One Day These Dogs are Going to Scare Me to Death

A normal Sunday starts with me heading out to the dogs around 7:30am. Weekdays, it is around 6:45am but, for the weekends I try to give my neighbors a bit of a break.

Today, I was out early because someone needed to drop off at 7 am. Out in the cold and the dark, I open the door, flip on the lights and just hit the first kennel. Unlatch, open, pull the door, let small and fluffy Mona out into the cold and dark. I turn and finally LOOK at the rest of the dogs.

YIKES! Diesel is down and twitching! Oh My Lord!!!!

"Diesel! Diesel!! Diesel!!! Diesel!!!

By now I have gotten into his run and have my hands on him. He leaps up and looks as equally freaked out as I do.

"Geez, dog, you almost stopped my heart just then!"
"Hey Lady, I was in the middle of a dream, you will stop my heart waking me up like that!"

Really, I could live happily ever after with less of these little aerobic workouts for my heart. Oh, and just after all this happened. My early drop-off called, they decided to have breakfast before they came over.

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.

Everyone is Afraid of Something

These two, yes there are two Miniature Pinschers in there, are scared to death of me. Which is why Dotie is not in the picture. They wouldn't come in when I tried to put the door in, I had to lock them in from the outside.






On the other hand, I am scared to death of these two. Actually, not so much the tan one, it is black one that is mean. I have to go in with an extra door in my hand to make sure she doesn't get anywhere near me. Letting them in or shutting their door at night is an aerobic workout for me. My heart rate is right up there where my trainers were always trying to get it.

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.

There is a Real Disadvantage to be Low to the Ground in Snow

Snow Dreads!

Forget Corn Mazes, The Dogs Have a Snow Maze!

I only had 2 big dogs and they did a decent job knocking down the snow into a firm pack that you don't sink into anymore. But they did all that hard work only on the back half of the play yard. I kept all the little guys on the front side with me. I noticed that they were only running back and forth infront of the kennels where I had shoveled the snow away (so the gate would open). So I started stomping around and making them pathways through snow so they would have some where to go.


I had to re-stomp all the paths for little Rocky to use today. Only, he really does prefer to inside.

That show Determination!

Watch Harley chase and chase after Booker and Copper. He is driving through snow deeper than he is high to keep up. And to make the job even harder; when a dog is that low to the ground with snow that deep, they tend to pick up their own weight in snow dreads hanging from their bellies and bottoms.

BB's Back!

Haven't seen her for ages.

Hee,hee, BB's got back, too.
I think since her cousin dogs went home, she is getting all the snacks.

I have noticed some of my regulars have 'thickened up' once they got out of the puppy years. Booker, Diesel and BB are starting to pick up some pounds. All these dogs are what I call "furless wonders". Their coats are so short it is more like velvet than fur and are no good for hiding extra weight. Very much like skinny jeans on humans, every pound is on display.

Personally, no one is getting me near any kind of mirror that lets me see my rear!

A New An Usually Way to Screw Up Fetch!

Really, I had thought I'd seen them all. Starting with my own dogs, who played a very limited game of fetch. I throw the ball, one dog gets the ball and then proceeds to chase the dog, that didn't get the ball, while continuing to retain the ball in her mouth.

Jasmine has come up with an equally hard way to not play fetch. She will bring the ball back, but she insists on dropping it behind me. Whenever I attempt to move it forward, to a position that I can kick it from, she darts in and grabs it. I was getting worried that my toes would land in her procession and not the tennis ball. GAME OVER!

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.

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.