It's a dog's life...

Randy definitely loves this retirement gig. She's taken to jumping on the sofa as soon as Bryan walks out of the house in the morning (sometimes she barely waits for him to get out the door). In the afternoon when he gets home, she quickly jumps off the sofa and lays on her bed, as though she's been snoozing there all day. (...Though he mentioned that the last few mornings, she hasn't moved very quickly to get off the sofa). I think she has found an "easy mark."

Katy routinely dresses her up....Put her in hats and covers her with blankets and encourages her to jump on the bed. Randy tolerates her beautifully.

On other news: The patio is about 2/3 completed. It is looking good. I will try to upload photos in the next day or so.

Randy update and new patio

No photos of Randy today...I have been busy with the patio and haven't had a chance to get the camera out after her lately. She is doing great, though. She has decided that the little dogs are great fun, and Kip is her favorite by far. She gives him hell, playing rough with him in the backyard. He get completely slimed as he wrestles with her and she bites him over the head and neck and back. He absolutely loves it, and the two of them are just hilarious together. I will try to get some photos of the silliness in the next few days.

As for the patio...we are working hard. Today we completed the edging and filling and compacting the base, and we started laying out just a few stones tonight. I think it is going to be wonderful, though perhaps way bigger than we needed. It's fun stuff though!

The Intimidator

Randy and the dogs are doing great. I heard one low growl from her today, but only because Tess was trying to steal a toy. Tess and Kip are both a little intimidated by her, but they have quickly realized that she's not interested in a confrontation so just moving away from her will eliminate any problems. Randy was very interested in Katy's stuffed animals and kept stealing them from her toybox, so I went and picked up a couple of stuffed toys. All 3 dogs had a good time with them, but it was funny to watch Randy collect them, one by one, along with 2 tennis balls until she had a pile. Tess briefly flirted with taking one, but Randy quickly helped her change her mind.

I am amazed at how quickly she has adapted to this situation. It's just now 48 hours since she arrived, and she has settled into life as a "house dog" beautifully. She still wants on the sofa, and I laugh when I see how familiar with that piece of furniture she is (--She's NEVER done that before, has she, my MWD handler friends?! * LOL*) She's also VERY interested in human food and only moderately interested in her own. She loves rolling in the grass in the backyard, and this may sound silly, but she seems almost "grateful" for the lifestyle change. I'm sure we will find something about her will make us a little crazy, but so far I haven't found it. There's definitely a little too much dog underfoot in our small house, but it's definitely worth it. It feels good to make a small difference in the life of a dog that has worked for so many years.

Ciao,

Robin.

Meeting of the dogs

After Katy went to sleep tonight, we did a brief introduction for the dogs. Randy's prey drive was evident--she really wanted to think those little dogs were fat little squirrels whenever they got a little wiggly and silly, but it was all okay. No arguments, no drama, despite Kip's obsession with her and her desire to taste squirrel.

We will watch them closely when they are together for a while, but I'm sure it will be fine. Randy is obviously very good natured, and so are Kip and Tess, so it's just a matter of them learning the ropes together. We'll do the same thing again tomorrow and take it slow.

Randy's arrival

She's here!

And I think she's already decided that this retirement gig is a pretty cool thing. We have allowed her some time to adjust without the irritation of the little dogs...Will work on that tomorrow. Right now, she's following Katy's every move around the house, getting lots of love and petting, hoping for a handout from SOMEONE (while not eating her dog food), and trying to convince us that her spot of choice should be the sofa.

She just adores Katy, and it appears as though the feeling is completely mutual.

I think this is going to work out very very well.

A few final lake images

It's hard to turn loose of vacation and head back to work. I couldn't resist posting a few final photos of a most relaxing, fun, margarita-filled vacation. Thanks for everything, Mom and Dad!

Randy update and WatermelonFest

So, it's currently about 9:15 am in Daegu, S. Korea, and I think that Randy should be on her way to Seoul for her flight out tomorrow. It's about a 14 hour flight, which will have her arriving in DC at about the same time on Thursday that she left Seoul. We are all anxiouly awaiting her arrival here. Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly.

Katy and Ryan had a blast this year at Nana and Papa's house. Katy told me tonight that she wished that we had a lake and a boat and some stairs at our house. I am attaching some photos from what appears to becoming an annual tradition (at least for a while) of letting the "little kids" run amok with watermelon sometime during their visit together. Both of them (but especially Ryan) were absolutely hilarious!

Enjoy!

Honestly, does it get any better than this?

More vacation photos.

At the lake

This is vacation at Lake Martin. Life is good.

Dining room, almost complete

Short of some touch-up paint and some work on that horrible wall o' knotty pine by the fireplace, the dining room is finally completed. I like the color, and I really like some of the photos that I printed to hang on the wall.

See you in less than 24 hours, Mom and Dad! We are excited!

One more dog...

On August 7, we will be adding yet one more mouth to feed to our family. Military working dog Randy A143 will be making a 14-hour flight from Incheon, S. Korea to Dulles Airport in Washington DC, as she retires from nearly 12 years of military service for the US Army. Her future plans? Snoozing by the fireplace, wrestling with the small dogs, chasing her beloved Kong in the backyard, getting lots of love and ear scratches from a 4 year-old little girl, and generally kicking back and relaxing.

The kennelmaster promised better photos, but for now I just have one. Here's ex-MWD Randy, posing as a frog. Isn't she cute?

Ciao!

Robin.

In the sprinkler

Bryan worked today, so Katy and I had a "girls day out." We had lunch out, then stopped and picked up a few groceries, a sprinkler, and a magazine for me. The lawn was looking a tad parched, so I figured that I'd sit outside with a magazine and a nice cool drink while Katy both helped the grass get watered and ran off some energy by playing in the sprinkler. Of course, she was too cute, so I had to go grab my camera. I still have that magazine--maybe I'll get a chance to read it tomorrow!