C-Myste

The dogs on a quiet Labor Day.

Huxley surveying the kingdom

Molly watches

Kady's prize: a dried apple fallen from the tree

Num.

Grandma A, Queen of Everything.

"You called the puppy?"

Crisp, cool morning and the dog family stays close.

Ok, so I’m going to brag about my own puppy. This is the quickest, brightest girl with the sunniest personality I have had in I don’t know when. I really missed out by not taking one of the Wally/Hannah pups last time. But I’m glad that I waited . . .

Opal news from Ruth Mary:

Opal and very large new friend.

Opal has had an exciting week. She met Dr. Michelle who thought she was a delight and healthy in every way. When we went to pay our bill we met this borzoi. At first I was careful to restrain her, but the owner said she thought it would be fine to let them closer. It was sweet. Our girl is a bold one. The next thing that happened was that someone came through the office with a mop. Opal chased and then jumped onto it! She had the whole office in an uproar. They thought she could become a skateboard dog.

Today we went and had a private session with Sandy Self. Sandy is the best trainer I have ever worked with and she has Pems. She adored Opal. Opal can sit, do a down (which is hilarious because sometimes she leaps into the air before hitting the floor) and does well on a leash. I was concerned about her love of rocks. Sandy suggested I coat some rocks with bitter apple, but for the best effect make sure Opal tastes some of it first. We will start puppy classes when Opal’s shots are complete. The biting had become an issue. We solved it.

I almost called you last week because Opal will not let me tape her ears. She can get the tape off in seconds. I went back to the vet and had her fitted for a collar. I wait until she is asleep in the evening. She is such a lamb then that I have no trouble taping her ears and putting on the collar. I carry her to her crate and she sleeps the night. This is working. They aren’t perfect, but so improved !

Time to get busy with that training, Kady!

This is my first try at posting from my phone using the droid wordpress ap.

The deer seem more brazen than they have in past years. Or possibly it’s because we have less dogs outside these days. Tom looked up from his desk and was surprised to see two young does gliding through the front yard toward the apple tree. He managed to capture a few pictures on his phone.

Who's that wandering by the window?

And another one. Hello there.

They are eating Alice's apples!

In other news, Huxley is also entertaining girl visitors. We brought Clem home from the puppy party last weekend, but then she wasn’t actually in heat so we thought we had missed. It turns out that she was just a slow starter and she came in last night. And coincidentally Hannah’s sister Mirrhi arrived last night: objective romance.My boy is going to be so busy. And happy.

Missy brought Minnie to visit her dad at the office yesterday. We took the opportunity to get a couple of semi-staked photos. Now 5 months, she is learning to stand still like a good girl

It’s interesting: Ava looks almost totally Zoe to me from the pictures, but I see a lot of Carbon influence in Minnie. She has round bone, great topline and tail-set. Wish she had color around the eye on her show side, but don’t we all. She’s going to be a good-sized girl at about 28 lbs now, but I don’t think she’ll be over-sized.

Her father was delighted that Minnie has now turned into a “real dog” who is big enough to rassle with.

1) I always thought that some people had strong Neanderthal characteristics.

2) I always thought that offshore drilling was a really bad idea.

But nobody ever asks me!