Missing dog

Cliff's sister, who lives next door in our old house, has a little mini-dachshund named Angel that is her life. The sun rises and sets in that little dog, as far as she is concerned; I fully understand that.  Angel is a loving little creature who never met a human she didn't like.  
Rena has spoiled Angel a little, but don't we all do that with our dogs?  So sometimes, Angel has selective hearing.  Every once in awhile Rena will lose track of her, and wander all over the place shouting, "Angel, COME!" "Angel, COME!"
Angel, knowing full well how much she is loved, acts a little bit like a spoiled child; being a hound, she goes off sniffing the trail of some nocturnal creature, ignoring her master.  
But she's never far away.  
Rena's son has lived with her for the past year or so, and for the past three weeks, his three kids have been visiting.  So while Rena goes to work, they are in charge of Angel.  
Today I looked out my window a couple of times and saw Mike's kids strolling around my yard.  
Mighty peculiar.  
A couple hours later I went to the mailbox and all three of his kids were outside calling for Angel.  
"Is Angel gone?" I asked.  
Indeed she was, and had not been seen for quite a while.  The kids had been all the way to the end of our dead-end road calling for her and hadn't seen hide nor hair of her.  
"That's strange," I said.  "She does disappear sometimes, but she's never very far away." 
I knew there was no way that little dog would disappear for two hours.  No way.  Of course, she's a cute little thing, so if someone found her at their door, he might let her in.  But honestly, she never even went as far as a neighbor's house.  Usually if she's missing, she can be found in the barn lot eating cow poop.  
Oh yes, you can take the dog out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the dog.  
I joined the search, because I was actually starting to worry a bit.  I knew if Rena got home from work and found her dog missing, she would be a basket case.  That dog, as I said, is her life.  
I turned and headed toward home.  When I turned, I was staring right at Cliff's shop; a little light turned on in my brain.  
"Is it possible she got shut in Cliff's shop?  Because that's happened with Iris a few times."
"I'll get the key," Mike said.  
As soon as the door to the shop opened, Angel came running out.  I'm sure she was thinking, "What kind of idiots lock me in the shop and then walk around calling for me?"
So all is well at the Wood commune, and we can sleep soundly tonight.

Fighting dogs

My dog Iris is a bit "stove up" today.  That's an expression I remember my daddy using when he had done some different or unaccustomed sort of work that left him with sore muscles.  
Iris has never met a person she didn't love; she's always glad to greet a visitor and eager to be petted... she's docile and friendly.
  
With other dogs?  Not so much.  When my daughter's dog, Hawkeye, spent four days here, there was an initial tussle, but then he and Iris got along.  They weren't best buddies, but they tolerated one another, and there were no more skirmishes.
  
Cliff's sister next door has a tiny miniature dachshund, Angel.  I've kept my eye on Iris when Angel is around because I've noticed certain actions that suggested she might be aggressive toward her.
  
Yesterday Angel was in our house, playing with Iris' toys; Iris was obviously uncomfortable with that:  she gathered up all her toys except the one Angel had and put them in a heap beside her, eyeing her closely.  Still, there was no real aggressive action. 

Later on, since my daughter, her husband, and her youngest daughter were here, we went outside for an impromptu wienie roast.  Iris, Hawkeye, and Angel were outside with us.  Something set Iris off and she attacked Hawkeye; we figured the two of them could work things out.  Hawkeye is the bigger of the two, and I've never known him to shrink from a confrontation, although he will not initiate a fight.  He's a lover, not a fighter.
  
They were going at it pretty good, with Iris refusing to back down, when Angel decided to join the fray.
  
Not good.  Iris turned her attention to Angel and viciously grabbed her by the neck.  I quickly picked Iris up off the ground, and she STILL did not let go of Angel immediately.
    
There are various ways I can deal with this problem, but no matter what I do, I believe Iris will always bear watching when she has access to Angel.  Time will tell.

a word of clarification

A couple of my readers were concerned about whether Angel made it home after her little escapade. Trust me, if she hadn't, Rena would have missed work and called the cops, private investigators, or whatever it took to find her spoiled little dog. Angel is her baby!

An early-morning visitor (and unexpected expenses)

Around 4:30 this morning, Sadie came to the computer room and led me to the front door, acting as though she might want out. This is unusual, because she usually sleeps in until at least 8 o'clock.

When I opened the door, my sister-in-law's soaking wet, eight-pound mini-Dachshund burst in. How in the world Sadie knew she was here, I don't know.

Sister-in-law has to go to work today, and evidently she let Angel out to potty; Angel, hating rain like all get-out, came over here thinking I'd let her in. I didn't, though, because how would Rena find her runaway if I had her inside? I told Angel to go home. Five minutes later she was still begging at the door, but next time I looked, she was gone.

Cliff went in the basement of our old house (Rena's house) a couple of days ago and noticed the water heater was leaking. It cost us over $600 for a new heater (including installation) yesterday.

Merry Christmas to us.

Did you ever know it to fail? Something unexpected and costly so often seems to happen near the holidays and tax time. Thank God such occurrences aren't as devastating to us as they once were, but it still pinches the budget.

Wordless Wednesday: Mad cat

For more Wordless Wednesdays, check HERE.

Just testing

Cliff's next-door sister, Rena, got a job she likes just fine, but she was working three twelve-hour days. She wouldn't have minded that so much, but the three days fell on the weekend. That pretty much left her out of the loop with friends and family, since the whole world has weekends off.

This week she switched to four ten-hour days, Monday through Thursday; so she works the same days as Cliff, only he works evenings. She's thrilled about her shift change.

We still go get her Doxie, Angel, when we go for our walk in the pasture. Angel loves the outing, but she's often distracted by some smell or other, and follows her nose away from time to time.

Someone mentioned in a KC blog that KMBC TV, channel nine, has a local spot to upload videos. I signed up on their website just to see how it works.

I took a very short video on our walk today; turn down your sound, because the wind noise is awful and I forgot to edit it out.

It's a dog's life

Our mobile home faces south, and in winter the sun shines into our home quite nicely; on a sunny day, our furnace doesn't run much, even in wintertime. Solar heat! Sadie loves to stretch out in the sunlight streaming through the living room window.

Cliff's sister, Rena, works three twelve-hour days each week. Add to that a couple of hours commuting time each day, and you can see why we bring her dog, Angel, over here in the mornings on days Rena works. I usually let her stay until after dinner sometime and take her home around 2 P.M.

Angel seems to prefer taking in the sunlight in our bedroom.




There's something the still picture didn't show, however; so I made a brief video of Angel. Her tail is in the shadows and is difficult to see, but if your sound is on, you'll hear it pat-pat-patting against the floor. I guess she's happy to have someone photographing her.

Wordless Wednesday: Hitchhikers!

Cliff and his sister with her dog Angel, mowing clover. (Click on the picture to make it larger.)

Sadie's new friend

I suppose you'd call them cousins, Sadie and Angel. Sadie's my dog, Angel belongs to Cliff's sister.

Because of a pending divorce, Rena has moved lock, stock and barrel from Wisconsin to Missouri, so she'll be around her family. It's been a tremendous physical and emotional upheaval for her, and having Angel with her has been her salvation.

When Rena comes to visit, Angel also comes. The first thing she wants is a hug from me; then she begins playing with Sadie. I videoed them this morning.



Two dogs playing

small dog chases bigger dog

Cliff's sister, her husband, and their spoiled little mini-Dachshund have spent a couple of days here; my dog, Sadie, is always happy to have a canine buddy. We found out that if I'd toss the Frisbee for Sadie, Angel pursued her. Sadie growled and Angel barked. See for yourself.