Me, OBEDIENCE classes???

Uh oh, Mom said that nasty word again. She is having an obedience class for puppies and it is starting NEXT week. She has informed me that since Julia will hopefully be taking Quincy, I will be serving as her demo dog.
Oh joy! I can wait to think up some new ways to embarrass her...doesn't she know by now that Frenchies DO NOT DO OBEDIENCE?? Since I am, without doubt, a Frenchie, I cannot, will not, shall not do obedience.
A hundred years ago, well, back in the '80's, long before I was born, Mom had a Frenchie named Gertrude. Actually, Gertrude was related to me!!! Anyway, since Gertrude was Mom's first Frenchie, she didn't know that we don't do obedience, so she spent years teaching Gertrude. Finally, she decided Gertrude was ready for her first show.
Well, on the recall exercise Mom told Gertie to stay and walked across the ring. When she turned around, Gertrude was sitting there nicely, much to Mom's surprise! Mom called her to come, Gertrude got up, looked at Mom, turned around and sat back down with her back to Mom.
Everyone was laughing their heads off, so Mom did the only thing she could do...she laughed, too!!
Needless to say, Gertrude had a very short obedience career! But, Mom said she WAS really very obedient and never needed a leash to go anywhere. She ALWAYS came when Mom called her, silly dog!
Not me, I ONLY come when I have determined that there is something in it for me. And, it can't just be a tiny little food treat, it has to be something REALLY super, like maybe supper???
This morning I tried a new trick...when Mom got my leash out to take me to work I decided to play catch me. I ran all over the place, making Mom chase me. And, I am, sadly I admit this, a bit plump so when she would grab me I would slide out of her grasp, somewhat like a greased pig, hehehe!
Finally, I remembered I get my breakfast at work so I let her drag me out from under the desk and put on my leash!

Diary pick, but YESTERDAY!

Since it was a weekend, and the weather was PERFECT, and it is Spring after a long, cold Winter, Mom was too busy to write me a diary yesterday, darn it all. I wanted her to help me since I was a diary pick and needed to announce that to everyone!
Now, today, all I can do is thank you all for your visits and gifts!
I didn't get to go kayaking again yet cuz Mom said it was too hot for a black Frenchie. I don't think that is fair, Toto got to go and he is black and he is a French Poodle, or not????
Anyway, Julia stayed here ALL weekend so when they came home from kayaking she took me down to the lower garden so I could see the pond and the flowers and hang out down there. She and Mom were planting some MORE flowers...Mom got a bunch of daylilies in different colors so since my Auntie Jeanne brought her a bunch of new ones last Fall, as well, she decided to make a special place in the lower garden for them.
There were already some old ones growing down there that were here for hundreds of years already! The new ones are all different colors so it should be nice. Maybe I will pose with them later when they blossom?
Anyway, that is MY news for the weekend, back to work tomorrow!

Wherein I survive to reach SIX MONTHS OLD!!!

Wow, Mom just realized I turned six months old yesterday!!! Frankly, she never thought I would make it, but I KNEW I would, hehehe! It's been a long journey, but, as with most journeys, it continues, thank goodness!!
Anyway, Mom says I have suddenly hit another growth spurt, just when she was beginning to think I might end up a midget. My feet are suddenly HUGE and I am eating her out of house and home.
AND, she said, as she watched me destroying a small cardboard box in the break room today, I am suddenly taking after my dad Darrell more than mommy Lola. She said it was amazing the amount of snorts and other Frenchie noises I was making as I shredded that box, and the intensity with which I was tearing it to pieces was extremely like dad as he rips the fences off the wall to escape!
But, Mom said the most exciting thing of all happened later tonight at work. The last daycare dog was leaving, and Mom was spending far to much time talking with her owner INSTEAD of taking me HOME! I was getting angry so I started talking about it.
I started with a simple Maaammaaa, mMaamaaaa, and worked my way up to a full Grampa Lukie talk!! Mom doesn't know how to write what it sounds like, but people HAVE asked about the goat in our kennel while Grampy was in the kennel talking, to give you some idea. There is no way anyone would believe he was merely a dog making that noise, and his diary is full of multiple references to his talking. Mom says she knows little Po will understand what I am talking about when she reads this!!!
I swear, I thought Mom was gonna cry! She said she had such high hopes for mommy Lola to be a talker after Grampy Lukie died, but alas, she just makes normal Frenchie noises. She was sooo happy to hear me going on and on and on...she has missed Grampy Lukie's conversations for soooo long now!!

Kayaking was FUN!!!!

Well, that was a pretty good idea to go kayaking! First we went on a long ride. Julia was putting a big, ORANGE jacket on me, but Mom said it was too small and too hot for me. Good thing cuz they didn't notice I pooped on it, BOL!!!
Anyway, Julia kept me on my leash so if I did fall in I would be safe cuz she could just reel me in like a fish! It was okay, that water was COLD so I didn't fall in!
The ride was pretty good... it was cool and fresh up on the pond, and we saw (and HEARD) lots of nature! We paddled all around the pond. I did go with Mom for a little bit, then Toto missed Julia so he went with me and Julia for the end of the trip.
We saw lots and lots of birds and ducks and geese and other stuff. There weren't any flowers yet, so we didn't get to enjoy them.
Hey, Julia got a whole bunch of frog eggs for us to put in Mom's fishie pond. I hope they all hatch (and the fishies don't eat them, BOL)... I would like to catch some of those froggies when they get bigger!
HEY, Mom said she and Julia are going camping down in the lab pen this weekend and she even said I could go with them!!! ANOTHER big adventure for the Jethro!!!

Kayaking, what IS kayaking anyway???

Beanie and Toto are all excited cuz Mom put some BIG things up on the car tonight. Toto says they are kayaks and Mom and Julia go out on the ponds with them, AND they always take some of us dogs with them when they go.
And, Julia sent me a text tonight and told me to find the life jacket cuz she was taking ME with her tomorrow when they go.
Hmmm, I wonder if I will like kayaking? I do like riding in the car, and I also like jumping on the blue pool down in the dog yard so I bet I will like kayaking.
Mom says it could be a problem because I do not like to sit down in one place for very long. That is a LIE, I can sit still whenever I want to, I just don't want to very often, BOL!
Anyway, I gotta go to bed now and rest up for my kayaking trip tomorrow. I bet Mom will have LOTS of photos for my page!!!!

I was lost again????

Really, I WASN'T lost, but apparently Momsie thought I was, BOL! I was hanging out in the house after supper with Toto, Ali and Beanie. Momsie was trying to see if the moon was up yet so she kept going outside to check and then realized the cats were all out so she was collecting them up and when she came back inside she noticed I was missing.
She called and called to me, but, hey, remember, I have convinced her I am deaf so I couldn't come running, now, could I??? She looked in all the places I usually hide in but I wasn't there. Then, of course, she assumed I ran outside while she was going in and out so, in a fit of panic, she raced outside and looked everywhere, yelling for me as she was searching. Of course the cats ALL ran back outside, hehehe!
Next, she looked in the lab pen...how I could have gotten down there is beyond me, but hey, it was worth a look, I guess. After that, she even looked in the chickie house, BOL!
Finally, not finding me, she came back in the house. Since the furnace came on, she looked on all the registers and even found a flash light so she could see better. Nope, NO Jethro.
Suddenly, she remembered she had gone into her bedroom to turn the furnace on. Sure enough, there I was sitting right at the gate waiting for her to let me out.
See, she THOUGHT I was lost but I KNEW I wasn't lost. What a silly thing!!
Hey, I got new photos...check them out!

Busy Weekend!!

Mom just wrote a HUGE, LONG entry for me and somehow, someway, her fingers hit the wrong keys and it disappeared never to be seen again!
It said... my mommy came and visited me with Auntie Jeanne yesterday, we played and played and then we played with dad Darrell, too. Then, today I helped Mom plant some flowers and we played some more.
Mom said mommy Lola is coming to stay for a long time this Summer cuz Grampy Jones is bored by himself.
Oh yeah, she also said thank you for all the gifts and well wishes for my diary pick yesterday. Our internet was broken, so we couldn't write yesterday but Mom bought some extender thingie and so far, it is working fine today.
Well, gotta go now, too bad about the whole long entry I wrote. Sorry!

Here, there and GONE????

Hmmm, today was toasty warm and sunny all day long. I went on over to work with Mom this morning so I could visit with Aunt Hilda. It was so warm over there that Mom even opened the huge overhead door. Nice!
Finally, we got to come home and Mom took us all down to the lab pen. It was so warm and nice that she was even lying on the ground with us. I did notice she had a rug she was lying on, so I decided to share it with her, hehehe!
We were all exploring all around the pen and Mom wasn't really paying much attention to me. She was taking photos of all those other guys as they were running up to her. I was bored, so I left.
Suddenly, Momsie noticed I wasn't there anymore and you would not have believed how she freaked out!!! She was screaming and hollering to me, and rushing all around checking everywhere. There ARE a lot of "holes" in that fence down there, especially on the road side. Mom said she was SURE she heard some of the car slamming on their brakes, most likely because I was in the road and was now squashed. That sure increased her panic a bit, hehehe!
When she realized I REALLY wasn't in the pen, she raced up to the house and made all the other dogs go back in the house pen. She was so upset she even left her cameras down in the lab pen, BOL!
At that point, I decided it was probably time to show my face, so I wandered out and said hello to her.
I actually thought she was gonna KILL me!!! She was so worried I was already dead, then when she found out I wasn't, she was gonna kill me... does that make any sense to you guys????
Anyway, I had gotten bored and wandered back up to the house, then I decided to go into the little shed and lie in the sun for a bit. Could I help it that she left that gate between the house pen and the lab yard open??? I noticed it with my eagle eyes and the rest of those brown nosers just stayed down there with Mom, brown nosing away. Not me, I am independent, BOL!!

Independence is good, right???

Mom says she is remembering how much she LOVES poodle and lab puppies and how much she dislikes FRENCHIE puppies. She says us Frenchies are born deaf, or at least we pretend we are born deaf! If the refrigerator opens, I can hear that, BUT that is about all I can hear, BOL! I sure don't hear her nagging, "Jethro, come. Jethro, where are you?, JETHRO, time for bed. JETHRO, GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!"
Now really, would YOU listen to that???
Today was a classic example. We all went along down to the lab pen for a bit of fresh air. I am pretty sure ALL the neighbors now think ALL of Mom's dogs are named Jethro!!!
I can't help it, if I am headed off on a mission to find Chickie poop how in the world does she expect me to stop dead, look up and smile for the camera???
Any of you ever notice how many times I am scowling in my photos??? Well, it is ALL due to Mom interrupting me while I am on a mission, it is ALL her fault. It does not mean I am always petulant, I am really a happy boy as long as no one interrupts me!!!

Diary pick for MOI????

Mom said I was a diary pick today. Cool, wonder if that earns me some special food or something???? I am too young to know about these things, ya know!
BBAADD day here today! Mom got to work late cuz she couldn't (wouldn't) drag herself out of bed this morning, and discovered the water heater was broken. Because business is very poor right now, they are trying to play catch up from the Winter so they are booking TONS of dogs for grooming so she and Tonya had a million HUGE dogs to groom. And, yes, Wednesday is supposed to be Mom's day off, but that's another sad story, too.
Finally, the water heater got fixed and the water got hot so away they went. It was so bad that I only got to go on ONE tiny little break with them, and then they didn't even shut me in their room, they let me wander all alone all thru the kennel building and store and office. No one even cared what I was doing all by myself.
Eventually, it was time to come home. Mom was so tired that she didn't even let me run around all thru the parking lot, we had to go straight home. The good news, she DID tell me I was a VERY, VERY smart dog and she said she doesn't often say that about us Frenchies.
Here's the deal: It seems that our outside porch is cement and there is a 15 inch drop to the ground from the porch. Frankly, I am just plain TOO little to jump back up onto the porch, once I bravely slide down to the ground. And, Mom is also worried about that drop because she says that my Grampy Lukie always hurt his shoulder jumping down there AND now my dad Darrell is also jumping down there and he is getting too old to stress his shoulders like that.
Where am I going with this??? Oh yeah...the other day Mom took some plastic steps she had for those tiny toy poodles to get on and off the bed and put them out there. NONE of us would walk up or down them cuz they were too shaky. Finally, I tried it once, and did manage to get back up, but I was still jumping down everytime.
Soo, Mom got a special ramp from Amazon cheap cuz it had "minor cosmetic imperfections". It came today so Mom put it up against the edge of the porch floor. I was already on the ground, having jumped off the porch already so I raced over to check it out. Would you believe it was almost STRAIGHT UP???? But, it did have some gritty stuff so I wouldn't slip so, I just MARCHED RIGHT UP IT!!!! That was soo fun that I turned around and RACED BACK DOWN and MARCHED UP AGAIN! That was when Mom told me I was sooo SMART!!!
Hey, do you suppose that is worth any good treats??????