Cleo goes to Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland!

This past weekend Cleo and I drove 5 hours each way to hangout at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. My Aunt Gail and Uncle Sherman own a vacation property on the lake and they kindly invited about ten of us to come hangout, drink too much and act inappropriately. We all had a fantastic time but I'm pretty sure no enjoyed themselves as much as Cleo did.

Deep Creek Lake is the largest fresh water lake in Maryland. The lake is man made and construction began sometime in 1923 and by 1925 the lake began to fill with water. Today the lake is huge and covers 3,900 acres and has roughly 69 miles of shoreline. This was my first time out to the lake and I have to say that I was impressed by the beauty of the area as well as the shear size of the lake.

Deep Creek Lake is an optimum vacation spot. At any given time there are people swimming, water skiing, fishing, or cruising around on jet skies. It's a pretty neat place to spend a few days. It also has allot to offer four legged spotted high energy dogs. Cleo would wake me up at 6am every morning and we would spend a few hours doing the following until everyone else woke up:

#1: Chasing Ducks and or Geese clear across the lake resulting in a near heart attack for me

#2. Fetching sticks off the dock

#3. Chasing deer through the woods. I don't have pictures of this because it would throw me into panic mode. Mainly because it was so early in the morning and I was hungover and my brain was functioning on such a low level. She'd take off after a deer and all I could think about was getting her back otherwise Jim may never let me come home. Thank god for Tri-tronics when you need it.

Cleo pretty much spent 4 to 5 hours a day swimming in the lake and diving off the dock. The insulated vest with handles I had bought her from Ugly Dog Hunting really came in handy pulling her out of the water back onto the dock. My only complaint is after several hours the vest rubbed her armpits raw. I'm sure it had more to do with how much she was swimming and being lifted out of the water than it did the actual design of the vest. We kinda went form zero to a hundred with it.

Just when I thought she couldn't get any happier with jumping off the dock we took her out on her very first pontoon boat ride. I was nervous at first how she would handle the ride but she did great! My only complaint is she must have thought the pontoon boat buoys were gigantic throwing bumpers. She kept trying to attack them. But we drove across the lake, threw anchor and swam. Cleo was in all her glory.

Dog ears flapping in the wind

Cleo saying, "Mom...stop taking my picture already."

Cleo LOVING the boat ride

Cleo hanging along the side watching the ducks and geese go by

Cleo having jumped off the boat to retrieve a bumper

Me and Cleo racing to get to a bumper first...she always won. 

Cleo chilling with my Dad - Bobby K.

We cruised past a regatta

Cleo also got to go on her first golf cart ride with Uncle Sherman.

So it was a great weekend! It left Cleo and I completely exhausted. By the time the two of us got home on Sunday we were beat and just wanted to sleep. She was very excited to see Jim to say the least. That dog sure loves her daddy. But I was so excited that I got to take her with me. I'm also very grateful to my Aunt Gail and Uncle Sherman for not only inviting me but letting me bring Cleo. It's such a joy for me to see her experiencing new things and she sucks them up like a sponge! 

Cleo gets some new bling - Tri-Tronics Pro 100 G3 Collar and Avery Water Dog Vest

Did you check out that slick black collar on that cute spotted model? Cleo graduated from the little kids e-collor to the big's girls collar. Two weeks ago Jimbo ponied up and bought Cleo the Tri-Tronics Pro 100 G3.  Until this point we were using the Tri-Tronics Sport Junior G3 which had suited our needs just fine. I will say that it was a great first collar and we have no regrets purchasing it. But considering that we will be getting Otis (the male Nobelle's GSP puppy we have a deposit on) this coming spring we felt an upgrade was in order. The transmitter for the Pro 100 can control up to three dog collars and it has way more bells and whistles.

Another angle of Cleo with her new swank collar

 

The transmitter for the Pro 100 G3. 

Jim in the field rocking the new transmitter. He's one sexy be-otch. 

Cleopatra also got another sweet hook-up this week too. I bought her an insulated water vest. I purchased it from Ugly Dog Hunting. We will use it when we take Cleo duck hunting later this year. I decided to buy it now because in a few weeks I will be taking Cleo with me to my Aunt Gail and Uncle Sherman's lake house in Western Maryland and I wanted her to have it. Mainly because the vest comes with handles so if we are out on the lake and she wants to go overboard for a quick swim I can use the handles on the vest to lift her out of the water.

The vest is made by Avery Sporting dog. It's a really nice vest. It's nicely manufactured, it zippers and Velcros, has extra straps for sizing and the handles are reinforced. I also love that printed on the inside of the vest there is an entire dissertation on Dog Hypothermia. See that below. Beside it came with it's own little hanger which I felt was hilarious.

So stylin. Doggie couture. 

That look on her face is saying, "For the love of god stop taking my picture...the neighbors three legged cat is in our bushes, I've gotta go."

Gone to the Dogs...

Twice a week, weather depending, Cleo goes to Mill Pond Doggie Daycare in Quakertown. She goes from 8:15am to about 12:30pm. She runs all morning with her doggie friends and comes home tired and happy. Jim and I love the days she's at daycare because its a phenomenal outlet for her and she gets to be with other dogs which is one of her most favorite things. Below are some pics of her taken at daycare this past summer.

Clearly she is in all her glory. So today I pick her up and Ryan the guy who watches the dogs at the camp brings her out to me and I ask how she made out today. Ryan said it was pretty windy but other than that they had a great day. I mentioned to Ryan that Jim and I didn't have her wear her fleece vest today because we were afraid that it would get wet because of all the rain yesterday and she would be stuck in a soaking wet vest all day. He looked at me and said, "So far Cleo is the only one who's vest has held up." I went on some dissertation about how its such a nice quality vest...blah blah...has a zipper...blah blah...velcro's...blah blah.  Ryan looks at me like I have lost my mind and says, "Have you ever seen your dog play with other dogs?" I cringed and said yes...knowing full well where he was going with this. Ryan says, "I'm pretty sure the only reason Cleo's vest has survived is because she is the one wearing it." Apparently, Cleo has a habit of ripping the other dogs vests off so they can play tug of war with them.

I can't help but wonder if the outward destruction of the others dogs vests is some passive aggressive outburst to how mush she hates her own vest. Either that or the white sash on her forehead really is the mark of Satan. Regardless I called Jim to tell him about it and we both laughed like hell. That dog is beyond sassy. 

Hunting Couture

Cleo's orange fleece hunting vest came today from Ugly Dog Hunting!! First I have to say it is such a nice quality. Much nicer than I had expected. The fleece is thick and soft. It zippers onto her and then has a really nice Velcro flap that covers the zipper to protect it and make it look more finished. I was so excited to put it on her and see how it fit her and looked. Cleo on the other hand was not so excited. It was like trying to dress an octopus! But once it was on it fit her great. We went with a size large because of how big her chest is....29"!

Once it was on she just stood there staring at me like I was a complete jerk. I got her to do a few laps around the kitchen and then took her to the door to let her out into the yard. She just stood there!! She didn't want to go outside....like the neighborhood dogs were going to make fun of her for having a sweater.  I laughed right at her and pushed her out into the yard and after a few minutes she forgot it was on. The whole thing was hilarious. At least next time she goes to daycare and its 10 degrees outside she can rock her hunting couture and be hottest dressed pup there. Lol.

So as promised paparazzi pics: Please note the completely dejected look on her face.

So I finally broke down and....

So I finally broke down and purchased a bright orange fleece vest for Cleo. I know...I know...she's a dog and she doesn't need clothing. BUT Jim and I both discussed it and we feel she needs it. I feel I put up a pretty argument as to why it will be beneficial to her.

Cleo loves people but what Cleo really LOVES is other dogs. She waits impatiently every morning for the German Shepard named Natasha who lives up the street to come and visit her first thing every morning just so they can get their early morning play in and sniff butts. Her favorite dog people in the world are my brothers basset hound Fisher and her sister and litter mate Molly. Unfortunately, Cleo doesn't get to spend as much time with them as we would like. So twice a week she goes to Mill Pond Vet in Quakertown to their doggie daycare. They have a huge fenced in area where the dogs can run freely, they have some agility equipment and barrels they can play on and most importantly there are at least 10 dogs for her there to play with. She knows the days she goes to daycare and sits in the front seat of my truck bursting with anticipation. But lately its been so cold. Some mornings its been 17 degrees with a wind a chill of 5 degrees and Cleo has little to no fur. She spends hours outside playing and I would just feel better knowing she had some additional protection from the harsh cold and wind. Mill Pond does a great job monitoring the dogs and periodically bringing them to warm them up but Jim and I both feel on certain days its not enough.

My second reason is we live in the sticks and everyone and their brother owns a gun...or two...or three. When we take Cleo to the fields and run her out for her daily exercise both Jim and I dress in orange so we don't get shot but all Cleo has is her orange collar. On opening day of shotgun for deer hunting this season in our town a local hunter was shot and killed while dragging his 9 point 200lb deer out of the woods to gut. The man...David Manilla who shot the hunter was illegally hunting with a high powered rifle. Needless to say since that happened both Jim and I want Cleo as visible as possible.  You can read more about that here:
http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2010/12/18/montgomery_life/news/doc4d0bd2426a33b677636163.txt

So the fleece vest she is getting is coming from Ugly Dog Hunting. It's pretty fly. Check out the picture of it below:

  

The fleece cost $44.00 dollars but in reality the piece of mind it will bring on the few days she will wear it is priceless. As soon as it comes I will get a paparazzi pic of her and post it. Lol.