I Think I Like This Holiday Weekend Business

Bunny here, ready to tell you about some of my weekend adventures.

First, I have to say that I think every weekend should be a holiday weekend!  We did so much stuff, partly because the weather was so nice and partly because Mom and Dad knew we had extra time to have some fun since they didn't have to work today.  I think we should get work cancelled every Monday, but I digress!

Saturday after Dad and Morgan got back from trained monkey school, we were supposed to go for a hike at a state park near us, but they got home a bit late, so we decided to go to Farmdale Park, which is not too far from our house.  Blueberry begged to go, and Mom and Dad decided she could go this time.  I decided to take my new Wolf Pack with me to start getting used to carrying it, too. 

Once we got started on the trail, we decided to go off on one of the side trails that we've never been on before, partly because it was really busy there this time and partly because we wanted some adventure.  We were very pleasantly surprised that the trail went up and around to some very pretty areas.  I liked this tree we saw that looked like it had giant burrs stuck all over it.

There was also a beautiful view of the meadow and the creek.  We saw quite a few mountain bikers on the trail as we hiked.  It was nice that we could see a lot of different things on this trail. 

We ran into a lot of dogs on the trails this time, but were a little annoyed that none of them were on a leash, even though that's a rule at the park, and that none of them seemed to have very good recall.  We even met a Great Dane who had no collar or tags on.  I did have fun playing with Shadow in the creek as we passed by, and we think he just had his leash off to play down there in the creek.

Mom was glad we brought Blueberry this time, because the trail wasn't too hard for her and the weather was cool enough that she didn't get too warm.  She was having a very good time seeing the sights and smelling the smells.

We had some close encounters with wildlife while we were out there, too.  Either the rut is getting closer than we'd realized, or the deer in the park are getting pretty used to people and dogs being around.  When we ran into this buck and doe on the trail, the buck stamped his foot at us and snorted.  I was a little worried, because I know that I could outrun him, but I'm not so sure about Mom or Dad, and I'm sure Morgan wouldn't leave them and run to a hiding spot, either.  Blueberry is the only other one that I think could have made it out of there quick enough, but fortunately, they decided to turn and run off after a little showing off.

I also got up close and personal with some butterflies.  They seemed to like the cooler weather, too.  Everytime I took a step through the meadow, they were flying around me and doing their little air dance.

When we got back to the van, I saw these guys getting ready to go out on the trails.  I'm thinking that next time, I might just try to catch a ride.  It would be much easier to get up and down the hills on a horse. 

After all that excitement, we were glad to get into the van and head for home.  I figured that we'd go back to the house and have a nice rest.  However, I was not prepared for the diabolical trick Dad played on us.

That's right, he said we'd gotten all sandy and muddy from the creek.  Blueberry escaped having her picture taken, but she had a bath, too.  It was not the ideal ending to our walk, I have to say!

Even though we had to take baths, it was still worth going for our walk.  We had all kinds of other excitement this weekend, too, but I'll save that for other posts.  I hope everyone else is having a good Monday.

Things That Scream In The Night

Early Thursday morning, all was well in our household until around two o'clock.  That's when Bunny, who was sleeping in the middle of the bed, woke Mr. Taleteller and I from a sound sleep with the Greyhound Scream of Death.  To say that I thought I'd have a heart attack is putting it mildly.  I flipped on the lamp and sat straight up in bed.

If you've never heard the Greyhound Scream of Death, consider yourself fortunate.  It's a Greyhound tactic that will stop just about anyone's heart in their chest.  It's a high-pitched scream that rivals the most chilling sound from any horror movie.  Someday, I hope to catch it on video, but I don't know if our readers will be able to take the shock.  Greyhounds don't emit this sound when they have been seriously injured.  For those readers who remember Hawk, he was once injured in an accident in our van that left the bone of his leg exposed, and he didn't even whimper.  Let him step on a fan cord, though, and you're in for a near-fatal heart attack.  Greyhounds are born drama queens and kings -- I guess it comes from being the companions of nobility for so long.  They let The Scream loose when they feel a trivial twinge of pain that might possibly produce more pain and need to let everyone within a twenty block radius know.  A certain blue fawn Greyhound was known to emit this sound during her obedience class days when her leash was inadvertently stepped on while she was supposed to be doing a down-stay.  Alas, I digress.

The craziest part was that she seemed to wake herself up with her own screaming.  My husband was talking to her and after a brief check of my pulse to be sure I hadn't had a heart attack, I climbed out from beneath my quilt to stroke her shoulder and talk quietly to her.  She must have screamed for a good two minutes, and I was scared that she was really injured, although there didn't appear to be any way that she could be.

Morgan stood on guard at the foot of the bed, her nose poking over as she tried to figure out who was attacking her pack mate. She was on the alert, but she couldn't find the source of the threat, so she paced the foot of the bed, leaning over to sniff Bunny's ear in a gesture that seemed to suggest that she was offering comfort or at least concern.

Of course, Blueberry and Lilac both slept through the whole incident.  Nothing comes between a Greyhound and her beauty sleep.  I guess they figured they could give Bunny the sniff over when they woke up in the morning with no bags under their eyes.

When we'd gone to sleep, hours before, Bunny had been curled up between our pillows, her head resting on mine as she curled up in a little ball.  Morgan had been on the foot of the bed, but she rarely stays on the bed all night.  After Morgan had jumped off the bed to keep vigil from the floor, Bunny had moved to the center of the bed and stretched out, no doubt asserting that she was still Queen of the King-Size Bed.  It appears that when she relocated, she laid down on the edge of Mr. Taleteller's quilt and then later pinched herself on the quilt binding.

After all that, I crawled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, glad that we didn't have to wash all the bedding yet again this week since she didn't actually scare the pee out of me.  I admit that I might have felt Mr. Taleteller's side of the bed when he got up to visit the bathroom after I got back, just to be sure.  All I know is that I'm glad that the temperature is about to start dropping and quilt season is just around the corner.  We won't have to worry about the Princess and the Pea Effect when she's sleeping under the quilt as opposed to on top of it!

We're participating in the Pet Blog Hot again this weekend. If you'd like to join in, it's pretty simple. Add your link into the McLinky tool and copy and paste the code into your html editor. We're very thankful to Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confesssions of the Plume for hosting the blog hop every weekend!

You've Got Mail

Bunny here, taking over the keyboard to type a thank you!

I got an envelope in the mail the other day and I was so excited to see what it could be.  I perched on the couch and got ready to open it up.  I saw that it was from Boomer over at Nubbin' Tails.

He sent me a note and a bandanna for Paw It Forward.  It's like the bandanna people knew me when they made it!  It says "If You Can Read This, Start Petting!"  I love it, Boomer. thank you!  Please excuse Morgan's nose print in the picture.  She got a little too curious about my loot.

Since I finally have control of the keyboard, I'd also like to tell you that my friends Bully and Nelson have finally started their own blog. Their mom makes those cool collars that we have with our names on them, the amazing stockings that look like us, and they shared their lives with Martin, one of the Fort Worth twenty eight who passed away just three weeks after his rescue due to distemper.  Anyroo, they have all kinds of fun goings on over there at Brother 2 Bother, so feel free to drop in and say hi!  Tell them Bunny sent you.  Maybe they'll get their mom to make me something!  Just kidding!

Another blog I'd like to tell you about is Sweetheart's Story.  Sweetheart is a Greyhound who was just recently rescued from a backyard where she was tied up and left to die.  The beginning of her story is sad, and some of the pictures are hard to see sometimes, but reading her blog is like a real life fairy tale.  Every day, she seems to get a little better, and I'm a big fan of her spirit.  Her foster mom has asked that people not post angry comments about what happened to her, but to just try to help celebrate the victories that Sweetheart is making on her road to recovery.  Feel free to visit her and help cheer her on!

The weather here is going to be perfect for us to get out and enjoy the Labor Day holiday weekend.  I am so excited for it to get here that I can barely stay inside my own fur.  I hope you're all going to have a great weekend!  Does anybody have any exciting plans?

Morgan Makes An Impression

In Mr. Taleteller's family, there are a total of nine siblings.  Six of his brothers and sisters are adopted, and the youngest is going to be in seventh grade this year.  They were a foster family for many years, mainly fostering children with serious medical needs or having some other particular special circumstances, and six of them just never left. 

One of his brothers has a particular fascination with dogs and birthdays.  He has a sort of love-hate relationship with dogs, truth be told.  On one hand, he asks us about ours constantly when we go down to visit and don't take the dogs with us, wanting to know where they are and what they're doing there.  A few days after we brought Morgan home, we took her down to visit the family.  They were all very excited to meet Morgan because they all know how Mr. Taleteller has longed for a German Shepherd of his own.  She was a little nervous on first meeting, and my husband kept her on a leash so that everyone could get used to her. 

Of course, this one particular brother, Number Seven, was fascinated and terrified of Morgan all at the same time.  He wanted to see her, but not get close enough to touch her.  There were endless questions and Mr. Taleteller did his best to assure Number Seven that Morgan was A Nice Dog.  Finally, to assuage Number Seven, Mr. Taleteller told him that Morgan's birthday is November 8.  Number Seven is obsessed with birthdays and immediately his computer brain latched on to that bit of information, processed it, and in his mind, she became a member of the family.

Mr. Taleteller tries to do some special things with each of his siblings while they're off school on summer break.  He takes Number Eight and Number Nine on bike rides with him, but Number Seven is deaf and visually impaired, so biking is not an issue for him because his balance is affected.  So, Mr. Taleteller invited him to go on a hike with him and Morgan.  During the walk, Number Seven was fine with Morgan and seemed to do just fine.  When they returned to our house, he was back to being afraid of  her, but she was persistant in getting him to acknowledge her.  Once in the van, he was fine with her again.

We weren't really sure what he thought of Morgan.  However, we got a better idea of how he felt about her the other day when Mr. Taleteller dropped by their house.  He was presented with a present from Number Seven.  I think Morgan won him over.

Wait until Morgan's birthday arrives.  I'm sure he'll have some very special artwork for her that day.  He never forgets a birthday and he always does special artwork for the occasion.  I'm glad Morgan managed to make a good impression on him!  As for how Morgan felt about Number Seven, I've yet to see her meet a child that she hasn't been happy to see and very gentle with.  You'd think she'd bowl them over with her puppy exhuberance, but she digs deep into her powers of reserve with them and is always a very good girl. 

Wordless Wednesday 9/1 -- Take Time To Stop And Smell The Crepe Myrtles