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!

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.

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.

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.

I have worked it out!

Sally, Cai, and Tinkerbell on one side.
Blocker, Buttons and Tessie on the other.

Everyone seems to be getting along.
Sally can take whatever Tink dishes out.
Call me impressed.

I am finally getting to clean the concrete mess up.
There was no way I was going to bend down and pick stuff up around Tink.

Not a Good Day at the Ranch

I hate days like these. I really dread going down the kennel to let the dogs out. It is just no fun this week. Everyone has been here a bit too long. Sally is going on her second week, as is Cai. Tinkerbell still hasn't gotten the hang of playing well with others. She makes all the right moves to get a dog to play with her, but then she quickly drops the charm and lunges at them. Good start, bad follow through. Cai and Sally and even Blocker have all started growling while playing, so my nerves are shot, reacting to everyone like a fight is about to break out. I end up cutting play time short, whenever it stops looking and sounding like play time and that is probably making matters worse.

Making the mix work even worse, over the weekend, was Tobit. She is a little thing, but usually she is right in the middle of everything, trying to control the other dogs. That would be the Heeler in her, trying to be in charge. This time, she was the new kid and she didn't take well to the position. I even had to keep her by herself for the first day. When she did finally play with the others, she was butting in whenever two of them were wrestling, barking the whole time. That kind of thing just ups the energy level and makes everyone just that much more unstable. The poop didn't even get scooped for a day as I wouldn't take my eyes off them.

Tobit went home and things quieted down for about 30 minutes until Simon showed up. Simon has a one track, ball oriented mind. Everyone else wanted him to wrestle and not play fetch. This was not a match made in heaven. He started to get so nuts about his ball, that he chomped down on my hand, ball inside, as I reach back to throw it. So much for fetch. He also possesses a high pitch bark that you can feel damage your hearing. He went home today, only to be replaced with Tessie.

I couldn't have picked a worser combination. I love Tessie to bits, but her constant barking and jump just makes my life miserable. Especially, when I have a kennel full of newbies that have never been around her. She has Tinkerbell wound so tight that she is all over me from the moment I let her out. Cai and Sally are also jumping all over me. I have more bruises than I want to count. They are kicking the bleep out of me each playtime.

I am holding out hope for Wednesday when Smokey arrives. A big dollop of big, dumb and happy might just pull this group back together.

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.

Boys! PLEASE!

Stop overestimating the inherent value of your own urine.

No one wants it as much as you think they do.

I have two pee-ers here this weekend, Smokey and Sparky.
One big, one little, same volume of pee.

Smokey keeps peeing to his right and hitting Tessie's kennel.
Sparky will pee to either side and is nailing both Smokey and Cleo.

If they just would pee on just each other, I would consider it justice. But why do they need to include the girls.

Walls, I need some, walls. Maybe someday. Meanwhile, got to hose down the kennel, today.

A Perfect Storm of Dogs

Really, I can't come up with a worse combination of dogs than the one I have now. If you have any desire to lose your hearing, feel free to stop by, the barking is nothing less than spectacular.

I have Tessie and until yesterday I had Jinx. Neither of these dogs comes with an OFF switch. Jinx barks all the time and when Tessie is not barking, she is jumping straight up and down. Which of course, just makes all the other dogs bark.

Tessie's barking has been a problem from day one. The only time she stops barking at the dogs that are playing is when I throw a toy for her. She doesn't bring them back so I try to load up and keep throwing them. Her constant barking at dogs that are wrestling is like a circle of people yelling, "Fight! Fight!", it just isn't going to lead to anything good.

But Tessie comes here all the time and frankly me and most of the dogs are just plain used to her.

Well this weekend, between Tessie's leaping and Jinx's yipping was Keisha, barking right along with them. Then the Glitter Twins showed up, Jasmine and Jake. Two yellow labs that no one wants to play with because just one of them is too much playing. Tessie's constant motion has the puppies in a frenzy and Keisha is revving up right along with them.

If you watch the Dog Whisperer, he always talks about the 'energy' level of the dogs. Let's just say that this much barking and jumping, the energy level in the kennel is at 11. And high energy in dogs is, frankly, unstable. So I have a full kennel of fur covered nitro...one wrong touch and this place is going to blow.

When I first let the dogs out into the play yard, the energy is at its highest and worst. Sometimes they shoot out of their gate like madmen. Diesel had a problem with this. He has calmed down since, but at first I would let him out, lock him on the far side of the play yard and let him run it off for 5 or 10 minutes before letting him in with the other dogs. If I just let him out into a crowd he would being playing but at such an intensity that to the other dogs, it would be an attack.

So, the trick to defusing this situation is first, who can play with who, and second, in what order can you let them out.

I have all these nutty dogs and some of them are of the extra large variety. I have to say that I am mostly focused on Cai, the Irish Wolfhound and on Maki, the Mastidor (Mastif-Labrador). Maki is clearly not used to being the SMALL dog in the pile. Maki was really getting picked on fir a while. Keisha on one side, Cai on the other, when Jinx darts in a bites her on the ankle. Now, Maki doesn't even see Jinx, who is the size of a pound of butter. He thinks Keisha did it and growls at her. "Break it up, break it up, everyone back in their own rooms". First things first, Jinx is not coming out anymore.

I was thinking that the puppies, who are a perfect match for Maki might also do well with Cai. Everything just might work out. Nope.

Let out Cai, let Bella out but not Jinx, let out Keisha, get the tennis racket to defend myself, let out the puppies and Maki, let out Tessie last as she HAS to go in everyone kennel if she is let out sooner.

I am so worried about the big and bouncy, that I total missed the girls working themselves into a tizzy. Of all the dogs, it was Keisha and Tessie that went at it. Looked bad, sounded worse, no marks on either of them.

Okay lets try again.

Let out Cai, let Bella out but not Jinx, get the tennis racket to defend myself, let out Jake and leave Jasmine in the kennel obsessing over Tessie, let out Maki and try to keep her off me, let out Tessie last. Stuff them all on the other side while trying to keep Jake and Maki off me.

Latch the divider gate for the play yard and let out Keisha and Jasmine.

Spend playtime throwing balls to get Tessie to stop barking and fencing with a tennis racket to defend my personal space from Keisha and Jasmine.

I just keep asking myself...so, when are they all going home?

This weeks visitors

Littlest to Biggest

Jinx



Jinx's BIG sister, Bella



Tessie, who never lets me get a picture of her.



Ellie-Belly, she no longer requires a belly rub to get back into her kennel.



BB, doesn't she look mean in this picture.



Shadow, who just might be afraid of his own shadow.



Cai, short for Mordecai, short for nothing else. He is the biggest dog, ever, at The Ranch!

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.

Putting the PLAY back in Playtime.

Finally!

Roxy is Our Resident Wild Thing!

So Many new Friends...

..To Smell!

Tug-O-War!

Tessie and Sunny Could Be Twins...

...if only they looked alike.

Under those very different outfits they are the same dog. They are a perfect match for speed and maneuverability. They have the same playing, running, and wrestling styles. Unforunately, they also have the same bark, same pitch, same duration, same reasons for barking.


They are having a great time, I am getting a headache from the barking.

Tessie and Sunny

That is how they really look.

Best Friends!?

I didn't think these two were going to get along at all, but they have turned into best friends.

They both like to chase the tennis ball and Milly with a tennis ball is a good thing - you can't bite any bums with a tennis ball wedged in her mouth. She can, however, still bark with a tennis ball wedged in her mouth.

They are also fond of wrestling, which they do endlessly.

It has been a long stay for both of them, but since they have found each other; they are happy and tired out, while still really loud and barky.

Look, Tessie Holding Still!

Never seen before footage of Tessie not moving! It is a miracle!

You have no idea so rare this actually is. It must be really hot to get Tessie to lie down in the shade. Unfortunately, it is also only 10am. We are going to roast today.