That show Determination!

Watch Harley chase and chase after Booker and Copper. He is driving through snow deeper than he is high to keep up. And to make the job even harder; when a dog is that low to the ground with snow that deep, they tend to pick up their own weight in snow dreads hanging from their bellies and bottoms.

BB's Back!

Haven't seen her for ages.

Hee,hee, BB's got back, too.
I think since her cousin dogs went home, she is getting all the snacks.

I have noticed some of my regulars have 'thickened up' once they got out of the puppy years. Booker, Diesel and BB are starting to pick up some pounds. All these dogs are what I call "furless wonders". Their coats are so short it is more like velvet than fur and are no good for hiding extra weight. Very much like skinny jeans on humans, every pound is on display.

Personally, no one is getting me near any kind of mirror that lets me see my rear!

Large and In Charge

I had Scooter back this week. He is a bit bigger than last visit. I'd put him at about 2 and a HALF pounds these days. He had no trouble getting in and out of his run once I put the logs in for him to climb up and out on.

On of the other moms commented that he didn't seem intimidated by all the big dogs and all their barking. Funny, I was pretty intimidated all week with all the barking and jumping. The crowd I had over Thanksgiving was just draining me dry. So much barking, Tessie jumping straight up and down, Harley jumping straight up and down, only higher, and Maki, Booker, Nuray, and little Maggie and Rosie barking their fool heads off. Being inside the kennel was painful. Outside wasn't much better. But with all that, she was right. Little Scooter wasn't frightened by all the noise and action at all. He wasn't afraid of the big dogs that came up to his run. And when he did get outside with Tessie, Rosie, and Maggie, he chased those dogs away with his attentions.

As I explained to that mom, Shitzus are always 'Large and In Charge', they have no idea of their actual size and seem to be born with the innate knowledge that they rule the universe. How so much confidence can be packed into such a small body, I do not know, but it is true.

Live Action of the Live Action!

First they run. A few laps to get warmed up. Ellie will join in on the running part.

Then there is the wrestling, which both Ellie and I try to avoid.

Perfect Match!

They might look like they are killing each other, but they have been at this for more than a day and half already. These two should sleep for a week when they go home.

Play Time!

As you can see, many weeks of many big dogs has turned the play yard into a dust bowl.

Sorry That I Forgot the Camera, Again!

First, there was Maggie trying to mount Rocky. Now, having a girl mount a boy is not really that unusual. It is more of a dominance play than anything sexual. But, in this case, we have a 120+ black lab trying to mount and equally over weight pug. I had to say to myself,"Girl, where are you going with that?!"

I knew where Rocky was going with it; happily back in his own run.

Then the boys got into it. Booker had Lucky on him, Shane mounted Lucky, and Muffin decided to join in. A four dog, dog train is really quite rare. Now, if Maggie had only tried to do to Muffin that she had tried to do to Rocky AND I had my camera...I know that $10,000 would be mine.

Big, Dumb, and Happy - My Favorite Breed of Dog

I do I ever have a load of them.

Booker, Smokey, Muffin, Lucky...they have been at it for days. I try not to freeze as I dodge their endless wrestling match. Usually, I know that playtime is winding down when the wrestling and running stop and everyone starts to just wander around on their own. Not this group, there is no stopping or even slowing for them. I am frozen through and risking shattering on impact as I have to get into the middle of the dog pile to get anyone back into a kennel.

Smokey went home and has since been replaced with Maggie and Shane. Maggie is a bit too old to handle the kids and has made that perfectly clear. She even got through to Booker to leave her alone, but Shane is putting on his puppy suit and joining in, big time.

It is both nice and odd to see Muffin playing. He has always been a bit of a loner. I think the thyroid supplements have done him a world of good.

Getting Along Much Better This Weekend

I have a threesome of big and bouncy, BB, Amica, and Booker. They are a good match for personality, speed, agility and even color. That is a bit of problem, I almost fed Booker, BB's food. And it is hard to tell who you are yelling at when they speed by.

Booker is still playing too rough, but the girls are more than willing to put him in his place. I think they are going to be a good influence on him.

Booker's owner sent a squirt bottle of water for me to use on him, when he acts up. Funny, I just bought myself one last week to try on the nuisance barkers. The lady that runs the animal shelter recommended it. I still think it seems a bit mean, which probably explains why the bottle is still in its bag in the back of my husband's car. Now, I don't have any problem dumping an entire bucket of water on dogs that are fence fighting, but squirting them still seems too harsh. I haven't even tried it on Booker, I keep forgetting his bottle in the kennel.

Or, maybe, it is just that I love them all the more when they are terrible.

Ha, Ha, Ha - I Solved One Problem and Made Myself a Whole New One

I decided to try again and see if I could come up with a mix of dogs that would play together without any growling.

Tessie, Booker and Rocko on one side. So far so good.
The newbies and the shitzus on my side. Looking good.
Tippy and Tank and Booker, staying in their runs for now. (Much barking out of complaints)


The newbies, Butch, Bella, and Chumbs, seem to be getting used to the place. Bella has stopped giving herself a wedgie and was actually wagging her tail. Buddy, the antisocial dachshund, came out into the play yard for the first time all weekend. I even saw him wag his tail. Rambo and Dorie plus Butch and Bella seem to be a hit. They are having a great time. I get to stop being in Referee mode for the first time in days and get the poop scooped. It really needed to get done.

The play yard is clean, the dogs are having fun, except the guys that haven't had their turn outside yet. Time to switch. Okay, maybe too much fun because I can't get any of the 5 into thier runs. The newbies were easy to put in last night, they were pretty freaked out and ready to go anywhere that had less dogs. Not today. Trying to get 3 dogs, all that don't want to be in, into one run is nothing short of chaos. Especially, when one of them is a lab puppy. (you can't steer puppies)

I finally caught the shitzus and then I got Chumbs in, then grabbed the puppy and Bella just walked in like, "Gee, all you had to do was ask."

I Hate Weekends Like This

I just don't get why the dogs aren't getting along this time. They really should be a good match for each other, but that just doesn't seem to be the case. As of last night, everyone is getting to play only with themselves. Play time is taking twice as long and no one is having any fun - including me.

Tippy can't play with any little dogs, his owner warned me that he will "go after" anything smaller than himself. Good to know, and nice that I didn't have to figure it out on my own.

I was planning on Booker and Tip wearing each other out. They play okay for awhile then suddenly Tippy turns on the aggression and Booker looks worried. I haven't come up with a technique to stop this behavior and I never saw it on The Dog Whisperer. My only choice is separation.

But Ziggy showed up and I figured three in a dog pile should spread the energy out. Nope, Tippy and Booker teamed up on poor Zig. Ziggy gives up and heads for his kennel. We had a bit of peace and fun after that as Lucinda and Booker were whipping around the play yard.

But now the bad behavior has spread. Rocko is tormenting the new guys. Tippy can't be with anyone other than his brother Tank. And Booker has become as aggressive in his play as Tippy, so he is soloing also. Booker and Tessie are barking non stop at each other, so they also have to be separated.

I am actually having to let each dog out alone, like all the other kennels do.


I am starting to dread playtime.

So few dogs and no combination that will work, ugh!

The Back to School slowdown has hit the kennel. I even had two morning with no dogs to get to sleep in all the way to 7am. The baby decided to get up at 6:30 on one of them.

This weekend the kennel is half empty, yet it is going to be more work than normal. I can't get these dogs to get along.

Booker just wants to play, but Chance is afraid of him and reacting aggressively. So, that combo is out. Chance's sister Jasmine, the weiner dog, hates everyone and can't be allowed out with anyone but her brother. Poor little Lucy, new to all of this, is completed freaked out and staying in her run, for now. That leaves Scooter and Harley. Scooter is a Westie and not neutered. He thinks he is in charge and all of my attempts to disavow him of this idea have not worked. He might be playing with Booker, but it looks and sounds like a fulblow assault accompanied with a wagging tail. Talk about mixed messages.

So, poor Booker who can play with anybody, actually can't. It will be just him and me and a tennis ball this weekend. I will stick with just family groups for the rest. That means two separate playtimes for each playtime. Very few dogs, less money, and more work...this weekend is just not working for me. At least they are mostly just here for the weekend.

A Rose By Any Other Name May Smell as Sweet, But Dogs Tend Not to Come When Called By The Wrong Name

I have a bad case of being my own mother lately. My big sister left for college when I was 10 years old and my mom has been calling me by her name ever since. I noticed that I, too, have been calling the baby by her big sister's name, but now it has spread to the dogs.

Poor Booker, I just kept calling him Ziggy. Ziggy was the dog in than kennel before Booker. Now, I try to justify it with the facts that Ziggy and Booker are really pretty much the same dog, personality wise. When trying to stop myself from using Ziggy, I managed to come up with Blocker. He is also big and black like Booker, but I think that was just my feeble attempt to yank a name out of my head that was even somewhat close to what I needed.

Chance has been Rascal for at least half of his stay. Cleo, however, has gotten her name back. Last stay, I called her Chloe all week.