Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Silent night; dog days

Last night I didn't hear a peep out of sheep, and it's much quieter today than yesterday. In a week I'll be stirring it all up again when I put Bevin in with the little boys, but I'll remind myself that the din doesn't really last all that long.

Last weekend (when it was cool and lovely, so much nicer than the nearly triple-digit heat we're climbing to now) while we went horse-camping, Jackson stayed at "Camp Cummings." This is my friend Debbie's, where Rosie stayed when we traveled. Debbie and her husband always have a pack of dogs (the current number is six), and Rosie had a great time playing with her friends and brother Montie (that's him below)and being spoiled rotten. Before the weekend I took Jackson over to get acquainted; he knows and loves Debbie, but we didn't know how he'd be with her dogs. The introduction went smoothly enough, (that's Jackson meeting the big dogs, Anakin and Zeke, with Sophie in the background) so Jackson got the green light to go for the weekend. Unfortunately, he wasn't the well-behaved camper that Rosie always was. (What can I say? Rosie was a perfect dog!) He tried marking everything inside the house, and so got banished to the outdoors. Then on Sunday he attacked Anakin, Debbie's Dogue de Bordeaux "puppy," the only other intact dog on the place. Fortunately Debbie was there and no harm was done, but unless we have Jackson neutered before we go to my sister's wedding in October (and possibly another horse-camping trip in September), Jackson may not be welcome. I need to pin Rick down; he's been evasive about the issue. If he doesn't want to tackle "the deed," I need to make an appointment and get it done, just as we planned to from the beginning.

Jackson returned from Camp Cummings with a newfound love of sticks. Rosie's brother Montie is a stick-lovin' fool, and Anakin likes them, too, so I assume he learned it from them.

Montie is adorable and Rosie was perfect, but if you want to see a truly talented bulldog, go here to see Tillman in action!

That's if for now from . . .

6 comments:

Tammy said...

Great pictures! Anankin sure has matured fast. Sounds like Jackson wants to be a very dominant male dog. Most likely will be in everybody's best interest that he be nuetered. That way he (hopefully) can go enjoy 'camp' when he needs to and you won't have to worry. The little rat--marking everything AND attacking the biggest dog around. Sheesh. Boone loves sticks too (well about anything to carry around)--it's funny the behaviors they pick up from the other dogs. Hope your triple digit weather doesn't hang around. We are enjoying unseasonably cool weather--70s! Lastly--thanks for the Tillman link--wow...that is just amazing.
Tammy

Kathy said...

I'm with Tammy....time to get those cojones snipped off! Must be a "Guy Thing" - We have a neighbor down the street who refuses to neuter anything! Pit bulls, cats, stallions...one day they are going to have some big troubles there as they can't control any of them. Oi!

Neat pictures, too.

Carol B. said...

I love those dog photos. Does Rick have issues working on your animals like the plumber whose own faucets leak even though he does a great job fixing everyone else's plumbing? Maybe it is just simpler to make and appointment for Jackson. How nice to have friends to keep your dog for you while you travel. I have to get a neighbor to stop by when I am out of town, but that is just a quick check and feed the dog thing. And you have to hope everything is OK for the rest of the day.

Alaska Shetland Shepherd said...

Ahh, doggie puberty! It seems somewhere between 6 and 9 months of age they go through their first rebellious stage - forgetting all manners taught them them and often testing the rules you thought they'd already learned, including dog social skills. It happens again around a year and a half of age too. What fun! Yeppers, two less gems are not a bad idea.

And, are you watching all the Olympic Dressage via the web?? I've been so sick with a major upper respiratory I've been getting back up at 3 or 4am...there has been live broadcast online! I missed this mornings as for once I got to go back to sleep for a bit! But they have hours of dressage competition videos to watch at www.nbcolympics.com!!

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

We fix all of our dogs and cats in self defense. We know that if we dont, we wont have them long were we live.

Sharon said...

Thanks for sharing Tillman. You cannot watch those videos without laughing out loud. You know who gets the workout. Dad!!