rancherwriterpoet

Dog Tails

I am always interested in dog tails (tales). They most often are funny. We currently have seven standard poodles, a rescue Italian Greyhound and a pair of Cairn Terriers in our kennels. And a standard poodle who resides in the house for a total of eleven. Of course, Apollo doesn’t know he is a dog. I kinda hope no one ever tells him. It would spoil the relationship. The kennel dogs really are like family. Well, maybe like in-laws. We really love them, but keep them out back in their own space. (similar to a mother-in-law suite, you know, at the other end of the house)

They have all the comforts of a doggie haven, fenced yard, enclosed pens with doggie doors that allow them to get in out of the elements, both in the summer, (cooled) and winter (heated). They have fresh food and water every day and get to enjoy a run in the back yard twice daily. They get healthy homemade treats, specially baked (we call them bonios). They have toys they enjoy and thrill at aggravating each other.
Yes, I really would do as much for the in-laws.

Each one of these family members has their own peculiar trait and character. One would have to spend time with them to understand their rare qualities. For example, Denali, the Snow on the Summit (official name but more often called ‘Nalli) generally will not come out of his pen without a rope toy in his mouth. Seems to be his ‘security blanket’. He promptly takes it with him, drops it around a tree and usually pees on it. More often than not, he misses and hit his front legs. Gives new meaning to the term “yellow dog”.

Prada, our genteel lady, will come out of her pen, turn a circle, wait for us to tell her she’s
“ ‘bootiful’, OK go run”, and off she goes.

Stella and her offspring, Sugar, room together. They both are very docile in their pen, yet when they get out, they love to run and chase each other. In fact, Sugar enjoys provoking Stella. We fondly call Stella “Momma Dog”. She answers to both names. Usually, when we call her Stella, it is like using your child’s middle name. It just doesn’t happen unless the child did something wrong.
Andi (Andora) has a nickname as well. Miss Wigglebutt. When she wags her tale, her whole rear end wiggles. She is an extremely happy dog. Dogs wagging tails simply means they are laughing. Andi laughs profusely.
Crue, (named after Motley Crue) is an instigator and thief. His modus operandi includes stealing the treats from Denali’s pen whenever he gets the chance. He also enjoys parading before the Italian Greyhound and aggravating him.

Luka, the Italian Greyhound, reacts as though he could really tear Crue apart. He grabs his toy shark and bites the fool out of it, just as though he has Crue in his mouth. Crue just laughs at him.

As for Gretel, (we call her Munchie, which is short for Munchkin, for she is like a little munchkin), well, she squeaks when she barks and she squeaks a lot, at anything out of the ordinary.

Grendel, (also called Baby Gren) is the fiercest dog we have. Gentle but macho. Only about ten inches tall, he believes he can whip any thing in his view. We can for sure call him the snake killer. Just recently, he killed a water moccasin in his pen. That snake never stood a chance. Grendel never even got bitten.
Well, that leaves Ty. He is the only dog we have that enjoys playing in the water. Ty (official name: Black Tie Affair), the patriarch of several offspring in our kennel, is our water dog. During the summer before the drought and when our pond was full, it was a full time job keeping him out of it. Since it did go dry, we have discovered he also likes playing in the spray of the water hose. So I had this idea recently to film Ty as he enjoyed an afternoon of playing in the water. I did so by putting it to music. Click on Ty’s Blue Grass Jig below to see Ty perform.
Perhaps the in-laws would enjoy this game as well. Just a thought.

Have a nice day.

Ty’s Blue Grass Jig