Three things.
Thing Number One: The Dyke March, which was Saturday. I am blonde.
My friend Geena. And her bike. I rode on the back of it! Okay, it was only around the block, but BOY did she go fast. I was all screamey, but I sure had fun.
The start of the march. Geena always parks her truck and we dance in the back of it. This year we danced to Bollywood pop, and waved at all the ladies. (Hi, Jessica! It was Jessica, right? It was nice to meet you!)
Thing Number Two: Sweaters Eaten
Clara’s been attracted to wool since she moved in. Sheep-herding instincts is all I can peg it as. Well, she caught some the other morning.
She pulled a whole pile of ’em off the bottom shelf, which is where I keep most of the store-bought sweaters. Luckily. Turns out that she only ate two of them: a cashmere one, and a thin wool one. Interestingly enough, those are the two sweaters that I routinely sleep in when I camp out — thin, light, and extremely warm. Now, I suppose, they’ll be a little chilly.
Nice, huh?
Thing Number Three: More Dogs.
Now, it is true that we still have cats. Two cute cats, Adah the drooler, and Digit the fighter (he’s lost four collars in the last month to fights. Punk). But I have approximately one bajillion photos of them, and very few, relatively, of my new girl Clara, so the camera clicks more often in her direction. But don’t worry. Digit is still my boss.
Why is it that she is so naturally drawn to other border collies? And they to her? I find it fascinating that she mirrors herself that way. She loved running with this guy.
And she loved swimming in the open waves at the Albany Bulb. Oh, my god, that place is just the greatest for swimming dogs (although I have to admit that I am STUCK when it comes to figuring out what to do when she cocks her tail, standing on her tiptoes fairly far out, and poops in the waves. I suppose I could wade out and pick it up, but I didn’t. I did look for it, and couldn’t see it. I felt like a bad dog owner, with a naughty sweater-chewing open-water-pooping dog).
More romping with yet another new friend:
I love how kicky their legs are.
And here’s one with our short Harriet! Look at her go, as fast as her cocker-spaniel/dachshund legs will carry her! Clara sometimes makes her forget she’s not a person.
And just the two of them:
I am smitten. I must be, to put up with chewed sweaters and wet-dog smell. But there it is. That’s love for you. Putting up with the little annoying things because the being-together is just so good.
Very, very cute. (Except the chewing part).
Our Shetland sheepdog always had an affinity for the other sheltie across the street (sadly lost to cancer, poor little one). I think it was something about shared instinctive behaviors – they would run in circles around one another and bark. Tosh has tried this with a golden retriever and just gotten run over (which puzzled him no end).
Our border collie is a chewer too – especially when she’s nervous. We can’t leave sheets or blankets hanging off the bed (which means we can’t make the bed – too bad!), because she chews holes in them.
Ha…amusing post…proof that you are a true dog lover at heart. Oh, what we put up with, eh!
As for BC (and Aussie)attraction to eachother…I think it is definitely that they know how to play with eachother…herd eachother…The other dogs just don’t seem to know how much fun that is!
Banjo got to spend the weekend with my mom’s Aussie pup; He never knew life could be so good with an equal partner, they played for hours on end…Marley was so happy to have some relief from the herding play. Banjo is completely frustrated as to why Marley doesn’t like to be barked at, goosed, herded and hung on to by her fur. Doesn’t stop him from continuing to try getting her to play that way.
Very cool pooch. However- I have never heard of a dog pooping in the water! (and I have had a lot of fur people over the years) They usually, ahem-how to say this delicately-treat these “offerings” as a special kind of marker to say “this marks the fence around my place” Hmmm- owning the ocean? Interesting, in a megalomaniac kind of way.
Aw, Clara looks super happy romping! So cool that she’s making lots of doggy friends.
And you are too cute as a blonde!
Dogs are the reason I go to work so I can come home to thumping tails and licks of love. Although gettign out of bed when they have me locked under the covers is tricky some mornings. I have about 200 pounds of dog holding the covers down.
My Aussies always gravitated to other Aussies too. We used to joke about Aussies recognizing other Aussies. I think Shelley’s right — they all have the same body language and know how to play together.
My Sasha dog used to get the squirts when we took her to the beach. She couldn’t stop trying to bite the salt water, and it would go right through her and clean her out… literally. There’s no picking up something like that. I console myself with the thought that if whales and big sharks and things can poop in the oceans, a little dog poo isn’t going to make a world of difference.
Beautiful pups! I love the picture of your two, running together. Stunning as a blonde, you.
My dog’s a border collie/australian shepherd mix. He eats sweaters too. Must be genetic.
Wow sweaters…and I thought I had it rough with roses and tape measures…you ARE in love! Congrats, she is a beauty, and your hair looks fab. 🙂
I’m bummed, I missed out on our Dyke march up here, but next year I will SO be there! (the alternative wasn’t as much fun as I had thought)
Maybe she is hinting that she wants her own wool toys. Somewhere I saw a pattern for a felted dog bone. Since she already “started” it, maybe you could just cut 2 large dogbone shapes from the more chewed of the 2 sweaters and stitch, stuff (with the chewy scraps?), and felt that for her. And perhaps move the rest of the sweaters to a high closet shelf (and hide the ladder…).
Hair looks great!
My mom’s dog is a water-pooper, and I’ve seen it a few times before.
The action formula goes like this: look for the poop, and if it’s solid enough to come onshore then snag it with a bag (don’t wade in though, that’s just gross) and act surprised and dismayed, “Oh gross, Clara!” and kind of do a zig-zag in the “hopeful poop picking up posture” at the shoreline. Anyone watching at these moments should absolve you of responsibility, (truly there’s nothing much you CAN do) by saying something like, “oh, I hate it when they do that! You have to just let it go…you get spirit points for trying though.”
And our dogs just keep playing in the water and maybe we’re a little bit more conscious of the idea that water ≠ clean. It’s all part of the doggy owner dance of environmental respect, like trying to pick up diarrhea out of grass or iceplant–you know it’s futile, but you have to try, since someone’s always watching & judging. It’s what people do.
what a great bunch of pictures, girls, pups and all. I’d forgive the dogs too. 🙂
I think the social contract allows for not picking up poop when it would be impossible to do so. Even if you brough hip waders and sloshed out there afterwards, it will instantly wash away and you will never ever find it. Just count the water poops as a freebie!
Dunno about San Francisco, but here in Seattle the fecal coliform levels at local beaches are a little bit horrifying. One dog pooping would probably not make a significant difference.
Happy Dyke March day! I always look forward to those pictures of the motorcycles.
Though this year they seem to be eclipsed by the dog…
Who is very. cute.
I like the hair!
I thought you might get a kick out of this flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/dogscarryingsticks/
Dogs Carrying Sticks (and other fun stuff)! Lots of really fun photos of dogs acting all sorts of goofy. It makes me smile every time I check it out.
Hee, I <3 your dogs! =D
Yes, it was me–Jessica. Thanks for the shout out and for representing the fabulous SF dykes. Excellent to meet you and to keep reading the blog. I’m going to make it to a Whoreshoes show soon, for sure.
With your hair colored and styled like that, you look even more like one of those women in the 1940s musicals. Love it!
My parents have 2 golden retrievers and one of them has taken to eating my dad’s clothes on occasion. She’s a little neurotic.
The water pooping cracks me up! One time, when we were walking our dog, he pooped over a storm drain and it went right down. Not much I could do to pick it up that time.
Dogs rule. I’m housesitting for the coolest dog right now. I swear he’s gonna talk one day. I wish I could teach him how to be an open water pooper.
Oh no, those poor sweaters.
My dog poops in the water too. She’s a black lab. How do you scoop the poop out of the water?!? I just leave it too. Oooooops.