Aha, that makes sense. They are supposed to be a low maintenance, hardy breed and the woolie coat...as we know Amy mentions a lot...adds to their maintenance, haha.

Thanks everyone.

seattlesibe wrote:

 They are supposed to be a low maintenance, hardy breed and the woolie coat...as we know Amy mentions a lot...adds to their maintenance, haha.

Thanks everyone.

LOW MAINTENANCE, Hah

The 2 boys have been out on their extended morning romp...lots of brush exploring. They just rang the bell a bit ago to "touch base". Ami has got little seeds all through his coat. A bunch of multiflora rose (an invasive weed around here), some goldenrod, some little flat thing I have yet to identify and probably some burdock. This stuff just doesn't seem to attach to Archer. So, to quote Ashleigh, there will be another "rodeo" tonight

Jimmy - take up all the room you want. Your comments/questions are more than welcome.
Renee, thank you for the lovely comments - yeah, Archer is adult size now and one solid pup. He more than gives Ami a run for his money!

I was just commenting this morning to Wayne, where one pup is, the other is not far behind. I'm not sure, but I think both dogs are responding to "go find Ami/Archer" or "where's Ami/Archer". Though, I'm not sure Ami is thrilled with Archer being in the house. Ami prefers outside, Archer likes his people time. They drive me crazy... Archer rings the bell and comes in. Ami stays out. Few minutes later, Ami rings the bell. I open the door, Archer comes with me...there we stand, wide open door with Archer in the open door looking at Ami..."Ami come on in..." Ami meantime is out side looking in with "Arch...come on out and play". Until I've frozen my tail off and Wayne is hollering "shut the...door, its freezing in here "

So goes life up on the hill in the finger lakes

Wayne and I were trying to read the paper in bed this morning...

Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong...

Graaammmmmy, Ami won't play with me


Can I come in...please, I'm bored


Go away kid...I'm sleeping

Haha

Ami looks huge sitting in that chair! Poor Archer, Ami doesn't want to play!

How in the world is that sleeping position comfortable?!

capellalayla wrote:

How in the world is that sleeping position comfortable?!

Beats me but it's a frequent position!

The chair pic is just too cool, haha. Archer looks like he has some serious personality!!! they make such a perfect pair.

Ami in the chair is the best!! My current favorite Ami pic, thank you Amy for adding pics, he's such a loveable guy.....

Thanks guys - I really get a kick out of the chair thing too.

Finally, I think I've figured this out

First attempts at video with my camera:

This Ami and Archer getting out first thing in the morning:

That was a hassle...first it took forever to upload the videos on my satellite connection. Then the youtube thing frequently got stuck in processing. Then I forgot I could just use the little "youtube" thingy in the "post a reply" action bar, kept trying to use the "embed" thing on youtube.

Old ladies, new technology

They are so cute! Ami is hilarious.

Thanks, Lucy. The 2 of them together is a stitch. And they are always together...unless it's dark out, then Ami decides its nap time but prefers his evening nap outside while Archer prefers to be in the house...next to one of us...or on our feet...or, if we let him, in our lap

For a couple of years, now, both sons and husband have said..."ya' know, you CAN take video with that camera..."

Old lady says..."too complicated"

Then, fooling around with the new tablet, I accidentally took video of Wayne at Barnes and Noble (I thought I was taking a picture ) Then got home, found "out of memory", thought WTF, checked things out and "where did that video come from?" So, curious, looked at the dial on my camera and "DUH!" All I do is turn the dial, click the sutter start, point and follow, click the shutter to end. Now, how hard was that

I always say, learn something knew every day...keeps the brain young!

A learning brain is a healthy brain! I can't wait to see more now that you figured out the contraption. It's a lot better than my dad was lol... When he "wanted" to learn how to use the computer..... I have only seen my dad cry twice in my life, and that was one of those times me "teaching" him how to use the pc lol.

So how much does Archer chill with you guys? It seems like he is a living in visitor haha... reminds me of when I was a teenager. I lived next door to my best friend, and one time I stayed over there a whole week before my dad was just like, "Are you ever coming home?" lol.

Yeah, Lucy - live in visitor is about right these days. Josh is a field engineer for GE, for their power plant division. Spring and fall is what they call "outage season", when power plants in need of planned maintenance shut down their electricity generation plants to maintain the turbines. Josh was super excited when he got the job - talked about bolts "as big as I am" on these turbines, essentially just huge (as in house size) car engines. When he is on an outage, he can be gone anywhere from 2-3 weeks to, like now, months. The plan was, when he got this dog, I would take care of the dog (he was NOT supposed to get a puppy, but that is history ). His wife is a chef, so her work hours are crazy. It just works out better for Archer to stay here rather than crated or on his trolley for 10-12 hours a day.

Maybe, when Archer is older and more settled, he can travel with Josh, but right now, he is too active and needs company.

We don't mind...as a matter of fact, we are getting kind of attached to the little (not so little, anymore) guy. He was home for 3 days over Christmas and we both kind of missed the squirt. As did Ami though I think he liked having us all to himself, too.

Wow, that is a busy schedule for sure! If my life ever became so hectic, I would hope to be as lucky to have someone to care-give for Okami (and future others) so much love. Ami certainly seems like he might be pair bonding with Archer a little though, which is fine, but I would hope that he doesn't get depressed in the future if Josh does start taking Archer with him to work.

How big is your yard? It looks huge from the videos!

We've been a bit concerned about a pair-bond developing so the way I mange that is to let Ami, on leash, walk Archer to his car and see him leave. Then, when Archer is gone, Ami gets extra attention from us. Also, because they are still getting trained to the invisible fence, Arhcer has not yet progressed to a leaving the yard ritual and thus, does not get a walk off the property. So Ami gets much more walking time when Archer is gone. Also, Ami is the more submissive of the 2 and Archer "budges" so, that I think Ami likes it when Archer is gone and he gets his treats at his own pace, with us alone.

We live on 30 acres - the invisible fence is only on the bottom part, all the mowed area plus a little of the brushy/wooded are, maybe about 4 acres total. I was going to do more but the wire is pricey and I began to worry about being able to find Ami in the brush if something happend to him.

I've said before that we had no idea Ami was a wooly when we got him - last night, looking for a video, I stumbled across Ami's original petfinder listing (which I never saw before - it was his picture in the paper that got me). There were 2 more pics that I have never seen, taken 5 days before we went to the shelter. Makes me cry - he was soooo skinny! I remember saying that to the shelter director when he first brought him out.

Here are the closest to "baby pictures" I have of the big boy! And notice the tail - NOT the tail he has today





And the pic that was in the newspaper - it was his expression that got me. He looked so interested and perky!

Oh man Amy, did you get a surprise on that fur!

Wow, he is a totally different dog. I can see why the wooly thought slipped past. He looked very plush but not totally wooly in those pictures. His tail looks soooo much better now, I think. He's come so far.

oh my gosh he is so handsome!!!

Here's the origianl description - uh, yeah, he did need some training! He was a puppy in big dog clothes!

ABOUT AMI

Ami is a beautiful 1 year old Siberian Husky who was surrendered to the shelter. He has BEAUTIFUL COLORATION and 2 LIGHT BLUE EYES, as you can see in his photo. He is very friendly and playful. Ami is very smart and would be a good candidate for obedience training. He jumps up and has never been trained. He loves to play and has many " puppy like characteristics". Ami was tied up outside before he came to the shelter so he needs help with house training too. Please come to visit him to see what a great dog he is!

I can sort of see the wooly in his face, but otherwise it looks like he was shaved (which he may well have been, come to think of it, given his background). If I didn't know anything about the wooly gene, I wouldn't at all have expected the furry nightmare that came later, haha!

I find it curious that the newspaper add accented his beautiful coloring and light-blue eyes. Trying to play to those who like Huskies because of how beautiful they are much? Luckily Ami found his forever home with a loving, caring family that gives him the attention, affection and exercise he deserves!

Amy, what a beautiful transformation of Ami....You did such a wonderful thing to make a handsome pup turn into a splendid, beautiful, mature dog. He is the epitome of love and devotion. Love your signature, nice update.