THE DOUBLE DOGGIE BLUES

There is some kind of weird, alternate universe math going on in my house. We now have two dogs. Two dogs, by my math, should mean twice the poop, shouldn't it? Well something is happening here because I swear that two dogs = triple the poop. Of course, this all stems from the fact that I have adopted myself a little black and white poop machine. I'd be concerned with her output if it wasn't for the fact she is growing so much. She has now doubled her weight since we got her. As one of our dog park buddies put it: "What are you feeding that dog?" I swear, I can see her growing as she sleeps.

Here we have Terra eating a bone but I don't think that that is responsible for her growth spurts. No, I think her diet of shoes, tissue boxes, base boards (yes base boards), book cases, plastic pop bottles and anything else she can get her teeth on, all seem to benefit her physical maturity.

Speaking of plastic, Terra has found a new toy. We have this huge plastic jar, that used to hold dog biscuits; the thing is huge, it holds over 6 pounds of Milk Bones. It now has two or three bones in it so when you knock it over and push it up and down the hall, it makes a lovely, loud rattling sound. A couple of weeks ago, Terra could move the thing by nudging it with her nose. Now she can pick it up by the lid and whip around the house with it. You will see this in the video at the bottom of the post.

Another food source that Terra has discovered is ice. And although the video shows her romping in her first snow fall (in April, don't get me started), the ice came from the outside water bowl we have for the dogs. The previous night had been cold enough that a thick skim of ice had formed. Terra came bounding up to to take a drink, dropped her head down .. and met the icy resistance. She promptly smashed the ice, tore out some big chunks and set about devouring it. Also in the video.

As for my two dogs, that relationship is getting better. Terra loves Miss Hayley, there are moments she sees her as the mamma dog, emulating her behaviour and totally doting on her. These are good moments.

But she also wants to treat Hayley as an equal, wrestling with her, and positioning herself for dominance. These are not so great moments, especially for Hayley. Although Hayley enjoys chasing Terra as the puppy chases the ball, and she shows sign of almost wrestling with her, there are other moments where Terra latches on to the big dog's neck fur and Hayley wears her like a necklace.

What Hayley needs to do is give her a couple of firm put downs; other dogs have done this in the park and Terra does learn respect from this. The problem has been, Hayley has always given lee way to very young puppies. But Terra is three months old now and her time of grace may well be fading.

But it is special to have two border collies. Let's face it they just look damn good together, especially outside, in the park. I am walking them together, on leash, in the morning. Terra is doing very well on leash, actually better than Miss Hayley was at this age. Sometimes the walk is slow but this is not the fault of either dog. Terra is like a cuteness magnet, people just can't resist her and it sometimes adds a good ten minutes to our walk as we deal with her fan club. She may need security soon .. and a manager .. and an entourage.

Going to keep this a short post, take a gander at the video, and next post: Terra gets a contract with Dana White ... stay tuned.

Terra the Ice Queen from Victor Kellar on Vimeo.