It’s Their Birthday!

This is my favorite photo of Carter. It was taken just after I groomed him. He looks regal here, and he can be, but sometimes – no, often, he lives up to his main nickname, which is Goofis or Goofghan. He is almost smart, but always stops short and does something on his terms, which is usually entertaining and hilarious. He is also affectionate, sensitive & tries to please -kinda. My first Afghan Priscilla was the complete opposite. Just as they come in every color, so do they in personality. I’ve got a really, really terrific dog here no matter. Carter was a gift from a dog show friend. I fell in love with him immediately at 10 weeks of age.

Carter & Whitley waiting patiently. Whitley is nicknamed Happy Dog. Whitty, & Ewok. You will see why in another photo. Above all, she is a delight. She does not have any other inclination except to be with you, and watch animal videos and Caesar Milan on the computer or iPad. I can go away for 5 minutes and on my return she greets me like a hero, yet in a very ladylike way. Always the gentle one, also sensitive with a teeny, tiny bit of sass. She rounds herself into a circle, like a donut, when she feels it is time for a meal or a snack and tries to walk that way until I notice. She has a clock in her tummy and knows within a few minutes that it is time for dinner, and she is persistent about it. They both are. But the donut act? It makes me laugh every time. She came to me from an animal shelter having been surrendered 3 times before she was a year old. Another story for another time. I get asked what breed she is. I have guesses, but until I do DNA, I will not know for sure. I have shown and owned a lot of dogs, but she and Carter are definitely heart dogs.

Here are the two birthday boys, Carter and KBJ. What can I say…..KBJ is loyal, incredibly funny, brilliant and a true Renaissance man, a gentle soul, and incredibly decent. He is responsible for making my ideas for this blog a reality and assisting and encouraging me as it evolves.  He also keeps it running like clockwork. I met him a couple of years after my husband died and he helped me come back from the brink of grinding grief, allowing me see that my life could be great again. The definition of a best friend. He loves the dogs, and they regard him as the supreme source for all things good.

The 3 together on their shared day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I really like this photo, even though neither of them has shared with me what they were thinking…….

OK, I had this not too bright idea of putting some xmas lights on the dogs. Whitley? She said “no way” by getting up and walking away, demurely, but assuredly and very quickly. Carter, he trusted me for the moment.

As I added more lights, he looked up at me, and then down at the lights, not really sure what the heck I was doing. Whitley was moaning in the background. She does that when I groom Carter. Usually it means she is suffering with worried sympathy.

So then I got the idea to let him up on the ottoman, and thought I would add more lights. Again, he stayed in place like a trooper. Whitley was still fussing in the background, only louder.

Now the boy is really glowing! Still not the look I was going for though. Keith kept saying……”this is crazy, you’re going to set the dog on fire”, and Whitty was moaning even louder.

So I thought, let’s add some antlers and a bell collar. His look says it all.  You can see the expression has changed to “I am losing my dignity here”.  So we scrapped the entire idea.

Speaking of loss of dignity……OK, so Carter had had enough with the lights, and they both decided it was time to eat their dinner. Carter wears what is called a snood that keeps his ears out of the food bowl. He absolutely hates it. He has worn one since he was a baby, but he still in no way sees it as anything but a horrible nuisance. He likes it even less when you take it off. So often after he eats, he will try and zip outside to avoid it’s removal. This was one of those days. He loves his collar, he let me put the lights all over him, rub his ears, yet it’s “no” to the snood.  In this photo he is in post goofus mode…he jumped on the bench after running all over the play paddock at super high speed. Also notice how sweet Whitley’s expression is in this photo.

Things can change in an instant. Although she usually loves the camera, she can turn on a dime – and she did! Whitely the Ewok.

Definitely a similarity, don’t you think?

An even better Ewok look. She likes hats, but they must be girly-girl. How the heck does she know the difference???? A classic mean girl look, I take off this hat, and she instantly forgave and was back to a tail wagging happy dog. This was a photo from when I left her coat really long. She is what I call a hair machine.