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<title>Say What? I'm Celo!</title>
<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo</link>
<description>Dogster diary for the dog Celest&uacute;n, CGC</description>
<language>en</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2013 by Celest&uacute;n, CGC &amp; Dogster</copyright>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 10:05:29 PDT</pubDate>
<generator>Dogster Pet-o-matic Gennie - http://www.dogster.com</generator>
<ttl>360</ttl>

	<item>
		<title>That Which We Call A Rose Is Still Delicious</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/815167</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 6 Feb 2013 15:57:49 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/815167</guid>
		<description>So we all got new nicknames.

Meri insisted on it. 

Mom has been calling Itza &acirc;€śItza Pizza&acirc;€ť  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ So we all got new nicknames.

Meri insisted on it. 

Mom has been calling Itza â€śItza Pizzaâ€ť because it perfectly rhymes. I have to admit: itâ€™s pretty catchy.

But Meri, being a beagle, demanded her own food nickname because if thereâ€™s anything having to do with food, beagles have to be involved. 

So Mom thought and thought. And then she thought and thought some more. And she told Mer that her food nickname would be BurgerMerster, MersterBurger. She explained that there is a TV show about the Burgermeister and he is in charge of everything in town. So with this nickname, Meri gets to be in charge of everything, but especially burgers, including, Mom said, cheeseburgers, which are Merâ€™s favorite.

Meri was very pleased. 

Mom said that she had to think some more about my nickname. So she has been. Mom finally came up with a couple of options.  She said that since I have been making excellent decisions in my training, I can make the final decision. 

I really feel great about that. 

My options are

Hero Celo, after the super meaty cheesy sandwich and the fact that I am everyoneâ€™s hero (which is, in fact, true. Everyone admires me).
 
Celo Gyro, which she didnâ€™t think a lot of, but it kind of rhymes.

Celo Playdough, which rhymes really well, and Mom admitted to me that when she was a really little kid, she would sample Playdough, which is very salty. Mom thinks Iâ€™m a rather salty chap. So she likes this option. It does sound cool. Also, I like to play a lot, and I think if I had dough, I could buy more toys and snacks. 
 
So Iâ€™ve been thinking about it. I wikipediaâ€™d Playdough, and I realized that Mom probably shouldnâ€™t have been eating that stuff, even as a little kid. Itâ€™s kind of like when I used to eat dirt when I was a puppy. It's not really good for you. 

Then I wikipediaâ€™d Gyro. Theyâ€™re from Greece and made with lamb and yogurt, two of my favorite foods.  Iâ€™ve never had pita bread, but Meri says itâ€™s delicious. Itâ€™s a little pocket that you put all your favorite food in, like I put all my favorite toys and chews in the back yard (where Mom says, â€śsheeeze, Celo. Why is all your stuff out here again?â€ť)  So Gyros are kind of like having a backyard full of lamb and yogurt. Iâ€™ve never been to Greece, but it has lots of beaches. I LOVE the beach, with its big birds to chase, all the water to swim in, the sand to dig as deep as possible (without the humans saying â€śno digs, Celo!â€ť), and the delicious dead fish and old shells that I roll on top of until I smell like a wonderful fish dinner. 

I think that Gyro Celo is a perfect name for me. 

In fact, I think 2013 is going to be the Celoâ€™s Gyro of Great Things. 

Ha! Get it?

I need to go tell the BurgerMerster my new pun. Sheâ€™ll love it (sheâ€™ll roll her eyes. Thatâ€™s how I know she loves my puns and jokes). 

Talk to you later,

Gyro Celo.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Weighing In</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/813893</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:04:35 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/813893</guid>
		<description>Meri says I have to add this: apparently, I now weigh 87 lbs and not 80 lbs.  So they're right. I do ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Meri says I have to add this: apparently, I now weigh 87 lbs and not 80 lbs.  So they're right. I don't know my own size.

But Itza only weighs 30 lbs, combine that with Meri's 20 lbs, that's only 50 lbs. That means they could still get another 37 lb dog from the pound. 

I would like a little brother to play with. 

I'm going to tell Mom. I'm sure she'll agree that's reasonable. Don't you?]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>It Gets Worse</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/813891</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 27 Jan 2013 11:58:19 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/813891</guid>
		<description>So I suppose I should interrupt catching you up on last year&acirc;€™s events to tell you my horrible news ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ So I suppose I should interrupt catching you up on last yearâ€™s events to tell you my horrible news. Itâ€™s truly horrible. You should probably sit. 

I have a new sister. Not only that. I have a new OLDER sister. And she seems to think that she can boss me around too. 

Itâ€™s miserable.  Iâ€™m miserable. Miserablest ever.

Well, thatâ€™s what I tell Mom and Dad to get extra cheese anyhow. 

Momâ€™s been looking for a beagle friend to hang out with Meri because Mer wanted someone her size. I weigh 80 lbs. Meri weighs 20 lbs. Apparently, I donâ€™t know my size (although I just told you I weigh 80 lbs right? So I do know my own size).  So they wanted to get Meri someone she can wrestle with that is her weight. Well, if thatâ€™s the case, they should get three more beagles. Then there will be 80 lbs of beagle vs. me. 

Or better yet, a cute 60 lb. female German Shepherd. Perfect, right? 

I donâ€™t know why donâ€™t they donâ€™t just ask me. 

Anyhow, so they went to the pound (where, of course, you buy dogs by the pound) to get the beagle friend for Meri. She met her new beagle friend and liked her. And suddenly, there was another boardroom in our car with a dog in it. I didnâ€™t even get to meet her! Meri gets veto power, but me? Iâ€™m chopped liver, I guess!

Chopped liverâ€¦ Mmmmmm! Delicious!

Oh, sorry. I got distracted.

Anyhow, so we got home, and the new girl went into the kitchen behind the baby gates.  She barked at me whenever I walked by. She was making it clear that she is older than me; in fact, sheâ€™s older than Meri, so she is definitely the boss of me. 

I didnâ€™t like that, so I barked back at her. 

Mom told us both to be quiet and I had to go to my boardroom. 

That happened a couple of times this week. Probably, if I had listened to Mom when she said â€śCelo, Leave itâ€ť that would have avoided the whole situation. But if you have a big sister, you know how hard it is when she carps on you. 

Carp. Oh, I do like fish. Speaking of which, Mom grilled us some wild halibut this week. I think she was trying to butter me up because of the new big sister thing. If she really wanted to butter me up, she would have put butter on my grilled halibut, right? 

Oh, sorry, distracted again.

Anyhow. So it turns out that my sister, Ixtapa, is not a beagle. She doesnâ€™t sniff the ground ever. Mom thinks she is part Australian Shepherd. 

I thought I would like having another Shepherd in the house, especially since I have never been to Australia. But she is also terrier â€“ a special kind of terrier call Parson Russell terrier. This is a special kind of terrier because it used to be called Jack Russell terrier.  I read that on Wikipedia. It doesnâ€™t say on Wikipedia, but Iâ€™ve decided that the reason that they changed the name is because Jack Russell terriers are too outrageous.  The name was changed to protect the naughty, just like they say on TV. 

So, weâ€™ve been having to do what Mom calls "slow introductions." We go on walks together, which is fine because sheâ€™s part of my pack (whether I like it or not) and thatâ€™s what packs do.  

In the back yard, she and Meri hunt for critters while I play Jolly Ball. In the house, weâ€™re still separated, which is good because Itza is very bossy and thinks she can tell me where in the house I can go.  So she stays in the kitchen and her bedroom and I get the rest of the house. 

Meri is mad about the kitchen now being blocked off because Meri likes cruising the kitchen for crumbs, but hey, thatâ€™s not my problem. Besides, Meri is the one that wanted a friend. 

I was perfectly happy the way things were before I had two big sisters to boss me around.  But apparently, my life has changed forever and no one ever asked me my opinion about anything.

Swell, huh?]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>WA Dog in CA</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/813569</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:21:12 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/813569</guid>
		<description>So, as you probably figured out, we moved. 

Well, we didn&acirc;€™t move exactly, as we later figured o ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ So, as you probably figured out, we moved. 

Well, we didnâ€™t move exactly, as we later figured out. We still have our perfectly wonderful house in Washington. Mom and Dad said that if we skip extra treats, toys, and many of our training classes, we can keep our old house, which is lucky for the squirrels that live in our yard because I know they miss Meri and me very much.

Well, Iâ€™m not sure thatâ€™s true. Every time we go back home, itâ€™s clear that the squirrels are taking advantage and getting arrogant, thinking that THEY own our yard. They are always very surprised when we arrive and chase them back up the trees. We then argue for about 30 minutes. They yell at us that theyâ€™re taking good care of our yard, so we need to respect their contribution. We tell them that they are lucky that weâ€™re still letting them live in our yard. They chatter at us. We bark at them.  They scurry. We chase.  It gets pretty heated. And it happens every time. 

Besides, the squirrels arenâ€™t taking care of our house. We have a human that does that for us while weâ€™re gone. He lives in our house when weâ€™re not there and keeps it all perfect for us. Itâ€™s nice because when we get there, the grass is always perfectly mowed for rolling  around on the grass; and everything is exactly like we like it.  He even leaves the heat on, so that the house is warm for Meri.  All we have to do is go to Costco, get some fresh food, and weâ€™re all set. 

So the squirrels can just go eat nuts! 

Meanwhile, we live in California part of the year, especially the winter part of the year. So while itâ€™s wet and rainy in Washington right now, we have cold but wonderful sunny weather right now. I love cold weather, so this is the most excellent situation for me.  In the months when it gets hot (I donâ€™t like hot weather), we go back home.  And as Mom says, there is nothing more beautiful than Washington State during the spring and summer.  

We actually drive back and forth, depending on the weather, the humansâ€™ schedules, that sort of thing.  I still see Sir Jin, Dr B and all my normal vets, so we drive up to Washington whenever I need to see my doctors. 

Itâ€™s a good gig, especially since I like to travel. Of course, I always nicely  ask if I can have an Arbyâ€™s. But since weâ€™re on a strict budget, I usually have to share an inexpensive McDonaldâ€™s cheeseburger with Meri. The good thing is that Meri now gets carsick when we drive through the twisty mountains of Oregon, so she only gets a teeny piece of cheese from the cheeseburger, and I get the rest. But Mom makes her these ginger cookies that help her with her carsickness.  So Meri misses her burger and she complains about the burger thing, but not too much because her spicy ginger cookies are delicious.

In general, I do miss my training sessions and I know Meri misses the extra treats, although sheâ€™s lost a bit of weight (which is a good thing, but donâ€™t tell her I said that!). But we all have to tighten our collars to make this situation work, you know? 

Thatâ€™s what you do when youâ€™re a family. You sacrifice for the good of everyone else. 

Too bad the stupid squirrels donâ€™t understand this.  Theyâ€™re just selfish.  We should kick them out of the family, especially now that we have two houses with two different sets of squirrels, and theyâ€™re all selfish and demanding. They just donâ€™t act much like family members.   As some guy on TV once said, â€śYouâ€™re either with us, or youâ€™re against us;â€ť and the squirrels arenâ€™t acting like theyâ€™re with us.  So I say, we kick them out.

 I need to talk to Mom about that.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Changing Times....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/812897</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:46:07 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/812897</guid>
		<description>I&acirc;€™ve been in a cheesy mood, and getting on Mom&acirc;€™s nerves, so she suggested that I write in my dia ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Iâ€™ve been in a cheesy mood, and getting on Momâ€™s nerves, so she suggested that I write in my diary. She said, â€śI pay for that darn diary, Celo. If you donâ€™t use it, Iâ€™ll get rid of the account.â€ť 

Wow. Such a stickler. 

Anyhow, my cheesy mood is The Most Clever Thing Ever --except Mom figured it out. If I bark at dogs at our back fence, Mom calls at me to come into the house, which I usually run as fast as I can to her. She gives me cheese for a â€śgood recallâ€ť and tells me Iâ€™m a good boy. So being a genius, I figured Iâ€™d just run out to the fence, bark a little, run into the house, give Mom a cheesy grin and sheâ€™d give me some cheese. 

It worked exactly twice.  Maybe it wasnâ€™t the Most Clever Thing Ever, but just sort of the Kind of Clever Thing That Gets You Two Pieces of Cheese.

So, now Iâ€™m writing you a diary. 

Happy New Year again.  

I really have a lot to tell you. Last year was just wild, so Iâ€™ll try to tell you everything in order, if I can keep my brain in order myself.

The last thing I told you was that we woke up on Christmas LAST year in the motorden, right? We were on vacation?

Except we werenâ€™t.   We kept going south, to California.  That night, we got to somewhere that even Meri had never been before (not Grandmaâ€™s house and not her breederâ€™s house), and Mom and Dad brought us into a house that looked a lot like our old house: it had boxes EVERYWHERE. But it also had our beds, our water bowls, our basket of toys, our boardrooms, and even treats.

It seemed like a nice place. 

Dad showed Mom around the place with us on leashes. Then we got to be off leash in the house.  The house has two long hallways that are perfect for zooming. There is a big bedroom and some teeny ones.  Meri saw one with Zamboniâ€™s old thick bed (with a ton of blankets on top) in it, and she said that she would like that to be her room while weâ€™re staying here.  I guess this is like a private hotel. I hope it has egg and bacon breakfast every day like the Holiday Inn express. I really like that! 

To go outside, we had to go back on leash. The outside had something dangerous called â€śSkunk.â€ť Mom kept saying, â€śbe careful there are no Skunk!â€ť  to Dad. 

Meri and I thought maybe Skunk was like the explosions and rockets we see on TV all the time. 

So we pottied in that yard at night, and we all slept on Mom and Dadâ€™s bed. Iâ€™m not sure how Mom and Dadâ€™s bed got there, or why a hotel would not just use their own beds, like usual. But Mer and I sniffed it for a very long time, and it was definitely our bed. 

The next morning, we went outside with Dad and checked out the yard. Dad said it was our yard. Thatâ€™s nice. I never much liked sharing hotel yards with other dogs.  Dad didnâ€™t say where the Skunk rockets were set up. We didnâ€™t see them, but we could smell something weird and chemical.  They must be hidden.  What kind of hotel is this, anyhow? 

This place did have a squirrel. He wasnâ€™t OUR squirrel. He is skinny and gray with a long skinny tail, not fat and brown with a bushy tail. But he is shifty and dastardly. So Iâ€™m sure they are brothers.  Besides, they both run down the fence and up and around the trees exactly the same. They both yell obscenities at me for chasing them.  Same squirrel tactics. So they clearly went to the same Squirrel Academy. 

Later that day, Mom loaded us up into the car. She said we had to go to Costco. And sure enough, it looked just like Costco. But it wasnâ€™t any of our usual Costcos from Washington. She came out with so much food and stuff that by the time the cart was empty, my car boardroom was buried in Costco stuff, and Meri said hers was too.

And then Mom said, â€śOk kids, letâ€™s go home.â€ť  But she only drove about 10 minutes, not the hours and hours it took us to get to California. 

We went back to that private hotel with the skinny squirrels and invisible skunk rockets in the back yard.

Once Meri and I were unburied from the Costco stuff, we just looked at each other. â€śHOMEâ€ť?  Mom said â€śHOME?â€ť]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Ok! I'm Back!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/760789</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:29:15 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/760789</guid>
		<description>Well, I'm not back, like back at home, but I'm back here working on my diary.  I have so much to tel ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, I'm not back, like back at home, but I'm back here working on my diary.  I have so much to tell you, my friends. I haven't had a computer that works. Mom says that it's the Cable Company's fault. Normally, I'd just think that she's just making stuff up, but she has been on the phone for HOURS with the Cable Company, even when  I'm at the door, pawing on my Potty Bells, and whining, "Mom, I gotta go NOW!" 

It has been very difficult, to say the least. But the computer is working again, and here I am.  First, I'd like to say a belated Happy New Year to all my friends.

And Merry Christmas. Sheesh! I didn't even get to tell you about my Christmas!  It was the day before Christmas, and Dad came home. That was a great gift because Dad had been spending a lot of time at work. I mean, a LOT, like days and weeks. This was new and I didn't like it one bit. But he came home and I was very happy.  Mom had already started packing up the MotorDen, so it was obvious that we were going to go away for Christmas, just like I thought. I'm pretty smart sometimes, aren't I?

But she and Dad took forever to get everything packed up. And then, she started to clean the house. What was THAT?  Usually, when we go camping and on vacation, they put out the garbage and Mom cleans all the dishes and wipes the counters. But this time, she cleaned the refrigerator, washed the floors and did all sorts of stuff. So I jumped on the bed and messed it all up. I mean, I dug and dug on the blankets. I was excited and I just wanted to tell them that it's ok if the house is a little bit messy, let's go on our Christmas trip!

So after hours and hours, the house was clean; the MotorDen was packed; and Mom put Meri and me in our crates in her car. What? I thought we were going on a vacation???

But when she backed out of the driveway, Dad drove the MotorDen right behind us. So I guess we were taking two cars. That happened once when Grandma and Grandpa flew up to Washington and we all went camping together. So I fell asleep because I didn't know how far away the campground would be. But based on all that packing and cleaning, I guessed that we would be gone for a while, so it must be kind of far. 

I woke up when I smelled water. I thought we were there, because we almost always camp by lakes and rivers. But actually, we were just crossing the Columbia River and crossing into Portland. So I admired the view from that super tall bridge and then I went back to sleep.  We stopped for a few potty breaks here and there. And Meri and I got some cheeseburgers, which was considerate. But mostly, I slept. I guess that messing up the bed left me more worn out than I realized. The drive was relaxing. Mom was playing Christmas Carols. Dad had given her walkie-talkie radios, so they talked back and forth now and then, which was comforting. I didn't listen to their conversation very much. They were just doing that human small talk stuff, which frankly, is kind of boring. I only like it when they talk about me, or vacations, or food. And they weren't doing any of that. So they bored me in that comfortable way. 

I did consider that it would be nice if Meri and I had barkie-barkie radios, though. I wondered if Santa would bring us some for Christmas. I was going to ask Mom if she thought so. But I dozed off again. 

Finally, I felt the car pull off the freeway. I always wake up when the car slows down because that's when interesting things start to happen. I recognized where we were almost immediately. It's a campground, but there's a park next to it. We've camped there a couple times, but the park is a nice place to stretch our legs and potty.  So we stop there every time we drive to California. There are also geese and ducks there. So it's also a nice place to grab a goose poop snack if no one notices, but they usually do. And frankly, they tend to overreact.  Meri loves to go there and try to chase ducks -- except she's always on leash. Or maybe, that's WHY she's always on a leash?

Anyway, back to my story. It was really late at night. And it was Christmas Eve. Mom said that we were spending the night there. 

I was very happy. I recognized the park, so I was certain that Santa would know where we were. They set up the MotorDen, which had way more stuff in it than usual. I didn't see why we needed that much stuff. But humans like stuff, what can I say?

They fed us and made the bed. Since I missed Dad because he had been gone so much, I smashed myself between him and Mom. And for some reason, Mom let me. 

But I don't know if you know much about MotorDens. Ours is actually small. The bed is tiny. So I got really hot between those two hot humans. So I laid on top of Dad. I figured he couldn't slip away again if I were on top of him.  And this way, I could still see Santa when he came. It was perfect.

Well, it turns out that dads are very lumpy and not comfortable. But I must have fallen asleep anyhow. Because when I woke up in the morning, Santa had come and I never saw him!

We totally forgot to hang up our stockings, but Santa left me some of my very favorite squeaky toys, a couple of stuffy toys, and some chews anyhow. He left them in little piles on the counter top. I must have been very good, because I got a lot of nice things. Meri got some good stuff too, including some fluffy warm blankets that match her fur, which she always loves. 

And Mom and Dad were there and smiling. In fact, they looked happier than they have in a long time. And we were on vacation.  It was a very Merry Christmas!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>An update</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755811</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:00:34 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755811</guid>
		<description>Mom fed me dinner.

My thigh still hurts.

Mom is still being nice to me. But she's busy washing ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom fed me dinner.

My thigh still hurts.

Mom is still being nice to me. But she's busy washing everything in the house. Everything, including all the throw rugs, all the towels, our stuffy toys, the floors, the stove. Everything.  There isn't a lot left in our house, just the basic stuff we need to live.  But she's washing all of it.

I need to lie low. Otherwise, she might want to wash ME too. So I figured I'd just lie here and type quietly, so I don't attract her attention, you know?

This went from being a day with a lot of potential to potentially a terrible day -- if I end up getting tossed in the bathtub. 

I think I'm going to go hide out in my boardroom until bedtime.

Goodnight everyone.

Your friend, 

Celo.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Trouble!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755789</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:22:34 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755789</guid>
		<description>Ooooooooh! I got in trouble today!  

Big trouble! Not naughtiness, but Mom-is gonna-kill-me troub ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Ooooooooh! I got in trouble today!  

Big trouble! Not naughtiness, but Mom-is gonna-kill-me trouble.

She was doing her human stuff that said to me that we were going somewhere.  Now Mom didn't say I got to go with her. I just assumed that. She stands in the little room with the bright lights and the big water bowl that I'm not allowed to drink out of, and she brushes her fur and her teeth. She also puts cream on her face and sprays stinky stuff on her fur, and that means we're going somewhere. When she doesn't put cream on her face and spray the stinky stuff,  it means we're staying at home. See? That's the difference.


So I figured that maybe we were going to go to Sir Jin's office for my water tank jogging. I was pretty excited because I like to see my friends there. Actually, it doesn't matter where we go, because I always get excited. But I get more excited when I think I'm might get to see my friends.

So maybe, I was a little wild already.

Then Mom put my leash on me and said I needed to go potty. So she booped the Larm and opened the door. It was icy outside. I could see my breath and all the grass was white.  When I go potty on days like this, it's always steamy. 

And RIGHT THEN, the squirrel (whom I hate) ran right across my deck, right UNDER my nose! And I lunged and ran after him.

I guess when I lunged, I jerked the leash out from Mom's hand, because there was no Mom on the other end of my leash.  After 6 weeks of having Mom permanently attached to me, I was free!

I ran all the way across the yard, chasing that squirrel. He climbed the tree, so I tried to climb it too. I didn't get very far up (I never do). So I jumped up and down on my hind legs trying to make myself taller (that never works). Then the squirrel dropped on to the fence and ran on the top of the fence the length of the yard. So I chased after him. He climbed the other tree, so I tried to climb that tree too. I still couldn't climb trees (you have to admire my persistence, though, don't you?). So I did my usual hopping to see if I could somehow catch the squirrel.

Didn't work.

What DID work is that I made Mom mad. Furious. She was SCREAMING at me. Not reprimanding me. Not yelling. SCREAMING!!!! 

She kept screaming: Stop! NO! Your hip! Celo. Down! Oh Gosh! Your hip! 

I didn't really hear her at first. All I heard was the squirrel laughing at me, mocking me because I haven't been able to do anything for the last six weeks because of my hip replacement surgery.  

But after I had hopped up and down unsuccessfully for a while, her voice started to trickle in. And she was freaked out. I don't think I've ever heard Mom so freaked out. I got worried.

So when I heard her say, "Down," I lay down. 

She grabbed the leash, and took me back into the house. She never gave me the chance to potty. I think that was pretty cruel. 

I went into my boardroom. I'm no fool.

She sat for a while. She wasn't mad anymore. She looked like she was about ready to cry. First, I've never seen Mom mad like this. Second, I've never seen Mom go from being mad to sad that quickly. It kind of scared me.

She then asked me to trot down the hall, then come back, then go down the hall, then come back. She did this a bunch of times. Then she put Meri outside, into her boardroom and we left. 

Mom was very quiet.

When we got to Sir Jin's office, I didn't get to go right into the water tank and jog. I had to wait and wait. They talked about the fact that Sir Jin is on vacation, and Mom wanted someone else to take a look at me: another Sir Jin, she said, which made no sense to me, because there is only one Sir Jin. 

Finally, my rehab vet, Dr. J took me back. She and another doctor did a total exam on me, just like the one Sir Jin did on me last week. They made me walk around, then trot around, then lie down and they felt my hip, then moved my leg and scrunched my legs around, and all that stuff. It was EXACTLY like Sir Jin did last week. It seemed totally pointless. After all, Sir Jin just told Mom that I was great and he didn't need to see me for two months.

I don't even know this other doctor. I don't know why he got to do this exam on me. It seemed very intrusive and very unnecessary. The worst part is that when he moved my leg a certain way, it kind of hurt. Sir Jin didn't do that to me. I didn't like this guy.

Then I got to go into the water tank and jog. Finally!

When we got home, Mom talked to Dad and pushed the button so I could hear the conversation, which she does when it's about me.  She told Dad about how I chased the squirrel. He didnt say much. He didn't ask if I caught the squirrel. He didn't say he thought it was charming or cute, or anything. He just listened. She told him about the ridiculous exam that Dr. J and the other doctor did. She said that I didn't do any damage to my bone or the implant, but it appears that I may have pulled a muscle in my thigh because it was tender when they did the exam.

I was surprised when she said that. So the doctors didn't do that? That was an injury from my chasing the squirrel? That doesn't make sense. I've chased squirrels all my life, and have never hurt myself -- except for the time I twisted my ankle; and the time I tweaked my toe; and the time that I banged my head on the shed because I was watching the squirrel on the fence instead of watching where I was going. But other than those times, I've never hurt myself chasing squirrels.

Dad said that maybe hurting myself doing a boneheaded move like that might just teach me a lesson. Mom said, "Yeah. Sure."   She wasn't being genuine, though. I could tell.

I think she is still mad at me. She hasn't said anything else. She's being really nice again. But something isn't right. Dad asked if she's still upset, and she said "No, I'm ok." But I don't think she was genuine when she said that either. 

So that's where I am right now. I have a Mom that's mad at me. My thigh muscle kind of hurts. Dad thinks that I'm a bonehead. It's dinner time and I'm kind of afraid to say anything. 

That stupid squirrel. This is all his fault. Next time I see him, I'm going to chase him down and....

Aw darn. See? Dad was right. I AM a bonehead.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Doga</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755207</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:06:33 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755207</guid>
		<description>So now I have to do Yoga.

I already do stretching. Lots of it. Mom makes me do play bows and forw ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ So now I have to do Yoga.

I already do stretching. Lots of it. Mom makes me do play bows and forward stretches every single morning. I have to do three bows and three stretches every morning before she lets me go outside. 

It's terribly cruel. Mom says she does it because she doesn't want me to go straight from my warm bed in the warm house straight into the freezing cold. She says that stretching warms up my muscles. I think she's making that up. My muscles are ALREADY warm. After all, I'm coming out of a WARM BED! But no. And you know how Mom is. 

I used to argue with her. And the door stayed closed. So now I just bow. Stretch. Bow. Stretch. Bow. Stretch. And I get to go outside.  And I've really learned not to wait until I super duper have to wait to pee before I get out of bed. I need to give myself some buffer time or I might explode. 

Mom says that since I'm an adult, I shouldn't wait until the last possible second anyhow. But I'm only two. I think that officially, as a German Shepherd, I get a little wiggle room on that "adult" stuff. But again, there's no arguing with Mom. 

But back to yoga. I've been scratching my sides a lot. I've also been chewing my hip, and one of my armpits. Mom said that means that my muscles are tight. I think it means I'm just itchy. But what do I know? Itchy, uncomfortable, tight. It all feels the same to me. It just means I feel the need to scratch and chew.

Mom says tight muscles. Ok. That's what Mom says. So she said she thinks that maybe I'm working too hard at rehab in the jogging water tank. But that's not it. I like working that hard. It's more exciting to jog than walk slowly.  So she asked my rehab vet, Dr. J. 

Actually, she didn't do that. She pinned a note to my harness. Yes, I know. How embarrassing! She said she was worried that she might forget to ask Dr. J. Thus the note. I was still humiliated to have a note from home pinned to me, like I'm a little kid going to kindergarten (After all, I graduated from all three of my puppy classes YEARS ago).

And Dr. J. gave Mom all sorts of stretches for me to do. They said it's like Yoga.  

I was pretty excited. I've seen yoga on TV. I thought I would look good in stretchy comfy yoga pants, and I could do my bows and say "Namaste" to everyone in my yoga class. And there would be a nice yoga instructor who would walk around and say in a quiet voice, "yes. Celo. That's great." It would be great. I could probably be in the advanced class since I already know Downward Dog and Cat Stretch. And afterward, we can go to the juice store and I can get a muffin.  I've never had a muffin. But I've seen people in yoga pants at the juice store, so I think you're supposed go there after yoga class.

But. Um. No.

Once again, Mom disappointed me. She said I would have to do the yoga at home. With her. 

No yoga pants. No "Namaste." No nice instructor encouraging me.

And Mom will probably make me do ALL of it before I go outside to pee.  

I think I'll just stay in bed all day and scratch my sides and chew my armpit. Without muffins, it doesn't seem like the effort to get out of bed is worth it.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Figuring Things Out</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755029</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:44:41 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/755029</guid>
		<description>I figured out why Mom is buying us a new house. It's because I'm naughty.  Specifically, it's becaus ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I figured out why Mom is buying us a new house. It's because I'm naughty.  Specifically, it's because I bark too much.

In this house, in the living room, there are a lot of windows, and they are placed really low. So I can sit there and look out the windows. They are so low that Meri can stand on her hind legs and look out too. (I added a photo on my page so you can see how great the windows are because sometimes it's hard for me to describe things.)

So we do that.  Most of the time, I just look out and watch people walk up and down the street.  But sometimes, a dog will walk by, and I feel obligated to remind him that this is my street. 

Or, -- I think I mentioned this earlier -- there will be a squirrel or two in our front yard. Those guys really annoy me. It's one thing for a dog to be on my street. But those squirrels are in my YARD! So I yell at them to get out of my yard, and I smack the window with my paw for emphasis.

THAT always gets me in trouble.

Mom always says, "Celo! Boardroom!"  

In fact, she does it so much that usually, I just smack the window, then head off to my boardroom myself. I don't even wait to be told. Why wait? She ALWAYS says it. This way, I just go in, lie down, and wait. She doesn't even get to say, "I told you so."

Ok, so Mom has never said, "I told you so." But Meri does, sometimes. 

Actually, I think Meri is part of the problem. Sometimes, Meri will be lying on her bed chewing her bully stick, and when I bark, she comes running over, looks out the window and then starts barking too. So then Mom says, "Peeps! (That's what she calls us). Quiet!"  And we both get in trouble. 

So it's best that I just go to my boardroom after I've told everyone to get out of my territory. I said what I needed to say, after all. If Meri wants to continue barking, and sometimes she does, then SHE can be the one to get in trouble. And besides, I can steal her bully stick from her bed on my way to the boardroom.

So today, I was lying in my boardroom after telling the two Golden Retrievers who insist on walking on my street every single day to leave. And Mom said, "you know, Celo. The new house doesn't have big front windows. There is only one front window. And it's too high for you to see out of."

The New House. My nemesis. I had hoped she had abandoned this crazy idea, what with Christmas and Santa coming. How is Santa going to come down our chimney if there is another house in our yard? What if he goes into the wrong house and there are no little dogs there because we're in the OTHER house? Will he still leave our presents? 

But she still plans to buy this new house. I guess she will get it at Costco. Mom buys everything at Costco. I wonder when she is going to buy it?  It sounds like she has bought it already because she sure knows a lot about it. But I haven't seen it yet. Maybe she needed to order it online? Sometimes she does that, like when she buys my mackeral from Amazon. 

Maybe she special-ordered it so that it has no front windows for me to look through?  That would be especially cruel, though; don't you think? That means the squirrels would take over my front yard and I wouldn't be able to say a darn thing about it. 

Oh jeez. This isn't good at all. This is going to be a terrible Christmas. I can just feel it.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I'm worried.</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754945</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:38:28 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754945</guid>
		<description>I think Mom has lost her mind.

Tonight, she got two of those big green garbage bags. The ones tha ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I think Mom has lost her mind.

Tonight, she got two of those big green garbage bags. The ones that make the big "Ka-chish" sound when she snaps them open, and if you're sleeping in the kitchen, will wake you up kind of scared. Not that I'm afraid of garbage bags. But normal garbage bags are white and small and they don't knock me out of my pleasant dreams like the big green ones. You gotta watch out for the green ones.

Anyhow, I saw her take two of the green ones out, so I was ready. They weren't going to scare me. But what she did with them worried me. She walked over to the refrigerator and just started to drop perfectly good food in them. 

Yes. Just like that!

Oh, she'd take most of the jars and cans and put them on the counter. And the icky vegetables and fruits (that I don't care about), she put them in a separate container. She put some tortillas and cooked rice in that container too. And she took all those wonderful containers of perfectly good food, all those leftover enchiladas and lasagna and macaroni and cheese, and she just dumped them in that bag. 

Meri and I just sat there, stunned.  

Meri whispered to me, "Maybe she's going to give that to us?"  So Meri walked over to the bag quietly and sniffed. "Mer, leave it." Mom said. 

Meri walked back and sat with me again. 

Nope. 

On the table, Mom lined up the milk, some eggs, my yellow cheese (thank God she didn't throw away my yellow cheese!), and a couple other things. Everything else went into that horrible bag, the fruit container or on the counter. 

Then, she opened all the jars and poured them into the fruit container, rinsed them and the cans and put them in boxes. Some of those jars had stuff I'd like to taste, like huckleberry jam. Nope. She didn't share that either. 

We didn't know what to say. We kept sniffing the air, watching Mom, looking at each other and watching her again, horrified at what we were seeing. Mom always says she hates to waste food, but here she was, throwing away perfectly good food that Meri and I would have loved to eat, like mashed potatoes and a little bit of taco meat. 

Then it got worse. Mom opened the freezer. She hasn't been buying any meat in, well, forever. Meri inventories all the groceries when Mom gets home from the store, and she reported the fact that Mom has been a negligent shopper to me a few weeks ago. 

Meri had been really worried. What would we do if there were an emergency? We were eating away all of our emergency supply of food, especially meat.  I considered it and figured that probably, Santa would bring us new meat for Christmas, so I wasn't worried and had not given it much thought. After all, we've had emergencies before and always had plenty of meat, right? I told her so, and it seemed to make sense at the time.

But as Mom opened the freezer, I peeked around her legs and noticed that Meri was right. The freezer was almost empty. There was a package of bison meat, some turkey burgers, some icky frozen vegetables (Meri says that green beans are delicious and I should quit calling all vegetables icky.). Ok, there were some green beans and some icky vegetables too. And what looked like a container of frozen homemade enchiladas. These are Dad's favorite. He says Mom makes excellent enchiladas. I've never had them, but Meri has. She said they have a lot of chicken in them (I'm allergic to chicken), a whole bunch of cheese, and some other stuff that make them The Best Food Ever.

I should point out that Meri thinks whatever she is eating at the time is The Best Food Ever. She IS a beagle. But Dad really likes them too, so I suppose that's something. 

So Mom started to pull stuff out of the freezer. First she took out the bison. I almost fainted. That is MY bison. I love bison, which really is The Best Food Ever. She looked at it for a while, then put it on the top shelf of the freezer. 

I started to breathe again. She took out some turkey burgers. Meri looked equally panicked and adorable. I guess she figured that if she looked really cute, Mom might give her one. But Mom looked at all of them, pulled off a few that looked white, like they were icy, and set the other few back in. The icy ones she put in the bags. Meri was heartbroken.

Mom picked up a bag of frozen green beans. I thought Meri would be really sad, but I guess after the turkey burgers, she couldn't get any more depressed. Mom poured some of those in a zip loc bag. She looked over at Meri and said, "I saved those for you," which made Meri feel a little bit better. The rest went into the fruit container. She took the homemade enchiladas, glanced at me, and said "Dad would like these, don't you think?" I did think so.  She put those back in. 

She threw out some containers of frozen cooked spaghetti. But she did save the bag of horrible spinach, darn it. 

And then she turned around, took the awful smelling spray stuff that she uses and sprayed inside the refrigerator. She wiped it out and put the milk, bread and other stuff from the table back in. 

Except the cheese. 

She looked at both of us: each of us carefully. "You've been very good tonight. Would you like some cheese?"  She gave Meri her little piece of cheese, which Meri took and ran away with. (Meri always does that, like I might try to steal it from her. Ok, sometimes I try to. But she acts like I ALWAYS do, which isn't true). 

Then Mom took two pieces of yellow cheese, ripped off little pieces just the way I like it -- because I don't like cold stuff on my teeth. And she fed it to me, piece by piece, which is the perfect way to eat cheese. 

Then she said the best thing of all: "Celo, do you want to help me take this outside?"

So I was able to go outside with Mom, not once or twice but a bunch of times as we took out the garbage bags, the box with the jars, the cans, and the fruit container.  It was like old times, before my surgery, when I used to help Mom do everything. Of course, I had to be on a leash. I couldn't just run around the front yard like I used to. But it was still nice to be able to help Mom  -- heck, to do ANYTHING after all these weeks of being bored.

So, I don't have any idea why Mom threw away all our food. All I can think is that Meri and I have been SO good this year -- and I've been especially good with my surgery -- that Santa is going to bring us enough brand new food and meat to fill the whole refrigerator and freezer. So Mom had to make enough room for the new stuff, which of course, meant throwing away some of the old stuff. 

That does totally make sense. And I bet that she saved that awful spinach because she knows Santa is too kind to ever bring something that horrible to good dogs like Meri and me.

That's got to be it. 

I can't wait to tell Meri. She's going to be so relieved.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Running Around Town While Sitting In The Car</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754779</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:12:03 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754779</guid>
		<description>Today, we went everywhere. 

Mom said we have to do a bunch of stuff before we move. So she lifted ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today, we went everywhere. 

Mom said we have to do a bunch of stuff before we move. So she lifted Meri and me into the car. Then she hopped in, and off we went. Meri and I were very excited. We like going for rides.

But this ride never seemed to stop.

Oh, the car stopped. Mom got out. She said she'd be right back. She locked the car and boop-booped the Larm (yes, the car has a Larm too). Then she got back in. And we went somewhere else, where she got out and did it all over again.

We were in the car forever. 

I whined and told Mom I was bored. But she asked me, "Would you rather be at home?"  She had a point. 

It was a nice day, not sunny, so not too hot for me. But not too cold for Meri. And it wasn't raining, so Meri and I could see out the window as we drove around. 

We went to the bank, the credit union, the pet food store, the grocery store, and we drove through the coffee store where Mom got her coffee. The coffee store is like the cheeseburger store where Mom drives up to the window and they give her cheeseburgers for us, except that the coffee store gives her coffee for her. I'm not sure I would want coffee anyhow.  That always smells weird, and I'm not sure I would like it. Mom doesn't go to the coffee store often. She usually makes it at home. But sometimes, she forgets to make it, or if I'm being really naughty when she's trying to load me into the car, she makes it but forgets to grab it because I've distracted her. Then, after she's boop-booped the Larm and locked all the doors, and we're driving down the street, she says "My coffee! Darn it!" 

I guess coffee is like lamb lung. I hate starting my day without lamb lung. Mom gives me breakfast, but I really don't get going until she gives me a nice scrumptious square of dehydrated lamb lung. It just gets your day going, you know?

So, we went to the coffee store. Then we went to some other stores. I didn't even recognize all of them. Just lots of buildings with lots of doors that I couldn't go into. So I took a nap. 

Then I woke up and we were driving by the Big Park that's Not Close To Our House. And I recognized it because I've done some training at that park and since it's Not Close, it's very exciting when we go there. But Mom said I wasn't there for training, and I couldn't get out of the car. 

Then she got out and boop-booped the Larm. 

She came back later. It seemed like she was gone forever. But she was in a really good mood. She told us that she got our Christmas ornaments, and Meri and I were very excited. Then I realized where we were (besides at the Not Close Big Park). Every Christmas that I've been alive (two), Mom and Dad go to this lady's house and buy us our Christmas ornaments. Meri and I each get our own ornaments. They have our names on them, so they're ours. We don't have to share them. And they buy one that has ALL of our names on them: Dad, Mom, Meri and Celo. Plus the year. 

And then we get to put all our ornaments on the Christmas tree. 

This is important because my sisters Zamboni and Grover and my brother Camper each had Christmas ornaments for every Christmas they celebrated. And Meri has her three ornaments (thus far. She said I should write "thus far."). 

But I only have two, which is kind of sad. I mean, Zamboni has 16 ornaments. So it looks like Mom and Dad love Zamboni 16 more times than me. 

(Meri said that she thinks my math is wrong. But she also said that it's probably true that our parents love Zamboni at least 16 times more than me, so I should leave it.) 

But today, we each got our new ornaments for this year. Meri thought that my ornament might be a dog using crutches because I'm lame right now. I didn't think that would be funny, and Mom isn't that cruel, is she?  And besides, I've only been this way for 5 weeks. But most of 2011, I've been swimming, playing soccer, running, jumping, jogging in the water tank, camping, hiking, chasing squirrels, and doing all sorts of other interesting stuff. Right? 

I was so excited about my ornament, I totally forgot that I wanted to go play in the big park. When Mom stopped and got dinner on the way home,  I whined to her to hurry. Finally, we got home. And she showed us our ornaments. 

Mine was perfect. It's a very athletic skilled soccer player, which is exactly like me. Meri's is pretty good too: it's a little pink princess with a magic wand, which is what Meri thinks she has: the ability to make everyone do what she wants. They both have our name on them, just like they're supposed to. And the family ornament has all of us playing in the snow. Since I love snow, that's perfect too. 

And then I realized. We don't have a Christmas tree to hang up our ornaments. I walked around our almost empty house just to make sure that Mom didn't put it in one of the back rooms, but nope: no Christmas tree. 

Mom said that we'll have a Christmas tree at our new house. That makes no sense to me. Why would we buy a new house? Where do you buy houses? And where would we put it? In our yard next to this house? That would just make my big yard smaller, wouldn't it? I LIKE having a big yard! 

I would think that Mom was joking, but she also bought an ornament that says "Our New House." So I don't think she is. 

I don't want a new house, not if it means my yard is going to be smaller. I just want a Christmas tree in this house. 

This is all very confusing. 

All I know is that I'm glad that I got my ornament this year. That means that Mom and Dad love me, maybe not as much as Zamboni, but more than they loved me last year. Give me a few more years: I'm getting there!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>I See Now.</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754507</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:59:05 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754507</guid>
		<description>Mom says we almost had a spectacle today.

I don't see the big deal. Mom has lots of spectacles. S ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom says we almost had a spectacle today.

I don't see the big deal. Mom has lots of spectacles. She wears them when she doesn't wear her contact lenses. I learned that word when I was sitting bored at PetSmart. Meri got to go into the store with Mom, and I was noticing a Ben Franklin store next to PetSmart. And I wondered who is this Ben guy? What's he selling? Mom had left her phone in the car, so I googled it. Turns out, he knows a lot about spectacles. He invented them, and he wore them. Mom doesn't wear them very often, only sometimes, when she says her eyes are tired. That makes no sense to me. I've had tired legs and tired hips from running and jumping a lot. But no matter how much looking I've done, I've never tired out my eyes. 

But this morning, she accused me of almost causing one. I guess I am like Ben. 

It all started because we have a Larm. Do you have a Larm? It's a box on the wall and it goes boop-boop whenever you open a door or window. It's an excellent way to keep track of humans. They can't sneak out without your knowing. 

Whenever we leave the house for a while, Mom and Dad stand at the Larm and make it go boop-beep-beep-boop and then they say, "Hurry up, Celo, or you will make the Larm sound," which is exactly what they just did.  (Humans, always with the double standard, you know?)  They make it do the same thing when they come home too. If Mom is home alone with us, she almost always does it too. Makes zero sense to me.

The thing is, when they do the Larm, it usually means we're going somewhere, or at the very least, outside into the yard. And when you're a German Shepherd healing from a bionic hip who doesn't get to do ANYTHING, going outside suddenly becomes very exciting. 

Which brings us to this morning.

Mom was doing the boop-beep-beep-boop at the Larm this morning and I got pretty darn excited. I had already been out to potty once, so it wasn't like I NEEDED to be excited. I'm just bored, you know?

But since I was in a rush to get outside, I kind of bumped into and tripped her as she was standing there. And she gasped: "Oh Gosh! I touched the Police Panic Button!"

I didn't know what that meant.  Next thing she was running for the phone. But I still wanted to go outside, so I ran after her whining. And she said, "STOP IT!"  Which Mom is never that abrupt with me, so I stopped it.

Mom talked on the phone for a while. Then she waited, and talked some more. 

Then she looked at me, very sternly, and said, "it's ok. The police aren't coming. But that could have been a spectacle."

And I had no idea what she was talking about. I've never met Police. I've met plenty of Park Rangers (and none of them wore spectacles by the way), and they're always really nice to me, which makes sense since they hang out with my cousins: the wolves, coyotes, and bears.  Police have K9 units, so I'd like to meet them. But apparently I'm not going to, thanks to whatever Mom said on the phone. 

So Meri and I sat and looked at that Larm for a while. And we wondered what magical powers it has. And all we can conclude is that it can see everything we do: it's a giant spectacle. 

And that terrified Meri, who is always doing naughty things when Mom isn't looking. 

So when I finally went outside, I looked around, just in case there were Police coming. But there weren't any.  I was really disappointed. But now I know how to get them here. I just need to drag a chair over to the wall, stand on my hind paws, and push that button. Good thing Mom taught me "touch" (with my paw) and "target" (with my nose) commands...

Might be kind of handy for those days I'm really bored, you know?]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>So What ELSE Is Up?</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754355</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:21:52 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754355</guid>
		<description>Meri said I should tell you about what else is up with us. But I'm not sure I know enough to tell yo ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Meri said I should tell you about what else is up with us. But I'm not sure I know enough to tell you.

Ok, something is going on. But I don't quite understand all of it. But I never totally understand humans. They do so many peculiar things; don't you think?

All our stuff is gone. Well, not Meri's and my stuff. Most of that is still here. Our beds are here. Our boardrooms are here. Our toys are here. Well, most of our toys. Mom put a lot of our toys in a big box and complained to Dad how she could fit about half of our toys in a gigantic box, and we still had plenty left. I don't know why she was complaining. I think that's a good thing. But Mom is kind of weird that way.  

Our food and treats are still here. The computer so I can write my blog is (obviously) still here. And unfortunately, my neck collars so I don't chew my toes are still here. 

But otherwise, the house is empty. It's so empty that Mom pushed together my best dog beds; she put a sheet and some blankets on them,  and SHE is sleeping with US on the dog beds because she doesn't have a people bed here anymore.  I keep thinking it would be funny to make Mom to get off MY bed like she would make me get off HER bed. But I think that somehow, she wouldn't find it so funny. So I just get in bed, smash up ReallyCloseNextToMom so that she says "Celo, I can't breathe!" and I fall asleep, snuggly and warm. Don't tell her, but I like having Mom sleeping on my bed.  

It's been pretty nice for Meri because usually, she sleeps in her boardroom at night, but Mom has been letting her sleep in the big bed with us. Meri says she isn't sure where the big people bed went, but when it comes back, she's going to insist that she gets to sleep on it too. 

Somehow, I don't think that's going to turn out well for Meri.

Anyhow, our stuff just disappeared. 

Well, not entirely. For a couple of weeks, Mom put everything that we own (except Meri's and my stuff) in boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. At first, it was fun. There was a lot of stuff to zoom and weave around. Then, we could barely run in the house. Then, we could barely walk. Then these guys came and took all our stuff. I wasn't happy about that. So Mom put me in the MotorDen to "chill." But it was warm out, so I didn't chill. (I don't know what she is thinking sometimes.)

And all our stuff was gone. It turns out that an empty house is an excellent place to zoom and run around in. And Mom, Dad and Meri and I did a lot of that. We had an amazing time.  

Until I had my bionic hip operation. So now I'm in a house perfect for zooming, and I can't do anything. Fate can be so cruel. 

Meri and I aren't quite sure where all our stuff went. But Mom and Dad don't see too concerned though. Dad keeps saying to Mom, "they're going to love it." Mom replies, "remember how Grover hated moving?"  which totally confuses me.  I've seen lots of photos of Grover, and I've read her diary. Grover loved to swim, run, hike and stretch out on her bed. Grover was an excellent mover, it seems. Now, granted, I never had the opportunity to meet my older sister, but Zamboni told me a lot about her, and never once did Boni say that Grover preferred to sit still like a furry dog statue all day long. 

So I don't quite understand it all. 

But one nice thing is that Mom has been talking to my trainer, Miss K,  about coming and living in our house. I've heard the conversations myself. I can't tell you how excited I am that we would all live together! 

So maybe that's why we're getting rid of our stuff, to make room for my trainer and her stuff? She has a lot of dog stuff, so that would be great. 

I wonder if she has a big bed and we'll all sleep on it together? 

All I know is that Dad said we're going to love it, so I think that must be it! 

I'm looking forward to it!!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>I'm great! Inside and out!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754197</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:51:22 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/754197</guid>
		<description>I spent today with at Sir Jin's.

I had to wake up really early, and I didn't get any breakfast, w ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I spent today with at Sir Jin's.

I had to wake up really early, and I didn't get any breakfast, which isn't so great. But I was excited because when we wake up early, that usually means that Something Is Up. And when Something Is Up, I follow Mom around and whine a lot, just to remind her that I want to be included and go with her and not be left at home. 

And Mom always says, "Celo, Gosh! Get OUT of my way!!!"   Which is kind of rude, because I'm just showing her how much I want to be with her, so I stand and walk RightNextToHer.  

So, she finally was done doing all her human stuff and she lifted me into the car. That's a New Thing. I used to just step on my little stool and then hop into the car. But since my hip operation, Mom lifts me right into the car.  It's kind of strange. She counts One. Two. Three. And then she lifts me up and puts me into my crate in the car. So I know I can be squirmy for three seconds. If she just said "One," then I wouldn't be squirmy. But she makes the rules, so I get extra time to squirm and look around to see if there are any cats walking by that I can bark at.

It's kind of impressive that Mom just lifts me straight up. I'm not a teeny dog like Meri. That shows how strong Mom is. And that should explain to you why all of us are just a little bit afraid of Mom. She's a Stickler. And she's strong. So we don't mess with her. When Meri misbehaves, she just picks Meri up. When I'm naughty, she doesn't pick me up, but she CAN, and that's enough. 

So I try not to be naughty... well, not too much. Sometimes, naughty is just too tempting, like when the squirrel is in the front yard and I'm watching through the front window. I can't help myself. I have to bark to tell the squirrel, "hey! get out of my yard!" But in all honesty, that probably isn't so much what gets me into trouble: it's how I smack the window with my paw for emphasis. But if you aren't firm with squirrels, they'll take over. But Mom doesn't understand that. She thinks I'm being naughty. 

Anyhow, where was I? Oh yeah, going to Sir Jin's office. I went there this morning. I got there and said Hi to all my friends. I walked into my kennel, and I don't really remember much after that, except that I woke up feeling refreshed. 

Then, I did my water tank jogging, which was fine. Then Mom came and got me. Sir Jin told her that the films looked great, and that I look great; he hung them on the wall, and they looked at them together. I guess he took some photos while I was sleeping. He always takes black and white photos of me, and frankly, they're not any good. They don't even look like me! Mom takes much better pictures! 

But Mom and he looked at the pictures, and Mom was very polite and pretended to be very happy with the pictures he showed her, as he pointed out my hip and my leg (didn't look like my hip OR my leg). And she asked some questions.  

And they agreed that he would see me in about two months. I guess Mom thinks I'm going to look different in two months, so she wants to get more pictures then. When I was a puppy, I did look different every few months. But now, not so much. And Mom can take better pictures anyhow. But she's going to bring me back. 

I'm not complaining. I like Sir Jin and all my friends there. I just wish the pictures were nicer. If they were, I'd post them here. 

On the way home, Mom said I'm healing really well, that someone who used to be called Raymond (he's now called Ex-Ray)  told her so. I've never met this guy, so I'm not sure how he knows. But it's good to hear that my hip implant is doing well. She said I can be a little bit more active, a little bit at a time. 

That's good news. Frankly, even chewing on my toes was getting boring. 

So that's where I'm at. Sir Jin, Ex-Ray and Mom are happy with my progress. I get to be more active. It was sunny and cold today, and I absolutely love sunshine AND cold weather. Santa is coming soon. And for some reason, even with my long nap today, I'm really tired. 

So I'm going to take a nap now. 

At least, until Mom decides to feed me....]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Well, this is kind of handy.</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/753985</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:05:53 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/753985</guid>
		<description>I'm still in bed today. I'm mad at Mom. She put the cone on me: not the big plastic cone, which is t ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I'm still in bed today. I'm mad at Mom. She put the cone on me: not the big plastic cone, which is the Worst Thing Ever,  but the floppy blue cone, which is still Bad Enough. I was scratching. And she said, "don't make me put the cone on you" like I could MAKE Mom do anything, right?

But I don't do anything all day long, so I get bored at night. Humans don't realize that scratching can be kind of entertaining. Mom has Jimmy Fallon. I have scratching. (I should write scratching a Thank You Note sometime).

Anyhow, my scratching was keeping her awake. Plus she said it's bad for my skin. Next thing, floppy blue cone.

At least it matches my stylish blue collar. I love my collar. It's a couple shades of blue and looks like it has ocean waves on it. Celo, surfer dog. Did I ever mention how much I love to swim? I have to wear a CFD (Canine Flotation Device) in the ocean or a river because of my Hip Dysplasia, but I'm hoping that with my bionic hip, I can retire it. I need to talk to Mom about that.

Swimming. I love swimming. At my trainer's  ranch, she has a big lake, and as soon as she would open the gates, I would take off down the hill into the lake-- didn't matter how cold it was or anything.  I love that lake! 

She's a great trainer, but my recall didn't work if she or Mom told me to Come once I headed for the lake.  Once I had my swim, though, I was ready to work. So they stopped trying after about the second try.

See? Humans are trainable too! 

But it's hard to train people.  It takes a lot of patience and some humans are just really stubborn and not very trainable, like Mom: that's why I'm wearing the cone. So I'm mad. So I'm still in bed. 

Meri was in bed and the bed was warm and soft, so I saw no reason to get up. Plus, Mom left her phone here, so I realized I could blog while I lie here. Usually Mom has this with her. She often talks to Dad or Grandma, and sometimes she pushes a button so Meri and I can hear them too. That's very considerate, don't you think, especially when they're talking about us? 

I like it when they talk about me. I really like it when Mom tells them about how Meri misbehaves, which is kind of a lot. And Mom says that Meri drives her crazy.  But those conversations usually end with "well, she's Meri. What can you do? She's a naughty beagle and you love her."

And  Meri grins at me. She has these humans very well trained.]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Okay, So It's Been Two Years...I've Been Busy..</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/753843</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:22:18 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/753843</guid>
		<description>But I'm bored now 

I've been chewing on my toes. I'm bored. Really really bored. And Mom keeps te ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ But I'm bored now 

I've been chewing on my toes. I'm bored. Really really bored. And Mom keeps telling me to stop. So I scratch. And Mom says "knock it off Celo!" So I chew my toes again. Sometimes, she even tells me "No!"  Yep, Mom, the Positive Reinforcement Clicker Lady.

She's a Hypocrite. What can I tell you?

A lot has been going on. About two months ago, Dad took out Zamboni's little ramp to the deck and put in a much bigger, wider, stronger one. Mom supervised it and was very picky about it. She kept walking on it, and saying "Celo this" and "Celo that." I thought she was being very gracious because I loved running up Zamboni's little ramp at full speed. Sometimes, I would run up and pounce and land on it. So it was getting a bit wobbly. I thought Mom was just making nice upgrades for me. 

But then, I went to Sir Jin's about a month ago. They shaved my butt and I came home with a big scar. It had little furry thread things sticking out of it that poked my tongue when I licked them (which wasn't very often because I had to sneak licks when Mom wasn't looking). But he took those out a couple weeks ago, when I went and visited him. He told Mom that I'm great, which is always nice to hear. 

It hurt some, but Mom gave me cream cheese that made me feel loopy and then it didn't. So that wasn't a big deal. The big deal is that I can't do ANYTHING. Mom puts a leash on me and puts this thing under my tummy that looks like one of her fleece jackets and we go out together if I have to go potty. We walk out. I have to go down the new ramp (which Dad really did a nice job, by the way. It's very solid). She takes away the jacket-thing and I potty. Then we go back inside. And whoop-de-doo, that's my life. 

I go to Sir Jin's office twice a week and I jog in the water tank. That's ok. I did that before the surgery, to build up muscle Mom says, but before, I hated it because it was boring. Now I like it because it's the most exciting thing in my life. 

Funny how things change, huh?

So now, I'm bored. Mom has given me a bunch of new toys. I get a new bully stick almost every day, and some raw hides. So she's trying. But I eat the bully sticks almost immediately (they are SO delicious!). I tear apart the toys. I chew on the raw hides for a while. And I'm back to being bored, chewing on my toes, and getting in trouble.

Meri went and had her leg shaved and came home with her own scar a couple weeks ago, but she already gets to go outside on her own AND run around. Plus, she gets to play with the new toys and gets a bully stick too. THAT is not fair.  

Meri says it's because I got a hip replacement. Then she showed me the Wikipedia page for the Six Million Dollar Man. And she said that her surgery didn't cost $6,000,000. So I owe it to Mom and Dad to just be thankful and heal quietly. Apparently, Meri just got a regular old knee surgery, same as she did last year, on the other knee. And she says she heals perfectly. So she doesn't need to heal quietly.  I don't quite get all this veterinary stuff. But I'm younger than Meri, so I try to learn from her.

So, Meri suggested that I write in my blog to help keep me busy, so I'm not chewing on my toes and making Mom crazy. She reminded me that Mom still pays for my Dogster account even though I'm not grateful and don't use it. And with Christmas coming, she said, it might be nice if I were thankful for a change; that Santa doesn't like ungrateful little dogs.

Gosh, when she put it that way, I feel obligated to start writing again. I had no idea. Good thing that I have my big sister to explain the world to me....]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>So, I missed it</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/634955</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:56:29 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/634955</guid>
		<description>Apparently, I was the Diary Pick yesterday. I didn't even know it. 

Of course, I was working and  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Apparently, I was the Diary Pick yesterday. I didn't even know it. 

Of course, I was working and training. No time to rest on my laurels. I'm not even sure what laurels are, or if I have any. But if I do, I don't get to rest on them. Are they comfortable? Can I sleep comfortably on them? 

I'll have to look into this.

I do sleep comfortably when I do rest though. I have a very thick plush butter blanket. That's what I call it. It looks just like butter. We bought it at Costco. Mom bought two for herself. But when we were on vacation, going to Grandma's house which is very far away, it fell off of Mom's bed. I fell asleep on it, and had my best sleep ever. The blanket is soft and snuggly. I decided I should keep it. 

Now you would think --knowing Mom the way you do -- that she would say "Oh no, Celo, that's a human blanket."  But she didn't.   I just lay on the blanket and acted very sweet. I guess she couldn't say "no" to me (imagine that!). So we went back to Costco and she bought another one.  Of course, I liked my blanket so much, that I wanted two of them. So when another one fell on the floor, I dragged it to my bed and got both of them situated just the way I wanted them. They're heavy blankets, so it took quite a bit of work. 

Meri watched me and said "there's no way Mom is going to let you keep the other one." Of course, Meri is the one that Mom actually buys blankets for. Meri is always ALWAYS cold. So Mom looks at the blankets at Costco and buys her the softest fluffiest blankets. Meri has about 5 blankets in her Boardroom so she can bury herself and stay warm at night. So it's really easy for Meri to tell me that I don't deserve just two buttery blankets.

But lo and behold, Mom said I could keep Blanket #2.  But then we went to Costco and they didn't have any more for Mom. So I was sure she was going to take it back. 

But on Saturday, she told Dad, "we have to go to the OTHER Costco." When he asked why, she said "to see if they have those throws like Celo likes." (She calls them throws because she keeps throwing them on the floor for me to steal).  Dad asked why she can't just take it back from me. But Mom said "no."  When Mom says 'no" to us, that is that. When Mom says 'no" to Dad, I guess the matter is settled, as well. 

So we went to the Other Costco, and they had the butter blankets. Mom and I were very excited. Dad said "Hon, you're kind of odd." But that's because Dad sleeps with one tiny blanket. Mom's side of the bed looks like a giant mountain; Dad's side, a tiny anthill.  Then Mom threw three blankets into the cart (see? That's why they're called "throws"!)

So now, I have one blanket in my Boardroom and two on my bed. Mom also has three on her bed. Dad still has his little blanket, and he's happy with that. Meri is mad she didn't get a new blanket, even though she has 5 blankets in each of her Boardroom and two in her car Boardroom. She thinks I should give her my butter blanket. She's crazy. 

So what was I talking about?  Oh yes, Diary Pick of the Day. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Is that like a Pulitzer Prize? How is it judged? Is there prize money? If so, I think I'll give mine to charity. I really have everything I need.

Especially now that I have three of my favorite blankets.  

Yup. I'm all set.]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>On the Right Training Track</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/634238</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 9 Nov 2009 17:12:02 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/634238</guid>
		<description>So, the Swine didn't win.  Miss Claudia is feeling better and I had training today. 

I train ever ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ So, the Swine didn't win.  Miss Claudia is feeling better and I had training today. 

I train every Monday with Miss Claudia. It's called a private lesson, although it's not like it's really "private." People can stand right there and listen if they want, which kind of bugs me. Here's what we do. Mom walks up and hands my leash to Miss Claudia. Then she leaves and I have to be very sharp and obedient for Miss Claudia. We don't work at one of my schools though. Mom and I meet her at  shopping malls or stores. So I have to WORK and TRAIN at the same time. 

It's very demanding. 

Mom likes to do it this way because she thinks that it makes me be independent. She wants me to learn to think on my own, without always doing what she tells me or following her lead. Well gosh! She's my mom. What good is she if she isn't telling me what to do!  She's very good at telling me what to do, so why should I have to think of what to do all on my own? 

I know you're thinking: "Celo, what are you talking about? This sounds great!"  But it's not. It's not as though I can say "hey Miss Claudia, let's get a pizza, then go see the movie "Up."  And that's not merely because "Up" came out on DVD today and isn't showing in any movie theatres.  

It's because Miss Claudia is a tough cookie. She doesn't let me get away with making bad decisions. So when I make one, she says "eh-eh" (which is like "no" except it sounds nicer. But trust me: it's the same thing.).  Then she withholds clicks and treats.  Worse, she waits until I figure out what a good decision is.  Mom does this too, but I don't feel as much stress when it's just me and Mom, probably because I know Mom is paying a lot of money that she could be spending on treats to Miss Claudia. So I better not be wasting that money. 

It's very difficult. I like training, but by the end of the day, I feel like my brain has exploded. 

So, that was today.

Tomorrow, I train with Miss K, whom I have told you about already. I love Miss K, but she is definitely no pushover either. 

Wednesdays, Mom and I take classes at a school. Thursday, we take classes at another school. Fridays, I usually get to rest. Then we work, training on weekends.

I am very busy, as you can see.

Meri sometimes asks me if I wish I weren't a service dog in training? She likes taking obedience classes and agility classes, but she likes snoozing and playing at home a lot too. But I've never known anything else. Plus, my mum and sire were working dogs. So when I was born, my mum told us all about how she would go out and do tracking and other Schutzhund work.  My brothers, sisters and I were always very awestruck by my mum's stories. 

Mum is so smart, beautiful and has a great working life outside of the whelping box. She's very impressive!  One of my sisters was going to stay and live at our breeder's house with mum, so she took notes, because she knew that she would be doing the same sorts of things. We were all envious of her.

But then when Dad flew out from WA and chose me, well, the others were jealous of me. We didn't know exactly what being a service dog meant, but our breeder told us that I would be a working dog, and that I would start my training almost as soon as I got to my new home. She was right. I started the next day. I've been busy ever since.  

I'm just proud that I can continue in the pawprints of my dog parents.  So on days like today, when it's raining really hard, and Miss Claudia and I are working in an outdoor mall, I keep in mind that I was born for this....

Although, raindrops dripping in my ears can be really distracting, which I don't think humans fully appreciate.... But they say I'm supposed to ignore ALL distractions... even water on the brain?  

But there's no arguing with humans. My mum taught me that. I told you she was smart!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Thundering Hailballs, Batman!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/633746</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 7 Nov 2009 14:19:12 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/633746</guid>
		<description>The weather has been crazy.

We've been attacked for several days by Thunder and Lightning. I don' ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ The weather has been crazy.

We've been attacked for several days by Thunder and Lightning. I don't know why they keep attacking my house, but they won't stop. Mostly, it's Thunder, which is very persistent.  It's driving me crazy. I keep running from window to window and door to door barking at it, telling it to leave my family alone. So what does it do? It bring in its bully buddy, Lightning that bangs and crashes and lights up the sky, threatening to burn down our house.

Little does Lightning know that we have a fire alarm, so if it tries to burn us down, the fire department guys will save us. But still it's annoying.

So I bark at them both.  So then Wind comes. Normally, Wind and I get along. I like Wind. I go out on the back deck and Wind whispers in my ears and sends me all of the secrets about what all of the dogs in my neighborhood have been up to.  But lately, Wind have been  teaming up with Thunder and Lightning. So Wind is a jerk.  

How much of a jerk? Well, last night, Thunder and Lightning were clearly mad at me for barking at them and trying to scare them away from my home. I had to -- they were scaring Meri so bad that she was shaking-- and Mer is my sister. I have to protect her.  So they called in Wind.

And you know what Wind did? It made my whole house dark. Just like that. It was night time,  so we had the lights on and Mom had the TV on. Suddenly, the house was super dark.  

I got mad. I ran from window to window to window, yelling at Wind:  how DARE Wind betray our friendship like that! 

The problem is that it was pitch dark in our house. Someone apparently moved the furniture as soon as Wind turned off the lights. (Probably  Wind did that too). So I kept running into furniture. It hurt. I'd run and bark at Wind at the back door, which is glass, so I could see Wind very clearly. Then I'd run into the living room, barking. But I ran into the sofa and hurt myself.  So it was kind of like this: Bark bark bark (that's me being very stern with Wind)... Yipe! yipe! (that's me hurting myself)... bark! bark! ......Yipe! 

Finally, Mom turned on some tiny lights that smelled stinky like fake flowers and cookies. I could kind of see, and the furniture was back where it should be -- which is just amazingly fast. That's how hard Wind was blowing. 

I went back to the windows and yelled at Wind, Thunder and Lightning some more.  Apparently, I made them even angrier because they summoned their buddy Hail. He showed up and threw ice cubes on our house. I knew immediately that it was ice cubes without even looking out the window because it sounds exactly the same as the noise that Grandma's icemaker makes when I want ice cubes from her refrigerator. Chunk-a chunka-chunka, except Hail has  an ice maker the size of our whole house, so it's VERY loud. Meri said she could barely hear me bark. Clearly, that was the point. They were trying to shut me up.

Well, it didn't work. I kept barking at them;  running from window to window and barking some more. I have a deep voice that Mom says sounds like an adult Mastiff or something and it's very scary sounding. So I knew if I just kept barking, they'd get scared, eventually. 

This went on most of the night til I finally drove them out.  These bullies finally left before sundown. I kept my family very safe.  

But I am kind of sore from the furniture. I tried to ask the furniture who moved it, but it's not talking. I thought about chewing it to make it confess, but Mom said "Celo. Don't even THINK about it." So I stopped thinking about it.  I do wonder how she knew what I was thinking. She's pretty smart, that Mom of mine. 

So we'll never know. 

All I know is that my family is safe. That's the job of a German Shepherd. Protection. I'm glad I could do my job.  But I'm pretty tired. So I'm going to go to bed now.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Meri Knee-ds an Operation.</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/633296</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 5 Nov 2009 14:16:25 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/633296</guid>
		<description>Meri met Sir Jin today. I asked her if she was nervous, and she said no. He was very nice. She got t ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Meri met Sir Jin today. I asked her if she was nervous, and she said no. He was very nice. She got there and a lady asked Mom if she could take Meri. Mom said yes, just like that, so Mer assumed the worst. Like, she was going to have her toe nails cut or something. 

But the lady just gave her snacks,  took her all around the office to meet everyone and asked her to do some tricks. Meri got snacks for doing tricks, so that was nice. She was introduced as Zamboni and Camper's little sister, so that made her feel good. The lady told Meri that she knew Boni and Camper  extremely well-- and even Grover too. So this lady must be very special. Meri liked her a lot. Mostly, the lady kept telling Mer that she is adorable.

That's the worst because when Meri thinks she's cute, then she acts even more like a princess. That makes my life even more difficult.  I need to talk to this lady.

Finally, the lady gave her back to Mom and they went into the little room. Then Sir Jin came in and examined Meri.   

Meri's knee has been bugging her. Sometimes, we'll be running and and chasing. Then Meri will be running on three legs. It's very impressive. I'll have to take some video to show you, except then I'll be running backward and will probably crash into a tree,  hurting myself. So maybe you should just imagine it.

Dr. B took pictures of Meri's knee.  Then Mom took the pictures to Dr. Cindy, who is Meri's other vet. She is holistic, which means she checks Meri out to make sure she doesn't have any holes (so far, so good). She also cracks Meri's back. I think that sounds painful, but Meri and Boni says it feels good. I asked why I don't get back-cracking, but they said I'm a boy, and boys don't get such things. It's like spa treatment. No boys. 

So Dr. Cindy saw Meri's picture and also said that Meri probably needs to have her knee operated on.  But Sir Jin is the expert. Today, Mom let him see the pictures too. Everyone got to see the pictures -- except me. Maybe Mom will post them on Dogster with all of Meri's other pictures; then we can all see them together. Meri is very photogenic, as you know.  She has nice little knees. I bet the picture is very cute.  But don't tell her I said that, or she'll act more like  a princess. 


Meri said that Sir Jin says she needs an operation. Worse, she said that she has to be quiet for at least 6 weeks. That's what he said. I asked her a couple of times. "Quiet." So, no barking. That is going to be hard for Meri. She likes to bark at squirrels a lot.  

At least we can still play. I asked her about that. She said no one said anything like "no being maniacs."  Just "Meri has to be kept quiet."  I can bark at squirrels for her. I wonder why barking will hurt her knee though?

She did say something that worries me. She said that Mom told Sir Jin that I will go stay at my  trainer's  (Miss K's) house right after Meri's operation. That can't be good. Now, I"ve stayed at  Miss K's house for one night, which was a fun sleepover. I played with her dogs and with their toys. Mom sent along my food, so that was great. But that was one night; then I came home.   Meri said Mom made it sound like it would be an extended stay -- maybe two or even three nights.

That can't be good. That's a LONG time to be away from home. I love Miss K. I've known her about as long as I've been alive. She's like my best friend after Meri. But I love being home better. 

So I told Meri that she can't have her operation. She said that's fine. She wants to be able to bark whenever she wants to. None of this 6 weeks of being quiet. That's just crazy.

Now, we just have to convince Mom.  That's not going to be easy.  I just have a feeling: this is going to be nearly impossible.  

You know how Mom is.   What did Camper call her all the time?  A stickler.  Yep, Camper was an astute observer of human behavior. 

Mom does what Mom wants to do. She almost never listens to us, even when Meri and I agree on a course of action. Mom thinks she has better ideas than us. But we're right this time. Meri runs around perfectly well on three legs. That's why God gave us four legs. One is a spare. 

Humans wouldn't know that -- they only have two legs. Hey, see? Humans get along perfectly on TWO legs... can't they see that we are still more efficient than them on three?   It makes perfect mathematical sense.   

But there's one thing Mom doesn't care a lot about: math. Or logic. We're going to have to come up with something else. 

Darn it.  Meri and I better get thinking... I've got to go. I have serious brainstorming to do. My thinking partner is a beagle who can be distracted by tiny bread crumbs, much less a delicious piece of hot dog. 

Wish me luck.]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Day Two. Swine Flu.</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/632593</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 2 Nov 2009 12:52:25 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/632593</guid>
		<description>I was supposed to train with Miss Claudia today, but she called in sick. Mom said she has swine flu. ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I was supposed to train with Miss Claudia today, but she called in sick. Mom said she has swine flu. That is terrible. Really terrible. Mom and Dad had swine flu about a month ago, and it was awful. They barely took care of us. Mom fed us and took us out to play. She would stand in the back yard, wearing a couple of jackets, while we zoomed around. But it was terrible.

First, they both had a terrible cough, which meant that I could hardly sleep at night. Mom was worried about keeping Dad awake, so she stayed up on the sofa and watched TV and sort of snoozed there. So I had to stay out there with Mom. Have you ever slept on our TV room floor? It's not really very comfortable. Plus, the TV is on. So I did not get good sleep. And, Mom was coughing. So every time I started to get into good sleep, there Mom would be -- cough cough cough --although actually it was more like this --hark hark hark-- and she would wake me up.  It's just rude. Mom kept telling me to get on my TV room bed or that I could go to bed, but Dad was in there coughing, so that wasn't much of an option. Plus, I stick with Mom. I always do. 

As you can imagine, I did not get to work at all during that time.

I'm in training, right? So I'm supposed to be out in public, working on my skills in stores, restaurants and libraries. But Mom said that it wouldn't be right for her to go out when she was so sick.  But what about what's right for me? I need to train. But apparently, my needs don't matter. So I was sleep deprived and work deprived. It was awful. At least swine flu doesn't transfer to dogs, so Meri and I were able to play together. So that's something. 

Although, this was awful: at  the exact time that Mom and Dad started to feel better, I got sick.   Yes! Me!  They felt well enough to take me to my training class, and right that second, I got sick. Mom and Dr. B. thought I might be really sick, so they sucked a bunch of blood out of my neck (a BUNCH of blood -- like gallons!). But when we were leaving the doctor's office, we saw Mrs. B, my teacher. She said that her little dog was sick too -- with the same stuff I had. He gave me his cruddy sickness. He didn't have to have gallons of blood sucked from his neck though. 

(Did you know that Forks isn't too far from here? I wonder if they gave my blood to the Vampires?) 

So I got the cruddy sickness from the teacher's pet. Literally, the teacher's PET.  Darn him.  I was sick for days. You guessed it -- I couldn't work for more time. It was terrible. But this time, I didn't want to work. I was dog tired, and I had a goopy runny nose. Mom said that I could get other dogs sick, which I didn't think was right. So we didn't go out into public. 

It was miserable.

Oddly, Meri never got sick. Maybe she's a Vampire? I don't know why I think that. It just popped into my brain.  You think it's true?   I wonder if I can google that.

I love google. Meri taught me all about google. Boni and Camper taught her about google. It's amazing what you can learn there. Did you know you can have pizzas delivered right to your house from the internet  if you have one of those plastic numbered people tags? Very handy.  We haven't done it yet. I wanted to, but Meri chewed the people tag. Mom was annoyed. I was furious because now Mom is very careful to keep her bag high enough that we can't get near it. So much for my meat lover's pizza.

I do love meat.

Mom makes the best pork chops. She cooks them. All of my other meat, I eat raw, which is delicious. But pork chops are warm and savory, and served with applesauce and pumpkin.  Pork chops are perfect for cold autumn days!  Which brings me back to swine flu, which ruined my private lesson today. 

I like my private lessons. I whine a little bit when Mom lets Miss Claudia take me off to work with me separately.  She works me hard, which I know will be good for me -- eventually. But I'm a puppy, so I get to whine some, right? Actually, according to Miss Claudia, no. No Whining. 

But she's sick, so I can whine here about Swine Flu. It's really messed up my personal schedule for the last month or so. I'm tired of it. Those darn pigs. I'd just bark at them if I knew where they lived. I'd chase them too.  Yeah, I'm that annoyed at them. 

I'm ready for this flu thing to be over, because I have a busy life and I need to live it, without interruptions. 

But in the meantime, Meri is still on crate rest (another interruption!) so I guess I'll go see what Mom is doing. Maybe I can get a pork chop snack.

Take that, Swine!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Here I am.</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/632410</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 1 Nov 2009 17:00:38 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Celest&amp;uacute;n, CGC ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1009250/diary/Say_what_im_celo/632410</guid>
		<description>I'm bored. 

Meri is on crate rest, so I can't play with her. She has been telling me for months t ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I'm bored. 

Meri is on crate rest, so I can't play with her. She has been telling me for months that I should read Camper's diary, that it would tell me a lot about my family history. She said I should read Grover's diary too. But I've been very busy. And well, I know that the only reason that I came to my family is because Camper isn't here anymore. Mom and Dad did not plan to get another puppy. But Camper had to leave, so here I am. 

I know they love me. Meri and I are BFFs (Beagle Friends Forever). But I always feel a little  self-conscious about Camper, like I'm taking his place and that he wouldn't like it. Meri says it's not like that at all, that Camper would be very happy to have someone like me to take care of Mom and Dad, and to be her BFF. She says she was very lonely after he left. She says that Zamboni was very lonely after Camper left too. When I came, everything was a lot better. 

Zamboni told me that too. She said that she waited for me to arrive before she left, that she needed to leave, but she would not leave Meri alone, without another dog. Also, she was very concerned about leaving Mom after all those years that she and Mom were together. But once I arrived to be Mom's new service dog, Zamboni knew that it was ok for her to go. 

I don't quite understand where everyone went. Zamboni said it's called Heaven and dogs there get to play when they want, sleep when they want and snack on any food whenever they want. She said that Grover was waiting for her, and Camper too. She said she also had some other friends that I didn't know that were there. Names I've never heard, but dogs and people that she loved a lot. 

That first week after I arrived here at home, Zamboni and I talked a lot. She told me about this Heaven place, that I would see her again there. She told me all the things I should know about living with Mom and Dad. She told me that once I get bigger, I would be the Dog in Charge (DC), that Meri is older but she's a little beagle, so as a German Shepherd Service dog, I would be DC.   Meri doesn't know this. Boni said that it will just happen over time, and Meri will be ok as it does. 

Lots of things to think about. 

So I read Grover's and Camper's diaries.  It appears that there are a lot of dogs out there who have read them too. 

I suppose I should introduce myself.   My name is CelestĂşn.  I am named after a town that is located between Campeche and MĂ©rida -- but on the Gulf Coast -- in Mexico.  Mostly, they call me Celo, which means zeal. Mom says it's a good name for me, because I do EVERYTHING with passion. Dad sometimes calls me Thumper because I'm not very light on my feet. Mom says I'll outgrow that once I get bigger and more graceful. 

I googled Thumper and apparently Thumper is also the name of a vivacious rabbit who is a good friend to Bambi, Prince of the Forest. This makes sense because I am also vivacious and I'm a good friend to Meri, who is Princess of the World. 

Seriously, Meri is a princess. Even our trainers call her that.  And she never lets me forget that she is royalty.  Zamboni apparently was the Beagle Queen, so Meri is Beagle Princess. I'm not quite sure why Boni's crown didn't automatically pass to Meri upon Boni's death. But Meri is feisty enough as a princess. If she thinks she's a queen, she'd be impossible. Maybe she is, but Mom hasn't told her. I bet that's the case. Mom's pretty smart that way. I bet she's holding on to  Mer's crown til she becomes more reasonable -- whenever that may be.

So I spent today reading diaries and catching up on my family. I thought it might be nice to continue with a diary of my family's life here.  I'm not nearly as eloquent as Grover or as funny as Camper. But I'm here and they're in Heaven eating wonderful snacks, swimming in big clear lakes, and telling stories about the wonderful times they had back here. 

I guess even though I'm just a little pup with no writing experience, I'll have to do. I hope that's ok with you. If nothing else, I'll write with a lot of passion -- right?  Besides, in my work, I get out a lot, and hopefully, I'll have interesting stories to share with you. 

Even though, today, I'm really bored. 

That's because right now, Meri is on crate rest. She has an injury and has to rest it. Shouldn't that mean that Mer has to remain in her crate all the time? Yes, you think so too, right?  

No. Mom makes us rotate our crate time. Sometimes, Meri has to be in her crate; sometimes I do. The point apparently, is that we can't wrestle around like maniacs. That's what Mom calls us -- Maniacs.  (Dad doesn't call us anything. He just shakes his head and says "YOU deal with them."  )  We're not even allowed to zoom around the house or the yard together.  

Mom or Dad takes me out to the back yard and play with me. We play fetch, or they let me dig in the sand pit. Or Dad cleaned out my pool today, so I zoomed around because I got wet which made me kind of froggy.  Mom is teaching me how to play soccer, so we did that in the front yard this afternoon.  So I still get plenty of opportunity to play. But it's not the same. Humans are nice, but they aren't as much fun as other dogs. 

They aren't... well... maniacs.]]></content:encoded>
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