Tuesday, November 25, 2008

OOOOOhhhhhhh MAGGIE!!!


Honestly, if for whatever reason Maggie died right now and God forbid that it should happen, I don’t know whether or not we would go out and get another dog for a long long time!!!! And YES, she’s that challenging to care for!!! Rest assured, she is getting better and that’s a really good thing!!!

We’ve taken to hiding food on top of the fridge, at the bottom of the sink and covering it up with other plates and such. The top of the fridge works so far but the bottom of the sink is still in range!!!! :) Have you ever heard of a dog eating banana cake??? Mind you, this is in a pattern that includes dog biscuits, cardboard, plastic bags, the dryer's leftover sock (which we have 217 of them!!!), a freshly uprooted rose bush, multiple discarded, buried, resurrected and slobbered on bones, school books and a book on how to be the pack leader!!!, the latest bills as well as notes to mom from the kids, notes to the kids from mom, Alana's latest appointment schedule and hastily retrieved(there's that word again!) school documents!!!!

Her adornment of mud is now a daily occurrence, it’s just a question of how quickly and how much!!! You know I have to draw a comparison to the women in our house getting themselves ready for work, hair, makeup and all. :) We’ve reinstalled our birdfeeders and that’s giving her a backyard TV to watch as a variety of species come and go. The window now has an assortment of nose marks on it as proof of interest; could someone serve food as this kaleidoscope of colors and feathers unfurls???


Now the birdfeeders are another thing all together. Where was Maggie when the plans were drawn up to attach a five foot pole to the back fence on which to hang the feeders??? And why was Maggie not advised that this was going to happen yesterday afternoon AND NOT ONE BUT TWO FEEDERS, can you imagine??? So now it’s evening, actually night and with breezes blowing and the exposure of the kitchen light reflecting off the feeders, Maggie came unglued at the sight!!! Long, loud and insistent barking ensued as her teenage voice, cracking in pitch, hackles at full attention, from stem to stern gave out to those lonely feeders now vacated at day’s end. Yes folks, we went to bed last night secure in the fact that our Maggie had saved us yet again from the dark unknown!!! She was admittedly wound up by the frightening sight of all this and I’m sure she tossed and turned throughout the night as this event entered the recesses of her mind where emblazoned on her instinctive core, passed down from generation to generation under the heading of “Protect the Masters at All Costs”....one less to do!!!!!!!


Now, how do we train a retriever to not chase birds???????

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Let's muddle in that puddle!!!!


Our lovable, mischievous still gangly Maggie who’s favorite pastime outside the house is to find any and all the mud that exudes some mysterious scent, dig feverishly into said mud, snout and all and proudly barks for her subjects to open the patio door allowing her entrance to an otherwise clean house. With mud covered legs, at least to the half way mark and a clay/ mud covered muzzle, we defer to the side entrance where the icy running hose is set to eliminate most of the aforementioned activities. Her highness has other plans as that water is not to her liking.

She immediately bolts back to the play area as calls of “COME” are summarily ignored and the game of “Catch me if you can!!!” commences. Great exercise follows as Maggie charges around the yard refusing to yield to the frigid shower awaiting her. After a good five minutes of “I’m faster than you are”, she finally settles and says, “Okay, you can have me now!!!” With firm hand on the collar, the punishment begins as paws are rinsed clean and snout rubbed for mud removal completes the task!!! Into the laundry room and into her crate to dry off in a controlled state where industrious licking is attended to, insuring every tiny morsel of earth has been removed. The preening complete, sleep overtakes her and our vixen vacates returning our darling, totally loveable Maggie!!!!! :) :) :)