Monday Mischief: First Doggie Pool

We just might finally have a water dog again!

We got our first doggie swimming pool many years ago on the farm.  Sherman and Spanky were thrilled.

The pool had colorful fishies printed all over the bottom and Spanky loved to stick his head under the water and chomp at them to try and "catch" them.   Sherman loved to just lay down, soak and cool off.

To our great disappointment, Tucker, Lucy and Jeffie regarded their doggie swimming pool as a giant water bowl.  No playing; no soaking.  Just a tongue lap now and then.  So much for the pool.  

Rudy got so excited about water - that's Rudy shown above when the creek overflowed into our yard - we thought we had a water dog.   We were thrilled and picked up a little kiddie pool at the big box store.  Our thought was that if he really liked it, we'd get him a bigger one.

Well, Rudy did like to walk around in the doggie pool water.  Sometimes he stomped a front foot down to splash.  Unfortunately for us, he mostly thought it was a really big water bowl.

Now we have Rosie, a very confident 6 month old puppy who's usually ready to try just about anything!

 

 What is this thing and why is it in my yard?

 

 They've put this thing on the deck now... where are Rudy and Jeffie?

 Hey guys, should I be afraid?

 

Rudy says there's nothing to worry about.

But now they've put my Jolly ball in there

and a tennis ball!

 

I've got to get my Jolly ball!

 

Forget the Jolly ball.  This is fun!

 

Oooh... you can drink it!  You can splash it!

You can stick your head in it!

 

Wow, my head is wet!

 I think I need a towel!

We now keep a "dog towel" by both the patio and back porch doors for our little swimmer.  I managed to capture some video and when I've got some time, I'll get that uploaded to our YouTube channel.  Rosie loves the water and I suspect there's a bigger doggie pool in her future!

Wordless Wednesday: Rosie is Born to Be Wild

  
Get your motor running.  Head out to the highway.

(C'mon... sing along!)

Lookin' for adventure and whatever comes my way.

Born to be wild...   Rosie's born to be wild...

 

Rose says Jeffie can have his Subaru;  

she's got her biker jacket and she's ready to roll on a Harley Chopper.

(or something like that)

Wordless Wednesday: Joy in a Fur Coat

 My girl, Rosie.

"I am joy in a wooly coat, 

come to dance into your life, 

to make you laugh!"  

~ Julie Church

Wise Puppy Rosie | Wordless Wednesday

  Whatcha lookin' at, Rosie?

 

 Yikes!  Rowdy retriever boys!

Oh, little wise one.  Better to be an observer!

A Story of Puppy Dog Sweaters

I've been thinking about puppy sweaters.  Well, about winter dog clothes in general.  I have a collection in several sizes because when you add a puppy every couple of years... well, you need them!

Shown at top is Rudy modeling the smallest sweater.  The next size is a purple cableknit that I can't find a photo of.

 When the puppy outgrows the purple one, he or she graduates to this very vintage green and white striped sweater.  Vintage because it originally belonged to my dog, Benji, many, many years ago!

Next is a red knit sweater.  And finally, the puppy graduated to a coat like the one shown above.

Many years ago we added a black lab mix puppy, Spanky, to our family in January.  At the time we lived on a very isolated farm.  A winter storm rolled in with heaps of snow, frigid wind chill temperatures and we couldn't get out of our place for a few days.

However, the puppy definitely needed to be able to go out of the house!  No way to run to town for a puppy sweater or coat.  

I had what I still think is a brilliant idea.  Taking a child size knitted ski mask, I carefully pulled out the seams at the very top of the head, leaving a hole in the top for Spanky's head.  Spanky's front legs went through the eye holes in the mask.  A puppy sweater!

Somewhere along the line in our moves, I've lost that recycled, upcycled, make-do puppy sweater, darn it.  So when Rosie joined us and she was too little to fit in the smallest size I had on hand, I just had to shop.

Here's Rosie in her new sweater.  Why blue and green?  Because she'll soon outgrow it and the next puppy could be a boy, of course!

No Electricity? Nap!

The rain began Saturday about noon.  It soon changed to sleet.  We woke in the middle of the night to no electricity.  It made Sunday an...interesting...day.

Rosie had the right idea... Nap!

Body heat.  Its a good thing!

This is not the blog post I intended to write today, but Mother Nature had her own ideas!

Wordless Wednesday: Joy in Motion!

  Run, Rosie, run!

I know this post is supposed to be wordless but...  

for me these photos are joy in motion!

Come back Friday for photos of Rosie

 with her big brothers, Jeffie and Rudy.

There's a New Dog Girl at Talking Dogs!

 Meet Rosie.

I've been trolling Petfinder and Petango lately, tempting myself.  Actually, a few weeks ago, the Humane Society of Southwest Missouri posted an older dog that I absolutely fell in love with, but she was already adopted when I called.

The Dog Daddy prefers adopting puppies and I really couldn't argue with that.  After all, I'm a woman with perpetual puppy fever.

When I saw the Petfinder listing for this puppy, something in my heart told me:  this is the one.

No photograph, but they said she was black, which was pretty much a requirement for me.  And they said she was a Golden Retriever / Labrador Retriever mix.   My heart dog, Lucy, was the same mix and, at least in my opinion, the closest thing to perfection.

So, on Friday off we went to Dogwood Animal Shelter to adopt this precious girl.  One look and it was love at first sight.

Warning:  You are going to get very tired of hearing about this pup.

Jeffie hasn't been quite sure of the new addition, but just Sunday morning Rudy discovered that she's FUN!  Of course, my video camera would not turn on so I could capture Rudy and Rosie doing their play bows and their game of tag.

More photos soon.  The really good news is that Rosie, at least so far, shows no indication of being Amish or in any Witness Protection Program! 

Right now I have to work on my New Year's resolution:  work less; play with pups more.