I’m at the cabin for a few days, and there’s a ton of vegetables to eat in the garden. I picked a medium-large zucchini last night and sliced it really thinly, seasoned the slices, and baked them into chips (265F for about an hour total, but you have to start taking out the thinner slices earlier than that). I used a seasoned salt mix, and as long as you don’t burn the chips, they go from bland zucchini to amazing amazingness.
Henny loves it up here. The last time we came to the cabin (was it all the way back in April?), she was still fairly nervous about going into the woods, but that’s changed now. She gets braver all the time, but it seems to me like she’s had a real boost in confidence over the past couple of weeks. We’ve been going out for a short walk in the woods every few hours, and she always seems really happy as she trots around. The first time we went out yesterday, when she got to the open, mowed part of the property, she ran around further and faster than she’s ever run before. Goofy dog. It’s my job to watch the sky for hawks, though, because I’m sure she’d be a tasty treat for them.
I’ve also been teaching her to lie down on command, and she seems to be figuring it out. You can’t physically make Henny do anything, or she panics, and the ways I’ve taught dogs to lie down in the past don’t work with her, as she just scoots away. So, just as with teaching her to sit, I repeat the command until she does whatever it is on her own, at which point I give her a treat. It worked for sitting, and she seems to have already got the hang of lying down, although it’s not perfect yet. I hadn’t bothered teaching it before, because she rarely lies down when she’s paying attention to me at home, but there’s a nice rug at the cabin, so she hunkers down on that every chance she gets. What a silly dog.
