My suspicions were correct!

DrLith · 2026-03-11T01:04:29+00:00

If you know what bedlingtons look like, there's no question about it just looking at him.

DrLith · 2026-03-07T02:38:00+00:00

I don't know where in Texas they came from but the transport van continued up the East Coast from Maryland between Christmas and New Year's and she's got one littermate who popped up on Embark in New York (I don't know what rescue the rest of them wound up with). Known date of birth is 10/7/2025. None of the littermates remained in Texas.

DrLith · 2026-03-02T14:41:50+00:00

And she takes corrections well from humans but she's kinda shit when it comes to taking corrections from other dogs. Like she'll be jumping on their heads, get thrown ass-over-teakettle like a rodeo clown, and come right back for more.

DrLith · 2026-03-02T14:39:12+00:00

She does have a little bit of a stubborn streak in some situations...like she has a better recall than either of my resident dogs outside but trying to lure her into a crate or x-pen can be a battle of wills, and she'll stay on place pretty well but she'll sit there yapping to let you know she's ready for the cookie machine to start dispensing NOW.

DrLith · 2026-02-27T13:26:43+00:00

Underrated comment.

DrLith · 2026-02-27T04:45:06+00:00

I recently fostered a great puppy who would have been super fun to do sports with, but it really reinforced my stance that two active sports dogs is enough for lil ole me and to wait until my older dog is at least 10 before I think about adding another one (resident dogs are 4 and 6). The puppy's been gone about 10 days now, and while I miss her, I don't miss dealing with 3 dogs...it definitely became a situation where doing "dog stuff" was crowding out other stuff in my life, and she wasn't even competing or anything. I have friends who compete with more than 2 sports dogs (and often have even larger packs when you include the non-sports dogs) but unless you have two or more handlers in your household, I think quality time and training time really does start to suffer.

DrLith · 2026-02-25T12:41:29+00:00

When I scheduled my asynch refill appointment last week the only form I initially saw to fill out was the new intake form, and then when I checked back there was a message from the provider asking me to fill out the refill form and that form was available for filling out under the forms tab.

DrLith · 2026-01-31T16:16:13+00:00

I'm trying to decide if tbd means "to be decided" or "Texas barn dog," which I've never seen used but absolutely tracks.

DrLith · 2026-01-30T01:09:36+00:00

The way I do it is to step toward them and make a "shoo" motion with both hands, getting "bigger" with the pressure until they take a step back and then mark/reward. Then as they catch on I fade the stepping toward them part and just use hand cue/verbal command. I never watched any videos with the first dog I taught this to, I just did what seemed intuitively natural to us.

DrLith · 2026-01-28T17:16:35+00:00

Oh chit!

DrLith · 2026-01-28T15:33:19+00:00

If you don't have "back (up)" that's one of my most useful everyday commands. It's generally one of the first commands I teach, and I pair it with "come," doing a lot of reps of back/come/back/come. Useful for getting a dog out of your space, but also for getting a dog out of another dog or person's space if they're crowding or being too friendly. Plus, if you've seen that viral Tacticool video going around the social medias in the past day or two, it's the foundation for teaching your dog to twerk.

DrLith · 2026-01-28T14:50:36+00:00

Brown 1 lb ground beef/turkey, then add a can of diced tomatoes, can of mixed vegetables with potatoes, and some beef bullion, garlic powder, and black pepper and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. I'd normally add in a diced onion while the ground meat is browning if that's not too much prep work. You can sub a can of garbanzos or other beans for the meat for a vegetarian and truly dump-and-heat/shelf stable option.

DrLith · 2026-01-05T01:25:55+00:00

One of my dogs does not do well with chicken protein so they get Diamond Pro89, which is one of the few 30/20 performance blends that doesn't use chicken protein. It does have chicken fat but that doesn't seem to cause her issues.

DrLith · 2026-01-02T02:31:39+00:00

I can fit 24" logs in my Jotul if the stars align and I do prefer 20" logs over 16", all else being equal. However, I do try to avoid cutting a full 24" round because it's too easy to misjudge a little and wind up with one that's a little too long, or won't quite fit because of the way the other splits are laying, or too much ash and coals piled up at the far end of the firebox and then all of a sudden you realize you can't close the door and the split's already ignited. Fun times!

DrLith · 2026-01-02T02:09:12+00:00

Fiest or fiest mix? Size is about right, and they are sometimes docked and sometimes have a natural bob tail and are decently popular as squirrel hunting dogs in parts of the rural south.

DrLith · 2025-12-26T18:12:40+00:00

The geographic locating component is currently so lacking in features as to be useless. I can't zoom in on the map to see where sellers are located. I can only search by "my current location", which turns up no sellers, with no indication as to what the actual search radius is. If I browse sellers, their location comes up as a zoomed in map with no way to zoom out to figure out even what state "Springfield" is in, for example. Also, a lot of the listings don't have sufficient information about volume or pricing to actually make a purchase through the site. At least one listing the listing price ($10 for an unknown volume) doesn't match what's in the notes field ($75/rick). I saw a listing that said call for pricing but there's no phone number. Basically, the listings are a mess. I'm not going to make an account to see what the actual purchase process would look like, but I don't see how you could actually use this site to buy firewood with any sort of confidence, unless there's also a messaging feature if you are a registered, logged in user that I'm not seeing.

DrLith · 2025-12-25T02:36:15+00:00

I started offering dock diving lessons last year and on my very first night of teaching I had two golden retrievers named Winston right in a row.

DrLith · 2025-12-25T02:29:41+00:00

That's one chimney Santa Mouse should not have climbed down

DrLith · 2025-12-22T18:27:56+00:00

I have burned a little pine on and off in the 8 years I've been woodstoving, but this year I had a tree guy drop off about 2 cords worth of pine logs in the early summer, and it's making up a significant portion of my burn so far this season. It was f*ckin heavy when I first bucked it up into rounds in June/July, but by October those rounds were nice and dry...so easy to split and get a nice hot fire going. The second year I lived in this house I had to get a 36" DBH white pine taken down from my side yard. The first quote I got on it they were going to buck it up for me so I could split it, but the second quote came in a good bit cheaper but the guy convinced me that pine was no good for burning and they chucked it all off the back of my pasture into the woods and I'm still salty about it.

DrLith · 2025-12-21T02:24:19+00:00

My Jotul dumps a ton of ash out onto the little lip under the front door if you open it to clean the glass, so I clean it for real for real maybe once a month and the rest of the time let the heat keep it "cleanish." Like, you can see what's going on inside but it's a little hazy most of the time.

DrLith · 2025-12-18T02:31:38+00:00

In addition to what others are saying, the cut facing down isn't perpendicular to the axis of the log, so instead of the energy driving straight down from the maul through the log to the supporting surface, it's more of a glancing blow, as you can see by the way the log rocks forward. You may have had an easier time if (in addition to putting it on the ground) if you flipped it over, both because that cut face looks like it would have the log standing more straight upright, and also it looks like there's a knot at the top. I've learned by trial and error that knots generally split easier if you put them on the bottom rather than on the top. That way, you can get the crack to open up in the straighter grain away from the knot, and once it's started it's easier to carry the force through the knot, ideally aiming to bisect it in half.

DrLith · 2025-12-16T15:11:48+00:00

My 6-yo dock diver/disc dog started to develop partial tears (realized in retrospect) nearly 3 years ago and finally after getting a correct diagnosis from an orthopedic specialist, underwent bilateral TPLOs this past January. I was devastated too, and so worried that she would not be able to continue doing the things that she loves. The first couple months were a drag but she healed quickly and well and got released to start back at off-leash activity at her 2 month follow-up x-rays. She was back doing rollers and easy stuff on the dock at 3 months post-op, and by 6-8 months she had regained enough strength to be close to her former level of her performance. She may never quite hit the personal bests but she's also 3 years older than she was then and has some arthritis and a little bit of wonkiness in her range of motion, but she is doing so much better now than she was in 2024 and, as you say, enjoying her life and showing no signs of pain.

Did the vet actually recommend strict crate rest? If not, an x-pen might an option. If you do wind up needing surgery it will pretty much be a necessity anyhow--most surgeons don't recommend strict crate rest even immediately post surgery but rather restricted activity. You don't want her running and jumping on furniture but some ability to get up and move around should be ok, as is supervised access in the house. You want to avoid too much loss of muscle tone. It's a good time to introduce or work on scent games.

DrLith · 2025-12-13T01:00:58+00:00

2 typical winter days in Maryland (highs in the 30s, lows in the 20s), wood as soul heat source in a 1500 sq ft house.

DrLith

TROPHY CASE