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Putting My Foot in My …

… mouth seems to be a habit of mine. I don’t do it regularly, thank goodness, but when I do it, I do it. It’s not that I am trying to be mean or anything. Just that I sometimes say things that offend people.

This time it was someone I don’t even know. Someone I’ve never even met. I didn’t even know her name until today. Not that I’m going to broadcast that name here…

I’ll just call her SpunkyMom. She’s the “older” woman I mentioned in my day-after-Thanksgiving post who had adopted K before us, but returned her after a couple of weeks. I reported in that obnoxious post that SpunkyMom had returned K after realizing “K has way too much energy.”

I didn’t choose SpunkyMom as a moniker for nothing.

SpunkyMom is actually one of my blog fans. She checks it out regularly to get K updates. (See, people? I told you there are folks that LIKE reading all the dog stuff and seeing the pics I post.)

SpunkyMom has not been able to comment for some reason (you are not alone, Spunky!). So she asked K’s foster Mom to pass along this message:

“… I am not an old woman – I’m 65 years young with a young 40 year old daughter living at home with me and I didn’t give her up because she was too energetic for me but because I loved her so much in those two short weeks, loved her enough to realize she was unhappy being alone all day while we were at work – she cried when we left and often cried during the day according to the neighbors – and I wanted her to be happy – I knew she needed someone home during the day to be with her.”

I really don’t think SpunkyMom was offended, as in P-O’d. I think she just wanted to set the record straight. I admire that. I also admire the fact that she did, in fact, do the right thing. I can’t imagine K being crated or even just left home alone all day.

Here’s K on my lap as I work.

Typically, with rescue groups like NBRAN and ABR, adopters are required to sign a contract. One of the things on the contract has to do with allowing a six-month adjustment period. Sometimes, dogs have issues that just need time to resolve. I have to admit, I almost returned Meg. Until CeCe’s foster mom, who I must have been whining to, reminded me of the six-month commitment.

Belle and K sleeping while I work.

Anyway… not all dogs fit all homes. The being home alone thing and crying thing weren’t going to be resolved any time soon. NBRAN, being the responsible, dog-centric organization that it is, realized this and agreed that K could be returned.

SpunkyMom was right. Apparently no one realized K is a dog with separation anxiety (mild, I think). She lucked out finding a home with another young, energetic dog and me, a “regional employee” that works from my home office. Not to mention Hubby, aka “Dad.” (I am “Mama” to the dogs.)

I mentioned the six-month commitment for a very specific reason. To point out that a lesser person, NOT someone like SpunkyMom, might have just dumped K somewhere. They might have been embarrassed to admit defeat. Or afraid they would never get the opportunity to adopt another dog.

So… the point of this long, rambling post is to tell SpunkyMom I am sorry. I assumed it was an energy thing mainly because I know I probably wouldn’t be able to keep K sufficiently exercised if it weren’t for Belle. The girl likes to run.

Actually, SpunkyMom, I should also thank you. Because K really is a perfect fit here. She’s not a perfect dog, but none of her issues are insurmountable. And we do enjoy having her.

I promise to never again infer that you are old. Please feel free to check in for K updates.

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I can’t remember if I posted these here previously. The images that follow are examples of what has become typical behavior during my workday teleconferences.



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The Day-After Doldrums

Can I just say that I hate the term, “Black Friday”? I do. In all honesty, I hate what Black Friday has become. It’s just one more example of the over-commercialization of Christmas.

Not that I am super (or even remotely) religious. But Christmas should be about families and friends sharing and treasuring the time together. Giving gifts if you want to and not because you feel like you have to. Gifts that you choose, that have some meaning or are special in some way.

Anyway… I won’t go on and on.

Thinking about Christmas just puts me in a bad mood. So I’ll talk about Thanksgiving instead, even if it is history.

This is the first time Hubby and I have spent Thanksgiving at the WV place. It was quiet. Very, very quiet. It also happened to be K’s first time here. (Yep, I’m back to talking about dogs again.)

Poor K. She’s only been with us for two weeks. Before that, it was three weeks in a foster home (don’t worry, it was a great one). Prior to that, about two weeks with an older woman who adopted her and then realized K has way too much energy. Before that, a couple of weeks in the same foster home. And before that, she was in a shelter, but I don’t know for how long.

To make a long story short, the girl has been around.

So, I wonder what she was thinking when she was loaded into a vehicle, AGAIN, and taken to a strange house? At least she was with us. But dogs don’t get the concept of a vacation home. And it’s tiny. Way smaller than the MD place. All of the floors are slippery, too. So not only is there no room to run, it’s very hard for the dogs to run.

All in all, K seems to have adjusted to this house well, too. In the picture above, she’s in her new bed. The one that I made too skinny. But all the dogs seems to like it.

Yesterday afternoon, I gave them all some treats. K is on one of the bigger beds in this image.

Anyway, K does seem to like it here, except for the fact that we can’t let her off leash to run. She is one of those dogs that has a super-sensitive nose, and when she gets onto a scent, that’s all she is focused on. So, until we teach her to come when called every single time, no matter what she is doing, she’s going to be on a leash.

I feel bad, because Meg and Belle get to run ahead of us, fast, through the woods. But I’d feel worse if K disappeared, never to be seen by us again.

Speaking of running through the woods… it’s hunting season. That time of year when we make the dogs wear their “don’t shoot me” vests. So no idiot mistakes one of the dogs for a deer. I made Meg and C’s vests, but I haven’t gotten around to making vests for Belle and K. So, Belle had to borrow C’s vest…

… which still says CeCe, by the way. I think C would understand.

Hopefully, before we come back, Belle and K will have their own vests to wear. They won’t be blaze orange, though. I could tell you what color they will be, but what fun is that? Then you wouldn’t have anything to look forward to!

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Don’t Quit Your Day Job

Things have been pretty quiet on the home front as we adjust to life with K, dog #3. She’s actually dog #4. Our first dog, CeCe, passed away just over a year ago. That means we are currently sharing our home with three dogs.

K is the first dog of ours to come from NBRAN, the National Brittany Rescue and Adoption Network. C, Meg and Belle were all adopted through ABR, American Brittany Rescue. Both are wonderful organizations full of dedicated, dog-loving people. They both have lots of dogs in need of a home, too.

When we decided to add dog #3, as a playmate for Belle, we were pretty specific about what we needed. There were no ABR dogs that fit the bill at the time. That’s how we ended up with NBRAN. And I’m glad, too, because we got the coolest little dog.

Anyway… I promised her foster Mom I’d keep her up-to-date with progress reports. I told Belle’s foster Mom that, too, which is one of the reasons you see so much dog stuff on here.

Fortunately for K’s foster Mom, I remembered that Hubby’s camera takes videos. So I’ve been trying to shoot little slice-of-life shorts to share. They are not particularly riveting for the average viewer. But I think my dog-loving friends enjoy them.

I shot the above video yesterday around 2:30 when I went downstairs to make lunch. I thought it was cute. When I showed Hubby, he said, “Don’t quit your day job.”

“What? You don’t like my video?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that,” he explained. “I just don’t think it will have any huge mass appeal.”

He probably has a point. But today, I have nothing better to talk about. So I hope you enjoyed Lunchtime.

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Training Day

Today marks a full week since we adopted K, dog number 3. She’s not perfect (what dog is?), but she is a really good dog. While we are not quite ready to leave the dogs alone for any significant periods of time yet, we don’t have to watch them quite so closely. Hubby and I spent a good deal of time cleaning up leaves (again!) today. The dogs were cavorting in the yard for hours. Not unattended, but not closely scrutinized either.

Of course, if I weren’t already convinced that it was safe, that wouldn’t have happened. But I’ve been watching the dogs so closely all week, I feel like I’ve been monitoring some sort of science experiment.

It’s really neat seeing them together. Just as we’d hoped, Belle and K are ideal playmates. But there is one problem with K. She has a super-sensitive nose. And when she gets on the scent of something, she is very focused. So focused that when we tell her to come to us, she doesn’t always listen.

Which could be a problem at the WV place where there’s lots of critters and no fences. So Hubby has been working with K daily, weather permitting. He’s been working with the other girls, too, since, like kids, they are very jealous of each other. If we do something with one dog, we tend to do it with the others, too.

K does come after being told to stay for a period, but she just sort of mosies along. Hubby hoped maybe Belle would speed her up a bit. He said it sped her up a little bit.

In the photo above, K is still staying, although she did stand up. Belle, on the other hand, jumped the gun a bit. I had to take pictures from inside the house so as not to cause any distraction.

It was nice being able to watch while Hubby did his training thing.

Here they are holding in a “down” and “stay” position while Hubby slowly backs away.

Then, when he blows his whistle, they come. Well, that’s the idea anyway. K needs a little bit of practice. Personally, I think she’s just not completely sure about us yet. She likes us, she’s just not as used to the routine, our personalities, mannerisms, etc., as the other girls.

Meg had a turn, too. She and Belle are both good with the “come” and “sit” commands. But we’ve never really had to use “stay” much. Well, we could have used it many times, but we never needed it enough to enforce.

Hubby says Meg is the best of the three with the “stay” command.

You can really see the focus on her face.

Yep, that is serious focus. Do you think the cut-up bits of chicken hot dogs he’s using as a reward have anything to do with that?

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Horrible Timing

Yesterday was my mother-in-law’s birthday. I did not forget it was her birthday. I totally meant to post a picture of her yesterday and announce her big day. But it was one of those crazy-busy days at work. I think I set a record for consecutive and cumulative minutes spent on the telephone.

Anyway, sorry for posting this late, Mom!

Happy Birthday!

I did remember to call at least.

For all of you out there thinking, “Uh, oh. You pissed your mother-in-law off! Your life is ruined…” She’s not like that. She knows I love her. And I did call, but couldn’t talk to her because her girlfriends had her out and about for the day.

Aside from work, there really wasn’t much excitement around here. But there was no time for excitement because of work. And for those of you thinking I really don’t work all that much because I work from home, or thinking you want an easy job like mine… it ain’t all that easy. And sometimes I work many more hours than I would if I were in a office.

I did manage to get a few cute dog pics though.

Meg sleeps like this all of the time. Belle, not so much. So it really tickles me when I catch her because I just think she’s the cutest little dog in the world.

I saw a lot of this yesterday. I often wonder if, during teleconferences, anyone thinks, “Hmmm. Was that the sound of a camera taking pictures? Who would take pictures during a phone call?”

Meg and Belle promptly ate their rawhides in the family room last night, as usual. K took hers to my office and saved it for later. So, later, while I continued working and K ate her chewy, Belle was jealous.

And now, for my favorite shot of the day…

… our three dogs. L-R, Belle, Meg and K (I think of her as Special K because she’s so sweet AND her coloring, especially her feet, makes me think of a Hershey’s Special candy bar).

Today MIGHT be more exciting. Maybe I’ll have better pics tomorrow. Based on my schedule for the day, don’t hold your breath.

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You Be the Judge

With all this talk of K, the new dog, some folks may be wondering what’s going to happen to Meg. Will she feel left out? Ignored? Shunned?

Remember, part of the reason we decided to add dog #3 was for Meg’s benefit. Belle needed a playmate so she’d quit harassing poor ole Meg.

And you know what? I think it’s working…

Meg gets to mosey around the yard, doing what she wants when she wants.

Meanwhile, the other girls get to run.

Meg gets to soak up the sun (one of her favorite pastimes) completely unmolested…

…while the young girls wrestle like fools in the leaves.

Meg gets to observe, from afar, the chaos around her. And she knows to relocate when necessary.

The young girls also get to hunt. You really should click on the above image to see it large for a better view. Our backyard is full of moles. (I have more hunting pics to share later.)

So, you be the judge. Does Meg look unhappy? Or relieved?