It’s nothing short of a miracle that Santa Paws found our house at all his year with Nicholas (renamed by our friends and neighbours Dennis the Menace) got in more trouble than you can shake a stick at. And all the week before Christmas! Five days before the “big day” he goes out early in the morning while it’s still dark and gets skunked!!! Yes you are reading this correctly! Can you believe it? The weather was super mild and the skunk must have come out of hibernation. The little hunter here sees it and runs right up to it barking his head off! It got him right in the face! I saw it and ran in the other direction for home, no way the Big Bud was messing with that little black and white feller. You didn’t need to get real close to know he stunk and I wanted nothing to do with him! I usually back Nicholas up if he’s in trouble as a big brother should do but I was having nothing to do with this mess! Mama was freaking, no one in her family had ever had a dog skunked before. She didn’t know what to do! Daddy didn’t know what to do! Mama was going to rush him to the vet but it was too early and they were not open yet. Nicholas had his jaw locked tight shut and wouldn’t even take a drink of water. Mama got him a nice bowl of milk and he drank it right down and was quite a bit better immediately. Mama called Pam our manager who came right over and knew exactly what to do as her boxer dog use to get skunked twice a year! She mixed up a homemade concoction of white vinegar, peroxide, baking soda and a squirt of Dawn dish detergent and made it into a thick paste, Mama got in the shower with Nicholas and plastered the paste over his face, chest and front legs where he had been sprayed making sure to keep it away from his eyes. She left it on for 5 minutes and then rinsed it off and dried him. Low and behold, the smell was completely gone. It worked and it worked great! I highly recommend it! Nicholas was so relieved and so was I. I really love the little guy but I was never so disgusted with him in my life as I was that morning.
You would think that would be enough excitement but no there’s more! Christmas Eve morning Mama looks out the kitchen window and sees a deer running up the greens of the golf course and what’s running behind it but Nicholas who had escaped our invisible fence! Apparently his battery ran low and he checks it daily so he knew he was a free dog! I want you to know that the Big Bud is never checking to see if that fence is operational! I was trained by Ingrid Warning (I nick named her the wicked witch) and I just take it for granted that it is up and running. If I never see Ingrid again it will be too soon! Mama says I shouldn’t be like that because the fence keeps us off the road and saves our lives. I run to the house as fast as I could barking and barking to let Mama know Nicholas was up to no good again. She grabbed her coat and out we flew! To the little guys credit, Mama called in her loudest voice (it’s not very loud but don’t tell her I said that) “Nicholas Come”! He stopped right in his tracks, turned and ran for home wide open! She opened the back door and in he flew. Ingrid brought us over some new batteries and all was good again. I was so discouraged, I never expect to ever see Santa Paws ever darken our door but low and behold he did come while we were sleeping that night and left us everything on our list. I was so happy I was jumping up and down Christmas morning and ripping the tissue off the presents! Nicholas was going crazy, spinning, grapping toys and doing everything but back flips! What a happy day and lots of turkey to boot!
I was happy to have this big Newfie coat when we went through the cold spell early in January. Even with this coat I didn’t stay out very long and Nicholas was out and in within 5 minutes or less with his soft Border Collie fur. I will say that Mama listens very carefully for us at the door and the minute we arrive; bang we’re back in. Please keep in mind if you have furry friends of your own that we cannot stay out long in the cold weather. Our paws and ears especially are very susceptible to the cold weather. We were glad to see the milder days come because that’s when Mama takes us for nice long walks and plays ball with us with our “Fetch It”, perfect for distance throwing.
The Team is back in full swing with the holidays behind them, regular meetings and full steam ahead with open houses! We are planning an open house weekend extravaganza coming soon in January, watch for dates and locations. Come one, come all and enjoy a tour through our gorgeous homes! Everyone is working hard and setting new goals for themselves in 2015. Nicholas and I have a goal set to get out and about more to meet more of our clients and possibly host a meet and greet! We did go out Christmas week and deliver our “Buddy Biscuits” to all our furry clients! They really loved them (we love them too, Nicholas says I have to stay out of the stash, no Buddy Biscuits for Buddy). There is something wrong with that picture!
