talk story

It's raining cats and dogs right now and I don't want to get my video camera wet. It's a shame because today was the day I planned to do a long, fun video: the horses were off the field, so we had room to run, the barn was all nicely cleaned up when Amy came to work yesterday. But no video today.

Tomorrow I promised a video.

Instead of a video I will talk story (I did live in Hawaii for a year, so its okay for me to talk a little story). You might want to do a find / search for your dog's name since I might mention your dog in a chapter about another dog, if they are hanging out together.

MURI: We have three dachshund and Muri is the biggest. Fattest and longest. But they are all together and they stay together, as if they somehow know they are dachshunds.

BAILEY: He is more subdued than usual. Maybe he is getting older? He snuck into the small dog area this morning and I left him there. He seemed to like it.

PANDA AND BLANCHE: How cute. They ran around with the big dogs all morning yesterday and seemed to enjoy it. They are the spunky little balls of fun.

BRADY: Brady looks at me and wags his tail the whole time I'm there. He never jumps on me or tries to run out of a door he knows he's not supposed to, he just lets me know that if I feel like playing, he's ready. Then when I usually don't play with him, as I am cleaning or feeding or whatever, he doesn't seem really disappointed and goes off to play with the dogs. Nice disposition.

ECHO: I had Echo with Ellie, a dog who was here for a long time and needed a home. After a year, Jim who works here found a home for her, which is great news and I'm very happy. But Echo lost his partner. When he goes in and out of the room, he seems fine with the other dogs. And he doesn't bark at them through the fence anymore. He also tried to eat his way out of the wire fence but gave up after a day with Ellie. Now he's alone but he really seems okay with other dogs. I know: I will try him with my dog Gustov next. Everyone likes Gustov. Also, he will go a whole day without eating, then eat double the next day. I guess that's okay, since he's by himself right now, but if Gustov is in with him, it won't work.

HUDSON: Hudson also snuck into the small dog area. He is right now sitting outside in the rain. I sent him into the house and he stayed there for awhile, I turned my back and he's back out in the rain. He was playing relentlessly with PLUTO, so in awhile I'll make sure they get back together in a bit.

ALICE: She's a different dog this time. I started her right away with the small dogs and she is not a bit nervous. She comes right to me with her tail wagging if I want to take her for a walk, she plays, she eats with gusto. A big improvement.

MAGGIE BLUE: Maggie has discovered a new game: she takes her tennis ball and throws it into my shit bucket, then digs into the shit wood shavings mix to get her now shit covered ball back out and, in the process, throw the stuff I just shoveled off the floor out of the bucket and back on the floor.

Needless to say, I don't really like this game.

Then she has another game: She puts her ball next to the fence somewhere, plays with a different ball, then goes back to the fence to get the first one, but forgets where on the fence she left it. After cruising up and down the fence looking for the ball, and failing, she picks some spot along the fence arbitrarily and tries to chew through the wire to get the ball, sort of like the drunk at night that looks for his keys under the lamppost, not because he thinks that's where the keys are but because the light is better there.

This game I don't love either.

PLUTO: Pluto has a terrible habit of diving into my brand new, fresh buckets and making them filthy. He usually does all the buckets the first time I fill them. The next time I empty and refill the buckets, he only does one or two. LUCY (two different eye colors) will join him in this activity if she sees him do it. If Pluto gets time out for bucket wrecking and goes in a room with only a bowl of water (which he can't dream of swimming in), Lucy doesn't do it. Also, Hudson and Pluto have been playing relentlessly. He's a beautiful dog.

MAX: Max is happy and friendly and doesn't really have a story other than stealing everyone's breakfast before he eats his own.

REILLY AND TURBO: See MURI. Also, these guys are the friendliest little guys. Reilly does wander a bit when I let them out but not too bad. Turbo loves the big dogs, especially mine. Very sweet.

DAISY: Usually she takes a day to settle in. This time it was only one night. It's quite consistent. This time she was fighting with everyone on the first night, I put her by herself, Amy let her out in the morning and she's been fine every since.

LADY LULU: Lady and I can be best friends and she is super affectionate. Yet, the next time I call her she comes 90% of the way to me, then turns and runs when I try to pet her. Then I take her for a walk and she is my best friend again. If I call her, she comes as close as she can but far enough that I can't pet her. But then I take her out again and she cuddles right up to me. She seems like the dogs and plays and runs a lot.

SPENCER: Just before I went home on Thursday, Spencer started hiding upstairs. After I left, he seemed more confident. So I guess there was a dog in that group that went home on Thursday he didn't like.

Now he is officially an honorary small dog and unlike some of the other big dogs that slipped in there, Spencer can stay with the little ones.

ANDYWALTER: He refused to come out of the house with the doorman. I carried him to the van. He's quite greedy when he likes the food, so I have been feeding him some special tidbits, since he refuses to eat the regular stuff. He's quite happy with the dascunds and jack russells. He perked up and has some energy. He'll be fine.

SAMANTHA: She seemed to want to stay outside last night. If I insist, she will come in but I let her stay out until it started to rain, then made her come in. She was on limited socialization due to growling for a day or so but now she's with all the dogs and seems fine.

PORK CHOP: When it was hot I was worried about Pork Chop. Still he drank plenty. We managed to keep him cool. He stands right next to my foot and follows me around.

FRANKIE AND TINA: I don't think anyone from this family reads this.

TY: Ty has to eat by himself and he takes his time. He's doing okay. He does have a spot under a tree where he can sleep in the crook of the roots and spends time there, or under the stairs in the dog house. I think he's doing well.

RIPLEY: Doing great. Happy, healthy and playing.

FENWAY: Fenway has been quiet. Why? Because I haven't tried to make a video. She really only seems to bark in the videos. Otherwise, a-okay.

CHARLIE (cocker spaniel): He looks for the pieces of food that other dogs drop when they eat. He will even try to fight a dog 4 times bigger than him over a single kibble of food. I hope he doesn't get fat.

BUCKLEY: Doing great. Happy, healthy and playing.

LUCY: See Pluto.

CHOKS: Doing great. Happy, healthy and playing.

PHOENIX: Phoenix has a habit of going up the stairs and getting stuck. I have to help her down and she seems fine. Then, when I'm not looking, she goes back up. She likes it up there, obviously, but there is something about the stairs that seem to bother her. She is happy to walk down if I hold her collar. She can walk down easily but seems to lack the confidence to try. Otherwise, everything is good.

That's it for today. Video tomorrow.