Pre-Turkey Day Weekend

WOW! What a weekend it has been already! And its only Sunday! First, Dad and baby sister Looney came home Friday, no warnin' or nuthin'. Well, I think Mom knew that mornin' but she didn't tell US! So, they came home, and we played and played- got SOO tired out, we all tried to take a nap. Um... guess we forgot- Luna doesn't DO naps! So we three mastiffs took naps, and Looney, she ran from one to the other, tryin' to get us to wake up and play! She really does live up to her name- she's a LUNATIC!

So Saturday, when we woke up, stretched, decided to go out and potty before comin' back in to feast on a hot breakfast, and guess what???? It SNOWED!!!! Snow everywhere! And our ramp, it works like sleddin' down hill! So we all practiced slidin' down the ramp- on our feet, on our butts, on our bellies, and Mom even learned how to slide right off the side and fall on the ground! She hurt her wrist, and we think she broke her finger (the one she was usin' to hold Murph's collar when she fell) so now she not typin' too fast, but we aren't gonna fire her just yet- it wasn't HER fault she hurt herself. (GRRRR. Murphy, you silly lug!)

Last year when it snowed, we didn't get to slide on the ramp, cuz Mom was too smart for us, and put a grooved rubber mat the whole length of it, so we had a good grip goin' up and down it. Well, it WAS on the ramp, until.... Last spring, Dear sister Frankie decided it wasn't any fun using a mat to walk on, so she chewed it up into little tiny pieces, and Mom couldn't find another to replace it with!

So anyway, we played out in the snow several times, and came back in and got warm and rested, so we could keep going back out (just about the time Mom sat back down and started to get comfy each time!) Then dinner time arrived, and Kim went to get us somethin' special- she got a pizza for her and Dad, and a meatball sub for Mom. Dad had pizza AND some of Mom's sandwich! Boy, I wish I could eat like he does and still stay skinny like him! Maybe its the food he is eatin' that keeps him skinny??? I will have to convince Mom to let me eat what Dad eats, as much and as often as he eats, and see if *I* can get skinny and stay that way! Mom says she can't eat 1/4 of what he eats, and SHE gains weight when HE eats! When they were done, we all got some tasty bits (after we had OUR dinner, of course- they don't think to order US pizzas!) I swear, once I learn how to use that phone, (and figure out where to get thumbs surgically added to my paws!) I'm orderin' the food from then on, and we *WILL* have pizza and subs for dinner!

By Saturday night, we were totally exhausted! Just when we were ready to call it a night, Dad and Luna had to get back in their truck and go back to work! They will be back Wednesday though, so we are restin' up for them this time!

Dad says soon he will start comin' home waaaay more often- he fired the bad dispatcher guy who wasn't findin' him enough work- the one who kept him sittin' in inconvenient places for so long between runs; and hired a new one (who makes the other truckers who work through her happy). More money, AND more time off to spend at home- what could be better???

Maybe NOW he will have time to get Mom's custom trike finished, she she can actually go ridin' with Mike & Linda & Dad & maybe Grampa too, next summer! Kim says she gonna get HER motorcycle license too, so she can go ridin' with them all! Dad already got her a bike, so what's she waitin' for? Know what happens when Mom & Dad get all their friends together to go ridin'? They all stop here more often, and WE get lots of pettin' and extra attention! They ALL love us!

So anyway, thats whats goin' on here with us. Whats new with YOU?

Monday Blues

Fur-Ever Friends is having an awesome Canada Day/4th of July Party at the clubhouse, but in the back of my mind, I can't help but be sad, as it was just two weeks ago today that we said goodbye to my best friend and baby sister. We all miss her daily, and remember her fondly. Not to mention her presence at the clubhouse on a daily basis was always wonderful- she organized many activities, and she sure loved teaching the puppies games and such. It seems too quiet at home, even though the boys are still there with me, there is something BIG missing-
*Tater-Gator*'s silliness, playfulness, goofiness,
...how excited she got when Dad walked through the front door after having been on the road for weeks;
... the big slobber puddles she left on the floor after drinking;
...the comical way she submerged everything up to her nose into the water bucket when she got a drink, and ended up wet to her chest;
...the way she always got an extra mouthful of water and spouted it right into the closest human's lap;
...her huge warm body that made such a nice pillow when I was tired;
...the love in her eyes as she thoroughly cleaned the boys' ears;
...knowing that everyplace we went, she could always attract a crowd of admirers - all she had to do was roll onto her back and wiggle, that seemed to make everybody want to reach down and scratch her belly for her, which is what she had in mind right from the start!

One of our friends even made a painting of Frankie and sent it to us! Its beautiful, and for someone who never got to meet Frankie in person, she sure captured her spirit and happy-go-lucky personality.

We try to be happy that she is no longer having the awful seizures; the panicked episodes of blindness after each one, that kept getting longer and longer every time; and knowing she is no longer in pain from her hips, but its just so hard to understand why such a beautiful, sweet, innocent pup had to suffer in the first place. No pup should ever have to suffer like that, ever, for any reason.

We miss you Puppy-Girl!

Another Adventure?!?

In two days, we are going to the 11th Annual Pet Walk and Festival at Austin Park in Skaneateles, NY. Mom has been running around crazy trying to get us and all our stuff ready to go- she knows if she waits til that day to load everything, by the time we get to the park, she won't even be able to walk, let alone enjoy it. So, she is doing some each day, and has some people that will come and help her tomorrow to make sure all the serious stuff is done by tomorrow night. Kim is taking the day off to go, and our neighbor Mike (the one with the noisy motorcycle that always stops to see us on our walks) is going to come along as well. We were going to take Kim's friend with us, but she had something come up, so we will only have three slaves to boss around at the park. Murphy and Jesse will be getting their microchips while we are there- Mom says that is important, but I don't know WHY. I wonder if they will give Mom a remote control to use with the microchips that makes those boys behave? (I sure hope so!) Wanna go too? Here's the info...
http://www.bci.net/users/FLSPCA/petwalk_main.html
Mom invited lots of friends, so hopefully there will be lots of extra people to love on us! Maybe we will see you there?!

Yesterday, the guy came to mow our lawn- Mom let us out in our play yard so we could bark at him whenever he came around either side of the house. That is FUN! He even drove along the outside of our fence and talked to us while we raced him to the other end. Of course, we always won- he is too slow! When he was all done cutting the grass, Mom let him in the house, and we all loved on him and his son for a while. Mom said he is gonna come back every week- maybe he will get faster with practice, and we will finally have a challenge when we race him.

The neighbors (on the other side of the big wood fence) have been out working on their yard the last few days, so we have had lots to bark about. They have 6 dogs! Mom said maybe someday we can all have a play date, but not til Murphy stops being so protective of our yard. He tried to bite the lady when she came over to the fence to meet us, so Mom put him on his leash and walked him over to their yard to meet her, one on one, away from our yard, and he was a good boy, so all is not hopeless there.

Kim brought home some more carrots yesterday, so we got to have big ones as a treat at bedtime last night. I ate mine, and waited til Murphy got tired of guarding his and got up on Mom's bed, then I ate his carrot too. He doesn't eat them anyway, he just plays with them, pretends to guard them, and then chews them up into little pieces and then leaves them on the floor. What a waste of perfectly yummy carrots!

I guess its time to let Mom get busy so she can get things done- though she keeps threatening to give us all baths today. I hope she doesn't have time! I will report back after the event, and let you know what we did and who was there.

Imani's Latest Adventure

Hi kids! How are all you wonderful woofs today? I just wanted to stop by and tell you all about my latest adventure...

On Monday, my mom had to leave us home with Dad while she got in the truck and went away. She was gone for a while, and finally she came home. She talked to Dad for a few minutes then put on my new harness and leash, and took me in the truck with her, and we went for a ride. I started getting nervous when she said that "D" word- Doctor. Uh oh! That will teach me to be so willing to go in the truck!

Turned out it was ok though, cuz she wasn't taking me to see *MY* doctor- she was taking me to visit *her* doctor! Yep, thats right! We parked the truck and walked down the cement strip with interesting smells on each side, then right into the building, passing people who just stared with their mouths open, and right on in to the waiting room. You'd think these people had never seen a dog before! We went right up to the desk, and Mom asked for them to call her doctor out front please.

The people at the desk weren't too happy with Mom for bringing me in there, afterall, I AM a dog, and dogs don't go to human doctor offices! Mom said she could only get in just so much trouble, and the worst they could do was kick her out, but they didn't. Finally they called the doctor up front, and he came right away, and brought his 5 year old son with him!

See, the doctor has been asking Mom for months questions all about mastiffs and what we are like, etc. even emailed him pictures, links, and info about us. So when she saw him Monday, he said he wanted to meet us. Mom checked, and he would be there for a couple more hours before he left for the week, so she brought me back there to visit. He and his son loved me, fed me animal crackers, and talked to Mom some more.

Mom thought I would be the best one to take with her, cuz she thought I was the best trained of all of us. Guess what??? I got stage fright and didn't want to do most of my tricks! I did finally manage to wave to them though, which they thought was just too smart. Guess they don't know much about what tricks we are capable of learning!

So, the doctor's son has been bugging him to get a puppy, and this Dad was doing his research (4 stars for HIM!) about what kind of dog they should get. When Mom was at the office to see the doctor herself, his son was bugging her to show him pictures of us, and she didn't have any with her. Whats better than pictures? A real live mastiff! Mom figured that even if he read everything she sent him, and looked at the pictures, he still would not have any idea of just how big we are in real life, thats why she brought me to see him. He still thinks they might stop by our house and see ALL of us though.

So, that was my adventure. What will be next?

Snow!

It snowed today, for the first time this season, and we could not wait to get outside and play in it! It was really cold, and my feet were freezing, but I did not want to go in the house, cuz the snow might be all gone before I could come back out to play again! Mom says not to worry, there will probably be more snow than any of us could ever want before too long, but its so much fun, and we haven't had snow since, well, almost forever! So, I finally did come in the house, but I brought my jollyball in and played with it in the house until it drove Mom crazy and she let me go back outside with it for awhile. Pretty smart, aren't I? So it was a pretty fun day, and then I needed a nap- a day without naps is just too much to handle! Dad had to go take a nap too, and then Jesse had to go wake him up so he could get ready to go to work. After Dad left for work, it got dark out, and then it was dinner time, and we all cleaned our bowls, and then laid down to enjoy full-tummy syndrome (read: NAP). Then Frankie started making funny noises and doing her break-dancing routine again, and everybody had to stay back, Mom says there is nothing we can do to help her but stay out of her way and let her finish, and then we can love on her if she wants us to. Sometimes Jesse brings a blanket and covers her up when she is done- he is such a sweet guy, and the two of them are so close, its like they can read each other's minds. I am glad Jesse came to stay with us- Frankie needed him, I think, and he sure needed her too. Mom says its been a long day, and we can all go to bed early tonight. Maybe there will be more snow when we get up in the morning! Maybe I can get Mom to take me for a walk in the morning, and if there is more snow, it will be even more fun! I don't know if grasshoppers will be out playing in the snow, but I hope so. I like to chase grasshoppers on our walks! Kim doesn't have to go to classes tomorrow, so maybe she will come along and bring Jesse too.

Oh! I hope the neighbor's dog isn't out again! When we went for a walk last night, he came running out and kept sniffing me all over, Mom said I was being very good, just standing still and letting him get it over with, and then he kept trying to hump me. The little twit! Mom said something about him being a jack russell terrorist or something, and I have to agree! We couldn't even keep going and enjoy our walk, cuz he would not stop following us and trying to hitch a ride- on my back! So when the guy finally noticed his dog was loose and called him to come back home, it was getting too dark and we had to come home.

Hello, Friends!

'Mani here... Not a nice day here in upstate NY- our play yard is mostly knee-deep with cold icky mud, so Frankie is the only one who wants to play outside. Personally, I would like some snow to play in. I had a lot of fun in the snow last winter, and it would take care of the mud in a hurry! I have a new jollyball I want to go play with, but Mom doesn't like me to get myself and the ball all mud, so I will wait til it either dries up or we have some snow. The best part about playing in snow is coming inside and getting dried off and snuggling in a nice warm blanket, and taking a looooong nap. Yeah- thats what us mastiffs do best- nap. Wanna hear me snore?

Anyway, I am finally back to normal after my operation, and I am so glad of that! Boy- I hurt so bad at first, I thought I was never gonna feel better. I didn't want to eat, or drink, or even breathe! But Mom made me- she kept giving me ice cubes, and making me eat a little bit every now and then, she even bribed me with peanut butter sandwiches sometimes, just so I would eat something. I think I worried her a lot, especially since the night she wanted to bring me home, I jumped up and ripped my stitches out and had to go back to the hospital to have them put back in. Dad thought I was dying, but Mom knew the best thing for me was to pick me up from the hospital and bring me home where she could take care of me and help me feel better. She says everybody feels better at home, in their own bed, and I think she is right! She even fixed me a bed right next to her computer desk in her office, so I could be comfy even if I wasn't in my bed in her room. I had already been away from home a week by then, and I wanted to come home the first day! So, yeah, I am home, and all better now.

When we go for our walks lately, Mom makes me wear my orange vest, and I have to be on the leash, cuz she said it is something called hunting season, and I look too much like a deer. Usually, me and Mom go for walks, and I don't need my leash, cuz I stay right by her and only go sniff when she tells me I can, and when cars come down the road, I sit on the side next to Mom and wait for them to go by. People driving by are so weird! They stare and gawk ALL the time! You'd think they'd never seen a dog before! Mom says its cuz me and my brother and sister are so big- most people have never seen dogs as big as us. If they don't quit watching us and watch where they are driving, THEY will be going for walks, too! I like to chase grasshoppers when we go walking- it is fun to make them jump by touching them with my nose! They can jump a long way when I goose them! I would like to goose the squirrels we see, but they won't come out of the tree so I can get to them. Maybe someday they will.

Mom has been doing a lot of work to the wagon she is building- yesterday and today she has been painting paw prints on the sides. She should let me help- I could do it faster than she does, just dip my feet in the paint and make a print where she wants it. She put our "Mastiffs" license plate on it this afternoon, and our Dogster bumper stickers too. Some of her friends said she should put the links to the forums we go to on it too, but that might be overkill. I can't wait til it is all finished and we can go to the trail and go for long walks again. I would be happy to pull it for Mom but she won't let me. I wore a backpack before, and carried her drink and some water for us, and cookies. I like to help out like that. As long as it means we can go for a walk, I would carry Mom if I had to!

Frankie has been growing a lot again- she is way bigger than me already, but she is still my baby sister, and she likes to cuddle up to me and take naps. She even lets me wash her face and clean her ears. Frankie can't fit on the bed with me anymore- we used to be able to fit, but not in a long time now, though Jesse and I can still fit together. Sometimes Frankie lays on the floor next to my bed with her head on my bed, so she can still be near me. She doesn't like to sleep in Mom's room with me anymore. Instead, she likes to stay in the living room where she can go in her crate to sleep if she wants to, or sleep on my bed in the office. She likes to play at night sometimes, and in Mom's room, it is hard to play without waking Mom and Dad up all the time. That reminds me- it must be getting close to bedtime- I sure am tired! Will bark more at you all later! Good night!

October 23, 2006

Hello, friends! I cannot WAIT until November 10-12! These puppies are really starting to make me uncomfortable, and it is so hard to be able to sleep with them squirming everywhere. I can't get away from them no matter how hard I try! Once I have them, Mom says I will be "fixed" and will never have to worry about this ever again! I think I like that idea! Frankie got fixed a while back, so she never has to go through it even once, which I think is just not FAIR! But, it would be bad if she had to have them, the way she likes to run and play, roll in the mud and wrestle. She might hurt her puppies doing that, so I guess its a good thing she won't be having any. Besides, between my last litter and this one, I have probably made up for her not having any, anyway. I sure have learned my lesson! No more eating yummy sandwiches with puppy seeds on top! EVER!

Very soon we will ALL be finished with heat cycles, and puppies, and everything! No more having to go to puppy camp, or being away from Mom and my comfy bed and my favorite wolf blanket and all my other favorite things. From now on, if I have to go anywhere, it will be because Mom is going with me, like when we went to Toledo last year to pick up Kim. That was kind of fun, especially since we had to stay in something called a motel, and there were two big beds in our room, and I got to pick which one was mine, and sleep on it and watch tv! And I got to see Kim again! She went away for what seemed like forever to be with Sue and John, and I missed her! Now she will never do that again, cuz she has Jesse, and he would DIE if she left him for that long! He gets really sad when she goes away in the morning just to go to college! She isn't gone all day even, but he gets sad that she has to be away at all, and he doesn't get to go with her.

So anyway, it is starting to be really cold outside in the mornings, and the grass is all crunchy when we go outside first thing in the morning. Know what that means? Pretty soon, it will SNOW! I *love* snow! We get to run around and play, and roll on the ground, and play, and and and well, you know! Its so much fun! And Mom doesn't have to get mad about us making the whole house muddy every single day! For now, we get to chase the pretty leaves when they fall off the trees, and they are fun to run through.