Brut Connections

Have you ever had such a powerful connection to your dog that they are like your own breath?  Brut is my sound piece and my barometer.  Lately I've had a hard time connecting with him because I've been lost in my head.  When I plug in to Brut, I plug into myself.  He is more than an extension of me, Brut is as much a part of me as my arm or legs and we one in the same.  We understand each other because we think so much alike.  When I feel like the world is barreling down on me and I've lost my sense of direction with myself, I turn to find Brut.

I was riddled with anxiety and I needed to get out in the cold and snow and the Back Dogs followed.  Brut and I instantly clicked and in moments we were play fighting and challenging each other.  Grounding.  Centered.  We became entangled in each other as the worries and fears that plagued my mind began to loosen and break apart.  Contact.  We'd been missing out on contact.  Like a good back crack to my brain Brut broke through the walls that no one else could.  In this play I took him down and we wrestled in the snow.  Free.  Open.  The boundaries were broken.  The walls were shattered and we became as one.

What freedom!  What a release!  What joy!  The ability, to actually be able to connect so deeply with another creature who understands your needs and gives them to you...how do you really express that?  What kind of words can I put down that explains what that really means to me?  How can they describe my experience with such a finite vocabulary?

As play time winded down, I flopped on my back in the snow and laid there breathing for what seemed like the first time in months, when I was attacked with kisses from Brut.  He didn't stop.  He licked my face until I was drenched and when I sat up giggling he kept giving me kisses until he was lapping up my tears.  There was no question, he was glad I was back.    

Sweet Doggie Love

Blaze and Chance courting

There's been a bit of love happening in our house the last couple of days.  Blaze's heat is progressing along and she is almost ovulating, which means right now she is still fending Chance off, but in another day or two she will be ready.   We are not breeding her and even though Chance is fixed we will be seperating them when the time comes. 

They run around like a couple of teenagers waiting for Mom and Dad to leave the room.  Chance follows Blaze everywhere she goes, panting with excitement.  He pulls all the love moves, bowing down, dancing around her, getting her going and then just when he thinks he's sealed the deal, she flips around and attacks.  Blaze will then proceed to the door like a teenager trying to sneak out with her boyfriend.  If only she could open the door!  There she pleads with me that if I will just open the door, she promises to be a good girl.  They just want to go out and play.  Really. 

So I let them out and go out with them.  They both sit at my feet and tell me "We don't need a chaperone, MOM!!  You ruin everything!!"  You can hear them praying for me to go back in the house.  Insisting they won't do ANYTHING.  Against their pleas we all head back in the house and the process starts over again.

If you have never witness the love of two dogs, it really is cute and very comical.  I caught some on video, but my husband thought it was a little too X-rated for the blog, so I'll just have to give you the edited screenplay version.  There really is something so sweet and loving about their courting as I remember very well with Silver and Brut.  There is a pure and natural love when dogs breed and the real beauty of watching this interaction is knowing that all dogs are created with this same love.

Daddy's New Year Resolution

What's the greatest way to get in shape?  Including dogs in your routine.  My idea didn't start out that way.  I was going do push-ups, back arms and crunches one day and then ride the stationary bike the next.  After following this routine for a week, while doing my push-ups, the thought occurred to me that instead of doing the bike tomorrow, why not walk the Back Dogs instead.  One dog at a time on a mile and half loop.

So that's what I did.  I walked Brut, Zappa, Fiona and Silver and it was the coolest exercise routine I've ever done.  They were really happy at this opportunity and were waiting in line for their turn.

Since my work schedule has been so hectic I've never really gotten the chance to walk any of the dogs on a regular basis.  Now I am finally getting that chance.  I'd always laughed at my wife about needing to work on training the dogs.  I tend to let the dogs walk any way they want.  Halfway through walking Brut, the first dog, I knew I was going to have to get with my wife's training program.

The best part of the walks is spending that quality one-on-one time with each dog.  We've been doing it for just over a week now and they have already picked up on which day is walk day.  So even if I don't feel like doing it, I can't let them down.  They have become great motivators and they are making sure I don't break any of my New Year's resolution.

I'll be keeping everyone up to date with our progress.

And a special thanks to everyone who is as dog crazy as us.  Dog bloggers are the best!

P.S.  Chance and Blaze are in special leash training with my wife and she won't let me near them at the moment, but don't worry they are getting their walks too.

Daddy Love

When Silver was really young Daddy started singing Rock-A-Bye-Baby to her at bedtime and she would crawl under the bed to sleep before he was through with the song.  He continues the tradition with each and every dog.  Daddy wasn't allowed to have any pets as a kid and has never really known the joy and love of having any.  Every day he wakes up in the awe and wonder like a kid on Christmas morning, cherishing every minute he gets with our family before heading off to work.  After eleven years, he never tires of the dogs or cats and their antics.

The dogs hate to see him go and they all start howling when he leaves in the morning.  No matter how sneaky he tries to be to get out, it never fails, they see him off with a song.  They put on quite circus show when he comes home, barking, singing, circling and practically doing flips, even when he just runs to the store for a minute.  It is comical and heartwarming and Daddy always gets into the spirit by calling all their names, for he is finally home in a house full of love.

There is something refreshing about Daddy's playful spirit and watching the dogs blossom from it.  He has a way of making every moment with the dogs count.  He can smooth over the rough edges of the day and bring the dogs to life with his songs and silly antics.  They look forward to Daddy being home because he's missed them all day and wants nothing more than to make up for all the time he lost with them.  I guess Daddy just has that way with everyone he's close to in life.  Sometimes I forget about the fun that comes with dogs, but Daddy has a way of always making me remember.  It is so wonderful to be a part of and witness all of this love around me and Daddy and the dogs make that happen.         

  

Monday Memories-The TP Thief

At four months old Zappa was always finding things to pick up and run off with.  One time I went to use the bathroom and sitting there I realized I didn't have any toilet paper.  Zappa had been known to take off with it before. 

I called his name and he came bounding in with a big roll of toilet paper in his mouth. It was the cutest thing ever.  I thanked him and he went on his puppy way.  When I relayed the story to a friend, she replied with, "Good thing he brought it back!"  Which made the whole incident even cuter and funnier because it had never occurred to me that he might not bring it back.

Thoughts From the Other Side

Mommy Silver and Zappa at one week old.

When we got Silver we planned on her having puppies.  For those first four years before she got pregnant, Silver and I were instinctively in tune with each other.  I could just think her name and she would be at my side or at the door ready to come in.  There was an intense bonding when she was pregnant and became a mother.  No more different than any mother would be if their own daughter was pregnant.  When we had her spayed after having the puppies, it was like the bottom fell out.  She was five years old and I felt like I'd "lost" her.  Besides the physical problems she was having due to lack of hormones, there was an emptiness in her that made it difficult to reconnect with her.  It was if she lost part of her soul when that surgery was done and it took away the higher consciousness we had together.
  
Silver has always been a moody dog, but the sparkle never left her eyes, until she made that trip to the vet.  It was heartbreaking watching this beautiful dog's spirit dying before our eyes.  I had no idea the traumatic impact this would have on her.  Silver was born to be a mother.  Everything in her being was made for it and when we took that away from her, it was more than just an organ being removed, it was the center of her being.

It wasn't until almost a year after the surgery that she began to bounce back little by little.  Silver had lost the extra weight she had gained and her fur loss had diminished.  Her mothering sensitivity and nurturing care slowly began to show itself again.  She began to open to me and wanted to take care of me again, but that strong intuition had lost its previous intensity we had together before she was spayed.  She still knew before I did when I needed her, but now these were only moments of time.  I miss the electricity that was once there between us and I find myself a little saddened by once was.

It makes you wonder, when we spay and neuter what we may be taking away from our animals and our relationship with them.  Maybe this is the reason Brut and I are so utterly in tune with each other and how we understand each others vibes.  If you really look at it, these procedures are not a natural act of nature.  There is more to these organs than just reproduction, it is a creation of who we are.  If you look at it without the basic need to procreate, it is the most natural state of being for any creature.  Hormones are not the evil of life, they are the very being of creation.  Neither of us would be here or our animals without them.

There is such a hard argument to stop unwanted pregnancies, which I agree with, but have you ever stop to think what else you may be taking away?

**DISCLAIMER**-This post is neither for or against neutering and spaying, it is only my observation and personal opinion.

Join us for the Saturday Blog Hop hosted by Life with Dogs, The Two Cavaliers, and Confession of the Plume.

Pizza Delivery Dog

We bought a pizza to thank everyone for their wonderful support to our little blog and Chance volunteered to deliver it. 

You can count on me!

I wonder what kind it is...

Oooooo...it's a supreme!

                                 

It's MINE!!

I'm taking it to my room.

I'll just take a slice...

What do you mean, where is it??

Mom, I think Blaze ate the bloggers pizza!!

Nice try, Chance.

We'd like to thank everyone for their support dealing with Brut and learning to walk Chance.  We really appreciate the encouragement. 

Learning to WALK Chance!

If you read What's Your Weakness you might remember that Chance likes to pull me on a walk as if I were a sled.  When I open the gate out of the yard, it shoots out of it.  I have been working with him every couple of days or so and we are making GREAT progress. 

I started by walking him around the yard with his leash on, then I would unlatch the gate (without opening it) and click and treat if he stayed.  Then we would lap the yard, this way and that, then come back to the gate, which the wind had opened, I would make him sit, wait until he looked me in the eyes then would tell him to "walk".  We went a couple of feet out then turned around and came back to the front door.  Click and treat for "end of walk".  I continued to repeat this until we reached the end of the walkway in front of the house.  End of the night.

The next couple of times I repeated the above, unlatch gate, click and reward, then when the wind opened gate, continued walking out to the end of the driveway.

The last few times I unlatched the gate and opened it.  He sat there.  HE SAT THERE AND WAITED FOR MY CUE TO WALK!!!  I could have peed my pants I was so happy.  Chance is like a runner on the starting blocks who takes off at the sound of the gun when the gate opens and here he was sitting there not making a move and waiting for my command.  It was a fantastic feeling.  So I practiced this over and over while I keep going further down the road.  Always turning around, back and forth.  I noticed yesterday he was getting comfortable with walking by my side, going at my pace.  He had relaxed into it.  It helped that he was boosting my confidence and helping me to relax with him since we tend to feed off of each other.

Now instead of letting him pull at all, I'm stopping at the slightest twinge, which is HUGE for me.  I used to just let him do it then try to stop him when it became too much.  Yea, I know, makes a lot of sense.  I have always walked my dogs with tension on the line, and never corrected them.  Now I'm not tolerating any.  What a difference.  Not just for me but for Chance and understanding that, because he is responding well to it.  I'm seeing him make sure he stays at my pace, not getting too far ahead.  I'm using a heel position, but he has some play, he can still reach his head to the ground.

I am so impressed with myself for something I never thought I could ever do.  I have decided to just work with Chance at this time.  I would like to work with Blaze also, but she comes with a completely different set of rules that I don't feel as confident about yet.  I think just sticking to one dog at a time and building my confidence and skills is the best way to start.  What a wonderful feeling doing something I never thought I could ever do.  I love watching Chances reactions.  They are calmer and quieter, like he's able to gain control over himself.  What a beautiful feeling of watching two minds work together for a greater purpose.