Homer picking on Rufus again
Homer and Rufus have been friends for a year and a half. Homer started out with the upper hand:
Although Rufus has gotten MUCH larger, the balance of power does not appear to have changed...
[NOTE: It is well worth waiting until the "money shot" at the end...]
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Rufus and Cooper - the movie...
We took this movie on a recent trip to Cannon Beach (see the post below), and it captures the current state of the Cooper - Rufus relationship. Cooper can *almost* keep up with Rufus, and is catching up fast. He is almost as big and heavy as Rufus, but Rufus has way more agility and strength (for now...)
We took this movie on a recent trip to Cannon Beach (see the post below), and it captures the current state of the Cooper - Rufus relationship. Cooper can *almost* keep up with Rufus, and is catching up fast. He is almost as big and heavy as Rufus, but Rufus has way more agility and strength (for now...)
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Rufus's Mom on the Agility Course
Catcher rocks! She double qualified on Sat which finished her Open titles, and Sundew (Rufus's sister) qualified in Novice Standard. Which titled her there. On Sunday Catcher missed Q in Ex standard by 1 second, but Sundew double Qed for an Open Standard leg and her 2nd Novice Jumpers leg.
Catcher rocks! She double qualified on Sat which finished her Open titles, and Sundew (Rufus's sister) qualified in Novice Standard. Which titled her there. On Sunday Catcher missed Q in Ex standard by 1 second, but Sundew double Qed for an Open Standard leg and her 2nd Novice Jumpers leg.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Two weekends ago, we loaded up the boys and headed down to Cannon Beach, Oregon, to attend a wedding. If you've never been there, I highly recommend it, as it is a very special place.
As a bit of trivia, Steven Spielberg chose amazing locato shoot Goonies here in the early 80's.
The drive down from Seattle invariably took longer than we expected, and we arrived after dark. The next morning, Rufus and Cooper were rarin' to get out to the beach, so Kelly and I bundled up and headed out (together with her brother-in-law Bob and his elderly Basenji, Toby).
The morning was crisp and cool, and the tide was out, leaving a vast expanse of firm, wet sand.
Rufus spotted a bunch of gulls picking through the jetsam on the beach left by the receding tide. Ever the optimist, he went pounding off to see how close he could get, Cooper in hot pursuit.
Not surprisingly, the boys did not have any luck getting a gull (Cannon Beach being a very popular beach for dogs, and these gulls having played this game before), and watched in dismay as the birds casually winged down the beach to settle again at the water's edge.
Rufus then decided there MUST be something interesting buried under this all that sand, and set out to find out what it was.
Cooper took this opportunity to find a friend to go romping around with. Cooper chased his new buddy...
...and was chased in return.
Rufus finally tired of trying to dig up the beach, and invited Toby to play.
Toby is not a young dog, and so Rufus was forced to entertain himself while Toby trotted along behind.
Cooper wandered back over, and Rufus too this opportunity to whale on him as only a big brother can...
Note that Cooper is now taller and longer than Rufus, and only trails him by fifteen pounds or so. Better get your licks is while you can, Rufus...
The next day, we loaded up and headed for home, the boys were pretty beat, and watched the passing scenery with drowsy puppy eyes...
After such a big weekend, Cooper was pretty worn out, and wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
The Long Lost Update
A lot has been happening at our house since my last post months and months ago. One of Rufus's fans finally chided me for not posting in a while, so I decided I'd better get back on it...
First of all, Cooper is growing at an astounding rate. Below is a picture of him at 9 weeks back in May
Here he is in June 24 (around six weeks later), and he is almost as big as Rufus!
We think that in a month or so (i.e. by the time he is six months old), he will be as tall as Rufus, and should weigh as much as Rufus by the time he is nine months old. Yikes!
Given the fact that he has been around Nikita ever since he came home, they have developed a pretty close relationship. Here, he and Niky spoon on the couch. Note those feet - that is NOT an optical illusion.
Bear in mind that he was not that much bigger than Nikita just a few weeks ago (scroll down for a picture of him, Rufus, and Nikita on the bed)...
We also added a new member to the household - Max the Savannah Cat. Unlike Niky (who is only 4% Serval), Max is 50% Serval, and his wild ancestry shows through in his coat and in some aspects of his personality.
We were initially concerned about how Nikita would react to this interloper into her domain, but she immediately took Max under her wing and began treating him like the little brother she'd been waiting for. Among other things, Max has become her favorite toy...
Like Cooper, Max is growing at a crazy rate. In a few short weeks, he has become almost as big as Nikita, who is six months older than him.
A lot has been happening at our house since my last post months and months ago. One of Rufus's fans finally chided me for not posting in a while, so I decided I'd better get back on it...
First of all, Cooper is growing at an astounding rate. Below is a picture of him at 9 weeks back in May
Here he is in June 24 (around six weeks later), and he is almost as big as Rufus!
We think that in a month or so (i.e. by the time he is six months old), he will be as tall as Rufus, and should weigh as much as Rufus by the time he is nine months old. Yikes!
Given the fact that he has been around Nikita ever since he came home, they have developed a pretty close relationship. Here, he and Niky spoon on the couch. Note those feet - that is NOT an optical illusion.
Bear in mind that he was not that much bigger than Nikita just a few weeks ago (scroll down for a picture of him, Rufus, and Nikita on the bed)...
We also added a new member to the household - Max the Savannah Cat. Unlike Niky (who is only 4% Serval), Max is 50% Serval, and his wild ancestry shows through in his coat and in some aspects of his personality.
We were initially concerned about how Nikita would react to this interloper into her domain, but she immediately took Max under her wing and began treating him like the little brother she'd been waiting for. Among other things, Max has become her favorite toy...
Like Cooper, Max is growing at a crazy rate. In a few short weeks, he has become almost as big as Nikita, who is six months older than him.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Cooper and Nikita
It has been highly entertaining to see the relationship between Cooper and Nikita evolve.
Cooper tends to treat Niki as a furry chew toy. Niki responds with ungodly yowling and squirming.
After repeatedly chastising Cooper for gnawing on his little sister, we realized that, as a Great Dane puppy, he is not that hard to get away from. Thus, either Niki is not that bright (yeah, right...), or this was some sort of elaborate interspecies game (and they really love each other).
As if to prove our point, the next time we saw Niki on the couch with Cooper, this is the scene which greeted us:
It has been highly entertaining to see the relationship between Cooper and Nikita evolve.
Cooper tends to treat Niki as a furry chew toy. Niki responds with ungodly yowling and squirming.
After repeatedly chastising Cooper for gnawing on his little sister, we realized that, as a Great Dane puppy, he is not that hard to get away from. Thus, either Niki is not that bright (yeah, right...), or this was some sort of elaborate interspecies game (and they really love each other).
As if to prove our point, the next time we saw Niki on the couch with Cooper, this is the scene which greeted us:
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Monday, May 07, 2007
Monkeys in the Grass
Springtime has finally arrived here in the Pacific Northwest, and Rufus and Cooper took the opportunity to lounge around in the grass in Kelly's back yard last weekend.
However, Cooper quickly grew bored with this and initiated a Mouth Jousting session by trodding on Rufus's head.
Rufus retaliated a bit more quickly than Cooper anticipated, catching him off guard.
However, Cooper recovered quickly and and went on the offensive
Finally, Kelly arrived to distract Cooper and save Rufus's bacon
By this point, Cooper had gotten a bit drowsy anyway
With his nemisis otherwise occupied, Rufus seized the opportunity to crash out again
Springtime has finally arrived here in the Pacific Northwest, and Rufus and Cooper took the opportunity to lounge around in the grass in Kelly's back yard last weekend.
However, Cooper quickly grew bored with this and initiated a Mouth Jousting session by trodding on Rufus's head.
Rufus retaliated a bit more quickly than Cooper anticipated, catching him off guard.
However, Cooper recovered quickly and and went on the offensive
Finally, Kelly arrived to distract Cooper and save Rufus's bacon
By this point, Cooper had gotten a bit drowsy anyway
With his nemisis otherwise occupied, Rufus seized the opportunity to crash out again
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Cooper Comes Home
Kelly has been thinking about bringing another dog into her life since Lucky was killed. She has always wanted a Great Dane, and in fact thought Luck was one when she got him (she was working at a large breed rescue at the time). She has been checking out Dane breeders in our area on the net, and came across one who had a two week old litter. She expressed an interest in paying them a visit, and this seemed like a safe thing to do. After all, it would be 6-8 weeks before they will be ready to go to their new homes, and so she would have plenty of time to think about whether she was ready.
Last Sunday, we drove up to visit the breeder in question. When we arrived and walked around the side of his house to his dog pens, the first thing I noticed was a young Dane in a pen with three females. "Uh oh," I thought, "here we go..." We met the three females (one of which is the mother of the litter we can to see), and checked out the puppies (which were little black and white peanuts whose eyes have not even opened yet). Throughout, this little guy followed Kelly around, gnawing on her ankles and generally let it be known that he thought she was pretty neat. Turns out that he was the last unplaced pup from the breeder's last litter. The breeder was anxious to place him, and offered Kelly a deal if she would take him. I personally think this was not even necessary: Kelly was smitten with him from the moment she saw him. To make a long story short, the little guy, who we eventually named Cooper, came home with us that evening to be part of our family. We have now officially crossed the line from pet owning household to menagerie...
Here is Kelly, obviously VERY happy with her decision just before we loaded up into the car to head home.
As soon as we got home, Nikita and Rufus showed an intense interest in the little guy.
Rufus (ever the gentlemen) offered Cooper his favorite play ball to try out.
Cooper immediately attacked it with great enthusiasm (although, given his present size, without a lot of effectiveness).
The next day, Kelly took Cooper to work with him. He was hugely excited by this, as evidenced by this photo.
However, he soon found all the attention he got from Kelly's co-workers to be exhausting, and curled up for a nap by her desk.
The next morning, we got up to feed all the "monkeys", and Cooper decided that Rufus's bowl looked much better than his own (even though we put the same food in both).
Rufus continues to be a very gentle big brother to Cooper, and looked a bit perplexed as to what to do as Cooper proceeded to snarf down most of Rufus's breakfast.
That evening, Rufus commenced to teach Cooper the fine art of "mouth jousting", a game which Rufus used to play with much gusto with Lucky.
Cooper turned out to be a quick study, and Rufus soon found himself on the receiving end of some adept moves by Cooper.
After having Cooper chew on his head for a while, Rufus decided to redirect Cooper's enthusiasm towards a rope chew toy.
However, Cooper quickly generalized from the rope to Rufus's tail (while is about the same size and consistency). Rufus was not amused.
Rufus finally gave up and went back to mouth jousting with Cooper while Nikita observed from her perch at the end of the bed. Eventually, the little guy ran out of steam, and we were all able to get to sleep (abet only for a few hours - we are on "out to pee every three hours" puppy time for now).
Kelly has been thinking about bringing another dog into her life since Lucky was killed. She has always wanted a Great Dane, and in fact thought Luck was one when she got him (she was working at a large breed rescue at the time). She has been checking out Dane breeders in our area on the net, and came across one who had a two week old litter. She expressed an interest in paying them a visit, and this seemed like a safe thing to do. After all, it would be 6-8 weeks before they will be ready to go to their new homes, and so she would have plenty of time to think about whether she was ready.
Last Sunday, we drove up to visit the breeder in question. When we arrived and walked around the side of his house to his dog pens, the first thing I noticed was a young Dane in a pen with three females. "Uh oh," I thought, "here we go..." We met the three females (one of which is the mother of the litter we can to see), and checked out the puppies (which were little black and white peanuts whose eyes have not even opened yet). Throughout, this little guy followed Kelly around, gnawing on her ankles and generally let it be known that he thought she was pretty neat. Turns out that he was the last unplaced pup from the breeder's last litter. The breeder was anxious to place him, and offered Kelly a deal if she would take him. I personally think this was not even necessary: Kelly was smitten with him from the moment she saw him. To make a long story short, the little guy, who we eventually named Cooper, came home with us that evening to be part of our family. We have now officially crossed the line from pet owning household to menagerie...
Here is Kelly, obviously VERY happy with her decision just before we loaded up into the car to head home.
 |
| From 2007-04-30 Co... |
As soon as we got home, Nikita and Rufus showed an intense interest in the little guy.
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
Rufus (ever the gentlemen) offered Cooper his favorite play ball to try out.
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
Cooper immediately attacked it with great enthusiasm (although, given his present size, without a lot of effectiveness).
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
The next day, Kelly took Cooper to work with him. He was hugely excited by this, as evidenced by this photo.
 |
| From 2007-04-30 Co... |
However, he soon found all the attention he got from Kelly's co-workers to be exhausting, and curled up for a nap by her desk.
 |
| From 2007-04-30 Co... |
The next morning, we got up to feed all the "monkeys", and Cooper decided that Rufus's bowl looked much better than his own (even though we put the same food in both).
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
Rufus continues to be a very gentle big brother to Cooper, and looked a bit perplexed as to what to do as Cooper proceeded to snarf down most of Rufus's breakfast.
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
That evening, Rufus commenced to teach Cooper the fine art of "mouth jousting", a game which Rufus used to play with much gusto with Lucky.
Cooper turned out to be a quick study, and Rufus soon found himself on the receiving end of some adept moves by Cooper.
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
After having Cooper chew on his head for a while, Rufus decided to redirect Cooper's enthusiasm towards a rope chew toy.
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
However, Cooper quickly generalized from the rope to Rufus's tail (while is about the same size and consistency). Rufus was not amused.
 |
| From Rufus and Cooper |
Rufus finally gave up and went back to mouth jousting with Cooper while Nikita observed from her perch at the end of the bed. Eventually, the little guy ran out of steam, and we were all able to get to sleep (abet only for a few hours - we are on "out to pee every three hours" puppy time for now).
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