Ode to Odin

I’ve come to realize that one of the biggest reasons people follow me on Instagram is for pics of our dog, Odin.

They don’t like my selfies (shocking) or my food and party pics. They barely tolerate my home decor.

BUT upload a pic of Odin, and the smiley faces and hearts start rolling in.

YOU ONLY LIKE ME FOR MY DOG.

Fair enough. He really is much cuter than I am.

So today I bring you all your fave Instagrams of Odin, in one place. An ode to Odin.

Which is your fave pic? Leave a comment and let us know!

S#%t my Dog Does Part I

My dog can’t actually speak, but I’d say his actions speak louder than words. When he wants something he will hit it with his paw (if he wants food he hits his bowl, he hits the door when he wants to go outside and smacks you in the face when he thinks you’ve had enough sleep on a Saturday morning). There’s nothing quite like a dog slapping you out of a dead sleep. If he could talk I think he would be saying “get your lazy ass outta bed and play fetch with me”.

My dog does a lot of weird stuff. I thought I’d share with the world, so they too could see what a bizarre vizsla he is. So here goes, a (semi) regular post entitled S#%t my Dog Does!

As a puppy he wanted to sit on the sofa arm
Fully grown, he still thinks he should sit on sofa arms
He loves hanging out in the bathtub
He photo bombs
and he thinks people are for sitting ON

He also believes rakes and brooms are the spawn of Satan, and that they should die. (This is him as a puppy, but he still does this to this day.)

Does your dog like to do weird things? Does he hang out in strange places?

Happy Civic Holiday!

Happy what? Yeah, I know it doesn’t make any sense to me either. Today is Holiday Monday of Civic Holiday weekend in Canada. No one really knows why it’s a holiday, and technically it’s not even a real holiday. (The Government of Canada doesn’t consider it a statutory holiday). Stores are open, but banks are closed. I just consider it a bonus day! Yay, no work! I will be enjoying it with some visiting friends, hanging out with the dog and enjoying a bbq in the backyard. Accomplishing AB-SO-LUT-ELY Nothing. What are you up to today?

Odin Chillin in the Backyard

Training a Vizsla

Our pup Odin is a Vizsla. A Hungarian bird dog who’s been bred to point game birds for hunters then retrieve the bird back. I bet you’re asking yourself why on earth do we have a hunting dog in the city? Obviously not all Vizsla’s become hunters, some are just companions. (don’t let the hard core Vizsla owners hear this, I am a black sheep in the Vizsla crowd for not hunting my dog.) However because Odin was bred to work all day running in the field, he’s a bit more…well…energized than some most other breeds. If he doesn’t get enough exercise and mental stimulation he can be a handful. Don’t get me wrong, we knew what we were getting ourselves into long before we got him. We picked the breed for their athletic ability. El Granto and I spend our weekends walking the city, and wanted a dog to accompany us. He’s done even more than that. He gets us out walking rain or shine, hot or cold. We go hiking, jogging, swimming and walking. He has increased our active lifestyle to where we walk at minimum 5km each weekday and 10-15km each day of the weekend. We have also met a ton more people. Odin is the ultimate ice breaker, and we are constantly having people stop us to ask about our red bundle of trouble.

Has it been harder that I expected?! Abso-freakin-loutley. It’s a non stop job keeping up with him and keeping an eye on him. From crate training to loose leash walking, he has been stubborn and trying, but sometimes your hard work pays off. Last night we let Odin sleep out of his crate for the first time on a dog bed in our room. It entailed 15 minutes of us kicking him out of our bed repeatedly, then BAM, he got it and went and curled up on his bed and sleept the night through. A small milestone to some, but for us that was 9 months of work in the making. No bedding was eaten, no doors scratched and no barking screaming puppy. Hopefully one day soon we’ll be able to leave him alone in the house uncrated during the day, but for now I will take this small victory.

What was the hardest thing to teach your pet?

Weekend Fun

For the last 4 weekends, we have done home improvements of some kind. We have had a To Do list, we have visited a hardware store at least once, and we were given sore muscles and bruises in return. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE getting things done around the house, but sometimes you need to recharge the batteries. This weekend was a battery recharge.

We had a bbq, went to the beach, visited the Big on Bloor festival, had good friends over, visited with family, and took a trip to Ikea and Costco.

Odin & I driving to the beach in a convertible
Odin’s Ears and My Hair Blowing in the Wind
El Granto & Odin Playing Fetch at the Beach
Odin Swimming
Odin Fetching Stick

What did you get up to this weekend?