New Clothes

Mom has been busy in her sewing room. Now that Karma and I are old enough, she lets us come down and watch her. We like it down there because the carpet is soft, and we can keep an eye on Mom while we snooze. This week, she surprised us by making new collars for us. They are VERY pretty, and super duper comfortable! Best of all, they have no big black uncomfortable buckle. They just slip on over our heads, and then Mom tightens them. Karma's collar is just like mine, only it is blue and gold cause blue is her favourite colour.

When she finished the collars, Mom re-made our walking harnesses. They are a lot lighter now, and they don't change size like they used to. Mine is purple to match my collar, and Karma's is blue to match her collar. We make a real fashion statement when we go walking. :-)

I'm a STAR!

Mom tells me all the time that I'm a star, but this time it's different cause I have been ON TELEVISION!! Yuppers, me and Karma and a whole bunch of other Pendragon Poodles. When we went to our reunion picnic in the summer, there was a camera crew there and I did some sits and waves at the camera. Last week, we were on the Animal Planet channel, in a show called Breeder of the Pack! We haven't seen the show yet cause apparently we don't get cable in this house, whatever that is. But on the Animal Planet website, there are some production stills pictures, and a promo clip and I AM IN THE BACKGROUND in one part of the clip. I am soooo excited to see the whole show!!! Mom is geting a DVD of it from someone who made a copy. If you are in Canada, you can see the show again on CTV on November 1. Maybe it will air in the U.S.A. too. I don't know about that, but I hope they like me, I really hope they like me!!

I Can SWIM

Last week at the cottage, I got to ride in the boat a few times, and once we went to the beach to play. The beach is pawsome fun, because there is lots of sand and water, and people too! My mom said we had to stay on the sand where the boats come in to anchor, but there was a little path leading to the beach where all the people were. The best fun was running through the little path when Mom wasn't looking, and meeting all the nice people on the other side. It is so much fun to see Mom run after me. It made me leap for joy!

The next best fun at the beach was chasing the frisbee. When we play frisbee at the park I just don't bother to chase it because Karma will never let me get it in a million years. But at the beach, Mom and Dad throw the frisbee into the water, and I have a little advantage over Karma because I am not afraid of the water at all, but Karma really doesn't like it all that much. So when she hesitates, I zoom into the lead and get the frisbee! Yay me!! Only too bad, when I try to grab it, my paw gets to it first and it goes under the water somehow. I have to figure that one out.

Anyways, Mom is very excited because at the beach I showed her that I really CAN swim all by myself, and I won't need a floaty for my butt after all. It is an awful lot of work to swim, but Mom says it will be easier as I get more practice and get better at it.

A Poodle Picnic

One week ago my family all got in the truck and we drove to where Karma and I were born. Lots of poodles were invited there for a party, you see. It was a very exciting time. When we arrived, we parked in a big lot, and then there was a very big long white car called a limousine that drove us V.I.P.'s (Very Important Poodles) the rest of the way to the party. It was pawsome! Lots of room to stretch out and really make ourselves comfortable!

When we got to the party place, Karma and I each got a special bandana with our name on it. Hers was red, and mine was blue. All the poodles with blue bandanas were my own sisters and brothers, cause we all had the same mom, Mailorder Annie! Same with Karma's red bandana, for Karma's mom, Porsche.

There were lots and lots of poodles at the party, and even more people. It was a nice hot day but there was lots of shade for everyone. Everyone was super friendly to me, and I got lots of petting, and lots of sniffing too.

All the people ate hamburgers and drank milkshakes, and there were tubs of nice cool water for us dogs. At the end of the party, I got a special party hat to wear, and there was CAKE!! Yummy liver cake, and every dog got a slice on a paper plate.

Best of all, we each got a LOOT BAG, and it had pawsome stuff in it like pigs ears and bully sticks, which I loooooove to chew on.

I got to meet my mom Annie and have my picture taken with her. She is smaller than I remember her though! Karma got to meet her mom too. I am going to put up some pictures from the party so everyone can see what a fun time we had.

My Scary Day

Two days ago I had a really scary day. I did not know what was happening to me! Mom took me and Karma for a walk, and then she put Karma in the house and took just me in the truck. She drove me to the place where they give me nice treats and stick needles into me. Not that I mind the needles, as long as I get extra treats!

This time, Mom asked me to sit on the wiggly platform, and they said I weigh 20 kilograms exactly, whatever that is. Then Mom and another lady led me through the hallway and down the stairs into a room with lots of cages. There were 2 Pugs and a terrier in cages already. They started yelling at me and my Mom, and they just wouldn't stop! I put my tail down and hunched my back because their barking was making me scared, and I didn't know what was happening. The lady opened up a door to a cage and put in a fluffy pink blanket, and then she asked me to go in. I did, and she shut the door. Then my Mom left the room, and I was all alone with those noisy dogs. Where was Karma? Where was my Mom? I was sad and confused.

After a while, another lady came and got me, and brought me upstairs again. They put me on a table, and stuck a needle in me. The next thing I knew, I woke up with a bandage on my paw. I felt really, really sleepy, and I just waited for my Mom to come and get me. Finally, after a long long day, Mom and Dad were there for me. They put me in the truck and drove me home. All I wanted to do was sleep! Karma was really happy to see me, and I was really happy to see her too, but I just couldn't play. I went straight upstairs and went to bed! I was so glad to be back home again. And that was the end of my very scary day.

Nasty Lumpy Bump!

Last week I was golfing with my friend Maddy the Portuguese Water Dog, and my foot started bleeding. Mom put a leash back on me right away because she thought I stepped on some glass, so we went straight home to look at it. My foot was a little bit hairy because I was due for a beauty treatment, but all Mom found on my foot was this scabby, lumpy thing. She thought it might be a tick, so she rubbed it counterclockwise to see if a tick would come out, but no tick! It only started bleeding a little bit more. Every day the lumpy bump got a little bigger, and by Sunday Mom called the vet to bring me in. It doesn't bother me unless I run around lots because then it bleeds, and I sure wouldn't want any sharks coming after me, because I have heard that they can smell blood miles away!! Anyways, yesterday was Monday and Mom took me to see the vet. He was really nice and everything, and pulled out a big book to show Mom what he thought the lumpy bump might be. But he doesn't know for sure. Tomorrow Mom has to bring me back there so they can take a piece of that lump and send it away to someone who can tell us what it is. The vet put a nice orange bandage on my foot with smiley faces on it, and when I go outside, Mom puts on just one purple Muttluk to cover the bandage. She says we have to keep the dirt out of my lumpy bump. I don't know why we need to protect it like that. I say, bury it! Give me back my toe, you nasty lumpy bump! The vet thinks that it might just go away by itself, but we need to find out for sure what it is. Wish me luck, all my friends! I will write again and tell you all about my surgery....

A Terrible Fright

Today I had a near-death experience. It started out as a really fun walk, but I am lucky to be alive! Mom took me and Karma out on the golf course and took off our leashes so we could run. Last week where we walked there were ducks, which were really fun to chase. So we went over there again. Today there were some ducks and geese swimming in a different place that I didn't see last time. Instead of going with Mom and Karma towards the stream, I ran to the left towards the birds I saw. What I didn't know was that I was running across the ice of a pond! When I got close to the birds, the ice broke and I fell into the cold water. Mom was screaming my name and I was trying my best to keep my head above water. I remembered a little bit of my swimming lessons, and paddled over to the ice. I couldn't pull myself up onto the ice no matter how hard I tried! Mom ran around the pond calling to me, and got closer to me, on the shore where there was no ice. I looked at her and the shore, but I didn't think I could swim that far. I was really scared!! Finally Mom found a long branch and held it out across the water. I was still a long way from the branch, but it made me think that I could swim at least to there. Mom called my name over and over, and told me to kick my back legs and swim to the stick. I was scared and cold, but at last I let go of the ice and swam to her. I was in the water for about 10 minutes, so I was very cold when I got out. Mom squeezed the water out of my fur and put her nice white down jacket around me to warm me up. Then we had to walk home as fast as we could. Good thing it was a warm spring day, but I was shivering and shaking whenever I stopped. Once we got home, my boys and Dad brought nice dry towels and wrapped me up until I was not shivering anymore. Then Dad and Mom put me in a nice warm bath and got me clean again. I slept all afternoon! Mom has been petting me all the time and making Karma jealous. She is happy that I didn't drown, and believe me, so am I!

All That Grooming!

I am a patient pup, but I am getting just a little bit tired of being groomed. Honestly, how is a girl to get any rest if someone is constantly combing her fur???!!! It used to be that Mom would only brush me once in a while. Then a groomer last summer found mats in my ears and cut them out with scissors. Mom was upset about that. Lucky we found Java and Lexi's Mom to do our grooming after that disaster! Then Java's Mom sold my Mom a special de-matting tool, and the rest is history. Mom is paranoid about mats. Every day she is picking through my fur, feeling for mats. What is WITH that?!! At first I didn't mind too much. I thought it was a passing fad that would die out once the novelty wore off. It's been quite a while though, and she is still at it. If she comes into the room and I am peacefully lying on the couch getting some beauty rest, she picks up her tools and comes at me. Please somebody, tell her to let me grow my hair into cords like some Poodles do. Then I think she would not be brushing and combing and dematting me all the time!!!

Another Slipper

Yesterday my mom went out and left the gate open so Karma and I could go upstairs and sleep on the big bed. That was really nice of her. I love my mom! I was so grateful, I wanted to snuggle with her. The only problem was, she was gone. It's pretty hard to snuggle with someone who isn't there. So I looked around for something that smelled like mom so I could snuggle with that instead. I found the perfect thing, right there at the front door. A slipper!!!! Snuggling with the slipper helps me pretend that mom is not gone out after all.

I didn't hear the garage door open when she came back, and I didn't think to run back downstairs and put the slipper back at the door. I'm always glad to see my mom, and I went downstairs to see her. But I didn't follow her back up the stairs because I didn't want her to be mad at me for snuggling with her slipper. That traitor Karma bounded up the stairs four at a time and lead mom straight to the bed where the slipper was. I just sat at the bottom of the stairs and waited for Mom to come back down. I had a hard time looking at her because I felt bad about taking the slipper. Here's the funny thing, though. Mom didn't yell at me at all. She just put the slipper back on her foot and came downstairs to pet me and let me go outside to play with Karma. Maybe she is glad that I didn't eat the slipper this time!

Too Many Slippers

I got busted with a slipper. Actually, more than once. Last time, Dad caught me on the bed just as I jumped up with Mom's slipper in my mouth. Honestly, I was only going to do a little cleaning, because there was a spot of gravy on it! Since this was about the 7th slipper that went through my washing cycle, Mom went out and bought a gate for the kitchen door. Boo hoo! Now whenever we are alone in the house, she puts up that gate and we have to hang out in the kitchen and family room. *sigh* The couches are not nearly as soft and comfy as the bed upstairs. Mom must not have been happy with my slipper cleaning service. I hope she will give me another chance though!