Freddie and the Burr Monster

You may remember Freddie... he was my 50th birthday gift (which was last year).  Freddie is a Bijon Frise X, and has become a wonderful addition to our family.  He loves to play, run and is a constant source of amusement around our house.  He has become Zoey's, (our Chocolate LabX), companion and little brother. It's hard to imagine our family without him!

When we got Freddie, I didn't really give much thought to 'dog maintenance'.  I figured he, as a long haired breed, would need to be brushed occasionally, but I never imagined what that long hair would attract!  Living in the bush, as we do, we are surrounded by all kinds of vegetation.  Amongst that vast assortment are thistles and other burr carrying types.  Freddie seems to have an up close and personal relationship with these.  His fur definitely attracts them.  

  Freddie has had to learn to patiently allow me to comb these nasty things out of his fur and put up with my tugging them out by hand.  The ones in these pictures are called Houndstongue and are small, flat, velcro-like burrs, which can get between Freddie's toes and cause a lot of discomfort. 

Along with burrs, Fred manages to pick up all kinds of passengers...twigs, cones, grass seeds....he's a walking weed!  But, he loves to be outdoors, chasing squirrels, hunting for chipmunks....and he has so much energy!  On the trapline last season, he refused to ride in the skimmer (the sled pulled behind the skidoo) and ran the whole 12km from our main cabin back to the truck in -43C temperatures!  Thankfully, no burrs in the snow, but he does accumulate snowballs if the temperature goes up and the snow becomes wet.  Then he looks like a snow monster!  

Freddie and Zoey have lots of adventures together and with our family and love to be with us.  Recently, Freddie has gotten into some trouble while we've been out and I'm thinking we need to kennel him when we have to leave the dogs home alone.  Zac and I returned from a trip to the dump yesterday to a huge mess of ripped up egg cartons.  Fred had decided that they were fair game while we were out.  Good thing we no longer have the chickens and my supply of egg cartons isn't needed.  He has also chewed up 2 sets of really nice wooden knitting needles that were sticking out of my wool basket, and just last night he chewed up my knitting project and the bamboo needles I was using on it!  Good thing I love him so much, but still, I think Fred is going to need some 'time outs'.  

Freddie and Zoey-best buds.