yesterday. I was terrified but he licked it up and went back for more - needless to say that did not happen, but boy is he a rambunctious fella! Bear with me and I'll post loads of pics!! If this is just a hint of where we are in the process, here is the master bathroom as of today.

Max Attacks!

I love my retractable leash. Really, I do. I recognize the inherent dangers and am a responsible leash user. Really, I am. I know a less than 30 pound dog is easily managed and I scoff at those who cannot manage their smallish dogs. Really, I did. I stand, slightly hunched over to one side with loads of large bandaids, corrected. A vast right side conspiracy, I call it. As in the right side of my body from tip to toe is scratched, bruised, lacerated or otherwise maimed by the lovely small dog. I'd post a picture but I'm far too embarrassed.

Perhaps a pic later today, Max frolicking about in his new digs. Much more fun!

More tasties!

Yummy in Maxie's Tummy! Doggie Cookies
3	Sm. Jars baby food meat variety	2 1/2 oz. Size
1/4	C	Powdered Milk
1/4	C	Wheat Germ
Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Roll into small balls and place on well-greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 15 minutes or until brown. Cool on wire racks and store in refrigerator, also may be frozen. Critical tip: if meat baby food grosses you out.... pick another recipe!

Rufnit Ulysses aka Max

Well, it seems that we will soon be moving to our little farm in East/ Middle TN. And Maxie LOVES it - I'm just hoping that it isn't the goose and chicken poo that he loves...

Maxie will have a nice sized, very safe backyard to run and romp and play, as well as being allowed inside plenty. I suppose the good thing about having no human kiddos means that we can spoil Max and the other animals to come!

So then, goats and chickens, perhaps cows/ bulls? Email me and let me know if you have sage words for me. Oh, wait... not Sage flyrods - we have those handled....

Scooby Snacks! Cheddar Dog Treats!

A very easy recipe for homemade puppy treats - Max goes wild for them. They last about a month in a sealed container at room temp - will last for two months if you keep in the fridge.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tbsp butter

3/4 cup milk

Grated Parm for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put flours and cheese in food processor. Pulse to mix. Add butter and milk. Mix well. Turn out on to floured surface and roll out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Poke with tines of fork and sprinkle Parm. Cut dough with cookie cutter. Place on baking sheet covered with greased or non stick foil. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Your dog will love you.

For those Ertsgaards, Haugens, and other Norwegian/ Scandinavian types: use the lefse rolling pin for these treats. The dough rolls quickly and the texture of the pin allows the treats to bake quite nicely and makes a crispy scooby snack.

Next post will be the pupsicle recipe - a COLD summer treat!

Maxwell's a Silver Hammer

Ain't he sweet? He has no idea what is in store for him as we move to a small farm with loads of animals, especially birds, to chase! While only about 7 months, he seems to have reached his "terrible twos" with two dog beds destroyed in as many nights. We're consulting with BIL Ed who has had several dogs to see what are options are. I can't stand letting him sleep without a nice cozy bed! Maybe chain mail?

In the meantime, I've bought him a baby pool, thinking he would welcome it in these 95 degree days. So far he's gotten two paws in and then looked at me like I was crazy! Now what's really crazy is that I got in the pool with him to show him how it's done. Not a pretty sight I'll tell you. On the home front, we are going back with to Doyle for hopefully our last signing off on the removal of the restriction that Paul can run a business from home and that no neighbor will be allowed to place a junkyard on their property. Believe me, this is a community that does not need restrictions on gunfire, but restrictions on junkyards. Home sweet home! Maybe as soon as the next week or two.

Traveling with Maxi!

Last week we went to Greensboro, NC for P and a few other pro/ sponsored shooters to put on an exhibition/ gun range experience for a business called IonBond. IonBond coats gun parts with diamond like carbon using physical vapor deposition (someone correct me if I'm wrong on that!) - as well as many other enterprises.

IonBond has plants all over the world and this week their "big-wigs" came to Greensboro for a several day meeting. We were the entertainment since some IonBond staff don't know exactly how or why the product is such a niche market for precision firearms. Many staff were from Asia, Scandinavian areas, Italy and many other accents I just couldn't place!

The many of these fellas (one girl, but she was 8 months pregnant) had never touched a firearm before. With my gimp foot, I decided I would be the safety officer and keep a watchful eye on these folks with no firearms experience, etc. Everyone did well and had a great time. It was much fun and I hope we have the opportunity to more things like that in the future.

Now, Max. He came with us to G-boro and stayed at a La Quinta (pets stay free!). However, on the shooting day we boarded him at Lucky's Day Spa since he's not quite old enough to be exposed to AR-15's and the like. I admit I was jealous of his spa day until I got a big whiff of the kennel!

A great time was had by all! Thanks, IonBond - let's do it again when I'm not hobbled and let's get some girl shooters. In my opinion, girls learn better from girls - see Babes With Bulllets camp which I attended in 2006. A slumber party! With bullets and gun butter! Who could ask for more.

And Then Like Any Good Dog Parent

..... I drove away from home the said favorite new toy on the top of my car. I even tracked back to see if the ring could be found. Alas, poor dog ring. We knew him well.

At least I still have a giftcard for PetSmart.

6 Months

We've signed up for a companion for Max for hopefully in the fall. Rufnit Kennels has a new litter of beautiful fawn puppies with a female we really liked as a possible companion for Max. However we talked with Shari of Rufnit Kennels abut the timing and how that might affect Max, especially since we'll be moving soon - about the time the new puppy would be ready to arrive. Shari wisely said it would be a lot of upheaval for Max so we are going to wait for another litter - maybe X or Y. Can't wait to see the names for the X and Y pups!

Max is right about 6 months old. He does really well off leash - whistle trained pretty well, but he has a stubborn streak! He continues to start sniffing birds in the air. Hopefully we'll have a few coveys of quail soon to see what he does! He stands about 20 inches and about 30 pounds. And what a face he has! Such a beautiful little fellow! I can't get upset with him when he misbehaves since he is such a cutie, but train him (nicely) we must. I strongly recommend two books - one is called How to Help Gun Dogs Train Themselves by Joan Bailey and the other is The Dog Whisperer: A Compassionate, Nonviolent Approach to Dog Training by Paul Owens and Norma Eckroate.

The new house has loads of space for him to romp and play - most cross fenced for horses or cattle but I have a strong feeling that will not contain dear Maxie. I spy digging under fencing in the future! He has an amazing ability to find snakes so we've begun the rattlesnake vaccine process. We'll be fencing in the back yard area so Max has free rein out there. He can romp in the pasture and gun range under supervision!

Who knew I'd come to love this little fellow so much? Superdog! I made one video with the theme to Hong Kong Phooey but can't post it here because of copyright issues, but here is another fun video - enjoy!


For some reason this supposed HD video came out terribly and took me four days to get it to embed. Go to my youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP8RgCe0c1Q for a better quality vid..... Or wait another day or two while I figure it out!