Nothing Sadder than a Sad Dog

     Whenever we prepare to leave the house, Duncan is quick to comprehend. Some internal radar alerts the little wisenheimer that he will be left alone for a spell and his response is calculated. The pose shown here is the "I can't believe you guys are leaving without me"  look. It does inspire a little remorse on our part, therefore, before the door shuts a little extra attention is showered on the poor, poor boy, even though that's not his aim.

Borador Dunc and his Duck

     Duncan likes to "help" his dad skim the pool every day. Usually he just hangs on the edge and supervises, but on this particular day he ran suddenly back inside the house and returned with one of his many toys - a stuffed duck - and placed it carefully in the water. We were nonplussed at the connection the little smartypants made all on his own!

Borador Duncan and His Pot

    A late spring day spent in the gardens was a combination of fun and work - digging, planting, mulching, watering - and puppy Dunc was thrilled with all of the activity. His self-assigned task was to grab a just-emptied plastic pot and happily carry it around the backyard for the duration of our enterprise.

     We were not overly happy, however, when it was time for bed and found that Dunc had forsaken his favorite stuffed bunny for the prized pot!

Lab + Border Collie + Zebra mix?

     A sunny Sunday morning in deep winter, Duncan sits on the bed. He is "pouting" because we are getting ready to leave for a luncheon date and he's pretty sure he won't be going with us. While trying to look sad, he spies a squirrel in the backyard and it holds his attention long enough for me to run and grab my camera. The low sunbeams that filter through the window blinds have produced light stripes across Dunc's black fur. Voila - zebra dog!

The Sun's So Bright

     Because Dunc loves to hang his head out the window when riding in the truck, Pop thought it prudent to protect his best friend's eyes. A pair of doggie goggles seemed a good idea and fit well, however, Dunc will only leave them on long enough to get a treat and perhaps for a photograph!

Jumping Monkies

     When Duncan chases squirrels in the backyard, we marvel at his sprinting speed and when the little acrobats tease him unmercifully by keeping just out of reach on the ash trunk, we laugh at his attempts to get up the tree. The poor dog jumps as high as possible and probably wishes he had some chimp-like climbing ability.
  

     After photographing Dunc, I was treated to a visit by the neighbor kids and we played Jumping Monkeys  at the dining room table. The object of the game is to catapult all four of your monkeys onto a 12-inch plastic tree before the other players. The fun is fast-paced and requires some practice (especially by little hands) to get a good aim. Also it is important to use the correct pressure on the launcher, as three-year-old Lydia found when one of her monkeys landed atop the chandelier instead of on the tree. Laughter ensued and amid the giggles, I grabbed the camera and got a shot of Lydia's errant ape. It WAS a day for simian high jinks.

The Borador Momentarily Not in Motion

     In the backyard, my Duncan is rarely an object at rest, therefore when I saw him reposed yesterday, I had to record it for posterity. He had positioned himself in the very middle of the yard, with an eye on the trees at right and left (for squirrels) and the neighbor's deck to the rear (for cats), so he was not actually napping. I know that he likes to be close to the fireplace or snuggled under blankets so perhaps he was also enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun on one of autumn's last ambrosial days.

Of course, when he hears the click of the camera shutter, he is instantly alert!

The Nose Knows

     Duncan is a Borador with short hair - an indoor dog for all of his fourteen months of life.  Despite the fact that he is high-energy, this pup has preferred time inside the house, at least until recently when the Midwest was blanketed with several inches of snow! Dunc reveled in it, spending hours running, playing and just digging his nose under the powdery stuff. Topping off his wintery fun, the little thief stole our snowlady's carrot nose (it proved too tempting) and knocked her head off in the process!

     Later in the week as the snow melted, poor Dunc couldn't understand why no one would come out to play with him, as evidenced by the pleading look on his face

Borador and the Bunny

    The bunny was placed next to a sleeping Duncan and I hoped for a cute cuddly pose to enclose with an Easter greeting. But of course, he woke instantly and reached over to get the toy in his mouth (where everything and anything seems to end up during these baby dog days). I snapped a quick photo anyway and was surprised that the result was a rare moment  free of the usual puppy frenzy and full of beguiling innocence.

Follow the TP Trail

Waking up to some white stuff spilling out of the master bathroom and into the bedroom, we had to quietly follow the trail. It led out the door...

through the hall...

 

and into another room, where at the end sat the nonchalant culprit.

 

He exited with casual unconcern, almost as if to say, "Don't know how this happened!"

Borador Goes Out the Door

     The new puppy actually had no name for several days - we could not agree on one and figured somehow or other, he would earn it. Then I thought of a television series that Pop adored called The Highlander, whose main characters were Duncan and Connor MacLeod. After pointing out that Duncan was also Gaelic for dark warrior, Pop was convinced and puppy was christened.

     At seven weeks, Duncan lived up to his name as he braved the outdoors for the first time. Our dark warrior sniffed the new territory and took tentative steps over the sliding door track. A lone leaf captured his attention before he made a gigantic leap down the first step

Then another new wonder on that first step - a stick!

And a few short minutes later, we've had enough outdoors and make the giant leap, or rather climb, back inside the house for a nap. After all, warriors need rest too.

Puppy Love: Duncan, the Borador

     Just shy of six weeks, Duncan Connor MacLoed, was adopted from a farm in rural Illinois. His mother was a mostly white border collie and his father was a black laborador retriever. Adorable, as most puppies are, he was especially vulnerable and endearing because he was very young. However he was weaned and the owners were anxious to find homes for the ten pups, so with one look we were hooked on all three pounds of that little Borador.

     The hook sank deepest into Rissy, who begged to visit quite often during those first couple of weeks. Puppy Dunc was showered with lots of attention and presented with an array of sleeping and carrying options, even a bread basket (above) that had heretofore been used on the dinner table. Rissy informed her mother that when she was sixteen, she was going to get her own puppy (mother responded in the affirmative - that a puppy would be much cheaper than a car!)