Tag Archives: dog

The Weekly Smile for the 26th of August, 2019

I had quite a bit to smile about this week, but I decided to chose something a little funny. I don’t know, I was just in that type of mood ;)

Yesterday I was puttering around the house doing small odd jobs. The dogs were watching me very closely. I said, “In a few minutes I am going to t-a-k-e t-h-e d-o-g-s o-u-t-s-i-d-e.” I spelled the words very slowly so they wouldn’t be able to connect the sounds and make the words, but they jumped up and ran to the door. They started whining. Oh no, does that mean that the can spell now?

I played with the dogs in the back yard for a while and when they started to slow down I took them for a walk. Fiyero (the brindle boxer) brought his ball. At one point he dropped it and so I picked it up. As we were heading back, he started prancing and looking at me expectantly. I knew what he wanted.

“No, I will give it to you later.” He still glared. “Right after we cross that road there I will give it to you.” Continue reading →

The Allure of… Idina Tries Her Paw at Poetry

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Idina with the magic stick

My poor human father does not know the allure of manure…
Poor man, as far as I can tell
Has no sense of smell
That pitiful nose
Would miss a sewer
And never warn of foes
Or follow the yummiest lure.
From at least a mile away
I can smell
the smell
Of processed hay
He walks blindly past
My great equine repast
But tells me that it’s nast
And that I must fast…
Oh, silly man
Why won’t you eat
That horse given treat?!
And why must you ban
What I find beneath my feet?
A dog knows to get what they can
Even a petite bite of horse-butt-peat off a pile so neat
He yanks the leash
And pulls me away
But I will get some
On another day
I tell him and tell him but shouldn’t bother
For the allure
Of manure
Is quite beyond my father.

***

Idina for some reason thinks there is no better treat in the world than some horse poop out in a field. I usually remember and keep her away from where I know there are piles, but she is tricky… When I asked her about it today, the above poem was her reply…. (In the photo at the top of the page she has a stick in her mouth, not the dreaded other stuff….)

Idina – Superhero!

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(sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff)

Come on Idina! Let’s go!

(sniff, sniff, sniff)

Come on! I have to get back. I’m working today.

(sniff, sniff)

Idina, now! I can only be away for a minute. I’m technically at work.

(sniff. So am I. sniff)

Come on, I have to prepare for an important meeting!

(sniff, sniff. This is more important! sniff)

I’m earning money for kibble. What’s more important than kibble?

(sniff, sniff. I’m protecting us. I’m saving us from harm. sniff)

Come on, Idina! You’ve been sniffing those tracks for five minutes now!

(sniff, sniff. This is very important! I may be saving the world. sniff)

Idian, now!

(sniff, sniff. World, nothing. I’m making the Universe a safer place! Nothing is more important. Ouch. Why did you have to tug so hard?)

Come on, Idina!

(OK, OK, I guess the Universe can take care of itself for a couple of hours while you’re working. )

True story. or so it would seem from her body language ;)

Weekly Smile 68 #weeklysmile

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Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile

Friday I noticed that Idina looked funny. There was a big swollen area on the side of her jaw. We brought her to the vet and they said there was little they could do at that time. She appeared to have an abscess. They would have to drain it later, but it wasn’t ready. They gave us meds.

Saturday it looked worse – it looked like she had tried to swallow a football (American football ;) ) because the entire side of her face was so puffed up. But Sunday it looked better. And Monday better yet. Yesterday she went back to the vet. Still no fluid to drain, and swelling was much reduced. In the evening she looked almost normal. Continue reading →

Yes, we Did Have Winter this Year

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Snow covered tree

Over the weekend, being stuck inside due to ill health, I finally looked at the photos I took earlier in the month. It was amazing to see that despite the late spring-like temperatures of February 24, how bad the weather was just 11 days before that, on February 13. We had snow on average of every other day for the first two weeks of February, including a couple of decent size storms. We also had some very cold temperatures to go with all of that snow. And then, two weeks later and it is 74 F/23 C! Almost all of the snow is gone! But then, I see in the long range forecast that they are predicting a large snow storm in about week. Winter may be back. Continue reading →

Throwback – Red Ball

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Some people think anything more than a few months old is ripe enough for a Throwback Thursday post. Those of you who have seen my posts know I usually go back decades. Oh well, the price of age ;) Today is different, I’m going to go back almost exactly 2 years. The picture at the top of the page was taken on the 8th of August, 2014.

Notice the red ball? Little Fiyero, somewhere around 4 months old in that picture, loved that ball. It was his favorite toy and he constantly wanted to play. He’d push it against my leg and growl, letting me know he wanted me to try to steal it, and once taken, throw it. This could happen any time of day or night. He loved it. Continue reading →

Throwback Thursday – Brady and the Kayak

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We got our first dog/Boxer, Brady, just a few months after we got our first kayak. Needless to say, the two went together. There were few times when we used the kayak together that Brady was not a passenger. Brady loved being with us but did not love the kayak and made this known by trying to climb into my lap or jump overboard when it got rough. Sometimes he had all four paws on the edge! Of course it wasn’t always easy dragging the 90 lb Boxer (100% muscle) out of the water when he was most prone to fall in, that is when it was very rough.

Elliot did better in the kayak, though he would occasionally get very clingy. A few times I tried to go out solo only to have Elliot swim out to me. We also went double while someone else was watching him only to have him escape and swim after us – we were already over a half a mile away! (Away = off shore) Continue reading →

Weekly Smile Week 8 #weeklysmile

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Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile

At the last minute I decided to change my smile. I’m sorry, but today’s smile will be bitter sweet.

I haven’t posted in a few days and so, of course, I’ve been having few views. Half way through the day I noticed a spike. Curious I looked and someone had gone through the pictures of my last Boxer, Elliot Carter McDonald (yes, he was named after the famous American composer who was still living when Elliot was born). I didn’t think anything of it, people do pick up old posts. Only later I saw someone had gone back and looked more. They also looked at some other puppy posts, like of baby Idina and baby Fiyero. But it was mostly Elliot. Spread out over 5 hours someone kept coming back and looking. Some of the early puppy pictures were viewed 14 times. All in all, I had half again as many views as my previous top viewing day, and it was all one person.

I couldn’t resist. I had to go and look. So I went through the pictures one at a time. I wrote a narrative along with the pictures. The each have a sentence or two about him. The post was a memorial. So I read all of the words and remembered. For a while last night I had a large smile on my face while I had a tear in my eye. OK, not one tear, but many. Elliot had an oversized personality and was in many way like a child. His end came far too early and way too sudden. But this morning I will continue to remember him and keep with the smile part. Continue reading →

Idina’s Monster

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I poked my head into the sunroom. The wet,miserable day visible out of the large windows gave lie to name of the room. It had been raining nonstop since early morning.

Idina looked over and wagged her tail. She was perched on a chair next to the sliding door. All morning she stared out of the window. Occasionally she barked, but by the time I got into the room she would be calm again, looking at me happily, wagging away. Continue reading →

A Smile a Day – Day 16 – Dogs and Kids

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Going through some old pictures I came across the picture at the top of the page. This was taken in the summer of 2006. We were at a place on Cape Cod that took dogs. Some friends stopped by for the afternoon with their 2 kids. As I was showing them my newest camera, an Olympus E-1, the kids were playing with our white Boxer, Brady. It’s funny because nobody realized i had taken a picture until I sent them this. I like the picture because it can be any kids and any dog, it does matter. It is the play that is the same.

Trent's World (the Blog)

Random Ramblings and Reviews from Trent P. McDonald