Enthusiasm for Dogs Runs in the Family

That high pitch squeal you are hearing is the baby's ultimate sign of approval and delight. All dogs are greeted by this sound. Live or on TV. Even the little yellow lab logo we have on our computer's login screen can bring that sound out of her.

For me, it brings on goose bumps, makes my eyes roll back in my head and makes my skull feel like it is splitting down the middle. The ad for Disney's new Christmas Buddies with all six of its 'cute as can be' yellow labs is particularly painful.

Seriously Misread That Situation!

I just got stared down and out of my own kennel. I went out for the dinner shift only to be greeted by my kennel's NEW owner. A rather large hound that was not going to let me anywhere near HIS kennel. Every time I stepped past the chicken house, I was greeted with teeth and growls. I took this warning very seriously and called for 911 for Animal Control to come out.

I got two of Helper's finest in no time. They got a similar greeting from the dog. We settled in to wait for Animal Control.

Once she got here, armed with only a 'dog stick' and a bag of treats she bravely approached the kennel building. She was greeted to a dropped and wagging tail and a licked hand. What the?!!

I was really frightened of that dog and all he did was wait for her to put the leash on.

Ha, ha, I have to laugh at myself, I really misread that dog's body language.

Once Again, Crossing that Fine Line Between Love and Stalking

Let's just say that Goofy has issues. He has a thing for little dogs. His usual technique is to follow them around the play yard barking at them. The little dogs ignore him for the most part and just end up with a spit covered back.

Little Scooter isn't allowed out with the big dogs, yet. Goofy can't leave him alone. Whenever Scooter reaches out to Goofy, he gets a big lick or a little nibble. Goofy is in love. Scooter is either going to be greatly relieved when Goof goes home tonight or he is going to be lonely.

Live Action of the Live Action!

First they run. A few laps to get warmed up. Ellie will join in on the running part.

Then there is the wrestling, which both Ellie and I try to avoid.

Perfect Match!

They might look like they are killing each other, but they have been at this for more than a day and half already. These two should sleep for a week when they go home.

I Thought the Whole Concept was that it Kept Your Hands Free for the Remote!

Dog Snuggi!

I saw this at Walmart in Price.

Looking for Gifts...

I have recently seen some really odd dog or dog based gifts this year. I thought I would share.

Dog Mugs! That the handle is the dog's head. This is a tad to close to picking them up by the ears for me.

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.

Silver Lining to the Recession...

I have had so many new dogs this year! As the regular clients take fewer vacations, I get a crop of newbies each weekend.


This week we have:NEW DOGS!



Skulli and Jack, all bounce and happiness. I am still bruised all over, yet somehow delighted about it.



Winchester in action! If I could only, always have Jack to not play back with him.




Bear! I greeted him with, "Bear!? more like Wolf!" Turns out I was right. He is half wolf.

So new dogs and new breeds, as well, this year.

Bear is a HUGE lovebug in more ways than one.

The picture doesn't do him justice. He has gorgeous slate gray fur and golden brown eyes.

So much for this year.

I give up. Trying to make a 6 foot high inflatable blue dog for the Helper's Annual Light Parade has now come to an end.

I attempted to blow him up yesterday and one blower is just not going to be enough, that plus the fact that he is pretty mutant looking has me giving up. I have wasted enough precious nap time working on him and nothing around the farm or yard got done while it was still warm.

Facing making the signs out in the cold is also another reason why...NEXT YEAR!

Gonna fix my husband's pants, turn my son's broken snaps into button holes and buttons and pack up the sewing machine, empty the dining room of project materials in time for Thanksgiving dinner and spend nap time sorting out the basement.

Play Time!

As you can see, many weeks of many big dogs has turned the play yard into a dust bowl.

Winchester is Playing!

I was so excited to see Winchester playing with another dog without the horrifying noise. Morning came and I realized why there was no noise of protest from Winchester. When he plays with Jack, Jack doesn't play back. Just what Winchester has been looking for in a playmate. One that doesn't even try to win.

Maybe it will work!?

I was left this list of instructions for how to house train a puppy. I just read it in slack jawed awe.

Now, I know I did everything wrong with house breaking my puppies, so this isn't a criticism of the program or the effort involved in sticking to it. It is just a reaffirmation that maybe I should not get a puppy again, rather I should adopt a dog that has already been house broken. It is, however, an admission of defeat as I had little or no chance of actually following this plan.

The puppy did better with the plan than I did. Every time I came in, he would come out of his box and pee for me. Now, if I was a bit faster, I might have gotten him to the outside run in time. I still have a chance. He is due back for Thanksgiving and with a whole week, I know he can have me trained up just fine.

PIDDLE HAPPENS!

Puppies Welcome!

I will play ONLY if I get to win!

Winchester has a bit of a problem when it comes to playing with the other dogs. Namely, he just doesn't know how to do it!

He postures for play, perfectly. He wags his tail and seems good to go. Only he is only 'good' when his paws are on the other dog or he is doing the mounting. As soon as the other dog gets anything near 'top', the most godawful sound comes out of this dog and attempts to split your skull down the middle. It is bad on me and the other dogs are just plain confused by it. Stewy and Rocko tried over and over again to play with Winchester, but he just never got the hang of it.


If you happen to be a work, turn the volume down...low.

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.

Another Name That Just Doesn't Fit!

Too little, this time!

Tinkerbell is a Bull Mastif. Now, you could go for the irony angle, funny to name something that is going to be so big and so lumbering after something so tiny, and dainty that it can fly. But, I believe this falls under the same force of dog naming that brought me, Snoopy, Tiffany, Britney, and Pepper Ann.

They let the kids name the dog.

Sorry That I Forgot the Camera, Again!

First, there was Maggie trying to mount Rocky. Now, having a girl mount a boy is not really that unusual. It is more of a dominance play than anything sexual. But, in this case, we have a 120+ black lab trying to mount and equally over weight pug. I had to say to myself,"Girl, where are you going with that?!"

I knew where Rocky was going with it; happily back in his own run.

Then the boys got into it. Booker had Lucky on him, Shane mounted Lucky, and Muffin decided to join in. A four dog, dog train is really quite rare. Now, if Maggie had only tried to do to Muffin that she had tried to do to Rocky AND I had my camera...I know that $10,000 would be mine.

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.