Black Dog Diaries

Deuce here.

Mom has provided me with photographic proof that my life is dull.  It resembles beige carpet.

I need something exciting to happen at the Black Dog Diaries.

Mom has been in the studio making art and taking pictures of it.  She gets up on a ladder to get “good overhead shots”.   Aside from it all being rather dull,  I can’t even get in a good nap because the minute I closed my eyes, Mom flashed a bright light in my direction.

I am Deuce. The Studio Dog.

paws,

Deuce

P.S.  I have not yet realized my dream of getting that big rawhide bone outside.  Mom did give me a Kong with a swipe of peanut butter in it.  She made me eat  that  outside.

Mom Loves Me

Leslie here.

We on occasion purchase a bone for the dog.

We have had this one for quite some time, unused, because of wanting to see how Deuce’s new stainless steel tooth would work out.

Lest you think he lies down and consumes the bone, I assure you, he doesn’t. He walks around with it in his mouth, for days, drooling as he goes, looking for some handy place to ‘bury’ the bone for later.

Sometimes he buries it in my hands, knowing that I will take good care of it for him.  Sometimes he just spits it out onto my lap, or on the couch next to me.  Either way, he knows I will watch it very carefully so that no one else will run off with it.

His focus and objective with a new bone is to get it outside so that he can give it a proper burial. Underneath a creosote bush, or next to the patio plants where the ground stays moist are two favored places. His intent is to let the bone “soften up” naturally, with a nice little aging ferment caused by contact with the elements.

Deuce and I work at cross purposes in this regard.  I have no intention of letting him take his bone toy outside to “soften up”.

If it is buried in the yard for a week, it begins to get …well…STINKY.  Of course that is when he thinks it is at it’s best… like his own special recipe of kimchi.

It falls apart like sheets of stinky leather, that flop and smack against his face when he shakes them and prances around with them.  It is his version of doggy stinky slappy rawhide heaven!

That  is when he wants to bring it  into  the house.  That is when I  don’t  want the bone in the house.

Did I mention we are at cross purposes?

So, for the next few weeks, I will have to be vigilant in keeping the bone in the house.  Oh, he will chew on it some, reluctantly, grudgingly, leaving his drooly places on the carpet.

And one day I will not be paying attention, and he will sneak it outside, and the only way I will know it has gone to the ‘dogbone burial place’ is that Deuce will become deliriously happy for no apparent reason, and he will have telltale dirt crusted on his nose.

pause,

Leslie

Leslie here.

I am so sorry. I have not posted on Black Dog Diaries in a long, long time.

I have no excuse.

Deuce is getting his daily walks, getting fed regularly, bathed, brushed, played with, being allowed to jump on the couch occasionally…life is good for the old boy.

I say old, because Deuce is now Two years old.

We don’t know officially when he was born, but we are guessing some time in late July or August.

He has grown to be a very good boy. He is still stubborn, but he gives it up easier. He is still a sock thief, and generally loves any white fabric thing, like a dishtowel or a rag. He gets a funny, far-away look on his face when I fold laundry.

He watches TV when I have The Dog Whisperer on.  He howls with the sirens and the coyotes. He hasn’t caught a rabbit yet, but he keeps hoping.

All in all, life has become pretty regular for Deuce and me.

I no longer fear damage to the house when I go to the grocery store and leave him here by himself. He seems to understand that I will return, and will have food that might belong to him.

Deuce has learned that parts of the house that used to be scary are no longer scary. We have been practicing walking in the house on the leash, into the “scary places” and he’s really gotten good at it. I can almost see him “whistling past the cemetery”.

So for all his good behavior, I have posted a picture of him sucking his thumb.

Well, I don’t know if it can be considered a ‘thumb’, but he sticks his tongue out, and holds the extra pad on the back of his leg with it. I have never seen a dog do this before.

But then I have never met anyone quite like Deuce.

pause,

Leslie

Roof, roof.

Seriously, folks.

It’s a dog blog, and that is a classic dog joke.

Leslie here.

This is Deuce’s new tooth.  We have been working toward this day for a while now.

Deuce had to visit the dog tooth doctor three times, each time going under general anesthetic:  first time to do his pulp removal,  second time to shape his tooth and get the cap form made,  third time to have the stainless steel cap fixed into place.

He was beginning to get the hang of where he was headed by the second trip in the truck, despite the time in between visits.

He had his final visit yesterday, and is well recovered from it after spending the majority of the day sleeping, and then having his picture taken.

He appears to think he looks quite dashing with a special glint to his smile.

I think he looks like a very handsome Deuce!

Glad to have all this behind us!

pause,

Leslie

Deuce here.

Mom decided to make my very own Flickr Mosaic. I think it is almost as handsome as I am!

Here is what to do if you would like to create your own mosaic:

•  Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
•  Using only the first page, pick an image.
•  Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

My answers are:      

1. Deuce   2. dog food  3. dog park school   4. bunny color  5. Lassie         6.water from the hose    7.  sheep herding in Scotland    8. cookies                      9. agility champ    10. socks     11. cute           12. Deuce the Cute

These are the links to the Flickr photos in my mosaic. Many thanks to the photographers who allowed their photos to be used in this meme. I feel honored to have my Mosaic formed from their amazing photographic work. I stronly urge all my visitors to snoop around on these Flickr links, and discover the immense treasure hidden there!

1. 1932 Ford “Lil’ Deuce Coupe”, 2. Dog Food Kaleidoscope, 3. zowie greeting dogs at dog park, 4. Bunny rabbit, 5. Kansas Kollie 10, 6. Picture 101, 7. Sheep May Safely Graze, 8. Q: Is This Dog Cute or What?, 9. TD-Trial-Nov-3-4-060, 10. Rag Thief, 11. Jess, our border collie puppy, 12. puppy yawn - 3 week old Deuce(nka Oliver) has been adopted
 

Leslie Here.

Deuce and I were sitting in the front yard.  He was watching the neighbors have a garage sale.  I was watching him watching them.  I took closeups of his eyes and his paws.  They make good artists reference photos.

pause and paws,

Leslie

Deuce here!

This is Keely.  She pretends that she doesn’t like me.  But she does.  Because I’m so darned cute.

Keely also likes anything with wheels.  When she sees wheels, she acts just like a wheel and goes in circles.

I like Keely. I don’t pretend that I like her, I just do.  Because she’s so darned cute.

paws,

Deuce

Hi everybody! Deuce here, on the Black Dog Diaries!

I am having a problem with Mom.  For some reason, after all this time I’ve taken training her, she has decided that I am not allowed to lunge after bunnies when we take our walks !  She said something about me “pulling her arm out of the sock something”, but I do not see that she has an arm sock, or whatever it is she doesn’t want me to do.

So I have decided that from now on, when we take walks, I’ll do what she wants, but then I am  not going to look at her  for the duration.

I heard that guy on TV say “no eye contact, no talking”, so that is what I am going to do to her… until we get home… and she tells me I am such a  good boy  for not lunging at bunnies… and she has that yummy dinner ready for me… and… and a cookie, too?? 

 Mom!  You’re the greatest!  I am  a good boy, aren’t I?

Paws,

Deuce

Leslie here, with a much needed update to the Black Dog Diaries.

Deuce had a good checkup at the dentist’s, and is scheduled to have his tooth cap put on in early June. I will report the results and post some pictures after the fact.

Deuce remains totally rambunctious, and full of mischief, but what else is new? He howls when sirens go by, and tries to outdo the local pack of coyotes when they get to “singing”.  He helps me fold laundry, and accompanies me from room to room, all day, just in case I might have something he would like to eat. I haven’t lost any shoes to his chewing lately, but then again, I have learned a new trick called “don’t leave your shoes where Deuce can get them.”

Deuce is growing up.   He will be two years old sometime around the end of August.  It is a ‘guesstimate’ for his age, but I think it’s about right.  He still has lots of ‘puppy’ in him, and I don’t think that will ever go away. It’s his personality. But I can see him paying attention better to what I say, and I see him finding that trying to be obedient is to his advantage.  He is a good boy.

I’ll make sure to post as soon as this tooth thing is behind us. For right now, we are just trying to stay ahead of the hot weather by walking very early in the AM, and hanging around in the house for the rest of the day. Really boring stuff.

Oh… and singing with  the coyotes!

pause,

Leslie