All Fun All The Time

Taren loves to play. This is just one of thousands of photos of him and Cealan galloping through the backyard like a herd of elephants. You cannot see Caelan, but rest assured he is right on Taren's tail. We throw the ball, and get out of the way because the chase is on. They thunder around the backyard, kicking up the dirt and turning the yard into their own version of NASCAR. Skidding around the corners, with an occasional figure eight if the chaser gets to close to the chasee. There is a lot of joy in their play and it makes me happy to watch them.

On a side note, I will be taking a small hiatus. We are having company so there are sights to see, meals to be prepared, and conversations to be had. I will talk to you all on the flip side. If I owe you a letter, well, I will still owe you a letter. I will catch up as soon as possible, promise. In the mean time take good care and while my name will not be in your in-box you will be in my thoughts.

Copyright Grey Dog Photography 2010, All Rights Reserved

Sniff

Caelan, also known as K-K, the Freckled Wubba, and my baddest boy is getting a complex from his momma dishing the dirt on his naughty exploits. So for today, I am going to tell you something good about my boy. Caelan is the best snuggler hands down. The dogs sleep with us. Yes, I know, we are bad. It is just so hard to resist a good cuddle when they are puppies. Then all of a sudden they grow up to be big dogs, bed hogs and blankets thieves. Before you know it, a bad habit is born. Caelan likes to sleep right next to me, curled into the curve of my stomach and chest. He is oh so warm and comforting. He also likes to be under the blankets, where he so often ends up with most of the blanket. If you scoot over, he scoots over. He stands up, turns in a circle, and makes the cutest noise three times, and exactly three times. Puts his feet as close to your body as he can get and flops down in his rib crushing way. Which is really wonderful in the winter, not so spectacular when it is 90 degrees outside. Sometimes he snores. It doesn't bother me, I find it rather soothing. However, sometimes you wake up in the middle of the right to find a drooling dog face half and inch from yours on the pillow and it can be a little disconcerting. Not to mention the wet spot on the pillow. We have a lot of pillows so I just flounder about in the dark until I find a clean, dry one. K-K may be the resident bad boy by day, but at night he kind of turns into a pussy cat and that is just the way I like it.

Actions compliments of Rita at the Coffee Shop and you know where the texture came from. =0)

Many thanks to both for their generosity.

CoffeeShop Blog

A Day In The Life

Sheer Happiness

Let's talk about my bad boys. The speckled one to be exact. A couple weeks ago I decided to sit down and watch a movie I had been seeing in ten minutes stints for days and days. I was engrossed in the the crucial battle scene. You know, where the music is loud, the lopping off of heads has hit fever pitch and the blood, well it's spraying. Then Taren starts to bark, in that particular way in which I pay attention. I had the back door open, so I was a bit nervous. I mute the volume and then I hear it. The alarm is going off on our Jeep that is parked out front instead of in the garage where is generally is. I race down stairs to try to figure out what the heck is going on, and I see him. Caelan is standing in the living room with the Jeep keys in his mouth. The alarm is BLARING. Beep, BEEP, Beeeeeeeeppppppp..... I am thinking, the neighbors hate me right now. I step toward Caelan and the chase is on. He bounces on his feet from left to right, extremely happy with himself. He does the play puppy bow, and zigs and zags. I am dying at this point, because it is so completely inane, and so typically Caelan. A series of thoughts flash though my mind- Please don't crush the key fob, I will never get the alarm off! Where is the other set of keys! The neighbors hate me!!!  I am going to kill my husband for leaving the keys out! What can I bribe the dog with?! The neighbors hate me!!!!  I tell Caelan to drop it, in the voice of doom, and he does. I can hardly believe it. I yank up the keys, and of course fumble with them in my rush, and finally, finally, blessed silence. Thank goodness for Taren, because that alarm could have been going off forever otherwise, and it goes without saying, the neighbors would hate me. I lock the backdoor, and head back upstairs, but this time with both boys and I shut the door. I've had enough excitement  for one day, so it's back to the head lopping and the volume just a tad bit lower.

As always, textures compliments of the ever generous and talented Jerry Jones

Copyright Grey Dog Photography 2010, All Rights Reserved

Watching

This photo was taken last summer right after we put our fence up, and before we put in ground covering. We spent a lot of time in the backyard working, the boys, digging and chasing. It reminds me of every little brother watching the big brother and hoping and wishing to tag along and play like the big kids. Yet all you can do is sit and rest, and wait till you grow into my baddest boy.

As always, textures compliments of the ever generous and talented Jerry Jones

Copyright Grey Dog Photography 2010, All Rights Reserved

New Digs

I decided to give the boys a new look. *sob* I have been working on this for HOURS and hours, and hours. So if things look a little weird around here, you know why. I am working on it as fast as my non coding little brain can figure it out. Run your mouse over the new header, spiffy huh? =0) I have a long way to go, but there is no turning back now. So, what do you think? Does it look okay on your end? If there are any major issues, please let me know. I will get to the small quirks, asap. Happy Saturday!

Protection-Weimaraner Style

Today marks my fifth week of Jury Duty. Three more weeks to go. As you walk through the maze of halls that comprise the Courthouse you cannot help but feel the cling of darkness that are the cases we hear. You believe people are inherently good, that your neighbors are trustworthy, and that the community you live in is safe. I am not so sure I feel that way anymore. Victims of crime parade in and out telling their stories, and your veil of innocence lifts. The tears tell the story, the bruises tell the story, and the small stuffie a child holds for comfort, tells the story. You feel the weight. The minutes tick off slowly. The silence in the room after particularly difficult testimony is deafening. All you can think is- What is wrong with people? When the day blessedly ends, you step out into the sunlight, take a breathe of the fresh, warm air and you feel an unbelievable sense of relief. You pull out of the Courthouse slowly, and make your way home. To a nice house, in a nice neighborhood, that has my two boys waiting for me. Where in a few hours my husband who loves me, as I do him, will arrive. Where the worst thing that ever happens is nothing a trip to Lowe's will not fix. Yet, it feels tarnished somehow. As you let the dogs back in the house, you firmly close and lock door. The door, that five weeks prior stood open nearly around the clock. I will be glad when my service is complete. I want my life back, and I want my door open again.

The boys add a layer of protection to my life. Especially Taren. He is always with me, following me from room to room. When he cannot, he waits outside my door till I return. In this photo Taren is watching a family walking their dogs, who has crossed our path. We stop and let them walk ahead. Taren is alert, the hair on his back is bristled, his tail is fluffed. He doesn't bark, but he wants to. I snap this photo to capture the moment, and the light. We go on our way. I rub my hand down his back and tell him he is a good boy. He is my protector.

As always, textures compliments of the ever generous and talented Jerry Jones

Copyright Grey Dog Photography 2010, All Rights Reserved

Day Tripping-Beazel Park

This is one of my favorite photos of puppy Taren. It was taken at Beazel Park. A great place for an easy hike through the woods. As always, Taren wonders why I am down there and he is up here, and he is not happy about it. Look at those huge feet!

Someone said they are having a hard time leaving comments. Is anyone else? If so, what is the problem, and how long has it been going on? I'll fiddle with the settings and see what I can come up with. Sorry about that.

As an aside, as readers do you go back and read the comments? In the past I have answered questions in the comments section, or made remarks to individual commenters. I enjoy doing this, but wonder if anyone reads them. I have quit, feeling likes I may be talking to myself. So, do you read them? If so, I will continue to address comments in that manner.

Thank you to Kevin and Amanda's for the cute gumball machine doodle for my watermark. I collect antique gumball machines so I was pretty happy to stumble upon it.

Choking-So Scared

Caelan is a snuggler. He was sitting right next to me last night, as in glued to my side, chewing on a bone. I watch the boys when they have bones because Taren is a power chewer and can break big pieces off. I am always afraid he is going to choke. Caelan is not near as interested in chewing on bones, he is more interested in the rest of the house, and doesn't break off the large pieces like Taren. Except last night, when he must have broke off a larger, or odd piece.

Taren was standing in front of me, and I was telling him he is the best dog EVER, besides Caelan, and yours, and yours, of course. =0) I heard Caelan make an odd sound, and I turned to look and he was swallowing hard, over and over. I knew it was going to be bad and it was. I started rubbing his throat to see if I could feel an obstruction and help him ease it down. When that did not work, the fear began to set in.

I tell my husband to pick him up and hang him upside down so we could help dislodge the bone. I think my husband thought I was nuts and half hearted tried to comply. Caelan is a big dog. He is above standard in height and weight. Much larger than Taren, and it was not working. Your mind takes you places you do not want to go, and you realize very quickly your dog may die in your living room. I mentally think about the phone number to the E-Vet that I keep in an emergency file on my computer. It dawns on me that I could call, but it would be far too late and that how all this unfolds will be up to my husband and I. My inner mind is running around in circles, flapping it's hands, all the while shrieking and having an epic meltdown. My calm self races upstairs and Googles- dog Heimlich Maneuver, while my husband tries to help Caelan.

I yell down the stairs to pick him up by his back torso, legs off the ground, and shake him to help dislodge the bone. I keep reading, and I am thinking, please, please, please..... do not let this dog die, because I seriously can't do this right now. Can't do this, can't do this, can't do this....

I run down the stairs and try to do the maneuver, afraid to do it, afraid not to do it, afraid I am doing it wrong. It is not helping and Caelan is struggling to swallow. I do not know if he is breathing or not, and I think how much I love this dog, and I have never felt so helpless in my entire life, and please just let this work. You are in a dark place and it's not good. I tell my husband to run up and read about the Heimlich himself, as he is working to dislodge the bone. Then K-K opens his mouth the tongue pops out and you can hear him breathe. He is still swallowing hard, but you are pretty sure it is going to be okay, he is going to be okay.

 He trots over and drinks a bunch of water, and I point a moth out to him and he goes in for the kill and sweet relief courses though my entire body. You have your dog back, long may he and his home wrecking ways live. I on the other hand, feel on the verge of a heart attack, so awful. He continues to swallow hard on and off, and I watch him intently, but I know its over. We go to bed, and he snuggles up tight against me, like he does every night, and I am so thankful he is. Every time he makes a move I am watching and listening in the dark. He finally drifts off to sleep and I have a bit of a good cry, for the love of a dog.

Today he is fine, I am not so sure I am though. I am throwing away all the bones that these pieces break off from. Taren will not be happy. I cannot go through this again, I do not want my dogs to go through this, so we will need to find some new chewers. I do not believe it was a large piece that broke off, just an odd angle. I think K-K just swallowed wrong and it got stuck.

Here is the link to the information I used. I encourage you to read about the Heimlich for dogs and watch the videos that are available on YouTube.  Heimlich Maneuver

Copyright Grey Dog Photography 2010, All Rights Reserved