Cubby on Painting

This week I painted my bedroom "aloof gray" by Sherwin Williams.

Modeled here by Cubby, who cried outside the closed door while I was painting until I let her in - then immediately rubbed her body all over the nearest wall of wet paint.

"Are you painting? Let's get some of my fur on that wall forever."

Gray paint, gray dog.

Cubby on the World Cup

Cubby Dog weighs in on the World Cup:

"Sounds tasty."

Cub somehow removed this ball from Geoff's closed soccer bag when we weren't looking. So far she has punctured it and eaten off three of the leather panels. Oh boy. 

Cubby on Hunting

Our back yard is overrun by chipmunks and other various small creatures. And spiders.

Here's Cubby's take on hunting (or even chasing) any of them:

"Cubby, look! Over there! A chipmunk! Get it!"

"No thanks."

Cubby goes Swimming

The weather has been so phenomenal on the North Shore this weekend -- low 80's, sunny... It seems like everyone is out walking, biking, and playing. Lake Bluff has a section of beach designated for specifically for dogs, so we took Cubby there for a little off-leash fun. 

We took the Cub swimming last year but didn't let her go too far in because she was just a puppy. I was worried that she wouldn't remember how to do it this year. But of course I was wrong -- here she is, first swim of 2014: 

You can tell that she was a little reluctant at first. Once she got the hang of it though, she was more than happy to bound in after the ball:

Like a boss.

Followed by doing it all over again about 100 times. We've got a happy, tired, and wet dog.

Cubby on Packing

"Hey, what are ya doin'? Packing? Cool, I'll just lay here on top of your stuff so you can bring some of my fur with you. Good thing it's spring so I am shedding a lot."

Cubby Turns One!

Cubby is one today! Maybe she'll start acting like a good dog now. Probably not though. She's a dreadful beast through and through.

Instead of a birthday cake I am cooking Cubby an unseasoned chicken breast - what can I say, it's what she asked for. Dogs are weird.

We get stopped daily (really, daily) by people asking what kind of dog she is. Once someone asked us if she was a dingo. To which we replied, yeah, guy, we're raising a dingo.

In reality, she's half collie mix and half Catahoula leopard dog. Catahoulas are often used as working dogs on Wisconsin farms. One particular farm just happened to decide not to neuter their pup, and a smokin' hot stray collie mix just happened to skitter by, and... well... you get it. 

Cubby and siblings with their mama.
These two puppy pictures are from Richland Area Rescue

We adopted Cubby from Richland Area Rescue in South-Central Wisconsin. She's skittish (possibly imprinted from her mother), she has an insatiable hunger for shoes, and she wakes me up at 5:55AM every morning, even weekends, but we love her anyway and we've never looked back.

Here are some more pictures of Cubby's first year.

Rescued from certain and awful fate of becoming a Packers fan, Cubby enjoys a taste for the finer things in Chicagoland cheering for the Bears. 

Scattering my neat leaf piles

Sad day, spay day

Chomping my flowers

At a winery in Michigan, mad because she can't have any wine.

Tearing pieces off the Christmas tree when we aren't looking, excellent holiday spirit.

Just sniffin'.

Doling out lots of unwanted facial kisses

"Helping" me paint - a.k.a. backing up into wet walls.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY CUB!

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo 2014 in review:

An evening in Green Oaks, Illinois with friends.

Dinner was delicious, conversation was lively, and the margaritas were flowing. All were having a great time, until...

Somebody noticed that Cubby dog wanted to come inside. 

Which she did, bringing a revolting, sickening, stomach-churning smell with her.

People screamed. Eyes watered. Everyone covered their noses with their sleeves, or just ran for the exit. Cubby interpreted these reactions as an invitation to play, and followed after the people and tried to jump on them. 

The party quickly disbanded.

We jumped in the car and sped home, windows wide open, cold air slicing through the backseat. We arrived, leaped from the car, and proceeded to give Cubby a full scale scrubdown. Her oatmeal puppy shampoo was barely up to this task. I wish I owned a hazmat suit. I had to burn my clothing afterwards. 

Questions remain as to the identity of the offending rodent, rabbit, or bird, but suffice it to say that it must have been a liquid corpsey horror by the time she found it.

We might not get invited back.

Woof.