Sun Pony Ranch

Diary of novice (clueless) ranch owners

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

There are SOME perks

Last Sunday night, after our normal very long weekend days, we went out to dinner. On the way Ginger asked if our "normal feet" hurt after our day on our feet. She's been having foot troubles, so pretty much expects hers to hurt after a long day, but yes - all three of us were pretty much hobbling into the restaurant. (An aside to those who've inquired, yes, Ginger has been pleased with her orthodics as they've seemed to have made a big impact on her foot pain)

Coming home, we had a kennel full of dogs who needed to be let out one last time before lights out. Somehow without realizing it we ended up with 9 boarders this weekend! They totally snuck up on us and I had no idea Friday when I came home we'd have so many. 2 went home on Sunday, so we still had 7 for the night.

We all went out to get them tucked in. Of course none of the dogs wanted to go to bed right away, and we were feeling indulgent so it ended up being this big play session. We'd had them out during the day but on the weekends since we're working they don't get nearly the play time that they do during the week when we're having daycare. So we felt a little guilty about that too. So after doing duties out side, they all came back in for a big group romp.

They are histerical. Kenai the Chesapeake Retreiver latched onto the deflated soccer ball and ran all over shaking it, then stood in the midst of everything else trying to destroy it. Ally, who I've previously listed as a Vizla because her owners say she is - but which we are very much doubting now - is a squiggly butt. She just can't keep her rear end still. She's got this big (14") pink stuffed bunny that is supposed to stay in her kennel, but everytime we go to get her out she's got that thing and is ready to bring it out with her.


Ally

Ally's house mates, Mac and Maggie are both little wirey Jack Russel terriers. Mac (a.k.a. Macaroon cause he's small and white and his hair sticks out every which way) is just can't sit still. He jumps straight up in the air when ever he's excited - particularly when you're outside his kennel and he's inside. And he can get about 3 feet up. He is ALL OVER the place. Running for the ball, then chasing another dog, then showing off another toy he'd managed to get, etc. One ball of energy he is. Or maybe three. Maggie is the rescue from Katrina. She's very cute, but very shy. So far only Ginger can approach her in an open space. We figure she is scared of men because though Dave's spent a number of days with her so far she still won't come close. Last weekend when we had to bring the dogs in without Ginger's help, it took us nearly 30 minutes to get her to follow us inside. Anyways, she took a liking to the bones we have in the play room and I noticed several times she acquiesced to accepting them from Dave when he offered them to her.


You guessed it - Mac

Sam is a benji dog. Sorry, didn't look up his breed. But long blond hair, knee height. He's very playful and loves to wrestle with Sammy, the boarder collie. The amazing thing about Sam is his teeth are so very visible. When he plays he really retracts his lips and showes all his teeth. What with all that long hair, though, you end up seeing just hair and teeth. Very strange. But he's loveable.


Sam

Sammy. Sigh. Boarder Collie energy. Boarder Collie lack of patience. Nice dog. Noisy in his kennel and destroyed a dog bed. He'll be happy to see full daycare back in swing.


Kenai and Sammy

Which brings me to McFudge. So cute! He doesn't interact with the other dogs much. He's fine with sniffing noses, etc, but just isn't that interested in playing with them. So he kinda just wanders through the group saying - here I am. Out in the big yard he doesn't usually go down into the grass when the rest of the troupe does. Not sure if he can't keep up, or if he just isn't interested. So while Dave and I were working on the dog fence he stayed up with us while Ginger took the rest down to keep them out of our way. But McFudge doesn't just stay with us - he stays UNDER us. Usually right at our feet, just content to sit and watch ... whatever. A few times we had to move him else he might be in danger of falling tools etc. The one time he did go down into the big yard he nearly totally disappeared in the alfalfa so we couldn't see him! So, just as well he prefers to stay up at the top. Inside he also discovered the bones and decided they were pretty dandy. So he, Maggie and a few others kept trading off on the two bones we have. Each one getting so excited when they got the bone! McFudge would pick it up and strut around a bit then retire on the floor behind Dave, who was lying down at one edge of the group, to naw on it in bliss.


McFudge and Maggie

So, that was a pretty cool way to end the weekend. Though it often seems like it, I guess we can't say the kennel is ALL rigorous work.

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