Leash Training

Abby – the active, perma puppy and I are still plugging away with the leash issue – the issue being she isn’t fond of it. There have been some improvements and a lot of compromises. The bungie style leash along with the Gentle Leader harness, seems to be the combination that works best for us. I think we may be RV and State Park ready about the time the RV gets out of the shop. In other words, plenty of practice time left. Abby is doing better around people but still goes ape when she sees another dog or animal.

Another issue is that Abby loves visiting the neighbors. The neighbors love Abby so I didn’t think it was a problem.. at first.

Abby keeps getting a rash on her stomach that is believed to be from the bushes she goes through to get to the neighbors. She can squeeze like a rodent through the fence and then proceeds through the hedge. Today, a mesh was put on the fence to block her access. Abby isn’t real happy with me right now. I’m not going to be real happy if she tears that mesh down.

She is currently outside, determining how deep of a hole to dig to get from point A to point B. The neighbor’s house is also for sale – and I don’t remember seeing “visiting chocolate labrador retriever” on the list of amenities…much less an underground tunnel.

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Should be Sleeping

Its in . between the middle of the night and morning. Too early to get up and apparently, too late to go back to sleep. Course, in my way younger days.. it would be about the time I was crawling in.

I don’t think its the excitement of taking the lawn mower to the shop that has triggered this insomnia.  That’s the big plan for today. Lug that sucker in for its spring over haul. The mowing season here is nine to ten months.

After the lawn mower shop, may stop at Camp Helen, another local state park and see if I can find one of the geocaches there. I’m debating taking Abby – aka traitor dog.

Abby spends her free time next door. She loves the family there, the activity, everything. They love her. They don’t make her do leash training.

Abby has tons of love, typical lab, so we can share.

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This Diet Sucks

Trying to stay focused on the big prize.. the weight loss. How good its going to feel to be able to actually wear the clothes in my closet. SO HARD!

Earlier this week, I went back to the state park and found my first geocache. There was no one around and I could take my time looking. The cache was rated “EASY”…and it still took me awhile to find it. There is another one in the same state park but I’m trying to save that since I plan to keep all my geocaching activities within parks…especially those that allow dogs.

Abby the Chocolate Lab and I are paw deep in leash training. Neither of us are doing that well with it. She is very much the free spirit. I have trouble controlling her. She has trouble putting up with my rules. Guess we are even.

I’m convinced I’m not cut out for dog training. We aren’t having fun with it AT ALL. Shouldn’t we be enjoying this? Just a little?

Someday, I hope to have the rv out of the shop. I also hope they invent a calorie free buffet.

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Cache me if you Can

Yesterday, I went to the local state park armed with my blackberry navigation as well as the geomate jr determined to find my first geocache.

I was sitting on the side of the park road looking at my blackberry and a gentleman asked me if everything was ok. I had ridden my adult trike and I guess he thought I was stuck in the sand or somehow lost. We chatted about bike riding, the benefits and to my amazement, he was 78 years old. He said his wife was still getting the hang of her trike.

I eventually found Alligator Lake’s trail. It was a short hike to where geomate jr told me the cache was. I’ll be darn if I was going to stick my hand blindly under anything in that area.

The trail was crowded with muggles (non geocachers). Trying to be less than conspicuous while also trying not to get bitten by any wild life, hindered my attempts at the first great find tremendously.

I didn’t find it….but I’m going back. Might even go back today. ..or at least sometime this week. I have a Florida State Park pass and only pay annually for entrance instead of each time. Good thing as I saw the new rates posted on the entrance gate yesterday and almost fell off my trike.

Even though I did not find the cache, I found several other things/experiences. Even though I live near St. Andrews State Park, I have never been on its trails. I never knew about Alligator Lake. And I have never met the kind gentleman who asked me if  I needed help.

Cache or no cache, it was a good day.

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GeoCaching

Geocaching is the use of gps to find useless crap hidden all over the place. Within a twenty mile radius of my home, there are close to 500 caches to find. But first.. I need to read up and buy some crap.

Purchases are optional but I’m jumping in with both feet. It will give me something to do while not eating out.

For my blackberry, I got the GeoCache Navigator –and- CacheBerry.  Both enable you to go paperless in your travels for treasure. Each have their plusses and minuses. Because of battery drain on the blackberry and the thought that I might need the blackberry with a charge to MAKE A CALL – as in for HELP or something, I also sprung for a kiddie gps called GeoMate Jr that is relatively inexpensive and uses two AAA batteries. It has the coordinates of the caches and provides a gps based compass to get you there but no maps.

Many like the geomate jr but feel its uncool to admit it and claim they got it for their kids. I plan to use it with pride…and save the battery drain on the blackberry. However, the maps in GeoNavigator and CacheBerry really do show where X marks the spot so to speak VERY nicely.

Reading all I could from www.geocaching.com I decided that I needed to get a travel bug to set loose and follow as it goes from cache to cache, – providing it doesn’t get lost, stolen, burned up in a forest fire, etc. There was some other junk I thought I just had to have and ordered as well.

Weather permitting, this Saturday, I shall go find my first cache at the local state park. I hope to ride my dorky adult trike there and back. It has the makings of a day to remember.

I am so surprised that I didn’t think of this before as it really is the perfect hobby for one that enjoys travel by rv.  I have always preferred to camp at state parks. State parks, at least in my state, seem to be loaded with geocaches.

Leash training Ms. Abby Cocoa Puff the chocolate lab has gone from important to critical. And once she gets that down pat.. if ever, then she can start hauling her own water and potty bags.

I’ve played online games where one looks for treasures with no real monetary reward. Why not do it in real life?

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