The Return of Winter Stealth Dog

"You can't see me. I'm not here..."

This is when she really cracks me up. At the moment she's pouting in the basement because I made her come in out of the snow. I had to!

"That spot was getting hot. Is it okay if I lay here awhile?"

She kept getting up and moving because the ground would get "too warm" under her! 
I let her stay out a while longer after this, but when I called her to finally come in, she thought it was going to be okay to just run right past me and into the house - hahahaha!

 ...and then came skidding to a stop when I blocked the doorway with a towel to dry her off! Joke's on her ;)

Happy Birthday, Pretty Girl!

Today is Storm's 9th birthday. She's had an average day. Got up. Slept a lot. Went to the park with Daddy. Got extra turkey in her dinner and extra cookies (Milkbones) for her dessert.

 She's been hyper in spurts for the past few days, though. She really wanted to go for a ride with me Friday and wasn't happy when I didn't come home until Monday. She was pretty excited when I got back, but wasn't sure why I had to leave again this morning.

But then, she doesn't get the whole "go to work" thing. After all, our lives should be totally fulfilled just spending the day with her, right? Lazing the days away, playing with her toys, enjoying life.

Who could ask for anything more? *sigh* It's a dog's life, after all.

Happy Birthday, Pretty Girl!

 

Snow Dog on the Loose II

As luck (and the weather) would have it, I had another opportunity to go to the park with the Snow Dog on her daily walk just a few days after the first time I went. Once again I brought my camera :)

She turned so fast she left skid marks! :D

 It started off with her normal routine: she gets out of the car, runs to her Official Potty Spot, then sets off down the road, sniffing all the way. Now when she does this investigative search, she trots at a quick pace, so when she happens to smell something interesting at that speed it's comical to watch her yank herself around to go back and figure out what it is.

Of course, with deeper snow you have to really, really look to find your clues...I mean REALLY look!


You never know what might be lurking under the surface of all that fluffy white stuff.

Or maybe over there! I wonder what's over there - was that a squirrel??? Has a squirrel been over here recently? Has a squirrel EVER THOUGHT about being over here??? A DOG'S GOTTA KNOW!!!

Is this the spot we camped last year when I lost that toy thingy?

I can hardly wait for camping season :)

 

Snow Dog on the Loose

Okay, I'm WAY behind on my DogBlog updates and my follower has begun taunting me. (Personally, I think she's biting off a big chunk, thinking she can keep up the pace blogging daily as busy as she is, but since this is just a blatant challenge to her to do precisely that, the point becomes either paradoxical or moot, depending on your perspective :D)

She's right, though. I haven't updated Storm's exciting life lately and we've had plenty of opportunities to do exactly that. What can I say? I was busy enjoying the snow and forgot to get busy sharing! Let's go back to the snow we got in mid-January. After I posted the "sheep/dog" picture, we took her out to the state park near home for a walk.

This is Storm's favorite campgrounds, especially off-season...and most especially in the snow. Always up for a ride in the car, the short drive to the park is always a reason for joy in her day. Usually Daddy takes her before I get home from work, but I was able to go along on this occasion and, of course, came camera-in-hand. 

"Hey, you guys comin' or what?"

 Once we arrive, she's off and exploring. During the camping season she's required to stay on her leash at all times, but when we have the grounds to ourselves she can explore all the campsites to her heart's content.

 "Hmmmmm...I wonder who was camping here last...a basset hound? Maybe a dachsund...I like dachsunds. Two of my besties are dachsunds."

She has to check out random sites, but she's an efficient inspector. She doesn't waste her time thoroughly investigating each and every site. She chooses a few favorites and changes the others up so she keeps it fresh.

You just never know where some sneaky squirrel might have been scampering around. Best check diligently.

"What? Who was in the woods? Not me!"

We aren't the only neighbors who walk our dog in the state park every day. Will says there are a couple who bring their two dogs regularly. Storm was happy to be the first to break the snow and go exploring the tundra.

She wasn't the only one to stir the snow, however. The plow turned a little bit of earth in the process and she had to check out why there was grass in her snow.

"Mom? Did you say 'tree rat?'"

 

 

After all the running and exploring, there comes a point when she remembers she's not really a young'un anymore...

"Guys? Once again, are ya comin'? Time to go home - I'm hungry and need a nap"

 Need a nap is right. All that fresh air and exercise really takes it out of a dog, ya know? ;)

Snow Dog tries to be Stealth Dog

She doesn't necessarily get it that she's black.

We've told her and told her, but  - well, you know, the color-blind thing with dogs. Anyway, when she's outside and doesn't want to come in, she plays "Stealth Dog" and hunkers down as flat as she can so we won't "see" her. It's cute.

It's especially cute when she does it in the snow. Yeah, she REALLY doesn't get it that she's black! ;) By the time I actually snapped the pic, though, she had come out of full stealth mode and was just curious about whether or not I was going to make her come in.

Now, she might look miserable at first glance, but that's only because the snowfall is obliterating her actual expression. She was only out there for two minutes at this point. But Storm is definitely a camera hound - no pun intended. When I told her to come in a few minutes later, she didn't come up to me as usual but came up and turned her back so I could take not one, but TWO pics of her back covered in snow! She didn't turn around until I put the camera down. But like I said, she's a snow dog...and mmmmmm, snow tastes good!

Once a Snow Dog...

Okay, I know she's a German Shepherd, but doesn't that mean she's bred to herd sheep? Not to try to look like one, right? Maybe it's just me...maybe it's just because it comes so close on the heels of the Christmas season...

But I ask you - doesn't this cozy puppy remind you of a sheep curled up in a manger scene??? ;)

Branching Out

I've been thinking about it for quite awhile now, so I've decided it's time to get on with it and just do it. It's time Storm gets her own blog. After all, she's not a musician and sometimes, although she's brilliant, she doesn't always have a lot of common sense.

 
For instance, this week has been incredibly cold, but Storm is a snow dog. The whining is anywhere from hysterical to annoying and we continually have to tell her it's too cold for her to stay out long. She invariably comes in limping from achy muscles, joints, or footpads, but after a bit of a warm up she's begging to go back out again. There's no point in telling her it's too cold or she's too old. She sees the snow and she MUST go out! And if you do tell her it's too cold or she's too old, you'll get the same response:

a sad look from beautiful brown eyes and a heavy sigh.