It's never too cold for swimmin

I've been kickin it with the short one, my grandogma, and moon dog in Oakridge and for today's adventure food lady (the short one who also feeds me) took me for a run. When we ended up at my favorite stick rescue training location I insisted on a swim. Despite the snow. The ice. The below freezing temperatures... I never said I was a very practical dog. I live in the moment and the fact that this plunge would be followed by 30 more minutes of running in 30 degree temps is only now starting to seem like something I should have thought of before jumping in. *shiver

Blog CPR

Is there anybody out there? Am I talking to myself? If you've left the Wiggly Black Dog fan club I can't say I blame you as the last post was a lot of dog years ago. But, if you're still hanging on I hope that you'll stick around as I'll be posting here once again. The short one deleted her FB account in an effort to look at FB less. Seems to work pretty well so rather than posting stuff on the book of faces I will be keeping folks updated on our shenanigans here once again.

2012 was a year unlike most. The peeps were on the road a lot and I got to go on a couple adventures with them. They both managed to injure their right shoulders. The less tall one broke, dislocated and separated hers in a mountain bike crash and was off her bike all summer. The tall one smashed his into a cliff and refused to go to the doctor but is still dealing with a sore wing. Aside from all the people whining and beer that was involved in their healing they seem ok now.

For a 77 year old dog I'm awesome. Hell, even for a 40 year old dog I'm doing great. Most people think I'm only 4 people years old and I haven't even had any work done (aside from a tiny tail shortening). I'm still going on rides with the peeps, running and chasing things. I have also developed an affinity for all things warm and snugly like dog beds next to woodstoves and people beds filled with people who generally don't approve.

There's lots more but I'll post some more about the biggies. WOOF!

Short one on the move

The short one left town for a month! First stop was my grandogrent's house. I on the other hand have stayed home to assist with important home improvement projects. Don't tell Anna but there are less walls in the house than there were when she left.


Here's my grandogpa snuggling with a strange looking owl.


Grandogma and the short one enjoying the sunset with a glass of wine after swimming all afternoon.


And this is the beautiful view of the high Sierra that she enjoyed while out for a run in Mammoth this evening. I'm pretty jealous but I don't think I would have enjoyed the next stop (Vegas) so much so I'll be kickin it at the house with the boys, rolling in rotten fish and eating hot dogs. THAT'S the life!

I can fly!

I have no photographic evidence of my claim but just ask the short one... in an attempt to rescue a particullarly special stick from it's eminent demise I jumped off a 15 foot high cliff into a river. It turned out to be a bit upsetting as I maintained my usual jumping composure and slapped the water hard with my belly. The short one must have thought it looked fun and decided to jump of the rock which was not good for me as I have been left with the responsibility of making sure nobody drowns. It was a rough evening by the river for me but I did successfully rescue at least 40 sticks and 3 people from the frigid waters of the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River. I'll see if I can get some photos tomorrow but in the meantime, here is a picture of the peeps and I on a bike ride.

Photos from the summer

Here's Paul. Well that's really just his leg covered in insulation from the attic where he's been crawling around fixing things. He moved in with us for the summer to help out with some projects and settle in Hood River or Portland. He is THE BEST! And he gives good belly rubs and feeds me bacon.


It's been a big blueberry season so the short ones got together with Melissa and some even shorter ones to scour the farm for juice blue bombs.


We've also got a garden going! It's a little one but it's a start and the peppers on this plant, while not smelling exceptionally tasty to this dog seem to be a hot commodity around here.


Here's The tall one on a ride through what seems to be a sprouting forest of lupin. I have a feeling that with climate changing soon these flowers are going to replace the trees. They are HUGe!


The short one went on a solo birthday ride (she didn't even bring me!). I thought it seemed strange that she'd pack an ice pack and a beer in her pack but she seems quite pleased to be enjoying it at the top of the climb with the view reflected in her glasses.


That's all I've got for now! I'm headed off to work with the tall one to supervise while he builds trail.

Near death dogsperience.

I almost died last week. For no reason that my people or my vet have been able to pin point I spiked a dangerously high fever, stopped eating and started looking rather drunk. The small one, being the worrier that she is drug me (literally) to the vet where I was poked prodded, injected, drained and cooed over by three very concerned women. While I do like my vet and her assistants, I do not like to go there. It smells like scared animals and illness and I'm always afraid that I might end up getting stuck in there as it seems many others have. In fact, on this trip they tried to keep me overnight but my amazing people know me well enough to know that staying the night would have created more stress than healing. So, I went home and after a couple days of having pills stuffed down my throat I'm doing much better!

Laying in the dirt season

It is officially laying in the dirt season! I love this time of year for a few reasons. One, I generally get to swim a lot. Two, my people shape these lovely dirt piles just for me to lay in. Three, grilling usually leads to dropped food and meat juice.

Being a dog rocks.