Alayne saw blind Austin burying his toy duck in the snow yesterday morning -- after stealing it from Belvie a few minutes before. (How does a blind dog manage to steal a toy from a sighted dog?) Austin is more like a squirrel with acorns for some reason ... always trying to bury his toys for later retrieval.
After the shutter clicked a few times, he realized someone was watching his stealthy act:
And so he fled the scene:
Alayne went over to inspect ... not bad, but not exactly, you know, buried:
She brushed off the snow to reveal ... Mr. Duck:
Oh. Alayne gave Belvie a new toy. A wet duck wasn't going to do.
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In The Final Week -- Still No. 1 -- But That Iowa Group Has Moved Up Fast!
Please keep voting for the ranch every day in The Animal Rescue Site/PetFinder's Shelter Challenge. Thanks to your votes, we came in third nationwide and won $3,000 for the animals in the previous contest earlier this year. Now we have a shot at No. 1 and the $20,000 grand prize in the current contest! Enter "Rolling Dog Ranch" and our state postal code, MT for Montana, and it will bring up our listing so you can cast your vote. Please ask your family and friends to vote, too.
You can see how fast the rankings can change, so we really need an extra push in the last week of the contest to hold that No. 1 spot. It ends on December 20th, so we're in the home stretch -- and $20,000 for the animals is in sight! Thank you!
I chuckled when I first saw these pics. I was thinking, "How did they get pics of my Emmett?" Austin looks just like Emmett does when he goes plowing through the snow! Although Emmett hasn't tried to bury his squeaky toys yet.
Posted by: Heidi, Emmett, and Moxie | December 17, 2009 at 06:24 PM
Hmmm.....not sure I have heard about Belvie before.....will have to look for him/her. Austin gave me a big smile with his antics. We don't have snow on the ground right now but judging by photo number three.....you have about enough to almost bury a beagle much less a duck toy!
Posted by: Marla | December 16, 2009 at 06:11 PM
Our animal friends do give us the opportunity to ponder and to giggle. Austin sure is a character. It is great that you have him, and other loving animal friends to give you a laugh or 2 after the difficult week that you have had with the loss of your dear horsey friend and medical worries about your rotty friend. God bless our 4 legged friends for the joy that they bring us.
Posted by: Ev | December 16, 2009 at 02:13 PM
So funny! Austin knows a good duck when he "sees" one & Belvie may have decided a new toy was the way to go so just let Austin "think" he stole it!!
Posted by: Colleen & Sweet Kitty Erin | December 16, 2009 at 11:45 AM
How adorable!
I love that Alayne replaced Austin's wet ducky; water on that duck's back doesn't roll off. ; )
Posted by: boundforglory | December 16, 2009 at 09:02 AM
Austin may have been a squirrel in one of his past lives. As far as stealing a toy from a sighted dog? Hum...Maybe Belvie was feeling the Christmas spirit.
You certainly have lots of snow!
Warm hugs to all,
ginger, Tobias & Tlingit
Posted by: ginger | December 16, 2009 at 07:01 AM
Thanks for the cheerful post.
Now, how about some Widget?!?!
Posted by: Vickie | December 15, 2009 at 10:23 PM
What a happy post! That his biggest worry is how to protect his stolen duck for his sole future use is a testament to what joy these animals feel with you. I just came back from a dog walk where my dog was so furiously digging a hole in the snow that one of his booties fell off and he subsequently buried it in the deep snow. After searching for 10 minutes at -25 Celcius, we gave up. Sigh... how long until spring?
Posted by: Carol | December 15, 2009 at 10:16 PM
This was great! Thanks for the story and the photos.
Whatever became of Margaret? It's been ages since we heard about her.
Posted by: moon rani | December 15, 2009 at 08:38 PM