Today, February 10, 2012, I said goodbye to my Molly. Miss Molly passed peacefully on, at home, right where she wanted to be, as I held her head in my hands. I will probably never find the words to properly convey what this dog has meant to me. One day I will try. I love you, Molly girl.
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| Rolling in the damp grass, Molls takes in the sun. A little bit of sun, a spot of warmth, on a mid-January winter's day. |
Despite the wind and rain, looks like the weekend will be pretty nice. Was thinking about joining some friends for an off-leash hike with the dogs this weekend... but Molly turned up with a gimpy rear leg late day yesterday. So rest for Molly. No frisbee or soccer action. No cavorting after squirrels in the backyard. Even dogzoomies in the living room. A little rest does plenty good.
Whenever we visit Glen Highland Farm, Molly spends a good amount of time in Butternut Creek. It winds throughout the property, babbling like a brook in some areas, rushing over rock piles in others and has great swimming for Molly and great wading for Ben.
Molly loves for you to throw things into the water for her to chase and swim after. Note I did not say fetch. For Molly, fetch seems to only to apply to objects thrown on terra firma. Over the years I've lost many a frisbee or floaty toy in the hopes that a such fun bright squeaky object would entice her to bring it back so that, yay, we can play with it again! But no. So I throw sticks. And I know lotsa folks are weird about using "sticks" to play with their dogs but they are plentiful and cheaper than fun bright squeaky floaty toys.
If there are no sticks to be had, or I'm occupied with Ben or taking pics, Molly will entertain herself. She goes bobbin' for rocks using her front paws to scrape the Creek bottom then plunges her head in to pull out the rock of her affection. And these are no small stones. Some of the rocks she's pulled out of the water over the years weighed as much as 3 pounds. (I've even kept a few of the more impressive ones, labeled with the date and location.)
In the photo above, we had just arrived to a favorite spot. My camera batt was low so I was fussing with it. Molly went ahead into the water to start bobbin'. By the time I changed out the batt she had scouted her rock, looking at me with excitement at what she found. She had not gone for a swim yet, so she was mostly dry except for the water pouring from her head. I likened her to a strange creature rising out of the depths of the water and chuckled. "Good girl!" I say. She proceeds to dig out her rock and carry it ashore. Still laughing at her antics I turn to taking pics of Ben. After 10 minutes I turn to Molly and I see that she has a collection now. She had been depositing her rocks in the same place on the shore. She had been standing her pile... I wonder, waiting for me to notice? "Good girl!" I say to her again. Soaking wet now, Molly trots over, right next to me and shakes off. A lot of water. I guess it's payback for not being more interactive with the creature at the Creek!
It reached 105 today. I think the dogs knew that I was keeping them out of the heat for a good reason. Yes, as they lay in front of the AC vents around the house, I think they knew it was miserable outside. Molly didn’t even try to get me to toss the Frisbee for her whenever we did venture out for a pee break. When outside, the dogs would relish the heat for a second or two, feeling the warmth contrasting the coolness of their bodies. But it is only a matter of time before they look back at me, squinting in the hazy midday sun, and they run back to come join me in the climate controlled indoors.
Happy Birthday to me!
A few hours ago I measured 24.5 inches. That's pretty serious stuff! Let me put it this way, in this area our average seasonal snow total is 18.5 inches. Serious stuff alright! Speaking of serious, here is Molly looking at me, waiting for me to come and join her outside again. I'd say Molly takes her snow pretty seriously. Meanwhile the Siberian Husky is inside curled in a ball in his fleece bed.
Happy fun snowtimes
We got a late winter snow earlier this week that gave us about 7.5 inches of pure fun. (It's always nice to get one good snowfall that sticks around for more than 3 days... around here that's a rarity!) I love my dogs in the snow... they get happy and perky... and act with wild abandon. Leaping, hopping, pouncing.
In the middle of the snowstorm at about 130am, I took the dogs out for a walk. I had Molls off-leash and Ben was dragging an old lead. I love the sound of the snow falling. If you listen carefully you can hear it. No cars. At that moment, few other noises than the jingling of dog tags and the hushed snowfall can be heard. Peaceful. Quiet.
That serenity, however, was punctuated by my happy perky dogs... you know, the ones acting with wild abandon in the snow. Leaping. Hopping. Pouncing. Barking. At 2am in the morning. They were chasing each other through the untouched snow, barking and snarling. A lot. I mean a lot more than a typical sunny daytime fun run. Happy perky excited by snow kind of barking. Molly barking at me to throw something. Frisbee... Ohhh wait. Snow? Snowbaaall!!! Throw me a snowball! Pul-eeeasssse! And Ben barking at Molly barking at me. My attempts to quiet them were only partially successful, perhaps because I was laughing at their antics and snow covered faces. I think we got home before the neighbors felt inclined to do something about our wee hours of the morning insubordination. It was fun though. When all my neighbors were out shoveling the snow during actual waking hours, I did apologize but it turns out they didn't hear a peep. Yay for us!
Bye-bye happy fun snowtimes. Thanks for a good visit. See ya next winter!
That's Lucas on the left (West coast dog. Boisterous. Curious. A yearling.) And Molly on the right (East coast dog. Authoritative. Patient. Mature.) Buddies.
My sister, her husband and I were all curious to see how the meeting of Molly and young Lucas would go down. From past experience with other younger dogs, I expected Molly to be the disciplinarian. Lucas, the juvenile that he is, and very curious, is still learning a few things. He doesn’t quite know how to greet other dogs "politely" and so nips and barks and snaps and growls can erupt on both sides.
At the start, Molly and Lucas were at odds. Lucas, with a lot of barking and lunging and Molly totally not impressed and definitely not pleased. I could tell my sis was upset that they weren’t getting along, but her hubby and I kept reassuring her that they will work it out. Within 2 hours of being together, Molly had Lucas pinned belly up. She was growling and lip curling and Lucas was madly barking and screaming, but no biting. As soon as it started it was over and Molly (and we) got the reaction we were waiting for… Lucas got up, crouched, head low, nuzzled Molly in her neck. A beginning! Over the next couple hours if Lucas approached her in a manner too forward for her liking, she would curl her lip and stomp forward and he would back off.
Later on in the day, we 3 humans and 4 canines were having fun on the agility equipment. Suddenly... an outburst of barking by Lucas, then high pitched squealing. We convened on the sight of Molly and Lucas and we could not help but laugh. There was no flying fur, no bloodshed. Just Molly and Lucas. Lucas was laying on his side helplessly wailing as Molly sat there, ON him. Read again… She was sitting. On. Him. Molly would turn her head to stare at him and curl her lip.
When he didn't 'get it' she would snarl and show her teeth.
And she did not let up until he stopped making noise and struggling to get free. The moment he was quiet, she slowly sat up and released him. But not without throwing a dirty look his way.
From that moment on, Lucas and Molly never had a ‘situation’ again. In fact, Lucas really liked Molly. He started to follow her on trails, and they trotted shoulder to shoulder. Lucas looked for her all the time and greeted her respectfully whenever they met – lowered head, a lick on the muzzle. They had made nice-nice!
Playing nicely, chasing, running, in the water in the meadow, through the woods. They greeted other doggies together. Maybe Molly was giving Lucas tips?
They even slept on the same couch together. I know, right? Awwww!
Molly like a good mama, knew how to set Mr. Lucas straight. That's my “Mother Hen.” And you know what is funny… she knows she did good.
