You never know where the next good idea will come from.

I went to see a couple of other people’s kennel when I was on the other side of the mountain. I am trying to expand and I need to see if there are any better ideas out there.

Both kennel owners warned me that their kennels were old. So okay, I won’t be able to get any vendors’ or contractors' names, but it might still be worth a stop.

It so was. First off, these kennel owners were great to me. They took time out and gave me a whole tour. They went over what works at their kennels and what they would change if they could. It was a huge help to me.

Both kennels had cinderblock walls between the dogs. I was planning to put walls in but this sealed the deal. Their kennels are so much quieter than mine. I think because the dogs can’t see each other or me that well, they are calmer. It will also cut back on the fence fighting and Tessie’s incessant blanket stealing.

What I didn’t like was that it made the kennel seem very dark and the dogs seemed to be in caves. I do realize that the dogs probably love the cave quality, but I think it would freak out the owners. It wasn’t until I was back home that I realized that the kennels are so dark because there are no windows. My windows haven’t worked out well. They had to be on the dog side of the kennel so that I would have the afternoon sun solar gain, but that means the dogs can put their paws on the window sill. I even had one jump through a screen. If I can afford my new place I am going for skylights. All the light and none of the dead flies on the window sill.

The other thing that made the kennel appear cave like was that all of their interior runs are only 4 feet high. Tessie would knock her head or learn to stop jumping with that kind of restriction. It would save me a ton on fencing, but I like being able to step into the run to clean it.

And the very best idea that I never thought of: extending the awning over the dogs another 3 feet and putting a shaded sidewalk in for me. I was going to shade the exterior runs but I would have cut it off at the gate. My husband said he thought of this, if only to save me from standing under the drip line of the roof. Gee, I was assuming there would be a gutter.

Well, there are many more kennels to see before I finalize my design. Can’t wait for my next rip ‘over the mountain’.

canine mathmatics

Beagle + Pug = Puggle
Pug + Chiuhuahua = Chug
Pug + Miniature Pinscher = ? a Pug-scher? a Pigscher? a Min Pin Pug?

Whatever you decide to call him, he is a cutie. I have the Pug-Pinsher cross staying with me, and her sister, the Beagle, is expecting at least four Puggles. I can't wait to see those puppies. As for Chug the Chug, I haven't seen him in ages - but he is also very cute.

Just is case we ever decide to start taking in cats.

My husband keeps on suggesting that we expand to cat sitting, but I think he just wants to be able to say that a 'Cat House' is open in Helper. Again.

I liked seeing the wolf exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo, but...

..it was the seals that reminded me the most of my dogs. They way they play with each other, do tricks and beg for snacks - seals are just very wet labradors.

Good doggie manners knows no langauge barrier.

I spotted this on my way to Dim Sum in Chicago's Chinatown.

I say I go home to see family and friends, but in fact, I mostly go to eat my way across Chicago.

It is just my personal theory...

But I think letting female dogs go into heat without breeding them makes them more aggressive.

I really don't have a large enough sample to make this judgment. I really should go a do some research, but I am facing down a weekend that includes two females coming out of heat, one in the middle and one that is pregnant. I believe this will be the first case of estrogen poisoning here at the ranch.

I have seen nice dogs become psycho during their heat cycles. They make my PMS look like a walk in the park.

They are mean to the male dogs - "Sorry boys, you are just not up to my standards!"

They are mean to the female dogs - "If I am going to breed, that means I am the alpha female, and I just want to make sure that everyone knows it!"

It seems to me that the aggression continues after the cycle ends, particularly to other females. The level of aggression is also notched up every cycle. Now I could be wrong, I have mean females that have been neutered. You may have had your dog go into heat and see no personality change. I think I probably see the worse behavior because I get to see the dogs in a social setting. And face it, no female of any species looks its best when trolling for a mate.

Look someone made furniture just for me.

Actually these are part of a scuplture series.

My sister took me to a huge furniture store outside Milwaukee. The store made a walking path for their employees and there are set of metal couches, chairs and TV cabnits all over the place. Each one is painted up a bit different, but the 'Dog on the Couch' set - I just had to get a picture of that one.

We got ourselves another 'Lego' Poodle

A 'Lego' is a mini-toy poodle cross.

Toby is the smallest dog we have ever had. I thought he was still a puppy, but no he is already a year old. He is so small that he got out of the kennel by walking between the gate and its frame. Toby had to hang out with us in the house until my husband got his kennel all wired up.

Toby seemed to like the idea of hanging out in the living room for awhile, but this dog just cannot relax. He was on my lap, then my husband's, he would leap up to the back of the couch and walk back and forth. With his size and personality, it is like having a dog and a cat at the same time.

Toby also suffers from 'the lap is always softer on the other side of the living room'. He only just settles in, when - LEAP - he is off to sit with my husband - LEAP - he is back again.

You would think he would eventually wear himself out with all the leaping and resettling and just pass out on someone, but I never saw him sit for more than 2 minutes.

It is taking longer to unpack than it took to pack...

Why is that?

We did leave with a half full car and came back with wall to wall luggage. Maybe that could be my problem.

We even gained a few more dogs - of the stuffed variety. Blue Dog, of course, came with us. He belongs to my son and he is the toy I search Ebay for on a regular basis. We ever lose him and I am in big trouble.

Dave's Aunt gave my daughter a fancy doll and my son a stuffed bunny. The bunny was immediately declared a 'dog' and named Coco. Owner gets to pick the name, the sex, and the species as well - that's my rule.

After a couple of days at the cousin's house, my two had yet another two stuffed dogs. Pinky and Brown - I'll let you guess what they look like. That was nice of the cousins to give away some of their toys. Only problem is that my son's dog got left at the cousin's house. I figure that it will be arriving anyday now - I know I would not pass up the chance to get a stuffed animal out of my house.

The first annual Westminster 'Stuffed' Dog Show to be held at my house.

What do you need to know before teaching your dog tricks?

My daughter has not given up on the riddle book.

I thought I had this one, "A trick, you have to know a trick to teach a trick."

Nope, you have to know more than a dog.



I think I can manage that most days.

Dogs in cars is strickly a western thing.

I didn't see a dog riding in a car or truck after I left Colorado. There isn't a single dog in downtown Chicago.

I was feeling a little dog deprived until we hit the wolf enclosure at the Brookfield Zoo.

On our last day of driving, we got to see a big fluffy huskie hanging his head out the back window of a Toyota 4runner. Now that is more like it.

At lunch, somewhere west of Denver, there was one dog waiting it out in the back seat. While another two dogs got to hang out under the cafe table with their family.

It was nice to be getting back home.

There is a very happy golden retriever hanging his head out the back window of the truck behind us. Really.

A new trend in names...

Old time names from the old country.

The Italians and Norwegians have chimed in.

Teenso & Amico.
Tucio & Vido.
Gunda & Hans.

No dog performers on tonight's America's Got Talent show

I loved the dog act that got in on the first night. And it looks like one other got in, but their audition didn't get aired.

To prove that I am not totally biased, I thought the finger clicker was the wildest thing I have ever seen.

I just want to know what the Russian guy, Leonid, is going to wear next time. I think he should just balance stuff on his hands and crack jokes, he was at his best off the cuff with Regis.

Why didn't you put an ad in the paper when your dog ran away?

Because my dog can't read.


My daughter just found a book of animal riddles.

Around here, you call the shelter, police dispatch, barterbar radio show and The Yawning Dog Ranch. All dogs run away to my house.

This was true even before I had a dog kennel. At my first house in Price, Utah, I had a radio fence for my puppies and not a real fence around the yard. Any dog that ran away in Westwood ran to my place. I met quite a few people taking their dogs home to them.

K-9 Officers do not head for the donut shop.

I spotted a police dog having a pit stop on the side of I-80 in Nebraska. The car was parked in the shade of an overpass, the dog and his handler were out in the grassy side of the off ramp. There are certain logistics of having a dog as a partner that I had not really given any thought to before.

The last thing you want to hear when you are 2000 miles from home.

"We had a runaway."

Well, Michelle was taking it much better than I would have. When really bad stuff happens, I do a little chicken with its head off running in circles thing, before calming down and getting it taken care off. But by the time Michele had called me, she had already talked to the owners and was headed off to check to see if their doggie just went home. The owners were pretty calm about it also - all they said was "Well, she never did that before."

Dog was found at home, the neighbors saw her and let her in.

So, my record still stands 4 runaways, all found. Two ran home, one caught by my contractor in my horse pasture, and the pair that my husband and I chased across Helper.

I know I forgot something....

I figured out what somewhere North and East of Denver. The Phone Message. UGH! I forgot to change my outing going message to my dog sitter's phone number. So I have been fielding doggie calls across 6 states.

"No, I can't check the calendar, I am in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Milwaukee, Chicago...you will have to call Michelle."

UGH!

And an even bigger, UGH! for when the cell phone bill comes in.

I always thought 'Are we there yet?' as a cliche.

I ranked it up with 'drunks dancing with lamp shades on their heads' and 'people photocoping their butts'. These are cultural icons, not stuff people actually do.

But I got to hear, "Are we there yet?" from Wellington to Colorado. I don't think they stopped asking, but I know I stopped trying to explain - in the car ALL DAY. My daughter actually announce just north of Green River, "Well, we better get to the hotel soon, because I have to pee!"

(Green River is a whopping 45 minutes from home.)

It was a very long first day.

It got better on the second day, I started giving out mile markers for the next stop and they would just watch and count them down. My sanity was saved by the creation of the federal highway mile marker system. Thank you.

I did not fall off the face of the earth, I just went on vacation.

I am in Chicago, seeing the family and trying to entertain my kids. I have been to the zoo, twice, and the Museum of Science and Industry. I think I last stepped foot in there when I was in eigth grade.

It has been a 'dog-free' holiday, except for my nightly reports from Michelle - dogsitter extordinare.

I do have some funny pictures, but I will have to figure how to get them off the camera, and into this freebie contection at the conference. And to think, I used to be a chip-head computer support person. Now, I can't even figure out all the options on my camera, or phone.