Raining cats and dogs

So here it has been raining. Raining
and raining. Floods, evacuations and blackouts. Fortunately we have been fine. Our house is on higher ground. The lady's biggest problem was keeping us all dry and clean. The man on the other hand was worried about our pool. Day after day the pool level was over and above the side. T night he would come home and pump the water down to keep it under the rim. Well, the last day he forgot. He forgot he was pumping the pool and pumped it way down. He came down and said the rain had stopped. How did he know that? Well. He pumped the pool so low that he needed now to out the hose back it and fill it backup. So when everyone else was bailing out their basements and flooded houses, we were filling up our pool with the hose. Only us,

Saying goodbye

Where do I fit in here? I don't know. I came here just a baby. I am the son of the big dog. The people seem to like me. I made friends with the others pretty easily. Just not him. I was leery of him and he wanted no part of me. I tried to figure out what my role was, where to fit in. Looking back I took some risks and made some mistakes.

My first thing was to focus on the man. He was often outside with us. He would pick up toys and toss them around. No one paid much attention, but I figured out that if I licked up what he threw and brought it back to him, he would throw it again. It was a game. It was fun and it was something him and I had together. This was going to be my niche, being his friend. I would get him to like me best since everyone else like my dad best.

I grew up. I grew up big, bigger than my dad. I started going to the shows and did really well, but still second fiddle to dad. How was I going to change this? So I made my move. I challenged him. I figured I was bigger, I could take him. I walked up to him all puffed up and in my fiercest growly voice said I was there and was going to be the new king here. Well dad wanted nothing to do with this and answered me back. Then the lady intervened, very upset with both of us. But... Dad was put inside and I was put in the pen. And that was where I stayed when he was around. We lived separate lives. I was not allowed near him. My big calculated move had backfired. I was not going to be #1 after all. So I began to refocus on the man. I knew he loved me and I wanted to have some p,ace here. I had an old toy tire that he and I would p,ay with. He would roll it out and I would bring it back to him. We would do this for hours. I loved this.

After a while I thought I could make another move. I was in my pen and everyone was out, even dad. I began to climb the fence to get to them. The lady saw me and screamed NO... But it was already too late, I was over, but not really. On the way down I got stuck. My back leg was caught in the fence. I panicked and yanked it really hard, ouch that hurt. I could not put any weight on my leg. She was so upset. It looked like I messed up again.

I got better , but not 100%. She took me to the vet and I just knew it wasn't going to be good news. I also knew that being a show dog meant I needed to be healthy. So now what? In the car we drove for hours. We eventually met up with people that the lady knew. They seemed really nice and they had a girl dog that seemed afraid, but not of me. When everyone seemed like tit was time to leave, I didn't know what to do. Bt the. The lady took my tire, the one I played with the man with, and put it in the other car. So this was it. I hopped in and began my new life.

Weekend in and weekend out

So on any given dog show weekend there are a variety of dogs in the truck. That is what we call Heather's set up. We usually have some Goldens, maybe a few Flat Coats and always some Bernese, like me. These dogs change and go home as they get their championships. but also, weekend in and weekend out there are a few of us that are always the same. I like to think of them as my dog friends. These are like me. They have already earned their championships but also like me in their breed they are considered of excellent quality that they continue to be shown as a "special". That is another dog show term. I am a "special".

Some of my other friends, Nacho, Trader, Rita, Panda and Tuck. Each of them have their own personality and their own needs. Nacho is a big Bull Mastiff. He has no hair so there is very little grooming required, but he does drool and slobber so having a rag around when he is being shown is always a good idea. Trader is an Akita and like Nacho not a lot of grooming. trader doesn't like too many of us and so he doesn't spend too much time with the gang. He is shown by Kevin and than back to hang out by himself. Panda is a corgi. He is small and a bit of a spoiled brat. He gets to hang out with Heather and Kevin I their RV. None of the rest of us get to do that, only Panda. We are a little jealous of Panda. Rita is Chesapeake Bay Retriever. She left us before the summer to have her puppies, I think she will be back when they go to their new homes. Tuck is an Australian Shepherd and like me needs to be groomed before he is shown. Him and I spend a lot of time on the grooming table getting groomed and waiting to be shown. And like MD, Tuck's people travel with him to the shows. Also, like me he wins a lot. Him and I are almost at the same level. I did say almost. I am what they call the "Priority". What shows we go to usually depends on what judges like me the best.

When we all win, everyone is happy, and when we lose which sometimes happens, everyone is sad. But weekend in and weekend out we travel to the different shows doing our best.

It Sucks getting Old

The familiar saying for Bernese Mountain Dogs is "3 years a young dog, 3 years a good dog and 3 years an old dog". Well, I am approaching my 9th year and I am certainly beginning to feel the aches and pains of an old dog.

But.. let me back up. My physical issues didn't start as I got older. My big issues happened when I was a young mother running around the backyard. After my second round of babies, I remember it like it was yesterday, we were all in the backyard enjoying a beautiful day when the man pulled up in the driveway. All of us ran to meet him like we always do and I led the way. Suddenly, I felt something snap in my knee and I couldn't use my rear leg. I was in a lot of pain and my lady was worried for me. She quickly got me settled down and tried to assess my injury. I could tell she was concerned because we went right off to the doctor. He confirmed what she had feared. I had torn a ligament in my knee and needed to have surgery. This was no easy undertaking. The surgery was done and I came home. Leg shaved and in a cast and pretty much immobile. This was going to be a long and hard comeback. I was made to stay still. My lady walked me on a leash and than made me lay back down on a blanket. But.. when I began to feel better, keeping me still was harder for her to do. I wanted to go out and play and be my old self again. But I listened to her and did what she wanted me to do I eventually healed and was almost good as new. But what is typical with these sorts of injuries, just like in humans, once you do it to one side, the likelihood of doing it to the other side increases. And a few years later it did just that. The other knee.. Well this time I wasn't as young. My lady was afraid of the surgery. So instead she hoped that I would heal on my own. I did, but not 100%.

So. now the knees hurt all of the time. The one with the surgery and the one without. I walk very slowly and won't run up the hill anymore. I prefer to just sit by the door and watch everyone else run around. And even though I am very careful, sometimes the young ones get out of control and hurt me. Calley did that very thing last week. She accidently ran into my shoulder and now that hurts. The lady was upset, but I know Calley didn't mean it. She was just being herself.

Sure does suck to get old.