What an exciting week!

Last week Mommy finally came home from work on Sunday and announced "It's FINALLY Summer!!!"

This caused me to wiggle faster than usual, because summer = Mommy's home most of the time! Or even better....Mommy AND puppies get to travel and visit all our friends!

On Monday, we left for our first adventure of the summer. Way long ago, when we were still living in North Carolina, Rondo met a sweet pomeranian puppy named Parker. He talked to him on Dogster quite a bit before I was even part of Mommy's family! This was back in the day when she was fostering pomeranians and still had her beloved Fritz.

Then one day Parker's Mommy got a brother for him, named Jack-Jack. And after Mommy placed Fritz in his forever home, she brought me home.

Parker's Mommy came to visit Raleigh a LOT, so one week while she was there we all met up at one of our favorite dog parks. It was so much fun! Mommy got to be very good friends with Parker's Mommy, and then moved back to Illinois, 2 hours away from all of them! A lot has changed since then, but we're all still good buddies. Our first vacation of the year was to Chicago for a week to stay at Parker, Jack-Jack, and now Bebe Belle at their beautiful home in Chicago!

We love going to Chicago! The first time we visited them there, Parker was working on opening his doggie boutique, Parker's Pets. We went so Mommy could help them with all the pre-opening fun stuff. And now, almost 2 years later, we were back to help work for the week.

We had a great time! Mommy went a little crazy shopping for us, though, so I came home with a new car safety harness that's been crash-tested and is amazing! I've never been so comfortable in my car seatbelt, and this one looks much more secure than the one I had been using. I see one in Rondo's future too!

I also got a wide assortment of chewies, including a 36 inch bully stick. When Mommy gave that sucker to me my eyes almost popped out of my head! How did I ever get to be such a lucky little cockerina?

What we really needed, though, were new collars. Rondo got a special collar ordered for him, it's a beautiful dachshund collar from Up Country! I got an adorable furry pink leopard collar from walkie woo. Mommy also got me a new leash that is just like Rondo's current leash, only purple.

But stuff is just stuff. The real fun on the trip were all the amazing walks we got to take! Parker lives close to the lake in Chicago, so we got to do an early morning walk by the water. We also got to explore a couple of Chicago area parks and meet some really amazing Chicago area pups! On our last walk there, we saw the sweetest man pulling his lab/chow mix in a little red wagon. The pup was old, blind, and had trouble walking, but loved being outside so his Daddy just loaded him in a wagon and took him out to enjoy life. Mommy also got to meet Parker's holistic vet and even got the name of a great holistic vet only about an hour from here, so we'll be visiting her sometime soon!

All in all, we had a great week and I'm really tired now!

How strangely accurate!

I decided to go check my doggie horoscope for the first time:

It's easy for you to stop thinking because you have so little going on in there. But it's a lot harder for your human to turn things off in their brain. That's where you and long, long walks come on the scene.

Hahahahaha! Mommy always says I'm a lucky girl because I don't think very much. And she thinks way TOO much. We have been going on a lot of long walks lately. Hmmmm......

Doomed

I write this to you, dear friends, from the area called "Under the Bed". If you look on your maps, you'll see it to the east of "Water Bowl" and just south of "Outside."

My paws tremble as I impart this news to you all. There's a....a.....a MONSTER named Dyson Airmuscle DC 28 living in our kitchen right now. The very scary UPS man delivered it here about a week ago and Mommy stashed it, still shrink-wrapped, in the laundry room. Nothing to be afraid of at that point, seeing as it couldn't escape its traveling crate with all that plastic binding it in place.

But this morning, Mommy set it free. It has a leash, but she hasn't attached it to the wall. WHAT IS SHE THINKING? I've had experience with these....THINGS before, just not this specific breed. They're loud, they STEAL MY FUR from the couch and the floor and my dog bed, and Mommy has to stay behind them when they're active. I think that's because she's afraid to get to close to their mouths. That must be because they are NAUGHTY and they bite. Why on EARTH would she not tether that thing to the wall? I swear, sometimes Mommys are really dumb.

Well, I don't like it. I'm scared, dear friends. Do you think it can come get me in "Under the Bed"? Or should I go find a better hiding spot? This is terrible, simply unbearable. How could one little cocker princess be so unlucky?

Tagged!!!

My handsome smoochy friend Parker the Pom tagged me!

The rules to this game are to put in four of the following and then tag four other pups! So here goes:

Name four jobs that you've had.
1. I watch for groundhogs at Doggie Central every day, and then I tell Mommy when they come out to eat.

2. I'm a stuffie surgeon whose specialty is fluff-ectomies. I take my job seriously and pride myself on my ability to work quickly and efficiently. Sure, Mommy does the stitches and sometimes she doesn't do a good job, but that's HER professional failure, not mine!

3. I'm a personal trainer. Even when Mommy is sleepy and doesn't feel like running or rollerblading, I force her to go anyway. She thanks me for it later, but WOW! What a tough job!

4. On the side, I work as our home's resident vacuum cleaner. Spill some tasty vittles? Drop stuff while cooking? Never fear, the Gretta will have the floor spotless in milliseconds!

Four places you have lived.
1. The place where I was born. Mommy says it's called "breeders" but she doesn't know anything about it!
2. Chapel Hill, with some people who didn't like me very much. To be honest, most of the time I lived in a cage :(.
3. Cary, NC. We lived on a lake and went hiking ALL the time, I loved it there!
4. Now our family lives in Normal (ha ha ha!). We love being in the Midwest again!

Four places where you have been.
1. To Chicago, to visit Parker and Jack-Jack at Parker's Pets!
2. Gramma and Grampa's house
3. Many state and national parks. Our family loves to be outside and loves to hike in the woods!
4. Downtown Raleigh. One of the nicest places ever to be a dog!

Four places you'd rather be.
Well, I don't like being anywhere without my Mommy! But if I could take her....
1. The biggest, greenest, flattest field in the world, where I could sprint off-leash and maybe finally catch a groundhog.
2. At the vet....BOY I had a good time there on Friday!
3. Chicago....*sigh*....I have so much fun there!
4. At Parker and Jack-Jack's lakehouse. I loved all the toys, and staring out the windows at the birds...

Friends I choose to play tag:
Gio
Choxie
Brody
Smoke the *poker*

Mommy on Wheels

So we made it! We now live in this gloriously flat land called "Illinois." It's wonderful! We have a bigger apartment, I have an entire people-bed in front of the large window, and the best part....GROUNDHOGS! They creep out from behind the fence and engage in groundhoggish activities, which are fascinating, let me tell you!

Anyhow, a lot of things have changed since the move. Mommy is home a lot more, which Rondo and I both love. We finally got to meet our dogster pal Zeus, who perplexes me. There aren't as many places to go hang out as there were in Raleigh, but we love the options we do have.

The biggest change, though, is our exercise. Back in Raleigh, Mommy and I were avid runners. Nothing was more fun than running through the woods, dashing through the trails at Mommy's side. We still run here, but because of Constitution Trail we have new options. Mommy's favorite is rollerblading, and I get to go with her!

At first I was a little scared. Those contraptions on Mommy's feet made strange noises, and OH! She could go so fast!

But after I got used to those clunkers, I realized how much fun this rollerblading could be. I get to gallop as fast as I want to, for as long as I want to...and Mommy can always keep up! I thought jogging was so much fun, but sprinting through this autumn-like weather *sigh*. There really is no greater joy for a little spaniel girl. And Rondo is so jealous!

But boy, I'm tired out. We went this morning, and it's all I can do to move from my favorite naptime spot. All this exercise makes me a sleepy girl.

An Old Friend Leaves Us

Today I am one sad, sad cocker. Yesterday evening, Mom and I engaged in our typical end-of-day activity of snuggling on the couch. It's my favorite, that couch. There is enough room for me and Rondo and Mommy to stretch out and take long naps together, it's the best spot for post-workday tummy rubs, nothing beats it for leverage in a rousing game of tug...I just love our couch!

Yesterday was a day like any other...until we heard the "knock knock knock" on the door. Excited, I leapt from my warm spot and started ringing the potty bell. I wanted to make sure Mommy knew to open the door.

She peeked through the peephole and cracked the door. OMD! New friends! New friends! New friends! Cocker dance! Whine! Piddle in the kitchen! Uncermemonious throwing me into the crate?!?

Puzzled, I stopped my joyful "I love you" expressions to watch these new people. Mommy took a check from them (SCORE! Free cookies at the bank drive-thru!) and then....they took my couch pillows.

Fair enough...I still have the cushions and the sofa itself. Sharing is caring, after all!

Then Mommy and the man grabbed the cushions.

Well, I guess if they really need them, I won't begrudge those nice new friends my cushions. After all, I still have the big piece of the furniture.

Then the two men grabbed my part. My couch, my beloved couch. It was the first place where I had a big-time snuggle with Mommy, the site of my very first photo session...the place where I hid my chewies and destroyed tennis balls. It was my security, my sleeping place....my friend.

And now it's gone. No microchip, no collar, no tags. Stolen right under my nose.

Mommy let me out of my crate, and I ran to the window. There went Ole Greenie, forced to ride in the back of a truck. I swear I heard him calling to me. I curled up in the corner of the loveseat, our last piece of furniture, and wouldn't budge. My little heart is so sad...now where will I go to get all my snuggles?

Greenie, Ole Greenie....please come home!

Water: Friend AND Foe?!?

As I grow older and wiser, I realize that life is all about dualities. My heartworm preventative, for instance, is both tasty meat treat AND medication. The Kong functions as both hider of the peanut butter AND vessel of my evening snack.

Well, little did I know that these dualities extended to the dreaded bathtub. Like most pups, bathtime is not my favorite thing in the world. In fact, I pretty much despise it. I mean, seriously...what planet are these humans from? How can Mom truly believe that all the wonderful stench, stink, and dirt I work so hard to accumulate needs to be removed?

As a wee cocker puppy, I associated all bodies of water with the bathtub. I couldn't believe that my crazy brother Rondo would willingly jump in the creek, the lake, or the giant puddle and have fun doing it! I once followed him into the creek in Chapel Hill and squealed the moment I hit the water, scrambling out like I'd been burned.

Last week, however, things changed.

We live on this glorious lake, filled with ducks and geese and turtles and fish...and while Rondo still loves jumping in and swimming around, I've consistantly turned up my pretty little nose. It didn't help that it took awhile for me to become trustworthy on my recalls, so Mom wouldn't let me off leash to play. Things change, however. After lots of fantastic obedience work at the dog park, Mom decided it was the day. She let me off-leash to play with our collie friend. He wanted to play chase-the-cocker, though...and I wanted to play with the geese!

I silently approached them, hoping that they would respect my ability to be calm and poised. There were two big geese and a whole pack of little fuzzy ones! The mommy goose started bobbing her head and making hissing noises! Of course, that must mean that she likes me and wants to play!

They waddled into the water, hissing and bobbing the whole way. Well, what was a cocker girl to do? I couldn't be rude and avoid their giant bathtub! So I threw caution to the wind and leapt in after them. I had the BEST time, paddling around behind them, grinning all the while. I looked over my shoulder and saw Mommy screaming my name, but I just couldn't catch the command after that. I mean, she hasn't taught me to lip read!

So I kept swimming after those birds, who were still hissing and bobbing their heads. At this point my silly Mommy was running through a giant patch of poison ivy, still yelling my name. Couldn't she see I was having fun? That understanding the Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde nature of the water was a wonderful experience for me?

But let me tell you, swimming can be very tiring. After about a half hour, I decided to come back to the shore. I ran up to Betsy, who owns my collie friends, grinning because I'd had SO MUCH FUN swimming! I shook off the glorious stinky pond water and greeted Mommy with thank-you kisses.

So why was she so upset? Humans....talk about another weird duality I don't understand yet....

Cocker Crossing--Musings on a Friend

Sometimes when Mom sleeps a little too long in the mornings we meet our friend Mitzi on the trail. Mitzi is one of the only other Cocker Spaniels we know. She's so beautiful--brown and white spackled (not a technical term, but you get the jist!), soft eyes, floofy ears. She looks like an older version of my sister, who I haven't seen since I came to live with Mom.

She's a mystery to me, though. I get so excited, wigglebutting all over the place, but Mitzi stays aloof. She even acts frightened sometimes, shying away from my puppy exuberance. Mom usually puts me into a sit/wait because she says I'm a little too much to take sometimes. I usually cock my head quizzically at Mom....why isn't she a merry little cocker like our breed standard says?

Mom and Mitzi's dad talk every time they meet. Apparently Mitzi has a very sad backstory, one that too-easily could have been my fate. She was rescued from a puppy mill after having mothered countless litters of pups. For years, she didn't have access to all the wonderful things Rondo and I take for granted--she lived in a cage without fleece blankies, never got yummy cookies and barely got enough food, didn't know what it was like to snuggle with your person in front of a warm fire, all the while enjoying a tasty chewy, never knew how nice it is to get loved on at the salon...and never knew that humans (and other doggies) can be one of the best parts of life. To her, they were just torture. A hand didn't mean petting and tummy rubs, it meant pain and fright. Meeting another dog wasn't the start of a fun playgroup at the dog park, it marked the start of another horrible cycle.

She's come a long way--she is now utterly devoted to her people, loves going on walks around the lake (her Daddy was SO proud that last week she totally forgot about being scared and did what we cockers are bred to do--flush fowl!), and gets utterly spoiled at her groomer. The only scars left are the ones that won't ever fade--the ones imprinted on her memory.

We are so lucky. So lucky to have a tummy full of food, a box full of cookies, and unlimited belly rubs. So lucky that we never had to experience the horrible things in life, and that we don't have unhealable scars. Mom tells the both of us that we have no idea how lucky we are. But after meeting Mitzi I think I'm getting closer to realizing the extent of my good fortune.

Before me, Mom worked with puppy mill victims, helping them assimilate into the life of spoiled rotten housepets. There is no greater joy teaching an abused animal its most important lesson (and the most difficult)--how to be a dog. Please, if you have time, look at these websites and take action; whether it's educating yourself, fostering, or handing out pamphlets. Don't let this awful practice continue--if you can, do your part to make sure that no other pup has to live with this fate:

Stop Puppy Mills
Puppy mill Rescue
Prisoners of Greed
No Puppy Mills

The Dog Park (AKA Cocker Heaven)

If you've read Rondo's diary you'll know that Santa brought us a magical little card. Mom holds it under a reader and "beep"....a gate opens.

The pearly gates, in my cocker opinion! The keepers of a wonderful, intoxicating, brilliantly fun world where leashes don't exist and we're allowed to run and play freely!

The first couple of times we went I was so unsure of what to do. Mom took my leash off and I stuck right by her. I ventured off a couple of times to greet other pups, but after about 20 seconds would panic and sprint back to where Mom was.

But yesterday I discovered the essence of what it means to truly live!

We went to a smaller section of the park and met a little Norwich Terrier named Rizzo. Then a little Bichon came in and we started running.....my ears flew in the wind as I galloped crazily around, chasing those silly little poofballs. We had the best time! And everyone talked about how sweet and pretty and friendly I was *smiles*.

After all that running I was SOOOOO thirsty, so I watched as Rizzo and Maisy went to this steel bowl. Water! I love water!

I drank....and drank....and drank....and wouldn't you know! That bowl NEVER went dry! Mom laughed at the puzzled look on my face as it magically bubbled up from underneath. How could a water bowl be that amazingly awesome that it was always fresh, always cool, and always full?!?!?

Heaven.....that must be the answer...

My Tail of Devotion for ♥ Gretta ♥

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