Bodhi Tales

Halloween 2011

ophale — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:36:05 +0000

This year I dressed up as Irondog!

I live near Kailua-Kona, where the the Ironman World Champion race is held every year. I watch the Triathlon athletes race and practice all the time. I can do all the tasks they can do, well maybe not the funny machine with the two wheels… I just don’t need the silly gear… But for Halloween I decided to wear the silly gear, swim goggles, visor, running number, running hydration pack, and bike blinky light. See I’m ready for action!

I competed in the costume contest at PetCo but just like last year, the competition was formidable. Actually I think the small dogs have an unfair advantage, especially if they are with “puppy humans” in costume too.

The winner was a small white dog being eaten by an alligator…

then came a Chihuahua in a Mario brother costume and third place was a Cocker Spaniel dressed as vampires.

I tied for forth place this year…

It was fun to meet the other dogs and PetCo gave me a treat bag for participating!

iMoved

ophale — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:03:10 +0000

I moved from Kealakekua, Hawaii to Puu Anahulu, Hawaii in August. It seems like we are no longer living in Hawaii as the tropical flora has been replaced with Silver Oaks, Jacarandas, and North Fork Island Pines.

I’ve been told that the new house matches me… Do you think so?

Although the house looks different…

The sofa is still the same!

So far I’ve caught three mice, who needs a cat when you have me the versatile Vizsla!

Did I mention that the new house has three fields on the 1.2 acres of property that I can freely run in? And best of all there are “Birds”!!! Not the small colorful tropical one’s but big ones! See take a look out my window.

I watch them from the window all the time and point at them in the field. I have to admit that I have a problem… When I see those birds I get all red in the nose and lips and I at first sneak up on them and freeze but, but, but I just have to break and give chase. When I’m in chase, I just don’t hear anything, I swear, I really go deaf!

The other day out in front of the drive way another friend came by…

I love my new home, it’s cool at the high elevation, lots of birds, and places to run free! I did mention tall grass and birds, right, lots of birds!!!

Bodhi’s Thoughts on Obedience Trials…

ophale — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:45:38 +0000

Hi I’m Bodhi, I’m happiest when I can run free in the tall grass!

I’m even happier when I can point and flush birds

and leap through the air (look Mom no paws on the ground).

This is the best! I even get to shake the morning due off my coat and get the humans wet.

Did I hear you say it’s time to leave for the Obedience Trial?

This is what I think about sit, stay, left turn, right turn, come, figure eight… Yeah that’s right, one big raspberry to that…

Boy this is fun… Sit, not me and definitely not on the plastic tennis court surface, would you sit on it?

Loser human…

Merry Xmas from Hawaii!

ophale — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 05:50:41 +0000

Hope you all had a Merry Xmas!

After being jealous of seeing all those great “Christmas & Winter Photo Competition” images from the Northern Hemisphere crowd on the Vizsla Forum, Alpha promised to take me to the snow. Except I live in Hawaii… So after a ninety mile drive to a final elevation of 13,700 ft in a cramped Toyota regular cab 4×4 pickup with two humans…

We reached the top of the mountain!

We looked for the snow to the right…

Then we looked to the left…

Then back to the right. Hmmm where is the snow???

And then we found the snow in Hawaii! Not much, but it was there on Xmas Morning.

I’ve never seen the stuff before and it was cold but lots of fun!

I ran in it…

and ran some more (it was cold, how else am I supposed to keep warm)

Eventually we came down the mountain and explored the 9,000 ft elevation with Alpha. Lots of great Franklin bird smells…

And then explored the 7000 ft elevation where I smelled and ate the long grass amongst the Koa trees…

It was the best Xmas ever!

I hope yours was too,

Bodhi

Hawaii Island Humane Society Pet Walk

ophale — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 03:02:17 +0000

I am one lucky dog and when I heard about the opportunity to help raise funds for pets less fortunate than I am, I said sign me up! Plus, I get to go on a walk with fellow dogs and humans. Yipee! I sent out an email to all my, Alpha’s and Alpha Fem’s friends asking them to sponsor me for the walk and I raised $570! Team Pets for Fitness raised $1670 and we came in 4th place. We raised over $20,000 total for the Humane Society.

Thank you so much for your generous support.

Here I am trying on my new shades I’m going to be sporting on the walk.

Alpha Fem and I are ready for the walk. Alpha had to teach yoga so he met us later.

This is my buddy Miss Mandy or shall I say, Miss Butterfly.

And here are my hiking buddies with Nose for Adventure.

After the walk, I joined the Weimaraner Crew and tried to pass.

The post walk party was held at Ruby and Bella’s home. Over 15 of us dogs ran around and
swam. The water felt great after walking in the hot sun.

It was an awesome day. Yes, I do settle down eventually, especially after an action packed day and a bath.
Thanks everyone.

Petco Halloween Party

ophale — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:54:08 +0000

Last year for Halloween I went as myself because no matter what they put on me, I tore it off. This year, I felt it would be best to just go with the flow and let them costume me.

I am a Naturalist Trail Guide Dog, aka Alpha’s Mini Me since he used to be a Naturalist Guide himself. He said I am really going as a Naturalist since I don’t have any pants on.

The Competition was stiff, but I won 3rd Place! $5 gift certificate and lots of treats.

My favorite part was bobbing for tennis balls. So many balls, so little time…

Until next year, Happy Halloween!

My First Sleepover

ophale — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:04:53 +0000

My buddy Cooper came to stay with us while his family went to Honolulu for the weekend. I’ve known Cooper since I was a pup. Cooper is 5 years old but he still lets me play with him.

I like playing tug of war with Cooper because he doesn’t say “drop” like Alpha does. We can keep tugging as long as we want.

We did a pack walk on Walua Road. I wanted to run ahead but Alpha insisted that we heel.

The next day, we did a pack hike in Kaloko. Cesar would have been proud.

It was raining and muddy on the trail so Alpha gave us baths. I’m a wash, shake and go kind of dog but I had to wait for Cooper to get brushed since he’s sporting a longer do.

Time to rest.

Time to play again. Oh come on, Cooper, get up, you’ve slept long enough. Game on.

I’ll just have to go back to trying to get Banyan to play with me.

My Day at the Conformation Match in Waimea

ophale — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:25:29 +0000

It’s hard to believe a year has gone by since my first conformation match. I was just a wee one then and don’t remember much except a nice lady named Melisa was my Handler. This year, Alpha decided to give it a go and be my Handler. Usually Alpha and I run, bike, swim, do agility runs, but lately, I’ve been having to practice standing still which is really hard for me.

This morning I jumped into the backseat of the car for another adventure. I didn’t know where we were going but I knew it would be somewhere fun. We went to the vet a few days ago and that was fun too. Even before I got out of the car, I smelled all the other dogs at the match. I got very excited to meet everyone. That’s my favorite thing to do – greet people.

The match started and my first time in the ring wasn’t that fun. It was just me because I was the only Vizsla in the match. The judge tried to look at my teeth and feel my balls. I was fidgety and couldn’t stand still as we practiced at home. I got Best in Breed anyway since I was the only V. Now we had to wait until all the other dogs had their turn in the ring. I had to sit in my crate. I don’t mind sitting in my crate because Alpha brought my duck to keep me company.

OK, it’s time for us to get back in the ring. This time, I am with all the best of breeds in the Sporting Dog Category. Alpha and I are ready and we have our game faces on.

I like it better when other dogs are in the ring with me, that way I can watch what they are doing and follow along. It’s more fun running around the ring with other dogs.

Here is a clip of my performance in the ring:
[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Alpha was so shocked that I got third place that he started to leave the ring and the stewart had to call him back. We got our picture taken with the winners. Here I am with my third place ribbon.

I don’t know how far I will pursue my show career. But I do know that I enjoy the victory lap and the applause.

Volcano Adventure with James

ophale — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:37:13 +0000

We had a visitor over the New Year weekend. His name was James. He is Mary’s brother who lives in NY City. They refer to this location as the “big apple.” I like apples!

See how closely I can watch alpha eat the apple, I even get the core if I’m good.

It is a long drive to Volcano National Park but I like driving in the car because I always get to meet new people and new smells.

I usually get to have the whole back seat to myself, but this time I had to share with James.

He is a nice human, he gave me lots of loves and feed me when alpha was not looking. The volcano was stinky. Lots of fumes coming out of the ground.

I did get to clear my nose with the smells of some rain forest plants like these…

while we walked down an old road that was closed after a large earthquake. Some of the road fell into the caldera.

I had a great time with James at the Volcano, I hope he comes back so we can share the backseat again and those treats while alpha wasn’t looking!

Happy New Year!

ophale — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:30:33 +0000

Happy New Year!

This morning I did my traditional weigh-in and alpha plotted out the results:

I’m finally starting to slow down in my growth rate as an almost 9 month old “V”. I still have lots of energy to burn each day and not an ounce of fat on my body. Alpha seems to do this weight thing to predict how heavy I’ll be when I become an adult.

Big Island Agility School

ophale — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:08:28 +0000

First day at agility class! Alpha was nervous, I can tell. I was ready to show the older dogs what I can do!

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Road Trip to See the Dog Show in Hilo

ophale — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:34:47 +0000

Today we went on a road trip to Hilo.

The Alpha’s wanted to see the dog show, but I couldn’t go because I was not 6 months old yet. I stayed at a nice persons house. It was fun anyway, because I got to hike Pu’u Hulu Hulu at the top of the saddle road.

I also got to stretch my legs on the way home by Volcano National Park.

Yoga Twist

ophale — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:22:03 +0000

Alpha teaches yoga. I’ve watched him do some poses, but I can do them better. Down dog and up dog are easy… I can even do a spinal twist!

Accepting Consequences

ophale — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:30:15 +0000

We took Bodhi to Puppy Playtime at Petco where he is learning socialization skills. He is still a fabric toy hog and tires out most of the other dogs by the end of the hour. I wanted to take Keith out to dinner at a sit down restaurant instead of ordering take out and eating at an outside table where Bodhi can hang out with us. We put Bodhi in the backseat of the car with his car halter clicked in. He spread out, luxuriating in comfort. I told Keith that I accept full responsibility for any damage he may cause to my car seat. Whatever he does, I accept the consequences. We opened the car windows and the cool evening air breezed through. We had a celebratory dinner. When we returned to the car, Bodhi half opened his eyes to see that we were back and then went back to sleep. I trusted him and he came through. If Bodhi would have eaten my car seat, I was ready to accept the consequences of my decision. Thankfully, we did not have to find out.

Talking Toy, Boring…

ophale — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:11:04 +0000

Alpha holds this talking toy to his ear, and talks for hours…

I think he is talking to Grandma, but I can’t see her. Anyway, I wish he would stop so he can play with me.

But he doesn’t, so I’m going to chew on the basket, that will make alpha stop!

What’s that outside?

ophale — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:55:39 +0000

What’s that outside?

Hmmm, can’t make it out…

Silly “Dog”, it’s just the smelly garbage truck…

Exploring the Kaloko Trails!

ophale — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:45:30 +0000

My favorite thing to do is to explore the trails in Kaloko with Alpha. I find birds, jump over logs, sniff all the plants, and just have fun!

But wait, what is that…

Oh, just me being silly…

See I can sniff and point too, I’m not just a silly “v”…

Bodhi the Canine Good Citizen

ophale — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:30:38 +0000

For the past 8 weeks, we have been attending AKC’s Canine Good Citizen class. The 10 item test consists of:
1. Accepting a friendly stranger
2. Sitting politely for petting
3. Appearance and grooming
4. Out for a walk on a loose lead
5. Walking through a crowd
6. Sit and down and stay in place
7. Coming when called
8. Reaction to another dog
9. Reaction to distraction
10. Supervised separation

The first time around he failed sitting politely for petting and supervised separation. After all the other dogs got a chance at the test, the evaluators allowed dogs who failed two items a “do-over.” After waiting about 2 hours, Bodhi was tired, hot, and thirsty. In a state of low energy, he was able to pass the two items without a problem. Bodhi at 4 months and 3 weeks old passed.

I wondered if a human baby at 2 years old could pass the test. It probably depends on the baby.

A “V” thing, I don’t expect you to understand…

ophale — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:34:50 +0000

Play time…

ophale — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:31:05 +0000

Did I drop the toy down the hill… Alpha will get it for me…

Bamboo is fun to chew on!