Blog

ZOMG! 12!

Twelve years ago today, Tweed entered this world and I am ever so grateful that he did. He was born in a rescuer’s home to a cattle herding border collie mama, who found herself in the family way by a sneaky Australian Shepherd foster dog who could climb fences. In other words, his conception was very naughty, and it set the tone for his whole life.

Some dogs you fall in love with instantly. Others grow on you. Tweed has grown on me so much he’s like a second skin, and I couldn’t begin to imagine my world without him.

He’s given me so much over the years. Briggs led us to the sport of agility, but Tweed taught me how to play it. He showed me how important it was to have a sense of humour, and in return he gave me many opportunities to exploit it. The blog may be called Wootube, but Tweed has been the banana peel on the floor of my life.

No matter how undignified the request, Tweed has always been willing to give it a shot.

And he’ll do it with a smile on his face.

Or at least he’ll patiently put up with my nonsense.

An uncle

a wrasslin’ buddy

A champion

He is, most importantly, my very best friend.

For while there have been, and will always be, many dogs in my life

There will only ever be one Tweed.

I used to joke that Tweed was going to live forever, to punish me for something bad I did in a previous life, and probably bark forever too. And the other day we were playing outside and itty bitty light-as-a-feather Spring bumped into barrel-chested solid-as-a-tree Tweed and knocked him over on his face. It took my breath away. I realized that my 12 year old dog was … well, twelve. He’s an old dog now, and time isn’t marching backward. Maybe if I get him a sportscar, and a young boyfriend, we can stop him from aging?

In the meantime, I enjoy every minute I have with him, even the barky ones. Here’s to 12 more years of that noise, Tweedle-dee-dee!

Oh sure, but you yell at ME when I bark?!?!

If you don’t shut up, *I* will do more than yell.

You know, all that noise isn’t helping me hunt the rats under this old dock!

Duh – what’s everybody barking about?

*sigh* I can’t even reminisce without the whole peanut gallery getting involved!

Anyway, since I have to work today, we celebrated yesterday with a long walk around the dykes near Pitt Lake. Then we came home and I let him eat cake!

For me?

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!

Happy Twelfth Birthday to the awesomest Baussie in the world!!

May 06, 2012 | Categories: Nowhere Particular | 35 Comments »

The Night Is Dark And Full Of Terriers

So a little while back on the Wootube FB page I mused about comparisons of my dogs to Game of Thrones characters. And when I took that photo of Spring and the caption popped into my bean, I could resist doing a post about it. I was momentarily disappointed that I didn’t have more dogs so I could do a more comprehensive post, but then I thankfully remembered that I already have enough dogs to classify me as an official Crazy Person so I decided to just make do ;-)

I think we can start with the most obvious one, yes?

TWooie would be King Joffrey . He’s a little tyrant with a craptastic attitude, and he’s always threatening to kill someone for some minor crime.

Baditude

The only person who can keep him in line is a queen.

Piper would be Cersei. She’s nice to look at, has an unquenchable thirst for power, and everyone fears her.

Mean Queen

They are both tormented by a little evil genius.

Wootie would be Tyrion Lannister. He’s small, smart, and always getting into trouble.

Evilittle genius

A nemesis of them all would be a little girl with a big attitude.

Spring would be Arya Stark. She’s surprisingly ferocious for her size, everyone thinks she’s a boy, and she’s always plotting to take out the Lannisters.

Little Tomboy

The Lannisters have a fantastically ineffective foe.

Tweed would be King Renly Baratheon. He’s charming, good looking and totally gay.

The Gay King

And he has a good looking boyfriend who would die for him.

Knight Dexter

Bryce/Tyson doesn’t get to be part of the GoT fun.

Mostly because he annoys me and everyone else. He’s actually coming along really nicely. He’s definitely gained some confidence running with the WooCrew, and has started playing with the other dogs rather than hiding under my truck when they move faster than a slow walk.

But he’s not the brightest bulb in the chandelier…he can’t tell when a dog is playing and when it’s telling him off. Or else he can tell and just doesn’t care, which makes him kind of a dick. Dexter’s about ready to kick ten kinds of holy hell out of him, but the myriad attempts at humping continue when Dex is trying to do something else.

We have conquered the biting when cleaning ears, biting when wiping paws and biting when clipping toenails, and this morning we learned that biting when you are scruffed gets you nowhere either because The Food Lady wears a thick winter jacket and can out-obstinate you. Poor guy has clearly had no guidance and his teeth are default response. He’s learning new coping skills all the time. I think he’s got lots of potential. But I’m not a “shepherd” person and I don’t like the on-guard personality of shepherds, which Tyson has in spades. He’s forever alerting to visual and auditory stimulus which makes going outside a bit of a stressful venture (what with already having to keep those eyes in the back of my head on The TWoo, Sentry Of The Dead End Road We Live On).

He’s also pretty independent – whether that’s because he’s not had the opportunity to look to a person for guidance or because he’s a husky mix and disdains all humans, I’m not certain. But he’s prone to going off to do his own thing, so we’re actively working on rewarding for checking in frequently.

Meeting my landlord’s two young kids was also not a Good Time, so I think we can safely say no children for this pup.

On the whole, I think in a fairly intensive home he can make up for lost time and really come around. Unfortunately for him, I don’t have the time for intensive – I can give him some basic groundwork, but I have too many other commitments in my daily life to really work on his socializing the way he really needs. He’s better off here than in the shelter, but only by virtue of not being cornered in a kennel by the public. So I think he should go to your house.

If you take him away, you’ll instantly have Six New Best Friends.

You may have noticed the reappearance of Tweed in my photos …. that’s right! Three long weeks of confinement to crate and leash have come to an end, and my old man is free to WHEEEE! He’s so happy to be out and about again, you can see it all over his face.

He’s still wicked limpy though … but I seem to remember this happening last time we did this treatment too. I am hoping to see that limp ease off in another week or so. Or maybe even in a few more days, when he will turn TWELVE!

He is so getting the best cake for his 12th birthday :)