Berry Breath

The mystery has been solved.
There isn't a fence around the garden so we have to share.
The bunnies got all the basil...I was cranky but got over it.
I've been stalking slugs so that they don't cut down my beans again, I had to replant because of those slimy creatures.
The raspberries aren't netted so we lose quite a few of them to birds, but birds don't usually go for berries at the lower end of the bush...we just couldn't figure it out.
Bunnies?
Raccoons?
Possums?
Possibly.
But then we caught this little dear out in the raspberries, snacking away.
Yup...my sweet little Bergie has berry breath, guess I should offer her a bowl and some ice cream.

The Deer Hunter

Quietly... she approaches.

She is walking very slowly, something is off. She doesn't usually walk, she lopes...or gallops.
She appears to be carrying something in her mouth. She almost appears to be shy...she's acting like she does when she's in trouble.
Oh dear, what is that in your mouth Bergie?

She finally gets up the nerve to come close, she sits...now that I've convinced her she's not in trouble...she's almost proud.

Oh. My. It's a deer tail.
Oh puppy...
Where have you been and where is the rest of the deer?

Would you look at the grin?
It's kinda creepy.

Little Miss Snooty Face

This is Bergie out in the barn with her "don't mess with me" face.

I'm nervous. My sister decided Bergie needs to go to the doggie park. Bergie gets to go a lot of places but she doesn't get out of the car a lot, sister says that's like taking your kid to the circus and making them stay in the car and watch from the parking lot.
So, today is the day...we're off to the dog park at Lake Padden.
Yikes.
This dog mom is nervous. Don't laugh at me but I googled "dog park manners"...hey, Bergie's a farmgirl, she gets to run around her as much as she wants but she doesn't get to play with a lot of other pup-kids.
I'm ready.
Plastic baggies - check
Doggie treats - check
Strong leash - check
Clothes that can get dirty - check
Towel for dirty dog - check

Cross your fingers and wish us luck ;)

Oh...and have a great weekend!

It's the Most Wonderful Time!

Dianne asked for some Bergie snow pictures. Awwwww! Do I have any?...uh, just a few.
So Di, here ya go. Berg is a snow maniac, this pup smiles a lot anyway.... but snow, oh beautiful snow - she loves it so!

The captions are in Berg-speak, goofy I know...but let's just go with it, for the heck of it.

"Really? A request for pictures of me in the snow? Cool!"
"Hey Shell, you gotta click faster than that...hop to it and pay attention!
Get with it or you're gonna miss all the action."

"Woohooo...I smell possum in the tool shed!"

"Whoa, it's gettin' kinda deep, hey ...there's somethin'

down there in all that fluffy stuff."

"You comin' slow mo?"

"I love this stuff!"

"Hang on a sec, I need a rest."

"Oh, a bird....I'm goin' that way next."

Thanks for stopping by folks...until next time.

Right now Bergie needs to go out and chase an imaginary snow monster.

Anybody need some exercise? She'd love the company.

Gin The Dancing Dog

I tried to tell Bergie that we should get

creative with our exercise....

this is the look she gave me.

I don't think she's feelin' it.

If you're curious click on the link:

Gin The Dancing Dog

Oh. my. goodness.
We have a lot of work to do

Duck...it's a hunter

Yesterday was such a beautiful sunny fall day.
Today...not so much. When I got up this morning it was raining, the wind was blowing...the leaves were flying off the trees and sticking to the windows because they're zooming sideways.

Bergie doesn't care if it's windy and rainy...she's happy to run around the farm in any kind of weather. I try to make sure she stays close to me but sometimes she chases a bunny, a duck, a crow, a bug, a leaf...you name it....and she'll chase it with all of the puppy enthusiasm she can muster.

A few minutes ago a stranger came to the door and asked if he could duck hunt in the corn field. I told the guy no, told him I have a new dog that I'm working on training but she's not really there yet...I just can't take any chances with her. I didn't tell him that I hate the sound of shotguns, it completely freaks me out.

Why on earth do I feel guilty? I don't know the guy, I don't like guns, I have a puppy who is easily distracted....and heck...the cornfield isn't that big and it's bordered by two roads that have a fair amount of traffic, it's not really a good place to be shooting off firearms.

I keep running all of these reasons through my head...and still...

guilt.

The Queen of Mean

This is Bergie. This is Bergie posing with the couch cushion she ate. The look says "yeah...I attacked the couch cuz it needed to be showed who's boss around here". I've given her permission to take down Mr. Owl.
Mr Owl has been sitting on a wire in the front yard watching us, we're a little freaked out. Bergie barks a lot at Mr. Owl.

Excuse me Mr. Owl.

Are you the same owl that swooped down on my husband, smacked him in the back of the head and knocked him to the ground? If you're hanging out in the front yard waiting for him to come home from work so you can whack him again...we're watchin' you. Bergie is watchin' you.

Mr. Owl...did you see what Bergie did to the couch?

Have you seen her "mean" look?

She has permission to do to you what she did to the couch...don't go hurtin' again...okay?

Cuz Bergie means business.

The Diva of Destruction

The Tally:

My purse - she ate the handles off.

My other purse - she ate the handles off...I see a pattern.

Truck seat belts - she chewed the clickers to bits...we can't "buckle up for safety".

Truck seat belts - assault # 2, ate the straps....guess they kinda look like purse handles.

The seat of the truck - she ate a big hole in the upholstery and

foam where the seat belt comes out...looking for a purse I guess.

Three frisbees - chewed to bits, this I can handle...they were free.

Every tennis ball we've ever owned since the 70's - lost, chewed or eaten...

don't think we've played tennis since the 70's...not a big deal.

Two computer cords - whewww....I thought my computer was broken, it's just a cord, they

know me now down at Radio Shack and laugh when I walk in the door.

Electric adaptor - good thing it wasn't plugged in.

Eight stuffed animals - shredded to bits...she's so dang cute with stuffing hanging from her lip.

Three blankets - she just eats off the corners...she prefers it if the corners on blankies

are rounded off I guess.

Wood scraps - every block of wood she can find laying around has the corners rounded off,

I call her the "canine router"...rounding off the sharp edges of my life is her job.

Yesterday I walked into the back yard to see gray foam bits scattered all over the grass - it "was" the cushion for the couch in the party barn....we're having a party there next Saturday night....a cushion-less couch really isn't going to work so good.

The list goes on...we still like her, and laugh at her - laughing is good for the soul - laughing at your dog who eats all your stuff is good for your soul but kinda hard on the wallet.

Folks tell me she's going to be a really nice dog in a few years when she grows up...hope she doesn't eat the house before she settles down.

I'm not ready

I'm not ready for summer to be over. There is a little bit of pouting going on over here at this old farm.

This is our puppy, she doesn't do a whole lot of pouting...rain, sleet, snow, hail...she could care less. Life is one big party as far as she is concerned, as long as there is someone to throw a ball or take her for a walk out in the field.

Speaking of parties, Jientje is hosting a photo challenge over at her blog this week, it's called Opening Doors. This photo doesn't really qualify because it's technically a gate, but I'm hoping to get out and about this week and I'll be on the lookout for groovy doors. If you're interested why not play along, got any cool doors in your neck of the woods?

Play Day for Peeps and Pups

Bergie had her first day at doggie day care today. She made a whole bunch of new friends. She's exhausted, she ran and played with her new friends for eleven hours...such a life this little girl has.

After I dropped the Bergster off at puppy play land I drove The Husband and his brother to the city to see a Seattle Mariners ballgame. Neither of them like city driving so they talked me into being their designated driver. I dropped them at the stadium, went to visit my girlfriends, made a little side-trip to University Village where I went crazy over the groovy kitchen stuff at Crate & Barrel. I don't like to shop or spend money but I think I could get in a whole lot of trouble at that place. I love kitchen stuff...the secret is out.

After the game I met "the boys" at The Metropolitan Grill...in a word...yum! We had a great dinner and then drove back to farm country and picked up puppy-girl at the puppy playground.

It was a great day, but I wouldn't want to do it all the time....although I think Bergie would like to go back and see all of her new friends tomorrow....and the next day...and the next.

Plum Tuckered

This little missy is completely exhausted. We ( I ) worked outside most of the day and she "helped". She did a little pruning, she carried sticks you wouldn't think a puppy her size could ever carry and she had a big surprise when she tried to jump over one of the ponds and ended up in it...whooooppps! She was pretty stunned when The Husband pulled her out, hopefully she'll be a bit more careful next time. The highlight of the day was when our friend who originally rescued her came over with his dogs, they played, they chased, they fetched sticks and balls until the humans couldn't throw any more. She's a little miffed with me because she had to have a bath when we came in the house tonight, she was mud from head to toe.

She wasn't the only one who got filthy dirty today. I'm almost finished transplanting the raspberries! We put up new tie wires on the posts, I dug up the grasses that were trying to take over, worked a lot of compost into the new planting area and mulched the whole row with a lot of Smit Dairy Compost . I can't wait until July! Fresh raspberries and ice cream...yummmm.

Home to Stay

This sweet girl has been gone an hour and I miss her already. She's only a mile away at the vet getting spayed. I've diligently looked for her owners for a week and haven't turned up a single clue. As far as I'm concerned if they're not lookin' for her they don't deserve her. I've had long conversations with the folks from animal control and they've told me that I've done everything the right way, taken all the logical steps. There is still a tiny part of me that feels like I should be trying harder, I haven't placed an ad with her photo...I guess it's because I'm afraid that the lazy bum who she lived with before me might see it and out of guilt they would come forward and claim her. I would then fight for her, and it could get ugly..I could say things to them about irresponsible pet owners, why hadn't they contacted the shelters, why weren't there any notices on any of the local bulletin boards or at the vet clinics, why hadn't they posted notices on any of the free internet sites...that is so easy to do.
Call me a crazy pet lady, that's ok...I can take it. I don't have children so I have time to look out for critters. I'm not gone at work 60 hours a week like I used to be, sometimes only home for 48 hours on the weekend, and even then I was often stuck at my desk filling out paperwork and expense reports. I've thought about the possibility of this puppy belonging to someone who keeps the kind of crazy work schedule that I used to keep, but I don't accept that as an excuse not to place a call to the vet clinics or the shelters to report her missing...nope...not gonna cut it.
So, she's mine...all mine. Well, not exactly...she's extremely fond of The Husband, in fact .... I think she likes him more than she likes me. That makes me smile, because the last foster dog didn't like him much ...and that really hurt his feelings.
Tonight she will spend the night at the clinic, just to make sure that she doesn't have any reactions to the meds from her surgery. Tomorrow morning I can pick her up at 9, I'll be there at 9 sharp...to take her here...to her forever home.

She's "The One"

We've been on a rescue mission. When our much loved dog Tippy got hit in the road and passed away, we decided to get another dog right away. Even though we were incredibly heartbroken, we knew we would get a shelter dog and the theory was ... a dog removed from a shelter and put into our loving home makes room for another dog in the shelter system.
The first dog we fostered was Kita, he was big and loveable and wild. When he came here he wasn't house trained, but he was easy for me to train...he had some "issues" as most shelter dogs do but he seemed to be fitting in around here. Then he discovered cows, he discovered that if he chased the cows it was more fun than any tennis ball or fetch game he had ever played. He had to go to another home where there weren't cows to chase.
Next! Kahlo....a cute young pit/boxer rescue dog. His story was pretty sad, he had been rescued very young, he was skinny and found in a crate with his sister. Not housebroken, and a lot harder for me to train. He loved hanging out with me although he was incredibly nervous, he liked spending time with me and The Husband, but when I wasn't around and he was alone with The Husband the poor little puppy was a wreck. Poor Kahlo has serious "man issues". We're guessing that a man in his past was abusive to him and it's going to take a skilled trainer to help him get over it, neither of us feels like we have the right skills to help him find his way. Yesterday I took him to stay with some wonderful people, they have two very well trained dogs for Kahlo to play with. I think that they can help him get over his fears so he can grow up to be a nice guy. When I left their home yesterday I was positively giddy, it's the most wonderful place for him...better than I could have imagined.
Sometimes things happen for a reason. I learned so much from those two foster dogs, they even helped me work through my overwhelming sadness over losing Tippy. Last night we picked up this little girl pup. Of course she's a rescue dog too, but she's not from the shelter system. A friend of ours was taking his dogs for a walk last weekend and she ran out to join them. Our friend tried to find out where she lived...to no avail. He has been taking care of her but she's been a bit naughty and yesterday she ran into the road and got hit by a car...fortunately she wasn't hurt. Our friend called us because he couldn't care for her any longer...his neighbors are mad at him...his wife is mad at him....this naughty girl needs somebody who can teach her how to behave....and she needs pretty close supervision. Last night she slept in our kitchen in a crate like an angel, so far no "accidents" in the house. I've called all the local vet offices and the local shelters to see if anyone is looking for her. Today I'm taking her to be scanned to see if she has a microchip implant to locate her owners. She's been "lost" for almost a week, if her owners come forward... I hope they have a good excuse why it took so long to make work of finding her....because in a few more days I think that she will be mine.
We're probably going to name her Bergie ...that's the nickname of our friend who found her.
Happy endings and new beginnings for all of us.