Andie LaComb's Blog, page 14
March 27, 2023
Young Dog vs Senior Dog
It’s funny how you forget what it’s like to have a young dog when you’ve been living with a senior dog for so long. When Sunny joined our family we had not lived with a young dog for nearly a decade. Karlie was 14.5 when we said goodbye and had been an older dog for several years. Even before GOLPP, although she was full of energy, she was not the rambunctious puppy and young dog that she once had been.
Walking a Young DogI had forgotten how hard it is to teach leash walking skills. An older dog has less energy and generally does not pull you down the street. This gives you the false impression that it’s easy to teach your dog to walk with you. A young dog wants to check out the birds across the street, the person 5 houses down that entered their yard, the piece of paper on the street, and every other thing. Sunny is that dog. She is curious about EVERYTHING. But I had forgotten, until I re-read some old journals, how much Karlie was like that too. How much she pulled and how reactive she was to other dogs. She was not the perfect walker that she was in her last few years. Sunny and I are working on learning how to walk nicely with each other. We’re not perfect, especially when a bird is in a field or a leaf skitters across the road on a windy day, but we are working on it.
So Much EnergyI had forgotten how much energy young dogs have. I spend a lot of time thinking of things to keep Sunny busy and learning. We take walks, learn new tricks, explore empty fields, shred empty boxes, and have learning sessions. Of course we also lounge and snuggle, too. In Karlie’s last few years we took a lot of adventures, played fetch, and did indoor agility, but there was also a lot of naps because she was older. I had forgotten all the time I spent with her and Anna going to agility classes, throwing tennis balls in the backyard, taking them to the park or lake to explore, going for walks, spending time in the front of our yard learning not to be reactive to other dogs, and playing.
The Bond Doesn’t Last Long EnoughI had forgotten that all the time I spent with Karlie forged the inseparable bond that we had. I hope to one day have a similar relationship with Sunny. Until then, we keep learning together and about each other. It’s worth every minute because before I know it, it will be over.
The post Young Dog vs Senior Dog appeared first on Live Like Karlie.
March 16, 2023
Karlie’s Hiking Etiquette
Karlie LOVED hiking and going on adventures. As soon as she saw me gathering our hiking gear, she would get excited. Although I’m sure she didn’t think too much about appropriate hiking etiquette, she knew what made for a good adventure. Below are her tips for the best hiking experience; her hiking etiquette.
Be patient on the car ride there, the good stuff is coming.
Sniff everything – every leaf, tree stump, rock, and random spots on the trail. The woods are smelly and it’s important to take time to take it all in.
Don’t walk up to random people and dogs. Not everyone wants to meet you when they are exploring in the woods.
If you see a dog reacting or a person trying to create space between them and you, be respectful and keep moving.
Always try to find a spot to put your feet in the water. The best hikes are to places that have creeks, ponds, lakes, or some body of water. If it’s off limit to dogs, it’s not worth visiting.
Look for critters and let people know when you see them. Those interesting smells are from a variety of critters and they usually are lurking somewhere in the woods.
Try to stick to the pace of your humans. They can be slow, but it’s much nicer to be near them on the hike than dragging them behind you.
Make sure your people bring treats and water and sample them often.
Be patient when your person picks up your poop. It’s important to not leave anything behind.
Explore everything, especially downed trees and rocks on the trail. These make for great photos too.
Always smile when your person takes pictures of you while hiking. You never know you may become famous and have a book written about you like our book, Adventures with Karlie.
Enjoy every second you get to be out in nature. It’s simply the best.
Other Resources for Hiking EtiquetteThe post Karlie’s Hiking Etiquette appeared first on Live Like Karlie.
March 9, 2023
About Andie
Andie LaComb is a dog lover, part-time volunteer dog walker at the San Diego Humane Society, and Karlie’s best friend. She spends half of her time in San Diego and the other half in Northern Indiana. No matter where she is, she loves to go hiking, kayaking, and spend time outdoors with her dogs and husband. She writes about her adventures and helps others live their best lives with their dogs via LiveLikeKarlie.com. Adventures with Karlie is her first book.
Andie has lived with and loved five rescue dogs – Max, Jasmine, Anna, Karlie, and now Sunny. She didn’t truly start her adventures until Anna crossed the rainbow bridge and she was trying to keep herself and Karlie from missing Anna too much. Karlie and Andie explored beaches, canyons, parks, and trails throughout San Diego and Southern Indiana with a few locations in Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas. She recently adopted Sunny, an Australian Shepard/Cattledog mix and moved to Northern Indiana. She is helping Sunny become her next great hiking partner and looking forward to getting to know the parks and trails in Northern Indiana.
Book ListAdventures with Karlie
ebook ISBN: 979-8-9872689-1-9
Hardcover ISBN: 979-8-9872689-2-6
Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9872689-0-2
February 2023
Cover
Social Media and ContactFacebook: Facebook.com/LiveLikeKarlie
Goodreads: goodreads.com/AndieLaComb
Instagram: @LiveLikeKarlie_Andie_JAK
Twitter: @KarlieLike
email: andie[at]livelikekarlie[dot]com
Photos
The post About Andie appeared first on Live Like Karlie.
About Andie LaComb
Andie LaComb is a dog lover, part-time volunteer dog walker at the San Diego Humane Society, and Karlie’s best friend. She spends half of her time in San Diego and the other half in Northern Indiana. No matter where she is, she loves to go hiking, kayaking, and spend time outdoors with her dogs and husband. She writes about her adventures and helps others live their best lives with their dogs via LiveLikeKarlie.com. Adventures with Karlie is her first book.
Andie has lived with and loved five rescue dogs – Max, Jasmine, Anna, Karlie, and now Sunny. She didn’t truly start her adventures until Anna crossed the rainbow bridge and she was trying to keep herself and Karlie from missing Anna too much. Karlie and Andie explored beaches, canyons, parks, and trails throughout San Diego and Southern Indiana with a few locations in Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas. She recently adopted Sunny, an Australian Shepard/Cattledog mix and moved to Northern Indiana. She is helping Sunny become her next great hiking partner and looking forward to getting to know the parks and trails in Northern Indiana.
Follow her and her adventures at:
The post About Andie LaComb appeared first on Live Like Karlie.
About the Author – Andie LaComb
Andie LaComb is a dog lover, part-time volunteer dog walker at the San Diego Humane Society, and Karlie’s best friend. She spends half of her time in San Diego and the other half in Northern Indiana. No matter where she is, she loves to go hiking, kayaking, and spend time outdoors with her dogs and husband. She writes about her adventures and helps others live their best lives with their dogs via LiveLikeKarlie.com. Adventures with Karlie is her first book.
Andie has lived with and loved five rescue dogs – Max, Jasmine, Anna, Karlie, and now Sunny. She didn’t truly start her adventures until Anna crossed the rainbow bridge and she was trying to keep herself and Karlie from missing Anna too much. Karlie and Andie explored beaches, canyons, parks, and trails throughout San Diego and Southern Indiana with a few locations in Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas. She recently adopted Sunny, an Australian Shepard/Cattledog mix and moved to Northern Indiana. She is helping Sunny become her next great hiking partner and looking forward to getting to know the parks and trails in Northern Indiana.
Follow her and her adventures at:
The post About the Author – Andie LaComb appeared first on Live Like Karlie.
March 6, 2023
Best Friends
Everyone should have at least one best friend in their life. Karlie was lucky enough to have two, her sister Anna and me. We adopted Karlie a few months after saying goodbye to Jasmine, our 16-year old Border Collie mix. Although Anna had only lived with us and known Jasmine for a few months, she was lost without her. She seemed lost and sad to be the only dog. That led me to start looking at rescue sites to adopt another young dog so they could be best friends.
Jasmine and AnnaAnna and KarlieAfter a short time, I found a young Border Collie, Muffin, but unfortunately someone else had started the adoption process. Luckily Karlie’s foster mom contacted me to see if I thought Karlie would be a good fit for our family. Previously I had looked at her profile, but thought she might be too rambunctious for Anna. Despite that I decided to meet Karlie and her foster mom with Anna in a neutral area. The two dogs hit it off so we decided to take Karlie home for a sleepover. That afternoon and evening was the happiest I had seen Anna since Jasmine left. The two girls wrestled, chased each other, and then fell asleep before starting it all over again. It didn’t take long for us to decide Karlie would make a perfect addition to our family.
Wrestlemania with Karlie and AnnaFor the next nearly 12 years Anna and Karlie were best friends. Anna always looked out for Karlie and made sure no one was bothering her little sister. She also herded Karlie like she was her personal sheep. The girls loved to chase each other. When Karlie chased tennis balls, Anna would play defense making it more challenging for Karlie to bring the ball back to me. When kayaking Karlie always encouraged me to paddle faster so Anna and Art would not get too far ahead of us. These girls liked to be near each other. I have hundreds of pictures of the two of them laying on their bed or ours with some part of their body touching each other.
Sweet girls in backseat of carKarlie and AndieOn Anna’s last day the four of us celebrated her by doing all her favorite things. We explored Kate Sessions Park off leash, spent time in the backyard, had ice cream and cake, lounged on the bed, and took one final walk to the vet. The four of us sat on the floor at the vet with Anna and Karlie sharing cream cheese while we said goodbye. We gave her endless kisses and whispered sweet nothings in her ear and then she was gone. On the walk home we missed our sweet Anna Banana and I started to think how lonely Karlie was going to be. That’s when I decided to keep Karlie and me busy by taking adventures. We traveled all over San Diego exploring beaches, canyons, and trails and after we moved to Bloomington, Indiana we did the same thing there. These are all detailed in our book, Adventures with Karlie, available at Amazon, Applebooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.
Our book, Adventures with KarlieWho is your dog’s best friend? Does he/she have a doggy best friend or a human one or both?
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February 15, 2023
One-Year Anniversary – Part 3
Today is the one-year anniversary of adopting Sunny. We added her to our family just two weeks after saying goodbye to Karlie. I was so lost without a dog in my life, that I searched the internet for an Australian Shepard/Catahoula mix and found Sunny. We passed the interview process and two weeks later met her. She was an adorable, happy go-lucky, and friendly puppy so we decided to adopt her.
Meeting Sunny for the first time.The first weeks were challenging as she was not fully vaccinated and we did not have our own yard at the condo, so she had to pee on pee pads. Thankfully after a few weeks we had her fully vaccinated and started to train her to go potty outside. That required many, many trips up and down the stairs to take her outside of the condo. It exhausted me and at times I wondered what we had taken on.
She also was a typical puppy that chewed things and got the zoomies in the afternoon. She was a little Tasmanian devil during the “witching hour” which seemed to occur between 3pm and 5pm EVERY SINGLE DAY. We covered all the furniture with packing blankets to keep her from destroying it. We also took her for a lot of walks to try to burn some of her puppy energy. It was a difficult time. I missed Karlie and Sunny was so different than the senior dog we had lived with for the past few years.
A few months later we drove cross country from San Diego to our home in Southern Indiana. We learned that Sunny was a fantastic traveler. She enjoyed going to new places and was extremely well behaved at the hotels, especially for a barely 5 month old puppy.
Over time we developed a daily routine that involved walks, training, and playing. We spent quite a bit of time outside on our deck or porch while she investigated the world. We also started to take her on adventures and revisited some of the places we took Karlie. Sunny also found a best friend; our next door neighbor’s Jack Russell Terrier who is 5 months older than Sunny. In short, she started to truly become a member of our family.
Sunny at Olcott Park in Bloomington, INSunny isn’t Karlie. Although she looks similar to her and has some similar characteristics, she also has her own personality. Despite how much I still miss Karlie, Sunny has found a way into my heart. She has become a snuggly girl who likes to start and end her day snoozing on our bed. Sunny LOVES leaves and tries to chase and herd them. She smiles when she is playing. She has the cutest batman ears. Sunny loves the sun and often when we are inside finds a spot to lay in. She wants to please and is always happy to meet someone new. Sunny is a sweet little girl and I am so happy that she joined our family. She is helping to mend my broken heart while stealing a piece of it for herself. It has taken time which is not surprising given the bond I had with Karlie.
Snoozing on the bed at the end of the day.So today we celebrated Sunny and the one-year anniversary of adopting her. There were cookies and a new toy, just as there were every year for Anna and Karlie.
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February 5, 2023
One-Year Anniversary Part 1
How are you sweet girl? I wish you were here. I miss you and your sweet smile. I miss carrying you down the stairs at the condo to go outside. I miss seeing you hop the curb with your wheels. I miss talking to people about you and your wheels. I miss making pumpkin pie for you. I miss you snuggling between buddy and me at night. I miss your soft ears. I miss playing ball with you. I miss seeing you with a tennis ball in your mouth and your tongue popping out the other side. I miss seeing you on the front of the SUP board and having you look at me with such joy. I miss taking you on adventures. I miss you following me around. I miss every little thing about you.
I can’t believe it’s been a year since I last saw you. I can’t believe it’s been a year since our last adventure. That was a hard day, but you made it special by giving us one last trip to the beach before you got your wings. I can’t thank you enough for the life we had and for being my best friend. I will never forget you and I will love you forever, baby girl.
Karlie and Andie on her last dayThe post One-Year Anniversary Part 1 appeared first on Live Like Karlie.
One-Year Anniversary – Part 2
It’s been a long, hard year without Karlie. I’ve been through all the firsts – first week, first month, first birthday, first Christmas, and now the first year. Although it has gotten easier to live without her, I still miss her and the life we had. I don’t think that will ever go away. Despite that I am trying to honor her and her spirit by sharing her story with others. It’s the best way I can think of to memorialize her and it has helped me deal with my tremendous loss and the one-year anniversary.
When Karlie was here we went on weekly adventures. We explored canyons, parks, and trails in San Diego and Southern Indiana. I documented these with hundreds, maybe thousands, of photographs. I wrote about them on Facebook and in my journal. And then I decided to write a book about our adventures. On Karlie’s last day I promised her I would finish it and I did. Originally it was just for me; a way to remember our life together. But with the encouragement of family and friends, I decided to share it with the world. I could not think of a more fitting way to memorialize and celebrate her than to make our book available on the one-year anniversary.
It’s such a bittersweet day for me, but sharing our story with others helps me remember her. It brings a smile to my face. This past year I’ve also started to take Sunny on the same adventures that I took Karlie, as well as some new ones that we didn’t get to do. It helps to revisit our favorite places and to share them with Sunny. She enjoys getting out and exploring new places as much as Karlie did. It makes me feel closer to Karlie by being back at our favorite places.
I hope sharing our story on social media, on this website, and in our book helps other people and their dogs. I want to encourage people to take their dogs on adventures and share some of our favorites. Also I want to provide information on Geriatric Onset Laryngeal Paralysis Polyneuropathy (GOLPP), how to deal with mobility issues, and how to deal with saying goodbye and the corresponding grief. To me this would be the best legacy for Karlie’s life. So I hope you will help me celebrate her life by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, reading our stories on this website, and purchasing our book, Adventures with Karlie.
Our book is available on Amazon (kindle, paperback, and hardback) and Kobo (e-book). The links are below.
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January 26, 2023
Snow Day!
Yesterday we had a “big” snow event in Southern Indiana. I say big in quotations because 4 inches isn’t a lot of snow in many places, but we don’t often get that much at one time here. When we lived in Upstate New York 4 inches of snow occurred regularly and didn’t require running to the grocery store or closing schools or businesses. That was not the case here yesterday. Schools and businesses closed and kids were sledding and building snowmen. I stayed away from the stores, but image they were busy.
Sunny and I took the opportunity to use the snow as canine enrichment. She LOVES the snow. She likes to run around and get her nose right down into the snow. Sunny even likes to eat the snow. So yesterday I took her outside a couple times. The first time I let her off leash and practiced her recall. She loved running around, but then would stop to check on me and come running when I yelled “Sunny, COME!”. We did this early in the morning before anyone else was out so there were fewer distractions. She did fantastic and came running like her tail was on fire every time I called her. I’m pretty sure giving her treats for being such a good girl were the motivation.
A little later I took her back outside on her 30 foot leash and just let her explore the backyard. First she ran around with sheer joy at the sight of the snow. Eventually she started to explore and stick her nose down into the snow to smell the ground beneath it. At one point she even saw some deer in the distance and was quite interested in watching them. We spent about half an hour outside because I am a wimp about being outside in the cold. It was about the perfect amount of time. Enough time to explore and run around without getting too cold for either one of us. I won’t lie and say I’m not ready for winter to be over, but at least while it’s here we can still get outside for an interesting adventure, even in if it’s just in our backyard.
Happy girl doing recall in the snow.The post Snow Day! appeared first on Live Like Karlie.
