Merry Christmas!

We took a walk to visit with one of our favorite pups, Lexie! The pups do like visiting with her, and Lady Flame would love a play date.

Lexie is a small German Shepherd who enjoys visitors. This time, she tried to hop into the car when we arrived.

She is one sweet dog and Drew has known her since she was a puppy. This was my first meeting with her. Drew grew up with German Shepherds and loves them.

After hanging with Lexie, we took a walk down her road just to get a bit of exercise in. I love this photo of Drew and Toby. They are such good buddies.

Lady Flame kept looking back as there was a couple with a dog behind us. Note her perked up ears! She loves meeting people and dogs.

Then, we headed for home. Toby likes to think of himself as the protector of our yard, and I can just imagine a wolf or coyote howling with laughter at our boy in his jammies, strutting his stuff around the perimeter!

Lady Flame just loves her yard. She spends a lot of time relaxing outdoors.

She loves to roll around and get tummy rubs as often as possible!

Pre-Christmas Walk on Papermill Trail

We celebrated vacation time by doing a family walk on Papermill Trail today. It was so cold and we just weren't prepared for the windchill. But, it was pretty nonetheless.

I just couldn't resist taking a shadow photo of Flame and I!

The Sabattus River was flowing as it has been near to above freezing during the day.

We only walked 1.4 miles round trip, and that was enough for us and the pups.

We decided to head for home and warm up with some delicious hot cocoa!

Christmas Time Get-Together

Dennis is quite the "in your face" kind of pup! He bowls you over with lovin'!

We got together with our buddies, Veronica, Bettina, and Dennis today.

Bettina got a much needed hug from her buddy, Drew.

We hadn't seen each other in a year, and Bettina needed a hug from one of her male admirers! 

Dennis was also in need of his male bonding time.

Lady Flame said, "Whatever...dudes." At least she stayed put on the couch during the entire visit, which is nothing short of a miracle!

My guys!

Toby was also rather "chill" about the visitation. But, he did well and there were no altercations due to his not being able to see anybody!

Veronica came all decked out with her festive flashing lights!

Bettina needed constant reassurance that she was still Veronica's favorite dog!

Dennis the Menace, or Devil Dog? Take your pick. Ha! Actually, this is Dennis in full yawn mode;-)

And, here is Dennis in cutie patootie mode. He is so lovable...

Toby looked quite dashing in his new hat! And, he loves his new toy!

Lady Flame got a new petite hat to fit her petite head! She loves her new "Fleece Navidog" slipper stuffed with paper. I had to nix her wanting to take it outside when going for her nightly potty break!

Thanks for everything, Veronica! Let's get together before another year passes us by!

Blue on Blue...

Just thinking about Royal Blue Jay today as it would have been his 15th birthday. Years ago, Drew created this stylized image of Blue and it is so beautiful. The song titles are great too! Cheers to Blue! We miss you...(Click on the image to read the song titles;-)

Bored-Antsy Pups

Bored Toby

It's a snowy day. The pups have gone for their walk. They have had treats, and more treats...Potty breaks...A run around the yard. But, that is not enough. They have been antsy as can be. Now, they are just bored, bored, bored...

Bored Lady Flame

Stinky Flame

We love her, we really do. But, whooeee is she a stinky pup! We switched from grain free food, to Diamond Maintenance food (half the price), but there are consequences. Lady Flame is outgassing almost constantly, and the noxious odor is close to driving us out of the house. We switched because we read of a study done at a university that found a connection between grain free food with legumes to heart failure in dogs.

Toby relaxes on the sofa

Toby enjoys a good, hot wood stove fire. This was the first of the season and Toby got dibs on the sofa!

Drew's Little Helper

Toby is Drew's little helper when it comes to lawn care. He loves cool autumn days when he can beeline it to a pile of leaves in the backyard.

Those leaves are all his. Drew keeps adding to the pile as Toby snuggles in.

The more leaves, the better as Toby sinks lower...

and lower...

and even lower...

until...he can barely be seen!

And, then he falls asleep under the warmth of the leafy blanket.

Autumn Pups on the Papermill Trail

We love the Papermill Trail, and it is especially pretty during autumn. The sky was dark, the air was cold, and there were very few people on the trail.

Lady Flame patiently waits while Toby gets his umpteenth treat.

Both pups pose nicely on the boulder next to the trail.

Then, we walked over to the chunk of granite next to the river. I couldn't get the pups to look at me for anything. Actually, they were focused on Drew thinking that they would get yet another biscuit!

Flame is good a posing and she will not move when the leash drags on the ground. Although, she continued to avoid looking at me;-)

Lady Flame Squirrel Patrol

Lady Flame limbers up before going on squirrel patrol.

Gotta stretch all the important running muscles...just in case...

Lady Flame spends hours on alert in the backyard. She obviously has a low prey drive as she just watches and waits. No willy nilly charging and running after the squirrel, just watching...

It is exhausting work, but somebody has to do it!

This is all followed by a satisfying nap (with a slight smile as she remembers the squirrel of her dreams.)

Chillin' in the back yard

The pups have been enjoying the back yard to the max! Flame has become a squirrel huntress extraordinaire, and Toby is the sight-challenged Sheriff of the yard. A gray squirrel has been taunting and flaunting throughout the yard, and it is an exhausting business for the pups to keep the yard free of these cutie patootie vermin;-)

Play Date with the half sibs

Beautiful Sugaree and her side-kick Lady Flame

Yay! We had a play date and I actually had a camera in my hand. It was a bit dark in the backyard, so the photos came out a bit blurry, but the pups don't care a hoot about the quality;-)

Trouble and Flame start a high speed chase!

The half-sibs had a good time together, and they didn't waste any time in getting a good game of chase going.

The hounds are getting to be oldie goldie hounds and their runs are short.

Lady Flame is so happy to see her bestie, Trouble.

Lady Flame and Trouble are a blur as they run around the yard.

Flame and Trouble do a quick tear around the yard at lightning speed!

Pretty Flame rests after the run-around...