My svelt body has betrayed me!!!

Every Spring there is drama around here when Momsie removes our pajamas. We have been wearing them ALL Winter with only a few breaks here and there to change to some clean ones.
Finally, it got warm and off they came. OMD, I was shocked to discover that my big brother, Harvey, is now THINNER than I am!!! How could this be, I ask?
You may remember I wrote about the removal of the PJ's last year and how I was so trim and muscular while Harv, poor boy, was downright FAT! I alluded to the fact that since I was mature when I was neutered that I would naturally be in better shape and because Harvey was neutered as a baby, he would be naturally soft and pudgy.
Imagine my shock when I noticed some pudge on MY body and trim, rippling muscles on Harvey. I am sure he must be sick or something...why else would HE be thinner than I am????
The real kicker is that his skin is much darker than mine so once the sun shines on him, he is black with pure white spots. Me, I am sort of grayish, and I don't have anywhere near the amount of white that he has.
Oh well, I shall have to charm everyone with my bubbly personality and intelligence rather than my handsome, good looks, I guess. That, plus a little attention to how much food I am eating, BOL!

Playing in the snow, I think NOT!!

Today Momsie came home from work all excited cuz she was going to take us down to the field to play in the snow. oh boy, yippee. First she found nice jackets for us all, mine was too small cuz she put it over my fleece pajamas.
Out we went, we go out the kitchen door and Mom comes out by the shed so we don't wipe her out. We didn't and off they headed to the field. Got to the gate, Momsie and Quincy and Toto and Cryssie and Beanie and Riley and even silly Zena raced down the path and into the field. Mom went over to her chair, spread her blanket over the snow and sat down with her cameras.
But wait... where are the rest of the snow bunnies??? Mom looked everywhere, both thru the lens AND without it, and was missing ME, Harvey, Annie and Ali.
Surprise, we were all hiding up on the porch, out of the blowing, falling, freezing snow and wind. We are not stupid, Mother dear!!!
You can have your snow and cold and wet and did I mention COLD???
Notice the photo Mom took of me playing in the snow that she put on my page??? Yup, that it not something wrong with the camera, I was NOT IN THAT PHOTO, BOL!!!!

Home again...

Well, it was a very nice vacation and I had a really good time with Julie! She was pretty surprised that I didn't pay ANY attention to Mom, only to her. I thought that was what I was supposed to do???
Actually, I was a little mad...when we got back to our house Julie just hopped in her car and drove to her house without ME!!! I thought I was hers???
Mom says while I am a little nervous about some of the trip things, overall, I am a great traveler. I was quiet, clean and didn't do anything wrong. Beanie did, he peed in his pee belt the first day, BAD BOY! Not me!!
We did have a great time and I am now very relaxed and refreshed. I sure hope I can go on the next vacation. They were talking about going to Canada...that could be nice????

My Vacation day three...

After a wonderful, cozy night snuggled with Julie, I woke up to find it was very cold but at least not raining. In fact, the sun was even shining a bit.
Mom and Julie were gonna go shopping today so we all piled into the car and away we went. Mom discovered both Beanie and I had millions of fleas we got from somewhere, probably the motel, so we had to go to PetsMart and get some stuff for them. I have NEVER, EVER had a flea on me before!!! They were nasty things, all in my crest and my tail and biting me like crazy. Just feeling them marching around was bad enough without the biting!!! Mom says it's a good thing they don't bite her or Julie!!!
That PetsMart is a COOL store!!! We don't have ANY of those near us, and it was the very first time I have ever been in one. Julie bought me some boots?????? and we also got some toys. But, we got that stupid advantix stuff, too. I hate that cuz I have NO HAIR so Mom puts it right in my crest!
Anyway, our fleas all died and instead of shopping, Mom and Julie decided to go exploring. First we went up the mountain again and this time we drove around a different route and discovered some people riding down a zip line. It was okay to watch, but I would NOT like to go down that thing!!! Mom was sooo scared she stayed way back at the car but me and Julie walked down to see them.
We had a picnic up on the top of the Mountain. It was very, very cold up there today so we didn't do photos from there again, whew!!!! But, Mom and Julie discovered some old house relics and an old cemetery so we had to sit around for photos there. BORING!!!
Now I am letting Julie braid my crest and my tail. It keeps her happy, I guess, BOL!!!!

VACATION!!!

Well, we finally got here yesterday afternoon. For a vacation of viewing Fall foliage and Fall stuff, it was HOT and SUNNY and we had to run the AC all the way!
Since it IS vacation, Mom chose a different way to get here. It was really scenic and nice, much better than the interstates are!
After we got settled in, we decided to drive up to the Big Stone State Park. It was REALLY cool... we were way, way up on top of the Camel Hump Moutain. We walked around a while and Mom and Julie took TONS of photos!!!
It was pretty hot up there, too, which was nice since I didn't need to wear my pj's. But, it was really hazy so our photos weren't great.
This morning it was nice and still warm so we headed South to take a ride on the scenic Lehigh Railroad foliage view train.
There was a funny animal there that we saw! And, there were tons and tons of people and they ALL had to pat me and love on me!
The train scared me a bit, but I realized it wasn't bad so then I enjoyed my trip. I sat with Julie in front of Mom and Beanie.
Now we are resting in the motel!
Catch ya later!!!

Almost time for vacation...

Wow, Julie and I are going on our vacation in just TWO more nights!!! We are leaving first thing on Friday morning!
Tomorrow I am going to work with Mom and get my hair cut and have a nice bath. Julia will be there and she will give me my final instructions for the trip, I suspect.
Mom has packed all my traveling stuff, including a couple of my fleece pj's in case it is cooler there. It is really WARM here so I haven't had to wear them lately. I hope she packed the nicest, newest ones cuz Harvey won't need to look nice since he's just staying in the kennel with Ali.
Did you know we are going to ride on a TRAIN???? That sounds sooo exciting to me! And, we are gonna go to a wildlife place, but I am thinking I will need to stay in the car for safety's sake! I will send Beanie off first and if he survives, then I can go check them out!
Well, I gotta go now, I need to go to bed early so I will be well rested!

Vacation for ME!!!!

Mom and Julie have planned their annual vacation. This year they are going EARLY, in October, and are going just down to Pennsylvania and the Poconos. Mom said they should have pretty foliage and things to do and it seems like every single time they go South the cold Winter weather follows them South!
Of course, they will take some dogs and Julie has a HUGE Labrador (remember Clyde???), so Mom won't let him go. So, she lets Julie pick whoever she wants out of all of us dogs here. I am happy to report that she has, once again, chosen ME to accompany her.
Would you believe the reason I win is because I will snuggle under the covers with her and I pretend I don't even know Mom!!! Julie likes that, BOL! She also likes to style my crest hair as we drive along.
Anyway, instead of Beanie, Mom has decided to take Toto along this year. I don't think Beanie got that message yet, so be sure YOU don't tell him!!! He will probably pout for the whole time we are gone.
We are leaving on the Columbus weekend in October. I can't wait...good food, good sleeping, and FUN! Mom said we are even going on a TRAIN RIDE!!!!
Mom reserved us a motel room last night. Would you believe it was the LAST ONE available for us dogs???? Guess lots of other dogs go on vacations, too!

Adopt 2012 Contest

While I wasn't technically adopted, in a way I really was! Mom got me as a replacement for Harvey whom she had bought to be a show dog. Harvey got LCPD and had his leg removed so showing was out. My breeder sent me up so Mom could show me.
When I came I was about 10 months old. I wasn't neutered as show dogs can't be neutered, and since my breeder had TOO many dogs, I was pretty much living in a crate so I had NO training at all.
When I walked in I instantly marked everything I could find, then set about to "breed" ALL the other dogs. No one was even in heat here, but I was insistant and relentless. Mom tried everything she could... finally I only had two of the girls I needed to breed but I could never, ever be out with them at all.
Because of my nasty habits in the house, I ended up spending too much time outside with the other guys and was stuck in my crate inside unless Mom had LOTS of time to leash me to her. That didn't work too well as I didn't mind peeing on her, either, BOL!
I did go off to several shows... in spite of my obnoxiousness, I managed to get first place both times. And, the time spent alone with Mom was a bit helpful to my behavior issues.
But... suddenly Mom noticed I had an eye infection. It was diagnosed as KCS, or dry eye, an hereditary issue with us Cresteds. As a result, Mom bumped me down to adoption status and immediately had me neutered.
Since I needed eye drops and ointments at least six times each day, my behavior got even worse. The ONLY time Mom did anything with me was to put drops in my eye, drops which caused me pain and blurry vision. I hated her, I hated the other dogs, I hated my life!!! I was crazy and wild and no one at all liked me, either!!! How in the world could I be placed in a new home????
Then, I got a huge ulcer in my bad eye and the vet suggested removing my eye as a cure. Mom agreed, thinking if I had no eye I could see half as good BUT I wouldn't have all those painful, nasty drops and gunk six times every day.
After the surgery I had to be kept quiet and calm so I got "whole house" privilages. My neutering DID cure my desire to breed all the females and act crazy with them and it certainly helped slow down my marking. With the use of a tether and a pee belt at night, I was good to go!
Ah ha... now there was a major problem. Since I was still handicapped due to the loss of my eye, I was not easy for Mom to place. Soo, the longer she kept me here, I more I worked on her and finally, one day, I announced myself a permanent resident of Mom's family. She didn't argue with me so here I am!!!
In just over one year I have gone from a humping, marking, bad eyed dog that Mom hated to a loving, funny, sweet one eyed dog that Mom adores!
I am also now adored by my fan club at Mom's work... in fact, I am the one most often picked to come over to work and hang out and Julie even took me on vacation with her and Mom this past Winter. We went to North Carolina and I slept with Julie in the motels and didn't even EVER mark one single thing!!!
And, Julia picks me first to go kayaking with her cuz I am so nice and calm and quiet, and I am the one that gets to sleep in her bed when she stays over at our house.
Life is good!!!

Still my Special weekend, I guess!!

Gee, it must still be MY weekend, even though it's the middle of the week. Last night Julia came along and we got to go kayaking again!!! This time she remembered to bring some spongy material to put on the cowl of the kayak so I could sit there without sliding off.
I am here to tell you it worked GREAT!!!
Well, it worked great until we were headed back to shore. Julia turned really fast and I happened to be leaning the other way and KERSPLASH, I was swimming!!! Fortunately, I am a very good swimmer cuz Julia decided she didn't want my WET body on her dry body so she made me swim ALL the way to shore.
It was okay, we were almost there, anyway, and I was hot so a cool swim felt good. And, when we got to shore Mom was visiting with someone so Julia and I went hunting for critters and I got all dried off.
We found a froggy that still had a tail AND a salamander that had lost its tail!!! Mom said it looked like a turtle or fish had bitten it right off. It looked pretty healed so I am sure he will be fine.
On the way home we got to stop and get ice cream. Mom wouldn't buy us the Max's delight special,(it's for dogs and is named after one of Mom's labs that she sold to the people there!!!!), but she did get some extra dishes and spoons and we each got some of hers and Julias. I swear, it gave me a HUGE ice cream headache!!!
Then, when we got home I found out that Julia was staying overnight AND, she chose ME to sleep with her!!!! I had a wonderful evening!
Gotta go now, I hear fireworks and I need to watch them!!!

My SPECIAL weekend hasn't ended YET!!!

Wow, this weekend was MY special weekend. Mom invited Julia to spend the weekend and she chose ME as her special friend. Friday night she came here and I got to sleep with her in HER bed all night long. Snuggly!!
Then, on Saturday Mom said she could pick someone to go kayaking with her and she chose ME!! I had NEVER, EVER been kayaking before, either.
First I had to go over to work and get a haircut and a bath. Don't know why I needed that to go kayaking, but, anyway, Julia gave me the bath! Then, we hopped in the car and went for a LONG ride.
Pretty soon we got to a BIG pond and there were lots of other BIG dogs there. I wasn't scared, I just went along with Harvey and Beanie and finally Mom put me in Julia's kayak and away we went. We kept going all around an island and thru a swamp. I was getting hotter and hotter so finally Mom said we could stop in the shade for a bit. While we were resting I discovered I could lie down on the front of the kayak and it was more comfy there, except, if Julia hit a rock or a stump, I slid right off!!! She mostly caught me, BOL.
Next thing we all heard some thunder and noticed the whole sky was turning black, especially back at the landing place. And, a HUGE wind came along. Mom decided we would hustle back and get off the water BEFORE we got slammed with the storm. That wind was right in our faces so we went back the same way we came so the island blocked the wind.
We made it back just as it was starting to rain so all was well! I had tons of fun and want to go again!!!!
Today we spent the whole day playing with Julia and Mom. We even took a nap with them!! I slept with Julia again and guess what, she is staying over tonight, too!!! Can't wait!!!