TEMPermament

The drop in temps, along with a dusting of snow, brings out the endless capacity for play that dwells in these three, and takes it to a whole new level. :-)

The interesting thing is that it's not the youngest, but the oldest who usually initiates..As he enters his 9th winter, Mick's Puppy Racing rivals anything that Chase has shown us so far. And the others are more than happy to join him!







Even ever changing "Frankenpup", new to the whole winter thing, was game to jump in with the big boyz in their play this morning :-)












I'm not exactly sure when I lost my child-like, magical love of snow and winter, but I can certainly tell you the day some eight years ago when I got it back :-)... These guys have a way of bringing you into their realm...

Winter days are the most precious in our memories, filled with skijoring, snowshoeing and just running in the snow!

Power of love

Although none of the boyz is certified for therapy, they seem to know what to do in that area, as they had their first unofficial group therapy visit yesterday.

We stopped in to the Pet food store in town, and as usual, one or two of the boyz gets to go in with me. Today was Chase's turn. He calmly trotted into the store and located the treat bin where then sat and looked expectantly :-). Good boy!

When we were walking back to the vehicle, I could see three bikers standing on the corner, leaning on their motorcyles. These guys were hardcore -- full leathers, colours, the whole nine yards...Now I'm not one to judge a book by it's cover, but I have to admit, these guys were intimidating. I did a quick look around and there were lots of folks close by so I just kept heading to the vehicle.

The bikers all turned their heads as I approached the Santa Fe, and then one starting walking with determination towards us. Chase, who hasn't met anyone who wasn't a friend, was doing his best to get closer to the approaching visitor... Then something very special happened...

As he approached, the biker said, "That's a bearded collie!" and knelt right down in the parking lot to let Chase work his magic with a good mugging. Well, for one thing, not many people can identify a beardie puppy, and secondly, his demeanor completely changed as he lost himself in the puppy kisses! This big rough, tough looking guy looked like a little boy playing with Chase.

The gentle, loving expression on this guy's face was heartwarming.... I tried not to notice the tears that dampened his face as I opened the back hatch of the Santa Fe and presented Mick and Bryce in their crates... With one hand on Chase, he leaned forward and let the other boyz kiss and nuzzle him through their crates. We chatted about some of the activities the boyz and I do together and he seemed to not be able to get enough of them.

Beaming, he turned to thank me, and told me that he'd grown up with a beardie, rescued from the Humane Society and never got over losing her at 16 yrs...Life changed for him after that, and he acknowledged that his lifestyle now wouldn't be fair to a dog, but he missed having one in his life..

We said our good byes, and I went away with two thoughts... Everyone has a story, and it's worth the time sometimes to hear it, and secondly, never underestimate the lasting power of love between humans and the doGs that own them.

And then there were three!

I'm WAY behind on updates to the blog, but with good reason. On August 1, the boyz and I welcomed another brown beardie boy to the fold -- Chantilly's Thyme Moves on of XTC (Chase).

What I discovered right away, was the at he boyz and I had settled into being fairly complacent about our training and routine :-). Chase brought us the fresh energy we all needed to jumpstart our lives again.

He's a joy, and has settled in beautifully. We had the "good cop, bad cop" thing going on for a while, with Mick being the ultra tolerant good cop, and Bryce providing the laser sharp corrections when required. Let's just say, Chase doesn't use HIM for a tug toy ;-).

As the baby's grown and changed, so have the dynamics... Mick is now starting to put up with less, and Bryce is encouraging more rough housing and running games. Just this week, Chase has been brave enough to even join the big boyz in their after meal wrestles!


And me? Well, I've had to step it up a bit in terms of organizing my training. In some ways it's easier, and a great opportunity to take everyone back to the start and work foundation... The BEST thing about a new puppy IMHO, is that I get to see my world again as new :-).