Why Rufus Is Not Allowed In The House At The Moment

It all started out innocent enough. Rufus and I were outside having a grand old time playing The Best Game Ever.



When out of the corner of his eye, he spotted IT.



Ooooh, I may look sweet and innocent...



He tried SO HARD to resist the temptation.

Must....not....give...in



But, alas, Rufus has the self-control of an eight-year-old child, and the poo was CALLING HIS NAME.



Poo is to Rufus what catnip is to kitties. See the possessed-Rufus-eye?



Ahhhh



I think it's safe to say he was very pleased with his new cologne.



Where was Stella during all of this, you might ask?

Off somewhere being stoic.

An Apple A Day...

Keeps the doctor away...too bad doggies can't have apples. It would have been a double bonus for Stella, too, because apples keep dentists away, too. I'm a clean-teeth-freak. Yeah, the rumors are true--they exist.

Stella's getting a bit, er, less young, so I took her to the vet on Friday to get her first dental done. I signed all the necessary paperwork, and as I was leaving...

Stella gave me the most desperate "Don't leave me!" look I have ever seen, and then she was scrambling on the linoleum floor trying to follow me out. I felt like the most terrible doggy-mommy on the face of the planet.

You know what they say about payback, though.

When I went to go pick Stella up, the vet tech brought her out from the back room. Stella hustled up to a complete stranger who was paying at the reception desk, and she was wagging her butt so hard and acting like she was going home with this lady.

The vet tech was like, "Uh, no, Stella...Your mommy's over here."

I couldn't believe how much of my dog they shaved just to clean her teeth. I can just imagine all the tubes and things poked and prodded into my dog just so she can have nice pearly whites. I'm glad the same process isn't used on humans. Her teeth are nice and sparkly white, now, and I was relieved to find out everything is in good shape. I don't know about you guys, but I have one of those dogs where it seems like every time I drop her off at the vet's office, they call me halfway through the day to say that she has some other thing wrong with her. Le sigh.

Stella with her patches:

Fights 'N' Floods

We'll start with the fights. Play fights, of course. Cuz doggy-mommies are against real dog fighting, right PoochesForPeace?

Poor orange birdy had a bad night.
Rufus was rather concerned for his well-being.

Stella, don't hurt him! He's my fave!



Um, I think I better hang on to him for you. You know, just in case.



Stellers tried to make a break for it down the hall, but Rufus wasn't having any of it. Check out his rebound off the wall.



IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER TO ORANGE BIRDY I WILL EAT YOUR HEAD



Stella has no shame.

And then our street turned into a sewer. Oh, the joys of living in the country. Not.



All of this will basically end up in our basement in the next few hours, and let's just say, it's not JUST rain water.



Hey, mom, my dream came true! A giant doggie swimming pool in MY OWN FRONT YARD!

Um, Rufus, try no.

Pretty Little Angel Eyes

This entry was semi-inspired by Crazy Coulee and Little Lacey's blog.

Before.



After I auto corrected white balance & increased the levels.



After I duplicated the layer, desaturated new layer, added layer mask (white), and painted Stella's eye black.



After I added a filter (artistic->softglow)



I put the coolest one first, because I'm still trying to get the second set right. This second image was also shot from the hip.

Before.



After I desaturated the image, added a new (transparent) layer, and painted Stella's eye blue with a round brush. I also changed the layer settings to "burn."



I highly recommend GIMP. It rocks. Yeah.

Sticky Situation

Every day, I learn something about my dogs. Today, it was the extent to which Rufus LOVES sticks.

ZOMG MOM I FOUND A STICK!



Sticks give Rufus super-hero-flying powers.



Sticks make Rufus look like he is high (on life, of course).



Dun dun dun...



You lookin at my stick?



It's mine. Go get your own (so I can steal it from you)



I said "my stick!"


(Rufus, I do not condone violence.)

This week's 52 Weeks For Dogs Challenge on Flickr was to shoot from the hip. It was a blast, I tell you! You should definitely try it sometime.



And as always, Stella gives me the best come-on-lady-are-you-serious expressions ever.



You want to see my sexy face? Do I get a stick?



And now, for a little shameless self-promotion. I started a new blog because I felt like I was imposing on Stella&Roo's space by putting up wedding pictures. This is my StellaStar Photography blog where I will post non-doggy picturage from now on. With captions, of course.

In other news, Rufus has officially learned "roll over" and "high five." Roofy, you do mommy proud.

Ps. Does anyone know if dogs should not eat sticks? I'm thinking that some trees are probably poisonous to dogs, and I'm almost positive I caught Roo actually eating the stick. I can teach him not to eat the stick, if it's bad for him...

Blindsided

Today started off great. I got home and took the doggies to the park...lucky them.

Rufus's good friend, Bentley was there.

Run, Bentley, run!



Commence WWF-Style Smackdown:



Ima gonna slap you!



Did we get him?



Yup, I think we got him.



Hahahaha! MadeYaLook!



There was definitely some Post-Smackdown-Spooning.



Stella was her usual stoic self.



And after a shot like this (note Rufus), I should have known it was coming.



So we went home, la de da. I decided to plant my raspberries and let the dogs play in the back yard. Stella quit after a bit and laid down on the back porch. We went in and ate dinner. Toward the end of dinner (a wonderful stir-fry prepared by my wonderful Andy), I noticed some fluff was coming off of Stella's back/side. So I leaned over to investigate. Rufus had ripped a hole in her skin.

I went to Walmart.



Rufus is lucky that Stella is such a forgiving dog. And I can add another one to the long list of Stella-Injuries. I'm hoping we won't have to take her in for stitches. xxxx :/



I'm also thinking about investing in doggie health insurance. Any recommendations?

***note: I think I should mention that, as a shar pei, Stella is prone to skin problems, so although I was a bit peeved at Rufus for playing too rough with her, I can't really blame him because he doesn't understand English (so I can't really tell him "Sissy has skin problems...no biting!"). Sadly. Any tips on getting a dog not to play bite other dogs, or is that just part of being a dog?

And So It Begins

Today was our first trip to the dog park.

Rufus loved it.

Oh, hai! I'm at the dog park. Kthxbai.



Stella was actually social, but only with people. She usually patrols the perimeter snuffling everything and marking it. But today, she played just a wee bit, and hung out with the humans talking in groups.

R: Whoppeeee!
S: Hmmm...to join or not to join, that is the question


(Note to readers: Check out the slobbery goober above Rufus's eye.)

Catching flies:



I think he got one. Tasty. (Not surprised...Rufus will eat anything)



I was also appalled every time Stella got a nice foamy beard of drool. She would trot right into the middle of a circle of people standing around and shake. Nice, Stella. Real nice.

Pre-shake:


I wasn't sure of the unspoken Doggie Park Rules, so I refrained from taking pictures of other peoples' dogs, with the exception of...

KOALA DOG!



And as a side note, RIP Sweet Potato Porcupine. Rufus loved you to bits.