No Rest for the Wooly - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies!

Sorry about the lack of updates lately.  I hereby decree that the Musher and the Cartoonist are forbidden to travel or go on vacation at the same time.  I got locked out of the blogging thing because my dewclaw hit the wrong keys (another good reason to remove dewclaws at an early age) and had to wait for the Cartoonist to get back from lollygagging on the eastern shore beach to gain access again!

By the way, I would repost the picture she posted on Facebook of herself on the beach in her North Wapiti t-shirt, but some of you may be eating or be blinded by her legs, which appear to have never seen the light of day.

Anyhoo, I've been SO BUSY this past week.

Now before all of you say "Hey Bet, you don't look busy at all, you lazy non-roving Border Collie reporter!"  Get a load of all of the work I've done this week!

Without the Musher around to run them, the Cramplings have a LOT of pent up energy to burn, and silly me, I decided that playing a bit of rugby would help wear them out a bit... needless to say, they liked the "scrum" part of rugby.

Ok, seriously, there's no reason to stomp on my head

Get off my tail, GET OFF MY TAIL!!!

arghblphfffffft!!!!!!!

OW OW OW OW OW!!!

Stop that, that tickles, no really, I'm going to piddle if you don't stop that!

Hey!  I want those whiskers!

MY LIP!

No I'm not going to give you a pony ride, stop that!

Oh sure, eat the other whiskers, why not, who wants to look lopsided

HELP!

Seriously, I've fallen and can't get up!

So yeah.... I deserve this!

I could use a crampy toe massage right now

- Bet

Let's Get Ready To Rumble - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies!

I guess you probably noticed that I haven't been spending much time on the blogs and stuffs and things lately.  Well, that's because it's

1. Really, really, have I mentioned REALLY hot outside, and
2. The puppies are in full bloom, and since this is their formative stage, I need to be on tippy top of making sure they get a proper education

The Musher and I have been teaching them the fine art of running after and in front of the quad.  Both the Cramplings and the Who's have been very good about their free runs, and pay close attention to me when I tell them where to go.

Since they are nothing but fluffy balls of pent-up energy, a brisk run through the woods doesn't even slow them down, so my training continues in the pens to make sure they learn how to pay attention, follow directions, and work together as a team.  This will be very important for when they start learning how to be working Pretty Curly Tails.

HEY!  Cramplings, it's time for today's lesson, get over here!

Getting them all together is a bit of a problem.  Unlike the Tramplings, the Cramplings don't yammer, yammer, blah blah all the time because they have Crunchie genes... which makes them very serious and over-achievers that study everything... for hours... in this case they were watching a beetle.

Ok, we're going to have a tag-team wrestling match, and I will be your referee... stop licking me

Ok, not to be too cliche, but it'll be the black versus white... because I'm not buying neon colored wrestling clothes for all of you, so... the way we play tag-team wrestling is that two of you wrestle, and if you need a break, or need help, you have to "tag" your partner who will take over for you, everyone understand that?

Vader, I don't care if you think Falcon is a pansy, she's your partner, so shut up and get in there and wrestle

Hey, HEY!!!  I said only one team at a time is suppose to wrestle!  Vader, Sky, get over to the side and wait to get tagged!

Nice Bridging Chickenwing hold there Falcon

Vader, Sky, if you don't get out of the ring, I'm going to penalize you and send you to the dressing room... FINE I know we don't have a dressing room, just get out of the ring.

Falcon, be careful with that Anaconda Vise hold, this is wrestling, not meal time

No Vader, I did NOT see Falcon tag you, it's pretty clear that she's got things under control, so just back off and let her finish off... I mean pin Trooper.

Nice transition into the Gogoplate there Falcon

No Sky, the Tongan Death Grip is NOT an illegal move, and it's not my fault that Trooper is all tied up and stuck in a hole and can't tag you, that's just how it goes.

You'll get extra points for transitioning from the Tongan Death Grip to the Indian Deathlock Falcon

Ah, now there you go Sky, sneak attack outside of the ring, fabulous!  I guess I should have brought a folding chair into the pen, that would be exciting!

Nice transition to the leglock cloverleaf there Falcon!

Ok, you guys just go ahead and keep practicing while I go inside and take a nap and let me know who wins.

- Bet

More Moving Like... Something - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies!

In my continuing effort to provide the Who's and Cramplings with both exercise, and the latest in flashy dance moves, we tried again today to get some choreography going so that when Albert Lewis arrived, he would be simply stunned by the twinkly toes of the puppies that he would just photograph a full book on US!  By the way, there are still three more copies of the Musher autographed books available... just sayin, get them while you can... click the link on the upper right "Born To Run" thingie.

Anyhoo, it's taking a lot longer than I thought to get a whole routine worked up.  The Who's and the Cramplings all have different ideas on dance steps, and frankly some of the puppies have 4 left feet.  Yes, yes, I know, they are born to move forward at a high rate of speed... but you would think they could easily master the feather step, ball change, and a little mambo!

Ok, now Do-sa-do

NOO, Do-sa-do!  You're suppose to walk around your partner!

Walk it off, you'll be fine, it's only a minor bruise

Ok, this is where we all grapevine and then break into the Electric Slide

You're all doing great, just keep up with me and we'll do the wheel into a Enchufla

Um... where's my inside partner?

NO!  it's not time for me to lift you up and spin you!

Great tongue action there, shake your hips a bit more Jagger-like

There you go, you almost have it

Great inside turn, now shake that rump

NO NO NO!!! We aren't doing the conga line number until after the Macarena!

Um... I'm pretty sure I didn't choreograph any break dancing moves in our number

Ok, everyone circle the Cricket and then change step

 

Google, nice pas de duex

NO NO NO, when you Flutterwheel... oh never mind

Nice Arabesque Daddy

You can't do a Pass the Ocean if you won't let your partner pass the friggity ocean!!!!

Nice job pups... great job... we'll be amazing in 3 days.

We're doomed.

- Bet

Preparing for a walk on the wild side - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!

I'm glad you enjoyed the Musher's pictures from the Cramplings' first walk in the woods.

I'm pretty sure it just looks like the Musher opens the Crampling pen gate and off they go, but that's not all that happens.

There's a lot of preparation time that goes into making sure they are ready for their first woodlands adventure.

Cricket has to go secure the perimeter to make sure there's nothing icky, stompy, quilly, bitey, stingy, or poke your eye outy lurking in the woods.

While she's doing that, I have to go in and give the Cramplings their safety check briefing and instruct them on the proper way to run willy nilly through the forest.  It's neither willy, nor nilly, but all a carefully orchestrated plan like those high speed jet thingies that do tricks do, but they make it look so easy.

First off, I provided the Cramplings with strict instructions that they must always stay in front of me, as I am a professional herdy type dog and it's my job to make sure they are properly herded to and from the wooded play areas.

No... Cramplings... in front of me.... you're suppose to be in front of me, always in front of me.  The only time you should be behind me is if Cricket gives out a warning of something icky and then you follow me to safety... at a high rate of speed.

No... NO... I'm not going to carry you to the woods, not, get off me, I'm not a pony!  You have to run to the woods... IN FRONT OF ME!

OHMYGAH OW, seriously?  You have an entire woods full of things and you chew on me... really?  Ok, I think we've had enough fun now... yeah, loads of fun, but we need to get back home for something... or other... no really, now let go of my lip.

Um... hello?  What part of IN FRONT OF ME... Cricket?? Why aren't you up front looking for icky things that may lurking up ahead, do I have to do EVERYTHING??

No, it's fine, no need to thank me for taking you out today, it's my job, no really, no need to show your appreciation by chewing on my head, oh geez.

FINALLY a few seconds of rest before I have to help the Musher with dinner... I hope it's pasta and shrimp again.  zzzzzzzzzzz

- Bet

A Walk On The Wild Side.....

Yesterday was the Cramplings first walk in the woods!!!

They were very keen...

But, of course, with all the critters that inhabit the woods around here, it is important that we take precautions for the Cramplings safety.

Meet 'precautions'....

....you all may better know her as 'Cricket'!!!

Like the good guard dog she is, she scoped the woods out ahead of us...

....and then we turned the Cramplings - and Auntie Bet - loose!

They all had a BLAST!!! They ran....

....they tasted EVERYTHING...

...they chewed on Bet...

...crawled all over their Dad...

....scaled logs...

...well....some 'cheated' and crawled under logs.

All under the watchful eye of their faithful guard dog...

All in all in was a great time...

Even Bet agreed!

The puppies pronounced the woods as a great place to hang out....

They thanked Cricket for keeping them safe...

and went back to their kennel for a quick drink. 

Smiley faces!!!

Good times!!

Karen