After Christmas

Well, Christmas is over.  I've already taken the tree and decorations down.  I never found the Christmas spirit this year, and I didn't want to look at it all anymore.  I've been returning the house to normal for the last couple of days.  I was very pleased that Thumper never ate any ornaments, and after an initial obsession with the shiny gold beads on the Christmas tree, he left them alone.    


Santa was good to both Lightning and Thumper.  Each of them got a new stuffed duck.  Lightning got a new orange ball, and Thumper got a new bone.  In typical form, Thumper quickly gathered all the loot and stashed it in his crate.  He is such a hoarder.  I now have the new orange ball put up where I can play with Lightning with it.  I have written off the ducks.  One has already been gutted and beheaded...


Back to Christmas vacation now - it's warm here today and I hear windchimes calling my name.  


Have a Happy New Year, everyone, and thanks for welcoming us to the blog world this year.


 







 

Rein-Dog

I couldn't help myself.....

Lightning was there.....

So were the reindeer antlers from my son's school Christmas party.....

I didn't mean to make him look like that poor dog from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"....

But he DID!!!

Maybe a red nose would make him look more like Rudolph??

Liebster Award

Home Is Where The Hounds Are nominated us for Liebster Blog Award!  Thanks a bunch!  We are honored to receive it.  :)   Stop by and check them out when you have a chance.  Maddy, Veil, and Beckett are greyhounds who are the stars of the blog.  Well worth the read....they are entertaining and beautiful.
 

Liebster means “dearest” in German, and the award is intended to help up-and-coming blogs get the attention they deserve. As with any award, there is a bit of ceremony involved. In order to accept the award, we must do the following:

1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who gave us the award

3. Pick our five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.

4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs

So, here are 5 of my favorite blogs.  Stop by their blogs and enjoy their stories too.

Life Is Like a Box of Nuggets

Redberry Cottage

Bassettmomma

It's a Greyt Day

The Rowdy Retriever Girls

Thanks,

Sherri

Weekend Recap...by Lightning

While I watch Pearl Harbor (again), Lightning is going to tell his version of our weekend....enjoy!

:)

Hello, everyone, Lightning here.  How was your weekend?  We were almost abandoned Saturday.  It was horrible.  Mom and the boy went to see Grandma and almost forgot to come home.  It got dark and Thumper was worried he wasn't going to get dinner.  But not Lightning....Lightning had a plan to raid the pantry and get the dog food.  


They finally did come home and feed us, and then they turned on the Big Football Game.  It was LSU vs Georgia Bulldogs.  Thumper was excited to see 'Dogs play football.  I had to remind him this is an LSU house and to cheer for the Tigers.  He insisted cheering for the cats just seemed wrong when dogs were on the field.  


In the end the Tigers won, but the game got off to a slow start.  The boy said he couldn't watch anymore and ran away.  This is how Thumper and Lightning watched the first half....

I knew I should have cheered for the 'Dogs.
'Dogs rule. 

Hurry, Thumper!  Cover my eyes...I can't watch!

After half time, I could uncover my eyes and watch again.  Whew.  


The next day Mom decorated the Christmas tree.  So far Thumper hasn't peed on it or taken any of the shiny things from it.  He did try to take the shiny gold string of beads when Mom was decorating the tree, but she stopped him.  I'm waiting for him to get the beads off the tree and get in the Dog House.  He liked those beads a lot.


After that, we took naps.  Even Mom.  It was the best part of the weekend.


Have a good week everyone.  


Lightning

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Dog, cat, or too much agility class?

(PS - don't look at the mess in the background...please!)

How was your Thanksgiving?

Hello Everyone.  Thumper here...taking over the blog for today.   Mom is making Christmas cards and doesn't have time to talk about us today.  So Thumper will help!  

How was your Thanksgiving?  Thumper and Lighning had a good Thanksgiving.  All the people went away for the day and let us sleep.  It was a dog's best day.  The people had been home for many days, and the dogs were tired because they don't let use nap during the day when they are home.  Lightning got so sleepy he fell asleep watching TV one night!  But not Thumper.  Thumper feel asleep staring at Dad instead.  

Then they came home and we were so happy we jumped and jumped.  We even got some tasty snacks.  Mom said it was turkey.  I'm going to have to try to catch one of those.  It was good!  I'm not sure where she got it from, but all the people smelled like dogs when they got home, so it must be some place awesome.  Dogs and turkey together....she's got to take me there!  It would be better than the dog park.

I'm going to chase squirrels now.  They are waving their tells and calling for Thumper and Lightning.

Woof Woof!!

Thumper

In the Dog House

So glad it's a weekend.  It's been a rough week around here.  Lots of people stuff going on, and then the doggies had to add their issues, too.

Thumper apparently thought he was going to freeze to death one night and decided he had to sleep in the people bed to survive.  With his feet and head crammed against my back.  I woke up in pain and barely able to walk, which led to a series of chiropractor visits.  Thanks, Thumper.  Remind me to put a heating pad in your dog bed when the next cold front comes through.

Then Lightning ate something that made him ill.  I think it was poo.  Gross, I know.  Dogs are...I seriously wonder why I find them so irresistible.  He decided to show his love by leaving a regurgitated pile of *something* ON A RUG for me to clean at 9:00 at night.  After work, after a chiropractor visit, after my son's LONG baseball practice.  That was just lovely to come home too.  I'll spare you the gory details, but after I had to clean up that mess, Lightning almost became an outside dog.  He still hasn't worked his way out of the dog house, and I am still trying to get the smell out of that rug.  **UGH**

In the spirit of Thanksgiving week, I think I should try to find something to be thankful for in all of this. I'm thankful that the dogs keep me company and make me laugh.  I'm thankful that my family is well.  And I'm thankful that the dry heaves from cleaning the rug that night worked my abs (which is supposed to help my back pain from Thumper) and spared me from doing crunches that night.

Happy Saturday, everyone.

 



 



    

 

Happy Birthday!

Today is Lightning's birthday.  He is 5 years old.  To celebrate, we're going to show some of his baby pictures.  :-)

It seems like just yesterday that my son found this tiny little puppy and couldn't live without him.  He was adorable....

and he loved to nap on his boy's shoulder.

Now he's all grown up, he no longer naps on our shoulders (thank goodness - he turned out to be rather large!), and some time during this first year, his ears went all funky.  I still think he's adorable.  

So, Happy Birthday Lightning! 

There's an extra treat for him tonight (peanut butter!). 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  The boys tried on their "costumes" earlier.  Lightning wears his pumpkin bandana proudly.  Thumper, on the other hand, was certain his was going to cause him great harm.  Before he sat still long enough to get a picture of him, he had to race around the yard, roll around in the grass, and even recruited Lightning into his "kill the bandana" fit.  He even tried to free Lightning from his.

After he wore himself out trying to get away from himself, I FINALLY got a picture of him.  Now he's snoozing and snoring...it's tough being Thumper.  :)

I only wear this bandana on the special day
when the kids come around for candy.  
It's my favorite.  I take good care of it.

I don't know what this thing is around my neck....

....but I don't like it
and I don't know why she has to take my picture in it.
I tried to get it off but my plan did not work.... 

Lightning, what are these things!?  Let me help you get yours off!

I'll get yours off....then you can help me get mine off....it's got skulls on it....it looks bad!
What do you mean leave yours alone??!

Geez....guess I'll have to do it myself...I finally caught it!

And now to destroy it...hahaha!  

Hope you get lots of treats!  

Thumper and Lightning

Hello Fall!

It's finally cooling off some here in Louisiana, and we have been enjoying the change of weather.  With the change of seasons, the garden is nearing its end, and in honor of Thumper's eggplant obsession, I have this post and one later one to dedicate to his love of the eggplant (or purple chewy ball as I'm sure he sees it).

One day while it was still HOT, I called the dogs in from outside for the evening.  Strangely, Thumper was the first one in.  He ran straight into his crate and plopped down.  I didn't think much of it at first, but then I realized he was chewing on something.  Closer inspection revealed a small eggplant.  He had raided the garden again.  What am I going to do with him?  That poor eggplant bush has tried to produce food all summer, and he keeps taking the fruit of its efforts and playing with it.  So, until next summer gives us more eggplants to laugh about it, here is the next to last eggplant story of the summer, in Thumper's own words....

Eggplant...what eggplant...I don't see an eggplant...I'm just hanging out in the crate being a good dog... 

Maybe it's over there...hurry, go check and see if Lightning has it!

Cool chew toy....I love my purple chewy ball!

Every dog should have a pillow...

I love THIS pillow.  

It's the best to place sleep, better even than my new bed.

I can dream of chasing squirrels, playing fight with Lightning, and catching eggplants!

Every dog should have a pillow.  

It's awesome.

-THUMPER

Three Truths

Yesterday marked the first day in a LONG time that I got out with the dogs and took a walk.  I decided that with the slightly cooler days and lower humidity, it would be a great time to stop being a couch potato every evening.  So, I strapped Thumper into his harness, and Lightning into his leash, and we set off down the street.  Yes, I was walking the two dogs by myself.  Almost as soon as Thumper dragged me through the door, I realized that something was wrong with his harness.  It took a few blocks but I finally figured out what it was:  I put the darn thing on him backwards.  Instead of it providing me a good grip on him, he had a good grip on me, and he pulled me everywhere, and poor Lightning was just along for the ride.  Being the obedient dog, he stayed in heel position most of the time.  I'm sure he wondered why we took such a helter-skelter path around the neighborhood....

So, on this walk from hell, I realized three truths:

1.  I am really out of shape.  Of course I was dragging 110 pounds of dog with me, but still, I am really out of shape.

2.  Thumper is afraid of little kids, particularly boys.  I found this out when my neighbors' little boys yelled "Doggies!!!" and ran up to us.  The Daddy followed them, and asked (while patting Thumper's head), "Oh, when did you get this dog?  How hold is he?  He looks really young - and terrified!".  I looked down from talking to the Mom, and saw that Thumper had run to stand behind my legs.  He was peering around timidly at the youngest boy.   Yep, that's my big bad Thumper.  Scared of a 2 year old.  Lightning, meantime, was gathering as many pets as he could.

3.  Obedience training is so worth the time and effort.  And I need to invest some of that in Thumper.  This truth I realized as my right arm was numb from trying to reign Thumper in and my left arm felt fine because Lightning had been walking on that side.  

As we got near home (finally!),  I paused to talk to another neighbor, and her little ones rode their power wheels toy up to us.  One angelic looking little girl with curly blonde hair asked if she could pet Lightning.  I said yes, and she cautiously held her hand out, and he sniffed it and let her pet him.  Next thing I knew, she was hugging him.  Lightning was eating this up, leaning up against her and holding his ears back in a cute, puppyish kind of way.  The little girl then cautiously looked at Thumper (who was hiding behind my legs again), and looked back at Lightning.  Then she said, "This is the goodest dog, isn't it?", referring to Lightning.  I said yes, he is a good dog.  Then she pointed at Thumper at said, "And he's the baddest, huh?".  I explained that no, he's not bad.  He's just young and doesn't listen too well yet.   

After answering her, I realized that time is passing, and before long, that answer won't be true anymore.  He won't be a young and ill-mannered dog.  He'll just be an ill-mannered dog.  I think I've put off obedience training him because I love all the silly things he does, and once he's trained, I'm afraid he'll lose his silliness.  After the walk from hell, I think it's time to put those sentimental concerns aside and start the obedience training.  **sigh**  True to form - I think I'll start tomorrow...today, I want to enjoy the silliness.  :)

Reflections

It's hard to believe 10 years have past since 9-11.  Never forget.

  

    

New Bed!

Hello, Everyone,

Guess what?  I got a new bed today!  I love my new bed...sleeping in it is even better than sleeping on the couch!  I'm not sure where I want it yet, though.  I've moved it a couple of times and haven't found the perfect spot yet.  I hope I can restrain myself from chewing on it and unstuffing it.  It is soft and it reminds me so much of my stuffed toys....

It's getting late.  I'm going to try to move my bed again.  Mom says it works better if I don't stand in my bed while I move it.  We'll see!

Thanks for stopping by,
Thumper

Lightning set the marsh on fire?

Lightning here...taking over the blog tonight.

I'm confused this evening.  It smells really bad outside, and the air looks foggy all day like the morning sometimes is.  Earlier my boy said it was because of the marsh fire outside of New Orleans and the wind blowing the smoke our way.  He asked Mom what started the fire, and she said Lightning!  That really got my attention.   I looked at her like she was nuts.  Lightning didn't start a fire.  Lightning has been home with Thumper every day!  Hmph....she must have misunderstood.  I'm going to sleep on this one tonight. Maybe my boy will come home from school with better information than Mom had.

What do you think?

Wacky Wednesday

Here's some humor to lighten the day...I received the following "story" in an email.  I don't know who wrote it originally so, sorry, I can't give credit to anyone.  But I thought it was funny, and can't we all use something to make us laugh?  Enjoy...

DOG FOR SALE

A guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a sign in front of a
broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog For Sale '.  He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.  The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.

'You talk?' he asks.   'Yep,' the Lab replies. After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says 'So, what's your story?'

The Lab looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young..
I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA.  In no time at all they had me jetting from
country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a
dog would be eavesdropping.'

'I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running... But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so  I decided to settle down. I signed up for a jobat the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.'  'I got married, had a  mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.'

The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.

'Ten dollars,' the guy says.

'Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?'

'Because he's a liar.  He's never been out of the yard!

If Thumper could talk, he'd tell tales like this.  Except they would probably be about catching squirrels or cats or rabbits when all he ever gets to chase are lizards or frogs.  And if Lightning could talk, he'd tell the truth about Thumper's stories.  He's like the big brother who likes to get the little brother in trouble, always there looking like, "But I'm good, right?" as Thumper is giving me material to blog about.  :)

Have a good Wednesday.  The weekend is only a couple of days away.

Crazy Ears

Lightning has some crazy ears.  When he was a little puppy, they hung down like Lab ears.  Then as he grew, they changed and now look more like Greyhound ears with the way they fold back or stick out to the side.  I love his crazy ears.  They give him so much personality.


Here he is with his one of his crazy ears sticking up - a position they can only maintain momentarily.  I wonder what he's thinking?

Wow....I can hear so clearly now!  

Do I hear Thumper getting in trouble?  

He probably stole another eggplant....

Housework...and an awful lot of dog fur.

So, today I decided to get caught up on my housekeeping.  The last few weeks have been crazy with back to school and one of to college.  About a month ago, I decided I just wasn't even going to keep things really clean because with the boys here (both the human and canine variety), nothing stayed clean more than 20 seconds anyway.  I did vacuum and dust weekly and keep the kitchen and bathrooms up, but no more than necessary.  Boy, did I pay for it today.

I decided that I was going to get ALL the dog hair up and out of every corner.  Plus off my bedspread and off the furniture.  I really don't like the dogs being on the bed, but they sneak up there (especially Thumper) any chance they can.  To accomplish this unheard of task, I put both dogs in Thumper's crate and broke out my new vacuum cleaner and vacuumed for a solid four hours.  Then I got my son to continue for longer.  I vacuumed every floor, carpet, rug, bedspread, and any other horizontal surface around until the vacuum cleaner no longer picked up dog hair.  And I decided that my dogs shed more than any other animal I've ever seen, including my aunt's Huskies, and that next summer, I think I'm going to get them buzz cuts.  I love their soft furry coats, but this experience today has made me see the beauty in a Chinese hairless whatever it is.

Now I'm going to sit back and recuperate.  Lightning is curled up sleeping off his horrible experience of being crated with Thumper.  He's got the right idea.

Night all....Have a good rest of the weekend.

Run!

Thumper here telling tales tonight....the BEST thing happened to me.  I got to go for a RUN with one of my people.  It took three of them awhile to figure out to put my purple harness on me, but they finally got it on.  And then I RAN!  It didn't matter that is was hot - I was outside, free!  HaHaHa...the water was so yummy when I got home.  I ran to get some before they could get my purple harness off.  Lightning got to go too, but he just wanted to walk.  Me and my person lapped Lightning and his person twice!  We were so fast...hahaha!!!  I was too tired to thump my tail after all that running.

Night everyone!  Here's a picture of me and the water....

Who locked the mom out??

So, yesterday I was cleaning the house, stepping over dogs, picking up their things, you get the idea.  Lightning had found a cool spot and was staying out of the way, for the most part.  Thumper was carrying his chewbone around with him like he might lose it and generally staying under foot.  When they weren't watching, I slipped out the front door to check the mail.  When I got back, I opened the door, and SURPRISE-it wouldn't open more than a couple of inches.  I looked in, and there sat two happy dogs, looking at me.  I looked to see why the door wouldn't open and saw Thumper's bone.  He had dropped it at the bottom of the door, like a doorstop.  And it was keeping ME out.  I tried to get Thumper to pick up his bone, but he thought I was playing with him and he'd run away from the door, and then run back.  Thankfully, one of the two-legged boys was home and came and helped me.  But not before laughing and saying, "Let me see how you get out of this one."  I felt like I was on the TV show Punked.  I am always amazed at the naughtiness that follows some dogs.... :)

Dog Days of Summer

 Wikipedia says the Dog Days of Summer  are the hottest sultriest days of the year.  That fits our current weather... here is the best way we have found to pass the time:

Til next time -
Thumper and Lightning

What do you mean it's an eggplant???

Growing vegetables is one of our summer hobbies.  Nothing big, just a couple of rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, bell peppers, and green beans.  Well, this year, gardening had a new challenge.  It's name is Thumper.  Not only do we have to deal with whims of Mother Nature, we have the curiosity of a young dog to add to it. 

One bell pepper plant died early....thanks to frequent watering by Thumper.  Three suspiciously placed doggy paw prints gave him away...only one dog in our house is a lifter, and it's him.  We've had to repair rows where some dog decided to dig.  And now, we have an eggplant thief.  He thought it was a ball.  

Lightning:  What are you doing with that eggplant?  You know mom picks them and cooks them for dinner.

Thumper:  What do you mean it's an eggplant?  It's a ball!  It's round and it rolls when I drop it!

What happened to him?

Today, I sat down when I got home from work to rest a few minutes and spend time with the dogs before cooking dinner.  Thumper sat by me as he usually does (Lightning was hiding upstairs...not sure why, but maybe I should go check...hmmm).  After a few minutes, he stretched out and fell asleep.  I sat, read some of a book, and enjoyed the quiet.  Then he started whimpering and yelping in his sleep, and his legs were twitching, like he was running.  I wondered what he was dreaming.  The noises he made seemed as if they would come from a scared animal.  I wondered if he was remembering the days before he lived with us...and this thought troubled me.  Thumper was definitely mistreated in his past...among other things, his teeth were damaged when we adopted him, he had bare spots where fur is just beginning to grow back, and the vet/organization had evidence that suggested he had been shot at.  Was his dream of something he experienced?  Is that why he sounded scared and upset as he napped?  He has grown into a sweet, affectionate pet.  If he was having a bad dream of his past life, I hope over time good experiences with us will push those memories away and leave him with sweet dreams.  He is a good dog.  Someone really missed out on a sweet, affectionate pet.  And judging by the way he stalks lizards, squirrels, and ducks, he probably would have been a good hunting dog too.  Their loss, our gain.  :)

 

    

Vacation is Over

Well, everyone is back from vacation now.  And everyone is worn out, people and dogs alike.   Disney World was a blast, but being home is even sweeter.  Lightning took back his post (one end of the couch) as soon as he got back home, and Thumper stretched out on the floor with an assortment of toys and a chew bone.  They both seem tired and won't let us out of their sight.

Now that vacation and business trips are over for awhile, it's time to get back to training the dogs.  First up - It's Yer Choice games and the 5 Minute Recall with Thumper.   We'll dig out the agility jumps and get Lightning back "playing" agility again.  Oh, and training for me too.  I've got to get back to a regular exercise routine of some sort.  Any suggestions?  I had been working on the Couch to 5K program, but then it got SO hot.   The boys aren't even fond of taking walks in this heat.  :)

Getting Ready for Vacation

It's been a busy day for the boys.  Morning play time...

followed by bath time.....

I don't like getting wet!  Can I go inside now?  

and packing their stuff for their vacation.  You see, they are going to stay with some dog friends while their people are away.  They don't know this, and watching their treats and toys go into a bag worried them both.  Then Thumper's crate was folded....

Why did you do that?  Am I going back to Petsmart?  I hope not...I'll be good...I'll stop chewing up my bed!

and we discovered that some dog has been chewing up the BOTTOM side of his bed.  Sneaky, sneaky....  :)

Have a Happy 4th of July!

Off to the Vet....and Don't these guys look scary?

Today was Lightning's annual vet exam.  He got a clean bill of health, although he has a lipoma or two that we will have to watch.  One is small, and the other one is either a lipoma or just fat.  Going to try to get a little bit of weight off him and see if the questionable one shrinks.

And while I'm posting, I thought I'd add a picture taken of the guys a couple of nights ago.  Thank goodness for Iphones....but my photography is much better when I actually use my real camera.  I think this is a funny picture.  There's no red eye reduction on an iPhone.  :)  One comment about this picture was, "It might be scary if Thumper did't look so happy."  That's our Thumper.  Always smiling.  Lightning was smiling too until he saw his picture was going to be taken.  I think he's figured out a bright flash of light is about to get him.

Introducing Thumper

Wild tail wagger (hence the name!), chowhound, affectionate, enthusiastic overgrown puppy.  Loves chewbones, tugging, and chasing lizards and squirrels.  Thinks he's a lapdog though he weighs 60 pounds...  he's the baby of the family and exploits it as often as possible.  :)

Introducing Lightning

Agility enthusiast, protector of the couch, foot warmer.  Loves walks and lounging in the sun. 

Lightning in profile - not the best picture, but without access to my full photo library, it's the best shot I had on my iPhone.