Important Moments in My Life

It's melted!

Today Mom found the January 7th newspaper halfway down the driveway. It is January 23rd today. Then while carrying out the bale of hay for the horses, the mud sucked off one of her boots and she stepped ankle deep into cold mud. Yes, THIS is my favorite season. Not my Mom's but mine. Soon I will have some nice brown trails in the house that the nasty carpet shampoo men took out.

Garden Terrors

Chiasso's stainless steel spheres enter my world...

Mom read in the newspaper "Nestle one of amongst the greenery and watch how the light plays." So she ordered it and put it out immediately on her way to get me from the barn after work.

I had just experienced a hard day sleeping with the cats and supervising the horses and THIS is how am I rewarded. Suddenly there was this dog face who came closer every time I tried to creep up on him. I would tip toe through the garden from different directions and EVERY time THAT DOG was there. I would reconnoiter but to no avail. Meanwhile Mom is laughing hysterically in the house and called her Mom to report my activities. Is there no decency left in this world?

Dog Beach

What a wonderful concept! I enjoyed swimming and meeting dogs but I needed to see just how far the beach went in each direction. Mom had to chase me down many times. I might have made it to Miami from Fort Lauderdale if she would let me try. I have been twice now but had to stay on the leash the second time. It cost SEVEN dollars for me to go to the beach and nothing for the humans. You can see the Floridians know who are the important ones.

What Mom Forgot

Mom hit a deer with her car Thursday about 2 miles from home on the way to work this week. Do you know that she didn't put it in the trunk and bring it home to me! Maybe she is going to save it till Christmas for me so it will be nicely rotted.

The side of car looks a little different. And here you can see that she had a tasty treat that should have come home to me. Maybe the insurance guys will bring it home to me.

Oh no, I forgot to tell you the most important part. Instead of paying $5 a day for car rental while our car is in the shop, Mom got a deal. She only has to pay $1.90 a day. She brought in my phone book, showed them my picture and said a celebrity would be riding in the car so could she have a discount. She only asked for a 50 cent discount but got $3 off a day .... ALL due to me. Boy is she lucky to have me.

Good news for Mutts and Shelters in My Area!

On the front page of newspaper this morning there is a picture of people with their dog. The caption says, "Stormi'Rae Lutman, 11, left, Kim Lutman and Jordan Lutman, 9, were in their South Fifth Street home in Newark, on Nov. 23 when Rocky, a 10-year-old mutt, chased away an intruder."

There has been a series of home invasions here with someone cutting the phone lines and breaking down the door to rob people. So now I bet more people will go pick up a mutt to live with them. I am already on duty here for my Mom. I am a mutt too so for sure I will do an extra good job protecting the house.

A Doggy Thanksgiving

Last night on the way to the barn, in the dark, Mom noticed me sniffing at a lump of something white. She went over to investigate and it was a defurred head of a deer with one antler attached. For some reason she was disgusted. I have no idea why she didn't think MY Thanksgiving dinner was the coolest ever. The neighbors who live behind us deer hunt so she thinks I got it there but she refuses to ask. I think that the great Dog of the sky delivered it to me for Thanksgiving and I am very thankful. Right now I am gnawing on it outside as Mom types. AND as an added benefit she gives me breath improvement bones EVERY time I come in now. My breath already smells wonderful but I don't complain because I am a good dog.

Cosmos & me

Mom planted some Comos (http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/flowers/cosmos/cosmos.html) by seed early in the summer. I thought I would have a bunch of Cosmo (http://www.dogster.com/dogs/314343) to play with all summer long. Well, they finally started blooming and good grief...that Cosmo guy is HUGE. I had no idea that they would be towering over my head! Cosmos and Me

My Phone Book Photo

With the help of some Dogster Pals and a few other people, I was runner up in a local phone book cover dog competition. My picture is a FULL page inside the book and on a montage type of picture. Mom was awarded $250 and I had a photo shoot.

phone book picture

Now......my phone book is in the news. Here is the article that was in the newspaper this weekend.

Sorry, wrong number: Phone-book errors faze county offices, teachers lounge

NEWARK — The newest bar in Newark is the Newark Catholic Faculty Lounge, according to the yellow pages in Windstream’s most recent Newark/Licking County/Zanesville phone book.



But the mistake and others that list wrong phone numbers are no laughing matter, those affected say.

“It’s been embarrassing for our school,” Principal Beth Hill said, recalling many prank calls the room has received in the past two weeks. “That’s why I hate to bring any more attention to it.”

At least the Newark Catholic phone number is correct. Other numbers, such as the Licking County Department of Job and Family Services, are wrong, or not even there.

“Even where there is a full print, there are still some errors,” Director John Fisher said.

If a person calls the number listed for JFS in either the white or yellow pages, he or she actually is calling a part-time office in Pataskala. Looking in the Government Information section, while some of the numbers are correct, the number to report child abuse is wrong.

“All of our numbers are not listed in either the white pages or the yellow pages,” Fisher said. “Most individuals don’t use those government information sections.”

By calling the number listed at Child Abuse Reporting, the call goes to a non-existent voicemail service and is hung up. The real number is listed next to “Child Care Client Eligibility.”

“Are we talking issues of public safety?” Fisher said. “This type of an error could not have come at a worse time.”

The department is trying to get its correct numbers known and is talking with Windstream to see if anything can be fixed.

“What type of corrections can come from here?” he said. “I don’t know.”

Licking County Commissioner Tim Bubb said county officials are disappointed that the numbers are wrong and hope to see any problems fixed in the future.

“The phone book is still heavily depended on,” he said. “You and I both know they’re not going to reprint the phone book. I’d hope the phone company would consider sending out an addendum.”

The phone book is printed by Local Insight Media, a national company that prints more than 900 companies’ phone books, spokesperson Pat Nichols said.

“We strive for optimum accuracy,” she said. “Certainly from an online standpoint, we would correct the number.”

Local Insight receives the phone numbers by direct-feed from Windstream and typically wouldn’t change the numbers that appear in the book.

It isn’t known how the errors occurred yet, or how they will be fixed for the current edition of the phone book, Nichols said.

Until then, community offices will try to make the correct information available. And Newark Catholic staff will hope for a reprieve from prank calls.

“We don’t want to lose our sense of humor over it,” Hill said. “(But) it’s not cute anymore.”



Mom laughed pretty hard. Am I still a celebrity dog?

Birdie Brother for Sale...cheep

Would you like a birdie brother? My bro climbed off his cage this morning, tried to rip apart a squeeky toy I have been careful with THEN threw it at me onto the sun porch!

MY toy...not his!

Dawes Arboretum

Mom and I have started taking dog walks every week with a woman from church and her dog, Sadie. Last week we went to a dog park. Today at Dawes I showed Sadie how to swim in the ponds! She was fascinated and is off to her muddy future.

We also did the cool game like a giant cat's cradle where we changed places over and over so our leads were tangled. It was great watching our Moms duck and dodge the leads.

Four Questions to Answer for Pony Girl and Bee Sting Lips

April 4th 2008
There is a new game on Dogster...
Here are the rules:

Give 4 answers for each category.I've been tagged by Faith Lynn, the bee stung princess, and Poana, aka Pony Girl, the secret agent lady.
There are 4 questions to answer.


name 4 jobs that you have:
1. horse herder
2. Official deer guard for my yard and neighbors on both sides
3. I check all incoming visitors at the door, like Pony Girl
4. Mom cuddler

name 4 places where you have lived ( or stayed at ):
1. The animal shelter, before I was adopted
2. my home in Ahia
3. Mom's sister's home in Nerk, Ahia
4. ..... nowhere else

name 4 places that you have been:
1. lost in a state park in Indiana with the horse trailer, Mom, and the horse
2. To Mom's parents' home
3. To my Mom's sister's home
4. Traveling around with Mom in the car

name 4 places you'd rather be:
1. Out in the woods, trailing after the horses
2. Outside, anywhere ...swimming in the creeks and ponds
3. With Mom...wherever she goes.
4. Playing with other dogs

Manna from Heaven

Mom saw it under the pine tree as she drove in. She went to the barn and released me from my doggie day camp with the barn kitties and horses.

I found it right away. It was a perfect fluffy dead squirrel dropped just right into my yard! Oh the joy! Mom, spoilsport, said "Drop it!" so I did....then.

But later when I went out, I got it and brought it right up to the welcome mat and had it all spread out so she could see it good. She didn't praise me, like she does Sammy Sue, the cat, for dead things. Hmmmph. Do you know she smelled her hands then even washed them after petting me. Oh the rudeness I have to live with.

Then she wouldn't let me out again, ALL night long. There was a big snowstorm last night and when I went out the front door, my prize was covered with so much snow that I thought it was stolen! I nearly fell over when I went outside and didn't see it. I wasn't helped by hearing my Mom laughing in the background as I searched for my pièce de résistance. Ha! I found it but now it looks like a piece of iced squirrel jerky pancake.

Teacher Mom....hibernation

Mom teaches school. So that means that I spend A LOT of hours alone during the school year. She had been promising that vacation was coming soon. Well, she got home early (before SIX pm) and just got up today after sleeping THIRTEEN hours. I did my best but a guy can only cuddle for so long. The good news is that her eyes have a sparkle back in them. I was beginning to think that my Mom was taken over by a pod person as the week went on. She was running on so little sleep and constantly working. Are there any other dogs out there who have a spare typist in case my Mom goes into hibernation again? Is there anyone out there who has a parent doing this hibernation thingy too?

For sure not from Sleepless in Seattle.....
Sleepful in Ahia,
Zakie Earl

Ha ha ha...my brother got in trouble but not me!

----- Original Message -----
From: Mom
[mailto:mom]
To: Sue Z.
[mailto:sz@computer school expert]
Sent: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:33:49
-0500
Subject: apology


> Mrs. Z,
>
> I have been bad....really bad. I am sorry from my fluffy tail to the tip of
> my twitching nose. There is a cord near my computers that I couldn't
> resist. Please advise my Mom what type to buy and she will take care of it.
>
> Sorrowfully yours,
> Snickers

The answer to his letter came back the very same day.

Dear Snickers,

I am so sorry that this had to happen so close to Christmas. Looks like Santa Rabbit won't be bringing you any carrots or lettuce this year. Hope you teeth don't turn too black chewing on the coal he brings you!

I will come up and take a look at the cord. Maybe for a small price we could keep this between you and me and Santa won't have to know.

Regretfully yours, Mrs. Z


Sue Z
Technology Assistant
An Elementary School



Wow! I'm sure glad that wasn't me. I'll have to be careful to stay away from Snickers' coal delivery so my teeth stay nice and white.

Oh Happy Day

Think The Edwin Hawkins Singers as a background song....well, ok, it isn't really that happy but it is pretty happy for me.

The DIEt is over! I finished the second of the THIRTY POUND diet food bags that the vet prescribed for me yesterday. Today I go back to my old food but the reduced amount and limited treats. Yes, Mom, limited treats. I know this will be hard for her but she has gotta do it if my neck is to stay within normal size proportions and not the early days Schwarzenegger size.

A song...A SONG was written in my honor

Imagine my surprise when I went looking back through the threads at Dawgs Just Wanna Have Fun to find that Cosmo's mom had written a song for me! What a terrific mom she is. I can feel Cosmo's angry glare all the way from Colorado to here in Ahia!

To the tune of "The Banks of Ahia, sort of..)

I saw a dog
Such handsome dog
Out on a farm
Jumping high, running low
That dog was Zak
The most famous dog
Along the banks of the Ohio!

For those of you who want to sing karaoke style there are versions by Joan Baez, Johnny Cah, Tony Rice, Mark O'Conner, Pete Seeger, and Red Smiley & the Bluegrass Cut-Ups.

Christmas came early!

The BEST thing happened in front of my house last weekend. A deer got hit near my mailbox and died in the ditch. I have been to check on it every day I can get away with it. Twice Mom had to put me in the shower during the work week. One of those times I got deer blood on the bed cover. She was very grossed out. I really don't see what the big fuss is about. I think I smell wonderful after checking out the deer. I am on lock down now and on the horrid chain EVERY time I want to go outside. I want to go out to see my neighbor pal, Sammy, not sit on a chain in the yard. When I go to the barn in the morning she has been taking me on THE LEASH! Geesh, Moms spoil all the fun.

Thanks All Fur Fun

It was an honor to find out that All Fur Fun voted me as their dog of the week. If you haven't been there yet, give it a try if you like any type of word games. I play a couple of them. I do the ?All Fur Fun? A B C's Game which different cats or dogs chose the category and you post the item in A B C order. I do the Celebrity Name Game where you have to name a well known person whose first name starts with the last name of the last person posted. The ?All Fur Fun? - Song Titles Game is where you write a song title with the word the last person gave. You choose the next word if you put in the title of the last song. The And Game is putting one of things that go together like Sonny & then the next person would put Cher and start the next pair. I used to play bingo there during the summer when my typist had more time. It is a fun place if you like games. There are pages and pages of different games. Come on over.

The Limp is Gone!

I'm back! The limp is gone for sure now. I am on 1/2 the dosage of drugs from the vet. The diet is now a part of my life....at least for SIX months. Mom was noticing that I have more of a shape now. Now I don't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger anymore....at least in the neck area. I'm afraid the nephews are gonna laugh. They thought I was bench pressing bales of hay in the barn the last time they saw me. Now they are gonna think I am a greyhound mix. I still think the first three letter of diet say it all.

broccoli...footballs....what next

Now Dogster, I do love your service but these rosettes are definitely not composed by a dog or someone who even knows a dog well. What we dogs would like is....canned dog food, a car, a park, a hand to pet us, squeeky toys, sleeping on a bed, watching tv.

Medicine.....Run, Run, Run

I am limping with my left back leg so Mom took me to the vet's office. What a wonderful smelling place! But that pesky vet gave Mom TWO packages of nasty stuff to give me. One stops the inflamation and another is a pain killer. When I see her get the pills out....I hide. So far I have hidden in the guest room, living room, family room, hall, and outside. When I didn't come in from outside Mom cornered me in the feed room of the barn. Geesh, I wish she would give up already on that stuff. YUCK!

The Bed Making Game

Every morning that I can get away with it, I crawl or roll over to the part of the bed that Mom is making. It is a great time because she laughs and rubs my belly. I was so James Bondish that she thought I was doing it by accident at first. Does anypup out there do this game too?

Tagged!

I have have been tagged by some great buds : Bella, Harper, Domino, and Casey

Here are the rules:

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary The rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1) I sleep with Mom but I only cuddle if we are napping.
2) I hate her new lazy boy so I body slam it from the back.
3)I love to run with the horses and swim in the ponds.
4)I love to chase the cats and run from them.
5) I was adopted from a no kill shelter
6) My parrot, Oscar, sometimes runs down his cage and bites me!
7) I love to eat baked beans and fart the night away.

I am going to tag:
Daisy, Spike, Cosmo, Biloxi Violet, Hannah, Olley, and Chase.

It came from the Earth and bit me!

Mom and I went out to feed the horses and barn cats when we saw Sammy Sue (mouse hunter extraordinaire) with her head WAY down into the grass. In the front yard there is a hole that goes and goes like Alice in Wonderland for mice, so Mom thought this might be another one like that in the back yard. Mom and I both went over to see the hole. I nudged Sammy Sue aside and next thing I knew there was a screaming mad mouse as big as Ralph S. Mouse yelling at me. It was big enough for Mom to see it's wet bed head fur standing up and one really angry expression on it's big ole mousey face. Evidently it was willing to die for Sammy Sue but I had no such luck. It BIT me on the nose. I yelped. And Mom laughed for at least ten minutes. The indignity of it all.

Yes, the mouse got away and Sammy Sue just went calmly to the barn for breakfast.

Fun Dawg of the Week was ME! (March 18 to 25, 2007)

This was my speech after hosting my first pawty.


*****clearing throat and standing on stump******

Now, at the horse rides Mom goes to....when the last rider gets back to camp there are always awards. So here are the awards for this weekend.

The best travelin' to Ahia story is a shared award...Keeko (page 17) and Flecken (pages 19 & 20)

The scariest pawty game suggested is also a shared award.....Scamp (pages 9 & 22) and Snozzle (page 22). And if the Moms are reading this....we DIDN'T do it!

The best get-away from their parent goes to.....Cosmo. He made it past his Mom after she found a gold lame thong in the wash from the last weekend!

Duewayne Dawson wins a double award .... best outfit and Mr. Congeniality (made friends with neighbors, page 35)

The first interspecies proposal award goes to ........Kody Bear. We first heard about it on page 56 then on page 63 it is all out in the open.

The lamest jokes award goes to .......Lily Pad (see pages 48 and 49)

The best disguise award also goes to ....... Lily Pad (be sure to look at the book in the background)

The tiredest dawg and the dawg who tried the hardest to go to the pawty........Trixie (goes to sleep on page 27 and 28 due to Dogster not working right then wakes up on page 52!)

And our last award....for taking the Fun Dawgs on a hayride....and pulling it WITH farty horse.....Kiko (page 57, she offers and page 48...changed into a zebra, thus making pulling the hay wagon possible.


This was the addendum.

*****clearing throat and standing on stump AGAIN******

I already presented the awards, thinking that the last pawty goer was here....but now one final award.

*****clearing throat and standing on stump******

The Award for Best Late for the Pawty Excuse goes to ..........................Flecken (see the page you are on)

Mud Season

Joy of joys....mud season is here. When Mom tried to open my dog yard gate to the field, she ALMOST had her knee high boots sucked off her feet. There is standing water in the field and mud so wonderfully thick and gooey. Heaven. Today we went for our first horseback ride since Christmas. Mom has been sick A LOT this Winter. I have been doing a good job snuggling and following her from couch to bed to hammock for months. Finally, today I got to run, run, and run some more. I was so fast. I kept up with Gabe, the fast horse. But I guess to be fair, Mom did keep Gabe to a trot for the hour. But I DID keep up after all that Winter sloth.Good Dawg.

The Iditarod and POINTERS

My Mom is in a group of teachers helping each other study the Iditarod with their classes. Today she read in a news release that Rick Swenson, the ONLY five time champion, is hoping to win again. Here is the exciting bit.



"Swenson has spent the past 10 years or so mixing short-haired
pointers into his kennel, adding speed."

from http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/coverage_2007/cov07_mar01_01. html


enough said......Pointers Rule the speed world

Navel Investigations

A group Mom is in on this site started talking about dog belly buttons. Someone googled it and found that all dogs have navels. Another person posted a picture of their dog's outie belly button. Thus the great search began. It was like an all cavity search at an airport. A guy couldn't even lay down without Mom visually looking me up and down. Then running her hands on my belly. I like a belly rub as much as any dog but this was getting ridiculous. Mom was too shy to rub very low and obviously my belly button was not in the middle of my stomach like hers. She finally found it the other night and it is an inny. And so very low that there will be no postings of pictures of the above mentioned inny. Thank God that is over. I can hardly wait for what the group writes about next.

Evil Hot Sauce

I LOVE to lick off the excess ketchup that Mom sometimes puts on her plate. Last night she tried a new frozen food. It was Delimex Fajitas Grilled Chicken. Evidently she supposed that it would be too mild and loaded her plate with hot sauce to dip the fajitas. She ate up those fajitas without giving me a taste but left that big ole pile of ketchup looking stuff on her plate. I dove right and and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I gave her the injured puppy look and walked away from her. I THOUGHT she loved me....evidently not!

Caught!

Mom is trying to get my page looking nicer with photos. She got some good ones of the birds, horses, and cats ....but then found I that I (OF COURSE) had to be in each picture to put it on the page. Soooooo here we go again with the borrowed camera.

This morning Mom was trying to catch the "greeting of the cats" that I do every morning. I don't think she realized how fast that all happens and it is nearly impossible to catch with a digital camera. Right when the camera is stuck to her face and she is watching me like a hawk (or like I like to watch for deer) I peed on the hay in the barn. Wow .... she sure was angry! How was I to know that I couldn't mark some nice yellow grass...it was ALREADY yellow.

Overnight at the Relatives

Mom took me to stay with her homeschooling sister's family because it was going to be too cold to stay in the barn while she went to work.

That night I let my niece sleep in her bed a little. She was very assertive and wanted to sleep on her own pillow. I usually sleep in a king sized bed with Mom and get a pillow and spread out a bit. Well, this niece tried twice to move me off her pillow and over on her single bed. I gave her a good growl. But you know what! She tricked me and pretended to leave the room and while I got up to see where we were going, she ran back and reclaimed her bed and pillow! Sniff.

In the morning, excitement of excitements, the doorbell rang! The Mom tried to hold my collar so I wouldn't run outside and ....... I felled her like a tree. Of course I didn't notice in my excitement to get to the door but she was determined to tell everyone how I pulled her over so she pitched to the floor landing totally flat. Hmmmm. Maybe she should just let ME get the door.