Monday, November 30, 2009

Swamp Things

(cue ominous music)
m0003

When it rains heavily, the back of the property turns into a wet, grassy swamp. This makes all of my dogs (except Dexter) ridiculously happy. They get to swim, splash and bounce around like morons. They also get to hunt.

Although really, I don't know what they are hunting for.
m00010

Maybe for the origins of the Magical Flamboyance (tm)?
m0009

I think it comes from a mysterious portal just beyond those trees.
m0004

And if you find it, you can fly! See?
m0006

Food Lady, Tweed is being ridiculous.

Everyone knows the magic lays just beneath the surface of hog fuel.
m0002

It's quite funny - when it gets wet, the hog fuel of the horse paddock and around the barn makes these really strange, creaking, groaning and whistling noises. Piper is *convinced* something is alive under there.

There! There it is! Did you hear it?
m00022

Didn't you hear that? It's under there! Right there!
m00021

Dexter! Come here and help me dig this up the magic!
m00024

And Dexter is happy to oblige, because the Swamp Things make him very nervous and he'd much rather be here than there.

Ack! They're coming! Run Food Lady, run!!
m00028

Oh foolish youth.
m00013

Oh oh - looks like Dexter found the magic portal!
m00017

m00015

One day this kindgom will be mine. All mine.
j00023

Poor Wootie. Even though he likes playing Swamp Things, he really wishes there real and alive things for him to hunt.

It won't be long before he gets his wish. I'm told this property is overrun with bunnies and pheasants in the Spring and Summer months.

If I think he's fat now, imagine how portly he'll be when he's eating all the little wild critters in his kingdom? Or maybe the frantic chasing will balance it all out ....

29 comments:

♥I am Holly♥ said...

Beautiful pictures and very beautiful dogs! Looks like they are having lots of fun!!!

Molly said...

Dexter is getting so leggy!!!

shihtzustaff said...

Mr. Woo is not fat! I think he looks great. I can't believe that dexter is almost the size of Piper.

The Border Collies said...

Mr. Woo is not fat! I think he looks great.

Oh yes he is! I would like to take 6 or 7 lbs off him. I like my dogs lean, and he does not approach anything near lean!!

nickelsmum said...

You can hide a lot of fat under fluff like that. Ask us how we know...

brooke said...

such fun pictures! The dogs look like they have a great time in the rain!

Two French Bulldogs said...

Awesome pictures! You guys look like you are having so much fun. Wet,mud,playing...now thats fun.
Benny & Lily

Anonymous said...

Tweed looks...regal.

(Never thought I would use THAT word in connection with him did ya? Neither did I.)

Congrats on the Q's Mr. Regal Tweed-Man

Dexter is growing up so fast and his ears are adorable!!! You aren't doing anything to them are you? They are so perfect....

The Border Collies said...

Dexter is growing up so fast and his ears are adorable!!! You aren't doing anything to them are you?

What, you mean like tape them or something? Gosh no! His ears are they way doG made them, and whatever they end up doing is a-ok with me! ;-)

Tristan and Braun said...

Awwww.. they look are they are having so much fun! Cool!! (Though I don't want to imagine the mudpool later :))

Dexter is growing up mightily well. Good he's helping around in the pack as and when necessary. I'm sure Piper appreciated the extra pair of paws!

Anonymous said...

what's "hog fuel", why is it buried in the horse paddock, and what kind of noises does it make? i'm a suburban girl, and i have NO idea what that part of this post is about! the dog photos are great. thanks for sharing their adventures with us.

amyinbc said...

Dexter sure can jump! Gorgeous shots of some very happy looking dogs.

Gennasus said...

Your dogs always look so happy and I love how you photograph them. Piper's expression was priceless.

(PS. There's a couple of visiting agility collies on my last post, you might like to see them)

Anonymous said...

TheBorderCollies said:

What, you mean like tape them or something? Gosh no! His ears are they way doG made them, and whatever they end up doing is a-ok with me! ;-)

Oh thank heavens...you would be surprised (or probably not) at what people will do for those perfect ears that Dex has...)

http://www.youtube.com/user/hobnob7#p/u/82/sjRVHrd-uDA

Can you imagine????? My puppy would never have sat still for that long....

The Border Collies said...

what's "hog fuel", why is it buried in the horse paddock, and what kind of noises does it make?

Hog fuel is wood waste (chipped) that people use for barns and horse paddocks as a ground cover. it's not buried anywhere, it IS the ground! And for some reason, when really wet, it makes noises as the wood chips expand, contract and shift.

Oh thank heavens...you would be surprised (or probably not) at what people will do for those perfect ears that Dex has...)

I have heard this before. It's so pathetic! I have every kind of ear set in my household, including some (Woo) that have never been seen before (ha ha!). I love them all!

Anonymous said...

Oh MY! I didn't realize how big Dexter was until that shot of him standing (crouching) next to Piper. Wow! That was quick!

My dogs hunt the rats and mice and bunnies and birds and squirrels here on our acreage. While they catch some things, they've definitely leaned out and lost the couch potato fat doing all that hunting. My senior dog is now in the best physical shape of her life since she patrols 22 acres daily along with the hunting.

riosmom said...

The youtube video about the puppy's ears made me ill - that poor puppy. Not once did the woman interact with the puppy or try to comfort it. I would like to do something much worse to her ears. I can only imagine Dexter's eyes if you tried to do anything like that to him.

That said, enjoyed your pictures as always.

nickelsmum said...

The REALLY stupid thing about messing with ears is that the purpose is to win in the show ring... but if the dog wins and is bred, he passes along the "incorrect" ears to all his progeny. So what is the point in defining correct ear set? It has to be the single stupidest thing that gets put into breed standards.

ACB said...

Hog fuel is wood waste (chipped) that people use for barns and horse paddocks as a ground cover. it's not buried anywhere, it IS the ground! And for some reason, when really wet, it makes noises as the wood chips expand, contract and shift.

In South Texas, we call it mulch. :)

And about the ears, I've had several people tell me that my dog is NOT a Great Dane because his ears are not cropped. That's almost as good as the pet owner who told me his new puppy was female because it had nipples. Nevermind that the dog also had a penis and testicles.

McG said...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Bordercollie-ankc-agility.jpg - This isn't Wootie's long-lost twin, is it? I have never seen that shade of orange on any other dog!

The Border Collies said...

This isn't Wootie's long-lost twin, is it? I have never seen that shade of orange on any other dog!

Oh there are a fair number of BCs in that colour, they call it "Aussie Red" to differentiate it from (chocolate) red. It can vary from very pale tan to a more robust orange! Wootie falls into the orange camp, though I admit he is a little oranger than most.

If you look here:

http://www.ashgi.org/color/yellow_aussies.htm

you'll see that Aussies also come in this orange colour and that, in fact, many of them look a hell of a lot like Mr. Woo. Especially the 6th dog down, who was that dog's spitting image before he came into coat (except with a tail)

nickelsmum said...

Is it really called "Aussie red"? That's weird, because (a) the bb reds seen in BCs are much more often lighter, orangey reds than in Aussies, (b) yellow (which can be quite orange, like some Goldens) is legal in BCs and not Aussies, and is more common in BCs than Aussies. Seems odd to me (as a lover of both breeds). But I guess whether it's an English Kiss or a French Kiss depends on whether you're French or English...

Colleen said...

I have to tell you this...I typed into the google search bar "flesh eating disease finger" ( never mind why :)) ) and your post about the green finger popped up first.

Hilarious because of all the posts, in ALL THIS HUGE WORLD ....that came first, and hilarious secondly because I read your blog daily.

LOVE the face shot of your lovely Piper!

Oh, and welcome to living in the rurality!

The Border Collies said...

Is it really called "Aussie red"? That's weird, because (a) the bb reds seen in BCs are much more often lighter, orangey reds than in Aussies, (b) yellow (which can be quite orange, like some Goldens) is legal in BCs and not Aussies, and is more common in BCs than Aussies.

It's called "Aussie" red because it's a colour that only showed up in conformation bred dogs coming out of Australia and they decided to call it RED, whereas the chocolate (the real red) dogs, which were not uncommon in working dogs in Wales, were already called red. But the goofy conformation people were too self centered to realize that. So to differentiate it, the nickname was born.

As for it being "more common" - only in conformation bred dogs. It is non existent in real border collies.

nickelsmum said...

Oh, THAT Aussie. Phew. Thanks for filling in a severe Knowledge Gap.

Cedi Aussie wishes you to know that she is a lovely deep red. http://www.freewebs.com/ripleys/greta.htm

Anonymous said...

sometimes dogs who eat dirt (Woo) are in need of the HSOs therein.

Samuel Wright said...

Your Border Collies look a lot like Australian Shepherds... any relation?

Bella said...

Please do not let them kill innocent bunnies and pheasants :(

The Border Collies said...

Please do not let them kill innocent bunnies and pheasants :(

Oh please. It's farm life, they are farm dogs. If they - the carnivores - want to hunt down little PREY animals on their property, that's how life and death rolls.