A Dog's Life Survey

I saw this survey on Tess and Sully's pages and decided I had to do my own!

.:About you:.

Name: Izzy

Age (in dog years): 4

Age (in human years): 28, I suppose

Breed: Basenji/Jack Russell terrier

Fur color: Tan/white

Fur Pattern: Mostly tan with some white on my chest and legs

Size: Medium

Weight: 32 lbs

Nuetered/Spayed: Neutered

Where are you now: Outside in the yard following Tess and Sully

How many brothers/sisters did/do you have: I have no idea how many siblings I have, or if I have any at all. Now in my forever house I have a JRT "sister" and a JRT "brother."

Do you have any strange markings: Momma says that the white on the back of my neck looks like a candle

Were you adopted from a pound: Yes, twice I was in a pound... then Momma adopted me from my last family when they couldn't take care of me anymore

.:Favorites:.

Food: Anything raw

Sleeping spot: On the big dog bed with everyone

Walking place: The dog park

Bone: Any raw meaty bone

Treat: Bully sticks

Animal to chase: Squirrels, birds, cats... pretty much anything in the yard

.:Top 3:.

Who's your #1 friend: Tess

#2 friend: Sully

#3 friend: My human family

What's your #1 toy: Skinneez stuffingless toys

#2 toy: Any type of stuffed animal I can carry around

#3 toy: Any type of ball so I can fetch it

.:Have you ever:.

Been to the beach: No

Seen snow: Yes

Traveled out of your town: Yes

Bite a person: Never

Been bit BY a person: No, but I've been abused by people before

Ate a frog: Possibly

Broke a leg or paw: No, but I've gotten broken ribs from mean people

.:Extras:.

Most annoying thing a human can do: I'm not sure about annoying, but the worst thing a human can do is abuse and mistreat me like my first family did

Most awesome thing a human can do: Love me and tell me I'm a good boy

Boyfriend/girlfriend: I like everyone but don't always know how to show that properly

Do you wear a collar: Yes

If so what color: Light green

A little bit heartsick

I miss my Aunt Lizzie! Momma says she's going to be gone for a while because she is away at college in a place called Syracuse. Momma is sad that she's gone too but she says she'll be back soon enough. Well, it's not soon enough for ME! I really have no concept of time so I haven't a clue what "soon enough" actually means. I HATE being this confused! Oh Aunt Lizzie, why don't you just come baaaaack?

I got in BIG TROUBLE a few weeks ago. I got super-overexcited when Momma let me and Tess out in the yard and I attacked Tess! I swear I didn't really mean to do it... I think sometimes bad memories pop into my head about my first home where I was abused and I forget where I am and feel like I'm in danger again. One moment I was running out the door and the next moment I felt Momma's hand hit my bottom VERY hard! I yelped and ran back into the house and cowered in my crate, afraid that Momma was going to beat me like in my old home. (Only later did I realize that Momma smacked my behind because I was on top of Tess slashing at her throat as she screeched and tried to get away. I am still so ashamed that I did that to my sister... she's always been so nice to me.) Momma came and pulled me out of the crate and rolled me onto my back and held me down on the floor. I was shaking and scared and just kept waiting for the beating... but it never came! She just held me on the floor and had Tess come over and sniff me and stuff. I finally relaxed when I realized that I wasn't going to be beaten. Then Momma let me up and I heard her talking about "obedience training" and "discipline" and "rules." I didnt know what all that meant but I have found out over the past few weeks. Now I have to Wait before running outside, until Momma says it's okay. I have to Wait before coming back in, until Momma says okay. I have to Wait for my food... just stare at it sitting in it's bowl... until Momma says okay. And so on and so on... you get the point. Tess and I are still good buddies and we play together all the time. I'm glad she doesn't hold grudges because I really didn't intend to try and hurt her. (By the way, she's pretty hairy around her neck because she has a broken coat, so I only ripped out some chunks of hair... no cuts or anything. I'm happy about that!)

Well I have to go now... there are critters in the yard that need chasing!

I've been a busy Izzy!

Hi Dogsters... we have been oh so very busy at our house lately so we haven't really had too much time to devote to Dogster... but we miss everyone a lot! (Also, Momma says the internet service has been atrocious. I don't know what that means exactly but she didn't seem happy to say it.)

I've been going through a phase wherein I eat garbage. A lot. I chewed holes in the garbage bags after Momma and Daddy hosted the DDQ (aka Dirt Dog Barbeque) and pulled lots of yummy stuff out of the bags and ate it! I also shredded some paper towels up and spread 'em all over the patio! I was proud of myself but Momma was angry with me. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I don't MEAN to get in trouble on purpose! I just get excited when I find something fun to do and then I don't think about how the humans will feel about it until they're yelling or giving me dirty looks. Oh yeah... but back to the garbage stuff. Daddy left some chicken bones and gravy in a styrofoam container on the den table and I jumped on the table and ate it before the humans got to cleaning it up. MAN was Momma ever pissed! She was freaking out just because I ate a few cooked chicken bones... why? They were delicious! (She kept saying something about splintering and me choking and internal bleeding... um... I asked Tess about it and she said she didn't really know about the splintering, but bleeding is a bad thing. Gulp!)

This past weekend Momma had her bachelorette party and then her bridal shower. I'm not sure what those were but she was gone most of the weekend and then Daddy came home with a huge carload of presents! I was so excited and I watched him like a hawk as he unpacked the car but there was nothing in there for us pups. That's disappointing, to say the least!

One cool part about the weekend though was that I met Aunt Chrissy, Momma's best friend from college. She's in Momma's wedding and she came all the way down here from Albany and stayed for the whole weekend! I just loved her... she petted me a lot and let me climb right into her lap whenever I wanted. That's my kind of girl! (But Aunt Lizzie, if you're reading this, I still LOVE YOU THE MOSTEST!)

I must excuse myself now... I feel the urge to start a wrestling session with Tess and Sully! Later gators!

Could this be love?

I didn't think I could actually fall in love with a human. I mean, I love my momma and daddy and auntie and grandma, and my old mama and Aunt Krista... but I have never FALLEN in love with a human and I didn't think it was possible.

Until I met Aunt Lizzie.

Aunt Lizzie used to work with Momma at her job. She has a new job now but they are still good friends and Aunt Lizzie comes over to our house a lot. The first time I saw her I got lightheaded... she is just so pretty and she bent down and hugged me and that was it. My heart belongs to her. When she comes over I pretty much only have eyes for her and all I want to do is be in her lap. She adores me and she calls me "her man." I'm blushing... BLUSHING! She is so cute! I also like the fact that one day she came over and she smelled a little bit like hot dogs... Momma says that's because she worked at the golf course all day and there's food there. I have no clue what a golf course is but I want to go there so I can sit with Aunt Lizzie! The sun RISES and SETS with this girl as far as I'm concerned. (And it's okay that she doesn't always smell like hot dogs.)

Yes, I still love Momma and my human family but Aunt Lizzie is my WORLD when she's around. End of discussion. (Her sister, Aunt Jillian, is very nice as well. I sit with her occasionally just to make sure that I spread the love and she doesn't feel bad. But really, I'm ALL Aunt Lizzie's!)

Okay, a bit off-topic now... Sully's half-sister, Finny, came over for a playdate yesterday! She's a cute little JRT with longer hair and bushy eyebrows like Tess. She didn't seem to want to play too much and I bugged her for a while until Momma said to stop and then I was a good boy and I listened. Finny's humans kept throwing tennis balls for us and that's when Finny came alive! She ran after the ball like a crazy dog! I tried to get the ball but it went out of my fence boundary and I forgot and got shocked - ouch! Other than that though it was a lot of fun. Momma says she's very proud of me because I was great with Finny's human sisters... they're the first kids I've ever really spent time with and Momma was a bit nervous at how I'd react. She needn't have worried because kids don't bother me... I'm a little wary of them at first but once I get to know them I'm perfectly okay. I'm very gentle and I'd rather chew my own leg off than hurt anyone.

Hmm, this is a lot of work, this writing business... I think I'll go chew on the Orvis bed that's supposedly "indestructible." HA! I'll just have to prove that false!

I won!

Auntie's a sucker! She tried to give me a bath today and she FAILED MISERABLY! Woo-hoo! I just kept jumping out of the tub with my nimble self and finally she gave up! Yesssss! VICTORY IS MINE! I won, I won, I won! Uh-huh, that's me, I'm good, it's my birthday! Yippee and hooray for ME! I'm da MAN!

..........

Uh-oh, Auntie called Momma at work. I think I'm getting a bath when Momma gets home.

Icy goodness

Momma made us something so COOL yesterday! I was so busy enjoying it that I forgot to write about it! Tee hee!

She took this bucket thing and filled it up with water, carrots, doggy biscuits, and peanut butter (mmm one of my favorites!) and then she put it in the freezer for a while. Finally, she took it out and she and Daddy put it on this metal rod in the backyard. Since I'm tall, I got the best shot at licking off all the good stuff at the top! It was soooooo good that I wished I could have another one as soon as we finished the first one! Tess kept showing me her teeth because she didn't want to share with me, but Momma kept intervening so she eventually stopped. She's a little too porky to be getting so many treats, if you ask me... but Momma tries to treat us all the same so I guess if Tess doesn't get treats then we don't either.

I've noticed that Sully gets to go many places and it upsets me. I know he behaves nicely in public, but I try doing that too! I can't help it if there are so many interesting things around me that I don't listen to Momma... or that I run after small animals and people and moving garbage and anything that catches my eye... I'm a high-energy kind of guy! I need to MOVE and EXPERIENCE the world, not just sit back and wait for things to happen!

I took a nap on Momma's dirty clothes yesterday while she was sorting the laundry. It was so nice! Sully told me that Daddy's clothes make the best bed because they're so stinky, but I really preferred to stick close to Momma. You never quite know when she'll be handing out cookies, so you've gotta stay by her constantly!

Momma gave us some fried chicken today! Talk about YUM! I ate mine so fast that Momma says she almost didn't even notice that I'd eaten anything. That's how I do!! I wish she'd give us fried chicken every day but the other dogs say that almost never happens. Oh well... I still enjoy it lots! It sure beats sitting in a shelter cage all lonely and by myself, with no lap to lay on and nobody to pay any attention to me. I love it here!

Zapped

I am not excited about the electric fence anymore! If I run all the way to the back of our yard and try to hop the fence, all of a sudden this enormous SHOCK zaps me and it scares the living daylights out of me! Momma and Daddy set up flags for me so I know where I can and can't run in the yard. I'm kinda scared to go outside now... and how come the other three dogs can still go anywhere in the yard they want? Tess thinks it has something to do with the new collar Momma makes me wear... she thinks that's where the zaps come from!

I hope this isn't true. I thought my new family was nice!

[Whine]

My first trip to Petco...

... did not go well.

Momma took me out to run some errands the other day. First we went to her job at the store to meet her friends, Jill and Carly. They were very nice to me but I was a little more interested in checking out the store and all of the cool stuff that I could get into. (Momma didn't approve and kept me on leash.) After the store, we drove to Petco. When I got out of the car I could smell lots of different animals and it made me nervous because that's what the kill shelters smelled like too (except Petco didn't smell like death, thank goodness). I was excited to see what was inside though. Momma said I needed to get a harness so I would stop pulling her, so we walked over to look at harnesses and stuff. Momma was NOT happy when I lifted my leg and peed all over some big bags of dog food... why? I was just telling her I wanted them for myself! Since she can't speak dog, I'm limited in my communications with her... geez, you'd think she'd be more motivated to learn our language!

The part that Momma hated the most was when I pooped all over the place when she was looking at the harnesses. I knew I shouldn't have done it but I really had to poo and I was nervous on top of that, so... it all came out. I knew I did something bad and so I cowered and hid behind Momma. She was nice to me and soothing so I calmed down a little, but I could sense how disappointed she was and it made me sad.

Once we got home, she let me outside and I saw a SQUIRREL running up a tree at the side of the yard! I took off after the evil little thing and bolted up the tree and cimbed the fence to chase it into our next-door neighbor's yard. The lady who lives there was outside smoking a cigarette and she just laughed as Momma came running after me yelling my name. I was in seriously BIG TROUBLE after that... and ever since then, Momma will not let me out without that dumb ole harness and leash on. I want to run and stretch my legs... I love Momma but I do NOT want to be outside tethered to her all day! She keeps saying something about some type of 'lectric fence that's coming today and she says I can run once we get it. Yippee!!! I can't wait for this fence to arrive!

I'm in big trouble

I am very confused. Why do Momma and Daddy yell at me when I jump over the fence to go and visit the neighbors? I just want to be friendly so people will like me... I would never hurt a fly! But when I climb up the woodpile to go jump into Shyla's yard, they yell at me. Daddy had to hop the fence to come get me and then Momma had to do it too. Then today I got into our other neighbor's yard (Momma doesn't know how since there is no woodpile for me to use as a stepstool) and Momma was REALLY angry because she had to drive around in the car to get me and the yard was only partially fenced in. When I got home she put me in my crate and was saying something about "going back to basics" and "too much freedom" and "obedience classes" and "having a leash on all the time." I'm not sure what all that means but I didn't like her tone of voice. Would they rather me be UN-friendly and NOT go to visit people? I don't get what they want from me! [Whine whine] I want to be good! It just seems like trouble finds me... I don't mean to be naughty!

We killed a squirrel!

Today was a momentous occasion at our house because we FINALLY CAUGHT A SQUIRREL! Tess tells me that they've been trying to catch one their entire lives and have never succeeded... up 'til NOW! I consider myself responsible for this success somewhat because they never caught a squirrel until I came to live with them, BOL. Unfortunately I didn't get to play with it... Tess and Sully tore the squirrel in half and Tess took the head while Sully took the rear end and tail. It looked like so much fun but... well, let's just say I am FAR from alpha dog here. Momma was at work so Daddy was the one who discovered Tess holding the squirrel's head. I wonder why he freaked out when she brought it into the house? We were just trying to show him our accomplishment! Momma seemed grossed out when she came home too... she kept shaking her head and scrunching up her face and saying, "Poor squirrel." Why do people think that squirrels are innocent? Every dog knows that squirrels are the only thing preventing world peace! People have the wrong idea; it's not the terrorists! IT'S SQUIRRELS!

Anyway, I'm adjusting here very well. The other dogs have really accepted me as one of their own and Momma and Daddy are really nice, although they expect me to listen to all of these complicated rules that I'm not used to. I try to understand but I get really confused. I haven't exactly had the most stable life. But Tess and Sully let me lay on the Orvis bed with them at night and that's really nice! I also love snuggling on the couch with Momma and the other dogs; it makes me feel like part of a real family!