Birdie and Mingus sittin' in a tree K I S S I N ???

These pictures just crack me up. What you have to understand is that Birdie is the youngest of the pack and the pushiest AND if any of my dogs were said to have a "Tude", THAT would be Birdie. Birdie is a cool dog who happens to be deaf, yes even with those BIG ears! I can not stress how different she has been in the house since Mingus has entered the scene. She plays way more, tries to get him to play, which he does, bugs Skip and Jenny to play to show off to Mingus. She has been, how do I say this delicatley?....play humping Skip and Mingus. Poor Mingus does everything he can to avoid, he is REALLY good at it! I got these pictures today of Birdie who sidled up next to Mingus on HIS Molly Mutt bed on the couch.

Maybe if I shake real hard Birdie will leave me alone.

   Mom quick she isn't looking! Can you help me?

Maybe if I lean a bit to the left....

OK avoidance has worked in the past, I can do that.

Mingus takes it easy after his walk...

 Mingus after a long walk. It's tough being so cute.

Mingus is full of surprises!

We had no idea Mingus was so athletic! We were tossing the ball for Skip, yup the blue one, and Mingus started after it too! Like I said before he has terrific dog skills and would just run after the ball but let Skip get it every time, sweet boy. Well we had an orange ball like the blue one that Skip does not prefer. I threw it for Mingus and he ran like a bullet to fetch it and bring it back. So out came the video camera. Of course! I just thought you might all like to see Mingus in action! Trying to hold the camera and throw the ball is not my strong suit. Dave came and helped me so a couple of these are better than the other but you get the idea. :)

Dog Play

Mingus is settling in quite well with our pack. Birdie the youngest of them all and the one who tries to boss everyone around has been showing off to Mingus since he has arrived. Mingus has played her juuust right as he has not given her a lot of his attention. Well as you can see she is going to fix that! In the first video Birdie was trying like heck to get Mingus to notice her by playing hard with Skip in his presence and hoping Mingus would join in. Which he did!

This morning Mingus and Birdie took up the games again. Mingus has super dog skills and if he keeps up with this routine, the walking and the food plan he is on, he will be svelte in no time and then Birdie won't be able to EVER leave him alone. :)

Meet Mingus

Meet our newest foster boy Mingus. He has only been with us the better part of the day and already he has found a place in our hearts. Mingus is one of those dogs with a gentle nature and loyalty that he is not afraid to share right away. We are very happy to be able to help this sweet guy while he is finding his forever home. Man does he deserve it too. He has had a few homes in his short life of three and a half years and we can not imagine who wouldn't want to love on this pup for ever and ever and ever. But he is putting that all behind him now and brighter days are just around the corner. That is our promise to him.

My bath,fur shines, fluffing out my tail

It's official Gauge has been adopted and we could not be happier for him and his new dad John!!!! We have enjoyed this dumplin' boy and he is going to be in 7th heaven hanging out with his furever buddy starting tomorrow. John came all the way from Spokane to pick up Gauge and he is ecstatic to meet him for the first time and then it is all smooth sailing and adventures for Gauge. No more shelters, no more wondering where his place is. His new dad will be taking him most everywhere he goes as he is retired and that includes fishing on the boat. 

Happy Tails little Gauge-Buddy

To get ready for this special day Gauge got a bath in the sink. It made me think of the song Top Hat. Here are a few words from Gauge to John via his foster mom, please sing them to the song Top Hat.

I'm puttin' up with my bath,

Washing off the old grime,

Makin' sure my fur shines,

Fluffing out my TAIL. 

 (and Gauge does have the cutest full fluffy tail)

 This isn't as bad as I thought it might be!

Awwww Gauge is such a sweet boy.

                         

                        Oh yeah that feels good, a little more to the left please....

And then there is the after bath boogie that every dog lover is OH SO familiar with. Gotta try to get that dog smell back somehow!

Did someone say cOOOOkie?

Cookie time at our house can be pretty funny. I am sure the dogs should all be sitting quietly waiting for their turn but....I never said I was a professional.

Tricky Boy!

Gauge wants to show you what he is learning, problem is foster mom trying to hold the video camera and treats and getting a good video all at the same time was a little difficult. :)

Gauge loves blankets

I was pulling together dog blankets to wash and putting them in a pile and Gauge was having fun rolling around in them. OF course when I got the video camera out he wasn't as rambunctious as he had been but you get the idea :)

Doggie door update!

Here is an update to the previous post regarding Gauge and learning to go through the dog door. I am happy to announce that both dog door flaps are down and Gauge has gone out on his own two times to do his "potty dance" all on his own! I am so proud of him, it has only taken 1 day with the flaps up for him to master the fine art of busting through the dog door. When I noticed he was out there both times, all on his own, I went and waited with a yummy treat in front of the dog door so when he came in from outside he got a party of praise and treats!!!!

Learning the doggie door shuffle

I have been working with Gauge to learn to go out the doggie door. He has learned quickly to come in to the house as he really really really likes to be with his people so coming in is high on his list of things to learn. Going out the dog door was proving to be a bit more of a challenge. For one a couple of times when he went to go out one of his foster siblings was bounding in and startled him so then he decided he needed to be a bit more careful in the going out the door. When we were teaching Sage the doggie door he was very reluctant to go through the flaps so I taped them up for him, then he would go through like a champ. The next thing I did was let one flap down until he got used to that and then the second one came down and Sage is a champ at using the dog door. I decided to use that same technique with Gauge and then I stand outside with treats and just encourage him to go in and out, he gets the treat for coming out. Gauge loves treats so it makes my job that much easier! Here he is just minutes after me taping up the flaps.

Gauge takes a trip to the pet store.

Well this is interesting, seems someone else was here before me!

 Yes this one might be worth checking out.....

 This one? Can you tell I am NOT interested???

 OK I am practicing my dog language skills, maybe if I show no interest they will go away?

 Well she is standing there very nicely meaning me no harm, I guess I could look at her...

 Now this is ridiculous, why would I be standing on a cart in front of the fish? My foster parents must be nuts!

 COOKIE why certainly I will stand on a cart by the fish for a photo op and a COOKIE!

 I could get used to this!

 OK take it take it take it, take the picture!...Are we done yet????

We could tell this must have been Gauge's maiden visit to a pet store. He did pretty well though. He is a bit unsure of things but is as sweet as can be about it. He did have to "claim" the doggie clean-up cart but it did make it easy to clean up as all the sprays and paper towels were right there at our disposal. :) He did end up letting the little girl give him a little pet, but I missed the picture, silly foster mom. He got a cookie from the check out lady but waited to eat it until he got back in the car. For a first time we think he did super and know he will get more and more comfortable with love, patience and of course COOKIES!