"I'm dreaming of a .... "

Diva's first Christmas at home photo begs the question:

Is she waiting for presents ... or squirrels?

pajama-rama

the best dog jammas give easy-access to the belly.

Farnam thinks these are A-Okay.

Etta Bull

Is thankful for

toys

and friends to share them with.

playing dress-up

The nights are finally getting cooler here in Northern California as the holiday season rushes up on us.  Once its dark, the three barn pooches prefer to romp and play in the warmth and comfort of the barn rather than out in the cold air.  So last night, after the trio were done with dinner, their post-dinner potty breaks and playtime, we decided to rifle through the doggy-coat closet to find warm holiday coats for each of them. 

Like a true girly girl, Etta got into the spirit of the activity and tried on over a dozen outfits before we settled on just the right one.  Loni and Farnham indulgently tolerated Etta and my enthusiasm and finally each of them was dressed up and ready (somewhat) for a photo shoot.  So without further ado, here's the result of our little dress-up session.



Here's Etta wearing a warm pink fleece coat featuring pretty colored snowflakes.

She's looking a bit baffled though as she's wondering what snowflakes are.  She is a California girl after all.

Big chested sporty girl Loni wasn't sure what to make of this 'dress-up' stuff though she liked the warmth of her bold red and green 'boughs of holly' coat. 

I think right now she prefers to be naked, but once the temperature drops some more, she'll be happy we found her this lovely coat.

 Farnham's a big boy now so we found a coat with a more sophisticated winter forest scene on the exterior and a nice warm fleece interior. 

He doesn't care whether he's wearing a coat or not as long as he can go play afterwards.







Now each of the dogs has a nice warm holiday coat to wear when it gets cold at night, and they look festive as well - don't you think??

Behold!

Behold! Jimmy with his new dad, strutting through class. Two tall drinks of water, aren't they?

After a surgery to remove some irritating tumors from his eye, Jimmy went off to live with Dave and Clare. He's been at home for a week, and while he was initially distressed (pacing, pacing, pacing), he's finally settling down, de-stuffing toys, claiming sleep spots, enjoying morning runs with Clare, and going to work everyday with Dave.

It was great to see both smiling today. No, more than great -- It was fantastic. Go Jimmy, Go Jimmy, Go Jimmy! Have yourself a LIFE now, ya'hear?

A Job for Jilly

 Jilly is the new guardian of the fig tree. Uba is an easily distracted squirrel watcher, and Lulu really doesn't care, so Jilly is proud to lead squirrel patrol.

The pesky squirrels launch themselves off the fence into the fig tree and Jilly is there to watch.

The squirrels sit in the tree eating figs, chatting and throwing their leftovers down at Jilly. 

She dreams of the day she figures out how to climb the tree.

willy's "ready for school" look

Willy went to Pit Ed Class today and as I went to let him out of the car, here's what I saw.  This boy's too cool for school!  (Giggle, snort, giggle)

day dreamin' Willy

I see trees of green..... red roses too

 I see em bloom..... for me and for you















And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world

Oh Modo!

One of life's bigger challenges: Enjoying a meal in peace when a determined puppy is on the scene.

'Modo' spent a few days at the barn on his way to foster care and - next! - a real live home. We're just fine to leave the housetraining work to the new suckers wonderful people who'll be bringing him home this weekend.

the photo of photos

We're moving a little slow it seems on sorting through the many wonderful photos snapped at the hoedown last Saturday night. But let's just cut to the chase. This video shows the making of the photo of photos. It includes seven the CA-transferred V-dogs with their parents, exactly five years after landing in California.

The evening weather was perfect, our photographer Mark Rogers was the best kind of job boss, the dog families were looking gorgeous and the dogs all seemed to know this day was all about them. More to come later as we pick apart the highlights of the event, but for you non-facebookers especially, here is the memory we will all carry forward.

dance floor

Elliot and Oscar try out the dance floor the morning after the Home Sweet Home Anniversary Hoedown. A grand time was had by all. Photos to come!

chill will's siesta

Willy enjoys spending lots of quality time with girlfriend Nina...














though he's finding it all very exhausting (chortle!)

story time

the other day at the barn........



me: and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

Farnham: you don't say? really? Hmmm - wow!




Oscar:  good grief, how loong is this story gonna be? there's a stick over there begging to be chewed!

Jilly's Beautiful Manicure

Most black dogs have impossible to trim black toe nails. Jilly has the most unusual nails. Each one of her nails is pink with a thin black pin stripe.

She may look like a plain black dog at first glance, but there is nothing plain about this pretty girl.

A dog of many talents - by Willy

I'm a modest and quiet kinda guy but Aunty says I should be proud of my many talents and had me make a list. 

You may have read about some of them so you already know I can do magic (I can appear to disappear right in front of you), and you know that I'm a good boyfriend to Nina and a great dog-friend to the Kikster.  Aunty says I have LOTS more talents but I don't want to brag, so here's just some of them:

• Aunty says that I'm the best back-seat driver ever because I daydream and don't say a word.

•  I  am a polite office-dog and I listen well (though I have no idea WHO the Giants are!)

•  I'm an excellent trash can inspector  (hmmm, is that shrimp fried rice?  Yum!)

• I'm a dog for-all-seasons.  Here I am styling in my fall bandana. (Aunty thinks I'm quite the male model )

• I'm a jogger and an excellent exercise companion

And one of my favorite talents that I like to demonstrate whenever I can...

•  I'm a great lap dog!

Ken Foster Slept Here

Celebrated author Ken Foster will be here in less than two weeks for the hoedown. But even MORE exciting than Ken (we love him, but really) is his book. His BOOK - I'm a Good Dog - will be hot off the press and in his hot little hands and then in our hands and then in everyone's hands. At the hoedown. Not ho-down, mind you.

Rumor has it that he'll be sharing our humble guest cabin with celebrated dog diva Clara Yori and HECTOR and good god can you stand it WALLACE (if he's feeling up for the drive) and pimping their own milestone book: Wallace. 

So then, do we post a 'Ken Foster Slept Here' plague on the cabin wall or do Hector and Wallace trump Ken? Dueling books, dueling pit bull celebs. Our brains are exploding.

Not to end on a commercial, but our guest list has climbed over our original mark and we're considering closing the ticket sales so we can order this food we need to order already and call it a day. So if you're considering whether to join us, please do it now while we're still mulling. We would so love to see you in the glow of the party lights and everyone's bigger than life smiles. Event Link

highlights from Olive's recovery

We like to packrat video clips during dog intros and other key moments in hopes that they can help somebody someday. Here are some highlights of those beginning days in the barn with Olive, and her gradual acknowledgement that dogs are not only safe -- but fun! Enjoy.

(A wee warning: this one is nine minutes long and could've gone much longer if my iMovie didn't keep crashing on me!)

Olive's transition

After a rough start in her new home "Oh my dog? What's happened to me and why am I in a brand new place?" Olive decided maybe her brother dog Zoo (who was once frightfully insecure himself) was right when he whispered, "Don't sweat it Olive. This place is great."

First report:
I thought I would drop you a line to let you know how Olive is handling the kidnapping!

I am just sure this is what she thinks happened. She was a nervous wreck when we first got her out of the car. We had to leave the leash on her for several hours so we could get her to move around with us. When she was in the yard she kept running to the gate or the car. Finally around 6 she started to get hungry, so I made the pet crew dinner. She ate about 1/2 her food and then claimed her space on a couch. After she had this space, she started to calm down. 

We had dinner guest, so Olive got to meet our friend Peggy. It was good that Peggy came over because we were focused on talking and eating dinner, which gave Olive time to calm down. She did come over to meet Peggy and even let Peg pet her. After Peg left, Olive ate the rest of her dinner and I took her outside for a walk. At bedtime, she chose to sleep on the couch (with one eye open). 

Oh, as I was cleaning up after dinner, I asked her to twirl. She did a very slow circle, but she twirled.

Karen's most recent update:
Olive found her play mode, and we had lots of fun with her toys. She was grinning and being silly. This morning after our walk she was being goofy, and it was very hard for me to walk out the door. I wanted to stay home and play. I just check-in with Larry and all is well for everyone.

Sorry I forget to mention that Zoo changed as soon as be put Olive in the car with us. He really likes her. Last night's walk was with the three of us, and he volunteered to go. What a difference.

Willy's got a girl friend

Well, actually handsome Willy has TWO girl friends - one older gal and a very young one.  I'm talking about the sassy furry Nina, and the two legged curly haired kid, Kiki.  I'll show ya what I mean.


Willy and Nina
Nina may be an elder-bull, but she sure likes young Willy.  Here's a little peek at the two hanging out:

... here they are sitting pretty and giving me their best "PLEASE give us a treat" faces











  

... the pooches practice 'leave it'








  

 
...and together they inspect something interesting in the back yard












Willy and the Kikster

From the time the kid arrived, these two were virtually inseparable:

 

... early in the morning, while still half asleep

... taking walks together

















 

... at the playground together










... even when pooped out after a busy day

Oh yeah, foster-life is pretty darn good right now for gentle hunky Willy.

What Jilly Wants

Um, excuse me, lady

You know how that guy behind me has a nice chew toy?

Do you think there's any way a little girl dog could get one of those?

YES! Thank you nice lady!