Pooey Pugs and Gooey Goldens

Dare I say it?  Spring seems to be finally here!!  The morning group was as excited as ever to get to Southland and made quite an entrance.  This group's joint mission was to out gross each other. Rover stuffed himself through a hole in the fence to get to the swamp and then he laid down in it.  (Whistler did the same thing in the afternoon.)  Bruin did not expend any extra effort going through the fence and went into the puddle by the parking lot instead and then rolled in the dried grass and dirt.  That makes it stick better you know.  I was surprised that Georgie did not try this wetting and rolling trick as that is his usual MO.  We went to the river for a short dip in the hopes of getting some dirt off but alas that did not help much.  Hollie was miffed that I would not let her go in the water and that she had to sit in the shade and watch.  (It is unfair to grow old even in the dog world.)

Riley was not being social today and was wandering off to visit with other dogs for long periods of time so I tethered him to a Bernese mountain dog for the last part of the walk.  Neither were thrilled at being paired up as buddies eventually got used to each other. 

The afternoon group went to Southland as well.  We started off the afternoon with a rousing game of fetch.  All the dogs except Taylor and Frankie joined in.  Lots of people stopped to watch as the dogs tried to out run each other for the ball.  Some have tremendous speed like Shea, Everest, Sid and Bailey and others like Wilbur and Mitch just could not get their little bodies to compete with the long legged guys.  Mitch is quite good at snatching the ball when the opportunity arises though. 

Wilbur loves playing with his uncle Everest and was trying to body check him while running.  It was hilarious to see the pug trying to run and then leap high enough and with the right timing to slam into a 90 pound lab.  Needless to say Everest barely took notice of him.

The main thing is that all the dogs were tired and happy when I loaded them in the truck to go home and I did not hear a peep out of anyone.   

PS Due to the gross behaviours such as sinking into swamps, standing in mud puddles with six of your buddies and then drinking the water and then the seventh buddy pees in the puddle and the grossest of all behaviours - eating poop - most of the dogs have a mild case of the runs (or in Wilbur's case a major one).   An easy way to clean them up internally is to skip a couple of meals (yes, I said that and they will survive) and then feed plain rice for a couple of meals.  Make sure they have lots of water and access to the yard.  This usually clears it up for my dogs. 

PPS I have been taking an obedience course with a new trainer for the last couple of weeks and will report of some of the tips and tricks Everest and I are learning.  So please forgive me if I don't get to the blog everyday.  Please feel free to call me if you have any specific questions or concerns about your dog.