We are thankful for our friends and family…and chewy toys, treats and lap snuggling.

For Thanksgiving this year, to Grandma’s house we went.  We all had a great time, full of running outside (for the pups) and eating as much seafood as possible (for the people).  As confirmed desert-dwellers, Angus, Lucy and Duncan spent as little time out in the coastal weather as possible, convinced that if they got wet, they would melt.  Des on the other hand as a fellow native Oregonian, decided dancing in the rain was a pretty fun thing to do…even when attacked by an umbrella.

Beach? Not today!

I had hopes of letting the Aussies run on the beach, but found the tide was in when we arrived.  With a winter storm brewing, waves were crashing into the foredune, and then as if on cue, rain began to fall, so we retreated to a nearby pine forest for a romp through the moss.   Not having lived near the coast in about 15 years, I’d watched the Twilight movies thinking the rain effects were excessive.  Let me tell you…they aren’t.  It’s wet here.  And really, really green!

Super Des!

Upon our return back to the land of sunny skies, short trees and moss-less roofs, the boys helped me plant garlic and shallots in the garden, two things I’ve managed to grow pretty well.  I can’t claim to be a gardening genius…we happen to live in a climate that garlic likes, and it’s a crop you plant and forget until you harvest it 8 months later.  Even I can’t mess that up!   I’m late in planting (it was agility or garden, and I picked my priority!) but not as late as I have been in the past.  Last year, I literally drilled holes into a block of frozen dirt to plant and darned if those little garlic cloves grew!

While outside, I practiced Desmond’s recalls.  Recipe for success = another dog that comes flying when I call (thank you Dunc) and a pocketful of kibble.  I am thankful for such a beautiful afternoon to share with my two boys.

Did someone call me?

Today is a day of lasts and firsts.  We began our last trial of the year this morning, our local fall NADAC.  I love this trial, and Dunc loves these courses because there aren’t any pesky tables or teeters to slow him down.  He must have tied on his Go Fast shoes this morning, because he was flying today.

Desmond also got to spend his first full day together with us, and he was a gem.  He snoozed in his crate in between charming everyone he met.  I let him watch a couple of dogs run from the vantage point of my arms, and he was riveted!  He had the same look on his face that I saw on a baby bird dog the first time he saw a pheasant flush.

All of that would be enough, but this evening while I was letting the boys do hot laps in the yard, a magical moment happened.  Duncan and Desmond started to play together.  Dunc is the boy we affectionately call Captain No Fun, because usually when two other dogs play, he wades in the middle, barking, clearly telling all parties to ‘break it up, move along, this is a zero fun zone.’  Des has been playing with our girl and Boxer since day one, but Dunc has generally avoided him, as he does most dogs.

Did you ever see the first of the ‘new’ Star Wars movies with all the CG silliness and that hideous Jar Jar Binks?  Ignore that and fast forward to the scene where Yoda battles the evil Darth so-and-so.   Yoda starts jumping and spinning and becomes a little green blur. Duncan looked like a little merle version of Yoda (without the light saber) when playing with Des.  He would crouch, then leap and spin, then circle and leap straight up like he was spring-loaded.  I’m not sure if this is normal Aussie play since I’ve never really seen Dunc play with anyone but our Frenchie, and she has a full-contact-tackle brand of play all her own.

Of course, the moment passed, and Des made off with Duncan’s favorite ball, so the détente was temporary.  But…the Fun Police put his badge away for a little while.  What a lovely thing to witness.

I took a few pictures of them, unfortunately the light was fading and they are a little blurry, but they’re still special to me.

I didn't do anything!

When I was thinking about the perfect pup, I wanted a little people lover with drive, who was full of play.  A little sass and sense of humor wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Careful what you wish for!

Des is a boy with moxie!  He wants to play and play and play.  And when you stop the play (say, to hold him still) he demands that the game continue.  He’s quite adamant about it, too.  Now, I thought…I’ve had Boxers.  If there is a hard-headed breed, it’s a Boxer, so I have the experience to show this baby that sometimes we need to sit still.  The problem is that Boxers are more than happy to sit next to you on the couch and watch reruns of Globe Trekker, even as babies.  They’re a playful breed tailor-made to those of us who think watching three movies in a row on an icy November day isn’t an unusual activity.

As a result, this week I decided to show Des that I can hold him still, that he can sit with me and the world still rotates.  He wasn’t convinced, and insisted that I stop being so boring. Then Duncan gave me a nudge and reminded me I’m dealing with an Aussie.  So in Aussie-speak (which is just English because obviously they speak it perfectly), I explained to Des that he needed to trust me, that in the years to come, I’m going to ask him to do some really weird things (like jumping through tires) and to just go with it.  Darned if the little guy didn’t just shoot me a look that plainly said “WHY didn’t you say so in the first place??!!”  And then he flopped upside down in my arms and went to sleep.

I LOVE these dogs!  So smart, so willing…and I know they can read your mind.

Last week Des was weighed at the vet.  At 12 weeks, he’s 9.2 lbs.  He’s also starting to get a little more body to go with his LONG legs.  Love his floppy ears!

I am cute. Feed me.