Dog Days of Summer

I'm not sure what the phrase "dog days of summer" really means, or where it originated... But, I do know that it is used to describe the really hot days of summer... Which is what we've been experiencing here in South Texas, well... across Texas in general.

Here on the farm, I get to watch the dogs of summer... My mom and aunt have allowed many strays to stay on the farm and they are all part of the family now.

As of today, we have living inside Tiny and Sparky. Tiny is a small black and white rat terrier. He is mama's baby, my canine little brother. Sparky is auntie's baby, a sweet little mutt of unknown origin... some kind of terrier mix, small, hairy, black and white little girl. They are both spoiled rotten. Rumor has it that auntie sometimes hand feeds Sparky and that mama gives Tiny boiled chicken. My efforts to feed them regular dog food is not always supported.

Now on the outside, we have a bunch of dogs. They are really suffering due to the heat. We keep the grass and dirt watered down and have a bunch of water out for them. It is so hot they won't even get up for dog biscuits, which is a pretty big deal. Usually if you go outside with a bag of Hill Country brand large dog biscuits, you are practically beat to death with wagging tails and nearly drown in drool... They normally get so excited. Not today. I went out about 5:30 to move the water sprinklers and thought I'd offer them all a little treat. I literally had to just toss the biscuits to them within reach of their muzzles...

As I said, we have a bunch of dogs.

Comino is a big fat puddle of a dog. He's a lab mix that is a pretty light golden tan... He's old and fat. When he lays down, his skin/fat sort of puddles around him like a golden halo of fur. He has that hip dysplasia that is so prevalent in that breed and he limps around. He does not really seem to be in pain. And he's got a good gig here. Lots of food, shade, and dog biscuits. We were worried that he should be put down, since he is old and has some difficulty walking. The vet said to just let him enjoy his life and when he can no longer eat or pee or poop, we can entertain the notion of putting  him down in the future. So for now, Comino likes to sleep near the office, which is a small building west of the house just a few feet. When my Daddy Bill was alive, we called the office the "dog house". Daddy Bill used to say that when Ruth (my grandmother) would get mad at him, he would have be in the dog house until she made up her mind not to be mad anymore. So, while no dogs actually live in the little building, it's appropriate that the dogs really love to lay in the shade the building and trees provide around there next to the "dog house."

Carlos is a chow/lab mix. He has a black tongue. His coloring is just like Comino's, but he's not nearly as fat. But, he is even lazier and moves less than Comino. He likes to sleep on the little wooden deck that is out the kitchen door, where the ramp is... You can literally step on his tail or even his leg when you step outside and he won't move. Seriously, he is the laziest dog on the place. He's also the culprit of the mauling of mama's leg... For some reason, he has a special bond with mama. If she is outside, he wants to be right next to her, and he constantly wants to put his paw on her leg, as if begging her for attention. He's been here since he was a young pup and has always felt this way about her. He does not paw at anyone else but Mama. At one time it was just annoying. But, now that Mama has tissue paper skin, this can be dangerous... as it was last Tuesday. He pawed the crap out her leg while we were trying to get out to the car... it's healing nicely now, but is still pretty ugly.

Tres, sometimes called Lucky, is a 3-legged dog. He's sweet. He's a tall gangly dog that is kind of shy and it takes a long time for him to be comfortable around you. He must suffer from phantom leg syndrome, because he still 'scratches' with his missing leg...

Mama Dog is a black and tan kind of hound dog mix. She is sweet on the surface, but she does have a mean streak at times. She eats her food in the wash house. The wash house is a room attached to the garage that houses the washer, dryer, an extra refrigerator, and additional storage for kitchen stuff, paper goods, and the like. She also has this weird little ritual thing that she does. When you drive off the property, you have to drive around from the garage to get to the main road. Mama Dog runs to the same spot north of the house, near the little swath of road that visitors usually park in and spins in a circle three times and barks at you as you drive by. She doesn't chase you down the road, she just always always always runs around in a circle at this one particular spot everytime you drive away.

Blondie is a family favorite. She is a big sweet yellow lab. She is just a sweet sweet dog. And she is a BIG fan of the dog biscuits.

Raisen, sometimes called Blackie, and Biscuit, sometimes called Brownie, came up together. We think they might have been litter mates, but we aren't sure. These two seem to be some sort of lab/pit bull/hybrid type of dog. Biscuit has these little tiny ears that are so cute. Raisen loves the water and he is often in the water trough that is supposed to provide water for the cows. But Raisen thinks it's his personal spa. Raisen and Biscuit like to chase the cows. I think it was Biscuit that I spied biting the cow by the tail and hanging on while the cow functioned like a ski boat... poor cow. Biscuit was having fun, though.

Calloway, sometimes called Max, is a beagle. He has an old face... you know how some dogs sort of look like a wise old man... kind of like a canine Yoda. But, that's where the similarity ends. He is not wise. The other day, I had to rescue Calloway from the hog trap. We have to have some traps set because we have a huge ferral hog problem. (This little problem will get it's own blog entry another day...) They have torn up my mom's yard, which irritates her to no end... You'd think with all the dogs on the property, we wouldn't have a problem. Well. One night recently, my mom hobbled out to the back deck, just see if there were any hogs in the yard. There was Calloway, on the picnic table, watching the hogs root around and tear up her yard around him. Anyway, the trap had been set, but I guess Calloway, being a beagle, smelled the trace remains of an earlier successful hog trapping and wandered into the trap. Of course, he sprung the trap and couldn't get out... goofy dog.

Yote looks like a coyote, but she is very sweet and not hairy or scary like coyotes.. She's just a sweet younger dog that is kind of low on the doggie pecking order, but I really like her. She does have a tendency to chase the cows sometimes though.

Lupita has been mentioned before. She's the one that had some puppies under the house. We still have not seen the puppies... we still hear them, but haven't seen them. She's a small dog that is probably some sort of dauschund mix... she has a long body and is classically red, but she has longer hair... She can yap annoyingly, and she is fairly exhuberant, but basically sweet.

So, there you have it, the roster of dogs at the farm as of today...  I know they will be glad for cooler weather... this heat is cutting into their dog biscuit enjoyment...