Dog Days

So Blogging is a little more obsessive than I once thought. I am waiting for butter to soften for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies so what better to do than write about our next batch of animals - THE DOGS!

Before I get to our current dogs, I have to go back a little ways to after we first got married and mention Gracie. We adopted Gracie from the horrible place they like to refer to as the local animal shelter. Let me just say that this is NOT a Humane Society nor is it a humane shelter. I am not going to get into this rant right now but we adopted little Gracie from there, a week later she got very sick (Parvo) and died because they were not treated in the way animals in a shelter should be treated. Here is a pic of poor little Gracie - at least she had a good week living with us!

Alright, now we can move on to our doggies now. I had to mention Gracie because she led us to Beau. Gracie spent about a week at the vets office with no success and after she died they mentioned at the office that when we were ready to get another puppy, they knew of someone that was trying to give away a litter. This family had recently experienced a house fire and could no longer keep the pups (they were going to keep the whole litter - yikes!). So we drove off to the FAR (and I mean FAR) end of the county to look at the puppies. We had just intended to check them out but how can you go out and not come back with them? Well, we did!

Beau is a beagle/whatever/mutt mix and is ALWAYS on the go! He has energy to spare and runs circles around us constantly. His birthday is on Halloween so it's easy to remember and was 4 years old this past October. He loves hiking and being out in the woods or for a walk or even a swim down at the river. He hated the water until about 2 years ago when we camped down by the river and were swimming. He decided to give it a try and swam the whole weekend! He now has his own life jacket so he doesn't tire out his poor little legs! Here is good ole Beau as a puppy:

For our next hound we have to go back even farther to before Logan and I were married and had only been dating for a few weeks (in 'real people' time - in camp time it felt like ages. More on our 'meeting' and 'camp courting' another time). I was working at a camp (HPC!) as an Adventure Coordinator and was leading a group of campers on a 3 day backpacking trip. We had just gone out and were hiking up Unaka Mtn. (near Roan Mtn. on the Appalachian Trail) when a tiny black puppy ran up to us. Naturally I figured her owners were right behind her. Nope! She must have been abandon on or near the trail. She was skinny and COVERED with fleas. Now - you try telling a group of 7th and 8th graders they can't feed and take care of a cute stray puppy! Hence the name "Appy" for the Appalachian Trail stuck!

Well, she followed us the whole week (and when here little legs were too tired to follow, she was carried) and ended up going back to camp with us at the end of our trip. Now, how I convinced our camp director to bring her back with us I will never know but he let her come back and Logan's parents came to pick her up that weekend to take her home with them. They talked about keeping her for awhile but they had an older dog that really couldn't handle a puppy (especially a needy, attention starved one) so she ended up going to live with another family.

Fast forward 2 years and she is back living with us. The family that she lived with were gone a lot and she was a bit of a handful so they asked us if we wanted her. We had had Beau for a few months at this point so we agreed to try it out and if it didn't work, we would find a good home for her. Well, we found a good home - with us! She and Beau instantly loved each other and are still attached at the hip every second. She is a very smart, very hard-headed dog and has a tendency to get into trouble, go exploring (over the hill!) and chase things but we love her dearly and wouldn't trade her for the world. We just hate we haven't had her all along! She is so kind-hearted and sweet and loves to be hugged on (and would be a lap dog if she wasn't 80 pounds!). So - here's Appy:

As you can see, she doesn't realize she is as big as she really is! Alrighty, so to finish up, here are some more pics of the doggies on some of their adventures and around the house - hopefully the butter is melted so I can start the cookies. Don't worry - I will eat one (or two) for you!

They are such cheesy photo-posers! They always know when we have the camera out! Appy's eyes really don't glow - I promise.


Getting ready to go camping at Massie Gap - our favorite backpacking spot. Appy loves being a pack-dog. Seriously. She told me she did. Unfortunately no one makes backpacks to fit oddly sausage-shaped dogs so Beau has to go without.

Beau is fearless - here he's mountain climbing. A benefit to not being weighed down with a backpack I guess?

Cleo's fear of dogs is no match for her obsession for fleece and heat. Beau is confused I think that she is so close!