Dog Eat Dog....Not Really

Another Sunday and a trip to our local off leash dog park for some socialization. Above is Sailor who is very happy to be visiting with all his friends today.

And here is Heartman, his tongue is hanging out because he ran all over the park to meet every dog that was there!

Ah, yes, a little sniff and you find out every thing you need to know about this cute little pug.

This shows you all the different kinds of dogs that were there today and every one got along just fine!

Sunday at the Dog Park

Here I am at the dog park in Washougal with the boys. Martin says I was looking proud so I was holding my head high. The truth was I was looking over his shoulder to see how close the people were who had two little dogs on the path in front of us. Pictured below is Sailor meeting one of the two miniature Schnauzers. The owners brought their dogs over from the small dog section of the dog park especially to meet our big boys. They wanted their dogs to meet some gentle big dogs as the last time they were in the park, one of them was attacked by an American Bull Terrier.

Sailor doesn't look too sure does he, smells like a dog, but is it really one? We had several people stop and talk with us about the dogs. I think there are some future Irish Wolfhound owners in Clark County WA! Love our off leash dog park, and they may be opening one in Camas soon. We have been very busy. There is a bit of a lull in the action this week, then next week Martin is off to DC for three days for a conference. I decided not to go with him, instead we are taking the last week of May off and doing a little road trip. We like to travel for our birthdays and Martin's is May 29th.

Maybe They Will Feed Me!

The joys of eating with Irish Wolfhounds in the house. Sailor just walks up to the table and nonchalantly lays his head down in hopes of getting some tasty morsel.

He is very patient, but doesn't get a bite of anything. Good thing he is watching his manners!

Spiffed Up for the Holidays

Heartman drew the short straw today and got to go to the dog wash for a good deep cleaning. We have learned our lesson, not to take both wolfhounds at the same time as they feed off of each other's hysteria. Sailor is still pretty clean as we bathed him and gave him a haircut pretty recently. Heartman did pretty well, he was much more concerned with the other dogs who were suffering the same fate and not happy at all. This picture was taken right after we got home, Heartman looks pretty fluffy from his blow dry and is content to watch the squirrel raiding the bird feeder. Finished wrapping presents today, tomorrow is cookie baking and house cleaning, it will be Christmas Eve before we know it.

This is Not a Real Reindeer or Santa Claus

Enjoying our first day off, I was able to get all the presents wrapped except for Martin's. I did get those organized and put in boxes, so he won't be able to tell what he's getting. We both like surprises so we don't peek. We also did most of our grocery shopping for the holiday, just a few fresh vegetables to pick up and our menus will be complete. Mailed our gifts to my nephew's family in Seattle and my mother in law in Enterprise.

That is Sailor in the Santa cap, and Heartman in the reindeer ears. Not to be confused with the real thing we saw yesterday. My poor husband, thought I was just taking a picture, but I was filming, eventually he'll figure it out!

Beautiful Saturday

What a day, second day with no rain. Very unusual for this time of year in this part of the Pacific Northwest. We did all our ususal household chores, as well as managed to get the dogs out for a walk at Lacamas Lake which is on the outskirts of Camas. It is a great place for a hike that isn't too far off the beaten path. The dogs are exhausted after an afternoon of chasing each other around and we are, too. Looking forward to a quiet evening at home and a mug of hot chocolate!

Toys for the Wolfhounds

We decided that Sailor and Heartman deserved some new toys on Thanksgiving since we would not be sharing any of the human food with them. So I purchased a bunny and some kind of a stuffed racoon for them. Guido is not a fan of stuffed animals so he ignored the commotion and returned to his snoozing. He knows not to get in between a wolfhound and his toy. Sailor loved his toy so much that he fell asleep with it in his mouth!

More Wallowa Photos

It was such an incredibly beautiful place, I wanted to include more of what we saw. Top is Barking Mad Farm; View from the in laws backyard; Downtown Enterprise; Bronze horse in downtown Joseph and Molly with dogs in our room at Barking Mad.

Enterprise and Joseph OR

Well, Martin, Molly, the dogs and I piled into the van and headed for Eastern Oregon. It was a beautiful drive and we saw a little of every kind of weather. At 4100 feet in the Blue Mountains we even saw sleet. We are hoping to avoid bad weather when we head for home. Martin's mom is so excited to have us here. We have been able to spend lots of time with her and explore the area around Joseph and Enterprise. Molly is staying with her grandmother and Martin and I are staying at Barking Mad Farm in Enterprise. A great bed and breakfast who even accepts our huge guys. Diana the proprietor with her husband Hunter is an accomplished photographer and we had the wolfhounds pictures taken while we were here. Poor Guido didn't make the cut but we did get some good photos of him as well. The dogs are enjoying the 8 fenced in acres at the B&B as well as the half acre at grandma's. We are going out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant tonight in Enterprise. Spent the afternoon in Joseph and around Wallowa Lake. Above the post is Martin and Sailor enjoying the roadtrip; Guido in the field at Barking Mad Farm; Martin, Sailor and Guido at Barking Mad; Martin and I at the Wallowa County Courthouse; Martin and his mom at Lake Wallowa; and Molly and her grandmother in Joseph. Tomorrow back on the road!

A Beautiful Sunday

A gorgeous Sunday morning we decided to take the dogs out for a run near our house. Guido was uncooperative and opted for sleeping in the passenger seat of the van. The wolfhounds were much easier to convince and had a good run by the river. They were exhausted for the rest of the day. When we returned home, Guido realized he had missed something and hopped out of the van to check out his returning pack mates.

We also visited Martin's mother who is moving to Enterprise Oregon at the end of this week. She lived there about 19 years ago and loved it. I hope it is a good move for them and as wonderful as they remember! Hard to return to work today after such a beautiful day.

It Has Been Months

It has been months since either Mushbigdog or myself have been on the blog. It is the dial up blues. It takes so long for us to do anything on line with a dial up modem. Verizon came through the neighborhood in the fall and put in the DSL, but still hasn't offered us the VIOs or whatever it is called for our neighborhood, so stay tuned. We are well, we had a great fall and holiday season. We had a wedding at our house on Pearl Harbor Day and a wedding reception for Mush's oldest daughter in January. We continue to be very busy, but miss the blogging and hope to get back to it. Mush is testifying at the Ways and Means Committee in the Oregon Legislature today and I am hoping to watch him testify. The dogs are great and thriving, at last weigh in Heartman was 180# and Sailor was 176#. They are about the same height at the shoulder and make a striking pair. More to come....

We're Back!

Yes we are still here! We humbly apologize to everyone (both of you) who have faithfully checked this blog for some new item. We had a spurt of entry's a month or so ago, and then they just dried up. It's kind of hard to say why - real busy is what comes to mind, but then isn't everyone? So that doesn't seem to be too adequate. Maybe it's more of a change in the way we've been busy.

Both Marlene and I continue to fill our acting positions (mine for more than 6 months now - Marlene's for almost the same amount of time. Before I assumed this role, it seems like I had a little more time to do this, (bogging) during the work day - like lunch, and sometimes before work, but now I seem to be using every free minute at work to....well, work. I think for Marlene it's is the same situation. On top of that I seem to be getting out of work later than usual. I used to try to leave by 4:00 (I usually get there around 7:00) , but now it's not unusual to be there till 5:00, 6:00 or sometimes later. Since it takes at least an hour and a half to drive home (usually closer to 2 hours), and then cook dinner - by the time that's done and we've let the dogs in and out a hundred times - well you get the idea.

But were going to try to be more regular. Wow I just noticed I missed the whole month of March.

So what happened in March? Well there was Saint Patrick's day... we participated with the Wolfhounds in the annual parade in Portland. There was Easter... went to Seattle for that, and then had another Easter Dinner the next weekend for Molly, Rob & the Kids. Had some Vets visits....Sailor is up to 150 lbs! Heartman - 175!

I know there must be a lot of other things that have happened, but for the life of me I can't remember...I am getting close to 60 you know.

Well, let this be the start of more regular postings....don't give up on us, keep checking back. I promise they will get better.

Farewell to Heartman

Well, we said goodbye to Heartman yesterday. Anne came to pick him up, and he went off in the back of a pickup filled with dogs. He came to us a few weeks ago, the day Sketch died. He helped fill an empty space during a sad time, and he also was a great help in getting Sailor adjusted to his new home.
Heartman was like Mother, Father and big Brother to Sailor. It was truly amazing how patient he was with the puppy following him everywhere he went and nipping and chewing on almost every part of his anatomy. He developed this mock growling sound when he played with the puppy, that sounded like Chewbaca from Star Wars, and at times he would almost put the entire head of the puppy in his mouth, but yet he was ever so gentle.
So sailor is getting adjusted to not having Heartman around, and we think that in a few days he will be over the worst of that adjustment...Guido however is adjusting very quickly. As WHW said yesterday to Anne..."Guido would send you a dozen Roses if he could" Guido didn't like not being the top dog of the house. Heartman was the first Wolfhound that he really couldn't push around...So now things are more to his liking, and Guido and Sailor are developing their own relationship...which is not quite as playful as the one Heartman and Sailor had, but all and all they're doing fine

Heartman Therapy

Sadness for Sketch today, miss the routine of her and the place she held in our home. Anne is a smart woman. Heartman has so totally distracted us. He fills that hole that his mother left. He licks our faces in the middle of the night like she did, and whines and sighs before he settles in for his sleep. There must be an Irish Wolfhound maual for our home that only the wolfhounds understand. How does he know the preferred places, the same spots that his mother and Chiani had called their own before he was even born?

Heartman is a goofball, picture a young Jerry Lewis in Errand Boy. All arms and legs, and a silly wild eyed take on life. He is incredibly sweet and has slipped into our lives and routines easily. Easily that is except for Guido, who is suspicious, but gives him respect. It is not clear who the top dog will be yet. Guido is used to the girls who let him run the show, Heartman doesn't back down at all. The boys haven't had the important conversation yet, so for that reason we will keep them separate when we leave them alone until we know pack order has been established.

Weekend gone too quickly and would like more time before facing those stresses so unique to my job. But I will inhale, for work also offers a good distraction for me. Soon we will have a puppy, who will turn this house upside down!

Good bye to our Beautiful Girl

Today we said good bye to Sketch. It was very hard to make the decision and even to the last minutes we questioned our options. The reality was there was no other option. Perhaps we could have given her another pain medication that would have only sedated her more and not changed the outcome. Sketch had hurt enough, her tumor had grown 2 inches in a week and she could no longer use her leg or even stand to eat at her feeder. We gave her great treats today and she rode to the vet with her head out the window. She was happy and excited to see Anne, her breeder and original owner and the three of us surrounded her as she stepped away from this world and all the pain of her cancer.

Anne says she should put warning labels on all her dogs that say" beware guaranteed to break your heart", but I wouldn't trade the pain of this last two weeks for the joy that Sketch brought us in the two years she was ours. She was a beautiful gentle creature our Sketch. She made us smile every day. Thank you, Anne for being brave enough to breed these dogs, it is not for the faint of heart.

Anne left us Heartman, Sketch's son, turns out her female Rune is in heat and Heartman is raising the roof at the farm. So Heartman is here with us now and soon we will have Sailor our puppy. I feel oddly at peace and know that Sketch is not in pain, wherever she may be.

How I Learned to Love Irish Wolfhounds

It started about 10 years ago, I had been divorced for a couple of years and was in my own home. I had two cats that were part of my divorce settlement. At that time, I had lost both my parents, my oldest brother and left a ten year marriage within an 18 month period. I was doing long distance walking/running and wanted a partner that I could count on being willing to go for a walk anytime and I started exploring different dog breeds. I wanted a dog large enough to be intimidating, but gentle enough to get along with my aging cats and large number of small children who lived in my neighborhood. I was working swing shift in a metro hospital and would use my spare time to read about the various dog breeds from a book I bought at a hospital book sale. I became curious about the Irish Wolfhounds. My sister and I attended a speciality dog show in the Seattle area. There were about 90 Irish wolfhounds there and I couldn't get over how quiet and laid back it was. Through that dog show I met some breeders and was screened to see if I would be a good owner or not. They wanted to see if the dogs liked me or not, apparently I passed and about a year later Romeo a wheaten wolfhound puppy came to live at my house. I haven't looked back, and can't imagine my life without one. My original breeder and I have kept in touch over the years and we are about to get our third dog from her Yachats who is featured on this site.

When my husband met me, he had the good sense to realize that the wolfhounds would be part of his life as well. In spite of Chiani chewing up his glasses and wrist watch a few months after we began our relationship, he has grown to love and appreciate the breed. This will be his first wolfhound to raise from a puppy, and I am excited for him. It will be good to have the new puppy to help balance the sadness of Sketch's cancer. She remains a happy loving dog and tolerates all that we are doing to prolong her life. Irish Wolfhounds don't usually live much beyond 7 years and you learn that every day is precious from observing their short but stellar lives. They are shooting stars and you make that bargain to love and let go and value every day you have with them in your life.

Our First Post

As the title says this is our first post. We're still learning the In's and Outs of this as we go, and I'm still waiting for my partner (and wife) to sign up so we can get her profile on, as well as mine.
I want to thank "Whirling Dervish" for helping me get this going with technical advice and encouragement. A link to her site, "Stoney Moss" is below.

We are Mushbigdog and Wuffhound Woman (yes, these are our real names). This blog will be about a variety of things, but it will no doubt include the subjects of dogs (specifically Wolfhounds), family, and maybe some rantings on politics at times...and whatever else strikes us.

We currently have one five year old female Wolfhound and another mixed breed (part Husky, part Chow). The Wolfhound is "Sketch" and the other is "Guido" Sketch has bone cancer and we are dealing with that as best we can. We will no doubt write about that more in the future.

We are also in line for a new Wolfhound puppy. We went out to our breeder this weekend and saw the litter for the first time. They are great, and we are expecting to bring home our new boy in a month or so. In future blogs we will include some pictures, and maybe video, if I can figure out how to do it.

The litter is named after towns on the Oregon Coast. The Breeder is KellCastle so our new pups registered name will be KellCastle, Yachats. Which is interesting, since it was the town that my wife and I were married in.

We are now trying to figure out what we will actually call our new boy...We have a couple of ideas. They are at the right, in the form of a little poll. We were trying to think of something that sounded a little nautical. Tell us which one you prefer, or if you have another idea, send it to us by the comment link.

More to come......