It has been awhile..

I'm back to blogging about your sweet and sassy dogs and their antics at the park. 

Today was bitter cold, windy and overcast!  Overall yucky for both the morning and afternoon walks at Southland. 

In the morning we walked with Rio, Zore and their mom Tammy.  Everyone enjoyed the walk and Tammy made a point of telling me that her dogs get along so well with the group.  Bruin, Everest, Guiness, Marty, Nicky, Whistler and Tucker did not seem to mind the cold weather and in fact I think it invigorated some of them.  Whistler lost what we love most about old dogs - their calm and obedient demeanor - and decided that playing keep away with a piece of wood was a good game.  I did not appreciate the gesture as we were all trying to get across the pathways at the time and she happily bobbed and weaved while I tried to catch her.  Ryder was not happy to be at the park to begin with as he HATES being cold and then to add insult to his injury Marty wanted to play with him.  Ryder does not play with pups and was most upset that this wiggly happy little thing was trying to goad him into it.  Ryder was more than happy to get home and did not even stop at the door for a good-bye pat.  Marty being such a cheerful little guy didn't let the snub faze him.  The rest of the dogs were almost too good considering it was Monday and bloody cold.  That made me very happy.

The afternoon group welcomed two new members to the pack: Sara (an older yellow lab) and her "little brother" Tazz who is an exceptionally large german shepard X Rotti cross.  Both dogs loved being at the park but hated the transportation arrangements.  It will take some time for them to get used to riding in the back.  All the other guys seemed to like the two newcomers and Rover even lent a hand when Tazz started picking on his sister.  Rover is always eager to help in these situations.  There wasn't even any confrontation when Owen ran right into Tazz and sent him flying.  Owen being such a good guy was responding to me and wasn't going to let anything get in the way of his duties as a retriever. 

I am hoping that Cheetos will forgive me for taking  him out today.  Not only did he have to wear the dreaded plaid jacket (which makes his neck fat ooze up onto his head) he had to sit in the back for the first part of the trip to the park and then be out in the cold.  He is openly defiant in these situations and was telling anyone who would listened that he was "abandoned" and "in need of immediate transportation home."    Clover on the other hand was thrilled to be back with the pack after being indisposed for a couple of weeks.  She loves to hang with me and have girl talk.  And sweet old Vinny brought up the rear of the pack. 

Another glorious day for dogs!  Both groups went to Southland today.  In the morning Whistler, Everest, Rover, Guiness, Marty, Nicky, Bruin, Tucker and Hatrick enjoyed the snow and sunshine.  They took advantage of the crusty snow to roll and shove their faces in it.  We ran into a lot of friends such as Miles and Penny, other Penny, and Mitch.  Marty was so happy to see Mitch.  They don't get to play together very often but when they do it is pure love. 

The afternoon group was small and easy to manage.  We started out playing ball because I thought Sam, Ev and Hatrick would enjoy  this game.  Much to my surprise and probably his too Vinny Link tried to get in on the action.  He was not too fast on the snow because he had his shoes on but he tried to get the ball.  He ended up having to do what most mature individuals do and outsmart the competition in order to get the ball.  Once he had it he strutted around for a while and then dropped it and forgot about it.  Wilbur found a pup to play with.  Her name is Serenidy and she is a cattle dog X with what they think is a jack russell or a weiner dog.  She was the cutest little thing.  She looked exactly like Shea but with short legs.   After the retievers lost three ball we decided to start walking.  Ryder was out in front leading the pack.  We came upon a large mixed breed dog (about 60-70 pounds to Ryder 12 - 15 pounds) and Ryder being as confident as he is started to bark at the big dog.  The big guy hestitated about 1/10 of second before he charged at Ryder.  Ryder actually jumped straight up turned while in mid air and ran straight to my feet.  It was hilarious!  The other dog's owner and I had a good laugh at that.  Ryder was quiet for the rest of the walk.  (There was no real danger from the other dog.) 

What a beautiful but cold day for dogs!  The snow scared a lot of people away from the parks so that just gave us more room to move and have fun.  Kip from Lets Get Walked joined our group this morning because the roads were too dangerous and clogged for Jenn to get safely to Southland.  Kip loves the snow and he knows all the guys in our pack so he fit right in.  This morning, along with Kip, we had Everest, Whistler, Bruin, XL Tucker, Rover and Sierra.  It was too cold for Sierra's 15 yr old sister to come out and Ryder decided that he was taking a snow day and stayed in bed with his human brother.  The dogs loved rolling in the snow and chasing each other around the park.  Sierra is really good at getting everyone moving and playing.  She loves to tease the dogs until they chase her and then with her long legs she just lops around in big circles. 

The afternoon group, Bailey, Sam, Frank, Pina, Gabby, Shea and Nina along with Everest went to Edworthy.  The deep snow make ball throughing and chasing challenging and they loose more than they retrieve so we just plowed around in the snow and had fun chasing, rolling and generally doing dog stuff.  Nina, who just started last week, has come along way and is not so shy anymore. 

All this week I am going to see Angus to let him out for a pee break.  He had two major surgeries on his knees and is slowly but steadily recovering and we hope he will be back with the pack by summer time.  It is hard to see his eyes light up when he thinks he gets to go to the park but it will all be worth it.

The morning group went to Southland.  Everest, J, Rover, Ryder, Whistler, Rosebud, Meeko and I met up with lots of other friends: Penny and her mom, Sisco and her dad and Sylvia and Ace.  We were quite the group.  Everyone got along and enjoyed the sunshine and soft snow.  Rosebud, Rover and Whistler spend a lot of time rolling and Rose and Rover started rolling at the top of a little hill and actually slid down it while continuing to roll.  It was so much fun to have Meeko back with us.  He had been out sick for a couple of months and he was wild to be back.  He could not contain himself and practically jumped out of the truck before the tailgate was down and then he galloped to the gate and pushed his way in and ran around in big circles with a gigantic dopey grin on his face.  He greeted everyone and leaned in on them to tell them that he was back!  He was back!!

Sisco and J used to be neighbours but have not seen each other much lately and were very pleased to get to play with each other.  J is usually quite reserved and only will socialize with other little dogs but he does enjoy and good game of chase with Sisco who is much bigger than him. 

At lunch I went for a visit with Viva.  She was so happy to get the chance to eat as only a lab can enjoy food and then go for a quick sniff around the neighbourhood. 

The afternoon group welcomed Nina who is Shea's new little sister.  Nina is a mixed breed and is very shy.  Even though she is shy she did really well finding her place in the pack but preferred to only play with her big sister one on one. 

The group was big and full of high energy dogs but I was so proud of how everyone acted this afternoon.  About half way through the walk we ran into a couple of men (who were walking seperate of each other) and both of them took a "shine" to the dogs and their playfulness and each of them started to through balls for our group and their own dogs.  It was quite a site to see 11+ dogs all competing to get the ball.  The dogs, especially Pina and Gabby (who are notoriously flirtatious with men), just LOVED these two guys.  They all had their tails wagging, their tongues out and their brains and ears shut down.  The men where having such a good time too proving my point that every dog needs a boy (whatever age.)

Hollie and Frank decided that they would rest and watch the ball chasers and hope that they did not get run over. 

Oh what a beautiful day it turned out to be.  I wasn't hopeful when the temp was -24 and the windchill was -33 this morning.  By the time we all got to Edworthy this afternoon the dogs were ready to go and the temperature had come up to -10. 

I took only the biggest, the toughest and the heartiest breeds and Marty - the 5 pound Havapoo.  He loved being with the big guys and kept up and did not complain once.  He enjoyed playing with the little guys in Jen's group and near the end of the walk he noticed that there were two little girl dogs with bows in their hair and he was in love!!  Rover, XL Tucker and Bruin banded together like I have never seen before and became the amigo-trio.  They were strutting around and making sure that all the other males knew who was really in charge of things.  They weren't too obnoixous in their behaviour.  The girls (Bailey, Gabby, Pina, Sam and Rosebud) were more into girly things and spent most of their time trying to get the attention of the other people at the park.  Several times I had to pull Gabby and Pina off strange men as they tried to get these guys to through the ball for them.  Nicky and Guiness enjoyed just playing together.  Now that Res has gone home they are back to being best pals.  Frank was his usual cocky little self for the first five minutes and then he settled down explore in relative anonimity. 

The thought of another day stuck inside was almost too much to bear.  I am so happy I could take my friends out and enjoy them enjoying themselves.