Nick's Day Out

I finally did what I've been saying I was going to do for a long time. I took ONE dog (Nicki) hiking with me and left the other one home. I felt terrible doing it, especially because I'm told Bell made sad crying noises for a half hour after we left. But I had to do it. I'm not getting anywhere taking them both with me. They are unruly when together and really very nice dogs when apart.
So instead of yanking them back and ordering them to behave all day, Nick and I had a good time.

She met other dogs and acted like a lady with them. They liked her (except for one little dude with an attitude but Nick took it in stride and ignored him) and she liked them. A little sniffing, a little happy bouncing and it was all good. When I've taken them together they tend to gang up on other dogs and really come across as bullies...which is not their normal personality at all. I don't want to encourage that 'pack' mentality so I had to separate them. Besides that it's just so much easier to handle one young dog than it is to handle two.

So Nick and I ended up at Northwest Park in Windsor. She met a horse for the first time and promptly sat down and howled at her. The horse wasn't impressed..she looked at her; snorted and walked away. Nick didn't know how to take that but it made me laugh.


The ducks were a little leery of Nick but all she did was sniff them through the fencing and wag her tail. I'm pretty sure if they were loose it would have been a free for all however. Both my dogs have a strong prey drive. Anything that runs is in trouble with them around. Our cat Lily can vouch for that!


We tried a couple of the trails but they were still such a mess from storm Alfred that it wasn't possible to walk them. So instead we walked around the huge field that rings the trail heads and I took pictures while Nick sniffed everything in sight.


There were several old barns on the property...one of my favorite things. Some seemed to be used for storage but most of them were in very questionable shape and I don't think they are used for anything. Don't you just love the look of old barns?






And the pond on the property is still as I remember it....murky and yucky looking. But it does make a beautiful mirror image of the red barn where functions are held.


I think I may go back there in the spring for the maple syrup making demonstrations. I went once but I got there right after they finished the demonstration...just my luck! I'll take Bell there too. It is her turn after all. But I will make a point of trying to get back there in the Spring when the sap is running too!

Look What I Can Do

I came home yesterday to this....stuffing strewn all over the living room....and Bell running back and forth overly excited (butt one inch from the floor); stopping only to pounce with her butt up in the air or to make a tight little turn for the return trip. Nick was prancing back and forth looking nervously at me. At least SHE knew my yelling was real and this was NOT a game. Bell never got it. She refused to look remorseful and didn't realize the game was definitely over until I put her in her pen. Hmmmm game over?? What's with THAT Mom??!!

*sigh*...and that my friends is why you still go into the pens when we go to work.

Two Cold Dogs

The girls knew enough to huddle together to stay warm. Five days and nights we were without power after the freak snow storm. But it didn't stop them from playing their usual rowdy games...probably helped them warm up!

Fall Trails

Bell found something that smells good.


Nick joined her for a sniff.


Bell just wouldn't give it up. I didn't see a thing there!


Beautiful walking near the stream with the girls.


Looks very inviting doesn't it?


Bell thought so too! She jumped right in and Nick followed
but Nick jumped right back out and Bell stayed to try
rubbing her gentle leader off her face on the moss.
What a little sneak!

Tennis Anyone?

Every now and again I take the girls to 'play tennis'. This is how they do that. No equipment needed.







And this is pretty much how I know when the game is over. :)




Bell decided since she's got the ball and she's tired, it's time to go home!

Do You Know This Guy?

Why Bell?

Bell's idea of real comfort is to drag her bedding out of her pen and 'arrange' it to suit her wherever she decides she want's to sleep. Only Bell does this. Nick will simply throw herself down in any old likely spot.
However that does not mean that Nick is without her own oddities. Nick likes to 'steal' any and all chew toys from Bell's pen every morning. She insists that Bell's chewies taste better than her own.

Perhaps in retaliation....every once in awhile Bell will steal the tennis ball (often while in mid-air) from Nick while her and I are playing fetch. Nick is an avid fetch player....never tires of it (much to my dismay sometimes). Nick will then stand over Bell and stare at her while she has Nick's ball. She never attempts to take it from her even when Bell loses interest and goes to sleep. Nick will continue to stare at Bell as if that will somehow miraculously make Bell decide to give back the ball. I've never seen that happen yet.

This is not to imply that the girls don't ever get along. They formed a different type of game with the tennis ball a long time ago. They don't always play this game but often enough. It starts with Nick bringing the ball to me and spitting it in my lap. That means 'I want you to throw this for me until your arm falls off, ok?' I will throw it (because I am the best trained one of all of us I suppose) and Nick will go get it. On her way back with the ball, (this is the tricky part) Bell will intercept her and Nick will actually do a 'hand off' of the ball to Bell who will then bring the ball to me. The ball is transferred from fuzzy mouth to fuzzy mouth without dropping it. It's really quite amazing since they developed this form of sharing the game on their own.
I'm still trying to get a picture of them doing that. Sometimes I wish I had a hidden camera to capture some of the crazy stuff these two do.