The Palmacho Files: January, a very Shasta month

Shasta the Puppy

January blew through here. The kids were out of school for the first third of the month. Katie turned 18, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, and we picked up the newest member of our family: Shasta.

Katie held Shasta for the three-hour drive home

Shasta is a puppy. We bought her to keep Pekoe entertained... Well, not really, but I think this might be the end result! We wanted to have two dogs, but were waiting to know where Mac would be stationed in the summer. Since it looks possible (probable?) that we will be sent to Hawaii, our plans for dog #2 were pushed up. Hawaii has strict regulations for what animals they allow in, and dogs need to undergo a series of rabies vaccinations and blood testing that requires a lot of time and a lot of organization. Also, puppies of the breed we really wanted (Australian Labradoodle) are not common on Hawaii. Most people there seem to import dogs from New Zealand it seems like... Anyway, if we were getting a puppy, it seemed like now was the time.

We were lucky to be able to get Shasta-- she came from a litter that was reserved, but the buyers who had first dibs decided they wanted to wait for a pup with a different coat color. So, we scooped up our little puppy! Otherwise we would've needed to wait at least another month, making our Hawaii-dog-preparation even trickier... There really are a LOT of regulations...

Shasta has a lovely black coat, which is difficult to photograph, but definitely hides the dirt which I count as a major plus. This little girl likes to dig, and play rough with Pekoe. Pekoe is a very tolerant dog. He's still about two-thirds puppy himself (at 18 months old), but even he has his limits as to how many times he can just sit there while a 10-pound fur ball launches herself full force onto his head as he is trying to take a nap... So far he just gets up and walks away, occasionally sending me a reproachful look... ("Why did you do this to me? Don't you LOVE me? Wasn't I enough!?") When Shasta does something particularly annoying, Pekoe will look at me again in indignation... ("Did you SEE that? Did you SEE what she just did? Aren't you going to DO anything?"). Pekoe is quite the expressive dog, believe me...

I decided on the name Shasta. The kids aren't big fans, but they can call her whatever they like. I call her Shasta, or Shasta Lady. I named her after Mount Shasta to remember our time here in northern California. Izzy likes to call her Shazzy, which is fine. "Puppy" works, as does calling her any old name of any kid who lives in this house. She seems to respond to everything, which is helpful because often by the end of the day I can't remember anybody's name. It's nice to just be able to say "Luke, I mean Josie, umm Steven, I mean Izzy, ugh Katie" and someone will hear me and respond. True, Shasta can't help me unload groceries from the car and she won't set the table, but at least she comes bounding towards my voice... The kids generally ignore me or claim they can't hear due to headphones or some other such nonsense. Hmmmph.

Part of what made us choose an Australian Labradoodle was that they are considered good dogs for allergic people (which we are, but apparently not very allergic to dogs). Shasta doesn't shed at all so far. The other great thing about Australian Labradoodles is that they were developed to be used as therapy dogs. With Steven and his diabetes, and Luke and his Tourette's, it's possible one of them might need a therapy dog someday.

In the meantime, we were hoping to have a dog that would help to diffuse some of the conflicts that happen in a large family from time to time... When we originally started Project Dog almost two years ago, we thought any old dog would naturally help resolve conflicts between the kids. Because that is what dogs do, right? Dogs help soothe and calm people... But Pekoe, bless him, just seems to want to be comfortable. He's kinda in it for himself... If there is a conflict in the house, Pekoe runs to the door. ("Let me outta here!!")

On the other hand, during a conflict Shasta will mosey over and try to investigate the excitement. And with 5 active kids, there is usually some excitement. ("Why are you breathing so loudly!!! Why are you humming the soundtrack from the Legend of Zelda?" "He hit me!" "She looked like she wanted to make a face at me!") Numerous opportunities for a Conflict Resolution Dog to help out around this house...

Of course Shasta is just a puppy, but so far so good.

Pekoe tries to lay down the law

Shasta tries to wrestle with him. Too bad Pekoe has about 70 pounds on her!

Tug just isn't fair at all.

"Ok... When is she going home? I think I've had enough..."

Playing together outside. Shasta is trying to take a rawhide directly from Pekoe's mouth.

This bone is big enough for both of them.

Taking a break

Eventually Pekoe got used to her enough to be able to relax and snooze... Progress!

Chocolate Cupcakes and Tres Leches Cake. And 18 candles!

Before we got Shasta and our life became All About the Puppy, we enjoyed a few days with Grandma and Grandpa. They brought many Christmas presents from the Yakima contingency, and were sent home with some from us... Grandma and Grandpa were here in time to celebrate Katie's 18th birthday. Katie chose to go to a Japanese restaurant for her birthday dinner. She's all about sushi. While they were here to visit, we also had Thai, Italian, and more Japanese. The kids get to eat so much restaurant food when the grandparents visit! And strangely they all try new food that I don't think I could get them to try otherwise...

A family of clowns and cameras.

It takes mad surgical skills to light all those candles.

Mom and Dad standing under the door
to nowhere...

Mom and Dad also took me to visit The Winchester House one day while the kids were in school and Mac was at work. The Winchester House is a very strange house in San Jose which was built by the Winchester widow from the Winchester rifle fortune. She never stopped building due to some superstitious beliefs, and it is a very disjointed, meandering, and confusing house. You wouldn't quite call it beautiful, because it is just too odd... But it was an interesting, albeit disturbing, outing. Worth checking out, although I'm still a little bit confused by it all!

As is typical, there was a swim meet the weekend of their visit. Since Steven had a meet the following weekend, Izzy was the only one to swim at this meet. The meet didn't go as well as Izzy hoped, but she did have some good swims. She is so close to getting her Junior Olympic qualifying times in the freestyle and fly, so any meet where she doesn't quite get these coveted personal bests, she is bummed out... She has a couple more chances. She is so very very close!

After Grandma and Grandpa went home, we all returned to regular life. Sort of. January was a month for traveling. Steven had a swim meet in Oregon over the Martin Luther King Jr weekend. He had a great time, and swam well. He qualified for the Far Western meet in April in three events, so that was pretty exciting. Unlike for Izzy, swimming indoors seems to favor Steven. She usually does better outdoors now, which I suppose is lucky for her since all the meets from this point forward will be outdoor meets!

As soon as Steven returned, Katie started preparing for the medical mission trip to Haiti. She met up with Grandma and Grandpa and the rest of the team in Miami, and then they flew together to Haiti. Katie was really excited for the trip. She was told that it would be hot, humid, sticky, and buggy. Also she was warned to watch out for wild dogs, to not drink the water, to not eat food prepared using the water, and to never leave anything out in the open as the locals will think she just doesn't want the item any longer. It was a great experience for her, and she is wanting to return to the village again. She learned the art of 15 second showers, and the perils of sleeping on air mattresses that deflate overnight. Grandma and Grandpa said that the village people, especially the teens and the kids, really loved her, even though they didn't speak the same language!

Sliding Side Kick to break the board

Another event in January was belt testing for Taekwondo. Luke tested for the green senior belt, well on his way to a black belt. He broke the board easily, and spent a long time studying the questions for the test. He was one of the few who actually knew the answers to the verbal part of the exam. He was also awarded the Best Sparring patch. He started free sparring just before he broke his arm last November. He's starting to get the hang of it apparently!

January was a pretty busy month for us, with a lot of changes and new experiences. Pekoe and Shasta have come to an understanding, and Pekoe is starting to relax around her a bit. He even wags his tail when he sees her, sometimes. She has been an easy dog to integrate into our family. She doesn't bite much, and she's quite happy and well-adjusted. She is easy to train, and is working on "sit", "down", "stand", "leave it", and "off". She's pretty close to perfect, but not quite...

Shasta is not great in the housebreaking department, which is frustrating because Pekoe was stellar in this area. In order to help her along, we started giving her a treat every time she goes potty outside. She definitely caught on quickly, which is not to say that she controls her bladder better indoors. Unfortunately, this is not the case. However, every time she goes outside, she sniffs out her spot, and then purposefully stares at us to make sure we notice. Immediately after finishing her business, she sprints across the yard to us for her treat. She sometimes repeats this routine three or more times within a 15 minute period... I think perhaps we are being manipulated.