WOW! Dog of the Day?! Me? I'm honored!

Well, all of my life, Wednesdays have been special. Wednesday has always been doggy day for me. When I was little, mom and Auntie Monica would get together on wednesdays and I always got to play with the newfies and any other dogs that were at the Newf Spa. Then when we moved to Jersey, mom started bringing me to Dog Days Doggy Day camp every wednesday. We very rarely missed. So wednesdays were always my favorite day.

So I'm thinking that its fitting for today to be the day that I get to be Dog of the Day.

Poor mommy's been crying all day. She is very proud that I'm dotd, but she wishes that I could have been with her to have pizza to celebrate. She even stopped at Vitos and got a pizza. I wish I could let her know that this place is heaven and I can have whatever I want...so there's always pizza!

Not only are all of my bodacious bullmastiffs aunties really proud of me, but a lot of my friends here have told me that their parents and sibs have reached out to mom and have become our friends and given us pressies. I'm really grateful to all of the dogster members, especially friends from my other groups, for their love and support. It means a lot to mom and to me.

God Bless.
Hugs & Slobbers forever.
Diesel

Welcome 2009...a note from my mom.

The days go by so quickly. Its hard to believe we are turning the page on another year.

Highs & lows, joys & sorrows are sprinkled thru the mundane blandness of the year. Most of the time goes by in a blur of normalcy. Days that scurry along...whizzing and whirring...lines between them almost erased... as we go about our business. Play, eat, sleep, poop...such is a dog's life. Work, play, eat, sleep, pick up poop...such is a human's life.

Then there are the not-so-normal days. The days that will stand out in our memory...for better or for worst. The birth of a child. The lost item that was found. The unexpected letter from a long lost friend. The loss of a precious loved one. The call from the company that you got the new job. The day you married your sweetheart. The day you got into that car accident.

For better or for worst...this is your life. You're in it for the long haul and most days its bearable...some days its downright blissful! But somedays are so sad that you just go thru the motions til you get back to the normal days again.

When you get past the sadness and look back...if you look at it the right way...you realized how Blessed you are...even during the bad times. Blessed because you didn't go thru it alone...you had family & friends...angels among us...who beared you up with their little angel wings and helped you get thru.

And then you realize that its not the norm...the sad times are fleeting...they eventually float away and become a memory. They are around long enough to shape you...change you...mold you.... and then they are gone and you go on about your every day business. The wounds they leave eventually heal and tho you may be scarred, you do heal...but are forever changed.

So as you look back at the year that passed and breathe a sigh of relief that you made it thru...look toward the year ahead and go boldly into it with a renewed sense of purpose. Make the most of each boring, mundane day and be grateful for the wonderful, warm, fuzzy, comfort of a plain ol' day spent doing the same ol' things with the same ol' people.

And so for 2009, I wish for you... many average, warm-oatmeal-kinds of days that you can spend enjoying your family and friends. Relish them and eat them up...for those are the days that will fortify you. Live in the moment.

May God Bless you. I wish you Good Health and Prosperity, Love and Joy....oh yeah...and World Peace.
Hugs & slobbers forever,
Janet & Diesel

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

WOWZERS!!! Mom always said that the whole Christmas thing was to celebrate the Birth of the Baby Jesus. Well, to me it was a lot of running around and wrapping and presents and lights and it was all so facinating...but here in heaven...its a m a z i n g!!!

Of course Mom is always right...and she said that the Heavens Rejoice at the Birth of the Savior! Well, let me tell you...what a party! The angels are singing and the saints are praising and Jesus...well...let's just say He's enjoying the whole thing.

I'm not able to be with my mom and I know she's sad cause she's missing me and this is our first Christmas apart... but Auntie Christy & Uncle Andy, Ty, Em & Rinks will be with her...so she'll be ok. I am with all of the other angels here and there is a lot of wonderous things going on. Mom wondered if Jesus took me cause He wanted another doggy and let me tell you He's got all of us here. We're all His doggies and its like every day is a wednesday at Dog Days Camp for Canines!

Mom's right... its not about the presents...tho I like them too...its about the love and here everything is pure love...like the way I love my mom and she loves me. Pure and unconditional. I know things on earth aren't perfect, but we do the best we can until we get here. Keep trying...love like the doggies do and when you get here...we'll all be together. Merry Christmas. Happy Birthday Jesus. And Happy Hanukkah for our Jewish friends.

Now I'm really mommy's angel.

Goodbye my furiends! I love you all. But its time for me to go and be with WC Diesel and Milo and Gus.

My mom did all she could for me and I gave it my best shot too, but this evening in my mommy's arms, I let go and stopped fighting. I went on my own when I was ready. It was the last gift that I was able to give my mom, so she didn't have to make the decision for me. My grandpa came and got me. Mom saw the light bulb blow when he took me with him. Mom told me it was ok to go and be with Mark. She said she loves me and it was ok. So I went with them.

We had a wonderful life. Adventures and good times more than made up for the sadness and sorrow that we shared when Mark died. It was a life filled with pizza and love and goofiness and soft hugs and bully kisses... funny costumes and road trips...we were best friends, soul mates. We knew what we were each thinking and who needs to be able to speak english in order to communicate. Our 7th anniversary would have been this saturday, Nov. 8th. It was the happiest day of my mommy's life when I went to live with her. Its hard to believe how fast the time has passed.

I know she's going to be sad, but I also know that she knows I'm always with her...in her heart...forever. We will never be apart cause we are a part of each other.

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support while I was sick. It means a lot to us.
Over and out.
Hugs & Slobbers,
Big D.

OMD!!!!! PIZZA!!!

Holy Cats I had all of the parts of a slice of pizza! It was fabulous! I've never had the cheese part before. :0

Mom couldn't believe how much I loved it. I think she made a big mistake by starting that. I inhaled it. WOOHOO!

Thank you God! I had a fabulous birthday!

WOOHOO! Its Pawty Time!!

YAHOO! I'm 7 today! Its my birthday!

I been waitin' allllll year for this! DO I SMELL CAKE!?!?!?! Buahahahaha. Yes I do! And cookies...lots and lots of cookies from My Best Friend's Bakery!!

Man this is saweet! Mom took my picture at lunchtime with all my loot and she gave me two cookies out of Hammer, Iz & Sophie's basket. It was so good. I kept lookin' at mom like: hey, I know there's more...fork 'em over sister. hahaha. but she didn't fall for it.

The other baskets we're gonna save until Ty & Mr. Wrinkles come for my special birthday party in a couple of weeks. Mom says I'm supposed to be on a diet, but I say phooey on that. Them cookies are fresh with all natural ingredients...I should eat extra so I grow up to be healthy & strong.
;)

We're gonna have pizza for supper tonight and mom says an extra long walk cause its so nice and cool this evening...to wear off them cookies and pizza crusts!

I can't thank everyone enough for all of the birthday wishes. I'm really enjoying my day and hope that everyone else can celebrate with some pizza too!

The soul would have no rainbows, had the eyes no tears.

My mom so enjoys hanging out with all of our pals on Dogster. They have become our family and we've had the pleasure of meeting some of them in person. We celebrate each others birthdays and the holidays...we even exchange presents! She loves to shop for the others. We had a limit that she just can't stick to! We are a big neighborhood full of aunties and uncles and the best friends ever.

Usually we all play games and ask training & health questions and share our triumphs and goofy photos. We call and text and send pics and check up on each other in storms. But today we mourn... as we have so many times in the past few weeks. Today we found out that we lost one of our best friends, West Coast Diesel. We just said good bye to Gus & Milo and now, Big D. Mom even has Big D's birthday present all wrapped and ready to go. It was supposed to go out today. He's at the Bridge now because heaven needed another angel. And he sure was an angel here on earth.

Its all too much for my mom. She's really sad. She says she's mostly sad cause she knows that their families love them like she loves me and that breaks her heart. I never thought it was possible to get more hugs & kisses than I did, but now she's always rubbin on my head and hugging and kissing me. She stops a lot more during the day and thanks God for giving her such a wonderful boy. And she asks God to continue to bless me with good health. She always has, but now she feels more frantic because time passes so quickly.

See, what makes her sad is that I'm going to be 7 soon and I'm looking a little gray around the muzzle. She thought I'd be a pup forever. But now she sees that isn't the case and that makes her sad.

I keep telling her to remember what Auntie Meredith said last week...celebrate life. Sometimes its hard cause we get caught up in the sadness, but she's going to do her best to celebrate me instead of being worried about what's next. We're just going to enjoy each day as it comes and make the most of it.

My birthday is in 10 days and we're going to have some cake! But the big party will be when Auntie Christy comes with my best friends in October. Then we're going to eat burgers and pizza and cake and party all weekend!

The most important thing we've learned in the past couple of weeks is that life is for the living. We can't live like we're going to die. We're going to eat up every moment and savor it. We honor our friends and cherish the difference that they have made in our lives. We celebrate them and thank God for the blessings that they are to us. Angels on earth.

"The Soul Would Have No Rainbows, Had The Eyes No Tears."

The Rockstar and the RaceCar Driver

Mom is finally getting around to writing my diary after our vacation. It was an awesome vacation. But before we tell you about it, we need to say how sad we are at the loss of our friends Milo & Gus. Its just been a sad time for Bodacious Bullies for a while now with several of our pals going to the Bridge. We know deep down that heaven needs angels too and that the Bridge is a better place now that they are there, but we sure do miss them.

Well, our vacation was great. We drove a total of 3758 miles which included a drive across Newfoundland to get to St. John’s. We were on the ferry for two trips…7 hours each time. I slept in the truck instead of going in the kennel. Mom took the open ferry so that I would have fresh air and the nice man put our suv up in front where I would get a good breeze without any fumes from the other cars.

Did I ever tell you that I’m a rockstar? Well, it’s true every where I go people want to touch me and meet me and take a picture with me. If that doesn’t make me a rockstar, then maybe it’s the treatment I get wherever I stay. Auntie Donna and Auntie Angie and Gramma all put a blankie over their sofas so I could get up and be comfortable. There was a never ending supply of carrots and I was the center of attention. Mom says it got so bad that I wouldn’t listen. She would tell me to sit and I’d look at her like, “yeah right”. Well that didn’t last long til Mom laid down the law. I knew I was pushing my luck, but it was worth a try.

I’ve given mom a new nickname, Smoke McQueen. Buahahaha. She would pass the cars on the turnpike and say something like, “move over dude, I’m gonna smoke you’re a—“ One of mom's friends says she drives like Steve McQueen. Therefore I’m callin’ her Smoke McQueen. She really does love the driving and if she was a little more brave about being on the road, we’d buy our own 18 wheeler and live like Smokey and the Bandit! Well at the very least she aspires to win the lottery so we can get our own RV and tour every state and province in the United States and Canada…like rockstars!

Mom says I’m a real good traveler now. I even eat most of my meals now. When we first tried the road trip thing, I was too wound up to eat. Our first over night was at a seedy motel called the St. Stephen Inn. I got scared cause she said it was a ‘fleabag motel’ I’m reallllll grateful for Frontline! We made out ok eventhough the place was icky. The next night we arrived at Gramma’s house! I loved the cool Canadian air. It was so nice and mom said I smelled like flowers from being outside.

I got to see my old Newfie pal Lola. When I first went to her house, when I was just a little guy, she had four brothers and sisters. Now she is the only one left of her pack. Her mama Auntie Monica now has all new doggies. There are six of them.

I also stayed with Auntie Donna and Travis. Travis picked my name. He’s a hockey star and goes to college in New York. He’s the smartest hockey player in the history of Potsdam University!! WOOHOO! GO Travis!

We also stayed with Ariana and Isabella...aka IzzieB. We had a camp in instead of a camp out cause it was too cold out. The girls were scared of me first, but soon couldn’t help but hug the Dman. I told you I’m a rockstar! They were singing to me and covering me in their blankies and putting the pillow under my head. They had lots and lots of baby carrots for me to eat. We all slept in the family room. It was fun.

The best part was seeing my Gramma again. She really loves me and kept telling me what a good boy I am. That’s about when I started to act up and mom laid the smack down. Her little dog, Missy didn’t even bite me this time. She yapped at me once and when I started telling Gramma, mom got mad for me barking at Gramma. But I was only telling her what happened. After that, I just avoided the little dog and walked as far away from her as I could. Gramma still thinks I'm the best doggie ever.

On the way back we stayed at the Fireside Inn at Bangor. That place was neat…no fleas!!! They had a king size bed and I got up there on my blankie and stretched out. Mom wondered where she would sleep. Silly mom, I moved over a little.

Well, it was a great trip. Mom says someday we’ll probably move back home, but for now, Jersey is where its at. The rockstar and the race car driver livin large in New Jersey.

New England Bullmastiff Convention

Ok...so I'm home, I'm rested up and I'm bored already.

But mom seems glad that I'm on a normal schedule again. She says she got a little scared that I wouldn't eat on friday or saturday...but she said its ok in a way cause I need to lose weight! She says now that its spring we have to start with the walks again because I porked up over the winter! (and so did she!) Great...I finally see the beautiful leggy brunette supermodel Emma and I'm a porker. :(

I have to tell you, I was nervous. I wasn't sure what would happen when I got there...but as soon as I saw Emma, I planted a big kiss on her and disarmed her. She acted all shy and put out, but she loved it. She came back for more. I told you Ladies Love the Dman and Emma is no exception.

Ty is so cool. We were like best buds as soon as we met. And our parents got along really well too. I can't believe there are people who are goofy like mom out there...but there they were...Uncle Andy and Auntie Christy and mom hanging out and relaxing and laughing just like they were always friends. Mom needed to relax...the heart doctor says she has to go for a stress test tomorrow, so she is glad that we really enjoyed our weekend. But her arms are tired from the driving...luckily we don't think a stress test involves arms.

We didnt get a chance to do much cause I was so tired from the ride and we were waiting for Bella to come... her dad had a problem so she couldn't stay all weekend :( but we got to hang out with her for most of the afternoon and that was awesome. She and her mom are so pretty and so nice. I kissed Auntie Meredith cause I love her alot. Mom loves her too. She says that its like they've all been friends forever. I didn't look when Bella kissed Ty cause I didn't want to have to face Dozer but mom took a picture! So there's proof. We hope to visit them again... maybe next year!

The Inn was awesome. Mr. Steve had everything we could ever want and doggy stuff was all over the place! Mom says she was surprised that with all of their doggy customers it was one of the cleanest places she had ever been in! And I wish she'd shut up about breakfast. She keeps telling everyone what great breakfasts they had and how they didn't have to eat all day after!

Well, I'm off to write love notes to Emma. I don't know how I'll last until next time I see her. Mom said she's going to make a dvd of all of the pics when she gets them. then she can play it on the tv for me so I can see my friends anytime I want. But its not the same. :(
I want to go back.

WOWZERS! I been stung by the arrow of Cupid.

Oh Miss Grace, I can't believe you done shot me with the arrow of Cupid! Sisalee got me too!


So here's how it works; in Valentine Day tag, you write your five Valentine Day wishes in a diary entry, then choose five of your pup pals and have them write down five of THEIR wishes. Then they choose five pup pals... and so on and so on...

You can let your five pup pals know that they have been tagged by paw mail, or rosette. Have fun and I hope all of your Valentine Day wishes come true!

My 5 Valentine wishes are:
1. That everyday would be my birthday so I could have cake for breakfast.
2. That mom would win the lottery so I could go to camp everyday instead of one day a week.
3. That mom would call my grandpawrents (breeders) and get me a little sister to play with so I wouldn't be bored all day.
4. That just once I could walk down the street without meeting my adoring fans. (well not really, I'm just trying to be humble)
5. That all of the little dogs in the world would lose their barkers and stop barking at me when they see me at the pet store. I don't even look at them and they are all barking and making a fuss. Its hard to shop when i spend so much of my time trying to ignore them.

I pick:

1. TBD.