Nice While it Lasted

Kit is cute as a button but a button with a destructive streak. Last time she was here another dog taught her to chew on the outside wall of the kennel. I was just expecting more of that this stay. Alas no, she found something new to chew on. The caulk that I installed last month to make the outside runs easier to clean. Nice while it lasted. I am going to have to remember to keep putting Kit in this particular kennel every stay!

Just a Bit More Food than Needed

This is Maggie Mae and this is her food. Not a stay's worth of food, a day's worth of food. I measured it out, 10 cups total. I was told half a bag in the morning and half a bag at night along with the 3 treats in each bag. They even dated each bag for me. I poured those first 5 cups and thought to myself, if this little thing with zero percent body fat really eats that whole bowl she must have a tape worm the size of a boa constrictor!

When she took 5 meals to eat 5 cups, I had a new and better measurement of what she eats. I asked about the enormous bags of food; they were just worried about her running out. I found myself just having to do the math: she was supposed to stay 7 days,so 70 cups of food, that is actually enough food for 35 days!

Six Pack!

And try as I might, I can't get them all in one picture. Also difficult to do, get them back into the right kennels in the right sets.





















I did however manage to get a photo with none of them in it.

Be a Dog, Smell a Butt! You Will Be So Much Happier!

I would often shouted that advice at a beagle named Scooter. He never did take my suggestion to heart. Dog personalities really do vary. You get from All Dog, to All Human, and, for me, sometimes all in the same weekend.

All Dog
These are my players, all speed, happiness, and no manners or steering. They will smell everyone, early and often. They play or try to play with everything on four leg and sometimes even me. They ofter won't take 'No!' for an answer to a request to play, that is when I have to play referee.

All Human
These are the dogs that think they are people. They have a slightly panicked look when they end up in my kennel. They look at me and in their eyes I see that not only are they people, they consider themselves to not be Dog-People either. I know that look, my mom has it everytime my labs got near her.

All Human can be overcome. They just need to relax, smell a butt and be a dog! If you can get a All Dog to pester All Human into playtime they will get it.

I have watched this change happen over and over again. From freaked out and cowering at my feet to running, wrestling, leaping, sniffing, and wagging with the pack. It is a joy to behold. Only I wonder what they think when they get back home. Do they look at their owners and think, "You are great on the petting, scratching and sitting with stuff and the letting in and out and feedings are great but, heck, you are just not all that much fun."

It might explain the dogs that drag their owners from the car to kennel.

Special Orders! I Don't Get Them!

As I have said before, if you are feeding your dog and it takes more than three ingredients or three steps, you are working too hard. I remind you that your dog considers a dried up cat turd on a hot sidewalk to be a rare and wondrous delicacy.

People keep telling me that their dog is a picky eater. I find that to be impossibility. Dogs by nature will eat anything, most often things that they never should have tried. Like my dog that once barfed up a piece of leather with a brass rivet in it. That is when I figured out what happened to my boat shoes.

Universally, the extra treat added to the dog food for these finicky eaters is something that is all protein and fat: Chicken, eggs, cheese, or hot dogs. I even had a dog that came with bologna. Dogs, as a rule, should only eat dog food. It is designed to give them all that they need everyday of their lives. Giving them all this extra is only throwing off the balance of protein, fat and minerals. Besides, that extra stuff tastes great and can only make dog food less appealing.

So, if your dog won't eat and the vet says their is nothing wrong with them. Let them get hungry. I have learned that no dog will hold out not eating for more than 48 hours, no matter how mad they are about being in the kennel. Then add lots of exercise to work up an appetite. Or, and this a drastic measure, get a second dog. Nothing like competition for the food to make one more interested in breakfast.

Or drop them off here. Between the playtime work outs and all those other dogs looking at their food, I rarely have a picky eater with a full bowl for long!

Three Days Off!

I am getting pretty spoiled not having to hit the door by 7am. I am making up for it by digging in and getting the kennel into shape. Really, just a fluke that I have exactly the right amount of time for the caulk to cure falling when I finally get my car back to go buy the supplies, with the right weather to pull it all off.

I caulked the new concrete, this should make it easier to clean and I also water-proofed the concrete. I am hoping this makes a world of difference on my ability to get sun-baked poop off the concrete. Oh the stuff, I never used to think about.

The kennel will be 8 years old this November and it is showing the wear and tear of non-stop dogs. Now, that the website is done, I hope to get back to designing a new, better kennel. Once that is up and running, the old one is going to get a makeover!

What's in a Name?

Just like the Harley motorcycles, dogs named Harley come in many different Models.

I had a Miniature Pincher and a Chihuahua named Harley at the same time last weekend.

I have a Boxer, a German Shepard, a Roitwieller, a Shitzu, and a Pomperanian. Those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head. Last time I worked on my database, I had about 48 different Harleys and I haven't even tried to type in any dogs from this year.

Buddy is another popular name, along with Sadie, Smokey, Magie, and Roxy. There are two different Boxers named Roxy but, they have never been here at the same time. So getting two Buddy's, both Dachshunds, is some new and unusual and really a bit of a pain keeping them straight and in the right kennel!

The Art of Drumming Up Traffic for Your Blog By Commenting on Mine

There is more to getting people to read your blog than to just post a comment asking to view your blog.

The best way to get my attention and that of readers is to post something witty, funny or insightful. If your posts are consistently interesting, not only will I search out who you are, so will my readers.

Really, what you post makes a difference. I wish you well with your blogging!

Miss Bailey

Miss Bailey is shy of the camera.


Miss Bailey is afraid of the brush, so I have to let her molt in this heat.


But she is not shy or afraid of the big dogs.


To a point, anyway.


So, Miss bailey gets some time alone and the big kids get to keep on wrestling.

A Good Workout for Both of Them

Ike getting what he usually dishes out!

At first, it was just Ike and Tobit. I was trying to get the shot of Tobit mounting Ike's head like a furry Russian hat but, Ike wasn't letting her get into her favorite position.



Then Belle got in on it.










Then BB and Millie joined in.



The girls had even had him down and surrendering.



















Kissing to make up.

Belle and Tess = Tessie and Anti-Tessie

Belle is a slightly subdued version of Tessie. She jumps but, not non-stop. She barks but, mostly at the chickens and not the other dogs. She wants back in her kennel, FIRST! but, doesn't need to go in every kennel. She runs like the wind and in that respect, she shows me that Tessie is starting to get old.

Tess, however, is the exact opposite of Tessie. She is old, sedate, quiet, and willing to stand with me in the shade and get petted.

Tess was recently abandoned on and adopted by Belle's owners. One lucky dog, now.

What is really disappointing to me: Belle and Tess go home today and Tessie is coming on Sunday. I would love to get these three girls together!

Finally, I have a system that works!

It is very long and convoluted but, everyone gets out and no one gets hurt.

First, the cast of characters:

We have Zoey and Kale, they are a perfect match and are having a good time together. They would, could and should play with the Big and Bouncies that we have this weekend. Only, Puppy plays WAY too hard and I am worried about a Little Bit getting a little bit smooshed.



Under the title of Big and Bouncy, we have Lily, Puppy, Prudence, Emma, and Oakley. Two Lab mixes, a Boxer, a Standard Poodle and a Labradoodle, respectively. They are all getting along, famously.







Then there are Tequila and Mikki, these two are giving me gray hairs and I really don't need anymore of those. Tequila is a Pitbull and is showing too much fence aggression to ever be let out with anyone else. It is just as well, because Mikki is so old and arthritic that I can't risk having him hit by another dog. Mikki is in such bad shape, he can't get out the dog door. I actually thought I was going to have to take this dog to the vet to be put down because he wouldn't even stand up for the first day. Talked to the owners and it turns out, I have to get Mikki to stand up and move or he will just lie down all day, making his stiff joints even worse.






That is when I came up with my system:

Step one, lock Tequila in the outside run.

Then let Puppy, Lily, Prudence, Emma and Oakley out to play. Try to get them all on the back portion of the play yard and close the gate. (Biggest hold up in this process is waiting for Puppy to pee. Either that dog has the largest bladder or the smallest urethra, 'cause he takes much to long to finish peeing.)

Go back in the kennel and walk Mikki out the door and through the gate to the play yard. Let Tequila out with her brother. Keep Lily, Puppy and Tequila from fence fighting at the gate.

Let them all play for at least 15 minutes.

Put Tequila back in her run.

Walk Mikki back through the gate and into the kennel. Feed him his special combo of dog food and chopped up hot dog. Grab Tequila's special bowl, that keeps her from eating too fast and throwing up. (Will have to get a picture of this bowl and find out where they got it, I know a number of dogs that need this device)

Go back outside.

Give Tequila her food in the outside run.

Put all the Big and Bouncies back in their runs.

Let Zoey and Kale out, and stick them on the far side.

Let Amos and Dillan out. I don't have a picture of these guys, a Shitzu and a Chiuhuahua. They are truly the rarest of all breeds, a small dog that comes when called. A wondrous treat for me. Only, they don't get along with the other two little bits.

All of this takes about 45 minutes, minimum, so I am thankful that this mismatched set of dogs showed up after my husband is off from school.

Puppy VS Toddler!

And the Tails Tell All, Again.

This is a happy Great Pyrenees' tail.



And this is an unhappy Great Pyrenees' tail.



It was my goal to get Attila to raise her tail to at least half-mast before the end of the weekend. No luck, that dog is just seriously freaked out, all the time.

I Think I Know What Muffin is Made Of!

I have always wondered about Muffin. I and his owner has always suspected Great Pyrenees but, he has quite a bit of yellow and black in his fur allong with the white.

Well, I had two Great Pyrenees along with Muffin and I think the tails tell the pedigree.

That is definitely the same tail.

Mourning an Old Friend

Some good friends of ours have lost their precious dogs, Pecos. He was a real sweetheart and I can just picture him napping in the sun on the sidewalk in front of their house.

I thought I'd share a few Pecos stories.

I haven't gotten to babysit Pecos lately. As he got older, he went to Grandma's house and got even more spoiled than staying here. I missed him but, I can't really blame him, Grandma's house is where I would want to stay.

The first time Pecos stayed here, while the grown-ups were getting him tucked in, their kids piled out of the car. Can't blame them, my front yard was strewn with a large assortment of toys left by my kids. In turn, my kids piled out of the house and the rest is history. They were matched sets for ages and are still good friends.

The first time, I was invited to their house, I managed to scare everyone brainless. I let myself in the gate, did some scratching on Pecos and walked up to the front door and knocked. No one has ever gotten to the front door without Pecos announcing their presence, before. I was greeted with, "You have a great future in cat burglary in Helper."

You will be greatly missed, Pecos. Say "Hi!" to my girls when you get to Doggie Heaven!

One Day These Dogs are Going to Scare Me to Death

A normal Sunday starts with me heading out to the dogs around 7:30am. Weekdays, it is around 6:45am but, for the weekends I try to give my neighbors a bit of a break.

Today, I was out early because someone needed to drop off at 7 am. Out in the cold and the dark, I open the door, flip on the lights and just hit the first kennel. Unlatch, open, pull the door, let small and fluffy Mona out into the cold and dark. I turn and finally LOOK at the rest of the dogs.

YIKES! Diesel is down and twitching! Oh My Lord!!!!

"Diesel! Diesel!! Diesel!!! Diesel!!!

By now I have gotten into his run and have my hands on him. He leaps up and looks as equally freaked out as I do.

"Geez, dog, you almost stopped my heart just then!"
"Hey Lady, I was in the middle of a dream, you will stop my heart waking me up like that!"

Really, I could live happily ever after with less of these little aerobic workouts for my heart. Oh, and just after all this happened. My early drop-off called, they decided to have breakfast before they came over.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

Yet, they have no problem picking up bad habits.

Tessie like to jump, up and down, up and down, all day long (I will assume all night long, as well). She has passed this hobby onto at least 3 other dogs. Luckily, none of them show her tenacity of doing it non-stop.

She also likes to empty her water dish as soon as she has had enough to drink. She has painted the far wall of my kennel with dirty water spots. She passed this one onto a Cocker Spaniel whose name I can't remember. I do remember thinking that I hoped he saved this trick for my kennel and didn't "Try this at home."

Sunny, a miniature Lassie dog, likes to stand on his crate and bark. Every other little dogs that shows up with a crate when Sunny is here, joins him on the roof top.

Shane, a really big yellow lab, likes to sing. We call his howling, 'doggy opera'. He tends to get the whole group going with it. His preferred position is butt in the kennel, head half out. I bet the acoustics of the kennel sound perfect to him. One weekend, his passed on his gift of song to a Shitzu the smallest, fluffiest coyote you ever heard. The owners were greatly amused by this. All I could think was, "Gee, I hope your neighbors find it just as funny."

But this month, the bad habit being passed on and on is peeing on thy neighbor. I used to only have this problem with Flip and Gunny. Now, Booker, Smokey and as of yesterday, Diesel, has taken this up. At least Diesel is still acting the gentleman. He only pees on his neighbor's outside run and he has been hitting the empty run next to him rather than peeing on the girls.

Everyone is Afraid of Something

These two, yes there are two Miniature Pinschers in there, are scared to death of me. Which is why Dotie is not in the picture. They wouldn't come in when I tried to put the door in, I had to lock them in from the outside.






On the other hand, I am scared to death of these two. Actually, not so much the tan one, it is black one that is mean. I have to go in with an extra door in my hand to make sure she doesn't get anywhere near me. Letting them in or shutting their door at night is an aerobic workout for me. My heart rate is right up there where my trainers were always trying to get it.

Just Not Getting Along

It hasn't been much fun down at the kennel this week.

No one, including me, wants to play with the puppy, Bella. She is just all bounce and no manners.

Grace, the black lab, comes out of her run with her hackles up and never does put them back down. I don't know what she is afraid of, she is the biggest dog here.

Blue wants to sniff and follow every dog around but, growls and gets mad if anyone tries to do the same to him.

Blue wants to play ball, over the weekend, so did Sadie. Only, they can't let anyone else play ball. It gets very ugly very fast if any other dog makes a play for the tennis ball. For the past five day, whenever a tennis ball appears out of the melting snow, I pitch it over the fence.

Tessie seems to want to run with Grace and even seems willing to play, that is until Grace actually tries to engage her. Then Tessie growls and wants to go in.

Poor Grace hasn't had anyone to play hard with since Winchester went home.

And back to Bella, she really gave the pair of pugs, Jack and Jill, a hard time. Just her size but completely freaked out by her. They unfurled their tails so far back, they were giving themselves a wedgie.

Well, the puppy went home, the Pug relaxed and curled up their tails. Tessie is still 'thinking' about playing with Grace. And maybe, just maybe, there are no more tennis balls in the play yard.

There is a Real Disadvantage to be Low to the Ground in Snow

Snow Dreads!

Forget Corn Mazes, The Dogs Have a Snow Maze!

I only had 2 big dogs and they did a decent job knocking down the snow into a firm pack that you don't sink into anymore. But they did all that hard work only on the back half of the play yard. I kept all the little guys on the front side with me. I noticed that they were only running back and forth infront of the kennels where I had shoveled the snow away (so the gate would open). So I started stomping around and making them pathways through snow so they would have some where to go.


I had to re-stomp all the paths for little Rocky to use today. Only, he really does prefer to inside.