Zoomies!

Well, that's just how it feels. All you PWDs know what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Emma has always zoomed after baths. When she was an only dog, she would tear over all the furniture, rubbing herself against the cushions, often pushing the cushions off the sofa in her zoomie state. Now that she has a buddy, she focuses her zoomie energy on playing with Cub, rather than focusing on taking apart the furniture!

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

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We're tearing it up indoors ...

I like having a play pal. However, when we start rearranging the furniture, our 2lggd mom gets a little perturbed. Dad just laughs at that, but when we start rearranging the musical equipment in the music studio area, then he gets worried.

Technorati Tags: PWD, Portie, Portuguese, Water, Dog, video

Beyond the backyard ...

I have never before walked in the big empty field behind the house, because I am very happy to get my exercise fetching tennis balls. But Mom says that Cub doesn't fetch so enthusiastically as I do, so he needs a longer walk. I wished that Cub and I could run together, but Mom kept him on the flexi-lead.

We are lucky to have open space behind our house. I've never dog-walked there before, but it's coming in handy now. I can feel confident that the open space will still be there long after we are gone, because it is reserved for expansion of school athletic fields.

Emma is getting along so well with the new guy. I'm so proud of her!

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

Technorati Tags: PWD, Portie, Portuguese, Water, Dog, Newfoundland, video

My morning commute ...

This is our weekday morning routine. Walk the 50 yards to work. Then I get a rawhide chewie, and then sleep while Mom works. I tried to explain to Cub that he should just relax. He'll get the hang of it eventually.



I am fortunate to have a morning commute of about 50 yards. I am a sailmaker, and anyone who spends much time in sail lofts knows that most of them have cats, or dogs, or both. I have been bringing my dogs to work with me since 1995. I have very occasionally encountered customers, or sailing industry people, who don't understand how normal this is, and consider it "unprofessional" or complain about dog hair in the stitching. It's far more likely that customers come to the loft just to visit my dogs.

I do try to keep dogs off the loft floor (the working surface). They do not know when their paws are clean and when they are not. Cub would not take "no" for an answer. He was determined to stick to me like glue, so I had to tether him to keep him off the floor. I do most of my work in a "sewing pit" which is a hole in the floor. The sewing machine sits level with the floor so that the entire floor becomes my table.

Emma knows the routine. I work and she sleeps. Later when she gets bored, she comes to me and asks me to take her over to play with her pal, Buffy. Once Cub seemed secure in feeling that I was not going to sneak off without him, he settled down and napped while I sewed.

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

Technorati Tags: PWD, Portie, Portuguese, Water, Dog, Newfoundland, video

My new "little" brother ...

Today I went to work with my 2lggd dad. He's working on a house remodeling and he put me on the front porch of the house behind a gate. Then when he knocked off work at 3 pm he took me to the biscuit bar. That's what I call the Backstreet Pub, because they have a huge jar of dog biscuits behind the bar.

Soon after we got there, MOM SHOWED UP!!! I hadn't seen her in days and days and days. Another dog showed up at about the same time. A giant dog - a Newfoundland. When I was a young pup I used to go visiting to play with Newfoundlands a lot, but I haven't seen one in years. He was very nice. I was nice too. I must admit that for a while my manners with other dogs were not so good. But Mom has been reminding me how much fun life can be when I show good manners.

So anyway, we hung out at the Pub, begging biscuits from all the patrons for a while, and then when we went home, the Newf came too!!! Mom and Dad explained that he is my new packmate, and his name is Cub. He is two years old, and he is a relative of all those Newfs I played with when I was a young pup. We are getting along great! (Mom says she's really proud of me).

I was rather concerned about handling the first meeting of Cub and Emma just right. I had Mark take Emma to work with him today, so that when Cub and I arrived at the house, he wouldn't have Emma flying in his face, being territorial. It's hard to say what she would do, but I have seen her be initially a little nasty to visiting dogs, and I wouldn't take that chance.

Cub got to become acquainted with his new home in peace. He became familiar with Emma's smells before meeting her. Then in the afternoon we drove downtown to the Backstreet Pub, the famous Beaufort dog-friendly watering hole.

Emma has had a period of issues with stranger-dogs. She would lunge at an unfamiliar dog, with some frantic yapping, and then run to hide behind someone's knees. We have been working on turning that behavior around, and I am absolutely amazed at how quickly, and completely, we have changed her behavior. Here you can see her accepting Cub's very large presence with complete equanimity. Mind you, she still doesn't know that he is coming home with us.

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

Technorati Tags: PWD, Portie, Portuguese, Water, Dog, video, Newfoundland

Consorting with other PWDs ...

I have a complaint to make! A couple of them, actually.

This evening my 2lggd mom went out without me. I think she went to the bank, where they have that drawer under the window that comes out with a biscuit in it. I was unhappy that she didn't take me along. But when she came back home, I forgot all about the bank and the drawer and the biscuit. Because she smelled like DOGS. OTHER DOGS! Two of them. The smell was all over her pants. I was soooo excited, and I pressed my nose to her jeans all over. What was she doing? Where are those dogs? Will I get to meet them????

But then Mom loaded some bags into the car and left. Dad looked at me and said "Your life is about to change in a very big way." Something big is up and I don't know what it is.



Storm & Zephyr in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Photo by Moe F.

This evening as I was coming out of the post office, I saw a couple walking two Portuguese Water Dogs out onto the city dinghy dock. I followed them out and asked to meet their dogs, who turned out to be Stormy and Zephyr, sailing from Nova Scotia to the Bahamas on the sailing vessel Malolo. Donna, Howard, and I had a great chat on the dock during which first Storm, and then Zephyr, leaned against my legs, then sat on my feet, and finally eased over into my lap!

On Friday, Mark will take Emma to the Backstreet Pub, our dog friendly drinking establishment, and she will get to meet Storm and Zephyr. I'm sorry that I will not be there to see them meet, because I am now on my way to Wisconsin to pick up a two year old Newfoundland dog, Bubba. Bubba is the great grandson of my second Newfoundland, Lola. Lola died 4-1/2 years ago at the ripe old age of 13.

Indeed, for Emma, life as she knows it is about to change.

Kathy (Emma's 2lggd mom)

Technorati Tags: PWD, Portie, Portuguese, Water, Dog

Sticks

Today I watched the 2lggds carrying sticks. Now, don't get me wrong. I like to carry sticks. When I'm really excited, I'll carry just about anything and sticks are often handy, and fit in my mouf just right. But these 2lggds, they make a big tree into way more sticks than any dog needs. Then they carry all the sticks to a trailer, haul them to our house, and carry them all again. I just got so tired of all the sticks that I finally just layed down and watched them. Crazy 2lggds!!

Today we made a second run to build up our supply of firewood for the winter heating season. On Saturday, Mark went to a friend's property and helped him cut up a large downed branch. Today we went back and helped him fell a tree that was dying. I looked up at the tree and thought, "that's a lot of BTUs." We loaded about half of it into the trailer, and stacked it at the house. About a third of it was already dead and dry. At present we probably have about 4 weeks of heat stored up. Next week we will go to load up the rest of it. There's another tree to fell on the same property, and a downed, cut up tree at another friend's place, so we will soon be in good shape for the winter. If I still had a Newf, perhaps we would use a wagon to move the firewood from the pile to the trailer. Emma is no draft animal. She just supervises.

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

Technorati Tags: PWD, Portie, Portuguese, Water, Dog, video, firewood

Hunting and gathering ...

The cats are hunting, but I am gathering.

My 2lggd mom loves the nuts that fall on the ground all over our yard. She gathers them by the sackful. I like them too, but I just find them one at a time, and then crunch them up. Here we are looking for nuts.



My two kitties are not interested in the nuts. They only want to stalk the squirrels that eat the nuts.

The big pecan trees in our yard did not yield much crop last year, but this year is looking very good so far. The nuts on the several trees vary in quality. Some are very small and round, hard to crack, but extremely tasty. I don't bother with them; too much work. Others are large and oblong, papershells that can be easily cracked against eachother in one hand, with large sweet and juicy nut meats inside. These I collect for snacking.

Last weekend was very breezy, and I picked up many nuts off the ground. Tomorrow is forecast to be also very windy, and so the coming weekend should be good for collecting many more. Emma likes to crunch the nuts. I think she goes after the pecans that have already been partially chewed by the squirrels, because she can smell the sweet nut meat inside. Unfortunately, the sharp shells sometimes cause her digestive problems, and I find her barfing little chunks of shell during the night. I try to stop her from eating them, but I know it's quite pointless because the yard where she plays with her friend Buffy is strewn with them.

The cats are very social animals. When we walk around the yard, they keep us company. They are about 18 months old, and have become fairly good at catching mice, shrews, and young rats. They have been practicing stalking squirrels without much success. It takes some time for a cat to become an accomplished hunter, and they are just starting to get the knack. They caught their first squirrel (that I know of) last week. I have given them a pep talk about not letting those darn squirrels munch pecans with impunity. Even if they do not catch a squirrel, they should at least keep them on their toes, don't let them get too complacent. I don't begrudge the squirrels some nuts, really. I will leave all the small hard nuts on the ground for them and take the big papershells for myself, HA!

Kathy, Emma's 2lggd mom

Technorati Tags: PWD, Portie, Portuguese, Water, Dog, video, pictures