dogs and games and beds

Going through my computer I came across a whole bunch of photos that I hadn't uploaded. There's quite a number of funny ones.

Take this candid shot for example...

humans: check out those dogs! fred: uh-oh humans. i better mark my territory.damn, mum's taking pics

Rosie: Look at all those humans having fun. I wanna too...

Here is Rosie on the left looking forlornly out to sea. Of course the irony is that while she may look like she wants to go out there, in reality she doesn't really.

She'll put her feet in the shallows because she's curious and wants to sniff. But any further and she's gone.

While trying to drag Fred into the ocean is like trying to drag huge boulders of stone. It's not possible.








I think the pic below is so sweet. Little Harry (the bf's mum's dog) watching Freddie as he romps his way home, while Rosie stands in the back watching in case something happens. lol.

But they all look happy like a little family. Awww...

The Pack

Playing Dodge!Fred

Fred: I gotcha now!

Playing Dodg'em

These are also some cool photos of the doggies running around. I love how Rosie is practically horizontal in the first pic, and how she stops herself short in the second pic. She almost looks like she's leapfrogging. And Freddie's in half bound...

Here is another sweet photo, with Freddie sitting back while Rosie tries to get his attention to play.

Awww... all I seem to be saying is "awww..."

Fred: Let's take a rest now. I'm tired. Rosie: Aww come on, I wanna play!

Isn't that the sweetest photo of Rosie? I sense another Awwww coming on..

Rosie: Yes mum?

Taking a break

I think this was taken after Freddie was washed. His fur's standing on end, which it's prone to do after he's been washed. He's got that worried look on his face again. And his ear looks funny all turned back like that.

Fred: I'm so exhausted from playing. What's going on? Is there another game about to start?

Now whenever you go out playing, you have to remember to stay hydrated. Here is Freddie being a good boy and taking a moments to catch some H20.

l-l-l-l-iiiiiick

Fred: huh?

=P quit taking pics and let me drink in peace...

I think that the 'string' dangling from Freddie's mouth is actually a stream of water. I say this mainly because in the first pic there are 2 'strings'.

I LOVE the third pic though. The look of his face and his tongue. hee hee hee




Rosie and Harry

on your marks, get set....

kissy kissy

AAAATTTTAAACK!!!

HARRY: I'm gonna EAT YA NOW

and then fred decided he wanted to play too

Just FYI, Rosie doesn't usually play with other dogs. She plays with Fred - but only when she feels like it. With Harry she usually doesn't bother playing at all - especially not in the beginning. She only ever warms up after a while. This is later in the afternoon. And it's so sweet how she gets down to his level to play.

and some other pics..

i wonder what fred's inspecting so intently?

and what rosie's thinking about with that far off look in her eye

here's fred running again

and back to the mystery of the missing futon

Now remember last time when I was bemoaning the loss of the futon?

I found some more pics including the new 'bed' that I made them before it got destroyed.

Isn't my newly made bed nice?

Now Rosie obviously knows quality...

unfortunately later that evening all my hard work came to nothing =(

rosie: on second thoughts, hold that thought. she's still taking pics of us

rosie: why are you bummed fred?

fred: i'm bummed

Update on the Dastardly Duo

So what has the dynamic duo been up to lately?

Lots, and lots and LOTS! That's what!

First up, the peach tree in our backyard has blossomed. To the point that we are being flooded with ripe peaches. Every day Fred and Rosie forage in the forest (backyard) to find food for their ever growing doggie tummies. Here is Rosie caught in the act as she sniffs for peaches...

Rosie the Peach Hunter

Sniff, sniff, SNIFFFFF

Meanwhile, we all know the state of my poor doggie's accomodation/sleeping quarters. Their beds are essentially a frame with some fabric hanging off it in very artistic ways.

Here is Rosie doing her own style of interior decor...

Rosie: I am such a great interior designer

Guilt finally took over, and we gave them our old futon.

Rosie: psst, hey Fred! She's taking pics! fred: sssh. I'm trying to sleep here...

So far, so good. You can see there's already been some slight tearing, but perhaps that's just to make them feel more comfortable. So it's like a den, y'know. Carve out your little piece of sleeping area so to speak.

Here is rosie later...

Rosie: I have a new bed!

The next morning when I woke up, I was greeted with this:

bwye bwye comfy futon...

We're actually pretty sure it's Freddie who does all the destruction. Poor Rosie. All she wanted was a comfy bed. But Freddie was bored and dug it all up. Dogs are so dumb...

In other news Freddie's getting a bit dominant again. I caught them playing, and usually a dog shows dominance by 'humping' as Sue so nicely puts it, the other. Usually it's Rosie doing this, and it's quite amusing to watch. However, I caught Freddie doing this the other day (see left).

We've also stopped walking them by driving them directly to the park (I know, how naughty of us!), after Freddie pulled so badly that I fell onto the concrete driveway of our next door neighbour's house. *sigh*

In fact I stopped walking them for a week after that. I'm slowly taking back over the reins, but only after the bf disciplined them and kept them on a short lead for a week.

And they're much better now. But it's all about consistency. And gee, it's hard to be consistent on a daily basis - especially when you're tired, and you just want to get the walk over and done with so you can relax in front of the tele - or make jewellery in my lab, in my case. LOL.

I have a whole bunch of other pics at home, including one of the new bed that I made my puppies (which they promptly chewed into oblivion in 12 hours), but they don't seem to be on this computer. So instead, I'll just have to finish off with some pics of my gentle giants playing...

Fred: I've got you now!!!

Fred: Look mum! I've got her by the neck!!!

Rosie: AAAAAaaaaaaargggghh

Check out Rosie's mouth.. *gulp*

...and even more teeth!

Rosie: ARRRGH!! Fred: Stop it Rosie, You're overdoing it.

And then Fred attacks Rosie in an attempt to stop her showing off

But as per usual, I'll sign off with the cutest/funniest pic I have of Freddie on hand...

Fred: ARRRRRGHGHGHGHGHGh

Fred's Birthday and Rosie Shenanigans

It's Freddie's birthday today. At least according to his records from the pound. But seeing as he wasn't registered or microchipped when we got him, I very much doubt that he was born on the 1/1/2007. Regardless of his official birth date though, I'd say it would be close to, or has already been 1 year since Freddie was born.

So how did we celebrate? Well, we didn't really. Today was really just like any other day. We're such terrible dog parents aren't we? LOL.

The doggies have had a few good days though. On Sunday we took them down to the bf's mum's place. She has a little beach shack right on the beach. We dragged the puppies into the ocean for the first time. Rosie was interested until she got out of her depth, and then wanted to get back on land. Fred didn't want to go in at all, until he saw Rosie was in, and grudgingly let himself be dragged in. But he didn't like it much. Definately no golden retriever in these two dogs. Or is it lab? I can't remember which breed it is that's supposed to love water more.

After that, I went and washed them, and both behaved fairly civilly. Poor doggies. Not only did I go and drag them into the big scary ocean, but then I had to wash them. And then to add insult to injury, I left them at the house and disappeared into the ocean myself. I was a bit worried that Fred would jump over the fence (they have a very low fence) and follow me, but when I turned to look, he just had his paws on the fence and watched me leave, looking very forlorn.

=S

They were so exhausted when we got them home. Pretty much went straight to sleep. Poor puppies.

Yesterday Fred and Rosie made me laugh so hard. This is what I was met with when I woke up to go and feed the dogs:

Spot The Difference

My friend who owns a dog says that they only sleep on their backs when they're totally relaxed. Freddie must be a pretty relaxed doggie then. Because that's how he is pretty much 80% of the time. Flat on his back, legs spread, balls in the air, begging for a scratch. LOL. Rosie, on the other hand, only very rarely gets into this pose.

Later on in the afternoon, I noticed Fred was harrassing Rosie. I looked around him to see what was going on, and had to laugh out loud. This is the sight I was met with:

Stuck!

Now I know it's mean of me to laugh, and I sympathised with her predicament, but you gotta admit it's pretty funny. Freddie had pretty much managed to push her into that hole. And me being the mean mother that I am, just kept on laughing and taking pictures rather than go out there and try and help her out.

Giving Up

And here's another pic to give you a bit more perspective..

Fred: I don't know what's going on, but she's in this weird position...

I did end up being the nice mother though, and helped her get out. The bed already has holes in it, from when Freddie was chewing on his little wooden block, and managed to shove it into the bed in his attempt to get a grip on it.

holey bed

You can see the damage he's done to the bed. Unfortunately these beds are quite expensive, and he's pretty silly because as you can see in the previous pics, those dogs just seem to manage to make the holes wider and wider.

I'm planning on sewing up some new beds for them soon. I've got some heavy curtain fabric. Alternatively, I'm told the local co-op sells hessian sacks, and that might be an option too.

Poor doggies. They're just making do at the moment, but it's their own fault really for not taking care of their beds. We had 3 beds to begin with (2 brand new, and 1 from our previous dog), and in the last two moths, all 3 beds have had holes made in them.

Rest assured though that Rosie got out safe and sound. Here's them playing later on..

Playing

Time for an update methinks

We washed the puppies a week or two ago, with my newly reformulated doggie shampoo. Fred's hair stood up like a mohawk. So cute. His hair was all fluffy and soft. But yeah, it went all wild and volume-y. LOL.

Mohawk Freddie

Lickin' Lips Freddie

Surprisingly he seemed to enjoy his shower/bath. Usually he just stands there and suffers it quietly. But it was a hot day that day, and after we finished hosing him down, he just sat there patiently waiting. So we sprayed him again. He seemed to enjoy it. Thank goodness we have one water baby in the family. Rosie on the other hand scrambled away the minute she could.

Here are some more recent family portraits:

Family Portrait

Note, this is freddie's usual pose in our house. flat on his back with his legs in the air, hoping for a scratch. if you click up close you can see his foot is pushing on Rosie's jaw. LOL.

Fred: what's going on? Why is she still taking photos of us?

This is a more tamer version of the three of them. Although Freddie looks very funny. He always looks so odd when his teeth peek out. You can tell Rosie's a bit of a princess. LOL.

And then later...

Fred: What you looking at?

His body isn't as long as mine, but you can see he's getting there. He's actually close to an inch taller than Rosie now. I don't think he'll get much taller, but he's certainly getting much broader.

 

Frederick, the Helpful Gardener

Haven't been blogging lately. Work and life have taken over a little.

This weekend I went and took some photos especially. Because as I was changing computer desktops, I suddenly realised I have no more doggie photos left! It was like, 'oh, same ol, same ol. Seen these ones before.'

So I've included lots of crazy and scary pictures to share of my two doggies.

The latest news is that Freddie ate our back step. We have a wooden step at our back door, because there's a bit of a gap between the house and the verandah. Freddy has a tendancy to chew anything within sight when he's bored. I think he's teething. He lost a tooth a month ago, and it has yet to grow back.

Anyway, we came home one day to discover the step had gone. It was on his bed, with the two pedestal legs ripped apart. *shakes head* He's a MONSTER.

We took the step away from him, but left one of the legs behind, which he has been happily chewing for the last 3 weeks. I'm amazed he hasn't had splinters in his jaw. The leg is really a brick, when it comes down to it. A big oblong piece of wood. And he's obviously enjoying himself, because he's managed to break all 3 of their dog beds in the process.

We had an old raised bed from our last dog, and we ended up getting some new raised beds (they were on special) a while ago. At one time, there was one in the laundry, and one outside. These days, since Freddy started digging through the walls (I told you, he'll attack/eat anything when he's bored), we've moved the beds permanently outside.

In the last week we have come home to each of these beds having a hole in them. I originally thought that they'd been roughhousing and fallen through it. But when the new bed had a hole in the middle, I was a bit puzzled. Last night when I came home, I noticed Fred's wooden brick was in the middle of a hole in the third bed. So I'm guessing he's been sitting on his bed, gnawing away, and pushing at it, and accidently pushed the brick through the mesh. He doesn't know his own strength, that boy.

It's amusing how much they love the beds though. The old one from our previous dog has the biggest tear in it. Probably because the mesh isn't as strong after all this time. Yet the dogs LOVE it. I was watching them last night, and they still sit on that bed, despite it no longer being a raised bed. So their feet actually touch the ground through the hole. LOL. Crazy dogs.

What else have my dogs been up to?

Destruction3

They've been systematically destroying our garden. Where once beautiful creepers and flowers were, now is just an empty soil bed. The bf's mum came over last weekend, and commented, "oh, what are you going to put in here?" - thinking that we'd cleared out the flower beds. To which we replied with embarrassment, "oh no, that's just our dogs settling in"

See those three grey bricks in the bottom left hand corner? Bf had to put those in, because the dogs were digging their way to china. They'd reach the gutter pipes. Although who knows, maybe they just wanted to move the house a little further up or something.

That plant in the middle - that used to be a thriving fern. In fact, I'm sure there are some pics on this blog that show Freddy hiding behind it at one time. These days, there's not much left. And all the plastic - that used to cover all that area. With creepers growing around it and such. Not anymore. This is their favourite spot to sit during the day. Although, I've noticed that Rosie has begun to favour another part of the garden - that Freddy is helpfully clearing of flora for her. *shakes head* Who needs deconstruction workers, garden labour or any other such thing, when I have two big helpful dogs??

On the right here, you can see Freddy's work. That used to be a thriving daisy bush. The one below it is another daisy bush, near my veggie patch. As you can see, Freddy's favourite thing atm is to gnaw on the branches until they drop off. I didn't realise at first. Because he's so intent on searching for skinks. Sometimes you'll hear this massive thump, and it's Freddy trying to land on a skink. I've seen so many skinks with no tails in the garden lately. LOL.

The last pic is of one of the holes that (and I'm guessing Rosie here) has been made. There is a lot of plastic around the garden from the previous owner. I'm guessing for mulch and weed prevention purposes. But my dogs are making quick work of this. They don't seem to be digging for hiding bones though. They seem to be digging just because.

Freddy has also been very helpful in assisting me with gardening.

I took the cutest picture the other day of Freddy inspecting a snail. As we all know, snails are horrible things for veggie gardens. They eat through all your leaves.

Freddy Discovering Snails

What's That?! I've never seen that before

It's moving so slowly...

Let's see if it's edible...

You'll need to click on them to see how cute he looks. I tried doing bigger pics, but the formatting went all outta whack =/

He's gotten bigger in the last month or so. I still love the brindle markings on his forehead though. It makes him look like such a worrier. LOL

Here are some even cuter pics of Fred:

What's going on? How come you're taking out the Camera again?

Can we go back inside yet?

I know that the first pic here is a bit blurry. But the look on his face is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute. That I had to put it up anyway.

I love how his ears flop down like that. And when he hears something you can see the ears move ever so slightly up. LOL

These pics were taken in the late afternoon/evening, so lighting is a bit crappy. (Can you see the blue tinge on his fur?)



Fred and Rosie Playing Tackle

Fred: OooOh, what's that over there?

Fred: coochie, coochie coo..

Rosie: Stop it! You're Tickling me!

I love the middle pic - where Rosie is all curled up. She reminds me of
a baby possum. LOL. AND check out her vicious fangs in the third pic!
Yikes! And just think - Freddie's teeth are in fact a LOT more deadly.
Not to say Rosie couldn't hurt you.

Rosie: I can't believe he got me...

I also love this pic - where you can see Rosie's eyes. She looks so bummed that he's managed to catch her. This is their favourite game atm. Freddie's always going for bites on the neck. =)

And check out their tails! Rosie always look so sleek, while Freddie's just a big dufus in comparison. LOL.


Followed by Arguments between Friends

Fred: I think you've put on a bit of weight lately.
Rosie: WHAT did you say???

Fred: Look, I'm just trying to be honest. Rosie!!

Fred: Fine, I'm sorry. I take it back. I just think you shouldn't steal from my food bowl all the ti

But it's not always like this. Here are fred and rosie on better terms:

Having Fun