Mud No Mud

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

We live in a place where the weather is MUD for more than half of the year.

I am a Black Dog. My fur hides the mud. 

Cobi was a Brown Dog. Her fur hid the mud. (Except for her paws, which were light and always told on her when she'd been wading in mud puddles.)

Pepper was a Black Dog. His fur hid the mud.

But Cyrus is a Mostly-White Dog.

What was our person thinking???

Friends, I don't think you can see the level of the problem. Cyrus' legs are BROWN MUD. Cyrus' tummy is BROWN MUD. Cyrus' chest is BROWN MUD.

Even the top of his head has brown mud on it!

But here's the thing... It only takes about three hours, and then Cyrus is dry and the mud is GONE.

How does that happen? I still have mud on ME! Where did Cyrus' mud go?

(Our person says that Cyrus has a coat like a silken windhound, which means that his coat is like something called teflon... whatever that is. When he dries, all the mud falls off!)

(Our person also says that this is why we have the weird-vacuum-robot-thing that goes around the house in circles, sucking up the dirt and mopping the floors!)

The trick is...

When we go for a Walk at muddy-grass-big-fields-and-then-lake, we stop to do a Trick.

This Trick is very simple. Right now Lake is very full. There are people-benches that normally are on dry land, but right now these people-benches are out in the water. This is because Lake is too full.

Here is the trick. Our person wades out to a bench. She stands on it. We wade out too, in the cold, over-full lake. We put our paws up on the back of the bench. We get treats.

But here is the trick. Our person tells us that this is Fun, and Training. But we know the truth! The truth is this: After our walk through muddy-grass-big-fields, we are muddy-dogs. By getting us to wade into the Lake, our person is washing off all of our mud!

She thinks she is very clever. She thinks she has tricked us. But we know the truth!

So why do we do it? Why do we let her wash off all of our lovely, stinky, sticky mud? Because there is Cheese involved, of course!!

Special guests on Walk

Before we left for SNOW, we had two very special Walks. These Walks were special because we brought FRIENDS!

This is Simon!

And this is Dixie!

Simon and Dixie's people were away in a place called Hawaii. Apparently it is warm there, and there are palm trees, but I don't understand why the people would want to go there when they could have stayed at home and walked with our friends in the Mud and the Rain?

People are strange. But it was good for us, because we got to Walk with our friends!

Our little car was very full. Ojo and I were in our usual spot in the very back, Dixie had a crate on the back seat. That left Simon up front with our person. This was not fair - I wanted to ride up front! But for some reason our person always separates me and Simon by a row of seats. Otherwise we whine and poke at each other. But what is wrong with that?

(Simon liked being up front. And my person says do not worry, she was not driving when she took this picture.)

Dixie needed to stay on a leash because sometimes she smells a bunny or a squirrel and forgets to come back. Our person didn't want to take the chance of losing her, so she had to stay on the leash when she was with us.

But all four of us were very polite, and very good listeners! It helped that our person brought cheese.

This is me and Simon. Isn't Simon handsome??

We had some wonderful Walks with our friends! Maybe Simon and Dixie's people will go away to the palm trees again sometime soon?

I don't understand!

What do you mean I am not allowed inside?

I have just finished my Walk! It is time for my water bowl and my comfy warm bed.

Hello? My person? I want to go in! Why won't you let me in??

Wet and Muddy Dogs

This is our Forest!

This week Nature has been making much rain, and the rain is making much mud. It is also making streams and rivers where there are normally paths to walk upon.

But do not worry! We are West Coast Dogs! We are tough! We do not mind Rain! (Well, I do not like rain in my eyes. I also do not like to pee on wet grass. But other than that I am a tough West Coast Dog! And Ojo doesn't mind anything at all.)

The good thing about this is that whenever we get thirsty there is much fresh water to drink from.

The bad part is that our person makes us do many towel wipes.

Our person says, "You are wet, muddy, stinky dogs!"

I do not think this is very nice. Do you? After all, she is a wet, muddy, stinky human, but I do not say that to her, now do I?

No, this is not a stream. This is the path up the hill! It is a good thing we are waterproof Dogs!

Hero Dog and the threat of the horrible-terrible-nogood-verybad-bath

I am Wild! I am Wolf! I am Majestic Dog!

Today we went to Uplands Park. There was water and mud and rocks, and decaying things from Fall and growing things from Spring. I felt very wild today.

My person brought her big-black-eye. She pointed it at many things.

And she kept saying this:
Jacobi, you are in the way. Please move!

What does this mean? What are you looking at, Momma B? Can I see too?

A flower? That's boring.

I cannot hold big-black-eye because my paws are not good for holding people-things. But here is me and my person together.

Wait Momma B... What do you mean I'm in the way again? How am I in the way?

While Momma B played with her big-black-eye, I decided to be Good Dog and stay out of the way. I made friends with Stick instead.

On our way back to Car something happened. My person took us in a different way and we were lost. The ground was very deep mud. There was water too, sometimes halfway up my legs.

My person made many funny sounds. I don't think I'm allowed to write these sounds because they are bad.

But I had fun! I played in the water. I ran back and forth and back and forth making big splashes! I leaped over a raging river! I bravely led Momma B back to where we left Car. I was Hero Dog!

I was also Mud Dog...

Wait... What do you mean by the word "bath"...
You wouldn't put your Hero Dog into the horrible-terrible-nogood-verybad-bath, would you?

Momma B and I reached a compromise. When we got home I had "hose off". Which is yucky, but still better than Bath.

After all, I am Hero Dog! I am Majestic Dog! I am Wild Wolf!

And I am so very happy that Nature is making Spring for us!

Wordless Wednesday 01/25/12 - after a run in the mud and rain

Wetness, a new friend and tasty desserts

Today was wet.

We went to a place with people and dogs. I looked through all the dogs for Raven, but she wasn't there.

So I made a new friend. His name was Sidney.

Tonight the people had a very tasty dinner. First there was salmon. After the salmon there was ice cream. The people had big scoops.

What about for me?

Then Momma C put something on the ground. There was a little bit of the wonderful ice cream in the bottom, and more all over the sides.

Is this really for me? Please-please-please don't be joking!

I can take it?!? Really??!??

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum...

Yum yum yum yum yum...

Yum...

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum...

Oh thank-you Momma C!

Mud and friends

Mud and friends! Brodie, Simon and Teddie.

Playing, running, sniffing. Fun. Water and mud.

Oh yeah. I found Momma B's shirt in the woods too. I am so very amazing.

World under water and sniffing day

Today the world was full of water.

And it was raining. And it was muddy.

But it was still very much fun. The water keeps smells fresh for my nose. There were many dogs running and walking and playing. I went fishing for things floating in the water. I like this game.

These are called ducks. There were lots and lots of ducks, and one swan.

My person tells me that the ducks are getting ready to make baby ducks because they are all hanging out in pairs. I wonder how that works?

She also tells me that this means that spring is coming. I hope it comes soon. I am getting tired of the muddy world.

I liked to look at the ducks, but I didn't chase them. I am Good Dog.

Today was also Sniffing Day. I have a confession. When I was following the trail of the person I was supposed to be finding, I could also smell where there were rabbits in the bushes. So I went in and out of the bushes, checking both the smell of the rabbits and the trail of the person who was lost. I can do two things at once! And I still found the person of course.

Leader says "Jacobi's transitions are very good". My person tried to explain this to me. Apparently this means that when the track of the lost person moves from one thing to another, like from bushes to trail, or trail to field, that I don't get lost. I'm not sure why they think I would get lost?

Here is Molly working today. Leader says that Molly is very good at is turns.

And here is Simon.

Simon's person says that next time she will take the big-black-aggressive-eye, also called "camera", and make pictures of me working. So maybe next time I can show you how well I Sniff.