Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sunday Dixie's favorite day of the week!






Making sand angels - Dixie's homage to snow! Our weekly Sunday visit to the local dog beach is her favorite activity. And she knows what day it is because she gathers her tennis balls together and throws them in our laps as a hint that she is ready to go. Usually, after her first dip in the water she likes to make sand angels, always just on her right side, but lately she has been rolling on her back and wiggling back and forth. It was a pretty quiet day today. Just a couple of other dogs. One big yellow lab came down and picked up her ball and proceeded to leave . . . we never saw the dog or her ball again. Luckily, I always carry a spare!




I am always confounded by how she can stand all that sand all over her face, and especially in her mouth. It just doesn't seem to bother her in the least. She is half Australian Sheepdog (mom) and half Rottweiler (dad). She came home a cute little puppy, and proceeded to grow, and grow, and grow, til she became the beautiful girl here. She's almost 7 now. When we lost our previous dog of 14 years I took it much worse than I had expected to. I started prowling the local animal shelter and SPCA for a new friend, but none gave me that special you get when you just know that one is the one. Then, one day when I was looking through the paper, I saw an ad for free puppies and the breed mix, and I just knew this was the right one. So, on a stormy Saturday afternoon my most wonderful daughter-in-law and I, along with the five grandchildren, went to Hudson (which is several miles away) to hunt down my puppy. After getting lost and then finally finding the right dirt road, we arrived at the site - a small farm complete with horses and a very muddy yard. When the owner went to look for the puppies she couldn't find them. As I was wandering around I looked behind the shed and saw coming out of a hole in the wall this tiny puppy - my puppy. I knew her right away. I snatched her up, said thank you, and off we went.

She has been a wonderful addition to our family. Very loyal and very protective of me. She lives for her time at the beach and I wish I had more time to take her. But she seems satisfied now for the one day. Believe it or not, our routine goes like this - she knows when she sees us getting her "beach bag" ready, she starts getting really excited. Then, when I get her collar, she explodes into joyfulness, but sits for me to put her collar on and then the leash (not that she needs the leash, as soon as the door is opened she makes a mad dash for the car). When beach time is over and we return home she heads straight for the shower and hops in - on her own, no begging or pleading or pushing or lifting from me. I love doing this in front of guests, they are always astounded. We shower together and then she eats, and then crashes out for the afternoon. However, I do believe if we offered to go again, regardless of how tired she might be, she would do it again, and again!



Contemplating what to do next . . . she is perfectly happy to be by herself - no other canines around - she doesn't play well with others. Oh, she tolerates other dogs, and really likes the little ones, but she's just as happy on her own. She had a best friend, Ellie, a beautiful Borzoi, she used to run with, but Ellie moved to Maine with her humans a couple of years ago. I know she missed Ellie for awhile because whenever she saw a brown and white dog she would rush up the them excitedly until she got close enough so smell and realize that it wasn't Ellie. And she doesn't care too much for puppies either, and lets them know pretty quickly where they stand with her - better in another area.

She knows we are getting ready to go home. This is her "herding" stance when she lets the ball go and retrieves it when it floats away. This is also a ploy to get us to stay longer also. If I go in to retrieve the ball, she will pick it up and move further out into the water. Such a cute puppy!

Well, hope you enjoyed our little foray to the beach. We are planning a trip to Ft. DeSoto where they have a wonderful Paw Park where we can all swim together. But that won't be til May or so. Until then, this park, although unofficial, is the perfect spot for us and all the neighboring dogs and humans.

Til next time, take care. K

6 comments:

Kathryn said...

Well, I think the problem with posting is solved. Certainly hope so. And I am thanking Frances at Faire Garden for the advise. I welcome all suggestions. K

Anonymous said...

I always knew you were a writer at heart! Can't wait to see what else you write about.....

Kate and Crew said...

Very, very sweet story about your dog. What a unique-looking dog she is!! Sooo pretty! I love the photos of her playing in the sand...brings back fond memories of me playing on the beach with my Lab.

Thanks for sharing!

Kate

Anonymous said...

Let's give it a try here, Kathryn. It does seem that the problem last week was not just you or your blog but blogger in general. Posts were written about the difficulty in leaving comments and the word verification not loading. Sorry if I made you think you had done something wrong.
Frances

Anonymous said...

Hooray, I think it worked! And thanks so much for dropping the word verification, too.
F

Kathryn said...

Thank you so much for the feedback . . . can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Now I'm wondering how to make a space for me to comment back, as you do, right below the comment you are responding to. Glad you liked it.K