Rolling Dog Farm

Saved By The Gate

We've joked in past years about the "barbarians at the gate," and yes, the gate is still up and the cast of characters -- though changing a bit over time -- is still very much there. The intent, as always, is to get to our meals. In the photo above, that's Dexter on the left, Widget, Wilbur and Holly. This was a partial crowd gathered for lunch. 

This next shot was taken a few days later early on a Sunday morning:

The lunch group from the earlier photo had been joined by blind Madison and blind Sophie. (Holly was on a living room chair, watching from a distance.) They had gathered at the gate hoping for a pancake breakfast, which they heard was being served at a nearby dining table. 

An Exhausting Dinner

I took this photo the other evening in the dog room after we finished feeding the gang their dinner. Blind Madison had happily eaten her meal -- her bowl is on the floor behind her -- and then headed straight to the cot. By the way she draped herself across the bedding, Alayne and I joked that she looked exhausted from the dining experience.

Even though her posture looks a bit awkward, she was obviously quite content -- full tummy, comfy bed, and ... sound asleep.

Almost Peak Colors

I took this photo a couple of days ago of the blaze of fall foliage around the pond. We're getting close to peak colors now but aren't quite there yet. As I've mentioned before, fall has always been our favorite season, though we just wish the colors would last a lot longer! It's always a feast for the eyes.

On ... Or Is That In ... His Throne

So Dexter the Dachshund's overturned bed has become someone else's ... well, we call it his throne. As in, King Wilbur the 1st. To paraphrase an old expression: "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed dog is king."

Wilbur has basically decided this is where he belongs now. He no longer wants to be in his "apartment." His place is on (or in?) his throne. He sleeps there at night, hangs out there during the day, and is frequently wrapped deep inside the bedding that he's resting on in the photo. (That's when he hasn't moved the bedding across the floor.)

His throne also happens to be next to the kitchen, which he regards as a natural extension of his kingdom. Good things happen there. It's best to keep an eye on it, especially if you only have one eye.

(Click on the photo to see the royal tongue in all its glory.)

Turkey Farm

Well, the wild turkeys who would flee months ago as soon as we opened a door have now made themselves entirely at home here. They wander around the farm at will, up the drive, past the dog yards, through the gardens, under the apple trees. The dogs don't even pay any attention to them any longer. Alayne took that photo of some turkeys on the other side of the fence in the front yard. Dogs were in the yard and up on the porch, but no one cared:

One evening after dinner we were sitting on the back deck and enjoying some quiet time when the resident flock of turkeys started flying up into the trees to roost for the night:

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

This was the big aspen tree just below the house. Other turkeys had taken to the trees in the woods behind it, and we could hear them rustling around as they worked their way higher and higher into the trees, fluttering from limb to limb. That's what the ones in the aspen did, too -- they flew up to the lower branches and then hopped from limb to limb to get farther up the tree.

We've come out the back door first thing in the morning and have found the flock hanging out on the driveway, looking for the odd bug or insect. They no longer startle, but slowly move away and up onto the pastures:

All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go

Our wonderful groomer, Lori Fillion of Littleton, was here yesterday to spiff up a number of the dogs. It turned out to be easier to groom four blind dogs than to get all of them to look at the camera at the same time. (Although to be fair to the dogs, sometimes I've had a harder time getting four people to all look at the camera at the same time!) In the shot above, that's Sophie, Penny, Fuzzy and Clyde.

Yes, that's Clyde's usual posture when it comes to photos ... "I really don't want to do this, so I'll pretend I'm not here and try to slink off."  As in:

Contrary to the title of this post, Clyde thought he did have somewhere to go, and it was anywhere but there. The Yorkshire terrier was summarily retrieved and returned to his proper position on the bed. Not that this guaranteed any better cooperation, however.

Here's another "close-but-no-cigar" version:

While I was photographing, Alayne was dancing, whistling, tapping her feet, doing just about everything to get the gang to look straight ahead all at once.

We finally settled on this one:

Cute, aren't they?

Stuck

We have noticed over the years that the smaller dogs have an uncanny ability to find the single hole in a blanket and proceed to get themselves stuck in it. For some reason the hole becomes the only way out of the blanket. Rather than going back the way they came in, i.e., by de-burrowing, they try to get out through the always-too-small hole. Alayne got this shot over the weekend of Wilbur poking his head out of a fleece blanket he had turned into a traveling-across-the-floor bed. And yes, he needed some assistance extricating himself. Meanwhile, Dexter stands by, taking in the scene. He's probably thinking, "Well, at least it wasn't me this time." If you click on the photo for a larger image, you'll see Wilbur has that adorable tongue sticking out of his mouth. Kind of like his head in the blanket, eh?

Someone Else Likes To Cuddle

Well, it's not just Ella who gets to sleep in bed. Shirley L. in Oregon, who adopted wobbly Mink from us last year, just sent us this photo of the Schminkers with her husband James. Shirley says Mink sleeps between them at night, and she got out of bed on a recent morning to take the photo. Her email said, "First, Ella ... now Mink."

We'd better stop posting these on the blog before our own animals wonder why they're not sleeping in our bed!

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Please Vote for the Farm!

The latest Shelter Challenge started Monday, July 9 and ends at midnight on September 16. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We just won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the current contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.  

Thank you for your votes!

Happy Boy

 

Jennifer M. in Napa, California just sent us this video of blind-and-deaf Gabe rolling in their yard. Jennifer and her husband Paul adopted Gabe from us back in 2010, soon after Gabe had finished a lengthy period of cancer treatment requiring both surgery and weeks of radiation therapy. (Jennifer and Paul later adopted three-legged Ella, who you saw in a recent post asleep in Paul's arms.) 

When she emailed me this clip, Jennifer wrote, "Love this boy more than words can say! Finally got him on video!"  Some nice rolling followed by several contented snorts!

It was just three years ago when we found out in an MRI what kind of tumor we were dealing with in Gabe. Thanks to our donors, Gabe was able to get world-class medical treatment that truly saved his life. And to see how he's living now ... wow.

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Weekly Winner and $1,000 for the Animals!

All of your faithful voting did it again and we just received another $1,000 check as a weekly winner in the Shelter Challenge -- thank you so much!!!

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Please Vote for the Farm!

The latest Shelter Challenge started Monday, July 9 and ends at midnight on September 16. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories ... please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

*** We are now LISTED UNDER OUR NEW NAME, ROLLING DOG FARM.  State is still NH for New Hampshire. ***

Please remember, you can vote every day ... consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

We just won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the current contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.  

Thank you for your votes!