Mugshot Elsie

 

The girl is getting more and more settled every day.  Hard to believe that the scrawny little thing we brought home five months ago is now this little sweetie.

Well, hard to believe that she once had matted fur and stunk to high heaven and you could feel her ribs.

She always was a bit of a sweetie.

 

Every morning she wakes me up by putting her long nose in my face. The cold wet nose and tongue manages to find my nose, mouth, eyes and ears.

When I let them out into the main house she skitters along the tiles and does a little dance as if to say 'the day's begun! yaay! let's go play!'

I still remember when she was let into the yard at the pound how jumpy she was. I think it's in her nature to dance around on those white socked feet of hers. It's very sweet to have a morning person in the house.

Fred's just dopey, although I've noticed that ever since we put in the electric fence both dogs tend to bolt the minute a door is open anywhere.

I've had to caution them to slow down before they hurt themselves, or hurt me as they hurdle past me.

Least Elsie always turns around once she's out to try and greet me.

Here she is sticking her tongue at me for telling tales on her.

And some cute profile shots of her sitting down trying to figure out what's going on.

  

Elsie: "eh? whatcha doing there?"

She does a great confuzzled look:

As well as a high and mighty one:

 

But I think her cutest as the moment is the ears down, wtf look. 

A little scare..

Was out gardening today and let the puppies out to play around and mooch. While I was pottering I spotted Fred trying to pounce on something and look confused/inquisitive. I sidled closer to investigate and saw a long dark grey/black scaly body.

Snake! I didn't look closely but instead hurriedly called Freddie over. The last thing I wanted was for Freddie to engage the snake.

I called out to the hubby to let him know and he also immediately helped me corral the puppies and get them back into their pen. We then went back to investigate. Snake had disappeared.

Am now starting to wonder if what I saw was in fact a snake. But it was long, at least a metre or so long, fairly thick, and it looked wavy, as in the shape wasn't in a straight line or curled up. I didn't look for a head. All I did was spot something long dark and scaly and immediately tried to get the puppies out of vicinity.

Fred was closest as he was the one who pounced and it was that sound that alerted me. Elsie was about a metre behind. Fred was probably only about a hand's breath away (again probably about a metre) from that snake (or whatever it was)

Talk about a scare! I'm glad we were calm enough to get them away and that the puppies listened. But I found out fairly quickly despite my calm exterior that I was pretty scared. I was shaking afterwards.

It's not even a super sunny day. It's overcast and the sun had only just started coming out despite all the cloud cover. It's been raining the last few days.

The other scary thing is that the snake was so close to the garden. And the garden is right next door the house. I'm starting to think I was pretty lucky and smart to have cleared up some of the area as it was. Just the other day I tidied up and moved the fallen down shadehouse so that I could use it again.

Did I perhaps simply have moved the snake's hideout? Or was it simply passing through?

I have no idea but I really dislike snakes and am terrified that they will do something to the puppies simply because they don't know any better. The fact that Freddie tried to pounce on it says it all.

I'm just grateful he did it nearby and that I was able to act. The last thing I'd need was for him to do that further away from the house where I hadn't noticed. That could've turned out badly.

Am still a little shaken now and don't really know what else to do about it. We're out in the country, so it really is to be expected that we would have snakes. I guess I just naievely hoped I'd never see one. Especially since everyone else around here tells me that they don't see them often (eg the previous owner probably only saw 3 or 4 in the ten years that they lived there. And they owned a cat!)


The long grass needs to be mown, but we have rocky ground and the whippersnipper apparently won't start at the moment. *sigh*

Cutey Puppies

It's been very hot at home lately. As a result the puppies have been allowed inside whenever we are home. Sometimes Fred gets a frozen wet face cloth on his back to cool him down. My big furry wolfies aren't really designed for the heat.

Here is Fred looking forlornly at hubby hoping the temp will drop

I had taken another one where he's looking upwards to the right which was even cuter but unfortunately turned out totally blurry.

So you'll just have to make do with this one instead

Lazy Dog Days and Waiting for Dinner

Isn't she just adorable? Left to her own devices Elsie spends the afternoon on the only unbroken dog bed

Here is Elsie practicing her new maneouver entitled the "Elsie Yawn"

 

Elsie: "Hrm, well that was a pretty good effort but I think I can do better"






Elsie: "MUUUCH better. Now what do I do?"
She starts to look around for more entertainment.



 

Do you have anything interesting for me to do?


Elsie: "Oh GOD. I'm SOOOO bored!"

I love how elegantly she has draped herself over the bed, with her tail to one side and her paw just dangling over on the other.

Deciding that me and my camera are simply TOO booorrring, Elsie decides she has earnt a well deserved nap

Fred watches Elsie in concern. You're never going to get fit just lying there Else...

Later that evening the puppies wait patiently inside to be called out to dinner. Fred looks hungry and bummed.

Oh! What's that? Someone's gotten up. It could be time for dinner!

 Hang on.. why is he going over there? Dinner's the other way...

Lazy Bone Els' and a quick walk into the bush

Elsie: "Yes? Is there something you want?"

 Elsie: "Oh, go away. It's too hot to do anything, and I'm busy resting"

I spent all of my Christmas/New Year break at home. It was very relaxing. What was even more amusing was watching the puppies interact with each other in their pen while I was home.

In their defence it was a very hot week. Every morning after breakfast the puppies were put inside their pen. For the rest of the entire week all the puppies did were swap places between the huge moon craters they had dug beside the tree, and the dog house that hubby built for them. They did this every day without fail. 

If Fred was in the moon crater Elsie would eventually come over and start hovering until Fred would get fed up, get up and move. Then Elsie would promptly plop herself into the hole. 

Here is Fred looking pretty bummed that he has to be in the dog house while Elsie hogs the nice and cool moon crater.

I was both amazed and a little concerned that that was all they did every day, and I imagine all they do whenever I am not at home. I really need to see about setting up Doggy Cam to keep an eye on them while I am at work. It sure would give me a few entertaining hours of laughs.

Later in the day the puppies let out of the pen in the afternoon for a walk around the place.

Here the puppies are heading up to the water tank so we can check on the water levels.

Elsie giving hubby instructions on where to step and what to do once we he reaches the tank.. she's a bossy boots that one.

I noticed that whenever Elsie stopped she had a tendency to put her left paw up. It was VERY cute:

Up at the tank, I caught a few pics of Elsie checking out the tank perimeter. She takes her job very seriously.



I love her shadow cast on the concrete tank. She looks a lot rougher and you can see her chin whiskers! And in this one below you can see her tail sticking out. Too cute!



Here's Fred sniffing the air and checking up on my progress as I trail behind them taking photos


 Fred: "C'mon mum! Hurry up!"



 Fred thinking of dinner..


Fred following a trail...



and discovering my little nectarine plant growing in a pot full of alpaca poo. mmMmmM! alpaca poo!

You stay away from that pot you hear Fred!

 Here's my favourite shot of the week. Taken after we got back from our walk. I like how her fur contrasts with the gravel on our driveway. Very arty.

Happy Puppies

Every evening when I come home I let the puppies out of their electrified pen and they run out and start chasing each other. 

After their little mad dash for freedom they come back happy but exhausted.

Here is Fred saying thanks for letting us out:

And here is Elsie with her big happy smile saying the same thing.

 I like this picture too. It looks like she's telling Fred what a great chase that was, but Fred looks totally disinterested. LOL

 

Over the past week I've noticed that Elsie has gotten quite chubby. Well, maybe not chubby. But she's filled out and feels a lot weightier. You can now grab hold of her skin on either side of her ribs and get a handful and a bit of fur/skin/fat. Elsie's a Fatty. LOL

I wonder if she's getting enough exercise, or if we are perhaps feeding her a little too much. I've already started reducing her meals. It also makes for our routine to be a little less tortured.

Every night both dogs get fed. Fred gulps his down practically in one gulp, while Elsie eats every. single. piece. of. dry dog food individually. She takes FOREVER. By the time Fred has finished, gone off to do his toileting, come back, had a drink and is ready to come inside Elsie is only just finishing her dinner.

Last night with her reduced meal she finished about the same time, and I think she was a little confused/surprised that she had reached the bottom of her bowl so fast.

Mind you it's probably for the best that she eats slowly. Makes her less likely prone to bloat which is something that hounds are partial to. But gosh it drags out the mealtimes something fierce!