Mid-week bunny fix

Bunnies make good pillows!

Dog shaming

My name is Sadie and I "buried" my dog food under a thick layer of dirt and leaves and forest debris.

(We were camping.)

Any theories about why she might do this?

Sadie going places

I'm a lucky dog... I get to go places!

Sometimes they have to leave me behind in the car because NO DOGS ALLOWED. I don't feel very lucky, then.

I wait patiently tho and don't do anything to ruin the upholstery...

Here I am at St. Marks at Thanksgiving... we've gone there a lot.

They took me to the mountains at Christmastime, but made me wear this silly-looking coat that someone had bought for me. Imagine people buying gifts for an abandoned old shelter-dog like me!

This day they took me to a weedy field so that Laura could photograph dried-up old wildflowers with her new camera.

I was happy there because the path smelled like horses.

We spend a lot of time going places and then waiting around and looking at birds... here I am at my first Christmas Bird Count.

I am a good bird dog. I am very quiet and patient and never bark or whine or pull on the leash while we wait for birds to show up.

Sometimes we wander around the city and look at street art. I was not overly impressed with this particular installation along the Beltline.

I like the beach... that's a good thing because we go there the most.

It smells nice.

I am posing on Siesta Key in Florida. Some people think it's the prettiest beach anywhere.

The sand is very white.

Once they took me to Dahlonega and tried to get me to pose next to this tough-looking dog.

I was embarrassed for myself, feeling like I couldn't possibly ever measure up to this level of toughness.

They dragged me along with a bunch of teenagers one day to look at the lichens growing on rock...

Boring!

They even dragged me out to the ends of the earth near Fort Pulaski to see a lighthouse, of all things!

I'm a good travellin' dog... but I like having a place to call home the best.

: )

Is this a look or what?

I think the ribbons on her ears are a nice touch.

Sadie's embarrassed by them.

I like them and think she looks adorable.

Jay, the good sport who walks her in the park, thinks they're ridiculous.

He was ready with a story should anyone ask:

"They're antennas; she's actually a robot."

I like that, too.

A not so favorite thing

Looking tortured in the Chattahoochee River...

: )

Sadie's first adventure

How to lose a new dog in less than 4 days

Maybe she was bored. Or wanted to get to know the new neighborhood.

Maybe, disoriented, she was trying to find her way back to the shelter and a life she knew.

Most probably she was just terrified.

Whatever the reason, last Thursday she bolted out the front door, took a left at the end of the driveway and disappeared for good into a steamy August morning.

We searched on foot, on bikes, in the car. Despondent, I called out to her in unfamiliar places, my voice still unknown to her, using a name she hadn't yet learned.

It was hopeless.

We put up signs. We waited. I walked the neighborhood for the tenth time. Shelter volunteers that had grown to love her in her time with them came out to help us look for her. Nothing.

Until the phone rang that evening and someone had rescued her, yet again. It was incomprehensible to me that she'd been found; I thought I would never see her again.

How she spent that day, we'll never know... how she navigated two very, very busy roads without being hit to end up 3 miles away... how a Good Samaritan convinced her to stop in her running long enough to be caught...

I am so thankful for this happy ending and for this dog I barely know and already can't help but love...

Sadie: starting over with a "senior" shelter dog

We sat in the parking lot of the shelter and very nearly went home without her, for a second time. Then we twisted each other's arm and, just like that, it was done.

A new dog!

Some very basic and important part of me is made happier by having a dog. I'd been trying to deny that the past couple years since splitting with the ex-DH, but all the practicalities in the world couldn't change that part of myself.

So... meet Sadie!

She's 10 years old and a mix of perfectly polite and adorably unsure of herself. She's cowering under the desk as I write this during a thunderstorm. Her first inclination when feeling anxious is to climb on top of something. She wanders around, following behind us like a houseguest that's run out of tourist attractions to visit. She's scared of cars and utterly oblivious to the cat who's in a state of permanent hiss.

Nobody slept the first night. Last night we slept shifts on the floor beside her. For tonight I'm stil hopeful. Little by little her head and tail are coming up and she's making tentative eye contact.

Who knows what her life before was.

Her eyes are sad, sad, sad.

We mean to change that.

Luka's predicament

I don't guess Bear ever has this problem...

So yeah, we got a lot of snow.

Wordless Wednesday

Shadow shot

Someone needs to go on a diet.

;-)

Just add water

Speaks for itself, no?

At our favorite swimming hole along Cedar Creek in the Pine Barrens... made even sweeter by the huge muddy puddles we just had to tromp through on the walk there.

The world's worst dog

No... not Luka!

I finally sat still long enough to watch "Marley and Me". What a sweet movie. Most of Marley's antics felt very familiar, as I imagine they would to any owner of a Labrador.

I'd read the book years ago when it first came out and I think this is one instance where I enjoyed the movie more than the book.

Just don't watch the end.

An afternoon at the park

Luka was all smiles at the dog park this afternoon. Most every time we go, there's a new pack of dogs to play with...

Today there were lots of smallish dogs, including at least half a dozen look-alike black pugs, one of which tried to take Luka's nose off. This little yorkie (?) was a sweetheart though.

There were a couple really big dogs, which are my favorites, though I'd hate to have to feed them. Look at this monster with the sweetest of faces!

Luka took to this dobie today and followed her everywhere... mainly because he really wanted that rope toy she's teasing him with.

Is there a dog park in your neighborhood? Can you mention it within earshot of your dog without having to take them for a visit?

Snow crazy

Like snow-crazed dogs everywhere, Luka considered all that white fluffy stuff as a grand excuse to play!

While I was busy digging my car out... he busied himself with uncovering his basketball. He liked for me to toss the ball into a fresh patch so that he could plunge his whole head under the snow and push the ball along with his nose like a seal.

It took hours to shovel enough of the driveway to get my car out... mostly because Luka insisted on playing fetch the whole time! (Fetch is mainly about throwing the ball for him and then wrestling him to the ground to get it back.)

He made the chore fun at least... sometimes I think if it weren't for him I'd hardly have an excuse to play anymore. With Luka, I can roll around in the snow like a kid and get away with it.

;-)

Handsome

I have this series of almost funny pics of Luka playing with his basketball in the snow yesterday; he's all googly-eyed and acting his normal goofy self.

This last one, his serious face, is my favorite. He's concerned that my attention has wavered from him and the act he puts on for the camera. I'd spotted a pair of red tails perched in the black locust at the corner edge of our yard and was planning a way to get closer to them without spooking them from their perch.

He's plotting what silly move of his will have me giggling his way again...

You've got mail!

More silly parlor tricks... now if only I could train him not to shred the phone bill.

Bird dog

Can't you just hear him promising not to pull the stuffing out of his new ducky?

A couple hours later he's apologetic almost.

First to go was one of the pretty orange feet; then he attacked the seam and pulled all the innards out, including the squeaky bits. All that's left now is some stuffing in the very tip of the beak that he can't seem to get to.

Dead duck.

And I thought Labs were prized for their *soft* mouths?

;-)

Lukamoose and favorite Xmas songs

Yes, he's a ham for the camera!

Can you imagine the torture I'd inflict on a child?

He's not knocked down the tree or lifted his leg on it. Yet. Stealing ornaments is another matter altogether.

;-)

I'm playing along with a holiday meme I saw over at Liza's and elsewhere to list 10 favorite Christmas songs. My favorites are mostly traditional carols...

1. O Holy Night - this is my absolute favorite carol, I think.

2. Please Come Home for Christmas by the Eagles

3. Carol of the Bells

4. Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy by David Bowie and Bing Crosby

5. Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg - I won't admit to liking anything else by him, but this one makes me cry every single time I hear it.

6. Earth Abides by Philip Aaberg - a nicely quiet piano piece

7. Fairytale of NY by The Pogues - not one you'd ever hear on the radio, but an old favorite I was reminded of by reading other responses to this meme. Be warned... The Pogues are something of an acquired taste!

8. Silent Night - this one is all about the setting... I love hearing it on Christmas Eve, at midnight, holding a small candle in front of me at church with hot wax dripping onto my fingers.

9. Wexford Carol

10. Peace by Norah Jones

Why not share a few of your favorites?

Portrait day

Somebody had too much time on their hands today (me!) and well, you know how it is with animals...

Half the fun of pets is the chance to dress them up funny and embarrass them. Luka is pretty good at this all by himself and doesn't need the little Santa hat to be a goof...

The wheekers were the most cooperative of the lot which is strange considering I hardly ever handle them. There's something odd about the texture of their fur that gives me the willies...

I know you hardly ever see their photos here, but Xmas is a special occasion, I guess. Note how suspiciously they're looking at me...

Freckles was just plain pissed off. Silly rabbit! She figures she's old enough and shouldn't have to put up with my foolishness any longer. If looks could kill...

Sunshine wasn't very happy either. What's with these rabbits? Where's the Xmas cheer?

Boomer wouldn't even look at me... poor embarrassed bunny.

Peeper the ferocious tried to disappear into the carpet. She's bitten me for much lesser offenses than a red hat.

I'm not sure there's any winners here... anyone have a favorite?

;-)

Luka goes to the vet

Yeah, you can imagine what that's like!

Please note that sweet, handsome Dr. Heins is sitting on Luka in the corner. Need I say anything else?

This was the calmest moment of tonight's visit, actually. We were in for Luka's yearly exam and shots. He was weighed. He's now on a diet. Blood was drawn. That required the in-the-corner-tackle by the vet. His ears were cleaned of their yeasty goop. There's medicine for that.

Everyone survived.

We're new to this vet practice, more or less, since Luka. I love Dr. Heins because he loves Labs and knows them inside and out. He takes his time with us and humors Luka's goofyness. Plus, he's extra generous with the cookies which makes Luka really really like him.

Anyone want to guess how much Luka weighs now?