All Good

Kate is doing well. Getting back to normal. As normal as Kate can be, anyway.

 

 

She still sees dead people, so that’s good.

 

 

And, hey, if I’m being honest, she wasn’t all there to begin with so what’s a few racing stripes of missing hair on her back?

 

Bella is totally over the whole thing and wishes that I would just shut my pie hole about it, already.

 

 

It has been an adjustment in the mornings as we are not going back to that park since the lovely owners of that shepherd insist that their dog is not an issue and they will not stop bringing her to the park, thankyouverymuch.

 

We all hate change. Disrupted routines are a pain, but it will all be normal again soon.

 

I never got around to trial talk from a few weeks ago, either. We only did one day. I was going to skip that trial all together, but I cannot pass up two gambles and a snooker all in one day. Bella was having a blast. Ran really well. I wish we could have entire weekends that were nothing but jackpot and snooker. Loves me some games! Well, except colors. Colors is just stupid. But, I really love the thinking, planning and timing. You can keep your stupid standard courses with their just-do-what-you’re-told mess. Boo.

 

The bestest part of the trial was Emmy’s birthday. Trying to get everyone looking in the same direction was hysterical. This is so much easier with a picnic table!

 

 

Oh sure, I finally get the blind dogs attention and lose everyone else!

 

 

Do I know you?

 

 

And my little brown photobomber!

 

 

Every pic of Willie has at least one brown ear in it.

 

What? I'm funny.

 

I Hate When I Have Failed My Dogs

Kate got attacked this morning.

 

I am mostly pissed at myself because I knew this was going to happen. In fact, I was just talking to my housemate about this exact scenario three days ago.

 

For starters, Kate lost a lot of hair and is very bruised and sore, but I was unable to find any puncture wounds on her this morning. I guess that’s good. I am going to go check her over again at lunch time since punctures often don’t bleed – at least not right away – and are generally hard to find on a dog with any length of coat. Other than her purple back, she seems OK. Hopefully, she will still be OK at lunch.

 

I have not liked this dog since they first started bringing it. Call it a gut feeling. Even as a puppy I was weary of it. She seemed like a problem in the making. Very high prey drive shepherd and the owners are clueless. The dog has no dog manners, no training, and a short fuse. Every time they show up I leave. This morning I was busy talking with another person and didn’t seem them pull up until it was too late. My two were already on leash and ready to go. I figured if we just waited we could get past while the other dogs were doing their “someone new” dance. The shepherd came in very excited and ran straight up to Kate and over her head. Kate air snapped at the dog. Kate is not a fighter at all. Her correction, in normal dog terms, was warranted and appropriate…..buzz off dog. However, the shepherd took issue with it and went after Kate. Kate will not defend herself. She has no interest in fighting. She was just telling a young, exuberant dog to watch itself. Since the dog is not trained, the owners couldn’t get a hold of it. We end up playing ring around the rosie as I am trying to keep myself between that dog and Kate until Kate finally gets away and is pinned in the corner up against the fence.

 

This was my exact convo with the housemate. I have no issues with dogs communicating. Dogs that I know are sensible and stable, anyway. For example, Kate is not exactly known for looking where she is going. If she happens to bump into or step on another dog in the house, which she does on the regular, she will probably get grumbled at. “Watch it, dummy.” Never an issue. The dogs have the right to request that other dogs don’t stand on their rib cage. However, I generally avoid situations where my dogs may feel the need to correct another dog that I don’t know for this very reason. Unmannerly dogs can certainly take a correction as an invitation to fight. This one certainly did.

 

I hate that I knew this. I hate that I failed her this morning. I should have walked out the far end.

 

Should have protected my dog.

 

 

Poor Kate.

 

I can feel a bit better knowing that it was Kate. Bella would guilt tripped me for years.

Seeing as Kate is a little goldfish-esque…

 

Oh, look, a castle!

Oh, look, another castle!

Oooo, so many castles!!

 

She has probably forgotten about it already.

 

Trying to look like a badass

 

Or, she's out getting a tattoo.

14 on the 14th and 10 on Tuesday

Miss Kate will join the double-digit club on Tuesday.

Totally shocked that she made it this far. :-)

 

And Miss Emmy is 14 today!

 

One - Four

 

 

She is such an awesome dog! I am obviously not a Dal person, but if someone could guarantee that the puppy would end up just like Em I would take one in a second.

 

Perhaps minus the glaucoma.

 

Even blind, she is a total badass, roll with the punches girl.
If she were a human she would totally smoke Camels and play roller derby.

 

 

She enjoyed a wide variety of probably-shouldn't-be-eating-that treats and got an old-lady massage

 

 

Here's to as many more as you can give us, Em. There are lots more puppies that need to be told off.

 

Happy Birthday, girl!

 

Hola

What’s happening, y’all? I know, been slacking in the blogging department. Been slacking in lots of departments, though, so don’t feel bad. I have just been in one of those “if you don’t have something good to say don’t say anything at all” periods. Work has been hellish and whoever said that change is good is a total tool and can just suck it. Problems, however, are being worked on. Fixes are in motion. I am trying to stay positive.

 

Also, pretty much everyone on the west coast who blogs has said exactly what I would have said in the past two weeks, so why repeat? It has been miserably hot and the Fourth of July sucks if you have dogs.

 

I just repeated. My bad.

 

One thing that gets highlighted when I go through a not so stellar time is how damn awesome my dogs are. Some days those little faces may be the only smile producing thing around. Even if one of thinks she is soooo funny.

 

 

Just stop at the pivot and waaaaaiiiiiitttt for the tip. Two nails in. Dog sarcasm.

 

 

This one not full of herself

 

 

Can you imagine the highlight of your day being something thrown at your head?

 

 

It makes them so happy!

 

 

 

I want to try it at work. Maybe not with a holey roller. Donuts? Cans of beer? Roll of quarters?

 

 

I have long said we need nerf bats around here. Put them in cases next to each fire extinguisher. A good way to work some of that stress out. I also bet two grown people could not swing nerf bats at each other for too long before it became just funny. Stupidity highlighted and dispersed.

 

I also managed to get out the house and do something different this weekend. Went to the Oakland Zoo for the first time. Cute little zoo up in the Oakland Hills. Went on the 4th. Still hot. Really hot.

 

Sun bears do not care for sun.

 

Too hot to do much more than just hang out. Literally.

 

While it is a nice zoo, it is a small zoo. Because of size constraints, they don’t use a whole lot of open exhibits. Not a lot of moat action going on. Because of this, not much a photographer’s zoo because…

 

Look! Fruit bats!

 

And glassy sad-faced Chimps.

 

The three girls were moated in, though.

 

Lots of doing anything to cool off

 

Water catcher

 

Home-made shade cloth

 

Do they not have the best faces? Gah!

 

Oddly enough, my two favorite pics from the zoo are ones I could have gotten at home

 

Phoebe bokeh

 

And McFly!