Road Hogs

I remembered a story from a while back that I meant to share but forgot at the time. I was driving with all the dogs in the truck down to Halifax and that means highway. On the highway you pass and are passed by vehicles of varying shapes and sizes. I don't often think about the other traffic unless they are doing something to annoy me and I almost never think about what the dogs think about vehicles that share the road.

So I'm driving along and I come up on a guy on a motorcycle. He's not doing the speed limit so I pass him. I carry on down the highway. I notice in my rearview that the motorcyclist has sped up and is now almost matching my speed but he's still behind me. I change lanes to pass another vehicle and the motorcyclist does the same.

At this point Archer notices this 'follower'.  He does not like it. Who, exactly, is this faceless person following us? His concern increases when he realizes that when the truck moves from lane to lane, so does the motorcyle. It got to the point where he was staring out the back window of the truck barking his head off with hackles raised, stomping all over a napping Raimi and Nylabone chewing Leeloo. Esme pinged around the inside of the truck just like usual thinking Archer's game was super fun. 

I have darkly tinted windows on the truck so I can't be sure the motorcyclist saw him but can I imagine if he'd been able to see this idiotic dog barking like a maniac he'd think it was funny. I sure did right up until it got old and annoying. Eventually the biker passed us and Archer went koo-koo banana before being satisfied he'd scared the faceless evil away. I can date Archer's now  incessant need to bark madly at passer's by to that exact day ...

Bird on a Wire

My experience with bird dogs is seriously limited. When I was 18 or 19 I worked for an Irish Setter breeder who did a lot of hunting with his show dogs (try not to faint) and unfortunately I never saw him work the dogs - all I know is that he'd go away for weekends to hunting events and I'd dog-sit the balance of the kennel. I also once photographed a retriever trial many moons ago but that was retrieving dead birds ... not flushing live ones. What I have read about hunting dogs is that there are setters, pointers, flushers and retrievers. Each breed in the Sporting group is capable of doing one or more of these tasks depending on the terrain the dog is working. Having never actually seen more than one of these activities performed (retrieving - which BTW is impressive enough in and of itself - this ain't no tennis ball retrieve) I can't speak to what I am seeing when I walk my dogs.

Leeloo doesn't know how it's 'supposed' to be done, she does it the way she thinks it should be done, just like everything else in her life. All she knows is that there are pheasants in them thar hills and she's going to find them. So what I see her doing is arranging herself downwind and then weaving through the brush to pinpoint the bird's location. When she's honed in on the hiding place she creeps slowly toward the bird and then stops and points. Then she moves slowly forward until the bird takes flight. Honestly, it looks to me like setting, pointing and flushing ... but what do I know?

I'm not sure how many 'gun dogs' try to catch the bird as it streaks skyward in a panic but Leeloo gives it a fair go. Then she follows the flight of the bird and races off to find it again. Leeloo lost interest until we looped back to where she initially found it and spent some time trying to locate it again. Fortunately pheasants seem to be unusually stupid birds so chances are high it will be in almost the exact same place next walk. There is always tomorrow Leeloo.

Get Smart

Leeloo is a pretty smart cracker. Sometimes though, she is foiled by sheer physics. The ocean water here is clear, almost crystal clear. So when she is in the water she can see things that are under water very clearly and, being Leeloo, she wants them. Not to eat (usually), just to investigate. But how, pray tell, does a Leeloo investigate something that is under a foot of water? Well, she doesn't. Mostly because that would involve putting her nose into the water and thus the issue comes to light.

Normally, if you paw at whatever is covering the thing you want you can move the obstacle and retrieve said item. However, water is not Leeloo's friend. It stubbornly refuses to get out of her way no matter how hard she tries. At this point I think it's just the principle of the thing but as of 4pm last Sunday water is still the undefeated champion. So, for now and forever more that shell/rock/seaweed will remain untouched by Leeloo lips. That is unless she gets up the courage to stick her nose under water. So ... never.

The Trench

What is it about sand that makes it so diggable? Archer has definitely got the sand bug because whenever we are at the beach he insists on making holes. I'd love for him to unearth a pirate's booty or at the very least a map to a treasure chest but all he ever comes up with is sand on his nose.

He doesn't dig in the garden, or on walks in the woods and he doesn't dig around when he is trying to get comfortable in bed, so what about sand says to him "Excavate me"? Perhaps if Nova Scotia's coastline is threatened he might be drafted into service and put to work digging the trenches ...

Feet First

I let the dogs out into the backyard for a few minutes the other day and when The Boy came in he was dead lame. All sad eyes and "Owie Mommy." Since he is such a sissy I am surprised he didn't make any noise when he actually hurt himself but there wasn't a single sound to indicate when or how he hurt himself in the backyard. It was very tender and he spent the rest of the morning feeling sorry for himself. Here is his left foot being all normal and whatnot (yes, I know he has huge feet):

And here's his right foot with a swelling starting on the outside knuckle(on the left there). It looks like he sprained that knuckle although I'm not sure how he managed it. There is a joint right at that bump and it's tender and obviously swollen.

A side by side comparison might make it a little more clear. He's just resting his foot on the floor and not actually putting any weight on it. The swelling is there just above his outside toe - that is a large joint where the foot flexes into the pastern.

He spent the balance of the morning before I went to work sulking in the bedroom. I gave him lots of kisses and hugs and promised he'd feel better in a little while. I'm a bit leery about administering things like aspirin because I second guess myself with dosages etc and giving a dog a medication he's never had just prior to my leaving the house for several hours doesn't sit well with me.

When I got home that night the swelling was worse but he was actually walking on it and seemed in less pain. We didn't go for a walk the next morning since I couldn't bear the idea of leaving Boy behind; much to Leeloo, Esme and Archer's horror (although it was pouring too so it was an easy decision).  You can see the swelling is not as localized and the foot is definitely not as tender as it was 24 hours prior. Boy will just have to stay on bed rest and I'm pretty sure Mommy hugs and kisses help a lot too.  

Ripple Effect

It looks to me like Archer could walk across this bay if he wanted to. In fact, if this was a photo of Leeloo I'd say she'd feel it was a certainty. She'd be walking on the water though, not in it; that's just how she rolls.  This is a quiet moment of contemplation for Archer as he creates ripples in the water. Soon he will start a new life and make new ripples but for now his ripples are all mine. He spent his time at the oceanside splashing about, being silly, digging furiously and making it a joyful experience for everyone (except those Leeloos he splashed).  He has been a perpetual sun on gloomy days and the echoes of his presence may fade but he will always leave wet paw prints on my heart. Hugs to special Archer in these waning moments we share.

Sink or Swim

Try to run through water and you get nowhere fast. Unless you're a dog. 

Scratch that. Unless you're a big hairless dog.

It doesn't make you elegant that's for sure. In fact, sometimes it makes you kind of look like a knob.

But just in case you don't care if you're hairy, don't care what you look like and are just in the water to have fun and cool down, it can make for some pretty fun times.

Just make sure to watch out for large red sharks. Less stealth and more splash is their modus operandi so chances are you won't miss them and will have plenty of time to get out of the water.