Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Smile – May 15, 2016

Meagan and Merlin said, “So today my partner Trevor was burning some rubbish in the yard and Merlin hid behind my legs. It makes me smile in a way cos it shows he finds comfort in being next to me.”

Awe, that is so sweet. He knows you will protect him!

Jan said, “She is soaking up the vitamin D, isn’t that the sunshine vitamin or maybe communing with the Mother Ship.”

Yes vitamin D IS the sunshine vitamin, but I’m leaning more towards the communing with the Mother Ship. 🙂

Jen Gabbard said, “Naps in the sun are a major part of Laika’s day, and it always puts a smile on my face too. It always looks so comfortable, but when I try to join her I just get irritated by the ants & end up saying “ow my back, how do you lay like this all day…” Oh the joys of being an adult I suppose.”

Bah ha ha, them I’m hot and sweaty, etc. Yeah, no, laying in the sun is not my thing either.

Jan K said, “Every day when I would get home from work, Cricket would run to roll in the grass. Since we hadn’t had grass in the pen, I missed seeing her do that! Now that we’ve got the new fencing, I was so happy to see her out there rolling in it again.”

Yes! It gives you so much joy doesn’t it? To see them expressing THEIR joy!

Alexa88 said, “yesterday hubby an i were walking lily. lily was doing her sniffing thing when apparenty she smelled something bad. she started sneezing and had her tongue hanging out.
the look on her face was like ack wth!!… we were bad parents but couldn’t help but laugh at her facial expression.”

You are NOT bad parents! I know I would have laughed too.

Monika and Sam said, “Hey…a girl’s gotta work on her tan, doesn’t she? I mean how else can D-dog maintain that gorgeous brown body?”

Well that is true, but seeing as she’s dark, I would think she’d really absorb the heat!

2 Brown Dawgs said, “Oh noooo Delilah is now an old dog laying in the sun. Thunder started doing that too recently. He never did it when he was younger.”

Noooooo, say it isn’t so!! Delilah NEVER liked to lie out in the sun, she has always been an ‘inside’ dog. She’ll go out if you are doing an activity, but she prefers to be inside.

If It Was Any Closer

Saved by Dogs said, “Look at the bright side – she didn’t grab it and bring it in to run around the house, sharing it with everyone.”

Oh. Dear. God. Thank you! I can only imagine!! We had a cat when we were kids that used to bring mice in and play with them.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “I remember one time a squirrel fell out of a tree and landed right in between Coco and Pixie – our first two dogs. They were all so surprised that they just froze in place. But, as soon as the squirrel shook himself off and started to run, the dogs took off after him. Mom and I laughed about that for weeks.”

Oh my gosh, I would have laughed about that too. Don’t you wish you had it on video?

Emma said, “So frustrating! Mom often loses her sunglasses only to find them on her head, or she panics because her cellphone is missing, but she is actually talking on it. Humans are just silly!”

Yes, we are silly. It’s because we have so many things we are juggling. 🙂

Taryn said, “This happens to my dogs all the time. If it doesn’t move, they don’t see it. It’s especially true with deer when the wind is blowing their scent away from us. I can’t open our backdoor without both my knuckleheads barrelling/woofing out every single time. All wildlife gets fair warning to head for the fenceline!”

We had that happen with a deer in the woods. They could smell it, but it was standing still in the trees and neither one could spot it. But man, they see them when they are outside our fence. And same thing, barreling/woofing like crazy. Heads up deer, the loonies are coming! LOL

Jan said, “Dogs have predator eyes. They see movement football fields away, but they are not so good with still objects.”

You are right about that! Except sometimes my guys see something that is out of the norm, you know? Like when people put out those lawn ornaments and the dogs KNOW that it wasn’t there yesterday.

Jan K said, “I wonder if those chippies knew it was their lucky day?”

Somehow, I doubt it. 😉

Julie said, “Sometimes Cocoa does not notice something right in front of her. She becomes so fixated on something in the distance or whatever that she misses the cat or rabbit near her!!”

Ah yes, that happens all the time on our walks. I see the cat, but someone does not. 😉

Mary Ann said, “Lila walked passed some ducks today, and I wondered why! She missed seeing them. In her defense, I must say, they did blend in with their surroundings. It was nice that she didn’t go running off after them since I was holding onto her leash.”

Could you imagine? Delilah and the damn blowing leaves, there have been times when she’s just about pulled me off my feet!

Melf said, “This happened with Jasper once. He was dozing under the lilac bush and a squirrel started to saunter by, saw him, froze, and then skedaddled away as fast as he could. Jasper just watched him. Unlike Delilah, he saw the squirrel. Did nothing. Silly dog.”

LOL don’t you wish you recorded that? 

2 Brown Dawgs said, “Freighter was out in the yard not long ago, and in the next yard sat Mr. Bunny in the grass. Only one problem, I did not have the electric fence collar on Freighter and I was hoping he would not bolt after the bunny. Would have been a test of recall. Lucky for me there was no wind and the bunny was in the shadows so completely blended into the background. Bunny left and Freighter never had any idea it had been there.”

Oh gosh! That sure would have been a test! Yesterday morning on our walk there was a bunny in the bush, neither one of us saw it, but we heard it as it left the bushes. We both looked and then we saw it. Thankfully, I was able to distract her from it.

Jackie Bouchard said, “Are Labs scent dogs or sight? Because that reminds me of a story with our beagle – definitely a scent hound! Bailey used to always chase the squirrels and bunnies our yard. One day i went out and there was this oblivious bunny hoping along our fence. The dog came out and started sniffing around, and I was shriek-whispering to her and pointing frantically, “Over there! There’s a bunny RIGHT THERE!” And she could definitely smell it and knew it was out there, but she had to go nose-to-the-ground and follow everywhere he’d been before she could get around to the spot – that of course he vacated long before she got close enough. It was like those stupid Family Circus cartoons where you follow the dashes – – – – – – – to see everywhere the kids have been. (That also reminds me… once I got to SEE how that sniffer of hers really works. We briefly lived where it snows, and one day I could see that she was only nose-to-the-ground-ing in places where there were little critter tracks in the snow. I realized her world when we went on walks was all those little critter tracks – but I was only aware of them when there was a trail in the snow.)”

I think Labradors are scent hounds. Both my guys go out with their noses to the ground. As for you bunny encounter, that makes me laugh as I’ve done the same thing with Delilah!

Throwback Thursday – Puppy Size

Genevieve said, “Sweetest. Story. Ever. It IS all about the sighs. They say so much.

Yes, they do.

Emma said, “The small photos remind me of our early blog posts where we didn’t know the photos could be bigger! Such a cute story! My mom always cuddles with each of us and sighs.”

Do you remember when we first started blogging. I can’t believe how much I didn’t know! I’m like Mom and I like to cuddle and sigh too.

Jan K said, ” I love it when one of the dogs lies down on the bed or couch next to me and just lets out a big sigh. It is such a happy feeling to know that they are content.”

It really is.

Mary Hone said, “That is such a sweet story, and every shelter should have it hanging on their wall.”

Yes, I agree.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “And I too love the sighs of contentment that I’ve always gotten from my girls, all my girls – KissyAngel, CallieAngel, Shadow, and Ducky. They’ve always made me smile. And while I love all my girls equally, there’s something special about Ducky’s sighs. Having come from the shelter to which she had been returned twice before her first birthday, knowing that she’s happy and feels loved by us makes my own heart sigh whenever she sighs.”

There is a special feeling from a rescue dog, especially one that has had challenges, like Delilah and Ducky. It is almost like a validation that you’ve helped that dog, if that makes any sense.

That’s it for me my friends, have a wonderful weekend.