Bodacious Rules the Roost.

Singer's friend Hershey gifted her his unwanted chew toy, but Singer wasn't terribly appreciative, so BoBo got it instead.  Of course, BoBo's not terribly interested in any aspect of it other than simple possession.  

Mine!

Miiine!

Still mine.

In other news, BoBo is bbbback and barking up a storm.  It's always interesting to see how different Singer and BoBo really are.  The typical assessment is that Singer is a like a little furry emo kid, while BoBo is the happy-go-lucky class clown.

Where No Bo Has Ever Gone.

As you know, Bo is a foster dog.  That means, theoretically, that a loving family may one day take Bo home so that she may join their family.  However, there is something, in industry parlance, known as the "foster fail".  The foster fail is what happens when a foster family decides to adopt said foster dog.  ACOs and dog rescues love foster fails.

There are a couple of things that keep me from adopting Bo, including in no particular order: (1) my roommate does not like her, (2) she and Singer are both divas, and (3) if I adopt Bo, I won't have room to adopt others.  Recently, my dog-loving boss offered to adopt Bo.  But... what if I miss her too much?  She has such spunk and personality, and is also the world's most obnoxious and effective watch dog (but only at my house).

Some Bodacious Eye Rolling

An oldie but goodie: My mom stayed with me after the Thanksgiving holiday and we four girls got to spend some quality time together.  This is what BoBo thought of all that attention she had to share with Singer.

Pear Today, Gone Tomorrow

Apparently, Singer really likes Bosc pears.  I came home the other night to find some bathroom tissue in the living room.  After cleaning it up, I went to my bedroom and found a half-eaten pear underneath my bed.  After giving her the naughty lecture, I noticed that next to the pear was an empty plastic bag.  That's when I realized that Ms. Sneaky hadn't just helped herself to half a pear, but a whole BAG of pears.  Three and a half delicious Bosc pears, to be exact.

So on my next Costco run a day later, I picked up some more pears to replenish my stock.  As all things Costco go, my 40 lbs. of pears came hermetically sealed in cryovac bullet proof--- well, twist tied plastic bag.  In any event, I had to run a quick errand and left Singer in the car.  When I returned 10 minutes later, I found my front passenger seat covered in pear bits, and the bullet proof bag breached.  Since I had no idea how many pears she'd eaten, I weighed the bag when I got home.  Missing from my bounty: 1.5 lbs.  That sneak ate two pears!

On a related note, Blue Ridge Barks will now include Pear Today, Gone Tomorrow Doggie Fruit Chews.  :)

Naughty Singer

Act casual, no one will notice!

Singer's been on a roll with the sweet potatoes lately.  It used to be that only BoBo liked to attack raw sweet potatoes, but Singer's gotten into the game too.

The evidence.

Ruh-roh Face, up close.

If Bo were around, I'd have pegged this one on her.  Classic Bo: nibbled up bits, left on the carpet.  The old Singer would have swallowed all of the evidence.











But with one to paw but Singer, it was all her, and she knew it.  Look at those big eyes, slicked back ears and long face!

More Hiking

Blur of sniffery.

Hiking is an activity I've always had a love-hate relationship with.  It's something that has to be done to get to a crag, but it's always the worst part of the climbing process for me.  I'm no good at it, I lack the balance, sure-footedness and stamina to really enjoy it.  Also, half the time, it involves some reverse approach in the fading daylight, in addition to the general lack of skill. That said, Singer can't get enough of it, and for her, I am willing to get a bit, or a lot, uncomfortable.

Serendipitously matching hat and backpack.  

On Saturday, we took a short hike in Terryville, replete with a few scrambles and some trail running.  Cue fading daylight.  On Sunday, we met up with the dog hiking group for her second big girl hike with the other dogs.  This time, instead of being 15 minutes late, we were a solid 30-45 minutes late.  (Fence mayhem.)  This meant that by the time we got there, we were sprinting (okay, sprinting then walking, sprinting, then walking) up the trail, trying to catch the rest of the pack.  Singer didn't mind one bit.  At one point, before the summit, we spotted them descending, so we cut through another path and caught up in time for Singer to run around with Avery and a little beagle for the last mile or so.  We ended up doing a variation of the loop again, to let Singer run around and to check out the frozen pond

I think I've done more hiking in the past two weeks than I've done during the past 12 months, but at least my boots are getting some use.

Gratitude

Before the holidays, I sent a heartfelt thank you ACO Elease, who introduced me to Singer. She truly is my modern-day hero. Yesterday, I received this wonderful email from her:

Stories like yours help make our job a pleasure! I am very glad to know that Singer is a wonderful addition to your family and that you are VERY HAPPY to have her in your life. My staff and I love to have the ability to do our own adoptions for that very reason- Happy Tails!

We no longer have the kennel that Singer came from. It makes me very sad because I know that my staff and I met with countless persons over the years that “Just wanted to look”. And by us being on site with the dogs we were able to unite those “Just looking” into being new pet owners! The town is working on another kennel site that would be located in the town of South Windsor and would house two other towns with ours. While Manchester may never have a kennel to call our “Own” it would be nice to have the ability to meet with persons that are “Just looking”! Our current kennel situation does not really offer us the ability to meet people at random.

We wish you a spectacular New Year with loads of fun and exciting adventures!!

It is indeed quite sad that budget cutbacks have eliminated many traditional shelters and pounds. Many dogs are housed in borrowed space or in foster homes that don't allow for 'chance' meetings like mine and Singer's. Heck, I'm a foster dog-mom myself, and I've often wondered if BoBo would have been adopted ages ago if she hadn't been contentedly slobbering on my couch.

But it is sobering to know that had I been looking for a dog one year later, I would never have met Singer and my life would not be what it is today. Thank you again, Officer Elease.

Hike-a-palooza!

All in all, Singer went on two mountain hikes and one beach walk this holiday weekend.  What a lucky pup!  Can you guess where we are in this picture?

Can't wait to get her some snow gear so I can take my little rock star glisadding!  Or even better, turn her into a sled dog.  Mmmmmush.

Happy New Year!

Singer's 2011 was capped off with her first group hike!  We met up with a local dog hiking group for a 1.5 hour off-leash hike on Saturday morning.  Of course, we were late, and by the time we got onto the trail, we ran into a woman who had already lost her Husky dog.  Not an auspicious way to start the hike!  (The Husky was eventually found, twice, in fact.)

Singer, following the elusive Kenai.

Fifteen minutes later, we finally caught up with the lead group, and met the other hikers and dogs.  There were probably about 30 dogs, from Dachshunds to Dobermans.  Singer was the only Singer in attendance though.  Although she was a bit timid at first, she made fast friends with a mix named Avery and a big wire coated giant Schnauzer named Demetrius.  A giant black Russian Terrier was a part of the mix too, but she was a little more than Singer could handle.  The dogs all ran circles around each other, racing up and down the trail, barking and play bowing.

Singer looked so thrilled to be running around with the other dogs.  For every mile of the trail, she probably ran 3 miles.  The hike was 3.6 miles in total... Singer just about did a half marathon!  She's made so much progress in just a year.  This time last year, she was running behind me at the sight of puppies across the street.  Yesterday, she was letting other dogs sniff her, engaging dogs in play and chasing and being chased, like a "real" doggie.  Happy New Year!