Dog Days of Summer

Dog Days of Summer

An Introduction to my dog world

Every day is a dog day in my world.  I would never have it any other way.  

I currently share my life with  6 dogs.   5 are border collies and 1 is supposed to be.  LOL.  No one told him that BC's are supposed to want to herd.  His particular specialty is cuddling.  Buddy (that's his name) could win the summer Olympics Dog Cuddling event.  Gold medal.  

Crystal - the blonde

Buddy is getting old.  So is Crystal.  Crystal is my husbands dog.  She is blonde.  I don't mean that she is blonde - golden haired.  I mean that she is BLONDE!  She has been my hubby's working sheepdog.  However, unlike most working border collies who resent being micromanaged, Crystal invites it.  She relishes it.  And if she doesn't get the extra direction she wants?  She just stops and looks back.  How is this Dad?  It's pretty sweet and very blonde.  It works for them.  She doesn't work much anymore, which is ok with her I think.

LuckyMe Takes Two to Fly

Pi.  See why I fell for him?

The youngsters of the pack include Pi.  Pi is short for Pilot.  He is a big blue boy with impulse control issues and one blue eye.  He is everything I didn't want in a dog when I adopted him.  Big, blue, lots of white, MALE.  But I loved him immediately from his picture.  His impulse control issues are with other dogs.  I adopted Pi when he was about 13 months old.  Pi is beautiful and has a bigger than life personality.  And...Pi is pushy.  I actually think he is the pushiest dog I have ever owned.  He has been pushing me around now for about 2 1/2 years.   Now I am finally pushing back. It makes me tired. It is making him a nicer dog to live with, and increasing the strength of the bond between us.  But that's for another post.

LuckyMe Down the Rabbit Hole

Then there is Alice.  Alice is SO incredibly cute. Alice is cute and very athletic.  I will make her an agility partner!   She was also adopted about 1 year of age.  She is tiny.  Tiny as in she can walk under Pi.  She is also a runner.  Allie spent her entire first year of life running a fence in someones back yard in the twin cities MN.  This past year, we have spent working on being with people.  Not that people were a problem, but running, especially car chasing, was really her preference.  When I get this dog's bond (and I WILL get it) she will be a wonderful agility partner.  It's a process.  She no longer runs up to the tires of parked cars to bite them.  I consider that progress.  Big progress actually!


Indy is almost a year.  August 14 is her birthday.  I got Indy when she was 5 months old.  I accidentally made a big mistake with Indy.  (by the way, her name is Indy because she is a red and white border collie, and my husband is a Hoosier. You know, a Hoosier, strange name for people from Indiana who all love red because it is the Indiana University colors! So her PAL name will be LuckyMe Hoosier Girl, call name Indy)  She is supposed to be John's dog, but we all know that I want her, and I have been taking her a little at a time.  Poor John.  

LuckyMe Hoosier Girl

Anyway, my big mistake with Indy was not noticing that she was focusing on Alice too much, to the exclusion of me.  Sigh.  So now, I am working on undoing that preference.  Another process.  I regret missing that because it has made my life so much harder now.   I don't think it is a lost cause, but we could be working on other things....like agility.

RockIt Pride and Joy

Last but not least is RockIt Pride and Joy.  Call....Stevie as in Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Stevie is a girl.  I was advised I am going to get tired of correcting people.  Yeah.  Don't care.  The name is what I want, and I like the name Stevie.   And  I LOVE Stevie the puppy.  It has been a long time since I have had a puppy.  Technically, Indy was quite the puppy when I got her.  It probably was a bad choice to take her.  I was working too much (both teaching Anesthesia to vet tech students and working as a veterinary technician.)  So her puppy-hood slipped through my fingers.  I'm disappointed I let that happen.



But I digress. Stevie is special.  All dogs are,  especially all ours.  But Stevie and I connected FAST.  She velcroed to me incredibly quickly.  She does things, Janie things.  Janie was my first border collie.  Janie changed my life.  I lost her to renal failure last November, and I can now recognize that I was quite depressed until Stevie came into my life.  Here I had a wonderful life, incredible hubby and family, great job, wonderful dogs surrounding me, but no Janie.  Now, Stevie is here.  Once again, I had to be forced to take a dog that I thought was not right for me.  Jane showed me how wrong I was.  Now Stevie has as well. 

My Janie <3

As I said, Stevie does Jane things.  Like watch TV.  Sleep under my feet.  Follow me everywhere, even into the bathroom.  Give me drive by leg kisses.  There are lots of little Jane things that Stevie does naturally.  Stevie is her own soul, she is not Jane and I don't want nor expect that.  But it does help heal the hole in my heart.   So thanks to my friend Ellen and a little border collie puppy, my heart is once again full, and singing.


Well, that is a lot.  This blog will be full of dog stuff.  My life is full of dogs.  I'm sure some days I will type about other things.  But not today.  =D