Here I Am!
My new haircut
My "normal" eyes (okay, so really, this is them on a dark brown day, they don't have a set color)
Here they are blue
Green eyes. I do like this pic quite muchly
It said "cappicheno" (pretty sure I spelled that wrong... too bad I don't care) I look like Azazel! Though... there is a picture of me with them even lighter. I guess it was just the way that the flash caught my eyes.
Grey eyes. You know, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but my Daddy has really pretty eyes. They're like a stormy blue grey, even the left one is still pretty in it's own way. You just kinda get used to it, actually.
It was supposed to be violet but they didn't really turn out that way. I dont really know why, they just wouldn't take.
I'm anxiously awaiting Saturday. I'm just so excited! This is my first time going to Halloweekends! I'm going to try and ride the Mellinum force (sp?) even though it's scared the hell out of be before and... the power tower. You see, this ninaj!turtle!kitty is not afraid of heights. No, she is afraid of FALLING from heights. I can look up at high buildings just fine, but I refuse to go near the edge of anything. I'm still a bit nervous about going on those two, but I'll get over it.
I'm gonna give Apache a bath once it stops raining, and quite possibly just putting my hood up and talking him for a walk while it's not downpouring. We're dropping him off at the vets for his weekend sleep over, along with Roxie. I know I'm being bad by being nervous about it, and it's just going to make him nervous too, but he's never spent a night away from home since we got him. I'm kinda worried that he'll miss me and not eat when I'm gone, or that he'll be mad at me when I get back. I know seperation anxiety is most common in dogs that think they're the alpha, and I'm pretty damn sure Apache KNOWS that I'm the boss.
I was reading up on the breeds in him yesterday. The lady we got him from said that he was a siberian husky and they thought a lab mix. He sorta looked like a lab mix when he was a puppy, but as he got bigger, his coat settled into german shepherd markings. He's got the husky markings on his face, and he looks like he has the face of a husky, except for his floppy ears. Not all german shepherds have up ears. About 10-15% of them have floppy ears that need to be taped or glued so they can be show dogs. Apache's not a show dog. We didn't really care. Mama's always complaining because they didn't stand up, keep saying he would look so much more like a shepherd of his ears had stood up, so much more fierce. Okay, two things. One, his ears are just another thing that's disporportionate on his body. He's got a husky face, which means he doesn't have the extended muzzle of a shepherd, which is what really balances out their face, so it'd just be two giant pink things on top of his head. Two, he's a big baby when we're not at home. It's like... as soon as we're over the property line he's a coward. It's strange, I know, but he's just not a fierce dog. He's skittish toward other humans, probably because he wasn't overly socialized when he was a baby, and skittish toward other dogs because the only time he really got to play with other dogs was one day when we were at the trainers, and he was terrified of the trainer, so it wasn't a good expierence.
That and a pit bull decided to "play" with him when he was a really little baby. Only 3 months old. I'm not saying that pit bulls are mean, I'm just putting it out there because I dog sat her before and they lied and said she was a boxer lab mix. Yeah, Chelsea's don't take well to lies. Anyway, Zoey (the dog) is really hyper, and really friendly, so she was basically jumping all over him. That scared the hell out of him.
Anyway, when I was going through and reading the descriptions of the different dogs in him, it said that shepherds are pretty inactive in doors, and huskys are pretty active when THEY'RE indoors. Wonderful. Another frustrating thing about his particular mix is that shepherds need a purpose in life, and they love learning obediance and tricks, while huskys wont do somthing unless they see a point in it. I always thought that Apache was a bit slow on the uptake, but apparently, he's actually really smart. He doesn't really need his few seconds to figure out what I'm asking him to do, so much as he's weighing the pros and cons of doing it. Dogs aren't really capable of reason (according to whoever was writing all those things) but apparently, yes they are. 9 times out of 10 he'll do what I ask him to, but he just kinda needs a reason to do it. Also, you can measure a dog's intellegance by putting a towel over their head and seeing how long it takes them to get it off. Sometimes he'll run into the counter when I put it over him, but others he'll toss his head back, and other times he'll put his head on the ground, then flop over onto his back, and it comes right off. He knows how to get out of the towel, I just think sometimes he just plain doesn't want to.
Another way to tell how smart they are is to put a treat under something that they can't get their muzzle, but can put a paw under and see if they use their paw to get it out, or if they try and use their muzzle. The problem with us trying that on him, is he weighs at least 60 lbs right now (I think he was about 55 or something the last time I could actually pick him up to weigh him, and that was a while ago) so he can just push pretty much whatever we put the treat under out of his way.
Also makes more sense when I took him over to my ex's house. We were dating at the time, and he just had this strong alpha male tendency. He had this thing where whatever was asked of a dog, they had to do it right away. Apache as I said, needs a reason to want to do something, so it always takes him a second of consideration. I'd call him over, he'd turn look at me, then it'd be a few seconds until he came over. The guy I was dating would always jump in and try and call him over to where we were when he didn't come right away. Apache would look at him, then come over to me. I'm fairly certain I told him more than once that Apache wasn't going to listen to him. That made him try more. He told Apache to sit. Apache looked up at him and did nothing. I'd sigh and say "Apache. Sit boy." And he'd take his second before doing just that. Everyone else seems to want to try and tell Apache what to do, and he wont listen to anyone but me anymore.
Mama got Roxie and since then, he's stopped seeing her as his superior. It's like there are two totally seperate "packs" in our house. Apache doesn't regard Mama as being in ours anymore. He used to sit when she told him to, give her kisses, never jumped on her. Now he doesn't listen to a word she says, never gives her kisses, and jumps all over her when I let him out. -sigh- it's also been decided that Apache is now soley MY dog. I'm working on any dominate traits he has right now, like pulling me around when we're outside, or jumping up in the chair without an invitation. He's also having to sit and wait for his food until I tell him he can eat it.
There's basically a dominace line. That line just happens to be the threshold outside. When we're outside, he jumps on me, he pulls, he acts like a crazy dog. Inside he knows not to jump on me, he refuses to go through the door back inside in front of me. I'm trying to get him to let me go OUT the door before him, and up the steps before him. I don't mind if he goes down them first, he's the one that has to go potty, and I don't want to keep him waiting, and he's allowed to lead the way to where he wants to potty but I don't want him pulling on the lead the entire time.
Arg, it needs to stop raining, Apache needs a bath, and I put him outside to dry off some. I can't exactly do that, though, if it's raining. -sigh- guess I'll see how much he hates the hair dryer. He needs a bath before we take him to the vet's tomorrow because he smells kinda bad and his coat's shining with oil again. It's not a good shiny, he's all grease, not healthy shine. That and it's our biggest bonding time. He really likes getting baths. Hell, half the time he jumps into the tub before I have the chance to get his collar off. Then while I'm getting the towels ready for him, he'll jump out and try and herd me back to the tub. He just enjoys getting baths. He's one of the few dogs that do. I think he just likes it because he gets LOTS of pets while I'm lathering him up, and rinsing him off. Also, he probably likes most of his loose fur being taken out. Right, this rain doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon, so I'm probably going to walk him in the rain 'cause he's going somewhere else tomorrow, for the first time in his life, and I really wanna give him some bonding time before then. First, though, I gotta sew up his saddle bags. He's not a fan of getting them put on, but the shepherd in him LOVES having a job to do. I'll admit, we've considered getting a wagon for him to pull along, though turning would be rather awkward. We'd probably get one of those tent on wheels kind of deals that post people hitch to their bikes so they can pull their children behind them instead of having a child seat installed. Then we'd be able to take him AND Roxie for a walk at the same time without Mama having to pick her up and carry her. We could just put her in the tow behind. We'd also probably put in some water for everyone on the walk too ;)
I swear, next year when/if they have the seven mile walk Church thing, I'm going and I'm taking Apache. He needs to be socialized, and seven miles? Not really that big of a problem for him. We've done longer, and without a break in between. We've gone I think ten miles before, and by the time we got home Apache was dragging way behind, his poor little pawseys were tired. He slept for most of the day after that.
Alright, well, I'm going to go fix his bags, and hopefully it'll have stopped raining by then.