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.

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.

So Many new Friends...

..To Smell!

The Big, The Little, The Downright Crazy

I have quite the mix this weekend.

The Little
I have Daisy who is about two and half pounds of all bark. It truly is an amazing amount of noise that comes out of something so small.

The Big
With a name like 'Muffin', I was expecting a dog about the size of Daisy. He is just a really big 'Muffin'. He makes up for Daisy, since he doesn't bark at all. Muffin is the fluffy one of my set of blonds, Shane and Henry are the other two and Beau is our other little one.

The Crazy
This would be Lucinda, who is all energy, no steering, little manners, and can't seem to remember exactly who she is playing with.

But it All Worked Out for Scotty

When he teamed up with Shane for a nonstop wrestling match.

We really had a Big and Boucey Weekend

Even with a couple of dogs that were kinda small.

I had Shane, a large and very boucey yellow lab. I had Jack, a small and boucey and nippy yellow lab puppy, that will some day grow up to be Shane.

Then there is Smokey Bill, a small and fast terrier. he turned out to be a prefect match for Jack.

And on Saturday, I got Scotty. Scotty lives in St. George, but his grandma lives here in Helper. Whenever Grandma get to go gambling, I get to watch Scotty. Scotty might have aged out of the puppy title, he certainly hasn't altered his behavior. Once again, a perfect match for Shane.

Now, I still have Max, but he is finally getting a break from Shane. So Max is having a good weekend, too.

And this is the match-up I thought would actually happen, Scotty and Jack. These two only got together for a 'meet & greet' and haven't played together at all.

It is Tough being the Newest of the New

Scotty was causing a dog pile-up wherever he went.

And this is Pepper Ann's Bigger and Bouncier Brother

Shane, Shane Thayn to be exact. His mother always wanted to name a kid, Shane. (My dad would be thrilled that is his favorite movie.) But after marrying a Thayn, she decided that she couldn't really stick a kid with that particular name. Using it for the dog seems like a good decision to me, they so rarely go by both their first and last names.

Unless they are getting into trouble around here, then I tend to break out the sternest 'mom' voice I can pull off and call them by their first and last names. If they are really in trouble, I make up a middle name for them.