Sticks and balls

Thursday evening I finally got the shepherds out to the pasture for a good romp. I got a new box of used tennis balls the other day, about 60 of them. That should keep Theo happy for a while.

Max and Jack first found sticks to carry and I was fine with that. When Max gets a ball he never returns it and he ends up chewing it to shreds. Jack doesn't really return with the ball either, but he keeps it with him although he often drops it in a water tank and then rejoins the game without a ball of his own. Theo likes to retrieve. He's not really keen on giving it up, but once he's got two in his mouth he knows he has to drop at least one in order to run after the third one when I throw it.

Max (left) and Jack (right)

Jack loves the stick, but he wants to do whatever Theo is doing, so he eventually dropped the stick and joined the ball game. Max did too, just wanting to go along with the crowd.

They may have both been playing the same game, but not
necessarily together. Max always goes his own way, but he
sticks around nearby more than he used to.

Jack with stick, Theo with two tennis balls

Eventually even Max switched to a ball.
They are easier to carry.

Jack with ball, my mower will find the stick.

Five dogs, no ball

It was a cool, cloudy day. I took five dogs out to the pasture, but not the usual Theo, Jack, and Max group. Today it was Scarlett, Sparky, Vince, Gigi, and Duke. They had a good run. Later I took Maya, Trooper, and Duke for a 3.5 mile hike. Tomorrow I've got to get the three big shepherd boys out for a run.

Scarlett enjoyed the pasture romp today.

I haven't been hiking with Sparky so he was happy to get out
for a little run today, but that was enough for him. He loves
his spot upstairs in my office these days.

It doesn't take much urging to get Duke to run.

Gigi runs in short spurts and then stands and poses for the camera.

Vince is now our most senior dog. He's got a lot of lumps on
him too, but he keeps on going.

Sparky near the bee kennel

Scarlett should be going home on Thursday, I believe.

Gigi may have missed her calling as a dog
model. But she still has the role of princess
to fall back on and that's not bad.

Duke decided Scarlett should play with him. He knocked her
over a couple times but she bounced back up and didn't seem
to mind. She may have enjoyed some puppy play.

Duke did not seem to understand why
Sparky was rolling in the grass.

Gigi and Scarlett

Scarlett and Sparky

Duke doesn't have a clue about how good looking he is. 

Flowers and Dogs

Here's a few pictures of dogs, garden, and yesterday's hike.

Duke, strolling through the garden.

Long view of the container garden. It's on the
north side of a double row of boxwoods that
extend off the front of the house.

This is a big, semi-circular bed out in the front yard. All those
tiny green specs are sprouting zinnias. It should be pretty if
I don't let the weeds get out of control as happened last year.

This is the end of the container garden nearest the house.

That's Scarlett. She's here until Thursday, I think.

Duke, out on a hike yesterday with Maya and TJ.

Bee heaven

For my milkweed and butterfly loving friend.

TJ is happiest when hiking.

Maya walks with a dogged determination.

Samantha - She was a friend of mine (It's five o'clock somewhere)

Samantha came to live here in May of 2016. She was 14 years old then, making her 15 now. We had only had her as an old dog and I don't know or remember much of her back story, but I think she had had a pretty good life. She was either well cared for or incredibly lucky to have made it this far.

When I came home yesterday she seemed to have lost control of her bodily functions and her legs. She may have had a stroke. She could still walk but with great difficulty and was very unsteady. She seemed disoriented outside but still responded to my voice when I got close enough for her to hear me. This morning she wasn't able to get up at all. She ate some chicken and rice I had cooked for Duke, but she didn't keep it down and had no interest in food after that. She didn't seem to be in pain, however, and she seemed content on her bed in the little room under the stairs that we call the Cabell Cave. I left her there until it was time to go to the vet.

She was part rottweiler and part beagle, we were told. The rottweiler part really showed. Having had a number of them, we recognized the personality. Rottweilers are very food driven - it's a major focus of their lives, and Samantha was certainly that way. They also have a special ability to conform their world to their will. That's a little hard to explain, but they seem to create the environment that they want and need. Perhaps the easiest way to explain it is that they are very good at training their humans.

I met her former owners and it was clear that she had them well trained to attend to her needs. As soon as she moved here she got started on us. Although she was one of 10 or more dogs, and she was the oldest, Samantha's needs came first. We got up when she wanted to get up and she made sure that she ate first, always.

Samantha was partly deaf, or she maybe she just had selective hearing. I also think she became a bit forgetful in the past year, maybe some senility?, or maybe it was just an act. She would always eat breakfast in the morning and I'd generally do a second feeding late in the afternoon. Samantha, however, started advancing the time of the second feeding. Basically any time she went outside after noon she thought it was time for dinner. She had that "it's five o'clock somewhere" sort of attitude and would steadfastly refuse to come back inside until I fed her. Of course, if I did give in and feed her early, she would still expect to eat again when I fed the other dogs at the real dinner time. She changed my two meal feeding schedule to a three meal plan, for her anyway.

I will miss her. I miss her already.

This is a picture from the former owners.
Apparently Samantha was a biker at some point in her life.