Boomer

November 30, 2017

On the day after we moved to the mountains I met a dog named Boomer. This dog sauntered up the long driveway to our house like he owned the place. As a suburbanite transplant who just moved to a rural area I thought, “uh-oh” how many dogs run around freely in the surrounding areas that will be coming onto our property?” I shooed Boomer away not knowing what to expect. Would he charge? Would he bark and take an aggressive stance? But Boomer, who’s name I didn’t know at the time, gave me a sad little look as he jogged back down the driveway and out of sight.

The next time I encountered Boomer was a few days later when I took Kali out for her first walk in our new “neighborhood”. The neighborhood is comprised of mostly five acre parcels with an eclectic mix of homes, many set back away from the road and out of sight. As Kali and I walked and explored I noticed Boomer, whose name I still didn’t know, following us but keeping his distance. I posted it about it a the time expressing moderate concern about safety and how walks might be significantly different from our old creek trail in Livermore. Boomer stopped when I looked back at him and he remained still as Kali and I moved on. As we headed back home Boomer was still in the same place and as we got closer I realized it was the same dog that walked up our driveway a few days earlier. As Kali and I passed by he kept his distance and eventually ran off with the same sad little look he gave when when he jogged down our driveway.

It turns out that Boomer is a very friendly and sweet dog. With his black and white speckles and round body shape and short legs he looks like a cartoon dog.

Boomer the cartoon dog

While there are many dogs in the area I’ve never seen another dog walking around freely like Boomer does. Most families here have at least one dog, many have more, and they seem to fall into one of two categories. One, they are like our girls who stay within fenced areas or inside the house. Or two, they roam their fenceless property freely and only occasionally come out to the edge of their property line as we walk by but not onto the road where we walk. They seem to know their limits and what their job is.

With the exception of one or two instances I’ve never seen anyone else walk their dogs. I can’t blame them as we live on a mountain and it’s usually uphill both ways…. But we walk our girls almost every day. Often Boomer will join us skipping along in front by several yards and then scurrying back to wait while we catch up. It used to concern me that Boomer was out and about by himself all the time; and without a collar. But he seems very capable and comfortable and knows his limits. I’ve never seen him near the main road where cars travel and he seems to know where everyone else lives and takes care to help them find their way.

On a recent walk Boomer led Kali and I back home. He was a little ahead of us and he stopped in front of our gate that leads up to our property. Boomer seemed to know that’s the gate we use to go back home from our walks although it is not the same gate we use when start our walk. Boomer stopped and waited. As we approached and headed into the gate he ran on up the hill back to his house, probably feeling satisfied that he got us home safely. He is truly a great escort and I now laugh at how I could have been concerned the first day I saw this sweet guy saunter up our driveway who only wanted to welcome us to his neighborhood.

Boomer leading the way back home

Boomer the real dog

Sticks

November 19, 2017

Kloe has never met a stick she didn’t like.

Like all puppies Kloe loved to chew and to this day is still a voracious chewer. She was nine weeks old when she joined our pack and spent just two weeks in our home in Livermore, CA before we moved to The Golden K, our new home in the mountains. Our Livermore home was a typical suburban home on a small suburban lot with a compliment of small suburban sticks. Kloe had no problems finding these tiny sticks and she eagerly gnawed away at them. We were initially concerned that being so small and young she would swallow too much of the bark and wood shavings she tore off with her razor-like puppy teeth. But she was never interested in eating the shavings. Instead she would chew the small sticks into pieces and spit them out in a tidy pile next to her. She quickly gained our confidence that she wouldn’t eat an entire tree while we weren’t watching.

Being the stick lover that she is you can imagine Kloe’s excitement when we moved to The Golden K on five acres in the foothills covered with oak, cedar, and pine trees. The amount of sticks now available to her was not simply incremental it was exponential. It must have been like if I had moved from a home that had a modest wine rack holding six bottles of middle shelf wine to a mansion with a huge wine cellar holding hundreds of bottles of the finest wines money could buy. Or, more likely, that’s just me projecting and in reality Kloe probably didn’t notice or comprehend the plethora of sticks now available to her and only focused on the stick “at hand” at any given moment.

These days the sticks, like Kloe, are much bigger and she still hasn’t met one she doesn’t like.

One down a million to go….

Father Time

November 6, 2017

Mother Nature cycles through the seasons and in many ways repeats her actions: Hot, cold, wet, dry, etc. Father Time however moves in only one constant direction – forward. When we’re young we have our entire lives ahead of us. As we get older we begin to rationalize our age. Middle age is when we’re in our fifties and sixties, right? If so then I guess we live until we’re 100 or 120? A great example comes from my favorite all time movie “On Golden Pond” with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. Norman is turning 80 and his wife Ethel tries to convince him that he’s middle aged… Umm yeah.

In many ways it is not different for our pups. Kali is eight and a half years old. Kloe is 19 months old. By the time Kloe was six months old she was the same size as Kali in length, height and weight – 60 pounds. By the time Kloe was nine months she weighed 80 pounds and was head and shoulders taller and longer than her “big” sister Kali. The average life span of a Golden is twelve years. This puts Kali in the latter stages of middle age and entering her “golden” years. Pun intended but still so true.

Kloe, the young whipper-snapper, has her entire life – God willing – ahead of her. She’s young, strong, fast, agile, and – God help us – is still a puppy. Kali has slowed, exhibits a bit of a struggle getting up and down, and is entering the “granny” stage of her life.

So picture Kloe as the young strong footballer on the field with an opponent (Kali) five times her age. If the opponent is lucky and agile enough to get out of the way in time Kloe will pass by and easily score a goal. If opponent Kali is not able to get out of the way she will be bowled over not knowing what hit her. And this is the routine with my girls. Kloe vs. Kali with the rope toy (weapon) of Kloe’s choice as she blind sides Kali slamming the toy into Kali’s face (even if Kali is sleeping) prompting grandma Kali to rise to the occasion and play-fight back.

But here’s the thing. When the battle is over it’s is almost always Kali that ends up with the rope toy in her possession. Under a paw or literally under her body as if to say, “yes Kloe you knocked me around quite a bit with your weight and age advantage but look who ended up with the prize”. Ah, experience does count for something…

There are times when I have to step in and break up the battle. Those times when granny has had enough and locks her eyes on mine as if to say, “help me….”. And then sometimes just when I think Kali has had enough and will retreat she goes to the toy box, grabs a rope toy, and is now the aggressor and re-engages with Kloe on the battle field. The battle field of the living room, family room, kitchen, or wherever my feet are at the time.

So as I consider my girls’ future, I rationalize my Golden Kali’s age and convince myself (for the moment) that she is just “middle aged”. I look at Kloe see the future and I know that one day she too will be the granny and there will be a new whipper-snapper at her heels. A new young buck more agile and stronger who calls out to her and invites her to wrestle and play rough even though Kloe may be more content sleeping, like her big sister Kali was back in the day.

And although Father Time moves only one direction, forward, it won’t stop me – when the time comes – from looking back. Looking back and remembering how my Golden Kali, taught her wee little 80 pound sister Kloe how to be a great big sister.