First Frost

Brea says, "Time for the flannel sheets!"

Silly Siri

Just Came Over To Say Hi

Neighbor Cat's sister

They're Back!

The giant spiders are back, and these are bigger than the ones I've been finding in the house lately.  Brea and Siri aren't worried.

On Saturday, I took Siri to the new (new to me) dog park at Ridenour Park in Nitro.  There were maybe ten dogs already there, including two German Shepherds about Siri's size, and several tiny little dogs smaller than Neighbor Cat.  Siri seemed nervous at first, but after awhile she settled down and began running and playing with the other dogs.

I want to take Siri there a few more times to make sure she's comfortable, before bringing Brea.  The plan then will be to let Brea watch from outside the fence, so she can watch Siri and see that the dog park is a fun place.

I haven't posted much here lately because I've been posting pictures on Instagram instead.  That's just me being lazy.  It's so convenient to post pictures directly from my phone.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Playing Ball

Brea with baseball

Siri with squeaky toy

Just a Couple of Pictures

I haven't posted much this summer - haven't really done anything new or interesting with the dogs, and putting updates on Instagram seems faster and easier.  Anyway, here are a couple that I took last night:

Run!

No matter how hard she tries, Siri just can't outrun Brea.

Who's Your Favorite Person in the Whole World?

Judging by the look Siri is giving her, it's Mary.  Whenever she comes by the house, Siri is all over her, and I'm yesterday's news.  Brea, however, just isn't sure, even though Mary often brings the Best Treats Ever.  Brea was friendlier towards the plumber who was here yesterday, even though she'd never met him before, and Mary has been to the house several times and knows how to behave around dogs, sharing her home with several of her own.

Better Than a Fire Hydrant

An exciting discovery on our walk last night.

More Wild Times

We got in a few more minutes of running and playing this morning before the rain started.

Brea has her favorite rope toy... Siri has a styrofoam block that she found.

Guarding her treasure.

Going for the collar. Again.

Play Hard

Play hard.

Then take a break.

Siri, especially, seems to love this kind of rough play.  She will try to get Brea to chase her, by play-bowing in front of her, poking her with her nose, or running into her at high speed, until Brea stops what she's doing and goes after her.  It looks pretty alarming, but Siri actually seems to like it when Brea knocks her down and grabs her by the collar.  Sometimes it looks like Siri lets Brea catch her. Often, if Brea loses interest, Siri will start the process all over again.  The only real drawback that I've seen is that it's kind of hard on Siri's collars.

Happy Father's Day

Tomorrow is Father's Day

This is my dad and his dog, Mia, taken in the early 1940s.

Gotcha Day

I came across the expression "Gotcha Day" in another dog blog.  Today marks the second anniversary since I got Brea.  So today is Brea's second Gotcha Day.

I'm glad I gotcha, Brea!

No Cats Allowed

Neighbor Cat followed us out onto the ball field the other day.  She watched from the pitcher's mound for a couple minutes before the dogs noticed her there.

You can see more pictures of the cat and dogs on Instagram - mathieu883.

Happy Birthday, Brea!

Today is Brea's 4th birthday, and it's almost the second anniversary of her coming to live with me.

Brea just wanted to relax today - no big celebration.

Home Again

Brea and Neighbor Cat are relaxing in one of their favorite places after Brea and Siri spent nine days in the kennel at Animal Care Associates, while I was visiting family in Florida.

Finally, warm weather

It feels like spring is finally here.  Actually, today, it feels more like summer - the temperature is in the eighties right now.  It warmed up so quickly that Brea and Siri haven't had time to adjust; they didn't run as much as usual this morning, and they were ready to head back to the house a lot sooner.

Brea chewed on a stick while Siri just wandered around kind of aimlessly.

Relaxing

Just another lazy Sunday.

Uh-oh!

Lately, I've been leaving Brea and Siri out of their crates when I go on short errands, when I expect to be gone no more than an hour or two.  I've always hoped to be able to phase out the crates completely.  None of my other dogs were left in crates while I was at work, and there were very few problems.

Before going shopping today, the dogs got to run and play on the ball field, and later we went on a mile long walk.  I gave them their Kongs stuffed with treats before I left.  When I came home, however, I found this:

This was the doggy bed that I bought at Christmas.

As soon as I saw it I said, "Uh-oh..." and Brea and Siri reacted the way they usually do when I say that:

Siri hits the floor and looks guilty and/or worried.

Brea retreats up the stairs and watches from a safe distance.

I'll never know if the damage was done out of anxiety or if Brea and Siri were just having a really, really good time while I was gone.

Random Pictures

Just some random pictures, taken over the past couple of weeks...

Sometimes Siri likes to carry sticks or branches that she finds.

Brea after ten minutes' playing in the snow this morning.

Her nose and ears get red from the cold and exertion.

More Snow Pictures

Lately, every day brings more snow.  The pups never seem to get tired of it.

Another Snow Day

More snow fell last night.

This one and the next were taken about 3:00 this morning.

 

 

 

Flying!

 

Really flying!

 

Look at those windswept ears. Flying will do that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black and White

Some pictures taken in Inwood Park in New York, sent to me by my sister:

 

Rose and Blossom, adopted from the Fayette County, WV, animal shelter.

I kept yelling their names, trying to get them to look my way. He said: “That won’t work. You have to howl at them.”