The Beach Party

Next we have Leeloo. Or Leaping Leeloo as I have come to call her. She seems to be absent that undefinable dignity that Ridgebacks have ... Leeloo just is. Not that she doesn't *have* dignity just that life seems to her like one big hug.

On the blustery day she stopped at the crest of the sand to wait. Can't have a photo of Leeloo without an ear folded back can we?

This is one of my favorites. She was galloping along when she spotted something of interest and put on the brakes. Too bad she doesn't have ABS.

The first day we went it was ridiculously windy and things were blowing along the sand. She kept spotting things blow past and attempt to chase and catch them.

Leeloo's life motto is taken from Monty Python - 'Always look on the bright side of life."

Again with the blowing seaweed. It was super cute because she'd do that pounce pounce stomp thing and then look around for the seaweed she'd stomped on. She'd 'lose' it every time because it looked and smelled just like all the other seaweed along the shore.

I swear this is the *only* moment I caught her standing and looking dignified and even this was just a 3 second moment. Fortunately I have a high speed shutter.

She stole whatever this is from Archer, pulled the seaweed off it and ate it. Gag. Not sure what it was but it does violate the 'don't take stuff from this beach' order. She then threw it up in my truck on the way home. Oh happy day.

There's that ear again. I don't know if I'd recognize her without an ear folded back and twisted up.

And again. I had a breeder tell me that at this age some Ridgebacks seem 2 dimensional because they are so tall and leggy if you turn them sideways they almost disappear. Case in point ...

Doing what she does best. Despite the crazy long legs and the silly ears Leeloo is the epitome of grace and fluidity on the move and yet still manages to keep her 'Leeloo-ness' intact.

Which brings us to the very definition of clumsy puppy ...

On the Beach

Time for a new nickname. Beach Boy. Or beach bum. They both work.
He spends an inordinate amount of time looking at the waves and water with a perplexed look on his face. I'm not sure what he could be thinking about.
At one point he lay down and rolled and then just ... lay there. Pooped I guess. It's hard work running in sand. More on that to come.
He really does seem to be a bum on the beach.
He actually did some wandering along the beach rather than just working on his tan. He was ever cautious of the waves though ... you never know when they might reach up and suck you in. Leeloo was also wave cautious but didn't let it affect her enjoyment of the moment. Nothing seems affect Leeloo's moments of enjoyment. Except stabby vets.

The Beach

I'll start with Halo on the beach since she's the oldest. Not the most auspicious reason to be chosen first but you have to start somewhere. I could say she's first because she has the most titles ... that's better.

She stopped to wait for me while I trudged up the incline to the crest. Sniffing the wind ... what stories it must tell.

She's recovered nicely from her last litter. The boobies need a bit of a tuck but otherwise she's a fine looking broodbitch.

Of all the dogs Halo spent the least amount of time close to the water ... I mean ... no where near. It was hard to get a photo of her along the water's edge.

One of the days I was there it was blowing up a fright and Halo spent a lot of time with her nose sucking up all the good smells.

This is one of my favorites. Yes it's posed - she was the only dog who'd sit still.


Here's a more typical Halo look, less dignified and more pitiable.
They seem to like the beach but are more accustomed to grass. They spend a lot of time sniffing on the beach and less time running. Either way they are exhausted and satisfied when we get home so I'll take it. Tomorrow ... The Beach Boy. Oh ya.

Beaches

I have so many photos of the dogs on the beach it's insane. Over 300 downloaded. I spent a couple hours last night sorting them and trying to decide which ones to post and how to post them. I think I'll do a dog at a time and then theme it. May take about a week I think ... there are so many good ones it will be hard to filter. Yes, I am patting myself on the back.



So this is Caribou Beach, or the Beach at Central Caribou, Or Caribou Island Beach ... or whatever. It doesn't post a name. What it does post is a teeny weeny notice about a paragraph long that states it's a protected beach by order of the Nova Scotia Something Official Sounding and that no one shall remove anything from the beach by this order. It even listed things like sand, shells, rocks etc. I scanned for the word 'dog', didn't find it, and off we hiked.


I'll start with groups of dogs doing harmless dog-like things. The three adult dogs heading up and over to the beach. Wheeeeee ...
The first thing they encountered was a lone piece of driftwood which was sniffed in earnest and then peed on by Raimi.


Archer did catch up - it's not part of a group shot but it is proof he followed diligently behind the group to do the big dog things.

I love this photo because it has all the dogs in it keeping busy. There's little Archer playing by himself in the background. So cute.

So this is just a taste. More to come, I think I'll section them off by dogs and then again off by girls, then by boys, then fun stuff, silly stuff. So much blog fodder. If it seems like I'm obsessed with the beach ... I am. It's heavenly. Weird that I hate being in or on water though.

The Couch Trip

I got a couch a few days ago. We'd just been hanging out in my bedroom because there was no where else to sit that was comfortable. As soon as the couch was in the livingroom it was occupied.

Leeloo sometimes has this perplexed look on her face like "I fit. I know I fit. I make myself fit." It's pretty cute. She's still weird. And Raimi is still enduringly patient.
Sorry Archer - no room at the inn. Raimi says so ... he has the right to be persnickety since he's being sat upon by a Leeloo. This is Raimi's big bluff - pretty impressive huh?

And Leeloo having taken over the couch. She looks lonely don't you think? No one to sit on.

So now I'm reclining in an Adirondack chair I'd originally bought for the back deck to sip my coffee after the 6am Leeloo alarm. I plan to get myself an armchair and eventually a sectional when I can afford it. Ah ... dreams.

Bedknobs & Broomsticks

I arrived at my house a week ago today and my parents helped me unload the truck. I put the dogs on the back deck with an expen to block them off while we humped my crap into the house. They were fascinated but took it in stride. I failed to take a photo.


We then spent some time assembling furniture so I'd have somewhere to hang my clothes and sleep. If you haven't seen my New Scotland blog then you haven't seen this picture. The second the dogs realized there was bed to lie on they were all over it. Literally.

The cats were safely ensconced in the future dining room and so happy to be out of the truck and into their cat post. Of course they wanted out of the room as soon as possible because they were so sick of being confined.

We had to go out to pick up a few supplies so I shut the dogs in the spare bedroom with beds, toys and a still boxed closet that we would assemble upon our return. This is what we returned to ... that is styrofoam from the box that they spent quite some time ripping apart.

I spent the balance of the day after my parents left making the bed and organizing a few things. Leeloo and Halo took it as a personal insult that I asked them to get off the bed so I could put the sheets and blankets on and as soon as I was finished they plastered themselves to the bed again.

I'm trying to stick to the timeline as it occurred over the past week but am slowly catching up to today. Time to buy that USB cable because I have lots of photos again but no way to upload them. With my luck Archer will chew through the internet or power cable next ...

Field of Dreams

Finally managed to download over 200 photos from the camera. Still sorting them a bit but I thought I'd post a few just to prove I didn't actually kill any of the dogs on the trip. Here is my parent's house - it's on a hill which has been cleared and through the bay windows there is a view of the water in the distance. There is a double attached garage in which the dog runs are housed.

These photos are of the dogs the night I arrived at my parent's home last week. The house is on 6 acres with about 4 acres cleared of trees. The trees constantly threaten to take over and there are little maples trying to seed up all over the place. I don't know about anyone else but it makes me so happy to see the dogs so happy - especially after being cooped up for a week. This is my Dad and Archer - the puppy was a little over whelmed by the barking Pulis in their runs in the garage and intimidated by the maniac Ridgebacks barreling past so he stuck pretty close.

Leeloo and Raimi were playing and ran past some flags my Dad had put out to mark where they are putting some fencing. Of course Leeloo had to stop and investigate, pull the flag up and proceed to chew it. I rescued it and put it (kinda) back where it belonged.

Halo, as usual, spent most of her time sniffing in the bushes around the property. She's less into play and more into following her nose these days. Raimi also follows his nose but is more inclined to check in with me when he's off adventuring. Halo 'forgets' to check in and I have to recall her every few minutes.

She does occasionally get goaded into play and it usually results in two of the dogs ganging up and baying one of the dogs. Often Halo is the one being bayed because she is the most likely to lash out and well ... that's fun. This is Raimi harassing close and Leeloo circling round behind to get Halo from the rear. Of course the big sell to the property was the view of the harbour and PEI in the distance on a clear day. The dogs don't care about the view ... the fields are all they really need. There they are along the treeline in the bottom left corner. So happy.