Uncooperation

Okay, yes.

I finally went to see Diane the Doggroomer last Friday.

Did you see how white my face was in that last post?

Except for the red at my mouth.

This picture has even more.

It comes and goes. It bothers the Human Assistant but not me. My dokker doesn't know what to say about it.

H.A. thinks it's like when a dog licks an uncomfortable spot. Then it turns brown. Does anydoggy else have this? Around their mouth?

Actually, it does bother me because H.A. tries to rub it off. And he says it works, a little bit.

Anyway.  We have been studying hard for a class we're taking.  Cooperating for Photos 1 at the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies!

The first lesson about cooperating for photos was, Don't cooperate!  The second was, Cooperate if you want to!

Of course Sinjin and I had an instinct about these ideas. But it's very good to have them stated. And to practice them!

Cooperate?

::giggle::  ::snork::

That's a good one!

Now, Lucy is a different matter. She's one (or two) of those breeds that likes to do what humans say.

But around here there are no ducks or geese for her to retrieve like a good little hunter's helper. (Too bad she didn't get that home by the lake!)

So instead she wants to sniff things. Especially under them. So it's hard for the H.A. to get her to pose. Or she wants to hang around him. Too close for his crummy camera to focus.

So Lucy doesn't have an instinct for uncooperation. But her other instincts make her uncooperative for photos! Which is just as good in this case.

Lucy, smell the lilacs!	Huh?
Good girl!	Huh?

Notice that somedoggy old ... I mean, experienced ... snuck into all four of those pictures of Lucy!

Stormy made another point today.  Keep the bipeds working for it!  It's like a game of Simon says.  Only the human doesn't speak dog.  And the Sibe has selective hearing.  ☺

If they don't ask you to stay out of the way, well....

If they want a picture of you smelling a flower, you could maybe just look at it.

Smell the flowers?	I guess I could look....
Me too.	Me three!

Hey!  You two don't have to put your nose on it just 'cause he said to!

::sigh::  Well, that works to keep the human guessing, anyway.

I can't wait for Stormy to give us another lesson!

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Paw, Ear, Tail ... PET!

Snowpic-o-rama

The Human Assistant took about ninety-eleven pictures of the snow yesterday and the day before. Which he then had to admire. And fiddle with. And choose. And upload. Which is why we didn't have a post ready this morning.

Yesterday the Big Blond (four-legged) Doofus had pictures of it snowing not very hard Wednesday afternoon. Here are some from Wednesday evening. After a few more hours of snow:

Aack!   Snowflake … in ... eye!	Not nearly enough for a fort!
12/21/06:  Watch, now.	12/21/06:  There - a bowl!

(Those last two are from the ginormous snow storm we had a couple of months after I got here.)

Then the H.A. decided to go out for supper. Before he fed us!

And oh, by the way, he lollygagged around "on his way to the car" and took some pictures out front:

Our north-facing house.	Wait ... I saw something!
Great time for a supernova!	It's ... it's ... a cameo!

So then the H.A. stood out there taking pictures of Sinjin being doofy in the window. Which would be okay if we were doing something interesting at the time. Like eating!

But no. He hadn't eaten yet. And then some years later, we'd get to eat. Good grief!

Anyway. H.A. took these close-ups with the super-extendo-telephoto feature on his camera. It's pretty crummy. From the viewfinder you can't even tell what part of the scene you'll get.

I'm sure there are other reasons that the pictures are crummy. But that's the only one he'd admit to.

Look at that stuff come down!	Over there....
And over there....	And over there again....
And back over there....	I made myself dizzy!

We call it "snow," bub. So what's it like on Mars this time of year?

Anyway. Now we've covered Wednesday. Next time we'll finish up the snow. With pictures of Thursday. And maybe Sinjin will have some pictures from his home planet.  ​Heh.

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p.s. - H.A. fried up 5 pounds of hamburger when he got home! It was all supposed to be for MaxFund. But he put a bunch of it with kibble in our bowls. So we wouldn't remember to be annoyed about a late dinner!

So that worked out okay.

'Jin, for the Defense

My turn! Sinjin here.

I barked at the Human Assistant until he let me have a turn on this blog thing.

It's a new experience for me. We'll have to rename it to reflect a two-Sibe scenario.

But for now, does anydoggy remember the TV show, Judd, for the Defense? No? I'm not surprised.

Regardless, the Army of Four's Zim may need some representation. He got into an unpleasant "spot" on the sitzbank, and, as you can read, many have rushed to Zim's aid.

I, too, would like to help, and I owe a debt to the Army of Four and their Supreme Commanders. The human with the call sign Papa Mike brought me from Kansas, where I was kept outdoors, to Colorado. But you've read about that.

And so, may I introduce myself:  'Jin, for the Defense.

I'm a student of all the great Courtroom Canines: Furry Mason, Rottweil of the Bailey, and Alley McBeagle ... and the master, a role model for shagginess, Basenji Matlock (known to his detractors as Basenji "Matfur.")

(That irrational Dobie Crane? What dog would say that "Trix are for kids," when the stuff should obviously be eaten by dogs? Kibble for kids? I think not.)

Very well. Most of the elements of a broad, scatter-gun defense are in the comments to Zim's post. Including, yes, the SODDI defense! (Some Other Dog Did It)

Butt! Amber is not a dog dog, she's a ... female dog. And she is one of the A04 I'm trying to repay. So let's not drag her into this.

As an added point, do humans go past that snowbank? I mean, sitzbank? Humans who have been outside? Humans who have recently driven one dog with (some) red fur to meet another dog with red fur?

Humans who Might. Possibly. have brought in fur that came from somewhere else?

The Defense in Outline

We can say with some confidence, by observing Heisenberg's cat, that Zim may not have been in the house at all!

But if Zim was in the house, then he wasn't on the sitzbank. The incriminating fur isn't his, and the photo is bogus.

But if he was on the sitzbank, well, the humans had an unreasonable expectation that Siberian Huskies are capable of obedience in staying off furniture.

But if the humans can show a history of compliance with such an unreasonable rule, then clearly a mitigating factor was at play.

There is evidence of uninvited trespassers within the Ao4 perimeter. Dogs have guarded home and humans for thousands of years.

Dave's alert observation needed to be supplemented because coloring of the coat and of the eyes is somehow related, and a red-​and-​white dog is needed in such a critical scenario to balance the observations of a black-​and-​white.

And finally, I draw attention to the fact that the Statute of Limitations on canine crime gives 15 seconds, in most states, for addressing the problem.

In Conclusion

He's just a dog. He can't help himself. Pursuing action against Zim will give no more satisfaction than purusing him at full speed down the street. Fuhgeddaboudit.

Good luck, Zim, buddy! Let me know if I can bring you anything in the dog house!

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TUCKER's trip

Yeah, yeah. Last time the photos were all about Sinjin. (I hope everydoggy noticed me #2!)

But Sinjin only rode in one direction! And I rode in both! So let's have pics about my trip!

The Human Assistant took pictures in the gas station before we left. He was muttering about getting a rental vehicle with only ¼ of a tank of gas. And being late and getting later.

But he used the time wisely! He took pictures of yo!

Look!  It's a Snow Dog!

The camera loves me!

(The first photo looks better if you click on it to make it bigger.)

Great pictures, H.A. ... of a great dog!  Heh!   If I'd had these photos a week ago I might've worked up the courage to ask H.A. to send them to Amber and ask her to be my valentine.

Then maybe she'd have come to meet me on this trip!  ::sigh::  Oh well. It wasn't to be, I guess.  ☹

The next photos show that there was an interruption to my trip.

It's the Army of Four's Supreme Allied Co-Commander! But who's that dog? It's not Stormy, Amber, Zim or Dave!

Okay, I knew we were going to get Sinjin. But I could still make a last stand. A hamburger stand!  ☺

I saw that Sinjin is food-motivated. (Like most of us!) So I quietly suggested that he should stick close to his Papa Mike. (Which H.A. tells me might be Army talk for a project manager. Whatever that is!)

"We're parked next to a McDonald's®, right?  ​He's dumping you so he can load up on hamburgers!  ​Stick with him!"

Sinjin:  You have my food?	Stay with him ... hamburgers!
Sinjin:  He's getting hamburgers?	The big rental vehicle and ours

But Sinjin didn't make enough of a fuss. He squawked when the Supreme Allied Co-commander lifted him into our big, tall rental vehicle. Which was even taller than normal on the inside because of how the seats were folded.

(Sinjin did it twice when H.A. helped him into the Big White Suburban, too. H.A. tried different ways to boost him up. He's not sure whether Sinjin maybe has a belly problem or something. But the last time, H.A. was mostly lifting up his (Sinjin's) rump. So it doesn't really seem like it. Something for our dokker to check.)

Then Sinjin watched Papa Mike get in the A04mobile and drive off. Well, I tried!

But my evil genius plan to get rid of Sinjin continues! And I think it's working! I'll tell you about it next time!

The H.A. needed one more photo to finish with. So the last one shows the big rented Chevy Suburban next to our 20-year-old Jeep XJ (Cherokee).

On the other side of the vehicles is Wadsworth Boulevard. Then the Ford part of Phil Long dealerships. Then the foothills.

H.A. took that picture at the end of the day. And put it at the end of the blog.

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p.s. - The End.

Sinjin in Colorado

Faceoff in Burlington	Hey!  He's not in a crate!
Food and water - the basics.	What's so interesting‽‽‽
He's in my spot!	He has a treat in my spot!

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Photos in progress!

I won't apologize for the stupid Human Assistant! He came back and gave us our supper. Which took some organizing. He said it was like musical chairs without the chairs. And without the music.

Just like musical chairs!

Okay, so he had to do that stuff. But then he  ➀ jumped right in taking more photos, and  ➁ started looking at them and working on them without announcing that they would be available soon.

He has some done. Come back in 20 minutes!

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mr_ed: "Slim Jim" and I left Tucker and the girls at the house and weighed him at the vet's and returned the vehicle. Supper for me, then home!

Home! The Human Assitant just finished unloading the vehicle. 'Scuse me. Gotta settle a "mounting problem."

Sinjin! We didn't even make it to Kansas. Sinjin swapped vehicles in Burlington, CO. We're on our way back now.

Beautiful day for a drive! But windy in eastern Colorado!

WAY behind schedule! Can't talk now!

Trans-prairie Siberian Railway

Today we're driving to Kansas!  The Human Assistant says we'll be on the Trans-prairie Siberian Railway.

That doesn't make sense. We'll be in a car! Which can't drive on railways. Which are for trains! Which he spelled wrong!

Anyway. We're going to get Sinjin. Then we're coming back. Then I don't know what we're doing with him, but I'll worry about that later.

We had to get up very early this morning. Next we'll rent a car that will hold two big crates for me 'n' Sinjin. That big honkin' van we had would transport an Army of Eight, easy! Too bad the Ao4 didn't have it so the doggies and their Mom could come too!

And then we're off!

We'll post some updates along the way. Nothing fancy. Just phoning a text message to Blogger. H.A. spent time trying to figure out how to post to Blogger from the green laptop computers. We might be able to post a picture from Kansas! We'll try!

We'll drive to the north side of Denver (which is in Colorado) to get to our I-70. Which we'll take until we get to Oakley (which is in Kansas).

The Army of Four's human guy will drive from Manhattan (the one in Kansas) to their I-70 and then to Salina (also in Kansas). He'll pick up Sinjin there and then drive some more to meet us in Oakley (which is still in Kansas).




main Colorado roads




main Kansas roads



→  →  →  →  →

We're on our way !



-- maps via Wikipedia

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More goings

Tucker:  Gremlin isn't really going to get much better. But all the medical stuff confuses me. So the Human Assistant will explain.


Gremlin Sweetie Pie! mr_ed:  Gremlin's back is bad, with damaged disks and fused vertebrae and bone spurs that may be poking into the spinal cord or nerves.

This seems a likely explanation for the loss of function in her back legs.  Her hips are fine.

She's getting some pain medicine now, but our veterinarian doesn't want to risk cortisone because she has bad urinary tract and bladder infections, and cortisone would interfere with healing that.

The infections will already be hard to get rid of due to her loss of mobility and any nerve damage that might affect bladder and bowel function.

When I don't notice that she's peed on herself and is lying there wet, the infections will get worse.

Also, her kidneys are going, and her liver isn't in real good shape. And she's somewhat anemic, which the doctor thinks is due to one of the other problems - kidney decline, maybe?


Tucker:  So Gremlin is just having Old Dog Stuff. (She's almost 14.) But she's walking again. A little anyway. When there's smelly food in the kitchen, she can get up on her own and walk through two rooms to get her share.

H.A. helps her get up about half the time. Then sometimes she'll walk to the kitchen to get a drink, hop down 3 steps to go outside and pee, and sometimes she'll come back inside without help, too. Other times she lies down outside and waits for H.A. to help her up again.

It's been colder than I like out on that ground! But if H.A. forgets Gremlin, she'll just stay out there and doesn't bark like she does when she's inside and wants something. He has to count noses to make sure we all get back inside. Boy does Lucy get annoyed when he accidentally shuts her out!

Anyway. That's what's up with Gremlin.


The Land of Oz! H.A. and the Ao4's human dad will bring Sinjin from Kansas on Monday.

They were all set to do it tomorrow. Which is Sunday.

But H.A. rented a van so he'd have room for two big crates.

He decided maybe Sinjin and I could get to know each other on the trip.

But tomorrow will be windy in Kansas. And the van is big and tall. Full-sized. And H.A. doesn't want us to get swept away to the Land of Oz!

So Monday it is! Unless H.A. chickens out again! He may have a looonnng trip with a couple of Grumpy Old Sibes!  Heh!

::koff koff::  Especially because my old new monia is acting up. But I'm trying to a good boy and not too grumpy!

I don't get treats when I'm grumpy!  ::Big Husky Grin::!

-- map of Oz from Wikipedia

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