Bored Puppy? A game to play to keep them stimulated so you can get stuff done…

I have just had some major life changes, to say the least. I quit my job of 5 years at the building supply store I worked at. It was just time for me to move on, I’m still not sure what I am moving on to yet, but that’s okay at this stage. I need to regroup and do something I adore.

I also got a puppy. Now I know better than anyone what this involves. It took me a long time to decide, I knew I wanted a dog and went through a few phases. At first I thought an older dog was the answer, you know save the dog that no one wants. Give her the last few years of her life some quality and love. My brother talked me out of that. He said and older dog wouldn’t keep up and I wouldn’t have them to love for long, never mind the vet bills that could possibly be involved in that.

My brother is a smart guy. So I really thought about it and weighed the facts. He wasn’t wrong. And then fate stepped in and sent me Sophie. It was love the instant I saw her. And the rest is history.

I have been off work for a little over a month now, it’s been busy, with Christmas in the mix. But now January is here I find myself flailing a little. I’m not surprised, January is always a hard month. Crap weather, the empty feeling that comes after the excitement of the holidays and the knowledge that spring is still 70 something days away.

Some days it’s just too crappy out to walk twice which has become our daily routine, and as you know if you have a pup, they get just as bored as we do. So to this I say thank goodness for Pinterest. And here is one of the things I have learned to keep the puppy crazies to a minimum, and it is so easy that you can do it right now.

My first recommendation is to use treats that are not crumbly, this is from experience. Fun yes. Messy yes. My favourite training treats are Charlee Bear treats. They don’t crumble and Sophie loves them.

Now…find three old dish towels that are fairly thin, they need to be easy to tie. Open up first dish towel and lay flat, in the first one I put the most treats as this will be in the center once you are done.

Roll that baby up…

Repeat this with the other two towels, space the treats out randomly. Once that is done stack those babies together. You can throw some treats in the center of these as you go as well.

Now tie those bad boys up like this…

Stupid easy right? And Sophie was busy for about 15 minutes trying to find all the treats! And then she needed a sleep. Win. Double freaking win.

Follow me for upcoming puppy advice and learnings, lol. There’s never a dull moment!

Happy New Year to all, and here is to a fabulous 2023!

My heart breaks…

Yesterday I lost a good friend. He was one of the first new friends I made when I moved back to the coast, he was also my landlord for the first few years I lived in my house.

We had a hard relationship, we were both strong headed and are the take no shit kinda folk. We told each other to fuck off all of the time. He was kind of like the older brother I didn’t have. I worked for him for a while, and then quit. I told him he was too mean to work for, because he was always yelling at me and telling me what to do instead of teaching me in a less obnoxious way, and I told him I still wanted to be his friend, so it was better if I quit. We had a few good laughs over that over the years.

He was also one of the most loyal people I have ever met, I knew if I ever needed him for anything, at any time, he was there for me. No matter what it would’ve been. He had my back. And the same went for me, if he needed me I was there.

Over the last two days, I have re-lived our adventures, our arguments, our personal battles that were shared, the laughter, and the love that we had for each other. I’m going to miss him like he was my family. My heart has a little crack in it now, and a part for him that will always remain no matter what I do. I’ll still look for him driving down the road and walk by his yard and look in and see if he’s home. I can still hear him calling me kiddo and giving me a hard time over whatever was happening that day. I’ll miss our random texting and our banter back and forth. I’ll miss his unpredictability and the fact that he had even less of a filter than I do. We lost a good man yesterday. Hug your friends. Tell them you love them. You honestly just never know when you won’t be able to do it again…I know he’s looking down, and still has my back, but I wish I had hugged him just one more time and told him how much he meant to me…

I love and miss you my friend and I’ll see you on the other side. Rest in peace, Paul. I love you.

Camping etiquette (things you just shouldn’t do)

As some of you know, I’m an avid camper. Over the last three years of camping in my hometown, as I don’t often have enough time to venture far, I have learned a lot of what not to do. Here is my advice and (mostly) common sense things to remember whilst camping…

1. The tap where people get water is not your personal sink. Don’t dump food waste down there, you know it goes nowhere right? And bears people. They smell that shit from miles away, and there you are sleeping in a tent…never mind that is just disgusting for the rest of us when we need water.

2. The Outhouse. There are so many things here. Be respectful. Don’t leave your beer cans in there. Close the lid and open the door when you are done. Don’t pee beside the hole, you’ve done this before right? So many things…

3. Do not throw your disgusting cigarette butts all over the campsite, it’s bad enough when the fire pit is full of them, do you do that at home? Seriously.

4. And while we are on the topic of smoke, cigarettes, doobies, campfire…be respectful of where your smoke is headed, nobody wants to suck up your smoke, if your campfire is smoking, fix it, where there are flames there is little smoke…

5. Clean up after yourself before you leave. I always try to leave my spot way cleaner then it was when I arrive…no one wants to wipe your sticky mess off of the table or pick up your garbage on the ground. Also, don’t dump disgusting dishwater around the site. Wipe shit off before you wash it. Because ewww and bears. See suggestion #1.

6. Be respectful of your noise level. Everyone wants to have fun camping, of course…I love having my tunes playing, but no one else wants to hear my country music, and I certainly don’t want to hear your electronic bullshit whatever that is coming from your campsite at 11 at night. The same goes for your screaming kids, having fun is awesome, screaming at the top of little lungs all. day. long. Definitely no. That is part of why I camp, so I can get away from my neighbours screamer…

7. Barking dogs, just don’t. We all know how I feel about that.

8. Also, don’t leave their shit in the middle of the road, I shouldn’t even have to say that out loud, but so many times, walking down the road there are piles of crap. Be a grown up and look after it. if you are near my site I will give you a bag to clean it up. Or hey…there’s a thing called a stick, at least flick it in the bushes where no one will step in it.

9. Don’t steal people’s shit. I have been robbed at the campsite. I don’t leave anything out anymore. Every night and even if I leave for an hour my stuff is locked up. I was super optimistic that it would never happen to me until it did. Luckily it wasn’t anything major but it felt shitty all the same. Keep an eye on your neighbours stuff too, if you see someone being shady, call the cops.

10. Don’t throw your frisbee walking down the road and hit some chicks truck…she won’t be impressed. Especially because you are a grown assed man who should know better. Annoyance will indeed be obvious.

11. Also, don’t just cut through someone’s campsite, it’s like you have just walked into someone’s house and are walking through their living room. Soooo not cool.

12. When you are driving around the campsite looking for a spot, maybe 4 times (??) slow the fuck down. You are making dust and could very possibly kill a child. Slow. The. Fuck. Down.

I know there is more stuff, but that feels like enough for now. Have fun out there, but be respectful people, there are others around you!

Happy camping!