Acts of faith

I know of no greater act of rational faith than putting a bulb in the ground in December, burying it six to eight inches deep, stomping the soil down on top of it, knowing that it will be covered with snow and ice in the months to come, and hoping that something beautiful will grow from it when the days become longer and the earth warms again in the spring. It did that today 100 times. That's a lot of faith for those who think I have none. 

I had planted a bag of daffodil bulbs outside the fence along the road in front of our house the first year we moved in. That was 23 years ago and I've been meaning to plant more ever since. Today I finally did. I put in 100 more daffodils but inside the fence this time, spread across the front yard. There's room for plenty more.

Dog rescue is a similar act of faith. We know enough about the basic nature of dogs to have a rational belief that time, love, and training will usually allow them to overcome whatever horrors they experienced in the past at the hands of humans who let them down. That's not always true and there's some things we can't fix, but it's true often enough that we take that leap of faith with rescued dogs that land at our door. Just as we plant bulbs in the ground expecting them to blossom, we take in sick, neglected, and abused dogs, give them what all dogs need and hope that something beautiful will grow. We are rewarded with something beautiful more often than not.

I took Paige on her first walk today. I just used a slip lead because her inclination seemed to be to stick as close to me as possible. And so she did, often walking with her head pressed against my leg. I don't hate that. 

Maze and her mother

Ever present Paisley

Maze (rolling) and Paige

Della guarding her flock.

She's a Dane, not a shepherd, and they are flamingos, not sheep.

We do things a little different around here.

Oakley and Maze

Della held this position for quite a while.

Apparently she was quite serious about protecting the flock.

Maze will be going home New Years Day.

It's been nice to have her.

Four Danes watching as I plant bulbs.

Here's a quick play scene. 

They did more than this, but I was busy planting and this was the only one I got recorded.

Paige and I on our first walk together.

This girl is very sweet.

New Year's eve eve

The sun was struggling on Saturday, but it broke through often enough and long enough to make it a decent, if chilly, day. It was a good day to putter around outside with dogs and that's what I did. 

We are into the mud season where the common pathways around the yard turn to deep mud because they rarely freeze solid and they never get a chance to really dry out. I have a stack of 1x12 runners made of pressure treated wood that I lay out to make a seasonal sidewalk of sorts during mud season. Even the dogs use them, at least Della does, to stay out of the mud. I also put up three more strings of the blue meteor Christmas lights in the magnolia tree in the center of the driveway. They improved the nighttime look although I could still use more. However, I'd need a cherry picker to get them up higher in the tree.

The dogs all had plenty of outdoor time, I took Bailey for a walk and then to a brewery in the evening, and we had a new arrival. His name is Norman and if he looks familiar it's because he's a former foster who was returned after two failed adoptions. Norman is a LOT of dog. I really couldn't ever handle him when he was here and neither could the adopters. He may also have developed issues with other dogs, although we never saw that prior to adoption. He's now occupying Daneland by himself. He's got a big bed set up in the puppy palace shed, he learned to use the dog door, and he was content (quiet) there last night.

Bailey spent her first night in the bedroom post-spay and post-Covid. She made a couple of attempts to join us in bed but finally settled down on a dog bed on Clay's side of the room. She did pee in the closet at some point overnight, but overall it was pretty successful.

Sunday looks like an even better day.

Norman

Norman is even bigger and stronger  than he was before.

Paisley, Paige, and Della heading out to the pasture.

Paige and Oakley

Maze and Della

A meeting of three Danes:  Oakley, Della, and Maze.

Paige joins the meeting.

Della playing with her pup, Maze.

They only play like this if they are the only two dogs around.

Bailey posing on the old millstone table at Pleasant Grove

At Decipher Brewing Saturday evening.

Here's the magnolia tree in the driveway with more lights.

December Danes

The word that best describes today is "wet" because everything is still very wet and muddy and I don't think any drying happened today. The sun made a rare appearance for a few hours in the early to mid afternoon, however, and I got most of the dogs out to the pasture for a romp. 

Four Danes, and Paisley

Della and Oakley in the back

Paige and Maze in front

I did a blog post one time titled "Little dog, big world" or something like that. I can't find it right now, but it was about my little girl Maya, ready to take on the whole world. Bailey reminds me so much of Maya and this picture really draws a parallel between the two dogs — small in stature, but big in everything else and ready to take on the world. 

Oakley and Paige, Bailey in the background

This is how Oakley walks. She doesn't, she flies.

Bailey and Oakley

Della

Maze

When they are hunting, heads are down but tails are up and thankfully Maya's is pretty easy to spot. Bailey's is slightly harder because she has black on her tail instead of white.

Oakley, with ears folded back in sport mode.

After the pasture run I got some dogs back in the house, some confined to the dog yard, and Elvis and Maya were still out hunting in the pasture. I only got Bailey back in because I went after her and got a leash on her. I was going to take her out on another walk alone, but Della saw me getting ready and refused to come back in the house. She was determined to go along. And so she did.

Della got a new Gentle Leader for Christmas, it's slender and black and blends in much better with her coat than the red one I had been using. I got it fitted on her and we had a nice walk with fewer sniff stops because I had better control of the position of her head. A couple of times she just stopped and refused to move, which meant she wanted to stop and sniff, and we did, but we made a much better pace overall.

Bailey may have many of Maya's natural instincts, some of which are problematic, but Della is proving to be a good role model for proper on-leash behavior.

It was getting dark, chilly, and a few new raindrops were falling as we neared the end of the walk.

Bailey

 I submitted the contract to officially adopt Bailey the other day. She's been a done deal ever since she arrived, but we delayed making it official until she was spayed and the spay had been delayed waiting for an open surgical spot. 

Bailey had been sleeping in bed with me while Clay was in Belgium and for a few more days with me in the guest room until I was certain that the Covid was gone. Then she went in to be spayed and needed to be crated and Maze came who needed to be in the bedroom. I've been keeping Bailey crated at night next to Dodger downstairs in the kitchen since her surgery. Maze will be going home soon so we'll have to figure out how to get Bailey back in the bedroom at night, but not in bed sprawled across me.

I've also been limiting Bailey's outdoor activity, for two reason. First, the surgery, although that reason has pretty much disappeared as it's been a week now. I was just letting her out to the a/c yard or into Daneland, both of which have 6' fences, because she has now jumped our property line fence, twice. The second time I saw her running for it and ran after her just in time to see her leap over the 4.5' fence like a young gazelle, and disappear into the woods. She came back within about 15 minutes, but I must have aged at least a year from the worry and stress I experienced during that time. I had flashbacks of Maya's youthful days. One of the things that I love about Bailey is how much she reminds me of Maya, but I don't want to go through that again. 

So, I need to consider the available options. Maya became "leash walk only" for years after we finally got her back from her unauthorized two week sojourn throughout the county. It was only after she was older, heavier, and bonded to me like white on rice that I began to trust her out in the fenced yard and pasture. So far, at least, Bailey hasn't scaled the 6' fence of the a/c yard or Daneland, and so far at least I've felt ok about putting her in one of those places, for short times with other dogs for company. She's pretty bonded to me, but she's also young, inquisitive, and adventurous. I think I will have consider electronic fencing options, either a hot wire on top of the fence, or (and I'm leaning towards this) an underground fence with a collar that will keep her from getting anywhere near the perimeter fence. 

I knew this girl was never going to be easy.

I took Bailey on a two mile walk today wearing some new things we got for Christmas. A new leash, a new Halti, new collar, and some new bling on the collar that Clay brought from Belgium.

"Up" was an easy command to teach her because it comes very naturally to her. Unfortunately, jumping over the fence is very easy for her too. 

Doing her "up" on a small boulder.

That one ear really reaches for the sky.

The golden hour really lights up her fur.