The Art of Sharing Your Bed with a GSP

Not everyone believes in sharing their bed with their dogs and I can respect that. I sure didn't take stock in it in the beginning but soon the cuteness and love from my first GSP Cleo wore me down like a river rock. Before I knew it she had wormed her way into my sheets and now I couldn't fathom not sharing my space with a big warm sack of spots. However all those warm snuggles come at a cost and here are few that plague our sleeping arrangements with Sage Monkey.

Uninvited Friends

The thing pictured above was once a plush and vibrant moose, stuffed like a sausage with fluffy white material, squeekers and rattles in its feet. After its initial partial destuffing and slightly violent removal of squeekers it has since metamorphosed into a crusty, spit soaked, dirty shell of dog love. We call this crusted mess "wooby" and it goes everywhere Sage goes. She does laps around the tent with it hanging from her mouth while camping. She balls it up every night and nurses it until she passes out with it in her mouth. She leaves it sleeping on my pillow like it pays the electric bill.

It's pretty gross to wake up and find Wooby lounging in your personal area but nothing compares to the rare but provocative occasion she drags it through her water dish and bring hims to the party. She soaks him to bring out the flavor of course like glazing a fine Easter ham. We've gotten proactive with Wooby that we try to keep him exclusively in the bedroom to avoid this specific scenario. But alas....she always finds a way to get it more gross which of course in the dog world equates to more loved.

Thats ok. I wasn't in the middle of an ab workout or anything. 

Limited Personal Space

GSP's are appropriately known as velcro dogs. I prefer to refer to them as space hoarders. Never heard of a Space hoarder before? "Space Hoarding" is the craft of excessively collecting all the available area not only from your personal surroundings but all others around you as well. Space Hoarding is also known as Space Hogging, Compulisive Space Taker Upper Disorder and or otherwise more commonly known as Get-out-of-my-three-foot-bubble-you-jerk (Thats GOOMTFBYJ for short). Sage excels at this and works in it like some artists work in watercolor. And like most afflicted dogs she doesn't see it as a problem...AT ALL. Bed time often consists of her laying only in the space my physical being occupies. Or Sage will stand vigil over our heads waiting for the blankets to be lifted before burrowing down to our feet to settle in for the night. She leaves no room for compromise.

Our joke is that Sage wishes I was her Tauntaun. You know that funky reptomammal that is indigenous to that frozen wasteland planet known as Hoth from The Empire Strikes back?  Sitting on my lap simply won't suffice....she needs to climb inside my soul.

Rough Snuggles

Rough Snuggles start innocent enough usually by Sage arming crawling around the bed as if she's being propelled by that little stub of a tail. She lays all over your face, groaning and sniffing in glee, angling herself into positions to lick whatever she can; your face your arms. Sadly this phase is unsustainable and it eventually evolves in what we refer to as "rough snuggles". Rough Snuggles are snuggles that spiral out of control and consist of excited paw prodding, point blank face sneezes, the occasional fang nip and in human screams and laughs. They carefully dance that line of fun and painful.

Photo by Richard Peters

For instance have you ever seen an animal documentary where foxes in winter will leap into the air to break below the surface to get critters for a meal? The worst mistake to be made during rough snuggles is retreating to the presumed safety of under covers. Sage takes your retreating as a challenge and follows the example of the fox except in the morning when sleep is still tight in your eyes she feels more like a polar bear breaking through ice in a search of baby seals.

Bed time is never a dull time with a shorthair. Especially a 52 pound one that can magically metamorphis to such a size she can take up an entire king size bed. It will be interesting to see how this dynamic shifts and changes in the next few weeks as we bring home the new puppy. Who knows.....Maybe we will have two rough snugglers who want to make me their Tauntaun. Lucky me!

Be sure to follow our shenanigans on Facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.

Cape May, NJ with Dogs - Travel Edition

Cape May, New Jersey is a charming Victorian seaside retreat that can be found at the southern most point in the Garden State.  It's quite different than the Jersey Shore towns made famous by the awful MTV show of the same name. There are no cookie cutter blocks of shore houses, night clubs or tired amusement parks. Instead Cape May is a historically rich town with trolley tours, jazz festivals, enchanting and unique bars, clean beaches and awesome foodie spots. It's the beach gem of New Jersey and it's also dog friendly. You will know you have graced its threshold when the Garden State Parkway dwindles down the miles and deposits you at Exit Zero.

Sunset off my parents back deck

After driving across the country last summer with Sage and planning an exciting upcoming summer full of road trips I am quickly realizing that it's a challenge traveling with dog(s). Even with websites like Bring Fido there is limited information on activities outside of hotels. The things I especially want to know when looking at a destination is where can I find off leash places to run my batsy pointer pup in addition to spaces that we can hang out together as a family. So moving forward when Wyatt and I take trips with the pup(s) I'm going to pass along our detailed experiences so others can hopefully benefit if they plan on traveling with their pooches to these spots. I've decided to use Cape May, NJ as my first Travel Edition of blog posts for two reasons. Number one: I have been blessed that my parents have a beautiful shore house in Cape May just a couple of blocks from Broadway beach. It's been a family sanctuary not only for us humans but for my families pets as well. Number two: Wyatt was born and raised in West Cape May about 7 blocks from where I have vacationed my entire life. Theres nothing like moving 2,200 miles to meet a guy from your pseudo home town. Did you just hear that? Someone started playing its a small world after all.

Where's da beach?

It's this way!

Cape may has a diverse selection of beaches and shoreline. Some of these areas are off limits to dogs leashed or not, at all times due to nesting areas of some endangered bird species (Cape May Point State Park and Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge). Some beaches have specific seasons in which dogs are only permitted at select times. But there are a few areas that you can officially and unofficially enjoy your dogs on/off leash at all times of the year.

Cape May City Beaches run from the Cove to the Poverty Beach

Cape May City beaches (as pictured above) only allow dogs on the beach and promenade from November 1st to March 31st. I will say that you will see people in the evenings or early morning running with or walking their dogs on the promenade outside of that specified time. I'm by no means telling anyone that they should do that, rather I'm just letting you know that I've yet to see someone get ticketed or thrown off the promenade for walking their dogs…..me included. With that said don't even try to sneak them on the city beaches in season. You'll get bounced pretty fast.

There are two spots that you can officially and unofficially run your dogs. The first place is Higbee Beach which is a 1.5 mile strip on the Delaware Bay. This section of beach has very small waves and on calm mornings looks more like a lake than a bay that leads to the ocean. Beach tags are not required and their are no life guards. In fact once you past the jettys there are basically no people at all.  The three photos of Cleo and Luna posted so far were all taken on Higbee beach at the height of the season and you'll see there is no one there. Officially Higbee is open to dogs from September 1st to April 30th. Unofficially people run their dogs there all year round. In fact early in the morning when strolling down the beach the only other people you will see other than the occasional surf fisherman is another person walking or running their dog. When I used to own Cleo and Luna they found Higbee to be a beachy sanctuary. Sagey only got to visit once when she was 10 weeks old or so.

Higbee Beach

How to get there

Red dot marks the spot! Take New England Rd until it dead ends in a small sandy parking lot. You have two options at this point. Pull straight into that parking lot and take a path through some woods, over some dunes and onto the beach about halfway down. Or before entering the parking lot make a right and follow the sandy road until it deposits you in another parking area across from the Cape May Ferry. Walk out towards the water and follow the path to the left that leads out to the jetty. When I was an official east coaster and would go here on a regular basis I would typically leave the pointer pack on leash and walk them at heel until we were past the temptations of the surf fisherman near the jetty and then I would cut them loose. Please remember to bring plenty of water for your dogs, a ball to play fetch with and bags for their poop. Letting your dog poop on the beach just means your a jerk. Don't be a jerk. And keep in mind in high season you will see a ton of birders in this area. Please be respectful of them and do not allow your dogs to run in the dunes....only on the beach or you will end up being the person that makes this unofficial spot off limits for everyone else.

Lower Township Beaches

The next place you can run your dogs on the beach "officially" all year round are the lower township beaches highlighted above in brown. Your dogs have to be leashed on this beach at all times. There is also a rumor that there is a woman who pretty much watches and waits for you to take your dog off its leash and calls the cops on you. I guess some people have nothing else better to do with their time. But if your OK with your dog being on leash then its definitely worth checking out. To get to the Lower Township Beaches follow directions to the Cape May - Lewes Ferry terminal and before turning into the complex make a right. Drive north and parking for the beaches will be on your left.  

Cape May Dog Park

How to get there

There is also a Cape May Dog Park but in my humble opinion it's not worth the time and effort to visit. It's very small, there is no shade, parking can be hassle in peak season and the City of Cape May makes you jump through some serious hoops to be eligible to use it. Dog owners must apply for a dog park tag that costs $20 seasonally or $10 weekly and you must have the tag visible at all times while using the park. To apply for a tag you must fill out an application at the Cape May City Clerks Office on Washington Street. You will have to present current vaccination documents, your dog license, and sign a acceptance of risk and liability form to be considered. This is probably why no one is ever at the dog park. For the record I'm not thumbing my nose at the city requirements. They make perfect sense from a responsibility standpoint but if your commandoing in for a quick weekend getaway it just seems like an awful lot to ask of people who only want to drop in to the park for 30 minutes. The dog park is located at 705 Lafayette Street if you want to check it out.

Throwing beers back at the Nail

My Cape May days used to begin with a hearty run down Higbee beach complete with sand romping, ball retrieving and a good amount of swimming because this of course makes for tired GSP's. We all know tired GSP's are happy GSP's. But other than beach excursions there is plenty to get out and do around town with your pups. Here is a quick list of places your welcome to bring your dogs and also where you probably shouldn't go.

Places you can and should go:

The Beach Shack at the Rusty Nail: The photo above was taken here. I used to love to cruise in with Cleo and Luna and order some brewskies and kick back around a fire pit with my toes in the sand and listen to some sweet live music. You can head up to the bar to order your own drinks or munchies or wait for a waitress to swing by and grab your order. They even cater to your pooch by making dog food and dog beer available for purchase. My only warning is that in high season as you can see above it can be hectic and can be loud. People love to pet your dogs especially kids so if your dog is aggressive, gets social anxiety or isn't confident in situations like these then this is not the place for them. Luna always had a blast here never holding back from treating herself to a little sand digging. It was always my favorite place to take them in Cape May and its located at 205 Beach Ave. In addition, Wyatt also loves the Rusty Nail and we have appropriately dubbed our favorite watering hole in Bozeman the Nail West in honor of its magnificence.

There are several other restaurants that have either sidewalk or patio seating available where your dog is welcome to join you. There are several places in town but these are the ones I would recommend:

The Mad Batter - located at 19 Jackson Street (Get the fresh squeezed lemonade it's off the chain)
The Blue Pig Tavern - located in the corner of Congress Hall on the corner of Congress Place and Perry streets. Good breakfast spot. Get the mimosas. Mimosas make any morning better.
Zoe's Beachfront Eatery - located at the corner of Beach and Stockton Place across from Convention Hall on the Promenade. Another good breakfast spot.
Lobster House (raw bar) - located behind the Lobster House restaurant which is at 906 Schellengers Landing Rd. Wyatt and I agree that its a gem of a spot on the Cape. So bring your pooch (on leash) and sit out on the dock by the schooner and watch the fishing boats come in and out while enjoying some refreshing adult beverages. My favorites here are the New England Clam Chowder, crab claws with spicy mustard and clams casino.

Sage Pups only trip to Cape May in January of 2014

Cape May is pretty welcoming when it come to places to rest you and your pets head. Here are some recommendations for overnight accommodations:

Billmae Cottages and Billmae Cottage Too - Owners Bob and Linda Steenrod have several offerings for pet friendly cottages. There website even says, "Periodically we have Yappy Hour on the wrap-around porch, where dogs and owners get to meet and have treats". There locations are on Washington Street and also on Lafayette Street.
The Highland House - Located at 131 North Broadway is actually in West Cape May not far from my parents house. They have a fenced in play area for four legged guests.
Palace Hotel - Located at 1101 Beach Ave this hotel sits right across from the beach. My brother and Sister in-law stayed here several times with their Bassett Mr. Fisher while my parents were rebuilding their house this past year. There is a $25 fee per night per pet.
Marquis de Lafayette Hotel - Located at 501 Beach Ave this hotel sits right across the street from the beach and is a couple block walk from the outdoor mall. Pets are welcome on the first floor only in special pet suites.
The Beach Shack Hotel - This is the hotel portion of the Beach Shack that I described above when discussing the Rusty Nail. They are located at 205 Beach Ave right across from the beach. They have a limited number of pet friendly rooms.

And be sure to check out VRBO for pet friendly vacation homes and condos for rent.

Horseshoe Crabs

I decided to write this post and put it out now because it's one week before Memorial Day weekend. In my family we always celebrate this weekend in Cape May together. It's our tradition and it's something I have looked forward to for the last 20 years. This Memorial Day will be the first year that I will be in MT forging new traditions. Next weekend we take off for a camping, hiking and fly fishing extravaganza with Sage. Check back for a blog update on those adventures.

So that should for the most part cover it! Activities, beaches, bars and accommodations. All you need for a bang up weekend with your best dog friend in Cape May. Enjoy and let me know how you make out!

Be sure to follow our shenanigans on Facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.

 

Sage the Savage: 4 month update

It's hard for me to believe that my little Sage monkey is 4 1/2 months old. I feel the last few months have flown by at lightening speed. When both Cleo and Luna were pups I found myself just waiting for the stress of the puppy months to be a distant memory (the teething, the potty training, and unruliness). With Sage I'm hanging on to every nano second that she is still a puppy. Third time around you undoubtedly appreciate how short lived those fanciful puppy months are.  They have a lifetime to be the dogs they quickly become but only a short time to be rambunctious pups.

It's clear though that her puppyhood is coming to an end. Sage is getting huge. Last Saturday at the vet she tipped the scales a 35lbs! That's 5lbs more than Luna weighed at this age and more than half of Cleo's current weight. Sage is going to be a big girl! A trait she clearly inherited from her daddy VC Sharp Shooters Doc Holliday.

Keeping her gigantic pup paws off the counter has been a constant battle. She is hands down the most food motivated puppy I have ever seen. Every time we open the fridge door, a cabinet or the pantry she materializes out of thin air and puts on her best begging show. She also doesn't discriminate.  I'm pretty sure she would eat anything we offered her. One of her favorite foods hands down are fresh green beans (just like her Momma). Luna is not a fan of veggies but will take one begrudgingly just so she's not left out. Luna wishes bacon grew on trees.

 No one be alarmed! It's Jim shoe so its OK. ;)

Sage is a wild woman. Not quite to Luna "hell puppy" status but then again not many dogs can get to that level. Luna has left a legacy and some very big shoes to fill....or eat. With that said Sage is doing her best to leave her imprint. She gets into plenty of things she shouldn't and is never even remotely apologetic about it. Which certainly is par for the course.

Running down the big dogs!

Oh how the tables have turned little dog

In the last few weeks she has earned the nickname "Savage". Sage has a touch of alpha in her and her most favorite thing in the world is some good old fashioned wrestling. Last week in the yard I watched her take down Luna and later in a moment of complete insanity she drug her mom Queen Cleo to the ground. That is by no means an easy feat and the result was as an entertaining ass kicking from Momma. I guess she never learned the lesson don't try to dance with the old man (or your mom) unless your absolutely ready. And just like her mother she talks, snarls and growls the entire time she plays making her sound like Cujo. Cleo is vocal dog and this is just how they play but to others I'm sure they think Sage is well....Savage.

                    If synchronized sleeping was an Olympic sport they would take gold

Momma Baby Snugs

Although she can be barbaric during playtime Sage has to be the sweetest most endearing pup. Whens she's ready for downtime she will come and paw at Jim or I to let us know she's ready to snuggle. I'll go sit on the couch and she will jump up, nest in my lap, lay her head on my neck and promptly fall asleep. She loves to be touched, cuddled and held. If she can't occupy our laps she snugs in as tight as Cleo and Luna will allow. She is a lover to the core. When we nap together she lays her head across my neck and chest or if she's cold she rests on my hip under the covers. I love holding her and can't get enough of her love. I think Aunt Luna feels the same way and has opted to give up her mornings sleeping in with me to chew faces and play with Sage Monkey.

Her field training has been coming along superbly. She runs great, uses her nose and is pointing. I couldn't possibly be more happy. She is responding to my whistle and shows me little glimpses of the future and the amazing hunter she is destined to be. Handling her myself has been a blast and the thought of getting to watch her develop over this summer in preparation for our trip to North Dakota this fall has me pumped! Although I'm not so sure Cleo and Luna love the extra time I get out and spend with her in the field.

We've also been training with a good portion of the pups from Cleo's litter. I'll do a blog post later this month showing some of their progress in the field as well. In the meantime follow us on facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.

Sage's First Chukar at 12 weeks!

We've had such an AWFUL winter this year in the northeast. It's been a constant barrage of snow and ice storms. As a native Pennsylvanian, people here are ready to tar and feather that jerk groundhog Punxsutawney Phil because this is clearly all his fault. For those of you not accustomed to weird Pennsylvanian traditions which you should all be because Harold Ramis (may he rest in peace) made a hilarious movie called Groundhog Day staring Bill Murray in 1993. In that movie Bill Murray is forced to live Groundhog day over and over and over which is what this winter feels like. It's never frigging ending. But anyway for all of you who may live under rocks if our boy Phil sees his shadow, which he did this year, were doomed to 6 more weeks of winter. Because basing weather predictions on a stinky land beaver isn't weird at all. But anyway you cut it it's still snowing and the ice is still not melting and were still not working birds or hunting as much as we should be. Which is sad. And disappointing. I hate you extra worst than normal winter.

So this past weekend we escaped the PA snow and traveled to the Mills in NJ to join Bob Gelder and a group of his puppies to work them on some chukars. Bob owns Shore Shot GSP's in Ocean County, NJ and had a litter out of his VC female Bonnie 2 1/2 weeks before Cleo whelped her litter. Bob also owns Cleo and Luna's sire Max so all the puppies that were there were half siblings to our big girls which made it even more exciting to see them in action. I think Bob invited us because he knew I'd go crazy if we didn't get Sage out on some birds. Bob is a good friend.

It's like Ghostbusters....don't cross the streams (or leads in this case)

When we got there is was PUPPY OVERLOAD!! There were 6 or 7 puppies from Bonnie and Max's litter! Sage had a blast rolling in the dirt and sand with those pups. It was fantastic from a socialization standpoint and I swear it was the first time Sage has touched anything other than ice or snow in 5 weeks. She was loving every second of it.

I see you Chukar!!!

YEHAW!!!!

WHAT!?! Where are you going?

When it was time to get her out we threw out a chukar and just let her chase it trying to develop some drive in her. When she finally chased it down and got close enough it would hide and you could see her using her nose to locate it. She would flash point it a bit before eventually pouncing. She would pick it up and carry it for a bit. Another throw of the chukar would send her tearing off through the woods. She did an AWESOME job at 12 weeks of age. I think we will do this with her one more time and then transition into not allowing her to have the bird and start popping some pigeons.

Feathers are the new milk mustache

When Sage Monkey was done with her chukar Jimbo took the big girls out and ran them in a nearby field. After they were out about 5 minutes I took Sage up to the edge of the field to see if she wanted to run a bit. When we arrived Momma Cleo who was half a field away stopped dead in her tracks and looked hard in our direction. She took off towards us shifting through her gears and when she arrived she greeted Sage with tail wagging enthusiasm. She leaned in and touched her nose to Sage's nose and I could almost hear her say, come on kid lets go! And off they went with Sage running as fast her rabbit hoppy back legs could go. Momma Cleo and Auntie Luna ran her far across the field and Jim and I stood there together in awe with a feeling of real contentment. This is going to be the best summer ever.

Check back and follow our shenanigans on facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.

Pupdate: And Then There Was One and She was Wild

GSP Sandwich

Five weeks ago 7 of Cleo's 8 puppies headed home to begin their lives with their new families. That weekend was met with mixed emotions from Jim and I. The last two nights the entire pack was together Jim and I got uncharacteristically sentimental. We knew every second we had with them we had to make them count. Hugs were extra long, puppy kisses were even more cherished and when they transitioned into wild little devil dogs we laughed a little harder. When the weekend was over I took some extra solace in a glass of wine or two (in reality, if were being honest that's probably a gross under estimate.....don't throw stones people). We loved each and every one of those pups SO MUCH. But they have all been placed with the most amazing hunting families and we couldn't possibly be more pleased. And when it was all said and done and the dust finally settled there was one pup left and she is ours....and she is a flippin wild woman.

Sage Monkey

Sage is a free spirited trouble maker. She's not nearly to hell puppy level....yet. But in her defense we've had nothing but snow for weeks so she really hasn't had the opportunity to live up to Luna's hell puppy  Legend. I have no doubts that she will spawn some tall tales on this blog. 

She has moments when she is mellow and then moments when she is an absolute friggin handful. All sharp pointy puppy teeth and her mothers back talking Sass. She runs hard for hours at a time and then crumbles into a lap to snuggle and sleep. We are more relaxed with her than we ever were with Cleo or Luna. The third time down this path were not even remotely phased by anything she can throw at us. In fact we are incredibly entertained and loving every single minute of it. There is this line from the movie Parenthood that came out in 1989 with Steve Martin and Keanu Reeves when Mary Steenburgen's character says, "It's because he was our first. I mean, I think we were very tense when Kevin was little. If he got a scratch, we were hysterical. By the third kid, you know, you let them juggle knives." Or in our case toilet paper rolls. 

She's incredibly aware and smart for her age. We hope its a sign of good things to come especially in the field. If we would get rid of this never ending snow we'd be spending way more time outside with her. But good things come to those who wait (that is such horseshit btw....I WANT THE SNOW GONE....it's making me mental).

Cleo had enough of Sage's crap. She dug a hole with Aunt Lulu's 

help and they stuffed her in there. 

She LOVES battling her mother and testing her patience every single second she can, which feels incredibly vindicating for the years of torture Cleo has put me through. Now she has a savage little clone to push her buttons. Muhahahahaha! On the other hand Luna is her beloved snuggle buddy and they are constantly sharing dog cave snugs. Sage is also consistently trying to "share" (AKA Steal) her bones which has gone over like a lead balloon with Aunt Lu. Sage is the most food motivated puppy I have ever seen. She comes running the second she hears the refrigerator doors open, or when we open the cabinet that holds their doggie treats. She watches intently when I cook dinner and some how managed to steal an oven mitt the other night. Go figure how she pulled that off. 

Doesn't make you just want to climb in there with them!?

Puppy sleepy time

She's a gem of a puppy and we are completely smitten with her. And were excited to take you all along for the ride as she grows with us and our pack. Check back and follow our shenanigans on Facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer!