Can Duke Become More Independent After Being a Velcro Dog?

[rootX]

His seat belt makes me worry

 

[turbo]

His seat belt makes me worry

Believe me, I have tested his restraint pretty thoroughly. Nothing bad is going to happen to my dog! I experimented with threading the shoulder-belt through his chest harness and around him, but that didn't work too well. Luckily, this harness has front and rear D-rings, and with the double-ended leash, I can secure him pretty well. He's not going anywhere.

 

[turbo]

Thanks turbo. What a lucky dog...I mean man. For having such a nice ride.

Between my property and other neighbors' properties, we have miles of trails through the woods. One of my neighbors has a good sand-pit on his property, and a couple of large Ford tractors, so our trails aren't just muddy ruts - they are often wide sand-bedded roads. When his boys were younger, they used to fix up junk vehicles and race them around out there, so they built some pretty demanding/fun roads, some steep, some real curvy, and some very pretty as they wind through birch and pine groves and along streams, including a beaver bog.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Where's turbo-1? This is the third time he's been late since he bought me this ATV. Where's Jimmy? Oh yeah, he's ignoring me. Where can I get a driver at this hour?

 

[turbo]

Where's turbo-1? This is the third time he's been late since he bought me this ATV. Where's Jimmy? Oh yeah, he's ignoring me. Where can I get a driver at this hour?

After I paid for the utility vehicle with 4WD AND paid for a driver, why is the driver turning paparazzi on me? I'm not Britney Spears and I never wear underwear anyway! Take me for a ride NOW, you slacker!

I have to cut off his Internet access.

 

[turbo]

I have created a monster! Just a couple of minutes ago, I said "We might have to take a ride to Tractor Supply to get a trailer-ball." and when he heard "ride" he was ready to go. Not the "get in the truck" ride, but the ATV wind-in-the-face ride.

It's nice living up here. One of my neighbors (Fire Chief) just bought a nice new custom-built flat-bed trailer, and he told me that if I ever need to use it to move my utility ATV or anything else, just come get it. I'd leave him a note, of course, but that's the beauty of living in a place like this. Everybody watches everybody else's back, and shares with others.

I think deep-down we're Amish people who use modern stuff, and will drink, party, etc.

 

[turbo]

Duke and I had a nice ride tonight. My wife used the ATV to move and plant some bushes and perennials she got from our neighbor's sister, and when she was done, Duke and I went out for a ride. We visited with neighbors (Duke starts looking at me and whining quietly if that lasts too long), played tennis-ball-fetch with a collapsible Chuck-It clone ball-thrower in a nice mowed field, and rode around on lots of very nice sandy-bed roads. When Duke has had enough exercise, he jumps into the ATV with little urging and sits up on the seat leaning into me with a big hangey-tongue grin. If he's feeling tuckered, he puts his front paws across my legs and hangs his head on my lap. Life is good.

 

[turbo]

Today is very hot and humid, but I still took Duke out for a ride so we could play ball in the woods, shaded from the direct sun. On the way, we stopped to say "hi" to the neighbors, and Max (who is Duke's gay suitor) jumped in the ATV when I asked if he wanted a ride. The three of us rode down into the woods and played fetch for 1/2 hour or so, until the boys were panting like crazy with tongues hanging out.

They both got back in the ATV when I called them (Duke on the seat and Max on the floor) and we rode back home. I thought they were winded, but they both piled out and started charging all over my neighbors' lawns and gardens at full-tilt. I'll have to make sure to have a camera with me next time - they are pretty cute together. Max is a German shepherd/pit bull mix, and is sweet as he can be. My neighbor loves to have both dogs running free on his property, and when low-lifes drive by slowly, looking around, he smiles, waves and under his breath says "Ooh! Big scary dogs, you scum." There have been quite a number of break-ins and home-invasions in the area over the last couple of years, but we've had no trouble. When Al and the family visited the Fryeburg fair a few years back, he bought a bone-shaped hand-lettered sign for his dog that says "Yard protected by Max" and he bought another one for Duke that we display on the corner of our log house.

 

[dlgoff]

They both got back in the ATV when I called them (Duke on the seat and Max on the floor) and we rode back home. I thought they were winded, but they both piled out and started charging all over my neighbors' lawns and gardens at full-tilt.

Good dogs and they're happy you took them out.

 

[turbo]

Good dogs and they're happy you took them out.

They both love rides, playing tennis-ball fetch, and hanging out together. When we rode back out of the woods with both dogs in the ATV, grinning like fools, my neighbor and his daughter started grinning, too. It's pretty cute. We are really close-knit up here. When my wife gets home today, she's going to start cleaning out one of our chest freezers, so she and Duke can stay in the shade and cool, and my neighbor and I are going to jack up and level my new wood-shed. He's giving me a bunch of concrete pavers, so I can keep the hemlock stringers off the ground.

 

[turbo]

Here is a picture of Duke's sign. When Al was using some deep red latex paint a year or so ago, he rinsed his brushes, etc in the vicinity of Max's sign, making it look like the aftermath of a blood-bath. Too funny!

Anyway, these signs are probably a lot more neutral (legally) than "Beware of Dog" type signs, since if someone trespasses and manages to get bitten, they can claim that you have a mean dog and that the sign proves that you know you have a mean dog.

 

[dlgoff]

... so she and Duke can stay in the shade and cool, and my neighbor and I are going to jack up and level my new wood-shed. He's giving me a bunch of concrete pavers, so I can keep the hemlock stringers off the ground.

Okay. Now I want to see pictures of you new wood-shed. Or did I miss seeing it somewhere?

btw, my "swing-set building" is coming along. I'll post a picture of the progress when my daughter gets home with her camera.

 

[turbo]

New wood-shed, all blocked up and leveled.

Duke is pretty happy with the addition, too. If I end up in the dog-house, Duke and I will have plenty of space.

Got to take out that center brace (transport only), but I'll leave the others.

You might have noticed that the guy who builds these utility buildings uses rough-sawn full-dimension lumber. Very rugged stuff, and the skids are hemlock, which is really rot-resistant. I paid $1850 delivered (tax included) for this shed, which is probably less than I would have had to pay for just the materials to build one, and it saved me a lot of time (garden is first!) and labor.

 

[dlgoff]

Nice shed. Are you going to tie it down so wind can't move it?

I posted my shed pictures https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=505682". I'll trade you.

 

[turbo]

Nice shed. Are you going to tie it down so wind can't move it?

I posted my shed pictures https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=505682". I'll trade you.

I don't think I'll have to tie it down. That sucker is heavy! Soon it will be full of firewood, and the only time it will be empty is when I put all that firewood into my attached garage-shed and haven't yet gotten the detached shed loaded. I keep my firewood on a 2-year cycle. Much of my wood (bought from my niece's husband) is oak, which dries quite slowly. Oak that has been cured for a summer just sizzles and hisses when you try to burn it. We really need to have two consecutive summers under cover to make that kind of wood burn efficiently.

 

[turbo]

My dog and I dropped by a neighbor's place today while on a ride on his 4-wheeler (it is Duke's vehicle and don't try to claim otherwise!), and the neighbor's son (~45 or so) called him "woof-woof" instead of Duke. Duke is normally pretty low-key, but started going "Woof, Woof, Woof" while staring at him. It was funny.

 

[turbo]

Duke has been gassing me out all day. My wife decided to try him on Earthborn Holistic grain-free dry dog food. He seems to like it, and that's OK, but he'll probably need time to get used to the food. In the meantime, I can't open the windows in this heat-wave and will have to suffer through his gas-discharges for a while.

 

[physics girl phd]

Duke has been gassing me out all day. My wife decided to try him on Earthborn Holistic grain-free dry dog food. He seems to like it, and that's OK, but he'll probably need time to get used to the food. In the meantime, I can't open the windows in this heat-wave and will have to suffer through his gas-discharges for a while.

This makes me laugh, because lately one of E's favorite books is "https://www.amazon.com/dp/1583940537/?tag=pfamazon01-20" -- which one of her older brothers (P) selected for her at the used book store.

She's also at an age where she thinks making a toot is funny, and she will do it again if you give any hint of noticing (or at least try). I guess as a small update there, she turned two earlier this week.

 

[turbo]

She's also at an age where she thinks making a toot is funny, and she will do it again if you give any hint of noticing (or at least try). I guess as a small update there, she turned two earlier this week.

My toddler niece is a song-writer. When she asks to get to the bathroom, and sits on the toilet, she sings "Pooping and peeing, pooping and peeing..." She's a character.