WHEN YOUR CRAZY DOG IS SICK

I have a crazy dog. He is almost never still. He is into everything including many things that as I pry them from his gleaming, smiling jaws, I tell him "You crazy dog! Someday you're going to kill yourself eating everything!"

So this morning instead of bounce bounce bounce leapy leapy bite bite bite bite, grab, duck and run, bounce, leap, kisskisskiss,
I got:

And so I rushed him to the Vet who took his temp: normal.
Who did a belly rad to see if he had eaten something: normal.
Did bloodwork to make sure all was in order: normal.

 

So I took him home. And he did this:

And sat quietly in the sun. I was practically having a nervous breakdown. I was positive something horrible was wrong. This is not a dog who sits in the sun.

I was just ready to call the Veterinarian back, when the dog stood up, yawned, stretched, and did this:

And then,

And this:

 

And even:

So... maybe he isn't sick after all..

O mon adorable chien fou....

VARIOUS AND SUNDRY

There's not a whole lot going on unless you are a mud freak.

This is Llewis. He and Doc run the fence in the back and bark at Oreo, a black and white Border collie who belongs to Katie. Recently, Oreo's buddy, Quincy, died. Oreo is much subdued, so I have quit yelling at the dogs when they run the fence. However...there is a price to pay and you are looking at it.
Multiply this by about 100 times and you have an idea what Doc looks like at the end of the day, with mud dripping from his britches, his tail, his "feathers" (which are almost non-existant anyway) his belly, his feet, you name it.

My beautiful Belgian....

Recently we bought another "suit" for Nigel. This is lycra and made really for dogs with skin conditions, (allergies) surgery sites with stitches, etc etc. It keeps them from chewing. It is also used for show dogs, Afghan hounds, like that, to keep their coats flat.

I thought that this very tight-fitting suit would work to keep the pads for incontinence in place as well as not snagging his feet. You can cut the legs off. (Of the suit, not the dog, altho...)

Unfortunately, while the suit works, Nigel hates it with a passion I have rarely seen. He SNARLS, my sweet Nigel... when I go to put it on him.

"I look like an f*****g fool."

Utterly charming.

He can move in it, don't let him kid you. I need to put a belly band on under the suit, because the pads shift. And I need to cut the legs of the suit off short, especially in the back. He makes it look difficult but it is not more or less difficult than moving without the suit on.

                         HELP ME!!!

SNOW DAY! NO SCHOOL!

Look! It's a snow day! We don't have school. So what's there to do?

Oh man. There's a lot. Well, they DID say SNOW day....wish we had a plow.

Oh wait, here comes one now.

TaaaDaa! Our own personal Snow Plow.

 

Here he comes, right when we need him. We need a trail-breaker.

 

Of course, there's a price to pay for this service.

 

I got away! Now let's see what Llewis can do...

 

 

You go, Llewis!!

 

Oh No, the dreaded Stick!

 

 

 

 

 

HEY! Mom says it's time to come in.

 

There's always my faithful Chewie....

WHAT WE SNUGGLE WITH

This is kind of a quickie post. I saw this photo this morning, I have seen it before-- it is from the LOL people.
Anyway this time when I looked at it I looked at the damage, and I thought:
This dog did that with his teeth and feet. No hammers, no saws, no drills. Teeth. Feet.
Those are the same teeth we sleep next to, that take food from our hands, that hide the tongue that licks us. The same feet that trot along by our sides, muddle the blankets on the bed we just made, and track mud into our hearts.
Look at this photo.
Then look at your canine friend and remember what  he could do if he wanted to do it, and think about all the stuff he lets us get away with, the pushing and shoving and nail trims, and anals, and teasing and snuggling and sleeping with, and dog shows, and walks in the evening and early morning, and playing in the snow, and then look at the picture again.
How incredibly tolerant are dogs.

HOW TO MAKE A BASSET HOUND CRAZY

 

Into some perfect lives, now and then, a little rain must fall. Take Conley and Llewis for example. What wonderful little lives they had: food aplenty, belly-rubs, sunbeams on the floor, a yard to patrol, the occasional skunk or possum or baby squirrel.
And then: Oh no! A Bomb. A disturbance in the Force.
A PUPPY!
One that grew. And grew. And grew. But is still, after all, a puppy.
And one who loves to play, and sometimes has trouble finding a playmate, and so he has learned

HOW TO MAKE A BASSET HOUND CRAZY:

Here is the Villain. He wants to play but nobody wants to play with him.

Here he comes! OMG! Not again. (That's Llewis.)

GOTCHA first, you heathen Belgian!

 

 

You got away! How did you do that?

Here I come again and I have a new idea.......Mother nature gave you a------------

 

                                              HANDLE!!!

                        you know what??? that's ENOUGH!!!

oOOO STICK! Maybe I can make Mom think I might poke my eye out and she'll play CATCH ME..................................................

 

 

 

CARRYING A CAMERA

Every year I go to the International Dog Show armed with a dog and my camera. If I don't have a dog I can at least take the camera, and I take many many photos -- literally hundreds -- of which maybe 10 or 15 are really nice.
This year
I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!

I was so unstable already having been out of the loopy world of dog shows for awhile, that I just forgot it. Got all my dog stuff, forgot the camera.

Anyway I try never to be without my camera if I am going anywhere that seems vaguely interesting.

Lately I have not taken quite so many photos because after all these years they're becoming a bit redundant.

Here are some reasons to carry a camera, or to master the camera in your phone. (mine sucks.) (Besides, you run the battery down.)

Lesson 1.

Typical Lion. Typical lion photo. This was taken at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago a few years ago when I went with two friends. While we were there we met with another friend who was a zookeeper. She was, in fact, with the big cats.

She gave a back-of-the-house tour of the big cats.

What she said was, "They'd kill me in a heartbeat."

 

About two days later, somehow she ended up in the outdoor cage with the lions, and indeed, they tried to kill her.

She recovered but no longer works with the big cats. The cats were declared innocent of wrongdoing.

 

Lesson 2.

Just when you think they will never, ever get along, you walk into a room and see this. Kailey, my daughter's amazing Keeshond, being momentarily comforting to baby Zelda, who craved close contact.  Kailey, being a spayed bitch with her own agenda, had no illusions about puppies, and tolerating them was about as far as it went.

 

Lesson 3.

The big bad Belgian, on the other hand, became her bodyguard when she was little and her patient companion when she was an adult. MOST of the time. Now and then she pushed him too far and he would bounce her upside down but then was unable to let go, knowing she would never quit. I cannot count the number of times I had to rescue him.

Lesson 4.

This is really why you carry a camera. To take advantage of a momentary situation.

This is Conley, beneath a huge tapesty of Mitchell that was hanging on a wall in the rental house when ours flooded.

 

 

Lesson 4.5

Conley has always been good for strange, quickie shots.

 

Lesson 5

Cats.

Cats are always good for photos. Always. No matter what a cat is doing, whether it is sleeping or trying to kill something, it is a good photo op, I promise.

This would be a better photo if I cropped the curtain out.

 

 

Lesson 6.

Travel

I went out west. Driving along we encountered these cattle along the road in an open range area.

 

And then more, and more. And at this point, stopped in the road, my friend turned to me and said "All we need now are a couple of cowboys on horseback."

 

And BINGO! There they were. This was Dad. His son and daughter were riding also, and Granddad had the trailer with fresh horses and another stock dog. (This one is behind the horse.) They were moving cattle from summer to winter pasture. Five hundred cows going 40 miles.

This was the dog on foot.There was another in the trailer dying to get out and get going.

These are some reasons I always almost always most of the time have my camera with me. I love my camera. Oh, one more:

This is the dog who taught me that I would never be without a Belgian Sheepdog again. This is Quiller.