Live and Let Mud

Today at the park, Buzz lost his head


No not literally, but figuratively. You see, I have always let Buzz play in the mud pools on this particular hike because there is a lake where he can rinse off. He really likes to play in the mud and I like to see him happy, plus, a little mud isn’t going to hurt him.

Well today, Buzz did more than his typical stroll through the mud pool. He…well…just look…





Here’s a close up on that last image:

Can you see his collar there? Towards the bottom of the image? Yeah? Still need help figuring out what is going on? Well, he’s laying on his side in the mud and pushing his head under the mud. Let me repeat that: HE’S LYING ON HIS SIDE IN THE MUD AND PUSHING HIS HEAD UNDER THE MUD.

That mud is farm mud, by the way, so it smells like manure. And while I, as a good Wisconsin girl, think of manure as a good honest smell (vastly preferable to sewage or bacteria-riddled swamp water) it is not a very *nice* smell.

The beast emerges.


The beast shakes.


The beast looks about his beastly domain.


Seriously, he was like the Golem’s dog or something, created entirely of cow poo. I was ready to deny he was mine to anyone coming up the path “no, that’s not my dog, that’s a creature that emerged from the muck!”

I was worried that my “live and let mud” philosophy may have served me poorly. Being this dirty does present something of a problem because as you may recall, Buzz does not swim, he wades. Usually, this works out fine because he also only wades in the mud. But, today he snorkled in it. So, um, was he going to dip his head in the lake?


No.
How to solve this problem?

Plan A:
Since it looks like this…

when Buzz fetches sticks out of the lake, I did a lot of throwing sticks into the lake.

After five minutes, we still had this:


So, more fetching ensued (by the way, I LOVE that image, so happy and gross! see it larger by clicking *here*)



More fetching:


Then finally I put Plan B into effect:
I put down the camera, took off my socks & shoes, rolled up my pants, and waded in with him to splash some water on his head and top line.


In short order, we were ready to go! Have a great weekend everyone, and remember: live and let mud!
Worst case scenario: you've a wee golem to do your bidding!

The Farm

There is a most beautiful piece of land that my family has owned for several decades. It has a river running through it. It is full of trees and grasses and deer and sunshine. We all refer to it as "the farm" even though the part of the property that is a working dairy farm is no longer owned by my grandmother.

Last weekend, Buzz and I drove to Wisconsin and went camping on the farm with my brothers and our cousins.

Buzz was miserable the entire time.


He could not pursue any of his favorite activities like running in the woods...


or wading in the river...


what's more, there was no one for him to play with...

[Some of you will recognize that guy as my baby brother, AKA Uncle Scary. He's holding his dogs Sophie (the hound) and Castro (the border collie mix). If you look closely, you'll see Sophie in the picture of Buzz in the woods and Castro's tail in the picture of Buzz in the river.]

Going to the farm was torture for Buzz, he rolled around in agony the entire time.


The poor thing. : )

In other news, when I got into this...

...we discovered a couple of things: (1) Buzz can, in fact, do more than wade. He can swim. (2) Buzz will swim after me if I get in the canoe and paddle upstream. (3) Buzz will not ride in a canoe. (4) It's probably easiest if I just don't canoe when the dog is around. (5) My brothers don't think it is funny when I recount the tale of Buzz's swim by singing Carole King's "Where You Lead, I Will Follow" and doing an interpretive dance.

Unseasonably Warm, Especially Energetic

Buzz is usually a high-energy dog, but sometimes he turns it up to 11. Buzz had some extra energy last night, so I got out his tuggy for a quick game.

“Tug tug tug!!!!!”


But, while only played tug for about 3 minutes, Buzz continued to play for the next two hours.

“I’m on my belly, dominating the tuggy!”


“Look everybody! I’m doing a headstand and still dominating the tuggy!”


“I am the champion and the best!”


“What do you mean it is bedtime? I have tugs to dominate!”


Buzz, if you go to bed and sleep like a good boy, we can run at the lake tomorrow morning. Just be quiet and calm for eight hours.

“Deal! I will tuck myself into my comfy crate and dream of sticks and lakes and mud.”


Dear reader, in the pictures you will see if you scroll down, Buzz is burning approximately one million calories. The effect of viewing these pictures is unknown, but they may make you feel much less or much more energetic. You’ve been warned!

The calm before the storm.


Just smelling the smells and seeing the sights.


Starting to have a little bit of fun...


Picking up speed...


Drat! He's back on leash because we're approaching the smaller lake and it sounds like the swans are on the near shore.


Yep, the swans were right by the trail having a swim and a honky little talk.


Buzz was interested, but not too interested.


By which I mean that he made no attempt to eat them, but he did watch them closely.


Once we moved along, Buzz started to get some funny ideas. Like, why not walk on two legs for a while?


Prepare for lift-off!


It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SuperBuzz!


He started to look a little tired from the bipedal walking and the flying…


See, he calmly stepped over this fallen tree! Tired, right?


Uh-oh, I spoke to soon!
“THE LAKE! THE LAKE! THE LAKE!”

(Yes, it is November in Michigan, but it was 60 degrees out today, so Buzz was not in danger of freezing.)

“FETCHING IN WATER IS MY FAVORITE!”


“I’m only holding still ‘cause you’ve got my stick. Throw it. Throw. Throw it. Throw the stick. Stick. Stick needs to be thrown. Throw.”


“Check out THIS AWESOME STICK!”


“I like this one, too! I LOVE ALL THE STICKS!”


“Okay, time to dry off!”


“What are you laughing at?”


“Oh, this seems to work better when I get out of the water and then shake.”


‘Oh, look at my dog, all nice and clean,’ thought the food lady who was prone to jinxing herself and speaking too soon.
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‘Oh well, at least he seems to be worn out now,’ thought the food lady who was prone to jinxing herself and speaking too soon.
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::::food lady smacks herself upside the head:::

Next on the menu: a love affair with a stick.


Or maybe tree is a better word for it.


Buzz seemed to agree that it was oversized, so he snapped little pieces off of it for a while and then tossed it aside. Just like a man. Sigh.


Oh, isn’t it too bad he’s not in focus here?


Dear reader, are you tired yet? Buzz isn’t!


Not at all!


Okay, maybe a little.