young love

Gum: "Sassy, Sassy. Can I hang out with you Sassy? You're so cool and so pretty and I think we could be friends. Whaddaya think Sassy? Huh? Huh? ... Sassy?"

Sassy: "Pfffft!"

Spring is springing

Spring is here and its time to make sure the yard is ready for the sunnier and warmer days to come. This year I am lucky enough to have a professional sprinkler inspector in the house.

This one works - excellent water pressure!

 Jilly couldn't believe the wonder of having FIVE hoses to play with at the same time.

Now to inspect the one in the middle of the grass. 

Around and around the yard she ran taste testing each sprinkler head.

Woo hoo! this is the best job ever!

The verdict is in: we are ready for spring.

Can we do that again?

fare-thee-well Farnam!

Aw shucks ... You're embarraskin' me!

Barn Crew teammate Allie Intondi gives Farnam a little good-bye cuddle as he heads out the door to his new life. We're all going to miss his baby browns, but sure are happy to know there's a sofa with his name on it and two adoring people to scratch behind his ears now.

Happy Travels Sweet Farnam! <sniff>

thursday spring fling

Kissin' Sassy.

"How'my gonna git up der?"

GET'im!

Queen Sassy and loyal subjects.

Stretchy lips.

Corndog Wild Child.

Warm temps daydreamin.'

night duty

Night duty at the barn means letting the dogs out for their final pee before tucking in for the night. Tim usually has this shift after working late on his carvings - between midnight and two in the morning. He's usually joined by the coyotes, a mass of croaking frogs, and lately, two great horned owls showing off for each other from the pine trees.

Part of night duty can involve cuddle time for the dogs. I can always tell when he's been working on teaching a squirmy dog to sink into squeezes. "Have you been holding Diamond at night? She's been extra chill lately when I hug her." Tim: "Yep. Love that dog."

That may be why, rather than rush around in the dark, most of the dogs run outside, do their business, then run back to the door asap. "Let me in." It's time to cuddle, get a treat, fall asleep to the night sounds and wake up to start a brand new day.

not your average mountain goats

Farnam and Loni spent a fun morning helping us organize the pieces of Dog Mountain. Too high? Too scary? Not scary enough? It's amazing how quickly their confidence climbed with a few strategically placed treats. Magic!

Both dogs came to us with weak legs and atrophied muscles. Once relegated to a dog crate in an abusive hoarding situation for who-knows how long, Farnam's rear leg was so flat that he couldn't pick his foot off the ground and it crabbed when he walked. No more of that. Our joy boy has plumped up really well during his recovery here and he and continues to gain strength and confidence.

Judging the distance.

Queen of the Mountain!

"I like this game!"

Many thanks to LUSH Cosmetics for gifting us with a way to create this fun and important addition to the Rescue Barn. We love how you bring beauty to the world, and to dogs like these who need a little extra TLC to get their groove on.

bittersweet happenings

Happy-Sad-Happy News. Our token fluffer 'Corndog' has found a home - with another fluffer. She'll be spending one last week with longtime companion Sassy before saying final good-byes. Wouldn't it be great if Sassy found a home this month too? Keep your fingers crossed for her. We'd love to celebrate two homecomings, even if they are to two different homes.

EDIT: Oh Corndog! The brother fluffy was all love on neutral turf but declared war on our girl back at his home and was not willing to accept the fun she had in store for him. She did a good job trying to help him see that she's no threat, but alas, his sofa and his mama were just way too precious to share. Cornie made a quick U-turn back to our program and will be entertaining other offers. A Day in the Life, for sure!

EDIT AGAIN! Corndog has been in yet another new home with a new male dog and all is going well. Meanwhile, Sassy is enjoying her new home and adoring family. As the World Turns!

Flea Bear

Corndog has every right to be a little confused. We left yesterday to visit the flea market and came back with this weird little animal.

Fleas? Where are they? Are they hiding somewhere? Why would anyone want to visit a market that sells them?

the kid

Gum. Gumbino, Gumdrop, Gumdango, Gumption ... So many names for such a simple guy.

Gum was owner surrendered to a Sacramento shelter when his family couldn't find a dog friendly rental. Then he was scheduled to be destroyed when the shelter discovered he flattened out at doorways and couldn't be coaxed through. That was last week. This week he's safe and Elliot's five minute lesson on using doors worked like a charm. Easy peasy.

He's just what the doctor ordered for party animal Diamond. She was using too much of her yard time bouncing (literally) at birds, but it's all about wrastlin' now. Go Gum!

Charm School

When young Donovan came to BAD RAP from his rural shelter he was lacking some of the sophistication that city dogs acquire earlier in life. So the big city dogs wouldn't make fun of our awkward teenager, Alma, the elderbull puppy, agreed to help young Donovan learn the basics.

See, Donovan, this is how you ask another dog to play

Once you're friends, you can kiss and play bitey-face.

Thanks to his kind mentor, Donovan is quickly learning how to be a civilized young dog.  Thank you Alma!

Both Donovan and Alma are still looking for their forever homes at badrap.org

neener neener

Sassy: "I notice you have a .... ball"  Elliot: "Why Gosh. Yes I do!"

Sassy: "I would like to have that ball." Elliot: "Really? Huh!"

Sassy: "Definitely want that ball." Elliot: "Waddaya know?"

Sassy: "Stare into my eyes. You want to give me the ball." Elliot: "No thank you."

Sassy: "Come back here with that ball!" Elliot: "La La La La...

..La La LA LAAA!"

Sassy: "Darnit! This isn't working like it works on Corndog."  

there's a kid at the barn

On Presidents Day, the barn dogs had a special visitor who came to help them practice being around kids.  And once the Kikster was done with picking up dog poop (hey, someone has to do it) and putting fresh water in all of the kennels, the pooches all got to show off their obedience and agility skills in the yard, their neighborhood walking skills, and then each one took turns hanging out on the couch with her.

Here's Loni showing off her lap dog skills.
















And Sassy and Corndog enjoy just chilling with the kid who gave each of them the kid tester seal of approval.

Thanks barn pooches for showing the Kikster that y'all know how to behave around kids.

Corndoggery

Having a fluffy around has been so much fun. We get to brush her longish fur -- that's new! Our marketing plan has not been working for her though. Site visitors are intrigued by her novelty, but not nearly enough impressed to bring her home. They want beef!

So it's time to seed the Net (aka Craigslist) with Corndog images in hopes that they snag the love of a fluffy fan. She won't mind leaving Sassy behind if it turns out that the girls get offers from different homes. They've been such agreeable roommates, but they're just as happy doing their own thing and don't check in with each like they used to.

So, here it is: A Sassy-less promo for the furry one. Go Corndog, Go!

barn crew demo time

Farnam, Sassy and Loni left the barn for a few hours and joined the now-adopted Astro for a fun public demo. They strutted their stuff in front of the latest group signed on for Pit Ed beginning classes. The orientation is set up to help registrants know what to expect when they start their lessons in a couple of weeks. Many of their dogs will be initially leash reactive, and some of the handlers will be more than a little nervous. The first day of class is always exciting (and we love it). Hopefully, the demos will help everyone imagine how well mannered their dogs will be with just a little bit of work and practice.

While all eyes are on the dogs, the real stars here are the handlers - Barn Crew members Caroline, Anita, Charity and Nancy. Their steady direction help make it all look so natural and so easy. These are the times when we're especially proud of the team. Half the battle of training a new group is convincing people that their dogs will be just fine once they try on a few basic handling skills and act like the smooth, confident leaders dogs love to follow. Just like the team is demonstrating so beautifully here.

Farnam, Sassy, Loni and Astro wag and snuffle as if to say, "Yup."

Many thanks to Oakland euro auto shop Precision Motors for opening your doors to us!

... waiting ...

Well. Where is it?

Farnam's been hoppin' up on the barrels and practicing his best circus star face in hopes that it'll make us move a little faster on the making of Dog Mountain. We expect fancy moves from this flashy clown when it's finally launched.

Sorry Farnam! Mountains weren't built in a day, y'dig?

Dog Mountain

Eating lunch with the dogs has become a real challenge - what with everyone trying to play 'king of the mountain' on the picnic table during our breaks. And then it dawned on us - A mountain! It's time to create one just for the dogs. Just as we were imagining what Dog Mountain might look like, a wonderful donation from LUSH Charity Pot showed up to help us get there. Woot! Perfectly timed. So the pressure is on: It has to be functional AND beautiful too, to honor our kind donors.

So, Voila! Here arrives our new agility tunnel to replace the old nasty blue one that the dogs loved just a little too much over the years. And just today from the wine country - because every self respecting play structure should be built of recycled goods - a batch of used wine barrels, beautifully stained with the best merlot. Viva Northern California!

So we heaved everything into a circle for now and stood back and stared. How do you make a Dog Mountain? How high should it go? Sassy hopped right up on our first layer and said, "This is good. Keep going." And Corndog smiled up and said, "Will there be food up there? I need steps!"

So we'll stare and heave and rearrange and stare some more, and hopefully we'll have something mountainous to report back on very soon. Suggestions welcome!

Many thanks to LUSH Cosmetics Charity Pot for giving us a way to give some fun to the dogs. We're thrilled!

the senior dating scene

Jimmy stopped by for a visit yesterday and had a good time flirting with Miss Sassy. We're not so sure that they appreciate all the chaperones on their blind date, though. How's a guy ever gonna to steal a kiss with this kind of audience?

Video Time!

Jilly's been working very hard on a little video project so her people can find her. Has she convinced you?

Diamond wonders why....

Last night, Diamond worked soooo hard on the 'leave-it' command but from the look in her eye, I think she was secretly wondering just WHY we were playing this 'game'. 

On the other hand, we find this mastery of this command very helpful in daily life.  How has learning 'leave-it' been helpful to you and your pooch?

hide-n-seek sassy

I lost Sassy for about 10 minutes too long the other day. After a good sized heart attack, Elliot found her new secret fort under the bathtub stairs for me. Jeezus Sassy! I thought you'd levitated over the fence when my back was turned.

Score one for sassy bitches who love themselves a little well-deserved private time.