Addy has figured out the trick to helping herself to blackberries, which she finds absolutely delectable. On the plus side, it keeps her out of the compost pile and the cat food on the landlord’s porch. On the minus side, it gives her a poop volume that is out of this world, most of which she deposits on the floor of my house now that WE GOT BARRED SUNSHINE and can’t bring our dogs to work anymore. Thankfully, she is diligent about using her potty pads for this.
Anyhoo …. *waves* Hi ya’ll! I’ve been away. I went to the land of ALL THE SICK. I was pretty sure I had Ebola, West Nile and also something that turns you into a zombie, but in the end I had strep throat and the flu all at the same time. It was brutal. And since we don’t get paid sick leave at work, I had to tough it out and power through and stumble through days at work wishing that a vicious dog would just kill me and put my out of my misery.
I am slowly returning to the land of the living (dead). I am at work for 12 days in a row as the other supervisor is on vacation, so I had to spend my last two days off curled up on the sofa drifting in and out of consciousness. Poor doggies. But I only worked for just a little over a half day today, so I took the beasties out to play some ball.
It took a long time to teach Winter how to play ball, but he’s finally gotten pretty enthusiastic about it.
One of the reasons he *may* be reluctant to play ball is that his sister doesn’t believe that he should.
But … monkey terrier see, monkey terrier do!
Piper disapproves of these shenanigans.
Dexter doesn’t care, as long as he gets the ball sometimes. All of the time would be preferable, but he’ll negotiate to some of the time. Although getting it back from him is sometimes a challenge. He likes to get the ball and then “hide” behind 6 blades of grass with it and pretend he’s gone deaf when I call him. When he finally comes out of “hiding” he brings the ball to my feet and then won’t let it go. It’s completely annoying, because there is nothing better than the ball he has, so neither food nor another ball will convince him to drop it. The Fifa(tm) can distract him, but Wootie doesn’t like to share the Fifa.
Unless he is air scenting for coyotes.
An activity he likes to enjoy with his compadres.
Dexter’s going to be 5 this month. FIVE! How crazy is that?
And how crazy is it that this handsome man is FOURTEEN!?!?
It still boggles my mind.
I wish I had more interesting things to tell you, but I just haven’t done much of anything besides sleep and cough for the last 10 days or so.
I have done some studio sessions of super cutie patootie dogs though!
But then I lost my studio space. But it was a blessing in disguise because I found a much better studio space!
Next weekend I am photographing the ASCA of BC trial, which should be super fun. ALL THE AUSSIES! If you want to come out and see some no-tails bouncing around like drunk coffee beans, come by for a visit!
(and for those who were wondering, Gemma is still with me, she just refuses to come outside unless she needs to pee. She is older than dirt but refuses to die! Maybe I really DO have the fountain of youth in my general orbit!
I promise to try and update more frequently now that I am no longer one of the walking dead :)
MsNform says
Sorry you were feeling so poorly…why did you all get barred from bringing the dogs to work, or is it just Addy?
curious.
Adrienne says
No dogs to work??? :(
I’m hoping to do DOS for my local ASCA trial Sunday. “Bouncing around like drunk coffee beans” is just an excellent expression!
Janice in GA says
My Jasper (Aussie) is 10 today, which is ridiculous. We only got him maybe 2 years ago, right?? (Truth: we got him 10 years ago. It just seems like a short time.)
“we got barred sunshine”?? ::confused::
riosmom says
So sorry you have been so sick and it sucks that you had to work while you were sick. Hope you are all better and have fun photographing at the ASCA trial.
But I, too, am confused – “barred sunshine”? Love the picture of Addy eating blackberries. Ours in northern California are just starting to ripen and soon “walks” will be spent in front of the blackberry bushes on, where else, Blackberry Trail. My friend’s dog eats from the bush but Gracie wants hers picked and hand delivered and will spit one out if it is not perfectly ripe. This dog eats cat poop and yet her taste buds are sensitive enough to detect a slightly unripe berry. Stay well!
sally Derevan says
You have the most handsome and gorgeous dogs! I love seeing pictures of them. Thank you!
Becky says
How did you know I was thinking about Gemma? Glad to hear the fountain of youth in your orbit is working for her. If I didn’t live so far away she’d be mine! Sorry about the icky sickies but love your new studio space.
LDF says
Sorry to hear you weren’t feeling well! Thanks for powering thru and posting your (usual) great pix!
Kate D. says
Love the post and the great photos ! having strep is bad enough, never mind the flu on top of it all. Love the new studio space.. with the excellent photos you take, are you finding this is helping adopt more dogs out quickly from the shelter ? and thank you for the Gemma update, I’m glad she is orbiting along, she definitely deserved to orbit some more after all she went thru, lucky her to have landed with you.
The Food Lady says
We definitely had a lot more interest in our shelter dogs when my photos were posted, but as I am no longer allowed to photograph them under the Big Air banner, and was told to remove all my photography equipment from the shelter premises, I don’t photograph them anymore. Hurts my heart, as I love my job and love being able to offer my skills to the dogs to make them appealing to the public, but I’m not allowed to do it anymore.
Aislinn, Glenn, Coop and Joon says
Ohhh heart break. Those doggies deserve to be seen for the lit-up little beings that they are. Your photographs were amazing.
We want to celebrate your new studio space by getting photos of Coop and Joon done. Send us a line when you’re feeling better. We will pay for the session AND bring chicken noodle soup.
And Tweed- you look fabulous.
Kate D. says
I’m so sad to hear that they won’t/can’t take advantage of the gold mine you are offering them! your heart was in the right place in putting the dogs first in tying to get them a great home, I have 3 rescued dogs from Turtle Gardens, and understand how hard it is to make some dogs look great, we don’t all take or appear great in photos ! as disappointing and heartbreaking as it is, I can tell you will find other ways to help them instead, this shelter is very fortunate to have you working for them , be kind to yourself and get better soon
Liza says
Take care of yourself! and everyone else, especially Tweed and Gemma. Love me some old doggies!
RachelB says
I’m so glad to hear Gemma is doing well!
And the picture of Addy nomming blackberries made me smile. My dear departed heart dog was fond of raspberries, and it was a very fine day indeed when he learned to help himself in the garden.
Alison says
Glad you’re feeling better. It’s too bad you can’t take photos of the dogs anymore, your photos showed how beautiful they all are. At least we will still have photos of your dogs, and the upcoming bouncing coffee bean photos, to admire.
Tweed looks so good, are you sure you don’t have him frozen in some sort of time warp where he never ages?