Television anyone???

As I've mentioned before, Maggie loves to watch the birds and the squirrels in the yard to the point where the call of the wild asserts dominance over her will. The trip to the patio door is short, the audible "ruff" is call to her servants to attend the door, allowing her to race and chase the departing hordes at feeders and forest edged floor!!! The game never gets tiring, her puzzlement lasts as to why they won't play with her and the cycle continues.

Indoor TV has its moments as a nature show demands her fullest attention with nose pressed firmly against the glass and her curiosity propels her around both back and sides to get a better look at why these animals aren't accessible! Africa's biggest cats are her favorite; their size and ferocity doesn't come into play as the TV screen is strong enough to contain these wild things :)

Now, wonder of wonders, we have another TV worth watching!!! We have had an aquarium for years and years with a multitude of fish but in recent months, since Maggie's arrival, there have been only three fish in the tank. For whatever reason, Maggie hasn't given them the time of day as her world revolves about heading out the door to pursue other interests with all the urgency her perceptions generate.

Our three fish are a plecostomus (algae eater) and two red tailed sharks. All of them like to hide in their perceived places of dominance so motion or activity is kept to a minimum and thus Maggie's disinterest! ( I think I've just answered my own question!) :) Well, all that's changed so the latest activities for Maggie center around how to get their attention, will they play with her, repositioning herself to get a better vantage, paws up on the table so that they can see her and express their delight at having a monster looming over them, cat like, ready to pounce!!! She's nipped at the glass in an attempt to get at them and this morning has emitted that long low guttural growl that for me is reminiscant of the elephants on the Serengeti. If I come home from work one day and find elephants in our yard, I will be so totally impressed :) :) :)

Oh our Maggie!!!

She is totally A.D.D. or she's A.D.H.D. or this is what you get with a golden retriever as a puppy!!!! She goes for a walk and is distracted by absolutely everthything!!! Nothing but nothing escapes her attention in every direction. Can you imagine the energy that's expended as her head turns constantly, surveying the universe!!! You can almost hear her saying, "Wait a minute, what's that? Can we go over there? Hey, isn't that the fox sparrow from our backyard? What was that? Hey, you missed the trail, why aren't we going in that direction; no, I want to see what that is!!! OHhh, did you smell that, we have to go back! Why are we runnning so far in one direction? A squirrel, a squirrel, you know I chase them and I know they want to play with me! A stick, a stick, oh it was a good stick; can we get it when we get back? Have we gone far enough that I can go off the leash now? I will come when you call, honest I will......last time, what do you mean last time, I live in the present; you know that!!! Treats, I smell treats, come on, I'm ready, oh please, TREATS!!! That one was small, how many more do you have??? You can't fool me, I can still smell the crumb in the bottom of the bag! Can we do this again?

Ah look at her there on the floor, she's all played out. Are you tired Maggie, are you ready to sleep for a while, you look so tired, you can't keep your eyes open..............oh no, who's in the kitchen; look out here she comes!!!!! :)

Oakley departs, the snow stays, the feeders are full and so it goes...

Our time with Oakley has passed as his family has returned from a wonderful time in Hawaii and no doubt a sense of peaceful relief has befallen him as the tormentor, our Maggie is no longer a part of his day, night and hopefully not a part of his nightmares!!! I'm sure Maggie wonders where he went but being easily distracted by anything that moves, crawls, flies or changes hew depending on the lighting, outside or in, has moved on to the next chapter of her now nine month old life.

The birds at the feeders continue to hold her attention from inside the house until she figures they're having way too much fun and clearly are asking her to come join in. Any vocalization at the patio door calling forth her servants to see her out, the door opened , a brief sniff and then the loping through the snow to the back fence where the feeding species are taken to flight, leaves Maggie wondering why they always fly away at her approach. Can't they see I'm friendly, that my tail is wagging and that secretly, I'm a bird too??? I know they congregate in trees, haven't they seen me in my tree; surely they can relate!!!

Now the snow transforms her world totally and makes old games new again as the running in the yard is now a romping; wet grasses are replaced with soft mounds of pristine whiteness, the damp coolness now has a cold embrace that challenges her coat of winter fur. Maggie takes it all in stride :) and obviously is in her element as the hours pass with her totally being occupied in the yard and then she returns to the warmth of the house with snow encrusted paws tapping on the tile floor, her muzzle still covered in snow, attesting to the scent of interest leeching its way up through the snow and a nose, a degree away from freezing that always finds bare skin to touch; her way os saying, "Did you miss me?"

There is a new game that's played as she forages through the yard, now two feet higher thanks to the persistent dumping of snow. Things that formerly held no special interest have a different vantage and suddenly what was perceived as possible has become attainable. Our patio table, clearly marking the depth of snowfall is now ready to be exploited as a resting place for her nibs. We're still perplexed as to the advantage of her being there other than to express the ages old game of, "I'm the queen of the castle, you're the dirty rascal" !!! :)

It is getting to be a lot like Christmas!!!!

…….. walkin’ in a winter wonderland. There is snow galore throughout the lower mainland, cold winds sometimes blustering into a gale and thoroughly frozen lakes, rivers and ponds are now in place to accommodate the antics of children of all ages and dogs that figure frozen water is at least as much fun as the liquid type!!! The snow hitting the lower mainland crimps everyone and everybody as most of us have all season radials on our cars, not winter tires. So with the desperate and the insane now out there, driving their cars in bumper car fashion, the rest of us attach huge tires to the sides of our cars (LOL) or go into hibernation awaiting the return of the depressing rains in order to re- establish the proper level of safe driving for us all.


We have a new house guest of the four legged variety, a Lhasa Apso named Oakley who has come to us via Alana’s impetuous benevolence, saying she would house and puppy sit for extended family while they are away in Hawaii. All well and good until funerals happen which Alana was involved in planning, friends arrive from all over, it snows a foot and a half and the usual bedlam ensues, making it almost impossible for Alana to get to and fro for her house sitting duties.


Maggie, of course, is delighted with her new toy and can’t begin to understand why Oakley will have no part of her???!!! Every movement that Oakley makes, usually away from Maggie constitutes the game to begin with Maggie bounding (perhaps even bouncing) after, over, around, on top of, from the left, from the right accompanied by yearning vocalizations that clearly are imploring Oakley to join in the chase game. Oakley’s response is to stand his ground and stare fixedly at Maggie while wondering what he has done wrong to deserve this--- first his family disappears, then he’s left for hours on end and a stranger comes and stays with him, then the stranger comes and takes him away from his house, drives through the snow at night and there he is landing at a house he’s never been to with all sorts of people who he has never met but seem to like him and a total wranger of a dog that clearly has no concept of his place in society!!!! This dog’s intrusiveness knows no bounds :) and goes further to full on barking that sends shivers through Oakley!!! And of course there’s the issue of Maggie eating anything in the house that resembles food. So as the bowl of food is placed in front of Oakley, her nibs is coming on like a freight train attempting to aspirate bowl and all on her way to her dish to see what treats have been used to distract her from our visitor!!!

Peace on earth and good will to all; now Maggie show some respect would you???

So this is Christmas!!!

One of Maggie's interesting albeit demanding traits is her vocalizing, "I want out; I want in; You're not paying attention to me; Let's play; I think that's you coming up the driveway but I'll assume you're a stranger and play the guard dog; Something is totally out of order here and needs attention immediately!!!" Now this last item is ongoing and rears itself whenever there is something new in or around the house. You have to appreciate she's now eight months old and has assimilated the day to day routine of this Pace family in good stride. And yet she feels somehow compelled to alert all within a three square block radius the impending doom that is about to befall us!!! This of course can vary as the perceived threat comes in many disguises!!!

This past weekend had such a happening, it being our replacing a washer and dryer after seventeen years of extensive abuse which included baby blankets and soiled clothing on through to muddied running shoes and paint ball smeared camouflage and everything else a family can produce over the years as fads and seasons pass and today's "gotta haves" become charitable "giveaways".

So, with Maggie securely in the backyard and the truck arriving in the front, the migration of old and new commenced!!! Ten minutes later, all was in order and with Sheila and I wishing each other, "Merry Christmas" and still shuddering at the cost, we had our new appliances!!!

Shortly thereafter, her highness uttered her command to return to her domicile and with patio door opened and the affront of paws being wiped and mostly cleaned, she proceeded to check out the remnants of scent that were not of our own making. As she rounded the hall corner to the laundry room, all hell broke loose as the latest attack on the Paces was being dutifully attended by our laughably vicious guard dog!!! Hackles at the ready, agitated movements to and fro, assessing the invaders intent, barking to the peak of her abilities complete with cracking pitch, a tentative lunge or two for good measure (would they chase her or would they stand their ground, protecting their acquired space???), fertive looks at us to see whether we would join the battle or at least defend her should the going get tough and only after repeated "Oh Maggie's" combined with the stillness of the washer and dryer, her nibs declared the house safe once more but was determined to keep a close eye on them should they get out of hand!!!!

Without delay, the washer was put to the test as Maggie's blankets and toys became the test subjects of the "sanitize" cycle and came through "dazzling"!!!!! :)

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???????

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!!!!! :) :) :)