Zoey Learns a New Trick

 Those of you with small dogs know that they are sometimes not the smartest creatures on the planet. You probably also know that they are not as dumb as they may lead on to be.

While I was gone, Barb called me every morning from the gazebo where she has her morning coffee and the dogs play in the enclosure. Just hearing her talk about the antics of Zoey and Maisie made me home sick. She would describe to me how they will be running and Zoey will run into Maisie knocking her over and making her roll. Then Maisie will do the same thing to Zoey except Zoey is 25lbs and Maisie is maybe 10, so Maisie just bounces off of her and is the one who ends up rolling on the ground once again. 

She also got in the habit of bringing the dogs out to the pen, (aka dog jail) while she vacuums and does other things in the house. This has served her well, giving her the freedom to do what she wants without the little ones under foot. That is until she looked out and saw Maisie standing at the edge of the fence staring off into the distance. Zoey was nowhere to be seen. Barb finally saw Zoey a few yards outside the enclosure sniffing around. A jail break! She thought it was weird as it has never happened before but she went and got her, put her back in the pen, went back inside but kept an eye on her. Sure enough the little shit walked up to the edge of the fencing and leapt over it! In 5 years, she has never done this and now she decides to?!?!? Not all new tricks are good tricks!

So. the first order of business when I got home was to tear down the 2' fence and install a 3' fence. Well. Barb did most of the hard work as my wrist and shoulder at still out of commission. I was able to help take down the old fence and put up the new one, but she had to do all the post pounding. 

We were able to get most of the posts in with this pounder, but did have to borrow Neighbor Jim's hammer drill and T post bit for the last 5 that were in total rocky areas. 

Maisie learned a new trick too, and it is a good one! She is now sleeping through the night! No more getting up 3-4 times a night make for a happy Barbie!

Other than that project my motivation level has been very low. I did work out in the new garage prepping the overhead doors for an upcoming garage door installation. Barb has been working on her own projects. She got it in her head that she wants to redecorate the bedrooms, which I think are fine, but once an idea gets in her head, you best just get out of her way. There have been a flurry of Amazon packages coming in; pillows, comforters, duvets, curtains, candles, plants. Many of them went back only to have more packages replace them. Paint swatches are stuck to the walls...Me? I am thinking I might need to go back to the farm just to get out of her way!

She has also been working on a secret project in the workshop. I know what it is, but will have to wait to see the final product.

Last Saturday we went up to Spearfish to see my sister who was visiting Alana and Ryan. Also with her was her husband Murray and their son Marshall. It has been years since we have seen them!

It was also the first time Maisie has been on a big adventure. The first time she was harnessed and leashed. We stopped by a restaurant on our way and had lunch out on the patio with the dogs. Maisie was very good and just settled down under the table and slept while we ate. 

When we got to Ryan and Alana's all hell broke loose as Sophie and Loki greeted and investigated the new puppy. Zoey reacted the way we thought she would. She attacked anything that tried to play with her or get rough with her baby sister. She would let them smell her but anytime Sophie or Loki tried to play with Maisie, Zoey would in between them and put a stop to it.  

Other than that project, it was a pretty quiet week. I started getting things ready for bow season which opened on 9/1. Pretty hard to get excited for bow hunting when it is 85-90 outside. I've shot my bow twice and I have absolutely no strength in my left shoulder to lift the bow so whatever I did to it needs more time to heal. I am getting some interesting photos from the trail cameras though!

Besides deer, we have had several other visitors to the water tanks including bobcats, coyotes and even a stinky striped friend!

No blog is complete without a dog video, am I right? This clip was originally only 20 seconds which is not nearly long enough to annoy the hell out of Harry, so after 20 seconds I played it again in super slow motion. 

Although now that I think about it, if I had played the original 20 seconds in a loop Harry would have probably watched it for hours before he figured it out!