Eight Below

I am cozied up in my house, my toes are warm, my fingers now flex, and my nose isn't running. The dogs are snoring on the couch and I'm just about to put a movie on. Ah March. What would you be without a little kick in the pants? In like a lamb out like a lion ... ? If that' s backwards then Mother Nature and I have something to discuss.

For the one year birthday celebration of Raimi, Kenya and Tucker we had about 9 dogs arrive to run around in the snow and get wet while we shivered. The sun graced us a few times and there was a few little flurries but otherwise almost everyone made it out to enjoy the dogs and listen to me yell at Raimi most of the time for being an irritating moron.

I got a cupcake cake with the Madagascar theme as it's an African theme and while there was a lion cake it just didn't look quite right so I went for little plastic lions and zebras etc. It is a good way to ensure everyone gets a piece without having to cut, slice, napkin or fork your way through the clebrations. Tucker's Dad Davidkindly supplied the sparkly "1" which didn't come out in the picture very well.

From the last litter there was Shane, Zero, Rory and Ramsey. Ramsey was a little shy so he stayed by the picnic bench for some time before working up the courage to play with a dog larger than a pug. Deuce the pug was in his glory amongst all those legs and he had possibly the best time of all.

Here is Deuce playing with Raimi and Ramsey - I won't ever say Raimi has a plethora of brains and today he proved my oft repeated opinion that he is just a pretty face. Right at the end of the party Raimi suddenly noticed that there was a Pug 'in the house'. His face wrinkled in delight and those wrinkles said 'Did anyone else notice the little pug thing? The little cream colored dog the size of one of my toys? When did he arrive?" And so began the love affair of Raimi and Deuce. Fortunately Deuce loves big dogs and was in his element and didn't mind Raimi poking him in the back - possibly trying to make the squeaker work.

The two big brothers - Raimi and Tucker played like the dickens. We turned to look for them and discovered that they were about 500 yards away and heading in the opposite direction. Fortunately they both have a good recall but they we having the time of their lives. This photo is zoomed in because they were teeny tiny specs - this is milliseconds before Raimi went SPLOOSH into icy water and did an immediate about face. Tucker was a few feet behind so was spared the dip.

While Raimi, Tucker and Kenya were the celebrated three we did not manage to get all of them together in one picture - no one would sit still and it was a bit of a gong show as there were too many exciting things to do than sit for a photo. The best we could do was Kenya and Halo together - like good girls they sat still but did not appreciate the cold bottoms they got out of the deal.

Oh look, there's Raimi being told AGAIN to eff off by Ryder who Raimi thought was a great delight to bug, harrass bother, irritate and generally make himself the most disciplined undisciplined dog there. I'd like to think it's because of his testicles but sadly it's more likely a result of being completely spoiled. He also managed to tick off Seth right at the beginning but once Ryder arrived Seth was old hat.

And here's the 5 adult dogs - less Seth - who were having a grand ol' time. Ryder, Halo, Tucker, Kenya, & Raimi on their way back from a romp in the field.

Petal deserves an honorable mention as she stoicly put up with the Ridgeback nonsense once again.

The next time I do this I hope the weather is better and more people are able to come - I know the snow is a daunting thing when you're comfy and warm on your couch! I'll keep you posted for when I can plan another fun day out with the Ridgebacks!