Sun spot snooze

Two-on-a-mat doesn't happen often at our house, but it looks like a thin sliver of sun and one bed was enough to push them over the edge to snuggling.

National news

Another happy NBC Today Show feature that made the application of my eye make-up rather difficult this morning (original story and video can be found here) …

Dog gone! Lost beagle back after 5 years, 850 miles

Rocco’s owner is now 11;
‘I was scared I’d never see him again,’ she says

By Bob Considine / TODAYShow.com contributor

Five years ago, a heartbroken 5-year-old girl from Queens, N.Y., was hanging posters for the return of her lost beagle. Today, after years of wishes, little Natalie Villacis has been miraculously reunited with her beloved dog Rocco after he resurfaced some 850 miles away in Georgia — proving that every dog owner can have their day.

“I was actually scared that I was never going to see him again,” the now 11-year-old Natalie told TODAY’s Ann Curry on Wednesday. “I literally said, ‘I will probably never see him again.’ ”

Cristina Villacis, Natalie’s mother, said the family was shocked to get a call last week from a shelter in Hinesville, Ga., informing them that their long-lost pup had been found after half a decade. Thanks to a microchip implanted in the dog, an effective form of permanent identification, Natalie’s greatest hopes had been realized.

To help fill the aching void left by Rocco, the family got another dog a year after the disappearance — Bonita, a poodle from Ecuador. But even another wagging tail in the household could not fully erase Natalie’s heartache. “She got over it, but she was always wishful that he’d come back,” Cristina Villacis said. “She’d always make wishes.”

A surprise call
Although she was barely a pup herself at the time, Natalie had no problem remembering the joy of getting a new puppy named Rocco. “I was really excited,” she told Curry.

But one fateful day in 2003, after just two months in the Villacis household, the beagle slipped under a fence and ran off.

The family searched high and low, checked with neighbors and local authorities and posted flyers. But the only thing that remained of Rocco was his little red toy — and the memory of the joy he brought Natalie.

“She was very devastated,” Cristina said. “She kept his toy. She had a scrapbook with his picture.”

Then, on July 5, while Natalie was at a block party, the family received a call from Liberty County, Ga., Animal Control.

“We were so surprised,” Cristina said. “At first, of course, we thought, ‘It’s the wrong dog. It can’t be.’ But I think the turning point was when they said, ‘His name is Rocco.’ Right there, we said, ‘OK, it’s ours.’ ”

When her mom told her the amazing news, Natalie just “cried hysterically,” Cristina said. “She actually wanted to go to Georgia to pick him up, but the ride back was too long.”

A long leash
Natalie’s father, Jorge, and older brother, Nick, flew down to Georgia to pick up Rocco and drove the dog back home in a rental car.

“I was so choked up when I saw him,” Nick said. “It was a very nice moment, just to see him. He was doing well. He looked well-kept.”

Randy Durrence, supervisor at Liberty County, Ga., Animal Control, said Rocco had only a cut under his left eye and a spot behind one ear to show for his years on the road when he was brought in by someone who found him at a local military base. After the dog was scanned for a microchip, which Durrence says is “normal procedure,” he gladly made the call to the Villacis household.

“[Jorge] said he had been missing for five years,” Durrence said. “My understanding is that [Natalie] ran off into the bathroom and started crying right away. She is a real animal lover.”

How Rocco actually got all the way to Georgia from New York remains a mystery.

“Somebody must have taken him there; I honestly don’t think he walked there,” Cristina said with a laugh. “It’s OK, as long as we have him back.”

Durrence said no one came to claim the dog before the Villacis family, and that no one called to report this type of dog missing. But whoever it was that looked after Rocco over five long years has the lifelong gratitude of a little girl in Queens.

“Too bad we couldn’t meet them or see them,” Natalie said wistfully.

…

The New York Post also did a wonderfully sweet story and video covering Natalie and Rocco's heartwarming reunion, followed by an appropriate message regarding the importance of microchipping.

In a single bound

Marvin is always up to something. What is his newest exploit?

He's gotten himself expelled from doggy day care. Yes, expelled!

While we were away in Door County, Diesel and Marvin spent a day and a half at day care while Wendy was at work. When I saw her name on my cell phone's caller ID Friday afternoon, I knew it would be a beagle update since she would have just picked them up.

"We have a situation." (Insert two-second pause which felt like five minutes.) "Don't worry, everyone's okay," Wendy said. (Insert huge sigh of relief.)

"The day care people don't think Marvin should come back anymore."

Gulp.

The first thing that crossed my mind was that he played too roughly with the other dogs. He is a rough and tumble kind of animal ...

But that wasn't it at all.

Marvin, our vertical dog, figured out how to jump the four-foot gates! He jumped the gate to the enclosure that he and Diesel were in and then proceeded to jump the gate that separated the lobby from the front entrance. If someone would have entered the front door he could have run away ... and that is where the problem lies. They don't feel that they can ensure his safety if he can so unexpectedly hop the gates, therefore Marvin and the day care are no longer a good match.

When Wendy told me that was the reason I just had to laugh, although I was a little shocked. So entirely Marvin!

The owner of this daycare is very nice – in fact I haven't spoken to her about this yet and I would like to hear her take on the situation. What I especially liked about this place was that you could check on your pups via web cam. One day, while at work, I captured this screen grab.

Note the speckled beagle practicing his vertical techniques at the back gate. It was only a matter of time.

Dramatic pixelized close-up of offending speckled beagle.

In all honesty we don't use doggy day care on a regular basis anyway so we weren't stuck in a tight situation. The good news is there is a brand new day care opening up next Monday right between my work and home. Actually, it's an overnight pet service that is expanding to day care and the owners of this place are very nice as well. When I tour their shiny new facility next week I will be sure to keep them well informed of Marvin's talents. Hopefully they are equipped to handle a pogo stick type of dog!

The best of times

The last two weeks were a whirlwind of excitement and happiness as Mark's Mum and her boyfriend, Kim, flew over the big pond from England to visit us! It was hard for Mark and I to believe they hadn't met the beagle boys yet, but the last time they flew over the pond was September 2005 – a whole three and a half months before we adopted Diesel. Marvin was a just a twinkle in our eyes way back then.

Mum and Kim very much loved their beagle dog grandchilds and the dog grandchilds very much loved them. There were extra morning walks to the gas station to get a newspaper and lots of extra pets and kisses between the eyes.

…

So Mum and Kim arrived two Sundays ago and, since that day, time flew and so much fun was had. We did more in those two weeks than Mark and I attempt in six months!

We had a grand reunion dinner with my mom and dad, sister and brother-in-law, and niece and nephews at a favorite new restaurant we discovered on the river.

…

We explored Door County for four days. This time the beagle boys stayed home under the loving care of their dog aunt and uncle, Wendy and Shane. They were very happy boys.

In Door County, we lounged and shopped in Fish Creek.

Contemplated what to do next in Baileys Harbor …

Took a ferry to Washington Island for the day …


where we spent time with ostriches …

said hello to a brown bear named Honey …

fed adorable goats …

had coffee at our favorite island coffee house, Red Cup …

skimmed stones and posed for photos at Schoolhouse Beach …


had lunch – and of course beer – at historic Nelsen's Hall …

followed by a chaser of Bitters – oooeeee!

We are now officially members of the Bitters Club and are recorded in the book.

After the Bitters, we climbed 156 stairs to the top of the lookout point before heading back to the mainland.

Once back in Gills Rock at our friends' wonderful cottage we rented, we toasted Door County with red wine.

…

On our return to Milwaukee we continued to eat, drink (including a brewery tour), and be merry. This sorbet Mum and I had for lunch one afternoon was unforgettable!

We also had visitors – Wendy, the beagles' dog aunt, and her mom, Nancy.

After some talking and laughing, the girls did a silly dance.

…

Fourth of July weekend we spent in Chicago. The first night we stayed in Elmhurst, outside of Chicago, enjoying an evening with a friend of Kim's and his family. Kim and Colin did a four-mile run on the morning of July 4. To our surprise, the family had a beagle so we felt right at home!



And then on to Chicago where we walked all around …

as well as soaked our feet at Millennium Park …

and napped under skyscrapers.

…

And then the visit was over as quickly as it began when we took our beloved family back to O'Hare for their long flight home.

On to looking forward to our next visit – this time Mark and I going to England.

Thank you, Mum and Kim, for making the trip. We loved having you! xxx

Dead squirrel eater and wet nose

Quick (gross) Marvin story:
Yesterday the boys and I started out on our morning walk when I saw our neighbor with the fenced yard outside. Since I had taken the day off of work I stopped and asked her if I could release the beagles in her yard to run around with her two black labs. There really wasn't much running around – more snouting the new turf and eating salad (grass).

I lost sight of Marvin for a good couple of minutes so we started to look around for him. There is a section of the yard that's overgrown with bushes and weeds and that's where we heard his jingling tags. No amount of calling would get him out so I ducked into the brush, dodging mosquitos as I went, to discover him chomping away on something dead. When we made eye contact he realized I meant business as I called him and he slowly made his way out to the yard still holding the dead thing. It was a decomposing squirrel – and it had to go. I carefully pried his jaw open without touching his prize and to the ground it fell. I had my neighbor hold his collar as I took a garbage bag and picked it up dog poop-style. Ewww eww ewww. As he was rather obsessed with the overgrown area after that and the dogs weren't really interacting with one another anyway, we left and took our walk.

Once home, Marvin scurried off to hide under their window seat. When he started to make a regurgitating sound I shuffled him outside in a hurry. He sat out on his tie out, not doing a thing, so I let him be for a bit. Ten minutes later I visited my boy and there he was, head hidden under our outdoor fireplace guarding his fine pile of regurgitated squirrel. Ugh. I was actually thrilled that he had done that and that the pile was rather huge because I felt comfortable letting him back in the house again and even more comfortable knowing that was no longer in his little body. So I got to pick up dead squirrel a second time in the same day. Dogs and their vices.

Quick (sweet) Diesel story:
Now that the weather has warmed up I'm wearing shorts on our dog walks. I've noticed since working with the boys to walk "close" that Diesel walks very close. He tucks himself so tightly to my left leg that I feel his body brush the side of my leg, and sometimes my heel bumps him and I feel bad. But the best part is, while wearing shorts, I also feel his lovely wet nose touch the side of my bare leg. He was walking especially nicely by my side at lunch today and the wet nose touched my leg many times. I smiled the entire walk.

No. 100 and today I'm beaming

Marvin at BREW BeagleFest 2008.
Photo credit: My friend, Nicole's, friend, Jayne.

Welcome to the 100th post on my SnoutBeagle blog! I started the blog just over two years ago as a means to journal Diesel stories. Since then we've gained a Marvin and I've made blogging friends – BIG thanks to Dogs with Blogs! Who would have thought? Thank you all for checking in on us and your kind, much-enjoyed comments.

…

Marvin and I had not been to agility class together for three weeks. The first week I took Diesel instead. The second week we were still cleaning up water in our basement after ALL THAT RAIN. And this week I wasn't feeling well enough to want to attend our Monday class. Well, last night was a beautiful evening. I was feeling back to my old self and I had a hankering to run around an agility course with Marvin.

I e-mailed the Wednesday night instructor and asked if we could pop in to her advanced class last night to do a make-up class. It was a go! Admittedly I was nervous because we've never gone to a higher level class than our intermediate, but I knew a couple of the students as well as the instructor so we went for it.

Unfortunately, I thought the class started at 7PM but it actually starts at 6:50. I had reserved the ten minutes "early" we arrived to walk the course, but those ten minutes "early" actually put us there just in time. The instructor had set up one course with 15 obstacles which we all ran first. Then we did three (or four?) smaller exercises using parts of the same course. Finally we ran the entire course again. It was set up really well and I enjoyed all our runs a ton.

Our first time out Marvin was in snouting mode. The instructor suggested I run with him on leash to keep him moving before he did too much sniffing. He seemed to get the hint as halfway through I dropped the leash and we were back on track and focused (the leash knocking all the bars as we went!). The instructor made the comment "He's a typical beagle!" when he was snouting (which she had said before when Diesel and I had her for beginners class). That makes me even more determined for her to see what we can do when we're on track as a team. In all honesty, even though both boys are prone to beagle-mode at times, for the most part I feel we've accomplished a great deal in the focus department.

Snouting wasn't an issue for any of the smaller exercises. Marvin enjoyed the runs and was looking to me for more. Since I hadn't had the chance to walk the course I felt I could have definitely done better in my handling tactics. Oh well, next time!

Finally, the last run ... the same as the first run. Back to Jump One and Marvin found the floor rather interesting once again. I started before he was "with" me so I asked for a restart. This time I took my time getting us on the same page ... and once we started Woweeeee!! The boy – suddenly motivated like crazy – flew over the jumps, took the tunnel from a distance and did the weaves faster and more perfectly than he had ever done. The advanced students ooooed and ahhed as he mastered those weaves (not kidding!) and I gleamed from the inside out. Another tunnel, the A-frame (my handling still klutsy here) and a string of jumps. He was so excited he barked over the last three jumps and I couldn't have been happier.

We left class and I was impressed as heck with my bluetick boy. All the students were so friendly and supportive and laughed with me when I laughed at myself for doing a silly handling maneuver. The instructor was helpful, positive, and gave each student individualized suggestions. Not only that – I have a feeling we made an impression on her. She probably now sees more than a beagle sniffing the ground when she looks at Marvin.

What a great evening and today I continue to beam.

Diesel's comedy routine

Last Monday night was the last class of an 8-week agility session where I brought both Diesel and Marvin – I ran Diesel in the first class, advanced beginners, and Marvin in our ongoing intermediate class following.

Since it was Diesel's last class, Mark came along armed with the camera. Diesel and I had four runs, this one – our last – was by far the most comedic and entertaining:

We can't be sure, but we think the combination of beagle nose and food-memory worked in tandem, causing the back track over the A-frame. Apparently Melissa, who's standing behind the A-frame, had slipped Diesel a piece of hot dog earlier and, well, a beagle's food-memory will rival the memory of an elephant any day.

We all laughed and it was clear to me why I love agility class!

These last few weeks I'd been bringing both pups to class, Marvin had been a needy child during Diesel's class. I tried letting him run around in the fenced area outside but he barked and let it be known he wanted to be inside. I put him in his soft crate near my chair with one Kong but once he finished it, he chirped and scratched at his crate even though I had it covered. I finally figured out I'd have a quiet and content Marvin if I brought three Kongs stuffed with hot dog and cheese pieces mixed in non-fat plain yogurt and then frozen. It took him 20 minutes to get through one frozen Kong and the three were perfect timing for Diesel's hour-long class. Diesel, bless his little dog heart, was an angel during Marvin's class following. Granted, he was probably tired, but he was happy to curl up in a tight, quiet dog ball in the crate. No Kongs necessary – poor boy.

Marvin and I didn't have our best night but it was still fun. He found a really yummy treat on the floor by the A-frame on our first run, so he scouted the floor more that night than he had in many weeks. (Of course! We had the camera there!) This was the best of our three runs:

I guided him more than necessary through the weaves because that's the area he found his distracting treat and it took forever to get him back the first time. The power of the snout.

One sly dog.

The patient one waiting in the wings.

...

This next 8-week session will be interesting indeed. I'll most likely be swapping between Diesel and Marvin week-to-week for intermediate. And for beginners? It looks like I'll be assisting the instructor! More to come ...

Acknowledge, accept, and move on

In my Tuesday evening yoga classes our instructor reminds us frequently to clear our minds of passing thoughts. If a thought persists and occupies our mind, she encourages us to acknowledge the thought, accept it, and then move on to be open to our practice. I spent the last week doing just this after an experience I had last weekend. Yes, it took nearly a week to let go.

I've only gone to two agility trials to spectate and I've never entered a trial to compete. Our agility instructor keeps us students well-informed of when upcoming trials will be in our area and encourages us to go watch so we can see what a trial is all about. He suggests we don't bring our dogs and, although I've never asked specifically why, I would imagine it's so they don't make a hectic situation for the people/dog teams entered even more hectic with visiting-dog-excited energy.

The first trial I spectated was a four-day AKC event, held indoors at a large local soccer arena. It was indeed a hectic environment with crates lining every possible wall and tight corridors with many coming and going dogs and handlers. Definitely not a place for a non-trialing dog to be.

The second trial I spectated was a three-day AKC event, held at a dog training club outside of town. A man who lives in my neighborhood with two bearded collies he trains in agility belongs to this club. He's suggested I join the club more than once as it's a more economical way to continue with agility training (as well as obedience, etc.) rather than taking classes over and over as I've been doing. I thought going to this agility trial would be a good chance to catch up with him at his club and have a look around, as well as watch agility dogs of all levels in action.

And it was.

The trial was this last Saturday and it was a sunny, semi-warm day. I enjoyed exploring the event and grounds with my neighbor. The trial was held outdoors and there were two rings. The entire area was fenced and along the fence, surrounding the rings, were lots of portable shade tents set up by the trial entrants with crates, folding chairs, and rugs underneath. There was plenty of space to move around and spectate. It was a nicely organized and well-presented event.

My neighbor made me feel right at home, introducing me to entrants and trainers – he seemed to know everyone!, explaining which classes were in each ring and talking me through the order of the obstacles, and all around encouraging me to take the leap into entering a trial. After all, Marvin and I have been training since last October. He felt we would be competitive in a novice class, although we both agreed an outdoor trial probably wouldn't be the place to start for my scent hound.

I had no plans (or time really) to go back to spectate on Sunday, but my neighbor encouraged me to stop back for a short while if I could manage it, and this time bring Marvin. We both felt he could use the experience of a trial environment too. I figured there would be no harm in it as we could stay easily on the outskirts and out of the way, plus we were invited by a club member.

As we drove onto the club grounds Marvin excitedly chirped in his car crate as he sometimes does as we get close to our agility class or the dog park. Once unloaded, his nose was sniffing the air and the ground at practically the same time. He chirped some more at this sensory overload but responded when I asked him to focus on me. There was promise so we walked to the fence and entered the trialing area to look for my neighbor.

We walked the grounds and I heard some people comment on his handsome ticking and I smiled. Marvin stayed "with me" for the most part. People walking by with hot dogs on plates were the biggest distraction for my chow hound. We met up with my neighbor and he commented that Marvin was doing well for his first walk around such an exciting environment. He was. I could tell that he was excited though and would occasionally chirp a bit, but still, when I would ask for his focus or for him to walk close to my side he minded ... of course rewarding him with treats didn't hurt!

My neighbor stopped and talked to person after person, introducing us as we went. Again, I felt at home and welcome. No one was at the warm-up jumps so we thought we would give Marvin a chance. I had taken him over a jump on-leash prior to meeting up with my neighbor but quickly left because I didn't want to get in any one's way. Now I was with an entrant – and a club member – and I felt a bit more empowered in being there.

Almost at the warm-up area, my neighbor stopped to talk to two women, each with a Golden. One of the Goldens and Marvin started barking at one another. I don't know who started it but Marvin began pulling at the leash to go meet the Golden. They barked and barked and my gut told me it would be best to move on to the warm-up jumps and allow my neighbor to catch up, which he did. Having all the faith in the world in Marvin and I, and I feeling empowered by the faith, my neighbor told me to put Marvin in a sit-stay and send him over a jump. I put Marvin in a sit-stay. I *removed the leash*. I moved forward to the jump. The second I released him he didn't take the jump. No, he didn't. He bolted, off-leash, out of the warm-up area and rushed one of the Goldens who apparently followed us to the warm-up area and were waiting their turn.

I only remember bits and pieces from this dreaded 30-second experience. The woman with the Golden Marvin rushed said "What is it with today? This is the second time she's been rushed!". She said this as she gently kicked towards Marvin to back him away from her dog. The woman with the other Golden stood there saying over and over "This is not cool. This is not cool. ..." Over and over. She sounded angry and hateful and I wanted to disappear off the face of the earth. In the meantime Marvin playfully danced around the first Golden, dodging my advances towards him, until I caught him and pulled him back to his leash, still laying in the warm-up area.

My neighbor was totally cool throughout this entire affair. I just wanted to get the h*** out of there. He did encourage me to take him over some jumps, even on-leash, and I agreed simply because I didn't want Marvin to end the experience by rushing a dog, rather than taking a jump. We jumped a jump and the woman with the second Golden yelled to us "Are you in the trial? We need to get in there." I couldn't even answer her, I felt so insignificant, but I understood her position completely and we left the area right away. My neighbor encouraged me not to feel bad or defeated. But I did and there was no going back from that. I wanted to leave.

Just as I was catching my breath, the woman with the first Golden, the one Marvin rushed, called to me. "Lady with the beagle, I want to talk to you ...". I turned to her but couldn't face her so turned around and went to stand at my neighbor's side so he could do any talking if necessary. I heard her say something to the effect that not all Goldens are friendly and it worked out okay because her dog was rushed, but if Marvin would have rushed the second Golden there would likely have been a fight. Almost like I encouraged Marvin to go play off-leash with these dogs. That was so not the case! I felt like a child being scolded. I found words but they were spoken through a sudden outburst of tears and I directed my conversation to my neighbor, not the Golden's owner. I told him I felt terrible, that I should have known that, even though Marvin sat and stayed that he was still excited from barking at the Golden and wasn't nearly relaxed enough to be trusted off-leash. My feeling over-confident by being with a club member and his confidence in us took precedence over my gut feeling of knowing my dog. I made a bad judgement call. To me it felt like a huge mistake.

I know my neighbor was surprised by my tears – and the fact that I couldn't stop! – but I didn't care. I couldn't help it.

So sadly, the result of the experience turned me off of agility. Well, off agility altogether for about a day. But it still has me turned off the idea of competing at all.

Marvin and I love our agility classes. I make handling mistakes. He makes mistakes too, like getting distracted and snouting and, yes, he has hopped the barrier in class before just to get to a waiting dog for a sniff. He rushed a dog for a sniff at a run-through as well at our other training facility. He's quick and takes me by surprise when he does that, but people laugh and forgive his Marvin-ness ... and thankfully he's only done it a couple of times. Marvin has a tendency to come up with a variety of surprises and I would imagine will continue to do so occasionally.

I suppose the fact that these women took this surprise encounter with Marvin without an ounce of humor is what I found so humiliating. I do understand the situation could have been serious and I felt awful, but I felt judged and unforgivable as well. Granted, they were trialing and under their own pressure so I need to keep that in mind. I did find some comfort in the fact that first Golden lady mentioned "this is the second time today she was rushed." At least I'm not the only idiot handler.

So, in the effort to keep agility fun for us, I'm not entertaining the thought of competing anymore at this point. I've never been a competitive person (quite the opposite!) and competing was never our goal in doing agility. Marvin and I will make mistakes. If people take it so seriously, and I don't have the constitution to handle that, where is the fun?

Acknowledge, accept, and move on.

Big Apple = Big Cookies

An hour before we had to make our way back to our hotel to pick up our bags and walk to Grand Central Station to catch our airport bus, we squeezed in a visit to Canine Styles on Manhattan's east side. I heard about this store and their Web site two winters ago when I saw a teeny chihuahua at our local PetSmart wearing a stylish horse blanket-style coat. I was looking for something similar for Diesel so I asked the chihuahua's mom where she found such a coat. And that's when I learned of Canine Styles.

I had a preconceived notion of what this shop might be like and I wasn't entirely wrong. It was tiny. It was definitely a pet boutique rather than a pet store. And it had a rather small selection of perfect things. I picked up a colorful nylon collar that was just Diesel's style but put it down again when I spotted the inconspicuous $30 price tag.


I couldn't resist the taxi cookies though – one for each beagle. Diesel has a sweet tooth and, well, it doesn't matter with Marvin – treats don't even touch the sides as he gobbles them down.

Needless to say, they'll take a taxi cookie over a fancy collar any day.

Diesel is pleased to see that there are two taxi cookies just for him.

Oh no, here comes Marvin. Might he have to share?

Better claim a cookie before it's too late!

…

Our visit to NYC was wonderful and packed full of exciting adventures. We could have used another day there for sure but that just means we need to go back for more. I'm planning to post highlights and photos on my neglected companion blog, Ten Bests of the Day. I'll let you know when it's updated!

Taking flight

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, my sister, my 10-year-old niece, and I are hopping on a plane to NYC for a few days. I'm very excited for this adventure to begin and am especially looking forward to seeing New York through my niece, Emily's, eyes. She must be ten times as excited as I am.

I have two bags with wheels, one bigger and one smaller. Ideally I always want to use the smaller one because I aspire to be a light packer. More often than not, reality squelches my aspiration and I wind up taking the bigger one. I can't decide which shoes to take so I need to take many. Tomorrow morning I will be loading the bigger bag in the car.

But before any packing could begin I needed to have said bags inspected. So I called in the Beagle Brigade.

"This seems to be the big bag ...

... yes, yes, very nice."

"Now, what about this one?"

"Hmm, perhaps too small. Dog mum likes shoes."

The inspection picks up pace. All is a blur.

The bigger bag's inspection comes back clean, not to mention more comfortable.

Four feet in a row.

Work is done. Time for a nap.

Four in a row

Marvin's feet. Sometimes he lines them up in a row.

It doesn't fail to make me smile.

Although Marvin isn't sure what all the fuss is about.

Guest appearance

Yesterday morning I went outside and I couldn't believe who I saw through the trees …

The Easter Snowbunny!

Since he didn't seem very afraid of my approach, I stepped closer.


He still didn't move so I called Diesel over.


Marvin jumped for joy at the idea of meeting the Easter Snowbunny.


I quieted the boys … afterall the bunny might still be scared away, even though he seemed so very tame.


He's still outside this morning, although the sun from yesterday seems to have taken a bit of a toll on his posture.

…

In all honesty, although it was nice that the Easter Snowbunny paid us a visit, I'll be just as happy when he's gone. It's time for some green grass and daffodils!

Happy Easter!

The second day of spring

Mother Nature certainly has a way about her.




True, no one wishes for a spring snowstorm – especially one due to bring 9-12" by the time it's through. And just when the snow we had around all winter had almost melted away.

But there are quite a few upsides to today's storm:

• As it's Good Friday, we only had a half day of work – so it was almost like a "snowday".

• A rather short walk through the deep snow in the woods sufficiently wears the beagles out for the afternoon.

• There is great entertainment watching said beagles plow through the chest-deep snow or, even better, bound great heights like deer or elk.

• As it is a spring snowstorm, the snow won't stick around for the next three months and we aren't due to get a well-below-freezing drop in temperature afterwards.

• This storm could bring us to the second all-time snowiest season on record (is that really an upside?!). (Yes, this season is now officially the second all-time snowiest with 96.9 inches. The record is 109 inches which we will not beat! :)
  

• And, let's face it, it's pretty – very pretty.

I'm glad it's not today

Last weekend I found out from a fellow dog-walking neighbor that my neighbor from one house down lost her pup of 11 years suddenly to lymphoma a few days earlier. I had a busy week at work but Beth was always on my mind. As the boys and I walked down the alley and past her house on our morning walks, I thought how strange it must be for Beth not to have Bella to take for morning walks anymore.

Finally this weekend I had a chance to get her a card and a picture frame to put a special photo of Bella in. I took it over tonight. Beth opened the door in tears and I knew she was having a bad Bella day. She was a little surprised that I knew as I hadn't seen her since, but seemed glad to have a dog-loving neighbor to talk to.

She reminised and I listened. She told me about Bella's final days and I felt my heart break. She told me how she misses walking the neighborhood and how she would like to do it again but feels it would be too hard right now. She told me how, as the snow is melting, even seeing Bella's poo reappear from earlier in the year is a difficult reminder.

I spent many many years of my adult life not knowing what it's like to love a dog and how deeply connected you become. Today I was glad I now know and understand the depth of emotion. I felt I could really be there for Beth when she needed a friend.

As I walked my short walk home, I took a good look at my surroundings. The neighborhood I see every single day, the houses I pass, the smells, the neighbors' barking Labs ... I took it all in and cherished it. Today is still normal for me. I have the beagles and tomorrow we will take our morning walk.

There will be a day when I go through what Beth is going through and I dread it. I'm just glad it's not today.

The other half

Most mornings after our early walk Diesel follows me into the bathroom while I retrieve a Kleenex or take care of various other sorts of business. It's his way of reminding me that he still exists so I don't forget to feed him breakfast.

I'm always the first to exist the bathroom. A quick look over my shoulder and I'm greeted with the scene above. It's a compliment to my previous Halved post.

Cute beagle. He melts my heart.