The Star Spangled Banner

By Francis Scott Key

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?



Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?



And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,





Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.



O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave







O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?



Happy 4th of July.

We Have A Big Project

Yea, it rained today and the temperature is 78 degrees. The dogs played outside today. A lot of them had the zoomies from being so hot all week. Norma Jean raced around the yard and they all took off after her. They even went outside while it was raining. It felt wonderful.


We have a very special project we're working on. Here the pack is getting ready to help Rob with the project.


The humans in the household call it a 'fish pond'. The canines in the household refer to it as the 'self serve sushi bar'. Either way it takes a lot of work.


There will be a small upper pond which Rob is currently working on, and a large lower pond with a stream connecting the two. Eventually there will be a bridge crossing the stream.


Here's the work crew.


Don't even think about burying that ball!


Here the inspectors go over the day's work.


They have to check every inch.


There are some large heavy rocks to move in this project.


The rocks will all be incorporated into the construction. Some are in the lower wall and some will have water flowing over them.


Today was pay day for the project crew. We made a trip to Big Lots and bought a big bag of toys. Rob removed all the tags.


He put all the new toys in the pink bucket and carried it into the den. Then we let the crew in and everyone got to pick out their own toy.


Don't you just love getting paid for a job well done?

Something New

We've been seeing dogs on other blogs enjoying watermelon. My dogs have never had it, so we decided to try one and see if they liked it.

We bought a seedless variety. I didn't feel like picking out all the seeds and I don't know how the dogs would handle them.


Rob cut it up in the doggy bathtub in the garage.


We debated giving them each a slice, but since this is their first experience with watermelon, I decided on pieces.


We put a pile of pieces in the big pink tub.


At this point they didn't know what they were getting, but there was a lot of interest.


Notice Fudge. He's downhill from Rob, but jumping as high as his shoulder. He's very excited about this whole adventure.


In the foreground, Norma Jean is airborne, too.


OK, let's see what's in here.


Wow, this is different.


They each take a piece and wander off to enjoy it.


They like it and everyone is coming back for more, except Tsar. He didn't care that much for watermelon.


Samba stood there with her head in the tub, eating as fast as she could. Rob had to pull her away to give everyone else a chance.


Watermelon seems to be a hit.


Fudge planted himself at the side of the tub, too.


This was so good that they wanted more.


Here comes the second batch.


This was sure a good idea.


There's only a little bit left.


They want to get every piece.


Rob had to lift the tub to get them out of it.


Thank you, Maggie and Mitch for suggesting watermelon as a cool treat. My pack really enjoyed it.

A Cool Treat

We're all doing our best to stay cool during this early heat wave. On the way home from the grocery store I saw this herd of cows enjoying a cool dip in the pond.


They were standing in the water up to their bellies and seemed to be having a very good time.


For our afternoon outing I thought my pack might enjoy a cool treat. I opened a bag of baby carrots straight from the refrigerator, cool and nutritious.


I gave all my puppies carrots when they were little and starting to teethe. They were the right size for a little pup to chew on, cold to numb the sore gums and good for them. If they ate them, no harm done.


Evereyone gathered under the tree to see what was in the little box.


They have to sit and wait for their turn, no jumping on me and no acting rowdy.


I was surprised how gently everyone took their carrots from my hand. I had no bitten fingers.


There were enough for everyone to have several.




They're used to taking turns each night when they get their yogurt, so they were doing the same thing today.


Some of them wander away to eat their carrot, then hurry back into line.


Sky tries running from one end of the line to the other to get extras, but I'm onto him.




We're getting near the end of the carrots.


That's it kids. Some of them want to sniff the box to be sure there are no more.


Wow, those tasted great. Let's do it again really soon. How do you stay cool?