Ginger gets in a jam

Ginger is out of commission after misbehaving on her walk with wolfieboy two days ago. She disappeared for 10 mins, and eventually came home looking very sheepish and practically crawling into the house.

Wolfieboy thought nothing of it, but that night as I watched them, I noticed a little speck of red on her foot. Oh no, did they have another altercation??

I lift up her leg to inspect and to my horror discovered a bloody gash on the inside of her leg near the armpit. 

Ginger!!!

Luckily I still had lots of the painkiller and some antibiotics left from her misunderstanding with Larry, so I gave her those, and watched as she limped to her dinner. I put some antiseptic cream on it, and decided to see what we should do in the morning.

Morning brought with it a more gaping wound. I had a better look, and it seemed the gash cut through the skin, but not through muscle.

We decided to take her to the Vet. Wolfieboy took her out and I went to work.

The vet suggested we put a bandage around it, and that it would take about a month to properly heal. She advised against stitches as she'd had another dog come in recently with a similar wound, and the stitches had torn out, based on the fact that the site was a very active one. i.e. they run around so much it's not really suitable for stitches.

That's fine, I think. Except I then come home to this..

 

Talk about overkill. the smiley faces on the yellow fibreglass whatsit just makes it even more ridiculous looking. 

For a gash that's about 2cm long, the crop top is just a bit extreme, if you ask me.

It's going to be an interesting week with Ginger confined to the house.

Larry the camera hog

Taking the dogs on their daily walk makes for tricky photography when both are on lead. Ginger seems to be raring to run off at the moment (she made a dash for it AFTER our walk, and I had to go chase her down from the driveway. Ignored me too... little brat..).

These shots are taken back in the pen after our walk. I tried to fire them up and have a play so I could get some shots of them together, but all Larry did was follow me around. Even when I started chasing him around, he just growled at me. Ginger in comparison tried to play and even barked at Larry, "COME ON!! LET'S PLAY!" and all Larry did was follow me. sheesh.

I want prime time camera time, mummy!

 Yes, I know, Larry Boy.

Wait.. am I in trouble?

No, you're not in trouble, Larry. I just wish I could get more shots of you and Ginger together..

Why would you want pics of Gingery Girl, when you can just have lots of pictures of me, me, me?!

Look, I can give you Blue Steel.

I can smile..

AND, I give a mean profile shot..

Ginger: My ears are burning. Are you guys talking about me?!

Larry: Chill out Ginger. I'm with my Love. We don't need you..

 Umm.. incorrect, Larry.

Larry: You say that, but you don't mean it. I think I'm just going to lie at your feet and wait till you come to your senses..

Cross dressing, laundry renovations and a morning escapade

I awoke this morning to the sound of a squeal of protest. By now I have learnt that if I hear any kind of rumblings in the laundry in the morning that it's wise to get in there sooner rather than later...

I dragged myself up to open the laundry door and was surprised to discover I couldn't actually open the door. I had to really push. Is Larry stuck against the door perhaps? I thought.

Nope, it was one of my laundry baskets. Uh-oh.. not a good sign.

And true to form, after I let the dogs out into the yard, this is the disaster zone I was met with:

On the plus side there was no wee on the floor despite not doing anything when let out before bedtime.

On the downside, wolfiepup's fairy dress (the pink concoction in the bottom left corner) is a wreck. I thought it had made it, but in fact the bottom is torn up.

Her bib is also destroyed (the blue plastic scattered across the floor), but that's fine. She hasn't used it for at least a year, so it just needed one more wash before being put away. Well, that solves that problem.

Toilet paper was the main victirm.

The floor also smelt of vinegar from the bottle on the floor. There are no puncture marks, so I take it it simply leaked a bit from lying on the floor and being squashed.

Perhaps the doggies were deciding that the state of my laundry was not up to scratch, and that they wanted their bedding aired out?

But I think the main reason for the Destruction, was because Larry wanted to try on wolfiepup's fairy dress but Ginger wouldn't let him - hence the squeal I heard.

It's nice when girls look out for each other.

After sorting out the laundry I climbed back into bed and tried to drift off to the sound of the wolfies rumbling in the yard. Ah, serenity...

But after a while, the pounding of paws on rock stopped and all was quiet. I didn't like the sound of that at all. Wolfieboy didn't seem too fussed, and I was too tired to get up. Half an hour later, wolfieboy got up to investigate. Only to discover that my suspicions were correct, and the wolfies had in fact gone for a wander...

Up I go, leads in hand to trek up the hill, prepared to do our usual walk to see if they had run off in that direction. Not 5 mins on the hill crying out "Larry!" "Ginger!" and up bounds Larry. Crawls through the wombat crawl space and sits promptly for me. Good boy!!

I send him down to wolfieboy, and go back up to look for Ginger. A few minutes later, she bounds up also.

*sigh*

So much drama for one morning.

Both look like they're in good nick. I think they spotted a roo on the other side of the pen and bounded out to chase them. Ginger's notorious for chasing. And she's passing on her bad habits to Larry. Wolfieboy found where they got out, so at least there's that. Another spot to patch up.

They were in the neighbouring paddock, and we were worried about the neighbour's sheep. But both dogs don't look like they found anything, so that's a relief.

It's also good to know that Larry is just as keen as Ginger to come home. I guess that's a silver lining, of sorts.

I'm glad they came back so quickly upon hearing me yell for them. It may have been timing and they were already headed back (wolfieboy had been calling from the verandah), or they were simply close by.

They are now chilling in the yard sunbaking. Ah, the dog's life...

Cuddling together

A week in, and Larry and Ginger are finally willing to share a bed together.

The shot took me a few goes but finally got the flash cooperating. Larry growled at me in protest, after 5 goes. Fair enough, really. Who wants someone flashing a bright light at you during down time, anyway??

Larry: Sheesh, mum. Aren't you done already??
Ginger: You'll get used to it. She does stuff like this ALLL the time..

When kelpie queens and wolfies mix..

Ruby the Kelpie came to visit for a playdate today.

Her main aim was to knight the wolfies.

Queen Ruby: I dub thee...

 Although the dignity of the occasion didn't last for long, and Larry started his womanising ways..

Larry: Nice shoes you've got there, Queen Ruby..

And Ruby started to feel perhaps they weren't taking her seriously..

Ginger: Such a nice shiny coat. I wonder where I could get one.
Larry: You're right, Gingey Girl. It's pretty smooth..

Larry and Ginger: And what's that smell? Royalty sure smells nice..

Ruby: Right, that's it. You guys are DEFINITELY not taking me seriously. I'm outta here.

Larry: Aww, c'mon, Rubes! Loosen up..

Ruby: Loosen up?! I'll show you loosening up...

 And then all bets were off..

Larry: Whoa, you're a fiesty little thing, aren't you?

 

Ginger: Whoa, don't forget about me! I want in on the action too!

During a break Ginger starts to make moves on Ruby's boss.

Ginger: Hiya, you offering scratches today?

Larry spots the action and is quick to move in.

Larry: You snooze, you lose Gingery Girl

 Ruby spots what's going in and weighs in.

Ruby: Hey, hey. I thought we were here to play with ME. Not my boss. Paws off. He's mine!

Ginger: Aww what? Not much of a sharer, are you?

Ruby: Not when it comes to my Boss, no.

Ginger: These little dogs... always so possessive..

Ginger: Alright, Miss Ruby. Let's go again then!

Ruby: That's more like it!

Ruby: whoa, guys! Calm down!

Larry: What? We're just starting!

Ruby: You gotta play nice, y'know!
Ginger: Oi.. here we go again..

Cheese is all you need...

So Larry isn't great on lead. He starts off pulling strong, but eventually settles down. 

Part of our routine is to make the dogs sit if they pull. 

In our house, the best course of action is, "if in doubt, sit." 

Unfortunately, Larry hasn't learnt that memo yet.

Larry: What?! You are making accusations, mummy. And I am completely, and utterly innocent.
I do not know what you are talking about..

We would go on a walk, and the 'sit' command was hit and miss. Sometimes he'd do it. Other time he'd refuse. 

I'd bring along dog food as a reward, put it above his nose/head, raise it and say the magic words, "Sit."

A few times I'd get lucky and he'd do it. But there were just as many times when he'd turn his nose away as if to say, I don't want that stuff. And refuse to sit. 

I even had to half force feed him the dog food pellet a few times when he did sit. Shove it in the side of your mouth. Seriously!? Is this a joke?!

I was a little flabberghasted and frustrated at his stubborness. 

I ask you, what kind of a dog refuses food?!

I was starting to wonder if perhaps it was time I reenrolled in doggy obedience classes.

I spoke to his foster carer today asking what treats were used for his training, as apparently he was promptly sitting by Day 2. WTF! We've had him for a week now, and he's still not doing it every time.

Apparently it was cheese, liver treats and dog food.

So off I went to raid the fridge. All I had was vintage gouda. Talk about spoilt puppy dog.

I cut it all up, and put it in my pocket and went out.

"Sit", I say, as I hold the lead in front of them, bracing myself for the worst.

Magically, he sat. 

Larry: I sit all the time, mummy. See????

I didn't even have to get out the cheese!! 

WTF Larry!!! 

Shaking my head, I put the leads on and went for a walk.

Straight out of the gate he was dragging me out. Desperate for freedom.

"Sit!" I cried.

He sat.

WTF!!

She is making *such* a big deal about this. I don't know why. Every one sits, right?
Even my foster mummy said I did great sits. What's the big deal??

 We did it twice again to make sure I wasn't dreaming. To be fair, I didn't ask him to sit for the sake of sitting. He was still pulling really hard!

By the end of the walk, there was only once when I actually had to reward him with cheese. For the rest of it, he sat every time I asked.

 The moral of the story?

Larry does not take me seriously unless I have cheese in my pocket.

My mummy is *such* a drama queen.

Playing with toys..

I bought Ginger a chew toy a few weeks back in an attempt to keep her busy as a lonely dog. That, and I'd seen her throw a plastic container around the yard and chase it.

I'd fill it up with peanut butter and she'd spend a while licking it, but was never too intent on it. Sometimes it was completely random as to when she'd show interest, and when she'd turn her nose up at it. It was completely random. Thank goodness I didn't spend the big money on a Kong...

Larry: What's she doing there?! Am I missing out?

Oh come on Larry. You're a wolfhound. You're not interested in chew toys...

But that one has peanut butter in it! I just KNOW IT!