Posts Tagged ‘Border Collie’


What Am I Running Here? A Dog Resort?
Written by Bill Schmalfeldt
Friday, 5 March 2010 04:36

I walked back to the bedroom for some reason earlier today, and this was the sight that greeted me.

They were EVER so comfortable.  Raven raised her eyes to look at me, and right away I was reminded of that old adage…

“Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.”

Now, I don’t know if my girlies are familiar with that adage, but Shiloh rolled over on her back and gave me what could only be described as…

“The Stink Eye.”

Raven was the first to bounce off the bed and run into the kitchen to complain to Mom that mean old dad woke them up with his flash camera.

Shiloh was right behind.  The poor babies stayed awake for… gee!  It must have been MINUTES before they were back in the bedroom snoozing.

No wonder I wake up with hair on my jammies!

NOW… TAKE THE POLL!

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 9 March 2010 06:56
Another Senseless Squirrel-Related (Near) Tragedy
Written by Bill Schmalfeldt
Friday, 26 February 2010 12:19

Gail went to the store.  She went without me today because the wind is really whipping out there.   There have been times when, hobbling along with my walker, a good gust of wind almost caused me to lose my balance.  Gail figured “better safe than sorry,” and I wholeheartedly agreed.

No sooner is Gail out the door when my two hounds decide they need to use the yard.  I ignore them for awhile, because I’m putting together the second of two podcasts I needed to get done today.   I locked the doggie gate so I could work unmolested.  (If you ignore Shiloh and her incessant “rrrrrrrOOOOOOoooo-ing” she will come into my office space and physically attempt to insert herself between me and my computer.  I wasn’t having it.)

When I was finished, I turned and looked at my doggies.  They were both VERY sad.  You know the look…

Yeah.  THAT’S the one.

Anyhoo… I said the magic words.  “Do you have to POOP?”

Both of my darling little idiots bolted for the front door and bounced like little cartoon doggies.  I put the leash on Raven first (she’s got seniority) and cautiously stepped out on the porch.  The winds were howling and gusting, but I got my feet under me and told Raven, “Go potty!”

Raven walked down the steps and turned to her right.

She saw the squirrel before I did.  The squirrel saw us both and bolted.  Then Raven bolted.  Then I flew across the porch and jammed my right wrist against the porch railing as this bulldozer of a border collie reached the end of her retractable leash.  If that rail hadn’t been there, Gail would have come home to a missing dog and the sight of my two slipper-clad feet poking out of the snow.

Once was a time I could STOP Raven from bolting after rodents in the yard.  Usually, I see the varmints before she does, and I’m able to cinch up on the leash.  This time, she saw it first and very nearly caused me some serious injury.  I bashed my chest against the porch railing, my right wrist and elbow hurt, and my right knee feels slightly twisted and hurty.

But she sure scared the BEJEESUS out of that squirrel, don’cha know…  And then, she pooped.

Now, TAKE THE POLL!

This "Diary" of yours is NICE and all, but it would be BETTER if... (You MAY choose more than one!)

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 3 March 2010 06:45
I Suppose it’s Only Fair…
Written by Bill Schmalfeldt
Tuesday, 23 February 2010 09:33

We don’t let Shiloh sleep with us at night because she’s such a spaz.  She will do well for the first half hour or so, then she goes from bed to bed, putting her cold nose on whichever body part is exposed, because she’s JUST… SO… BORRRRRRRRRRRRED!!!!!

She’s like a teenager.  She craves constant entertainment.  Where our border collie, Raven, will climb up onto one bed or the other and go to sleep, our silly nearly 4-year old German shepherd just can’t sit still unless she’s actually sleeping, and she can’t POSSIBLY go to sleep when RAVEN is laying where SHE wants to lay, and if Raven moves someplace else, it will UNDOUBTEDLY be someplace that SHILOH wants to lay NEXT and THAT’S NOT FAIR…

So, after many trials and much effort, Shiloh gets to sleep on the couch.

So I guess it’s only fair that during the day, we allow her to lounge in our bedroom.

As you can see in the photo, she is well prepared.

A favorite chew bone, just in case…

Three little dog food kibbles, in case she feels a bit peckish.

If I’m lucky, she will not rearrange my bed to suit her comfort.  She usually does, moving the bedspread and covers so she can crawl underneath.

Dogs.  What are ya gonna do?

NOW TAKE THE POLL!

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Last Updated on Friday, 26 February 2010 02:02
There’s Something About a Border Collie
Written by Bill Schmalfeldt
Thursday, 18 February 2010 07:17

So, last night I’m sitting in my recliner watching TV and I notice that our border collie, Raven, is having a late evening meal.  I scanned the living room and kitchen, but couldn’t see Shiloh, our German shepherd.  Gail was on the computer.

“Are we missing a dog?” I asked.

I swear.  That’s all I said.  I didn’t mention Shiloh by name.  I didn’t say anything to Raven.

But Raven comes RUNNING into the living room and looks behind the couch (from each end) to see if Shiloh is sleeping back there.  Then, she dashes down the hallway into our bedroom and does this combo “growl/bark” thing she does when she’s ordering Shiloh around.  Shiloh comes sleepily loping from our bedroom with Raven behind her, nudging her on the butt, border collie style,  as if the German shepherd were a sheep.

All I said was, “Are we missing a dog?”  How does a dog understand that to mean, “Where’s Shiloh?”

They say border collies are the smartest dogs on the list.  Don’t get me wrong, Shiloh is a good and smart little girl.  But there’s something remarkably “un-doglike” about Raven’s intellect.

I mean, do we have to be careful what we SAY around her now?

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Last Updated on Friday, 26 February 2010 02:03
Leg Pain Midnight Strike! I Survived!
Written by Bill Schmalfeldt
Monday, 15 February 2010 09:41

The pain in my left leg and ankle is subsiding and the swelling has gone down some.  I don’t know if it’s the heavy dosing of ibuprofen or black cherry juice.  I’ll keep doing both until the damn leg pain is completely cleared up.

Gail got up at 12:30 when I did to see if there was anything she could do for me.  She took the dogs out and went back to bed.  Five minutes later, Shiloh (our marginally intelligent German shepherd) started making that “rrrrRRRRRoo, Ruuuummmm!” sound she makes when she has to go outside.  I asked her why she didn’t take care of all her business when Gail had her out five minutes earlier, but she didn’t want to hear it.  I guess there are some things a doggie just wants to do for Daddy.

I sat up until about 1:45.  By then the ibuprofen or black cherry juice (or both) had caused the leg pain to subside enough to where I felt like I could go back to bed.  Which I did.

Raven (our mentally and athletically gifted Border Collie) went with me and waited patiently for me to get into bed.  And before I could get all my covers arranged, she jumped into bed with me and instantly went to sleep, providing a dead weight on the blankets that still lay in a bunch beneath her.

I eventually went to sleep around 3 or so and got up at 7:30.  I must have slept hard, cuz when I waddled into the bathroom and looked at myself, there was a red, sore spot on my right cheek where my hand was and a deep red crease on my forehead that wasn’t there earlier.

And so it goes.  Happy Presidents’ Day!

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 2 March 2010 10:37
Doggie Gitmo Reopened
Written by Bill Schmalfeldt
Saturday, 30 January 2010 12:27

It was a noble experiment.  But it turns out that Doggie Gitmo is a necessity.

As we’ve discussed in the past, we let both doggies in to the bedroom with us at night.  Raven, the border collie, generally gets right down to sleep.  Shiloh, our silly 3-year old German Shepherd, generally feels the need to dink around for awhile before settling down.  Generally, she enjoys crawling — commando style — from the foot of the bed, under the covers.  If you pull back the covers for her, she looks at you like you’re spoiling her fun.

Last night was the final straw.  Shiloh was banished from the bedroom after crawling out from under my covers, ignoring me when I called her back to bed, and then nosing a just-fallen-asleep Gail in the back of the head with her cold, wet nose.

Gail got up at about 12:45 am to go potty.  When she gets up for a potty run, she gives the dogs a chance to “use the yard.”  Shiloh didn’t need to.  She had already used the carpet.  This was the second time in as many nights that she befouled the carpet.

So, tonight and from now on, Shiloh will join us when we go to bed.  If she settles down and goes to sleep… fine.  If she does not, then it’s off to Doggie Gitmo where she can sleep on a nice comfy pad in the kitchen.

You can’t treat these serial floor poopers like regular doggies.  You gotta have a SPECIAL confinement for ‘em!

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Last Updated on Friday, 26 February 2010 02:03
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