Friday, August 10, 2007

I'm back!

Sorry about the delay, but as the saying goes, "Life comes at you!" Things are slowing down here, and as you can see, I've even had some time to mucky-muck with the format here (I don't know if I'll keep this format, we shall wait and see). Next week I will be working on a website (for a school) so I have a bit of time to play.
Reading the paper today I saw an article about burglaries in the neighboring town (which is less than a mile from me), and it reminded me of an incident which happened about 6 weeks ago.
The Count sleeps in our room with us. He rarely barks, unless he's playing with the kitties or with me. So we were surprised one night when Orion woke us by jumping to his feet and barking. We jumped out of bed, I thought he had seen a firefly out the window and it startled him, but he was very agitated. Once we were out of bed, Orion ran to the stairs, with Hubber in pursuit, and as soon as Hub opened the door, Orion shot out, racing through the yard and into the neighbor's field, all the while barking furiously. Whoever (or whatever) it was can consider himself very lucky, as Orion was fierce and furious. I've never seen him like that before. I ran around the house turning on all the lights and Hub flashed lights outside, but never found anything. Orion came back to the house, still very agitated, and spent time outdoors patrolling the house, then he came back in and patrolled the inside. It took some time for him to settle down. I am sure glad we have him, he's a super watchdog!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

I've been tagged!

That's right folks, I'm IT! I always wanted to be IT, IT is what I AM....

Anyway, Mom has been very busy so she allowed me to come here and give my update. Mom decided to take three accelerated courses this summer, all online. Instead of 18 weeks, each course is 18 days. So she has a week's worth of work to do each day. I guess she did not have the ol' brain in the cavity the day she signed up for them, because she took two at the same time. So she has neglected all her housework, ironing, blog updates, and cooking for the pursuit of knowledge. So please forgive her for not updating and keeping everyone axiously awaiting a new update. At least she still can't resist the sight of a Newf sitting in front of her with a stuffie in his mouth. I am the only thing that can get her away from her studies! She promised to update my blog with some new fancy, smancy stuff when she is done with these courses, vacation, and catching up on her laundry. So life has been very dull here, except all my kids are home from school, so that does change the dynamics here a bit.

Now, on to the game of tag.
I've been tagged by Ayla, a Newfie friend of mine!

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog post with their 7 things as well as these rules. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. Remember to leave a comment for them letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Here are my random facts:
1. I love to have my ears rubbed, I groan with pleasure.
2. I love to chase woodchucks, they look like fat kitties when they run!
3. I think pugs are funny; when my cousin pug comes to visit, he thinks he's bigger than I!
4. I love Brussels Sprouts.
5. After I drink, I like to use a napkin. Laps make excellent napkins.
6. I love to go for rides. Going to Grandma and Grandad's house is one of my favorites.
7. They love me at Petco. When I go, they announce my presence over the loudspeaker so the employees can come give me some lovin's.

Now I get to tag 7 of my doggie buds, this will be FUN!

1. My cousins, Nanook and Pooka
2. My good friends, Tank, Isaac, and Princess
3.Kodos who needs an update!
4. Mollie and Zander, whose Momma makes the best dog cookies, which I love, love, love!


I only have time to tag four, since Mum needs to get back on the com-futer. I will have to think up some more and get back to ya.
Later dudes and dudettes!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Meatball!

The other day, Orion went with me to get the newspaper, when we found a delightful treat in the box, a meatball! Our next door neighbor made special doggie meatballs for her doggie, Anabelle, and shared her bounty with The Count. I let him sniff the bag, and he knew something very special would be his for breakfast. He was so thrilled, he forgot the newspaper and ran down to the house without it! He was dancing around the kitchen as I prepared the meatball to mix into his kibble. He greedily devoured the meatball, leaving the kibble in his dish. For Orion to greedily devour anything is quite a shock, he is extremely selective about what he ingests.
I was very pleased to have found something which made him eager to eat, so I asked my dear neighbor to share the recipe, which she enthusiatically did. I made up a batch of these delicious meatballs, which contained shredded carrots and cheese, and eagerly awaited their cooking so I could share them with my newf. I waited until they were cool enough, and crumbled one into his bowl. He didn't touch it. Not even a bite.
Now, I doubled the batch when I made them so I had a huge bunch of these meatballs which His Highness has decided he wouldn't eat. Hmmm. I served them for dinner with pasta. The hubber and kids thought they were delicious. Maybe The Count will only eat them with pasta and sauce.....

Monday, April 09, 2007

No Known Drawbacks

At one of my painting groups, we were discussing how to paint dogs. A friend brought in some books, and I copied the picture of the Newfoundland dog. Along with the picture was a write-up about the breed, which I had to bring home to show The Hubber.
First, the person who did the write-up and the picture had only a vague idea of what Newfoundlands look like. Other than being black (which some are)and having a fat fluffy tail (as The Count does) not much else in the picture was accurate. The color description said they come in "dull black and white with a black head and saddle." Orion is a very shiny black. No mention of the greys or browns. The part which struck me the most were the feet. The dog's feet in the picture (which was a painting)looked like chicken feet. Okay, not literally, but I can assure you, no dog of this size could walk on those front paws. They looked like skinny, lab puppy feet on a full-grown newf. Newfs have paddle-paws. The front feet on Orion can be confused with a club. Trust me, I've been batted by one while he was stretching.
The next thing I found amusing is the comparison picture. In order to demonstrate the massive size of the breed, a silouette of a newf is standing next to the silouette of an airdale. The airdale comes up to the newf's armpits. The airdale could walk underneath the newf without ducking, according to the author of this book. Holy cow, that is one massive dog. Mine is not so massive, I've not yet met an airdale who could walk underneath him.
It gets even better in the written description!
Advantages of the breed:
"Good guard dog" If you can wake one, he might sniff you. If he's already awake, he might follow you to the door to greet "his" guests. Anyone who comes to the door could only be there to see HIM. Oh yeah, good guard dog, right.
"Fierce when provoked" You'd have to do a mighty lot of provoking. I think most folk would get tired before he'd get provoked. I guess if you provoke him with a stick he will fiercely chase it. Then again, he may not.
"Good swimmer" This he is. He's also good at trying to drown people while rescuing them from knee deep water. He's just doing his job.
"Good with animals" Unless the animal is a kitty. Or a squirrel, which looks kinda like a kitty.
"Good with children" The breed is very good with children. Orion is especially good at removing munchkins from unsuspecting children's fingers. Saves the kiddies from a life of ill-effects caused by jelly-filled donut holes. Taking good care of kids is his primary responsibility.

The very best part of all, though, is that part which lists the disadvantages:

"No known drawbacks of this breed."

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Wet


Orion loves his new pal, Wet. He loves toys, all toys, and he is pretty gentle with them. He carries stuffies to whomever he thinks should play with him, and he will sit and entertain himself (usually while I'm on the phone) by searching for the squeaker. Wet has no sqeaker. Wet meows. Wet, by the way, is a battery powered FurReal kitty. Orion treats Wet very differently than he does all his other toys. He takes Wet into his crate, he carries him very gently (though sometimes he carries Wet by sticking Wet's entire head into his mouth), and I think he knows if you press Wet in just the right spot, Wet will meow or purr. Last night, he carried Wet upstairs to bed. That was the first time Orion ever carried a toy up to bed. Wet, it seems, is very special.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Orion and Oscar

The Newf and The Feline have been plotting, and I caught it all on "film".

First, when they thought no one was looking, they starting having secret meetings.


What they were plotting has yet to be determined, but I know they are up to something....

Several times I have found these two, and they look pretty suspicious to me.....



"I'll check and see if anyone is looking...."

"Yup, someone's looking..."


What are these two planning? We will have to wait and see.....

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Orion's new pal

After dear daughter took her Orange Kitty, and won't let us play with it (because, she fears, Orion will get it all slimey), I found Orion a kitty of his own. This one is a kitten, and he is "getting to know" it. For obvious reasons, we named the new kitty "Wet".
This video is not for the weak.



(no real kitties were used in the making of this film, even though it does kinda sound like it)

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Sleeping with the Newf

Just before our summer vacation, Orion confronted his fear of our stairs and started joining us in our room to sleep. Upon our return from vacation though, he resumed his old spot at the bottom of the stairs. That lasted about two weeks. Once he remembered he could go upstairs, he took up the job of tucking everyone in at night before retiring next to our bed. We are getting used to his rolling around on the floor (which is pretty loud since the floor is hardwood), snoring, getting up to find another spot on the floor, yawning, and general newf noises. Several nights ago though, Hubber and I were awoken by a strange noise. I whispered to Hubber, "Sounds like air in the pipes." Since the heat had turned on in the night, that's what it sounded like, very loud thumping and banging. Hubber looked over the edge of the bed and giggled. "Orion is running in his sleep," he whispered back. "No way, that's air-in-the-pipes sound." "Look for yourself, he's running." Sure enough, he was in hot pursuit, most likely of one of our kitties. Our whispers and giggles must have been enough to wake him as he woke suddenly and looked at us, kind of embarrassed.
Last night when everyone was sound asleep, Hubber and I were starled from our slumber by the newf growling. Both of us bolted upright, disoriented, when hubber looked over the bed and saw the newf still sleeping, talking in his sleep. Hub thought he might have been having a bad dream; I think he was either giving the neighbor's dog a talking to, or trying to coax a kitty out from under the kitchen table for a game of chase. I'm not sure if he woke up, once I determined everything was well my head hit the pillow and I was back to sleep.
Ah, life is so busy when you are a newf.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sledding in the yard after the snow

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

You know your Newf is big when.....

All newf owners hear it at one time or another. "Man, that dog is HUGE!" To us, our dogs are proper sized dogs, it's everyone else's dogs who are small. A friend (Jack V.) posted this observation to the Newf-List, and fellow listers chimed in with their stories, which they have kindly allowed me to share here.

You know your Newf is big when......

... a first-time visitor to your house is greeted in the foyer by your 8-month old 80lb female Newf and he says "Wow, what a big dog." You then say "Actually, she's our small dog; the big one's over there" while pointing to the family room, where your 7-yr-old male Newf is getting a belly rub from a couple of kids and doing a very good imitation of a bear skin rug. Visitor's jaw drops perceptibly. It's a funny reminder of perspective: Newfs long ago stopped seeming big to me; most other dogs just seem small.... ;)
Jack V.

...Or when people say, "You're going to put those dogs in that car?" or stare & point when we go down the road.
Susan, Deacon, and Lyric

...ah yes, the stare and point ... my daughter always laughs her head off in the car when that happens! She'll tell me to drive over to a crowd of people just for the reactions. Or here with a snow covered street we hook them up to the sled and you should see the people looking out their front windows as we pass by!
Dorrie and Sammy

...When people comment on Rocky's size, I always deny that he's a dog, and say "Oh, you mean my web-footed Holstein?"
Demeter and the gang

...Yes, I have to agree. Here's a quick little story about Watson and the FedEx guy.

Watson loves spending time out on our fully enclosed porch. He has his box which he sits on, a box of old magazines that I never got around to throwing out. It's now officially 'Watson's box". He also sits in a wicker chair positioned right up near the window so either way, Watson has a great view of the entire block.

Well, a few days ago, I received a delivery from FedEx. I keep the door locked, so he rang the doorbell. Watson went with me to answer the door. Watson stayed on the stairs while I opened the door and greeted the FedEx guy. When I looked at him, his eyes were totally focused on Watson. He never said a word to me...not Hi...nothing. So, I said.."This is Watson...he's a Newfoundland." Watson never moved and the guy never said a word. Just kept looking at Watson. I wasn't sure if he was in shock or awed. Very politely, and trying to distract him, I thanked the guy and he very slowly walked away from my house. Watson watched him walk all the way back to his truck.

I guess I, too, forget other people's reaction to a big, black Newfoundland. So, was it because he saw a big black dog sitting in a chair on the porch? Or possibly that he had never seen a dog that big, I don't know. Whatever it was, Watson left him speechless. :)
Sharon and Watson

... I have to chime in here, too. The other day, while Brogan and Weezie were out in the backyard, a guy from the gas company came to the front door to check something in the house. I directed him on thru the house following behind him, when he passed by the back door. Unknown to me, Weezie was standing up on her hind legs peering in thru the screen door to see who came. All 125 lbs. of her, stretched out full height. When the guy abruptly stopped dead in his tracks and clasped his heart with both hands, I ran smack into him. He didn't even notice. Continuing to clasp his heart in his hands, he simply said....."Dear God!" : )
Pat

...My own favorite big dog story was driving with my Mack, who was a very long slabby dog, and when I was in paying for my gas, the teller asked me how many dogs I had in the car. I answered "Just one..." and then followed her line of vision, to see Mack standing in the back seat of my car with his head out one side window, and part of his tail sticking out the window on the other side, wagging...
Cindy

...My favorite just happened again this morning! Jade, my very tiny 7.5 year old granddaughter is bored, she wants to take the dogs for a walk. We bundle up and put leashes on 135 lb Zulu and 25 pound Chewy ....
We go out the door with Grammy holding both leashes until the boys figure out we mean to WALK not take a run down the hill. Then, Jade takes Zulu (who has manners on a leash) and I walk Chewy (who will still cut and run, or try to, after the squirrels in the trees). We stop traffic, and people ask Jade how she walks a dog that is 6 times her size.

Jade responds: "It is easy, because he knows I'm the boss. I just walk and he comes with me."
Good boy ZULU!
Mary

...We actually put our meter reader to a run one morning when we surprised her checking the meter. We were going out for our first tinkle of the day, and she was checking our gas usage. She almost howled when she saw Nanook coming out the door, yelled, "I'm just checking the meter!!!" and RAN for her car.
Bwa ha ha ha.
I'm hoping she misread it that day in our favor.
Vanessa and Nanook

...We had gotten a 5 month old Dogue puppy. She has now topped out at about 100 pounds. My Mom keeps telling us we need to get her to the vet because 'There's something wrong with her - she's not growing.'
Our UPS guy tosses the packages from a distance and runs like hell!!!
Lori

...
This thread is so funny! My son had 3 teenage girls over last night...he said they squealed and yelled "OMG BEARS" Wish I would of been downstairs for that one!

...Tonight at Petsmart...granddaughter brought grandmother over to see what she found. All she could say was "oh, oh, oh, oh, oh" each "oh" got higher pitched then the one before. I had a friends Newf with me, so maybe thats why she hit such a high note. : ) After she stopped doing, whatever it was she was doing, I told her they wouldnt hurt her. She finally came over and pet Josie, and seemed to have a little bond going....til Josie laid the "Newfie lean" on her....luckily she was close enough to the shelves, and she didnt fall far....she picked up the treat that got knocked down, and that bond was broken. And she had nothing else to say to me. I dont see a Newfie in her future...EVER!
Tara and Josie

...We took Nanook shopping today and one little old lady exiting the store saw Nanook and said, "do you have a trailer for that thing?" with a smile on her face. I laughed and told her, "heck no. I rode him here!"
Vanessa and Nanook

... My favorite moment was when I was taking Elvis on his daily walk, and a delivery man yelled out his window that he thought it was illegal to keep bears as pets!!
Bronn

...I like to get folks before they can ask. When we walk on our favorite trail and I see another dog-walker's mouth open, I say, "Wow, that's a tiny dog you have!"

Now I'm going to make a bumper sticker which says, "Newfs are normal-size dogs, all others are stunted."

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Kitties--Part 3

As mentioned in my previous posts, Orion has a special affection for kitties. Kitties are meant to be chased. Kitties are great, because if you run AT them, they run away. That's what he was thinking. Until he met Orange Kitty.
Orange Kitty was sitting on my livingroom floor when The Count walked in. Orange Kitty turned her head and meowed. Oh, look! A kitty! Orion ran up to Orange Kitty, Orange Kitty did not run away. Orange Kitty stayed still, and purred! Orion backed up, Orange Kitty turned her head and meowed. Orion play bowed, Orange Kitty purred. Orion backed up again, Orange Kitty moved forward. Orion barked. Orange Kitty purred. Orange Kitty moved forward again, Orion barked and ran out of the room! Orange Kitty meowed, Orion creeped back in. Orange Kitty moved forward, Orion ran and hid.
This was a fun game, until Orange Kitty's batteries ran down. I have to remember to pick up some C batteries.....