Boo Hoo

So, Boo has left the building. I went to take pics of him today and the camera battery was dead, so this one was sent by his previous people.

It's very quiet here now and very calm. Almost from the minute he left, both of our dogs did a complete transformation, back to the social butterflies that they normally are. Sonic's tummy troubles seem to be gone as well.

Of course, he wasn't all bad and I wavered between thinking he was a sweet, goofy pup to the dog from hell. Mostly he was pretty sweet though and not at fault for his poor start in life. The person who is fostering him now has a much different training style than me. It's one that I am not comfortable doing myself as our dogs are very soft. It's totally different when you have a dog who is very headstrong. I have heard he is already starting to calm down. Poor Boo, he won't know what's hit him.

OK, I have to caution you that I am going to resort to my "chicken plucker" vocabulary here....BAD WORD ALERT!

I took Mr. Boo for a last run up and down the sides of the ravine by the house to calm him down before we took him to his new place today. He got in one last parting shot when he came charging up behind me on the trail, carrying a huge stick.....actually more like a small tree. Must've been 5 feet long. He whacked me behind the knees with it and sent me flying face first. I'm laying with a face full of mud in the trail, pissed off as all get out telling Mr. Boo that he is a friggin' asshole dog.

Did I say it's so quiet here now? I am very relieved and will miss some of his antics, but all in all, I am glad he's out of here. Tess and Sonic are still doing a happy dance.

Good Bye Molly

OK, so not a dog pic, but one of my most prized possessions.
This quilt was made up of a bunch of my t-shirts from races I have run. It's got my first marathon, first race, best time and just a whole bunch of other memories. It was made for me by a wonderfully talented friends.

Molly's Got It Made!

We took Molly to her forever home today. What a wonderful life she is going to have. I'm sure she is going to be happy to never have to run another step, although we DID have her up to 10K by the time she left us. It seemed strange this afternoon to not have her with us on our walk in the bog. However, we won't be 2 dogs for much longer as our new foster Boo is coming in a couple of hours.

Good luck, Miss Molly. We will miss you.

Gotcha!

Sleeping with the cat!! NO WAY!!
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would've believed it. Both Sonic and Rooney sleeping together at the top of the stairway. Will wonders never cease. Maybe there's even hope for world peace!!

Caught ya!

So Molly leaves tomorrow, but seems there is no shortage of dogs in need. She will not even be in her new home 5 hours and we will be getting another foster dog. This guy is a 7 month old pup named Boo. Family is expecting their first child and are worried about this high energy pup and a new baby. Been speaking with them on the phone tonigt. They're very upset over giving him up. They are brining him to us as they want their last memory of him to be playing with a couple of other dogs. Geeez, I hope Sonic and Miss Tess don't give him a rough time. I'm sure they'll be fine. Fingers crossed.

Calendar Girl

Congrats to our Miss Tess, Miss Feburary, 2008

I guess I will be ordering about 6 of those calendars from Border Collie Rescue. I've been flogging them shamlessly with everyone I know. At least I've got my Christmas gifts figured out. Paw printed copies of the calendar to friends and family.

We're proud of you Tess!!

Aftermath

I'm certainly glad I wasn't around when these giants came down in the storm. As it was, we had a bit of a time getting past them. Crawling under one of them and then climbing over the others. Of course, if I had 4 legs, it would've been MUCH easier going. Alas, I am a mere mortal though.

Stormy Weather

Dog butts. Molly and Sonic are so funny. They think if they can't see us, we can't see them.

I think everyone was freaked out by the storm today. I had 3 pretty well behaved dogs running behind me and sticking very close on the trails. They were probably thinking if a tree came down, I'd get it first. Actually a tree DID come down......right in front of me. Very scary and a sound I will never forget. C-R-AAAAA-C-K!! I stopped in my tracks and waited to see where it was gonna go. It didn't hit the boardwalk, however a big chunk of it broke off and came crashing down. Too close for comfort.

All is quiet now. Winds have died down and power restored, at least to our area.

Good Golly Miss Molly!!

You got yourself a HOME! And a wonderful home it is going to be. We both feel so good about this. It was love at first sight between Molly and J. What a nice, nice lady.

So, our first experience with fostering has been very positive. It's wonderful to see how Molly has blossomed and gotten over some of her fears and is interacting with the other dogs AND us. Well, she's always been good with people, but more for patting and not playing. She is PLAYING with us now.

We will miss her when she goes to her new home, but J has promised to keep in touch and let us know how she's doing. Yay for Molly.

Just Lookin' For A Home

Take a bow, Miss Molly!

You've come a long way baby!

Our Miss Molly is meeting her potential adopter on Saturday morning. I think this older lady will be a good match for Molly. I hope they hit it off. We're taking her for her nails and to buy her a pink bandana so she makes a great first impression.

She's done well since being with us. We haven't had the battle of "going for a pee" in several days now. It was so frustrating walking her back and forth in the rain and at night trying to get her to "go". Never saw a dog afraid of the dark before. I had to stand there with a flashlight and do much muttering under my breath "go pee, c'mon Molly, PLEASE go pee, stupid dog....GO PEE!!!!" This dog's bathroom habits were getting to be an obsession with me. Finally a breakthrough though!! Yay Molly.

The More I Know People.....

The more I like my dogs. It really IS true at times. Take today. Of course, it was my fault to begin with since I forgot (first time in over 20 years) to put my hearing protection (ear muffs) in my locker after work yesterday. And this morning, they were gone. Now, generally, this wouldn't be a big deal for me because we have ear plugs too. However, for the last many, many years, I have been listening to a small radio, which I put UNDER my ear muffs at work. For anyone who has ever worked on a line, you will know what a sanity saver this is. For the first time in 17 years, I had no music to sooth the savage beast in me. I was NOT a happy camper. Why the hell anyone would want to wear a pair of used ear muffs is beyond me. It's almost as bad as wearing used underwear. So, I survived (barely) almost 7 hours with no music. Fortunately, one of my coworkers managed to find them in some other department, so I am once again with music. But to the person who caused the single most boring day in my life at the plant.....I HOPE YOU GET EAR MITES.

Dance Tess, Dance!!

Ok, so it's not a dog picture, but I like it anyway. We can't ignore the local residents who freeload in our backyard.

My Little Dancer

I was so proud of Miss Tess tonight that I could just burst. I figured after the great week and big strides she's made in learning her tricks that she would make a fool out of me in class. She was AMAZING! We got loads of compliments from the trainer and everyone watching. She did a flawless crawl while heeling, then a distance crawl to me as well as a spinning recall. When the routine starts going together, it's going to be amazing. Ray said that she has picked up so quickly and is doing so well that instead of having a nice little routine, we are going to "go for the gold!" I am really pumped. It's hard to believe this is the same dog who embarrassed me to tears at our first competition.

Another Monday....Sigh......

Who woulda thought that I'd spend part of my after work hours wedged between a toilet and vanity trying to coax out a kitten who dashed into the vanity as soon as the door was open a crack.....then discoverd the HOLE IN THE WALL. Of course, the silly thing had to go exploring and then couldn't find his way back out. So, Charlie and me, laying on floor beside toilet, holding flashlight and shaking treats, pleading with this kitten to come out. All we can hear is meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!!!! Finally, with some well placed cat treats, we managed to get him out. Now he stands in front, demanding to go back in again. I think I finally realized the reason that baby animals are so cute. So we don't KILL them before they reach adulthood.

At least I had a nice run with the border collies after work. Sonic and Tess love it, while Miss Molly thinks it's a total waste of time and energy. Never seen a border collie who didn't love running, until now.

Have a prospective adopter for Molly. Funny, I knew as soon as I laid eyes on her (Molly, that is), that while she is a nice dog, she is not a dog that I could fall in love with. However, when I heard that there was someone interested in her, I felt a bit of a pang in my heart. Keeping fingers crossed for Miss Molly. She deserves someone wonderful.

Trying This Out

The Three Amigos

Tess, Sonic and Molly

I guess this can be the doggie diaries with the occasional cat tales (tails) thrown in for good measure. Seems like our live is ruled by our animals, and we love it like that. Our 2 border collies, Sonic and Tess plus our big old Maine Coon cat, Sportz, and the newest addition to the family (my sort of impulse purchase), a Ragdoll kitten named Rooney. Shoulda called him HOWIE for Hell On Wheels like a friend suggested. Oh well, one day he will grow up into a cat and maybe we will have sanity back in the house again. Oh yeah, and to add to the mix is our foster dog, Molly, a rather timid little soul. She is coming around, but I think she is rather overwhelmed in this household at times. It's hard to relax and wag a tail when a kitten is always ready to pounce on it.