New Frontiers

I did something Monday night that I haven't done before.  I'd thought about it, but I hadn't gathered the courage to do it yet.  I guess the bronchitis has addled my brain a bit.  At least, that's the theory I'm going with to explain my bout of temporary insanity. 

I suppose you're wondering what it is that I decided to do.  I decided to take Morgan for a walk by myself for the first time.  Of course, I also took Bunny along, too.  We had to get our Idita Walk minutes in before the bitter cold hit on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Fortunately, Monday was just warm enough that the snow on the roads was a bit slushy and not slick as ice like it had been previously. 

Morgan gets serious bouts of Cabin Fever when she doesn't get her regular walks.  Mr. Taleteller has a bit of an aversion to the cold weather walks and I often settle for putting it off when he doesn't want to go.  I could go out by myself and take Bunny, but that seems unfair to Morgan who really needs the exercise.  I'm also guessing that my nieghbors appreciate not having to hear her howl the whole time Bunny and I would be away from the house.  I know Morgan well enough to know that walking her is not like walking the hounds. 

Still, I'm no stranger to walking two dogs.  There was even a time when I regularly walked three Greyhounds at once.  Bunny is used to walking with me and Blueberry, so I knew she could handle it, and it's not like she and Morgan don't know each other.  What could go wrong?  I told myself that we'd just walk the short route and get our thirty minutes in.  That would kill the time it would take Mr. Taleteller to get home from his after work meeting. 

As we started out, I was patting myself on the back.  We were walking along and I even had both dogs' leashes in one hand.  Morgan was surfing the snowbanks while Bunny was demonstrating her perfect walking techniuque for me.  I couldn't believe I'd waited so long to try walking the girls together on my own.  I didn't need Mr. Taleteller to wrangle any dog!  I could do it all on my own.

When we got to the turning point between the short walk and the long walk, I started to think about doing the whole long route.  However, that's when my bronchitis decided to rear its ugly head and remind me that I am not invincible after all.  So, we made a turn and headed towards home, albeit reluctantly on all our parts.  We passed the school and there was some event happening that had a lot of cars parked or driving along the road.  I muttered a bit under my breath about people refusing to stop and let us by and we crossed the street to walk in the church parking lot, which was cleared much better anyway. 

As we passed through the parking lot, Morgan could see people walking around across the street and she went into alert mode.  I talked to her and she managed to make it past them all without showing her wolfy side.  I was so proud of my girls as we crossed the street and got within a block of our house.  At the corner, there was a house with a giant black lab tied out in front for his powder room break.  Morgan was on full alert by this point, but still holding it together.  I kept reminding her that I was there and thought we'd actually make it past when Bunny was overcome by the spirit of playfulness.  She did a little play bow and I said her name with that warning tone that signals I'm serious and must be obeyed.

Morgan's control snapped when Bunny started trying to get the lab to come and play.  The next thing I knew Morgan was leaping over Bunny in a move that the makers of the Matrix movies would have been in awe over.  Bunny ducked under her in perfect execution of her ninja play bow and I braced myself to go down hard as Morgan and the other dog both started to bark.  However, they had managed to twist their leashes together and instead of pulling against me, they pulled on each other.  I had to laugh as they both took a moment to pause.  The woman came to the door and reeled the black beast inside and I convinced Morgan and Bunny that going home was a good idea.  

I learned some things through this experience.  First is that I can walk Morgan and Bunny at the same time.  Second, there's a big dog that now lives along one of our usual walking routes.  Third, the next time I take Morgan and Bunny out together it will be warmer and dry on the ground.  Fourth, if I decide to walk Blueberry with Morgan and Bunny both then I need some sort of intervention.

We’re participating in this Saturday’s Pet Blog Hop, hosting by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

Wordless Wednesday 2/2 -- Winter's Majesty

Wordless Wednesday 12/8 -- Snow Angels

Let It Snow!

Bunny here at the keyboard to share pictures of our first snow of the season.

Friday night it started snowing and we were supposed to get just two or three inches.  Saturday morning we woke up and found out that we got a lot more snow than that.  It was so pretty as the flakes floated down out of the sky.  Mom and Dad had a talk and then they got me and Morgan into the van.  We headed off for the dog park.  Blueberry and Lilac do not like to get their feet wet or cold, so they stayed home.

We got to the dog park to find out that we had it all to ourselves.  Morgan and I were thrilled.  We set out to make good use of our time in the snow.  We thought a lot about our Siberian friends who have been missing the snow and wished we could share it with them.

There were squirrels in the park, too, and Morgan and I took a little time to hunt for them.  However, we simply had too much energy to spend much time sniffing for squirrels.  We had running to do.

Morgan gave her jingle bells a test run, and I have to say, they sounded great!  All you could hear was the birds, the squirrels scolding us from the trees and Morgan's bells.  We were really able to fly out there!

It was great to play in the snow, and Morgan and I really had an exciting time.  Hopefully everybody else had as much fun this weekend as we did.  It wasn't hiking, but it sure was fun!

You Rang?

It sure seems like getting to bed at our house is becoming a big production lately.  Sometimes I wonder if there's a hidden camera in our bedroom.  We seem to be living some kind of sit com reality show.

Usually, at about 10:00, Mr. Taleteller takes the girls out for thier last powder room break of the night.  They all come back inside and get their bedtime treat.  We watch the news and maybe the beginning of the Tonight Show, then we start heading to bed.  If I'm lucky, my husband waits for me to get done using the bathroom before I head into the bedroom and crawl under the covers.  If not, I usually have to convince Morgan or Bunny to move over so I can get in bed. 

So, I get in bed and start reading.  Mr. Taleteller moves Lilac's favorite dog bed into the bedroom and fluffs it up in her spot.  Then he climbs into bed, and Morgan jumps up there, does a brief patrol to make sure we've both gotten into bed safely and then flops down near the foot of the bed.  Soon Bunny will appear, and she'll have to be escorted back up to the top of the bed by her personal bodyguard, Morgan.  She will stand and stare at us, then let out a little huff and begin pawing at the quilts.  I'll lift one edge of my quilt and she'll climb underneath it and lay down against me, curled up for the night.  After a bit of reading, I'll get tired, put the nook down and turn off the light.

I'll have a brief wrestling match with Bunny because when I turn over to turn off the light, she'll roll over into my spot or she'll be laying against me so hard that it's causing my back and leg to go numb.  Being the wonderful husband that he is, Mr. Taleteller will then get involved and move Bunny over, even though she has managed to increase her weight to five hundred pounds simply by closing her eyes.  She will let out a yelp or a small Greyhound Scream of Death, Morgan will be alerted and come to be sure we aren't doing something to her Bunny.  After that problem is solved, we both curl up comfortably and start to drift off.

This is Lilac's cue to begin barking.  I am not talking about normal barking here, either.  When she gets started, it's like a ten thousand decibal seal barking in the bedroom.

Mr Taleteller:  Oh no!

Me:  (whispering)  Be quiet!  If she hears you, she'll just get worse!

Mr. Taleteller:  You're kidding, right?  She's deaf!  She can't hear anything!

Me:  She can hear the rattle of the treat jar!

Mr. Taleteller:  I've been scammed!

Me:  Of course you have!

Lilac:  Dammit!  Get up and fetch me something, you do nothings!

So, one of us gets up to see what the old lady wants.  After that mystery is solved, we begin to drift off to sleep again.  Soon, we're awake again. 

Morgan:  I don't want to disturb you, but I think you forgot to pet me good night.

Me:  I did pet you!  Don't step on Bunny!

Morgan:  Oh, is she under there?  Bunny, are you okay?

Me:  GO TO SLEEP!

Morgan:  I'll just be going to sleep now!

Thank goodness Blueberry goes to sleep and stays wherever she started out.  If only they could all take lessons from her.  Is it possible that we're living in a sit com and nobody told us?

We're participating in this Saturday's Pet Blog Hop, hosting by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you'd like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

Around The Campfire

Bunny here at the keyboard to share our weekend's adventures while Mom's off fretting over Blueberry and working.

This weekend was a little different for us.  Besides our news about Blueberry, we had a lot of things planned.  One of those things was that Dad's neice had a birthday party.  She loves, loves, loves camping and always has wanted to have a camping trip for her birthday, which is the day before Halloween.  Every year, it's been rained out, so last year, they rented a cabin at Camp Wokanda so that everyone could camp, but they didn't have to worry about the rain cancelling the trip or the fun.  Since it was so much fun last year, they decided to make it an annual family event.  This weekend was when they picked to have it. 

We didn't camp out there, because Dad's younger brothers and sisters, Number 8, Number 9 and Number 6 can get a bit wild and crazy, and because we didn't want to be away from Blueberry and Lilac too much.  Still, we didn't want to disappoint the birthday girl, so we went out and had s'mores Friday night and sat around the campfire.  Dad decided that since Morgan can be a little Sheperdy, especially in the dark, that she'd stay home Friday night.  So, I was the only one who got to go and eat s'mores.  I really liked that part, and I even had to rough it and lay on the floor on a thin blanket with no dog bed.  I almost wished I'd stayed home when we were outside by the campfire for a while because it was cold!  Thank goodness Mom brought my warm coat to put on over my tummy warmer.  She was nice enough to rub my cold feet when we got back in the cabin, too.

Saturday morning we stayed at home and had a lazy morning before getting ready to go out and hike with the campers.  After some quality Blueberry time, we were all set to go.  This time Morgan went, too, since everybody was asking about her the night before.  We took our backpacks along, but decided not to wear them this time because the climbing was pretty tricky in spots and we were out with the family.  Also, it's hard to wear a backpack when you're wearing your jacket.  We got to the camp and hiked up to the cabin where Mom and Dad ate taco soup with the family. 

While we were waiting for some of the campers to get back from an errand, we went for a short hike down to the pond.  That turned out to be really hard, because there wasn't a trail and it was very steep.  Plus, Number 5 has an oxygen tank and isn't so steady on his feet, but he came with us.  I thought he was going to be a man down, but I wasn't going to be the one to carry him back up to the cabin if he fell.  It was too treacherous.  Anyroo, after a bit of exploring down at the pond, we were ready to head back up.  We scouted for a while to try to find a way for Number 5 to get back up.  Finally we found a path, but several of the people had to pull him back up the hill.  We all made it back to camp and it was time to regroup.

Soon, everybody was ready to go on the big hike.  I was excited to go exploring and so was Morgan.  This time we went on a trail that was built by the boy scouts.  The whole camp used to be a big boy scout camp, but for some reason, they gave it over to the local park district to use for camping rentals and as a conference center.  I can only imagine all the fun the boy scouts had out there over the years.  Many of the trails were enhanced by boys who earned their Eagle Scout badge and I think all the trails were blazed by the scouts. 

I asked Mom if we could rent the cabin again to celebrate my birthday, but she said no.  Hopefully, they'll have something else fun and exciting planned.  I just hope they don't forget my birthday with all the attention on Blueberry the next couple of weeks.  I'm keeping a close eye on Blueberry, too, but I sure do like birthdays!

On This Day In History...

November 4 is an important day in the history of our family.  The fact that two important things in our life on the same date, a year apart, made me ponder some things.  It really gave me the sense that things in life really do come full circle.

A year ago today, we had to say good-bye to Hawk.  His body just couldn't keep going.  We had been in for some tests with him about a week before, and I recall that throughout Halloween night, he slept through the hustle and bustle of trick or treaters coming to the door.  I really thought that he'd bounce back, but we had to let him go even before we found out the results of the tests that were done.  In my heart, I know that even if we'd gotten those results, it still would have been time for him to go.  It was the end of an era for us.  Hawk and Treat were our first Greyhounds and they signified the beginning of our life together and our lives as adults with dogs.  Hawk stayed around long enough to make sure that Bunny was trained in the mysterious way that he and Treat carried themselves, I believe, and having completed those lessons, he moved on to be with Treat.

Two years ago today, a German Shepherd puppy was born.  She's turning out to be a funny, curious and sensitive companion who keeps us on our toes.  Sharing life with a Shepherd isn't like sharing life with a Greyhound, but it has its own rewards.  After Hawk passed away, our plan was to stay at three dogs, and then after Lilac passed, we'd go down to two, which was what we'd really planned to be at anyway.  Life takes turns we don't expect, though, and here Morgan is with us in a four dog household again. 

I have a feeling Hawk is happy with his successor.  Morgan has some of the same traits that Hawk had.  She likes to have everyone stay together, just like he did.  He didn't do head counts like Morgan does, but I'm sure that if he'd seen it in action, he'd heartily approve.  Hawk was always protective of Treat and me.  Morgan considers herself Bunny's personal body guard at the dog park, and she always has to know where I am, too.  Hawk was really goofy, and I loved watching him play.  Morgan could be a one dog entertainment show most of the day.

I regret that we didn't take up hiking with the dogs when we still had Hawk.  He hated walking in town, but if we went to a different place, he was happy to go along.  I suspect that he and Treat both would have liked hiking, but we had the idea that Greyhounds didn't do such things, and we hadn't learned to appreciate it that much ourselves.  Having Morgan has been good for us in that respect.  She needs the activity, both physically, but also the mental stimulation that comes with our hikes.  I think it's also good for her to see that the world is a mostly not too scary place. 

Hawk wasn't perfect when we brought him home, and Morgan isn't either, but I grew by leaps and bounds as a person through my experiences of meeting and rising to the challenges that living with Hawk brought me, and I think I've already grown some with Morgan.  It's sometimes hard to see those opportunities for growth when you're going through the growing pains, but it's rewarding to look back and see where you ended up.  So, please join with us today as we celebrate Morgan's second birthday.  Our journey together is just starting, but who knows where we'll all end up!

The Hairy Greyhound

Yesterday was a fun but long day at work for me.  The kids in my class don't come to school on Fridays, so we had our Halloween celebrating yesterday.  While that is fun, the kids were unusually wound and when I got home, I was really exhausted.   I was looking forward to the dinner Mr. Taleteller had promised to bring home, carving a couple of pumpkins for the front porch for Saturday night and relaxing in my pajamas.

There was only one chore that awaited me when I arrived home after I carried my stuff inside.  That chore is turn out and feeding the dogs their dinner.  Turn out happens in two phases.  The first phase is taking the Greyhounds out to the turn out pen.  The second phase is taking Morgan out on her leash to do her turn out.  We don't put Morgan in the turn out pen because, well, Mr. Taleteller has spoiled her a bit and not made her go in the pen, and also because she gets very excited and we worry that Lilac may get hurt by her exhuberance.  So, when Morgan gets done, I take her inside, then bring the Greyhounds back in from the pen.  After everybody is inside, I go down to get the dog food and Morgan and I have a rousing game of hide and seek.

However, Fall is the time of year when young Shepherds who have been raised with Greyhounds' thoughts turn to rabbits.  As I took Morgan back inside, I don't know if it was the weather front that's been blowing through, the cooler temperatures, the fact that Morgan almost got the rabbit again last week, or the fact that she sensed that I was more tired than usual, but as I unhooked her leash while she was going in the back door, she suddenly pulled a maneuver that would have made any Greyhound proud.  Like quicksilver she turned and darted off out the door and around the house to the rabbit shrub.

That rabbit is darned lucky that he finally chose an afternoon to not be in that Bayberry bush.  I, however, was not having such a lucky moment.  I called her.  As big as her ears are, you'd think she would have heard me.  She made the rounds to the other shrubs to see if a rabbit might be lurking. 

Me:  Morgan, come here!

Morgan:  I'm on perimeter patrol!  Rabbits beware!

Me:  Morgan, I mean it!

Morgan:  Oh, look!  It's Sammie's yard!  His pee smells different over here than it does in our yard.

I called Mr. Taleteller on the phone as I followed her and coaxed her.  I feared he might leave me if something happened to his "real dog" princess.  I told him she was loose and he cancelled the dinner order to start on his way home.  I suspect he may have gone back to work to get a squad car so he could drive home with the lights on.  Anyway, I hung up so that I could at least try to keep up with Morgan and see where she was.  Of course, she thought a rousing game of chase the Shepherd was in order.  Did I mention how tired I was from work?

Me:  Morgan, I am not playing chase!  Now come here!

Morgan:  Oooooo!  Let's play hide and seek outside!  I'll go hide!

Me:  I am NOT playing this game!

Morgan:  Oh, rabbit!  Where aaaaaare you?

Me:  You are not a Greyhound!  I'm going home!

With that, I turned and ran back towards the house.  Of course Morgan couldn't resist the game.  She chased after me and then as we came around the neighbor's garage, she saw Bunny, Blueberry and Lilac in the pen.  Another of her favorite games is barking at the fence with Bunny and this time, Bunny and Blueberry both gave her a rousing game.  I went past the pen to the car and opened the car door.  Morgan can't resist a good car ride. I swear, she'd ride to the end of the driveway every day if she could!  So, finally, I attached the leash and took her in the house.  I sent her back into her crate and closed the door so I could go out and get the Greyhounds to bring them back inside.

At that point, I could have let her back out of the crate to eat in the kitchen with the girls, but I didn't.  I left her in the crate for her own safety, so I didn't throttle her.  After everyone had eaten in peace, I let her out so she could be sure to pounce on Mr. Taleteller when he arrived home with the dinner that he went back to get after I called him to let him know his dog was safe.

After dinner, he took Morgan with him to go get dog food at the store.  Bunny made sure to curl up with me on the couch as a reminder that she would never do such a thing.  Sure enough, when Mr. Taleteller and Morgan arrived home, she ran in and pounced on me, just to let me know she'd missed me and that she was ready for whatever the next game was.

I'm not sure having a German Shepherd raised by Greyhounds is the best thing.  I do know that we'll be doing a few things differently at turn out time now.  That has to be the luckiest rabbit in the world, and I feel pretty lucky that all's well that ends well this time!