For you viewing pleasure...

I hope you enjoy the pool as much as Sable did.

Thank you for participating...

In March I entered Sable in the 2011 Jack Daniel's Single Barrel & Ducks Unlimited Dog of the Year contest which was open only to Chocolate Labrador Retrievers.

This week we received a very nice "thank you for participating" letter and a Jack Daniel's bandana as a gift for Sable.


The well-deserved win went to the wonderful Bud who along with his owner spends his time assisting disabled children, adults and wounded soldiers in duck hunting. Bud also helps the disabled during the summer in a water sports program. Congratulations Bud!

Sable brings so much joy and happiness to our lives that although she didn't win this contest, Sable is definitely Our Dog of the Year!

Sable looks quite stylish in her new bandana.

Bud's accomplishment is also recognized on this site: http://www.ducks.org/how-to-help/corporate-partners/partner-newsletter-promotions/jack-daniels-single-barrel-ducks-unlimited-announce-2011-dog-of-the-year/?fb=1

Rainy Day Walk

Most pet owners understand that pets rely upon the routines set by their people, that is very true for dogs. So each day, no matter what Mother Nature has in store for us, Sable and I go for a morning walk.

We have had ran every day for eight days in a row, but so far we have been lucky, only a few drops or a little mist on our walks. Today was different. It was raining very steadily today, requiring a raincoat and umbrella for me, gear for Sable--nothing. Sable absolutely loves water and rain! Sable happily trots along in the rain enjoying herself and the water. Puddles are a particular joy for her, she actually makes a bee-line for them, the bigger the better. Sable does a high-stepping prance, splish-splashing right through the puddle, happy, happy dog!

After our walk, water-logged Sable.

Sable doesn't care what the weather is like as long as she is outside, she is content. What fun!

Birdsong in the Morning

If you were sleeping with the windows open I suppose birdsong in the morning could be annoying since the birds start singing very early. However, birdsong is a lovely accompaniment when Sable and I are out walking.

Today was a beautiful, crisp Spring morning filled with sunshine, blue skies, budding trees, and wonderful birdsong. Even though all of this beauty is lost on Sable, it makes me smile. The birds are so busy flying around, searching for food, chatting away. I can recognize the Robin's song and the orange-shouldered Blackbird call pierces through all the other sounds. But it is the distinctive trills of the Cardinal that makes me pick up my head and search for nature's black-masked red marvel.

Cardinals are my Mom's favorite bird and she taught me when I was young to recognize the male's call. This morning was filled with Cardinal song, calling to each other, perhaps saying this tree is mine, my territory. As we paused on a corner so Sable could sniff around, I heard a Cardinal call out and I immediately looked up to the tops of the trees (Mom instructed me that they like to be up high). There at very top of a tree that was just starting to leaf out was my little showman, beautifully bright red among the light green leaves and back dropped by an azure sky. He continued to sing out as I watched him and was answered by an unseen Cardinal somewhere across the road.

Sable and I were serenaded throughout our walk, such a joyous way to start the day.

Marshmallow Treat?

Sable was hanging around the kitchen while I was working, no big surprise there, so I gave her a large marshmallow. She promptly trotted away to the living room and dropped it on the carpet. She didn't know what to make of it!

She picked up again and spit it out again with a flick of her tongue. She picked up and spit it out several more times. Until finally Sable just laid down in front of it and stared at the wierd fluffy treat.

After several minutes of staring, the marshmallow was picked up once more and once again spat upon the floor, this time with a sneer!

In the Great Marshmallow Showdown...the mighty mallow won. I have added one more item on the short list of things that Sable won't eat.

Try and Get It

Just had to share this great picture of Sable, head down and Gator in her mouth ready for some rough and tumble playtime. She is sooo cute, I just love her!

Everyday is a Good Day to Play

This is our beautiful Sable with saliva frozen to her muzzle and face. It was hard to get her to sit still for this photo. She just loves to play! The extreme temperatures don't bother her one bit, she wants to play fetch or tug-of-war. I am careful that she is only out in the freezing cold for short periods of time, but she gets one extra play trip to make up for the short sessions. If I were to think like Sable, I would have to revise the title of this post to be "Play-time, All the Time!"

If we get all the snow that the weather people are predicting, I'll post some pictures of Sable in the snow, she'll be so excited! Me too!

Morning Walk

Sable and I just arrived back home after our morning walk--it was lovely! It was snowing for our entire walk. It had just begun to snow a short while before we went outside, so there was only a little more than a dusting of snow sticking to the ground, sidewalks, and streets.

The only sounds I could hear were Sable's softly padding paws and the "huh-huh" of her breath as she strained slightly on the leash, the metallic "krunch-krunch" of my Yaktrax clad boots assuring me of a safe walk, and the distant "thrum-thrum" of vehicles speeding along the tollway.

And still, amidst the all the various sounds I could hear the soft "splich-splich" of the wet snow hitting the ground. The snow was quickly gathering on tiny tree branches which couldn't support the wet snow's weight and it was falling like leaden rain drops creating lacy patterns in the already accumulated snow.

A beautiful, "noisy", morning winter walk!

Toy Box

Just like most dogs Sable loves to play. She would willingly wake from a nap for a round of play.

If you couldn't guess by now, Sable is a little spoiled. Some of her toys are pictured: Herbie, Hotdog, Elephant, and Banana. While they may not be the most creative names, Sable knows each of her toys by these names and will quickly fetch one or more of them so that we can play with them.
This group of toys is rubber or soft plastic and is quite durable considering that Sable loves to chew. Banana has been a favorite for several months while Hotdog and Herbie have been around for a year or two, amazing survival rate.

However as much as Sable likes to play with the rubber toys, she absolutely ADORES playing with soft plush toys that have SQUEAKERS! The problem is that this type of toy just doesn't stand a chance against Sable's teeth.

The bedraggled toy pictured to the right was once a cute little puppy. This is Baby, and it did have two ears, stuffing and a squeaker. Baby actually survived longer than the average plush toy, it wasn't until the second day that Sable gnawed off the ear, and pulled out Baby's "brains" to get to the squeaker, victory! Even though Baby has been de-stuffed Sable still enjoys playing tug-of-war with it.

This very sad looking creature is Sable's newest toy and latest conquest. If you look closely you might be able to guess what animal this toy originally represented...any guesses?...alright, this mess is actually a pig named Porky. Porky's manufacturer claimed that it was created with a reinforced new material that would make it harder for a dog to chew through. Well, within several minutes of Porky's arrival, Sable chewed off the tail, opened each hoof and removed the squeakers! I spent ten dollars, so I took the Porky away for the night. Porky lost his ears when it was returned to Sable the next day. Since then, Porky has suffered general abuse and dishevelment that comes with being a dog toy, and surprisingly the body and the largest squeaker remain intact. Porky is Sable's current favorite and is often brought to me along with Banana and Baby all together in her mouth, expectant look on her face, and tail wagging fast and high, saying "Wanna play?!"

The Many Faces of Sable

Sable is full of personality. Here are just a few:

she has her playful side;

her pampered, sleepy, side;

her contemplative, I'm waiting to play side;

and her spooky side!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM SABLE!

Under the weather

It began at 3:30 this morning, Sable got off my bed and was asking to go outside, she never does this. To put it delicately, something Sable ate did not agree with her and she desperately needed to go to the potty. She still had a problem this morning but otherwise is as playful as ever. Her only food today has been chicken flavored rice, so I'm sure she is wondering where is her real food and all her treats.

Hopefully tomorrow she will be back to normal.

Spoiled!

Look at this spoiled dog, such a baby! Sable occasionally sleeps on the furniture and she especially loves it if there is a pillow for her to lay her head upon.

When she cuddled up on this pillow, there was another pillow on the back of the couch that fell over on top of her. It looks as if Sable is all tucked under a blanket, so cute!

Sable to the Rescue

While Sable and I were taking our morning walk, about a block or so ahead of us we saw a small dog running ahead of someone. We weren't sure if the dog was on an extended leash so we stopped at the corner. Sure enough the little dog was loose and giving its owner a merry little chase, as soon as the man was close the little dog ran away.

I called to the man and asked if the dog was friendly and he replied, yes. So I called to the runaway to come and visit Sable. The little miniature black poodle trotted over and immediately started the standard dog sniff greeting. Sable was a good girl and stood still while she was "inspected" and I was able to grab the poodle's collar. The little poodle was introduced as Oreo and her owner was very grateful.

I praised Sable for being such a good girl as we continued on our walk, happy in knowing we had done a good deed.

Annual Checkup

Sable went for her check up yesterday, not fun for our precious girl. When Sable was a little puppy, we took her in the car with us all the time, she loved car rides. Somewhere along the way she has become anxious about car rides. She will get in the car fine, but pants, whimpers, and whines while we drive. So it is a good thing our vet is only a few minutes away.

Sable was such a good girl in the vet's office. She didn't like being on the table to be examined, she shook like a leaf! But she didn't whine or bark, even when she got her shot. She is healthy except she is a few pounds overweight. The vet admired her beautiful coat!

After her traumatic vet visit, Sable was a tired dog and slept the night away. But today she is back to her normal rambunctious self and we treated her to a new toy, she loves it as you will see.

Walking with Sable

Sable and I go for a walk every morning in the pre-dawn light, rain, fog, snow, or sunshine. We occasionally go for afternoon or evening walks on especially nice days or when Sable has been an extra, good girl.

Like any dog, Sable loves to be out and about sniffing trees, shrubs, grass, etc. and adding her scent wherever she feels it is necessary. Our morning walks are generally 1 to 3 miles, traversing various streets throughout our neighborhood. Sable and I are well acquainted with all the houses that have dogs, most of which bark at us as we walk by.

During the past year, Sable has started to look for one particular neighborhood dog, a shepherd mix. When we are a few houses away from the shepherd's house, Sable starts to get a little excited and pulls on the leash to get to the house quicker, the whole time she is looking at the house to get the first glimpse of the shepherd. Once the dogs have made eye contact the shepherd jumps up and down a bit and might bark once. Sable responds by prancing and pulling harder on the leash as we continue walking. The shepherd runs behind the house to get to the other side and leaps to put its front paws on the top of the chain link fence. Sable doesn't bark, she just continues to prance away down the sidewalk.

I think Sable is just a big tease! It is as if she enjoys seeing this shepherd behind the fence as she saunters away in her "freedom". There are many other dogs in fenced yards that Sable passes, but it is only the shepherd that gets the prancing dance from her. I know I'll never understand Sable's reaction to this particular dog, but I do know I'll never tire of Sable's antics.

Frisky Friday the 13th

Instead of a freaky Friday the 13th, Sable decided to have a frisky day. At 2 1/2 years of age Sable still can be a bit of a puppy. Today she was especially playful and was trying to goad me into play by taking a sock and trotting off with it. When the sock didn't get the desired result, she tried a pillow. The pillow was followed by a shoe. Sable didn't chew any of these items, they were just bait.

Since her bait tactics didn't work, Sable gave up and raided the garbage. I found her, looking innocent (of course), laying on my bed chewing on a piece of paper.

Oh well, what is a dog to do, but rest up til her human pal is ready to play. Sable did get her wish and we had several playtimes today to fulfill her Frisky Friday.

Merry Christmas in March

Due to scheduling conflicts, some friends and I finally got together to celebrate Christmas just a few days ago. One gift is a very cute, motorized Begging Puppy that sings. Sable wasn't too sure what to make of our new friend.

These are my toys!

Inside or outside, Sable's all-time favorite game is

tug-of-war. She just loves to grab a rubber toy, braided rope, or a de-stuffed animal and engage someone--anyone in playing tug.

The best kind of game is one where Sable can grab at least two or three toys, have me try to take them away from her and the war begins.

In the photo, Sable has staked her claim on the deflated soccer ball and the tire on a rope. She will make a show of running around with both of these as fast as she can before coming over to me to say "Let's play tug!" Sable especially loves when my brothers play tug-of-war with her as they are more evenly matched than she and I.

Well, as I type this entry, my pampered pup is napping behind my desk chair. Hmm, sounds like a good idea.

Back in Action?

We've been away for a while taking care of Mom, thanks for your patience. The good news is that Mom is doing better every day. Sable really missed having Mom at home and was disturbed by all the changes in her schedule.

So we are back to our routine of morning romps in the backyard, walk, and playing tug-of-war with Sable's toys. I'll keep you up to date on all her antics, but right now Sable is relaxing in the La-Z-Boy after a busy morning of play. I hope you can spend your Sunday in whatever way makes you happy...reading the paper, watching TV, snuggling with a loved one, or perhaps napping in a La-Z-Boy. Enjoy!

Fresh Snow

Sable always enjoys being outside, but fresh snow really brings out her puppy-side! She is so happy to run in the snow, she starts leaping and hopping. Then she'll pounce on a toy and run past me at full speed--the little show off!

After her initial burst of joy and energy, Sable will bring her toy over to me to engage in a game of tug-of-war.

This morning's fresh snow was also enjoyed at the power line's right of way field across the street. Sable gets to run off-leash and sniff to her heart's content. This picture is taken at 6:30 a.m. at the field---a rare break in the frantic hunting of animal scents.

I am reminded of so many things when I observe and spend time with Sable. Today as I watched Sable playfully romp in the snow, I thought about finding joy in the simple things, like fresh snow and a playful dog.