My Dog Rocks!

Got a new video camera for Christmas but started using it early. Thought I'd share some new pics of my pooch with my readers. Enjoy!

The Pugilist Kitty

A new, fat, butterball kitten emerged at my house a few days ago. I think it may be one of the cutest I have ever seen. I got the following shot yesterday. My daughter said it belongs on LOL Cats. I think she may be right. He looks like he is about to knock me into next week. Even has his mouth set in a frown. Hehehehee.

Saul, my giant German Shepherd, is utterly fascinated with the newest member of the Nall clan. He searches for it every time we go outside. If he hears it meowing while inside he will stand at the door and cry to go out. I've held the kitty for him to investigate. All he wants to do is lick it. Reminds me of that old Looney Toons cartoon with the big ol mean bulldog wearing a spiked collar and the little stray kitty that gets left on his owners doorstep and the dog falls in love with it. I think Saul would bring it in and let it claw around on his back just like the cartoon kitty did if I would let him.


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I love my puppy!

I missed him terribly while I was visiting Canada last weekend. He was most pleased to see me when I got home at 2:30 Tuesday morning. We had a serious snuggle-fest. Later about seven a.m. he needed a second dose so he came and nosed me out of bed. I love waking up and seeing those two big ole ears sitting there at my side.

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This crazy dog!

With the recent cold snap we decided at Casa Nall to reinforce the plastic over the windows. On Saturday my husband took a roll of plastic to our son's room. The dog followed him. He cut off a piece of plastic and proceeded to staple it to the outer edge of the window. When he was done with that one and ready for the next piece of plastic he reached down only to find that it was gone. He came walking back in the living room and asked if the kids or I had been back there and moved it. I told him no and said jokingly that the dog must have hidden it from him. He looked in a few different places...but no luck. He returned to my sons bedroom and a few minutes later I heard him say, "Well I'll be damn...the dog did hide it" and then "you jackass." Turns out the dog had taken the roll of plastic and hidden it under the opposite end of the bed from where my husband had laid it down.

Some people swear that dogs can't plot and scheme. I beg to differ. This one plots and schemes all the time. He seems to have this mischievous little sense of humor. I can see it in his eyes.

Boo!

Yesterday the cable company came out to install a digital cable box and upgrade my service. They had not called to make the appointment so I had no idea they were coming yesterday. My husband was outside and came to the back door to tell me to put the dog up. Mr. Snoot does not take kindly to strangers of any sort. If they are in his house he is exceptionally rude.

So, I put Snoot in his kennel, which sits in my living room floor. Due to lack of space there are some potted plants sitting on top of the kennel and when he scratches, barks or moves the plants shake and the leaves rattle.

I go to the door and tell the guy sorry for making him wait....that I had to put my dog up. "No problem", he said. He walks in the house, goes into the living room and the dog went ape shit. He started snarling, viciously barking and sounded for all the world like he was about to tear that kennel apart. Snoot barks so loud that it will make your ears ring. That bark also has a lot of bass in it and when you hear it you know there is some serious dog behind it. The kennel was shaking, the metal door was rattling and the plants were jumping around. The poor little cable guy jumped about two feet and likely came very close to soiling himself. I tried not to giggle....really I did...but it was too funny and I am not one that has ever been able to hold in laughter.

"Sorry" I said. "See why I had to put him up?"
Standing with his hand over his heart and breathing heavy he said, "Yeah...I didn't know he was that close....what the hell kind of dog is that anyway?"
"A German Shepherd", I said. "Gets your attention don't he?"
"Shit...he sounds like a damn monster", he said. "Bet you don't have to worry about much with him around."
"Yeah....he's kinda like having a loaded shotgun at your side at all times. I wouldn't take all the money in the world for him."

Throughout the rest of the process the poor little guy kept one eye trained on the kennel. I guess after Snoot's impressive introduction he was afraid he actually could let himself out of the kennel and he was not interested in the least in coming face to face with the monster in the box.



I suppose my sweet little puppy is very frightening if he isn't your dog. But, to me he isn't a monster....he's mommies baby.

A Doggie Post

(Awww wook at those eyebrows!)

I haven't written about my doggie Snoot in a while. For a while there I was doing one Friday Doggie Blogging post a week. Lately though I have been short on time for writing about my family's guardian.

Here are a few shots of him this morning as he got distracted from his morning constitutions and decided to stalk kitties instead.






He has such beautiful form. He's equivalent to the Mercedes in engineering and perfection. I love to just sit and look at him sometimes.

My recent trip to New Orleans was hard on both of us. He has not been away from me for more than one night since I got him about this time last year. I worried about him. Missed him like crazy. The kids and dad would tell me on the phone that he was just moping about and being sad. I remarked numerous times to my fellow travelers that I wish I could have brought my dog with me. They missed their pooches too. It's amazing how attached we get to them and they to us. Saul nearly knocked me down when I walked in the door from the trip. It was pretty late at night and he would not be content with anything less than a half-hour cuddle-fest. After such a tragic end to the trip a healthy dose of good old-fashioned cuddling was exactly what I needed.

I continue to be blown away by his incredible intelligence. While I was gone he performed a trick. My husband had been bringing wooden reels home from work to use as starter wood in the fireplace. They had been treated with some nasty, sulfur-smelling stuff and stank horribly when lit. So dad decided to start soaking them in the bathtub. One day he and the kids heard a strange noise emanating from the bathroom area. They went back to check it out and found Saul, in the bathtub, picking up each reel and dropping it out of the tub and on to the floor. They said it wasn't play, he wasn't tossing them around or barking at them...he was simply on a mission to remove them from the bathtub. I couldn't tell you why. Perhaps he wanted a bath? He damn sure needs one.

Since I've been back from New Orleans I have noticed that something of a bond has finally formed between Saul and my husband. They time they had to spend in each others company while I was away seems to have eased the friction. Terry took him for long walks while I was gone. The walked the boundaries of the property and Saul peed every few feet. Terry said he now understands the value of a German Shepherd and Saul, in particular. They are an excellent burglar deterrent...better than a gun in some ways. You don't have to load one of these or fumble around for it while a stranger violates the sanctity of your home. No, a German Shepherd is already cocked, loaded and pointed at the door at the first sign of an intruder. They are fiercely protective of their family members, do not like strangers by nature, can pick up from you what needs to be done without you ever having to say a word. It's damn near like telepathy. Oh yeah, they are also deadly. They want to eat something up. It's what they are bred to do. Guard and protect. If I were a burglar or rapist or kidnapper and chose a home that had a German Shepherd I'd keep moving. Just don't even want to fuck with that.

I love to take him out in the woods behind the house and watch him trail a scent. We have a large herd of deer that come through here just about every day and he loves to sniff along their path. Something had been over the big rocks in the woods because yesterday he spent 10 minutes going over every inch. He'll lick things to get a better impression. Stick his nose way up in the air and turn his head and flare his nostrils. There is also a family of armadillo's that live here and he likes to walk behind them and just sort of nose them when he catches them out of their hole.

His instincts are so honed...it's like all I had to teach him is some basic manners (which he is still learning). He came already knowing the rest. Above all though, he is a great companion. I wouldn't take a zillion dollars for him.

Snoot!

Snoot says Happy Holiday's to all of you! When it gets closer to decorating and picture takin time I'm gonna get him a pair of antlers. He looks just like a deer until he opens his mouth and shows his razor sharp teeth.

Crazy Dog!

It's been an interesting week or so for my doggie, Snoot. On Halloween night I got home late from Birmingham. The kids were already back from trick-or-treating and everyone was in bed. My energetic pooch didn't greet me at the door like he always does and I knew something was up.

I found him in the bedroom laid out in his favorite spot. His tummy was making all kinds of terrible noise. It literally sounded like he swallowed a live cat who was really pissed off. I wondered if the kids had fed him candy, which they know is against the rules. I went and woke them up to ask. They both told me no, that his tummy was unhappy when they got home and they didn't know why. I believe them because they are always telling each other not to feed him this or that. They would never give him anything that they thought might hurt him. The adore him and he them. So, I woke my husband up and asked him if something had happened to my doggie or if he had maybe fed him anything unusual. He said no.

I sat in the floor and rubbed his tummy. He wasn't acting like the condition was causing him any pain....but I've had gas like that and it hurts like a bastard! After a while I went to sleep only to be awakened by the sound of Snoot barfing in the living room. I got up to clean it up but there was nothing there. Dry heaves.

The next day he seemed fine. Seemed to be burping a lot but otherwise ok.

On Friday I had to be out of the house for the morning to attend a drug court monitoring session in Shelby Co. I called home during a break and learned that Snoot had started throwing up again and that he was hot to the touch and his nose was dry. I said I would be home as soon as I was done but to call me if he got sick again. And he did get sick again. I decided to call it a day and rush home to take him to the vet.

At the vet's office we discovered he did not have a fever. He is also worm free, which is most unusual, even for a house dog. He weighs 75 lbs. which is far below the 110 I had him pegged at. I asked the vet if he was underweight and he said no. His assistant, who also owns a German Shepherd about Snoot's age said she wished her's would get as big as mine. The vet commented on how incredibly strong he is. We had him tied, muzzled, blind-folded and three people holding him and still it was like wrestling a bull alligator. Blood work showed no signs of infection.

The vet asked me a series of questions. Had he eaten anything unusual? Had he maybe killed a small animal and eaten it? Had he been in any stagnant water? Did I ever allow him to roam free? Had I recently pissed off any of my neighbors who might have done something to him?
Every answer was no. I asked the vet about bloat, which is common among deep chested dogs like shepherds. He said he had considered that but since Snoot was still going to the bathroom with regularity he had ruled it out.

He went out of the room to get some anti-biotics. A couple minutes later he stepped back in with the strangest smile on his face. I took one look at him and knew what was coming.

"You don't reckon he might have eaten any of your pot do you?" I cracked up. "No doc. I'm certain he didn't eat any of my pot. As a rule, I don't keep it at the house and he hasn't been anywhere else where there was pot." "Ok", he said, "it's just that I know what you do for a living because we had that conversation a while back and pot is toxic to dogs if they eat it and I just happened to think of it."

Snoot wound up with a large shot of some new anti-biotic, which he was most unhappy about, two additional syringes to give him at home, a bottle of pills of the same, new flea medicine, heart worm prevention medicine, and a large bottle of Kaopectate mixed with Paregoric. For those of you that don't know, Paregoric is camphor distilled opium. When I was a little kid I suffered from chronic ear infections and my mom was a firm believer in Paregoric. Back then (late 70's early 80's) she could walk into the neighborhood pharmacy and get it directly from the pharmacist without a prescription. I spent many a childhood day whacked out of my mind on that shit. Now it is almost impossible to get. The vet said the pharmacists in this area stock it for him but not really for people anymore.

He told me to give Snoot 10-15 CC's three to four times a day. I said "Damn doc you trying to kill him? That's a HUGE dose." He said it does not affect animals like it does humans...that my puppy would be fine. So, I gave Snoot 10 CC's one time and he was so loopy he could barely stand up. Just stoned out of his gourd. It's funny that dogs can handle massive doses of opiates but ingesting marijuana is toxic to them.

Here are a couple more pics I snapped of him this morning. They do not do him justice size wise.





I found out four new things about Snoot this week. He hates a vacuum cleaner and the UPS guy, he is lactose intolerant and his precious ears are a babe magnet.

I found out about the vacuum cleaner when I had to clean up a dirt spill in the bedroom. My husband had moved one of his plants from outside back inside because of the cold weather. He sat it down at the foot of the bed while he found a more suitable place for it and a little dirt spilled out. Well, the dog, being the helpful creature that he is, decided he would help dad put more dirt on the floor. He proceeds to dig up, from who knows where, two peat pots with dirt, which he chews to shreds on top of the original dirt. The resulting pile was loo big to sweep up with the broom, and I couldn't find the broom anyway, so I got out the vacuum. As soon as I turned it on Snoot went ape-shit. Barking in that high-pitched frantic way that means "I'm fixin to eat your ass up!!", snarling, lunging and finally outright attacking the vacuum. There are teeth marks on it. I had to pry him off it. I guess he thought it was attacking me and he was flat aiming to fuck it up. Nothing and no one get's near his mama without going thru him. God, I love it!

Found out about the UPS guy two nights ago when he made a 7 pm delivery. We didn't hear or see him pull up out front so when he knocked on the door everybody in the house jumped. Usually the only people who knock on my door are folks from the power and cable companies wanting money or the cops wanting to cart me off to jail for some minor infraction or other. Funny though...the dog didn't bark when the knock came. I went to the door with Snoot at my side. The guy hollered out "It's UPS." I raised the window to get the package and Snoot LUNGED for the guy and suddenly found his barking box. I don't think I have ever seen a hand snatched back so quick in my life. I grabbed Snoot by the collar and started hauling him back away from the window and the UPS guy said, "I'll just leave it out here on the steps." He quickly departed.

I found out he is lactose intolerant (at least when it comes to things cooked with milk) last night after he ate two large helpings of homemade chicken dumplings. My family loves'em in cold weather and I make a pretty mean pot, even if I do say so myself. Last night was Snoot's first encounter with them though. He loved them too. Ate all of his, begged what he could off the kids and then ate again when my husband had some. About 2 am all hell broke loose. He woke me up, which he never does before 5 am. He was whining like he needed to go out. So, I got up, threw on my robe, flannel pants and Croc's and took him out. Gawd it was cold at 2 am this morning! He peed and we came back in. At 2:45 he woke me up again...so I took him out again. He didn't do anything and after a few minutes I brought him back in and attempted to go back to sleep. He started running from room to room to room. Back and forth to the door, rattling the knob and jumping on the glass. I figured he smelled some strange critter outside and I knew he had no intention of being quiet so I got up and put him in his kennel. He woke my son up a little while later moaning and whining so Alex got up and took him outside. He said Snoot practically dragged him across the yard to his pen, ran inside and had an explosion. After that he was fine. He came back in and went to sleep until we all got up a couple hours later. I just put him back outside in his pen and he had another explosion. I feel his pain, as I, too, am lactose intolerant when it comes to things like milk and ice cream. I still eat and drink them anyway...but I pay the price.

And last but not least I discovered that Snoot's over-sized, warm, soft, velvety ears are a babe magnet. If I were a lesbian that might be very useful to me...but I'm not...so it isn't. However, if you are a lesbian, or a heterosexual male that is considering a pooch, a German Shepherd with big ears is the ticket. All the women at the vets office came into the room last week just to play with his ears and took turns nuzzling and rubbing them. I understand...I can't keep my hands off of them either. Thay are absolutely irresistable. They have a way of making me smile when I feel sad, lowering my blood pressure when it skyrockets (which is often because I stay so pissed off) and just generally giving me that warm fuzzy feeling that only a beloved pooch can give.

I love my doggie!

110 lbs. of Hell

Thought my doggie blog fans might enjoy an update on Snoot.

Yeah, I know he looks all sweet, but his looks are very deceiving. You are looking at 110 lbs. of pure, unadulterated hell. He got out of his fence yesterday morning and ran all out in the road and into the neighbors yard. I was terrified that a car was going to come along and smash him. Y'all would have had to straight-jacket and rubber room me if that had happened. After he gnawed on the neighbor's kids football he ran back across the road and took a shit on one of my neighbors flower beds just like the old hound who shit on our steps a while back. What a jerk! Hehehe. It took me forever to catch him. He ran in his pen and thought it was a nifty game of chase when I came to get him out. I was really pissed but can't blame him for wanting to have a little fun.

Snoot and the Birthday Cake

My son turned 15 on the 18th of this month. I can't believe I have a 15 year-old. It really blows my mind.

While I was baking my sons cake Snoot decided to help out. As I was flouring the cake pan he came over and dug out a greasy paper towel I had just deposited in the trash and started to make off with it towards the carpet. I had to run him down, hands covered in flour and forcibly remove it from his jaws. The picture below is the result of that adventure.



Crazy dog! Looks like the dog on Family Guy after he became a drug dog and got addicted to cocaine.

Friday Farm Blogging

Since I now have chickens and a garden to go with my dog and cats what was formerly Friday Doggie Blogging will now become Friday Farm Blogging. Each week when time permits I will post pictures of my garden progress, my spoiled rotten pal Saul, the German Shepherd (more commonly referred to as Mr. Snoot), my baby chickens and who knows what else.

These first two photos are of a massive fire near Goodwater, AL, which is just down the road from me. I have no idea what was burning. I hope no one was hurt.




The 'mater patch'


A closeup of an individual mater...the white blobs are where sevin dust met dew



The Squash and Cauliflower Patch


Squash


Cauliflower


Squash I am growing in a container


The Girls

I had forgotten how fast chickens grow. Most of the girls have lots of their first real feathers. The look kinda nappy headed and fuzzy on their necks and heads.








And finally some shots of Mr. Snoot on one of his daily romps through the woods.






I am looking forward to eating some garden fresh veggies this year. This weekend we are planting greenbeans, lima beans, okra and field corn. I still have to get some peppers of various kinds, cucumbers, watermelons and canteloupe. I have onions, peanuts, raspberries and grapes I need to get set out as well. I think the gardening I did last weekend is what messed up my back. I still have no idea what is wrong with it due to having to see Dr. Roach (of all the names) again yesterday. He treated the pain but made no effort to find out what is causing it. I have an appointment with a orthopedic specialist next week. Hopefully we can get to the root of the problem and begin working on a solution.

I hope y'all have a great weekend.