The Crazy Dogs

Dogs are good people. I've had dogs most of my life and enjoy their company immensely. Currently, los perros locos are Brittanys, Lil and Jess. Since most people like to call dogs by a two-syllable name, my hounds are also known as Lilly and Jesse, or Jess the Wonder Dog.

Lil's been with me for six years now. I got her from a breeder up in Colorado and she's been a lot of fun to have around. She's got a blocky build for a Brit and she's got a heart of gold. She hunts like her life depends on it. When she runs she's focused on covering ground, pounding out the yards like a fullback. I think I'll keep her.

Jess is the jester. He's got a fun loving, freewheeling personality. He seems to think that life is too important to be taken seriously. He's only a year old so it's no surprise that he's still got a lot of puppy in him, but I don't think he'll grow out of his goofy outlook on life. I hope not, because he's so much fun the way he is. Jess runs like a steeplechaser, with an open gait and lots of airtime.

The newest dog is Toby.

Like all dogs, these two like to ride around in the back of my pickup truck. They have a little adobe dog house that's snug and warm in the winter and cool in the heat of summer. Lil's a swimmer and she's in the pool about a dozen times a day in the summertime. Jess is more likely to run through the sprinklers.

Here's Lil in my old Landcruiser, up in the Menache Meadows Wilderness below Yosemite.

Before the Brits I had a couple of pound hounds, Astro and Dino. Actually, we feminized Dino's name to "Dina", pronounced dee-na. She was a talker, one of the most vocally expressive dogs I've ever seen. Jess is a close second in the "dog who tries to talk" sweepstakes. They lived long and happy lives and I miss them terribly. Here they are, in front of their adobe dog house during its construction.

This is Astro.