Breed Roots

{52 Snapshots of Life} Week 17: Earth

For me (human) Earth means first the smell of loamy soil after it's rained, and then the green color of leaves in Spring and Summer...here in Florida we have leaf-littered oak forests everywhere, fraught with small ponds and limestone outcroppings. During this season it seems everywhere you you see greys and browns mixed with every color of green that could exist on this earth. A beautiful creation filled with everything that is life.

One of my favorite sayings is "Keep your feet fixed to the ground, and your eyes lifted to the sky." When I was looking through my photos that phrase immediately burst into my mind when I came upon this photo of Skipper. Our earth is soil and water and stone and sky all intertwined in a delicately spun web--what a wonderful week to think about how appreciated it all is!

Happy Earth Day! WW

Mom, mom, mommy, mom, MOM?! Guess what?

It's Earth Day!

Amongst the Ivy

Ready to GO!

Skipper was VERY anxious to go outside this morning! He's so intense sometimes, I just have to get a better handle on how to channel that intensity in a healthy direction!

Hiking, classes, and sport practice

You can tell that she'd already had a good roll in the dew-soaked grass.

Quenya loves her off-leash hikes. She's the only one of the pupcrew I completely* trust to hike off-leash. Victoria won't wander far, but she has the typical Pug attitude of "Hey, I love you, but that doesn't mean I gotta listen." If I'm in an area I've been to before and it's far removed from traffic dangers I'll let Tory off leash, but that's it. She's a work-in-progress though, and improving every day! Most especially in the last couple weeks I've noticed Skipper is really getting a solid recall...but I probably won't work him off-leash outside of a fenced area for several more months. He's an adolescent, and a terrier, and frankly I don't trust him. But we are moving up to long-line work in public, and we have a trip planned to the park later on this week to do some distance stay/recall work. Stay tuned for that update!

Disc-wise Skipper has been flopping all over the place. He chases the disc and takes off with it. He chases the disc half-way then wanders off to smell something. He chases the disc, smells it, and runs back to me--leaving the disc there. I'm hoping it's just a phase, not a sign of waning interest. On the plus side, we've been doing some barn-hunt type games at home and he is loving it. I can't wait until we go to our first barn hunt event--hopefully later this year!

Quenya starts a trick dog class this coming Thursday that runs for five weeks, so we're really looking forward to that. She already knows a lot of tricks but we both enjoy being social so I know we'll benefit from the environment, and at the end we're applying for her novice trick dog title.

*Keeping in mind that dogs can always be unpredictable and owners need to be aware and ready for any situation.

 

The Pug Who Ate Too Much

I'm  going to lay here pitifully and make sure mom knows the full extent of my abject misery.

...and then had to wait with Mom on a leash while her siblings played. Do you see that tummy?!

I (dog mom) had the dogs loose in the yard (we live on fenced acreage) as we prepared to go to the park. While moving various gear to the car as well as moving some of my horse's tack back to the barn, I would up leaving my car door open as it was easier. Victoria took full advantage of this opportunity to sneak into the car and begin voraciously gobbling up a dish of leftovers that, well...I may have forgotten to bring in the night before. They were covered by my saddle blanket, I swear! Anyway, Victoria is lucky that there wasn't anything poisonous in the dish, but she did get a stomach ache afterwards. We've also been purposely keeping her weight down quite low since her accident--about 14lbs, when she's normally just under 16--to keep stress off her legs as she learns how to balance/run/turn, etc. with a leg with (mild) permanent nerve damage. So it's been a while since her tummy has been really full, poor Tory, I don't think she enjoyed the sensation.

An hour later she was feeling much better so I put the other two in their pop-up kennel and left them to be watched by a friend while Tory and I went for a walk. She was very soon back to her freakishly happy-go-lucky self!

Not a day goes by that I don't remember to give thanks that this girl is still with us.

I'M A SQUIRREL!

Focus - WW

No, I'm not a weird Miniature Pinscher, and neither of my parents was an Italian Greyhound ~ Or, the existence of the Rat Terrier

Alrighty guys, it's me, Skipper, for this one! I like people, for the most part. Sometimes though, they speak dog so badly I just can't stand it. In the pet store this weekend this lady cooed all over me, and towered over me, pawing with her giant hands at my head. I'm a little dog people, please kneel down if you want to pet me. How would you like it if the Empire State Building grew arms and tried to pick you up? Not. Fun. let me tell you.

Mom gave me lots of treats, and no permanent harm was done, but the lady did ask if I was a Miniature Pinscher. Of course mom said no, but it brings up an interesting topic. The majority of people who meet me ask if I am a Whippet or Italian Greyhound mix, or if I'm a Miniature Pinscher. When Mom says I'm a Rat Terrier, we usually get blank faces. Ah, well, we were only recognized by the AKC in 2013, and according to their website we're the 111th most popular breed out of what their website lists as 184 recognized breeds. We're so awesome though, I know we're going to get popular! (Although mom kind of wishes we wouldn't, we're a healthy, unexploited breed at the moment).

Anyway, I figured I'd take this post to give you guys a short version of how we Ratties came about!

So, we started with the Old English White terrier, like lots of other terrier breeds of today. Then, we were crossed with Fox Terriers and Manchester Terriers for a while in America. Farmers and the hunters of the day decided that those crosses could be made faster and gain a better sniffer, so they bred in small sighthounds and beagle. Cross those guys back to more Fox Terriers and small feists of the day and you get the Rat Terrier!

One of my Grandmas! She was reeeeeally old here, I think.

One of my Grandpas!

Another one of my Grandpa's!

My Canine Mommy!

Daddy!

MEEEEE!!

So, world, topics covered today: Don't be the Empire State Building that grew arms, and now you know what a Rat Terrier is!

Investigations for Monday Mischief

Not at all afraid of the giant dirt wall. Strange things are meant to be investigated!

Dirt walls = Tons of Happiness. This dog. <3

Finally having some nice hiking weather here, it's been overdue!

 

Springing into Sunday!

I dunno, mom. I think the grass might be greener over there...

Skipper is happy his first Spring is here, can you tell?

 

9 weeks/9 months

Nine weeks

This dog chews like he's part alligator

He officially turns 9 Months tomorrow!