Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Misha and Murray





Murray is the yellow one and Misha is the brown.

Love the names.
Love the dogs.
Just have no idea what combination of dogs built these two.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Auntie Em! Auntie Em!


Emma is one of my favorite dogs. Have you ever seen such a white Labrador? Isn't she just the cutest thing. I do have a soft spot for the labs. Emma is getting old and a bit on the heavy side, but hey, who isn't? But, she still likes to run and play.

Only problem with Emma is that her owners just don't travel often enough.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Doing What He Likes Best!


This dog, who will remain nameless, is really fond of peeing on everything. As a rule, male dogs have incomprehensibly high opinion of their own urine, but un-neutered male dogs seem to think that everyone else values there stuff nearly as much as they do.

That is why they constantly want to share it with their neighbors.


I have two dogs, both I will not name, that just have to pee on their neighbors. This is why, when I build the new kennel it will have walls between runs.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

I Did Get It!

I got some decent footage before the battery gave out! So here is Ziggy leading the parade!


Coco, I Never Would Have Guessed


























I have a number of clients named Coco. Inevitably, they are brown dogs. Mostly, they are brown Labradors. Not this one. Not really brown at all. Cute as a button and all, but not really fitting her name.

I had to ask about the name, turns out the owner picked the name before the dog. Well, that does explain it.

I had one other Coco that wasn't brown, now that I think about it. It was a very small poodle. She was old and mostly gray all over. So gray, that it prompted me to ask if she had been named after Coco Chanel.

Who?

I guess not.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Misplaced Guilt

I had two Bailey's this weekend. Bailey the Beagel, who along with his brother Max, spent the weekend wrestling with anyone and everyone. Mostly they played with Ziggy, but they don't limit their pestering to dogs that actually want to play with them, everyone is fair game.

The other Bailey is a Corgi, my first Corgi. She was a cutie-pie that only wanted for me to love on her. So much so that she kinda beat a whole into my upper thigh in the request of said loving.

Now, Bailey and Max get scolded on occasion, as you might imagine. Only problem is that when I yell at Bailey the Beagle, Bailey the Corgi, looks guilty. Bailey the Beagle is completely unfazed by any disappointment I might voice over his behavior.

I was worried about giving Bailey the Corgi a complex so I stuck to yelling at Max whenever he or Bailey got too rough. Max doesn't listen to me either.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

And Then There was Hank

So much for just the girls. Hank, the cow dog, showed up Tuesday morning to mess with my quiet week. Hank can sometimes take issue with male dogs that want to wrestle with him. I have to keep a close eye on him. But it turns out that he is happy to let the girls beat the tar out of him.

Dusty, Emma, and Nuray are all taking advantage of a boy dog that they can catch.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

What Are We Going to Do Without Ziggy?

Ziggy and Buddy were the only dogs that didn't stay until Monday. I wasn't sure the other dogs knew how to play together as all they had done since Ziggy arrived was to chase him. We spent Sunday re-figuring out how to play together, just as if they had only just arrived. They had their play groups worked out by lunch time, so all was good again.

Max and Bailey got picked up just before dinner and I was shocked by just how quiet the kennel had gotten. We jettisoned the boys and the place was down right tranquil. Tessie headed home just after that and bedtime could only be described as placid.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Missed the Shot, Yet Again!

I remembered the camera, finally. I remembered to bring a camera with dying batteries, finally.

I was hoping to get some video of this great group of dogs doing some amazing dashes around the play yard with Ziggy in the lead. Ziggy has come into his own and clearly has left his skittish days behind him. Behind him this weekend was a group of dogs panting hard to keep up. Bailey and Max were always close behind with Tessie, never in the group, but always running along side barking the whole long way. She is our orange and white referee. Even the old ladies, Dusty and Emma would try a lap or two. The one dog that could never really keep up would be Ziggy's brother, Buddy. Buddy is a Dachshund. He doesn't seem to realize that is legs are only 2 inches long, but the fact is that they are and he will never be able to keep up with the big dogs.

Buddy, like many little brothers before him, only joins the fight after Ziggy stops to take a break. As soon as the running stops, Buddy starts lunging for Ziggy's neck. With a high degree of skill and determination.

Ziggy doesn't seem to mind and it does keep Buddy out of the herd during the stampede where I worry that he might just become a little furry speed bump.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Full House

What a change. Since everyone headed back to school and work, the kennel has been more empty than full. I even got a morning off this week with no dogs at all. We are full and soon to be over flowing this morning.

One of my clients won a trip to the Inaugural and I just couldn't say 'No' to that. I thought Doggie Karma might save me, but no I will have a whole day of dog juggling. I think it will be worth it. I just hope the owners don't freeze in D.C.

Friday, January 16, 2009

The Thaw!

If snow is Mother Nature's way of telling you that you don't have to scoop the poop, beware of the thaw.

We have had more than a week of sunny and bright weather around here, while the rest of the country is busy freezing and shoveling. This means that the play yard is defrosting into a mud pit at an alarming rate. This also means that my yard, my walk down to the kennel, plus the play yard is turning into a mine field. Step lively.

As a expert on scooping poop, I offer my expertise in the area of scooping in the winter. Dog poop is a whole 'nother beast in the cold and snow.

If you just plan to wait until the warm weather, more power to you. This is not an option for me. A single weekend with big dogs and I would have to wear hip waders down to the kennel.

WINTER POOP REMOVAL 101

Fresh Poop in Snow
  • Scoop it while it is still warm, but try to get the least amount of snow with it.
  • Extra snow in the garbage bag will make it impossibly heavy.
Not So Fresh in Snow
  • Don't even attempt to remove partially frozen poop.
  • You will only be able to remove the non-frozen top portion.
  • Leaving you to later find all these chunks of poop shrapnel all over the place.
Frozen Solid
  • This requires chipping the now rock hard poop out of the snow.
  • Hit the snow behind the poop, never the poop as it will destroy your scooper.
  • Or dig under and just flip it out of the snow whole.
Waiting for the Thaw
  • This is the best option, but it requires some patience.
  • DO NOT attempt to remove any poop until the ground it is sitting on has dried out
  • It make look like poop, when in fact it is a gelatinous mass with the consistency of pudding that has no structural integrity.
  • Wait and get it when it reconstitutes back into a liftable form of poop.
I hope you found this helpful. I like to think that I have gained all these skills for the sake of passing them all.

May you all have clean shoes until the next snow storms.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Doesn't Like to Share the Couch







That is, the dog doesn't. The baby is fine with sharing. I can see why the dog wants her personal space, can you see the fistful of fur the babykins has got hold of?

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Fetch is Working but it is Blinding!


I got some new tennis balls out, after the fiasco of losing one into the snow on the roof on only the second toss. Two Ball Fetch, this is fetch for those dogs that don't get the GIVE BACK part of Fetch. You just have to keep the balls moving. For the most part, you can get them to drop the old ball at your feet when they dash to get the newly thrown one. You do get the occasional, take the old one with you. That just makes it a game of Fetch for me as well.

One major draw back, bright, clean, new yellow tennis balls are blinding on new, fresh, clean snow.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Love Bug!

What I lack in being a playmate, I make up for in doggie loving. Khiya has forgiven me, my inability to run and play by trying to love me to death.

I usually love to love on my doggies, but with Khiya, love involves full body contact. She has squirmed and wiggled and rubbed me down thoroughly. It includes a number of passes between my knees as well. And yes, it would be obscene if she weren't just so darn cute.


This leads me to a new problem. I had already been losing the battle against black dog fur in the living room before I imported a white dog fur battalion from the play yard. I will certainly have to surrender to the enemy if the Dyson ever dies.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

And Then There was One

That is it. I have one dog in the kennel for the whole week. It is really a shame, Khiya is a big player and I just am not.

We have been trying fetch, but it isn't working very well. I launched the only tennis ball I found into the snow on the roof of the kennel. Then I chipped a rope toy out of the snow only to discover that Khiya likes to run and fetch, but not big on the give back again. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

This Dog Loves Her Snow

Ouch!


In an attempt to get a great picture of Dago and Chico running, I called them to me from the top corner of the kennel.


This nice picture cost me a poodle ramming speed blow to the right thigh. Ouch! Very photogenic, not big on steering and stopping.

An Excess of Poodles

Almost as hazardous as a "Testosterone Poisoning". I had a great number of dogs over New Year's, eleven all together (if I remember right) and that is usually enough of a handful. But, no, I had to have 6 poodles in that mix - 3 standard and 3 teacup.

Teenso, the teacup sized one, seemed to actually be aware of her diminutive size, for once, and avioded the free for all with the big dogs. The other two little ones decided to stay in their runs and not run the risk of being stepped on by their big brothers and sisters.

The big ones didn't seem to possess a ounce of self restriant. Not really a poodle characteristic, anyway.

Dago and Amica spent their holiday picking on their cousin dog, Tucio. He had pretty much had it with a double dose of poodle when Chico arrived. A fluffy black match to Dago's fluffy white coat. Three poodles is too much of a good thing and I let Tucio hang out with the little dogs on the back side of the play yard to get a break.

Three poodles is almost too much for the poodles involved. Amica quickly excused herself from the intense play between Chico and Dago. She was let through the gate to hassle Tucio a bit.

It turns out that Chico likes to play with Dago in the same way that Dago likes to play with Tucio. Which is "I win all the time" play. Turns out that Dago doesn't much like to be the mountee.

"You can dish it out, but You can't take it" is a common problem with dogs. Poodles just might have it a bit worse than the average dog.