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Shelties Lookin' for Trouble |
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To provide a safe and happy environment for our canine companions, we fenced in our yard a few years ago. It keeps the pack in, kids out and provides us with peace of mind 'cause we can literally open the door and let the dogs out.
However, we temper the freedom we can offer our dogs with reality in that we're always out with them to make sure the gates weren't inadvertently left open or that a creature of some kind (squirrel, cat, etc.) isn't in the area, which would drive the pack crazy.
The other morning, I was out with the pack and happened to see that Lily & Declan were deeply engrossed in something that was occurring outside the fence that keeps 'em in our yard. I pointed this out to the semi-world famous Presto Dog photographer who was with us and he captured the scene in the picture immediately below:
 Lily & Declan: Shelties Lookin' for Trouble
I'm certain our friends were looking for trouble but their efforts were tempered by our fence. I just know whatever they were tryin' to get into would require a clean up or intervention on our part of some capacity!
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 January 2007 )
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Dougie, our tri-color Collie, is three time bigger than our Shelties, Lyric Lily and Declan. Since he's a young guy (about 1.75 years old), he's always running around the yard acting like, well, a puppy.
Now there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that when it's muddy outside, it takes an inordinately long time to wipe his huge mop feet free of the dirt, mud, twigs and tree parts he manages to accumulate on his person during his frequent jaunts.
Here's a shot of Dougie running toward the semi-world famous Presto Dog photographer:
 Dougie Running
Dougie did manange to stop before crashing into our worthy photographer. Luckily for the latter, I'll say. BTW, that's Lyric in the background. You'll also see a pink ball over her head & to the left; Dougie punctured that with his huge incisors. And right in Dougie's path is a plastic beach ball that Declan deflated with his teeth.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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Presto Dog's New Features |
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If you've clicked around the pages here at the Presto Dog website, you've probably noticed that we've changed the format a bit. For instance, our unique logo is now on the top of each page (thanks to a whole lot of help from my son!). This enhancement was made so our readers would get a sense of familiarity with us. We want folks to feel at home when they take the time to visit us. After all, there are a ton of web sites out here on the Internet.
Another change you've probably noticed is that we have aligned ourselves with Amazon, one of the largest providers of items on the whole 'Net. To see what we're offering from Amazon, click on our DOG STUFF menu link you'll find on the left-hand side of any page. You'll then find four sub-menus that will take you to sections featuring Treats, Toys, Books and DVDs.
We've only been into this venture for a week. As we progress forward, the Presto Dog pack will be reviewing items such as toys, chewies, etc. and we'll let you know what they think of them. If our pack likes 'em, we'll post a link to Amazon so you can see what they have to say about them , too. You'll then have the opportunity to purchase the item. Now, what could be a better endorsement than one from another dog?
Of course, we'll continue to provide you with stories & pictures:  Shelties Three ...of our Presto Dog pack, the kind of stuff that probably brought you to our site in the first place. But, no matter why you're here, enjoy yourself. Life is precious and our wish is for you to take pleasure in every minute you have.
Peace. ________________________________________________________________ |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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Our senior statesperson, Lyric, has beautiful brown eyes. Since a picture speaks a thousand words, let me show you rather than tell you about them:
 Lyric's Eyes
Every dog has something about him/he that's appealing to its owners. Let's just say that this dog's eyes are one of her best assets.
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The camera can capture scenes that might otherwise escape one's notice.
Take, for instance, the picture below of of Lily, one of our four-year old Shetland Sheepdogs. This one depicts her standing still enough for the camera but notice her mouth. It seems that Camera Obscura managed to memorialize the fact that she was licking her chops at the same time the lens performed its function.
 Lily Lips
BTW, the wire on the fence you see behind Lily was put there because when our Shelties are from about eight weeks to 16 weeks old, they're actually small enough to fit between the pickets and get to the other side of the fence!
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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Declan-Magnificent Sheltie |
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Declan, our four-year old Shetland Sheepdog, is the self-proclaimed alpha dog of the Presto Dog pack. His charges include two other Shelties, Lyric and Lily. And there's also Dougie, our tri-color Collie, wih whom he takes special umbrage with at times. Perhaps it's because Dougie's a male; perhaps it's because he's the youngest...for some reason Declan makes a very deliberate effort to keep Dougie in line. Now, things never really get too out of line, but there have been occasions when Declan charges Dougie like the Great White Whale ramming into the side of Captain Ahab's ship in Herman Melville's 19th century classic, Moby Dick. We promptly intervene, of course, but Declan lets his pack know he's the boss...without question.
Here's a profile of Declan, our little alpha boy:
 Declan the Sheltie
We call him little 'cause he's the smallest dog we have. Maybe he's got that Napoleon complex where because of his diminutive size he's got something to prove with the rest of the (dog) world? _____________________________________________________________________________
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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Like most dogs, our pack takes issue with strangers coming near their den. Now, our pack has also re-defined the term "stranger" to include anyone not within their immediate line of sight. This includes, by the way, friends, family, neighbors, etc.
When a stranger (as defined above) comes into their presence, they engage in whay we've come to classify as recreational barking. You can probably imagine what this is, but for the uninformed, it means to incessantly bark, over and over and over, at said stranger.
Based on his size, our tri-color Collie named Dougie has a real deep bark that would give pause to the most fearless of burglars or anyone else who might entertain engaging in some nefarious activity against a member of their family. The picture below captured Dougie advising a stranger, by his definition, to stay away from his property:
 Dougie Barking
If you look real closely at his mouth, you can actually see a bark emitting from his elongated mouth.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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As alluded to earlier, we did get a picture (or two) of all four members of our pack in one frame! Now this may not sound too important or earth shaking to you, but it's so darn difficult to get any of them to stay still for a few seconds, let alone all four.
So, without further ado, we present in order Dougie, Lily, Lyric & Declan in a group picture:
 Dougie, Lily, Lyric & Declan
Congratulations to the semi-world famous Presto Dog photographer who just happened to be in the right place at the right time and was finally able to capture all four of our dogs in the same picture. Come back later & check out the other great shots he captured!
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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It's a weekend, and the pack and I were just outside inspecting the grounds and kicking around a ball or two for exercize. While in the midst of our activities, the semi-world famous Presto Dog photographer appeared on the scene and took some pictures of us with his trusty ol' camera.
Now, I didn't have the time yet to upload all hias work to my P/C so you could check 'em out, but plan to do so in the next couple of hours.
So, check back in a while. Lyric, Lily, Dclan and Douglas have posed very nicely for some of the shots. I even heard there's a picture or two of all of them together, an unheard of precedent in the annals of Presto Dog photography-dom.
Will wonders never cease?
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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As most dog owners know, our four-legged friends have little to no consideration for the cleanliness of a home. This is best evidenced in the Presto Dog household (a.k.a. den) by the fact that this breed won't use mats to wipe their feet we've strategically placed at the entrances to our home.
I've begged, pleaded and demanded that my friends at least make an effort in this endeavor but to date, it's like talking to a brick wall. They continue to track in mud, leaves and assorted other vestiges of the great outdoor into living room, kitchen and any other area they frequent after they return from their jaunts in the wild. What's a homeowner to do?
So, the other day, we held a meeting in our basement. Present were myself (of course, as one of the two real alphas residing in our home) and our four dogs: Lyric, Lily and Declan, all Shelties, and Dougie, our tri-color Collie. The topic of conversation was, of course, the aforementioned cleanliness issue.
I initially took the floor and espoused the fact that we need a little cooperation if we expect to maintain any semblence of neatness in our den. After all, I went on, we all have to live in the place and it's not a barn. Lyric, the senior statesperson of the pack, asked to take the floor. She countered my argument with the fact that there's really nothing wrong with living in a barn and asked if I had a problem with animals in general. A chorus of supporting yips and barks from the other dogs followed her searing soliloqy. I called the meeting to order once again, straining to get control, but it was too late.
Lily started yapping incessantly and turning in circles, inciting Declan who also began barking furiously. Then the big dog, Dougie, proceeded to hown like a wolf and any pretense that I was going to proceed with the meeting melted away like a pat of butter in a hot frying pan. The cacaphony of sound was absolutely deafening!
I've simply gotta find a way to get control of our canine contingent one of these days.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 05 January 2007 )
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We were outside in the yard, enjoying a sunny afternoon over the weekend of 12/30-12/31/06. Our activities usually revolve around me kicking a ball or throwing a stick and having one of the members of our pack, consisting of three Shetland Sheepdogs and a tri-color Collie, chase after them and bring them back to me...for yet another throw and fetch episode.
In the instance at hand, we were reveling in our customary venue, creating ruts in the cold winter's lawn as the grass dogs ran back and forth, back and forth, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Anyway, let me snap out of it and get back to the matter at hand. So, I take a blue ball that Dougie loves and heaved it as far as I could, all the way to the white picket fence about 25 feet away. Immediately as it left my hand, Dougie flew after it, running full tilt and retrieving it 2.75 seconds after it came to rest by the white picket fence. And chomping down on it, I heard a faint "pop" as his rather large teeth punctured it. But this seemingly cataclysmic event didn't bother Dougie at all. In fact, he seemed to be pleased that he was now able to run full speed with his toy in his mouth, slobbering all the way.
So, here are two pictures of Dougie "The Plastic Ball Destroyer" with the object of his desires at rest in front of him:
 Collie & a Ball-Eyes Left  Collie & a Ball-Eyes Right
As I refect on what Dougie did in this specific instance, I realized that he's done the same thing with just about all the other balls in our yard. As you peruse through pictures here at the Presto Dog website, for those shots taken in our yard, just about any time you see a brightly colored item on the ground, it's undoubtedly one of the balls Dougie's punctured. All that being said, here's something even Dougie can't destroy: Huck Indestructible Ball Dog Toy - Large Blue
This is the kind of ball we need for Dougie, Crusher of Ballies Extraordinaire!
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 January 2007 )
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In case you didn't know, all our pictures are taken by the semi-world famous Presto Dog photographer who resides near the Presto Dog den. We feel priviledged that he takes some time off from his world travels to perform what must be to him the mundane task of taking shots of our pack. And, all this work is done for us free of charge. I guess it's just a testament of his love for dogs, a typical sentiment of all Presto Dog readers.
The next time you return to Presto Dog, you can view our new pictures by clicking on the Dog Pictures link on the left-hand side of any page on the site. By the way, you have bookmarked this web site so you can return with just one mouse click, haven't you?
And, if you want to send pictures of your dog to Presto Dog for all the world to see, send us an e-mail by clicking on the link labeled Contact Us also on the left hand side of any page.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 January 2007 )
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