playing soccer with the puppy

I've been playing 'soccer' with the puppy since he was pretty little. I kick the basketball and he runs after it growling. Nothing like bullying a ball into submission. When he catches it, he blocks it with his chest and holds it down with his chin. Then he watches my feet. if I pick up my left foot to push it towards his left, he puts up his left front leg to hold it. etc. I have to wait til he's distracted, and then kick it good .
In the meantime, one of the other cockers, Bailey has begun to play on her own. She uses her chest to keep it from rolling away, and mostly pushes the ball with the side of her face, growling ferociously the whole time. She also uses her front paws to move the ball, sometimes to steer it a little. The only time she wants any interference is when she gets stuck in a corner, then she backs away to let me pick it up and throw it out into the middle of the yard. The other day her game was so exciting she was barking those little high pitched 'play-with-me' barks (at the ball). It was hilarious.

bored puppy

They've been promising this ice storm for several days now. With 24 hours still to go before the weather is supposed to get above freezing, the puppy is bored already. He's six months old now, and innovative in his attempts to entertain himself. He decided to look out the kitchen window while ago and got yelled at for attempted destruction of a miniblind that is older than his mother. Next he tried to get the older dogs to play with him. Nope, they were curled up trying to sleep. I filled the rubber treat ball with kibble, he knocked down the broom and then the ball was lost behind something, and then...I wasn't able to give him something to play with and then go do my own work. Besides, since everybody heard the food bin being opened, they were all gathered around him while he was trying to play with the ball. We went for another walk, and then everyone was ready for a nap, finally I got to work for awhile.

Thinks he's Cool!

While I waited for the camera to focus, he was talking to me. Look at that face and stance. Complete and utter confidence! Only one of my other Cockers has ever had this kind of confidence, we always joked that she thought she was Queen of the World. This is Topaz and he was seven weeks old when I took this picture.

Internet business

They say that starting a business online is easy. And I suppose that my experience shows that that is true, unless a "business" includes actual traffic to the site as well as sales. In that case, its not-so-easy. I've drawn drawings of dogs as well as a few other things, scanned them and uploaded them to a website, but getting the name of it out there to people is harder apparently than I thought.

Start the day laughing

I've never had a six month old Cocker puppy before, it still surprises me the things he'll play with. I was on my hands and knees under the kitchen table, left arm stretched out trying to plug something in, and here comes Topaz. Zoom! Pounce! patting the hand that's on the floor. Rather like a kitten pats at a string or whatever its playing with. But his puppy paws are all grown up already, nearly the size of my hand. It became very difficult to push the plug into the wall because I was laughing so hard. He was playing and playing with my hand. Buzzing around in circles under me and around me. Batting at the cord. His tail was not docked and so it looks like a setter's tail and it was in my face. I guess you had to be there. But it is one of the best ways to wake up in the morning, laughing and laughing. The microwave did get plugged in (after he went tearing away to bother a big dog). So I had a good laugh, and a cup of hot tea. What's not to like?

In the thirties today, ugh. Overcast and you have to remember that its January--unlike yesterday when it was 78F by the afternoon. The puppy doesn't understand why the grownups (dogs as well as human) won't stay outside and play with him. He's decided to play with everybody inside, but he keeps hoping...

Puppy's Advice



Always Always Look UP

No leaves on the trees, brown grass, bare dirt where the dogs play every day, the only birds heard are crows. We're all waiting for spring. The dogs don't seem to notice though, they play and sleep all day whether there is green grass or brown, or heaps of leaves or not.