Silly dogs

Instead of studying, I make pointless movies!

Feet

I've been paying attention to Abby's feet a lot lately because of her non-healing (urgh!) cut.

I like dog feet. Abby's are so petite and delicate and Ryan's are so very, very spotty.

Freckly feet

Shiny feet

Angry kitteh feet

Pile o' feet

Attention-seeking brother-blocking feet

Belly rub feet

Naughty spotty feet!
And a shnoz or two...

Or three...
(yes, she looks like she's wearing one of those old fashioned pilot helmets with the goggles and the chin strap)
(ok, so maybe it's just me)

Ryan's recall

It's missing. As in, his recall seems to have fallen out of his teenage brain and I didn't even know it until this afternoon.

We went for a walk in a nice forest-y park and as we were walking (well, I was walking and they were racing back and forth at top speed) I realized that I never really call Ryan. I practice having him drive towards me for toys (after a release word) and he is never out of my sight on walks. If I have to snap on his leash I usually ask him to "wait", and he does. If I see him about to take off after something (bird, squirrel, etc.), I tell him to "lie down". But "come"? Haven't practice that one in at least a couple of months.

So I tried it out - and got no response at all. He actually just stood 6 feet in front of me and stared at me. I ran backwards and he came to me...but we are obviously going to have to practice a recall again. How embarrassing to have a dog that will lie down on command wayyy out on the field but doesn't have a recall!

Breeders and Puppies

There's a poll right now on one of the boards that I read asking whether you would ever consider buying a dog from a breeder.

At this point, I can honestly say that no, I wouldn't. Based on what I want from my dogs, and on the kind of life I live, I know I could find anything and everything I want in a dog from rescue (shelter, etc.) The only purebred dog I could ever see myself owning is a border collie (I like dogs that have been bred for function, and of those, BCs are the only ones that I like enough to want a purebred). I think sheep herding is really cool and it's something I'd like to try out more with Ryan but I would be, at most, a "weekend herder" and to me that doesn't justify buying a well bred, working border collie.

My dogs have always been rescues and I wouldn't feel right having it any other way. I can see how people like having a guarantee (somewhat) of how their puppy will turn out but if I want my next dog to be guaranteed (size, temperament, etc.) then I'll go for an adult rescue.

But anyway, all of that "next dog" stuff is kinda outside the realm of my present reality since, barring any horrible circumstances, I have reached my self-imposed dog limit for the next 10 years at least (hopefully).

And speaking of that limit...how the heck did the dog that made me reach the limit grow up so freakin' fast??

From this:

To this:

From this:

To this:

Where's my puppy?? When he was a baby I wished he'd hurry up and grow up...and now I want the puppy back!

Stitches

Abby's foot wasn't healing since the gash was so big so today she got stitches. I see dogs and cats under anesthetic all the time - I even helped with Ryan's neuter and with a minor surgery on Peppy. Somehow seeing Abby under anesthetic was wayyy worse. I think it's partly because she is never all relaxed and floppy, so it is really strange seeing her like that, and partly because she's my little Abby girl! She's on another week of antibiotics and she is *not to lick her foot* period. The stitches come out in 10 days and until then her foot has to stay relatively dry (not easy in this climate!).

Stupid piece of (assumed) broken glass!