My sweet, sweet Itchy..  

​

  After 55 years of big ol hounds and labs, a tiny morsel of love came into my life.  Itchy was found running loose in the country, covered with mats and ticks. She was initially brought to me to babysit for the weekend, and by the way; a "real" grooming" would  'make her cute and adoptable".. well, a weekend foster became my best friend!  I had never slept with a dog before, and I still wonder at the peace and warmth I took from her little self each night.

    Skinny, scared, and shaved naked, she glombed right on to me and rarely let me out of her sight.  At first, she sat right next to me, afraid to even lie down. Then, she adopted the towel basket as her personal perch. I took her everywhere with me, relishing each breakthrough in trust and happiness. 

   She loved to boss the big dogs around, yapping shrilly and accusingly when they trampled her. She loved to go horseback riding with us, stopping to pee almost as often as the boys! Of course, those short legs got tired easily and then she would ask to come aboard-where she would keep the neighborhood safe with quiet mutters and yips from the safety of the saddle!

   We had five short years together before cancer took her away, and I still cry myself to sleep.

​

​

THREE DAWG NIGHT  Bonehead the lab pup, Princess the Queenly queensland, and Huckleberry Hound Dawg... 

​The Dirty Dawg Salon LLC

Compassionate Care for Elderly or Fearful Dogs

in loving memory of dogs gone by.....

PSSSSSSST! CUGA  wasn't a dog--but he didn't know!

He came to me for boarding one summer, and never left! My sister realized he would get more attention living in the shop, and gave him to me.  Cuga Burd became the shop mascot, whistling wolfishly at customers, and learning to mimic many shop sounds... thank goodness we have no phoneline in here, cuz he rang CONSTANTLY! AND HE WOULDNT QUIT til one of us hollered "HELLO-OH?"!  He loved happy hour on the porch; beer was okay, but he would fight me for a mimosa! Helping me feed the horses, he enjoyed walking up and down the corral rail.. and being allowed to hang upside down on my collar and watch me groom the dogs.. with a hysterical look up at me from time to time, much like a critical judge. 

Huckleberry Hound Dawg!!! ...my fourth child (and according to my kids; my favorite lol)

  I got Huck at a very young age and raised him up carefully. Hounds aint like other dogs, you have to work harder for every lesson and be careful not to get sucked into that "talk to my dog" thing. 'Cuz while that lil howl is adorable, it can get waaaayyy outta hand with a hound! 

   Perfectly adjusted, he went everywhere with me.. I would get admiring honks from cars on the road-then a point at my dawg and a thumbs up (kinda hard on the ego!)!  Like the oh-so-special guy he was, he would wait in the back of the truck and accept the adulation of everyone that walked by. Only a couple times did he would get impatient and trail me thru Basha's.. much to the glee of every kid in there. 

  Like all the dogs before him, he heeled from horseback and "wait!"ed at the streets til it was safe to cross. Likewise, he caught on early about cholla and knew to stay on the trail in those areas. I bet Huck and I logged a thousand miles of beautiful Arizona trails!

    Bearing in mind that this was 20 years ago; he roamed the neighborhood at will.  I would get calls from people that picked him up; "...but dont come get him too soon, my dog is having a blast playing with him." the big oaf often got call-backs, for PLAY DATES!! Or a message that "...Huck has gone to McDonald's with me and the kids. He will be home by four.." lol I cant tell you how many times he came home wearing a bandanna, or with a new toy. Of course, Easter was his favorite time-he would come home with a swollen belly and at least two stuffed toys, pilfered along with the pretty eggs!

   As he became older and infirm, he still liked to join Glenn and Tracy every day on their patio for Happy Hour.  We would call each other to tell when he was toddering over the field, so no worries about him falling and not getting up. near the end, he finally had Tracy trained to give him a treat EVERY TEN FEET! lol  He would stop and give that wonderful hound dawg howl, a cookie, then stagger another few steps til he would stop and howl again.  Alas, summer was looming and the danger of him falling in the sun was too great, so the "date" was set. 

Imagine my surprise when I came home from the vet's and found people from his past and present, all waiting to throw a handful of dirt and tip a beer to the BEST FREAKIN DAWG IN THE WORLD!