Couch Haiku

Lying on the couch

Resting being happily

Something will occur

Content

May, June and July have come and gone with no posts. I have been occupied with teaching Tim yoga. He has been going off nearly every day to study and I have been sharing my knowledge with him at home. Being in the moment, feeling the body, feeling emotions and moving with ease and grace have all been on the curriculum. He has been a diligent student. Now we are going to practice staring into the middle distance while being completely content.

Life is great when you are a yogini.

In the Nose of the Beholder

Hello friends. I went to the forest with Tim this morning. Summer is over and it was a perfect temperature at 9 am. So we set off and I was so excited to be out and about in the forest. There were smells galore. Tim let me off and I went straight for a really smelly smell. I was bounding away and I vaguely remember Tim yelling about something. It was a very pungent smell. I just had to have it, so I rolled in it. Then Tim's words started filtering in, "RUBY! RUBY! COME! COME! BA! BA! BA!" So I dutifully went to him. I forgot how humans are a bit funny about smells. They seem really put out by something that is so great to have all over your fur. They really smell the world different to me sometimes. That was the end of the walk. We went straight home and into the dreaded shower. Something they appear to really enjoy and I'd rather skip. We have a lot in common and some differences. The differences are a good thing. They broaden our minds and force us to smell the world differently. Even though they can sometimes lead me to be in the dog house, so to speak.

Life is great when we are all different.

60 kilograms of playful pup

I had a good play with a one year old Great Dane. She was playful, exuberant and 60 kilograms. I didn't let the 43 kg weight difference put me off. I did notice Tim get a tad nervous when she was headed in his direction bounding along. I don't have pictures as Tim never brings out the camera. He says it is good to have pictures as it enhances my readers' imagination. Tim's comment might help you picture the scene; "It looks she (me) is rounding up a cow." The Great Dane was white with black patches. However, I'm part sheep dog not cattle dog.

Life is great when you have a whole lot of puppy to play with.

The Houndly Teachers

My last post was the first for a long time. I thought I would do the next one shortly after that. I chased a few balls, went for a few walks, played with some friends, lay on the couch a bit, lay on the floorboards a bit and suddenly a week and a half in human time had gone by. I think it's better if I go in dog time, which means I am doing this post at precisely now. And my last post was done at precisely now, (but a now which has gone, except when I think about it and then it is right now so it hasn't really gone at all but is now).

Dogs do a lot for humans; lead blind people, sniff out survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake, rescue people in snow, catch criminals (go Rex!) and loads and loads of other stuff. Did you know that dogs also teach kids to read? Mandy has been buying books from Better World Books, which is an organisation that sells new and used books to raise money to promote literacy all over the world. It is great thing to support so look there first when you want to buy a book. Mandy asked me to tell you that their prices are usually better than anywhere else. Recently they asked customers to vote for one of ten very worthwhile literacy programs to receive a substantial grant. The winner was a program that gives kids in libraries and schools a chance to read out loud to a dog to enhance their reading skills. I told you us hounds teach humans a lot. I am sure they will read something more suitable than Ecclesiastes.

Here is a completely unrelated picture of a rainbow lorikeet that Mandy took in our garden.

Life is great when you are being read to.

I'm back. Faster and Sleeker than ever.

Good dog training requires giving lots of praise and direct orders, so, being an obedient hound, when I got this comment recently;

"Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!"

I had to do a new post. The use of treats is also necessary in dog training. So Anonymous, I like mangoes, apples and bananas. That might be why the message was from "Anonymous," so I couldn't find her/him.

Thanks people for not forgetting me despite me neglecting this blog. We are in the middle of summer. Beautiful 30 degree days. We've also had a fair bit of welcome rain filling up the dam and growing the grass to eye height almost over night. Who said it was boring watching grass grow?

I will do my best not to forsake you, dear faithful reader, again. Here is a photo of me being a good dog waiting for my treat from Anonymous.

Life is great when you have faithful followers.