Tuesday Afternoon

It was a good day yesterday !  Thanks to John all of our property is now fenced in.  Not that our dogs couldn't jump over the fence but they don't seem especially interested in running away from us.  I think of it as more of a deterrant to running off and they're never outside without supervision anyway. When all of the crew here runs around there is always a need for a playground monitor. And after serving as playground monitor there is always a need for a change of clothes. It was no exception yesterday.  With the warmer days the dogs love to enjoy the pond and our kennel guest the Bullet Man loves it more than any of the others! He can entice them all to spend more time in the water as he swims from side to side, looking back and forth as if to say "come on in, the water's grand!"  We are trying to decide if it is to be a field trial weekend or a hunt test weekend for Bullet, True, and Jack.   I'm leaning toward the HT myself but it will depend on how many entries in the Maine Bird Dog Club's trial and right now it's not looking that great. Anyway a good part of yesterday included much needed special time between Scooby and me.  On the 4th anniversary of losing his sire, we just spent a lot of time reminding each other of how much we love each other. Sounds funny maybe. But it's true.  It is absolutely possible to give each Brittany here a special part of our day and sometimes it's just necessary to give one dog a whole lot more.  And so it was with Scooby - only it wasn't the dog who needed the company and attention, it was me.  He knew it too.  And happily obliged me by stretching out on the couch and snuggling under my chin.  Kind of cool, Treasure and Pippin acknowledged somehow what was going on - and accomodated me by getting soaking wet in the pond and in need of crate time drying off in their blankets. This left the afternoon to Scooby - in between time spent with Molly and babies.  Before I go any further, I want to be sure to confess that what we have going on here is in no means fancy or grand. I always worry that someone reading our blogs and then coming to meet us for the first time will be gravely disappointed to discover how simple things really are here.  And sometimes how muddy and wet too, not to mention the dog hair.  Yesterday, there was dog hair flying everywhere because it was Scooby who was 'furminated.'  We could have outfitted a whole new dog as a matter of fact.

I shared with the pups owners in a recent email about introducing them to their second (or is it their third) new surface.  "...I'm happy with the weight of these pups, very nice sizes - not too big and not too small. They are perfectly delightful and beginning to respond to my touch more each day. Today I took a small carpet pad made of a little rougher material and placed it in a far corner. Then when I returned each pup from weighing, placed them on the opposite side of this pad, in the corner. They could choose several directions to find their way back to the 'puppy' pile on the other side of their box. It was fun to watch them. Some used the parameter of the box itself to scoot around to the other side. Others crawled right over the mat without issue as if on a mission. Still others wanted nothing to do with the pad but did use the outside edge of it to navigate. This is just one of the many things I will do with them in the weeks to come. Mostly the are loving the cuddling the handling; it's funny to feel the difference in the strength of each pup; some want to simply snuggle up in your hand, then another will squirm and wiggle and want to be on the go. Others are in the middle but ALL are showing me how smart they are!"

Molly is getting into her own little routine here too, which is quite different than Treasure's was earlier this year.   Her schedule includes an early morning bathroom outing with a quick trip to find where I am.  Today she ran through the house and discovered me on the couch with Pippin and Treasure.  Those two suddenly jumped off in unison when they saw Molly as if to yield right of way and then, plop!  Molly landed right on my chest and lay there grinning (remember I said she smiles) down on me. John fixed Miss Molly Rose her special breakfast and enticed her to join him back where her pups where.

The Brittany mobile has come out of storage from the winter.  I keep going back and forth about whether or not I want to sell it or not.  It's been so much fun to have to travel to the dog shows and also have ABC meetings in. Great times with not only John but with our friends and their dogs too at field trials and at dog shows.  Anyway, today John repaired the vent over the bathroom.  Somehow it got broken the last time it was used.  Trying to think back to when that was... probably at a fall field trial in 2010, and maybe someone forgot to close it before heading out of the grounds, and maybe it could have hit on a pine tree branch that was hanging low along the road out of the grounds.. but I really don't know for sure. I'm just glad John discovered it before the snow fell.  I love the Brittany mobile, we can fit up to 6 crated dogs in it - that doesn't leave room for very many people though to visit and enjoy snacks and beverages. But then if you have friends who also bring their campers along, and invite you to their camper it all works out...  So I'm smiling because I really think we should keep the Brittany mobile - don't you?  But if we sold it... we could spend money on hotels and entry feels for the events we do want to participate in. Although now with the truck and the dog campertop, we can fit more people and more dogs.  I have forgotten what it was like to vacation without our 4 footed friends. I am not complaining.  Over the years John and I have enjoyed vacations with and without our children that included a Mexican Riviera Carnival Cruise (I won it!), several week long vacations in Florida on the beach and also at Disneyworld, Canada trips, England, Kentucky, and then I went to Israel while he's been out of the country on caribou trips and then I would travel with friends to various conferences across the country. This was was all in between our first and our second litter of Brittanys, which spans 15 years.  But as I've said - now we live in the middle of 13 lakes and each weekend we see folks going by with their boats (we've had those before too) motorcycles, campers, etc. headed to camp and we look at each other. Look at the dogs. Look at the vacationers. Look at the dogs. Look at the lakes. Look at the boaters.  I look at my canoe though, then we look at each other, smile and say - we're very okay with our lives. Very okay indeed! And that's all she wrote this fine day.

Take care and God Bless you always, John, Ann and ATB

PS Morgen has had her puppies - Dawn called and left a very tired message.