...a fermented rawhide bone!

Well, Mom turned her back for just a second, and I got that brand new rawhide bone outside.  I buried it in a “secret place”, under the creosote bush just behind the wall.   Don’t tell her. 

Then I forgot about it.

One day after a rain, I smelled something… well… something.

So I dug it up! 

It was The Rawhide Bone! All soggy and floppy and smelly, just like I like it!

So I brought it out to show Mom, so that in the future she could see that this  is what I’m looking for when she goes to the dogtoyfood store. 

While I appreciate those nice clean hard rawhide bones she brings home, this is really what I want.

Flava!!

 paws,

Deuce

PS  Leslie here. Deuce did manage to get that rawhide bone outside, buried it, and he now periodically digs it up, goes crazy tossing it around and dancing around it. Then re-buries it until he decides to dig it up and dance with it some more.

He is hilarious.

We are getting some good mileage out of this rawhide bone. He hasn’t tried to bring it in the house, because I think he thinks I might throw it away.

He’s right. I would.

Leslie

Deuce visits with Shaun Sheep, who is here in Tucson as part of his Mr. Shaun’s, Mr. Fox’s and Mrs. Polar Bear’s World Domination Tour.

You’ll just have to read all about it on Leslie’s Photostream on Flickr.

Leslie

What shoe?  I don’t see a shoe.  You must be mistaken. 

 Aren’t these things used as headrests?  They’re not?!  Really?

  They go on your feet ?  When you take a walk??

 I didn’t know that.  Learn somethin’ new every day!

Deuce here.

Well, Mom finally took me to the Dog Park! It’s about time!

The weather has been cooler in the mornings, and she said she needed more pictures for the Black Dog Diaries, and I agreed!  I am highly handsome, but the black and white theme of Me and more Me was needing some color!

So here is some dog park color for all of you dog blog fans out there.

Yaaa cooler weather!

paws,

Deuce

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.

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