Off to the farm (Guest Blog)

From the desk of H.B. Moy, Esq. and Sheepdog Extraordinaire (in Training)

I'm so excited I can hardly keep my tail from helicoptering. You know how my people have sent Rafe to sheep camp twice and me to sheep camp exactly zero times? Well, my person is going to farm sit for this week and I get to go along. Only me. We're going to stay there together through the week-end. There are 10 acres with a flock of about 50 sheep (including cute lambs), a horse, two goats, a donkey, a bird and several felines.

There will be some other doggers there who live there, but they are old and can't work anymore, so my person is going to have to depend on me to help with the livestock chores. We went yesterday for a test run and I made the whole flock of sheep go into a little pen--even the day-old lamb (but my person told me that I had to be more careful with her because she can't run very fast yet. Whatever.). Then I made them come out again. There are even two rams, who can be mean, but were no challenge in the face of the sheep king.

I heard my people talking and they said that I would probably get to work a couple times every day--every day, dog bloggers. Can you believe it? The other person is going to bring the other dogs out a couple of times so they can practice too. But, it's me who's going to have to get the chores done, so they can play around all they want. I'm a workin' dog.

Sincerely,
H.B. Moy

p.s. Pippin got tummy tagged by Kingsley, but she doesn't ever lay on her back (really-she never does), so I have to step in to bat clean-up on that one. I'm good at showing my belly! I don't think I'll tag further right now, though--gotta go pack my stuff for the farm.



p.p.s. What a sad day we had when we learned that the hamsterrier FuFu had gone to the Bridge. We will miss him and know that his family must be very blue.

Even a diva works sometimes

Hi friends,

Somehow three guest blogs got by before I was able to post myself. Hrumpf. Actually I've been really enjoying the weather of late--it is PERFECT spring weather--cool, crisp, spring-y. My person has taken me on some nice long walkies and we have had good ball play. The nice weather just makes me feel like running and playing.

The flock is pleased to have Rafe back with us. (Well, Hamish is not so pleased, but we are ignoring him when he grumpfs because the rest of us--and especially the people--missed Mr. Rafe-a-roni.)

Here's some video of me working. I have to be honest and admit, it's not the best example of sheep herding--the sheep are worried about me and running fast. Rather than staying back, I'm cutting in on them, which is kinda bad. Plus, I'm overflanking (which means going too far to the left or right) which makes them serpendine around. At the end, I get it together better and get them through the panels, but boy, I need a little more practice, I think. I just couldn't help myself. Watch though, how they move their heads in response to my movements--that part is pretty neat.

Back from camp (Guest Blog)

Rafe here.

Been gone a while. Missed my Flock. Specially young Kyzer. Found out I'm a Trooper with Army of 4. Good, thanks. Copper's a grand-dog, good.

Here's a video of me [and trainer], working. Hot out. Camera dirty.



First, just quick outrun and fetch. Next a bigger outrun. [Hay feeder for sheep in foreground.] You see me flank very wide. Sheep are light, I am powerful and have strong eye. Sheep start to hustle. Used to be, I'd turn in and stop too soon. Sheep wouldn't move. At camp, learned what to do right. Then, after lift, bring them to trainer. Next shot, don't know what's going on. Think I'm moving sheep. At the end you see the pen. Sheep go in it. That's my new job. Working on it.

Woof,
Rafe

Across the Other Water (Guest Blog)

Greetings, Gentlepups!

Miss Pippin is still Savouring our lovely Weather, and asked that I Post to the Blog. I am a pup of few Words, and I too Enjoy the Weather. Well.

My person graciously showed me this Photograph, and I will Share it with you. This dog is a Collie, but not Our kind. Her name is Peggy, and she lived in Japan. Japan is Across the Other Water. Perhaps one day I will See the Water. Better, to see Sheep.


Best,
Tansy

Across the Water, Again (Guest Blog)

Greetings Gentledogs!

I have Recovered from the Anniversary Festival. It was delightful to Chat with so many Pups! "Frosty Paws" are tasty, although not so delicious as Pizza Crusts.

I wish to give a Sharp! Bark! to Toby and Maureen. These Pups are in the Agility class Hamish and I attend on Monday Evenings. I do need to scold Toby, since he is a Young Male, but Miss Pippin assures me he is a Good Dog.

My people said the people of Toby and Maureen might be interested in another picture from Across the Water. Everydog may also find this Intriguing. I believe I understand the Meaning of the Word on the Sign.

Do you Dogs?

Have you seen such a Sign on your Side of the Water?

Tschüssi,
Tansy

Anniversary Party

Well, pup, we've had a lot of recovering to do after the big shindig this week-end. Tansy and I visited the Wine and Cheese Party chat room a couple of times. We talked to some old and new friends--Opy, Freda, Kingsley, Buster, Chester, TinTin, Maggie, Oscar, Snowball, Pappy's dad, Asta in Oz, Peanut and many others. It was fun to talk to pups all over the world, but my people are not as chatroom savvy as many and so they were easily lost by the quick exchanges.

We also had a lovely wine and cheese layout. First my people got everything set up--the cheese sticks and cookies in the little bowl in front were strictly for us pups.

Then, I took to my station as prime party hostess

Everydog waited politely (except for poor Rafey, who is away at herding camp again. But we'll tell him about it when we next see him)

When the people said o.k., all pups dug in

And of course, that rascal Fox had to get in on the action (Stormy, we're pretty sure he's becoming a dog rather than Kyzer becoming a cat)

And then our people had a special treat just for us dogs (no kitties allowed)--Frosty Paws!!

And then we slept the rest of the day away

Happy Anniversary again Dogs with Blogs. Great work and we're looking forward to another great year of dog blogging.

Daily blogs are a little too much

Well, now my week of posting every day is coming to a close and, honestly, I think every day is too much, even though I am proud of my person that she lived up to her promises for once.

And though my person would love to remain my slave--or let me be clearer, my blogging slave (it goes without saying that she is my slave in all other ways and that won't change)--it seems like blogging every day doesn't give the community sufficient time to digest and enjoy all I have to say. It seems as soon as I post, I'm ready to post again. So, I've declared that we will go back to the twice or three times a week blogging schedule we previously observed.

Now that the announcements are out of the way, we can move on to today's topic. It's about Kyzer. We did our first group photo with him a couple of days ago and I think he handled it nicely. He sat and stayed while the picture was being taken. You know, you can't practice too much or too early for the holiday shots. And, of course, we are all looking forward to this week-end's DWB wine and cheese fest in celebration of the first anniversary of Dogs with Blogs. And we want to be ready to provide lots of candids.

In addition to working with him on his group social skills, I've remained a bit distressed over his almost unseemly relationship with the dastardly Fox-kitty. You may remember that he and Fox have been close friends since Kyzer joined the pack. The rest of us tolerated this friendship because he was a young dog and frankly it kept Fox out of our hair. But we also assumed that as he grew, Kyzer would take his rightful position within the DOG pack and leave behind his childhood dalliances. But, alas, it has not happened that way.









Look what I observed just yesterday over the course of less than an hour.First, there he lay with Fox in a Yin-Yang kind of thing. But at least he was alert and watchful.













That didn't last long at all, however.

















And then, this. Tell me, friends, whatever should the rest of us do to bring this youngster back to the path of the righteous and true? Really, the next thing you know, he'll be licking the mail carrier and offering up a cookie.

The dogs aren't the only clever ones

After my brother was such an embarrasing braggert yesterday, I thought it would only be fair to show you that the kitties in our household are no slouches.

Fritz developed this trick all on his own because he's never liked to jump, but he does like to be on the counter where the food is.

Today I learned to pen the sheep! (Guest Blog)

From the desk of Hamish Braeburn Moy, Esq. and Herding Extraordinaire (almost)


Last week, my person told me that she was taking me to a special thing called a "clinic" to learn something new about the sheep. She said we were going on last Thursday, but then Thursday came and went and we just did the same things as usual. Playing, eating, sleeping. I thought it was yet another example of the person's breach of contract.

This morning, I curled up for my morning nap (see Exhibit A above) when what happened? The person ate breakfast early while the other person was doing normal morning walkies. I thought my person was just being a wimp who didn't want to do walkies in the rain. But then, she started loading some items in the rolling living room--her phone, our water bucket, things like that. She was wearing her rain clothes and rubber boots. Then, she called me--only me, her brown boy. Even though it was really early, she put me in the car and we drove a long, long way. Past both of the normal places where we go herding, so I couldn't figure out what was up.

It turned out the clinic was TODAY. And it was at a completely different place than I'd ever been to. Even though it was cold, rainy and awful, I got to work on putting the sheep into the pen. This is what it looks like (this isn't me--these are famous British dogs in the 1940s--but it's the same exact thing even today). The pictures come from the Border Collie Museum.


As usual, it's up to the dog to be smarter than the sheep and the person. But, we also have to listen to the person, even when they don't know what the %$*# they are doing. In fact, this seems to be the dog's lot more often than is really reasonable, but I guess that's the price we have to pay for food, beds, dog toys and sheep. And of course belly rubs.

I did pretty good, even though I did chase the sheep all around twice (which is not so good). The first time, I was a true nut, but the second time, I got my head back together and remembered my self-control. That second time, I also ended up with a pretty fine pen and all the people clapped. All in all, I got to work at the pen four different times and acquitted myself nicely (and naturally made my person look far more competent than she is).

All in a dog's day, I suppose.

In the crate or on it?

Now that spring has finally arrived here in the upper Midwest, I've been feeling pretty frisky. In fact, I decided it was time to think outside the box. I mean really, do you always have to sleep *inside* the crate? Maybe those creative juices would get flowing better by being *on top of* the crate. In fact, by thinking outside (and on top of) the box, I found a fuzzy sweater with an intact pocket that was harboring some treat remnants. I made short work of those and then settled in for a nap to ponder the mysteries of the universe.

I can't tell you much about the results of my pondering except that I know now the answer is not 42, as told in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but rather 1104. Sadly, the question remains elusive, but I will nap further on it.

Spring Lambs

The lambing where we go herding is almost done. We in the pack keep begging the people for some sheep of our own. We have dutifully promised to feed them and take them for walks and whatever else sheep need, but the people keep saying it'll be a "few" years. In dog time, that's decades. Please, dog friends, tell my people that they should get us some sheep of our own right now when we really need them.
I mean really--how can the people deny us this in our own backyard?
This little guy was yucking it up by climbing on his mama's back. His twin was being much better behaved.

Here I am working. In the first picture, I'm bringing the sheep to my person. I have a pretty good sense of distance
But, sometimes I'm a little bit too fast.
You can tell that the sheep are confused since one of them is looking at my person and the others are looking at me. If my person were smarter about training me, she could tell me to be slower--but for now, I get to run like the wind.

We on Pippin's blog are going to *try* to blog every day this week. My person has also promised some updated video sometime. Although I like to think of her as lazy, the video is really quite a project since it has to be converted for her M-a-c-i-n-t-o-s-h (whatever that is) to be able to put the sound and the pictures together, so it really does take some time and she does on occasion have to work. Plus, she likes to cut out the bad stuff and that takes time too. But, she has promised--hold her to it, dog blog friends.

Across the Water (Guest Blog)

Greetings, Gentledogs!

Please look at this Sign:

I find it quite Attractive. The red color, the lettering. I am unsure of what it means, however. My people say it is Across the Water where a different Language is spoken. I have older dog Relations from Across the Water, but I do not believe they understand this Language either.

Please look at these Cakes:












Are they not Delicious in appearance? Perhaps even as Tasty as Pizza Crusts? My people say these lovely Cakes are in the same place Across the Water! I wonder if the Sign describes the Cakes as being for Dogs?

Sincerely,
Tansy

Gotta love 'em sometimes

So, even though Fox and I don't see eye-to-eye very often (and I can't believe that Rafe gave Fox his password--but perhaps that is for another day), the wee ones in our house are awfully cute sometimes.

I usually like to make sure that the young dogs know that I am the Queen of the Border Collies and they must bow before me unless I tell them otherwise. Given that we have a Kyzer in the house, now, though, I've changed my strategy just a touch. You know about Kyzers and acts of aggression and Reichs and all. In any case, I don't want to incite any wars over territory or anything like they can be prone to.

So, I've been playing with him and, you know, he's pretty fun. If my people weren't such lame-os, maybe they'd take some video of us and post in on my channel....so many of the other dog-blogging humans do, I don't understand why mine won't. Maybe my complaints will lead to some changes. Keep a watch and see.

ha! ha! ha! (Guest Blog)

Hi! Hi! Hi!

Guess who?? Me, Fox!! Yes, CAT on Dog Blog!! They dint think I could do it! They think I Sleep! Like this!



Just cause they Sleep all day dunt mean I do!

Im Smart! Thats how I got to write here! Last week I tippt over a box of Thin Mints for Rafe! He was so happy he told me his password when I askt. Ha ha ha!

O O. I dont want my dogs to get in trouble cause Im here. My dogs are fun. Better go now. I can sneak on again later!

Fox!

DNN Headline News

My fellow Dogizens

This is Pippin Noodle Moy reporting from Ann Arbor, MI. I've just been handed the opposable thumbs for the next few minutes. Not time for a real newscast, but just enough time for important headlines from Dog News Network:

DNN Headline News

1. Rafe and Fox Double Caper means Thin Mints for All
2. Pippin reaches new Heights sending Pee-mail
3. Kyzer makes it through Big Block Walk unscathed
4. In Landslide, Tansy wins Easter Bark-a-thon and Well-Deserved Bone
5. "Portrait of the Pouter as a Young Dog" author Hamish Braeburn Moy gives Exclusive DNN Interview
6. Person makes Homemade dog Cookies, Dogs eat
7. Fox dumps Junk Basket not once but Five Times before Moved
8. Renzo sleeps in People's Bed and lives to Tell
9. Set Clocks: Agility Class ends this Week
10. Spring Squirrels Require New Tactics and Vigilance. Report soon.

Spring? (Guest Blog)

Greetings Gentledogs!

I have been most perplexed by our weather patterns this season. Last week we were frolicking outside, playing, laughing, enjoying the Warmth and Sunshine. This week we find ourselves frolicking outside, playing, laughing, enjoying the Cold and Snow Flurries. I had been fairly certain we were now to see Flowers rather than Snow Flakes! There are so many Mysteries with Weather. My People have promised we will see Flowers soon, and I do Trust them. They did show me this Photograph of my favorite Flowers, and I would like to share it with you.


Ah, how lovely, do you not agree?

Sincerely,
Tansy

Saving the best for last

Yes, the month of puppy pictures is coming to a close with the grand finale from la belle mademoiselle--me! I graciously let all the other dog members of my pack go first (and I equally graciously spared you the long-drawn out procession of puppy pictures from the people and the kitties!). I knew you would keep coming to the blog to see if *my* puppy pics had shown up yet. Well, dogmates, today is the day.

I had a very hard time deciding on the right pictures because I did an excavation of the Pippin puppy archive about a year ago right here on my blog, and I'm sure that those pictures are still quite fresh in everyone's mind. I wouldn't want to bore you with repeats--but luckily, my puppy archive is vast and expansive. So, without any further ado, here I am in all my young splendor:

First day home, first Kong. Very tiny me after a long trip home from Canada. Though I didn't get sick like Hamish, I did squawk like a seagull the entire way home. Little did my people know what they had signed on for....
Despite being a bit of a diva, I've never been one for soft, cushy beds. Even as a puppy, I would always push them aside
As the first puppy my people had raised, they had a pretty steep learning curve. They let me up on the couch pretty early, but I was too little to get down safely and kind of landed on my head the first time. Boy, did I make noise. None of the subsequent puppies have been allowed on the couch until they could make it up there all on their own. Didn't I look cute up there, though?
Love of snow came early for me. Border Collies have a double coat, so we rarely get too hot or cold--it insulates us in the winter and helps keep us cool in the summer.
This is one of my person's favorite pictures of me.
When my people didn't keep me entertained, I didn't have much trouble finding my own fun
Even if it meant snuffling Fritz
My signature ear stood up when I was 3 mos. old.
And by the time I was 6 mos old, I had my basic "Pippin" structure and look
And Border Collie-esque intensity
The only real difference from now was that my coat hadn't grown in yet. It was in place by about 10 mos.
Finally, just before I turned 1, my people had a professional shot taken of me and Renzo. We sent it into Bark magazine for their smiling dog pictures, but for some unimaginable reason, we weren't chosen, so here it is--an exclusive for my fans. Have you ever seen two happier looking pup-a-dups?

Puppy pics from Rafe (Guest Blog)

Rafe here.

So, puppy pics. Moved here when I was 7 months. No photos of when I was on the farm. These'll do, Pippin says. From my first days here. Still look young, do you think?

Here I'm looking at a garden bed. Missed the poppies blooming, but they'll bloom again this year. Soon.



Hamish is a couple months older than me. He's a pal. We growl around a bit, wrestle, play bitey face. Good dog. Here's us saying hi.



This is a funny picture. I look twice as big as everydog else. (I'm not.) Don't know where Pippin is. She was standoffish at first. We're getting to be friends now that I'm older.



Well, there you have it. Sorry I was late posting. Had a Thin Mint episode this weekend. Best not give details.

Woof,
Rafe

Puppy pics from Miss Tansy (Guest Blog)

Greetings Gentledogs!

Miss Pippin requested that I present an entry about my puppy pictures. Now, she well knows I have no true puppy pictures, but suggested that my earliest pictures with the Flock would suffice. (We heard that handsome Dave of Army of Four had the same situation.) Therefore, I will here show you some of my earlier photographs.

Here is first photograph, with my initial Rescuer. I had not been inside a House before, so I perhaps look a bit uneasy.


Below is an image of me at my Foster Home. I was very camera-shy, so Foster Mother (Bless her) held up one of her Kitties for me to gaze at. You may be able to see a bare spot on my front leg. I was most distressed with boredom and loneliness and limited environment at my initial residence. Such frustration led me to chew my leg fur and, alas, the white end of my tail off.


When I first arrived Home, I considered it best to stay quiet and observe my new Flock. You will notice I was granted my Couch immediately. Perhaps the younger members of my Flock could learn to respect my position now and end their fruitless challenges.


Despite my shy appearance, I was beside myself with joy! Miss Pippin and Sir Renzo and I ran about and played with delight. Miss Pippin and I had a great deal of fun:


At one moment we stopped playing to sing:


I do feel most fortunate to be with my Flock now. To those kind rescuers who helped me on my journey I am forever grateful. My Flock members tell me they are indebted to me for having introduced them to Sheep. It does then seem appropriate for me to end with a close-up photograph of me Working. You may be able to see that my fur is thick and the tip of my tail is white.