A Dog's Plan for Monday

Can you leave the TV on so I can watch the Daytona 500 while you are at work? Please? And can I have a Milkbone too?

Sniffs

I took this picture yesterday. I'm not sure what they were sniffing for. Maybe their favorite pesky squirrel has ventured to the gate. Or maybe one started sniffing nothing and the other one didn't want to be left out. I really like how their colors show in this picture.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Sad

I'm so sad today. For years one of my favorite hobbies has been scrapbooking. I've got albums from my kids school years, family vacations, holidays, treasured pages of my Golden who passed on in 2007, and plans for so much more. I became friends with the lady who owned the local scrapbook store, and going there felt like visiting family.

She sent a message out earlier today that she is closing her store. After struggling with the economy for the last 18 months, her dream is closing. I am sad for her.

And I'm at work today, now bummed out and sad, with no pups to give me "it'll be OK" licks, waiting for a two hour meeting to start. It's definitely a sad Tuesday here. If you are home with your dogs, take a moment and give them a hug for being awesome Comforters. I'll hug mine as soon as I get home.

Happy Monday!

We miss the weekend already. Have a good day!

Thumper's New Toy

I'm trying something new: posting from my iPhone. Bear with me if it looks strange! Here's the post:

This is Thumper's new toy. Not the green footbaIl but that other thing. Does it look familiar to anyone? It's my mop (well, it used to be, anyway).

The Green Football

Hey, Everybody, This is Lightning.  I have to tell on the mom.  She hit me with a green football.  I don't know why.  We were playing fetch and suddenly - WHAP! - the green football hit my ribs.  She said she was sorry so it had to be an accident.  It still hurt my feelings.   My ribs are ok though.  I'm waiting for her to feed me.  Maybe she'll give me extra food.  That would fix my feelings.  

Y'all watch out for the moms.  They don't know how to throw too well.

Lightning

Quirks

Lightning is such a quirky dog.  Since we got him, I had wondered just what combination of breeds came together to make him.  Here is a quick run-down of what I mean by quirky:

• He is the color of a yellow Lab, but his head his smaller and leaner than a Lab's.  
• He has a skinny back half compared to his front half, and his paws aren't big like Lab feet.   They are smaller and more delicate, kinda of like a greyhound's feet.  
• He grows a thick collar of fur in the winter, and then there are those ears.  He can pull them up or back or almost twist them around his head.  They are like radar.  He can hear anything.  
• He has a white blaze, white toes, and a white tip on his tail.  
• He is fast when he runs, and his favorite move when chasing either people or dogs (especially Thumper) is to go after the heel.  
• He is scared of loud noises and isn't much of a tracker but he loves to play fetch.  
• When he was younger, we would find small little holes where he would pause while running and frantically dig a hole no wider than his tiny feet.  
• His tail is unlike any I have seen on a dog.  The vet once asked him who he stole it from.  Ha.  It is long and sort of fluffy, like a fox's tail.  
• He is a vigilant watch dog.  
• He isn't very affectionate.  

So, you are probably wondering where this is going.  Why read through all that?  Well,  to satisfy my curiosity and endless conjecture of "What is Lightning?", we got one of those dog DNA test kits.  I'm still not certain those things are accurate, but I figured what the heck...it would be fun.   I couldn't wait to get the results back.  Was there some kind of terrier in there?  Or some kind of herding dog?  I was so curious....and finally we got the results.

I wasn't surprised to read that, according to the test, he had no purebred parents or grandparents.  I also wasn't surprised to read that Lab was in there somewhere. 

What did surprise me was this:

St. Bernard!!!

Hmmmm.....I guess anything is possible.  I'm still not sure I believe it, but now if people ask what he is (and they always do), I tell them "Lab / St. Bernard mix".  They look at me like I'm crazy.  That test was so worth it.  :)

Have a good weekend.  Looks like the groundhog was wrong here....I think spring has sprung!