Signs--Good, Bad, Bald?

When life gets trying--and boy has it been trying the past few years--I find myself looking for signs that things are going to get better.  You would think I would have learned my lesson a year ago. The morning started out like any other morning.  I got up and grabbed the dogs' leashes for our morning work.   The sun was just beginning to rise in a grayish sky.  I remember hoping it wouldn't rain as I struggled to put the coats on the two squirming dogs. It was chilly and I knew they'd be shivering without them.
Grin, Tallie and I stepped out the door and immediately I got more than a shiver up my spine.  I could feel eyes watching me.  Creepy eyes.  I glanced up from the dogs and saw 12 turkey vultures perched on the roof of the house directly across from mine.  In the sky another dozen were flying lazy circles over the houses.  As if this weren't disconcerting enough, when I turned around (yes, I considered fleeing back into the house), I saw 5 more turkey vultures sitting on my roof looking down at me!
For those of you who have never seen a turkey vulture, let me give you a brief description.  They are huge, ugly birds with a wingspan of about 5' with grayish feathers on the bottom and a red, almost bald head. 
They are scavengers.  I saw no dead animals and the dogs certainly didn't act like they smelled anything dead.  This did NOT seem like a good sign.  What were they trying to tell me, "We've got our eyes on you?" "You're dead meat?"
I looked to the basenjis.  They were ignoring the vultures completely and were pulling against their leashes wanting to start their walk.  In that moment it came to me that I could go back inside and curl up in bed or I could follow my dogs' example and get on with living the day.   What the heck, we were already outside --all with our coats on--so I just laughed at the birds and carried on.  I like to think the dogs were proud.

Sun Dog, Table Dog

Today is a fiercely windy Monday, and the dogs have been moving from room to room in search of sunny spots.  Basenjis are superior at making the most of a tiny beam of sunshine in an otherwise dreary day. 
My first Basenji Phoenix made an art form out of sunbathing.  Unfortunately, the sunniest spot in my first house was in the dining room--in the center of the table!  That dog loved to jump up on the table, stretch out on her back and "catch some rays."  I always thought if she'd been a Weimaraner, she's have made a perfect model for William Wegman.
Nonetheless, I tried everything to break her of the habit:

• Putting tin foil down on the table top because I was told dogs hated having their nails touch tin foil.  Phoenix thought it was great fun making scratching sounds on it.
• Taping balloons along the edge and top of the table because I was told the popping sound would scare her enough to stop her from jumping up.  Phoenix made an agility game out of that by seeing how gingerly she could weave between them.  Then she'd grab one and bite it to enjoy the noise she had created.
• Shooting her with a water pistol when I found her lying on the tin foil among the balloons.  She would continue to sit there but now added batting water away with her paw to the game!
• Etc., etc., etc.

After months of exhausting myself coming up with ideas to get her down, I finally declared her the victor in "The Battle of the Broyhill."  The terms of the surrender were simple. The conquered would cede the territory hereafter known as "The Dining Room Table" to the victor in exchange for the victor's assurance she would no longer eat the flowers out of the flower pots or nip at the conquered when she told her to come out of her crate.  The terms were so reasonable that until the day we moved, the truce was adhered to and Phoenix never missed a day in the sun.

Dogs on a Swing Video Share for Easter

Happy Easter to all my friends who celebrate Easter!  Hope this video from Huffington Post makes you smile as much as it did me.  I cannot imagine any of my basenjis who would enjoy the swing as much as the basenji in the video does.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/dogs-on-a-swing-video_n_1386220.html