Wet and Well Soaken Times

We have news. Roxie is in heat - day 2. That means pups in Feb. We shall see if she brings in her sister Panda. I prefer them to have the 1st pups together. Time will tell. Its hard to believe they are now already 2.5 years old. How did they get that old so fast?

That's okay, Roxie, Momma Abigail and Fiona will help you. You just wait!

It is a wet day and oh boy I washed Keeper to go home to his forever home tomorrow and well he will need a cleanup again after looking at him. Heck all of them will need a cleanup. Tomorrow is Nathan and my anniversary. Don't ask how many. We don't do that. I don't want to know. You see then I know how old I am and I try to avoid that too. What are we doing? Well Jon has our car for skiing and we have Keeper going to his forever home and Cooper departing so if I can somehow get a lime I may have a drink at least but doubt I will get that as Jon is leaving early and coming back late. Oh well.

I am down 12 lbs now from the exercising. It is nice not to squeeze into clothes like I am a stuffed sausage. Sorry but that is how I felt but why we wait till that point, I don't know. At least I am moving it.

I have brushed out Jeannie as she is in a show this weekend and lined combed her. As you will see in photos why did I even bother. Dennis and I will be holding down the fort and having fun during the time Nathan is at the show. It will be Montuno and Cali's first show too as baby pups. It means I will have 4 dogs to wash for shows. heh But we won't go there just yet.

Here are some photos of the day.

There are benefits to being taller. You don't wick up but let me tell you he doesn't look so pretty now but he will on pickup tomorrow. :-)

Keeper doesn't even look like I gave him a bath. Oh why did I try. I can't believe he is going to his forever home tomorrow. I believe he is going to truly enjoy his journey. Look for photos tomorrow with his new family.

We won't post photos of what Cooper looked like a bit ago or it may scare Anne. Let us just say he was totally drenched. Tonight before bedtime, I get to do it again. ROFL.

But guess what - they had amazing fun!

Warmer and Crazy

Well, we have had a great day but a busy one. It's almost time to groom up Logan, Panda and Brewer before they depart. Its my ritual before they depart.

It's a tad warmer today so we had a lot of running play outside. I also made a turkey and the dogs had a snack - yum. We saved some for Cooper, don't you worry sweetie! Gracie came for overnight. Cha Cha is a play monkey. Trigger is playing with Cali and oh my gad Levon grabs him by the tail and tries to whip him around. Levon was surprised when we said, I don't think so. So off he went to do the same to Brewer and Brewer did it back and Levon's face was priceless but not caught on the camera. They do learn from each other and Levon was just trying to use a strategic move to win. You can't win that way as someone is going to call you on it, I am afraid. Yes, I adore Levon. Levon and Brewer are still playing so he didn't take it personal.

They are really having a grand time. Here are a few photos taken today. We have class tonight and I wish we could skip. I am tired today but we won't.

We are having fun and the dogs are thrilled with the turkey. :-)

More Snow

From face diving moments to just watching and running like hey...

More later as we capture. For now Nathan is off at the vets for Cali's rabies shot and Leti's checkup.

Here are a few more...

2 Updates Today

Here are a few photos taken today. Also, we have Dusty and Griffin news in the post made today. Be sure to check that out as well!

Dogs have had fun and continue to do so but now it is eating time. We didn't click much today. We instead played and I am glad that we did.

Do dogs sleepwalk? heh

Oh Oh those sticks!

Nathan tells me I deleted a stick that he clicked. I may have. I had grooming, play, and well lots on my mind. I am even exercising daily. Tomorrow or the next day I make turkey - yum! The dogs will love me for it and so will the humans. I make a killer turkey. :-) I mean killer in a good way!

No Photos Today

I didn't take photos today. I was sort of lost in walks and grooming before the rain came. So, I started looking at older photos and here are some fun ones.

This was Coco when she went home. Yes, she was that little!

This is Bentley. Adele's brother.

This is Biggie's New Hairdo.

The Scruffster and Pepper. PS: We had Nora here but I forgot to click photos. <sigh>

Brewer on his clean day - just teasing.

These are just some random photos that I was able to grab. Some you haven't see before so I thought it would be fun.

I groomed a great deal today. It's raining and I find that today after walks they were grungy so more time was spent on cleaning them up so photos were not a priority. It should have been as they were mighty dirty.

Now they are chilling and resting.

Nathan added lamb fried up to their food tonight and they were licking their lips wanting more.

It's been a great day just a busy one!

Just Some Play

Well, we are busy taking the rest of the plants in, and the furniture as cold is coming and rain is coming. I think Coco will miss the furniture but Nathan is going to leave the two chairs there with cushions when it is dry and Coco can still sit on his lap when he reads the paper when he is not sitting at the picnic table.

Check out DJ and Adele playing just a few ago. Time for me to brush the rest and then add photos etc. But as you can see in this video, Roxie needs a huge brushing. Can't help herself with her wild play all morning.

I am busy washing legs, feet and drying. Then they go into the tv room, cuddle up to pillows, blankets and catch some serious zzzs with Nathan.

Doozie after leg cleanup and dryer.

Bailey visited for an hour or so after he got a haircut at the groomers.

DJ says hey my sister Adele took my spot. What a cheeky thing you are Adele as I think you planned it that way.

Missed Captures

Nathan came running in saying oh my gad Max and Truffie was playing and then Jeannie joined in and then this one and that one and I said so did you get photos? He didn't. He seems to get lost in the moment and forgets to capture the moment. I want the experience of both. So greedy of me.

So, we didn't get photos but we played hard and we did watch The Voice. Above is Ms. Roxie exhausted from play. The rest was still up and crawling and jockeying for the tv watching position.

Scruffy and Pepper are here and I watched Pepper jump on the pool cover in that rabbit like fashion chasing the toy and Scruffy watched with interest and then joined in.

Panda and Logan are back giving me kisses from ear to ear and now Logan is waiting for his grooming. Can you believe that from a guy taht wasn't sure he liked to be groomed. Now that makes me feel good.

Till tomorrow!

Dogs Have Been Running

The dogs have been having really silly play. Ziggy is a complete mess. He needs a bath before going home. I have 3 going home and 3 getting baths and Cha Cha and Cooper coming to visit us.

Here are some photos from today.

Walking Over JeannieThey are having so much fun!

A Wise Lady

Molly came over for a bath and her mom asked if we could test her in the water with the life jacket on and without. Why? They go boating during the summer months and wanted to make sure Molly was able to handle herself in and out of a jacket if an issue presented itself.

We spent a good half hour showing her the stairs, getting her to swim over and over again so she gained her comfort level. At first she was nervous in and out of the jacket but soon gained her confidence in the jacket and was starting to do so without. She was more than fine and I applaud her mom in caring enough to make sure she would be safe if something presented itself in the unexpected sort of way.

Then she had a bath and headed on home. Miss Molly we just adore you and your desire to do it again and again. She never went out (sat on the stairs) but willingly went back in to practice again. Bravo!

Well, it's too hot for human and dogs outside. Here it is going on 7pm and its still too hot. The dogs go out then come back in panting after 5 minutes even with water outside. Be careful and don't let your dogs overheat. I am NOT weeding today!

Nathan went out with the van today and the air conditioning is not working. It was fixed last year. As we have a vet appt on Wednesday with a potentially pregnant gal and pups he is going to try to get it fixed tomorrow morning. If not, I told him to buy a case or two of water bottles so I can freeze and line the crates with them so the pups and Spice can stay cool. Crossing my fingers the air gets fixed for Wednesday.

When it rains, it pours. But we will survive either way.

Hot, Hot, Hot

I was going to wash all the dogs and let them air dry and then they said rain at 10, then 11, then 2 now 4 and none of it arrived and no one got washed. But Nathan and I got into the pool after Piper departed and we took the dogs out very early for a run down the path and play. It is actually too hot for the dogs to hang outside. I weeded in-between swimming and well doesn't appear that much is done even though I filled 3 lawn bags. Weeds are like that.

Kat went swimming. Roxie went swimming and so did Spice and I brushed no one else out except Piper. I made it my day to swim and to recoup. Tomorrow I have Molly to wash and some others. Molly will get a blow dry. They say hot again tomorrow so we may be taking Molly into the pool at the request of her owner as they go boating and she wants to be sure with and without a life jacket Molly can swim.

Maybe I will was a dog, swim, wash a dog, swim much like I did with weeding today.

What do you think that Spice was thinking when she stuck her tongue out at human Daddy? We are going to get Spice swimming most days so she is in perfect shape for a month from now. Plus it will cool her off. It does us!

No Update Today

As time goes on the hand is getting really bad the more I type - so just a couple of photos. I will tell you Coco and Pavvie are playing and playing and playing. Ringo and Ziggie are 2 play monkeys. Doozie loves playing with Ziggy and Ringo. It's a great and I mean great fit. But photos - sorry - it hurts to click. Yes, it is that bad. Sorry.

Nathan or I will groom tomorrow. Today was a no grooming day as I had no choice. But I will tell you the cohesiveness of this crew is wonderful. Everyone is playing their hearts out. Nice!

Nathan managed to click these but he didn't click much - sorry. Icing hand and hoping tomorrow is a better day.

Low Key Day

Sorry it was a low key day I suppose as I had some baths to do. But here are a few photos that I took today and at the end a series of photos where we tried to get Pavlov, Roxie, Abigail and Panda to pose. I must say Panda posedthe best. The rest was funny. I took about 50 photos and only a few came out.

Ignore the blankets and the scenery. This is our TV room where we drape blankets on everything so the dogs can be comfie and they can come in from teh rain and not worry about getting thinsg dirty or wet.

Everyone I may say had a blast today.

Nathan's back......Here is the series of photos of the crew and these were the good ones. The bad ones were something else - like a comedy of errors.

Okay will you just pose how I put you? hahahahahahaha

Day Has Been Too Busy

I have been grooming all day and when I say all day I literally mean all day. I just finally finished. Here are some photos taken today. All baths done today are nice and clean at home now I imagine getting dirty again. When you see Panda, well you will get what I mean.

Brie After BathThis is Brie after her bath. Unfortunately I didn't get Colby's picture as Jane and Family showed up just as I was finishing him.

The dogs managed to get much play in despite me grooming. I nagged Nathan to take photos and I stopped between groomings to click and watch. As you can see Kat is in the lead and Logan is right behind him. Instead of just mucking around sniffing it appears Kat and Logan are playing chase games - nice!

It's nice to see these two playing!

Panda had a bath as you can see but when you look at the photos below you will see what I mean about getting to be a mess right after. They can't help themselves.

Don't I look so pretty Auntie Darlah? Now no one will believe I had a bath.... hahahahahaha

Chase has let go and has started to truly play with everyone from Jeannie to Logan to anyone who will including Darcy but you will have to look at Spice's page for Darcy's update.

It's been a day of exhaustion but no ax has dropped. Life is joyful when you see the dogs mucking it up. I hope those that had baths and are now home are catching some serious zzzzs.

Levon's Smile

Don't have much time to do a gallery but will try in the next couple of days. We have had a BLAST out in the snow running, jumping and just being silly. Then I had to wash the Spice crew and I am passing on the Treasure crew as I am spent but they had a bath not long ago. Should wash Spice but we shall see.

I have photos to do of the Spice crew so if I can figure out what photo is whom - well its going to be interesting.

Also, check out photos of Tangles as Top Cat and Best Friend.

Here is a photo I got today of Levon.

Shannon says, Hi Nathan and Darlah,

I hope you're both enjoying the holidays. The pups are impossibly cute these days. Like them, Levon is loving the snow. I'm attaching a picutre here of him - he is one of the happiest dogs I have ever known.

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We just love the Levon!

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We just got a photo of Boo who is Teaser and Truffie's pup. I can see Truffie's face - oh my how cute.

We get to see Boo on Thursday - how fun. I am truly looking forward to it. Truffie - you make nice puppies. :-)

Dawgie Love-In

This reminds me of a 70s love-in where everyone gets together for lots of love.

I just adore dawgs - mine, everyone else's. There is something special about the unconditional love they give.

Today I washed a couple of the dawgs, brushed the rest as I do daily and just finished grooming a few minutes ago. Why did it take me so long? I groomed then played then groomed and played then groomed and snuggled and... ROFL

What a day...

Crazy Days & Changes

Zoe had a bath before she goes home tonight. She's not crazy about the bath. Some dogs are not. This is how we accomplished it and you can duplicate it if you have a dog that hasn't been slowly conditioned to this bath business or reacts for a different reason.

Use 2 people, 1 to hold gently but firmly and the other to wash, rinse and condition. If a dog has a fear about the bath, it could hurt themselves by trying to escape. I believe in slow conditioning in a positive way. You talk and calm the dog down, you give massages and you actually wash more frequently. You might say why would you force the dog to do what it fears more frequently? If you do it right, the more you do it the more slow conditioning it receives and the more it realizes this can be fun. Arm yourself with treats. If it is too upset, it won't take them but as he/she calms down, it will. The idea is to associate good things with the experience slowly making the good outweigh the fear till it disappears. It does work - this slow conditioning stuff and we have helped MANY dogs with this. As someone who has helped a rescue or two or three or more through their fears, we don't believe in flooding but slow conditioning done right changes their coping skills and allows the fears to be minimal or completely fade.

No one and nothing should have to live in fear. Fear can make you react and keep you away from being productive and it can even interfere with living a full and good life. Fear can actually destroy on many levels. As someone who is an advocate for achieving a well balanced dog in each canine, if we can, if allowed, we will still offer tips and rah rah support to those in need to help you achieve this with your own. Fears are complicated but given time, patience and a desire from you - well you too can make a difference no matter how small the fear is or how large.

There's nothing better in life knowing you have made a difference in another. It warms the heart in a very unique way. Be good to your dawgs!!

The rest of the crew is saying what the hey - another rainy day off and on. What's that about?

No Hands Balance

Charlie is a character. His folks are off in Europe and he will be going back to his human parents as soon as they get back. Zoe heads out tomorrow after her bath tonight.

We have company tonight for dinner so no photos and a pup goes home today too so it's a short update as our guests are arriving shortly.

Someone asked us to expose their dog to the puppies to see if they can get a pup. Sometimes when they are older, have only had you and no exposure to pups, well some like the grandkids and some don't. Personally how could you not love the grandkids but some of us get cranky or have no patience when we get older or we just want to be the only one. Can I be the only one and get all the attention too? hahahahaha

Keep that in mind when you are adding a pup. Do it when they are young and full of play. Don't do it to see if you can get your older one to play again. It may or may not ever happen. Adding a dog has to be about you foremost and having the rest fall into place.

Just my food for thought worth exploring.

Water & Havanese

Get a hose out to clean up the backyard (we do this a few times a day and pickup on site) and Sadie gal will run through it, snap at the water and just get soaked, soaked and more soaked.

Everyone is doing well, playing with the pups. Visitors are starting to go home and everyone thought this treat business when groomed is the way to go, I don't blame them. Do you?