The Fake Throw

Expecting to see it in the air somewhere....

She is starting to wonder what is going on, but is still listening hard for it to land somewhere.  She is looking back to me to get a clue in terms of the direction it has gone.

When no clue is forthcoming, she finally spots it still in my hand and she can relax her vigilance and go back to just looking expectant.

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Man I love this dog.

She is always so damn happy (as long as she isn't stressed out).

She always has a smile for me.

She knows how to have a good time, even if it does only last for a minute or two.

She is content to just sit and relax and enjoy the scenery.

She likes to bring me things - which is much better than keeping them all to herself!

I could live without the new boots though...

Frisbee Love

Coulee doesn't have as much opportunity to play fetch anymore, but I've learned that carrying a toy on walks keeps her out of mischief.  She has a much better sniffer than Lacey (or maybe she just knows how to put it to better use) and together they were finding a tonne of things and driving me crazy.  Now Lacey just finds the odd thing on her own and Coulee is content to wander around carrying something.

A Little to the Right

If you google it, you'll find a tonne of different theories as to what it means when dogs wag to the right or to the left.  I'm not sure what she does while actually wagging, but with me trotting behind her with a camera pointed at her butt, Coulee definitely tilts a little to the right.

Not-Guilty

I cropped her head off to protect the "innocent".  You know that whole innocent until proven guilty thing?  Coulee would like you all to remember that.

The Big One Oh Oh Oh

This is my 1,000th post.

I started this blog on February 24, 2008 and what I said in my very first post, still holds true today.

I've decided to set this up for myself to essential create a digital scrapbook of my two dogs - Coulee and Lacey. I just wanted a place where I could write about their activities - good and bad and where I could put pictures so I could watch them change over the years. I'm not very well organized on paper - it seems so much easier to do it on the computer.

To be honest, I can't believe all of you are here for the ride.  I never expected that so many people would be interested in two regular, household mutts.  But I'm so thankful that you are.

I love the way the blog has connected me with other people with similar passions and interests!  I also love the way I can look back and see how some things have changed, and how so many things haven't.

Growing up, I was never able to write in a diary for long.  I tended to start off enthusiastically enough but it always quickly dwindled.  Maybe it was because I didn't really like to write about myself?  Or maybe I just needed an audience?  Or maybe I needed to express myself in photos instead of words and just didn't know it yet? Who knows!  All I know is that I like this blog thing. :)

You may have noticed that I don't talk a lot about myself or my family.  I'm actually quite a private person but sharing Coulee and Lacey's life with you doesn't make me feel uncomfortable and through them, you get little glimpses of me.  We laugh at work about how people really do seem to match their dogs and I have to assume, I'm no different.

So anyway... Thanks for being here.  Here's to the next 1,000 posts!

Failed Experiment

I thought I'd have some super fun photos to show you today.... but not so much.

I bought the girls a pool the other day and yesterday morning, I filled it up and dropped the GoPro on the bottom (it has a waterproof case).

The first problem was the dogs just ignored the pool.  No one wanted to go in.  I tried throwing toys but they would just reach over the edge to grab it.

So I cut up a hotdog and started tossing bits in. That did the trick pretty quick!

Then I took a few pictures with the camera out of the water just for fun.

Coulee was pretty convinced that they may have missed a hotdog piece.

After we were out of hotdog, I ran inside with the GoPro to see what fun stuff I'd captured.  Um yeah.  That sucked.  So then I decided maybe the sun was too bright above and that we should try again in a shady spot.  So I dumped out the pool, moved it over and tried again.

This time the girls knew what was expected of them.  LOL.

But this time the underwater ones were soooo bad, I didn't even keep one to show you. Ah well.  The girls enjoyed their hotdogs at least.

Patience

Sometimes Coulee's patience surprises me.  Here Lacey "tries" to steal the frisbee out of Coulee's mouth.  I say "tries" because she would never dare and I've never seen her make contact with a toy that is already in Coulee's mouth.  Lacey just does it to bug Coulee.

But Lacey's second attempt at goading her sister is met with a clearer message.  Coulee is not enjoying this as much as Lacey is.

But the funniest part to me was their expressions moments after the big lip curl. Coulee looks so damn satisfied with herself!

Baby Ball

I distracted Coulee with a frisbee the other day and while she was off fetching and sniffing, I brought out a baby tennis ball for Lacey.  She was soooooo happy to play with it.

For Coulee, a ball trumps any other toy... and a small ball is the best of all.  Once she spots it, she won't want anything else.

So we had to be sneaky about it. Every time Coulee came back, I scooped up the ball and put it in my pocket.

She knew she was missing out on something but couldn't quite figure it out.  But then Lacey started squeaking the toy.

 And the game was over for Lacey.

Poor, poor Lacey.  She was forced to play with the frisbee instead.  Doesn't she look depressed.  ;)

More Maggie

Just a few more photos of Maggie... These are from walk the first day.  It was a little hotter and she wasn't quite as relaxed.

I swear she was trying to find a shady spot.  This wasn't a fluke photo - they stood like this for a while.

They were both competing for the "rightful place".

A very hot and tired Maggie.

You could have bowled me over with a feather when Maggie actually went IN the puddle!

Maggie

We had a houseguest this past weekend.  I don't normally look after other people's dogs, but it was for a long-time client who is ill and old (and moving to a new facility) and it was a dog that I thought would fit in pretty well here and not cause too much of an uproar.

And I was right, she was pretty easy to look after. There were a few tense moments with Lacey the first night, but after that, things were OK.

Jack was absolutely hilarious around her.  He would forget she was here and come bopping upstairs.  The first time he spotted her, she was sleeping a few feet from where he'd stopped on my lap.  He froze, his eyes went big and he started to slowly back away. When he was finally a "safe" distance away, he turned and ran for his life. Maggie just kept on sleeping.  LOL.

Maggie isn't a dog that has been off leash very often and it shows.  On our first day, she couldn't manage to navigate through the grass.  I literally had to lift her over some sections so she could stay with us.  But by the second day, she'd gotten her groove on and was running ahead with the girls (or even on her own) and running back when called.

I even saw her venturing into some very tall grass to figure out what Coulee and Lacey were doing (they had found a particularly good crop to eat).  I was impressed!

It makes me wonder... are some dogs born "princesses" or are they made that way?  Or as with many things, is it a little of both?