My Big Man

Recently my new man has been having issues with me. Seems that when I've wanted him to pay attention in the past I might have poked him with my toe. Just a little nudge. Suddenly Cujo has come to visit. Couldn't figure out why all of a sudden he was acting up. Then I noticed that he is limping. Of course it is the same side he has presented to me when I've nudged him. Never noticed it before but then it is rather subtle. Apparently I've been hurting him and he isn't real forgiving. So we've been having some talks and things are getting better now. Doesn't hurt that I took him to the vet and they gave him some good drugs too. Have to keep him quiet and no running, for at least three weeks. Then we'll talk to the vet again and decide if he needs to have surgery. Let's all say a prayer that he does not need surgery, hate to have to do that to him. Vet thinks that he probably jumped too hard or ran into a hole when he and Ruf were out havin fun. He may have even been limping before he moved in since with his short legs you can't really tell, unless you are looking for it. He puts his foot down but when you go back and check his tracks in the sand, one paw-print isn't as clear as the rest.

A little update on my buddy. Since he's been given the pain pills he is much friendlier and he doesn't limp much at all. Hard to even tell there is something wrong with his leg. I'm so glad.

Is it live or is it Memorex

All of our dogs are rescues, except for Ruf who came home with us because the police officer thought we needed a guard dog and she had a litter that she needed to find homes for. So they all have little quirks that came from their old homes (or we assume that is where they came from). For instance Cocoa, Ralph and Katie react to door bells. We have never had a door bell so if we are watching a movie and a door bell rings they head to the front door and start barking. Haven't tested Kirby on this one yet. But today D put in the movie "Three Men and a Baby." Remember in the beginning when the baby shows up and they try everything to keep the baby quiet? Well as that was playing out Kirby started getting upset. The more the baby cried the more he was agitated. Finally he started jumping up on the TV to find out where the baby was. At this point D decided it was best not to upset him any further, so we may not be able to watch that movie again unless we mute the baby crying. Even when I ejected the tape 30 minutes later Kirby was still looking for the baby. I thought for a second that he was going to take the tape and run with it.

A new man decided to live with us this week. D has had Basset Hounds all his life, they are his favorite dog. He kept telling me he wanted one but of the dogs that needed homes none were Bassets. Then one day we went to the feed store to get Smokey some food so he doesn't have to eat the bird seed and we saw a sign.

Basset to a good home. I tried to cover the sign because we had just decided not to increase our family again. But...Kirby came home with us anyway. Isn't he beautiful!!! And just as sweet as can be.

Show Time

As I look at the picture of the Sand Hill Crane I am reminded of last spring. I was working in my craft room, long before I had any feeders out there; when I heard the cranes making a racket quite nearby. I looked out the window and there they were just beyond the pile of dirt. I know it was spring time because he was showing off and looking for love. While I was watching them I realized I wasn’t alone in enjoying the show. All four of my dogs (this was before Katie came to live with us) were lying on the pile of dirt not 20 feet from the cranes. Now Sam and Ruff absolutely love to make any bird they see fly. But they were all laying on the hill watching. When the Cranes had decided they were done they just calmly walked away. All four dogs laid their heads down and went to sleep. It was almost like they said, “Ok, shows over, nap time.”

Hello There,

Let's introduce the cast of characters.
The twins (Coco and Sam) are golden doodles. For those who have never heard of a golden doodle they are a cross between a standard poodle and a golden retriever. Golden Doodles were bred for the intelligence of the dogs and the coat. They make good seeing eye dogs.

Ruff is a Cur. Or maybe I should just call her a mutt bred for hunting. I think she is what they call a black mouth cur but I'm not sure about that. I am sure she loves to hunt.

Katie is a chocolate lab. She is our newest addition. A friend of mine was moving and couldn't take her 100 pound dog with her as they were moving into a smaller house. I have about 7 acres and couldn't bear for them to have to give her up. She has a very sweet dispostion and loves attention. Don't they all. Katie quickly found her place here.

Ralph on the other hand is a miniture poodle and all alpha dog! He is king! They even made a movie about him "King Ralph" pretty cool huh.

Ruff was here first and her name describes her well. She is the one that will be in the lead when they are outside. She's also the one who came home with her chest ripped open (8 stitches worth). Then as soon as that healed she came home with a gash on top of her head and one under her chin. Sam is her usual running mate although Katie will give it a go, occasionally.

I think Sam is the smartest of the three because one day all three were out running in the woods and she was the only one who came home without blood dripping. I think they found a bobcat or panther who just wanted to be left alone. Katie got quite a cut on her ear that needed extra care, while Ruf just had a small cut on her ear. Coco is a homebody, she goes outside to take care of business but otherwise wants to stay inside. She hates to see anyone alone. If my hubby is in the bedroom with the other dogs she will come find me and lay by my feet. While if the other dogs are by me she'll seek him out. Ralph being about 1/8th the size of the others will stay with Coco although he must have his occasional runs. He is my husband's dog. When we went to get him we walked into the house and Ralph got into my hubby's lap and that was it. They were both smitten. Ralph just settled himself onto D's lap and wasn't going to get up. He was happy to come home with us.