An Amazing Year...

We received our plaques from CPE Agility tonight. Duncan is the #1 Enthusiast Dog in the country for 2010!!!!! We are all very proud of him and hope that mom fixes a special dinner for him (that we get to share). As for the rest of us, Doolin was #2 Regular Dog, Duffy was #4 Regular and Dori was #5 Regular. All of us in the Top 5 in the country. Mom is all leaky and dad can't wait to get pictures, but we'll just take steak please. Don't bother cooking it.

Peace out,
Duncan #1
Duffy #4
Doolin #2
Dori #5
Devin (what???)

We assume he's here to stay....

Well dogs, it's been almost a month since Devin came into the pack and he's still here. I guess that means he's going to stay. He's not all that bad after all. He only barks when we bark and he seems to have attached himself to Doolin. He's Doolin's shadow actually and watches to see what his big brother is going to do and then mimics it perfectly. We all have had our say (grrrrrr) when he gets too rambunctious, but all in all we are getting along just fine. I guess he's OK and we can tolerate him, but we are all going to start training the little pup. He has no manners at all!!!!

Rest in Peace Little Nikki

We had to say goodbye to our dear furiend Nikki today and let her go over the bridge. She faded this weekend and passed in her mom's arms this morning. She was here before we ever were and mom and dad used to puppy sit for her and her sister Reba. They are what inspired them to look for dogs in the first place. Nikki may look like a foo foo poodle, but she was a total rock star. She climbed many, many mountains with us and was always up for play time. She came to stay with us last Christmas with her two sibs and we had loads of fun. Mostly she loved to snuggle and would do that for hours. Mom called her "Q-Tip" because she was always so soft and fluffy.

Rest in Peace dear furiend. You will be missed by many hoomans and dogs.

Another Power Outage...

At around 10:30 last night our house went BLACK! The wind was howling and trees were crashing all around us. One big pine across the road snapped way up and the huge top half came crashing down in the street, taking major power lines with it. It twanged the lines so badly that the rest of the power poles are all out of alignment up the road. They look DRUNK! So, here we sit all cozy with the wood stove going, the generators running out back, with lights, freezer, fridge, microwave and computer and wondering what the rest of the street is doing. It's too dark out there to see much and those wires are still out in the road, so we are NOT going out there to find out. Mom, stick another log in the fire please...

Here in this house...

Mom saw this posted on our Schnauzers Rule group tonight and she thought of every one of us. She figured it was worth posting for good. We agree...

Here in this house... I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks
of the other dogs 'out there'. I can sleep soundly, assured that when
I wake my world will not have changed. I will never know hunger, or the fear of
not knowing if I'll eat. I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from
the heat. I will feel the sun's heat, and the rain's coolness, and be
allowed to smell all that can reach my nose. My fur will shine, and never be dirty or
matted.

Here in this house... There will be an effort to communicate with
me on my level. I will be talked to and, even if I don't understand, I
can enjoy the warmth of the words. I will be given a name so that I
may know who I am among many. My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!

Here in this house... I will never be a substitute for anything I am
not. I will never be used to improve peoples' images of themselves. I
will be loved because I am who I am, not someone's idea of who I
should be. I will never suffer for someone's anger, impatience, or
stupidity. I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved
by all. If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.

Here in this house... I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch...
knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me. If I am ill, I
will be doctored. If scared, I will be calmed. If sad, I will be
cheered. No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful
and known to be of value.
I will never be cast out because ! I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not
cute enough. My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought. I
will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair
as dogs.
Here in this house... I will belong. I will be home.

Happy Annifursary!

Yesterday was our 3rd annifursary on Dogster. We have had a great time here with all of our furiends and made loads of new ones. Mom and Dad have made loads of friends too and even met a few! How cool is that? We just wanted to let all the pups know that we are glad to be your furiends, love being in your lives and look forward to another year of old furiends, new furiends and FUN!

We Rocked the CPE Nationals!!!!!

Yes folks, once again we have survived Nationals. We went to Greenfield Massachusetts, a mere 2.5 hours from our house last weekend and played for three days. Mom was all wigged out in the days before trying to get the Mutt Hut ready, grocery shop and make sure we had all our paperwork and stuff that goes along with trialing. We arrived on Thursday about mid-afternoon and set up, received our check-in goodie bags (LOADS OF TREATS AND TOYS IN THERE!) and settled in with our friends. The weather was pretty much perfect for all three days, though Saturday and Sunday could have used more cloud cover. Silly humans make sure we are under cover with fans blowing and cool water available and then they forget to put on sun block and hats and they turn red like cooked lobsters!!!! BOL

All in all we did very well. Duncan took 7 out of 9 qualifying runs, Duffy took 5 of 9, Doolin took 6 of 9 and Dori took 6 of 9. Not bad for a baby that has only been playing for 8 months! We had a blast and mom and dad were so happy with us. We all wanted to stay for the awards ceremony last night, but the computers kept messing up and it was getting later and later, so at 8:30, mom and dad pulled the plug (literally to empty the tanks on the Mutt Hut) and we were off up the highway. We all slept like the dead in our harnesses and blankets in the back seat on the way home.

It was a great Nationals... I hope we get to do it again soon.

Peace,
Duncan, Duffy, Doolin and Dori

Mourning the loss of a furiend...

Our furiend Mulligan (262047), a boxer mix, crossed over the bridge today, quite unexpectedly. We don't know how or why it happened, just that he is gone. We loved Mulligan's diary and we howled at his antics with the wee lass the lads. He was the fortification for the Mulligan Compound and we know his family will miss him terribly. We want to send our prayers to everyone Mulli left behind and hope he smiles down on them from time to time.

Goodbye dear furiend...

Day 6 No Power.....

Soooo, it was sort of fun at first cuddling with the humans by the woodstove and smelling all the great smells that come with wood in the living room. The generator is humming away in the back yard keeping our raw diet very frozen in the big white magic box downstairs in catville. We haven't missed a meal yet, we are warm and comfy and far better off than lots of people in our state, but it's getting old... We really shouldn't complain seeing as we have heat, food, water and a sturdy house, but today we woke up and it's snowing. It's going to snow again on Friday and again on Sunday. What is with this weather? Public Service is saying that they might have us back on the grid by Christmas. We hope Christmas is tomorrow... Oh... WAIT!!!! If the wood stove is going and the chimney is full of smoke and hot, how is Santa Paws going to get in????? We better go unlock the bulkhead down in catville and make sure they don't snatch any of the dog bones we leave out...

*sigh*

Still powerless in NH

Tetrad - Noun - the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one

Duncan here... Well, it's finally happened. The Triad has officially become the Tetrad. I don't know what will happen if we ever go to FIVE!!!!! Everything is going well in the house and we are all getting along, for the most part. Dori and Doolin pick on each other all the time and there are squeals and barks, but no blood. She's young and pushy, he's momma obsessed and just as pushy. Life is good here in this house. There is always room for an animal in need... Can we just get used to this configuration for a little while pleeeeeease?