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.

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.

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.

After All the Rain, Comes All the Running

Some Dogs Just Know How to Have Fun

This is Smuckers

I remember asking her owner how she came to be named after jelly, but I can’t recall their answer. Her family calls her, Mucky. I kept finding myself calling her ‘Smuck’, which isn’t really that nice of a name. She really is a lovely boxer and doesn’t deserve to be called ‘smuck’, ’shlemiel’, ‘shmoe’ or any of the other Yiddish words I know. Thank goodness no one in Utah, other than me, seems to know what I am saying anyway.

I was trying very hard to get a picture of Smuckers for this post only to discover that she doesn’t like to be photographed. I am many shots of the back of her head and a number of her left ear. Her little sister, Prudence, seems to love the camera.

I think Smuckers liked coming here just to get a break from her kid sister. Prudence gets to run with all the other bouncy dogs and Smuckers gets to hang with me. Us old ladies need to stick together. Whenever Smuckers would come around for some loving, I would have to work fast. Prudence likes to butt in and demand all the love for herself. And if Pru stops running and pays attention to me, so does Sonny, BB, Bailey, and Poky. That is just too much dog for even I to love all at once. Especially, since they are want to get on my lap. At seven months pregnant, there just isn’t that much lap to go around anyway.

We had a very cold and rainy day on Wednesday. We even got some hail. The dogs had been stuck in the kennel for most of the day, when the sun decided to show up for dinner playtime. I was letting everyone have an extra long playtime to make up for such a crummy day. I had been snapping pictures with the good intentions of trying to blog again when I gave up on the camera. My ability to get a dog in a frame seems to be even weaker than before. So I was just enjoying the dogs doing what they do best, hauling around the play yard at top speed. I was standing by the inner gate, trying to stay out of the way, when I heard and saw Smuckers fall.

Did she trip?! Dogs don’t trip.

Did someone run into her?! No one was anywhere near her.

I rush over and kneel down next to her. I want to keep the other dogs away incase she is hurt. Normally, if I get down on the ground, dogs overwhelm me: licking, or knocking me over. I should have realized when I wasn’t shoving dogs out of my face, that something was really wrong. Her legs were out straight and stiff so the first thing I think of is that she is having a seizure. My dog, Sam, had those. I am three steps ahead in my mind…finish the seizure, put the rest of the dogs away, and put her in the car and take her to the vet. I am holding her shoulder and telling her that everything is going to be fine, ‘cause I have a plan, when her breathing slowed and stopped. It seemed like a long time, but it was probably less than a minute.

My husband figures it was either a heart attack or stroke to happen so fast. We both decided that going that quickly while having a great time with your buddies would be the way we’d like to go.

Maybe I have led a sheltered life, but at 43, I have never been present when someone died. The last thing I said to her was, “Oh no, Smuck, don’t go.” It was really simple and peaceful, she was here and then she wasn’t.

Usually, I get to hear about the death of one of my doggies when their owners call to cancel on reservations or when they see me in the grocery store. I don’t usually have to be the one to tell their moms.

I guess I have to expect that after 5 years, I would lose some of my clients. It is just as hard with Smuckers as with the first dog I lost, Snoopy. The biggest black lab you ever saw.

We buried Smuckers under my favorite pear tree. My kids and my dogs saw her off. My son wants to light a candle for her at mass this weekend. I told him, that I doubt Smuckers was a practicing Catholic, but I think it would still be okay. St. Frances would be proud.

This last photo taken about 5 minutes before she died.

Baily and Dusty

Too much fun!

Bailey Steps into Buddy's Spot

He took over his kennel and his place in the big wrestling match. Millie has found another dog that can handle her level of 'attention'.






Bailey even gets to 'win' a few rounds.


Then Spike joined the game and Bailey ends up working at an extreme disadvantage - he has to wrestle with a Spike attached to his rear end.




Spike's involvement lured Bourbon into the fray. I don't really understand why Bourbon wants to mount Spike. The size difference alone makes it impossible. Besides, Bourbon is female and Spike is male.

And this turn of events get me 'Doggie Trains'.


I think Bailey is all worn out. I bet he went home and slept for 3 days.

Big fun this weekend!

BB had a couple of boring days of just me to play with, but she had a fun weekend with all the dogs that showed up on Friday. The Beagle is Bailey and he definitely went home and slept for a couple of days.

I have to figure out how to load up videos so you can see all the action.