Monday, August 25, 2008

A Smile for a Monday

On the days like today, when it's tough to get out of the bed and get started with life, sometimes it's nice to think of the blessings that each and every one of us has. The things that I like to think of are the things that make me smile -- my silly ferrets doing their "dook dook dook" noise while they run and act silly in the living room, Guy carrying around a pink and green stuffed elephant the size of a mouse (literally) because it's his "baby doll", or even a just sunny afternoon drive home from work.

I've posted some things that make me smile -- I hope they make you smile, too!


Indi smiles for the camera, mid-walk at Beach Lake

A sunny day drive home from work

As for Lagniappe Kennel news, we're almost done with refinishing the 6 hole dog box. Photos to come (hopefully tonight!) AND -- File' was in harness for the first time last Thursday. I hooked her to my skijor belt and off we went for a 2 mile jog up the road and back. She was all business and put her head down and pulled like she had been doing it all of her life. What a good girl (as I told her repeatedly!) Footage below. Enjoy!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Rest in Peace, Dixie-Bear


Today we are saddened to say that we lost our very first member of Lagniappe Kennel, Dixie.  Dixie was adopted from the animal shelter in Nashville, TN in the fall of 2001.  For the last eight years she has graced us with her (sometimes Prima Donna) presence.  I have never had a dog who was a bigger pain, yet was so unconditionally cute.  She will be missed.  See you at the bridge, Dixie-Bear. We love you.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

File' and the fishcicle and Lagniappe Kennel Sled....Ferrets??



It's the dog days of summer and not a whole lot is going on in our dog lot. Most of the activity is outside the lot -- like getting the dog boxes stripped and repainted, lining up gravel for delivery, etc. So I decided to add a little action to the day on Friday by throwing a frozen King Salmon head to File'. Good gracious, that dog can eat. I felt like I was watching National Geographic video of lions eating. This girl was seriously going to town!


File' tears into the salmon head. Mmmmm...


Saturday was my birthday (happy birthday to me!) and I rewarded myself by acquiring something that will make me smile and giggle and will make me very happy this winter -- a ferret! I used to have a ferret but gave him to a friend who was in love with him. I miss the silly things. So I found a ferret, Syke, in Palmer. He needed to be rehomed and he's perfect for me. He's a white eyed black (so not albino in that he does not have pink eyes). He's very sweet!! Today I found him a roomie, a little female named Jinx. So we have Syke and Jinx. What is this, 80's phrases? Totally unintentional. I love them! Granted, they can't pull a sled, but they snuggle and do funny ferret things. They'll definitely be good winter entertainment. Right now they're curled up together in their nap sack, asleep.

Happy Ferret Day!


Jinx in her nap sack

Hey, what's all this picture business?  And who is that dog? (Cass)


Syke sleeping on his back


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

After many days of reflection, it dawns on me that dogs will be dogs.

I've had a quiet last few days. I've been shouldering kennel burdens by myself since Friday of last week; frankly, I expected it to be a little trying but I've grown accustomed to the routine again and am able to dispense with the chores pretty quickly. I think that the dogs are happy to see me in the dog lot again -- Matt usually does the evening feedings so they haven't visited with me very much lately. As soon as we go back to feeding twice a day, I'll be doing morning duty before work as well as running them with the ATV some.

My rejuvenating, peaceful weekend consisted of chores, some shopping, laundry and housecleaning, punctuated by lots of napping. In the evenings I was able to take some time out to have a glass of wine and gaze out the window at the dogs playing in the yard. Most of the time watching them makes me smile contentedly. On rare occasions, watching them gives me a heart attack. I've had two such instances within the last few days.

Firstly, last night I peeked out the window to spy on File'. She was having a blast playing with her bone. Or so I though. Upon closer inspection, I saw stuffing all over the ground. WHAT? How had she managed that? Someone had apparently gifted her with the closest dog bed, which she drug to the center of her circle and attempted to shred. Heart attack number one. I slipped on my boots and ran outside to chide her and put it back where it belonged. She didn't do too much damage.

Later on, I heard Zinger barking in the yard. She, her brother Zack, and her kissing cousin Clover have unique barks. They all sound similar but I can tell them apart without looking simply by the tone of their voices. I knew that Zinger was up to something before I even saw the reason for her barking. She only barks when she's playing or when it's feeding time. I had already fed, so I figured she must be playing with something. When I looked out the kitchen window I saw that she was batting a toy around on top of her house, nipping it, throwing it up in the air and swatting at it again. She was busy talking to it while playing with it. What kind of a toy was that? Small...brown...oh NO. It was a POOP! My dog was playing with a poop on top of her house!!!

"ZINGER!" (no response) "ZINGER!!" (still no response) "ZINGERRRRRR!!!!!!!!!" (she pauses) "Don't play with that." (blank stare. swats at the turd again.) I sigh and close the door, shaking my head.

What in the world gets into these critters? I love them with all of my heart and soul and they repay me by doing things like tearing up their dog beds and playing with pieces of poop!! They make me scratch my head day after day. And so, after much Zen meditation and many quiet hours spent contemplating my dear pets and how I much love them, and why they do the things that they do, I have come to a simple conclusion. It all boils down to one thing: Dogs will be dogs. :)

Monday, August 4, 2008

A Lazy Weekend





This past weekend was a pretty relaxed one. Matt spent most of it putting vinyl siding on the garage (pics to come) and I spent most of it running errands and goofing off. I took quite a few walks with dogs and enjoyed our bonding time. I even walked Indi up to the unnamed lake near the top of our mountain and let him go swimming. I wish I had taken my camera so I could have gotten some quality photos. Instead, all I had was my camera phone. I'm posting the photos and video anyway, even though they were a little blurry. He's not doing anything spectacular -- unless you consider the fact that most sled dogs don't like going swimming! Indi loves water, although I think he takes dips mostly because he wants to cool off under that heavy coat of his.

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