New Tricks For Old Dogs

If you ask the red dog...life has gotten mighty tuff on him and Ute since moving to Colorado. They are no longer house dogs. Which has been absolute agony for The Red Dog. Yes, his name is The Red Dog. We tried naming him many different things and we always reverted back to calling him The Red Dog and one day it dawned on us THAT was his name.

Anyway, it was never my intention to have these two as house dogs. When we lived in AZ, they were outdoor dogs. When we lived at the ranch, they were outdoor dogs. It was only when we moved into the town house that I had to start keeping them in because I did not have a yard fence and my little black dog became enamored of the neighbor's purebred border collie that was in heat...that she left outside. Ugghhh!!

So for awhile there, they had to become house dogs. Ute(the black one) could care less. As long as he has his doggie bed he really prefers to be outside anyway. RD became completely enamoured of the "house dog" lifestyle. So much for his ruff-tuff ranch dog persona!

They both have brand new doggie beds that are tucked into brand new dog-loos...that are parked right outside the door on the new deck. So they aren't exactly suffering! Ute loves his dog-loo. It has a clear plastic door on it to keep the drafts out and he lays in there and peers out. Red Dog still prefers his "bean", which is Megan's old bean bag, most of the time, but will go in his dog-loo when it rains or gets really chilly in the pre-dawn hours. But every evening he has to make his point that it is pure agony for him to be outside while the rest of the fam is inside. He will stand in front of the sliding glass door watching every move we make until someone happens to glance in his direction and then he will proceed to drop his ears like he has just been beat and then he starts shivering. It is the most pathetic think I think I have ever seen.

My Honey and I being the heartless beasts we are, cannot help but torture RD just a little bit. Just to make sure one of us will always ask him, "Are you cold?" and the pathetic loser will almost fall over in his attempts to shiver hard enough to make you feel sorry for him. It's soo sad...NOT!

To be honest, both dogs look better and feel much better being outside dogs. Ute always has preferred it and RD has enough hair for two dogs his size, so isn't going to suffer either. I am darn happy not to constantly be sweeping/vacuuming dog hair up. But if the weather/temps get drastic, we can simply let them in the garage at night.

Besides the living arrangement change, the boys were a bit confused on momma's new work thing. It took a few weeks to convince RD that he could not go with me every single time I got in the truck. But they are getting it and now, usually don't even bother getting up in the mornings when I leave for work. Lazy butt-heads! LOL

But when I get home, they are always eager for their play session which without fail goes like this...
Momma's got the toy..."Throw the toy momma, throw the toy!!!"
And then the race is on to see who can get there first. "It's mine!", "No, it's mine"...
Always a combined effort to bring the toy back to mom....
"Awww...Crap, you broke it." "No, you broke it"...
And yet another $6 toy bites the dust...
So far the only thing I have found that these two cannot destroy is a piece of rope. But I or MH inevitably pick up another softy toy for them to tear up. Both dogs love to find the squeaky in them. Ute likes to find it and then will gently mouth it over and over. RD's sole intention is to find it and rip it out. Whatta couple of knucke-heads!!