What to do with . . .

Is a Border Collie bored in the Winter?  Well, here at the Shuck house we have invented some ingenious things that will take up their time and give them some entrainment and activity.  The most important thing and the one thing they seem to enjoy the most is to play a little Frisbee while they are watching "Reba."  Most people would think they would like to watch "The Animal Planet," but not these dogs.  They enjoy the comedies.

Meg and Dutchess like the Frisbee the best.  Several says ago, Dutchess started with a tennis ball and suddenly a Frisbee appeared in her mouth.  I was curious, so I went over to the counter and found where she had laid the tennis ball on the table and had gotten the Frisbee, which is her favorite toy, as we all know.  No matter if she is inside or outside, every jump is with a wiggle and a twist.

After a little Frisbee throwing, they even get into a little tugging just to see who can pull who, around the family room.  It's usually a toss-up.

Molly will enjoy a good catnap, she will put herself to bed, either up stairs or on one of the chairs, here you can see her with a gourmet assortment of chew toys.  Molly likes to think about which one she will gnaw on before she takes action.

Abbie is a tennis ball girl, and she will yelp and bark as she plays. If there is more that three dogs, she doesn't want to give it up, but just two, she will bring it back and put it in my hand.

One other chore Dutchess likes to do when she's in the house is to help with housework.  Here you can see her giving the dirty dishes a pre-washing before they start the cycle.  She is an excellent pre-washer

Here, Dutchess is trying to decide (as you can see she is in big thought) if she should help get rid of this pesky old candy that has been on the counter for a few days.  I made that decision for her.

All in all, they usually take care of themselves, we have never broken anything playing in the family room, not anything that Elaine has noticed anyway.  Usually, after some intense games and fun and maybe a snack or two, we will all settle down and finish watching "Reba," making sure we rest our eyes.  Ken

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Abbigale Leigh

My "Abbie", what a Gem.  She was born from Clancy and Molly.  She went to a house with 3 young kids, came back and was re homed again.  Well, number two home did not work out either.  When she came back the second time, we wanted to evaluate her and just see what was going on.  After just a few days, Elaine and I looked at her, and then at each other and wondered just what was wrong.  To be fair, the second attempt to re home her, nothing was wrong, they had circumstances come into their life that would not be fair to them or to her.  It was the best decision.  But we did wonder..... 

Back to the story.  Abbie would stay in the house and would be the perfect dog.  She did not chew on anything, bark, beg and was completely house broken.  Better than any dog I have ever seen.  She would come to me and just sit and look at me until we went outside and then in about 10 seconds, back to the house, no playing around.  After a few weeks passed Elaine, knowing my rule not to keep any pup of ours, ask "can we keep her" To her surprise, I said "Sure", she is prefect and has fit in nicely. 

She LOVES the water no matter where it is.  When we took her and Meg on a road trip to Shipshewana last year, after a hearty game of Frisbee, she ran to a dirty, stagnant pond and jumped in to cool off, just like at home, only our water is clean.  Well bath time was in order, so here we were at the hotel getting a bath with fancy shampoos and big towels.

As I said earlier, she loves the water, even bath time.  She will stay put in the sink and even walk into the shower to get a bath.

Here she is with Molly (Mom) after a bath.

Abbie, like many young girls has a "BFF" and that would be Meg,

They run together, wear the same clothes, bark together, play together and take "Road Trips" together.  They even had their own bed together.

Many times when they run, they will run as fast as they can.  They will run around the entire property, running neck and neck within inches of each other and as they do, they will bark and yip at each other the entire time.  I can just imagine they are saying "catch me, I'm faster, I'm beating you, No I've got you"  It is a hoot to watch.

What I enjoy most about Abbie is she is so loving.  When when we first got her back, she was sitting in my lap in the recliner and Clancy was in the other recliner sitting right next to me.  Clancy came over to visit and she started grooming him, licking his face and cleaning his ears and then she would, with her face, ever so gently rub his face with hers.  It was so gentle and sweet and I had the best seat to see it all.

She is a great bed buddy.  She is one of the only dogs that will make "spoons" with you.  She is like sleeping with a Teddy Bear and her hair is like silk.  In the mornings, she will wake you only after the alarm has gone off of if you stir,  She will smother you with big kisses and licks.  She will search for everything on your face, nose, mouth, ears and even your eyes.  The odd thing, she seems to enjoy it, and of course, we do too.  She always has an open spot in my lap.  She will jump up with a spring, give me a kiss and make two circles and make a nest, sleeping for hours, sometimes both of us..

Many people who come to look at our dogs or pups will hear her story and will ask, "Can we buy Her?" and my response is always the same.  No, she is the "Official House Dog" 

She is truly a great Dog.  We have Abbie just for the pure joy of Abbie.

Have you Ever.....

Had everything go wrong?  First for my avid readers, I want to apologise for the tardiness of this weeks activity.  It has been on my mind, but it is part of the problem.  Two weeks ago I got a nasty computer virus, not to the point I was shut down, just everything did not work right.

Let me start, after the virus was found in the computer the wireless router went out so both had to be replaced or fixed.  My computer is still in the shop and I am using one at our church just to catch up.  Just try to imagine no email, no news, no nothing.  I did not know how many times I went to the computer just to check on stuff, or to respond to an email.  The new router came in so I was going to use my laptop and when I hooked it up, there was so much snow on the satellite dish, I could not get a signal, so I just gave up.

I'm here to Party

Dutchess came into heat last week and we are not going to breed her.  We have taken extra precaution just to make sure this did not take place.  I went to town and put Dutchess up and locked her in the kennel.  Just to make sure, I put Clancy in the garage and pushed a new water heater that was still in the box in front of the dog door.  As I was pulling in the driveway, Clancy and Dutchess (Party Girl) were in the middle of the driveway running and playing.  Of course, Dutchess went back up and I had to explore how Clancy had gotten out.  To my surprise, he had pulled the cardboard off the water heater box and squeezed himself out the dog door.  He then went to the dog shed and found the only door that did not have a lock on the gate, went in, jumped over a gate in the shed and let not only Dutchess, but all the dogs out and went out and partied.  We'll just have to see if we have some pups.  I'll let you know.

The next thing, in my hast to check and move the Water Heater back, I removed my glasses and as "God is my Witness"  I said "don't put them there, you'll never find them".  Well that statement was so right.  I never have.  I have looked for five days, Everywhere.  I saw a commercial on TV from Sears "Two pair of glasses for only $99.00"  Great this will work out just fine.  Well, $249.99 plus tax, my glasses are on the way.  Funny, they don't tell you everything.

We got about 7 inches of snow on Monday.  Great, I can drive the 4 wheel drive truck to town.  I started out and was truckin along when steam started coming out from under the hood.  The temperature light was on and it was in the danger zone.  I was only 3/4 of a mile from the house so I thought it best turn around.  When I got home, I put some antifreeze in it and it came out the bottom so I knew there was a problem.  I took it off yesterday, and took it in this morning to get it repaired.  Well guess what, it's not repairable, so we have ordered a new one. 

A lot of people have ask about Maddie Bear, She is wonderful thanks.

I'm sure everything will work out fine, we'll have puppy's, the computer and router will be fixed and I will find my old glasses when I bring the news ones home, and the truck will work just fine....Oh well it can always be worse....and by the way, Meg is in Heat and Clancy is right by my side here at church, maybe he needs to talk to the Minister while he's here...........To make matters worse, Elaine is in Florida on a church trip, can someone tell me how to put on the new roll of TP.........



We have "Room at the Inn"

One thing we do here on the Farm, is "Board" dogs that are from one of our litters. If a pup was born here, it can board here, no-one else is eligible.

During the Holidays we have request from our owners to dog sit for them, while they are on Vacation. It is something we love to do for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, we enjoy seeing the dog and spend some time with them again. Second, the owners feel comfortable keeping their dog here and not in a Kennel.

It's funny, when they get here, they will run to us and usually roll over to get their belly rubbed and lick our hand. Then they will always run to the kennel, because it was their first home and where they always felt safe. After checking everything out, then it's play time and of course, our dogs will accommodate them with that. Usually Molly will head out down the drive with everyone following. The visiting dog will always follow, generally at the back of the pack, but before they go home, they will have moved up in the order, not taking over the Alpha dog, but at least making their presents known.

We try not to spoil them, but we do, they usually have the run of the house and get to sleep with us and are always on their best behavior.   In the summer, they get to swim and run and play and fall asleep on the porch, relaxing in the sun.

Lassie, Go Get Help, Timmy fell in the Well

Well, here I was,  going out to the shed to check on the tractor to make sure everything was OK, getting it ready to grade the roads because the snow was coming in.  The snow had just started, and there was about a quarter of an inch on the ground when I just rounded the corner going into the house.  As I hit the wood deck, my feet flew out from under me, going straight up, like a Fourth of July rocket.  Knowing I was going down, I started screaming like a girl.  No one was around to hear my girlish screams because Elaine was at church with the children's choir, so the only attention I drew, were from the dogs.  They were all out, just looking for something to do, and were raring to go and play. 

When I came to, Abbie was eagerly licking my face and was standing on my chest with one foot on each side of my neck.  She had licked the first layer of skin off and was starting to clean my tonsils and nose canals.  Shepp was pulling at my shoe trying to get it off, I'm sure he wanted to chew on something, and no one was saying "No," so it was fair game.  Dutchess was standing at my head with a Frisbee in her mouth, and her head cocked to one side, just not understanding any of this, as I usually will play with her.  Meg was spooning me, she is an excellent bed buddy, and she likes to sleep at my side, but I guess I'm lucky that Chancy didn't see me as a threat, as he would have marked his territory.  Molly was sitting by the door wanting me to hurry up and open the door for her, SHE wanted to go in the house, and she wanted to go in Now, after all, it was snowing, and she doesn't like to get wet.

After it was all said and done, I picked myself up, brushed off what little snow was still on me, rubbed the bump on my head, wiped off the dog spittle and put my shoe back on and went on as if nothing had happened.

I guess if there was any consolation, it's knowing that the dog didn't drag me to the well and throw me in....

Dutchess the "Party Girl"

Oh My God, where to start.  When I think of Dutchess, I think of pure action, pure-play, pure wiggle and twist, pure joy, and pure pain in the ass (at times).  Dutchess came to us when she was two years old.  We were selling a litter that was advertised in the paper.  A lady called and ask "Do you want a Border Collie?"  I thought she was confused and said I'm sorry, we're trying to sell puppies, not collect them, and she told me the story.  I talked to Elaine, and we wanted a little more info.  When It was all said and done, Dutchess came from the same breeder that Molly had come from.  In fact, they are half-sisters and are only two weeks apart in age: same Father, different Mothers.  Knowing what a treasure Molly was, we took her. 

She has certainly taken to us as much as we have taken to her.  Her forte is "Frisbee," and she loves it and will play every minute of the day.  She also loves "Water," "Food," and any action in a big way; she looks for the thing that can substitute for a Frisbee, such as a plastic lid, my brimmed hat, or anything round.  Dutchess loves food as much as she loves her Frisbee.

 She is a counter surfer and will walk herself up and down the counter looking for crumbs or anything that is even remotely eatable; the problem, she usually finds something.  She loves you with all her heart.   She does something I have never seen any other dog do.  She will run to you and start to jump, and in mid-air turn around and then back into you, pushing herself into you, still on her back legs, and will lick your face by raising her head backward.  She is just pure love and loves to show it.  When I go for long walks with all the dogs, and they are all running in the woods, she will always come back just to check on me and get a hug.

She is a great Mother but would rather be playing...  Dutchess is one of those dogs with that "look," she can melt your heart or make a statement.  The one thing she does and does well is move.  She is always ready for action.  She is a problem solver and will stare at something and then make a plan and will usually carry it out.  She has even figured out how to open the back door and come into the house when she wants...

Once during a planned "encounter" with Clancy, she had a Frisbee in her mouth the whole time.  I will say Clancy was not as interested in playing after the "fact" as Dutchess was, and in fact, he went to sleep right after...

More Snow

Well it started snowing this afternoon about 1 pm.  The kids (dogs) needed some  exercise, so I thought I would take them for some fun in the snow again.  They wanted to go outside and play, but Abbie and Meg had torn paw pads from the last sub-zero weather and I have dog booties so they begged me to get them so they could go outside.  Well it’s like getting kids ready for school, they run to the door and then back to the bed to get their booties and then back to the door.  After much back and forth running and barking, I finally got them on.

Dutchess wanted to wear her new Camo jacket too.  She would not hold still to get it on, for fear someone would get to go outside before her, again after much back and forth, I finally got it on and off we went.

They ran and ran and kicked their heels up.  The best part was running and sliding on the frozen lake.  Even Molly got in on the action.  Clancy and Dutchess are the best at it and they can slide forever.  Shepp was a little scared, but what you expect from the kid, he’ll learn soon.

All I need is a Big Red "S" on my Chest

After much needed play, everyone, no, let me restate that, Dad was tired and cold and wanted to get back to the house and get my Almond Sunset, that I know was waiting for me.  The kids are still outside trying to get a cardboard box for the hills.  We’ll see…..