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Life with Dogs

Another Ringo Report

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Another Ringo Report

Every year, we look forward to hearing how Ringo and Grant are enjoying hunting season in Minnesota. This just in:

“The winter weather has cut our waterfowl season a bit short here but Ringo and I hunted a record 25 times since the end of Sept. He learned how to deal with and break some pretty thick ice this year. He made some very nice retrieves. Attached are a few photos from a recent hunt on the Mighty Mississippi. Up next, December pheasants!” — Grant Springer

It makes us very proud to have played a part in creating this sweet partnership.

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Hardwood or Throw Rugs?

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Hardwood or Throw Rugs?

We have hardwood floors in our house and sometimes you might find a throw rug or an area rug or two. Or you might not. Our floors are in a state of constant change and it tells you a lot about our pack at any given moment. When circumstances allow, we like to have an area rug in the living room, especially in the winter. Our house is over a hundred years old. It's drafty and the floors are cold. But, sometimes, our pack requires that the area rugs gets rolled up and put away for a while. Sometimes we have a puppy that is still in the process of housebreaking and we have some accidents. Other times we have a foster dog that is living in a house for the first time and learning that you have to go outside to take care of business. For quite a while, we had a foster dog that experienced urinary incontinence and who also was a bit of a submissive wetter. It's much easier to grab a roll of paper towels and clean up the hardwood floors than to clean up a carpet. 

Well after a year of raising a few puppies in the house, the rug went back down today to help our old guy, Eddy, who just can't get his footing on the hardwood floors. And, we bought him a runner to get from the area rug to the rug in the foyer. It's sort of a landing strip for Eddy. We share our home with the dogs and that can get a bit crazy at times. We joke that our dream home would have concrete floors with a drain in the middle of the room so we could just hose the place down. 

But, tonight, Eddy has carpet to protect his old bones and to support his continued mobility. At the moment, I can hear him breathing the deep breaths of a sound sleep on his comfy bed. And, we are grateful that we can make him comfortable yet another day. 

Eddy sleeping soundly, as an old guy should. (14 years and two months old)

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Happy Summer from The Weatherdeck

The rolling Weatherdeck is at it's summer location on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina where we camp in the sand dunes with the dogs. Gudgeon (now 9 months old) is enjoying her first trip to the beach. Bo'sun  (9 years old) and Eddy (nearly 14 years old) are seasoned campers and they are showing her the ropes. We'll share more photos when we get home, but we got a real keeper of Gudgeon on one of our first morning walks on the beach. 

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The Hardest Part...

The hardest part of loving our dogs is the inevitability of losing them one day...of having to live with only the memories of the way they looked at us, of how it felt to run our hands through their fur, and the joy we felt at watching them do the things that they loved. 

In the early days and weeks of 2016, Thomas and I said goodbye to two of our girls...Scupper and Schooner...mother and daughter...and our family is forever changed.  During these past few months, I've tried to write something to mark their passing and honor what they meant to us. I always admire when someone can write something that beautifully captures what a loved one meant to them. But, I just can't seem to find the words. All the words that come to me just seem too weak and small. Maybe that's fitting though. Scupper and Schooner were so different from one another and each was so unlike any dog I've ever known. They were Scupper. And, Schooner. And, they meant everything to us. That really says it all. Fair winds, my girls. 

GCH* Redlion's Come Back Scupper, December 2, 2003- January 4, 2016

Redlion's Weatherdeck Schooner** WD, November 26, 2010 - January 25, 2016

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