OODS AND ENDS

I took Baby Doc in for shots. A woman came in carrying a little white dog and I thought, I know her.
When she sat down behind me I realised she is my very best jewelry client. In fact, I have a necklace she bought that I need to fix. I did  fix it, but I think I am going to re-do all the pieces like the one that fell off. I know what happened, and it SHOULDN'T happen to the other pieces, but it shouldn't have happened to that one, either. Anyway it was interesting to see her outside the Gallery and nice to meet her dog, who she had told me about.

My husband had a cup of Starbuck's on his way to get his hair cut.
I grew up in a household where coffee was served black, and so I drink mine black, when I drink it, and so does John. I am not sure he had just one cup...it's like having Chatty Cathy in the chair in the living room. (John is one of the quietest people I know.) If you are reading this and are too young to know who Chatty Cathy was, google it.

While we were hanging around the animal hospital I wandered back to the groomers and Baby Doc got his nails cut, his paws trimmed and a real brushing by the groomer while we talked with Doc (the one with two legs and a DVM degree.) Actually he and I didn't TALK much since it is so close to the election that nothing we talk about will end without bloodshed.

Baby Doc weighs 23.3 pounds and the Bassets are starting to walk underneath him. It still bounces him off his toes a bit but give him another two weeks and it won't. That's how I know he is growing: the Bassets now see him as a door, not an obstacle.

BAD STUFF

i read that in Camarillo, California someone soaked a Basset in lighter fluid and set him on fire. He died. His name was Buddy.

I am trying to think what Buddy did to deserve this at the hands of what are billed as the "superior species".

It has been a long time since I have heard of a Basset setting his owner on fire. I am sure there are days when Conley thinks of horrible endings for me, but I doubt setting me on fire is one of them.

This ia Mitchell.It means someone took lighter fluid and poured it all over a dog that once did things like this and set it on fire.

Or a dog like this. One that just wanted to be loved and have a little bit to eat every day. Imagine pouring lighter fluid on this dog and throwing a match on him.
Imagine what I would do to you if I caught you doing that.

                                        OR THIS

GOT ANY IDEAS?

 

 

TRAINING DAY 3 OR 4

Four I think.
Last week, as you may remember, little Doc was traumatized by "puppy playtime" during which a dervish Terrier tried to wrap him in a leash and then a German Shepherd got close enough to eat him. So altho I wasn't real thrilled with the situation I knew he had to go back just to make sure he understood that not every group situation was going to be made up of insane little Terrier puppies or Giant German Shepherds.

                                                      Poor little me.

So we got there a little early because I planned on getting lost again but I didn't.
And the first dog we met was a little poodle who was thrilled at seeing a black dog and so they sniffed and wagged and then the big dogs started coming out and THEY sniffed and wagged and everything was fine again.

I learned that halfway through the hour-long class,Doc is finished.
He did this to me last time, but I think he was so distressed by the  "Playtime" incident that I thought that was what made him stop  paying attention.

But this time I thought about it. Class is at 7:15 at night, about the time my dogs are usually starting to slow down. They get up about 5 in the morning and spend the bulk of the day playing. Now it's dark out and I am expecting this 13 wk old puppy to pay attention and work.

So we left. We missed the agility stuff. Without it we won't "graduate". I don't think we care. I'm not real sure, but I think at this point Doc would rather take a nap.
I know I would....

MISSED THINGS

Missed 3 phone calls on my cell yesterday about someone wanting to make a major purchase of my jewelry. I feel sick. I don't know where I was that I did not hear the phone.The only place I can think of is the woods, where I went for a brief time just to see if I coud photo something new and different and perhaps some deer.
I did not see any deer at all. It was sunny and wet underfoot so it was quiet. I was far enough from the road to not hear traffic.
And suddenly, so far away it was just barely audible, I heard them.

I could not see them because of the trees. But I stood leaning against a mossy tree listening to the Sandhills as they approached, came very close and must have been either low or a huge flock, and  vanished again. I LOVE the sound of the Sandhills. I used to count them for Audubon because our house is, literally, part of the flyway.

At my house they show up about noon, so I looked at my cell phone and it was 12:23 but they probably took 5 minutes to approach, and go over, and disappear again, on their way to Jasper Wildlife in Indiana.

When you count you first start (or I did) by counting by twos. Then 5s. Then 10s. Once you know what 10 Sandhill cranes overhead looks like, you've got it made. I sat outside once years ago all afternoon with the dogs and counted over 2000 Cranes from about 10 in the morning until about 3 pm. Huge flocks, wheeling and calling and giving me, for that day, permanent goosebumps. Cranebumps.

 

And in Indiana, when they land in the evening in the fields at the Wildlife Preserve, you get an idea of how many you counted and how many you missed:

 

 

(This is not my photo. It is from Natl Geo and I think it is the Nebraska site, but this is pretty much what Jasper looks like as well. I do not know where those photos are.)

My dogs, when the Cranes go overhead with their strange, desolate calls, look up once. Not again.I wonder if sporting breeds pay more attention. Mine are not birders, but does a pointer's heart rate skyrocket when he hears those huge birds?

CANT THINK OF A TITLE

I went out with the camera today while the dogs were out. (They are still out).
It is hard for me to see Doc's growth unless I am picking him up. When he got off the plane I could tuck him under one arm and still use both hands.
Now I need both hands and both arms and to remember to take my glasses off first.

But what surprised me the most about the photos I got were two of Conley.

Now he was intended as a show dog, and he is a very nicely put together Basset, but he hates to show. The rule is, No Tail, No Ribbon. A basset must have his tail up in the ring, something Conley fairly often refuses to do.
But actually, THIS is what he looks like:

If he had done that four times in the ring, if he had stood like that on the ramp or even on the mat, he would be a champion now. I am of course biased, but I think he is beautiful.
And he stood like that for maybe a half a minute..looking for the Brat, and then....

There he was, Mr. Mouth. Looking semi-innocent. Across the yard. Staring back.

                                   He spots the Quarry.

And he and Llewis are off, after Conley...

 

 

                       Ooops I think I

                                        Overran the object

             Oh wait stop stop. You have a treat in that pocket?

 

 

A MESS OF STUFF

Nigel is home from his stay at the Vetspital with his nebbeminds looking more like Frankendog than Nigel. He is a little low key, not so much that he couldn't get up the strength to whine for 40minutes straight last night.
I managed to get him on the bed without tearing any stitches out so that I could do his morning ablutions. In the middle of that Conley and Doc began banging on the back door to come in, so I dashed around the corner to let them in and had no more started Nigel up again than Doc peed on the floor in front of me. So bellowing at him, I left Nigel on the bed with a cath in place and shoved puppy out the door, but of course, I could not go out with him.
I returned to Nigel who was perfectly peaceable and with Doc pounding on the back door managed to finish up. Then I cleaned up puppy pee and let the little monster back inside. And as I pass the bed I hear lick lick lick lick which takes a moment to register: dog licking incision WHOA!!!DOG LICKING INCISION??
I grab the inflatable collar and put it on Nigel:

Have you ever

                                    Seen such a dirty look from a dog?

Then I ordered the postcards for the Gallery Holiday sale except that at the end I discovered they had for some reason billed someone else. I tried to call but their customer service is down due to weather.
Where ARE these people located? Is it typhoon season?

And here I sit, waiting patiently for the next catastrophe.

Oh. And I ordered the new wood-bristled Chris Christiansen dog brush. My name will go all over this thing. These are the things that walk away at dog shows. I lost another Christiansen brush that way.
These aren't cheap brushes. If you had told me 20 yrs ago that I would be shelling out for a special dog brush, I probably would have....well...I was probably doing it then, too.

Nigel, by the way, HATES that collar.

DOGS IN THE MORNING

Now here is a great thing about dogs.

Every morning they wake up and they are sooooo happy to be alive and that it is morning and they have another whole day to be running and playing and peeing on things, sniffing the air, wagging their tails...

Not a single dog I have ever had got up in the morning and looked in the mirror and thought "Oh crap! I have that presentation today."
If they look in mirrors at all they may think
"Hey! Good lookin' dog!!" and then it's out the door to see what new and wonderful things happened in the yard overnight.

And they eat! Ahhh, one of the highlights of their day: food. And with a warm, full belly, maybe they fall asleep again for awhile but when I open the crates out they swarm, tails going, tongues going--
Don't jump on me -- is such an empty command here.
And they play
"I am the happiest to see you even tho I just saw you a half hour ago."
How could you stay depressed and angry and cold and old and frustrated?
At least for those few moments, the room is so full of life and love and happiness. How can you not smile or laugh, or want to sit on the floor and be overwhelmed?
And you know, They're For You. No matter what you do or say during the rest of the day, those dogs will vote for you. They have declared their political party long ago, and it's You.

Dogs: They watch out for you.