A Very Different Game of Fetch

Nice catch!

Yesterday, I discovered that Star really likes to play fetch. Soon Gunda joined in. Soon Gunda learned that it is okay to chase but leave the getting to Star. Then everybody else started to join in. Only Hans, Tobit, and the Scotty Dogs aren't chasing the ball, they are chasing Star.


Hans even tries to catch Star.

Puddin and Odie or Odie and Puddin

I haven't figured out which name goes with which little white dog. I also have never learned the names of my "Ladies", the three little black scotty dogs. And then is Simba who got called 'Gizmo' all day yesterday.

Oops, wrong movie.

Hot Dogs!

I have a total of eleven dogs staying with me this weekend. One of them never comes out of her run. I count 8 dogs all sharing the shade of the apple tree trying to keep cool.

Any room under there for the photographer?

This is How.

My husband was just asking our dog how she got so very dusty...this is how.



And soon she will be jet black again. Right after she deposits all that lovely dust into the carpet of my bedroom.

Yes, I do have a really good vacuum.

Bad! Photographer, bad!

A Very Big Doggie Time-out

Maggie has had to solo it for the past few days. I feel bad, she is not really having any fun but she bit another dog and so alone is how she has to stay. Maggie has been giving me quite a beating since she got here. When she is excited to see me, she jumps up and just strafes me with her claws. I can sometimes pet her, but if she starts to get excited, I start to get bruises. She is a big girl and when she wants love, she demands love. I have tried all my Dog Whisperer techniques to get her to stop, but no luck.

I finally had to put her on one side of the play yard for a time out. When I let her back instead of making a bee-line for me, she ran up to BB and started a fight. BB ended up with a cut ear and Maggie is on solo play time.

Sorry Maggie, but if you can't play nice you can't play at all.

Mitzie and Taffy

The last time they were here, they bunked with us in the house. Mitzie seems to like those accommodations better. She hasn't set foot out into the play yard yet. Taffy has always been the braver one and it took me a day to get her out to play.

No way to have two chihuahuas in the house these days. With the remodel we have some serious holes in the floor that would swallow either one of these babies right up.

There Must Be Something Interesting on the Other Side of the Fence

Taffy started this and soon she had all the dogs lined up with their noses in the fence. I still don't know what was so darn interesting in my yard.

How do Hot Dogs Wrestle on a Hot Day?

They do it in the shade of the apple tree and very slowly.

With All This 'Getting Comfortable' with the Kennel, Comes Some Annoying Side Effects

Yesterday, I was just delighted that Jaxson had re-curled up his tail and was playing happily with the big dogs. I was equally excited that Buddy is now one of the dogs and having a good time.

Only they have just gotten a little too comfortable at the ranch and are making a pain in my tush out of themselves.

When Jaxson was still just a bit overwhelmed by the bigger dogs, he would run right into his kennel. Now that he gets 'play time', I have to catch him and put him in his kennel. Before I was his savior and he would run right into my hands. Now, I am the enemy that puts an end to all his fun and I really have to 'catch' him.

Buddy spent those early stays completely freaked out and completely silently in his kennel run. Now that he is out and about and 'being a dog', he has found his voice and it is loud and persistent.

I now have happier, more socialized, less fearful dogs...with atrocious manners.

Well, there is always the next stay to work on that.

This Kind of Progress Makes My Job, The Best Ever

Buddy stayed in his kennel for his first 2 or 3 visits. Then I would get him out maybe once or twice in a stay. This week he has been out every play time and actually interacting with the other dogs. I couldn't be more proud and pleased. A dog figuring out how to be a dog amongst other dogs - also priceless to me.

Play with Someone Your Own Size

Priceless to me.




Finally, Roxy is giving the pug a break and has taken up wrestling with someone who can wrestle back. They also got into a tug-of-war, which is what BB always wants to play with me. BB doesn't seem to like tug-of-war nearly as much when she has an opponent that might actually win, anyone but me.

Using Your Size to Your Advantage

PUPPIES ALERT!

Roxy is all cuteness and very little steering or manners.

Jaxson is all lovin' and amazing speed.

Roxy is crazy about playing with Jaxson and I think that Jaxson has finally decided this is a good thing and is playing back instead of just running away. I wish it didn't look like Roxy was eating Jaxson.

The Most Creative Mistake

I have really done it this week. I have messed up my dog calendar in the most spectacularly creative way. I managed to cancel the reservation of Jaxson when I was supposed to cancel the reservation of Jax, also spelled with an X, the week after.

I worry about doing just this sort of thing so I always ask about the starting date or check the phone number. I wish I had checked the phone number this time. When Jax's owner called, I asked, "Monday the fourth, Right?" He didn't remember that I had a note to call when a kennel opened but he did say "Yes" to the date question. So, I erase Jaxson off the calendar.

Then I managed to remember a client who had called early looking for this weekend who hadn't wanted to be on a wait list. I was even able to track down his number from an old calendar page. I was so proud of myself. That is until Jaxson's owners called to confirm his, 'call when a kennel is open' drop off. Yikes! I could not figure out what I had done, but I told his owner to bring him, this was my problem and I would make it work.

Then there was the frantic panic trying to figure out EXACTLY how I had done such a thing as canceling a dog that wasn't supposed be deleted.

That is when I noticed the second 'Jax' scheduled for the next week. Oh, I see what happened.

Before I erase another 'Jax' from this calendar I called the owners and they did cancel their reservation. His owner even mentioned that he 'confirmed the date'. So I asked him, "Saturday the sixteenth?" To which I got another "Yes". Only thing is that his reservation was for Friday. It seems that asking the date gets me a 'yes' no matter what. I will stick to asking phone numbers, it is safer.

I figure that doggie karma will save me from an extra dog, it does more often than not.

I'm so glad he came Jaxson is a cutie pie and having fun with the big dogs.