Friday, February 8, 2008

Another Interesting Face


Meet Low Fat Mocha-a member of the California branch of Poidogz.

Interesting Faces

Three of my dogs have classical, beautiful chihuahua faces, complete with the little thumbprint indentation at the base of the muzzle. Take a bow Bitty, Prissy, and Cody. Yay! I love a good face on any animal.

Three of my dogs are currently in running for the most interesting face. Dottie has one eye. Greta has a fierce bulldog underbite and can't quite get her lower fangs in when her mouth is closed. Oliver's muzzle is already twice as long as Greta's and he's half her size. Is it puppy awkwardness or is he creating his own unique look?

I used to get seasonal pictures made of Dottie, and I continued after she lost her eye. I would proudly display the photo on my desk. Several co-worker's asked me why I would have a one eye dog's picture made.

Well, duh, because she's my dog, she has one eye and that's what she looks like. Dottie was a classical beauty as well, but now she has a beauty that transcends and heals. Dogs are who they are, big noses and all. All my dogs pose for the camera with the same "look at me" attitude, regardless of where they fall in the AKC standard.

What's that old saying? Beauty is as Beauty does.....

Thursday, February 7, 2008

There's a MAN on the roof

It's not Santa, it's the roofer, but the dogs are horrified that an actual human would walk around up there where the squirrels go. I can't wait to see how they react when they start tearing stuff OFF the roof.

Poor kids, so much change. First someone steals the trees and NOW the roof!

Human Beings are strange.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Journey to the Center of the Universe

My little baby would rather play with the big dogs than tug on my pants leg. Every one of my dogs, especially the rescues, eventually make that leap. I'm still the boss, I'm still in control, but I'm not the center of the universe any longer. I know it's for the best, but I always feel a little bit lost when it happens.

I know for the five minutes that I had an "only dog" (Dottie) it wasn't a good situation. It's better for all of us that we have a nice, loving pack. Everyone is more stimulated, more comforted and life is generally better for all concerned. The thing is, I only have to pull one dog out, go for a ride or a walk, and suddenly, I'm the center of the universe again.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Oliver is a mid sized dog now!

He weighs 5.2 pounds-he's a moose!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Babysitting

It amazes me how patient the adults are with Oliver. Greta and Prissy are 2 (3?) and Codyis going on 4, and they put up with him with surprising tolerance. Like any small child, he sometimes has trouble settling in for a nap and they allow him to chew on their feet or pull tails while they doze.

Thinking back, his intro into the pack was very easy. I basically said "hello pack, this is Oliver, he's one of us" and because I have that authority, he was. When he's out in the backyard, Greta or Cody will keep an eye on him if he wanders around and check on him if he goes around a corner and stays too long.

Prissy still live in between worlds. She's a little dog but she's also a young dog. It's fun to watch her adapt to what ever group she's in. Even in the back yard, after the initial group romp, they seperate themselves by size an age.

Prissy has never been an outsider, she was always an extended pack member even when she lived with Mom. She came to us the day after I got Cody and spent her first couple of nights crated next to him. After she moved to Texas to be with us, she and Dottie went back to Oklahoma for awhile when I had surgery.

She and Dottie appear to treat my house and Mom's house as home. Having 2 backyards is great-it expands their territory far beyond that of a regular urban dog. The yard between Mom's and mine is a dogless no man's land, but yes, I covet it for them too.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Old dogs and puppies

Bitty is a demanding little dog. She is the first to yip in the morning, and would prefer I wait while she toilets so that she can come back in. This is fairly new-for awhile she wanted to hang out on the edge of the pack. Since I've turned the bathroom into a spa for old dogs, that's her favorite spot, except at meal time: then she would like to be in her crate.

She's such a genteel old thing I don't have the heart to deny her. She is what she was raised to be, a spoiled little pampered creature. She follows the basic rules about peeing in the house and crying at night, she enjoys watching the pack but does not like their robust ways. Oliver horrifies her.

Tandy, a chihuahua past (chocolate longcoat) despised puppies. She wouldn't bite them, or even growl, but if one came up, she would turn her head and close her eyes tight and shake until someone rescued her. This was a dog that scaled cliffs in a backpack and fearlessly herded armadillos. She was ok with kids. But, an unruly puppy would just do her in.