Our Dogs

"Chagrin‎: A keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event." So, I went out to take pictures today and brought the dogs with me. As you know, when we are "in the moment" of photography, we are lost to the world, and so, when I looked up from what I was doing, many moments had passed. Plenty of time for dogs to get into all kinds of mischief. Molly came running over, and she very proudly showed me her Grand Adornment.... "Oh nooooooooooooo, MOLLY!!!!!" Wrinkling my nose and moaning, I looked in mortified disgust at the sight before me. Molly had evidently found something dead, gooey, and stinking to high heaven. And proceeded to roll luxuriously in it, caking her thick coat like war paint. I'm surprised I didn't see clouds of fumes billowing up around her, but let me tell you, that was one very proud dog! Moosey and Zoe smelled her appreciatively and offered a lick or two, at which point I yelled, "NO!!!"Groaning under my breath, I told the crew it was time to get back to the house, since I now had a very foul and stinking dog to wash. Did I mention the part that I've never washed Molly before? It's only been a few months now that Molly and I are on a close trust basis, and I would never consider trying to bathe her before, but these days she trusts me completely and I know she isn't a danger. (For a long time our relationship was very neutral and though she respected me, she would not bow to my wishes without a lot of stress on both our parts. I didn't think she'd have ever bitten me, but I wasn't going to force the issue either.) I thought about my options. First I tried wiping off some of the goo. That was a bad, bad idea!! So gross!! Then I called Steve for his advice... no answer. Ok...well, she needs a bath right now. Bath tub or shower stall? Considering, I decided I couldn't risk trying to get her in the tub because the sliding glass doors could possibly slip and fall off if banged too hard. But, would she FIT in the shower with me? I had no choice but to find out. So I called her up to the master bedroom and tried to get her to go into the bathroom. No way. She wasn't having it. I had to force her in and close the door. Which Zoe promptly pushed open (no latch on the door) and out went Molly! "Molly! You get back here!" She stops in her tracks, looking over her shoulder in horror. "EEK! Pack Mom YELLED at me!!" "Molly, get back in that bathroom right now!" Around she turned, balking at the door. I jabbed her with a finger and in she went, tail between her legs. Closed the door. Zoe opened it again and I YELLED at Zoe, "ZOE, BAD GIRL! YOU GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!" Like a brown bullet, she flew out of the bedroom and down the stairs, totally mortified that I screamed at her (something I never do!). Back in the bathroom, door closed, off with my clothes and I gestured for Molly to get into the shower. She looks up at me with an expression, "Seriously? You must be kidding! I'll die in there!" "IN!" I tell her very sternly and point again. In she goes, and I follow in after and pull the door closed. Remarkably, WE BOTH FIT! Amazing! Ok. Turn on the water...wait for it to heat up and block the door in case Molly wants to bolt. Nope...with my encouraging coos of, "Good girl, Molly! I'm sorry we have to wash off your Trophy Stink, but you can't keep it if you want to be in the house." She's resigned to her fate and waits for the Grim Reaper, who is surely on his way. Warm water is the trick to relaxing Molly and she sat down and actually enjoyed the sensation of being covered with thick suds and a long scrubbing massage from Pack Mom. It took me about 15 minutes to get her totally shampooed, scrubbed, and rinsed. I even sang a song to her called "Rolling in the Carcass", but I'll spare you the lyrics. Molly enjoyed the excellent melody and fine choice of words, though I will say that Pumpkin hated every word, yelling (squawking) from her cage in the next room! :D (Truthfully, one of Pumpkin's favorite things in the world is watching a dog being bathed...when I wash Zoe, she sits on her perch in the shower for a front row seat! She thinks it's totally hilarious and laughs her head off the whole time, throwing bread on her head and having a grand time! :D) When I finally got her rinsed completely, I washed myself off, and then stepped out, closing her in and telling her to, "STAY." I dried myself off, layed out some towels, and opened the door to the shower. She stepped out and was immediately enveloped in warm, dry towels, cooed at and loved as I spent the next 10 minutes drying her off. She got happier and happier the dryer she got, and finally I opened the door into the bedroom and out she pranced, tail high over her back, the Queen of All She Surveys once again! :D I took this picture about 10 minutes after I dried her off. We all went downstairs and she lay on the livingroom floor, totally exhausted by the whole experience and obviously very relieved that I didn't hate her at all...Pack Mom loves her very much indeed. But please...no more Trophy Stink!! :D

2 more picture above in notes! :) Oh, what a gorgeous, sunny morning it was! With a day like this, I simply HAD to go on a walk along the ridge line! So, I grabbed my camera and called for Zoe and Moosie to join me, and up the hill we trudged, all of us delighted and overjoyed at the opportunity to go on an adventure! I decided that since it was Sunday, I would take all the time I wanted. I wandered along, parting my way through the tall grass that grew on the trail, looking at everything that caught my eye, and taking pictures as I went. However, I had just as much fun watching the dogs as I did enjoying my photography! Without question, the trail along the ridge line is our favorite walk. There's a special energy up there and we are all extremely happy whenever we are there. Moosie is a scent-hound, so he is in heaven as he checks out everything along the trail. Zoe is overflowing with energy, and can run all over the place to her heart's content, though she always stays nearby. The two of them are best friends and love each other dearly. It's such fun to watch them as we go along, and there are always several chasing sessions for me to cackle at with a grin from ear to ear as I watch, my eyes twinkling with mirth. Zoe will goad Moosie by yanking an ear, and then he'll take off in hot pursuit, ears flapping and legs churning as he tries hopelessly to catch her! Zoe makes it easy on him though because she's easily 2-3 times faster than he is, and slows down so he can catch her with a chomp on a back leg to pull the devilish prey down. Then it's a battle to the death as Moosie jumps up and down on Zoe, baying at her in outrage, and she rolls around on her back in supreme happiness, mouth gaping, tongue lolling, and chomping back at him. It is a joy for me to see them so happy. We had such a good time today, I had to dedicate my Picture of the Day to them! :D (The textures I used were SM262010-3 and PaperBox , both from Jerry Jones! Thanks Jerry! :) (Regarding this quote, the exact wording is, "The dog is the god of frolic." I thought it would be ok to change it slightly to makes better sense! :) George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays. He was also an essayist, novelist and short story writer. Nearly all his writings address prevailing social problems, but have a vein of comedy which makes their stark themes more palatable. Issues which engaged Shaw's attention included education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege. Wikipedia: George Bernard Shaw

Many notes above full of fun and frolic! :D This morning when I went out with my camera to get my Picture of the Day, I took the dogs with me and had a great time watching them run around and play. All three of them were in high spirits, and even Molly--who doesn't usually bother with Zoe and Moosie's games--joined in for the fun and games! :) With such silliness going on, I thought it would be a great opportunity to take pictures of them!