Mac in the snow, originally uploaded by Doherty_UK.

Well its Christmas time! so took the Dogs out in the snow!

A Country lane taken up in Derbyshire, the snow was quite thick up here!

The room was dark and shadowy, almost symbolic that we were meeting in secret.  It was as if it wanted to protect and shield us from outsiders and other influences.  We were in the basement of Milk Bone Pickens High. The first meeting of the Beefy Snack Club was under way.

I didn’t expect to see new faces but sure enough, word had spread.  There was the usual motley crew that followed me around but now there was a Whippet named Gonzo.  He was quite vocal.

“We’re here because we all like snacks,” Gonzo began.  “I like pig ears. They’re delicious!”

Some dogs squirmed in their seats with some covering their eyes in disbelief.

“What?,” Gonzo replied with incredulity. “It’s both high in protein and satisfying to the palette.”

“We’re here because we like snacks but I’d like the club to be about something else,” Karma said softly.  Everyone turned their head to where she was sitting.  Even Gregio and Stella stopped biting each other’s snout in that friendly way Italian Greyhounds do. “I think an issue we can all agree on is abstinence.”

“No way, no how,” Luke, the captain of the Dog Squad, barked. “That’s a slippery slope, for sure.  Next thing you know it, you won’t want to teach Darwinism and replace it with lectures on Intelligent Design.  Besides, I like to get it on with the ladies!”

He held up a paw and gave a high five to Gonzo.  The other males around him howled in support and started wrestling, momentarily forgetting that we were in the middle of a meeting.

“The reason I think we should support it…,” Karma strained to get herself heard over the ruckus. “The reason I support it because it would cut down on puppy mills and unwanted dogs.”

This caught everyone off guard and quieted the room.  I was at the front, leading the meeting from a lectern and gave Karma a wink.  It was a smart rebuttal from a smart dog.

“On that same subject, I wonder how we evolved?,” Delfina inquired.

“Hey, Delfina has a good point,” Deja pounced into the conversation. I had no idea what she saw in it.  Even Mea stopped giving herself a bath to listen.  “We aren’t human, we’re just dogs… canines.”

“Yeah, so what’s your point?,” Mea asked.

“Don’t you guys get it or wonder about it all?,” Deja said excitedly. “Where did we get our canine consciousness?  How are we able to have thoughts, emotions and form rational, logical ideas?  How in the world can we even speak let alone live these types of lives?”

I hadn’t even thought about that before.  How is it that we live in a constructed society and live a normal life?  It’s not normal and had to come from somewhere.  Not every dog is able to do what we can do.

“I think I know, I think I know!,” a voice said from the back.  It was Zoey and she was hidden behind the others.  “We all drank from a magic water dish.  Like the fountain of youth.”

This was followed by guffaws and chuckles with some shaking their heads at the idea.  But it was intriguing and even a bit mystical.  How did we get here and what was our origin?  How could we conduct ourselves and speak while others couldn’t? Plus, isn’t high school all about self discovery?

“I like the idea and the constitution of the Beefy Snack Club shall be founded on the origins of canine consciousness,” I said, raising the gavel above my head.  “All those in favor, bark once.  Opposed, bark twice!”

A deafening bark of approval filled the room and I pounded the gavel on the lectern.  The Beefy Snack Club was born.

Acryl, Leinwand 15 x 15 cm, Auftrag

För en gångs skull känner jag mig (nästan ) utvilad efter helgen. Jag har tyvärr en tendens att boka in massa grejer så fort jag får en stund över. Och även om det är roliga saker man gör, så blir man trött. Eller det är nog mer att man inte hinner vila. Så i helgen tackade jag nej och valde att bara göra vad som föll mig in istället. Det enda jag hade bokat var promenaden i lördags. Så skönt att komma hem från en lång promenad och veta att man inte ska iväg om en liten stund igen. Utan kunde bara ta det lugnt och göra vad som föll mig in. Precis vad jag behövde.
Även söndagen höll jag obokad. Hade tänkt att eventuellt jobba lite, men det var inget “måste”. Så när jag fick ett sms från Dexter’s matte som undrade om Doris och jag kände för en promenad i regnet, hängde vi på. Promenader tackar vi sällan nej till! Dexter, som är en whippet, bor i huset mittemot oss och han och Doris har hälsat och busat flera gånger. Dock hade vi aldrig gått promenad tillsammans tidigare. Men det gick såklart jättebra. Hundarna kände ju varann så de verkade inte tycka det var något ovanligt.
Vi valde att gå en sväng i V A R L A S K O G E N så vi kunde släppa hundarna. Kanske inte den bästa idén att gå där (ja, det var min idé!), för jäklars vad lerigt det var. Efter en liten stund gick vi förbi en liten äng och stannade så hundarna fick busa lite. Jag hade med mig Doris’ leksak som de kunde busa med. Och jösses, vad Dexter tyckte den var rolig! Och jösses, vad snabb han var. Wroom, wroom, runt, runt, runt. Och ändå syntes det tydligt att han inte ens var i närheten av sin fulla kapacitet. Tror Doris blev lite ställd, ha ha. Hon kom helt av sig när han blåste förbi henne i jakt på leksaken, wroom. Det är hon inte van vid, att någon är snabbare än henne. Fniss. Såg jätteroligt ut, hennes förvirring var total!
Eftersom det regnade väldigt mycket, valde jag att låta kameran vara hemma. Försökte ta kort med mobilen, men det var inte så lätt. Ha ha, lilla Dexter var inte still i två sekunder. Denna dåliga bilden blev bästa kortet.

Ni ska inte tro att Doris var trött efter våran två timmar långa regnpromenad. Nädå. Hon fick sin mat när vi kom hem, så gick hon och la sig (visserligen relativt utslagen) i ca en halvtimma. Sen var det full fart igen. Suck! Mattes lilla monster!

literally and figuratively!  I realized today, while I was needle felting another dog, that I am surrounded by dogs. 

There are the obvious ones…

Paisley, who is trying to stay warm on these cold, rainy days.

My chore buddy, Darby, and of course the two clowns in the previous post.

Then the not so obvious ones -

My son, who likes to pretend he is a dog, and all of his friends - Bernie, Deuce, Fetch, Major, Snook, Clifford, Clifford II, and Charlie.  He doesn’t go anywhere without at least two of them.  He crawls around on the floor, pants, barks, and loves to fetch his ball   Ah, to be a 5-year-old!

Then there are all of the felt dogs that have been created and moved onto their new homes -

Zsof is a Puli.

These Malamute bags are going to be given as awards at the large Portland, OR dog show in January.

A dark brindle French Bulldog named Bruce.

Borzoi brothers – Hawk and Wings.

Rocket the Whippet.

I just finished these and they have been added to my Etsy shop.  A poodle, cocker spaniel, and great dane felted onto my handmade felt and fabric totes.

Luckily I like dogs

i called Chris on my way home today to see what he’d been up to on his day off with the kids.  he told me all about the lovely nap they had in a dogpile on the couch, which caused them to not get around to the park.

sigh.

with the winter hours making daylight nonexistent by the time i get home, it’s more important for Chris to co-parent on the days where he doesn’t to to work early in the day (which is most of them).  the kitchen rugs and chairs take a heavy toll  if the dogs don’t get to run around pretty seriously, so the help is most emphatically requested.  “oh, well, i’ll get them ready now,” he says, “and we’ll go to the park as soon as you get here.”  it was of course full dark by the time we got there, but you could see one big-ish golden mix running around solo, so we decided to give it a go anyway.  the three of them had a nice time sprinting around – Xyla gets nervous and tends to ‘check in with mom’ way more often when there’s a bigger group around – but sighthounds only chase what they see, so that was going to wind down pretty quickly.  one other guy showed up with a big fluffy shepherd mix just as i was bemoaning the sighthound chase phenomenon with, “oh, if only we’d brought the laser pointer.”

“does your dog like those?” he asked.  “mine will chase them sometimes,” he added as he took one out of his pocket right there.  a brief flicker of red on the ground, and Xyla leapt in one of her killing pounces to snuff out the light’s light.  “oh!  i see she does like them!”  he proceeded to wave the pointer up and down the full length of the park while Xyla (and Saxon in the rear) put on wonderfully impressive bursts of speed.  the dogs are usually just jogging along when people at the park remark on how fast they are, but this actually got them nearly up to the same delirious velocities as lure coursing.

and since that’s her fave thing to do, i think she had a pretty happy birthday.

with 2 eager little scatterbrains vying for treats, it can be more than a handful trying to work with these whippets.  both do their standard 3 tricks quite reliably – sit, lay down, and “up” (i abhor using the word “beg” to prompt this behavior because i’m not running a concentration camp here) – plus Xyla will shake with either paw.  now that we’ve got the raw basics, i’m working on refining things and adding new ones, and shaping an idea of manners into them.

one of my issues is the dogfather.  Chris is an animal lover, hands down, and spoils these kids all the time.  but he’s not an animal person, and that’s an important distinction.  i have a theory now about all those dog trainers that say you’ve got to be the alpha dog in your pack (a method which i’ve always ascribed to, because it reliably and effortlessly works for me):  they’re simply the people who just do it naturally.  something about innate confidence and a genuine expectation that of course the dog will do what you say miraculously produces results in a way that negotiating with the dog just doesn’t.  teaching Chris how to teach the dogs has really shifted my mind on this whole cesar milan dominance theory crapola, though.  if someone who didn’t have that natural and innate ability to obtain results bullied his way through it, the results could be utterly disastrous – confusing or depressing for the dog, and with a more powerful creature rather dangerous for the human.  case in point: while eating dinner on the couch, our delicious food attracts canine attention.  Xyla usually takes one look at me, gives it up as futile, and goes back to sleep.  Saxon, though, is a world-class opportunist, and an optimistic one at that.  once Chris and i get settled in, Sax hops off the couch and heads over to Chris, laying down as close as possible, with the tragic eyes cranked up to 11.  Chris has to be reminded that letting the dogs beg in the first place is right out, and then he has to raise his voice to an angry-toned near-shout to drive our wayward chowhound back to his corner of the couch.  i need merely a firm one-word command (“couch” works pretty well) in a normal tone & volume to produce quicker results.  if i actually shouted at him, poor Sax would collapse into a heap and act like he’d been thrashed soundly for an hour or so – my baby boy is a rather sensitive fellow.  but Saxon never tries this shenanigan with me in the first place.  it would be right easy to declare that this is due to the dogs viewing me as a dominant and Chris as a mere equal.  i don’t anymore believe that’s the whole case.

step one is clearly work on consistency with Chris – we had a primer on operant conditioning a couple of days ago.  understand what the goal is, then shape towards it.  we gotta both be on the same page for all the goals, or we’ll keep undoing the other’s work.

other goals:

• get them to respond to names individually, and “pups” as a group.  Saxon’s not getting any love when i call Xyla by name, and vice versa.  we’re working on small training sessions in the kitchen involving lots of treats to get them to think about this.
• get them to quickly and reliably come when called.  i’d like them to pay a little more attention to me at the dog park, so that if they were bothering a smaller dog it would be easier to call them away.  when not distracted, they get about a B- in coming when called.  a more consistent response to this would be important for:
• get them safe with off-leash walks.  obviously, this goal is NOT for around the deer- and squirrel- and kid-infested neighborhood, but if i was at the beach or a big park, i’d love for them to be able to wander a bit.  over at Saving for Sesame, they make it sound so simple.  gotta work up the courage to try this out.

Estávamos na Zara, no domingo, quando de repente vejo dois cachorros dentro da loja, um no colo da dona e outro na coleira. Eles estavam dentro da loja mesmo! Achei o máximo. No Brasil, se você tem cachorro, você fica limitado a ir com seu amigo aos poucos lugares que ele pode freqüentar. Aqui na Itália, o melhor amigo do homem tem espaço, e acho que é por isso que são tão educados.

Você olha para um restaurante, e, de repente, debaixo da mesa, surge uma cabecinha. É um cãozinho.

Esse coker estava dentro de uma lojinha na Taormina, e fica na porta “recepcionando” os clientes.

Essa whippet aqui embaixo é a Ana Rite. A dona dela é a dona dessa loja e possui outros 11 cachorros da mesma raça. Na loja estava também a whippet Denise, mas segundo a dona, ela é esnobe e não sai debaixo da mesa por nada. Muito engraçada.

Definitivamente, os cães estão inseridos na sociedade. Por isso, outro dia, vi na estação de trem de Reggio, um cego sendo guiado por seu cão guia, andando super à vontade.

Igår var det farsdag och det firade vi med att Janne fick kaffe och paket vid sängen. Barnen hade ritat teckningar och skrivit kort. Vi hade självklart gjort det samma till Joakim, han fick fint kort och teckningar av barnen. Jag försökte göra dagen till en positivt dag, barnen hade ju två pappor att fira, det är ju inte alla barn som har det.

Vi väntade besök på em så jag bakade kladdkakemuffins och en liten kaka efter Jannes önskemål.

Gustav är fortfarande sjuk så han har mest legat inne. Han har haft feber, ont i hals och huvud sedan i torsdagskväll.

Eftermiddagen spenderade vi i trädgården för att försöka få upp alla miljoner löv som ligger i hela trädgården. Krattade i fina högar men hade inte mycket för det… För när vännerna A och L kom hade de med sig sina Whippets och de sprang järnet med Baccus och det var ju extra kul att springa i de stora lövhögarna.

Underbara Meggie som blivit drygt 10år.

Baccus har redan blivit 8månader och är FULL av energi.

Ela chegou hoje aqui em casa: chama-se Filomena, ou simplesmente Filó, para os mais íntimos.

Filomena de olho em você!

Para ver mais fotos dela, clique aqui.

sometimes, of course, dogs can be “bad” (concept in air-quotes because animals don’t make moral judgements).  these dogs are pretty darn good, but even if they were evil, it’d be pretty simple for them to avoid much punishment.  see, they’re genetically evolved to be too cute for harsh words:

yes, the cuddle together all the time.  and no, i don’t have to pose them, it’s just genetic awesomeness.

Gemälde, Acryl, 25 x 30 cm, Auftragsarbeit “2 of a kind”

C-Biscuit, the original Real House Whippet of NY

The Real House Whippets’ October Expenses:

• Food/Treats: $269
• Supplies:  $57
• Gear/Equipment: $139
• Book: $13 

Total: $478

Free Range: In an effort to save on dog food, the House Whippets try grazing.

Food/Treats: We think Picchu is overeating. We are considering sending her to Whipwatchers.

Supplies: A large Kong, and 800 biodegradable pick-up bags.

Gear/Equipment: Includes $63 for two dog whistles (I thought I lost mine, then found it in my backpack – now we have 3!), $12 for a safety vest for Picchu, and $64 for Sesame’s Ruff Wear back pack. 

Book: Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor. 

Shortlink for this article: http://wp.me/ptNqu-gE

Acryl, Leinwand 160 x 50 cm,Eig.: Andrea Brunn