Beach baby

I was just out on the beach watching someone struggle to contain their young beagle. I laughed knowingly as I recall all too well trying to hold on to 12 month old 100lb Bugsy our first trip here. It was all so overwhelming back then and he was completely untrustworthy off leash or even dragging a line so I would be lying if I said it was relaxing.
He took one whiff of the sea and was horrified, the waves were freaky and not to be trusted. My only experiences had been with labs, so this giant puppy who was not happy with the sea was an oddity.
One thing he clearly did love was the sand, oh how the boy loves sand!
Back then when we were tasked with holding on to the leash the wild and frenzied zoomies were a chore, for us anyway.
We didn't come back for a couple of years, but we've been back regularly since.
Watching Bugsy evolve into a water dog has been a blast.
Today for the first time he was perfectly OK getting hit by waves that powered over his back.
He kept his eye focused on his toy and would pick it from the surf as it rolled by. I was so happy to see him at ease in the waves.
So from the giant pup that thought the sea was evil and smelled terrible to the dog that runs into the sea upon hitting the beach. Awesome.
Age, bad knees, and arthritis have slowed him and somewhere along the line he became a reliable off lead dog (well most of the time).
One thing never changes, the boy loves zoomies. Watching his berserk and looney runs, sand flying, legs going in different directions, ears flapping in the wind, I understand why every trip here we are asked how old he is and people remark "oh I thought he was a puppy"
Bugsy you keep running like your butt is on fire for as long as you can, you make us all feel young again as we watch!

so much for keeping your eye on the geese

This will be brief.
I took Bugsy for a swim this morning.

I have to very carefully walk him from the car, past a small garden next to the boat house, and to the beach area.

My eyes are always fixed on the beach area - to do this I have to be ahead of Bugsy and try to see around the corner of the boathouse.

There I was walking along, he is already in stalk mode and been 'tapped' as a reminder to stop hunting, when suddenly my left arm goes flying ( I wish it could detach as it would be less damaged at this point) and my body is jerked back away from the beach. My eyes dart over to Beastie in time to see him nab a squirrel which was in mid-leap from a shrub to the fence or a tree.

After a short (zzzzzap) struggle Bugsy lets go of the squirrel (who was injured but able to get up a tree) but he is completely focused on the task.

No not swimming. That dang squirrel.

It took about 5 minutes to get his attention well enough to start doing some water retrieves but at no point did he stop having wayward glances to 'the tree'.

I guess we'll add that little garden to the list of temptations to avoid, sigh.

We did have a successful swimming session though and he performed superbly doing double and triple marks (retrieves).

Its a good thing I love this boy AND think he's so darn cute!

dogs are amazing

It's been too long since my last post but at times I take things for granted. I've thought about posting multiple times but then the thought passes or other things in life take over.
For whatever reason tonight I didn't let the moment pass; I was out on our porch enjoying a cool, overcast, post-rain evening. I happened to catch Bugsy, nose to the air and if he had a forehead it would have been wrinkled. You could see him thinking.
I don't know what he was thinking but he was surely thinking. It didn't take long before he headed out the flap of the dog door, that has lost its battle to survive and will be replaced this week, to investigate whatever this particularly interesting scent was. I kept watching as he cocked his head to listen, and his body took on the rigid pose of a pointer as he scoured the hedges for, well I don't know what for. After several long moments, he moved on. Now intently tracking scent on the wet grass.
This continued for 30 or more minutes and is his normal 'doings'. It is rare for him to be awake and relaxed. He is either on the job or asleep. His senses working overtime and his desire to communicate fabulously intense. Unfortunately he has mastered English much better than I have mastered 'dog'. I do try buddy I just don't have your skills!!
And I know it isn't just Bugsy, it is dogs. I was watching a 13 wk old golden today and he is learning so many wonderful things. His little brain is working hard to become as fluent in human as Bugsy's.
Heck he's trying to learn to be fluent in dog hahahaha
Watching he and Bugsy play is a study all of its own. Yesterday for the first time Bugsy really played with him. He's been thrilled to see him and has been ultra-tolerant of his puppy antics but he wasn't really playing. That all changed yesterday. I would love to know why. But that seems to be information/communication for dogs only.
And my last remarks about a recent observation are about loss.
Last August the golden across the road passed away. The owners of the new pup were his owners.
When I brought Bugsy to the house today I was startled to see Bugsy inspecting the house and all of the deceased dog's favorite places. Bugsy looked at me with a face of confusion a few times - at least that is my best read. His tail did a half wag and he looked at me with those amber eyes as if saying, where is my friend? I felt so sad. I knew I couldn't explain it to him. The pup was trying to interact and Bugsy was in search of his first friend. Then Bugsy just wanted to leave. I indulged him after securing the pup with his new antler behind his gate.
I know that many of my dog owning friends appreciate their four-legged companions to the max.
For the rest of you, take a moment to really watch your dog and see how they communicate to you. Watch them take in the world around you I guarantee you will be impressed

Why Bugsy is not my running partner

I often get asked why I don't take Bugsy running with me, the answer is very simple.
Because of these


(a fox we encountered this morning and on the way back we saw that she has a litter on the ground)

and because of these


and of course these


well and these


You can easily add deer, rabbits (before the fox ate them all), snakes, lizards, turtles, robins, & doves to this list. He moved past squirrels ages ago LOL

This morning on our post-run walk we encountered the fox pictured above, then shortly afterward some low flying geese went overhead squawking loudly, then some crows were chasing a red shouldered hawk all flying only 20 or so feet high, a rabbit scrambled out from an overgrown forsythia, a cat was under a bird feeder (GRRRRRRRRRR) and on our way home we passed the fox again this time noticing that there are a litter of cubs who were merrily playing.

So that is why Bugsy is not my running partner, besides its no good for his knees

Christmas in March

As if it hasn't been wonderful enough that his next door neighbor has been fostering puppy after puppy, tonight he went shopping, got to meet a bunch of dogs, then came home, ran around playing, and within minutes some neighbors with their two little kids (3&5) came into the cul de sac on their bikes yelling "Bugs-ee" at the top of their lungs. O.M.G. His tail was wagging at a record rate and he was so excited he was levitating.
So he's beyond gleeful, the kids are running, rolling, and giggling and along comes someone walking two puppies.
He didn't know what to do
Kids.....
Puppies......
BOTH!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaaah!
Head exploding.
He's in a very deep sleep now :)

Hot Damn!!!

that's for my friend Lisa but it certainly reflects my excitement level yesterday morning.
Bugsy and I were doing our normal thing, trotted down to 'our' fields, he was let off leash and off he went sniffing and searching.
Then I saw them. At the bottom of the hill, mostly concealed by the trees and tall grasses.
About a dozen deer, white tails suddenly moving in all directions.
I quickly tweeted the Beast - who was transfixed and ready to fly.
The whistle broke his stare and he ambled back towards me, with at least one eye still watching the white tails.
A group of the deer went left into the woods. Whew.
Our intent had been to enter the woods on the right and wander down to our lake access there.
I was tweeting the whistle as necessary. Bugsy was amped and twitching. But remaining near by and checking in with me. I know he was thinking "just give me the sign, Mom" but much to his frustration I didn't.
We continued down the hill.
Oh crap!!!!!!!!!!! More deer! And they went RIGHT, into OUR woods. I had thought they had all gone left but some had just stood still until we got closer.
Another sharp tweet as Bugs was trembling and stalking as you could just barely see the deer moving through the dark woods.
I was trying to decide whether to leash him or keep challenging him.
In consideration for my shoulders I kept him off leash.
We moved parallel to the deer - them to our left in the woods, us on our path through the tall grass on the right edge of the woods.
I waited a few times to try to let them get ahead of us with the hopes they would cross in front of us to the other side of the field.
We arrived at 'our' path to 'our' hidden lake access and whoosh they crossed the path.
I am not sure how Bugsy DIDN'T have a stroke - he literally looked like he would spontaneously combust.
After waiting for them to be out of sight, I relaxed and off he went.
Amazingly not after them, he scented and scoured the landscape for any sight of them but he was able to direct him to the lake access.
Of course we got to the water and the muddy entry was full of hoof prints and a super-sized heron that gronked angrily at us for disturbing his morning

I was beyond thrilled, the adrenaline surge and the intensity of being on top of Bugsy for so long was exhilarating and exhausting.

We wandered a bit more and then headed down 'our' path to 'our' trail that splits the woods and the fields.
Good gracious what do we see - more deer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This time flying through 'our' field.
Bugsy was very fed up with not being able to chase them so we had another power play with many whistle stays and another success.

Hot damn!!!!!!!!!!
That was a surreal experience for me and the Beast. One I am not sure I want to replicate but what an achievement for both of us.
Love you Bugs! And thanks for being so good.

Bugsy's 7th SPCA dog walk!

This will be 7th year of walking my humans through the streets of Raleigh to support the SPCA which is where I lived for a short time. They are real nice there and its very clean and there are lots of things to do BUT having a family of my own is much better so I try to raise money so more strays can get homes.

I sure hope my humans walk faster this year I really want to be first in - I hate lagging behind!

Thanks,

love Bugsy!

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