what's with dark dogs?

I've read articles about black dogs not finding homes from the shelters, because their faces don't show expressions as well as lighter dogs.  I don't know if that's 100% accurate, but I can tell you that dark dogs don't photograph as well.  I have the hardest time getting pictures of ella that look like anything.  when I'm sitting with her and she's looking too cute for words, I wish I could capture her expression, because it makes me laugh and smile, but I haven't been very successful yet.  we even had a photographer take pictures of the 2 of them on my sister's property, and out of a couple hundred pictures we didn't find any that really captured her goofiness.  I'll keep trying though.  I think she's shy too!

that's a big tree!

we've had a lot of rain for the past couple of months and the ground is really saturated.  last year at this time we had the same problem, and a neighbors tree came down in our yard.  even with my big dog sitting next to it, it was a huge tree.  it sounded like a truck driving through the back yard as it fell.  louie had a great time lifting his leg on this one!

oh hail!

as we've established, louie is pretty, but isn't especially intelligent.  ella is also gorgeous and tends to stand back and observe before committing herself.  when I open the sliding glass door, louie is out as quick as possible, sometimes not clearing it completely, causing me to cringe when the door starts to wobble in its tracks.  ella usually requires a little encouragement before getting up and going out.  the other day it was really pouring and then I noticed a change in the sound of the rain, so I got up to see how hard it was really raining.  louie of course came with me and thought it also meant that he should go out.  I saw the hail coming down pretty hard and shook my head and told him "no, you don't really want to go out in that".  he of course didn't answer but still looked longingly at the outdoors, so I opened the door and he went tearing out.  he got about 6 feet out the door when he started making these jerky head moves and blinking really quickly and was being pummeled by hail.  of course his first instinct was not to come back in, but to go out further into the yard to see if he could get away from the hail there.  I wish I'd had a video camera, his moves were really funny.  ella got up to see what was going on, but stood at the doorway with me and just watched as her "brother" made a fool out of himself yet again.

rain and the "brilliant one"

it's a good thing louie is pretty.  he's not the smartest dog I've ever known.  there is a broken rain gutter over the carport and it's directly in the path from the front door to the car, so when it's been raining, I have to dodge it every time I go out there. I took the dogs with me to the store since they love being in the car.  of course when I came back from the store, the "brilliant one" walked directly under it and drenched his head, but didn't move. I swear, it's a good thing he's pretty!

welcome

I'm not sure where this blog will lead, but I've been given some encouragement... so I figure I'll give it a shot and see what happens.  I have 2 english mastiff's who I find very entertaining.  ella, the brindle, will be 8 in july, and louie, apricot, will be 8 in november.  now I know that giant breeds have a shorter life expectancy, but really, I can't imagine NOT having them in my life, even if they won't be around for 15 years, and who knows, they could surprise us all!  I think the people I work with are tired of hearing all my dog stories, and although I doubt that will change, if I have another outlet for telling "cute puppy stories", maybe they won't hear as many of them (yeah, I doubt it).  one of the girls I work with gets irritated with me because I make reference to my dogs the same way she makes reference to her twins.  she was telling me one day about how they left such a mess when they were done playing, and I said "oh yeah, ella and louie do that too".  I think she's used to it now, but at the time, she was a little thrown by it.  I hope you'll stay tuned for future stories, and I hope you'll enjoy them.  I can't promise much, but I'll try to keep you as entertained as I've been for years now.  thanks for stopping by!