The Secret Lives of Working Dogs

Teddy and OP

2012-01-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

This morning Tio dropped Teddy aka the Beast from the East off at my house "to play"....Oh boy.... After he got all his yippy yappy out of the way, he went outside....Silly dog couldn't figure out how to get back in. Hey just walk over the threshold... Who says little dogs are smart?

He decided to stay outside so I ventured out with a caution from Mum....Teddy is not a toy...Do not scare Teddy..Do not smack Teddy...Do not throw Teddy in the pool..Blah Blah Blah....What is he made of glass? But in order to avoid any nasty repercussions from Mum and Granny I just stalked him.

Mum left us alone for a while but then Teddy figured out how to get back in the house through the OPEN DOOR.....What a rocket scientist I have for a cousin. He quickly landed on the couch and stuck his tongue out a me...mocking me......Note to self: Do not fall prey to the mocking it will only get you in trouble....

I waited patiently for him to land on the floor....Once he was on the floor he would be mine..........

He didn't move other than to continue to taunt me.....I willed him to fall off the couch.

Hey what do you know? It worked. I thought of smacking him across the room but my inner voice kept telling me to be cool.

Since I didn't do anything bad to him turns out he likes me...Go figure. We played outside and also ran around the house in utter silence (well other than the rugs flying across the floor). Mum put on the football game and I'm just sitting around with Zena warrior zebra and Teddy is thinking of taking a snooze.

Who knew we could be friends? From this point forward Teddy will be known as my BFY (best friend Yorkie)

my first hotel

2012-01-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

Who knew that life could get better? Certainly not me but then I heard those magic words...."road trip"... We got up really early on Friday and headed out to Indian Wells. Oh did I mention that Auntie Mum and Granny came with us...It was a girls night out for sure. Teddy, Tio, and Bill stayed at home where I heard they played poker, watched movies, drank beer, and smoked cigars...Hopefully Tio didn't lose all his money to Teddy...Teddy can be quite the poker shark....
We dropped Mum off at her meeting and then we headed for breakfast....After Mum was done with her meeting we went to Palm Springs to take in the sights....And oh what sights there were....There were statues like this one of Sonny Bono.

And stars on the sidewalk like Hollywood (altho I've only read about Hollywood). There were plenty of stores to shop in but every store had an interesting animal sitting outside...Guess they like their animals in Palm Springs or maybe they just are good for security...I mean who is going to steal when there is a giant frog sitting at the front door?

I doubt though that a giant poodle with a bow is going to deter anyone....

I stopped shopping for a rest on the bench and another celebrity sat down next to me..Hey who is that movie star in the sunglasses?

We were almost walked out when I spied a great sign...Who knew Bill had a pizza parlor?

I studied the menu seriously but we had dinner reservations at the Cliff House so all I could do was admire and of course snap a photo.

We went back to the hotel and then got ready for dinner. We went to this really nice place and everyone was very concerned that I was comfortable and having a good time (which I was). We headed back to the hotel and Granny and I settled in while Mum and Auntie Mum went out for a short while... They were back by 11 pm and said they closed the town down..

We got up in the morning and had breakfast. I was the hit of the restaurant with everyone stopping by to say hello. Then it was back on the road for home. We saw a rainbow which was cool.

But not cool enough for me to stay awake....Hotels are great..............Travel not so great.........

It's nice to be home but I can hardly wait for our next road trip.

Saturday hard at work

2012-01-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

This morning we got up and headed out. Mum told me we had to go help the lions sell tickets to their pancake breakfast...I was very afraid as I've seen lions on Animal Planet and they are pretty big and mean....I tried to think why Mum and Auntie Mum would want me to hang out with lions but I figured they knew what they were doing plus how mean could the lions be if they were going to have a pancake breakfast.

When we got there it turned out that the lions were actually human members of a club called the Lions Club. Needless to say I was relieved although a bit disappointed....I worked the crowd for awhile.

Then my "boyfriend" Delmar showed up. He's a service dog and is so good looking...Everyone loves him. His human is always way cool and I've heard he has really good treats that he gives to all the good dogs.....

I got to snuggle a little with Delmar but then it was time to leave.. I"m sure I'll get to see him again.

When we got back to Auntie Mum's house I ran around some with Bill and the Beast from the East....He's warming up to me but I have to learn not to clobber him on the head...I am practicing my slow and soft touch so as to not squash him....He is a fast little guy and I'm sure with time he'll learn to like me.

After a good romp, I hunkered down on Fred but the aliens stopped by for a visit. I told them I had other things to do today so they left...Maybe they went to see Ora.

Fred and I had a nice laugh about the alien visit. Before I knew it we were on the road again headed to the outlets...Ah oh...shopping at the outlets with Tio...This could be a long day..... Fortunately we only spent the afternoon there and I got to hang with Granny without Teddy. She had me do an up in order to receive a nice pat on the head.

Then I decided to make her laugh by using her as a chair.....Nothing better than a Granny chair.

I was so happy to be hanging with her that I gave her a big ole smooch.

We went out to linner (lunch and dinner) after shopping and then headed home....I'm exhausted and just want to snuggle up on Harry and wait for the movie.

Sunday

2012-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

Because we live in Southern California we at the blog feel its important to stress how beautiful our home is...It is particularly fun in the winter and most particularly fun if everyone else is shoveling snow. Alas, we are not destined to have as much fun as we did last year but we can at least boast that we were able to walk around without coats and even saw people in the water..(personally though I think they were tourists from Minnesota and didn't realize it was pretty darn cold in the water)

We strolled along the water at la jolla shores and even caught a few seals basking in the sunshine. Of course Mum and Auntie Mum (and now Granny) insisted on photos.....We particularly liked these orange crazy looking plants and are going to see if we could get some for the yard.

Then we had to walk up a HUGE hill to get back to the car. Bill was not sure he wanted to do it and asked Mum to go get the car and pick us up.

I even tried stink eye halfway up the hill but Mum could have cared less and made us walk the whole way unassisted....Too bad Auntie Jan wasn't here as she would have carried me up the hill...Yeah right.

When we got to the top of the hill we decided to stop for a spot of tea and some crumpets...It was after all "La Jolla"...They didn't have crumpets but there was tea and coffee to be had. We didn't get a crumb. Bill was particularly bummed as he had heard that crumpets were delicious........ I don't know where he heard that but rumor is he has friends in England.....

We had to stop at the store on the way home and I tried out a nice bed...It was not as cool as those sofa beds so I did not insist that Mum purchase it for me. I know when to ask for things and when to keep my mouth closed.....

Not sure what is going on this week but if anything interesting happens you'll be sure to read about here....Have a great week...

Saturday

2012-01-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday we went over to see Granny and Teddy...Okay I went to see Granny but Mum loves to hang with Teddy so it was a win win for both of us. Teddy just doesn't like me but I've got several months to work on him..I'm confident I can win him over..Note to self; when Teddy flies by you don't stick out your paw and smack him... So after a while I found out we were heading to the base....Oh boy Marines....I love a man in uniform.....Hey maybe I'll find a marine dog....Wonder what they look like...So while Auntie Mum and Granny were checking out I got to hang out with Tio.

While shopping we went into the dog aisle and picked up some food for Bill...I waited patiently for Mum to throw a bag of food into the cart for me...I tried to look cute in order to get a big bag but she didn't pick up any food for me.

We went to another store on the base and once again found ourselves in the dog aisle. I sat as nicely as I could given the slippery floor...Granny picked up a bag of food for Teddy.....Alas, Mum's hands never reached for a bag of food for me....Doesn't seem quite fair that everyone else gets food....Sure hope there is food at home for me.

On the way home I felt really sleepy so I stretched out and took a nap...Shopping is very tiring but its always fun to hang with my family.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow but I'm hoping it is fun. They asked us to go to dinner tonight and I was up for it but Mum had to go home and mow the lawn plus she is very Monkish....She hates to upset her routine...Someone needs to speak with her about that.....

New Years Day After

2012-01-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Today we went over to Auntie Mum and Tio's house to exchange our Christmas gifts since they were out of town for Christmas. I got a kong and a new collar that matches Bill...We will be styling. Plus Mum got a Wii which means we will be playing games a lot....I can hardly wait. Hope you don't need thumbs. After we opened our presents, Tio and I watched a little football.

Then we hung around while the humans ate. Bill thought he might get some extra food if he looked cute...Rumor has it Mum gave him some pie crust...Lucky Bill...

At first Teddy didn't like me at all...But you know me...I keep pestering until finally the "pesteree" finally gives up. Teddy didn't exactly give up but I think he is warming up to me..I know in just a short time we will be best buddies (not BFFs mind you but BB is pretty good)

I tried to look cute in order to get pie crest but I didn't get any...Plus how can you compete with Bill?

I watched some more football with Tio while Mum, Auntie Mum, and Granny ran errands. It was dark when we got home but I still had to have a bath...Now I'm just chillaxing until it's time for bed.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY BLOG BUDDIES.

Sidney comes to play

2011-12-31T10:46:00.000-08:00

Sidney came to play this morning and it was nice to finally have a dog around who was smaller than me. She was really fun and she doesn't know how to stop so she did a lot of sliding and tumbling. She is tough though and can hang with the big dogs..Her Mum calls her "Sid Vicious" but I don't think she is that ferocious.

At one point during our playtime Bill fell to the ground. We thought he was having a heart attack so we attempted to administer CPR...But Bill jumped up laughing and yelled "Gotcha"......

Sydney said she was old enough to learn some dance moves so we showed her just a few simple steps. She did pretty well for a little squirt.

She attempted the complicated "flyover another dog" move but unfortunately she didn't get much air....She needs a lot of practice before she should attempt this move again. I think my neck is strained from her landing on it...Note to self: Stay away from puppies who are just learning to dance.

We were done dancing so Sydney decided to take a stroll around the pool. Bill and I were secretly hoping that she would fall in...Bill even suggested that we walk by and hip check her into the pool (Bill has been watching way too much hockey lately). I told Bill that no good could come from us pushing the baby into the pool and I wanted a nice snack tonight for New Year's Eve. Fortunately Bill listened to me and Sydney remained dry (this time)

We were all taking a breather since we ran a lot and it was warm...Sydney hunkered down in the ice plant with a bone.

Bill and I stretched out by the pool.

It was fun to have a new visitor to Camp Cedar...I'm sure she'll come by again.

Tonight Granny is a big night for me as Tio, Auntie Mum, and Granny arrive. I don't get to go to the airport so I won't see them until tomorrow. Oh and yes the Beast From the East is also flying in....Teddy....I need to find my protective ear gear (like the guys wear at the airport)...Its gonna be noisy around here for the next few months but its worth it because I love Granny and I can tolerate Teddy.....

The day after the holiday and then back to work

2011-12-27T19:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday after Ora left, we pretended that we still had lots of energy but when Mum went inside to get something this is how we felt....So tired....These long weekends are so draining....I can hardly wait to get back to work so I can catch up on my sleep.

This morning we got up and had a nice breakfast and a romp around the backyard. Then Mum called us upstairs while she got ready to go to work.....Bill went into his crate so I thought I'd join him.

He didn't like that so he left and tried to relax....I of course went right with him...Mum looked at us and I said "what I'm not touching him". She just turned around and kept getting ready.

As soon as her back was turned though, we began our playing......

Then she turned to look at us....What? We aren't doing anything...Just sleeping.

Off to work we went and Bill hung out watching TV....He's lucky. When I got home we ran around the backyard acting like we hadn't seen each other in years. Bill took one look at Mum and ran into the kitchen for dinner. Mum said absolutely no..dinner is not served until after 6...He followed Mum everywhere she went.....So she put me in a crate and shut the door and went to the gym... Oh boy, that means dinner is going to be a lot later than 6 pm...Note to Bill: Don't try to convince Mum that we need to eat dinner early...It will only net you dinner later than she had originally intended..... Finally she came home just as we both were about to expire from lack of food....okay I'm being dramatic..We went for a walk and then Bill settled down on the couch to watch TV. I of course had to be right next to him and I'm not allowed on the couch so I managed to get on the couch without touching it.

I'm pretty smart aren't I? What you think this still counts as being on the couch?

So did Mum, so I'm on the floor with one of my favorite bones to chew. Bill's on the floor too because its no fun to be on the couch without me...Well at least that is what I think.

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day in San Diego is not like many other places. While people elsewhere are snuggled up in front of fireplaces or bundled up heading to family dinners, we here in San Diego take to the beaches and the backyards to reflect on how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place. Since Ora spent the night, we were ready to hit the backyard for some serious playtime and even managed some dancing.

I tried to tell Ora that it would be fun to swim...She took a long look at the water not sure if it was safe.

I showed her where the steps were and explained to her that there was nothing but water in the pool. We carefully scouted for any aliens or jellyfish but there was nothing but clear water.

I couldn't resist so I jumped on in with a water wubba...It was cold but fun...

Ora couldn't contain herself and jumped on in for a brisk swim to the other end of the pool.

Before we knew Auntie Jan came by and it was time for Ora to go home. We were very tired so Mum put on a movie for us to watch. First Bill hopped on the couch and chose the best seat.

Then I got up on the other side, leaving only a small area in between for Mum to sit.

Did I mention that I got to go to a real movie theater to see Sherlock Holmes with Mum. Mum asked both Ora and I to compete for the right to go to the movie and I won... It was fun to be at the movie theater but really it isn't too much different than home. It was nice and dark though so I caught up on my sleep. I really tried to stay awake for this movie but come on..two movies in one day? I just couldn't keep my eyes open and Bill wasn't far behind me in the snooze zone.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

We wrote letters to Santa in hopes that she would deliver presents to our house. We particularly had to send a last minute letter because Ora was not going to be at her house.......

It worked because Santa came and she left a little something in each of our stockings....

I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Christmas eve continued

2011-12-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

Even though Mum said no to dinner we waited a very long time so we were sure it was at least 6 pm, after all, it was dark....So we went into the kitchen expecting Mum to be there already filling our bowls...She was there all right but only getting herself a drink of water....She said look at the clock, its only 5 pm...No dinner for AT LEAST ONE HOUR..now get out of the kitchen.

Sheesh...how very humbug of her..So we found some bones to gnaw on to try and appease our tummies which were growling........

Bill said he was just too weak to continue chewing....Wait here comes Mum...look sad...:(

Rats.....it did not work...Instead she said lets watch tv or better yet..Let's start the Die Hard Marathon...Our favorite holiday tradition...Not to worry Auntie Jan said that Ora was old enough to participate in the marathon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE

2011-12-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

This morning Bill and I got up hoping that we wouldn't get in trouble because Santa was coming TONIGHT...We obliged Mum with a silly holiday picture. Don't we look cute?

Then I tried to find something to do while I waited for Ora the Explorer to arrive.

I even did some sunning as that is what we do during those brutal winter days.BRRRRRR.

Bill skulked around the yard because he knew as soon as Ora arrived it would be "Bill stop jumping on Ora"...."Bill No" ...."Bill time out".......He was trying to keep a low profile. Soon Ora arrived and we ran around a lot and then chilled because we didn't want to wear ourselves out.Then I decided to check out the pool water temperature..Not so bad.

I tried to convince Ora to go in with me...but she said it was way too cold...

To convince her that it wasn't, I went in and swam a lap....To be honest, it was a bit nippy.

We played a bit more and then it was time for Auntie Jan to leave..

Ora didn't want to leave and then we found out why....Auntie Jan had places to go tomorrow that wouldn't permit dogs.....Oh the humanity of it all...What kind of place doesn't allow dogs? Certainly not a place that we would condone...So Mum said that Ora could stay with us overnight and tomorrow.. Thank goodness because I can't imagine Ora the Explorer having to spend Christmas Day home alone....oh no.....Ora was very happy.

I was tired and Mum had to go pick something up so she took Ora with her for a little ride. Mum of course brought her camera. Hey that looks like Spanish Village.....

Ora certainly got some nice poses in true holiday fashion. ooolala a fancy spanish dancer........

Ora wanted to ride on the carousel but Mum said no because she couldn't hold on....There is that pesky no thumbs issue raising its ugly head again.

When Ora came back we did some more running around and Bill kept running inside in the hopes that dinner would be served. Mum remained steadfast in her position that dinner would not be served any earlier than 6 pm even on Christmas Eve. Ora tried sticking out her tongue to show her displeasure in this late night dinner; however, it was so heavy it just drooped down.

In order to appease Mum, we allowed one more humiliating picture.

SLEEP TIGHT AND HOPEFULLY PRESENTS WILL BE AT YOUR HOUSE TOMORROW.

Balboa Park

2011-12-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

In following our tradition of doing something "San Diego" every weekend we headed out to Balboa Park and the Spanish Village. Seems the Spanish Village is home to a bunch of artists and you know how I love art. The Village was decorated with presents and ornaments on the ground and in the trees.

Auntie and Auntie Mum told Bill and I we had to read the sign before we could go in.

We tried really hard and finally Mum said just turn around and smile....Seemed the easiest thing to do.

There were all kinds of decorated trees. This one caught Auntie Mum's eye because it was made entirely out of fabric scraps. Bet Auntie Cyndy would love this tree. Mum on the other hand has relatively little interest in fabric scraps. Good thing the tree wasn't made out of tools as Mum would still be standing there admiring it.

There was a big platform with presents so we hopped up on it...Much to our dismay the presents were empty so Bill pretended to be a mean vulture hoping it would turn the empty boxes into presents but it didn't work....Got to admire his effort though.

Tio went into every shop..You know Tio, he's never met a store that he could resist......We often just waited outside for photo ops.

It was a true San Diego day in December...No snow, not hot, and plenty of cactus to pose in front of.

We were tired when we got home so I sat in Tio's lap to watch football and Bill hunkered down on Fred.

Bill particularly likes Fred's paws as they make his paws look teenie weenie.

I hope that Ora had a nice weekend. I'm hoping I get to hang with her next Saturday...Maybe another trip to SeaWorld is in order.

holiday spirit at work

2011-12-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

Today is our holiday party at work so I decided to get into the spirit right away..Unfortunately, the aliens decided to join me..I tried to look away but they still captured my eyes..... As soon as Mum took off the reindeer ears, they left...Guess I only "amuse" the aliens when I dress up ..

an unexpected surprise

2011-12-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

I got up this morning and was advised that I probably wouldn't get to do anything because Mum was going to go help Auntie Candace move her Mum to a new house. Much to my surprise, we didn't have to go until later in the afternoon so we made a quick decision to head out to Seaworld for snow.

We were picked up by our best buds, Auntie Mum and Tio and of course my trusty sidekick, BFF Bill. Little did we know that the only reason we were headed to Seaworld was for photos....

I must admit though, we do look cute...... There were so many things to look at and so many people to meet. First the sugarplum fairy..........

Then the wooden toy soldier...He was really odd..........Note to self: Be thankful you are a dog in training to be a service dog and not a young man who has to spend time pretending to be a wooden toy soldier.

Santa's reindeer were there...Hopefully they know how to get back to the North Pole before Christmas...Or maybe these were COC reindeer or perhaps they were retired.

Then we found an antique car to pose in front of....You know how much we love our antique cars. Bill gets a bit sad when he sees antique cars because it reminds him of all the fun times he had in the Woodie with Irish....We miss I-Man but know that he doing really great things at the Betty Ford Center.

Then Mum realized there were animals for us to visit. First there were these little horses..They were just about my size ...okay they were bigger but they certainly were smaller than real horses. They weren't very interested in me so I decided to ignore them.

Then I met a llama. He or maybe she, was very interested in me.....I wasn't to sure...I hear they spit...Auntie Mum said no its camels that spit but Mum said she thought they both spit. Why the humans continue to be preoccupied with spit is a mystery to me.

So llama number one brought over llama number two and they had a little conversation with me...But I don't speak llama so I just just smiled and nodded. That seemed okay with them. Note to self: Before returning to Seaworld learn to speak a little llama.

After visiting all the animals including Mum's favorite animal, a sloth. We headed over to the snow. There were a lot of kids sledding and playing in the snow....Hey, we are in Southern California...we bring a little bit of snow in, pretend we are sledding, throw a few snowballs, and then go home....We don't want fulltime snow...If we did we'd live with Granny in Massachusetts.

Don't worry, that is a not a menacing cat behind us...She was fake....No self respecting cat would be caught dead in the snow... So we sat and posed

Finally I had to ask Bill...is your tail region getting frostbit?

Fortunately, the humans moved us off the snow so we could warm up.... While warming, the humans made a snowball for us....It looked soooooooooooooo delicious............

Then the humans picked it up and let us taste it........Bill thought it was great. A big giant snow cone.

Then I got a taste.....Awesome....I need to ask Mum, Auntie Mum, and Tio if we can move to live with Granny...She gets snow...We promise not to take up too much room.

After snow cones, we headed to the penguin encounter. Of course there was more snow and more photos. Don't worry this was fake snow so we didn't get cold.

Then if was off to the turtle encounter. Seems not only does Mum love sloths she also likes turtles...Turtles I can understand but SLOTHS????????

Bill like me loved hanging with the turtles...

First I tried to be a turtle.......But then I just stared in amazement...When I come back in my next life I want to be a turtle.

Turtles like to swim....Turtles are vegetarians (very PC), and turtles move VERY SLOWLY....my kind of creature.

Tio wanted to go to the 3D polar express movie but he tried to be polite and said we didn't have to go..But Mum and Auntie Mum said let's go..It was a great movie and we're glad we went...Well good until I decide to stand up and got hit with blast of air...Kinda freaked me out for a minute but I recovered quickly especially since I had Bill with me.

Soon it was time to head out..We met a character..okay I can't remember what animal he was but he was going on break and didn't want to hang with us so who cares?

One last picture in the poinsettias.....Perfect handsome Bill my big bruddah.

And then me...........

It was a great day and I hope I can repeat it with my friend Ora.

Christmas Party

2011-12-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

Today we packed up and went to a Christmas party at CCI. It was festively decorated and there were tons of people and dogs (over 100 people)....The tree was decorated really nice so of course, Mum made me sit in front of it for (you guessed it) a picture.

Then my Auntie Sondra got up and gave a little speech....Then she said it was time to eat.....Yeah

Alas, there was only human food so I was relegated to underneath the table while the humans ate. Then Santa and his elf showed up,

They were very cute and I could hardly wait until it was my turn to speak with Santa. Unfortunately I got tongue tied and couldn't remember what I was going to tell him.

My sister Pepper tried to help me out but she couldn't speak either. I think maybe Santa squished both of our heads so much that we couldn't remember anything. Note to self: Stay away from Santa.

Finally we were Santa free and started to walk around a little more. I saw Ora but we didn't get to hang out....Sigh......I miss Ora and hope that I get to spend some quality time with her around Christmas.....Cheryl finally decided to chill out.

And I also got to see Del Mar......I think I might have a crush on Del Mar....but don't tell anyone.

I kept a low profile for the rest of the event hoping that Del Mar would notice how "mature" I am. He's a service dog so I have to do a lot to impress him....Like Mum says "I can only go so far on my good looks".

That is it for now....I'm going to go take a snooze on my pet pillow....Bob hasn't finalized the names so I just call him my PP.. Sure hope Bob decides soon.

Pedro

2011-12-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

My big brother Pedro checked in. For his birthday (well our birthday) he got to go to a bakery and pick up a cake....Wow a huge cake in a bag....

Turns out the bag did not contain a big cake and the cake was just a small carrot cake. At first he was disappointed but then he realized that the bag contained an octopus for him...Hey a toy and a cake..not bad.

Of course his human made him pose for pictures. How cruel is this? Sit nicely for pictures while a carrot cake is within grasp....But looks like Pedro hung tough. Hey who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? It was delicious.

He then posed by his Christmas tree......He sure is handsome.........

The after party blues

2011-12-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

Clearly, I did not get enough sleep yesterday as today I can barely get out of my crate.......

I sure hope that Mum doesn't make me go out at lunchtime......I can barely keep awake.

Too much partying................................

This just in

2011-12-05T09:01:00.001-08:00

Thanks to the wonderful world that is the Internet, I found my brother Pedro..He is living is Indianapolis Indiana. Rumor has it that city is in the midwest and that its COLD..........Hey Pepper we should consider ourselves very very lucky. No pictures yet but maybe sometime he will send them along

My other birthday present

2011-12-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the Carmel Mountain Ranch Holiday Fair but it apparently was cancelled as we couldn't find it. So we definately get credit for trying to do something local even if we didn't actually attend. We tried really hard and drove around in circles. Not to waste the day we went to Costco and Auntie bought me a tiger just like Fred (Bill's monkey) for my birthday. Then we went to Petco and bought more toys (for Christmas I think). I don't remember what they are and I don't know who they are for...Well at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Then we went out to lunch although only the humans got to eat. I was famished but no one really cared...Well actually Mum gave me a few Charlie Bears when we were leaving and I don't usually have lunch so I guess I wasn't all that hungry...Just so long as she doesn't forget supper. I was really tired when we got home so I snuggled up on Harry.

Harry is really soft and comfortable....I don't know why we waited so long to buy him...I think Harry and I are going to be very close friends.

The birthday party

2011-12-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

Saturday I had my birthday party....Well it wasn't really my birthday party..It was in fact a party paloosa because it was my birthday, Pepper's birthday, Ora's birthday, Ode's birthday and of course BFF Bill's birthday. How can you not call that a birthday paloosa? Knowing that I was going to be out of control (okay by out of control I mean I was going to be up on my feet for at least an hour and perhaps I would run) I decided it was best if I took a little snooze with Tio before the festivities began.

Before I knew it my friends were arriving. One of the first on the scene was Brutus....

Then everyone arrived so the guest list was complete with me, Bill, Ora, Ode, Brutus, Faylynn, Del Mar, Wedelia, Pepper, Sidney, and Cheryl. Ten dogs..good thing it wasn't at my house as it would have been a sloppy wet dog paloosa and it was too cold for that....

We took turns playing with Larry Lobster but unfortunately, Larry did not survive the party...He apparently can't take being pulled in assorted directions. Oh well, he served us pups for a long time. I suggested that he be sent to the clinic in Switzerland where the other toys have gone; however, Mum and Auntie Mum said he was too far gone to be saved....

Ode and Ora tried to tell sister secrets during the party but we all ganged up on them telling them that there are no secrets at a puppy paloosa and assured them that what happens at puppy paloosa stays at puppy paloosa. We had to be very careful as we played and ran not to step on baby Sidney. She tried to hang with the big dogs but found it too tiring. She couldn't even play with our toys as they were way too big for her.

Ode was having a grand time playing but then her dad went to get some food. She had the brilliant idea that if she jumped up on her dad, she might have a better shot at getting some food. Good idea but it didn't net her any food.

Faylynn, Ora and Wedelia (I think) did some hanging out to catch their breath from all the running.

They suggested we play a rousing game of pass the bone...Very similar to the human game of pass the apple....

Because the humans were afraid we'd trample Sidney she spent a lot of time being carried around by the humans.....Note to self, make yourself really small and maybe the humans will carry you around...

We had been running and playing while the humans talked and ate but then we heard those magic words "time for pupcakes"....Yipppeeee. I had watched Mum make the pupcakes but was not allowed to sample. They were delicious.

It was getting close to the time when everyone would leave so that meant humiliation in hats time.

Sidney being the youngest had her hat picture first. I don't think she even realized what was going on.

Then we all lined up for a group shot. Then just the birthday dogs.

Then me and my sister Pepper. Thanks to Auntie Jan for the awesome princess hat to wear for the day

Then my "aunts", Ora and Ode. I can definately see the family resemblance between us four.

Then the four party girls....Ode was not amused by all this photograph taking.

Then another group shot which turned out to be dogs gone wild.....

Then the birthday P girls again....Don't these humans know when to call it quits??????

Then it was time for everyone to leave and we said goodbye and promised to see each other again...Not a difficult promise to fulfill since we are getting together next week for the CCI holiday party.

Auntie Jan whipped out tiaras for Ora and I and a nice party hat for Bill so the birthday gang sat for another photo...... We said our goodbyes and then settled down into the family room to relax while the humans cleaned up. I gave Bill his present...a giant monkey pillow. It was so soft

Bill wasn't sure at first but then he warmed up to the idea of sleeping on a nice soft pillow..

We each had a nice chew on our new toys...oops that was Bill's toy I was ripping apart...That's me..OP the jaws of wonder. Teddy had better watch out lest I confuse him with a chew toy......

This morning I got up and looked at all my presents.....It was so nice of everyone to bring presents and they really didn't have to...

It was a great party with friends and the presents were just a bonus I never expected.

Pepper checks in

2011-12-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

My sister Pepper got to go to Knotts Berry Farm and of course her human made her pose for a picture. She looks so pretty and smart.

She is coming to the birthday party on Saturday. I sure hope she remembers me as we haven't seen each other in months........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET P'S

2011-12-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday along with all my siblings.....The Sweet Ps are now one year old....How time flies when you are having as much fun as we are......

Patrick is in college in Ohio, Price is hanging in North Carolina (I think), Pepper and me are in Southern California and Picabo is in Northern California. I hope that all my brothers and sisters wherever they are, had a wonderful first birthday.

Price checked in to let us know he had a nice birthday with a yummy looking cake.

Me? I spent way too much time playing yesterday so I need to just chill out today at work. Gotta save my strength for the big birthday bash on Saturday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ORA

2011-11-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my BFF Ora. I hope you had a great day.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

I got to spend the week with Bill and we thought we were safe from humiliating pictures at Thanksgiving because Auntie Mum never takes pictures....We were soooooooo wrong.

The humans actually brought out a turkey hat for us to pose in.....First Bill Then it was my turn.

But then we got our revenge...Yummy turkey for Bill and I....

I sure am glad that life is getting back to normal.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

I got sprung from girl jail on Wednesday just in time for Thanksgiving. Fortunately Auntie Mum was around to get me. I lost weight while in jail...who can blame me the grub in jail is just not as good as home. CCI recommended that my daily food intact be increased....No complaints coming from me. They said I was a very good girl and behaved myself mostly. I could hardly wait to stretch out in Auntie Mum's office and take a well deserved nap...Jail can be very noisy at times.

I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I'm hanging with Auntie Mum, Tio, and Bill for a while..Life is good.

The weekend without OP

2011-11-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

Its me Bill...I know I know you all dislike my writing style but Ora is nowhere to be found and Penelope is still in girl prison so if you want a blog update you are stuck with me......I have been practicing my writing skills and as long as this computer has spell check I should be okay for this one time appearance. So Saturday I did my therapy dog thing with Mom and then I headed home...Mom thought Mum needed a sleepover and I was definately on board since I knew that there would be a peanut butter bone in my future. Little did I know that Mum had also purchased a snowman toy for me....and she let me on the couch..Rumor has it that OP is no longer allowed on the couch so I stretched out and enjoyed my singularity. This snowman is uber comfortable.

We watched a DOCUMENTARY...What kind of fun is that? Actually other than the dog sled team which I found particularly offensive, the movie about climbing Mt Everest was pretty entertaining. Then it was off to bed and before I knew it, it was morning and we were headed off to the Encinitas Street Festival. I put on my gobble til you wobble bandana so that I was holiday appropriate.

Mum and Mom took turns holding my leash and everyone that walked by wanted to give me a pat on the head or a thumbs up..I really like being the only dog..that was until Mom decided I needed a raincoat....oh please it never rains enough to subject me to a raincoat...I understand Patrick needs one as he is out and about in a climate where there is rain and snow...But I live in Southern California...

After the picture was taken the coat was removed and not purchased. Mum assured me that it was only for added humor to the blog and I needed to be understanding. Five charlie bears later I was starting to forgive the humans. Fortunately the two dogs at the booth next door didn't notice me in the coat. The labs and goldens were out in force at this event and I said hello to almost all of them. There also were a bunch of pocket puppies most wearing sweaters but they don't count. No offense Teddy, you don't count as a sweater wearing pocket puppy because you are family.

Even though it was very windy and a bit chilly there were a lot of people and dogs and we enjoyed ourselves.

While I didn't get a corn dog or even any kettle corn, I still had a great time and I'm glad the humans decided to bring me.

Sleep tight Sistah Penelope....We're counting the days until we see you...

Pepper checks in

2011-11-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

I snuck out again to post this on the blog...The keepers sometimes leave the door of the cell open so I can creep out to use the computer. No one even notices...Must be because I'm so small and light colored...I Just heard from my sister Pepper and she spent two mornings at a Kindness Fair for a school district near her house. She had 3 groups for half an hour each both days. According to her Mom, Pepper was amazing!! I would expect nothing less from my sister.

She did all of her commands well and slept while her Mom was talking and answering questions. But as soon as her Mom called her name, she woke up and did her job! She stole everyone's heart.

Sure wish I had been there to get all those hugs...Its no fun being here in jail...No one hugs you and you don't get to do nuthin'....Hope I get out soon so that I can catch up on my snuggles. Even I'm bored with laying around all day with no training or fun things to do...I promise to never complain about lack of sleep again if they just let me out of here.........................

OP sneaks out of girl jail

2011-11-12T15:49:00.001-08:00

Our jail keepers were preoccupied with getting ready for the new matriculating dogs here at CCI so I was able to sneak out of girl jail to attend graduation...I ran over to the Mission to try and see all my friends and maybe Auntie Mum, Tio, and Mum.... (okay I didn't run but I did saunter over)...I quietly crawled into the darkened room and found everyone....Cheryl was not a bit surprised to see me...Altho she appeared to have that alien look about her so maybe it wasn't really even Cheryl.
Then I saw Erica and Emerald...They are matriculating and they looked so cool in their blue capes..Alas..they too seemed to have surrendered to alien forces.Poor Fortuna just stared wide eyed as the abductions continued.
Horizon was sitting in front of everyone and she tried desperately to get away from the aliens...I thought she was going to get caught but fortunately she was saved by her human.Then I got to see Ode's dad get his forever service dog, Del Mar....They both got plenty of congratulatory hugs.
Then Ode tried to step on Del Mar to get to her dad......But Del Mar allowed it because he knew he was his dad's forever dog and Ode had to go home with her new puppyraiser..well not really new since she had been co-raising but still..........
Ode realized that it probably was a better move to try and cooperate with Del Mar
It was a happy day all around and I safely made it back to jail before the screws even noticed I had escaped.
Congratulations to Uncle Jim and his new service dog, Del Mar......I am looking forward to meeting Del Mar once I get sprung from here.

Carlsbad Days

2011-11-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that we awoke to a dreary day we all headed out for our volunteer day at the Carlsbad Festival...By the time we got there, it was really raining....
Silly humans...When dogs would prefer to be cuddled up at home watching football, the humans headed out to an OUTDOOR festival....Who's the smarter one???? Okay just because you have thumbs does not mean you are smarter.....
We were in our little tent trying to entice people to learn about CCI. Auntie Mum tried to make me comfortable with the soggy banner.
Tio tried to show me off to the public while at the same time protected me from the rain.
I tried my best to "will" the rain away.....
For a few moments it worked....The rain stopped and we were able to dry out slightly..
But then the rain came back so I settled down on my soggy banner.
But then I decide to demonstrate a "jump"...Up onto the table I went....It all happened so fast that the humans didn't even care...In fact..it helped to make our booth more interesting.
Tio assured me that everything was okay....He is so nice....Sure glad he's my Tio......
As soon as I had made my daring leap, the people started coming...The pats were non stop.....
Well at least until the rain started pelting us again....So I found a friend to hang with.
It was nice and snuggly on the table with my new friend....even if my new friend didn't talk much.
It was a wet soggy but okay day.....I didn't mind standing in for Penelope but next time I do stand in could we please have it indoors or at least on a sunny day?

Saturday

2011-11-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Belated Halloween from the southern california homegirls...It's me Ora. I have been given the awesome responsibility of taking on the blog during Penelope's incarceration at CCI girl camp. Normally, blog responsibility would fall to Bill but he said no way I've got way too many things to do so here I am trying to do my best...This weekend was our belated Halloween party..We had to defer a week because Cheryl's dad was out bird watching and we can't have a party without him.. He's great plus he puts out a mean bbq...so none of us cared that we had to wait a week to put on our costumes...Of course OP missed out but her Mum has said she can put on her costume when she gets back and we'll pretend its Halloween all over again...Sure hope we have another party...Anyway, I've strayed so here goes...When we first arrived we had to stalk around to make sure the premises was safe....
It smelled kinda wet (well duh, it rained typhoonlike on Friday)...But it still was dry enough so that we remained clean (well as clean as we felt necessary).
I am not even going to attempt to figure out who is who in these pictures...We're all so close in age that its difficult...I do know that the black dogs are Horizon (little one) and Brutus (big one)..The rest???? You are on your own and guess what? You can't be wrong and even if you are who's going to challenge you?
Louie (the yellow dog) did some fancy dancing with Brutus...
And then I tried to do some creeping dance ala "Thriller"...Hey just trying to get into the Halloween spirit....You're humming the song now aren't you?????
Before it got dark we put on our costumes.......I must warn you...this is not pretty and can get graphic but please be assured that no dogs were harmed in the photographing.
Ora aka Squirrel Girl..........................
Cletus aka Bumblebee Boy
Cheryl aka Count Drakula (although I personally think she looks more like the Cardinal in the Da Vinci Code)
Wedelia came as a banana split....
And Bill came as a football player....Alas Penelope's costume as a cheerleader remains at Auntie Mum's house........
And finally Faylynn who showed up as wonder woman. Before it got dark, we tried for a group picture....We stood firm in our intent not to cooperate with the humans.....I hope they know what they've done by dressing us up to look so silly...Don't they understand that we have sharp teeth and we can wake up with no notice....Keep one eye open while you sleep humans.....
After finishing up the photos we were allowed to get back into our own fur...so to speak. The humans were eating and we were relegated to the side yard......Cheryl, Cletus, and Bill tried their best to get into the human area...Eventually we were all let in and even got frosty paws, thanks to Cletus' mom.
It was a fun day and I went home with OP's Mum for the night....It was movie night so I headed out in style in case the paparazzi were around.

Happy Halloween from Price

2011-11-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

My brother Price checked in for Halloween. What handsome fireman.
Rumor has it though that he is happily back in his CCI cape.

Happy Halloween from Ora

2011-11-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ora (my canine aunt) decided to celebrate Halloween in style. She sure looks silly in this hat.
But she certainly makes a pretty Ora in Wonderland.

Unfortunately for me, I won't get to wear my Halloween costume, take pictures or even go to the Halloween party next weekend with all my home girls....Why you ask? Because I headed up to CCI headquarters today to attend a three week Girl Camp.....:(

Sunday

2011-10-30T19:27:00.001-07:00

In the spirit of experiencing everything that is San Diego, we headed up to Julian, famous for its apple pie and cooler temperatures as its up in the mountains. We arrived hoping that it would not be crowded but there were quite a few people. The temperature was cooler than San Diego but since it was in the 80's in San Diego, the dip to the mid 70's was not exactly cooler and fall like but we got into the autumn spirit anyway.
We did the obligatory photos because we were promised apple crumb pie..
Okay, I have no idea what apple crumb pie is but Tio was really excited so it must good and we kept our enthusiasm high. We encountered this very strange dog......I was told it was a little pony but I think it was an alien....Mum assured me it was a pony but I am not sure....
Then we went to watch a western show but the the gun battles were too loud for dog ears (and human ears) so we kept our distance. We watched for a while but it wasn't that much fun.
That is until Bill started telling me jokes...Then we just laughed and laughed until I thought we were going to fall down...that Bill he really knows how to tell a joke.
When the show was over we headed over to the pie shop to buy Tio an apple crumb pie. Auntie Mum also got some cider...Neither Bill nor I got even one little tiny piece of apple....Even the pony got apples I think.
Soon it was time to head home but as we headed from Julian to San Diego, we went through Ramona and right there on the side of the road was a pumpkin patch....PHOTO OP...screech of tires, Auntie Mum veers off the highway.......Whew....everyone was safe...........
An old tractor with hay....We love it...Note to self: Advise Mum that my crate should include hay.... Then we found a bear to hang out with......
Gators are always fun to sit in......Scrap the truck idea Mum, I think we need a gat0r.
Then we went inside....Not too many pumpkins but the sign says there is a corn cannon.....Mum refused to let me shoot the corn cannon but we watched it and it was really cool..Nothing says Fall like ears of corn shooting through the air......Where do the humans come up with this stuff.
Great weekend and fun times.....Sorry to hear that Teddy and Granny lost their electricity this weekend but hopefully its back on now.....That's life in New England.........

Saturday

2011-10-30T19:06:00.001-07:00

We had no plans on Saturday except for Tio's errands....one of which was going to the mall.. We walked around and there were other dogs to greet. While Auntie Mum and Mum were looking at something, Tio took me to meet Scoobie Doo. I could not believe my luck...I've seen Scoobie on TV and Tio does Scoobie voices but here I was meeting the big dog in person
Scoobie was really nice although I suspect that he may not be a true canine...I was tipped off when he offered me his head to smell...Come on, we know how real dogs say hello.....I'm sensing human high jinx at play.
After we dropped Auntie Mum and Tio off at their house we headed out to visit Auntie Candace's Mum...She isn't feeling too well so what makes a human feel better? Well a visit from a dog of course...We walked into the hospital and everyone was saying hi to me...I think I like this hospital visiting....Candace's mom was really happy to see me and we spent a long time talking...Of course, I had to lay down and take a nap...Talk is for humans.....Dogs can say everything they need to say with a slurp and a snuggle.

Oh No Poor Cousin Teddy

2011-10-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

My cousin Teddy lives in Massachusetts with Granny. Well look what he got to go walk in today...SNOW...I can't believe he already has snow..Its not even Halloween.
Good thing his Mom bought him a coat to at least stay warm. With any luck that will be the last snow until they head out here to stay with Auntie Mum and Tio. At least there isn't any shoveling to do :)

Bates Nut Farm

2011-10-23T20:00:00.001-07:00

Not much to report for Saturday...Can't even tell you if we did anything other than Mum went over and worked with Lucy...We did go to Costco and Mum bought something to make our movies sound better but of course it could not be connected even by our resident expert Tio so it will go back to Costco next weekend...Plus I might add that there were hotdogs to be purchased at Costco but not even Tio would buy me one. I think I'll become a vegetarian that will show the humans who's boss. On Sunday we got up early and headed to the pumpkin patch...Let me explain to my brothers in Ohio and North Carolina and my sister in Northern California, going to the pumpkin patch in San Diego means that you drive about 45 minutes north and inland and you have to do it early because if you don't...its 90 degrees...So much for a nip in the air....But I am straying from my story so here goes..Cheryl shows up and we head out to the Bates Nut Farm...okay people call it something else but this is PG site so that's all I'm saying...Auntie Candace knows what I'm talking about. We got there and couldn't find anyone but finally we found Ora and Auntie Jan....and the rest of the group..
Then we hung around a while...
Took some silly pictures.
Then headed out for a hayride. I pretended I was Snoopy doing my best vulture impersonation.
Then Ora said we needed to take a serious picture...This is the best we could come up with.
Emerald came with Jerome...Wonder where Auntie Cyndy was? Erica is back at girl camp..I've decided to wait until January to go to girl camp as I have way too many social obligations before the year ends to waste it at girl camp.
We all enjoyed the hayride. Cheryl found it particularly fun yet relaxing.
Ha Ha, we caught the humans taking pictures of us....Pretty cool considering we don't have thumbs.
After the hayride we headed out to the pumpkin patch. That's some pumpkin.
I tried to jump up on it as I've heard that exercising on a ball is good for you...I couldn't really get the hang of it and I don't really need exercise...
Then we took a few more pictures in the blazing sun. Welcome to Autumn in Southern California.
They had these wheel barrows for you to haul your pumpkins around in. I was heat stroked by then...okay only kidding we had plenty of shade and water but it was time to go.
We stopped halfway home for lunch....I did not get anything except for ice and water but the floor was very cool after a long hot morning in the pumpkin patch.
I'm going to work with Auntie tomorrow....Class tomorrow night...ah oh.. gotta go study....

Updates from So Cal

2011-10-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

We had a busy Saturday, so busy that Mum was lax in updating the blog. Fortunately, we didn't do anything on Sunday other than play while the humans sewed...Don't panic, Mum didn't sew, she got lunch ready and ironed...that's as close to sewing as she gets. But I digress, since there are no pictures for today, let me tell you what we did yesterday. First we got up early and headed out to Oceanside to visit with the firemen...I was so excited because who doesn't love hanging with firemen? First a group shot while we waited for the firemen and their engine to arrive. Seems just before we all got there, they had to got out and...well you guessed it, they had to go put out a fire.....The wait gave us time to sniff around and take in the sights.
Cheryl, fresh out of girl camp, was happy to be out and enjoyed hanging around waiting for the firemen.
Because I was with Mum, Auntie Jane and Auntie Jan...the cameras were whirling. I swear they are worse than the paparazzi. Note to blog readers: Because I have so many Aunties and Auntie Jane is my co-raiser, she will from this point forward be referred to as "Auntie Mum".
There was a cool dead body on the ground which I sniffed...okay it wasn't a real dead body but it sure looked real and it smelled like smoke.
Ora was one of the first to go up the fireman (he put on all his gear for us)...then it was my turn...He was really nice. Some of the other dogs were afraid of him but not Ora and I...He might look scary but he was fun. I particularly liked that his hat matched our capes.
Then I discovered a big fat tire in the back and we headed over there. Ora sat on top...
Knowing that Mum and Auntie Mum love a real photo op, I got inside.
We got to see all the equipment and listened to calls on the radio and took a tour of the fire station..The firemen have a big kitchen and nice bedrooms...Plus a big room with recliner chairs and a big tv. It was not; however, as nice as Tio's home theater.
Cheryl, Ora, and I hopped up on the front of the engine...Plenty of room for even more dogs but no one else joined us on this truck.
Then we jumped up on another truck and gater joined us...He is a very handsome black lab... Too bad I'm not allowed to have a boyfriend...
Ora and I ran around to the back of the truck for yet another photo op
Ah oh, too bad we didn't read the sign...Oh well it wasn't in motion so no harm no foul...
Finally it was time to say goodbye to the firemen.. We needed one more group picture but there was some serious dog wrangling to be done before the picture could be taken.
Finally just about everyone cooperated...What a great time...Thank you Oceanside firemen. We went to lunch and then headed back to go get Bill to go to the Pet Expo..It is a big adoption fest and we always love to go see who's going to get a new home. There were a lot of dogs but Auntie Mum settled on the St. Bernards...While she was petting Winston, I found a friend in Ellie. Look at the size of that head...And she's not even two years old.
Ellie and I really liked each other...even if she did drool a bit. Does this dog make me look tiny?
Auntie Mum wanted to take Winston home and Bill advised her that there was not enough room in the Mom Mobile for three dogs...Auntie Mum said there was room but turns out both Ellie and Winston had been adopted..
I was pretty happy that they were adopted because they were way too cool not to have homes. We trudged back to the car and headed home.
Going to these adoption fairs is a lot of fun but its also sad because so many dogs do not have homes. Bill,all my homegirls and I are very fortunate that we have such wonderful humans taking care of us....Doesn't mean I won't continue to push the boundaries and file complaints with the ASPCA........Have a great week and sorry I am posting so late for my east coast Grandmother and Teddy.

Picabo checks in

2011-10-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ora was sprung from girl camp late last week...I missed her a lot and we got to catch up on things at class last night.
She told me that Picabo was down in Oceanside last week and managed to get her picture snapped with Ora.. She looks a bit pale compared to Ora ...Must be the lack of sunshine in Northern California. Or maybe she's taking after our Dad. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see her but maybe she'll come down some other time and we can meet or maybe I can convince the humans to take me up North.......Yipppeee possible road trip.

The Festa

2011-10-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a beautiful day and yes, us dogs were hauled off to yet another festival..What is it with these humans and their festivals....Come on...Can't we just chill at home and watch football? Bet Gracie isn't running around at festivals....Okay this was an Italian festival and it smelled delicious so who am I to complain?Tio really got into the act by trying on a hat that made him look so cool...like the godfather himself.....
They were doing all kinds of chalk art...some funny some serious but really fun because it was all in chalk.....
They were even re-creating the Sistine Chapel....It was awesome to see.
I still can't figure out how they do it and like sandcastles it will all be washed away in a day.
We got to catch a few rounds of bocce ball...Seems like a fun game...I loved watching the balls roll.Then we checked out the local church...It had beautiful pictures in the ceiling.
Then it was off to the Italian cars and I found a particularly appealing motorcycle....a Moto Guzi...Here's to my grandfather Jim...
Bill and I picked out a nice Alpha Romeo....But the humans refused to pay for it....
Bill and I tried to sneak into the beer garden but they carded us so no go....
Then I took one last picture with my family.....A good festival and a great day.
Work this week but hey, that means lots of snooze time for me.

The big dig going into WEEK FOUR

2011-10-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Mum was wondering if our yard would ever be safe and clean again but her faith was restored on Friday when we came home to a side yard that was somewhat habitable.
And a backyard with no heavy equipment parked in it. Our pool is looking very very sad but hopefully that too will be restored. The end may be in sight.
On Saturday we went over to play with Bill...Okay I went over to play with Bill but the humans wanted to play with Bill...I said no...Find your own friends.
Mum said that was kinda mean so I guess I need to think before I speak next time......
We left Bill and went to do some errands and when we came back I played really hard with Bill. Poor Bill, I think I wore him out....
As always when I'm with Bill, it was a great day.

Old Town Arts Festival

2011-10-02T18:47:00.001-07:00

In keeping up our tradition of taking advantage of the beautiful place that we live in, we headed out to the Old Town Art and Wine Festival. We had planned to go to the reenactment of Cabrillo landing in San Diego but Tio said he preferred art.....so of course we headed to the arts festival....Cabrillo would have to land without us. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to see that there were homemade tortillas being offered....Auntie and Mum said no....
So we traveled on looking at art...I hate to admit it but I love art shows because all the artists absolutely love dogs and they have water bowls for us if we are thirsty and they make sure to give us all the hugs and pats that we need (and of course deserve)
We met this strange guy named Miguel...He seemed nice but boy can that guy talk...I have no idea what he was yammering about but he didn't seem to care that we were not listening.
We stopped at the gift shop but nothing really jumped out at us so we didn't buy anything. Tio bought a very nice print which he says he is putting in the bathroom but I think it's too nice for the bathroom.....but who am I to criticize Tio??
Have you noticed that the humans keep posing Bill and I the same way? I mean come on use your imagination stop putting Bill on the left, me on the right...look at the camera....Auntie has cookies...Okay we always seem to fall for that even though we know darn well that Auntie has no cookies...Note to self: If Auntie is not at her house or my house, she does not and I repeat, she does not have cookies...The best you can hope for is a Charlie Bear.
Much to our surprise the antique auto show that we missed last week in Chula Vista was at this art show....Bill had his eye on a Model A.
He told me that I could sit with him in front of his car but I couldn't touch it or ride with him. He told me about the woodie that he and Irish used to have...and how much fun they had cruising the beach in it....Bill said he didn't want to talk about it anymore and told me to leave him alone...I've learned that Bill gets sad when he thinks about his BFF Irish so I don't bug him until he feels better. I sure wish I had known Irish as I think I would have liked him.Then Bill and I decided to head across country in a covered wagon..I know its probably not the fastest way to get across country but we had to try...Our grandmother and Teddy are back East and we really want to see them. We saw a bunch of Teddy dogs and every time we saw them we knew that we had to keep heading East. Fortunately I got to sleep while Bill kept watch.
Okay we were only pretending to head East in our covered wagon but our intentions were good and we really did see a whole bunch of "Teddys" although they were very quiet and we all know that Teddy has SO MUCH TO SAY.
A bunch of people started taking pictures of us in the wagon and who were we to stop mugging for the camera?
Finally, the humans said we could head back to the car where we had a nice big bowl of water...bottle water of course...It was delicious...
Then we went downtown and had fish and chips...Okay the humans had fish and chips and Bill had a few chips thanks to Auntie but we got to hang...Thanks to Auntie Candace for recommending it to the humans. Then we took a little walk before we headed back to our boat. Oh did I forget to mention that we purchased a small boat for our weekend excursions?
Despite the construction going on in the backyard, we managed to have a great weekend...

THE BIG DIG WEEK THREE

2011-10-02T18:14:00.001-07:00

So our two week job is now entering week three and while I'm seeing progress, it still appears to be in a state of disrepair or is it a state of no repair??????
Bill came over to check out the cement pond aka the pool. He had his towel and swim trunks and somehow expected to take a nice cool swim....Unfortunately he discovered that the cement pond had been stolen......
I tried to reassure him that the pool was still there but he was not convinced and said he isn't going to be my friend anymore since I don't have a pool.......
I was sad for a while but then he started laughing and said "gotcha"....That Bill always the jolly joker.....
Mum is particularly dismayed because all of her beautiful plants are gone except for the dreaded boganvilla which continues to thrive on the hillside.......Hopefully construction will be completed this week...Yeah right and I'm going to become a great dane.......

My first presentation

2011-09-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

This was very exciting today. I did my first presentation without Mum being present. Auntie Sondra said I did great and everyone wanted to take me home with them..Fortunately Auntie Sondra kept a tight grip on my leash so that no one could run off with me. I am also having a blast at Auntie Sondra's house.....

Patrick is at college

2011-09-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Patrick is slogging through his first week of college with his puppyraiser and I say slogging because apparently where he is going to college in the midwest they have a ton of rain. He has a cool raincoat and boots though so he doesn't really mind it. He sent along some pictures so you can see how handsome he is (well he looks like me so why wouldn't he be handsome)And what is it with the humans and their pictures with the flowers....I thought it was just Mum and Auntie who did that....But I was wrong......
Still wondering if I'll ever hear from my other sibs...So far I've tracked down Patrick, Picabo, Pepper, and Price.....Still looking for Paco, Pedro, Pilgrim, and Pike

Catch up time

2011-09-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

This week flew by for me (unfortunately the week didn't go as quickly for Mum). A coworker stopped by with her dog Sprock-ette...She was very friendly but a little bit afraid of me. She's certainly no Teddy.The west coast Big Dig continues and we don't think it's ever going to be finished. While most of Mum's beautiful plants have been ripped out...The Dreaded Boganvilla lives....Its just not right.
We are unable to use the backyard...Well I think we can use the backyard but Mum thinks its too dangerous for my paws...
I think I'd have a blast running around in the dirt, nails, and concrete but Mum rules.
Now I understand how those people in Boston felt when it took forever to dig there.
This is never going to end....Sure hope it is worth it.... Today we headed out to the Chula Vista Harbor Days. There was supposed to be an antique car show but the cars were a no show.
We thought it would be fun to join the sea scouts but the admiral said only kids no dogs but he at least let us take our picture. Then we headed to the harbor.
A quick shot on the bench....Then off to see some art and whatever else the festival would provide us. At one point Bill suggested that we ditch the humans and swim to Coronado...He really liked our time spent in Coronado and thinks we should go back there. Auntie Celeste lives there so there would be a place to stay and we know she has plenty of kibble.
But I told Bill our humans would miss us.....Note to self: Try not to believe Bill when he suggests things which you know are not possible....listen to your inner voice.
We were not too impressed with the harbor days festival but I did get to have my picture taken with a cow...I suggested ice cream for everyone but the humans said no.
It was an okay day even if we didn't get ice cream....I did get several new bones to chew on.

Patrick checks in

2011-09-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

Patrick started college with his puppyraiser and he did fabulously....Of course we would expect nothing less from a member of the Sweet P's.

Price checks in

2011-09-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

I was wandering around facebook when all of sudden I saw my brother Price's picture. What a handsome boy at 67lbs. He lives in Raleigh North Carolina and I got my Mum to "friend" his Mom on facebook so maybe we'll get more pictures.....Let's see now, I've discovered the whereabouts of Pepper, Picabo, Patrick, and Price. Only a few more to go. Good thing Mum is a super sleuth.....

The weekend

2011-09-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a strange one. First my homegirl Ora went to "Girl Camp" Not too sure what that is but I've been told you have to stay there for about three weeks and that all the girls go there at some time. Sure wish Ora was around but maybe she'll give me some insight into this camp when she comes back. Faylynn and Wedelia weren't around either which is a good thing because we are having some work done on the backyard and when we came home on Friday...here is what we found.Mum was not very pleased with the heavy equipment laying around the yard...I thought it was okay...all this debris for me to eat...It was like a dream come true.
But then Mum advised me that I was not to eat any debris and I was only allowed in the backyard when I was supervised strictly.......
So I brought Gordon outside and told Mum not to worry he would supervise me.....That didn't fly with Mum because I had forgotten that Gordon has no eyes and most recently he underwent an "tailectomy". Not really someone you would pick to be the supervisor. On Saturday, we all went to Coronado to art walk....Oh no not more art. What is it with the humans and their art? I tried to complain but Mum reminded me of all the dog events that she takes me to so I happily joined in on the art viewing...Note to self: Do not upset the human who feeds you.....
While walking we ran into Aleina who was a CCI dog but was released. She is now a medical service dog for the human who raised her.
She is pretty cool and she knew some of the dogs that Mum and Auntie have raised in the past. Tio kept talking to these people and I finally had to take a little rest. Hey art viewing is hard work.
We walked around some more and then the humans let us go hang out on the beach (on leash of course).Bill thinks the way I sit is hilarious and he kept pointing his paw at me laughing. He couldn't contain himself.....I didn't think it was funny at all.
Fortunately Tio came to the rescue and assured me that I sit very properly.
I was still feeling a little depressed but fortunately we stopped for a cookie break and I got to snuggle up on Tio's foot.....No wonder he's such a great psychologist...He makes everyone feel so much better.
After the show we decided to go get some snacks...Yippee...I love snacks...Unfortunately the snacks were for the humans not us dogs. Bill was still snickering about my sitting so I refused to even look at him.
We had an okay day and I was tired so when we got home I ate dinner and then took a nap. We watched a movie about a guy who uses a beaver puppet to help him through his depression. Not a good choice for me since I was already depressed from Bill making fun of me. The beaver was very cute though and I was marginally amused.
Because my yard is akin to Beruit, Auntie invited me over to play with Bill. I wasn't sure he wanted me to play with him but when I got there he did let me run around the yard with him.
Auntie and Mum went to the grocery store so they put Tio in charge. Yahoo.......
We went crazy but as soon as we heard the front door open.
What? We weren't doing anything..We just woke up. Fortunately Tio confirmed our story... We went home shortly after Mum got back from the store.....I'm still feeling sad because Bill said I stink and that he only wants to play with mature dogs not baby dogs like me. With Ora gone, I am left with only Bob, Gordon, and my new friend Louie (he's the red one).
I sure hope Bill changes his mind....I love Bob, Gordon, and Louie but they don't run around unless I carry them and none of them are very conversational.....
I sure hope I figure out a way to make Bill like me again....Maybe I need perfume?

The Greek Festival

2011-09-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday Wedelia, Mum, Auntie and I headed out to the Greek Festival. We weren't sure what to expect and in reality it wasn't at all as good as we thought it would be but we can at least check it off our list of things to do in San Diego. We waited patiently for our Baklava Sundae but we didn't get one..We were not that disappointed as we have no idea what Baklava is so it didn't matter that we didn't get to have one.

Then we walked around a little to soak up the culture of all that is Greek.
There was dancing and music which I enjoyed.
We tried to obtain another snack..this time rotisserie fair.....But again, no snacks were obtained.
Finally we decided we had had enough so we headed home..OPA...........
After all that walking and hot weather....I just needed a short soak before the swimming began.
Then much to my surprise, Wedelia decided that swimming could be really fun so we all jumped in for some cooling down.
Turns out Wedelia is a really good swimmer. We even had a few races but no one cared who won. It was just good to be hanging in the pool.
I did a simple lap with the football just to show everyone how easy it is to glide through the water.
We had a new pup joining us named Indie. She wasn't sure she was going to like the pool but Auntie and Mum kept launching her in so she finally decided why not join the rest of the dogs.
Personally I think she looks like a baby seal when she swims but she certainly adapted to the water like a seal so maybe she isn't really a dog...I'll have to ask Auntie about that.
After we were all exhausted, the pool was closed and you guessed it...bath time. We didn't really mind it as Bill told us there were cookies to be had if we cooperated...That Bill always knows when the cookies will arrive.
We had a great weekend and now I'm just hanging around while Mum paints. I offered to help but she said no thank you.......

Halfway through the weekend

2011-09-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Wedelia came to stay on Thursday. We were supposed to meet at the zoo class but the electricity went out midday so her mom just dropped her off. Since we had no electricity there aren't any pictures. We had a blast running around in the dark but Mum was not amused. Friday arrived and so did the electricity so off to work we all went. When we got home I did some yoga moves to stretch out before I hit the playground with Wedelia.Then we did some indoor dancing. Again, Mum was not amused and we were told to "take it outside". Personally we thought the rug and dog bed looked much better in the living room than the family room and why do they call them "scatter rugs" if they aren't supposed to be scattered all around the house?
We played really hard and then we were told to go to bed. Saturday we got up and Mum insisted on a few minutes of training.She came outside and said "here". Wedelia took off..Me? I prefer to saunter.
Hey, we both arrived at the same location and in the same pose so what's the big deal? It's not a race.
Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We ran into the kitchen and advised Mum that it was dinnertime. She advised us that it was too early for dinner and went out of the kitchen.
Not to be outsmarted by a human, Wedelia and I decided to pretend to be so hungry we couldn't even stand up....Wedelia even managed to emit a very good whine.
None of our tactics were working but eventually Mum came back in and gave us food.. As the proper hostess, I permitted Wedelia to receive her dinner bowl first.
And then it was my turn.... Dinner sure tastes good after a long day of play.
Tomorrow is sure to be a great day but until then ITS MOVIE NIGHT and I heard Mum got a PG movie which promises to be chock full of laughs....I can hardly wait.

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday started out as a picture perfect day but I knew it was going to get better because I was celebrating Labor Day with all my friends in a puppypaloosa pool party...Try to say that three times fast. Anyway, everyone arrived in a timely fashion and the first one in the pool was Brutus but then the humans discovered he was bleeding...Sheesh within five minutes of arriving he'd already blown out a nail. The humans provided medical treatment but he still was benched.........
But then Mum put a bootie on his foot and he was good to go... So glad he wasn't sidelined for the whole party.
The rest of us agreed that we were going to behave like perfect pups today so that no one received a time out. We entered the pool in an orderly fashion.
But then we decided that was not much fun so we decided to see if we could set the Guiness Book of World records for the most dogs on one pool step. Faylynn found this to be particularly funny which didn't surprise me as Faylynn tends to find just about everything funny.
Then someone told us there was a rip current running through the deep end.. We cautiously waited in the shallow end for it to pass.
Unfortunately, Cheryl and I went in too soon and go caught up if the frothy waves.
Its okay though as we made it to the steps without any problem. Rip currents in the pool are nowhere near as dangerous as they are in the ocean..or so I've heard. It being the end of summer, we had to bust out our favorite dance moves. Faylynn showed us the double wobba gallup.
And then she and Ora did the very complicated shuffle shuffle bow wow.
Not to be outdone, the rest of did the boom chicka side slide
We really were hot by the time we were done dancing so into the pool we went. Dog paddling is so much fun and not very exhausting which is why I love it so.
Even Cheryl has some good paddling skills and she doesn't even like to swim that much.
Faylynn decided to take a time out just to watch everyone in the pool.
I challenged Brutus to a race. It was pretty close but he has 20 lbs at least on me plus his arms and legs are twice mine. I'd say though he only won my a nose.
Meanwhile, Bill, being the oldest, was in charge of lifeguarding. He kept a watchful eye on all of us.
The humans were using tubes to float around in and Brutus decided he wanted to give the tube a try. He discovered that it isn't as easy as the humans make it look.
Personally I thought he looked like one of those whales at Seaworld.
But smart guy that he is, Brutus finally made it into the tube. Hope it was worth it.
Bill decided that lifeguarding was too much pressure for him, so he politely requested that he be let inside to sleep on one of the beds. Needless to say, his request was denied.
It was a great day filled with great friends, both furry and non furry.
Mum even gave everyone a special cookie in honor of the party.
After everyone left, Bill and I went inside to chillax until the humans were ready to go home. Bill was so tired he walked around with his towel on.
Me? I couldn't even walk around..I was too pooped to even shake my towel off.
As fun as it was, I'm glad I have today to catch up on my sleep....Being a party animal is tough but I wouldn't change it for anything.HAPPY LABOR DAY TO EVERYONE......

A Concert and a birthday

2011-08-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

How horrible of me to forget that it was Faylynn's birthday yesterday. What kind of friend am I? I'll have to make it up to her but I'm sure she'll forgive me....So HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY FAYLYNN....You sure look cute in your party hat....We went to a concert last night in Balboa park to listen to the gigantic outdoor organ. The concert was fun well fun until the music started. I enjoyed hanging with friends but then the big organ took off and it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Seems that Diane did not truly appreciate the magnitude of the organ..............
Keeta, ever the party girl enjoyed herself thoroughly.
Bill was not amused and I just wanted to sleep and make it go away..............
Wedilia tried her best to put on a happy face.
We were offered treats at one point which really perked us up. At last the concert was over and we got to go home. Fortunately it was a nice summer night and an evening spent having good times with good friends.

keeta comes to stay

2011-08-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

Mum volunteered to take Keeta for an overnight visit. I wasn't so sure I wanted more company..Afterall, Stella was with us for three weeks but I didn't have much of a say in it so over she came. We played a lot (she's pretty fun) and then I hunkered down with a bone to wait for the movie. Keeta couldn't settle down and kept pacing around the house.I kept bringing her toys and bones but she had trouble sitting still...Seemed like a lot of wasted energy to me but who am I to judge?
Bob was not amused by her antics....He prefers a much calmer environment....Must be why I love Bob.Sunday we went over to Auntie and Tio's for pancakes while Mum went to a memorial...It was fun but it was more fun when Mum came home and we all headed over to my house for a swim.
I tried to get everyone in the mood for a game of water football but no one was interested.
Keeta did some laps and when I tried to get her involved in a huddle in the deep end..she just looked at me and said "I'm out of here".
Keeta and Bill decided to engage in some wind sprints leaving me all alone with the football...Not fair..Bill is my bruddah and its my house, my pool, so you guys should play with me.....They weren't listening to me.
Ha Ha Bruddah.....Keeta wins by a nose...........
Then Keeta told us all that she knew how to break dance....OMG she is so lame.....
But she surprised us all with her beautiful water ballet....It made up for the embarrassing attempt to break dance.
Soon it was time for us to say goodbye to Keeta....It was an okay weekend but I sure wish Mum had found the time to get Ora over here to play with me....She would have played football with me and she certainly knows how to dance having learned from the master BD Byrd.
Tomorrow we are going to a concert in the park...Should be fun.

SHOUT OUT

2011-08-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were wondering what was going on with the blog, it seems that blogger decided to no longer be compatible with internet explorer so while Mum posted this weekend's antics, she didn't realize that it was not published until people started telling her there were no new postings. So computer tech that Mum is, she started searching for ways to figure out how to do it....That obviously didn't work so she was just about ready to forget about it for a while but then she received an email from Auntie Jane that MY EAST COAST GRANDMOTHER wasn't being fully informed on my activities.....Well, that cannot be CONDONED I said to Mum....So I took matters in my own paws and sought out the assistance of the real techno person in my life, Auntie Candace....

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO MY AUNTIE CANDACE (devoted mother of Gracie) for getting the blog back on track...Whew...... That was exhausting.

Random thoughts today

2011-08-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday and I decided I would just do some random things because I didn't do much of anything today. Mum got Stella and I up early this morning and we headed over to Bill's house to play while the humans cleaned their cars. Seems the humans don't like dog hair and smell in their cars.....I'll never understand that as I don't think there is anything nicer smelling than dog....Well that is what I thought until I met Ella.She's staying with Auntie and Tio (thank goodness not with Stella and I). She's a bulldog and she is very very low to the ground. When Stella first met Ella she thought she was a giant ball and tried to grab her.

Ella was not amused.....even though Bill and I thought it was hilarious.

Its a good thing her parents like her because she isn't going to win any beauty contest (not even if she aced the personality part of the contest)

Personally I think she is a POG (part dog part pig). Clearly she is not in our league but cool kids that we are, we let her play with us all day. Suffice it to say that two letters makes a big difference in a dog (Stella-St=Ella....Yikes). I'd like to show you pictures but the humans left us alone in the backyard and what happens at Camp WooWoo stays at Camp WooWoo.

I forgot to tell you that last weekend I acquired a bear named Chauncy..He came from the garage sale that Auntie and Tio had...Mum thought I would like Chauncy so she brought him home for me.....

I love him (although he no longer has his jacket and his t-shirt is not very smart looking anymore). We had to put him away until Stella leaves as she doesn't like him very much and keeps trying to bite his feet off....I don't like his name as I can't remember Chauncy so I've renamed and Auntie said it was okay to do that....His name is Bob because its easy to remember and if you spell it backwards.....its still Bob.....He's very smart and he loves to hang out with me. Hopefully Bob will be tough and won't have to go to Switzerland like Jeffrey did. By the way, Jeffrey is doing great and he's getting his masters degree in conflict resolution.

Stella hard at work

2011-08-20T08:29:00.001-07:00

I had to work, well, like a dog on Friday at Auntie Jane's. I had to supervise shredding and then I only had a short break for lunch and then back to work again...Meanwhile, Stella was hard at work with Mum........Life is tough when you are a service dog........

CityFest

2011-08-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to go to Cityfest because it seemed like the thing to do. We drove in our sports car (the Caliber) which is actually my East Coast Grandma's car but she lets us use it when she isn't here. Auntie and Mum also call it the dogmobile. We had three dogs and three humans but it was cosy not crowded. We parked and then waited for the shuttle bus (because Mum gets very cranky when she is trying to find a parking space) The bus picked us up and we all got on the bus....some of us had a bit more trouble getting up the stairs but we won't tell who it was...Let's just say HE had some issues. So after we got off the bus we were surrounded by tents and people...It was great. Stella and I took the lead....Okay, I didn't really as you know I am a bit of a one speed wonder.

Everyone wanted to pet us and that was okay ...

The Scripps Hospital people told us we could stay all day if we wanted to..It was shady at their booth and we were tempted to stay but I heard there were hotdogs being served somewhere so I was hot on the trail.

I hung out with all kinds of people and even a big giant bear....Good thing he wasn't alive as he would have been a bit scary. It was hot but they had a mini water slide so they let us stand next to it and get some water spray...It was nice and cool.

Finally it was time to go...Wait, where was my hotdog...Okay dogs, assemble in front of Tio, look pleading...he's caving......Come on pour on the sympathetic I need a hotdog look.........

Nuts, no hotdog but we got nachos and that's almost as good.....Okay, the humans got nachos but we got to smell them which is almost as good (at least that is what Bill tells me). Then it was back to to the shuttle bus.

Bill and Stella were very patient in their waiting...Me???? I was really tired so I took a snooze.

Then it was back on the bus..Stella and I sat with Mum and Auntie and the "boys" hung out in another seat.

It always is more fun to sit with Tio but it was not my decision. Before we knew it, we were home. Mum dropped Tio and Auntie off as they were going out to dinner and the four of us headed home for some serious cooling off time. Everyone in the pool. Wow is that a big giant mouse jumping in the pool? I hope not because I don't like mice...except for Topo Gigio...

After examining the photo, I realized it was just super Stella jumping in.

Bill and I had some swim races...He always lets me win. Then he decided to do his shark impression. I need to speak with Auntie and Tio...They should stop letting Bill watch TV because he always watches the Discovery Channel and then does animal impersonations. Pretty good shark though I must admit.

Stella decided that it was time for cannonballs.......

I just decided to take a few laps demonstrating the doggie paddle.

After all our swimming we were really hungry so Mum let us have dinner outside in our swimsuits. We love picnics.

Of course Mum made us wait while the food cooled off a bit and then she said okay.........and well........We love to eat.

It was yet another great weekend.....Its good to be me.

my sister pepper

2011-08-13T19:59:00.001-07:00

I heard while at graduation that my sister Pepper was lurking around so I spent a lot of time searching for her........And then finally voila....... There she was. I had so much to tell her and to ask her....We just couldn't stop talking to each other...

Then of course the humans said, let's take some pictures. Pepper wanted nothing to do with picture taking.

Pepper insisted on not cooperating but then.............what was that?

Then the humans decided maybe it would be easier to lay down.....Pepper was not amused. And by the way, who wears shoes like that?????

Then Pepper's human said the magic word......Treats......

Well we'd be fools not to listen and look at that........My sister is bigger than me but not by much...She is lighter in color but she's still my sister...I hope I get to see her again...Note to self: let Canine Mum know that I tracked down Pepper.

CONGRATULATIONS BD BYRD

2011-08-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

It seems just like yesterday that a baby Byrd came into our lives. She was a quiet yet fun little Byrd to have around.

With every month, she grew not only in size but in her skills.

She and her brother Brutus were always around to cheer us all up.

With a quiet smile, Byrd always made us feel like we were the most important humans around.

Not that she was always calm and reserved.....She also strutted her stuff at the Coronado Fourth of July parade.

She also was not shy around the pool.....Break dancing Byrd (BD) was never about calmly getting into the pool. Maybe she should have been named Canonball Byrd.
Her BFF Stella was always up for an event and they were able to take in a ballgame at Petco Park .

But then Stella went off and graduated and Byrd was left with the tiresome task in February of going through Advanced Training.

But then the "Call" came. BD Byrd was advancing to team training and if matched would graduate. Not that we had any doubt whatsoever. BD Byrd flew through team training and was matched as a skilled companion dog. So off we went to graduation on Friday....But when I got there I found out that Byrd had been abducted by aliens...Well maybe her person was an alien...I mean who am I to judge?

Slowly, the aliens released their grip on Byrd...She was a bit fuzzy but I think they were leaving her so she could go on to her service career.

And I was correct. Before I knew it, the aliens and fuzz were gone and Byrd was back with his mum, Auntie Jan.

Congratulations BD Byrd...We will miss you but we are so very proud of you..You worked hard and you succeeded....Not that we had any doubt but still we wish you the best...We promise (Ora and I) that we will take very good care of your Mom and will make sure that she doesn't miss you too much. YOU ARE THE BEST.

A celebration for Randy IV

2011-08-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

Congratulations goes out to Randy IV for a successful career as a CCI breeder dog.He finally decided to retire so he was tutored and will have his stitches removed on Friday.

He rejoiced in this news by busting out a move (now you see where his kids got their dance moves).... Born March 13, 2006 to Rosy and Sequoia, this full golden went on to be one of the few chosen as a CCI breeder. He sired 120 puppies, 10 litters with CCI, 2 litters with Guide Dogs for the Blind and 3 litters with Northstar Dogs. A few of those dogs are here to say thank you.

Boots, who is a service dog for Marques, lives in Los Angeles.

He loves being in service especially when he gets to go to the park and play ball or go on vacation.

Lucy, the wild child, who is in training to be a service dog for Shellie in San Diego. She will hopefully graduate to full service in late 2011.

And last but certainly not least, Stella who is a service dog for Christoff in San Diego. She finds working as a service dog fun but very tiring.
So here's to Randy...Run and play as much as you want.

You did a great job and gave us those great genes to make us succeed. Hopefully all us kids made you proud in whatever path we chose to take.

ENJOY RETIREMENT......YOU DESERVE IT. WE LOVE YOU....YOUR KIDS..

Sunday

2011-08-07T20:05:00.001-07:00

Today the humans thought it would be a good idea to move furniture all over the house...That meant that we had to stay outside. Bill came over and he brought his friend Jake with him...While in most instances staying outside might be considered a punishment, we have a pool and a yard and toys...so punish us all you want...We just kept running around and having a really good time. At one point though, Jake and Stella decided they were done and wanted to go inside....Let's see, wet dogs, dry inside...Come on you guys, you really think the humans are going to let you in? Bill and I knew better..We tried the double stink eye...

That didn't work either and in fact it encouraged the humans to come outside and give us baths....Not a fun experience at all. We waited patiently but then Jake had the idea that maybe if we all got together and looked cute, they'd let us in...Plus focus on Tio.......... Mum said no, Auntie said you guys are still wet..Tio said...come on they are dry enough, its too hot out there for them......Needless to say, we were brought inside..Tio is the best......By the way HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIO.............

saturday

2011-08-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

We got up really early as we had a class up at the Oceanside pier that we had to go to...Seriously humans? Class at 9:00 am on Saturday...But my protests went unheard so Cheryl and I were put into the back of the SUV for the trip. Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. My homegirls, Faylynn and Ora and Ode were there plus a whole bunch more dogs who's names I've promptly forgotten. Hey, human, whats with the leash on my head? How about some leash management?

The instructor Becca gave us some really good pointers on training and the weather was San Diego spectacular. After the class we posed for birthday pictures. As a group we pretended to be uncooperative and untrained just to irk the humans.

But because we do love our humans (plus they provide food and toys), we decided to give them at least one good group shot.

Then it was time to head home. Stella has come to stay with us for a month which should be fun. Her family went to South Africa and it was too long a flight for Stella...We are very lucky that she chose us to stay with as she is a blast. Everybody in the pool...............Wow how many heads does this dog have? Then Stella said, hey what's that at the end of the pool?

I didn't know so we set out to investigate. I made Stella lead...Hey, she's the oldest..I wasn't afraid.....

As we gazed down to the end of the pool...there it was....

A giant jellyfish.....We yelled to Mum to get the jellyfish so that we could swim. She just shook her head and advised us that there were no jellyfish in the pool..Jellyfish live in the ocean...Okay, I never believed that there was a jellyfish in the pool but Stella did and she's the guest so I have to agree with her. Now that the pool was jellyfish free we set off for some more swimming. Nice clean pool..............

Ball floating in the air, getting ready to land in the pool.

And then cannonball Stella went for that ball.

She is awesome...I wonder if I'll learn to jump off the side of the pool. It looks fun..I would ask Bill to teach me but I don't believe he knows how to do it. We watched the waves lapping softly against the side of the pool...............

Then bam..........In coming Stella.............

She sure loves those tennis balls..

Finally it was time to call the day at an end...Actually it started getting dark so Mum closed the pool and we went in to chill out before movie night. We shared the dog bed...No it was not the cool dog bed that we saw last week just the plain old bed but that's okay.........

I was pretty tired and so was Stella....I can't even tell you what the movie was.

Happy Birthday

2011-08-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to wish Wedilia a HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY.Celebrating with Wedilia on the left is Emerald and on her right is Ora. Such party girls.

Bill goes formal

2011-08-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

An article was published in the local newspaper detailing Bill's work as a therapy dog (Making friends: Love On A Leash teams bring smiles SignOnSanDiego.com) so he has decided to upgrade his image to the star that he is. He now refers to me as "his assistant". Mum, Tio, and Auntie are his entourage.....Sheesh. I'd say he was getting a little too big for his britches but since he doesn't wear britches it doesn't seem appropriate.

Doggie Fest

2011-08-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

We went downtown to the doggie fest on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and Bill and I had a blast. Auntie stopped and asked the vet a couple of questions. She made a point of showing me to the vet and asked if I was too skinny because everyone keeps telling me that....He said no I was perfect...I could have told Auntie and Mum that....

There were a lot of dogs and everyone was really well behaved. My favorite vendor of all was the guy who makes couches for dogs.

Seriously, I think Mum and Auntie should buy two, one for me and one for Bill, that way no matter what house we are at we have a couch to sit on. Hey football season is almost here and we're gonna need some place to sit to watch the games.

See there even is enough room for two dogs...... Alas, Mum and Auntie did not whip out their credit cards but they did take a business card so who knows?

We also got the opportunity to hang 20. Bill went first.

And then while Bill supervised, I was allowed to do my own surfing.

Then it was time for a little kayaking. I'm more experienced at kayaking than Bill so when it was his turn, I had to go with him.

We saw this really nice dog at the Humane Society booth who needs a home. She seemed really sweet and even gave Bill a little slurp.

Look at the size of those paws? She's only 4 or 5 months old. I sure hope she got adopted.

After hanging at the festival it was time for a little walk along the water.

Wonder why we don't know people who have boats like these? Bill and I definately are not hanging with the right humans.

One last pose and it was time to head home to swim...My feet are killing me as I ran my pads off at the pool party and then all this walking....I don't understand why Auntie and Mum don't bring my wagon on these adventures.

Saturday

2011-07-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

Bill spent the night with me on Friday and while he pretends that he doesn't like me, I know deep down he really does...He's a great big bruddah We got up Saturday and went for a morning swim but Mum told me to take it easy because we were going to a pool party in the afternoon. A pool party???? I didn't know anyone else had a pool....This was going to be great...We got in the car and drove for a while and then...there it was an oasis like I'd never seen....A yard full of dogs and a pool........

It was the best pool I've ever seen...Okay Mum sorry, our pool is fine but this pool.....You know Mum other people's pools always seem better...Its always bluer and wetter on the other side...

But we had so much fun running and splashing. We even did some dancing...White dog ballet.

While we were dancing, the black dogs were bellyflopping into the water. And doing their own ballet.

Even the humans decided to get in the pool and we agreed to let them share the water.

There were some baby dogs..Yippee dogs who are smaller than me. Cletus and Fallen and Horizon...A human gave Fallen a swimming lesson.

She seemed to enjoy it a lot...Wow, wish I'd learned to swim when I was that little. I didn't play much with Fallen as she doesn't quite understand running with the big dogs but Mum played with her so that was nice.

Erika went in the pool because her human dad requested it. She can stand up on the step that runs along the edge of the pool.

But hey, humans, can I get a little help here?

Mum finally said it was time for me to get out of the pool...Not to worry, we got frosty paws for dessert. I shared mine with Cheryl and Cletus.

Then it was time to take a photo with my friends.

Ora also found herself kicking back for some quiet time.

We said our goodbyes and headed home....When I got home I could barely eat my supper...I said barely I did manage to get it all eaten but then it was time to take a serious snooze....Mum had to wake me up to go to bed.

Hanging out

2011-07-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've spent all week with Auntie Jane at her office while Mum does something which sounds really really boring.... On Friday Mum came to pick me up and she found me relaxing with "the boys". Seems Auntie has "inherited" another lab.....Where do all these labs come from? Jake, Cody, Bill, and I played like crazy and then it was time to chill out. First I hung with my bruddah Bill.

It is easy to relax with him but that's because we've been together since I was a baby....Hey, does this couch make my legs look long?

Then I did a snuggle with Cody. Cody is leaving today to go live with his forever family.... A lawyer, a judge, and another lab ...oh well at least he'll have a brother to hang out with when the humans sit around debating. I know from personal experience that living with a lawyer can be annoying so I can't imagine living with several......Actually they are very nice and even have a vacation home in Lake Arrowhead and a dog walker so Cody is going to be living in style. Have fun in your new home Cody.....

Homegirls check in

2011-07-29T14:07:00.001-07:00

Two former homegirls who have left the state for new lives checked in recently. First, Annie who is Tribecca and Cheryl's big sister came into town in style. Her dad has a motorcycle and he bought a really cool cab for Annie to ride in. She seems to really like it because when her dad said to demonstrate, she jumped at the chance.

Looks nice and comfy and safe....No bugs in her eyes or teeth.

Tribecca also sent in a picture to let us all know that she is having a blast in her new life. I don't know about you guys but I'm guessing this water was a little bit too cold for my taste but she's a hearty lab so she can handle the cold...

It sure looks like fun though.....Thanks for checking in girls...keep enjoying life.....

Agility

2011-07-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today we went to see Mum's first dog compete for her "chase" title. We drove for miles and then in the middle of nowhere there were tents and an agility course..Who knew? At first I didn't quite know what to do. Bill also was a bit out of place so the two of us just sorta chilled.

Then Auntie said, lets go try the practice course. Okeedokee...I had no idea what that meant but Auntie seemed very excited so who am I to judge? Bill was a big yellow baby when it came to the A frame.....So I had to show him how to do it. Easy peasy.

Because Bill did not want to be shamed in front of all the agility people, he pushed his cowardly lion thoughts deep down and reached for his courage....

Just so everyone doesn't think Bill is a total baby...He did do some serious jumping.

Up and over..Way to go Bill.

We were very proud of our accomplishments so we had to take a pose in front of the high jump...As a means of full disclosure I must admit that I merely posed for the picture and did not jump over this bar....It was way too hot to exercise in my mind.

The agility people really know how to take care of their pups as they had a hose and two swimming pools to cool off in. Bill and I took full advantage of this opportunity.

When I'd had enough I hoped on out but Bill was not about to leave too early...He took a nice long solitary soak...Sometimes its good to be the elder of the group.

After our brutal agility trial and swim, it was time to head over to watch SUPER NONI. She was moving so fast that the picture became blurred.

Up and over 9 obstacles. What a superstar. She didn't miss anything.

And the results were immediate........She received her Chase title, one of three lifetime achievement titles in agility....or something like that... She gets a pole with her name on it...We all signed it. She also got to take a backwards victory lap...She really enjoyed that.

Although there were a lot of paparazzi there to capture the moment, Noni took a moment to pose with Bill and I...How great is that? I've never known a superstar agility champion.

And no competition would be complete without a picture of the "Mum" who makes it all possible. Congratulations Kim and Noni.....We are so very proud of you.

What a day........I'm spending the next two weeks with Auntie and Tio...Gonna work on my doctorate maybe.....But don't expect any pictures..You know how they are...Oh and congratulations to Cousin Justin who is heading out this week to start his gap year working towards medical school....I am so lucky that I live with such smart people.

Saturday with Bill

2011-07-24T08:21:00.001-07:00

I didn't get to do very much on Saturday. Don't really know what the humans were doing but it obviously didn't include me. Finally in the afternoon, Bill and I got to go for a swim..Nothing feels better than a nice cool swim when its hot out. Suddenly Bill stopped swimming and kept looking inside the house....He told me it was suppertime....How he can figure out these things is a mystery to me but I'm always up for a meal so both of us looked pleadingly at the humans. They brought the food outside so we could have a picnic....I love picnics...The food tastes so much better. Bill complained that I got more food than he did....No one cared.

The humans made us wait patiently but then said we could eat.....Wow it was good plus I got to eat with Bill which is the perfect meal in my book.

After dinner, Auntie said it was time for Bill to go home. Bill was ready as he said his dad had a great movie to watch and he didn't want to miss it....

But Mum said one last picture before Bill goes. We obliged her.

Today we are headed out east to watch my friend Noni in an agility competition. I"m sure the humans will take more pictures so I'll probably be forced to update the blog again later on today. I am so overworked.......

Canine Good Citizen

2011-07-24T08:12:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago Faylynn and I took our test for the Canine Good Citizen certification. Mum was her typical nervous nilly, worried that I wouldn't pass...I on the other hand, was confident that I knew my stuff (okay, I wasn't that confident but I'm a dog what do I care if I pass a silly test or not). But I sailed through it.
My favorite test item was when Mum handed the leash over to another person and went out of sight for awhile...I laid down and took a much needed nap. Faylynn also passed with flying colors......Of course neither of us were worried. We are homegirls and very smart pups.

2011-07-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

I'd like to say that I had a blast this weekend but I really didn't do much of anything. On Saturday, I went over to Auntie and Tio's house while Mum did therapy work with Bill..He sure needs a lot of therapy...I hung out with Cody and then we all went shopping.....No pictures though.....Took a swim in the afternoon and then just "chillax'd" for the rest of the evening. We got up early and I went over to hang with Cody, Justin, and Tio while Mum and Auntie went up north to help wash dogs for a fundraiser for CCI....Mum forgot to bring her camera plus she was washing dogs so not really a good time to haul out the camera...Tio made pancakes for the boys but said that the sturgeon general said pancakes were bad for pups in training....I didn't even know that fish could talk let alone have medical opinions but Tio believed him so no pancakes for me. Then Mum and Tio played a little tennis and I played more with Cody and Bill....We watched the women play soccer. So sad that Japan won but it was still a good game. I was so tired I asked Mum to carry me but she said no...She's a tough lady....When we got home we both went for a swim and then I dried off and finally got to have some dinner and then Mum showed me my new bed. Its really cool and so..........comfortable. I laid there for a while but then I decided I needed to play with my Zhu Zhu pet....Kingston. He's a fun guy to hang out with.

He ran around whistling and talking to me....I grabbed him by the hair once but Mum set him back on the right track.

Kingston was having a grand time running around the family room, whistling and barking.

But finally I grew weary of his antics....I had to put a stop to his silliness. Got him........

Mum said time to tell Kingston goodnight.....and just like that he went home. Now its time for a serious snooze.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Betty Ford Center Irish the Therapy Dog

2011-07-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

What a weekend

2011-07-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

I always have great weekends but some weekends are just better than others. Bill and I had a sleepover which was fun...We swam a lot on Saturday and then Mum let us have a picnic...Food just tasted better outside. Mum closed the pool and we headed inside to relax...Bill was happily chewing his bone when I sat down next to him and told him he had to give me the bone (my house my rules). He politely declined.

So I hatched a scheme....I will sneak my little paw underneath him and snatch that bone away from him....

My plan did not work as Bill just laid on my paw and reminded me that I have no thumbs so I can't "snatch anything"...Silly girl. I finally did get possession of the bone but that was only because Bill left it on the dog bed and went off to the couch to watch the movie with Mum....It was a subtitled movie so I couldn't follow it at all (my reading skills aren't as good as my writing skills). Bill understood the entire movie as he is fluent in English and Spanish.....He gave up trying to explain it to me and told me to just go take a nap. Tio Tom never makes me watch subtitled movies.

The next morning we did a little bit of swimming but we were waiting for the posse to show up and show up they did....Faylynn and Ora were right on schedule. Ora and I were so excited to see Faylynn that we almost ripped her face off. Fortunately she has some extra skin.

We all ran around and continually tried to get someone else to chase us.

Auntie Jan suggested that Ora needed swimming lessons so Mum went onto the step and gently brought Ora in. She didn't seem to mind the step.

But that was only phase 1...Phase 2 which is a slow immersion into the pool commenced shortly after Phase 1. Then comes Phase 3, a very unpopular phase for those pups who do not swim.

Ora didn't seem to mind it too much and I'm sure with a little more coaxing she'll realize how fun swimming really is. Keep those paws under the water to minimize splashing........

I watched the entire process on alert in case I had to jump in to assist my auntie Ora but she did fine on her own. Hey, this picture makes my legs look like I am wearing leg warmers or white booties...Trust me I was not....ah oh, spaced out there for a second...lost my train of thought.

It had been mentioned by the humans that we don't seem to dance as much as we did when BD Byrd was around....So in honor of BD who is in AT, I started out with the hokey pokey (a favorite of BD)

Before I knew it, everyone wanted to dance...

Bill and I did one of our favorite dance moves.

But it was Faylynn who took the high honors in today's dance competition. Wow, wonder where she learned these moves....I'll bet she went to Wolf Camp.

After all that dancing, we did a short walk around to cool off...Don't want to get a cramp. Faylynn detoured into the pool stating that if you want to cool off, the easiest and most fun way is to get in the pool....Duh wonder why we all didn't think of that?

Bill and Ora did some toy sharing

But he really only had eyes for Faylynn.... And it wasn't his eyes that got him landed in doggie jail.

Ora and I filed a formal protest and gave the warden double stink eyes.

Fortunately for Bill, his incarceration was minimal and he was released short of his sentence because of his earned good time credits. We were happy to see him when he returned and he didn't seem to have suffered much during his time in prison.

Of course the first thing he did after his release was to soak on the steps.

Faylynn, feeling a bit responsible for Bill's unfortunate imprisonment kept a safe distance so as to not cause him any more problems.

We were all starting to get a little bit tired from all our swimming, dancing, and running around so Ora and I went up on the cruise ship to catch a few rays. I really look up to my Auntie even if she is only a day older than me. That extra day really made her wise.

While she may be bigger and wiser than me, when we sit together we do look a lot like doggie bookends.

Ora had finally garnered possession of the prized football and she was not going to let that toy go under any circumstances.

With all the paparazzi around we could barely hear ourselves think let alone carry on a descent conversation....Did you say something?

Ora decided that she was tired of the sun so she headed over to the fort for some shade and alone time...Of course she took the football with her.

Realizing that we were all pooped and the humans said they had things to do...we mustered up some energy for one last picture.....

I could barely move when everyone left although I didn't want to admit it to Bill.

Looks like he was just as tired......

TGIF

2011-07-09T07:28:00.001-07:00

I had to go to work all week and Mum closed the pool so after a hard day of work, I couldn't relax in MY pool. I think that is intolerable especially since it has been really hot. But she promised that the pool would be open on Friday and for the entire weekend so when we got home yesterday I waited patiently for her to open it.

Even though it was getting dark she let me swim....At least Mum is true to her word.

She was a little concerned that I was swimming alone...But I assured her that the aliens were also swimming so I wasn't really alone...She was even more concerned when she found out that aliens were swimming in the pool but I convinced her that the aliens were pleasant and very responsible.

One last dip in the shallow end and Mum said it was time to say goodbye to the aliens and come inside. I'd had some fun so I obliged.

This morning I took an early morning dip and then chilled out on MY patio furniture. Bill is coming over today for a sleepover and then my homegirls are coming over on Sunday morning for a swim date so it should be a great weekend. Sure glad Mum never has plans to do human things as it would put a serious dent in my lifestyle.

Stay tuned for updates....Gotta rest up for Bill.

Stella checks in

2011-07-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

As a puppyraiser we often get asked "Do the dogs ever get to have fun". They see the dogs working and wonder if they do...Stella checked in this week to show us how hard it is to be a service dog...So it is confirmed that they do have fun.

Ora checks in from Coronado parade

2011-07-06T08:54:00.001-07:00

While I was watching the Scripps Ranch parade, Ora and her friends were walking in the Coronado parade. Looks like she really got herself all dressed up for the parade. I heard it was really hot walking but seems like Ora was having a grand time.

She even posed for pictures with Emerald and Widellia