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<title>Communicating with Crystal</title>
<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal</link>
<description>Dogster diary for the dog Crystal</description>
<language>en</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2013 by Crystal &amp; Dogster</copyright>
<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:01:51 PDT</pubDate>
<generator>Dogster Pet-o-matic Gennie - http://www.dogster.com</generator>
<ttl>360</ttl>

	<item>
		<title>My 2nd Annual Pigskin 5K...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/814537</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 1 Feb 2013 18:14:37 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/814537</guid>
		<description>Today Sarah told Mom that she signed us up for the Pigskin 5K again this year.  Well, this year Toto ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today Sarah told Mom that she signed us up for the Pigskin 5K again this year.  Well, this year Toto wants to go, too, so he is going with Julia and I get to go with Scott.  Actually, he carried me most of the way last year and I've also been kayaking with him so I guess I would like to go with him instead of Julia.
Mom found my Patriots shirts today.  I offered one of them to Toto to wear but he won't wear it cuz it's pink!!!  Silly boy, he certainly has an identity crisis about lots of things, BOL!
Anyway, Mom is going shopping tomorrow so she said she would find him a blue one somewhere.  She gets us the baby onsies cuz they fit us perfectly.
Well, mine fit me loosely last year and Mom had to pin it to make it smaller.  I am not sure that will be a problem this year, if you get my drift, hehehe!
So, tomorrow I am going to work with Mom and get groomed so I will be the most beautiful powder puff Chinese Crested there.  Hmm, when I think about it, I suspect I will be the ONLY Chinese Crested there, powder puff or hairless!
The only problem is that IF the weather is yucky or too cold we aren't gonna go.  It is supposed to be fun, although it IS a benefit, but even if we don't go, the money for the entry is already paid so they will benefit!!!
Mom will TRY to get off work so she can take photos... hopefully, Tonya will work for her like she did last year.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Finally, REAL SNOW!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/810416</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 29 Dec 2012 13:19:41 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/810416</guid>
		<description>After the Winter that wasn't, I was pretty discouraged about ever running thru the snow again.  We g ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ After the Winter that wasn't, I was pretty discouraged about ever running thru the snow again.  We got about an inch last week so I pretended it was deep and fluffy, but, alas, it really wasn't the same.
Well, Thursday I woke up, headed outside and stepped right off the porch into about 12 inches of fresh snow.  Worried, I glanced up at the big thermometer Mom has out there and, fortunately, it was only 24 degrees so I knew it wasn't gonna melt away like last year.
Because it was Mom's work days we didn't get to play down in the field until today, but today we DID PLAY!!!  I was nervous cuz it is only 22 degrees today, and it's snowing lots again so I was afraid Mom might decide on a Saturday afternoon nap instead.
But, as soon as she got home she dug out jackets for all us little ones, grabbed her cameras and a big blanket to put on her chair and away we went.  I was soooooo happppppy, I ran and ran and ran, then I burst out of the snow banks, then I ran some more.  Because we were all so excited to be in real snow we didn't even chase each other, we just ran and ran and ran.
Because Mom was in a hurry she forgot to shut the chickies in and I discovered their pen was open so I raced in.  I was checking them all out and picking which one I was gonna eat when Momsie called me.  She called me several times, and she had that tone of voice, you know, THAT tone, so I decided I'd best head back to her quickly.  Good move, she praised me up and down, BOL!!!]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>My day at the beach!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/802135</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 21 Oct 2012 18:01:28 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/802135</guid>
		<description>Well, after driving forever, we finally got to the beach.  I was amazed at how BIG it is and how muc ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, after driving forever, we finally got to the beach.  I was amazed at how BIG it is and how much water there is there!  I was a little disappointed that it was mostly sand and not mud, I love to play in mud!!!
Right at the start Toto told me about those big gulls and how much fun it was to chase them.  So, on the count of three, we took off!  Sadly, so did the birds, hehehe!  I am sure glad that our chickies can't fly like that, BOL!
We explored and explored and ran all around and then, me and Toto ran really far away and Mom was mad at me and put my leash back on.  She also put Toto's leash back on, too.  HARUMPH, just cuz we were trying to visit that dead porpoise and to chase the other dogs shouldn't have been a major issue, I don't think!
After the beach we stopped at Petsmart and they were having a big sale on some shirts and dresses.  Mom got me a really neat polo dress and a new jacket that says Pink Ladies on it.  It's from Grease, bol, and she got Harvey the one that says T- birds on it.  
We also got some neat chews at the beach...they are made from dried cod skin.  They did taste a bit fishy, but Mom said it was okay cuz they didn't smell fishy at all!  We had to promise not to puke in the car on the way home, BOL!  I didn't!!!!]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Diary pick for me again!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/800718</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 9 Oct 2012 16:40:34 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/800718</guid>
		<description>Wow, I just realized that I am a diary pick today!!!  I guess Mom knew about it this morning but sin ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Wow, I just realized that I am a diary pick today!!!  I guess Mom knew about it this morning but since I was busy still babysitting for Quincy she didn't tell me until tonight.
Babysitting Quincy... what a job that was!!!  You probably know already that Mom and Beanie and Barney were away so all us dogs had to go to the kennel.  Since Quincy is still a baby, Mom put him in the puppy pen but she didn't want him to be all alone.  Soo, since I am SOOOO nice, I was selected to stay with him in that pen.  
Actually, it was okay.  Being in the pen meant I was in the daycare room instead of the back kennel part and I got lots and lots more attention.  When we were inside, I sat in the corner and pouted so everyone felt sorry for me and gave me extra pats and treats.  But, since Quincy IS a baby, we got way more time outside in the big pen.  It was nice out there and I do enjoy the fresh air.  Plus, there were more toys and things to play with out there.
When Mom got home yesterday she brought me and Quince home.  I was pretty excited until I realized that I was gonna have to stay in the in/out pen with him, still.  Darn it all, enough is enough!
Tonight we have been sprung from the pen and are now playing in the house.  There is a ton of toys scattered around...Mom thinks with all the toys on the floor Quincy will pick them up instead of getting something he shouldn't have.
Where is Quincy, you might ask???  He is crashed out on his brand, new dog bed!!!
Thanks everyone for your well wishes, visits and gifts!!  I enjoyed them!]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>My Sunday out...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/799450</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 1 Oct 2012 17:40:53 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/799450</guid>
		<description>Finally, Julia picked me for the trip up to the pond.  I was beginning to think she didn't love me a ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Finally, Julia picked me for the trip up to the pond.  I was beginning to think she didn't love me anymore so I buttered her up Saturday evening and she decided she DOES still love me!
Sunday morning she took me off to work and gave me a bath so I would smell spiffy.  Or, at least NOT smell like chickie poo, hehehe!
Then, she went thru ALL the collars and leashes and finally picked out a really nice green and brown Fall one for me.  I didn't dare tell her it was Quincy's brand new one, BOL.  He didn't need it, he stayed home with Gemma.
Anyway, when we got to the pond Julia ran really fast down the path to the very back of the pond.  She had ME on a leash and Toto was just running along without his.  When we got back there, she took off mine, too, so I could romp and run without tripping over it.
Beanie and I had the greatest time racing all around.  I had forgotten how much fun he is...usually he is playing stuffed shirt and sticking close to Momsie so he won't play with me.  For some reason, he was ignoring Mom and played and played with me, I guess cuz he knows he is going on vacation with Mom and Julie.
Toto was off with Julia, he thinks if he's nice to her she will invite him to her house when Mom goes away this weekend.  I happen to know he IS going there so it is all wasted brown nosing now. 
Anyway, after our run thru the wet grass and pouring rain Julia and Mom made us ride home in the crates.  I went into the top one so I wouldn't have to share with Toto or Beanie...they had to share the bottom one, BOL!
But, on the way home Mom stopped a few times and THEY got to get out and I didn't.  It was alright, I was tired!!
Tonight I had to entertain that little Quincy for his FIRST TIME being a big house dog.  He actually did very well...he only ate ONE shoe and ONE rug.  And, he found Julia's scarf that she had lost!!!]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>MY personal Chickie story....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/798175</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:59:40 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/798175</guid>
		<description>Yesterday was a lovely day so Momsie left us outdoors.  She had put the baby chickens with the bigge ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Yesterday was a lovely day so Momsie left us outdoors.  She had put the baby chickens with the bigger ones the day before and she piled an expen up against the hole in the hen house so they couldn't sneak out there.
Well, it was pretty boring out there so I decided to try to move that expen.  I worked and worked and worked and finally, it moved enough for me to sneak into the hen house, BOL!
Well, Momsie got home from work and put Toto out so he could go pee pee.  She instantly saw ME in the chicken yard.  She screamed really loudly, and raced out to rescue the babies, but she couldn't find any babies anywhere.  Of course, I was still chasing them, hehehe!
As Mom settled down a bit, she also realized there were NO feathers anywhere, either.  Hmmmm.  Finally I showed her how I got into the hen yard and she put me back with the other dogs and shut the gate.  Then, she started trying to find the chickies.  It seems that FIVE of them were smart and followed the big chickies down into the lab pen.  Two were hiding in the corner of the hen house, and one was hunkered down under the ramp that comes out of the house into the chickie yard.  But, where was number nine????
Since she didn't see any feathers anywhere (or, for that matter, any bodies!), she assumed it was hiding somewhere.  As she headed into the house to get her flashlight, she noticed something different about the clothes dryer vent on the porch.  Looking closely, she discovered the last lost chickie had tried to climb into that vent hole and was stuck right there with just her butt sticking out!  Mom rescued her, and within a couple of minutes, all nine babies and the twelve pullets were all eating calmly in their pen.
I was resting, BOL!  Mom couldn't believe those chickies were all out with ALL us dogs and no one was even injured or even really scared.  Good thing Mom had Toto at the animal hospital and the at work that day, BOL!  HE would never have left them living and breathing!!! 
Mom said she was very proud of us all and gave us each an egg in our dinner!!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>My turn...Diary pick!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/788466</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:38:57 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/788466</guid>
		<description>I know, I know, it's fairly late at night and I am just getting around to writing my thanks for bein ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I know, I know, it's fairly late at night and I am just getting around to writing my thanks for being picked as a Diary pick today.  It seems that when one member of my family gets picked we ALL get picked!!!  I LOVE when it's MY TURN!!
Mom took forever to help me write this cuz she and Julia have been working ALL afternoon on building that chicken house/garden shed.  Actually, after the problem with the floor, (Mom resolved that with her jig saw, BOL), the sides went up REALLY fast and tonight everything is finished except the roof.
Because that needs extra help, Susie is coming down on Friday to help Mom and to get Tanner groomed.  Then, over the weekend Mom and Julia will get it all set up with the nest boxes and the roosts and stuff and let the chickies in!!!
Did I tell you, the baby pullets are ALL laying eggs already!  Tonight Julia and Mom had egg sandwiches for dinner and used only the baby pullet eggs.  I helped eat them, MMMmmmmmm good!!!
Well, gotta go now, thanks for all your gifts and well wishes today.  I did appreciate them all!!!!]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>I lost my fetlocks!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/787434</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 4 Jul 2012 18:09:52 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/787434</guid>
		<description>This morning Julia was discussing my fetlocks with Mom.  She said they were always wet and dirty and ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ This morning Julia was discussing my fetlocks with Mom.  She said they were always wet and dirty and when I jumped on her I got her all muddy and nasty.  She wanted Mom to cut them off!
Mom told her IF she took me to work and IF she gave me a nice bath, Mom would cut them off.  Sure enough, I got a nice bubble bath and Mom came along and shaved those fetlocks right off,
Afterward, we went down into the lab pen to play.  The grass was really wet cuz it poured rain all night last night.  I ran and ran and ran and ran and.....I didn't have any wet, sloppy leg hair at all!!!  Of course, my feet DID get wet but it instantly dried off and the mud had nothing to stick to.
Good job, Julia!!!
BTW, check out all my new playing photos from today!!  I was really having a blast down there!!!]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Camping was a BUST!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/782906</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 3 Jun 2012 17:00:16 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/782906</guid>
		<description>My last diary entry I was all excited about the upcoming camping trip.  Well, yes, we DID have a cam ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ My last diary entry I was all excited about the upcoming camping trip.  Well, yes, we DID have a camping trip and yes, I was invited, but it was all downhill from there.
The afternoon part was GREAT.  I played and played and played with Julia and the others and then we had a GREAT cookout and I got to eat the leftovers.  
When it was dark, after our s'mores, we all piled into the tent.  Here's where things started going bad...Riley and Harvey were all rushing around and pushing me and Ali right off of the air mattress we were sharing with Julia.  They kept going into the porch room and racing back in and waking ME up.
Finally, Mom and Julia got up and took them all home.  I hid in the tent so I could stay and it worked!!!  At least it worked until around 5 am when the sun started coming up and the chickens started squawking and I was WIDE awake.
Next thing I knew, Mom took me home and put me in my crate.  Rats!!!  Apparently they also forgot about ME when it was time for kayaking cuz Julia chose Zena and Ali to go with her.  Mom said it was too hot and I was too big to be comfortable in the kayak with Julia AND another dog.  Don't think so, I could have gone under the cowl, ya know!
Fast forward to last weekend.  In honor of the Holiday weekend, Mom and Julia decided to camp out again.  This time they had a brand new tent and it was smaller than the other one so I must admit, I was a bit worried.
This time they ALSO cooked their dinner up on the grill in front, and ate out there instead of down in the field.  It got worse, after dinner they took Ali and Beanie and Toto and off they went, down to the lab yard and the new tent.  
After their bonfire and s'mores, they went off to bed and didn't even say goodnight to poor me up in my crate.  For some reason, they didn't get up at 5 am and let me out, either.  Mom said they slept really well without me walking all over them, BOL!
And, only Ali and Toto and Beanie got to go kayaking AND only those three got to play in the big yard when they got home.
Not fair, not fair at all!!!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Camping again!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/780083</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 14 May 2012 17:55:09 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/780083</guid>
		<description>Mom said Julia is coming this weekend to go camping with us down in the lab pen.  I am soo excited I ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom said Julia is coming this weekend to go camping with us down in the lab pen.  I am soo excited I can't wait.  I sure hope it stops raining by then, BOL!
This time I am also pretty sure I will get invited to participate in the kayak trip.  Even IF Julia choses Ali again, I will insist that I can go with them cuz there is room for both of us in that kayak!!!
If, for some reason there are two many people for the kayaks they will have to take the canoe, too, and of course there will be plenty of room for ME in the canoe, even room for Barney and Harvey should they chose to go!!!
On Sunday we are going to hike up some mountain.  Of course I will go for the hike, I LOVE hikes!!  And, even if Ali goes, again, I can go too!  There are no limits when hiking.
In honor of all this happening, Momsie said she will take me to work tomorrow and give me a fresh haircut and a bath.  Right now I am the only one who isn't spiffy, well, Ali is a bit scruffy, but, hey, she's Ali!!!
Today Zena and Riley got their cuts. Toto was last week and so was Barney and Harvey.  Beanie grows too slowly, so he is fine, and really, that just leaves ME!!  Tomorrow will be MY DAY!
Well, gotta go now, it's been raining all day long and there are some fresh mud puddles out there with MY name on them!!!]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>I'm BALANCED!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/777413</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:53:30 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/777413</guid>
		<description>Yesterday Louie and Nina left a comment on my diary, complete with a photo.  They were amazed to not ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Yesterday Louie and Nina left a comment on my diary, complete with a photo.  They were amazed to notice that I have a PERFECT yin and yang symbol on my face!!!
Well, Mom was looking at some of my other photos, and surprise, my primary photo shows the symbol pretty well, too.  So, she put the one they made for me right up there below my primary photo so everyone could see it.
What can I say??  I did always know I was balanced, now the whole world knows it, too, hehehe!
Thanks, Louie and Nina for pointing this out!!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Letters from our &quot;shadows&quot;.</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/776818</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:25:56 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/776818</guid>
		<description>Mom got some letters the other day from the girls that came and job shadowed us.  They all read them ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom got some letters the other day from the girls that came and job shadowed us.  They all read them over and over and over.
Would you believe I, me and myself got the MOST write ups in their letters???
Mom said she always picks me for stuff like that cuz everyone always loves me the most.  Of course, the fact that I just sit in their arms, staring lovingly at their eyes doesn't hurt one bit.  Mom says if they could come into our house, or even better, into our big lab pen with me they might not think I was so sweet and loving.
My response... BOTH Julia and Skye still love me the most and they have BOTH stayed with me here all day long and some nights AND I have stayed overnight at both their houses, too.  
It has been very dusty and dry here for weeks and weeks and weeks.  Mom threatened me with a bath, but I happen to know they are way, way too busy at work to give ME a bath.  Sooo, this morning it was pouring rain and I decided to help Mom.  I stood out in that rain and got all soaking wet.  Then, I ran as fast as I could in the brisk wind and called it the force dryer, hehehe!  Mom is amazed at how white I am now!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>I had a Shadow!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/773644</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 4 Apr 2012 16:30:59 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/773644</guid>
		<description>Yesterday was the annual Job Shadow day at work.  Four students from the local Middle school came do ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Yesterday was the annual Job Shadow day at work.  Four students from the local Middle school came down and shadowed Mom and the girls.  Because they are here for quite a long time AND Mom and the girls have to keep working to get all the regular clients done, Mom usually brings some of us over to work to have the girls work on.
First, Julie and Sarah gave them a complete tour of the place and explained what goes on here.  After that, Julie and Sarah each took two girls and had them shadow them for a while.  Meanwhile, one of the dogs Mom was grooming belonged to the girls teacher, so they wanted to come help with him, too.
After that, Mom had Julie come and get us.  First, they took us for a nice walk up the big hill behind the kennel.  I KNOW that was Mom's plan to wear us out a bit, BOL, but I didn't let on to the girls about that!  When we got back Julie got some brushes and combs and took us out into the store and showed the girls how to brush and comb us out.  They all worked on us for a while, then I was selected to get bathed by all the girls!!!
They did a nice job and I ended up sparkling clean and they ended up soaking wet, hehehe!  They were even gentle when they used that HUGE blow dryer on me!  
After that, we shared their lunches!!  It was pretty fun, and I think the girls liked their day as much as us dogs did!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Finally, a diary entry for me!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/772127</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:12:22 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/772127</guid>
		<description>I believe Momsie doesn't love me anymore.  Every single night I get up on the computer desk to write ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I believe Momsie doesn't love me anymore.  Every single night I get up on the computer desk to write another diary and Mom makes me get down.  Now, how in the world am I supposed to write an entry if I can't get on the desk???
Oh well, Mom is out in the kitchen doing some dishes so here I am.  Now that it is finally my chance to write, I can't think of a single thing to write about, go figure!
Anyway, it's been a GREAT Spring so far.  Although I didn't get much time to play in the snow, I did get plenty of time to run in the lab pen all Winter long since Spring started in November, I swear!
Today the weather person was giving some statistics for the Winter.  I might have them mixed up a bit, but it was the LEAST snowy Winter in 140 years and that is as long as they have kept the snow totals!  It was also the WARMEST Winter in recorded history, as well.
Mom says it's still early enough to get some snow.  She remembers once we got NINE inches on May 9th!  She also remembers plenty of Easter sunrise services canceled due to snow.  
We shall see, I guess.  Maybe there is still time for my collection of snow photos for this Winter?]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Finally, I am back home!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/763947</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 6 Feb 2012 15:10:53 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/763947</guid>
		<description>Well, this turned out to be a really LONG weekend at Julia's.  First of all, I had to go there on Sa ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, this turned out to be a really LONG weekend at Julia's.  First of all, I had to go there on Saturday morning cuz the race was early on Sunday morning.
Then, Julia wanted me to spend Sunday afternoon with her and Mom said okay so I stayed.  Next, she wanted me to spend another night, so I stayed last night and was supposed to come to work with Julia's mom this morning.
Notice I said supposed to...Julia's mom was really sick with the "cruise ship disease", so I had to stay longer.  But, it all worked out and Julia's Auntie brought me home this afternoon.
The race was fun, but, in this Winter of Summer, it was FREEZING COLD on Sunday morning.  After days and days of above freezing, it was only 15 degrees!!  My tiny, bare feet got REALLY cold so Scott was nice enough to carry me lots of the way.  He did put me down toward the end so I would be able to walk over the finish line.
We started out LAST!!!  The good news, we ended up with a few people behind us at the end.  The POLICE even escorted us, imagine that.
Mom was there with Toto.  Some young girl was holding Toto... I don't know how he gets all the young girls to always hold him no matter where he goes!!!!  I looked over and said Hi to them but kept walking along with Julia.  Mom was amazed that there were over 200 people and about 8 or 10 dogs!!!   I was the ONLY dog who was dressed up in a Patriots shirt.  Guess it didn't work, huh?
Now, I am resting my feet in the biggest dog bed, chewing on a bone.  It's nice to go away, but it's nicer to come home!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Late, but HERE!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/763209</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 2 Feb 2012 15:50:38 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/763209</guid>
		<description>Well, it got to be late last night and my new shirt that Mom paid special shipping on wasn't here.   ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, it got to be late last night and my new shirt that Mom paid special shipping on wasn't here.  They GUARANTEED it would be here in 24 hours.
Mom wasn't totally panicking because she knew we had a few days but the only choice was 2 day OR regular and she didn't dare take a chance on regular. 
Mom sent them an email and they said, "Oops, we didn't send it 2 day, here's your shipping refund."  Well, at least the shipping money was back but now Mom was really worried... regular shipping instead of 2 day??????  Hmmmmm.
Meanwhile, Mom and Tonya decided I was far too matted after only 3 days post grooming so yesterday they were bored and ended up cutting ALL my hair off and giving me a pony cut.  I LIKE the pony cut, but, gee, Mom, what if it's FREEZING on Sunday when we have to do our walk?????
Around noon today the mail lady came and put something in our box.  Mom went out and looked and AMAZINGLY, it WAS my new shirts!!!  So, since I was already at work, they tried it on me and it's almost perfect.  Well, it will be perfect when they add a few pins to tighten it up a bit.  First they tried the dark one on, then the light one, then Mom put the light one OVER the dark one and pronounced that PERFECT. (It will also be warmer with my haircut, BOL,)
Too bad, she was going to mail the extra one over to Baby Grace, her grand niece, so she could wear it on Sunday.  Oh well, it was so late that there wasn't time to mail it to her anyway.
So, tonight Mom did some fittings and dug around and finally found a pink barrette so I am all ready to go.  And, Mom is happy she found that barrette cuz otherwise she would have had to go to the store and get something for my hair.  The pony cut leaves all that crest hair on my head!!!
Mom snapped a photo with her phone for my page...BUT, I want you to know that it is really HOT pink but the phone muted it too much!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>More on the 5K....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/762685</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:47:45 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/762685</guid>
		<description>Today Julia's Mom told my Mom that we are supposed to wear something Patriotic for the Patriots on S ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today Julia's Mom told my Mom that we are supposed to wear something Patriotic for the Patriots on Superbowl Sunday.  First, Mom told her she would get out my NY Giants t-shirt and I could wear that,  BOL, that didn't go over so well!!!
So, Mom was gonna go upstreet after work tonight and find me something to wear.  While on her break she was surfing thru Amazon and discovered some really great stuff for the Patriots.  She finally decided on a hot pink t-shirt with the logo on it.  It is a "onesy" for a baby and luckily, I fit perfectly in the 18 month size cuz that's the only size they had!!  
Mom just puts them on us backward and pins the flap up so it doesn't drag on the ground.
Anyway, this came in a set of two...one with short sleeves and one with long sleeves so if it's colder I can wear the long sleeves.  I LOVE pink and so does Julia.  She will be soo surprised when she sees me wearing it!!
Mom paid extra shipping so I will get it on Wednesday.  That way if it doesn't fit right Mom will have time to fix it for me.
Did you know I have to go to Julia's on Saturday and spend the night cuz I have to be there early on Sunday morning.
Oh yeah, one of the other girls said she would work for Mom so she can go now and take our pictures.  Cool!
Mom said her back is better but not perfect yet.  She has a really quiet week of grooming so that will help it, I am sure.  We are all behaving really well so she doesn't have to chase us around and/or lift us into our crates.  Mine is on the second level and I jump right up into it!!  I am sooo helpful!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>It's official...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/762497</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:08:03 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/762497</guid>
		<description>Julia's Mom told my Mom that it was official and I was really, really going to walk in the Pigskin 5 ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Julia's Mom told my Mom that it was official and I was really, really going to walk in the Pigskin 5K with Julia next weekend.
I am pretty excited about that... I will help encourage her and keep her company as we go along.
Mom is going to try to come take our photos BUT, she has to work so hopefully, someone else will work for her.  Today Laurie had to come work cuz when Mom got up her back was BROKEN.  We were worried but she managed to get us outside and back into our crates before it was really broken.  Seems it's okay when she first wakes up but is awful after that for a couple of hours or so.
Well, needless to say, we didn't get to do much playing today!  We did go down to the lab pen for a bit, but we were so busy exploring all the freshly exposed grass and hidden things from Fall that we didn't do any running around at all.
She did get a neat photo of me levitating my ball.  I have worked on that trick for soooo long...glad to see it finally worked.
I really have to watch my balls now that Lola is visiting again.  Today I brought that blue one right back into the house and gave it to Mom so Lola wouldn't swallow it!
Well, gotta go to bed now cuz I need all my rest to prepare for the big walk!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I am doing a 5K whatever that is!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/761527</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:24:00 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/761527</guid>
		<description>Hey, everypup... today Mom told me I am probably going to do a 5k walk with my friend, Julia.  She w ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, everypup... today Mom told me I am probably going to do a 5k walk with my friend, Julia.  She was gonna take her own lab (one that Mom bred, BOL), but lots of people don't watch their dogs and her mother doesn't want anything bad to happen to her or the dog.  Her mother can't go with her cuz she is RUNNING in the same 5K.
Anyway, since I am the perfect size she can just pick me up IF some dogs come running up to start something, besides, I WON'T respond if they try to start something with me.  Toto can't go cuz he got in another dog's face the other night, hehehe!
The walk is on Superbowl Sunday and is called the Pigskin 5K.  I think 5K is like 3.1 miles, but I am not sure.
Julia's Mom had the nerve to tell my Mom that she didn't think I was fit enough to walk a 5K so she told Julia I probably couldn't go with her...Mom set her straight right away!  Mom said I could no doubt RUN the 5K and beat all the people there,too, BOL!
Of course, I train all the time by chasing Riley and the others around the lab pen...I have measured it out and it only takes about 137 runs around the perimeter to equal 5K.  I got that made in the shade!
Speaking of shade...I won't get too hot cuz it's in February!!!
Mom said she would go there and take some photos of us on our walk.  I sure hope so, BOL!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>FINALLY, some Snow!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/759953</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:32:58 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/759953</guid>
		<description>Well, yesterday it finally snowed.  I was hoping for more, but alas, only about 6 inches.  And, it r ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, yesterday it finally snowed.  I was hoping for more, but alas, only about 6 inches.  And, it rained during the day so the snow is all crusty which I don't prefer cuz it doesn't fly out behind me when I race across the field.
Oh well, I made do with what we had.  I chased Toto, Riley chased me and the toys chased us all.  Well, Zena didn't...she still stuck pretty close to Mom AND she wasn't sure what all that ice was about, BOL.
Oh yeah, the wimps, Harvey and Barney walked about half way down the path, turned around and stood at the gate whining for Mom.  It was still above 20 degrees when we were out there, wonder what they will think tomorrow when it's BELOW ZERO!!!  I bet Mom will leave them inside.
Anyway, today I wore Ali's Coach quilted pink jacket.  It was MUCH more comfortable than that other pink one I wore the other day.  And, warmer, too, but I really never get too cold!  Ali kept staring at me...I'm not sure she realized that was HER jacket, but I just ran faster when she did so she couldn't get a good look at me, BOL!
Well, gotta rest up now for tomorrow's run.  Too bad Mom is open on Monday cuz it's supposed to be a holiday.  She has too many dogs to groom, I guess.  Otherwise, we could run on Monday afternoon, too.]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Snow for Christmas, sort of, I guess...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/756439</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:50:35 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/756439</guid>
		<description>Well, I wished and wished and wished and when I awoke this morning I did see white out the window.   ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, I wished and wished and wished and when I awoke this morning I did see white out the window.  Super excited, I rushed outside and HUGE white flakes were falling out of the sky.  The ground was already white.  
OMD, there IS a Santa Paws and he listened to my wish!!!!  
After my morning outs I returned to my crate to wait until Mom was home from work.  I was dreaming about all the perfect snow that I was going to run and jump in.  Exciting!!
Mom got home and the first thing she did was get out our jackets.  OMD...there is sooo much snow that I need my jacket???  This is gonna be GREAT!!!!
Excited, we all rushed out the door and found... we found NOTHING.  Almost all the snow from earlier had already melted and it wasn't snowing anymore at all.  DRATS!!!  What kind of Santa Paws does that to a dog???  It is just plain NOT FAIR!!!
Dejected and rejected, I ran around down there as best as I could, but visions of snowflakes were still dancing in my head.
Maybe we will have a New Year's Eve Storm???? Now, who would I wish that to, Father Time?????  Guess so.]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Two years old already!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/752252</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 1 Dec 2011 13:06:37 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/752252</guid>
		<description>Hey, today is my birthday and I am two years old!!!  I feel all growed up, hehehe.
I can't wait unt ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, today is my birthday and I am two years old!!!  I feel all growed up, hehehe.
I can't wait until Mom gets home from work and I can see what she got me for my birthday.  I hope it's something very nice!
I was kind of mad that Julia didn't wish me a happy birthday.  Mom says it's cuz she probably has no idea today is MY birthday.  She should know, it's right on MY page and she should be checking my page every single day, don't ya think???
I was actually surprised that Mom remembered my birthday even before I got the happy birthday email from Dogster.  Guess I don't give her enough credit, huh?
Well, gotta go.  It was nice and sunny today and pretty warm, especially out in our back yard cuz the house and the shed make a huge L shape which blocks off ALL the breezes and wind.  Mom came home at noon and put us all outside.  Hope she gets home pretty soon to let us in cuz it's getting cooler now!!! 
Besides, I want my birthday presents!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My visit from Julia...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/750888</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:13:12 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/750888</guid>
		<description>My friend Julia came down to visit with me this afternoon.  She came to help Mom do some Christmas p ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ My friend Julia came down to visit with me this afternoon.  She came to help Mom do some Christmas photos, so of course I had to go to work this morning and get a nice bath and a trim.  As soon as Julia got there she carried me home so I wouldn't get messy in the wet snow we got last night.
It was silly, cuz as soon as we got home Mom and Julia took us ALL down to the lab pen for a run in that same wet snow.  Let me tell you, run I did.  Mom got some almost GREAT photos, but they were only almost great since she was experimenting with her new camera.  She set it for the black dogs against the white snow and I am white so most of me disappeared right into the snow field. BOL!  Ah well, it's the thought that counts, right?
Anyway, after we dried off, Julia did our photo shoot.  Mom draped the washing machine and Julia used that for a sitting area.  She used all kinds of stuff like ornaments, bows, boughs, and balls.  I got several pretty darn good ones, but Mom said I can't have them on my page until AFTER Thanksgiving... she said one holiday at a time is plenty!
Oh well, something for you to look forward to, I guess!
Have a nice Thanksgiving, every pup, but remember, don't eat too much!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A PERFECT day for me!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/747873</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 6 Nov 2011 16:19:33 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/747873</guid>
		<description>Imagine my surprise when late this morning along came my friend Julia!!  I was sooo happy to see her ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Imagine my surprise when late this morning along came my friend Julia!!  I was sooo happy to see her.
Mom said we could all go down in the lab pen and play for a bit before we did our photo shoot that Julia had planned for us. Mom figured we might run off a bit of extra energy before we had to sit for our portraits with Julia.
Well, I LOVE running, so I went along with that plan!!!  Soo, we played down there for almost an hour.  It was pleasantly warm and very, very sunny today...perfect running and playing weather.
Finally, it was time to pose for photos with Julia.  Since she loves me the best I was first, (YES, me, not Ali... she told me that she loved me best today, BOL!)  Because I am special, I got several different outfits to pose in.  Julia went to a bunch of thrift shops yesterday and bought tons of props for her photo shooting... I am wearing some of them in my new photos!
Anyway, after the portraits were finished and ready for the computer it was still warm and nice outside so Mom suggested she and Julia go for a hike.  Julia selected a park uptown that Mom had never been to, so that was cool.  
Julia chose me to accompany her, of course, and Mom took Toto cuz his legs are longer like mine and we can both run fast!
It was pretty nice up at the park, but, unfortunately, it is deep inside a pine forest and, with the time change, it was pretty dark and shady in there by the time we got there.  We didn't mind the dark and shady, but the COLD that accompanied it was too much for Julia.  She told Mom I was cold so she could bundle me under her jacket and keep HER warm.  Mom was irked cuz she grabbed her small camera to take and the battery was almost dead, so they decided to come home instead.
Soo, when we got home, Julia fed me my dinner and Mom and her put the photos on our pages.  Check them out, especially my really cute dress one!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Lots of living squashed into a few days!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/747227</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 2 Nov 2011 17:17:00 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/747227</guid>
		<description>What a week it's been.  Well, not even a week, just a few days!
Saturday I had a wonderful day over ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ What a week it's been.  Well, not even a week, just a few days!
Saturday I had a wonderful day over at the Howlaween parade.  I was partnered up with Skye and her friend, Leslie, and Toto.  We were the princess and the frog.  Sadly, we did not win, but we sure did have FUN!  
Satuday night when I went out to do my business, I noticed a heavy shower of white flakes...OMD... it is SNOWING!!!  I LOVE snow!!  I sure hope it will be nice and deep and perfect in the morning.
I drifted off to sleep with visions of racing thru the snow drifts in my mind... ahhhh, I LOVE Winter and SNOW!!!  Upon hopping out of bed in the morning I was absolutely SHOCKED to find that it had snowed all night long and was piled up in deep drifts all thru our pen.  
Fortunately, it was a short day for Mom at work and before I could melt the snowballs off my legs it was time to go play down in the lab pen.
Needless to say, I had a BLAST and Mom has the photos to prove it!!!  I spent hours down there running and jumping for joy!
Finally, it was over and time for the work week...boring.
Ah, today is Wednesday and Mom's early day.  We finally got back down into the field and... OMD... it is SUMMER again already!  It was warm and sunny and the grass was green and smelling fresh and clean.  I ran and ran and ran, loving every minute of it all.
I wish EVERY week had so many great life experiences in it for me to sample... I loved every minute of it all!!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Uh oh, lost stitches...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/743072</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 8 Oct 2011 06:13:01 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/743072</guid>
		<description>Apparently I am very sensitive to the suture material.  My incision was getting all swollen and thos ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Apparently I am very sensitive to the suture material.  My incision was getting all swollen and those sutures were pulling and digging into me.
Soo, while Mom was at work I did a little licking and I managed to untie all but one of them.
Mom didn't notice and, when she came home from work she decided we were well enough to go for a short run in the field.  I don't do short runs... I was racing all over the place and having a ball!
Suddenly, Mom remembered that my belly was swollen in the morning and she hadn't checked it.  She picked me up and looked and discovered only ONE stitch still there, and it was on the very end!  At least my  belly wasn't red and swollen anymore, BOL!
Anyway, Mom panicked since it had only been THREE days since my surgery.  Everything looked fine so she took me home and put me in my crate, BUT, she took Toto's pee belt and wrapped it around my belly.
Seems to be working fine!  It is still stuck together and healing nicely without the stitches. 
Good thing I am a fast healer, BOL!!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>All better, already...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/742692</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 5 Oct 2011 18:18:11 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/742692</guid>
		<description>Well, as I had guessed, last night MOM slept on the futon and us girls slept in her bed, BOL!
She w ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, as I had guessed, last night MOM slept on the futon and us girls slept in her bed, BOL!
She was so afraid she was going to bump us or something that she couldn't get comfy, so finally she just got on the futon.
Actually, we slept pretty good AFTER Mom finally gave us some pain meds.  The vet said we couldn't have the kind Mom had until after we ate something, so finally we each ate a tiny bit of food and then Mom gave us the drugs!
Mom gave me some because I was kind of moaning and groaning a bit and twitching.  Well, I couldn't help it, my tummy hurt BAD!
This morning when we woke up and dragged ourselves out from under the comforter, we all realized we were no longer feeling drunk!  Me and Georgie actually JUMPED off the porch and went out to do our pee pee's and poopies, but I gotta tell you, it certainly HURT to do the later, BOL!  And, when we came in we all ate a HUGE breakfast cuz we were really, really hungry!
Mom made us stay in our crates when she went off to work, but when she got home, EARLY cuz it was her afternoon off, we got to go outside in the warm sunshine for a while.  She didn't put us out with the other guys though, she was afraid we would run around too much.
And, those other guys got to go play in the lab pen and WE DID NOT!!!
Tonight, I am feeling much better, and Georgie says she is completely better.  Ali is still moping about a bit, but we think it's because she is milking Susie for some sympathy!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I survived, too, at least I think I did!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/742482</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 4 Oct 2011 15:35:16 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/742482</guid>
		<description>As Ali said, Mom picked us up this afternoon and brought us home.  I went out and did my pee pee, th ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ As Ali said, Mom picked us up this afternoon and brought us home.  I went out and did my pee pee, then I went into my crate.  Unlike Ali, I wanted MY dinner, at least I did until Mom gave it to me.  I decided to save it until tomorrow, BOL!
The people up at the vets said I was the one who woke up LAST, and I was the one who slept ALL afternoon, but, actually, I do feel okay.  
Mom left me and Georgie in our crates but Ali got to go sleep in HER bed.  Not fair, I think.  
Mom said if you had tried to sleep in her bed last night with both me and Georgie in there you would think it was perfectly fair to leave us in our crates.
Watch it MOTHER!!!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>I am going to have an operation tomorrow!!!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/742306</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 3 Oct 2011 16:24:27 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/742306</guid>
		<description>When Mom came home from work tonight she told me and Georgie and Ali that we were going to go have o ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ When Mom came home from work tonight she told me and Georgie and Ali that we were going to go have operations tomorrow morning.  She said we are getting fixed so we won't have to go over to the boarding kennel EVER AGAIN from being in that heat thing.
And, she said that now me and Georgie will NEVER have to go to another dog show again, too!  I guess you can only go if you are not spayed???  I was pretty sure we were never going to another show anyway cuz Mom cut all our hair off this Summer.
Anyway, cuz Georgie and I were all muddy from playing outside in the rain all week Mom decided we needed a bath before we went to the hospital.  So, she gave us a bath right in the kitchen sink, BOL!!!  
It was awful... the water was nice and warm and when she turned on the sprayer thingie it was either all hot OR all cold, there was no middle ground at all!  I am a bit bigger than Georgie so I had to endure it in order to get rinsed but Mom just held Georgie under the main faucet and didn't use the sprayer.
She was going to let us air dry in the house but, I guess she forgot that it is only 55 degrees here today.  We were shivering and shaking so she finally took us over to work and used the big dryer on us.  Now we are hanging out in the living room, chewing on our toys.  
She said we cannot go back outside tonight or tomorrow morning except to just do our business and we can only go one at a time so we don't race around and get muddy again.
Me MUDDY????   How would she EVER get the idea that I would get muddy????]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Camping was FUN!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/738233</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:25:15 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/738233</guid>
		<description>Well, the weekend is over and it's another &quot;normal&quot; Monday.  I must say, our camping out in the back ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, the weekend is over and it's another "normal" Monday.  I must say, our camping out in the back yard was mega fun, though!
The girls picked me as one of the dogs to sleep in the tent with them.  I was honored and thrilled to be a part of their party.
First we played and played and played while Mom and Nina's Mom visited and then cooked dinner.  We ALL ate hamburgers and salad, then we lit a big fire and sat around and told ghost stories.  I wasn't scared at all!!!  We also made some S'mores.  Too sweet for me, BOL!
Finally, it was time for bed.  I got right in Julia's sleeping bag so I could keep warm, eh, I mean keep HER warm!!!  It was cozy and comfy.  The girls talked and talked and then finally, Mom and Susie came to bed so we had to be quiet.
After everyone went to sleep, Georgie was bad and kept pacing around and around and around so finally, Susie took her home and put her in her crate.  
Then, I had to go pee pee, so I woke up and started running around trying to find a place.  Fortunately, when Mom heard me she said I could go outside and IF I found a place to pee and was quiet when I came back inside I could stay down there...otherwise I would have to go home, too.  
Trust me, I zoomed out, did my thing and zoomed back into the sleeping bag and didn't show my face again!!!
On Saturday we all had breakfast then I had to go home cuz I wasn't on the kayaking invite list.  Booo.  
It was okay, when they got back I went back to the camping and slept in the tent again.  This time Beanie showed me how to open the zipper and sneak out so I didn't have to wake up Mom...too bad I had to bark at the strange noise I heard out there, BOL!!!  Oh well, Mom let me back in and I went back to sleep.
Sunday, I had to rest up ALL DAY LONG!!!!
I LOVE camping, maybe next time I can go farther away?]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I'm HOME again!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/736719</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 4 Sep 2011 07:53:28 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/736719</guid>
		<description>Well, I survived my first overnight!  Mom said what is perhaps more important is that Sarah and Juli ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, I survived my first overnight!  Mom said what is perhaps more important is that Sarah and Julia survived my first overnight, BOL!!  
Mom is always talking about how I can levitate up onto where ever I want to be but I suspect no one believed her.  I gotta tell you, Sarah and Julia NOW believe her,hehehe!!  You see, they have a really BIG kitchen table and it had lots of cool stuff up on it.  Fun!!!
They also have lots of cats there.  I wasn't sure about them since they really didn't act too much like Smokey cat.  He seems more dog like to me!
Mostly, I spent my time getting Julia to hold me and snuggle with me.  She is pretty good at that, I must say!!
Mom asked her if she took any photos for my page.  YEAH, RIGHT, Mom... she was spending all her time watching me and getting me down off stuff, BOL!!!  It WAS fun!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My FIRST overnight!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/736641</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 3 Sep 2011 18:08:31 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/736641</guid>
		<description>Today we went off on an adventure.  We were going kayaking up at our little pond but after driving a ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today we went off on an adventure.  We were going kayaking up at our little pond but after driving around all over the place following detours, we discovered the last mile of the road was completely closed!!!
So, we drove in the other direction and ended up at a big lake over here in NH.  It was nice there except for the HUGE boats that almost swamped us, and I had to go with Sarah instead of Julia cuz Mom was worried I would fall in and scare Julia and she had never been kayaking before.
Sure enough, I DID fall in, but I didn't scare anyone cuz I know how to swim, BOL!
Anyway, when we got home Julia's Mom said I could go home with them and spend the night!!!  I am sooo excited, I have never spent the night with one of my friends before.
Tomorrow when I come home I will tell you all about it!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A FUN day at work!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/736416</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 2 Sep 2011 14:56:23 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/736416</guid>
		<description>Today my friend Julia had no school so she came along to work with her mother.  Mom sent Tonya home  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today my friend Julia had no school so she came along to work with her mother.  Mom sent Tonya home to get me so I could play with her.  We had a bit of fun playing, then Mom remembered that Julia likes to take photos AND that she had a HUGE bag of dog costumes in the closet so she got them out and went home and got Toto, Ali and Barney and her camera.
Soo, Julia spent about 4 hours photographing ME and the others.  We had a great time, but, frankly, I must say, I am not one for looking "pretty" like Ali.  In fact, Julia's Mom said Toto looked prettier than me, BOL!  Hope Toto didn't hear that!!
Anyway, Mom went thru the 300+ photos Julia took and put some on our pages.
Check them out, they are pretty good, me thinks!!
And, tomorrow I am finally going kayaking with Julia... assuming we don't have another hurricane or thunderstorm or something like that!!!  Tomorrow Julia is bringing her own camera, too!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A visit from my friend Julia...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/735610</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:40:28 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/735610</guid>
		<description>Today Sarah came back to work after her absence while her husband was ill.  Because school got cance ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today Sarah came back to work after her absence while her husband was ill.  Because school got canceled due to Irene, she brought her daughter, MY FRIEND, Julia, with her.  Mom came right home and got me so I could spend my day with Julia.
I had lots of fun with her.  She is the ONLY ONE who knows that in spite of my being a tomboy and an athlete, I dearly love just being held and snuggling.  We spent most of the morning sitting in the cat room with her holding me...I was in heaven!!!  Later, she found some of the daycare toys and we played a few games, just her and I.  
Mom asked her if she wanted to give me a bath... fortunately she declined.  How to spoil a perfect day, Mom!!!
Speaking of perfect, Mom told Julia's Mom that I could go to her house sometime and spend the night with her.  Her Mom said I could, too, so Julia and I are gonna plan a time for that.  As it is, we are planning to go kayaking this weekend IF the weather is okay.  I can't wait!!!
For a long time that Toto has lorded his visiting status with Skye over us lowly other dogs.  Well, Skye hasn't even visited Toto since she got back and now I have Julia and Ali has Susie and Georgie has Giselle, in fact, Georgie and Giselle are going kayaking with us this weekend, and maybe even Susie and Ali!! Toto will have to stay home because he has a bad toothache.
Take that, Toto!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I needed a playmate!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/730792</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 3 Aug 2011 16:36:27 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/730792</guid>
		<description>Finally, today Mom realized what I have been trying to tell her for weeks and weeks.  I am lonely ou ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Finally, today Mom realized what I have been trying to tell her for weeks and weeks.  I am lonely out in the lab pen with all those other dogs and I need a playmate!!!  Here's the problem... Harvey and Barney play with each other.  Toto plays with Pinki.  The three white toys play with themselves, Beanie plays with Beanie and Hilda is just Hilda, so that leaves me all alone by myself.  Mom says that is an unnecessary double adjective but I am REALLY all alone by myself!!!!
Today Mom decided to bring Piper home for a few days.  He was getting bored in the kennel with just Bubbles and Mom says he wasn't learning any good behaviors, either.  So, she brought him home for us to teach, BOL!
Of course, he needed to re-learn the rules... I am the boss lady and when I have a colored ball with a face on it IN my mouth I am not to be messed with.  He may chase me all he wants, frankly, I have been so bored because NO ONE would chase me at all.  I live to be chased!!!
I get my little colored ball with the face on it and put it between my front legs and wait for someone to chase me.  Fortunately, Piper LOVES to chase me.
Sooo, we had a very good time.  Mom put some new photos on my page and she said that NO, the one of us running side by side is not crooked...we were running so fast that we were leaning over to the side, BOL!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Home and Kayaking in the same night!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/728665</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 16 Jul 2011 09:44:25 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/728665</guid>
		<description>Yesterday afternoon Mom took me out of my kennel run and gave me a nice bath.  I was hoping that mea ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Yesterday afternoon Mom took me out of my kennel run and gave me a nice bath.  I was hoping that meant she was taking me home and, sure enough, when work was over she did take me home!!!  She still didn't let me out with Riley but I don't mind, I am happy with the others!
Then, after dinner, she actually said I could go kayaking!!!  I was sooo happy.  First, me and Toto got in a crate in the car and we drove for a long ways.  Ali and Georgie were in the front with Susie.
When we got there, Mom just turned us loose and she and Susie got the kayaks into the pond.  Toto hopped in with Mom and she lifted me in, too.  I was scared!  We went out into the water and I began to relax a bit...it was fun!!!
We paddled around in the pond for about two hours and I saw lots of nature stuff...birds and beavers and frogs and fish and ducks and even dragon flies!!!
I was a bit tired so I even had to crawl under the cowl and take a nap, but that was nice, too.  It was very quiet and peaceful there!!
When we got home us four dogs lorded our elevated status over ALL the other dogs!!!
Check out my new photos of me kayaking!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I have been forgotten???</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/728183</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:24:26 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/728183</guid>
		<description>Hey, I think Mom and the others have forgotten me over here in prison!!!  I have been here forever a ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, I think Mom and the others have forgotten me over here in prison!!!  I have been here forever and Mom isn't taking me home yet!
Yesterday she put me in with Piper and I was trying really hard to get him to breed me so Mom took me out and put me back in the kennel.  Then, she looked at the calendar and said I have to stay here for another WHOLE WEEK!!!
Mom said I can blame it on Riley.  He is the only one at home that still has his balls, and I don't mean the little colored ones with the face on them!!!  Actually, both the Frenchie boys have theirs, too, but Mom doesn't put me out with them anyway.  Riley is a problem cuz he can climb out or dig under or levitate thru all the fences we have here!!!  Even when he is over here at the kennel he just climbs out of the expens or climbs over the chain link kennels.  Mom HATES that cuz she is afraid he is going to break a leg or something worse.
Speaking of the little colored balls with the face on them... I am sure missing playing with them.  Mom gave me one over here but what is the fun of them if I don't have anyone to play keep away with???  
In fact, I don't have ANYONE to play with, at all!!!  Mom says even though Piper is neutered, it doesn't look very good at a boarding kennel to have a poodle trying to breed a crested or any dog, for that matter!!
Mom is such a fuddy duddy!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I'm in prison...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/727138</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 1 Jul 2011 17:22:46 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/727138</guid>
		<description>Wouldn't you know it, right in the best part of Summer when everything is nice and fresh and pretty  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Wouldn't you know it, right in the best part of Summer when everything is nice and fresh and pretty outside, I got my heat thing!  I thought Mom was gonna keep me home since most of the boys are neutered but Riley is NOT neutered and he climbs under or over every fence here so Mom said, no way!
Would you believe I had to go to the kennel on the busiest weekend of the whole year?  Yup.  I am sharing a pen with Bubbles and Piper.  Piper is neutered but if he gets too interested, Mom will make me stay all alone, boo!!
Tonight I actually HEARD those other guys all down in the lab pen playing.  And, last night I heard them at obedience class...HEY, if the dogs WERE obedient then I could have gone, right???  Their owners could have told them to ignore me and they would have listened.  Nah, Mom said I had to stay in the kennel.
Well, gotta go play with Piper now, he's leaving pretty soon for his new home.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A haircut????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/726074</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:27:02 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/726074</guid>
		<description>Mom took me over to work today cuz she said my hair was all matted again and I needed a groom.  When ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom took me over to work today cuz she said my hair was all matted again and I needed a groom.  When she put me on the table she was SHOCKED at how many matts I had and then she was even more shocked when she realized she spent almost 3 hours grooming me just last Thursday.
Sooo, she decided that both she and I would appreciate it if I had SHORT hair instead of long, flowing hair.  It's Summer today, so who needs long, flowing hair anyway????
Next thing I knew she had the clipper out and she was cutting my locks.  First she tried using a longer length blade but the matts were too thick.  Then, she used a shorter one and finished me.  After my bath she decided if I was short I might as well look like a hairless crested so she used the shortest blade and away she went!  
She left my "fetlocks" and my crest but shaved everything else.  Julie says I am cute.  Mom hates it, but she also hates having to make me suffer with combing out all the matts and having a whole day spent grooming once a week.
I agree... it took FIVE MINUTES to dry me instead of the usual hour and a half!!!!!  I can live with that!
Mom said there would be photos tonight IF she can stand looking at them, BOL!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I went to church, too...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/725728</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:25:00 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/725728</guid>
		<description>I went off to church with the others this morning, too.  Mom said she was pretty surprised the heave ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I went off to church with the others this morning, too.  Mom said she was pretty surprised the heavens didn't open up with all of us dogs there!!!!
My partner was Julia.  I liked her lots.  I remember I have met her before when she came to work with her Mom.  
We spent a lot of time visiting with the other pets.  There were labs and boxers and a bichon and a HUGE St. Bernard, and another poodle and some cats.  There was also a macaw which Mom knew before.  That bird said "hello" to us, imagine that!!!! Out in the field behind the church there was a whole herd of pretty horses, too.  The girls took us up on a roof thingie so we could see them better.
We did a little obedience for a demo.  I did mine when no one was watching, but when the people watched me, I stood up on my back legs for some loving from Julia, hehehe!  She had some pretty good cheese that she was giving me.
When we got home, the heavens opened with a big thunderstorm.  Mom says it must have been cuz we all went to church, BOL!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Wow, DDP &amp; 2,000 visitors!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/722938</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 23 May 2011 16:20:25 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/722938</guid>
		<description>It was a big day for me today!!!  Mom told me I was a Diary Daily pick.  And, she also told me I was ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ It was a big day for me today!!!  Mom told me I was a Diary Daily pick.  And, she also told me I was going to hit two thousand visitors.  Can it get any better???
Yes, it could have.  Mom got home from work and fed us and fed herself, then she was getting ready to take us down into the lab pen.  Wouldn't you know...it started pouring rain!!  We all thought today might be the first day in weeks and weeks that we didn't get any rain.  Nope!
I would have happily gone down there and played in the rain but Mom wasn't so benevolent about it.  She said no way!
Oh well, I made sure I hit all the mud puddles on my way back into the house.  Too bad that backfired on me... Mom took one look and instantly put me in my crate!!!  Oh well, I was tired anyway cuz I had been outside playing chase with Riley and Harvey.  
I am hoping I am next on the kayaking list.  I was checking out their photos from yesterday and that looks like something I could really enjoy!  And, if it was warmer, I could even go for a swim!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Rain, rain, go away...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/722498</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 19 May 2011 05:51:49 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/722498</guid>
		<description>This has been the rainest May I have ever seen!!!  We just got to the point where we could go outsid ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ This has been the rainest May I have ever seen!!!  We just got to the point where we could go outside and stay in our nice pen and then the rains came.  Mom won't leave me out if it's even wet cuz I stomp around in the mud.
However, yesterday I surprised even myself.  Mom took me to work and groomed my long flowing hair.  It is now about five inches long all over and pretty white and fluffy.  When we got home she took us all down in the lab pen... it wasn't actively raining but was sort of misty.  
I ran and ran and ran and only got wet a bit on my legs.  Since there is no mud down there, it was "clean" water.  When we got back Mom decided to leave us out since she really wanted to clean our room.
When she came out to get us she was amazed... not amazed at the amount of mud I had on me but amazed at how LITTLE mud I had!  Gee, I LOVE to keep her guessing!
My ulterior motive was to make sure she let me run around the house when I came back inside and if I was too muddy she would have just put me in my crate.
Too bad I didn't remember she was leaving us crated cuz she went grocery shopping!!  Darn it all, a missed mud opportunity.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>An overnight...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/721110</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 5 May 2011 17:34:03 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/721110</guid>
		<description>Today Mom came home and got me for a groom.  I was very, very dirty and smelly, too.  It's been rain ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today Mom came home and got me for a groom.  I was very, very dirty and smelly, too.  It's been raining lots and I am, after all, a mud puppy!!!
I hopped in the sink cuz Julie was bathing a dog in the tub.  Not to worry, it was a BIG sink!  Mom had to actually shampoo me twice cuz I was sooo dirty.
Finally I was dried and all brushed out and conditioned and WHITE again, with my hair all long and flowing.  Mom looked outside and it was POURING RAIN... rain = MUD hehehe.  Sooo, Mom decided I would spend the night in the puppy pen with Piper.  As long as she feeds me, I don't mind!
Hey, did we tell you that Piper is going to his new home on this weekend???  Yup, a friend of Mom's from long ago called her looking for a baby female puppy.  Well, Mom told her about Piper and that he was deaf and a boy and almost a year old and she was all excited cuz she had already looked into getting a deaf dog.  She lives on an island in Massachusetts.  At least he can't get into too much trouble on an island, BOL!!!
Well, I guess I better go now and play with him... it is probably the last night I will spend with him, after all!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>More balls...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/718956</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:21:50 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/718956</guid>
		<description>Since the eventful day when I finally managed to get two of those little balls with the faces on the ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Since the eventful day when I finally managed to get two of those little balls with the faces on them in my mouth at once I have made an interesting discovery.  They are very squashy so IF I do it right, I can actually fit all four of them in at once!!!  Well, I could until Georgie finally chewed up one of the pink ones beyond recognization.  It wasn't her fault exactly, first Toto made a hole in it, then Riley stretched it out a bit, then Georgie got hold of it.  Mom finally took it away!
She says one of these days she's gonna make a trip down to the nearest Petco and get a whole bunch of them.  She would order them online but she has no idea about the shipping...they are really inexpensive, like $1.85 each, but the shipping says $5.00.  Mom doesn't know how many they will ship for that amount.  If they would ship 10 she would be fine with that.
Anyway, change the subject... Mom seems to think that she will enjoy me racing thru the fields with long, flowing hair.  As you may remember, I am a mud puppy and will search out and play in any mud I can find.  I think it's gonna be a contest to see whether the long, flowing hair wins OR the mud wins.  I vote for the mud!!!  
So far, I must admit, the long, flowing hair IS winning.  I have finally stopped losing my puppy coat so the matting is not nearly as bad...that was the worse issue.  I really don't mind the weekly baths...I think of it as a massage of sorts, and I do like the attention.  Plus, I get to spend the entire day over at the kennel with all the attention that brings.  Not totally a wasted day, that's for sure.
It would be fine IF it never rained but... when it rains it makes puddles in our pens and I HAVE to run thru those puddles.  I HAVE to splash around enough to make sure the mud is nice and gooey... then I HAVE to make sure it coats all four of my legs AND my belly.  Need I say more????]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>It has finally happened...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/717942</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 7 Apr 2011 17:25:51 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/717942</guid>
		<description>For a few weeks now I have been trying my hardest to get at least TWO of those little balls in my mo ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ For a few weeks now I have been trying my hardest to get at least TWO of those little balls in my mouth at once.  In spite of Mom always saying I have a big mouth, I really do not!  Us Chinese Cresteds have long pointy noses like those poodles and it's tough to fit very much in there at once.
Well, tonight Mom was looking at a few photos she took earlier after work and she was shocked to find one of ME with BOTH balls in my mouth at once!!!  She was very happy to discover that, although the others were in the photo, too, they were just gathered around me and no one was looking particularly terrible, or, worse yet, taking a dump or hiking their leg on something!
Of course they weren't, they were watching ME and trying to figure out how they were gonna get those balls out of my mouth without meeting up with those HUGE white teeth!!!!
I am soooo special, sometimes I even scare myself!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I HATE Spring!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/717397</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 2 Apr 2011 17:27:19 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/717397</guid>
		<description>Yesterday Mom took me and Pinki over to work and bathed us.  I had sooo much mud caked into my coat  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Yesterday Mom took me and Pinki over to work and bathed us.  I had sooo much mud caked into my coat that Mom actually had to soak me for a while before all the mud clumps came out.  
Since it was pretty muddy last night due to the melted "blizzard" and the rain we had, she decided to leave me and Pinki over in daycare.  We did get to run around a bit in the daycare pen, then Julie brought us home this morning.
Of course, by the time Mom got home from work at noon most of the mud was beginning to dry up.  In fact, our little crested pen of last Summer is completely bare ground and dry as a bone.  
Mom did take us out for a long play time in the lab pen, then she decided that we needed to stay outside since it was pretty warm.  She put me and Barney and Harvey in our crested pen and left the toys over by the porch.
I was sooooo mad that I could hardly contain myself!!!  I was stuck in the DRY pen and those lucky toys had the pen with all the mud puddles in it.  I am the one that LOVES to run and play in the mud, they HATE the mud.  Does that seem fair to any of you???
The hose was hanging a little low in our pen so I decided to try to chew a hole in it and cause a leak.  As soon as it leaked, I was going to start digging and then I would have all the mud I need.  Would you believe Mom hasn't turned the water on in that hose yet????  DARN IT ALL!!!
What good is nice Spring weather if there are no mud puddles anywhere???  I am gonna have a HUGE problem sleeping tonight because I need to smell all that mud on my coat, just like a baby needs their security blanket.  It's ALL Mom's fault!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Mudd baths...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/716730</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:56:02 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/716730</guid>
		<description>Today it was a bit warmer and the sun was nice so Mom came home at noon and put us bigger guys outsi ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today it was a bit warmer and the sun was nice so Mom came home at noon and put us bigger guys outside.  We sunned ourselves for a while, then the others napped.
Meanwhile, I discovered all the icicles that had falled off the roof were melting into a HUGE mud pie.  I helped them along a bit by digging around in the water so more dirt would come loose and mix in.  Pretty soon I had a GREAT brown lake out there, so of course, I had to stomp about in it for a while.  There is just something about good, clean mud that feels sooo nice on my body!!!
Toto and Barney and Harvey and Pinki were all out there and they never even stepped off the dry porch.  What terrible spoilsports they are!!!
Finally Mom came home from work and let us all inside.  I booked as fast as I could for the dog bed before she saw me, but I guess she followed the paw prints!!!!
I was pretty sure she was gonna grab her camera, but she surprised me and just picked wrapped me in a towel and put me in my crate on top of about five thick towels.  Hmmm, maybe she is going to take a picture of the bottom of the washing machine after she washes those towels??????
At any rate, by supper time I was all dried out and all the mud fell right out of my freshly shampooed (on Saturday) white coat.  I reminded Mom that HUMANS use mud for a beauty product... and, my coat is all shiny and soft now!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Monday bath day...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/715816</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:02:01 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/715816</guid>
		<description>Mom is still into thinking I should be a show dog.  Well, there is a few problems with that.  The ma ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom is still into thinking I should be a show dog.  Well, there is a few problems with that.  The major one, of course, is my coat.  Powder puff Cresteds have LONG flowing hair.  My hair all got cut off last fall, so it is not long yet.  And, I have stains... being a white dog who runs and plays in the muck and mud is the pits when it comes to keeping my hair white.  As you can probably tell from many of my photos, when my hair gets wet my feet and belly are pretty rusty colored.  Soo, Mom bathed me EVERY SINGLE week with some special white shampoo.  I didn't think I looked much whiter, and that stuff smelled just like bleach!!!  Well, Mom bathed me last week with her regular old shampoo and suddenly, I was way, way whiter and my coat felt much softer and silkier.  Sooo, Mom is thinking the special bleaching shampoo was washing all the natural oils and protectants off my coat and making it stain WORSE, not less.  
The other problem is that I matt.  Just one day after my bath I will already be getting matts all thru my coat.  Mom is hoping it is because I am changing over from my puppy coat to my adult coat but she is not happy about it at all.  She says she hopes she never misses a weekly bath cuz she will probably have to shave me!!! The handler guy AND the handler girl say my coat matts cuz Mom lets me race thru the snow and mud all the time.  Well, sorry, I am a dog first and foremost!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I am a supergirl!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/715392</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:58:48 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/715392</guid>
		<description>Today we were playing down in the lab pen.  Well, you may remember, Mom ordered ME some new little p ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today we were playing down in the lab pen.  Well, you may remember, Mom ordered ME some new little pink balls to play with down there since everyone else keeps stealing them all.  They came the other day... a new pink one and a red one and a green one.  I love the green one and of course, the pink ones.  Well, today we had most of them down there so I had a pink one and the green one.  Riley was convinced he was gonna get the green one so I was having an awful time trying to play with one whilst I guarded the other one.  
Finally, it came to me...all I had to do was pick them BOTH up at once!  It worked and poor Riley was left with NO BALLS!!!  That's funny, cuz he is the ONLY male dog in our house WITH any balls, and, his did look a little pink to me after they were all covered with that cold, wet slush in the field.  But, I digress...
Mom tried her darnest to get a photo of me carrying both of my balls in my mouth but I kept the pink one way back against my molars so it didn't show in the photos.  
Do any of you realize how bad it is to have a Mom who is always following you around with a camera shoved in your face???  What a pita that is!  While we're on that subject, check out my new profile photo... she was holding MY green ball and squeaking it so I would look at her.  Of course, I had my lips pursed in anticipation of that great treasure so I look like my mouth is crooked.  Not to worry, I suspect she will be following us around for the entire Summer now that warmer weather is here.  I'm surprised she doesn't take photos of us doing our business...wait a minute... I have seen a few... Harvey, Barney, Beanie, Tanner, come to think of it, she does that quite often!!!  (Which is why I never do my business down in the lab pen, hehehe!)]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Mom loves me the best...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/714880</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:07:40 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/714880</guid>
		<description>As you know, my Mom has lots of dogs and she loves all of us, but... she loves me the best!!  Here i ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ As you know, my Mom has lots of dogs and she loves all of us, but... she loves me the best!!  Here in her own words is why:
Crystal... my little love bug!  When you are outside you are always moving, running, jumping, getting the others to chase you.  You are also a tomboy, and you LOVE to get all muddy and wet.  Inside, you are the most calm, sweet little girl, and love nothing better than to have someone hold you.  Crystal, you make me happy!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>GREEN HAIR????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/714613</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:40:27 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/714613</guid>
		<description>I may be young, but I sure remember Tonya and Julie and Mom dyeing Ali's ears and topknot last St. P ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I may be young, but I sure remember Tonya and Julie and Mom dyeing Ali's ears and topknot last St. Patrick's day!  She started out a pretty lime green, and by Easter it was yellow.  BUT, it stayed yellow until it finally grew out along about  this past November.  Mom said she would NEVER dye anyone's hair with Koolaid again... they were calling it KOOKaid, hehehe!
Well, I am pleased to point out that THIS YEAR Mom didn't use any dye or even any costumes, for that matter.  However, she did give me GREEN hair, but it's mostly covered up with that stupid green hat she found.  
Good thing St. Patty's day is coming right up, BOL!
Mom told me a secret today.  She found a place where she could buy those little pink balls that I love so much.  She said she ordered a bunch of them JUST for me.  I can't wait until they come.  I sure hope they are all pink ones!!!  Mom said they would be here on St. Patrick's day and will probably all be green.  I want PINK ones!!!
HEY..Mom just noticed MY PHOTOS are all out of order, too.  What is WRONG???  She said it must be a glitch from HQ?  The only thing she knows is that the connection to the internet was terrible when she was putting our new St. Patrick's day one on, maybe that messed them up???  She said she is too tired to fix them tonight so that is why there are some Summer ones up front!  Sorry!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Still playing....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/714129</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 8 Mar 2011 17:50:30 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/714129</guid>
		<description>Tonight was my obedience class night again so Toto and I got to hang out with Mom until it was time  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Tonight was my obedience class night again so Toto and I got to hang out with Mom until it was time to go.  Well, I was innocently lying in the dog bed enjoying the peace and quiet when along came that Smokey cat!  He actually JUMPED on me and started beating me up.  The nerve!  We tusseled around for quite a while but I finally won the fight, although he actually BIT my tongue!!!  It's not really fair fighting against him cuz he has claws and he knows how to use them.
Before that, Mom took us all outside to play since it was still bright and sunny after 5 pm.  After running around for a bit...it was very good running tonight cuz the whole field of snow was frozen enough to hold us up, I discovered that the mousies are now beginning to move around in the dried grass up against the big fence.  I guess it must be warmer there??  Anyway, I convinced Georgie to help me and we searched and searched and chased and chased but we didn't catch a single one of them.  Ahh, but now I know where they are hanging out so I can try again tomorrow!!!  I can't wait!
Hey, maybe Mom should let us take Smokey cat out with us...he can certainly help us catch the mousies!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>MORE playing...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/711472</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:12:43 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/711472</guid>
		<description>Ahh, after a weekend of playing in the lab yard I was prepared for a day of rest in my crate.  Well, ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Ahh, after a weekend of playing in the lab yard I was prepared for a day of rest in my crate.  Well, surprise, Mom came home at noon and let me and Pinki and Toto out into our pen.  It was pretty warm, in fact, I snuck a glance at the themometer hanging on the porch and it said 59 degrees!!!  Of course, it was sitting in the sun but so were we!  There is no wind out there cuz the house and the shed block it all off AND the sun shines there for almost all day.  
We had quite a bit of fun chasing each other round and round out there.  Sadly, the snow banks are still too high for us to see the dogs over at daycare so we couldn't bark at them, but it was still nice to be outside for a change.
Mom said it's supposed to be really, really cold tomorrow, but then it's gonna get warm again on Wednesday and Thursday and maybe even Friday.  I will be sooo happy to be out all those days!
Sadly, Mom made me go to bed early tonight.  I was innocently lying in one of the dog beds with my little pink toy.  I LOVE that toy like it was my baby, if I had one!  Everytime one of the other dogs gets near me I have to snarl at them and keep them away from my toy.  Since Riley and Taylor are still babies, they seem to think my snarling at them is an invitation for them to play with me, so I had to punctuate my snarl with a few serious growls.  Mom walked over and picked me up and plopped me down right in my crate.  I was sooo shocked I forgot to bring my little pink toy with me!!!  I sure hope they didn't hurt it!
Well, guess I better go to sleep since I am stuck in here anyway.  Tomorrow night is dog school so I need to be well rested!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Another week of playing...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/710253</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 5 Feb 2011 15:48:55 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/710253</guid>
		<description>Well, Mom took me and Piper and the toys over to work on Thursday so we could play outside in the wa ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, Mom took me and Piper and the toys over to work on Thursday so we could play outside in the warm sun since it's COLD and DARK by the time she gets home from work.  We had so much fun playing over there that she left us overnight TWO night so we could keep playing.  This morning Julie brought us all home so we could play at home when Mom got out of work.  It was pretty cloudy, but Mom still let us go down and run in the new, fresh snow.  There were NO tracks at all!!!  You could still see the paths enough to stay in them, and trust me, it was way easier to run in the paths!  
Piper and I ran over to check out Mom's chair that she left down there... it is totally covered in snow now and besides, it is way, way too deep for Mom to even walk over there.  She said she is wishing she hadn't sold her snowshoes!!!  She could have made us some GREAT paths with those, I am sure!!!
Anyway, now we are all hanging out in the living room with Mom.  Speaking of hanging out...Julie stopped in this afternoon and she thought she was going to get trampled cuz all ten of us were in here running around and we all ran over to jump on her and welcome her.  She was holding Harvey and we were all jealous!!
Well, I am pretty tired and it's snowing HARD outside again, so I am going to bed early so I can run in the snow again tomorrow, if Mom can get the gate open again, hehehe!  Check out my new photos with me and Piper and see how deep that snow is!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Wow, way more snow!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/709832</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 2 Feb 2011 17:08:29 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/709832</guid>
		<description>Yesterday it snowed all day.  That was okay, but nothing special cuz we only got about five inches o ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Yesterday it snowed all day.  That was okay, but nothing special cuz we only got about five inches of it.  Well, when I woke up this morning it was snowing like mad.  It was that "this is serious stuff" snow that dumps tons of snow all over everything.  Sure enough, when Mom came home to let us out EVERYTHING was covered with deep, deep snow.
Did I tell you that Piper is still here in the house?  Yup, Mom left him here so we could play and play and play.  Soo, tonight me and Piper started making tons of trails around the upper pens so we could run really, really fast!  Mom even let us stay outside thru everyone elses out trips so we had lots of extra time to run and run and run.  
Problem was, it was somewhat sticky snow and both Piper and I have longish hair so we were covered with tons and tons of snowballs when we came inside.  And, even though our house is cool, we melted into gallons and gallons of water!!  Mom put up with us jumping on her and getting her wet for quite a long time before she finally banished us to our crates.  Poor Riley... he has the longest hair so he had the most snowballs and his were much bigger.  Mom let him stay up later so he would be dry when he went off to bed.  Not fair cuz he has a really nice, cuddly cat bed in his crate.  He is the only one who has a "real" bed...the rest of us have rugs and towels cuz we chew them, hehehe!!!  Apparently, Riley is not a chewer, well, bully for him!  I would be too warm if I had a nice, soft, plushy, cushy cat bed in my crate.  And, furthermore, I wouldn't fit in a cat bed, LOL!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My new friend....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/708326</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 22 Jan 2011 15:11:05 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/708326</guid>
		<description>Today Mom decided to bring Piper home from the kennel to play with me.  He is Pinki's deaf puppy.  A ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today Mom decided to bring Piper home from the kennel to play with me.  He is Pinki's deaf puppy.  After a brief introduction period we both decided that we LOVED each other and played and played and played.  He was much nicer to me than his grandpa, Toto, that's for sure!!!  He didn't even try to boss me.
We especially loved to chase each other thru the snow.  A couple of times I did catch him trying to jump on me when I wasn't looking, but I pushed his face into the snow and he stopped doing that!
It was pretty warm outside today and the sun was shining brightly.  But, right now it's already only 10 degrees and getting colder fast so Mom has us playing in the house now.  Barney is trying to boss Piper, but everyone else is fine and playing with him.  Barney gets really mad cuz he growls and growls at Piper and Piper can't hear him so he doesn't get scared away which drives Barney crazy!!!  He thinks he's supposed to be the boss dog. 
Well, gotta go take a nap now, I am tired from all this play!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A perfect day for me!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707573</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 16 Jan 2011 17:23:00 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707573</guid>
		<description>Wow, what a great day!  I got to play in the snow for as long as I wanted to today!  Mom said the wa ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Wow, what a great day!  I got to play in the snow for as long as I wanted to today!  Mom said the warm sun was nice and the stockade fence blocked the wind if she stood in the right place so... I ran and ran and ran!  Then, when I was done running, I ran some more.  Mom said some of those photos are really cool cuz I look like I am exploding from the snow, how neat is that?
Then, we spent the afternoon hanging out with Mom in the clean house... it's not so clean now, hehehe!  And, then Mom said I could go play with Toto, but he scares me... he is BIG and he is kind of pushy as well.  Soo, I just hung out with Mom while he raced around.  I would have preferred being out with Beanie again, but he was tired.  
Then, I read ALL my messages and comments from all you pupsters!  Thanks for all the great gifts and your visits. 
I had a great day!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Woo hoo... I am the Diary Pick of the Day!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707482</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 16 Jan 2011 05:48:07 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707482</guid>
		<description>Hey, Mom just told me I am the diary daily pick!  How cool is that??  I am very excited.
I would be ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, Mom just told me I am the diary daily pick!  How cool is that??  I am very excited.
I would be even happier but it turns out that Georgie has stolen some of my limelight and she is part of MY court!  Oh well, we're friends, so I guess I can congratulate her as well.
Hey, everypup, thanks for your visits! 
I gotta go now cuz Mom is home today and we are gonna go play and play and play!!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Smokey's mousie is back....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707172</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:42:41 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707172</guid>
		<description>When Mom came home from work today she found Smokey's missing catnip mousie.  There it was, kinda we ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ When Mom came home from work today she found Smokey's missing catnip mousie.  There it was, kinda wet and smelly, sitting in my crate!!  Mom said she was surprised I didn't eat it again, hehehe!  Nah, I'll wait until she washes the vomit off it, thank you!
I reminded Mom that my vomiting up that mousie ought to be good for a treat or two.  If I hadn't, she might have been looking at a HUGE vet bill.  Since I saved her all that money she should be giving me some treats, right?????
We didn't get to run in the snow today cuz Mom worked from dark to dark.  She said we could go out again on Saturday after work.  I can't wait!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>LOTS of photos of me, today!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707063</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:44:42 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/707063</guid>
		<description>Wow, Mom got lots of my photos today.  I guess it's cuz I am easier to photograph in the white snow  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Wow, Mom got lots of my photos today.  I guess it's cuz I am easier to photograph in the white snow when it's snowing outside??  Or, maybe it's cuz I am so photogenic, like Beanie??
Anyway, I made a bit of a miscalculation this morning when I was out there.  I forgot that wall dropped right off down to the lower field and there was sooo much snow I couldn't see the drop-off and I fell right over it.  The worse part was that I had stolen one of Smokey's neat little catnip toys and had it in my mouth.  I was so shocked when I found myself down at the bottom of that wall that I made a mistake and swallowed the toy whole!!  Mom said she heard me gulp as I swallowed.  Oops.  Hope it comes out okay, either up or down!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>The no new photo saga continues with ME....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/706583</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 8 Jan 2011 14:22:09 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/706583</guid>
		<description>I just read Harvey's diary.  How would he feel if he were me, I wanna know!  I actually DID run arou ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I just read Harvey's diary.  How would he feel if he were me, I wanna know!  I actually DID run around and play and play and play and Mom actually DID take new photos of me.  Where are they, you ask???  Well, you will have to go check out spoiled brat Beanie's page in order to see MY new photos cuz, for some reason, Mom stuck all of mine on HIS page!!!  
We all know, or at least surmise, Beanie is Mom's golden boy, for some reason.  Maybe cuz he is a golden color???  I dunno, but I would think it would have been fairer to put SOME of my photos on my page and then she could put the rest on his.  After all, he did have plenty of his own.
Well, I don't really care... I will go back out there tomorrow and run my heart out again, just because I can and I love to run!  So there, Momsie, you can even leave your camera at home, for all I care.  I don't need no stinkin' pictures!  I KNOW I am cute and funny and athletic without having to refer to photos to prove it.  So there, again!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Happy New Year!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/705643</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:25:00 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/705643</guid>
		<description>Today I went on over to work with Mom and she gave me a nice, bubble bath.  She also shaved my ears  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today I went on over to work with Mom and she gave me a nice, bubble bath.  She also shaved my ears and face.  I have no idea why, unless it was a New Year's Eve gift?  Anyway, when we got home she let us all go play in the snow.  Good thing snow is clean cuz otherwise my bath would have been totally wasted!!  As it is, my nice, silky locks got all curly from the wet snow.  At least there is no MUD in the snow so I did stay nice and clean. Beanie and I had a pretty good run in the snow.  Those two hairless wonders did their usual... sat at the top of the pen and begged to go back into the warm house.  It was even really WARM outside today, there was no reason for them to be sissies!  Even Ali surprised herself AND US, by racing all around the whole outside of the pen.  She was even making the snow fly out behind her feet.  Way to go, Ali!  
Well, I gotta go rest up, Mom said we could go out again tomorrow morning with the video camera.  Hope she has learned a bit more about running it, hehehe!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Mom's new video camera</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/704712</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:58:30 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/704712</guid>
		<description>Hey, I do not think my Mom is going to be producing any TV specials in the near future.  She did get ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, I do not think my Mom is going to be producing any TV specials in the near future.  She did get a video camera and we all went down to the lab pen this afternoon to try it out.  Would you believe the playback made us all dizzy and seasick???  Yup, guess that is not Mom's forte!!!  
She is trying to decide whether or not to keep it now.  I told her those were pretty impressive stills she captured off it showing my daring, super jump over Tanner, but she said she could have probably done that with her regular camera.  Nahh, she is too slow to do that!!! You can see my amazing jump up in my photo album.  Check out how scared Tanner looks and how shocked Georgie was!  Funny! 
I guess she has decided to try some more but to use a tripod so they are not so jumpy.  Maybe if I weren't running so fast it would be better, too????  She also said if she can figure out how to just use some clips off it they might be better, too.  And, she also said she better not talk, either.  See, Tanner got himself all caught in some bushes and he was screaming for Mom (he is a bit of a wimp, sometimes), and she was all worried and of course, was exclaiming about what was wrong and was he hurt right in the video.  Of course he wasn't hurt, he was being a baby!  And, then she missed Harvey, as in couldn't find him, so she looks for him THRU the video camera... 10 or 20 seconds of seeing the whole dog yard and hearing her calling to him...very exciting and very professional!!!  
Like I said first... no TV producers are going to be worried about their jobs, that's for sure!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Peace, Joy &amp; Happiness</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/704646</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:12:37 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/704646</guid>
		<description>Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with us!!!  Mom says that us dogs are actually more pea ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with us!!!  Mom says that us dogs are actually more peaceful than many humans!

We want to wish everyone a most Happy, Healthy Holiday Season.  May all your wishes come true, but most of all, may you enter the new year with a renewed feeling of love and compassion for all our fellow living creatures, be they human, or canine, or feline, or any.  May we all do our part to conserve and protect our world so that it will be as we know it for future generations to come.  May we all leave the petty and bickering behind and welcome the coming year as a new chance to put forth our best!!!

Happy Howladays from our family to yours!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Christmas is coming...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/704330</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:14:59 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/704330</guid>
		<description>Hey, did you know that it is almost Christmas?  We have been watching all the pretty lights in the n ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, did you know that it is almost Christmas?  We have been watching all the pretty lights in the neighborhood.  We only have colored lights OUTSIDE our house this year.  Mom usually has a big, real Christmas tree but she decided this year she has too many puppies running around...HEY, I hope she doesn't mean ME cuz I am a YEAR OLD now and no longer a puppy!!!  Anyway, she put her little poodle Christmas tree up in her bedroom BUT, then she got Smokey and he took it down over and over and over so finally Mom gave up and put it away.  She said she will get it back out for Christmas eve. 
Harvey told me that we all get our presents on Christmas eve every year.  That's cool, I guess, but since this is my first Christmas, it won't make any difference to me anyway.  He said we get them early for TWO reasons... first is that Mom has to work on Christmas day and the kennel is full so it will take her FOREVER to clean and exercise and feed all those dogs and the other reason is that way we will have something to do while Mom is working on Christmas morning!  I hope I get some bully sticks, Santa!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Snow for us!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/703301</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:23:39 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/703301</guid>
		<description>This morning I discovered that Toto's wish had come true and there was snow all over everything!  Ac ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ This morning I discovered that Toto's wish had come true and there was snow all over everything!  Actually, it was quite pretty cuz it was light and fluffy snow.  I ran and ran and ran but I would have been much happier if I had been running in the lab pen or in the big yard.  
Tomorrow is Mom's afternoon off, but I am pretty sure she won't take us out to play.  Today was "warm" and it never got above 22 degrees.  I don't know how cold it is now cuz the battery for the outside thermometer is frozen I guess and isn't working.  But, Mom said everyone was late to work this morning cuz all their car doors and car locks froze last night.  Mom's car is still sitting out there all covered with snow, hehehe!
Anyway, what I started to say was that it's supposed to be REALLY cold tomorrow.  Like about 15 degrees and a strong, blowing wind.  Sooo, it's unlikely we will be galavanting outside in the nice, brisk snow.  Probably the camera wouldn't work cuz it would be way, way too cold anyway!  Oh well, there will probably be lots more snow before the Winter is over.
I was a baby last Winter, but I do remember running in some snow in the Spring with Georgie.  It was fun, I guess, if I remember correctly, but snow is pretty clean when compared to good ole' mud!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Finally, a better Christmas photo...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/702277</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 6 Dec 2010 14:30:51 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/702277</guid>
		<description>I don't know what Mom was thinking when she took those first Holiday photos.  I suspect she was thin ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I don't know what Mom was thinking when she took those first Holiday photos.  I suspect she was thinking she would get them all done fast and not have to worry about them again.  Well, NONE of us, well, except Lola, thought too much of those photos.  Lola likes hers, figures, what does she know anyway??Besides, she already HAS a new one, too!!!  The older ones convinced Mom to use their older photos, but, since I just turned one last week I didn't have an older one.
This afternoon Mom came home and got me and me alone.  She brushed my short hair, shaved my face and ears and gave me a nice bath.  Then, she put me up on the table and started doing all kinds of things to get me to look at her.  Frankly, I thought she was crazy so I did give her my quizzical look and fortunately, she has that new camera so it came out okay.  Now, that is what I think is a MUCH better photo.
Then, we went off to the break room... Mom needed break, not me!  On the way thru daycare I discovered Harvey and Barney were already there and they were clean and shaved, too!  Next thing I knew, Mom had left me and Barney over here for the night and turned off all the lights!  Must be she wants a quiet night for once?  Not that I am noisy, hehehe!!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My very first BIRTHDAY!!!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/701706</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 1 Dec 2010 17:38:50 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/701706</guid>
		<description>When I awoke this morning I felt different.  Not sure how, exactly, maybe older somehow?  I was a li ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ When I awoke this morning I felt different.  Not sure how, exactly, maybe older somehow?  I was a little stiff and my knees were creaking.  Then, Mom told me I was silly... I was just a year old and one day would really not make that much difference.  Harrumph... maybe not to her... I suppose when you've had as many birthdays as she has they all would seem like just one more day, huh?  Well, I decided to make the best of it.
It really wasn't a bad day after all.  Mom gave me a great bully stick and I didn't even get to a new bully stick number of visitors!  Then, she said I could go run in the field, but it was really pouring rain when she got home from work.  She said she would take me on Saturday and call it my birthday!  Works for me, I guess!
But, I really wanted some cake and some candles to blow out.  Darn!  I wonder if my sister Chantel got a birthday cake???  Guess I better ask the handler guy next time I see him.
Well, gotta go now, Harvey just tried to steal my bully stick!!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I am revolting...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/701144</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:29:41 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/701144</guid>
		<description>No, wait a minute... I am not personally revolting as in nasty or something like that, I am revoltin ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ No, wait a minute... I am not personally revolting as in nasty or something like that, I am revolting as in protesting against my short hair.  I always enjoyed running thru the mud and getting totally covered in it when I had long, flowing hair.  Well, since it all got cut off, it just isn't the same anymore.  Today we were outside, there was a HUGE puddle in the middle of our yard, and I calmly watched as Ali and Georgie raced thru all that mud and muck.  I don't think I even had any mud on my toenails, much less on my hair.
Somehow, someway, mud isn't mud unless it is all stuck in my long, flowing hair.  I am sure Mom is hoping I have grown up and am not going to play in mud anymore, but... I am just waiting for my long hair to come back!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Happy Thanksgiving</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/700835</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:56:06 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/700835</guid>
		<description>Us pups up here in New England want to wish all of your pups a very, very happy Thanksgiving filled  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Us pups up here in New England want to wish all of your pups a very, very happy Thanksgiving filled with lots of nice turkey. While the vets see more dogs with intestional upsets on Black Friday than any other day, Mom wants everyone to know it's not the turkey that is the villian!!! Turkey by itself is good for dogs... it is a safe, mild meat (unless you are allergic to it!!!) The problem comes with the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner. Worst of all is that great tasting fatty turkey skin. Man, is that stuff good, but, man is that stuff hard for us to digest and it really strains our pancreas. And, also a problem is the gravy and the stuffing, for the same reasons. Most of the veggies are okay, especially the sweet potatoes and the brocolli. But, watch out for the sauces on the veggies. A small piece of roll or bread won't hurt, but be light on the butter, please. As for dessert... skip that in favor of another piece of turkey!!!! And, you better stay away from the wine or you will be whining with a big headache. 
Another thing to remember, watch where your parents put those turkey bones! Cooked turkey bones splinter really easily and can puncture your digestive system. Also, it is possible you could choke on them!!! If either of those things happen, you will be spending Black Friday visiting with your veterinarian and your pawrents will be angry... moms cuz they would rather spend the time and money on Black Friday specials and dads cuz they wanna watch all that football!!!
Soo, let's all go out and pawty hearty... but not too hearty!!! Happy Turkey day to everyone!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My Holiday photo...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/699525</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 14 Nov 2010 16:52:47 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/699525</guid>
		<description>Hey, my Holiday photo is not very good this year!  It is better than my last year's one since I wasn ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, my Holiday photo is not very good this year!  It is better than my last year's one since I wasn't even born last year, hehehe!  But, Mom put me up on that big crate and, as you well know, I am a super athlete and I can jump right off that crate like there's no tomorrow!  Well, I jumped off a few times, I stepped on that silly bow around my neck and it got dirty and Mom was getting angry.  I could tell... she just got quieter and quieter, so finally, I decided it was in my best interest to sit still for a bit.  But, I made no agreements to look cute or, for that matter, to even open my eyes all the way.  Serves Mom right...that sun was HOT and it was shining right in my eyes.  Besides, I knew as soon as we were done I was gonna go run in the lab yard and I was getting anxious... all in all, a not so good photo!!!
At any rate, today was another day and I sure did have some great fun playing with my best friend, Skye.  She and I go way, way back... way back to the day I came here... Skye was with Mom when they picked me up and, if I remember rightly, I puked about 4 times on her!!!  Oops.  At least she didn't hold a grudge!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I can run FASTER now...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/698537</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 6 Nov 2010 16:43:17 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/698537</guid>
		<description>It's amazing... now that I don't have all that long hair I can run even faster!  It was surprised ho ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ It's amazing... now that I don't have all that long hair I can run even faster!  It was surprised how that coat got all filled with water and dirt and weighed me down!
Mom did put a hoodie on me to help me keep warm.  Hey, I was plenty warm, I am a dog and dogs know how to keep warm... we run FAST and raise our body temperature!!!  But, I humored Mom and wore the silly hoodie.  The biggest problem was with the hood... when I stopped fast it flipped right onto my head.  And, I have to question why in the world those dog clothes makers put pockets in their hoodies...do they expect us to sit around with our paws in them or what????]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My &quot;pixie&quot; cut....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/697870</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 1 Nov 2010 14:58:15 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/697870</guid>
		<description>This morning I went over to work with Mom.  Since I was in that kennel for two weeks and NO ONE brus ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ This morning I went over to work with Mom.  Since I was in that kennel for two weeks and NO ONE brushed me, not even ONE time, my beautiful locks got all knotted up.  Mom was very mad!  Anyway, after she gave some baths to the paying clients, she got out her brush and started on me.  Trust me, it was really bad and she started on the good parts.  Being a nice Mom, she decided to just clip it all off... after all, hair keeps growing you know!  Since my ear is still floppy I won't be going to any dog shows soon, so my beautiful locks really don't matter that much.  
Mom started clipping away with her longest blade... it worked okay on my back and sides but then she got to the hard parts!  She ended up pretty much cutting it all off!  I had a nice bath, then she trimmed it all smooth and pronounced me finished.  On my way home I caught my reflection in the window and was SHOCKED!!!  All my pretty LONG hair is gone!  Mom says when she can stand to look at me again she will take some photos but right now she can't bear to see my new Pixie cut.  It's okay, Mom... it will grow AND... the snow won't make me all wet and cold!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Missing my sister?  NOT!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/694913</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:27:27 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/694913</guid>
		<description>Well, my sister has been down at the handler guy's for a whole week now.  Have I missed her???  Not  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, my sister has been down at the handler guy's for a whole week now.  Have I missed her???  Not on your life!  Mom is letting me and Barney play outside with all the toy poodles... and, there are FOUR of them!  We have soo much fun.  Georgie and I play toss and catch with the toys.  Me and Beanie play run the fence with the bigger guys AND with the four babies.  Ali and I play in the mud puddles together and I do not play with Bubbles, she is too snotty!  
Today Mom surprised us all and took us down to the lab yard.  We stayed down there forever!  Poor Beanie hadn't been able to chase me since way last Spring cuz Mom was afraid Barney wouldn't like him messing with his Crested girls.  Well, Barney is fixed now and the other girls are gone so we are all family now!
I ran and ran and ran with Beanie, then I hopped into the pool cuz it was still down there and I was hot.  Mom thought it was full of fallen Fall leaves but, surprise... those leaves were floating on about a foot of water!  Yuck, it was a bit cold (a bit... it was FREEZING!!!), so I jumped out and raced over to Mom and jumped in her lap to warm up.  She was sooo happy with me!!!
Hey, I would like to clear up something here right now... Mom is always putting photos of me on my page with all my teeth showing!  It appears that I am always snarling at someone.  Well, I would like to point out that when I run so fast I have to breathe hard so I pull my lips off my teeth to allow better air to pass thru the spaces in my teeth.  Got that???  I know that may be hard to believe but, trust me, it is the TRUTH!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>More rain = more MUD!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/694456</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 7 Oct 2010 15:57:31 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/694456</guid>
		<description>Well, it's really been raining here lately.  In fact, when Mom came home from work yesterday our who ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, it's really been raining here lately.  In fact, when Mom came home from work yesterday our whole outside yard was under water.  I had a bit of fun splashing thru it but Mom brought me in before all that fresh rainwater turned to mud.  Spoilsport!!!  And, tonight there was still a few "wet" spots that certainly had some potential to work up into good, slimy mud but Mom put me out with Ali and she sat on the porch and watched us to make sure we didn't play in it.  Double spoilsport!!!!!  Oh well, Georgie and I had a great time tossing a stuffed bunny we found back and forth.  It was pure white for some reason... not any longer, hehehe!  
Hey, Mom thinks I might have some border collie in me!!!  Yup.  Tonight I was trying to convince Lola and Taylor to run along the fence with me.  Problem is that their pen is way longer than mine so I kept running out of fence before they did.  Sooo, I got into my best border collie crouch and used my best border collie eyes to stare them down.  Would you believe it actually worked???  Yup, they were mesmorized by my eyes and constantly moving body.  Sadly, the ground under where I was running started getting a little squishy and wet so Mom brought me back into the house.  Boooooo!  I was just getting ready to do my famous turning from white to brown act.  Oh well, maybe it will rain some more soon???]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>ANOTHER bath?????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/694012</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 4 Oct 2010 16:49:30 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/694012</guid>
		<description>I guess I should have known this one was coming!!!  After all that rain and resulting mud and the fa ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I guess I should have known this one was coming!!!  After all that rain and resulting mud and the fact that I am a dirt magnet made me looking pretty nasty.  Oh yeah, there was also the problem with all those sticky seeds that were down in the lab yard.  Hey, why couldn't I be hairless, too???  
Anyway, Mom came over and got me this afternoon.  She spent hours getting all my matts out.  My hair is changing from puppy coat to adult coat and all that puppy coat gets really matted up.  Sooo, finally it was brushed out and I hopped into the tub.  Well, Mom has this new whitening shampoo for us.  It supposedly even has some kind of bleach in it.  I dunno about that, but it sure smelled BAD!!!  And, it made my hair all dry feeling so Mom plastered cream rinse all over me, which meant the bath took twice as long.  Then, she put me up on the grooming table again and blasted me with that stupid force dryer.  I do not like that thing, especially if I am on the table.  It can blow me right off the table if I don't hold on for dear life.  If Mom uses it in the tub at least I just get blown up against the sides of the tub.  It is LETHAL when I'm on the table!
Finally, all the hair was dry and the little dryer knots were combed out.  I think I am super beautiful but Mom said my feet and legs and tail were still stained from all that mud.  I sure hope she doesn't get any ideas about making me stay inside so I don't get muddy!!!  Hey, pretty soon it will snow and snow is white so my legs and feet and tail will all turn white, right???]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Another super Fall/Summer day...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/693357</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:46:17 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/693357</guid>
		<description>Wow, this is a strange Fall.  It was in the 80's again today.  It seems really strange out there wit ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Wow, this is a strange Fall.  It was in the 80's again today.  It seems really strange out there with all the colored leaves and falling leaves and being so hot!
Mom took all five of us Cresteds out for a LONG run in the lab yard today since both Chantel and Condi are leaving for the handler guys on Saturday morning.  Boy, did we RUN!!!  We had soo much fun and Mom spent extra time with Chantel and Condi cuz she thinks they won't be coming back here again.  The handler guy wanted Mom to keep them for breeding but Mom won't breed Chinese Cresteds... she says there are way, way too many health issues and she is not that dedicated! If only Chantel's ears were standing up she could stay here and Mom would show her but BOTH of hers fell down.  Only one of mine is down so Mom says there is still hope for me to be a show dog.  
I will miss my sister Chantel but NONE of us will miss Condi... she is a bit of a female dog!  Actually, she's not THAT bad, but she is always trying to start something with me or Chantel.  I just growl back at her and she leaves me alone but Chantel is softer and she falls into a heap on the ground and lets Condi walk all over her.  
Poor Mom... she bathed both Chantel and Condi yesterday cuz she is pretty busy later this week with grooming and wanted them clean when they left on Saturday.  She left them in the boarding kennel last night so they wouldn't get muddy since it was raining.  Well, they BOTH pooped in their run and then they finger painted with it!!!  Mom said a bit of clean mud would have been MUCH easier to deal with!!!
Well, I gotta go get my beauty sleep now.  All that fresh air and running made me very sleepy!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>One thousand on the dot..........</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/692406</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:51:40 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/692406</guid>
		<description>Whoever you were that just visited my page, thank you VERY much!!!  Mom just came in with my bully s ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Whoever you were that just visited my page, thank you VERY much!!!  Mom just came in with my bully stick...mmmmmMMMMMM, those things are GREAT!  And, I don't even have to share it, well, I won't unless someone else reaches their milestone tonight.  Hey, I won't share MINE cuz they will get their own!  The ones Mom has right now are braided so we really get three at once, hehehe.  I wonder if Mom realizes that???  Nah, if she did, she would unbraid them and give us only one part of the braid.
Oh well, thank you all very, very much, especially my most recent visitor, whoever you are!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Dirt Magnet?????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/692401</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:05:53 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/692401</guid>
		<description>Mom was out of work early today so she decided to Winterize our dog room.  Dunno what she is thinkin ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom was out of work early today so she decided to Winterize our dog room.  Dunno what she is thinking...the temperature is in the HIGH 80's!!  Oh well, she's the Mom, not us.  Anyway, we had to stay outside in our pen cuz we are TOO helpful!  This morning we had a thundershower and a downpour.  Soo, when Mom put us out there was a muddy area in the bottom corner of the pen.  Now, this is not where we usually run around...it is way way over in the far corner.
Much later this afternoon Mom was mopping the kitchen floor and glanced out the window.  She nearly fainted when she saw me sitting up on my dogloo... I was totally covered with mud!  NO ONE else even had ANY mud on them.  Mom grabbed her camera and came outside to take a photo of muddy me up on my dogloo but... I saw her so I decided to say hello.  Since the others were standing up on the fence I decided to jump way high and that way Mom would see me the best!  Well, she has a pretty fast camera so she snapped away and got one photo of me about FIVE feet off the ground!!!  And, I don't use the fence for leverage... I don't even touch the fence.  She also got that one with my WHITE sister Chantel in it so you could see that NONE of them have any mud on them.  What can I say, I am a dirt magnet!
OMD.... I just noticed that I have 999 visitors!!!  Guess I will most likely get a bully stick to chew on while I dry out in my crate tonight!  Thank you all very much!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Me, a poodle????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/691787</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:02:47 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/691787</guid>
		<description>I sure hope Mom realizes that it will take way, way more than a poodle skirt and some funky, catseye ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I sure hope Mom realizes that it will take way, way more than a poodle skirt and some funky, catseye glasses to make ME a poodle!  No way, no how am I a poodle!!  You can probably tell how disgusted I was having to wear that silly skirt just by looking at my face??  I was so not happy!!!
Hey, funny thing happened here this afternoon.  Mom took us Cresteds down to the lab yard and NOT ONE of us wanted to run and play.  Chantel found some dropped suet from the birds and we all had a discussion about who was going to eat it, (I lost!)  Then we found some good dead nightcrawlers to roll in, then Mom got fed up with us not running around and playing so she took us home.  Silly Barney wouldn't come when she called him so she said, FINE!, and left him down there.  Before we even got all the way to the house he was barking at the gate to come with us, hehehe!
Mom still hasn't figured out why we weren't running all over the place.  Speaking for myself (and maybe Chantel?) I was stuck in that kennel with all those barking dogs last night and I am very tired today!!!  And, Mom may not have noticed but it was hot in the sun this afternoon... poor Barney and Harvey had their sweaters on, too.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow????]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Gee Mom, ANOTHER BATH????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/691619</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:53:15 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/691619</guid>
		<description>This is getting really old!!!  Today Mom had some kind of a job shadow person at work so she decided ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ This is getting really old!!!  Today Mom had some kind of a job shadow person at work so she decided they could give me and Chantel a bath.  Just cuz I had mud caked all the way up to my elbows she thought I needed a bath???  Of course the student had to go home before the bath was done so Mom had to finish us, hehehe.  Then she left us at work so we would be clean and shiny IF it's not raining tomorrow.  She said she would take us down to the big yard again for some new photos.  For some reason Condi stays clean and of course, Harvey and Barney don't need baths cuz they have NO hair.  It's already cold enough so they have to wear their sweaters already, hehehe.  We get to go naked all the time!!!
I did enjoy my afternoon at work.  Mom let us run all around and we had fun.  I even made two new spots on the freshly shampooed rug in the store, hehehe!  Mom didn't notice them until it was almost closing time so she couldn't clean them again.  Oh well, they will still be there tomorrow, hehehe!  OH NO... I hope she doesn't do that in the time she was gonna take us out to play!!!!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Dirty again???</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/690819</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 12 Sep 2010 17:26:53 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/690819</guid>
		<description>Well, these baths are getting to be a weekly thing!  Yesterday and today the wind blew all day long  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, these baths are getting to be a weekly thing!  Yesterday and today the wind blew all day long and our outside pen was already a dust bowl so now my coat is all dusty and dirty again.  Mom said Harvey is even dirty and he doesn't have any hair!  His dirt is all built up in his armpits and around his ankles.  
I swear that wind creates static in my long hair then that dust sticks right to it from the static.  I have seen that happen with the cats... they roll around out in the driveway and the dust jumps right onto their coats.  Bet it could happen to me, too!
Anyway, it looks like me and Chantel will be going off to work again tomorrow for another four hour bath.  Mom was going to take Chantel and Condi back to the handler guy's kennel this weekend but he wasn't home so she couldn't.  I think he was really home and he didn't anwer his phone cuz he didn't want them back????  Too bad cuz as soon as they leave me and Barney can become part of the house pack again.  It's too cold for Barney to stay in our pen and it's too dusty for me.  We can just join the others and sleep all day on a dog bed!  That could be nice, I guess!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Clean again...well, maybe?</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/689600</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 4 Sep 2010 16:26:02 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/689600</guid>
		<description>Yesterday Mom took me over to work and spent hours on my coat again.  Apparently, I am losing my pup ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Yesterday Mom took me over to work and spent hours on my coat again.  Apparently, I am losing my puppy coat and that causes BIG mats to form almost overnight.  But, (do not tell the handler guy!!!), my Mom is a good Mom and she used the scissors to get rid of lots of my mats!  She said it was only puppy coat, afterall.  It was MUCH easier on me that way.  Now I am clean and shiny again.  Today she waited until all the dew was dried off the grass before she took us down in the lab pen.  And, the first thing she did was turn over the pool so we couldn't jump into it.  Oh well, it was nice and cool so I ran and ran and ran.  And, Chantel, my sister, had her bath today and she didn't get all dirty again, either!  Mom said we did pick up a bunch of weed seeds but they will fall out by themselves.  Sure hope so!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Clean again, NOPE!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/685888</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:21:58 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/685888</guid>
		<description>Mom wasn't very busy at work today so Julie came home and got me and Chantel for baths.  Mom brushed ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom wasn't very busy at work today so Julie came home and got me and Chantel for baths.  Mom brushed me all out, bathed me with some special whitening shampoo, bathed me again with some other special shampoo, used some nice cream rinse on me, and toweled me off.  Then, she took that super big blower dryer thingie and blasted all the water off my coat.  Next, she took me into the other room and put me on the table and finished drying me with the regular dryer, and brushed my coat all out.  Finally, she shaved all the hair off my ears and GAVE ME A BIG BONE!!!
Then, she did the same thing with Chantel.  It took her a total of FOUR hours to bathe us both, but, we were beautiful!!  Finally, it was time to come home and have our dinner.  After dinner Mom decided to take us down in the lab yard cuz it wasn't terribly hot tonight.  Of course, I discovered the pool down there and it still had water in it.  Sooo, I jumped around in there and ran and ran and ran thru the dusty yard.  Then, I was hot so I jumped back in the pool and rolled around a bit.  Finally, I had to stop and roll in the dust in our pen when Mom put us back in there.  Of course, Chantel was doing the same stuff as I was cuz she copies everything I do.
Mom could not believe she had spent all that time bathing and brushing us today, hehehe!  Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!
Check out the new photo of me on my doghouse... you can see some of the mud and dirt all over me, hehehe!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Ears....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/684546</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 1 Aug 2010 16:22:54 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/684546</guid>
		<description>Would you believe my ears popped back up again today???  No??  Well, Mom didn't believe it either!   ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Would you believe my ears popped back up again today???  No??  Well, Mom didn't believe it either!  She hauled me over to work and gave me a good bath and brushing to make sure all that mud in my coat wasn't holding them up.  Nope, they are up, well at least one is up and the other one is bouncing.  Soo, now she is mad that she didn't enter me in that show that Barney is going to next weekend.  Hehehe... I can stay home in my cool, shady pen while poor Barney is running around in the heat of the day.  
Anyway, after my nice bath and brush out Mom took me and Chantel down to the big yard and let us run around a bit.  She took lots of pictures.  You can tell which ones she took today cuz they are the ones where I am clean and spotless.  Well, they may be a spot or two of fresh grass stuck in my coat but it was CLEAN grass!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>No more show dog for me, hehehe...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/683646</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:04:05 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/683646</guid>
		<description>Well, my ears fell down again and Mom said she would NOT put anymore tape in them.  They were up per ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, my ears fell down again and Mom said she would NOT put anymore tape in them.  They were up perfectly good all the while I was getting my teeth so she has no idea why they are down now.  I can put them up, if I am running and playing, but it is work and I don't do work.
Soo, since Chantel's also fell down we are now back home and playing in the big pen again.  As you can see by my new primary photo I am being really careful of my beautiful show coat. NOT!!!  How much fun is it to run and jump in mud puddles if you can't get your white spots dirty???  Besides, if you wait until the mud dries, it will all fall out of your coat anyway and you will look perfectly normal.  
Tonight there was a big branch blowing in the wind at the back of the yard.  Chantel and I spied it so we were barking at it.  Mom was getting upset with us for barking so much when it was only a branch we were barking at.  I jumped up on the roof of the dogloo house and I could see it was just a branch so I stopped barking.  Chantel kept barking and barking so finally, Mom came and got her and made her stay in the house.  Good thing I am so athletic and could jump up on that doghouse, huh???  I got to stay out until it got dark!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Show dog???  UGH!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/681142</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:03:26 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/681142</guid>
		<description>So, Mom took me and Chantel over to the kennel to stay until our shows.  I guess she decided we are  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ So, Mom took me and Chantel over to the kennel to stay until our shows.  I guess she decided we are ruining our coats with all the running and jumping and chewing and playing in mud that we were doing in our little pen here at home.  She gave us both a nice conditioning bath and fluffed us up.  I must be lucky like Mom... I had NO MATTS at all...poor Chantel had tons of them cuz for some reason her puppy coat is matting and mine isn't.  Strange since we are sisters, huh?  Mom also posted my ears insteaded of just taping them.  I really tried to get them out, but it's impossible when they are like that.  Besides, it's kind of nice cuz the breezes go right into my ears now instead of bouncing off the flat parts.  Ear breezes are good, ya know!  Anyway, now she is saying that Barney and I may stay home on Sunday cuz we are on first thing in the morning and it's three hours to the show which means it will still be dark when we have to leave.  Beanie doesn't have to be there until the afternoon.  And, since we are the only two Cresteds in the whole show there will be no points for either one of us.  Boooo, I really wanted to go!!!!  Oh well, now she is entering another show and it's close by and she will enter both me and Chantel so there will be a point if everyone else is scared off by my outstanding beauty and presence.  It's a cinch that I can beat Chantel... I am beautiful and all she has going for her is her LONG eyelashes.  Last I knew they didn't judge us by the length of our eyelashes!!!
Well, gotta go now, it's late and I'm tired.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>The living is no longer easy!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/680208</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 4 Jul 2010 07:55:19 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/680208</guid>
		<description>Well, today Mom finally sprung it on me... she entered me in my first dog show.  It seems she though ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, today Mom finally sprung it on me... she entered me in my first dog show.  It seems she thought my ears were looking a bit stronger and she wanted to take Barney before he was a year old so she entered a show in Vermont for the middle of July.  Well, how does that affect me, you ask?  BADLY!!!  This morning it is pretty hot here already.  Very hot, in fact.  Soo, Mom decided we couldn't stay outside in our perfect pen cuz it would be too hot for us so she brought us all into the AC house.  Fine, it was time for a nap, anyway.  Well, in here we mostly have to stay in our crates so she put more tape in my ears.  Since it always seems to fall out in a few minutes, she taped them different.  She didn't want to tape them cuz they were standing up, perfectly strong and straight a few weeks ago, but now they have definitely fallen down.  Chantel has one that is floppy, but mine are crashed down flat!
Oh well, we shall see how this plan works.  If all else fails, I will get to stay home anyway, so I am hoping the tape falls out!!!  Although, it was kind of fun when I went to that match with Skye... and, I got lots of good treats, too.  Hmmmm, wonder if Skye was going to show me??  I will need to think about this, I guess.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Summer time and the living is easy....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/678639</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:28:55 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/678639</guid>
		<description>Mom has a really big, really nice pen outside with a HUGE dog house in it.  She usually doesn't use  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom has a really big, really nice pen outside with a HUGE dog house in it.  She usually doesn't use it too much cuz she doesn't leave us dogs outside during the daytime cuz she says we bark too much.  Well, she put us all (me and Chantel and Barney and Condi) in it a few times and we didn't bark at all so now we get to go out there every single morning and stay all day until night time.  That is, if we aren't going to the kennel for daycare or something like that.  Anyway, there are a bunch of toys out there and tons of huge, green plants called plantain or something like that.  They have big leaves and we spent all morning running thru them chasing each other.  It is sooo fun.  Then, when we get tired we all perch on top of some benches she put in there for us.  It's nice and shady there so we have a great time.  I LOVE Summer, I wish it was Summer all the time!!
Mom was going to take me and Chantel to a dog show in a few weeks but, suddenly, my ears both fell down!!!  She isn't too happy about that, she says they are supposed to stay UP now that I have all my adult teeth.  Ooops... guess I won't be able to go to that show and leave my nice, big play area.  I won't be able to sit in a crate inside a hot building waiting for my turn, then have to wait around while Beanie does his obedience, then spend a couple of hours riding home.  Nope, guess I will just have to stay home and play with my friends.  Too bad, huh?]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Five hundred views.....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/676227</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 8 Jun 2010 11:58:08 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/676227</guid>
		<description>Mom brought me to work today so I could have a bath and be spiffy for school tonight.  Since I was h ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom brought me to work today so I could have a bath and be spiffy for school tonight.  Since I was here I decided to check out my Dogster page (once I figured out how to get there with the new and "improved" Dogster!)  Anyway, I discovered that IF I get ONE more visitor I will have five hundred, which is Mom's first stop for a bully stick!  I LOVE bully sticks, so I tried to get Tonya to sign on and visit my page but she wouldn't do it.  DRATS!!  Oh well, maybe, just maybe someone else will visit me.  If you do, thanks, and I'll have a chew for you, too!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A cool new experience...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/673626</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 25 May 2010 17:48:59 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/673626</guid>
		<description>Tonight I went to my first obedience class.  It was pretty cool... I got to go with Skye and she had ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Tonight I went to my first obedience class.  It was pretty cool... I got to go with Skye and she had some great string cheese for me!  I am no dummy, I figured out right away that if I did what she wanted me to do I would get some cheese.  I LOVE cheese!!!  So, I, well, me and Skye, were really good in class... in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I got to go again next week.  
I am still staying home most days and playing with my sister and Condi.  Mom says it's kind of nice at work without my barking... hey, dogs BARK!!!Get over it, Mom!  Actually, it is MUCH cooler in our house than it is at work.  They have lots of air conditioners over there, but they also have lots of dogs and lots of machines like dryers and stuff kicking out hot air, especially the dogs, hehehe!  Over here it is quiet and cool... it's even cooler outside cuz we have a HUGE tree over our pen and it makes great shade all morning and then the house shades us in the afternoon.  Sooo, we play and play and play.  Mom said we are going to have to go to work pretty soon cuz we all need baths, but they have had sooo many grooming dogs that no one could give us a bath.  Ohhh, gee, that is tooo bad, huh?]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>No time to write...</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/672633</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 19 May 2010 16:50:51 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/672633</guid>
		<description>Whew, I haven't had a minute to write in my diary lately.  I have been sooo busy playing with my sis ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Whew, I haven't had a minute to write in my diary lately.  I have been sooo busy playing with my sister and my friend, Condi.  Mom fixed the puppy pen so we can go in there.  It's pretty neat, we can go outside whenever we want to cuz there is a doggy door.  Condi and I already knew how to go in and out it, but Chantel is a little slow.  She was afraid of it, I guess she thought it was gonna trap her and chop off her tail or her back feet.  So, for a few days Mom had to tie it open.  Finally, she learned about it, good thing cuz it was cold today and Mom needed to keep it shut.  Anyway, we stay in there most all day unless we go over to daycare.  Mom was hoping we could also stay in there at night, but Condi runs outside and barks at the moon... not too conducive to sleep, Mom's sleep, that is!!!
My friend Skye hasn't been here for a while... Mom was gone, then she was gone, too.  But, I guess she is coming on Saturday for a while...I bet she will come home and get us and take us to work with her!!!  Hey, Mom said she is going to come on Friday and spend the night...cool!  We can show her how big we are and how fast we can run down in the lab yard!  Maybe she will even let me sleep with her, now that would be nice!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My sister is here??????????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/670818</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 9 May 2010 08:31:20 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/670818</guid>
		<description>Hey, Mom is back from her trip and she brought my sister, Chantel, back with her!!!  I didn't know s ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, Mom is back from her trip and she brought my sister, Chantel, back with her!!!  I didn't know she was coming here!  That is pretty cool, I must say.  This morning Mom came over to work and got me and she took me and Chantel and the others down in the lab yard.  We played lots, but I kind of stayed away from Chantel cuz she is bigger than me!!!  It was very cold down there so Mom brought us back early.  She said if it warms up we can go back down there later.
I dunno if Chantel is staying here or not.  I don't think Mom will keep her here cuz she loves me the best!!  And, Skye really loves me, so I don't think I will even tell her that Chantel is here.  She didn't come this weekend cuz it's Mother's day and she is home with her people Mom.  Me and Toto and Ali and Beanie are resting up on our dog bed.  Harvey is playing with all those new Crested's that are here.  I guess it's cuz Barney is his brother and Condi is his sister?  Oh well, maybe I will play with my sister later????]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Another weekend gone already???</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/669690</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 2 May 2010 17:40:55 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/669690</guid>
		<description>Man, it doesn't seem fair... the weekend is gone already!  Man, was it a busy weekend, too.  Skye ca ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Man, it doesn't seem fair... the weekend is gone already!  Man, was it a busy weekend, too.  Skye came along to visit us yesterday and she brought Annie again.  Only, this time, she and Mom went shopping right after work on Saturday.  We all got to go out for a while, then most everyone had to go in their crates EXCEPT me and Beanie and Ali and Bubbles.  We got to stay outside with the cool breezes and the nice shade of the porch.  Ha Ha, Toto had to be crated, too!!!  Skye wanted to take him shopping but Mom said it was too hot.
Finally, they ran out of money so they came home.  Skye had some new jeans, TWO pairs of them and Mom had some Summer shoes and lots of stuff for the kennel.  After they put all their stuff away we all got to go down in the big yard.  We ran and ran and ran and I ate some more flowers, too!!!  Skye and Annie and Toto wanted to sleep in the tent but Mom was a spoil sport and said it was going to rain... yeah, right!!!  It didn't.
Today me and Harvey went over to work with them, and Harvey got his coat trimmed,  I just got a brush out.  Then, when they came home we all got put outside in the pens while Mom and Skye cleaned the car out.  They had to get it all spiffy for the trip down to get Barney next weekend.  Mom is bringing back some other poodles for the handler guy so she needed some extra crates in the car.  Finally, they came and got us and we went down in the big yard yet again!!!  It was really, really HOT... like 90 degrees hot!  I ran as much as I could, but finally had to join the other guys under the trees.  We played with Annie, too, and I gotta say, that new photo where she is lying on her back and I am looking at her.... well, I know that looks bad, but really, she was rolling in a dead nightcrawler and I was watching her!  I didn't hurt her at all!!!
Finally, Skye's dad came along while Skye was feeding Mom's fish so we helped eat the rest of the food and then she went home.  Her dad held me and he likes me, too!!!  Then, Mom put us in our crates and we had our dinner.  I was sooo exhausted that Mom thought I was passed out when she came in to let us out.  Nope, I was just wiped out, not passed out!!!  Now we are all sleeping in the dog beds, recovering from the LONG weekend!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I LOVE weekends!!!!!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/668220</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:41:14 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/668220</guid>
		<description>Hurray, it's Saturday again!!  And, the sun is shining and it's even warm outside.  I love the weeke ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hurray, it's Saturday again!!  And, the sun is shining and it's even warm outside.  I love the weekends... Mom comes home early and we get to play almost all day long.  Today I did have to go to work with Mom and get my bath.  Mom says that while she doesn't totally baby our show coats, she does try and keep us clean since clean hair doesn't clump up as much as when it's dirty.  Let me tell you, I am CLEAN!!!  And, Mom couldn't find her cream rinse so she used some special deMat stuff and it smells really, really good!  
Pretty soon we are headed home.  I heard Skye say she was coming today, too, so I suspect we will play lots.  I was going to go kayaking with her today but she has a practice baby from school and Mom won't let her take it kayaking... but, it gets turned off tonight so we can have fun after that!!!  Mom says Skye can bring the baby down into the big yard with us and we will put it in the puppy pen down there so none of us hurt it, but Skye can still hear him if he cries.  Mom says Skye will probably come late cuz the people program those babies to cry mostly all night, like real babies do!  I bet she will be tired and ugly, hehehe.  It will be MY job to cheer her up... Toto is her soul mate and I am her cheerer upper!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Housebreaking????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/666668</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:50:09 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/666668</guid>
		<description>Hey, young pups.... I learned a really, really good housebreaking lesson this week!!!  If you poop i ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hey, young pups.... I learned a really, really good housebreaking lesson this week!!!  If you poop in your crate EVERY night and mush it all over the crate and yourself, good things will happen!  I kid you not!  I have been doing that for a while and Mom has been getting madder and madder.  Well, last night she let me sleep in the bedroom with her and the big dogs!!!!!!  Cool!  I was sooo good she is sure to let me sleep in there forever now.  I wish I had remembered that Georgie told me about that a long time ago.  You see, she did that for a while, too, and she was sleeping in the bedroom right up until she went off to the handler girls.  In fact, Mom told the handler girl that if she pooped in her crate there, all she had to do was let her sleep in the bed with her.  And, the best part???  I don't even need to have a bath every morning now.  It's great!
Now that Georgie isn't here I get to go to daycare with Harvey every single day.  Mom says I have to or else I am too wound up at night.  Before, me and Georgie would play outside in the puppy pen all day, now I don't have her here to play with me, so poor Harvey has to put up with me.  Actually, I am very good at daycare.  Today I played with the mini poodles and a labrador that was there.  I also met Harvey's friend, Spice, the HUGE Aussie.  He was pretty nice, too.  When we got home me and Harvey were winding up a bit, still, so Mom took us all down in the lab pen to play.  I think it was cuz it's still warm and nice, but the weatherman said it was going to snow tomorrow morning... grrr... we do not need any more snow!!!
Anyway, we had a great run down there... I ran the fastest as usual.  I am pretty speedy.  Mom missed me in most of the photos she took... she would either get my head or my front feet, the rest was GONE!!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A really big dog show.......</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/666020</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:26:16 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/666020</guid>
		<description>Skye took me to a REAL dog show today.  It was really BIG and NOISY and CROWDED there.  I was scared ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Skye took me to a REAL dog show today.  It was really BIG and NOISY and CROWDED there.  I was scared to walk on the floor cuz I thought a big dog OR a person was going to step right on me!  Everyone was looking at me and wanting to pat me and it was kind of overwhelming!  Mom made Skye and me watch the junior handlers showing their dogs.  Well, to be honest... me and Skye have now decided that we will stick to the match shows... those are way nicer and smaller, yes, that is a good work, smaller!
Mom said I didn't have to worry about REAL shows yet cuz I am still a baby.  She said that Georgie was going to be doing some real shows pretty soon and was staying there with the handler girl to learn how to do them.  Whew... I am bigger than Georgie... I was sure hoping it didn't go by size!!!!   Nope, me and Skye got in the car and came home.  Georgie didn't!
Would you believe that Skye took some of her own money and bought me a toy??  Yup, she bought one for me and one for Toto.  She told Mom I am her second favorite.  Not too bad since I was her LEAST favorite a few weeks ago when I stole her dinner right off her plate and kept biting her fingers and toes, hehehe!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My stomach rules my mind????</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/664744</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 4 Apr 2010 17:35:05 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/664744</guid>
		<description>Would you believe Mom said my stomach rules my mind?  Wonder where she ever got that idea.  Do you s ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Would you believe Mom said my stomach rules my mind?  Wonder where she ever got that idea.  Do you suppose it was when she discovered all the macaroni and cheese stuck in my crest from when Skye went out to the kitchen and left her dinner unguarded on the table last week?  Or, maybe it was when I started eating the Easter eggs while she was taking my Easter photos the other day?  Or, take Saturday, for example.  Skye took me to work so we could practice showdog for a while.  Well, when she was cleaning with Mom she put me in with the mini poodle pups.  Mom came along and there I was, completely standing in their food dish, eating away.  Ya know, if I didn't do it that way they were going to eat all the food before I got enough!  So, I was guarding it, hehehe.  Well, then Mom took me out of their pen and I went along into the cat room to help Skye.  There was a big cat in there and I barked at him.  He was scared and he jumped back.  Too bad he bumped his food dish and it all spilled outside his kennel.  Not to worry, I cleaned it all up for Skye!
When we went Easter egg hunting, Harvey found the first one.  They were stuffed with hotdog or hamburger.  Well, Skye was opening Harvey's for him and she made a mistake and set the basket with all the extra ones down on the ground.  Those other stupid dogs were trying to steal Harvey's treats.  Not me, I just stuck my head right in the basket and helped myself!!!  I know how to open my own, thank you very much!!!  And, no one even noticed until Mom was checking out her photos!
Soo, if all that means my stomach rules my mind, yup, guess it's true!!  I do LOVE to eat, hehehe!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I went to my FIRST dog show.......</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/663293</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:46:15 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/663293</guid>
		<description>Today Mom took me and Georgie and Bammer and Danny to our first dog show.  It was just a match, whic ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today Mom took me and Georgie and Bammer and Danny to our first dog show.  It was just a match, which is a practice for a real show, so us puppies could go even though we aren't old enough for a real show.
We got there early cuz Mom said the parking would be bad... well, it wasn't and we had to sit around forever!!!  Me and Skye went over to look at some of the big trucks and tanks and stuff sitting around the building.  Mom took a picture (Of course she did!).  
Anyway, they start the show with the kids showing the dogs... it's called Jr. Showmanship.  Mom had taught Skye what she was supposed to do for that, but Skye had never been to a show before and she wouldn't let Mom enter her in that.  Finally, after she watched a few, Mom convinced her and they let her enter even though it had already started.  Well, she picked ME to show since I was good about walking on my leash.  (Let me tell you, Georgie was AWFUL!!!)   Anyhow, me and Skye went in the ring and I pranced all the way around sooo good!  I did all the things that Skye wanted me to and we both did everything the judge asked us to.  Would you believe me and Skye (well, technically, Skye), was Best Jr. Handler in the whole Match?????  She got a HUGE big ribbon and a nice dog food container and several other ribbons for winning along the way.  That was pretty cool!
Then, when it was time for the real showing part Mom took me in.  Once again, I was very, very good and I won Best Puppy of Breed.  Well, since I was the only Chinese Crested puppy, it really wasn't too hard, hehehe!  Soo, then I had to go back into the ring for Best puppy in the Toy Group.  Once again Mom showed me cuz Georgie, although she won Best Toy Poodle puppy, was refusing to walk nice on the mats in the ring, so Mom had Skye take her cuz Skye babies us better than Mom does.  Anyway, me and Mom tried and tried to win that group, but I only got second place.  And, I was the baby in the group, too... they should have given me first just for that cuz all the other dogs were way older than me!!!!
Oh well, it was fun.  Now Mom says we can go to another one later in the Spring.  That one will be outside, so maybe Georgie will figure out how to walk in the grass.  I dunno, Mom says her Mommy Ali never did like to walk in wet grass.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Playing a duet....</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/662019</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:33:08 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/662019</guid>
		<description>Mom let us go down to the big yard today but since Harvey has a sore leg AND she hasn't fixed the fe ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Mom let us go down to the big yard today but since Harvey has a sore leg AND she hasn't fixed the fence yet, she made us go in groups of two.  She seemed to think that would stop Harvey from trying to run so much... I guess it did cuz everytime I whizzed by, he was standing in one place watching me fly by.  And, it did prevent us all from bolting over the knocked down parts of the fence.
Today I discovered a whole pile of dead leaves.  They were so much fun, I ran as fast as I could and then jumped right into the middle of them!!!  Mom kept yelling something about having just raked them all up...sorry, Mom, playing is very, very important when you are a baby.  Don't forget, this is MY first Spring and it's the first time I ever ran on anything except cold, wet snow.  
And, did I tell you, there were some pretty flowers down there.  They smelled good enough to eat.  I wasn't that thrilled with the purple ones but the white ones were actually pretty tasty.  Good thing since she was using empty egg shells for our photos the other day.  I thought they were supposed to be filled with candy or something good to eat????]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A bit about me..........</title>
		<link>http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/661364</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:57:15 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Crystal ~ writing at dogster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.dogster.com/dogs/1122729/diary/Communicating_with_crystal/661364</guid>
		<description>Hi, all.  My name is Crystal and I am a powderpuff Chinese Crested.  I am the baby here and Mom got  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hi, all.  My name is Crystal and I am a powderpuff Chinese Crested.  I am the baby here and Mom got me from the handler guy so I could play with Harvey.  I am way different than Harvey.  Mom calls me a kangaroo cuz I can jump onto anything I want to, like the table, the chairs, etc.  I am also very smart, so I figured out how to climb up on the chairs and step up onto the desk or the middle of the counters.  Pretty cool!  Mom hasn't had any dogs that could levitate like me before, so she is having a hard time keeping stuff out of my reach.  Unlike those poodles here, I also am very fond of chewing up stuff like shoes and books and things like that.  Mom must really be getting older since I came here... she now has way more gray hairs!!!  In fact, sometimes it is soo bad that I have to spend the night over in the puppy pen in the kennel!  Apparently she has no idea of the trouble I can find over there, hehehe!  I also have boundless energy... I can run all day long, take a tiny nap, and then run all night, too.  It's a good thing I am so cute!!!
Anyway, enough of the bad stuff... also visiting here is my half brother, BamBam.  He is hairless like Harvey.  He is pretty good... much more sedate than I am!  In fact, he is here to learn how to be more roudy... guess who his teacher is??????  He and Harvey and I have soo much fun together.  We spend all our waking hours playing together.  Sometimes I also play with Georgie but, unlike her Mommy Ali, she is a little spitfire and when she gets mad at us, watch out!!!  She growls and snarls and snaps at us.  NO ONE argues with her!!!  In fact, when we have to go to work in that pink stroller none of us want her to be in there with us... fortunately, she has lost her baby teeth, unlike me, hehehe!!!  Well, I better go now, it's getting time for us to go into our crates for the night and I need to gargle first so my throat won't get sore when I bark and howl for a few hours.  You would, too.... would you believe that Harvey AND Georgie get to sleep in the bed with Mom and Toto and Ali and Beanie, while me and BamBam have to sleep in our crates???  NOT FAIR!!!]]></content:encoded>
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