Dog Life List

Do all dog lovers have them?

I know there are folks who stick with their breed. Greyhounds, pit bulls, wieners, what have you. There are some that stick with a group. For example, I wouldn't mind collecting just about every sight hound there is.

Most of my friends know I love lists and charts, so it might not be a surprise to learn I have an actual list of "Dog Breeds I Want to Rescue." (Without starting a debate, I do not buy dogs, unless paying a rescue fee counts.)

What is on this list? I'm glad I pretended you asked!

Obviously, this is a tiny fraction of the list and it's all in addition to the greyhounds I can't imagine being without. What are your favorite breeds? What do you love about them?

1. Borzoi

I met this guy and learned two things I hadn't known. First, Borzoi are ginormous. They are like springy, prancy little ponies.

Secondly, and this is where I may have squealed at a perfect stranger while patting her dog, they can have soft fuzzy silky baby curls.

I do think I'd need to dress fancier if I were going to walk a Borzoi, though. Like a Russian Czarina or something. 




2. Pit bull

I dream of someday rescuing my own. The first pibble I ever loved was named Geordie, and my stepfather rescued him via the "take him directly from the scumbag who bragged about the fight Geordie'd won that day."

Geordie -- this isn't him, sorry -- was the sweetest, most loving old man I ever met. He sat on laps, he kissed my infant daughter, he played gently with children. He was brilliant. I'll miss my "brother" for the rest of my life.





3. Corgi

Astute readers may notice this is a picture of a cartoon dog. True, but Ein (from the anime "Cowboy Bebop") is the first Corgi I fell in love with. My usual affection is for big dogs, but come on. Look at him widdle face.
Trivia: I told my mom I wanted a Corgi someday. "Ugh, those little things that look like sawed-off Collies?" So that's how I think of them. ;)






4. German Shepherd Dog (or a Malinois or a Tervuren)

I'll be honest, I have some apprehension about these breeds, having owned a mostly-GSD mutt growing up. They're beautiful and strong and smart. I worry about the ramifications of having a dog that will solve problems faster than I do.

I have been vicariously enjoying the adventures of my friends Mr. and Mrs. Taleteller over at Tales and Tails, not only with beautiful GSD Morgan but with their new baby, Kuster. I have also been reminded that puppies are not for everyone and they're way, way braver than I am.





5. The One That Needs Me

Canine Body Language

A short story in five frames. Can you tell what happened?

 

 

We’re participating in this Saturday’s Pet Blog Hop, hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Impatience

Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a great day. According to the weather reports, I am likely experiencing a gorgeous sunshiney day of temps that are pleasantly mild for the end of January.

I can't tell you if that's actually true or not, since I'm writing this on Friday night. Remember, I had something to do on Saturday, something pretty important.

Watch this space!

We’re participating in this Saturday’s Pet Blog Hop, hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!
This is a Blog Hop!

Heh. Whoops.

Nothing to see here. Everything is fine. Move along.

I'm having the weirdest anxiety right now.

Everything is in place. We're ready! I just need to call the kennel and make an appointment...

I didn't do it Friday. I panicked. I'm too nervous. This means too much to me.

I swear, I'm going to do it Monday. I will kick my long-standing habit of being terrified of happiness. I promise. I just hope I don't embarrass myself and start crying.

 On the chance that you are here looking for non-crazy news, I have rather officially committed myself to attending Greyhounds in Gettysburg again this year. I'm excited to see some of my favorite people, including the fantastic ladies I travel with. Will you be there?

Wordless Wednesday

Focus

I've posted quite a few pictures of Ki-lee on this blog now; yesterday's is one of my favorites. Aside from being stunning, she's a very special little girl to me, and her mom is one of my dearest friends. We spent the day hanging out together yesterday and I got some great shots of our beautiful dogs. I can't take a lot of photographic credit for these. It's hard to take a bad picture of a greyhound.

Ki-lee is a young dog and she was fascinated by the ocean. She couldn't figure out why the waves came at her but then receded, as if they wanted to play. She was still looking over her shoulder as we left the shoreline, puzzled by the giant sloshing creature.

Sunday Smile

Ki-lee: How I adore this girl!

Eleven!

I haven't the mental wherewithal for a long post about what this day means, but today is Drive's 11th birthday. He and Lanie have been busy this week keeping me sane. But I want you to know we celebrated this momentous occasion with a ride in the car and a cheeseburger, his two most favorite things in the world. To further enhance his joy and wonder at the day, we've been randomly feeding them treats with no "Sit!" or "Roll Over!" attached.

And the children are out for the night with their grandparents. How much better could a dog's life get?

I'll tell you! The fireworks were postponed due to cloud cover! Score!

Lanie always wants to go on car rides, but the truth is that she spends most of the time terrified. Today I am pleased to report she did fairly well and kept her head out the window the entire time.

By the way, even the 4-door Toyota Yaris is too small for two dogs. FYI.

Noms!

Eleven. More than half his life with me, now.

Old Dog, New Trick

We're alive! Barely. You should see the storms of pollen outside, following a week straight of rain. I'm just going to cut myself some slack about the whole didn't-post-for-two-weeks thing.

You know, since we got back from Greyhounds in Gettysburg, Drive has changed. He's been my best friend for six years now and I think this is the first time I can honestly say that an event has changed him. Before this, if I suggested we go somewhere he would graciously allow himself to be shut in the car and wait patiently until we arrived. (He does recognize McDonald's, though. That gets a reaction from him.)

Now? When it looks like I might be putting on clothes suitable for the outside world -- and I still don't know when he learned to differentiate, but he can, I swear -- he starts wagging his tail. Should I venture into the bathroom and brush my teeth or put on makeup, he starts grinning and the wagging gets more enthusiastic.

At this point, if I go anywhere near my shoes or keys I will be attacked.

He wasn't like that before.

Even if I'm just taking them outside for a quick walk, Drive stares at whatever vehicle is in the driveway and whines piteously. Take me somewhere, he cries. Anywhere. Just let me in the caaaaaar!

The obvious and easy solution has been to take him along on more errands. It's working for both of us, I think.

We're joining in the Pet Blogger Hop again this week. Welcome!

Sleepy Saturday Blog Hop

    There may be rumors circulating that I almost never pass up chance for cocktails. This is true. While in Gettysburg, I was pleased to combine my love of dogs with my love of drinking, and attended a couple of social gatherings in the hotel ballroom. If you think attending a cocktail party with a few dozen dogs in attendance is a noisy, messy proposition, you need to spend more time around greyhounds. 

 

 

The atmosphere with greyhounds in attendance is so relaxing that even Chester Hoover, world-famous party animal, was inspired.

Charm

 I think I'm inspired to go back to bed myself!

If you're visiting from the Blog Hop, welcome!

Greyhounds in Gettysburg

Drive and I have safely returned from our very first greyhound convention!

We attended Greyhounds in Gettysburg with my friends Sharon and Karen and stayed at the absurdly dog-friendly 1863 Inn. I was thrilled to reconnect with some old friends and to meet some of my dog-loving friends for the first time. But I know you aren't here for my sappy adoration of the pet-loving and dog-blogging community. You want pictures!

Too bad. I want to say first that I owe a lot of these friendships to Life With Dogs. The crew over there works semi-tirelessly to keep us amused, and through that site and its fan page on Facebook, I've met some of the pet world's best, friendliest and funniest. I don't get out much, but when I do it's usually to get together with folks with whom I have a love of dogs and Life with Dogs in common.

Okay. Now here are a few pictures.

Drive, at the hotel. This is actually the first day there. He's pretty mellow.

I think most of the cars in the hotel lot were decorated.

Bunny, who has a more extensive and fashionable wardrobe than I do.

Zoe the whippet. My plans to smuggle her home in my bag were foiled.

Chester, who is NOT a fat greyhound but a chocolate lab.

I was honored to meet Lilac, a grand dame of 15 and a half years.

Drive and Charm became close, cuddly friends on the trip.

Charm's coy look. She's just breathtaking and so sweet.

How's this for mellow? He's a yard away from a table laden with barbecued chicken and ribs.

You can meet Bunny and Lilac (and their sisters) over at Tales and Tails. Chester shares his deep chocolate thoughts at For the Love of Chester. You can find stunning pictures of Zoe and her family at Dogs Rock.

I'll have more tomorrow. Or maybe Wednesday. Lanie is demanding a lot of my time to make up for leaving her at home, but she doesn't seem to have suffered much as her Dad was here overcompensating. ;)

Happy Saturday, and a Blog Hop

First please let me express my gratitude and awe for the outpouring of love and sympathy we received after Bullie's passing on Wednesday. I could not have gotten through it, nor the terrible day that came after, without my incredible internet family.

Although we knew his time was close, he suffered rapid decline over his last few days, falling nearly every time he tried to stand. He seemed confused and uncomfortable and I made the decision to release him. I was there with him, holding him close and telling him over and over how much we loved him. Thank you so much, friends, for easing my grief even just a little bit.

"The misery of keeping a dog is his dying so soon. But, to be sure, if he lived for fifty years and then died, what would become of me?" 
--Sir Walter Scott

Join us on the Blog Hop after the cut!

For today, the good news!

Another week escaped me. My humble apologies. Things have been hectic at our house. Doctor and vet appointments and car fixing and hard decisions and some easier ones.

Let me start with happy things.

On Drive's Gotcha Day, he and I met up with friends for a little socializing with a specific purpose in mind.

We are going to Greyhounds in Gettysburg! The outing Saturday was to make sure that Drive and the two lovely greyhounds with whom we will be traveling would be comfortable riding together in the back of a van. I wasn't worried, to be honest. Drive is a passive sort of guy and both of the other hounds are known to (and loved by) me. We drove around for a couple of hours, stopped to visit a beach, and enjoyed the company and conversation. I'm confident there will be no issues.

Ki-lee

 

 

 

 

I've met Ki-lee (and her mom, Sharon) more than once before. Long story made short, Ki-lee stood in as "therapy hound" for me once, when Drive was at home and I was not. Helping keep track of her, petting her, talking with her, taking pictures of her phenomenal ears -- she kept me from more than one panic attack the day we met. She also, for reasons not yet known to me, decided that I was perfect for sitting on. She's reiterated this opinion every time we've been together since. I'm lucky to know her and to have a friend like Sharon who will share with me.

Just to make you really jealous, this is Charm:

Charm

Is she not beautiful? I think I'm going to be with three of the prettiest hounds at GiG! And I think you can tell from this picture that everyone got along just fine. This was the first time Drive and Charm had met; that's his haunch Charm is using for a pillow. I'd met Charm and her mom, Karen, before and I couldn't be happier about taking this trip with good friends and greyt pups.

With that, everything is a go!

Wellness Wednesday

Well, things are looking good. Drive is a healthy 74 pounds and only screamed twice while we were in the office for his (and Lanie's) annual check-up. He peed copiously all over the lobby, shed enough nervous hair to stuff a pillow, and is up-to-date on his vaccinations. We had a wellness blood screen done as he is going in two weeks to have a thorough dental cleaning; I expect he'll lose a tooth or three. I am looking forward to better breath.

Sadly, we did not stop at any of the magic food windows on our way home. Lanie, my darling little trash disposal, needs to lose about five pounds. Ah, well. Longer walks for all of us!

When We Were (Relatively) Young

2005, First Day Home

July 2005

Why isn't my neck longer?!

This is the face of a dog trying to use The Force to levitate a dropped french fry into his mouth.

His desperation did not go unanswered, although it was his teen-aged human who took pity on him and came to his aid. He remains unable to bring food to his mouth using only his mind.

For this, we are all grateful.

Snow, Of Course

He likes to run back and forth in a tight circuit until he's cleared a place to take care of business.



It's not the highest-quality shot I've ever taken, but there are a couple things I love about this picture. For one, it shows you how much snow we got in the blizzard that recently crawled up the Northeast. And for two, it shows off Drive's "special" smile, his adorable hillbilly teefs.

"Can I take a picture of your dog?"

In the course of trick-or-treating in my hometown Saturday night, I was fortunate enough to meet these three lovely ladies. After sitting prettily for a picture or five, there was a torrid make-out session. Fortunately, their owner -- a complete stranger to me -- seemed to understand that he was dealing with a True Dog Lover. It didn't seem strange to him at all that I would sit on his steps and have a flirty conversation with his dogs.

Thank Dog it's Friday

Friday Fact: Half a second before this shot, he looked majestic and noble, and then some blue jays got into a fight nearby, startling us both. I wasn't intentionally going for this artistic slant. Oh, well.

Actual Fact: Drive is older than he looks or acts, at a grand ten years of age. He was whelped July 3, 2000.

It's better this way.