Tag Archives: German Shepherd

I’m off on another roadtrip

I truly dread to think about how many miles Brendan and I are going to drive this year. This is our third big road-trip since December 2007. We really do find that this is the best way to see a country though, and we can’t wait to see a couple of new States and Provinces.

Zoe is once again going to enjoy her vacation at Camp Diggity Dogs. No doubt she’ll come home exhausted again from too much fun. This photo of Zoe was taken on the first occasion she had ever seen snow. I don’t think she much liked the cold on her paws, but she’ll go almost anywhere to chase a stick.

Zoe by the Fireplace

We’re home from my work trip/holiday in Canada and the first order of business this morning was to collect Zoe from Camp Diggity Dogs where she’s been having her own special vacation. Brendan was going to collect her later this morning, but there was no way I was going in to work without seeing her first. 

As soon as she saw us, she went mad. Running around like a puppy, moaning and groaning in an anxious way that indicated we should never leave her again. Once we got home, I let Zoe into the yard and I went through another door. She started crying and yelping to be let in, like I’ve never heard before. Now she’s just following me around the house with her ball in her mouth and she’s groaning a lot. Poor dog. She’s so excited to be home. I think she missed us and much as we missed her.

When queried why we hadn’t seen much of Zoe on the doggy daycare webcam, we were told that Zoe spent all her days sitting in the Cabana with a ball firmly planted in her mouth. Apparently she got up every now and then to chase a new ball and make a swap, but mostly did a lot of relaxing. Well she is getting on a bit after all.

It’s nice to be home.

Hi Five

This is Zoe’s way of telling me that she really, really wants the ball I’m holding. Boy, I miss her like crazy.

Zoe the ball destroyer

Who else has a dog that demolishes tennis balls like this? I should just be thankful though. The only thing Zoe chews are these balls. We can safely leave out shoes and socks, and even though she’ll carry them around, she never destroys anything.

Today Brendan and I are flying out to Canada for a holiday. Zoe is off to Camp Diggity Dogs for her vacation. She enjoyed it when we visited the other weekend, so I’m sure she’ll have a great time playing with other dogs and running around after tennis balls galore. I hope they have a reserve of tennis balls to replace the ones she’ll destroy.

Zoe gets all optically disillusioned

This is my girl Zoe who often has to be my model when I’m trying something new. This shot was taken near the lake in Canberra, Australia. I was working with one flash mounted on a tripod to the right of the image to get this effect. She’s such a good girl and will usually model for me even though I can tell she’d rather be off sniffing things.

Zoe improvises a ball

Zoe is obsessed with having something in her mouth. Whenever she isn’t lying down looking bored, she’s sitting with something in her mouth. Her favourite is a filthy old tennis ball that her grandpa gave her for Christmas (it was new then). We had to take it off her because she was becoming so obsessed with it that she would start hyperventilating without it. She had some sort of separation anxiety when she didn’t have it. So we’ve weaned her off the tennis ball, and now she’ll alternate between the following:

  • The pink ball
  • Her dinner bowl
  • Her yellow bow-wowser (a fancy name for a ball shaped kong)
  • Some sort of seed pod which fell off the neighbours tree, and
  • An icecream bucket

In fact, some Jehovah’s Witnesses popped around for a visit the other day. Zoe greeted them at the door with an ice-cream bucket in her mouth. They were laughing so hard that they could barely get their speech out. They ask if I was interested in a pamphlet which I politely declined and they went away still laughing. That was much easier than teaching Zoe to bark and growl at folk who come around trying to sell something.

Who else has a dog this obsessed with having something in their mouth?

Zoe loves her chicken

I can’t let the first week of my new blog go by without introducing my Zoe Dog. It just wouldn’t be right. Zoe has been my best mate for about eight years now. I bought her as a sickly runt of a puppy and she has made me laugh or cry almost daily ever since. I cannot imagine my life without her, which is why she was flown over to the USA at great expense to be with us. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more of Zoe in the future so be prepared for the ranting of a doting mother.

Here is my favourite girl in her standard pose in our new home in San Diego. This is exactly how she looks 90% of the time. If I were to go and find her right now, I would put money on her looking something like this.