The Special

Does every dog have a Special? You know, like a Precious? My Precious - said Gollum! Colby does! It's SO precious I save it for special occasions. Like Christmas. Trouble is she then obsesses about it. Like to the point of not letting us play Bananagrams because she is whining at us to bring back out her Special. It gets put away so it stays "Special". However, this year I was getting fed up with the whining, the staring, the obsession!! I asked my friend Cin about it and what the heck, man?? She has border collies, this sort of obsession isn't even on her "radar". Like it's just part of the day, it happens, it's normal every day dog behavior in her house. Oh MY! She suggested I leave it out to let it's specialty wear off some. I tried, she then held it in her mouth and whined at us to play with her. What the heck, man????...........

So, this morning I decided to try leaving it out again since I would be in and out all morning I wouldn't be around to hear her whine and even if she did, so what, who would hear it??? I think it worked!!!!! I did get this photo journal of her obsession, though, before I headed out. The purple ball is my attempt to find another Special. Nothing has ever trumped the blue Special and neither did the purple ball. It's different. I even bought two red ones, but they just are not Special enough. She does like the other attempts at replicating the Special, but they are not the same thing...............
She gave a look at the purple, but nope, not her Special by any means.......
Spur wants her Special. He isn't obsessed about it, but since SHE is he wants it. Like he doesn't have enough, he even has his own. I gave him the red one and it's been his ball ever since. It's so worn now it doesn't squeak, it's all icky and about to fall apart from slime and drool. He wants the Special.........
She will stare at the Special.........In a flash, she grabbed the Special and dropped it into the other bed???..... and then Roscoe managed to plop down on the other one. Oops, faux pax...........that means Roscoe guards his bed. He doesn't guard the Special, he could care less about the Special, but his bed........he guards...........

Spur made the mistake of trying for the Special. Roscoe........in for the kill.........(notice Colby's ears? Canine body language for "Spur you dumb ass!!!!")...........

So, now we have a stand off. The Special is being guarded by Roscoe, sort of. Colby knows Spur might try again to head in and grab it, so she has positioned herself between Spur and the Special. Spur is on his side appeasing her. Roscoe is staring her straight in the eye..........

She makes her way ever so slowly closer, Spur does more appeasing behavior - finds something to scratch on his leg.........Roscoe is allowing Colby closer by turning way from her and not directly looking at her, she is focused on her Special.............

Here she has managed to inch closer, which also brought Spur closer. Roscoe is figuring it isn't necessary to guard his bed any more, she is obviously interested in the Special and not his bed.............

Success!!!!! You can barely tell, but Roscoe is still there in his bed and not making a fuss. Spur is about to make a full yawn - canine appeasing behavior and he isn't looking directly at Colby. I think she is looking directly at Spur, though............

She heads out with the Special, but Spur has to make one last attempt/mistake - and checks out the bed to see if the Special is still there. Notice Roscoe? He just launched at Spur and has retreated after his "attack"!!! Spur just doesn't learn.........or doesn't care?
Now they are BOTH staring at the Special!!!!............
ACK, obsession!!! I don't know that leaving it out is working. Sigh.
Moral of this story??? Um, nothin'. Just fun story. I always wonder what my pack order is when I do these photo journals or video my dogs. You know Cesar Milan would say there is a leader and a low man in every pack. Who's the leader and who's the low man in my pack? Cesar would say that I am the leader. Really? Who ended up with the Special? Doesn't the leader have access to all the resources? Um............sure.........like I really even want that Special????? I am NOT a dog, I do NOT want that slimy thing!! Colby can have it!!!! So, is Roscoe the leader? He did get the best bed, right? He guarded the other bed, but then Colby got it. Is Spur the low man? Probably. He does seem to be lowest ranking, but at times he challenges Roscoe and wins. When Spur has his ball or any other toy and doesn't want Roscoe to have it he WILL fight for his rights. Roscoe will submit to Spur at those times. Who is lower ranking??? I dunno.........However, most of the time Spur is submitting to Roscoe. Roscoe can simply look at him at times and he is flat on his back, belly up. So, who's the leader????? Don't ask Cesar. He doesn't know. It's my house and I don't know. And really, does anyone really care who is leader? I mean, if we are talking president or lead singer in a band, maybe, but leader of the pack in my household? Who cares?

My take on it all is there is no leader, no one leader. Dodman would tell me to never let Spur challenge Roscoe. Roscoe will be old some day and unable to defend himself against Spur. Age before youth. So, I agree and honor that statement. Spur is not allowed to challenge Roscoe. Not much, anyway, I put a stop to it and Roscoe is protected. I must! Roscoe needs to feel safe. Spur could kick his ass if he wanted. I see the ranks in my pack change depending on the situation. Colby gets the best spot in the car and in the bed, but she isn't allowed to be bitchy towards the others. She isn't leader and doesn't get ALL the best resources. She gets some. Spur gets some. Roscoe gets some. No leader. No pack order. It just isn't so and does anyone really care??? But, when it comes to the blue Special, that's ALL Colby's!!!!

One last photo for the day, just cuz it's WICKED CUTE. Spur with the HUGE bear toy they got for Christmas!!! Does it get any cuter than that???? Is there anything cuter than Spur?

The coolest gift!!!

Heehee, what the heck IS it??? It's obviously a bowl, but shaped like...... what? A horse? A dog? A dragon? What?

It's just SO cool and is my favorite Christmas gift this year! Trumps even the boxes and boxes of chocolate and we got some GOOD chocolates! Like $15 for EIGHT tiny chocolates - that kind of good chocolate. That was GOOD chocolate! Seriously, the best chocolate I ever had. Or is that all in my head? It tasted that good because it cost that much? What if I didn't know how much it cost? Would it taste as good? The price was still on it. It was GOOD chocolate! It was topped with sea salt. I haven't had chocolate like that before. It really was GOOD chocolate.

The barn girls got a new toy, that's hanging and Leta LOVES, but would not play while I was stalking her with my camera. She's too busy eating the Kitty Caviar. Yum! The catnip cigar wasn't the hit it has been in previous years. Must be stale. Those are usually the GREATEST catnip toys.

Kitties, kitties and more kitties.

It seems Christmas was dominated by kitties this year. My new feral barn kitties, my jobs are all kitties, it's all about the kitties.

Here's a photo for the records, A? Donna's Beau, doing the crazy kitty yawn. I LOVE It when they do that. He's very sweet, not the crazy, psycho, screaming, monkey cat he looks like here. All you cat lovers know, he's just yawning. That's all, nothing cynical, just a kitty yawn. I should probably put it on http://icanhascheezburger.com/ but I won't. I did that once. I got a million emails from them. It was wierd. Like they cyberstalked me. Here's my crazy new youngster, Leta, in the barn. She is NUTS! I could sit and watch her play all night. She takes a twig of hay and plays with it for HOURS! She MAULS me when I go out to the barn to feed and visit. She is VERY skittish, but she LOVES me. She is so cute and SO active, doing back flips in the hay bales, rolling around her kitty tunnel with the little pom pom that I got at Goodwill. She LOVES that thing! I think she is Ellen Degeneres in a cat body. She is NUTS! Hyper, hyesterical, silly, NUTS. She's NUTS! I mean, really, look at those eyes. The halicinations going on inside that head would make Mick Jagger's head spin!

Here is their little kitty condo set up. Zeus usually takes the red round bed, Leta is not in the tent and the green cave has been unused so far. Juno, who you can see under the saddle about to come up for chow, sleeps in the big dog crate just outside the photo, with two other snuggle beds inside of it. She likes that big cave, separate from Zeus and Leta. They all seem to get along really well and Zeus isn't bothered by his new roomies.

I think Juno thinks Leta is just a silly Tween.

More Christmas photos, but it wasn't easy..........

Here's what Colby thought of another photo session. We actually started outside and I made the DUMB ASS mistake of bringing out her "special" ball to squeak to get her attention. She would not STAY, she was the biggest PITA!!!! The poor boys had to put up with me yelling at her. No one was happy. You can see Spur's ears are half mast, showing his discomfort that I might have to yell at Colby again. She is ONE BAD little MACh dog! What happened to all those classes and all those competition obedience stays???? Miss Colby Carlson????

It may look nice and warm and sunny.................NOT!!! It was about 20 degrees and the wind was picking up, we were all miserable!!! The photos came out pretty good except that we didn't notice the big knot on top of my head???? What's up with that? I paid Lesley Mettuchio big bucks for photos at the Fort a few years ago only to have a lighthouse coming out of my head. ACK!!! Today, I pay nothing and STILL have a knot on my head! What is up with things coming out of my head?????

So, we moved. But, the cold was really starting to bore into us like an ice pick and besides the farm was calling, a walk was to be had before the sun went down!!!

If this photo doesn't show how cold it is, I don't know what would. I guess it really wasn't THAT cold, but it was cold enough. The dogs enjoyed themselves, but we kept moving at a good clip. They are all busy searching for cache. The rodents and crows bury their winter supply and the dogs find it. Or they could just be eating deer dung snacks. Or the shih tzus could just be eating any shit. They eat shit. ANY shit. Their own shit!!! It's amazing, really. I have never seen anything like it. Stella mentally records where she shits, pretends we didn't notice, then on our return she B-Lines to her tasty morsel. WHAT???

We were celebrating yesterday. Yesterday was the start of winter. And that means the first day of days that slowly get longer. Monday was the Winter Solstice and the longest day of the year. So, we celebrated the days getting longer...........

*This photo shows the Pin Heads making their way back home. The sun is just to the left of the trail head and not far up in the sky, about to make it's way down below the tree line soon. It was only 3:30!!!! This is what December in Maine looks like at 3:30! We got home and started up the woodstove!

Trimming the tree and the high heeled slipper!!!

What does a little buggar of a boy dog MinPin do while helping me trim the tree?.............. He looks so innocent...................(what's that two legged blurr behind him???).......I really do need to figure out this damn camera!! Rich just offered me his new pocket one to try, so I'll have to give that one a go and see if it's any better. I don't get it!! With winter well upon us my photos are now mostly indoor shots and this blurring is DRIVING ME NUTS!!! This is Roscoe playing with a high heeled shoe Lisa gave Colby for Christmas! They all LOVED it!!! You can tell it's Roscoe because his ears are natural. Can't you tell??? Not........damn camera! >:/

OK, so this one's kind of cool. What's with the line eyes? Kind of like a cartoon? But, Spur is a cartoon character anyway, right?..........

She finally got her toy back.................(now why is this photo clear???)

I'm just busy!!! That's all!

I know, very slim blogging, but it seems like our family has to come visit every other day? Why can't they all come on the SAME day. One party, one visit, it's done! Noooooooooo.........this holiday season seems to have dragged on and on, but I do not mean that in a bad way, really. I LOVE Christmas and it has been GREAT fun, but I do feel a little behind on shopping and have to head out TODAY to get it done! Oh MY!

For now, enjoy this VERY cute website -
http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp

What's the difference between Tiger Woods and Santa Claus?

Santa stops at 3 HO's.

Tiger, Lion Cheetah!