Hey, Lady!

" Hey, Lady"

"Hey, LADY! Can I pet your dog?"

I turned around. A 6 year old girl on her bicycle came flying down the street. Totally not caring about the traffic behind her, she weaved and pedaled down the street, aiming for Gus and me on the sidewalk.

"Hey LADY! LADY!!! Can I pet your dog?"

This kid obviously had a mission. And no idea that riding in traffic was dangerous - for her.

"Only if you pull your bike to the curb and stand here on the sidewalk," I replied. Gus' tail started wagging. He wasn't interested in the teaching moment. 

 She dumped her bike on the curb and hopped off. "What kind of dog is he? If you pull his ears up he looks like just like a furry German shepherd. How old is he? He sure is a furry German shepherd. I think he is a German shepherd. Do you have other dogs? This is one furry German shepherd!"

She grabbed Gus' fur and looked at me for multiple answers. Her safety conscious bike riding companion pulled up, the neighbor's six year old son. I knew HE wasn't allowed to ride down the middle of the street, and I was pleased to see he wasn't. 

 I returned to the questions on hand. "He's 9 years old. We have 3 more dogs."

"Cool," Miss Bossy said. With that the neighbor boy looked at Gus. "I have a friend who has 15 dogs," he said.

"Well, I have a friend who has TWENTY dogs!" she interjected. "Twenty dogs and they are rottweilers and they are two years old and they are little dogs but in two more weeks they are gonna be huge dogs!"

"Well, I have a friend who has a dog SO BIG that you can ride it! Just like a horse!", he said. 

"Cool." Again. "Well, my friend with twenty dogs is gonna need lots of help one of these days! Oh, this is how you tell he's boy dog." She grabbed Gus' tail, held it high in the air, and she bent over to look between his rear legs. "This is how you tell. But this German shepherd dog is too furry. But he's a boy. I can tell."

And with that, the two grabbed their bikes and hopped on 'em. The young girl pulled out into the middle of the street, the young boy rode along the curb.

And Gus? He shook his fur as if to say "Kids." Then he wagged his tail back into position, yawned, and proceeded on with his walk. What could I do but follow?

Dogs, just like kids...

Gus likes kids.

He also is like a kid.

Neither a kid nor Gus can leave a pile of cool dirt unclaimed.

A nice snooze on a sunny winter afternoon...

Relaxing in the cool dirt even beats playing catch with a tennis ball.

All night, Gus slept on the dirt pile. 

Is he gonna be disappointed when it is returned to flower box?

The sky

And the clouds brought rain!
(as Mr. Tillett reminds, enbiggen photo for the full effect)

Making Gus smile

Red sky at morning...

...sometime leads to a few drops of rain at evening.

And a fresh stand of mushrooms in the morning!

 And Gus smiles...

Days are so precious in such odd ways!

A lazy afternoon

Mr. Gus

Yea, I see you...

You want me to do what? SMILE??

Like this???

It's a beautiful morning

It's a beautiful morning... even the Rascals thought so.
A perfect morning to sit in the gazebo and listen.

It's a beautiful mornin' ahhh
I think I'll go outside a while
And just smile
Just take in some clean fresh air boy
Ain't no sense in stayin' inside
If the weather's fine an' you got the time
It's your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day
Either way
It's a beautiful mornin' ahhh

(The Rascals from http://artists.letssingit.com/rascals-lyrics-its-a-beautiful-morning-nhk53h8)

It is one of those "windows open, breeze blowin'" mornings... and you beg for the rest of the day to be so simple.

 Even Gus feels the beautiful morning. And you hope he never changes either.

Waiting for breakfast

GUS

When there are four happy dogs in a household,

breakfast time can be long time coming.

Each dog has his/her own way to wait for all the bowls to be filled and placed.

SHADO

Totally...

Gus, totally happy...

 

Toby's ancestors, totally content.

Can you see the similarity?

What Gus does on a rainy day

 

A rainy day is a perfect day to sleep in the game room.

The room offers twin french doors out to the backyard.

But you don't have to sleep on the floor to catch the mood of the day.

Toby gets into the spirit, too, with a cozy spot on the carpet.

 

If the camera flash would quit going off... we could all sleep!

Rain = 1 bored dog...

Everyone know that rainy days are best spent inside, sleeping on a soft bed...

Gus is our role model.

But Sophie always has better ideas!

"A grapevine!!!

It just floated by, and I grabbed it."

 

"I think I want to keep it??"

'Hmmmm..."

"I'm still checking it out. Kinda taste like Red Flame."

"I'm keeping it.

MINE! Mine - all mine!"

Gus still slept.

Banjo52 - our rainfall has not been an all time record setter - but it was the most that we have had in a one week period.  

Kids we don't have

This is the post I meant to write yesterday. But I couldn't. My great friend, Karin, posted a mathematical dilemma that totally ruined my day. Plus, I found out Lassie was a boy dog. Oh my.

So here is what I meant to write...

With four dogs and no kids, E and I find that kids are a total crack up. What are they thinking? Where was our brain at that age? Are these kids really normal? Will they grow up to be drug dealers or gang members or pillars of the community?

We live in a very traditional community, and our household lack of children is very apparent. Most of our neighbors are the SILK families: single income, lots of kids. We are more like TAFDo. Two adults, four dogs. SILKs find TAFDos a weird cult. Huh?

I could not miss the chance when a child at the dog park latched on to Gus, our goldie/german shep mix.

She called him GOS (like toast). "Gos, Gos, you're a nice doggy." Then "Gos, Gos, wait up!" The child's sister and friend had a different game going. Those two ran around the dog park learning all the dogs' names. They then challenged each other to how many dog names they had learned. "I have 15!"  "Well, I have 17."

They never got to Gos. He was busy...

Gos and friend

I think Gos loved this attention.

But not all kids we encounter are at the dog park. After Christmas, we took my mother to an Arizona Cardinals football game. This young chap was sitting in front of us. Tell me he didn't just love the game!

 

 

 

We aren't rootin' for the Cardinals this weekend. But this kid? We'll root for him forever!

Merry Christmas to all

This is the merriest Christmas of ever for Gus.

Last year, Christmas Eve day of 2008, his 'family' took him to the county dog pound and dumped him.

They wanted a new puppy for Christmas.

They didn't want him any more.

A big old dog dumped at the county pound.

He doesn't stand a chance.

Funny how things work out. He, Mr. Gussie, has given us a new chance at laughing and hugging a big furball. So today is the merriest Christmas ever for Gus.

He is alive, he is hugged, he is special. 

He is OURS.

And in a bit he's going to the dog park to run and play ball!

Merry Day to all!!!

May each of you find hope and renewal in your day, your life, today.

A dog's day

Today is our annual Christmas party at work. Selfishly, I have no spirit for this party this year.

I'd rather stay home with the Gussie and chew toys. He makes a real art of it...

 

Gussie can take a 'hobby' to new heights. Ever laid on your back while knitting?

Things are swell until little brother comes along and tries to claim the braid-toy.

Sometimes you just have to STOMP the little nuisances out and get on with life...

A nap- with your claimed toy -  is always a fresh beginning.