Sam Vimes, Corgi of the North

A little rest (and a bowl of water) before heading back to the Visitors’ Center and our car.  Sam just soaked up the attention he got from locals and tourists alike out enjoying the day.  I’m told April is usually one of the best months up here (I’ve only lived here just shy of two years - Sam’s daddy has lived here most of his life - and last summer was one of the coldest and rainiest on record), but this year we had snow on the last days of April and lots of cold and rain since then.  I think half the city took at least a partial day off work last week, me included, just to get outside.

Anyway, Sam got told he was a pretty, happy corgi by several people and a very sweet old Asian couple who didn’t speak much English asked to take his picture and told us they had a corgi of their own back home.  He got to splash through creeks, soak up attention like a sponge, and take a nice ride in the car.  All in all, a good decision to skip out on work and take some time with our little family!

Sam was inspired by the mountain goats we saw across the lake and scrambled up a three foot high rock behind us while we were sitting and soaking up the sun (and watching the tourists from the cruise ships mill around.)

There is actually a real, maintained path from the visitor’s center to the falls, but you can also go across the beach to the falls, too (as long as you stay out of the areas roped off for Arctic Tern nesting.)  This turned out to be a false path.  Whoops!

“No, Dad, I’m sure the shortest way there is to swim for it.  Let’s go!”

He had to content himself with splashing through streams while his people tried to cross via large rocks.  At one point, his mama missed and stuck her foot in - the day may have been warm, but there was still snow on the ground in shady places and the water was pretty cold!  You can kind of see a thin film of ice over the lake closer to the glacier itself.

Sam’s humans took a half day off work to take him out to the glacier on Thursday.

Sam has a UTI… I suspected that he might, since he was drinking more lately, whining more about needing to go out, and having some tiny pee accidents (as though he had an occasional leak, not a full pee puddle.)  The vet expressed disappointment that he had an empty bladder when I brought him in for examination, and I said I couldn’t stop him from peeing… including in the waiting room.  Turned out that they hadn’t had a chance to mop it up yet, so the vet actually used the puddle as his sample, which made me slightly less embarrassed about the incident.  Anyway, he definitely does have a UTI, and we’ll be working on figuring out the best way of getting him to accept his antibiotics.

The weather is both stunningly awful (wind, rain, snow, 30 degree temperatures) and our street is all torn up with construction, so Sam isn’t getting the nice long walks we’d like to take him on.

EDIT: Apparently his daddy took him on a run in the mud this morning, but he left for a meeting before I got home from work today, so I didn’t hear about it until now.  I guess he’s just mopey because one of his parents isn’t home.

emmathebean:

m-coco-m:

Its a luv hate sorta feeling for the gurls when i come back fRom Japan. …

I’m crying. Ookii’s face is hilarious.

This is how Sam acts when we put any kind of hat on him.  He has a banana costume with a head piece - when he wears the head part, he locks his feet and just lets his head slowly lower until he looks like the most depressed puppy in the world.  If it’s just the body section, he’s fine.

We assume it means he’s paralyzed with pure loathing for us at times like that.  We imagine him as a petulant teenager a lot, actually.

Sam attempts Corgi Mind Control (similar to the Jedi Mind Trick) on his mama and her dinner.

Sam took a 2 mile walk on the trails around the local airport today. Right before this was taken, a 737 came in for a landing right above us. Sam was more chill about it than his mama.