Today, I hired a young girl to prune, plant annuals, and spread mulch. Since Guinness has been doing fairly well at staying in the yard, I allowed him to be loose while I did my projects and Ashlee worked. He stayed in our yard, watched us work, played with empty pots, and kissed Ashlee a few times. After about an hour of freedom, he began wandering and had to be tied to the tree.
We have been lean on the number of dogs each morning this week. Several are away. Today we had four: Riley, Holly, Marley, and Guinness. Here is Guinness head wrestling with Marley.
I am a total zombie today – more than usual after a trip. I have not driven that far alone in a couple of years. But I wasn’t the only zombie today. He is on “off” speed today.
This morning we surprised our friends by showing up at doggie park (since I told them we wouldn’t return until Wed.). Our friend Douglas thought he saw red on Guinness’s tummy (probably when he jumped up on
Red circle welts almost the size of quarters!
Off to the vet to discover the diagnosis. Dr. C. says “the clown” has picked up a staph infection. He is on anti-biotics and I need to wash everything he has slept on. Also he has lost 5 pounds since the last time he was weighed several months ago. He is only 70.8 pounds – bordering on skinny, the doc says. Dr. C. says he only has two speeds – on and off – so his weight is not surprising.
Ruth, Guinness, and I had another great beach walk. This time, we tried throwing a stick in the lake. He retrieved! So we kept throwing, and he kept fetching! Wonders never cease! Ruth tried to throw it far enough to make him swim. He gave up and left the stick. I tried to throw far enough to make him swim, but only once or twice did it seem he actually swam to reach the stick. Eventually, he pooped out, but he did many, many retrieves! (And I forgot my camera)
Then we were off to the farm. Guinness loved having the freedom to run. He ran in the pond (on the back left) a couple of times. He ran into the neighbor’s field. 
He ignored the little dogs, Sam and Picasso, but Picasso played the big cheese and tried to tell Guinness off for being present at his farm.
Guinness and I drove to As soon as we arrived at their house, I had to start Guinness-proofing it: removing shoes and gloves from his reach, etc. Their little Yorkie, Sam, always has food in his dish. Well, that can’t happen with Guinness around or poor Sam will NEVER eat. I had planned to let Guinness sleep in the kitchen, but
Saturday morning,
They perused the beach from above while Guinness had a chance to play again (this time with my camera in hand!)
We all (including Guinness) enjoyed the myriad birds in their yard. We determined that one nesting in a bush is a Savannah Sparrow. Several bird houses are full of House Sparrows. Another bird, yet to be determined, is in a smaller bird house. I spied a catbird which I have not seen since
My flower dog.
Tonight, we left to go to a friend’s for dinner. I had to run back in the house for something and found Guinness in the kitchen watching out the kitchen windows! I assume that maybe he was watching for us to drive by? It reminded me that we had a dog that did that. It was Hershey! When we lived in
Grant has decided that we would sleep a whole lot better without a dog in bed with us. That is true… yet it is nice to have his company. So I closed him in the den overnight for the past few nights. He seems to do just fine with no complaining, and our rest is improved.
Holly is a 4 month old Golden Retriever. We have run into her a few times in the past couple of weeks and she has even come to doggie park to watch. Guinness fell in love immediately. Today her mommy let her off leash and she had a ball! She and Marley, a giant golden, were very cute together. Guinness is a bit too rambunctious with the puppy, but her mommy says they are fine, that Holly can take it.
After everyone had left and we were about to leave, a shelty walked by. Guinness was unusually calm meeting this new dog. They sniffed each other with no craziness, then he went to the master to have pets from her. He also did not try to jump in her, thank goodness since she was wearing whitish slacks. She said her dog does not like other dogs and that she was surprised that her shelty was tolerating Guinness. I told her that Guinness’s behavior was also highly unusual. Obviously, there was some dog communication going on that told Guinness to be slow and easy which made the shelty welcoming of the refrained attention.
It is interesting to note how dogs behave together. Every dog treats each dog differently. Guinness is always ecstatically eager to greet everyone in the morning. If we arrive first, he runs to each one as they arrive. If they are there first, he can’t reach them fast enough. Oddly, none of the regulars race to greet Guinness, at least, not with the same exuberance. Fortunately, his feelings are not hurt! Here is Guinness’s routine behavior with each dog:
Lucy, a chocolate lab – If she is playing fetch, he ignores her. But if she runs, he will chase and chase and sometimes lead the chase game.
Riley, a black lab – If we are first on the field, Guinness will race across the park to greet Riley when he appears. They sniff each other a bit. They occasionally will have a brief romp, but not much. Riley and Lucy both know that when I call, “Come!” to Guinness, that means treat time, and they come to me for treats.
Mattie, a border collie – Since she loves to chase cars, Mattie is always on leash, which, I think, causes her to bark at everyone and have a snappy attitude. You can hear her coming before she is in sight. If a dog gets close to her, she would gladly take a bite out of them, so they had better skedaddle quickly. Guinness loves to taunt her. He runs in circle segments just beyond the circumference of her extended leash, causing her to run at the end of her tether in partial circles trying to reach him. If you call that play, he is the only dog that plays with her.
Smartie, an Australian sheepdog – Smartie loves to run and to play fetch. Sometimes Guinness will run with her, but not often. He wants nothing to do with fetch. Smartie will sometimes be vocal in play or dominant in a chase – all normal, happy dog play, but Smartie’s mother thinks she is being bad and throws her ball to move her attention away from Guinness.
Marley, a golden retriever – Marley is a huge golden with a serene face that reminds me of Aslan in the Narnia stories. Marley has some health and allergy issues, plus bad hips. I have not witnessed this, but Marley has been vicious with some dogs, so he is on a leash most of the time. Guinness loves Marley, and Marley seems to enjoy Guinness. Their play consists of head wrestling – trying to roll the other one over. I try to keep Guinness from playing near Marley’s rear end, as I have seen Marley nip at a dog that tries to mount him, causing him hip pain. Riley also enjoys head wrestling with Marley. Perhaps it is Marley who tells the dogs that head wrestling is his favorite method of play.
There are a few others who drop by occasionally. Guinness always is eager to meet a new dog or greet an old friend. There is a
Kevin and Karin left this morning. Before going out the door, Kevin hugged and kissed Guinness. (Why didn’t we have a camera ready?) He said, “I love you, Guinness. I’m going to miss you,” and began to cry. On the way to the airport he asked his Mommy, “Can I have a dog?”
I called after they were home and asked Kevin if James (his large cat) was happy to see him. He said, “James is very small.” Compared to Guinness, that is true!
Today we did go to doggie park with loot bags for our friends. Marley arrived first. I gave Sue Marley’s bag of treats. Guinness would not leave her alone! He kept jumping on her to get a treat, so I told her, “Give them back to me and I will give them to you when you leave.” It was the only way she could have some peace! Next, Mattie and Riley came, and finally Smartie. Everyone received their loot bag as they left.
Tonight after dinner, Kevin wanted to watch Little Einsteins and play Legos while the adults talked. He wanted Guinness to come with him, so he dragged Guinness across the house by the collar! Unfortunately, we missed that shot.
They both look like happy boys! Guinness is smiling!
Poor Guinness. He didn’t have much of a birthday celebration. We didn’t make it to doggie park, only the backyard with Lucy engrossed in fetch while Guinness wandered places he shouldn’t.
Last night he grabbed our dinner leftovers -- half a pizza, half a sandwich, chicken fingers and fries -- a LOT of food! So he didn't need any treats today. I wondered if I should even feed him.
All was peaceful and calm until Guinness wanted some action. First he had to kiss his Daddy,
then he licked Kevin too.
Later, I had a chance to cuddle with my boy and Guinness wanting to be a part of it.
We found Kevin here asking to have his picture taken!
Kevin was up very early this morning, so we went out to play with Lucy on the back hill. Kevin loved the two dogs but could not tell them apart. Then he discovered the boulders and spent his time running on the boulders while Guinness watched Lucy play fetch. After we came home, Kevin asked, “Are you sure this is Guinness?” Is this the right dog?”
Today there was no playtime, as we had to drive to
Now that ECMW has a real office, Emmett doesn’t stop by the house very often. But he did today. As soon as Guinness saw him, he ran down to Emmett’s car circling it looking for Molly! He loves her even though she dominates him!
Monday and Tuesday, we met Lucy on the back hill, but Lucy is into playing fetch big time. She has had enough of playing chase with Guinness. Now that spring is springing, she wants fetch. Guinness barks and jumps around her to get her to play and, when that fails, he starts wandering between townhomes and up on neighbor's decks. Then I grab him and we go home. Wednesday and Thursday, we went to doggie park. He was happy to be there, but, without Lucy, the biggest running instigator, he doesn’t do much running.
