I lost one of my favorite dogs.

Her owner just called to tell me that Dusty won't be arriving 7am on Monday. I am about as upset about her as my own dogs dying. She was my all time favorite. She had been coming here from the very beginning. My husband just told me that she was the very first dog that he had to babysit because I had taken the kids to see my parents. That must have been spring break 2003 or 2004.


Dusty is the yawning dog you see that the top of this blog. The name 'Yawning Dog' came from one of my dogs that yawned so big it was like a lion in the circus: you could put your whole head in there! But my dogs are black and never show up good in a picture. So, Dusty became the model for my blog.


I am going to miss her more than I can say.

Getting the Right Dog to Arrive Makes All the Difference

I was having a lousy week.

The dogs aren't playing together well. When everything jives around here, this job is a joy. When the dogs aren't having a good time, I clench up about it.

Diesel has been here awhile now and was honestly getting bored. When Khiya arrived the other day, I thought I had a good play team. Not so much. Khiya acts all excited to play with Diesel, but her enthusiasm fades in under a minute. Diesel is still suffering from his inability to read the body language of other dogs. (I was wondering if it was because he must have been taken away from his litter early.) The growls, the showing of teeth, even snapping doesn't register with him as anything more than, "Let's play MORE!"

Really, he is that oblivious.

So I had my hands full, with keeping these two apart and still try to get them to get some exercise.

Then came Dusty. He is new, small, skittish and is to be no where near either Khiya or Diesel.

Ugh!

And today came Smokey and saved my week. Smokey might be freaked out by people but dogs love him. Diesel just keeps trying to mount him and Smokey just stands there and takes it. Smokey is also big enough that there is no fear of Diesel smooshing him. Diesel was attempting to mount a Boston Terrier over the weekend, but that is another post. When Smokey breaks free of Diesel's affection, then Khiya joins the group for a lap around the play yard. Dusty is being happily ignored by the big dogs and is settling into the Ranch just fine.

And I have big sigh of relief.

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.

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.

Baily and Dusty

Too much fun!

The TWO-STEP as Done on My Ranch

When I have a dog that has no one to play with but me; we play the TWO-STEP, LUNGE. This works particularly well with BB who always has a toy in her mouth and no real desire to share that toy. I take two fast steps and lunge for the toy. BB spins off and does a quick lap around the kennel only to come back to me for another two steps and a lunge.

This works well for me since I am old and tired and works for BB since she is young and fast. We both get a workout.

I noticed Dusty playing TWO STEP with Amica this morning. Dusty takes a couple a steps toward Mica and Mica is off at top speed, only to circle back around for another session. Dusty is also old and slow and has a bad knee. She would rather do a stand up wrestling match, but if Mica wants to run, Dusty is happy to oblige her.