Man’s best friend has been gracing the property at Hannah’s Hill for quite a long time.
Below, two of mom’s brothers hold a little pup as she pets it.
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| Oglesby kids at Hannah’s Hill with pets, early-mid 1960s I wonder if the dog & cat got along? |
And a Collie stands with mom and her brother as they’re either coming from, or going to, school on a snowy day.
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| 1966, with a long-haired Collie |
Benjie, the little Rat Terrier I remember always playing with at grandma‘s house, is pictured below with Dale and his horse in the 1980s.
Keeping true with tradition, two more sweet pups will soon call Hannah’s Hill home.
We have two Doberman Pinschers (or Doberman Kissers, as I call them), both of which we adopted from Houston Area Doberman Rescue.
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| Miss Tillie joined our family, January 2012 |
Why Dobermans? They’re affectionate, people oriented, loyal, smart, and trainable. Plus they’re a nod to Blaine’s German roots.
When we first brought Miss Tillie home to our Houston apartment, she was scared, didn’t yet trust us, and wouldn’t let me get near her without growling. I wasn’t sure if this adoption thing was going to work out! But with a couple weeks of training and lots of love, thankfully she turned a new leaf and started trusting us.
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| Tillie clings to Blaine, Feb 2012 |
We adopted Lincoln, a fawn colored Dobie boy, in the summer of 2013 when we met him at a Doberman play-date. Tillie picked him out. There must have been 100 Dobies there running wild and playing. Lincoln was the only one she played with tolerated. 🙂
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| Some Dobes at a HADR play-date Photo by Blaine |
Since adopting Linc, Tillie and him have pretty much been inseparable.
While Houston is nice, they seem to love visiting southern Illinois with us where they can really stretch their legs.
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| Her first taste of southern Illinois air (sweet Riggy girl watches in the background) |
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| Tillie and Linc playing in my parent’s backyard |
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| Acting a little more civilized |
Since they’re rescues, we don’t know anything about their first few years of life, but we’re pretty certain they didn’t grow up in the country.
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| First time meeting a barbed wire fence (she still has the scar today) |
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| First time meeting a cow |
At their first visit to the farmhouse, they both busted their chins on the porch when they leaped onto the hedge (in background of photo below) thinking it was a step up to the porch. Ouch! :/
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| First time at Hannah’s Hill |
Now, they travel up to IL with Blaine each month and roam the grounds while he works on the house.
When cows were put out to pasture last winter, we couldn’t figure out why the dogs started getting sick…. until one day Lincoln was caught red handed.
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| Enjoying the cows a little too much! |
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| Munching a frozen cow pattie that he brought up to the house from the pasture :/ |
At Hannah’s Hill, Tillie seems to be the main trouble/fun instigator…
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| Treed the neighbor’s cat (sorry!) |
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| Bringing back a morsel from the neighbor’s compost pile Which she later threw up in the truck :/ |
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| “Turtle-sitting” |
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| Enlarging an ankle twisting burrow out by the chicken coop |
…while Lincoln mainly enjoys lounging around and watching the humans do work. 🙂
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| Sleeping through the renovation |
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| More back porch lounging |
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| Checking in on the reno progress |
As the saying goes, you can take the dog out of the city but can’t take the city out of the dog. We’re hoping, though, as we get moved in and settled down that they’ll become a little more accustomed to country living.
(And neighbors if you’re reading, fear not, they’re harmless! And updating the fencing and gates around the property is on our to-do list so they don’t run too wild in the ‘hood!)
Looks like you've got some good help on the project. Diligent supervisors.
For sure! 🙂 They keep us entertained.