BBQ

So we decided we would have our first big BBQ at the new house. We invited the Bennock's (Nathan and Rosie), Lindsay's parents, Lindsay's grandma, Alex Rennick, and the Bruner's (Jordan and Lauren). The weather ended up being beautiful that Sunday afternoon and we BBQ'd ribs, chicken, and burgers. It would have been a perfect day...except...of course....there was Mick.

Mick is understandably a little would up due to the fact that he's a puppy to begin with...but add in all the new people (which it turns out he's the worst guard dog in the history of dogs) he really goes over the top. He was like a kid with ADHD who just drank a 2 liter bottle of mountain dew and snorted 15 pixie sticks. That's putting it lightly. Have you ever seen a tornado? I saw one...it weight 16 lbs and ran around my living room at mach 2. Luckily everyone who was there has dogs or doesn't mind dogs because being only 14 weeks old at the time he definitely wasn't a fully trained calm dog yet.

As he kept trying to jump up on everyone in the room I couln't help but think that something bad was going to happen. You see...Mick has a bad habit that most puppies have. When he gets around people he gets excited a squirts out a little liquid "hello" to anyone in the vicinity. Unfortunately I failed to act in time. It was already too late. As soon as Nathan's butt his the loveseat I saw the look in Mick's eyes. He darted across the livingroom like a thoroughbread race horse. Nothing could stop him at this point. Nathan smiled unaware of the fate that awaited him. Nathan warmly embraced Mick and Mick warmly embraced Nathan's pants with about a cup of puppy pee. Keep in mind this is the first time we have ever had the Bennock's over or even seen them outside of the Kingdom Hall. This could have gone soooo terribly bad but Nathan, being the super nice guy that he is, just laughed it off and asked for a wet rag and soap.

With disaster somehow avoided we managed to pull off a pretty good first BBQ for the new house and all ended well.

The Hike!

This post isn't really in chronological order with all of them I plan on writing but I had to put this one down because it's fresh in my mind. We discovered that hiking was a great way wear the puppy out (will come with another blog) and have a lot of fun at the same time. He really loves hiking and he's also 62% ninja (also another blog at a later time).

Knowing how much we love to go hiking I decided that I would use my free Tuesday (I work Wed-Sat) while Lindsay is at work to go on a hike. It was a 6 mile hike at Meramec State Park. It was a very long hike for a 14 week old puppy but he's very very energetic and definitely doesn't tire easily so I figured he could hand it. I also consulted the vet before trying this (not like I'm some weird dude who would call the vet and ask all kinds of crazy questions but Mick happened to have a vet's visit the day before so I used that opportunity to ask my crazy questions). So we finally decide to take off an go hiking!

We get there and we go to a trail I have never hiked on before. Luckily the Missouri Conservation Department has done a great job of having all the trails at Meramec State Park very thoroughly marked along the way making it nearly impossible to get lost (unless you are my wife and then that's pretty much inevitable). We had a great 2 1/2 hours of hiking and by the end we were both absolutely exhausted. So we leave Sullivan and head back home to St. Clair.

I'm almost home and I decided since Mick will actually be tired for once I should grab a couple of movies to watch or when Lindsay gets home. We stopped at the Redbox outside of McDonald's in St. Clair and Mick was sleeping in the passenger seat (he's gotten used to car rides). I figured there was no harm in leaving the truck running since I was going to be 10 feet away and Mick was passed out anyways....hey here's an idea I might as well leave my cell phone in the dash as well since I don't need it to rent anything. After browsing through the movies and finding a few that looked good I grabbed them and turned to my truck. That's when my heart sank into the concrete parking lot and I swallowed my entire adams apple. Mick was standing in the window of my truck....with his paw on the lock. The thing I thought had zero chance of happening just happened. Mick and I stared at each other as if it was high noon in a Clint Eastwood movie. I slowly reached my hand out as a bead of sweat dripped from my brow. I feebly attempted to open the door only to realize the inevitable. My truck was running, my cell phone was in the dash, and my puppy was staring at me through a locked door. I could swear for a second he smiled at me.

Once I got the crazy notion that my puppy was an evil mastermind who had planned the entire thing out of of my head I started thinking more clearly. Now I want to stop for a minute and let you think about how this next part would feel. The only option I had was to walk to McDonald's and explain to them I needed to use the phone because my dog locked me out of my truck while my keys and cell phone were still inside it. As if I wasn't already feeling down enough I was lucky enough to give the entire McDonald's crew a great laugh at my expense. Upon asking if I could use the phone and explaining my predicament the manager gave me this response "How did you get locked out of your truck by your dog?" Well let's see...what I wanted to say was "He used his whip to swing across the console like Indiana Jones fleeing a collapsing temple and locked the door with his crossbow" but I opted to just explain that he jumped up on the lock when he realized I had gotten out of the truck. I think I made the right choice.

After agreeing to let me use the phone I called my lovely wife Lindsay who was so kind as to take off work an hour early and bring me the spare keys she carries. Unfortunately Lindsay works an hour from home and in the mean time it only let me stew. I finally succumbed to my manly pride that a meer puppy could never defeat such a brilliant man like myself. So I did the only logical thing a genius like me could come up with! I grabbed his bone from the bed of the truck and danced around like a monkey trying to get him to jump on the unlock button. Unfortunately it became rather clear that he was the intellectually superior when he stared at me like I was a cheap party clown and laid down in the driver seat to take a nap.

To further humiliate myself I stood next to my truck (which is 10 feet from the redbox). People of course thought I was standing in line (which there were about 8 people standing in) and asked if I was next. I of course didn't just say no and say I was waiting on someone...I went into detail about how my dog was a member of MENSA and had easily fooled me into a false sense of security. Everybody got a good laugh and it helped me pass the time. All in all it was a good day full of adventure and excitement. I've only had my puppy for 4 weeks and he's already given me so many memories.

Puppy!

So let's start off by letting you know that I am a dog person. I have always loved dogs and I always will. There is nothing like coming home to someone who loves you unconditionally (yes I know I'm married but that love is dependent upon me not doing anything stupid...which is rare j/k). I always knew I wanted to get another dog and I had a pretty good idea of the kind of dog I wanted to get.

When I was 14 I had a dog named Reba. She was a beautiful red/white/tan Border Collie. She was like the rain man of catching things. It didn't matter what you threw she would bring catch it. We were once playing yard golf (a game of golf invented by hoosiers who don't want to go to a real golf course or are at a farm) and it required hitting the ball up a hill past Reba and into a 5 gallon bucket that was about 40 yards away. Little did we know that Reba would soon because a hazard on our uphill par 3. Every time you didn't hit the ball just right she would roll it back down the hill to you. She was a great dog and unfortunately died early due to getting worms that weren't detected in time. She knew exactly what time I got off the bus and would be waiting for me every day. We used to play frisbee together at the park or just hang out and watch a tv on a rainy day. She was the greatest dog I could have asked for. Naturally I decided I would love to have another Border Collie.

One day Lindsay and I were going to one of the many mexican restaurants around our town and I picked up a local classifieds paper at the door. I had arrived before she had and was looking to pass time. Every time I look at the paper I can't help but look at the pets for sale section. I saw that their were Border Collie puppies available for a very very reasonable price. Lindsay finally arrived and I mentioned in passing that it was a really good price, not expecting anything to come of it and not even asking permission to get one. Lindsay said "Why don't we call them." I was very taken back as she had not really been the most supportive of my "I want a puppy movement." She even made the phone call! So the next thing I know we are planning to leave for Bowling Green that Saturday to get a dog! I was so excited! Everything seemed so surreal! Lindsay had really agreed to let me have a puppy! What a great wife! Completely selfless as I know she still isn't the biggest on having a dog due to the additional responsibility and time involved. Despite that she really does love him already and even stays up from 4am on and let's him play. Anyways back to the story.

So we finally get to bowling green and arrive a working ranch! Which I guess it to be expected considering it's a breed of dog that is meant for working. Mick was the last puppy left to pick out and I think he's the one I would have picked anyways (two of his brothers were there but already spoken for). He was unbelievably friendly which made me very happy as Reba tended to be a bit more timid of others and only warmed up to close friends and family. Without hesitation we said we would take him and we filled out the papers. After much debate we went with McGregor (meaning son of shepherd) because his dad was a real sheep herding dog. We liked that we could call him Mick for short and that was that.

So now we have a puppy! Next step is to bring him home! Turns out though Mick is deathly afraid of car rides (although he's doing better now..but that's a story for another time). The poor little guy was shaking and drooling all over. Luckily we brought a blanket for him and held him all the way home but it's a two hour drive! We decided to stop half way because we saw a Petco and realized we would need a few things. The picture at the top is of his first trip inside. He was pretty nervous going in for the first time but curiosity got the best of him. He finally came inside and was very cautious as any dog would be who's just been taken from the only home he's ever known and thrown into the lives of new people and too many new things to comprehend. So he did the only logical thing...he peed everywhere lol. After getting all the shopping done we headed out to finish up our journey home with our new bundle of joy.

We finally got home and let him get acquainted with the house and called it a day. All in all it was an awesome day and I've finally got a puppy again! Now on to training!