Painting

I'm in the process of painting the bedroom, and Mocha is all discombobulated!  I moved her bed to the opposite corner of the room (temporarily), and I thought she was okay with it:

Temporary relocation

She was fine until bed time.  After lights out, I heard her get up and come around to where her bed used to be.  So I said, "I'll fix it!", and I moved her bed back to the normal location for the night.  Now I'll have to move it again to do the second coat of paint on that wall!

Mocha likes to lie in the sun, but sometimes, there can be too much of a good thing:

Too much sun

Today is another sunny day!  Still cool right now, so I'm going to paint early and hike later.

Monday

Today started out with a 1/2 circle walk for Mocha.  She didn't see any friends, just some squirrels and some good sniffin' from overnight visitors.

When we got home, she was ready for her morning nap.  It's tough to sleep when it's sunny outside.

Trying to get some sleep

Later when she was out again, a man across the street (doing some work for a neighbor) asked how old she was.  People often mistake her for a young Rottweiler because she is small.  So I told him she was 8, and he said he had won a stuffed Rottie toy at Hershey Park last weekend!  She went over to him and allowed him to admire her.

After that, she was ready to find some sunshine inside, instead of being out in the actual sunshine.

Sunshine is good

She watched me paint for a little while, but that was so boring that she went downstairs and, you guessed it, took a nap.

Mocha J's Sunny Day

It was a sunny day for Mocha.  She doesn't like to go very far on her walks when it's sunny out, or should I say hot.  She likes the winter sun just fine.

Mocha started off her last walk of the day by sitting by the coreopsis:

Mocha looks like she's squinting from the sun!

We walked down the street, and she stared across at her  nemesis' yard (she always has to check and make sure she see's him if  he's out).  No such luck today.

Fredo's yard

 

 

 After that, we walked back home, and she was a hot girl:

After her cooldown, she will be ready to eat.

Rainy Day Nap Day

It's a rainy, cloudy day - perfect for a long nap for Mocha J!  She had a very early walk, in between the heavy rain times.

She got to see Sydney yesterday (and was not a polite girl).  She has been better with Pookie, and she is fine with Dexter and Maddie.  But I realized recently that Mocha would probably be quite content if she never sees another dog.  She is a people dog, not a dog's dog.

A few turtles have been laying eggs in our yard, and Mocha was sniffing them out.

She saw this one, but dad didn't let her get too close.

Happy June!

Challenging Walk

Wow, it's been almost a month since I've written.  Since I'm no longer a runner, there isn't as much to write about.  Power walking is great - I'm starting to look forward to my walks, just like I used to look forward to running.  I keep track of animals that I see on my walks - something to keep my mind busy.

Mocha has been healthy.  This morning we had a challenging walk though - lots of dogs out so early!

First, we saw Max, the Schnauzer.  She always reacts to him a bit, but I had my distraction treat ready, and kept her mostly focused on me. 

Then we saw Pookie on the other side of the street, just as Ann was running towards us.  Mocha loves Ann, and was getting a butt scratch.  However, that pesky Pookie was still on the other side of the street, so Mocha was looking over that way.  She escalated a little, and I corrected her.  Ann was still with us, and we talked a while before she continued on her run.

Next up - Max again (we were heading in opposite directions, so we passed him again).  This time, I was able to distract Mocha early, and she went on her way with no growling.

Almost home, and here is Bella off leash, and Pookie coming up the street again.  I managed to distract her from Pookie this time, and Bella just ignored Mocha, so we were good!

Whew!  And I forgot to mention, it's SUNNY today!  Yay, sun!

Cloudy Wednesday

Today it is cooler and cloudy.  Mocha & I went for an early walk, and on the way back home we saw Pookie.  She is a neighbor dog that has been reactive when she sees Mocha, and of course, Mocha reacts back at her.  But today, Pookie, with a few soft words from her mom, kept walking and ignored Mocha.  I looked over at her after she had gone by, and she was calmly walking and wagging her tail. 

I can't say the same for Mocha.  She reacted as she usually does (fur up, huffing, wanted to cross the street towards Pookie).  I gave her a correction, but it took a while for her to calm down.  But maybe now that Pookie doesn't show any interest in Mocha, things will change for the better.

I need to ask Pookie's mom what she did to that girl!

On the walking front, I've been doing a power walk every other day.  My goal is for my pace to be under a 15 minute mile, and yesterday I did a 14:31.   I'm happy with that.  Still miss running though.

Rainy April Day

I was surprised to see it raining this morning when Mocha & I headed out for our walk.  Not cold though!  That's very good.  This month has been windy and colder than normal so far.

Mocha had a few dog experiences yesterday.  We saw Pookie on our first walk.  Pookie has the same coloring as  Mocha, but is shorter and stouter.  Pookie reacts to other dogs the same way that  Mocha does - suspicious and wary.  It's hard to get them to continue on their walks, but  Mocha did pretty well.

Later, we saw a young-looking chocolate lab-looking dog, and it wanted to cross the street to see Mocha, who was quite interested also.  But the chocolate lab walker kept the dog on the other side of the street, and Mocha kept going with me.

My friend Holly got a new puppy -  Eva is her name.  Holly's kids and husband really wanted a dog, so now Holly is a dog mom. 

I hope the adjustment (for people and dog) goes well!