Dog Yard Freedom

The fireworks have passed with only a few being popped off here and there... probably because of the half price sales they have after the holidays.

Ichabod is still not enjoying the occasional noise and will dive into his house if he hears anything loud but over time hes gotten a lot better and his recovery is much quicker. Hes come to trust me as a safe haven and reaches out for strength when he gets the nerve to come out of his house again.

The summer smoke is rolling in... Every year we have at least one fire burning in the interior and the wind usually blows the smoke towards us and clouds out the sky.

Its not nearly as bad as it was a few years ago but its never fun. The heat has been really bad too. James and I have been melting in 80 and 85 degrees! I know its not nearly as hot as some of the other places in the world but anything over 70 is very hard to deal with. Give me 50 degrees or colder and I am one happy camper!

The dogs are already growing their winter coats in and are also having a hard time with the heat as well. Having the kiddie pool in the yard helps a lot but their nightly play has been slowed down a bit. Running around in the coolness of the night helps but even at 65 or 70 degrees no one wants to play too hard.

I caught up with everyone on the camera yesterday since Ive been way too busy for decent photos. There were too many fun things to capture so I will leave you with only a few of the many shots I took last night...

Sweet Ichabod jumps up on me for reassurance from the fireworks noise and a few extra scratches under the collar

Griffin loves his pool!
It amazes me that these guys will stand in the water so long. I was filling it right from our well and the underground water is freezing! Must feel wonderful though with all that heavy fur.

Gaea is a natural babysitter and the shelter pups just LOVE her!
She tolerates them like a good mom and really enjoys their company.

The little female shelter pup sits outside the 'dog pile' taking a breather. In the background you can see an example of their nightly pile up. They pull on each other and play together for hours on end.

Chronos takes a break in the pen enjoying the fading light. We are very close to having our nights back again. I should think about setting up our dog yard lights. It wont be long before we have snow and darkness! My favorite time of year!!