It’s cold tonight and the sky is clear and full of stars when the dogs and I go outside to pee before bed. The moon is shaped like the bottom of the letter “b”, it’s a baby moon, when it gets past full it will be a “d” for dying moon. The Big Dipper is all the way around to the upper right side of the North Star on its way to straight up for spring. The sun in this part of the world runs clockwise but the stars go the other way. The people who invented clocks must not have spent much time looking at the stars. Probably too busy building civilizations that make the stars obsolete to everyone except a few hunters and farmers. Now it seems like they are busy finding new ways to send us back to the dark ages. 

I don’t see many people out here and I don’t get out of the woods much but these dogs are good company. Buttercup goes almost everywhere with me. Age is starting to catch up with her and I have to help her get up on the bed sometimes, but she stayed out chasing rabbits for a few hours today while I was working outside so she’s not done yet.  

Buttercup has a bad heart and I have her on Furosemide to keep the fluid from building up in her lungs. I just shake the bottle when it’s time for her pill and she comes and sits in front of me. I drop a pill in her mouth and she swallows it, and then gets up in my lap for a good massage. Sometimes when she gets coughing she comes and sits in front of me. Her way of telling me she needs some relief. Or maybe just some loving. 

Buttercup was Lisa’s dog, one of the last few direct links to Lisa and it’s not going to be a good day when I have to let her go but hopefully it’ll be awhile yet. She’s a little sore and she’s missing some hair around her nose from lots of hard running. Sometimes I think about making her slow down, but the more she runs the better she feels. Exercise is better medicine than anything that comes in a bottle. 

May stays in the house full time now. Never had to house train her, she just knows. She still thinks she’s getting away with something so she keeps a low profile, except at night when she’s snoring. Then everyone knows she’s here. I keep her in the truck when I’m running dogs and sometimes I get her out to show the young dogs what they are supposed to be doing. I can’t believe how well she can see those rabbits crossing the road from a kennel in the back seat. 

I made a pen for Lacey and her puppies downstairs by the wood furnace. I will kind of miss having them next to me at night but they are starting to get out and play and they needed more space. It’s fun to just sit in there and watch them, who needs TV. 

Yesterday my daughter Kila and little Colt went with me to get 2000 pounds of ground beef for the dogs. Needed Kila’s flatbed to haul because that stuff weighs a ton. 

Today I worked on felling trees for next year’s wood pile so the dogs haven’t been getting their miles in chasing snowshoe hare like usual. I did get out and walk a bunch of them and I let a few out to chase cottontails here on the farm. I just put tracking collars on them and turn them loose, they know where to find rabbits. I can go and watch or just listen from the yard while I’m working in the kennel. Usually they come home when they’re done, sometimes I take the side by side out and call them in and then let them ride in front around the farm and back to the house. They all love that, it’s like a high speed walk where they get to just sit and use their nose. 

I spend a lot of time building trails and managing this place for rabbits and other wildlife. Sometimes it feels like I’m running an amusement park for beagles. It works both ways. If I had unlimited time and money and could do whatever I wanted, this is what I’d do. 

The inside of my kennel. I think of a kennel as a place for the dogs to sleep, not live full time. I try to make it a warm and comfortable place to come home to. It also needs to be easy to keep clean and dry.

You can see a ceiling fan, that was something I thought to try to use to dry things out after cleaning and to help move air through in summer. It doesn’t work very well, don’t do it. There are much better alternatives out there.

I’ve tried about every kind of bedding for the dogs, blankets, wood shavings, straw. Tried different kinds of dog beds in the past and didn’t like them. I finally decided to try these Kuranda beds and I really like them so far. They are easy to move and clean, they are designed to be indestructible and so far they have been. They don’t look that comfortable to me but the dogs love them. I still put a blanket down for the older dogs but it really isn’t needed. If you’re looking for a good dog bed that can’t be chewed up I would recommend these.

I don’t like dogs that are “needy”. Kid and his brother Luke were shy as puppies. They weren’t afraid, just not bold and aggressive. This is hereditary and is common in many of my dogs. Some people can’t deal with dogs that are shy and “hard to catch”. It definitely takes a light touch to get along with them, you need to earn their trust. People that are loud and busy put them off. I understand these dogs because we have a lot in common. I don’t want to be pawed and clawed, I like dogs that don’t ask for anything other than just to spend some time with you.

Kid is that kind of dog. You can see intelligence in his eyes. He can read your mood and gets all the feedback he needs from you that way. I can be mad or bored with other dogs and put on a happy face, give them a treat and tell them what a good dog they are and they will believe it. That stuff won’t work with dogs like Kid, he sees right through you. It has to be real.