FIRED!

That's my mama- for not updating my diary for TWO YEARS!!
What the heck, mom? Am I not important enough for you??
Do I not keep the foot of the bed nice and toasty enough? Follow you in the bathroom and keep you company? Take care of all the young'uns around here?
Other dogs reading this might not realize how important I am by reading my slacker diary!
Well, let me tell you- things here are just fine and dandy. Yes, I miss Levi terribly- I have been pretty sad about not having him around to lick my ears and play with me. We were best buds. Gypsy and I are very close, too, and I actually like Juna and Tonka pretty much, too. WAIT- don't tell Juna that last part though :)
The kids are getting bigger- our oldest boy is in 5th grade this year. You would think that must mean that I am getting old, too, but I'll be a young, healthy gal of 8 next month! I will do my best to nag mama keep this diary updated a little bit better- maybe she needs a nip on the fingers or something.
I'll have to propose that to Roper since I could never do anything like that...

The dangers of xylitol

Here's the info on snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp

On Wednesday, my family came home and found a whole package of mentos sugarfree gum chewed open and eaten. I am the usual counter surfer here, and I don't share what I reach. I looked and acted fine, but after reading that article listed above, mama took me back to work to have me checked out. I stayed a few hours, had blood drawn and a catheter put in, then I came home. Everything for me turned out fine- I had a second blood draw and the catheter taken out yesterday. But obviously this is not always the case. The mentos gum had xylitol and sorbitol in it- maybe there wasn't very much xylitol. I also get Wysong's AddLife probiotics sprinkled on my food every night, and mama started giving me milk thistle after she realized what I'd eaten. Milk thistle can be found at a health food store or WalMart, and is very helpful with liver function.
I am a lucky girl- I can't promise I'll stop counter surfing, but mama promised she'll be reading labels and not buying anything with xylitol in it any more.

Puppies, puppies, puppies!

My breeder asked if we could socialize some puppies with kids and dogs with tails :) so we had a litter of my nephews come visit for a few days this week. Those boys were crazy- well, mama says they were actually very sweet puppies. The kids all wanted to keep one red boy named Tonka, but we know he and his brothers Po and Hoop will be going to great homes.
With all the talk about backyard breeders and puppy mills, it was so nice to spend some time with a well planned, healthy and happy litter of pups. These guys will never know what it's like to be born deformed or suffer health or behavior problems due to neglect or irresponsible breeding.
We are thankful for shelters and rescue groups- and especially for all the low cost spay and neuter groups, but we're also thankful there are great breeders out there producing great examples of their breed and finding loving forever homes for them.

An early retirement

Turns out that I was really only enjoying the sheep so I could chase a bit and get some extra attention...I don't really have it in me to actually "herd" them. We even tried herding ducks, but I just ran them over.
So Roper gets to be the herding dog, and I'm hoping to get my CGC this summer. Maybe I can find a counter surfing competition or snuggling contest. Hey, we all have our strengths...

Nah nah nah nah boo boo!

I think I"m going to be a better herding dog than Roper ;)
Today was only my second lesson, and I really whipped those sheep into shape. I was a little nervous at first since my trainer took me in so mama could watch. Then I saw those chaseable sheep bums and just had to follow them around barking my quiet bark! I am much gentler than Rope- he had to wear a basket muzzle today so he couldn't rip off any pieces of any of the ewes, but I got to go au natural...
It was rainy today so mama didn't bring the new baby (camera), but we're hoping for nicer weather next week so you can see some more of me giving those sheep the what for.
My pals Grady and Chase did pawsomely today as well- Aussies rule, Cattle dogs drool :)

6 hours

That's all the time mama trusts my Dramamine to work. Well, today I got some at 9 am, then Levi, CB and I got to go on a fun hike on some logging trails with our good buddy Chase and his mama!! How pawsome! We had a great time running around off leash sniffing stuff and chasing....and the boys had to pee everywhere ;) Then we came home and a little later Roper and I got to go petsitting with mama and see our pals Zeke and Charlie. Charlie is not a little Golden any more- he's bigger than me and still a super playful guy. Zeke kept trying to flirt with me by licking my ears, but I told him Levi wouldn't be too happy about that! Then we were home by 3 and I didn't toss my cookies at all! My sister Gypsy is not so lucky- sometimes the Dramamine works, sometimes not. We're thinking of trying Cerenia on her- anyone use it for motion sickness. We hate leaving my fun little sis at home the most, but we hate to see her feel so bad...

My Tail of Devotion for Fling, NPC♥

This is a special Tail of Devotion

See All Tails of Devotion

What is this wet stuff in my water dish??

Mama went to Petco yesterday- she almost never goes in there, but the kids wanted to look at the lizards and bunnies and stuff...she got us some crazy mint water made for the Dog Whisperer. I don't know if I should drink it- will it make me calm submissive?? I kind of like being wild and jumpy!
On a different note, Roper and I went to the Clear Creek trail with mama tonight and met 2 cattle dogs. The little one Lucy was a bit bossy, but I learned from Cali how to trick a dog into thinking they're the boss while retaining all your Queeniness! The bigger blue one, Max, was a real sweetie- he's 9 and went blind from PRA, but boy can that dog fetch a tennis ball. He and Levi would be quite a pair- see no evil and hear no evil.
I could be speak no evil if I'd just remember I'm debarked and could keep my big mouth shut...

Pals

My diary entries always seem to involve sad things, so I'll start with the sad part. My doggie friend Chester went to the Bridge today. His pic is on my page, but he's not on dogster. Mama has petsit for him for 5 years and we all really love him. Mama and the kids went to say goodbye to him today- he's had bad hips furever and he was fine Tuesday...then he wouldn't get up at all Wednesday. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers- his humans have no kids and Chester was their baby.
The good part of my diary is that Roper and I got to see some of our favorite pals- Charlotte and Wilbur!! Of course it was cloudy and cold and the humans were freezing. Roper loved chasing Char all over the beach and I had a good time running off to visit everyone. So after the beach, we went to see Chester and his owners at the vet hospital. Right around the time Chester went to the Bridge, the clouds broke and it turned into a beautiful day. Cali, Niko and Ringo probably threw a huge welcome pawty for Chester and it brightened the whole sky. RIP and run without pain, our friend- we will miss you more than you know.

Summer plans

Well, us dogs don't have much say in the matter, but the humans just got back from a weekend trip.
They went to a sanctuary called Wolf Haven in Olympia, Wa and didn't even take us! They said it was very cool to see our wild cousins... Then they went to the Olympic Mountains and saw some real live deer! Man, we missed out on all the fun, but we did have a fun time with our petsitter and got lots of treats and snuggles. Roper and CB did great.
Tonight our Grandma is coming to visit us for a week, so if you don't see us around,that's why!!
Hope you're all having a fun summer and we'll all woof at you soon.