Tongue

I saw this bulldog last weekend and had to take his picture. While bulldogs can be aggressive this guy was a gentle giant. The only thing to fear is if he tried to jump on you, that could land you flat on the ground in a hurry. Thankfully his owner caught him before he jumped on me to give me a kiss...



I'm sure I would have needed a shower after a kiss from this tongue.

Later
D

You Dirty Dog!

I've previously mentioned how much Trixie likes to dig in the yard. She's small and doesn't really do much damage and other than a dirty nose and a bit of dirt on her paws she doesn't get too bad.

Fast forward to this week. We have had rain all week. Any ground not covered in grass is a muddy mess. Trixie decided she needed to dig in a corner of the yard. She has never been so dirty.

There was a lot of dirt to remove. It is caked around her nose and mouth. There is heavy staining on her paws.

When I gave her a bath tonight, I had to shampoo her twice because her feet were so stained with Georgia red clay stain. There is still some stains on her paws.

She really is a bundle of energy.

I wonder how long she will stay clean this time.

Later
D

The Pounce!

Our Papillon dog and our Manx cat have a love / hate relationship. Some days, they play and chase each other having fun. Other days they fight like, well cats and dogs.

Today I was outside taking pictures of the lovely flowers that are blooming in our neighborhood, when I noticed Trixie was down in our empty pool. Until this past week she wouldn't go near it. However, our cat has always found the empty pool an interesting place to explore and I wonder if that lead Trixie to become curious and want to explore too.

Anyway, as I was taking pictures she came out of the pool. She decided to wait on Hobbes who was also down there.

She wanted to pounce on him as soon as he clears the top step.

I'm not sure if she was playing or taunting.


I am quiet sure Hobbes was not in a playful mood when he exited.

He didn't find her game fun.



If you look closely through the bush, you can see Hobbes' right paw raised to smack Trixie. They both ran off and I can't say who was chasing whom.


I can report they are both now laying in the floor resting. So no harm no foul.

Have a nice Sunday afternoon.

Later
D

Trixie's been bored

With the new grandbaby and Mom's heart problem, I've been too busy to take Trixie on our normal walk. I haven't played with as much as normal either. Well when you don't walk a dog or play with them enough to make them tired, they will find their own entertainment.

She has gone back to chewing my things. I'll have to get a new security badge at work tomorrow. I just hope I have enough of my current one to get in the door tomorrow morning. I can't be too mad at her when I haven't given her an outlet for all her energy. The Papillon breed is very active and definitely needs exercise everyday.

She also loves to find treasures in the yard. She loves to dig. Thankfully she doesn't dig too deeply.

(Oh, I found a treasure:)
Once she finds something she sticks her nose into the hole and eventually her face and feet are covered with dirt.

(What, I wasn't digging.)


The funniest thing to me, is when she comes in with dirt all over her face and acts like she hasn't been in the dirt at all.

(Really, I've not been digging!)


She makes me smile. ...most of the time anyway.

It's Time

When we brought Trixie home last January, she was only 8 weeks old and weighed 2 lbs. The first toy we bought for her was a colorful rope toy. It was on sale and it has been the best $1 spent on her.

Her favorite games are tug-of-war and fetch. She will chase the rope or ball as long as you will throw it.

Now after almost a year, it's time. The poor rope has come apart and no longer resembles it's former self. We tried to twist it back into shape and tie the ends. However, it doesn't last but a toss or shake or two and it's right back in disarray.

I see a visit to our local Petsmart soon.

Later
D

Wildflowers

While we were at the Armuchee Bluegrass Festival over the Labor Day Weekend, we stayed at a little hotel near by. There was an open field across the parking lot and I took Trixie there for her morning walk each day. While we wondered around and Trixie looked for just the right spot to do her business, I took pictures of the lovely wildflowers that were in bloom. Some of the flowers were obviously from flower beds but the seeds had been scooped up in the fill dirt that had been dumped at the site.

I love the way the sun relfects off the blooms.

More pictures soon.

Later

D

Our Little Helper

A 10 month old dog is about like having a three year old child. They understand much of what you tell them, but they can't or don't always listen to you. With that in mind we have done our best during the Kitchen Project, to keep things out of reach of our Papillon Trixie. Even doing the best we can, she still finds things that could be dangerous. I found a bolt in her bed that she stole from something. We're still trying to identify where it goes.

Yesterday, John was priming the cabinet doors and left them on the patio to dry. Bringing them in for the evening, he found Trixie paid them a visit too.

One door had the undeniable evidence that her curiosity had gotten the better of her.


Since her art work is on the inside of the door, we're debating whether to paint over it...

What do you think?

Later
D

Things Can Change So Quickly

I gave our pup, Trixie, a bath the other day and was finally able to get some pictures of her clean and fluffy. So I played around with the effects on her picture. I thought it made her look rather regal.


But she is a dog that loves to get in the dirt. To dig and play.


So just a few minutes after the picture above,

she looked like this.


...guess it's time for another bath.

Drop It

We are working on obedience training for our little dog, Trixie. One of the commands is "drop it" to get her to drop whatever she has in her mouth. The second part of that command is "leave it." This has been very challenging and it's going to require much more practice and patience on our part before we have success. She doesn't want to let go of her treasure, even when it's something that might do her harm. Then when we do get her to "drop it", she won't "leave it," she will pick it right back up.

I became very frustrated as we worked on this the other day and it occurred to me that this is very much like leaving our burdens at the feet of Jesus. The Bible tells us in Matthew 15:30 that those that were sick were laid at Jesus' feet and He healed them.

And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:

I had a "Wow" moment, with I realized that I too "drop" my problems at Jesus' feet only to pick them up again. I've not learned my lesson either.


Looks like I need to work on "drop it" and "leave it" too.

Later
D

Miss Trixie's growing up (Friday Foto Finish)

Trixie is now just over 8 months old. I didn't realize how much she has changed until I looked at these pictures. From a scared tiny little pup of one month old the first time we saw her. To a two month old ready to explore and snuggle when we brought her home. Then an excited "teen" as she is growing up. I can't seem to remember what it was like before she came into our lives six short months ago.

1 month old









Two months old and her first day with us.
She was around 2 lbs her first trip to the vet.









So small but a big attitude.










Even so young it was difficult to get her still long enough to get a good picture.









She is growing up. She is a sweetie, but she still has an attitude and a seemingly endless supply of energy. She will chase her ball or rope all evening.









She is a trouble maker. She torments our 13 year old cat Hobbes. She steals paper and other "treasures" from the trash. Mainly she has stolen my heart. She is a love and has made my life better for being in it.

Join us for Friday Foto Finish at Candid Carrie. Tell her Debbie from Just Some Random Thoughts sent you.

Trixie

Our 8 mo papillon pup, Trixie, loves to run. We have a fenced backyard and she will zoom around the yard as fast as she can with her tail waving behind her like a flag. If always makes me laugh to see her fun full out.

When I tried to take a picture of her running with my old camera it was always a blur. Since I've gotten the new Canon Rebel, with the "sports" setting, I have actually been able to catch her in action. I love the look of sheer joy on her face as she runs by.












While these pictures aren't in perfect focus, I still love them because she looks so happy and free running full out.














I can't help but smile.
Later
D

One Tired Pooch

Trixie was so tired on the trip home that she slept most of the way. She laid on a pillow between the front seats with her head hung over the vent and snoozed away.

She had a very good time on vacation too.

Our First Obedience Class

Tonight was the first class of an 8-week course in obedience. I say our first class because the training is as much for the dog owner as for the dog. The instructor explained this first 8 week session is really about teaching the owners how to train. That's not to say that there won't be any dog training going on. That will happen too, but slowly and in the correct way, with lots of patience and consistent practice. A few minutes at a time several times a day. A puppy's attention span is only a few minutes at a time so 2 - 5 minutes is plenty.

Tonight's class was mostly introductions and going over some basics. Josh, our instructor, is having us focus on getting our pups to respond to their name. Homework is also to work on sit and down.

The class was smaller than expected, with only three dogs tonight. Josh, our instructor, said seven dogs had registered. Since Trixie is a small breed, Papillon, I wondered if the class would be separated according to the breed size. It wasn't. In addition to Trixie, our class consisted of a five month old female Boxer that did extremely well considering how active Boxers are. And a seven month old that looked Ilka a Vizsla / Lab mix, named Chicken Nugget. (He's called Nugget)

Puppies being puppies, there was some barking, lots of sniffing and a bit of jumping. I am rather glad that there wasn't a full class. At home Trixie will go out in the backyard and bark until the neighbor dogs come out. They then proceed to bark at each other for a little while, then run back and forth on either side of the fence until they get tired. I knew she was the one that often started things at home. What I didn't expect was that she was doing the same thing in class but more subtly. She would lay quietly, or sniff around a bit. But then she would move toward the middle of the room and plant her feel and stare at "Nugget". She didn't bark, she made no sound at all, just a stare. Nugget would react by standing up and barking and trying to chase her. Yeah the smallest dog in the place was the trouble maker. Go figure.

Homework = Name,Sit, Down, and definitely more exercise just before the next class.

I hope to post each week to keep a record of how things are going in these classes. It will be nice to look back at the end of the eight weeks to see just how far we have come.

Later
D

Disappointment

Our Papillon puppy is now a bit over six months old and we took her to be spayed yesterday. She was dropped off around 11 AM and John picked her up at 9 AM this morning.

As I have mentioned before our 13 year old Manx cat, Hobbes, and Trixie aren't exactly "best buds" and while they are generally tolerant, there are still times when they really go at each other. (Especially if there is chicken involved.) However, I think Hobbes, almost missed her a little bit at first, but by this morning he was getting comfortable being the only pet again. Then today Trixie came home and though she was still a bit groggy and just laid around, he was visibly upset that his domain had once again been invaded by this "creature." If a cat can be disappointed, Hobbes was definitely disappointed.

By this evening, things are back to normal. Hobbes is in the other room sulking. Trixie is trying to get John to throw her "rope" without much success, since we've been given strict instructions to keep her quite and limit her activity for several days.

We are starting obedience training on Friday. I have a hope that by the time the 8 week course is over Trixie will be calmer and she and Hobbes will finally get along. I know I dreaming but then what else are dreams for?

Later
D

Around the Neighborhood

As I've mentioned, we have a six month old Papillon puppy and have been working on leash training. To say the least it is a work in progress, with some days being better than others. Recently on her first walk around the neighborhood, I had the opportunity to see things through her eyes. As we walked along she saw a bird on the ground for the first time. That was a hoot. I was so very glad I had a good hold on the leash. She jumped and ran so quickly I was amazed how hard the leash jerked. Without the leash she would have been long gone and I would have been crawling through the woods trying to catch her. She was also very interested in all the different smells we encountered along our walk. Smells of other animals that had walked the same path, a chipmunk, the birds. Not being accustomed to being on a leash, she tugged and pulled, coughed, sneezed, choked and was very tired by the time we reached home again. She had a very exciting first trip around the neighborhood. I on the other hand noticed the plants, the differences in the landscape down the street as she explored them. I discovered we have at least two families of cardinals.

When we came back to the house after a short rest, she was still in the discovery mode so I took her out to the back yard. Everything she found had to be checked out, pine cones, sweet gum balls, bark from the flower beds. It is like watching a baby discover their world. Everything is new and to be examined. I am enjoying watching her as she grows and learns about her world. Although I'm not always as enthusiast about cleaning up the "treasures" she sometimes brings into the house.

Road Trip

We are going out of town for the first time since we brought home Miss Trixie, our Papillon puppy. We took her to a Bluegrass Festival last weekend and she did very well. At the fair grounds where the event took place there was also a dog show. I stopped by to see what it was all about and found it was an agility trial. I made some good contacts for getting her trained and involved with the club. She did very well around the other dogs. I was very glad to see she did not bark at everything in sight.

Today we are taking her with us to a Bluegrass Festival that is out of town. I am reminded of the days when our son was little and we had to pack the house to go anywhere. I'm looking forward to some much needed R&R and hope this will be a fun weekend for all.