Busy signals

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No photos, please

No photos, please.

Five year old Pearl Bailey and her younger cousin Leroy Brown are German Shorthair Pointers (GSP) who accompany Lisa Loomis to work at The Valley Reporter in Waitsfield.

LeRoy Brown strikes a pose.

Leroy Brown strikes a pose.

Leroy is a big soft flump.  His primary goal in life is to be where Pearl is. They are very high energy, they love to come to work – they love Roxi. They love to bark at men with hats & beards. They love to run.  I take them for a walk every day: I walk two miles, and they run five to seven miles.  They are always busy.

Although we sent them to boarding school to learn how to hunt, we do not hunt with them. They do hunt, they have snagged their own birds out of the air, and they are very excited about that. This winter they killed a squirrel, and it was the highlight of their winter. It was the one they had been watching out the window for months.

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Pearl Bailey on watch.

When we researched names, we were going through Arabic names and came across “Pearl.” We thought “Pearl” was pretty. My sister, who was getting a GSP at the same time we got Pearl, named her dog “Jenny,” which so happens to be our grandmother’s name. Weird coincidence: Our grandmother’s sister was named “Pearl.”

What’s the naughtiest thing they’ve done? Recently, I flailed up my steep and muddy road, got stuck once, to let the dogs out. They greet me at the door, all happy. I turned the corner toward the kitchen and saw an entire bag of kitty litter strewn on a carpet. They had tracked it throughout the rest of the house. Thank god it was clean kitty litter. And, it was cedar chip kitty litter so my house smells fresh and clean now.

What do they do when they come to work? Mostly they lie on their bed under my desk and fart.

Pearl Bailey & LeRoy Brown

Pearl Bailey & LeRoy Brown

 

Puppy love

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Micah & Sophie

Micah & Sophie

My family is generally pretty open to this kind of crazy stuff (getting a dog in the middle of ski season) but I’d been asking for years with no luck. Finally my mom brought it up after watching me care for Charlie and said it was something we could look into. After the entire family signed off, we were able to choose a dog. After hearing that Micah was the cuddliest in his litter, we decided on him.

He’s about 5 months old, yellow Lab-Golden Retriever mix. We think he could have some beagle in him but don’t really know. The funny thing is, most people who meet him think he is a purebred. He’s very high-strung when he’s energetic but if he’s tired enough he loves to curl up right next to you and fall asleep. He’s also very good at showing us his facial expression. He’s a little bit dopey and somewhat of a klutz. Everyone loves him very much but it’s easy to get fed up with him as he’s always causing trouble. The cats and him did not get along for the first month and a half but now they are fine (most of the time). Micah tends to treat them like dogs even though they’re not.  Elsa [the family’s mild-mannered black lab] hated him for a week but now they are inseparable.

One of the funniest things he does is when he is laying on a piece of furniture and gets very excited to see someone. He stretches out and tries to roll over and say “hi” but often ends up falling off. He just sits back up and starts wagging his tail as though nothing has happened.

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Micah, in the GMVS Clubhouse.

Sophie and her family live in Warren, Vermont. 

Charlie belongs to me – Sophie and her family “puppy sat” our Charlie over the Thanksgiving break as Charlie was young and didn’t travel well. We’re fortunate that Sophie’s family doesn’t blame us – too much. Both Charlie and Micah were adopted through Golden Huggs Rescue.

Happy place

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What if we went hiking and the woods became a magic forest, where Golden Retrievers ran wild and free?

That would be a happy hike indeed.

Last fall, my son was working to complete his college applications.  One school asked him to write an essay about his “happy place.” When discussing his ideas with me, he described a hike through a magic forest with wild Golden Retrievers. He chose another location for his essay, but Hampshire College accepted him anyway.  

Pictured above is my Lucy, in her “happy place.”  Well, pretty much everywhere is her happy place. I adopted Lucy from Golden Huggs Rescue.

Please note: The “happy place” is a fantasy.  Wagmorevt.com is NOT advocating dog abandonment. Ever. 

Where is your dog’s happy place? Please feel free to comment!

P.s.  Carol sent in these shots of Wilson the golden doodle in his “happy place.”  Thank you, Carol!

Wilson & family

Wilson & family

Wilson in a happy place. Sweet dreams!

Wilson in a happy place. Sweet dreams!

Greetings

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Jerry on duty

Jerry on duty

Jerry is the greeter at Elevation Physical Therapy, in Waitsfield, Vermont. Steve Skalecke and his wife Hannah bring Jerry to work in their practice every day. “He makes people forget about their pain a little bit,” Steve says. “A healthcare environment can be so sterile, but he transitions clients nicely by easing their pain.  He’s happy to see our clients.” Steve adds: “He’s great with kids – when parents come in with little kids – he’s digging that.”

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Jerry with Hannah and Steve

 

 

 

Welcome to wagmorevt!

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Recent Instagram post of puppy Charlie Brown in a snowstorm.

When I am out on a photo assignment, I am often asked if I have a blog or portfolio, so now I do!  My idea or theme for my blog comes from my dogs – I have three – and I will create a weekly photo essay about them and others I meet along the way.  Think of it as a mashup of  “humans of NYC” but with dogs and a happiness project.  I will feature my dogs and the dogs (with their people) of the Mad River Valley, Vermont.  I will post on #wagmorewednesdays and maybe some #fidofridays too.  I will repost on Instagram: My Instagram user name is “skimor”.  You see my theme now, right?  Thank you for visiting, and please check back on Wednesday!