It Takes a Village (or a dog yard)…

 

The 8 little puppy piglets I posted pictures of at around 3 weeks old, eyes barely open, are getting bigger at an extraordinary rate, ridiculously adorable and more than a little bit naughty. They were weaned from their exhausted Mama, Hazel, a week or so back.

If I was at all wondering if that would be emotionally hard for her, to see her feverishly socializing with her new, ‘adult’, neighboring dogs and sacked out sleeping for 2 days straight…I was in no doubt how ready she was!  All that was needed was a cold beer, a cigarette and a magazine to complete that picture of well-earned collapse!

Our Hazel’s a bit of a rock star, being of direct descendent from one of the fastest dogs on the sled dog circuit.   Its like having the daughter of Secretariat on your ranch! But she had an unseen accident in the puppy pen when she was wee one and somehow injured her shoulder to the point her front leg dangles most of the time (not in pain) and barely uses it.

And let me tell you, those puppy pens are intense! Puppies mean business! I have, on more than one occasion whilst trying to make a break for it, and practically hurling myself over a fence ( no time for the gate ) wondered if I will make it out at all….4 or 5 soft bundles attached to various parts of my clothing, hanging on with happy puppy determination and sharp little fledgling teeth! Less fun than it sounds. ( Who am I kidding?!)

So she has more value for her breeding than being raced is my point. Apparently though, even on three legs, the girl can move!  She will have maybe one more litter a ways down the line and retire to become some lucky persons house pet. Living a life of luxury and being spoilt rotten like most high quality super stars!  

Her pups on the other hand…

                       Those naughty little pup’s have started wriggling through any gap they can find in their pen and escaping with triumphant squeak’s, accompanied by the celebratory squeaks of the puppies still behind the fence. They had to be strategically barricaded in. Though thankfully wandering far doesn’t seem to be part of the plan. I had noticed Brick, one of the old female dogs wandering over to check on them now and then which I found touching but the sweetest gesture was by far from ‘Natalie’, a shy black-faced dog, recently returned, who has taken it upon herself to be their full-time, self-appointed Nanny.

She squeezes in and out through a hole she made in the fence and diligently and slightly worriedly watches over them, eating and sleeping in their pen, never leaving their side. No easy task.

Its been hot. And so dry. There is a strange derelict beauty up here in the desert among the Juniper and delicious, acrid smelling sage. The coyotes stay off the property but come close enough to sing back and forth with the dogs at sunset and I have no idea what they is being communicated, but its the perfect sound scape for the cool of early evening. That and the generator rumbling into action.

I am slowly getting stronger, (or so I would like to think), though have, ( wait for it),  a bad back that will not quite heal. But I have also been throwing some paint on walls again to keep some extra dollars coming to support my lifestyle choice. I’m grateful for the income and  lucky enough to have landed with some fun, laid back and super cool work cohorts.

I continue to fall madly in love with the older dogs that wander the property. It’s an endless mystery what goes on in Bricks head, and where has Pedro  been when he bursts out from the bushes in front of my car at night, when I am returning home….way, way down the driveway and throws a glance at me over his shoulder, barely stopping as he races back to the yard….on a serious mission.  The look is kind of , “Oh, shit, its you….ok you didn’t see me, right?”  Solitary shoes, jackets and gloves continue to show up partly chewed in odd places. It’s a daily occurrence, along with the casual looking away in the other direction when I pick them up and hold them aloft to see who is guilty. They’re expressions are like “What?…. What’s that?…A shoe?… In the yard?!….How weird….dunno anything about that…..” as 4 or 5 dogs saunter off in the other direction.

 

Some major early morning pre feed excitement starts every day with Eddie (below) leading the rebel rousers

After a full bellied quiet contentment settles over the yard, the Oregon Trail of dreams Truck has left for Mount Bachelor and the dogs have finished their daily howl….its nap time.