Bentley - the dog

I made a coat for Bentley for the winter.

It is my first attempt at something like this since I was in 8th grade home economics.

I sure hope it keeps him warm. Here he is modeling the jacket.

If you want to see how I made this coat here is the lens http://www.squidoo.com/make-a-winter-coat-for-a-small-dog

Edit: We have been using the new coat now for a couple of weeks and it is great. It is waterproof so far! More importantly Bentley loves it.

Bentley walks every day rain or shine. He needs something on his feet. My wife Sandi bought him some socks and boots.

The boots are a little too big


The socks are too big

Today we went for our walk and there was a new sign

Coyotes!
Bentley wan't scared though. He thought the sign had potential

Did you know that Yorkshire terriers are from Scotland? They were originally used to hunt all kinds of creatures, including rats, rabbits, squirrels, otters, and foxes. Bentley is much to small to hunt anything.

Pound for pound, no dogs on Earth are as tough or as plucky as the terriers developed by the Scots working class.

In 1978, a Yorkie named Ch. Cede Higgins won the Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. It takes a lot of work to keep up the long hair that yorkies have.

Bentley is an easy going guy. He pretty much goes with the flow and lives in the moment (it is one of the qualities I admire).

He gets up with me in the morning and lays in his bed while I get ready for work. If it is cold I turn on his heater.

I make myself coffee and breakfast and when I am ready to sit down and eat he comes running. I give him a few treats, which he has to earn, and then he is really happy.

I do a morning meditation and Bentley joins in.

Then I am off to work. He goes in and sleeps with my wife until she gets up.

During the day he spends his time with our two cats, Mia and Jade. He has a healthy respect for them since the are much bigger than he is. Mia tries to love on him and Jade just tolerates him.

I monitor him throughout the day with my iCam software. I miss him.

When I get home he is standing on the back of the couch looking out the window. He is really happy to see me.

I get a few things done and then we are out the door for a 2 mile walk. He does love his walks.

We spend the rest of the day hanging out. He will go for a ride with me if I go to the store or visit my children. Then it is off to bed and we start it all over.

Bentley has traveled all over the Pacific Northwest. He likes the beaches best. He also likes to hike or get carried on a hike. He isn't afraid to walk in the rain or cold.

He isn't happy unless he gets to go on a walk. His energy level is very high when I get home.

He has been to Paradise at Mt. Rainier,
Vantage Wa,
The windturbine visitor center,
The top of Mt Si,
The top of Tiger Mt,
La Push, Wa,
Forks, Wa,
Sequim, Wa,
Countless walks all over the Federal Way, Auburn area

Bentely has to stay home by himself sometime. He doesn't much care for that. I keep an eye on him with my Logitech C910 web cam and iCam software.

It is great. I can see and hear him anytime I am away from home. That way I know he isn't watching too much TV.

The iCam software works pretty good and is an inexpensive alternative to other monitoring/security camera solutions.

The Logitech C910 is an HD camera so the video quality is good. It also has good audio capabilities.

In August of 2010 Bentley got a tick on a camping trip. It was gross. We had the vet remove it and he is fine. Since then I have used Frontline flea and tick repellent on him. We were using Advantage when he got the tick. He has been flea and tick free ever since!

Info about ticks from wikipedia

Ticks satisfy all of their nutritional requirements on a diet of blood, a practice known as hematophagy. They extract the blood by cutting a hole in the host's epidermis, into which they insert their hypostome, likely keeping the blood from clotting by excreting an anticoagulant.