Where did she come from?

So, I'm minding my own business Thanksgiving week-end, and this truck pulls up and a lady gets out with a dog, a nice lady dog that I've met before. We sniff and paw and we are ready to play. Pretty soon, Mom gets us both on a leash and we go for a l-o-n-g walk, must have been 3 miles.

Well, it's after Christmas now and she's still here. It's kind of nice to have a friend to guard the yard from cats and squirrels, and the other night there was a big possum on the fence. Oh boy, I wish we could have gotten ahold of that thing!

She's a lot of fun for the most part, and we are definitely getting a lot more exercise. Mom says, 'A tired dog is a good dog'. She slept in my kennel last night, so I gave up and slept in hers. Guess I'll keep her.

Me and Hurricane Ike

I slept through it. Yep, me and Dad snoozed through the 80+mph wind and sideways rain and shaking windows. Mom said she was up most of the night, checking the radio after the electricity went out. Next morning, she waited till 8:30a, but I had to go, so out we went, me in my raincoat, sniffing to find the perfect spot. Boy, was the back yard interesting with all the stuff blown down and stuff blown into it! You can see me checking the fence in my photos. Later, we walked all over the neighborhood looking at the damage; people and pups seemed to be ok, but the trees and some roofs were a mess. Mom kept getting ice every day to keep a few crucial items chilled--my dog food, first and foremost! It was kind of fun, I thought, since Mom was home more, and Dad was cooking on the gas grill a lot. Once the power came back and we could see the photos of Galveston and other areas, it was sad, and we hope for happier times for all those folks.

Laissez Bon Temps Roulez!

Wow, road trip! Mom and Dad got this neat cover for the whole back seat of the 4-Runner and off we went. I stayed in a people hotel and got to sit on a chair,still no sleeping on beds though. We walked and walked, through the French Quarter, over to the Mississippi River, down to Cafe Du Monde where I got a piece of beignet--Yum! We went into stores and art galleries in the Warehouse District and visited friends. The variety of smells was outstanding and I was a good dog, so I hope they take me on some more trips. Wait till Mom gets the photos up.

My New Favorite Day Care

Mom found this just opened place to take me on her way to work sometimes. They have us divided up by dog sizes and I have made some great friends! We get to play in the water outside when it's hot, which it is most of the time in Houston. We run around and then they make us take a nap for 2 hours in the middle of the day--more energy, yaay! When she picks me up, she says 'No kisses till I brush your teeth--I saw you sniffing everybody on the webcam!" What's a webcam?

Guarding the back yard at Christmas time

Now that it's cool and the leaves are mostly gone, Mom is putting out food for the birds. It's my job to spend a few hours chasing the squirrels away from the feeders. I also love waiting until there are at least 10 birds on the ground and then taking a flying leap off the back porch barking. Boy, they can take off like little helicopters! After a couple of rounds of bark-and-fly, I'm ready for a nap.

Since it's almost Christmas, Mom took me for a special photo with Santa. Santa turned out to be one of my many many admirers wearing a wacky costume, but I didn't embarrass her. I know where the bones come from!

Just Doing My Job

It's been a big week, actually. Thursday, I killed a rat behind the garage, and Dad said, "Good boy, show momma what you have," and Mom said (well I can't repeat that). She also said, "Drop it!" and I did, partly because it tasted terrible anyway, and she gave me a cookie and told me what a good dog I was. Let's see, one cookie per rat . . . Nah, I get a better return with "Fetch" and "Dead Dog." She also bought chicken flavored toothpaste and started brushing my teeth.

Splish Splash!

Mom took me to this h-u-g-e dog park out at Hwy 6 and Westheimer and it has acres of running room, and a pool! I was on one side of the pool and saw these dogs having a ball on the other side, so I took off running toward them, and . . . splash! glub, glub . . . but I came up swimming! And, just to prove I meant to do that (yeah, right) I swam back across it like it was the English Channel for puppies. Ha! Woof!

Back to Agility!

We're doing agility again! Here's the way I do it: I do a perfect "tunnel" and "over" and "A-Frame" and then I go play with the other dogs. Mom says I have attention deficit disorder, but I just like to play, play, play!

Ouchie

I got this red bump about the size of a dime on my chest, and when the vet saw it, she gave me some antibiotics. I throw up on the regular ones, so I get the gourmet expensive ones. That didn't take care of the bump, so the vet operated and if I could just get to those itchy stitches, I'd have them out! Jan 28 -Vet said the bump was benign and gave it some long name even Mom can't pronounce. Uh oh, now she's getting the shampoo out--looks like I'm in for some sissy bath

Houston is hot!

Hoo boy, if it weren't for Mom & Dad filling this pool and leaving the sprinkler on, I'd spend the whole day in the A/C! I retrieve toys from my pool and blow bubbles in it. One time my friend, Shadow, visited and we did our best to make a grassy and muddy playground out of the back yard. Maybe that's why Mom likes to have me play "dead dog".