Fresh Dirt and Dogs

Posted on: September 23, 2015 by: DougB

The low corner of our fenced-in yard is occupied by a large oak tree. Under that tree is so shady that no grass will grow there, but it is a nice cool spot for the dogs to hang out in.

Over the past summer dirt washed down by rain and filtered out by leaves and sticks that build up along the fence has been building up into a raised pad in the lowest corner. It got to where the pad was 6 or 7 inches thick out against the fence, making the 5 foot high fence only 4½ feet tall and a possible escape route for a big determined dig. Or if not an actual escape route an opportunity to get hurt by trying.

So I dug out all the built-up dirt and hauled it off to fill in ruts and holes.

This morning Cochise discovered the refurbished area and spent most of the morning laying there. I told him, “This whole area is dirt, Chief.”

“Yeah, but this is FRESH dirt, it smells GREAT!”

Silly boy.

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A Chilly Monday Morning

Posted on: September 14, 2015 by: Doug

It’s Monday. That means the weekend fun is over and a new work week has begun.

Last night HairyFace and NiceLady watched a race, as they often do on Sunday evening, we all ate in the living room and after dinner Blondie and I got special Sunday Treats. This time we got knotty bones. We LOVE knotty bones!

Shorty Wants Dibs

Posted on: August 7, 2015 by: Cochise BigDog

Cochise, Blondie — Cochise tells the tale

Normally in the mornings, Buster-Bob likes to go outside for a long sniff-n-pee session. Early mornings ARE especially pleasant because they are cool, and calm, and there are no bugs buzzing around. Most of us like going out in the early mornings. Blondie does not because the grass is wet. She’s fussy about her feet. Buster likes mornings the most and stays out much longer than the rest of us.

But it was raining this morning. Shorty and Buster did go out because they needed to “go”. Blondie and I can hold it a while longer.

Monsters In the Basement

Posted on: July 11, 2015 by: Cochise BigDog

Horrible things are happening today! There are demons in the walls and monsters under the floors. I MUST escape the house to go and chase them away! WHY won’t HairyFace let me OUT!? What could he be thinking? It’s my JOB to keep everyone safe from monsters, postmen, and stray cats!

Monsters in the Basement from Doug Bittinger on Vimeo.

If this won’t play on your device, try it at YouTube.

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Oh, That Blondie!

Posted on: May 21, 2015 by: Cochise BigDog

It rained this morning: hard. So, naturally everything got really wet. None of us wanted to go out until the rain stopped, and even then Blondie refused to go out in the grass and get her feet wet. Mostly that’s because when we get our feet wet HairyFace stops us on the way back in and wipes them off with a towel. Blondie hates getting her feet wiped. So do I, but … when you gotta go, you gotta GO. You know?

Blondie refused to go out in the yard, but she asked HairyFace to let her go out front. Out there it’s all porch, board-walk and gravel. She won’t get her feet wet, but because it’s not fenced she has to be on a tether. HairyFace said, “Okay” and hooked her up to the tether.

Rock Washer

Posted on: May 9, 2015 by: Cochise BigDog

Cogdill has spent almost all day out in the big play yard playing with Buster-Bob. HairyFace and Blondie were out there too. This morning HairyFace was rearranging dirt, this afternoon he was — get this — WASHING ROCKS!

Hairy has been doing a lot of work on the dog pens. Some of what he’s done I understand: like moving the doors, but some of it I just don’t get. Washing rocks?

Hairy scooped all this pea gravel out of the dog pens, then leveled out the floors and laid in something he calls “rock cloth”. He says it will keep the pea gravel from being driven down into the mud again. That will keep the pens cleaner.

Now he’s washing the mud out of the gravel and moving it back into the pens to spread on top of the cloth stuff. Well, whatever makes him happy.

It got pretty warm this afternoon, so by the time HairyFace was done doing silly stuff, put B-Bob up, and brought Cogdill inside, Lil C was pretty tuckered out. So tuckered, in fact, that he was too tired to chew a favorite toy.

When he came in he snagged the toy out of his crate, started to chew it, dropped it, and flopped on the floor. “I’m SO tired, but I had such a great time!”

He really does like being outside running around and playing in the big yard. Blondie does too: she’s STILL outside.

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Revolution In the Air of Camp Canine

Posted on: May 7, 2015 by: Cochise BigDog

Cochise OWNS the sunshine — Cochise tells the tale

NiceLady had to go to a meeting after work tonight. It is running long and she is very late. We are hungry.

HairyFace fed Buster-Bob on time because he’s not a house dog. House dogs have to wait until the Peoples eat … and we are hungry.

Blondie Bear and Cogdill have had their heads together conspiring to stage a coup: lock Hairy in a closet and storm the kibble room. Did I mention that we are very hungry?

I stayed out of that discussion. I won’t rat them out, but I won’t be in on it because I like my snuggle bed and don’t want to end up sleeping in the dog house — literally.

I don’t think Blondie would really go through with this, but if you don’t hear from HairyFace for a while, someone ought to come check the closets.

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Dominance

Posted on: April 10, 2015 by: DougB

This morning, Blondie (as usual) came with me when I came out out into the yard to feed and exercise The Rowdy Boys. They ate their kibbles then had a nice long run and were finally worn out and ready for cookies. Once they were back in their pens I asked Blondie if she wanted to come into the shop with me. “No thanks” she said, “the weather is nice yet and I want to sit in the yard and enjoy it.”

Doing all my “work” in my office used to be my standard arrangement: work was done in the office; when I went home, I was “off-duty”. But then I was mostly doing woodworking. Since I turned more to writing, it’s harder to schedule “work” times for I am often hit by a sudden idea that needs to be put down ASAP. And our house is a lot more pleasant and comfortable than my crowded, grungy office space in the workshop.

Two days ago our area was experiencing power blips: off-on, off-on real quick several times, followed by a 30 minute power outage. Perhaps coincidentally (but perhaps not) when the power came back on we had no LAN access in the house.

Blondie Bear and the 50 Strays of Grey Contest

Posted on: February 20, 2015 by: Doug

Over the past weekend I entered each of our current 5 dogs (all rescues through the Dr.Carol Hood Memorial Animal Shelter) into the Rescue Pups 50 Strays of Grey photo contest by selecting a photo of each that best represents the personality of that dog.

On Monday I was greeted by the following notice on Twitter:

Rescue Pups ‏@maxandkota 8 hours ago

Check out the #1 entry in our 50 Strays of Grey Contest
“@DougBittinger: #RescuePups #50StraysofGrey Blondie Bear ”

Blondie and Boomer Noises

Posted on: February 5, 2015 by: Doug

I was using our rowing machine when I heard a big, muffled, “BOOOOM” off in the distance. There are three rock quarry’s in this valley and sometimes they use explosives to loosen up part of their mountain for easier excavation. Blondie hates boomer noises.

Within nanoseconds Blondie was at my elbow with big round eyes. “Dougie, Dougie, Dougie: boomer noises, Dougie! I don’t like boomer noises. May I please sit on your lap, Dougie? Please may I sit on your lap while you ride that thing?”