Secrets and Adventures

Well, Wasabi is going to have puppies any day and she is usually the one that teaches Spice all sorts of fun things like going under the deck, behind the pool house and lounging in the garden where no one can see us.

Fiona decided that this was mighty fun and has taken it to a new level. Mommy was out watering the plants this morning with the hose and Fiona and Spice was under the deck drinking the run off.

How did I know? You could see it through the cracks, mouths wide open letting it fall in. When they came up and out, their faces was SOAKEN wet.

Then they proceeded to run their wet faces all over the cedars. Where was the camera? Well, in the house of course. You can't click and water plants at the same time, at least yet.

Daddy was bringing that human son to the airport as he is going to Israel for a year to go to school so he missed the fun.

The human son that helps out with the pups and dawgs is still here and is now adjusting his schedule to be up all night and sleep all day. Why? Well that way someone is on watch during the night and someone is on watch during the day. This way until the pups are old enough to go upstairs without mom, someone is here for them 24/7.

It's a lot of work but worth it.

With Wasabi out of commision, Fiona has taken over the job of mentor. Oh my!

What is THAT

Spicy had fun with the grandkids using their kick boards. She didn't quite know how to deal with all the commotion but it was good for her.

She loved the playing but those shots of water from those water guns?

Mom, please why did you get them THOSE?

I swear Spicy wanted to use a kick board herself and would have if she could have figured out how to.

It was a long day. It's not over yet but I wish it was. We all could fall fast asleep, if allowed.

Good News!

Sometimes when we go to the vets all we hear is negative stuff just sitting in the office listening. There are life cycles that we go through and we know them well.

When our vet looked at Terra's digital image of her growth she went oh oh do not feed her as we will be operating tomorrow.

So off to the vet we went.

But when she got there and they looked they went oh, it's not as bad as I thought. It needs to be removed but we can do that with a local and it's not the 'c' word. Okay, relief. Terra is a great dawg and that would be a tough one.

So that went without a hitch and all the way home she kept vomiting. Oh, is that fun to cleanup.

But she is okay but when she got home she took that back leg and placed it where it shouldn't go and blood started pouring. I do love dawgs. They are like kids.

She still has her stitches in, miracle that this is but now she has a t-shirt on and socks.

Spicy thinks this is rather comical. I can understand why.

But at least she is well.

Thank you for the well wishes. They worked.

I am not sure how I would have handled a problem with Terra and puppies coming. What a ride that would be.

Any tips on keeping the socks on while we sleep?

A Day of Visitors

 Eugenia came over with Teaka and Dash to hang out with ours, get the duo tuckered out and enjoy watching.

Thing is we had Kona and Ty earlier so Spice was tired, Truffie was tired and the humans are tired.

WE also found out that Terra most likely has an ulcerative tumour. So no food after 6 pm as she may be getting operated on tomorrow when the gals are getting x-rays. So stressed is the operative word and one gets tired when they are stressed, I suppose.

We will know more tomorrow.

We really enjoyed Eugenia and her duo. I have to resize the photos but it won't be till tomorrow.

Reality is I should be getting ready for the vets tonight but I won't. I will rush around like a mad person tomorrow early. I hope I don't forget anything.

Photos of Dash and Teaka tomorrow.

Happy Gal

When it comes to having Truffie in her life, Fiona is a happy, happy gal. She's never had a pup hang out for longer and she rather likes it.

On the otherhand, Spice is jealous. Mom, he's JUST a boy. You know what they say about BOYS... okay I like them too.

Fiona continues to teach, to play and to protect Truff.

It's amazing to watch.

I find dawg relationships fascinating and they do have them.

Pool Time

Oh the weeds are growing around the pool again and the Kat is back to jumping in the pool.

In and out, in and out he goes over and over again.

He seems to be able to tread water for a long time. Hurry up Daddy, are you coming in?

Ignore those dawgie groupies, it's all about ME!

This week will be great as warmth is supposedly here to stay all week.

Forget About It!

She wants to give me a bath...save me. hahahahaha

Fiona just stands there but you can tell by her body that the bath is not the highlight of her day but she does cooperate as she knows it gets her a treat when she does. The key to baths is to make them fun. For each dog it is different. You have to find what relaxes or distracts them.

It's worth the effort and while you are training you can use a tether. It helps to free your hands and keeps them still. It's a conditioning mechanism of sorts. They are cheap but worth every penny.

Washing Time This Week

It's been a long day and I still didn't get to the photos from Woofstock. This sense of urgency to get the garden done before pups arrive has the pressure on bigtime.

I also have to wash everyone this week.

I am tired. The garden seems to be too much but we got the pond done, the two water pots done, the side garden started and oh plants planted and more.

The dawgs watched and watched and I swear they were shaking their heads. The rain is coming or so it threatens. No pool time this weekend.

Messy Gal

Spice reminds me of her mother, Wasabi. Where are those EYES?

Do you know how many people stopped to take photos of her? It was funny and about the 10th time I asked, why?

Well, they said look at her. She's so cute and she looks like she enjoys life unlike those dawgs all dressed up with perfect hair all over here. Was that a compliment or not? hahaha

I guess it's the Shaggy dawg syndrome. It is a cute factor, I suppose but could us humans get away with that? Well, I try. :-)

I did groom her before we left. I also did the same for Truffie. He looked groomed, she didn't. Oh well and then someone said you must have got up way early to groom your dawgs and I said not today. I actually groomed them when I came home. What a slacker I am and some days I say - day off.

I got photos from Woofstock - not many that were great - some decent but we were too busy spending time not clicking and cuddling and enjoying. That's the issue with being the photo-op capture and click person. I won't get to them today but I promise I will.

Today I want to take a nap, snuggle with the dawgs and relax without having to do. Tomorrow is another day.

Wet Feet Syndrome

Each day that human gets the hose out and waters the plants that she has and even waters the pots that haven't been planted yet. What a silly human.

I like to follow her around and get my feet wet. Then I like to run in the mud just so I can watch her wash the kitchen floor.

She's learned a trick. She closes the French doors to the kitchen so I only track mud into one room. Now that's not fun.

Don't you think she needs to laugh at such stuff? Oh, it looks like she tries but after the 5th day in a row of me doing it, (she's slow) she learns a new trick.

She expects ME to learn a trick instantly but her it takes 5 days.

Humans... can't take them anywhere!

Blurry but Memorable

 I took a photo a few days back of a couple of our visitors. It came out blurry but I wanted to share it with you as it shows when the humans and dawgs come to visit, there is real fun in sitting, watching and clicking.

If you haven't caught the bug of using a camera, you should. It's a way of really looking back in years to come and saying do you remember...

By the way, Gidget did make it over Sparky many times over back and forth and he loved the game. I did too.

The Havanese are ever so creative in the way they interact. It's amazing to catch them in the act.

Wet Hot Day

It's a VERY hot day and it's too hot for the dogs. I broke out in welts due to the sun which has never happened before so this is a NO walk day.

I believe in exercise so we will do some in the air conditioning but its not healthy when it is this hot.

Treasure asked to go in and I let her air dry. Then she asked to go in again. Kat of course went in. He goes in every chance he gets.

We also picked up a rescue and took him for a swim.

There are families highly interested in him but he deserves the best home. So, we will see how this unfolds.

Got to go to class with Truffie today but I want to go back in the pool. How selfish can I get? I would even take Risa in. hehe

Update on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 9:10PM by Darlah

Lucas, the rescue has found his forever home and made the journey tonight. Isn't that exciting?

Visitors

Steven and May came over with their 3 pups last night and it was great to see their dogs. As you can see in this photo Steven had a true smile on hisface watching the interaction and so did his wife.

It was so enjoyable that when they were about to leave, I said, already? Wow 3 dogs down and 2 humans just like that. We will have to do it again soon.

Last night we had a thunderstorm and we left all our cushions out so I have been spending the day trying to dry them - silly, silly me. That's a lot of work when it would have taken 10 minutes to put it away even though I didn't know the storm was coming.

We are going to see Helen and Suzie today and we will watch their Milo and Hugo have fun and then they will go home too. I swear visits of just an hour or so you enjoy but sometimes when the dawgs are really having fun, it goes by way too fast.

The sun is out. I should be in the pool but instead I am playing with the dawgs after their grooming. They all had dental bones that Steven brought as a gift last night. Nice - they all loved them. Thnx!!

Visiting Pool Time

Today we had visitors and more coming tonight. Milo and Hugo went for a swim. You can see Milo looking at Truffie. They had a roaring grand time.

Tonight at 7pm we have Steven and May coming over for a visit with their trio. I can't wait to click photos of that. When they bring their crew home we have Frannie coming over.

It is simply a very busy day. But it is also a fun one that gives me lots of opportunities for photos.

We also had Gidget hanging out on the futon couch outside legs up in the air ever so comfortable. Gad the dawgs are great to capture, watch and cuddle with.

It's good to be home. The seminar was the best. I learned so much and it was plain fun and good to perfect skills. Those babies are very important but they all are. :-)

Nice Day for a Swim Part 3

Here's where we find out if those of you reading, read all Darlah's blogs every day.

By now those of you that know us realize that I would never do that if not to myself, to my wife. And of course you’d be right. It is a beautiful sunny day outside. Terry dropped in for a visit with Sparky earlier this morning and we decided to sit and have a coffee outside. As luck would have it there were ducks in the pool. DUCKS! That’s Shoshi’s role. She gets up on her back legs and barks at them with everything she’s got. Of course as she doesn’t have a vicious bone in her body so it isn’t much. But she’s got support. Does she ever. Every dog in the house is lined up on one side of the pool, where they usually line up when they are encouraging Kat to jump in. He’s quivering to go after the ducks as the ducks, being ducks, swim nonchalantly around in the middle of the water telling the dogs to speak to the hand. I think it was Terra who provided the final straw and they realized that they really weren’t that far away from the dogs and off they flew. I made sure to congratulate Shoshi on her fine performance helping the ducks decide not to swim in our pool today. Every dog needs a job. Shoshi’s is getting rid of the ducks. Truffie wasn’t sure what to make of any of it but it sure was exciting and I wish I’d had the camera. Sorry. And for those of you that still don’t get it, I made up the other story out of whole cloth. No rain today, no mud and muck and are you crazy? I’d never leave a dog un-brushed after they went swimming. That’s called responsibility and the fear of death from my wife, a potent combination.

Nathan

Sticks: Does She Notice?

Are yours fascinated by sticks as well? I swear no matter how many toys they have, there is a clear fascination with sticks.

Spicy will covet them and hide them under her paw and body as if you won't see.

She's a riot.

Oh and they say dawgs aren't smart, think again. They can be too smart for their own good.

Here Spicy is doing her quiet shuffle to hide them from me in case I grab them and throw them out.

Mommy, garden some more so I can find more sticks, will ya?

Our garden is filled with all kinds of opportunties for Spicy to indulge this vice of hers. I will keep a close eye on her all the same. One comment, which I imagine Darlah has made in the past. We have a swimming pool. With it comes responsibility. That means we never leave our dogs out alone when they can access it, never. It doesn't matter that all of our adult dogs know perfectly well how to get out of it if they get in it. This is one tragedy I never want to experience. If you have a pool never leave your dogs alone with access to is, just the same as you'd do with any toddler. There is no grey area on this one. Protect your family.

Nathan

Hairy Face

I think they are learning from Risa. I just finished brushing everyone and Risa managed to lose her back elastic band and this is the result.

Why do I try?

Each day I thoroughly brush the crew and some just have to look at me with love saying it's all useless - so why do you do it, ma?

Well, at least you don't have knots.

I am off to a seminar today and won't be back till the weekend ends. I am sleeping over at Yvonnes and getting up at 4am to drive into Ottawa and staying in Ottawa overnight for a 2 full day seminar.

Will Nathan update the blogs? I hope so otherwise it will be me from what he telsl me minus pictures as he will have the camera.

I thought he did a fabulous job last time.

Resemblance?

Sparky came to visit today. He's a Kat and Abigail pup. Do you think he looks like his mom or dad or maybe both?

Let's see today it was cooler so that crazy lady wasn't doing too much gardening so she was throwing all sorts of toys so we could go get them. Sometimes we brought them back and she played more and other times we didn't and what the hey she stopped playing.

That's right! That's how it is done.

Everyone got groomed. We had a love fest on the futon folded down outside and life has been grand. Tons of play, no knots and not as hot. What more could a dawg want? I guess they exercised quite a bit as dinner was gone in a flash literally. I never saw a crew eat so fast. heh

Pool Time With Mom

Treasure loves to climb up on the pool mat and she can do it herself. It's a riot. When she gets up there it's as if she is saying nah nah nah look I am in here with mommy now what are you going to do about it?

Treasure is a powerful swimmer. She doesn't dive in like Kat but she will swim and climb out and on top of mats. She does love the water.

Today, it was her, me and Kat swimming in-between grooming, playing with the dawgs and gardening. It's the gardening that I want to take a magic wand and it's done. I don't think I will ever be done but I am dreaming of puppies outside, pool and fun.

Spice & the Water

Spice had her first dip in the pool and she wasn't crazy about the idea at first but did rather well.

We will take her out frequently to get her to find her love.

It's not that she didn't like it. It's as if she wasn't sure what this truly was about.

She did have a roaring grand time doing run-like-hell after with her wet skinny legs all around, up on the deck and all over our towels.

Well she needed a towel too, don't you know?

Treasure also went in and so did the Terra.

Tomorrow more swimming. heh