Sunday, January 9, 2011

Flinging the Poop

Welcome to Lying Down With Dogs, my fascinating look inside a life with more than one dog. How many dogs? you ask. Um, that is the reason for this blog, because I have more than one. Sometimes as many as 15 at a time. Today, however, there are 12: my basic six-pack of adult dogs and 6 brand new puppies, just days old.




They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here's one for you to consider. Hmm, a tree? Yes, it's a tree about a stone's throw from my back door. And, since it's January and the dead of winter right now, I'm sure you think that's a dead leaf hanging out of the tree. Let me show you another photo with a bit more detail. Look closely.


Yes, that is what you think it is, and yes, it's lodged very securely in the tree. I know you are asking, so I'll go ahead and tell you. I put it there. It's part of our daily "flinging the poop" ritual. Sometimes we perform this ritual two or three times a day. 

We have 16.5 acres of land, but there is a fenced one acre around our dwelling. The rest of the acreage is used for raising various livestock, and generally we do not allow the dogs beyond the house backyard.

My husband and I walk around with the dogs when we take them outside for their daily ablutions, and we pick up any little gifts with a small garden trowel. Then we "fling the poop" over the fence into the nearest back acreage section that abuts the house backyard fence. Occasionally though the poop landing spots surprise us. This was one of those times.

I read somewhere that laughter is good for our health and that children generally laugh about 300 times in a day. I'm pretty sure that I got my 300 laughs in today. I even cried with guffaws for a time. Sharing the experience later with my husband, we recalled the times that our "fling the poop" ceremony landed against the side wall of the metal shop barn or whizzed through the branches of a shrubbery, sometimes rebounding back at our feet or flying past our face.

Life with the dogs is a challenge: for example, "fling the poop" happened a few times in the rain today. For the most part though, there will always be a blessing to be found. Today's blessing was the gift of laughter.


I've included a video below of our Dollee Babee and her three day old puppies. This was taken during feeding time. Stay tuned as we update our life with the new puppies (another six pack!).

May your lives be filled with as much joy as ours.


"Bark & Arf" from:
Paula & the Pack

Hummingbird Hill Doxies