Just Like Home

We took the week off because we've been under the influence of a 'polar thingy'. Ok, I know that's not the official name of it, but it was several day and nights of unseasonably cool weather. It felt wonderful!!! Instead of day in the high 90s or 100s and nights in the high 80s, we had days in the 70s and night in the 50s. It was just like the summers I remember in Central New York where we could actually go outside during the day and enjoy it. Sadly, it's coming to an end and miserable high temps are expected starting this weekend, but it was sure great while it lasted.

We'll show you how we spent our week. First there were ball games with the new ball and our soccer ball. Mom couldn't find it during the big soccer tourney because I had hidden it, but it showed up this week.

 It was the perfect time to try out the new ball that Chewy sent us. Now how did Mr Andrew know that we love Glow Balls?

 Dad decided to throw the frisbee for us and Mackey really got into  action.  Look at her run!

She even brought it back to be thrown again, which is a new development. She usually just plays 'keep away' with it.

Mom says Mac is too fat and needs to lose a few pounds, so this was really good exercise  for her.

We took a look at the few remaining flowers in the yard. The butterfly bush has a lot of visitors. 

Mom keeps telling Norma Jean not to go crashing thru the bush and Dad tells her not to chew on his dwarf tree. Gee, a girl can't have any fun.

 These are pretty flowers, Mom, if Norma Jean doesn't sit on them.

We all ran around the yard just because it felt good.

Sometimes we just relaxed in the grass and enjoyed the sunshine.

Then we had the most fun of all. Mom turned on the hose. 

She filled the pool and we couldn't wait to jump in. We can't all fit in the pool at the same time so we have to take turns.

Next..

Where's Sebastian during this? He's staying as far away from the water as he can get. He's hugging the door.

What a great week it was!

 Your pal, Fudge

The Flock of Bird Brains

You all remember our resident seed throwers who like to screech when I pick up the telephone. Here are Norris and Calder.

This is Stanley.

And here's Elwood.

If you look closely, they're all together in this shot.

Well, I stitched their portraits.

At least it's not more chickens.

Water Dogs

We didn't take the dogs to the lake at all last year. After our terrible struggle with cryptosperidium, we didn't want to take any chances with them drinking lake water. Now some time has passed and the only ones still showing any lingering issues are Noah and Fudge. When the invitation came last week, we were both a little nervous so we consulted with Dr B. He said it would be safe for the girls and could be beneficial to Morgan and Tess with their arthritic legs.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day so we got the others settled for a day at home alone and took Morgan and Norma Jean to the lake. I put a vest on Morgan to give her some support if she tired and Norma Jena wore a swimming harness.

We met Grace and Runtley and J and T and headed for the lake. Who was happy to be going swimming? Morgan was.

Gracie was.

Norma Jean was.

Happiest of all was Runtley.

Grace and Norma Jean raced to see who could get in the water  first.

The sisters made many trips to retrieve their toys.

Runtley has been practicing her swimming since we last saw her and she was going much farther out to get her ball.

Even with four peeps to throw, we had trouble keeping up with the girls.

Morgan went in the water a couple times. We made sure someone was close by watching her and that she didn't go too far.

Then it was time for a break.  Everyone got back on board and got ready for some lunch including watermelon.

 Norma Jean wanted to dry off before lunch. And how does a Water Dog dry off, you ask?  First a good shake, preferably with peeps standing nearby to absorb the extra water.

Then use whatever's available, in this case the seat.

After lunch it was back in the water.

 Finally one last throw, then it was time to pack up and leave the lake.

Although everyone had fun, there was something missing. This was our first time without Samba and Splash. They always kept the excitement level high. They would both jump around and bark at us to hurry and throw the toy and Splash would usually do one of his leaps from the boat to create lots of splashing. They were both missed yesterday.

Safe and Safer

I admit I'm a worrier. I worry about things that I can't control and I worry about things I can. Instead of losing sleep over things within my control, I'm trying to take positive action. In this case I'm talking about the safety of my dogs.

The Porties aren't as much of a concern to me as the others. They never let me out of their sight. If they're all sleeping and I just change my position on the couch, they all bound up, ready for whatever activity I have planned. On a couple of occasions when they have gotten out of the yard, they come right to me when called.

Morgan wouldn't leave home unless in her confused state of mind, she wandered off and didn't know how to get back. That's unlikely because Morgan is never outside on her own, even in the fenced yard. She's too old to be left out with the others to play and we keep her close by.

Sebastian, Mac and Sydney are the ones I worry about.  Sebastian, of course, has a history of getting lost, that's how he came to us.

Mac would chase a rabbit or squirrel if possible and could get lost.

Then there's Sydney. Syd is quite a hunter. She's already bagged two moles, two turtles and a rabbit, just in the back yard. The turtles and rabbit were rescued by Rob and me, but the moles weren't as lucky. I'm sure if Syd had a chance to slip out of the gate, she'd take off after prey and would get lost. I worry about these things.

To keep everyone safe, they have all been microchipped and the chips are registered with two different registries. They each have ID tags with their names and address and phone numbers. On the back of the tags is the vet's  phone number in case they're injured.

So I should feel safe, right? Wrong. What if they get lost and their tags are missing? The tags are on split rings and they can break or open up. Noah lost his tags last year right here in the house and Fudge lost his in the yard just a few weeks ago. We found them but the ring had broken.

If Syd got lost and someone found her without her tags and didn't know about microchips, then what?  Last week I got Syd and Mac both collar tags from Boomerang Tags.

These tags are great. They attach to the collar and Boomerang says if fit correctly they will not fall off. They're heavy tags and deeply engraved. Boomerang guarantees their tags will not become illegible from normal wear. If they become difficult to read they will be replaced at no cost. This style tag is perfect for hunting dogs so their tags don't become caught in brush.

I'm going to order this style for Sebastian too. They'll continue to wear their regular tags but have the extra security of collar tags. I've used Boomerang Tags for years and they're a great company to work with. The give quantity discounts, guarantee their product and the tags arrive in just a couple of days.

This should make my kids safer and cross one worry off my list.

Earplugs Ready

Hi everybody, 
Happy 4th of July. Yes, it's a scary holiday when it gets dark. Last night most of us were barking so loud that Mom couldn't hear the TV. Sebastian was on Dad's lap and Mackey was on Mom's lap. It sounded like the outdoors was exploding. We were all surprised this morning to see everything was still there.

Mom wants to make today a good day for us instead of a scary one, so we have some special foodables to enjoy. Dad brought one of these home and last night he cut it into bite sized pieces. Usually he puts the pieces in the big pink tub for us to grab, but Sidney doesn't always play well with others and Sebastian doesn't like to stick his head in the  tub, so this year Dad is handing out the pieces. I guess that's OK cause we all get about the same number of pieces. I liked it better when I could grab a lot before the others did.

Today is Sebastian's gotcha day, too. He found us two years ago today. He's very afraid of the loud fireworks noises and that might be why he got lost. This year he has a safe place with lots of friends.

Mom made something extra special for this afternoon. She got all these things together and put them in the blender and when she was done they were Frosty Paws. 

This year instead of putting them in little paper cups, she put them in ice cube trays. She says she can pop them out and hand them to us. That way nobody will eat the paper cup by mistake.

I'm glad she made Frosty paws, but I like the way she did them last time better. Then she made it rain Frosty Paws. She didn't put the top on the blender tightly and the Frosty Paws shot all over the kitchen. I could just put my head back, open my mouth and Frosty Paws dropped in. We spent hours licking Frosty Paws off the walls, floors and cabinets. It was GREAT!!!  Mom said some words we'd never heard before and grabbed paper towels and a mop. It took her forever to clean it all up because we were all racing around licking up the Frosty Paws. It was one of the bestest days ever.

Anyway, this year she has a new blender and she put the top on tight and all the Frosty Paws stayed in the machine. Still, we think they're going to taste wonderful after they get frozen.

We hope all of you are staying safe inside with your peeps and trying to tune out the loud noises outside. Are you having any holiday treats today?

Your pal, Fudge