Pretty girls

Toes

On my way to a second Corgi

Erika loves saying that Corgis (including her Bonnie) shed enough to make a second one in no time.

The truth of that has been becoming evident in our house this spring.  And was really evident yesterday morning when  just 10-15 passes over Darby with a "Furminator"  produced this Corgi puppy-sized ball of hair.  

YES! It is disgusting that I put that ball of hair on the kitchen table!  Please be assured that I cleaned the table with anti-bacterial spray afterward.  Which I do before we eat or prepare food off any countertop or table. And, if you don't trust me, next time before you have dinner at my house, feel free to ask me to clean the table in your presence. Just like we're being told to ask our health care providers to wash their hands  in our presence.  I promise not to be offended.

Needless worry

I was wandering through my file of Darby photos. This one reminded me of my unfortunate tendency to worry about nearly everything.

This one reminded me how needless (and useless)  most (all?) worry is.

P.S. For anyone who hasn't had a Corgi pup whose ears didn't want to stand up: taping them in an upright position for a short period of time is quite common. It is nothing like docking ears or tails. Of course, the pup would prefer not to have the tape, but, ears that are supposed to be pricked can be  prone to infection if they remain flopped or folded over.

Can't think of a title

Well, I can't think of a title for this photo, but I like the way the Darbs' tail is framed by her ears.

My Short Stuff sure is cute!

Sustainability

Puppies on the barbie?

The sky is falling!

The sky is falling!

OK. So, it wasn't the sky--it was just a ball! (Which, BTW, Darby caught!)

Femur bones

I managed to order beef femur bones from my local Vons.  When I arrived this afternoon to pick them up, the nice young men behind the meat counter tried to send me to "aisle 5."  I've been to "aisle 5," and came home with meaty soup bones that Leda says the girls will love but are very messy.

So, I persisted.  No, I said, "I want femur bones.  And, the nice Hispanic man who was here on Sunday ordered them for me; I saw him mark 'femur bones' on the order form."  "Which Hispanic man?" they wanted to know?  "The one who worked on Sunday," I said, but that didn't give them enough information.  After a ten minute trip "to the freezer," one of the men came back with a HUGE box.  30 pounds, just like Leda said!  But, I didn't have to buy all of them!  I picked out the ones that looked the most like those cleaned, stuffed bones on sale at the pet store, they were wrapped, weighed and labeled and I came home with 7 pounds of bones for $9.00. 

 (The bones weren't dirty and covered with dog hair until AFTER the girls had them for a bit.)

Look at what a good job the girls did of getting at that yummy marrow!  Then I remembered Leda's warning about how that rich marrow input can result in some icky output, and I took the bones away for the day!

Spring

The weather in Southern California is so temperate that it's difficult to define our seasons. But, we do have them. In just the last week the nectarine and mandarin trees have bloomed along with various flowers. It's a pretty time of year.

A pretty time of year, and one that requires lots of extra vacuuming in a house with two corgis!

P.S. Erika read somewhere that Corgis shed enough to make another Corgi in a week. It always makes me chuckle to think of that!

Darby is getting more determined

Not too long ago, Darby wouldn't even run after a ball if Bonnie was nearby. (Bonnie is nearby--see her tail in the lower left.)

And then she started running after the ball, but not picking it up.

But now, she runs after it, picks it up and runs away from Bonnie without giving it up!

She's getting more determined and faster.  But, Bonnie would probably say she is just letting Darby win!


P.S.  I LOVE it when Darby's toe pads show when she is running.

Seems like so long ago

Mike summed it up well

Wendy, Mike, Bryn and Dinah are home safely in Portland, Maine.   Mike summed up the "Mother and Child Reunion" story very well:

"I find that I'm not often surprised any more, one of the casualties of falling well into the AARP category I suppose.  But events in San Diego certainly caught me off guard in a most wonderful way.  I continue to look back on the last week and a half, shaking my head with both disbelief and gladness.  Glad that March 11 was a good day for walking Bryn and Dinah.  Glad we chose to do that walking in Balboa Park.  Glad for a missing zero.  Glad that Dawn decided to be the unwitting intermediary she became.  Glad you let your curiosity get the better of you when you had lots of work to do.  Glad for these things and so many more, and surprised by them all as well."

Submissiveness

I've read a bit about submissiveness in dogs--before Darby came to live with us--and especially after because she seems to be on the submissive side.

Wouldn't you say? 

Darby couldn't get her head any lower than Dinah's if she tried, and you can see that Darby is ready to roll over onto her back in the ultimate (as I understand it, anyway) submissive pose if Dinah does anything to make her think she should do so!

Here she is again...making sure her head is lower than Dinah's while Dinah sniffs and figures out who this Bryn-like, but-not-Bryn creature is: 

You can read more about submissiveness in various posts at The Other End of the Leash here.   I especially like this article about what Patricia McConnell calls "obsequious submissiveness." 

Bye-Bye, Bryn

Bye-bye, Bryn -- and,  Dinah,  Wendy, and Mike!

Isn't that a great photo of Bryn, taken by Mike on one of their frequent walks through Balboa Park and not far from where we met!

Travel safely home to Maine, everyone!

So long, Wendy, Mike, Bryn and Dinah!

Wendy, Mike, Bryn and Dina have two more full days in San Diego -- they head home to Maine on Saturday morning. (Glenn keeps marveling that San Diego and Portland, Maine are about as far away from each other as you can get without leaving the US!)

I'm having lunch with Wendy, Mike and the girls tomorrow and hope they will have time to come up to my office to meet my coworker Dawn,  the person who shares credit for this incredible story with my dentist's receptionist and the missing "0."  I guess it could be argued that it wouldn't have happened without the missing "0," but, it also wouldn't have happened if Dawn hadn't placed that phone call!  Regardless of who gets the most credit, I'm just glad all the pieces fell into place! 

These are my favorite photos of Wendy and Mike:

So, anyone wanna guess if that is Darby or Bryn? (I blurred the name tag and collar to make it more difficult!)

Darby Kisses

Any wonder why Wendy needed a wash cloth before we went to dinner on Sunday?

Wanna see that a little closer?

Guess who?

Guess who--Bryn or Darby?

1.

2. 

3.

4.

5.

6.

 7.

Answers:  Heck if I know!  Your guess is as good as mine!


1. Darby 2. Bryn 3. Bryn 4. Darby 5. Bryn 6. Darby 7. Bryn

Darby and Mike

Darby may have wanted Bryn and Dinah to go back to wherever they came from, but she took a real liking to Mike and Wendy.

Here she is proving how much she likes Mike and how poorly trained she is:

An even better example of Darby's poor training (WHO trained her, anyway??)

At least I didn't train her to do this:

 

AAB&D

OK.  So, Sunday afternoon was All About Bryn and Darby.  Whether we like it or not, whether is was fair or not,we have to admit the truth.  If it weren't for Bryn and Darby there would have been no Sunday afternoon.  (Well, there would have been, but you know what I mean!)

Mike said, "I suspect Bonnie and Dinah knew they were playing second fiddle to Bryn and Darby, never an enviable position."

I have to admit, that didn't occur to me at the time, but now that I look back through photos of that afternoon, I think Mike was very perceptive.

Bonnie, on the outside looking in:  (though my filthy patio door) 

 

Dinah, on the fringes looking on: 

We did pay attention to the "other" two girls, but the fact remains, it really was All About Bryn and Darby, whether they were interested in each other or not! 

What a fun afternoon--and evening!

Bryn, Dinah and their humans Wendy and Mike spent the afternoon with us and we had so much fun we stretched it out into dinner, too!  

I have to say that I did not detect any signs of recognition between Darby and her mom, Bryn, but Wendy isn't so sure.   Poor Darby had a hard time, as she often does, with new dogs--even if one of them wasn't totally new!  She retreated to her crate--on her own--a few times and she spent a good part of the afternoon on her back, being submissive or barking trying to get the strange dogs to go home! But, she cozied right up to Wendy and Mike.    

While the four canine girls didn't spend the afternoon chasing each other around the backyard as I had envisioned they might, it was still a great afternoon!

Tomorrow, I'll write more about the reunion, but tonight I'll leave you with this photo of Wendy, Bryn, Darby and me:

And, Buddy--here are a couple more photos of your mama's toe freckleage, just for you!