It's not easy... when the batteries take a holiday

Well, so much for blogging everyday. The day after I started this blog, the battery in the camera died, the battery pack for the laptop died... Then I got the flu. So, not so much a daily blog so far.

But we did go out the day after my first post, before the batteries all died, and we took some pictures. Our backyard is not as pretty as a picture, so just look at the dogs. :)

(Also, you should know that Dannan and I have not yet developed a reliable "come in from the backyard". For him, nothing is better than outside. So he drags a long line when he is in the backyard. He actually comes pretty predictably when he's wearing the long line, because he knows I can catch him. When he's not wearing a long line, I haven't got a hope in hell. So any of you who wonder how fast a three-legged dog can run, take my word for it: damn fast!)

So here is Dannan outside. Our packmate (and roommate) Lexi, a Miniature Pinscher, is also outside with us. Our other canine packmember Khavana, also a MinPin, wouldn't deign to come out with us, so I've thrown in a few pictures from other times.

(You'll see that the pictures are not in the order I wanted them to be in. I am having issues figuring out how to add photos to blog entries; bear with me and I'll figure them out. But having uploaded them all, I'm not going to go back and re-do it all. Now that I know that I need to upload them in backward order, things will go more smoothly next time.)

About face! There must be a bird!

Birds are one of Dannan's passions. He love to chase them as they run through the yard. I know that I shouldn't let him do it, but he gets so much joy from it that I can't bring myself to try to stop him. If a bird is sitting in one of our many trees, he will stand below it and "woooo woooo" it, trying to convince the bird to fly so he can give chase.

This is Lexi:

And this is Khavana, who is pretending to be bashful:

Khavana is the oldest dog in our pack, even though she was the third one to join. Karen brought her into our lives in November of 2005, while Lexi was already with Karen when Dannan came along.



While Dannan chases birds, this is what Lexi is usually doing:

Lexi loves to look for bugs, and worms, and whatever else she can find in the grass. She just puts her nose to the ground and exults in all the smells.

The other thing Lexi loves to do outside, when she's not on smell-patrol, is to bask in the sun.

But there are always more bugs to be had...

Dannan has found a bird:

Happy dog.

There *is* a bird, I'm telling you! (The blur at his tail is because he wags furiously when birding!)

More bliss...




He is always alert to possible sightings:

"Woooo wooooo!"

Trying to get the bird to fly...





Also that day, Dannan found a spot that seems to have something good going on. He has been back to this spot every single day since:

This was supposed to be the first photo!

Back to that spot...





"Oh, I think I hear a birdie!"

All in all, it was a pretty good day. Birds to chase (and serenade!), smells to sniff, places to dig... What more could a dog want?

My next post will be all about the week when my out-of-town siblings were here; Dannan got so much love (and so many treats!) that he needed his own vacation when it was all over! He also had a GREAT adventure, so tune in soon!

the Girl