bummer to hear about cohost (but not all that surprising, unfortunately).

i attended hopscotch music festival the weekend before last. three very full days of seeing artist after artist play music (with a tiny bit of stand up comedy and amateur professional wrestling mixed in). it was great, but boy howdy am i feeling like an old. my feet hurt for days afterward.

the day before the festival, my little dog rode around town with me for a whole 13 miles! that’s her longest ride ever in her backpack, and she did great. i’m definitely going to upgrade her pack, though, since she was shifting side-to-side a bit which wasn’t terribly comfortable.

echo earned her CGCU last week, which is the last of the one-shot titles i plan to get for her. next up is prepping for our first rally trial, including a class that starts at the end of october.

this weekend i’m heading to another three-day fast CAT (coursing ability test) with the little dog. hoping to pick up some advice on stretching her before and after so she’s less sore this time around.

omg, i hadn’t even noticed that.

it’s such a fun event, and i’ve seen all kinds of dogs do it! as long as she has good recall at the end, i’d say go for it. :)

on apple devices: play.

had a great weekend doing fast CAT with jean grey. she was getting PR after PR, with her best being 8.68 seconds (23.57mph / 37.93 kph). we have another event september 20-22, and i’m pretty sure she’s going to earn her second title there! she’s been phenomenal around other dogs lately, which is a 180 from how she used to be: barking, lunging, and growling at them.

my older dog, loki (11 year old australian shepherd), has been on prozac most of his life due to anxiety issues, so i’m quite familiar with its use in dogs! basically it allows them to chill out a little bit. both of them are high strung rescue dogs, so the medication definitely helps after i’ve exhausted all other training routes.

Quite the feat! What’s your trick?

honestly, i keep a pack of cards with me to shuffle through (and sometimes play solitaire with) when i’m bored. i also still have audiobooks on my phone, but i play music from a separate digital audio player. it’s nice not to have the compulsion to open mindless scrolling whenever i pick up my phone to do something i actually need to do. most of my time on my phone is now spent using maps for directions, hah.

echo (border collie) started fluoxetine (prozac) last weekend for her anxious tendencies and obsessive behaviors. she also has her urban canine test on wednesday, which i think we’ll pass with flying colors, so long as there isn’t a leaf blower she can hear.

we’ve had a couple of chilly nights, but i know we’re going to have at least one or two hot weeks before it starts to actually cool down for good.

i’ve been spending a lot of work days at the coworking space, and i’m making a lot of progress on my latest project, so that’s nice. forgot how much that helps me get in the right mindset. probably helps that i dumbed down my phone quite a bit recently, too. no more safari, email, social, or needless apps. down to about 1 hour of phone screen time per day, which is pretty good considering my old averages were around 4-5 hours. 😳

i’m sorry you’re in so much pain!

i believe so! there were a couple of them styled like that; really cool stuff.

spent the weekend with a friend in the mountains. we saw a bunch of bonsai trees (a couple of my favorites below), went to a couple of breweries, and stayed up too late playing video games. 10/10 weekend, would do again.

we were calling it “the season that never was” today. 🤭

i was going to suggest guinea pigs, too! they might be too “rodent” for wife, but honestly they’re a lot more like smaller, low-maintenance rabbits. they have personalities for sure, and as long as you handle them from a young age, they can be picked up and hang out on your lap while you watch tv or whatever.

definitely do not buy a mixed breed dog. rescuing one is totally legit, though! or find a poodle or bichon through a reputable breeder if you want to go that route. some breeders have young adult dogs (2-3 years old) that are done with the show ring and ready for pet homes. if you go through a reputable breeder, they will always take the dog back if it doesn’t work out. if you go through a rescue, the same applies. some even have trial periods (the rescue i help out with does two weeks).

it was a blast! i highly recommend it if you enjoy big group rides, street festivals, pie, and beer.

howdy! 🤠

i finished riding across iowa a few days ago. now need to return to “normal” life, which is so much more complicated than waking up every day to ride my bike 40-80 miles.

i’m on day three of riding across iowa. it’s so nice to worry only about riding to the next town. i’ve eaten so much pie.

that’s a classic to me! love that one.

my dad bought a switch for his wife recently. neither one of them are “gamers.” i think they only play mario kart!

sounds intriguing!