Blogging with Beanie

About me, it's all about me....

Hi, I'm the Beanster. I was named for the LL Bean exit on I-95, cuz that's where I came from. Me and my family and friends were all living together and our owner was sick, so he couldn't take good care of us, so my new mom and her friend came and got us. I was a baby, and I was soooo tiny that mom thought there was something seriously wrong with me. All my brothers and my sister were big... as big as I am now, and I was real little, so mom said I had to stay with her so someone wouldn't fall in love with me and then something bad would happen to me and they would be sad. (Like she wasn't gonna fall in love with me??? Yeah, right!!) Anyway, I pretty much grew up normal, except I am still small. I'm not saying I am a brat or anything, but things around here pretty much go my way. It's easy when you're real small... you can walk thru the baby gates with no problem, and if the big dogs start bugging you, all you gotta do is race around between their legs.... drives em crazy!!!!
Everyone says I am photogenic... whatever that means. I say I am just plain CUTE!!!! If that makes me photogenic, then so be it! When I walk, I have to prance pretty fast, cuz, remember, everyone else here is way bigger than me! I discovered that mom went really crazy when I did that stupid obedience stuff, so last week I got to go on a trip and stay at one of my dogster pup pals, Kiwi's, house, and all I had to do was the silly obedience stuff in a fence out in a field. Everyone loved me!! (And, why not????) Between you and me, it was kinda fun!!!! Bye for now, gotta go play with Toto and Jenny.

All in a night's work

The other night me and some friends that come here to do that stupid obedience stuff were practicing. Of course, I am perfect and practicing is not something I do very much, so my mind was wandering a bit. I must admit, I was thinking about all the frogs in Mom's fish pond. Mom called a halt, I stopped and sat down, and something moved under me!!!! I immediately jumped up, and the something jumped up, too!!! Fortunately, we were off leash, so I was able to jump after it. Everytime I jumped, it jumped higher. This was a pretty exciting game.... soon my little min pin friend, Luke, joined in jumping around with me. Next thing, my beagle friend, Scholly, jumped in. (I made a pun!!!!) We were all jumping after the something, and having a good time for ourselves, when the something jumped into the pond. Before I could stop myself, kersplash, I jumped in the pond, too, by mistake! Luke stopped right at the edge, and slowly slid in behind me, and by now, Scholly was following his nose, like a good beagle, so all he did was inhale a bunch of water. Boy, that sure ended the jumping game in a big hurry!!!!
All those serious shepherds and Aussies and labs were still sitting there, waiting for the next command!!! Boring!

A Preppy boy am I.

I don't know if any of you have looked at my "brother" Toto's photos, but right there, in the first one, he is wearing a Coach dog collar. I was pretty mad about that.... I was the one that went to the show where mom got that collar in a raffle, and I didn't get the collar.... wasn't fair at all!!! I do have to admit, when I tried it on, buckled in the smallest hole, it fell all the way down my body and I walked right out of it!
I was sooo disappointed.... I love preppy stuff, polo shirts, designer jackets, bring them on!!!! My Mom could care less.... she wears stuff from wallys world, well, except for the nice green shirt she has with MY picture on the front of it. Now, that is a designer shirt, in my humble opinion, which is the only opinion that counts!!!!
Anyway, today was not my day to go to work with Mom, so imagine my surprise when Mom came home at noon and got both me and Jenny. We wiggled our butts at Toto as we left without him. When we got to work Mom said she had a surprise for us. I got mine first. She opened a little black and white box with a dog's picture on it, and inside was a really nice, little black collar with a pretty charm on it. She put it on me, and I was in heaven.... it was soft and nice, and it smelled soooo good! No wonder Toto likes his so much! Then Jenny got hers.... it's a pretty blue with khaki fabric on it, but I like my black one even better! Mine is all leather with no cheap fabric like hers and Toto's... it's the bestest I ever saw!!! Mine is still a little big, cuz I am a very small boy, but Mom said I would have to live with it, they don't make them any smaller. Let me tell you, I didn't even scratch at it once during the whole rest of the day, and boy oh boy, I can't wait till my pals at obedience class catch a look at me next week!!!!

I'm going Kayaking, yippee!!!!!!!

I am sooo excited..... Mom said I could go kayaking with her on Sunday. I'm not really sure what that means, but, around here anyway, all my dog pals want to do that. This will be my first time!!! Tonight I had to try on a big, orange jacket that mom had in the closet. She was trying and trying to make it small enough for me. It's a funny jacket cuz it has a handle on top and she lifted me right up by the handle!!!! I don't know why I need to have a jacket.... I know Jenny and Clyde don't have one when they go with her!!!! It sure feels funny when I walk in it!
Anyway, she said we would meet a friend of hers at the water place. She said the friend was a veterinarian, and I immediately decided I didn't want to go, but Mom laughed and said it was okay cuz she wouldn't do anything to me. Whew!!!! And, her friend has a little kid that can play with me!!! I LOVE kids!!!!
Anyway, Jenny said the last time she went she saw a whole bunch of baby ducks, and mom and her friend and the kid were feeding them. I hope we see something nice like that. Once when they went they saw a big BEAR.... I hope we don't see one of those!!!!!!!!! I would be very scared, especially if I had a bright orange jacket on so it could see me really well!!! Mom says that is foolish... if I am in the kayak out in the water the bear won't bother me. I sure hope she's right!!!!
Hey, mom just said her friend's mom has my brother!!!! And, they might bring him. That would be sooo cool!!!! Now I am even more excited!!!
I gotta go to sleep now so I can be wide awake for kayaking!!! Maybe mom will take some pictures so I can put them on my page for you all to see???
I will let you know how much fun it was, assuming the bear doesn't get me!!!!! Oh well, if he does, at least I will have a vet there to fix me back up!!!!

My Kayak trip!!!!

Well, we left my house this morning in the cold and rain. Mom said not to worry, the weather would be fine. We got to the pond and while we were waiting for Mom's friend, it got sunny and hot... Mom was right again!!!
Then I got put in the kayak, and we went out into the water and I got VERY scared!!! So scared that I tried to jump out and head for shore!!! That's why my ears are wet in the photo. Anyway, Mom laughed at me, and said she had brought my bed, so I curled up in my bed and tried to hide.
Well, as we went along, I started to feel better. Pretty soon I started looking around and I saw tons and tons of fish swimming underneath us. It was sooo cool, and they were pretty colors. And, Mom's friend had that little girl, Emma, with her, and she was pretty nice and talked to me. I saw lots of painted turtles, lots of pretty flowers in all colors, and we saw a HUGE bird, and it flew right over us!!! I got really brave and walked out to the very front of the kayak. Mom said I was gonna fall in, but I didn't think so! Suddenly, a big fish jumped out of the water in front of our kayak and made me jump, and I slipped right off the kayak into the pond. Mom reeled me in, and I was fine. I heard her tell her friend that every dog does that at least once and now I will know better!
After a while, we came to a big island, and we stopped for a picnic. I was happy to have solid ground under my feet!!!! And, I could run and run and run without my leash cuz we were surrounded by water. Emma gave me some of her lunch. After lunch, Emma went swimming so I decided to walk on out and see how it was. It was warm and nice, so I swam around for a bit with Emma. When we got back in our kayaks, Mom said I didn't have to wear the stupid orange jacket anymore cuz now she knew I could swim. Do you know that jacket weighs as much as I do!!!! She did keep my leash on, tho!
We went on and on and it got pretty hot, so I climbed under the front of the kayak and took a little nap in the shade. Emma was taking a nap in her kayak, too. Finally, we got back to the beginning, and I hopped out and Emma took me for a walk to see all the other people while Mom put the kayak on the car. I think Emma was showing me off, so I strutted my best!! It was a very, very fun day, and Mom's friend, the vet, didn't do anything at all to me, no shots, no pinches, nothing!!!! And, best of all, we didn't see any BEARS!!!!

Pupsitter

Hi all,
Today I got stuck being the puppy sitter. Now, even I will admit, that in itself doesn't sound too bad....play with puppies all day long, right??? WRONG!!! Here's how it goes....
Wake up, stretch, go outside and check out the smells from the night visitors, (you never know.... something may have been in my pen???), and come back inside to join Mom for coffee. Next, I would normally get my collar and leash and go over to work with Mom or go outside with Jenny and Toto for a relaxing day in the sun.... here's where it goes terribly wrong!!!! She takes the three poodle babies and puts them in a stroller (A PINK stroller!!), and I have to actually walk along beside them.... across the parking lot beside a road where my pals may see me!!!! I trie to hide behind the stroller, but I'm sure someone is gonna see me. Hopefully it won't be that cute little schnauzer from daycare that I have my eye on.
When we get there, we all get put into a big pen in the daycare room. Now, normally, I would be running around helping Julie clean the cats or helping the girls eat breakfast, (my job is to keep the floor under the table clean), or something exciting like that, but on pupsitting day I have to go in the pen with those little needle mouths. They do have some pretty good toys in there, but getting them is another matter.... did you ever try to play with a toy with three 12 week old babies hanging off it??? Not easy. I am basically a cool dude, so I go over to sit on the dog bed. Next thing I know, I have three little puff balls sitting on top of me. Well, that's not gonna work, so I go over and stretch out on the cool floor.... drat, what is that wet stuff....oh no.... MOooomMeeEee.....now I need a bath!!!
Pretty soon it is time for us to all go outside and play. Now, I am an adult.... as in done growing, right? These guys are only three months old. Should be a given that I can outrun them. So, I grab a toy and head for the hills. I make the first turn, banking off the corner, with little bodies in hot pursuit. Ah ha, I am liking this game!!! Hit the second corner, and head for the long stretch going all out now. YES.... I sneak a look back and I am still well in the lead, piece of cake!!! Suddenly, out of nowhere....SMACKKKKK.... oh darn, I forgot these are poodles and poodles are smart.... the little buggers split up and one cut across and nailed me on the long stretch. Okay, I give up! Mommmeeeeeeeee..... get me outta here!!!!!!!!!!

A Bad Day for ME!!!

Wasn't a good day around here for me. First of all, I got to go to work, but it was definitely an afterthought!! First thing in the morning Mom took the three puddle babies over, and she took my friend Gracie, too. (Gracie is one of Toto's and Jenny's babies). Finally, about an hour later, Laurie came over and got me, and put me with the babies. NO ONE paid any attention to me all day long! Gracie got to run around, but I didn't!! Then, it was raining and thundering, but Mom still had obedience class. The sun came out, but it was kinda cold, especially when my coat soaked up all the water off the wet grass. Mom MADE me lay down in the wet, cold grass. Then, when the other class started coming and everyone of us jumped up to see them, she yelled at me, and only me!!! Doesn't she know this is MY yard, and I need to protect all my other classmates when someone comes, and I was only doing my job!! Then she gave me some ice cold white stuff in a dish. She said it was a special treat. I thought it might be okay cuz she was eating it, but I was already freezing cold and wet, and this stuff was ICE COLD!!! Some special treat!!! Just as I was deciding I might like it, she took it away and gave it to Luke and Stooly.
The final insult came when she took me home and got Timmy for the second class. I distinctly heard her telling him that he was going to be her bestest obedience dog yet... doesn't she know I have super hearing and would overhear that???? Hurt my feelings, I can tell you!
Oh yeah, she didn't even let me wear my beautiful black, wonderful smelling, new collar to class to show it off. I had to wear the stupid chain one, and it was too big for me and I kept tripping over it! BBAADD day all around!

A Better Day for Me.

For the last few days we have not gone to work. I think it's cuz there are many dogs over there now that it's Summer. Oh well, we do have a nice big air conditioner over here, and lots and lots of toys.
Well, this afternoon Mom came home and got me, and me alone. I really pranced on my way over there... I was HAPPY cuz I miss work. When I got there, Tonya gave me a bath...Mom said something about my rolling on the dead nightcrawlers last night. It wasn't too bad, she made it really quick, and then we all went into the break room and took a break. I wasn't sure whose lap to climb in first... I didn't have to share anyone, and it was sooo cool! But, laps do get boring, so I went out to explore in the daycare room. All the dog were inside taking their naps cuz it was soo hot outside. I was tippy toeing around trying to be really small so I could dart in and grab their bones and treats. I was doing really well too, until I went up to a BIG German Shepherd, and she barked really loud at me. I backed up as far as I could, then I really told her off!!! I kept sneaking a look back at the break room to make sure Mom and the other girls were watching to see how brave I was. Funny, but they were all laughing at me... dunno why, I am the bravest five pound dog over there!!! Uh oh, you don't suppose I forgot and left my tail tucked between my legs????? aghhhhhhhhh.
Oh well, next I came in the cat room and REALLY told them off... what a great day it was for me!!!

Showing the ropes to my newest friend.

Today Mom took me and Chaz, that little ball of brown fluff, down to the big yard all by ourselves! I figured I could teach him a thing or two about being a real dog. First, I snuffed out a nice pile of dead nightcrawler, and was gonna show him how to roll in it to get the most of it on your coat. I looked around, and he was over rolling in his own pile. Wow, he was good... he sort of threw himself down and squirmed so he got it all down his neck and back. Of course Mom yelled at that point, so we pretended we were chasing each other. I ran right into the garden and was hiding under the giant hosta plant waiting for him. I waited and waited, then peaked out and he was squealing on me to Mom. For a minute, I had forgotten he has a brown nose!!!! Well, it payback time... I took him over to the pond. I was sure he would fall in, cuz he is a baby after all. I ran right up to the edge and jumped around pretending to be all excited about the frogs. He came up, looked at them, and sat down to watch them. Drats!!! Okay, maybe I can get him in trouble up by the shed. I know that is off limits, but sometimes Mom isn't paying attention and me and Toto sneak in there. So, we ran up there, he took a look inside and ran right back down and jumped on Mom, brown nosing again. Hmmm, corrupting this guy isn't going to be easy! I give up! I went back down and sat beside Mom. She asked me where Chaz was... I looked around, and there he was, IN the fireplace, digging in the ashes!!! Man, even I never did that before!! Maybe he isn't so bad after all! Check out my new photo of me and him play fighting. I could like having a baby brother, I guess?

Left alone again, sigh.

Today was Mom's afternoon off, so I was hoping for some really fun time with her. Well, the wake up buzzer went off while it was still dark, so I knew something was up. After our breakfast and some coffee for her, Mom took Toto and the fluff ball and left!!! Me and Jenny just looked at each other in shock.... why didn't we get to go??? We decided to have our own day off.
First of all, Jenny helped me get the towels out of the bathroom, and we piled them all up on our bed to make it softer. Then, we went in the dog room and snuck all the food out of Toto's and Chaz's crates. Mom had left the TV on, so we snacked while we watched Martha. We were hoping she would have her Frenchies on, but not today. Then I was thirsty, and Jenny said there was some water on Mom's desk, so she climbed up there and got it down for me. I couldn't get the top off the bottle, so I had to chew some holes in it. Naturally, some of the water spilled out, so Jenny went in the kitchen, climbed on the table, jumped over to the counter and got me some paper towels. We remembered that little lab on the TV that drags it all over the house, it looked like fun so we tried that. Well, Mom must not have the right paper towels, cuz they kept ripping into small pieces. Not to worry, they soaked up the water better that way.
Next Jenny said we better pick up Mom's shoes cuz she left them under the chairs. Mom has LOTS of shoes! We dragged them all over to our bed so they would be in one place for her. It really wasn't my fault that the little sticky things on the strap of those green ones got stuck to the paper towels. I tried my best to chew it off. Who knew those straps were so thin????
Suddenly, I remembered the candy wrappers usually left on the desk... Jenny was nice enough to get them down for me. One of those little black push button things fell off while she was up there, so I tried to pick it up. Suddenly Mom's cleaning music was playing along with the TV. Wonder how that happened??? Anyway, I licked all the candy wrappers.... mmmm good! But, then they got stuck to the floor... oh well, the cleaning music was on, so I tried to clean them up and put them in the waste paper basket. I couldn't help that it fell over and got in the water.
Suddenly, we both heard a noise, so Jenny jumped into the chair to check it out. It was Laurie, she came to let us outside. She was laughing at all the cleaning we had been doing for Mom. We are sooo nice!
Anyway, when we came back inside, we were both tired, so I got the soft rugs from the bathroom and piled them on the bed and Jenny and I both climbed up there and fell asleep. Next thing we knew, Toto was waking us up. Mom must have been very tired cuz she didn't say anything to us at all. She just put us outside, and turned up the cleaning music!!!!

Agility... yeah, I am agile!

Check out my newest two photos.... Mom decided to teach me some agility tonight. Dunno why, I thought I had proven myself pretty agile with some of my past moves. Oh well, I'll humor her. First there was that great big blue tunnel. When I looked inside it, I said, NO WAY!!!! I am NOT a prissy boy, but there were bugs and spiders in there. So, Mom went and got Toto, and he flew thru it a few times to clean it out. Toto is a nice boy, but sometimes he does stuff without thinking, just to get on Mom's good side. So, after that I went thru and even looked happy about it. I've learned when Mom gets that camera out, you might as well act happy and get it over with. Otherwise, you could be out doing something all night in order to get it right.
Then there was that big thingie I had to run (well, I walked) up and go down the other side. Yeah, right... doesn't she know that if you're my size, it is a wicked lloonngg way down the other side. Guess I will just stop up here and look around for a while. She should have known I wasn't gonna go down the other side... last night I went in to play with the brown fluff, Chaz, and he has a HUGE ramp in his pen that he has to run down to get outside. Well, I followed him out the floppy door alright, but then I fell down the ramp. Mom had to come outside and get me, or I still would be out there at the bottom of the ramp, looking sad cuz I was sad. Now she thinks I am gonna run down another ramp.... no thanks, Mom!
As we came back into the house, I heard Mom muttering something about sticking with obedience with me. Yes, success once again!!!!!!!

A boy's work is never done.

Today Toto and I had to work!! We went down and mowed the big yard where we all play. Mom said it was only fair.... we play, we work. Check out the picture of us mowing!! Actually, I was doing all the work, but I am too small to stop the automatic shutoff thingie in the seat, so Toto had to sit up there with me for extra weight! Do not attempt this at home!!!!
After we did the mowing, we had to rake the yard cuz it's been raining lots and the grass is growing really fast. Seems kinda backward to me... first we do the sitting part, then we have to do the hard work part. Shouldn't you get to rest AFTER you work hard, not before???
Anyway, Mom gets a big tarp and we all rake the grass onto the tarp, then me and Toto get to pack it all down. Pretty fun, but that stupid grass sticks in my coat and I had to get brushed afterward. Toto didn't get brushed, he is special I guess.
Finally, we were done, so we got to race all around.

A Happy Boy am I!!!!

Wow, am I tired. Mom took me and my best friend Ali down to the field for a run. Chaz tagged along, too. I had forgotten how fast Ali can run. It was sooo fun, when I run with Toto and Jenny, they always go way ahead of me, so I have to make sharp turns and cut them off in order to run with them. Then Toto usually pushes me down. Ali was really fun... she ran really fast, but she would slow down if I fell behind. We kept making bigger and bigger circles. Finally we were going so fast that Mom made us rest in the pen. She was afraid we were gonna hurt ourselves, I guess. Chaz is a pudgy baby, and he is also gonna be bigger than us, so he kept stopping and laying on his belly in the cool wet grass.
Now we are just all lying in the dog bed, smiling and smiling. Mom just said we are smelling and smelling. Guess she must be referring to the dead nightcrawlers we rolled in!!!! Oh well, Ali couldn't stay white forever!

What else, the upcoming kayak trip???

Well, we are all still in turmoil... Mom hasn't announced who is going to be allowed to accompany her on the kayak trip this weekend. Personally, I am sure it's gonna be me, cuz I already know Emma and she is little and I won't scare her. Yes, Toto, I know they have a big dog at her house, way, way bigger than you are, but you might jump on her and knock her down! What's that you said... oh, Jenny went with her once and she didn't knock her down, so there is NO WAY you will? Yeah, right. Well, I am little and some may say my opinion doesn't matter, BUT... in my opinion, You, Toto, should not go because you have never been before. What if you get scared and roll the kayak over? Mom might drown! Then, who would feed me????
I am the littlest, so I should be the one to chose who gets to go, don't ya think???? Yes, Jenny, I KNOW you went with her once already, but that was last year, and this is this year, and now Emma is MY friend!!! Besides, you're the oldest, so you should stay home and watch Chaz and Clyde.
Thank goodness we only have two more days to discuss this. I am pretty sure it will be me and me alone, unless, as Toto suggested, we find someone else to go with us and they agree to take him in the other kayak. Wait a minute!!!!!! I, me and me alone could go in the kayak with Mom's friend and Emma, and then Toto and Jenny can fight out who goes with Mom. Hmmm.... that could work, too. Or, both Jenny and Toto could go with Mom and we wouldn't have to fight anymore???
Mom just said if we don't stop fighting about it, Chaz is gonna go with her alone!
Stay tuned for the final outcome!!!

Kayaking, what else???

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy... it's me, I'm the one, I am GOING.... Mom just told me I was going on the kayak trip this weekend. I feel sooo special. I can't wait to see the look on (Toto - Beanie) (circle one)'s face when they find out it's me. Yes, I knew all along I was the special one and the one that would get to go.... hee hee hee. I am sooo excited!!!!
Please, don't tell (Toto - Beanie) (circle one) that they aren't going... I wanna be the one to do that, and maybe rub it in a little!!!!
Naa naa naa naa yippee yea me!!!!!!

That %^*(%* Kayak trip

Man, me and Toto almost got into a fight tonight!! He came over all cocky, and said Mom told him HE was going on the kayak trip this weekend. Well, she told ME I was going, so when I told him that, he got all nasty and was gonna fight with me. Well, I am the littlest one here, so I of course didn't want to fight with him. I ran out and asked Mom to come defend me. Sooo, she comes in, and Toto says, "Mom, you said I could go this weekend." "Yes," Mom says, "Yes, you are going this weekend." Well, that didn't sit too well with me, I can tell you!!! Sooo, I says, "Mom, you said I could go this weekend." "Yes," Mom says, "Yes, you are going this weekend." What in the world is this all about??? I can tell you, I am NOT riding in a kayak with Toto. He would probably try to push me out or something!! I was getting all ready to stamp my foot and run out of the room when Mom laughs, and she said "Toto had a very, very good idea last night. So, I asked Syke to go with us in the other kayak, and now Toto is going with her and you are going with me."
Whew.........

you guess... hint, K-Y-K-NG.

Tonight Mom put the kayaks on the car. Both Toto and me watched carefully to make sure she put BOTH of them up there. Then we watched her put both paddles in the car. She also put three life jackets in there... a little Beanie sized one and a bigger Toto sized one, and a people sized one for Skye. Hers was already in the car. While she was tying the kayaks up to the top of the car, Toto climbed up on her desk and checked out the weather forecast on the puter. It is supposed to be sunny and nice both Saturday AND Sunday!!! We are getting sooo excited!!! I probably won't be able to sleep all night tonight. I hope we are going tomorrow, but it might be Sunday instead. Wait, if it's Sunday, we can go for longer cuz Mom has to work until one tomorrow. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday... the power of suggestion at work. Hope she gets it!
Gee, I hope she remembers to charge up the camera battery. Last time she only got a few pictures cuz the battery was dead. I was being so photogenic and it was all for naught. Maybe she will bring TWO batteries just to be safe!
Oh no... if Toto and Skye are in the other kayak, Mom will take more pictures of them, cuz she can't take pictures of us by herself. Toto will have more than me... not fair at all!!! Gee, he gets all the special stuff! I would stamp my feet and throw a fit, but then I might not get to go. Oh darn. Oh Gee, DRATS!!!

The Kayak Trip

Geez... Mom put the worst photo on my page! I am not soaking wet cuz I got scared that Mom was leaving me and I jumped into the pond to get to her... I am soaking wet cuz it was raining very hard!!! Skye must have been using an umbrella or something to keep herself dry! Yeah, that's it... I really didn't fall in at all!
Anyway, we both went on the trip after all. It WAS raining, so Mom's friend never even came! Maybe Emma would melt cuz she is so sweet she must be made of sugar???? Toto showed off again, he acted like he had been kayaking a thousand times. He didn't even try to hide under the cowl. I went with Mom first... it was fun and we went under the trees every time the rain came. And, she even took photos of me in the front of the kayak. Then, Skye wanted me to go with her, but that wasn't so cool. I LUV my Mom, and I was also afraid Toto was gonna get something special cuz he was with her and I wasn't. So, when we had to go under a tree during the rain, I climbed right out of Skye's kayak and into Moms. It's a good thing she caught me, or I would have been even wetter!!! Toto promised he wouldn't tell anyone that I had fallen out of Skye's kayak before that... I couldn't help it... she made a really fast turn and left me hanging and my nails slipped right off the edge. It was okay cuz I can swim, remember, and no one else saw me fall in, not even Mom.
It was pretty cold out there, so that made me shake and shiver, so finally Mom felt sorry for me and we went back to the car. I really did have fun, but I liked it better when it wasn't raining!!!

Dog show time.

Today Mom told me she entered me in two more obedience shows and two more rally shows. Scares me! I hope I can remember what I am supposed to do when I get there! Tonight my obedience buddies were here, so I did a little practicing, even tho I am perfect most of the time! It was pretty hard for me tonight. For one thing, Mom was giving me string cheese for treats, and I didn't have my dinner yet, so I was a little overanxious to get the treats. I mean, why sit in front when I know she's gonna tell me to finish anyway... if I go straight to finish I will get the cheese faster, right? And, so what if I started when the other lady said "forward", instead of waiting for Mom to tell me. Again, we will get to the end faster that way!
Also, I was tired. I had played with Chaz and his golden retriever puppy all day long, and, quite frankly, I couldn't stay awake on the sits and downs. It was terrible... I felt my eyes closing, then my head would nod, then I was doing a down and everyone else was sitting. The only thing that would wake me up was the nasty deer flies and sweat bees. They were awful... one got me right on my nose! And, Mom uses that "ain't no bugs on me" stuff, too!!! She kept reminding me that there might be bees and bugs at the show, too. I think she was telling me to tough it out, but I did notice she was screaming pretty loudly when one huge deer fly bit her leg!!!
Ah well, it's over now and I am gonna take a little nap with Toto before I go to bed. Mom said she learned in college that if I dream about doing each exercise perfectly, it will help me do it when I am awake. But, her college days were a hundred years ago, (people years, too!), bet that's not true anymore!!! Catch ya later!

Another Kayak trip

Well, Mom said we're going kayaking again on Saturday afternoon with her friend and Emma. I guess Skye is going with us. I have decided to check on the puter and if there are clouds at all, anywhere, I will respectfully decline and let Jenny go in my place!!! I am such a gentleman!!!! (Actually, I am still drying out from the last trip!!) She and Toto and Chaz and Ali can fight it out... I only want to go if it's sunny and warm.
Today Mom left us home again in the baby puppy pen. It's me and Ali and Chaz, and today she put Gracie in with us cuz it was too hot for the bigger guys (and her) to stay in their outside pen. Well, Gracie is not too bright... she doesn't know if she's coming or going. Anyway, the first time she tried to go out the flapping door, long ago, she did it wrong and it slapped her on the nose. So, now she won't go thru it anymore. I guess Mom doesn't know that cuz we all come in when she comes home. Mom just came over to check on us, and discovered the dog bed all chewed up and the stuffing pulled out, and worst of all, tinkle and doggy doo doo INSIDE in the corner of the pen. Well, she started yelling at all of us. Do you suppose that Gracie did the right thing and 'fessed up??? Nope, of course she didn't. Don't understand Mom... if she just thought about it, she would remember that NOTHING gets chewed up and NO ONE messes on the floor inside when Gracie isn't with us in the pen. Hello... what is she missing here???? While she was yelling at us, me and Ali and Chaz just calmly went out the flapping door and left Gracie inside to listen to Mom. I hope it's cooler tomorrow so Gracie can stay outside with the other bigger guys where she belongs! We don't need her in our clean pen. Maybe she can go kayaking and fall into the pond! Bet she can't swim.

Correction, Mom says I am not a gentleman!

Mom was reading my latest blog and she is now making me write this one. It seems in the beginning I write about what a gentleman I am because I am going to let Jenny go kayaking in my place if it's gonna rain. Yeah, that is true, I am kind of nice that way.
But, Mom said it was not too gentlemanly to hope that Gracie would fall into the pond and not be able to swim. She said it was very mean of me to pick on Gracie all the time. Well, yeah, but you gotta know Gracie. She is different, yeah, that's right, different. Different is not necessarily bad, you know.
Okay, okay... Mom, I am sorry I wrote bad stuff about Gracie. Can I come out of my crate now????

A Busy, Busy day for the Beanster.

Wow, have I been busy today. We have had a zillion thunderstorms, and my job is to bark the alerts when it thunders so everyone else knows about it. Actually, the whole last three days have been really loud! (get it?) They have been so bad that we couldn't go kayaking. Mom said we could get fried if we were out in a kayak in a thunderstorm. Would that make fried hot dogs???????? Ohhhh, I can't believe I said that... must be all that stray electricity is messing up my brain??
Anyway, the last storm was especially busy... Mom said it must have gotten stuck right over our house. We were watching it (from the safety of her bed, way, way across the room). First it came from the west, then it circled us and came back from the east. I had to keep jumping off the bed and running over to bark at the window. I don't know why Toto is complaining about being bored.... maybe he should help me bark the alarm instead of just lying on Mom's bed doing nothing. He is getting fatter and fatter from all that lying around.
Mom wasn't too happy about the last storm... she was helping us write our diaries and had mine almost finished when the internet went off and the whole thing got lost. Now she keeps saving it and then writing some more so that won't happen again.
Uh oh, here comes another one... gotta go bark the warning!!!!!!!!!

New Gifts Just for the Beanster

Check out me modeling my new red and blue Rugby shirt. When Laurie came to work today she brought it for me. People give me gifts lots of times. I am sure it's because I am so cute and sweet and nice. Oh, did I mention I'm also kind and friendly and good looking and smart? Anyway, I do get lots and lots of gifts, expecially clothes. Mom says it's because I am so tiny that it is easy to find clothes for me. She also pointed out that Laurie works at a thrift shop when she's not working here, so the shirt probably came from there. Nah... it still had the tags on it, Mom, she bought it just for me!!! I can tell, no one else even tried it on before. Mom said she didn't think so... she would have bought it for Hilda, not for me. Humph!
Anyway, I GOT it and it fits me and I'm gonna consider it a gift just for me, just like the trophy that Yuji sent just for me and the Beanie cap that Kiwi sent just for me!!!! I like gifts just for me, and I still say it's cuz I am so nice and cute and sweet and all that. Thanks for the gifts everyone, just for me!!!

Whew, I am soo tired.

Last night I got hardly any sleep. We kept having big flashes of light and huge bangs. The lights were so bright I could see everything lit up outside! I had to keep climbing up on Mom's shoulder and barking the alert. She was sleeping pretty soundly cuz the pouring rain made the TV station get lost, so it was darker and quiet in the room. Well, darker and quieter until the big flashes and the big booms. Not one of the other dogs was even paying attention, so it was all up to me to keep barking the alerts.
Mom was extra tired cuz we had joined Dogster Plus. She stayed up real late cuz she was going back thru all the pictures on TWO computers and finding ones of us to add to our pages. She kept laughing and laughing as she found some of those really old photos. I saw some of those of me, and trust me, I wasn't laughing!!! I have gotten several expressions of sympathy from my dogster pals who have noticed some of those photos of me, I can tell you! It's not fair cuz both Lukie and Toto came to Mom when they were older, so she doesn't have baby pictures of them to post for all to see. I am very, very cute now, but even I will admit, I wasn't the cutest baby you ever saw. My hair stuck out every which way and I was kinda skinny and runty looking. Not now... now I am getting pudgy!!!
Well, it looks like we are gonna go kayaking again this Saturday, maybe, if the rain and fireworks and booms stop. They've been rattling around over a week now, so they better stop pretty soon!!! I guess it's gonna be me and Toto again, although this time I will stay in Mom's kayak! We both get to go again cuz our last time was so rainy.

Losing sleep again

Ya know, I just realized why I am so tired every day. I lose more sleep than any dog I know. Like, I can't sleep at night if I am excited about going kayaking. I can't sleep at night if I am having to protect everyone by alerting to the thunderstorms. I can't sleep at night if I have to go to a dog show. I can't sleep at night if Mom is going away without me. I can't sleep at night if Mom is going away with me. I can't sleep at night if I'm not in my own bed (well, Mom's bed, hee hee hee.) I can't sleep at night if Mom can't sleep at night. I can't sleep at night if Toto is coughing (sometimes Toto has a bad cough at night.) I can't sleep at night if Jenny is in prison. I can't sleep at night if Ali is hogging my poodle fleece blankie. I can't sleep at night if Mom washes my poodle fleece blankie. I can't sleep at night if my poodle fleece blankie is too dirty. I can't sleep at night if it's too dark. I can't sleep at night if it's too light. I can't sleep at night if it's too cold. I can't sleep at night if it's too hot. I can't sleep at night if it's snowing (too excited about playing in it in the morning!!!) I can't sleep at night if the wind is blowing too hard. I can't sleep at night if there is a scary movie on TV. I can't sleep at night if it's too quiet. I can't sleep at night if it's too loud. I can't sleep at night if the coyotes in the field are howling. I can't sleep at night if the cats are fighting on the porch. I can't sleep at night if the kennel dogs are barking. I can't sleep at night if I'm hungry. I can't sleep at night if I'm too full. I can't sleep at night if I got too much exercise. I can't sleep at night if I didn't get enough exercise.
Hey, I just realized this would be easier if I just said when I could sleep... I can sleep all day long no matter what!!!

Our Kayak trip

Wow, we had a bunch of fun today!! It was warm and sunny, which was NICE. We paddled and paddled and paddled, and then we stopped on "our" island to eat lunch. I got to finish most of Emma's lunch again. I even ate the broccoli!! I wish we had a four year old... they leave good food!!! She even gave me a cookie. Then we all went swimming. I swam good, and Mom took my picture. After that, we went around on the other side of the pond. There we spied a whole gaggle of geese. It was a Momma, Daddy and a bunch of goslings. Emma's mom taught me that word! Mom quietly paddled us closer and closer and closer. I started barking at them, but they didn't even care. Next we left the geese and paddled thru the swamp. Mom was all excited cuz we found some cranberries growing in there. She said they grew cranberries in a swamp when she was a little kid. After the swamp, we saw a bunch of turtles sunning themselves on a log. Next we spied some ducks, but they were swimming the other way. Finally, we got back to the beginning, and Emma, Skye and Emma's mom went swimming again. I was tired, so I went into my crate for a nap! What an exciting day I had! Mom put three new pictures of me on the page... me fishing, me swimming, and me and the geese. My ear was wet in that one, but it was cuz I was swimming!!! No rain anywhere!

No one's happy with the Beanster today.

Uh Oh, Mom is not happy with me this morning. Ya see, it seems that we were all sleeping soundly last night, including me cuz I was tired from that long day of paddling and swimming. Well, Jenny always climbs on Mom's pillow right next to her after she falls asleep. I was on my blankie with Ali, and Toto was somewhere on the bed. Suddenly there was the LOUDEST boom of thunder I have ever heard. We were all so scared that we all jumped right off the bed, even Mom!! While Jenny was jumping off the bed she used Mom's arm to push off with, and now Mom has a huge line of scratches and black and blue marks all down her arm! And, this is all my fault cuz I didn't wake up and bark and tell everyone it was gonna boom??? I am supposed to know this how?? Normally, I listen carefully after I see the flashes of light, but this boom came immediately after only one, big, blue flash of light. I was just barely opening my eyes when it happened. And, there was no rain or anything. Usually the rain comes and the booms start far away and I gently wake up and then gently sound the alarm. It's my fault that nature was messed up????
Jenny is mad at me cuz Mom yelled at her and it was my job to wake us gently. Toto is really, really mad at me, cuz when Mom jumped up, she must have been in a dream cuz she threw the blanket all around him and picked him up and he couldn't get out of the blanket. He couldn't even see where he was. Ali is mad cuz her beauty sleep got disturbed. Everyone else is mad cuz we woke them up with our panic barks when Mom was scared. We were so scared that Mom had to get up and let us all outside. It was 1 am, way too early to get up!
I don't see a major problem here... everyone fell back to sleep finally when the booms stopped, we all slept late cuz it's Sunday, and cuz it's Sunday everyone can take a nap if they want to. Mom says she hopes we are not gonna be scared of storms from now on cuz she was jumping around with us. No one was ever scared before! All my fault! Not a good day to be the Beanster!

Countdown to showtime!

Tonight was our last night of obedience before my shows. Mom was not too happy. The weather was PERFECT... sunny, but nice and cool. But only Clyde's Aunt and another lab came to school. Sooo, Mom had to call the commands herself, which she hates to do before a show cuz I learn to start when the judge gives the command instead of waiting for Mom's command to me. Oh well. I did good heeling on leash. I did very bad heeling off leash... there were lots and lots of good smells down in the field which I kept having to check out! I did my stand, and Mom was happy cuz usually there are only women doing that for me, and this time a man examined me and I let him! Yea, Beanie! I have a man judge on Saturday, so I was practicing good! Then we did recalls. I did three perfect recalls. I love the recall, cuz I love to come when Mom calls me! Yeah, I know that makes me weird, but hey, I love my Mom. Then we did the stays. Ooops, I only laid down once on the sit and it was well after a minute had gone by! Mom was talking and forgot to watch her watch. I KNEW a minute had gone by, tho, so I was resting for the next exercise. Mom yelled at me, but I could tell it was a "for show" yell. After all that, Mom said we could play down there. Well, Lucy the lab went racing across MY yard, so I ran up and barked at her. She was a real woose, and ran and sat beside her dad and never moved again. I am FIVE pounds... she is 65 pounds. I have tiny little teeth in my tiny little head and my tiny little head would fit completely in her big mouth. Silly dog! Gabby the lab was a little braver, but she still kept backing up when I barked at her. Geeze, I gotta try that barking with Toto and Jenny the next time we all go down there! Speaking of, Jenny's big, yellow frog was croaking down there... he was hoping she was with us, I think. Well, gotta go play with Chaz now!

Playing with the Beanster.

Tonight me and Ali and Chaz went down to the big yard to play. Man, was that fun! First we ran and ran and ran. Ali and I practiced running in tandem. Maybe some day we can go to a show together as a brace??? I might have to have a bleach job, or Ali might have to dye her hair so we would be the same color. Oh well, first Ali has to learn some obedience. Speaking of, I did practice my heeling a bit, and did a recall, but I laid down while I was waiting for Mom to call me. Uh oh, not a good thing to do!!! Hey, I was tired from all that running. Then, since I had a tiny bit of knowledge in fishing, I decided to teach the young 'uns how to fish. Well, Ali is going to be hopeless. For a dog who loves to play in the mud, she was sure reluctant to get her feet wet!! She tried to stare them down, but that will never work! Chaz, on the other hand, is a natural. He checked them out for a bit, then he went up on the highest bank and leaped right into the pond! As he was coming up, he slapped the water really hard, and the biggest fish came up and rolled right over. Too bad he had water in his eyes and couldn't see it to catch it! Next time I will be waiting, and I will jump in and grab the fish as it rolls over. Wonder what we're supposed to do with these fish IF we ever catch them??? I sure hope we don't have to eat them!
Then Chaz tried to hide from me and Ali... he climbed under a bunch of plants in the garden and thought he was hiding. The only thing covered up was his head, silly boy!!! Me and Ali sniffed all around him and kept pretending we couldn't see him to build his ego a bit. However, his ego is pretty big now!!! He's been taking lessons from the Beanster!!!

Dog show countdown, part two

Well, today was dog show bath day. Mom does it a couple of days before the show just in case something bad happens to me. I was worried when I heard that... what bad is she expecting? She wouldn't tell me, so I finally had to ask Toto about it, he usually knows these things. Well, he knew, and then I wished I hadn't asked him!!! It seems that the first problem could be my nails. I have sixteen nails to be trimmed and any one of them could be trimmed too short, which would result in pain, bleeding and pain, I might add, and I could limp. Mom is careful, but these things happen. Another problem could be in actually shaving the bottom of my feet between my toes. Sometimes for whatever reason, the skin can become irritated from the clipper and result in pain, and I could limp, especially when I walk on stubbly grass. There are a few other areas which could also get irritation from the clippers... one being my tail, which could result in me jumping around to try to lick it. Another place could be the soft skin under my chin, which would hurt when my collar rubbed on it, and I would have to scratch at the collar. And, the last place is very private, but you can probably imagine! That would really hurt!!!!! Third problem might be my ears. If they are dirty or have too much hair in them, they might get irritated when they are cleaned and then I would scratch at them. Sooo, that is why Mom does it early so I will have at least a whole day for all these irritations to resolve before the show.
Well, fortunately, none of the above happened to me... I survived my grooming with perfect health. No limps, no cuts, no rashes. Good job Mom. Then tonight she let me in from outside and STEPPED RIGHT ON MY FOOT...... she was barefooted so her foot rolled my poor toes right under it. I am limping BAD!!! Know what Mom said??? "Oh, Beanie, I am soo sorry, but you have all day tomorrow to recover!" Yeah, right... thanks for the sympathy, Mom.

Dog show countdown

Well, today I mostly relaxed and hung out with Chaz and Ali. My toes are all better, no thanks to Mom!!! About noontime, Mom came over and got me and Toto and brought us to work. I was worried that something was strange... I had my bath yesterday! But, it was just a normal, nice trip to daycare. Poor Toto, however, did get groomed and he also got a bath. No more dreadlocks for him, now he is too handsome for a boy!!!
Later in the day Mom did get me out and put my training collar on me. I whipped right thru my routine, with nary a false move. Well, I did decide to finish to the left on the recall instead of to the right. It confused me a bit, cuz I thought I was wrong, so I went all the way around Mom and back to heel. Ah well, it's the thought that counts, right???? Oops, that means I was wrong cuz I thought I was wrong. Ah, forget it! Anyway, then we did a little of that rally stuff. Mom confuses me with that rally, cuz she keeps telling me what to do and I am used to having to think for myself in obedience. Sooo, when she told me to lie down and kept telling me over and over, I finally did my belly up, legs to the sides down routine. I suppose it would still pass????? Now we are going to bed really early cuz we have to leave really early, even while it is still dark outside! Wish me luck! If I write in my diary tomorrow night it will mean I passed, I guess. If I flunk, Mom will be training me for the next day, so there will be no blogging with Beanie.

Well, I was half a winner!!!

We just got home from my show.
I am sorry to report that I can
only write half a blog cuz I only
won half of my stuff.
I did manage to do my Rally exercises
and did them well! They made me go first
'cuz I also had regular obedience. Sooo,
Mom told the regular stewards that I had
Rally but they never told the judge. He
was apparently in a bad mood and he
wasn't even gonna let me go 'cuz I was
getting my rally ribbon when they called
me for Obedience. Mom was kinda
upset, so he let us come in. Well, he was a very,
very big man and he had a very, very
big hat on, so I was scared of him.
Especially since Mom was already not happy
with him. So, I did my stand and actually let
him touch me (WOW WEE), but
then I was sooo scared and upset that
I couldn't concentrate on the rest of the stuff,
so I flunked heeling off leash, and even flunked
my recall. I was so scared that I even didn't want
Mom to touch me. The judge told Mom that I
didn't have to do my sits and downs, which
made her even more angry, so she said she
paid her money and we were gonna do
the sits and downs. Well, I listened to that,
so I made sure I did them right, even when
that man walked over by me to try to make
me more scared and get up. Mom's friends
both flunked, too, and Mom was really angry
about that cuz they both should have easily
passed, in fact, should have gotten a placing. So,
after all that, Mom bought me a cute beanie hat.
Check it out in my new photo! And, she said I
could do the rally tomorrow, but I didn't have
to do the obedience cuz I was obviously too
upset now to do it again. We'll see... I may be
so happy in my rally that she lets me do the
other stuff, too!!!!

Nyleve's Rescue 2 Beanster, RN, CGC, AKA Beanie!

Wow... now my name has got more letters behind it!!! The RN stands for Rally Novice, and that means I passed again today, so I am now done with that. I did really good, and Mom was very happy with me!
So, rather than take me home, she said I could go play in the obedience ring if I wanted to. Well, it was okay with me, the weather was kinda cool with some clouds, and it was very peaceful and quiet over where the obedience was, so we stayed. Me and Mom were the last ones again, so I slept in her lap while we waited. The judge was doing a different stand... she would stand right up beside the dog and owner, and when the owner left, she walked up beside the owner and then came in toward the dog with her hand out, then touched the dog. Mom was really, really nervous, but I reminded her that I have NEVER failed the stand, I only get scared AFTER the strange judge touches me, so it would be fine. The first few dogs were pretty sad... some ran out of the ring, some ran right thru the gates,(fence), and some wouldn't let the judge touch them, one even tried to bite her. She was very, very tall with a long black dress and a big, white hat. Well, Mom told me we were just there to have fun, so not to be scared. Sooo... it was our turn and we heeled on leash and did the figure of eight. Very good for the Beanster! Then, Mom left me for the stand, and I was okay... I stood good and let that lady touch me. I only leaned a little backward. When Mom came back, she tried something new and just clapped her hands and cheered me and said to come along, we were gonna heel. So, I went right over to the heel off leash part. We started, and I was pretty darn good, I must say. I could tell Mom was thinking we might even pass!!! Then, on a turn, I noticed that lady was walking right up beside me and I was gonna have to walk right up to her before I turned... uh oh, I was scared again, so I took a detour and walked all the way around her. Even though we would fail if we already hadn't, Mom told me to heel again in a happy voice, and I sort of caught up with her. Then the recall... I was coming pretty good, but slower than usual, so Mom called me again and clapped her hands since I already had failed the heeling. I came fast and went right to the finish. I did the sits and downs, even tho the sun came out and it was very hot. I had to close my eyes during the whole sit cuz it was soooo bright, but I didn't lay down! Mom was pretty happy cuz I was so very much better than before, and I was very happy cuz I got the Rally degree, so a good time was had by all. There was a very, very smart man there with a very, very smart dog. Mom asked him for help, and he said we were training wrong... we do the heeling stuff, both on leash and off leash, then we do the stand, so I think we are done when the stand is done. Bad idea! So, back to the drawing board for the Beanster, RN!!!! (Guess I am a nurse now???)

The Beanster is back to normal.

Whew, finally a normal day. No dog shows and no getting ready for them! No storms to alert to, and no fishing, either. Got up, went outside, came in and went to work with Mom and Ali and Chaz. No babysitting, no baths, no clippers... just played in daycare all day long! Came home, ate supper, and hung out with Chaz and Ali and Toto and Jenny while Mom played on the 'puter. Me and Toto were sharing a bone, but Ali and Chaz were shredding the trash. Mom must have been pretty involved on that 'puter... she didn't even notice until the whole floor looked like we had a snowstorm in here... I didn't do any of it... hee hee hee! Now me and Toto are seeing who can get closest to Mom while she types on her laptop in the bed. Toto is winning, I guess, cuz he just switched the webpage she was on. Not me, I just gave up and went to sleep with Jenny and Ali.
Now Mom is talking about giving up on my CD and working on Ali, cuz someday Ali will have some babies and they will have a mom with titles on both ends, IF she gets her CD. Me, I will NEVER have any babies, so I guess two titles are enough for me. I am really pretty scared of those judges walking around me after they touch me... I might take forever to get over that, and Mom can train Ali fast, I think. I will help her train Ali, cuz I am VERY GOOD working at home with no judges. And, then we both can train baby Chaz. Well, Jenny is getting the good place to sleep so I gotta go now!

There's a yellow glow in the sky!!!!

Wowwee... can't write too much tonight cuz there is a bright yellow glow in the sky, so we are gonna go outside and play before it goes away! It's pretty neat, whatever it is... all the flowers look pretty and sparkly with the drops of rain on them, and the hummingbirds and butterflies are back working them. The glow is warm, too. It feels so good when it lands on my body. Mom said in the olden days Summers had this yellow glow almost every day. It would be warm and nice, and you could sit on the grass in the big yard without getting your butt wet and muddy. It's kind of strange, cuz it even makes the mosquitoes hide.
Well, gotta go enjoy it while it lasts!!!

Sunday Cleaning day.

Wow, Mom took the morning off from work so she could clean our house for our coming guests. She doesn't want me to tattle on her, but she found stuff she hadn't seen for three or more years!!! Amazing. She washed everything, even the walls and the woodwork. We all hid, cuz we were afraid she was gonna wash us, too!
Actually, me and Chaz and Ali spent the day in our pen. Mom cleaned that room yesterday, so we helped her today by chewing up a dog bed and pulling all the stuffing out of it and spreading it around the pen. Ali did her usuall mud stomping, it looked pretty good all over the white stuffing... yes, it poured and poured all afternoon. The hail was so big me and Chaz were playing football with it. Mom had her cleaning music on, the windows were all shut and she heard it hitting the car!!!
Anyway, we had a late dinner, now we are back in the pen. I heard something about staying in the pen all night... guess we better start barking so that won't happen!!!!!!!!

Another pretty nice day for the Beanster

Cool, last night Mom sprung me from my crate and I got to sleep in the bed again. And, tonight I am out free with Toto and Jenny. So, I guess whatever I did to get banished to the dog room has been forgotten or forgiven, if I did do something. Either that or the cleaning is done. It might be done, cuz tonight Mom was picking flowers. You can't put pretty flowers in a dirty house, so she must be done cleaning. Silly Mom, doesn't she know the house isn't gonna stay clean until her guests come?? They are driving a long, long way. We can un-clean the house in a short, short time, in fact, Toto and Jenny are working on it right now.
Mom gave me a nice bath today and she even used the small dryer to dry my hair. I had a BIG matt in my ear, and she combed it out very gently. And, she didn't even use the clippers on me again. But, she did clip my nails, so I screamed for the whole time. No, it didn't hurt, but you never know... if I don't scream, she might hurt me??? I need to remind her that the hurt potential is there.
We didn't go out in the puppy pen cuz, of course, it was raining again this morning. Mom didn't want us running thru all that mud, so she brought us to work instead. We finally convinced her that we were gonna go crazy if she kept us in our crates all day long. The big glow was back again this afternoon, so we were hoping the mud would dry up, but no, it rained again tonight!
Because of the rain, we didn't have dog school again. I don't know if I was gonna get to go or if it would be Ali's turn. Bet it would be Ali!
Well, gotta go help Toto and Jenny now. Catch ya later.

A nice, SUNNY day

Gee Whiz... when we got up this morning and the fog burned off the sun was out. We begged Mom to let us stay outside in the big dogs yard for the day. Our pen is covered and shady, theirs is in the beautiful sun. She did, so we had a ton of fun playing out there. There was all this really tall grass and plants growing in their pen. They never play very much out there... they run out, do their business, and run back inside. Not us, we play and play and play. So, now the plants are all squashed down flat as a pancake. My Uncle Chaz was so funny... he would scrunch down under the tallest plants and hide from us, then if me or Ali walked by, he would pounce on us. He is getting pretty big, he's almost 5 months old now, so he can't hide so well anymore.
Well, gotta go get my dinner!!!

New toys, old toys, garbage???

Okay, here's a question Mom just asked me. Background, first. We were out sitting on the porch. I found the bestest piece of plastic from an old plant pot. I was playing with it, and every other dog kept coming over to steal it from me. I had to work so hard to defend it, I couldn't even enjoy chewing it. Twice Toto managed to get it, but one time Mom yelled at him and the other time I did manage to steal it back.
Anyway, the question: How come you dogs play with an old piece of plastic when you have 10 brand new toys and about 20 older ones out here??? I couldn't come up with anything except asking her how come human kids play with the boxes instead of the new toys at Christmas. Sooo, anyone got a good answer for my Mom?

Killing time waiting for guests

Hi, Mom is waiting for our new guests... they are almost here, so I am writing to kill some time. Actually, I am writing so I won't keep barking. Mom put Thomas and Tinman with the labs so they won't bark at the guests during the night (guest bedroom is right beside our poodle room!!!) Well, we guess they don't wanna be labs, cuz they are woofing out there. Not barking, just woofing. And, it makes me and Ali bark to hear them.
We couldn't stay with the puppies (Chaz and Roswell), cuz they are younger and play puppy games and we are too old for that foolishness. Sooo, here I am!
Today was boring. Mom left at the crack of dawn and didn't get home until twilight. We were all alone to entertain ourselves. BooHoo. I would expect we could have some play time fun with our new doggy guests in the next few days though. Me and Ali can play adult games with Bubbles cuz she is almost an adult. (Mom just said that my saying play adult games doesn't sound good... I mean games for older dogs, not baby puppies, but you knew that, didn't you?) Well, gotta go... Jenny just came out of the bedroom with a stuffed poodle and we're gonna help her chew it up before Mom catches us!

I am a neglected, rejected boy!!!

Boy, guests in the house do not make the Beanster happy!!! First of all, Mom is rushing around all the time and doesn't sit quietly with us every night. And, Roswell is here, so Chaz is ignoring me, and Ali now has Bubbles to play with, so she is ignoring me, and poor Beanie is lonely and sad!!!
I don't really like strangers, and strangers in my house is even worse! I have to hide under the chairs alot. Tonight when Mom's friend walked out into the kitchen, I ran after her and jumped on her legs, just to smell her without having to look at her face, and she and Mom both said I was trying to nip her heels!!!! Yeah, right... if I was gonna nip her heels, I would just do it!!! So, I ran back under Mom's chair and tried to get her to hold me, but she was holding BUBBLES!!!! Jenny and Toto were outside, so I went over to lie down on the dog bed with Ali, and Mom's friends friend picked up Ali and held her. Poor me, all alone!!!!
Anyway, finally it was time to go to bed, so I ran into the bedroom with Toto and Jenny and Ali. Me and Jenny were gonna play chase for a bit but.... Mom yelled at us to go lie down!
I heard them say they were going kayaking tomorrow. If I don't get to go with Mom, I am gonna run away from home!!!! Then she will miss the Beanster, that's for sure!!!

What a difference a day makes!!!

Just so everyone knows... I still do not like strangers in my house, and Bubbles is still hogging Ali, and Chaz and Roswell pay no attention to me, but.... tonight I got to go Kayaking!!!!! Mom let me and Jenny and Toto go with them. We went to a pond that I have never been to, but Jenny went there before. Jenny was with Angie, and both me and Toto went with Mom, cuz Lynda (Toto's former people mom) was a bit too nervous on her first kayak trip to deal with a dog, especially me and Toto cuz we love to jump over to Mom's kayak!!! We had three kayaks, but we only had two paddles, so Mom used her old canoe paddle and I will say, she did clunk me on the head a few times cuz she had to switch sides with it. I didn't cry or anything like that, but I did try to keep my head lower after the clunking!!!
We only saw one huge bird... Mom said it was a comorant or something like that. It was kind of ugly looking! We had a picnic with us, but the girls from Kansas wanted to see a moose cuz they don't have moose there, so we ate in the car and drove to a place where there are usually lots of moose. We didn't see any, but I think it was cuz Jenny kept barking!!! Anyway, now I am slightly happier, and I could be even happier cuz I heard Mom tell them that maybe we could go kayaking again tomorrow after they go to Pinki's dog show. I'll let you know how that goes!!!!

Back to normal

Whew, my life is normal again! All the people guests left, and last night I slept with Mom and Toto and Jenny and Ali, just like BG. Of course, the extra dogs are still here, I think they may be staying forever, but, all in all, they are not bad. Me and Chaz and Ali have our pen, Bubbles and Roswell are in there, too, but they are pretty nice to have around. I find that Chaz doesn't bug me so much when he has someone his age to play with. Someone came to visit Roswell and Gracie this morning, so maybe they will have their own homes, soon???
Mom is cleaning again. I thought with all the cleaning she did BG, she wouldn't have to clean again forever!! She says she needs to get the new dogs all settled in with us, and figure out who goes out with who, and stuff like that. They were nervous, we were nervous, so there is a ton of spilled food all over the room for her to clean up. Hopefully, she will finish soon so we can go down to the big yard and play. She went down there last night without any dogs and she said the mosquitoes almost carried her away! As long as they are down there, the Beanster is staying up here! Maybe the sun will help them go away!
And, I saw her take the two extra kayaks off the car, but she did leave hers up there...that is a very good sign!
Gotta go play, catch ya later!

foow, foow, foow.

Well, Mom took me to work today. Gosh, it was nice to be back there. I helped Sarah clean the cats, and ate breakfast with Julie, Mom and Tonya. My daycare pen was ready and waiting for me... Mom brought Valerie, one of the new dogs, with me, so I showed her around and we both visited the ceiling cat in the break room for a while. I showed her how to bark at the other cats, but one hissed at me, so I had to bark while I was running backward. It makes a different sound that way, sort of a foow, foow, foow. Weird!
Anyway, me and Valerie played outside for a while, then Tonya gave us both a bath. I told Valerie not to worry, Tonya was much nicer than Mom when it came to using the HUGE dryer. Fortunately, we both lived to tell about it!
Tonight we had a ton of fun. A big wind came and blew all the heat and humidity away, and Mom fixed our pens so we could all be outside together. I played and played and played with Chaz and his brother and Ali. Bubbles is still a little scared so she peeks out the flapping door and watches us. Now I am playing with Jenny. It is nice to have it so cool and comfy. I might have to snuggle under the blankets with Mom tonight! I'm not complaining, you understand!

Me and Mom spend bonding time.

Tonight Mom was worried that I have been feeling left out with the new poodles here. Yes, they get lots of her attention, but hey, I guess that's okay since they need it.
Anyway, because of that, she took me shopping with her tonight. It was pretty fun. First we went to Wally's world and Mom bought me a great t-shirt. It has my favorite motto on it...it says, "this is what spoiled looks like." It is a pretty olive green which goes great with my red coat. Tomorrow I am gonna wear it over to daycare and show off to all my buds over there.
After shopping, Mom took me to Burger King and I helped her eat her burger. Pretty lip-smacking good, I'd say! Hey, I did say that!
Then we had to come home and everyone else sniffed and sniffed me. I think they know I got something special. Too bad, it was all mine! Now Toto is trying to rip my shirt right off my back. He must be very jealous. I told him to go get his own shirt!!!

Logan's gone to a new home!!!

We are pleased to announce that Logan, the Irish Terrier on our page who was looking for a new home was adopted!! The perfect people came and it was love at first sight, both for him and for them. Mom and everyone else here are very happy.
Mom said she felt kind of funny deleting him, cuz no one would know why he was gone. We told her we thought everyone would know that meant he has a new owner.
Well, gotta go play with Bubbles now!

Two blogs in one day!!!

Wow... Mom helped me write a blog while I was at work with her today and now we are writing another one from home! That must mean I was a good dog today??? Nah, she said it was cuz I got to write about Logan, so now I get to write about my day, too. Oh well.
As you probably guessed, I was at work showing off my new shirt. Unfortunately, it got pretty hot, so I had to take it off halfway thru the day. Bubbles came to work with me. She is pretty fun when she isn't with the others... she even plays! At home she just stays inside and tries to get Mom to take her out of the pen. She NEVER goes outside and plays with us. We thought she was afraid of the ramp, but no, she goes up and down it when she has to go out to pee pee.
Anyway, we helped Laurie clean the cats again, then Bubbles and I played in the indoor puppy pen. Mom won't let Bubbles go out in the daycare yard cuz she says she is so small she can walk right thru the space in the gate. She said Hilda used to do that when she was small and one day she got her head stuck and Mom thought she was gonna hang herself before she could get her unstuck!!! But, Bubbles is all grown up and so she will never go out there unless someone is out with her. Boy, I just thought of something awful... Bubbles is tiny and she is all white all over... she could get lost in a snowstorm!!! Mom told me to stop being a worrywart... it's still August and 70 degrees outside!
OH NO..... MOM LEFT MY NEW SHIRT AT WORK!!!!!!!! SOMEONE MAY STEAL IT FROM ME.... OH NO, I WON'T SLEEP A WINK UNTIL I GET IT BACK!!! OH, WOE IS ME!

My lost shirt

Okay everyone, you can stop looking now. Mom finally found my lost shirt. Nope, in spite of my worst fears, no one stole it. She looked and looked and even had all the other girls at work looking for it, too. (They did find my other preppy shirt that was lost!) Finally she moved a daycare crate and there it was, fallen down behind the crate. Fortunately, no one chewed on it, no one peed on it, and it was safe and sound, but somewhat wrinkled.
WHEW..... now I can sleep tonight, maybe. I am kind of mad cuz she went to the store again tonight and this time she bought one of the same shirts for Hilda, the Diva dog!!! It was mine first and I won't forget that at all!!

Laboring on Labor Day

Well, in honor of Labor Day, me and my friends Bubbles, Chaz and Roswell did a lot of labor today. First we dug a big hole in our pen. We dug it right under the drips from the air conditioner so it would get nice and muddy. After it was pretty soupy we gathered up lots and lots of cones off the cedar tree and put them in the mud hole. Then we mixed and mixed and mixed and pronounced it done. Anyone care for a cedar chip mud cookie???
After that we collected up all the ripped and unstuffed toys and put them in the hole to soak up the excess water. Then, we all ran in and out the flapping door dragging a muddy unstuffed toy to make the white floor inside all muddy. It was a labor of love... for our Mumsie, so she wouldn't get bored. Thanks for the kayak trip, Mumsie!!!

Kayaking this weekend

Of course Mom has promised us we could go kayaking this weekend. But, I am not even gonna get my hopes up. I was listening to the weather forecast and those hurricanes are supposed to come up the coast Saturday and Sunday. There is no way she will take us kayaking in a hurricane! In fact, in preparation, tonight me and Roswell and Bubbles started bringing our toys into the inside pen. We are convinced our pen will probably get all muddy and yucky, and we want our toys to be protected. We also checked around and found where Mom keeps the flashlights and checked them for good batteries. And, we got some water all stored up in our extra buckets in case the power goes off. We tried to put a big garbage bag over the big can where Mom keeps the food, but it was too hard to do... none of us have any thumbs... it's too hard to open a plastic bag with no thumbs!!! Bubbles wanted to chew it open, but I was afraid she would suffocate doing that. So, we will have to hope that no water comes into the house! I asked Mom to feed us twice tomorrow so we wouldn't be hungry Saturday if something happens to our food, but she did her hrumph noise and walked away. Guess that meant no?
Well, I gotta go hop on the bed now and get the best spot before Jenny and Toto come in and hog the good places. They are bigger and they push me off the end if I'm not in a spot right up near the pillows. Catch ya later!

Kayaking in the hurricane...

Well, Mom actually did take us kayaking this afternoon!!! We were pretty surprised that we got to go, but it wasn't raining, just very, very dark and gray. When we got there, we went quickly all around the whole pond, then we went to Mom's favorite island and had our lunch. While we were eating, an huge rain storm came up, but we just stayed under the big, tall trees. We got to run all around the island without our leashes... it was pretty fun. Mom took some photos for my page. When the rain stopped, we went back in the kayaks and were gonna go way over in a corner where there is a brook. We just got there and we all heard lots and lots of thunder, very, very close to us!!! Mom said no way are we staying on the water in kayaks in a thunderstorm, so we booked it back to the car!!! Made it safe and sound before the rain even started again. All in all, it was a pretty fun afternoon. Mom left the kayaks out in case we need them tomorrow for the hurricane!!!!

I'm left out again

It has come to my attention, via their diary entries, that Toto and Jenny have been going on special trips while I am stuck here in the puppy pen. In fact, it does seem like I am being tucked away in here and getting forgotten all too often. I guess I am going to have to insist that will change! I know of at least two trips down to the big yard where I wasn't invited (I guess Mom forgot that I can see down there from my puppy pen prison). I was also stuck in my puppy pen on several occasions when either one or the other of them went over to the kennel with Mom. I should have been allowed to go over there, too! And, I am now dirty and smelly from being in this pen all the time, so I am not even the cutest anymore. Ali is freshly bathed and white and good smelling, come to think of it, so are Toto and Jenny. Hey... what about me, the Beanster??? Mom... have you forgotten all about me???? I am your cutest, reddest little baby boy.... well, I was before I got so dirty and shaggy. Oh yeah, I am your only red little boy, ah well, I don't sweat the small stuff!!!
Well, I guess I shouldn't complain too much.... Mom just came and got me to go sleep in her room. Now, if I only get to go to work tomorrow and have Tonya give me a nice tubby I can stop complaining for a while, I guess. HEY, tomorrow is MY obedience class night! Before I stop complaining, we'll see who gets to go to class.

Blogs work... I got to go to work today!!!

Guess Mom read my blog last night and realized how mean she has been to me lately. Today she took me to work!!! Of course Roswell and Bubbles came too, but that's okay, it could be boring all alone. After all the cleaning and feeding, she shaved my feet and my face. Then, she and Tonya went to the break room. They took us with them. Pretty soon, they noticed that I was missing. Mom checked, and I was lying in my bed. On their next break, the same thing happened, and she thought I might be sick or something. Tonya noticed that after Mom put Bubbles and Roswell back with me, I was jumping around and playing normally. She told Mom she thought I was hiding so I wouldn't have to have a bath. Smart girl, that Tonya! Well, it didn't work, and I got a bath and Mom even scissored my coat some. After lunch, we all went to the break room and Mom took a photo of me meeting the ceiling cat. Remember she's the one that hid from them for three whole years? Well, she's not hiding now! I wasn't sure if she was gonna kiss me or bite me, so I kept my face away! Anyway, then they took a photo of the three of us in the pen over there, and also one of me on the floor all alone. A long time ago Mom and her friend took some dogs and let them walk in the paint and then walk all around the floor. They also put their hands in the paint, too. Gosh, I would love to do that! I think the floor needs to be painted again, some of it is peeling off. I volunteer to walk in the paint!!!

A new photo

Mom put a new photo of me on today, even after she added others yesterday. It's of me all alone on the porch. She said she likes my eyes in that photo... they looked pensive. Well, guess what? They are pensive, cuz she was just yelling at me before she took it. I was out there with Ali, and I was trying to play grown-up house with her and Mom yelled at us... geez, we were just playing! She put one of both me and Ali on Ali's page... my eyes are pensive in that one, too. Guess I am a pensive fellow.
She keeps taking these close up photos of all of our faces. She must be trying to blind us, I guess. She says she is trying for the "perfect photo". Well, doesn't she know about the "perfect storm"? That perfect photo may well be much more than she bargained for! I suppose it must mean she loves us or something. Maybe a nice pat on the head would work just as well. And, she wonders why I run when the camera comes out!

Visitors

Wow, Mom says almost 500 pupsters have viewed my page in just three months. That is pretty impressive, at least to me it is. I always said I was very photogenic, and, I have a pretty exciting life up here in the sticks. Yup, even my pal Yuji thinks I have a fun life. Guess it's lots of things... one is that there are a lot of us, so we have lots of exciting things to write about. Also, Mom has that kennel, so that gives us all things to do and write about, too, but I think the main reason is that Mom is with us lots and so we have more opportunity to get out and about and experience the world around us. At any rate, we are all happy to be us! I would be bored if Mom went off to work all day long and left me home alone all the time. Some of the time she does leave us, but that is when we usually get into trouble!!!
Anyway, keep up the visits and I will keep blogging along.

Surveying my domain.

I took the two little girls down to MY yard this afternoon. Bubbles was pretty wild, but she's coming along. She did lots and lots of running...Mom said she wishes she had that kind of energy!
Mom took some more photos of me, cuz I am the bestest subject she has. In one of them, I was pretending I was a bird dog and pointing a mouse nest. Then I went over to the back of my fish pond and was startled by a big, yellow dog sitting there holding a lamp. I don't remember seeing that dog before, but Mom said it's been there forever. Hmmm. Mom said the photos are a bit fuzzy cuz some red dog stuck his tongue on the lens. Wonder who that was?
Anyway, the other dogs were all out in their pen up by the house and I could hear them wishing they were down with us, so I stood by the side of my fish pond and made myself as tall and stately as I could. Good job of it, if I do say so myself! They were jealous. Then I tried to hide from Mom, but I suspect she found me, cuz I see that picture on my page. Ah well, I didn't want her to think I was missing... she might be sad???
All in all, it was a pretty good afternoon, and all the other dogs are still out in their yard, the girls are in the pen, and I am sleeping on the dog bed in the computer room, all by myself, well, all by myself with Mom!!!

Work Birthday Party

Today is Ali's birthday, so us little 'uns all got to go to work with her to help her celebrate her big day. First of all, Mom is gimping on a sore knee, so she decided that we could walk over on leashes instead of ride in the stroller. And, how did that work out for her sore knee you ask?? Well, let's just say that Ali and I walked nicely and leave it at that!
Anyway, after we got here, we visited with the ceiling cat for a bit, but she wanted to swat us... probably cuz there are too many of us for her all at once. So, Mom put us all out in the daycare yard over here. Even Bubbles got to go out with us, cuz Mom said she knows us well now and won't try to get out of the fence anymore. It's another very, very nice day. so we hung out outside for a bit. Now we are waiting for Tonya to get here so we can help them eat breakfast. I guess Ali will get the best parts cuz it's her birthday.

A Pawty.... no one told me!!!!

Hey, I had to find out about the upcoming pawty by reading about it on Jenny and Toto's diaries. How come no one told me???? And, I didn't get to go to the planning meeting???? I suppose you were just gonna leave me home and let me read about how much fun it was in your diaries????? Nice job... see if I ever tell you about anything! After all, I am the one that went to that class almost all the time. Toto, I think you went only twice in the last year, right??? And, Jenny, I didn't see you there at all, nope, not once at all!!! But, me, I went faithfully. I played with Stoli and Luke, I put up with all those labs, and I even went to a few shows to prove I was serious. I got bit by the mosquitoes and deer flies and horse flies, I sweated, I froze, but... I at least went!!! Only the last few weeks have I stayed home and let Ali go now that she is going to be an obedience super star. Hey, she went more than you did, is she invited to the pawty???? I bet you didn't tell her about it, did you???? FOR SHAME!!

Fall has fallen

I love the Fall. The days are crisp and clear and great for running and playing and the nights are cold and great for snuggling and sleeping in Mom's water bed.
Today me and Ali and Bubbles were playing a game of tag thru the leaves. We were trying to see who could make the most noise running thru them. The wind blew them all into a big pile in the corner of our pen, so it was great! Then, we were trying to catch them as they fell off the trees... another great Fall game. And, when you're tired from playing, a nice nap in the warm Fall sunshine is perfect... no mosquitoes, no humidity, no sweat bees.
But the best part of Fall is the nights. Mom keeps our house pretty cold. She says its for growing good coats, but we all think it's cuz she doesn't want to buy fuel oil since the only ones of us growing coats are usually at the handler guys house! Anyway, she has a warm waterbed, and lots of fluffy comforters on it. I wanna tell you, those comforters are very comforting when you are underneath them!! Last night I showed Ali how to burrow underneat the top and make a nice nest. She didn't know about that cuz she always slept in her crate before she was done showing and could be a "house" dog. Well, she sure caught on fast!!! Even Toto was burrowing last night! He gets a little crazy tho... he stands up and burrows, so sometimes Mom has to yell at him cuz he lets the cold air in. Jenny never burrows... she just waits for Mom to go to sleep, then climbs up on the extra pillow.
Well, gotta go nap in the last of the warm sunshine now!

I'm going Pawting!!!

I am sitting here with my collar and leash on, waiting for Stoli to come so we can go to the pawty. It's a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold, and I am gonna go!!! So are Jenny and Toto, but, I can deal with that, Iguess, if I have to! They better not hog my friend Stoli.
Well, Mom says we gotta hurry up, so I will write more later...she's taking the camera so there will be photos, too!!!

The Pawtie's over, it's time to call it a day!

I just spent a whole lot of time (time I could have been sleeping!) writing a nice long blog about the pawty. Just as I pushed the save this entry button, the stupid internet died and the whole thing got lost. Sooo, suffice it to say, I went, I had lots of food and fun, and now I'm home and tired out from playing with Stoli!!!

Pawties

Everyone had so much fun at the pawty that they are calling and emailing Mom today. So, I had a thought...I counted up and there is at least one holiday every month that we could make an official pawty holiday. Well, August is a stretch, but Mom was from VT, and she said there is Bennington Battle Day in August. Works for me!! Sooo, we can pawty TWELVE times a year. Might be a bit nippy in the Winter, but I suppose we could pawty here in our daycare room... that would work okay.
Soo, we had September, next is October and Columbus day. Cool, that works, too!
Well, speaking of work, I gotta go help Ali finish digging a hole. Roswell and Buttons went to work with Mom... Roswell is leaving for a new home, so he is getting all spiffed up and Buttons was gray instead of white, so she's getting spiffed, too. So, that just leaves me and Ali, and we gotta do all the digging by ourselves. Catch ya later.

A fluffy red teddy bear.

Mom brought me to work today to play with Pinki. Pinki has to stay in the kennel cuz she is growing coat, and being a house dog and playing with everyone is very bad for growing coat. Poodles keep their hair in ponytails so it doesn't get all nasty and matted, and we all think the ponytails are for us to play tug of war with! Anyway, Mom worries that she is getting too bored over there so I get to come play with her during the day. I don't pull on her hair.
Anyway, it's been a long, long time since we saw each other, and I think she forgot who I was. She thinks I am a big, fluffy red teddy bear!!! What about my beautiful coat... she is dragging me around by my ears! I even squeak when she chews on me, like a real squeaky toy stuffed bear!!! I have a feeling it's gonna be a very, very long day!!! At least we get to go on breaks with the girls and Mom... speaking of, it's time for breakfast now!!!

Evening kindergarten

Tonight Mom started a new kindergarten class. I must have done a good job on Tuesday with the beginners, cuz she took me again tonight. However, these are baby puppies, and they have needle sharp teeth and know how to use them!!! Anyway, as per usual, Mom has everyone fill out papers first, then we go in the training room and she talks to everyone. Usually she has someone demonstrate what they will be learning, but, tonight Mom forgot to do that!!! I think it might have been selective forgetfulness, cuz she was talking about it, and asked me to do something, and I didn't do it cuz she had no cheese for me!!! Well, that reminded her of something she wanted to say, so she started talking and forgot to have me demo the stuff. Hee hee hee, worked really well!!! Anyway, after she talks to them, she lets all the puppies play together. It's pretty funny, cuz some of them, usually the biggest, bravest acting ones, hide under the chairs at first. Some of them are a little big for their britches, and it's my job to put them down. They think they will walk all over me cuz I am so small, but they don't know I am no longer a puppy so I am not scared of them. Don't worry, I am nice about it, but I tell them that they must be gentle when they are playing. Then I put on my Big Boy Beanie walk and prance around a bit so everyone notices me. I LOVE puppy kindergarten classes!!!
Unfortunately, then I have to come home, and put on my Baby Beanie walk cuz everyone is mad that I went and they didn't!

You have got to be kidding me!!!!

Sometimes our Mom gets strange ideas. Like today, for example. I am innocently minding my own business over at the kennel with Pinki. It's pouring rain outside, so we had been playing in the big room, and we were resting. Along comes Tonya and Mom, with her camera, of course. This morning Mom's friend had come with a big ramp thingie in his truck and left it in our big room. Mom was playing with it, and walking on it. Well, she informed me it was a treadmill, and was gonna be used to keep us dogs trim and fit. So... she sets me on it, turns it on, and the next thing I know, I am falling off the other end of it. Treadmill, hrumph...... deadmill seems more appropiate! Anyway, Tonya sets me on it, and Mom gets ready with the camera. They took about 8 photos... they were all the same!!! The Beanster is not stupid... if I start way up at the top I can ride all the way down the belt thingie and then it stops. Check out my smiling face photo on the deadmill!!!

A ride uptown

Last night Mom took me on a ride uptown to the store all by myself. I guess she must forget that I don't prefer to go alone... I would rather Jenny or Toto come along with me. Ya see, I am basically not a social butterfly like they are, and it scares me when people walk by the car and say hello to me. If Tott and Jenny are with me, I can sit behind them, and no one knows I'm scared, but if I'm alone it's written all over my face for everyone to see. Even Mom was surprised at how scared I was when she came back to the car. I was panting and shaking both at the same time!
Soo, today when she went to work, she left me home alone... I don't ride in the car when we go to work, duh, and I'm not scared at work, so I don't know what that was all about! Bubbles and Ali went with her, but not me. I did notice that both of them had their faces and feet shaved and Ali had a bath when they came home, so maybe it's just as well that I didn't go there.
Well, gotta go now, Mom shaved all the long show coat off of Pinki, and she's here for a long run in the big yard with ME!!! Catch ya later.

I got a boo boo

Mom finally took me and Pinki down to the big yard this afternoon. It had been pouring, so we got all wet really fast. And, Pinki didn't know about ponds, so she fell right in and got even wetter! We had a pretty good time, but there were two problems... one is that Pinki barks the whole time she is running. It's pretty annoying, but on the plus side, I could tell where she was all the time! The other problem was that she bit me, right in my eye! Since I am a tough guy, I didn't even cry or get mad at her, I just kept chasing her. Mom didn't even notice at first. She thought the wet was making my tear stains show up more, then suddenly she saw that it was blood all over my face. So, she put me in a chair and looked and looked and looked, and finally decided I wasn't gonna die or anything, all I had was one tooth hole under my eye and some scrapes above it. So, she let us keep playing cuz she thinks Pinki did it by mistake. Some mistake... I was winning, so she tried to slow me down by injuring me!!!! Mom added some photos, including one of my boo boo before she cleaned me all up and made it look much better. I wanted a bandaid with pictures on it, but she didn't put one on! Bad Mom!

Too good to be bad...

Mom took me to puppy kindergarten again tonight to be the demo dog. Well, apparently I am too good to be a demo dog!! She said a demo dog is supposed to make some mistakes so she can show everyone what to do when that happens. Well, I gotta tell ya, the Beanster NEVER makes mistakes!!! Soo, for the sit stay, she just sort of pulled on my leash to make me start to get up, then she said "NO", and made her bad dog noise, and sat me back down. After about the second time, I figured it out... the whole time she was patting me with her "good dog" pat while she was telling me no, so I knew I was doing what she wanted me to. When we got to the down, I just plunked myself down and if she gave me a little tug to get up, I just rolled over on my back. Of course, that wasn't what she wanted, so she finally borrowed Loki, a shepherd/husky mix in the class. He was a PERFECT demo dog... he kept bouncing up and she kept putting him back down until finally he gave up and stayed down, then she praised him like crazy, and gave him back to his owners. Just what she wanted him to do!
But, when it came to the socialization part, the Beanie shines like the bright star I am! I sit under Mom's chair, and then when the bigger dogs start to come over to try to pick on the smaller dogs, I race out and scare them, and then they leave the little ones alone. Plus, I also play with the little ones, and very gently correct them if they get too rough with each other or with me. Then I prance around so everyone knows it was me that was counciling them. I would have made a wonderful boy scout junior leader!!!!
By the way... Toto was not nice when he said I was gonna cry all night about my Pinki bite. I never made a single peep, and it is almost all better today. If I need a little attention, I close that eye, and Mom rushes right over to see if I need any tender loving care. Good deal, I think! Thanks, Pinki!

Kayaking

I am whispering this blog, cuz I don't want Mom to hear it. I heard thru the grapevine that she is gonna go kayaking tomorrow, and I am planning on going with her. Toto and Jenny said I wouldn't be able to go, cuz it's gonna be quite chilly and I don't have a Coach jacket to wear. Can I help it if they don't make Coach jackets small enough for me??? I will sneak a look at the jacket box tonight, and I will find something suitable that won't embarass Jenny too much. I'm not worried about Toto... he was walking on the runway with old clothes on last week! Besides, Mom is an old Vermont farm girl (even tho we live in NH!), and when she goes, she usually wears jeans and a flannel shirt and some old barn boots. If it's really chilly, she may wear her wool pants instead. She and one of her friends went once with a Kayaking "club" from one of those preppy towns. She did take a labrador instead of a poodle, but she said those people had kayaking shoes, kayaking gloves, kayaking shirts, kayaking pants, and kayaking jackets, all of which matched their kayaks. She and her friend had their jeans and t-shirts on... she was barefooted, he had old sneakers on. She said they were much happier than those other people!!!! Now I would have worn my bestest preppy shirt if she had me then... I can walk the walk, that's for darn sure!!! Oh gosh, hope the grapevine doesn't have root rot!!!!!!!!!

My new Coach jacket

Hey, Mom found me a Coach jacket last night on ebay! And, it's really small and a nice, pretty gray wool blend. She said it was really inexpensive, too, so she bid on it and this morning she won it!!!! She said she likes them cuz they fit us poodles really well and are nice and warm for us, as long as she doesn't have to pay retail. I only wish I could have it for today... all I found in the dog box was a PINK jacket and some old, holey sweaters. Well, it's Sunday, guess I will wear the holey one!! Right now it's very, very foggy, but I bet the sun is up there, waiting for her to get done work. I hope we are really gonna go this time, cuz it will be the last time for the season. Mom said she was gonna have to put the kayaks away when we get home. She said her brother and his friends went kayaking on the snow one Winter, but they were having a party, so she said they probably thought they were on a pond!!! Guess it was kinda hard to steer them, and the paddling was pretty hard!!! They went down BIG hills. I wouldn't have wanted to go with them, unless I had a complete snowsuit! Oh, that just reminded me, I have a fleece snowsuit... maybe I will wear that today, if Mom can find it for me. It will be toasty warm!

Kayaking in the cold!

Well, fortunately, Mom found my fleece pajamas, so I was not too cold on our trip. It was okay when the sun was out, but it kept going under some big, dark gray clouds. I would have been warmer in my new Coach jacket, but it didn't come yet. Can't understand that, Mom ordered it this morning. Gee, really slow service! Fortunately, there was no one else at the pond, so no one saw me kayaking in my pj's.
Anyway, we did have a lot of fun. I was very, very careful, and I didn't even get my ears wet. Once I was taking a drink out of the pond, and Mom turned the kayak kinda fast, and I really had to scramble to not fall overboard, but I managed to survive.
Toto was kind of jealous, cuz I decided to let Skye be friends with me, instead of running away from her. Sometimes I am scared of people I don't know really well. She was giving me some food, so that helped! But, she was friendly with all of us... however, Toto and Jenny had to ride home in the crate and I got to go in the front seat with Skye. She took pictures of both her and me inside the car. Mom said she would put them on later cuz she's tired now. Speaking of, I am very tired, even though I took some naps along the way. Catch ya later!

Extra treats for the Beanster...

Wow, Mom said she was talking to the vet about me, and they think I might have low blood sugar, and that's why I keep falling asleep everywhere, especially when I go kayaking or running in the big yard. Sooo, she is gonna bring me some extra treats next time we go. She got some special ones that will give me a quick boost. Great, my plan worked!!!! Ya see, Ali said she was talking with some toy poodles when she was at the handler guys kennel, and they were saying that sometimes us small kids get low blood sugar and we get very, very tired and even sometimes fall down and look dead. It usually happens when we are exercising. Well, then Clyde was telling me that the same thing happens with labradors, especially hunting and field working ones. They both said extra treats would help prevent it from happening. Well, I LOVE extra treats, so I decided to try falling down and IT WORKED!!! Cool.

Working with Mom.

This afternoon Mom decided to take us down to the big yard. We all thought we were gonna play, but she had us help her work! I helped her get stuff out of the pond so the fishes and froggies could go to sleep for the Winter. It was pretty fun cuz every once in a while, she would scoop out a fish or a frog with the dead leaves, and my job (and Toto's, too!) was to find the fish or frog and show it to Mom so she could put it back in the pond. After all that, she put a big net cover over the whole pond and I tried to walk on it. Unfortunately, it has holes in it, so my feet and legs got all wet!
When we were done with the pond, we got to run around a little bit. I showed Mom some places in the fence where we would be able to jump over it, if we wanted to. Toto was really mad at me, cuz he wanted to jump over the fence, and now Mom will fix it so he can't! He called me a brown noser... I told him Chaz wasn't here right now and someone has to do it!
Finally, Mom made us all sit together so we could have a family picture since Daegan was visiting with us. I know Daegan from daycare, but he went to his new home before I came here, I think, cuz I don't remember playing in the big yard with him! Or sleeping on the bed with him, he hogged the whole bed last night and I almost fell right off the edge when he turned over!!!

Beanie the Boss

I went on over to the puppy obedience class tonight and Mom is still laughing at me! I watched them all do their work, Mom had Pinki be the demo dog cuz I am too good for that stuff. Well, she did let me demo the finished product a couple of times. Anyway, this is a puppy class, so they all play together after the work part. Well I get to play with them, too. There are a couple of pretty big dogs in there, and they were ignoring me pretty much tonight. In fact, they were ignoring me so much that a few times they actually bowled me over as if I wasn't even there while they were playing with each other. Sooo, I put on my big dog act, got as tall as I could, and ran up and barked at one of them. In fact, I followed him all across the floor, barking the whole way. When he got back to his Mom and Dad, I pranced in my bestest prance back over to Mom. She was laughing and laughing, and so was every one else! One person said I was so cute the way I picked up my legs so high after the puppy went back to his parents. Well, I really don't think they should have been laughing at me... I sure proved that I was the ONLY big dog in the whole bunch of them!!!!! I guess they are just jealous that I belong to Mom and not to them. By the way, Pinki hid under Mom's chair the whole time the puppies were playing... she is a little dog, I guess.

The Loch Knapp Pond Monster...

Well, the beginning of our kayaking trip was very nice. It was warm and sunny, and there was just a little breeze blowing. Mom said it was just enough to make the pictures prettier with a little sparkle in the water from the breeze. We went around to the island first, cuz we were all hungry, especially me! After I finished my lunch, I went exploring all by myself. I went down to the water's edge on the back of the island, and oh my gosh, I spied the Loch Knapp Pond Monster. I barked to warn the others, and he slid back down into the water. I was pretty scared, I had to run back up the hill to Mom and Skye. Fortunately, he didn't follow me up there... I think he can only move in the water??? Anyway, no one believed me, no one at all, but I did notice Jenny took a mighty flying leap at the kayak when she thought Mom and I were leaving her on the island. She missed, fell into the water, and she hopped out so fast we thought that monster had actually gotten her!!! I had to keep myself really low in the kayak until we got well away from the back part of the pond where I had seen him. I bet he eats dogs???? Speaking of eating... Mom gave me some of those new biscuits and I didn't fall asleep once!!!

Country living drawbacks...

Mom is pretty mad today. In fact, she is so mad that we are staying outside and away from her. Naw, we didn't do anything wrong. She was vacuuming the house and the vacuum cleaner wouldn't suck, not even our dog hair. So, she was checking it out and there was a whole bunch of holes in the hose. (Man, say that one fast three times!) She looked closely, and they were red squirrel tooth marks! Now, instead of going kayaking, we have to stay home so she can clean out the whole labrador room and find out where they are coming in and cover their holes with tin. She said every Fall they try and get inside for the Winter. Last year they ate holes in SEVEN almost brand new canvas crates she had put in there. The crates probably had some dog food in them cuz they were the ones she took the Frenchies to Denver in. Anyway, I guess the vacuum cleaner hose is not quite as valuable. But, suffice it to say, Mom doesn't like red squirrels very much. She said the only difference between them and rats is that they have furry tails!!! She said she thought the least us dogs could do would be to keep the squirrels outside where they belong. I didn't dare tell her I heard them running thru the walls in the bedroom last night!!! Our house was built in 1794, and it has lots of places for the little squirrels to come in and hide! I'll bet they are relatives of the original red squirrels from way back then. Good luck, Mom!!! Squirrels 2, Mom 0.

My "faces" photos...

I decided I'd better explain those three new photos that Mom put on my page. When we got home from kayaking, she found those on the camera that she was letting Skye use. Well, cuz I am special (?), I got to ride loose with her instead of in a crate when we came home. It's a faily long trip, and me and Skye got pretty bored, so we decided to make some faces for the camera. Sorry some of them are a little over exposed, but it's hard when you have to hold the camera and take the pictures of yourself. You can't read the little exposure thingie. Skye also took my tongue photo, but Mom didn't put that with the others cuz you can see that when you vote for me. (Mom put the link right on my page so it would be very easy for you to vote for me!!!!)
Anyway, Mom says she will have to think of something exciting for us to do for the next couple of months, or else Skye will not come visit us anymore now that kayaking is done. Maybe we could go hiking, but it's hunting season and Mom doesn't want us in the woods. Hmmm, maybe we could work on some Christmas presents and Skye could help me with them. I have good ideas, very good ideas!!!! Maybe I will give you some previews later????

My friend Yuji...

Well, I noticed that my friend, Yuji has a new family member. And, I was happy to notice, it is a poodle!!! It's nice to know his slaves finally realized that he needed a "real" dog to round out his family. I sort of got the drift that he doesn't think this guy is gonna stay, but, if he's like all of us, good luck moving him out!!!
Enjoy, and congratulations!!!

Not much happen'n here....

Pretty boring around here tonight. Mom's working on the 'puter, so we are left to our own devices. The bigger guys were on the dog bed, and I tried and tried to convince them to get off, or at least let me share with them, but they wouldn't. Finally I remembered that Mom had a nice cushion on one on her chairs, so I went and got it. I dragged it into the living room, and got comfy. Well, pretty soon Mom glanced over and saw me. Fortunately, she started laughing but then she got that dreaded camera out. Silly Mom!
I guess she thought I was cold and it reminded her of my new Coach jacket which had finally come in the mail. She went and got it and tried it on me. It fits perfectly!!!! Soo, I decided to model that, too. I am gonna need that jacket in this house this Winter. It is COLD in here, and it's only October. In the Summer we only have one big flat dog bed and we all lie on it together. In the Winter, we each have a small, snuggly dog bed and we don't share those at all!!! I usually push mine over next to the hot air register. I like to be warm and comfy!

Halloween is sooo much fun!!!

Wow, great day for the Beanster! I got to go to work and help Laurie and Tonya pick out costumes for all of us. It was sooo cool, they had a huge garbage bag of different stuff, like hats and pants and shirts and all kinds of neat stuff. Unfortunately for me, ALL the costumes were for bigger dogs like Toto and Jenny and the Frenchies. Sooo, I ended up dressed as a fair maiden, which wasn't too cool, but hey, what's the difference.... it's for Halloween!!!
After our photos, I got to run around at work for the rest of the afternoon, until Mom left early. She came home and looked all thru our closet to see if there was anything for me that wasn't too ladylike. Well, later she went to the store and came home with a cute pumpkin jacket just for me. She said she got it because it was nice warm fleece and it matched my hair. (Did I mention, Mom is color blind!!!) Maybe she will take my picture with it on? Anyway, she was right on one count, it is nice and toasty warm, and I am wearing it since it's not quite cold enough for my nice wool Coach jacket. However.... it is cold and it did spit some snow today, I saw it with my own eyes!!!!

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

This morning we woke up and it was bright and sunny... when we went to bed it was pouring so much that Mom's TV satellite and the internet wouldn't work. And, it's supposed to be warm, too. We are all sitting at the door waiting for Mom to come home from work. She promised she would let us play for a LONG time down in the big yard, and we're holding her to it! I am gonna run thru the garden and play in the leaves. Now that it's almost Winter, Mom lets me run in the garden again... yea!
Well, gotta go wait some more. I'll probably have some new photos later!

Worth the wait!!!!

Well, we did go down to the big yard, and we did have a very, very nice time! It was very wet down there, so we had to be a little careful or else we kept falling down. I am littler, so I didn't slip as much as Toto and Jenny. Mom brought both her cameras with her... she says one is better for closer and the other is better for faster. Well, she set one down in a chair, and I had a great idea that if I ate an important button off it, she might stop taking all these photos of us. Well, it didn't work, and she even got my picture while I was chewing on the button!!!
But, she did get a picture of me chasing Toto... no one ever believes that I can chase him, they always think he chases me all the time. One time I actually caught him, but I didn't know what to do with him after I caught him, so I had to let him go. He was bumming anyway cuz all the frogs and mice and little animals are already sleeping for the Winter. At least I think they're sleeping... I sure didn't see any and I looked and looked and looked.
The pond is all sleeping, too. All the plants are gone and it looks cold and lonely. We didn't even see the fishes. I'm glad I don't have to sleep in the bottom of the pond all Winter.... brrrrrrrr.

I helped Mom!

Yesterday Mom was very, very slow going over to work in the morning. Then, she came home while it was still morning and went to bed. She didn't even put us out or take us with her in the bedroom. I figured she was changing her clothes or something, cuz I new she was gonna go get that new Frenchie. Nope, the day went on and on and on and she never got up at all. Then, when it was dark out and almost time for work to stop, she got up and let us out and fed us, but she went right back to bed. I was very worried, so I started barking and barking. Sure enough, it worked, and she came in and got me and Ali and Jenny and Toto. We all jumped up on the bed, but then Toto said Mom was sick and we had to be quiet. I have never seen Mom sick before, and I lived here almost 2 years. I didn't think she should just lay there, so I decided to cheer her up. I went out and got all my toys, and dragged them up the doggy steps to the bed. Man, that was hard work... some of those toys are almost bigger than me, and they kept falling just as I got to the top step. Then, I dragged them over to Mom and started tossing them at her. I tossed and tossed and NOTHING HAPPENED... she didn't even toss them back!!! Hmmm, maybe this sick is really a bad thing???? Then I tried and tried to get someone else to play with me and no one would... now I was thinking that maybe everyone was sick??? Sooo, finally, I took all the toys and pushed them off the back of the bed and they went down between the wall and the bed. Then I went over and laid down beside Mom, with a big sigh. Guess what??? Mom finally started laughing!!! I helped fix her!!!

Mom's on a tirade again!!

I went to work with Mom today cuz she said I was leaving too much dirt in the bed so I had to have a bath. Well, she and Tonya were on a real tirade today about fat dogs. They weren't talking plump like me, they were talking about FAT. They were grooming a maltese. He should weigh 14 lbs MAXIMUM.... Mom put him on the scale and he weighed 34 lbs!!!! His skin was all raw and nasty cuz the fat made big rolls in it and the inside of the rolls got wet and got staph infections... When the lady picked him up Mom suggested they put him on a diet. (I was surprised, she did it nicely!!!) Anyway, the woman said he would only eat a certain kind of food and he was happy so that's what she gives him. She said he has a lot of health problems so she wants him happy. Yeah, right... that poor dogs feet were all splayed out and totally flat!!! They also groomed two golden retrievers... the owner was bragging cuz they weighed 170 lbs each... they should be 65 or 70 max. When he left, he told Mom to be careful with them cuz they both had bad hips.... hello... they are carrying almost three times their normal weight, of course they have bad hips and knees and wrists and shoulders and probably hearts, too!!!! These two dogs are under two years old!!! I overheard Mom and Tonya talking and they said it was just as cruel to let these poor dogs gets so heavy as it was to starve them, and it probably causes them more pain and it's probably gonna kill them faster!!! Mom said she used to see maybe one or two fat dogs a week, now they see one or two every single day. She has started asking people what they feed them... some of these people really don't know, and they think if they buy the most expensive, highest fat content, highest protein content they are doing what is best for their dogs. Then, there are others who tell them they only get a cup of food a day. Mom asks them about treats... she tells them to put a treat in a measuring cup every time they give the dog one, and check out how much food they are really giving that poor dog every day! Or, there are some people who go by the amounts suggested on the dog food bag, not realizing that those amounts are for working dogs like ones that are herding sheep all day or training in agility or something like that, and their own dog sleeps all day and sleeps all night.
But, they said the worst are the people that just don't care that they are killing the dog. These are usually people who are very thin themselves and only eat healthy foods. They actually admit they know it isn't right for the dog, then complain about how lazy the dog is, or it's bad knees or stuff like that.
Finally, I had to go outside and play cuz I didn't want to hear anymore. Guess it's a bad sign of the times????? Glad we can only eat what she gives us... then it's her fault, not ours!!! I wonder what Mom's excuse for her weight is?

Saturday afternoon gardening

Today we went down to the big yard again, but it was a work day! Mom was planting some old past flowering mums (yeah, I wondered about that, too!), and some bulbs. We helped by digging the holes. It was pretty fun and it was a good excuse to get all dirty. Of course, after we planted everything, Mom let us run and run. Jenny was trying to stalk me, and I found out it was hard to watch where you were running with one eye forward and one eye on her beside me. I only ran into a couple of trees, but it was okay cuz I didn't get hurt!
Hey, I read that Toto said his body parts, like his ears, fell into my mouth by accident... take a close look at that new photo of me and him... I have a very, very firm grip on his ear! In fact, my grip was so firm that I was lying down to get a better hold on him. So there, Toto!!!

I learn a life lesson today....

Today I learned a lesson about life in a dog pack. Fortunately for me, Mom was right there to rescue me in my moment of need! Here's the deal... I am a bit of a bully, well, not exactly a bully, but I do like to pretend I am bigger and better than all the other dogs. In fact, there are many examples of this in my past blogs. Well, for those who don't know me, I am very, very brave and very, very bold when it is safe to be that way. For example, if there is a very big dog in daycare and it's break time and they are in their crates, I will run right up to it barking and barking. If Mom brings a big (safe) dog into our house, one like Daegan, for example, I run between his legs and bark in his face. And... I am very, very small so I can fit thru the bars in our baby gates! So, where am I going with this, you may ask? Every day when Mom puts Jones outside, I run thru the gates and pick at him as he is headed thru the kitchen and out into the pen. He usually doesn't even notice me (or I thought he didn't???) but it makes me feel important to be bossy like that. Well, sometimes Jones also goes out in the puppy pen instead of out the kitchen pen. Tonight was one of those days. Me and Pinki and Bubbles were in there and Mom put Jones in with us. He immediately jumped on me and tried to kill me... I kid you not, he was gonna kill me!!! What did I ever do to deserve that, I wonder??? ?Anyway, Mom yelled at him, and he was still gonna get me! Fortunately, she grabbed me out of there before he could actually hurt me. (It helped that I was all scrunched up in a tiny ball in the corner of the pen, I'm sure!) It's okay, tho.... after Mom put me on the floor, I raced up to the pen and told him off big time!!!!! He's gonna not forget that I am the biggest, well, the bossiest one of all!!! Mom thinks I learned my lesson.... I did.... never trust your Mom to protect you, only trust a fence or a kennel!!!

Another Life Lesson, but for MOM!

Uh oh, Mom was making dog show entries tonight and she must have been in a fog from the time change or something cuz she entered ME in obedience. Now, didn't we go thru this before and didn't she decide she wasn't gonna subject me (and her!!!), to all that stress again??? I am sure I remember that! And, I am sure she said she was gonna have Pinki trained for these shows... well, Pinki does know how to sit, and sometimes she lies down. But.... ME???? I do not remember any of my obedience, especially the stand for exam part. I am sure there will be hundreds and hundreds of people watching me, and I will flunk so bad, and, furthermore, I have never done my obedience inside before. Hey, do you think maybe I will do okay inside? Maybe that is why Mom entered me. Naaah, she entered me so she will learn a life lesson... some things never change, and I am scared and I will never change that, no matter how many times she makes strangers hold me and pat me, so there Mom!!!! Remember this lesson forever!

Wow, snow inside our house!

Mom took me over to obedience class tonight. She left Toto loose in the house. When me and Mom came home, we found it must have snowed in our house cuz there was white, fluffy stuff ALL thru the house. Mom took a little photo of it for you all to see. Glad I wasn't in there to get blamed! But.... one of those toys he destroyed was my brand new one! Notice he is stretched out on the bed, all exhausted from his "work." Notice I am standing there, looking at him in shock cuz I just realized my toy was part of the snowfall. Grrrrrr.
But, Mom said I was good at obedience... she had me do my recalls and heeling while everyone else was doing their sits and downs. At first I was a bit nervous to go thru all those people, but I finally discovered the people were doing their stays, too, and they didn't even move toward me. Besides, I got a ton of cheese!!!

I've been tagged!!!!!

Yuji tagged me, so now I need to tell seven unexpected things about me, then tag seven more pupsters.... If I tag you, you need to tell your seven secrets then tag seven more and tell them by pawmail or via a rosette or gift!!
Soooo.... here goes:

1: I am basically a shy, insecure guy.
2: I LIKE to play dress up.
3: I don't like to ride in the car, but I do like to go to dog shows.
4: Toto and Jenny scare me when they chase me.
5: I like cats and want Mom to get a kitten.
6: I sleep under the covers.
7: And.... when Mom takes a shower I stand up on the edge of the shower and watch her.

And, I am going to tag:
1: Willie
2: Kiwi
3: Coco
4: Birdie
5: Precious
6: Allie
7: Milo

Okay, make some good answers you all!!!

A Super Duper LONG Fall!!

Boy oh boy, this is the longest Fall I ever remember. (of course, it's only my second Fall!!) Mom says as long as it's warm outside we can go play in the yard on her day off. Well, it's been pretty warm! Of course, today we had to play in the rain, but it was a warm rain, too. Mom was happy cuz she wanted to see how her new camera worked in the rain. She said it was perfect, but she didn't put any on from today cuz there was nothing new and different, well, I guess she got a new one of Jenny, but that's not ME!!! She did put some on from Wednesday, but I can't remember if I wrote anything about them. Oh well, couldn't have been too interesting!
I had fun being tagged the other day, but I am noticing that some of the pups I tagged are not tagging others. Not fair!!!
Well, I gotta go rest up cuz tomorrow Mom is taking me out alone to practice my obedience. My show is exactly two weeks from tomorrow!!! There are 50 dogs just in my class, so I guess I can slink away easily enough if I do bad. Mom says last year Thomas went and he was the first one in the ring and the sun was shining in his eyes from a high up window and he didn't see one of his commands, so he flunked. Would that I could have an easy excuse like that!!!

It's Sunning on Sunday, Yipee!!!

Hurray... the sun is shining... Mom will let us go play in the big yard when she gets home. She is waiting for two more people to come get their dogs, then we can go play!!! It's kinda cool and windy, but we told Mom she could wear her jacket! I sure hope she hurries up cuz I can see some big black clouds scooting across the sky. Maybe they are leaving????? Well, gotta go watch for her, I will write more after I come back from playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playing football on Sunday afternoon.

Boy, was I lucky... just before we went outside to play I checked my page and Coco had given me a nice football to play with. Thanks, Coco! So, we went down and played and played. It was so nice out there that we stayed extra long, but finally had to come inside cuz Mom had to take the other guys down, too. She said it was only fair that way!
Anyway, I added a couple of new photos...in one of them Jenny was giving me an awful look... I think she was gonna bite me or something but she knew Mom was watching closely!!! Then there was one with me keeping up with Toto while we were running. That is pretty hard since he is three times bigger than I am!! Now I am resting and letting my feet and legs dry out... it was still pretty wet down there!

Dog school again......

Tonight Mom set me up at dog school!!! She had me do a stand stay and then had one of the people at class examine me. The first time I fainted and snuck away, but Mom yelled at me so the next time I just fainted without moving my four feet. Well, surprisingly she praised me, but it wasn't over. Next we did heeling, me off leash, and that person just kept walking all around me and stopping in front of me or behind me. At first I was very, very upset and couldn't bring myself to walk near her, but finally I realized nothing happened, so I forgot she was there. Then Mom was very happy and said I was very good. I heard her telling them she was gonna do that again next week. Hmmm, must be conditioning me??? That's a big word I learned in class!!! It's better than the other word I learned... FLUNK.
Well, gotta go eat my supper.... it's late tonight cuz I was at class when everyone else was eating theirs. Not fair, not fair at all, UNLESS the leftover cheese might find itself in my dinner!!!!
Oh yeah, something else happened good to me today... I passed my therapy dog test!!! Now I can go visit the older people in the home, too! Even though I am scared, I don't mind if Mom puts me in peoples arms... I even give them little kisses. I just don't like them to walk up to me when I am not on my leash!!!!

Still playing in the big yard.

Went down to play in the big yard again this afternoon. I did have to do a bit of obedience work to "earn" my play time, but hey, not a problem for me cuz there were no strangers down there. I did have some problems with Toto... I kept jumping up on him to grab his ears and he would just turn the other way. Twice after I got hold of his ear he dragged me along on the ground for quite a long way before I let go of his ear. Mom had some good photos of me jumping on him, but he had his mouth open and she said they looked like he was beating me up. Trust me, he wasn't... I do all the beating!!!!
Uh oh, Mom just went out in the kitchen and stepped on a little brown tootsie roll in front of the door. Hmmmm... I didn't think she would find that! Well, Mom, it is very, very cold outside tonight, you don't expect me to go out there, do you???? OOPS, Gotta go now, I'm going outside to make her happy. I don't expect to be out there long... I don't have to go anymore!!!!

An exhausting day...

Whew, I am totally exhausted! First thing this morning I went on over to work with Mom so I could keep Bubbles company. She had to go have a bath. Then we both played in daycare for the whole rest of the day. After work, Mom actually LEFT ME IN THE KENNEL while she went home and fed everyone and let them out. Then, she came back for the puppy class. I basically just had to show off in that class by doing my heeling and recalls while they did their stays. But, after that, we all got to play. Of course I worked hard... my job is to dart in and break up the potential arguments when they start. It's pretty hard work cuz I have to be firm but make sure that I don't get snapped at while I am barking at them. There was one little girl puppy in there that was trying to start fights with every other dog, so I had to keep working and working.
But, while Mom was waiting for class, she was petting me and she found a FLEA on me!!! I believe it's the first flea I have ever had on me!!! Mom immediately put some Revolution on me, and now my belly feels sick and I have tons and tons of "noise" in my intestines. Mom is hoping I don't get sick later in the night... so am I!!!! I didn't eat my dinner just to be safer!!!

Saturday afternoon fun time!

Tomorrow we are gonna go on a hike!! I have never been on a hike before, in fact, I don't even know what a hike is!!! Mom says we have to wear our orange hunting jackets and I realized I don't have an orange hunting jacket like Toto and Jenny do. Me and Mom were thinking and thinking and finally she remembered my orange pumpkin jacket!!! It will be perfect for me. Anyway, we are gonna go with Skye. Mom says we can bring a lunch and some snacks and she is gonna wear a backpack and so is Skye. Gee, I wonder if they make backpacks for little dogs like me??? I could wear my own snacks if I had one of those. Mom said we were gonna go to a local area where people bring their dogs to hike. She's never been there, but Skye has. Sooo, hopefully we won't all get lost on our hike. I suspect that I will write more about the hike tomorrow.

The best laid plans of Dogs and Men...

Well, it is pouring rain today, and it's soo foggy we can't even see the kennel from our house, sooooo, needless to say, we did not go on our hike! I was very mad cuz I was already for it. So was Toto... he wore his orange blazer all morning at work.
I never got sick from my Revolution, but last night the worst thing happened... Mom was patting me and she discovered a great big TICK on my ear! Soo, she started looking at me very closely, and found one on the other ear, too. Man oh man, I never had bugs before and I get two kinds in two days!!!!!! Mom was so squeemish she didn't even want me in the bed with her. I reminded her that I had Revolution, so they would die anyway. She said she has had dogs for over 40 years and that is the first tick she has EVER found on one of them. She also said we can't go down in the big yard again until the ground freezes solid so we won't get anymore of those gross things. And, today while grooming dogs they found three more ticks on those dogs. Usually they only find about a dozen or so all year long. Of course, I reminded Mom that she sold the wood that was in our cellar and probably they were living on that and got disturbed now that the person is moving the wood out. She told me to stop being a smarty pants!!! The nerve! Now she has to watch one of my ears cuz it was all swollen up when she took off the tick. Didn't hurt, tho! Sooo, guess who got a bath today.... yup, it was me!!!! Geez...no hike and a bath, what a horrible day!!

Running in the cold and clouds

Brrr, I didn't know it was so cold outside when I was convincing Mom that we needed to go run in the field. Fortunately, I was wearing my fleece pumpkin jacket. I was pretending it was an orange hunting blazer like Jenny's and Toto's, but they kept reminding me that it was a stupid howlaween costume. Someday I will be big and I will get them back, just you wait and see!!!!! Besides, I think my fleece jacket was warmer than their stupid cotton hunting blazers. And, I noticed that their blazers kept slipping down their shoulders and elbows and my jacket fits me perfectly. Oh gosh, if I get big like them, my orange jacket won't fit me anymore!
Wow, tomorrow there will only be me and Toto and Ali and Tyson left at home. Everyone else is going with Mom to get their eyes checked. Me and Toto don't have to go cuz we can see fine, thank you very much!!! Ali can't go cuz she has to feed Tyson, and he is too little to go cuz his eyes aren't even open all the way yet.
I guess Mom decided the ticks would all be sleeping cuz it was so cold today. She did say we couldn't go down to the field anymore until the ground froze. I did notice she checked me all over carefully when we got home! No ticks, no fleas! Hey, how come I am the only one that got ticks and a flea???? Not fair, not fair at all!

Not alot to write about........

Well, yesterday when everyone was gone Me and Toto were bored silly. We spent some time counting the cars that drove by, then that got too boring, too, so we napped the rest of the day away. Ali was busy taking care of Tyson, so she wouldn't play with us, either. We sure missed everyone else!!!
Today Mom took me and Jenny to work, and in honor of my upcoming show, she scissored my coat into a pretty puppy clip instead of just ran the clippers down it like she usually does. I felt so special that I had to prance around the dog yard when she put me outside. Can't wait until tonight when I go to obedience school... Everyone will be sooo jealous that they don't look as cute as me!!! Poor Jenny got just a regular poodle doo... nothing special for her.
I have to be at my show at 8 am on Sunday... Mom says at least it will be over early, too. Skye is gonna go with us, so I am sure she will walk me all over the place after to show me off. I am gonna get to see my friend, (and UNCLE!!!) Chaz when I go down there. He is also being shown that day.
Well, Mom said she needs the computer to make some graduation certificates for my pals in obedience class...tonight is the last night of this class. Catch ya later.

Poor, poor me!!

Man, Mom really made me mad tonight. In fact, I am still mad and I am punishing her by not looking at her and sleeping way, way down at the bottom of the bed, well, at least until I get too cold and have to crawl back up to her warm body. Here's what happened, tell me if you would be mad, too. We were over at the obedience place. Mom's sister was here cuz they were testing some dogs for Therapy work. Well, Mom had her sister do the stand/stay with me and I was a bit scared (Mom's sister thought I was gonna bite her so she was tippy toeing around me, that makes me very, very nervous.) Anyway, then Mom picked me up and put me in her sisters arms, then she did the stand again. Well, I was getting pretty sick of that, so I ran into an open crate that was in the corner of the room. Mom got really mad then, and she put my leash on me and MADE me stand for her sister and some other people there. Okay, I wasn't happy, but I did it. Sooo, later, during the class, she had that girl from last week come up to me again. I did my stand, perfectly, I might add, but then decided I was not gonna do anything else at all, especially heel with her walking up behind me with big, clunky shoes on. I ran for that crate again. This time Mom was really mad, and she yelled at me, made me heel a bit, then put me right back in MY crate. Sooo, when we got home I decided to not look at her and not come to her at all! Now she is all worried about what I am gonna do when I get to the show on Sunday. Bet she takes me to work tomorrow and does the softie sweety training with me!! BTW, she did not have any cheese with her tonight, only some old, stale dog biscuits. I think I will keep her guessing until late Saturday afternoon, by then I should be getting filet mignon!!!!!!!!!!

A surprising day...

Mom didn't even make me do my obedience today. She did take me to work, but I was kinda surprised when she just fixed one of my legs where she had left the hair longer. She said it looked like I had a balloon on that leg. If she had made me do the obedience, I was gonna be all bad and punish her some more. Drats!! Then she took me home and even though it's only 24 degrees outside, she took me and Toto and Jenny down to the big yard. She said she had some work to do down there and we could come if we wanted to. IF we wanted to... yeah, right Mom, try and not let us go with you!! Sooo, we stayed as long as I could stand it... when I started walking on only two feet and tucking the other two under my armpits, she decided I was cold enough. She did get a couple of new photos of me. In one of them I was jumping up to say hello to her and she snapped it. She says it looks like a little kid who has to pee, jumping around with his knees clamped together!!! I guess that's funny???? I did not have to pee, tho! In the other one, Jenny is right on my tail, chasing me down. And, in one, I am doing a perfect, fast come. It wasn't obedience, tho... Mom didn't see me, so she called me and I was way, way over under some trees, so I booked it right over to her as fast as I could so she wouldn't leave me down there all alone. Looks pretty cool (and I look pretty obedient, I must admit!) Well, now we are all sleeping in the dog bed, trying to warm up. Mom says it's gonna be a five or more dog night tonight... wonder who else she's gonna bring in there? Maybe Bubbles and Pinki???

Mmmmmmm, Mom got the cheese!

Class again tonight.... Mom brought the cheese, so I was absolutely PERFECT!!! I pretended I wasn't even mad at her anymore, so she kept that cheese coming my way! This was the baby class, so I could only do my stuff while they were doing their sits and downs, but I at least had a captive audience! Actually, it was kind of fun. Then I did have to discipline a few of them, but all in all, they were pretty well behaved tonight. The little agressive girl puppy must have learned her lesson last week... (or with the big dogs here at daycare?) cuz she was very good tonight. She just grabbed a couple of the other dogs and they immediately grabbed her back, so she decided it was more fun to play than to be a bully!
Well, now I gotta go eat a late supper IF I have any room left in my stomach from eating all that cheese!!!!

Frozen in time

Brrrrrrr.... Mom took us out to play for a bit this afternoon. My golly gee, it is FREEZING out there and the wind was blowing from the North Pole!!! We didn't mind too much, but I did notice Mom was hopping from one foot to the other! SHE looked like the little kid that had to pee!!!!! And, the cat poops that we always try to find in the garden were frozen poopcycles. Not that we minded too much, but it's harder to grab them and run from Mom when they are frozen to the ground! She hates it when we find them.
I was running really fast and the wind was making my ears stand straight up and I swear they froze like that. Mom got a photo, of course. After we ran for a while, we went back in the house and Mom took Toto and Jenny uptown for some shopping. I stayed here cuz I am not terribly fond of that kind of stuff. Which reminds me, I gotta go now and prepare myself mentally for my show tomorrow. Maybe I will surprise everyone (including ME), and pass??? If not, I am sure Mom will really remember she said she wasn't gonna make me do that stuff ever again!!! If she doesn't remember next time, I will make her read my old diaries where it's written down for posterity!!!

OH MY DOG..... I ACTUALLY PASSED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yippee yay, I passed my obedience and was very, very good. Gotta go eat my special winners dinner now, then we will write more with PICTURES!!!!

My big day at the show!

Well, we got there, a bit late cuz Skye didn't come and we waited a while before Mom called to see if she was coming with us. She didn't cuz she was sick. I was sooo scared and nervous that I was shaking in my boots. There were people EVERYWHERE, and most of them wanted to pat me. It was soo bad that while we were waiting, Mom decided she wasn't gonna make me show. Then she watched the judge doing some of the other dogs and decided she would try me cuz the judge was very nice and was giving the dogs some space instead of walking really close behind them. So, pretty soon it was my turn. We went in and did all the stuff on the leash. I was even pretty happy! Then came the stand. Mom made very sure not to touch me or to let me lean on her cuz she was shaking, too, and she didn't want me to know that. Well, I was PERFECT... I didn't even crouch way down like I usually do! Then Mom just told me to come along with her and we went to the heeling off leash part. I stayed right with her cuz I didn't see that judge behind me until I made the last turn, then the only place I could go was closer to her or to follow Mom... I followed Mom!! After a very long time (especially for Mom, hehehe!) we went back in and did our sits and downs. I have NEVER failed those, and I didn't fail them today, either! Mom was sooo happy that she went right over and bought me a brand new toy and a brand new nice, fluffy lined barn jacket. It's maroon and it matches my color perfectly! Then we had to wait around forever for Chaz to show, and for Tinman to get his haircut. Mom took me over to another big building and we were sitting down while she ate lunch. Along came 5 little, little kids and they wanted to pat me. Mom said they could, and I was pretty scared of them, too. We don't have any little kids here! Mom let them all hold me, and finally I gave them some gentle kisses. We walked all the way around the building and then they saw me again and they all ran up to pat me again!!! Then some other friend of Mom's came along and sat beside me while we were watching Chaz. Next thing I knew, he was holding me, too!!! Whew... I am totally exhausted! (And full from my special, winners dinner! Both me and Chaz got winners dinners!!!)

Teaching Chaz the ropes

Well, Mom took me and Chaz down in the big yard this afternoon and low and behold, I had to remind him of all the rules. Seems he was pretty young the last time he was down there, and he must have forgotten that I am older than him, and therefore I am the one who is the top dog!!! He was pretty good, but he kept trying to pin me down to the ground and sit on me. Silly boy, guess he didn't remember that the rule is that the smallest one is the most important one, not the youngest one. Soo, finally I convinced him of that, then we ran and ran and ran. It wasn't even that nasty outside today... almost warm!!! Happy Turkey day, everyone!!!

Giving Thanks....

I am thankful that Mom and her friends rescued me and my family when we needed them. I am thankful that Mom kept me here and let me live with all my new friends here. I am thankful that my belly is full every night and that I have a warm place to sleep. I am thankful that I have lots of play time, and lots of toys to play with. I am thankful that I have training and rules so I can be a good dog with a job that gives me a purpose in my life.
But, most of all, I am thankful that I have a person who loves me!!!!

One more dog show?????? OH NO!!!

Wonder how long Mom was gonna make me wait until she told me? I was checking over her shoulder today while she was searching on the computer, and it turns out, she was searching for another dog show to enter ME in!!! She explained that I have to have THREE passing scores to get my CD title, and I only have two now. Funny, I could swear I heard her say this was the last time she was gonna make me do this stuff! Well, she had better be very careful who she selects for a judge to show me under. If I chose not to like them, I will just fail again. After all, it took NINE shows for Toto to get his CD, that means I still five more to go. Of course, Toto passed his last three, so maybe I only have to do one more? I suspect it's high time she started training that little Pinki Pipsqueak... she can go along with me and that way Mom can save some gas money. So far the only show she found was during her vacation... guess that won't work. Speaking of that vacation... Toto the snitch told me all about it. He just did that so I would get all upset cuz I'm not invited to go!! I will wish a pox on him!!!!

Playing in the snow....

Mom took us outside to play in the first snowfall! There wasn't too much yet, and when she took my photo, she was surprised that the snow didn't show up on my red hair....it only looks a bit wet. Toto and Jenny looked like they had a bad case of dandruff.
We went down into the lab pen cuz Mom was too lazy to put our leashes on and take us down to the big yard. While we were running around down there I spied a place where I could get out of that pen. I just needed a little digging and I would have been free. Just as Toto decided to help me, Mom spied us and made us move away from that place!!! Oh well, it was kind of hard digging the frozen ground.
Gee, I wonder how much snow we will get? Mom didn't seem too excited about it, so I bet not much. Probably it will be one of those stupid turn to freezing rain storms. We don't like those cuz the power goes off and we get cold and bored.
Well, gotta go watch the flakes fall down now, catch ya later!

Nuthin' much...

Man, it's pretty dead around here... Jenny is at the kennel, Ali is taking care of Tyson, Tyson is too young for me to play with, and Toto is being bossy cuz he thinks he's the biggest now that Jenny is gone. Mom was rushing around cleaning up all our toys and all the confetti we spread around cuz she suddenly remembered Jones has a girlfriend coming tomorrow afternoon!!! She's not cleaning for the girlfriend, but for her people!!! It's pretty muddy around here cuz the snow melted, so she is trying to figure out which ones of us are brown naturally and which ones are brown mud!! We keep reminding her that mud is a good coat conditioner but she's not buying it! She is always washing our rugs as soon as we get them conditioned... mean Mom. And, some of us, (but not me, really!!!) chew the corners off of our bolster rugs so when she washes them, there is a major snowfall in the kitchen when they come out of the washer. She dries them outside, fortunately!!! All the birds line up around here in the Spring so they can get all that fuzz for their nests!!!!
Well, gotta go, she just got out the broom and I gotta chase it, I can't help it, I just gotta chase it!!!!

Better day today....

I was pretty bored yesterday, but today was better. First of all, Mom came home from work early and let me and Toto play with Pinki. We ran all thru the house and played with all my toys. While we were playing, Mom did some laundry and some picking up. Then she asked us if we wanted to go out and play.... yeah right Mom, when would we NOT want to go out and play???? Ali was getting all excited, too, and she was hopping around in her little puppy area, so Mom said she could go with us. We went down into the lab pen cuz Mom has decided that is easier since she doesn't need to put all our collars and leashes on. (We don't wear collars in the house cuz Mom says they can be dangerous when we all play together...someone's teeth could get caught in a collar and we could choke!) Anyway, we ran and ran and ran. Well, Toto mostly explored cuz he could smell where all the other dogs had been, but Ali chased Pinki and I chased Ali. Round and round and round we went. Finally, we were pretty tired, so Mom brought us back to the house. I was pretty surprised to find a whole bunch of dandelion flowers growing down there. It has been very, very cold, in fact, last week it was only 9 degrees on two mornings, and it even snowed. How in the world can those flowers survive and even flower???? Amazing!!! Anyway, they were really pretty so I stopped and smelled them and they made my nose all yellow... tee hee hee!
Now Toto and I are "helping" Mom work on the laptop.... we are such good doggies!!!!!!!!!!

Got a haircut, AGAIN!

Mom took me to work today and Tonya gave me a bath. After my bath, Mom said I looked very, very fat! So, she got out her clippers and gave me a haircut. Now I look very normal again. Guess she had let my hair get way too long again! Anyway, I felt very handsome after my haircut, so I sat in a chair in the store so everyone could see me. When people came in, I stood up and stretched so they could admire my pretty red hair all trimmed up. I wanted Mom to take another photo of me, but she said she didn't think it was necessary... everyone already knows I am really handsome!!! And, the best part is that I am not conceited at all!!!
Now Toto is trying to chew my ears. I guess he's jealous that my ears are prettier than his. I do still have a bunch of too short hair in the front of my topknot cuz of where someone bit my head, but it's growing out pretty fast. Should be gone by the next haircut.
Wow, Mom just said me and Toto could go to the store with her. She didn't go yesterday cuz she had company. Maybe we can stop at McDonalds.... I didn't have my dinner yet!!!

I Need 6 visitors!!!!!

Guys, I just realized that if I get six more visitors to my page, I will hit ONE THOUSAND visits!!!!!! Mom said it's probably the same 10 pupsters visiting every day, but I know I have more friends than 10!!! Maybe Toto only has 10 friends, but I am a social butterfly, and social butterflies have lots of friends!!!
Anyway, please visit my page????? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

ONE THOUSAND VISITS!!!!!!!

Yea.... thanks to all of you, I made a thousand visitors today! Not bad considering I joined way back in June. Gosh, I feel so humbled... NAAHHHH, I feel GREAT to know I have all you friends!!! Dogster is sooo cool! Mom has no two legged kids, so she is happy that we all have lots and lots of friends! She says it's fun to write all these blogs, and with all of us, she always has something to write about, that's for sure!!! Life is never dull around here!
Let's see, my next goal is?????
BTW... check the photo of me FLYING cuz I am so happy to have so many friends!!!!

Crazy weather!!!!

Well, it poured and poured all day long. Mom came home early but there was no way we could go outside and play. Now the weather man is giving severe weather alerts and it's supposed to either snow a whole bunch OR get serious freezing rain OR just plain old rain. Guess it depends on where the two storms meet. So far the temperature has dropped from a high of 55 degrees to the current 37 in less than an hour and the wind is blowing like crazy. We are all gonna hunker down in the warm water bed with Mom tonight!!!
Mom brought all the puddles home from the kennel, and she also brought home the labs. She said it was gonna be impossible to get rid of any coughing over there IF her dogs were there and all got it too. So far only Clyde and one other daycare dog are coughing. But, without her dogs over there, there is no one else left to get it, until the new ones come in for the weekend. By then it will be all gone, she hopes!!! I was pretty glad to have everyone home... I was lonely!!!Hmmm, I did sneeze a bit today, but I do that all the time!!!
Hey, today one of Mom's friends came to visit and I was very, very friendly to her! Dunno why, guess I just liked the way she smelled???? Both she and Mom were most surprised!!!!

Snow day

We're having a "snow day", but, alas, it's not snowing, it's freezing rain. At any rate, the kennel is pretty much closed down so Mom came home and got me and the camera. Should have run and hid somewhere!!! I did what she wanted me to, however, I must admit, the expression on my face wasn't always what Mom wanted!!! Put it this way, she took an awfully lot of photos to get these four!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well, sitting on the break chair with her made it all worth while. Everyone else is at home, hee hee hee!!!

Something STRANGE is happening to me!!!!

Dear Diary,
Here I am almost two years old and suddenly I have started to like strangers!!!! Take yesterday, for example... Mom's friend was here and I jumped into her arms and let her hold me and I wasn't even stiff and looking away from her. Then today Mom brought me over to work and I was playing with her all afternoon. TWO different people came in while I was there. One of them was visiting Mom, so when some people came to pick up their dogs from boarding, Mom handed me to her to hold. I was friendly to her and even gave her some kisses!!! After the people got their dogs and left, she put me down and I jumped right back up into her arms!!!!!! And, later, someone else came to see Mom so they went into the break room for a break. I ran in with them, and while they were talking I jumped right into the other person's lap and made her hold me.
Do you suppose this is a serious condition?? And, do you think it will last forever??? Help me please, I am losing control of my life!!!!!!!! I am supposed to be the shy, scared one and now I like people!!!

Ice, Ice everywhere!!!!

Mom took us out for a little bit today. It was soooo cold and icy that we didn't stay very long. She did take a couple of photos of me and the ice. One of them has some branches from one of our trees all covered with ice!!!!
Mom says if our power doesn't come on pretty soon WE are gonna be covered in ice!!!!!!!! I think it was warmer outside than inside!!! Last night I had to sleep on top of Mom's head.... even that was cold!!! It was only 39 in our bedroom and the warm waterbed was not warm at all!!!!!!!!
Well, gotta go cuz the car is running out of gas so Mom has to shut off the computer!!!

Whew, no more jackets in the house!!!!!!

Mom just took off my jacket... that was really nice cuz it was getting a bit smelly. She was making me sleep with Bubbles for warmth, and Bubbles is not really housebroken!!!! I think she might be jacket broken, actually!!!! Mom just hopped out of the shower... she smells better, too!!!! She said it wasn't hot yet, but it was sure better than the ones she had last night and Thursday night!!!! Now we are gonna go to bed and watch some TV... a "normal" night, except for that loud noise outside the house. We are not complaining, mind you!!!!!!!!
And, tomorrow she is going to take those loud Labradors out of our house, hurray!!!
But, Mom says now she feels guilty cuz there are sooo many people still with no power and no generators. Our town doesn"t even have a shelter for them, they are on their own. She invited our elderly neighbors to stay here but they have a wood stove so they wanted to stay home. It would have been way, way too loud for them here!!!!
Well, I am going now so I can go to sleep in the warmer waterbed. The generator guy said Mom shouldn't run the waterbed heater, but it was sooo cold that it wouldn't turn down far enough to shut off. Oh, dear, what a shame!!!!!

Bath time AGAIN!!!!

This afternoon me and Bubbles had to go to work and have baths. Because I was sharing a crate with her, I got all dirty and yucky. She is usually dirty and yucky cuz she is the smallest and is always at the bottom of the pile when we all run outside. It's been pretty muddy and her white coat soaks up all the water. Anyway, we played for a bit over there. She also got a haircut...not me, I got mine last week!!!!
Anyway, we went in the break room and visited with the ceiling cat for a while. Last Thursday some carpenter guys put some insulation in the break room and scared CC, so she ran back up into the ceiling. She was soo scared that she didn't come back down until yesterday. They put a whole new ceiling in the break room, so she had to come down a hole in the room next to the break room. Julie made her a little ramp down to a ladder so she would know where to go. Guess it worked!!!
Tonight we are all bugging Mom to go to bed. We are very, very tired!!! Especially me, cuz I'm little???? Sounds like a good excuse to me?????

Diary dog of the day

Hey, Mom just said I was one of the Diary picks for the day... sweet!! I wondered why I was getting some great gifts today, but I am too young to read the messages on them!!! Mind you, I AM old enough to type stuff, I just can't read too well!!!
Well, I was gonna leave this message for Toto to tell, but he's still pouting about the lack of snow so... The weather man said we were gonna get 4 inches tonight and another 3 or 4 tomorrow!!! Mom said not to get too excited... they have said that before. We are really hoping cuz once again, she has tomorrow afternoon off and we could go play in it, IF it happens!! Meanwhile, she is all worried about Lukie having an operation tomorrow, so we are sure hoping he will be fine so she can take us out to run. She won't have to drive to the vets, they are right next door so even if it snows she can still take him there. In fact, silly Luke would run up there if she just opened the door and let him out!!!!

Snow, A White Christmas dream come true!!!!!

Yes, it snowed! Yes, it rained a little teensy bit, but it was still cold so it didn't hurt the snow at all. Sooo, Mom did take us out and let us play. I guess I forgot that snow always sticks to my coat and makes great big snowballs!!! Must be cuz my coat is thinner than Toto's or Jenny's and that makes my natural warmth come thru and melt it a bit??? At any rate, finally Mom had to pick me up and carry me home so I could melt cuz I was gaining way, way too much weight for my little legs to carry! She said it brought her back to her childhood when she would go sledding and had to wear wool pants and as they sucked up the melted snow they got heavier and heavier. She said sometimes her dad had to carry her home, too!!!! Oh well, I did have a bunch of fun out there. Oh yeah, five inches of snow is all the way up to my belly and it is only up to Jenny's and Toto's ankles... that makes me collect more snow, too!!! hmmm, didn't think of that before. Well, it is supposed to snow again on Friday and again on Sunday. We are gonna have sooo much fun!! Someone surely must have dreamed of a White Christmas, all right!

Check your dog's collar, please!!!

Mom is ranting again. Seems they had a tiny Yorkie to groom this morning. He was walking funny when she took off his THREE jackets. Under them he had on a harness. Mom unsnapped the belly part, then tried to slip it over his head. It wouldn't budge. Thinking it was one of those with two snaps, she looked for another snap and discovered he had his front leg thru the neck part. It was sooo tight that Mom had to cut the harness to get it off. The poor little dog's leg and foot were all swollen up and purple and there was a HUGE long ozzing sore along his back going down under his leg from where the harness was cutting into his flesh. Mom was furious... it's a good thing the owner wasn't coming back until this afternoon, Mom might have hurt her. Anyway, Mom and Tonya got him all cleaned up and fixed up. When the lady (Mom says she's no lady!!!) came back, Mom showed her his poor back and side. His foot was unswollen by then, thank goodness. The lady "claimed" she just put the harness on him. Mom got really, really mad then and told her she was lying and it was very obvious that he had that harness on and his leg stuck for well over 48 hours, and did she want Mom to take him right up to the vets so they could also tell her that something like that didn't happen in an hour or two. Well, surprise, she admitted that he wore the harness all the time and also wore the three jackets all the time. Upon further questioning, it turns out that he doesn't even go outside, EVER, so Mom asked her why in the world he had to wear a harness that weighed almost as much as he did IF he was never, ever walked on a leash???????? Grrrrrrrrrr. Anyway, the woman claims he won't wear the harness anymore (yeah, he can't... Mom cut it in pieces!!!). Mom told her the poor dog was lucky that today was his groom day cuz he would have probably lost his leg if it had been that tight much longer. Now Mom is gonna worry and worry about the poor dog. Call the Humane Society, you may suggest??? Won't work... dog is well fed, had a grooming appointment, and she will just say it was an accident.
Meanwhile, everyone, PLEASE... if your dog wears a harness or a collar all the time, check that it still fits okay!!!! That poor guy could still end up with an infection in his wounds..... It could happen to your dog, too!!!

Getting ready for a snow(y) day!!!

When Mom let me out to pee tonight I stepped off the porch and went in right over my head!!!! Hmmm, I had no idea it had snowed that much. It reminded me of a funny story with Darrell, one of the Frenchies here. Mom and her friend had to go to Florida in February to get him cuz his owner died. Well, we had tons and tons of snow last year and it was level with the porch floor. The first time Mom let him outside, he just ran right off the edge of the porch thinking he could walk on the snow. He sunk right out of sight. He had no idea what that stuff was! Mom had to go rescue him. Now he loves it, but he does tend to stay on the paths!!! Just checked, it's still snowing. Oh well, all the more to play in tomorrow.

Santa Paws is coming to town!!!

Whew, I was getting a bit worried... Mom hasn't been shopping very much, and none of the bags she brought home smelled like stuff for us dogs. Jenny and Ali and I snuck in the guest room, (Mom keeps all the presents in there), and we didn't see anything at all for dogs!!! Toto was at work today cuz Skye came to play with him and he overheard Mom on the phone talking to the people at the big dog stuff store. It seems they are coming here tomorrow, so Toto said Mom told her sales girl to select some good gifts for all of us. Toto said Mom told Laurie and Tonya she thought that was a very good idea... now she will be just as surprised as we are!!! Cool, huh? I hope I get something very, very good!!! Toto said he also heard her ordering some of those great food filled marrow bones. COOOL... I LOVE those, and my tongue is smaller than the other guys so I can get more stuff out than they can, hehehe!!!
And, the bestest news of all... Luke said that Mom has always let us have our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve cuz she has to go to the kennel on Christmas morning and clean and feed all those dogs whose owners are away. She said she likes to spend more time with them on Christmas, cuz they are all alone, so we get to enjoy our presents while she is working, if we get them the night before.
NOW I am getting very, very excited.

The Christmas Spirit.

Uh Oh, Mom just yelled at all of us. She said by reading our diaries, one would get the idea that we think Christmas is all commercial and only about getting presents. Well, we would like you to know that we believe in the real Christmas Spirit and what it's all about, and we know that presents are not the point. We also spend time thinking about all those poor pupsters who are homeless and unwanted, and we also are extremely grateful that we have a warm home and lots of food and a good Mom who loves us and provides for us. Our Mom also rescues dogs and cats, mostly cats, and they take care of them and find them new homes. Last year they found homes for over 150 cats and about 20 dogs, all of which were either strays or unwanted by their previous owners. She says she indulges us cuz she can't save them all so she goes a bit overboard with us. Soo, we are sorry we sounded greedy and ungrateful!!!

Season's Greetings....

May heaven's angels watch over you and yours this holiday season.

Christmas day playing in the snow!!

I sure hope everyone is finding the Holiday warm and filled with love! Wow, we're having a great day today! First Mom actually cooked!!! She NEVER cooks anything except in the microwave. She put some little chickens in the oven and started baking them, then she took us all outside to play. It was pretty warm out there, but that snow is all full of rain from last night and is very, very heavy!! It was way, way hard for my little legs to plow thru, especially after the snowballs started sticking to my coat again. A few times I thought I was gonna just keel over and drown!! But, finally Jenny made some pretty good paths for me to follow. Mom took lots and lots of photos! When we came in the whole house smelled of great stuff cooking! We were all drooling! Mom went up to the attic and got a bunch of her Summer clothes out for their trip. I snuck thru the baby gate and followed her up there. I was hoping I could maybe hop into her suitcase and hide in there and get to go with her. Then I heard her say something about it being only two weeks until they go... TWO WEEKS...man, I can't hide in there that long!!! Gotta think of another plan, I guess.
While her clothes were washing the dinner was ready, so we all gathered round and helped her eat. Mmmmmmmm.... it was soooo good!!! And, she saved all the leftover parts to put in our dinners later. Can't wait. Now I am taking a well deserved nap!! My legs need to recuperate! All in all, a great Christmas for the Beanster!

A present about ME!!!

Today I went along to work with Mom cuz she noticed that me and Jenny were getting a bit smelly. While I was on the grooming table getting my feet shaved (MAN, do I HATE it when Mom does that!!!) the mail lady came and instead of putting Mom's stuff in the box she brought it into the store cuz there was a package. Well, Mom opened the package and it was a BEAUTIFUL painting of Yours Truly, sitting with my Beanie babies. Mom says it's more beautiful than the original photo and I have to agree with her on that!!! It was done by our friend, Suzanne, who is our pupster pal Kiwi's Mom. Mom especially liked that she turned one of the Beanie Babies into a Frenchie, heeheehee!!! Mom said she will try to scan it so you all can see how beautiful I, er, it is!!
Meanwhile, Mom and Julie realized it is exactly two weeks until they leave for Florida, so they are making all kinds of last minute plans. Gee, I sure wish I could go!!!! Mom says I am too small... an alligator would surely eat me! And, besides, I really don't like to go in the car that much, and strangers scare me, so I guess I will stay home with Bubbles. Maybe they will bring me something good for a souvenier??? Like a stuffed alligator???

My new painting

Mom tried to scan my new painting today but it wouldn't fit in the scanner. It took her a fairly long time, but finally she realized she could just take a picture of it, duh!!! So, now you can see it with the original right above it.
Didn't do too much today, Mom took Jenny and Toto and went to the store. When she came back, she was complaining about her sore knee again, so we didn't get to go outside and play. It was pretty wet out there, so I guess that was okay. Almost all the snow melted away, so now me and Toto have to wish for some more. I suspect Toto and Jenny will be wishing for NO snow so they can leave on time for their trip. Gosh, it's hard to believe they are leaving in less than two weeks!!! Mom says as soon as the rest of the boarding dogs go home she is going to start putting some of us over there so she can clean the house. She says she hates more than anything to come home from a trip to a dirty house. Seems weird to me... I LIKE a dirty house... I can find my toys without even searching thru the toy box! And, it's harder for Mom to notice my tootsie rolls in the kitchen!!! Oh well, gotta go now and play with Tyson. Mom is letting us play with him, finally!

A few new photos of ME

Mom was getting her cameras ready for the vacation trip, so she was testing the flashes, etc. She shot this new primary photo of me, and she said she really liked it, so now you guys get to see it, too!!! She also got one of all of us sprawled out on her bed sleeping. Guess we didn't know she was taking it, cuz we are all sound to sleep. Mom says it's no wonder she is stiff and tired when she gets up in the morning... if you look closely, you can see how little room we left for her in the middle of the bed. Too bad, Momsy... we need our beauty rest too!!!

New Year's Day Rescue!!!

Mom is pretty happy today. Seems while she was at work the phone rang. She never answers the phone on holidays, but for some reason she did. It was the veterinarian from next door. It seems they had gotten a call from an Animal Control place pretty far away. Those people had found a black lab and it had a microchip that was registered to Mom. (Mom puts Microchips in all the dogs she raises and sells). Well, Mom checked way, way back thru her papers and found the dog's owners name!!!! She was sold way back in 2000!!!! Mom called the Animal Control place and, being a holiday, they were closed but she left the people's name and number. So then she called the people and also got their answering machine, so she left them a message, too. Now she is waiting for one of them to call her back, but at least she knows whose dog it is!!!
This is the second time she has gotten a call about one of the dogs with a microchip, so she knows it works!!! Before that she used to tattoo all the dogs and once she got a call about one of those being found, too. That dog had a microchip AND a tattoo and the people who lost it had called animal control and the people who found it also had called animal control. It was about two weeks later when the people who found the dog were playing with him that they discovered the tattoo and called and got Mom's name. The dog was still in it's OWN neighborhood, but no one had made the connections nor scanned it for a microchip!!!

Found Dog Update....

Mom just got a phone call from a very, very grateful dog owner!!! Maggee is now home, none the worse for the wear. He was very happy, and Mom told him to be sure to call Animal Control back and thank them again for scanning her cuz not all rescues do that!!! She also told him to be sure to send in the owner registration. Most people never bother to do that, which is why Mom uses this brand of microchips... this company registers all the chips to Mom until they get the registration information from the new owner. When she worked at the Humane Society she found a cat with a microchip. The owner did not register the number and that microchip company could only tell Mom that the chip was sold to a Veterinary hospital in New England. Hello.... that is a very, very big area!!! Fortunately, Mom started her search by calling local vets and did find the cat's owner. Sadly, they did not want the cat and had not been looking for it!!!!! Mom did find it a very good new home!!!
Happy New Year!!!

Wow wee, I am going on VACATION!!!!!

You never know what's gonna happen from moment to moment around here. I just found out that I am going to Florida!!! I have never, ever been on an overnight trip, well, except when we stayed at Kiwi's Mom's house, but that doesn't really count, does it? I am gonna get to stay in a cabin right on the ocean, how cool is that???? And, we are gonna go out in MY kayak and paddle around and see all the nature down there. All the birds and butterflies and pretty flowers, I love pretty flowers!!! Mom says George is going, too. That's okay, I won't boss him around, he's bigger than me! Mom reminded me that I don't really like to go for long rides in the car, but I said I would just sleep the whole way... that will work! And, if we see strangers I will just stay by Mom's side. Not a problem for the Beanster!!! Mom said one reason I can go is that I am very, very small. Good deal!
Wow weeeee..... VACATION!!!!!!!!! I can hardly wait!! Hope Mom is gonna pack lots of stuff for me! And, I promise I will bring a surprise back for Toto and Jenny. Hee hee hee, they can't go!!!! I AM GOING ON VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Practicing for my vacation trip...

Mom took us out to play in the lab yard this afternoon. It was okay cuz I had my new sweater that Sarah's little daughter picked out just for me. Well, she also picked one out just like it for her cat, but, hey, we can share the same look!! It was very, very warm! Good thing cuz I had to practice fainting for the trip in case George snarls at me. Check out the photo... I look pretty small lying there, huh? Toto didn't even snarl, he was just looking at me!!! Should work pretty well for Georgie!!
In my other new photo I was racing along pretending that snow was nice warm sand! Mom said the place we're going doesn't have lots of beach sand... it is mostly marshes and swamps, but you never know... we might find some sand????
Oh yeah, did I tell you?? I am going on vacation all the way down to Florida and Toto and Jenny have to stay home!!! Hee hee hee.

Packing for my trip...

Today me and Mom did some more packing for my trip. For some strange reason Toto and Jenny didn't want to help! Guess Mom felt sorry for them cuz she took them for a ride uptown. Hope they don't know she was buying some treats and stuff for me to take on the trip!! I also think they saw Mom taking their crate out of the car and putting my small one in. Oh well!
After she came home, Mom packed her clothes and stuff. I am gonna like this trip... she packed all her Summer clothes and shoes!!! That must mean it's gonna be warm and nice in Florida? She did try a bunch of my jackets on me to see which one I like the best. She said it will be cold on the way down and I will have to go for walks outside to do my business. Uh oh, I NEVER did my business on a leash before! Maybe we better practice that before we leave?? I always hear Mom tell her puppy kindergarten obedience class students to be sure and teach their pups to do their business with a leash on in case they have to at some point... guess she doesn't practice what she preaches???
Hey, did I tell you all that I am going on Vacation way, way down to Florida?????????? And, Toto and Jenny are staying home, hee hee hee!

Me & George finally meet.

Julie brought George to work today so he and I could meet before our long trip. We both went into the break room. We did some sniffing and circling then we both went out into the daycare room and peed on some stuff. Mom says it's hard to believe we are both neutered. Well, we're still boys!!! Anyway, he's never been with anyone as small as me, so he wasn't scared of me. Mom had just groomed him, and he must have liked it okay, cuz he was also friendly with her. I didn't even have to faint!!!!!!!!
Hey, did I mention..... I am going on a LONG vacation all the way to Florida and I am the only one of Mom's dogs that is invited... Toto and Jenny have to stay home, hee hee hee!!!!!!

A perfectly normal day...

Today was a perfectly normal day... no reminders of our upcoming vacation. Mom was at work ALL DAY LONG, and it was LONG! She ran in at noon, let us all out to pee, and ran back to work. Tonight she took Ali and Tyson over to her friends house, then when she got home she just messed around with the computer and left us to our own devices. Jenny and Toto were fighting lots, so I stole all the good bones and toys and played with them. Now we are playing leap frog on Mom's bed.
It is supposed to be terrible weather tomorrow so if no grooming dogs come Mom will do me and she will pack most of the stuff into the car. I guess she found all the stuff she wants, cuz she's not wandering around the house collecting stuff tonight.
Hey, I think I forgot to tell you guys... me and Mom are going on vacation way, way down to Florida and Toto and Jenny have to stay home!!! Hee hee hee!

Only ONE more day.....

Today it was very nasty outside, so Tonya didn't come to work. Laurie came, though, so Mom had her wash the dogs for grooming while she cut their hair. All the dogs came that were supposed to, but Mom had time to do me anyway. Soo, now I have my Summer doo, too. Then Mom came home and backed her car up to the door. She took almost all the stuff she's packed and put it in the car. I helped! Then she drove her car right into the daycare room and left it there to melt. But, she found out her driver's license is gonna expire on Sunday, and the only day she can get a new one is tomorrow, so she can't put the kayaks on the car until after she gets her license. I don't wanna ride with her all that way (TO FLORIDA!!!) if she doesn't have her license! If they threw her in jail where would me and George go?? She said Julie could drive!!!!
Sooo, now tomorrow she and Julie can pack all the stuff neatly in the car before she goes to get her license, then they can put the kayaks on after that. It's gonna be nice cuz when we leave (FOR OUR TRIP TO FLORIDA) early in the morning the car will already be all warm and toasty!
Oh yeah, did I let everyone know? I am going on a kayaking trip to Florida and Jenny and Toto have to stay home, hee hee hee!

Only ONE MORE NIGHT........

Well, Mom and Julie got the car almost all packed today and the kayaks are on, too. All they need tomorrow is ME and Georgie and the coolers, and away they go! Mom is very, very tired tonight. She had to groom some very big dogs today, then pack all the stuff in the car and then when the snowplow came the only place he could put the snow was up in front of the big door to the kennel, so she had to shovel that clear and then use the snowblower to finish so she could drive out tomorrow. Oh yeah, she had to go get her drivers license, too!
And, she said she couldn't sleep good all night last night cuz I was too excited and kept her awake! Sure, Mom, blame it on me!!! Oh yeah, she also had to search and search for my rabies certificate and my tags. We don't usually wear tags cuz we don't wear collars but when we go somewhere we have to have collars and tags. Mom usually puts all our tags in a small "junk" drawer, but she couldn't find mine! She did find my microchip tag... she just grabbed one (out of about 12 or so), put it on my collar, then scanned me with the scanner and believe it or not, she had grabbed MY tag!!! Anyway, she never did find my rabies certificate but her friend that works there brought a new copy of it for her. Then, she came home and actually found MY rabies tag, too. Sooo, for once, I am really who I am instead of some labrador or French bulldog!!
Hey, I can't remember if I told you that tomorrow morning I am going on a long trip to Florida, and I am the only one going with Mom... Toto and Jenny are staying home, hee hee hee!
Oh yeah, Mom put our first vacation photo on my page. Me and George are sitting in our beds in the car waiting......

Hitting the Road AND a Diary Daily Pick

Oh my Gosh.......can it get any better??? Here I wake up early cuz today we are leaving on my Florida vacation. While Mom was waking up by drinking her coffee she checked out the email. Low and behold, there is was... a letter from Dogster telling me I was one of the Diary Daily picks!!!!!
Golly gee... I am so humbled. And happy. And excited. And thankful. And....
Did I tell everyone??? In ONE HOUR I am leaving on a long kayaking trip to Florida. And, Toto and Jenny have to stay home and watch the house!!! hee hee hee!!!!

Day One of our Trip

Well we started off bright and early. Me and George started riding in the back, but pretty soon Julie realized that we needed to see out... Jenny was right, a trip is not a trip unless you can see where you are going!!! Sooo, we moved up to the space between the seats and then Julie got a blanket and put it there so we were comfy from then on. We drove and drove and drove and still didn't get to Florida!!! And, it's still pretty cold outside, too. Mom said we were in Virginia, where ever that is. There were two really LONG traffic jams and we could only go 5 MPH for over an hour at each one. Soo, that meant we were later getting here. Oh well, tomorrow is another day!!!
Now I gotta eat my bone and then go to sleep!!!!

We're almost in Florida........

Tonight we stopped in South Carolina. It is HOT here!! Not that we're complaining, mind you. It is 68 degrees and Kiwi's Mom said it's snowing in Connecticut and Mom's friend where Ali is said it was MINUS 8 degrees. BRRRRRRRRRRR. I got a new photo of me sitting in a warm patch of clover and fresh grasses. It was very nice. Tomorrow we are gonna get to the kayaking place. Hope Mom takes me kayaking tomorrow.
Well, we gotta go now, Mom and Julie wanna go get something to eat. They better bring us a doggy bag!!!

Thoughts on a dog trip....

Uh oh, Mom's at it again, and this time she has Julie to help her... It seems that we are making quite a few stops... both for us and for them. Both Julie and Mom pick up after us, EVERY TIME we do even a little tootsie roll. Well, apparently they are in a very, very small minority. They said it is disgusting how much poops are everywhere! Last night when we got to our motel there was a HUGE one right outside the door. Come on.... don't tell us that the owner didn't know their dog left that!!!!! It's not like it's a real problem having to remember to take a bag to pick it up... the State Welcome centers all have a bag dispenser right at the entrance to the pet walking place!!!
Mom said this is what is ruining travel for all dogs... no wonder motels and other places don't want to take dogs.... and, we sure don't like having to walk thru everyone else's poops, either. Mom and Julie even put a belly band on both me and Georgie when we go loose in the motel.... not that we would EVER pee pee, but they want to make super duper sure we don't. We don't mind, it doesn't even stop us from playing, and we can relax cuz Mom and Julie are relaxed.
We stopped at an outlet shopping area this afternoon. Mom and Julie drove out to the back and took us over under some trees to do our business. They both picked right up after us, like always. Then they decided to eat lunch in the car back there. The security lady came along. She thanked them for picking up after us, and actually invited them to have their lunch at the staff picnic table that was back there!!!! It was fun... warm and sunny!!!!!! Mom and Julie would like to think they got invited cuz they cleaned up after us!

We made it to Florida.......

Well, we're here, but Mom says the bad weather followed us down! It's very cold, with a freeze advisory for tonight. We don't have internet in our cabin, so I can't write much in my diary. Me and George don't like each other too much, but we don't fight or anything. Mom has a ton of photos to put on when she can, but other than going to a zoo type place, we haven't done much from cuz it's been raining too much. We did go in the kayak this afternoon for a while. Well, gotta go now cuz Mom is sitting in a driveway using the internet.

We came, we saw, we're heading home!!!!

Well, we got here, but it was pouring rain and freezing cold here, too! We did get to go to a park and see some animals, well, Mom and Julie saw the animals!!! Tuesday it rained sooo much and sooo bad that they went shopping for most of the day. When they got back Mom and I did go out in the kayak in the bay, but the other problem was that the tide doesn't come in until 3 pm, and the bay is tooo shallow to even kayak until the tide is there. Anyway, yesterday it was very sunny, but record cold temps for the area!!!! Guess it followed us there, too. Anyway, Mom and Julie took us to a walking nature park and we walked and walked and saw lots of stuff. Mom has pictures but the motel we're at has terrible internet tonight so she's gonna try tomorrow. Anyway, we went kayaking again in the afternoon. Mom says I got sunburn on my ears!!!!!!!!!!!
They decided to head home a day early cuz it's gonna be soo cold down in Florida, too. It was 29 degrees!!!!!! So, tonight we are somewhere in South Carolina, headed NORTH to the NORTH POLE!!!! Me and George wanted to stay, but we lost the draw!!!!
Catch ya all later.

Home from Florida.....

Wow, it sure is COLD here!!! And, it was freezing all the way home, even in South Carolina!
But, we went and we had a great time. Mom said me and George were perfect, well, George was perfect. She said I am a bit spoiled and willful. Do you suppose she said that cuz when me and George were sitting on the console in the car I always sat in front and then backed up until I pushed him right off the back? hehehe. Or, was it cuz I always tried to bite her when she left me in the car? Hmmm, wonder what she meant by that?
Anyway, Mom just put most of my new photos up on my page. She is pretty tired and the other dogs are pretty excited to see her so she can't write too much tonight. But... she did notice lots of snow when we went by the place to go to Lawn Guyland, and the temperature was only 6 degrees. It is 11 degrees way, way up here in New Hampshire!!!
But, it was 60 degrees on one day in Florida. The rest of our days were cold and rainy though!

Hey, it's snowing....

Boy, sure am glad we got home yesterday... it's snowing like mad this morning and that stuff is already deep! Mom didn't take the kayaks off yesterday and they are all covered with snow. That'll teach her!
Did you know it's colder inside our house than it was one of the days were were in Florida? That's pretty amazing. I had to sleep under the covers last night!
Well, gotta go cuz Mom has to go to work. Welcome home, Mom!!!

Everything is back to normal now...

Well, Mom brought those other dogs home from work, and Daegan is staying here again so it's back to normal both for her and for me. I am trying to keep away from Toto cuz he is trying to get me cuz I went and he stayed home. Mom went out in the snowstorm and took the kayaks off the car. It snowed so much while we were gone that she couldn't drive the car into the kennel where it was warm. After that she spent the whole rest of the day printing vacation photos. She made a great big one of us kayaking for the wall at work! And, she printed that one of me sitting on the dock real big, too. I am sooo photogenic, I can hardly stand it.
It really was a fun trip. Mom says she is very, very glad she took me and not Toto or Jenny or worse yet, Toto and Jenny. I am so small that I could sleep right between the seats. And, lets face it, if you're on the road about 10 hours every day there isn't much else to do but sleep! She said the only problem I had was that I like to bark in the night. Even if Julie moved, I had to bark at her. Mom says maybe I need glasses... every time Julie got about 5 feet away I barked at her like I had never seen her before. Finally she kept my leash on and made me sleep right close to her.
And, I am proud to say, after a whole week I finally got Georgie to play with me. It was really hard, he is kind of a stuffed shirt, but finally he came around when I was throwing my toy in his direction. Mom was happy cuz both he and I shared dinner so they could leave our food out instead of making us eat in separate places. The leftovers they gave us certainly helped!!! And... I only pooped inside once, but I had a belly ache and couldn't help it!

Vacation musings....

Well, I loved kayaking again and the grass was warmer than the snow and walking on all those hikes was really fun, even the ocean was warm (sort of), but I am glad to be home again. Only problem is that I just looked and there are at least 3 more months of Winter left! Sure, it will be warmer, but it can and does snow even in April!!! Yuck!
Speaking of snow, Mom has tomorrow afternoon off so I am hoping she will take us out to play in the snow. I noticed there are no footprints at all in the labrador yard... I sure would like to make the first tracks down there.
After being important all last week I am just another dog again. In fact, Mom even called Toto my name several times today. That is the worst part about vacations... they end and you are a nobody again. I wonder how George is making out with all those Labs around again. Julie came and got Clyde today, so he is really outnumbered at his house. I hope Mom told Julie to bring him to work sometime so we can play together. Maybe we can go on vacation again next year?? I vote we go later in the Winter next time, it was COLD even in Florida! Speaking of cold, it's time for bed now!

60 to 16.... brrrrrrr!

Well, true to her word, Mom took us outside to play in the snow. She didn't take Jenny but let Pinki go with us instead. I must say, it was way, way too cold out there! The snow was soo cold that it was just like powder and blew all around us. I couldn't even see where I was running! Me and Toto did make some tracks in the fresh snow, that was kind of cool. But, after about five minutes I was soooo cold that I couldn't feel my feet! Mom picked me up and put me under her coat. That was pretty toasty for me!
It's hard to believe that exactly ONE WEEK ago, I was out in my kayak in 60 degree warm sun. Brrrrrrr.......

Pee belts are for peeing!!!!

When I went to Florida last week Mom had me wear one of Georgie's pee belts. (Hey, did I tell you that I went to Florida and Toto and Jenny and everyone else had to stay home???) Anyway, they are little wraps that go around my belly over my little thingie and stop me from peeing on stuff. Mom put it on me when I was in motels and in the cabin we stayed at. Well, I didn't pee (I usually DO NOT pee in houses!!!) so she ordered me some of them she found on ebay. They came today and I just happened to be at work so she put one on me to test it out. Instantly, I peed in it! So, she took that one off and put another one on me. Sure enough, I peed in it! Mom was very surprised. No me, after all, they aren't called pee belts for nothin', what was she expecting???? hehehe!

A shopping trip??????

Mom is going on a shopping trip with one of her friends from her college days this afternoon! I am going with her!!! Of course, she doesn't know I am going yet, but I still have another hour to help convince her that I MUST ride along. She can't use the "Beanie doesn't like to ride" excuse anymore cuz I already proved that one wrong last week! She can't use the "there won't be any room for you" excuse cuz she knows I can ride on the console. Besides, everyone got something special this week so far except for me!!! Oh woe is me, I didn't get anything special at all this week. Furthermore, I heard them talking on the phone... they are gonna go to a steak house for dinner... sounds like a good Beanie doggy bag to me!!!!

No shopping for me, sob, sob, sob...

Well, in spite of my best intentions Mom did not let me go shopping with them. She said it was way, way too cold for me to be sitting in the car. And, when she got back she said she checked and when they came out of the store it was only 24 in the car.... Yup, that is way, way too cold for me!!!!!!!
So, instead she brought me home a new toy. It's pretty nice... it is a bunch of strips of heavy fleece all tied together in the center to make a ball. It would have been nicer if she brought back four or five of them cuz now I am having to fight everyone off for it. Right now Ali is tossing it around but pretty soon she's gonna toss it too high and Toto will grab it. But, he is fickle so he will lose interest pretty fast and then I will jump in and grab it again. I suppose it's the thought that counts, right?
Anyway, Mom had to go to a special store cuz she got mad at the satellite radio people and canceled her subscription so now she is having a problem finding a radio that will work in the kennel. She found two different kinds that are supposed to be perfect and that store was supposed to have both of them, according to her internet. When she got there they only had one kind available, but she got to listen to both of them so she was happy they had the cheaper one. It works perfectly in our house so she is thinking she will have no problem in the kennel. There are a million stations to chose from in the house so she figures it will have to get at least one in the kennel. And, the good news... even with it being an expensive radio it is still cheaper than the satellite radio cost for one year. And, it sounds good to me!!!!!!!

Snow day???????

Well, looks like we're gonna have a snow day today. We're supposed to get 15 - 20 inches!!!!!! Mom says it will never happen cuz of Murphy's law. Ya see, there are already 500 cancelations and therefore, it will stop snowing within an hour or two!!! Bet it doesn't!! Anyway, Mom says it's not fair. It's supposed to be her afternoon off but she will have to send the other girls home early so that means she will have to work cuz she's the boss. Too bad cuz our house is really messy and she won't be able to clean it for us! In fact, cuz Daegan is still here it is messier than usual... he barks at us alot and the other guys sometimes have to mark stuff so he will know he's an outsider and doesn't live here anymore. Not me!!! I would NEVER pee in the house... if I do Mom will make me wear those belts!!!!
Wowee... it is REALLY slippery out there... one of the daycare dogs just came and the guy slid all the way across the driveway!!!!!!!! Maybe Murphy won't be practicing law today!!!!!! Oh no, now one of the workers from the vets next door slid into our driveway!! Could be fun to watch the windows today!

Lost dog, please help!

Mom got a call from a friend in the Denver area. Her little red poodle is lost. Mom is frantic cuz this used to be HER little poodle! Pinki is a 6 pound red/apricot toy poodle and was wearing a green jacket when she was chased by a bulldog and slipped out of her collar on Saturday night. She was in the Aurora area of Denver. PLEASE... if anyone has any information on little Pinki could they email us ASAP!!!! Pinki does have a microchip but of course is not wearing her collar. Her owner is totally panicked!!!!!!!

Still snowing

Wow wee, it is still snowing out there. Mom couldn't tell if it was rain, sleet or snow so she put us out and checked our coats when we came back in. It's snow! Well, she can't check me cuz I am too light colored, so she looks at the black ones, especially Daegan. We have about 14 inches so far and it's not done yet! Some places changed to rain but it didn't change here. It is still only 18 degrees outside.
Well, we are all done helping Mom clean and now she's having a cup of tea and I am sitting on the desk helping her type this. Usually on a snow day lots of the grooming dogs cancel and Mom comes and gets some of us and grooms us. Well today everyone showed up and Tonya wasn't here to bathe them so Mom was pretty tired and didn't do any of us. She said she had four poodles along with four other dogs, which was about three poodles too many for one person to do! Of course everyone wanted to get them early so she was really working fast!
Well, gotta go now, the rugs are done drying and I LOVE to sleep on warm, clean rugs!!!!

Mom rescued me again.......

Sometimes that mean ole Toto is just plain after me!!! Tonight when Mom came home from obedience class (she took Tyson instead of me!!!) she put us all outside. Well, I tried to push Daegan off the porch so Toto immediately came after me and bit me!!! He didn't hurt me, but I made a mistake and screamed and immediately all those house dog friends of mine that sleep with me on the bed every night ganged up on me and were gonna do me serious harm!!! I kept screaming and hustled under a chair that was on the porch. Fortunately, Mom was right inside the door and she heard my panic scream. She opened the door and yelled her famous "HEY", and everyone pretended they were just out for a walk. I raced in the house as fast as I could!!!!! Mom checked me all over and there wasn't a wound on me anywhere... just some dog spit on my neck and head. Soo, I took a nice bone that Toto has had his eye on and started chewing it. Mom let them all back inside and poor Toto had to watch me chew his bone!!! Would have been okay but Jenny, the Queen B, came along and took the bone from me! NO ONE here ever challenges Jenny... if she wants something she can have it, no questions asked!!!

My Valentine's day photo...

Mom finally figured out how to run the webcam on her laptop so she made me a nice new photo for Valentine's day. She also made one with me stuck in a bunch of bubbles, for some strange reason! But, the internet is terrible today so she has to wait and put the others on later. Mom gets her internet from work which is almost too far away from our home. She uses some kind of booster and a repeater, but the booster is stuck in a window over at work. Wouldn't be a problem but all the snow fell off the roof and totally blocked the window. She can't move the booster cuz the window has an inside storm window on it. Soo, finally she moved the repeater and it helped a little, but it keeps dropping her and then she has to wait and wait until it comes on again. She can't even use dial-up anymore cuz she gave up that phone for a cell phone. Ahhh, all these modern conveniences... too bad they don't work like they're supposed to!!! Oh well, it gives her something to do, I guess. Otherwise she might take us out in the deep, deep snow and it's way too cold for that today!!!!

Dogster's favorite dog poll.....

Hey, my mom is really bumming.... her favorite dog of all time was Rin Tin Tin....... is everyone at Dogster so young that they never heard of Rin Tin Tin??????????? Come on... he was way, way better than Snoopy, (although I personally think Snoopy is pretty cute!!!)
Mom says they ought to at least let us write in a choice or have a selection "other".
The above will tell you what kind of a day I've had.... BORING!!!! Mom was gonna clean the house but we were good and it wasn't dirty. She decided to do the laundry... only a few tiny items there, so that can wait. She was gonna watch TV but couldn't find anything good on, she was gonna read her book but she finished it in about 15 minutes, she was gonna let us run in the snow but it was tooo cold and the wind was blowing, she was gonna go shopping but she didn't have any money, so she played on the computer all afternoon and let us fend for ourselves. She did discover that it's not Toto that is trying to do me in, it is that silly German Shepherd Daegan!!! He is STILL here and is really bugging me! I jump up and grab his neck and he comes right after me. What a BAD dog... he weighs about 80 lbs, I weigh 6 lbs... his teeth weigh more than I do! Soooo, now Mom won't let me outside with him cuz she remembered the last time he was here I suddenly came inside with two BIG teeth marks on my head... she didn't know what happened but now she said he must have done it after I picked on him... Me, pick on him??????? Mommeeeee!!!

Early to bed tonight.......

For some reason we are all sleepy tonight. Me and Toto and Jenny are sleeping on Toto's bed, Ali is sleeping on the other bed and Daegan is sleeping under Mom's desk. Even the dogs in the dog room are all sleeping. Little Tyson is all curled up in a little cat bed! Mom says they are all being quiet cuz she put a radio in their room today. It's not the nice music that keeps them quiet, it's that the music masks other noises that they would normally bark at.
We are probably all sleeping cuz we are freezing in here. After the wind stopped during the night Mom didn't turn the thermostat back up so now it's really, really cold in here. She just put on a fleece jacket so I suspect she's not gonna turn up the heat any time soon!
At least it was nice and hot in the car when we went shopping! I think we should go shopping again!

I HATE baby puppies in my house........

Sure enough, Mom let Jenny keep her babies in MY bedroom. Well, Mom leaves a dish of food in the pen with Jenny in case she gets hungry between meals. Jenny is not terribly neat so she spilled some of the food out of the dish. I LOVE to nibble on food during the night. Soo, as soon as Mom would fall asleep I would climb off the bed and go over to Jenny's pen and slide my foot thru the bars to wiggle out some of the food. Then I would grab the food and take it onto the bed and then eat it. It worked pretty well except a couple of times Jenny woke up and ROARED at me and tried to get my foot!!! I am a nice boy, but even I have to admit I am somewhat of a bully. Well, when she would chase after me I would jump up onto the bed (where I was safe!!!) and bark like crazy at her. As I was barking I was jumping up and down on Mom. She yelled at me a few times and put me way over in the corner of the bed and told me to stay there.... how can she enforce that if she's sleeping I ask????????? Sooo, suddenly she jumped up, grabbed me and put me in a crate in the poodle room!!! I didn't even bother to whine and cry, I knew it was hopeless!!!

Please get my Mom a new vacuum cleaner

Mom has entered me in the Bissell contest for most Valuable pet. The winner gets a new vacuum cleaner. As you can tell from all of my family's photos (including MINE), we can use a new vacuum cleaner!!!! Unfortunately, this is not a contest of the cutest pup... it is a popular vote so we need EVERYONE to please vote for me. To make it easier, Mom has put my photo right on this page and all you gotta do is click on it!! I can only enter for one week, so the voting has to be done this week only!!!
Thanks so much for your help... if I win you might see our photos with no junk on the floor in the backgrounds. Then again, you might still see lots of stuff on the floor since our job is to chew up stuff so Mom has something to do with all her spare time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Mackerel.........

I get up this morning, (late cuz Mom stuffed me in a crate again during the night!!!), and I find that lovely letter from Dogster... you have been selected to be one of Dogsters featured Diaries of the day...
Neato!!! Then, upon looking at my photo up there for all to see, I discover that Hilda is THE Dogster featured Diary of the day....double Neato!!!!!!!
Mom said it's pretty cool cuz she worked late last night doing new Valentine photos for us and also giving Tyson a page. Now you all can see them!!!
Well, gotta go for now... Mom has to take Jenny's babies, Phil & Tawney, to the vets to get their tails done. She says for once it's a good thing they dock our tails cuz Phil has a very crooked and bent tail tip. It looks funny!!! Too bad it's below zero outside, hope they don't get too cold!!!!!!!

Hey... it's not FAIR...............

I just realized that Diva Hilda has usurped my big day!!!!!!!! I was all excited to be one of the Diary picks, then she came along and was the Diary Dog, the one and only! Actually, as Mom pointed out, it is like I am only one of her court, which we all know, makes me a mere slave to her!!! (Sorry, Monnie, Zoey & Buttercup... I don't mean this to diminish your wonderful day in the sun, but, you pupsters are also part of D. Hilda's court too, ya know?)
Anyway, I will pay due homage to the Diva Hilda, and I will also be happy I am at least a mere slave up there underneath her. Thanks for all your well wishes and condolences!!!!!!!!!!

Me & Toto help Mom get a new computer

Mom had to go get a new computer today and she took me and Toto along to help her. Her old one was just driving her crazy.... it was too slow and too obsolete. She did all her research at home on line, and went to the store today to decide between two different ones. She said the guy told her which one to buy, so she hopes he's right!!! So far she likes it, but she has 5 million, gazillion photos on the old one and they are all scattered about in no particular order. Sooo, she got one of those portable drives and has made a million folders and is putting each photo where it belongs. Sounds like too much work to me!!!! We are all helping by tearing up the house while she works!!!! Sure hope I win the vacuum cleaner!!!!!
The new computer has a wireless connector built in. The amazing part is that it works GREAT!!! Mom is now listening to something called Pandora internet radio while she works. She is SOLD!!! She just typed in an artist she liked and they have selected songs based on that. She is very happy!!!
Well, I guess she decided to quit moving photos for a while and feed us! I was starving, so it's about time. Catch ya later!

Zowee...heat wave!!!!

I woke up this morning, in my crate in the dog room, and something was very, very wrong!!! It was warm in there! I raced outside and the whole world was melting before my eyes. Glanced up at that huge thermometer Mom has on the porch and it said 55 degrees!!! Holy smokes, yesterday morning it was MINUS 27 degrees.
Mom said we could go out in the big yard later and play. I don't think so... do you have any idea how badly that soft, melting snow will stick to my curls??? I will gain about 25 lbs in about 25 seconds!!! Meanwhile, I have to keep working. Mom is cleaning our dog room and there are lots of pieces of dog food showing up when she moves our crates. My job is to find them all and "vacuum" them up by eating them. It's a hard job, but... someone's gotta do it!

Watching the dog show....

Whew, good thing Mom got Jenny out of the bedroom just in time for us to watch the dog show on TV. I would have been pretty mad if I was stuck in my crate and had to miss it!!! Me and Toto and Ali are watching and waiting for the poodles next. I guess Ali forgot about dog shows... she is barking at all the dogs! She must think they are coming right into our bedroom, silly dog. Not me and Toto, we know they are just on the TV. Well, I really don't know about Toto... he went to work with Mom today and now he's all tired out and is sleeping. I will wake him up when it's time to see the mini poodle. Me and Ali will have to watch again tomorrow night to see the toy poodle.
Well, gotta go now, the Non-Sporting group is on.

My new vacuum cleaner...

Well, Mom got all excited today... she got an email from Bissell with MVP Pet in the subject line... she was sure I had won!!! But, it was just announcing the voting open for the next group, not to tell me I was a winner!!! I guess voting doesn't close until later tonight. We're still hoping I win!!! Mom found three more people to vote for me today... hope it's enough.
Well, I gotta go primp... Mom said I could be a demo dog for obedience tonight! Yea!!!!

I LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh NO!!!!!!!!!! I didn't even get FIFTH place in the Most Valuable Pet contest... that must mean I am not valuable. I am depressed, dejected and dumbfounded. Oh no, I will have to go commiserate with Toto! Boo hoo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A sad day all around....

Mom came home from work early and she let me and Ali and Toto go play in the big field. It was okay, but my heart wasn't in it. I tried to enjoy my time out there but several times I found myself jumping off the big ledge. Did my Mom rush over to save me??? No, she just stood there and took my picture.... I KNEW I didn't have any friends but I at least thought she loved me!!!!!!!! Then she had the nerve to tell me the photos were all out of focus. Nice Mom, huh? Think I'll go play in traffic now.

Some good news......

Whew... I still have one friend! I got an email from Yuji... Seems he and his slaves are traveling up my way this Summer. We're making plans to have him come on over for a visit. Maybe I can even treat him to a kayak ride??? We'll have to see about that, I guess.
Meanwhile, I have been doing my extra special luvy duvy stuff with Mom since it's gonna be Valentine's day tomorrow. I have been snuggling with her, usually I just sleep close enough to take advantage of her warm back, but I decided her neck was warmer so now I snuggle there... she's okay with that, but man, is Toto jealous!!! Last night he climbed right on top of me and put his head right in Mom's face...
Anyway, Happy Valentines day to all my pals!!!!!!!!!!

My birthday is coming!!!

Hey, my birthday is ONE week from tomorrow. I am so excited! And, it's on a Saturday so I am sure Mom will take me somewhere special after she gets out of work. I bet I will get a present and maybe even a special meal. A special meal would be nice... sort of like a winner's meal I think.
With all these good thoughts about Valentine's day and my birthday, I forgot that I was mad and sad and lonely. Guess I will share my special meal and maybe even let the others play with my presents. That would be a nice thing, I guess. Besides, Toto's birthday is only a week after mine, so if I share my stuff, he should share his, too. Let's see, then there is Chaz's birthday, then Tinmans, then Pinki's.. wow...FIVE birthday's in less than two months... pretty cool!!

Hey, I got a guestbook!!!!

Mom says she's too old and dumb to do all this fancy stuff with the computer, but she did manage to get me a guestbook today! Now I need someone to sign it so I can see if it works.... please, sign my guestbook???
Anyway, we are going out to play now and I will be back later to see if the guestbook is working.
bye!

YES... my guest book works!!!

Thanks, Shandi, for signing my guestbook!!! Guess you know now that I copied yours..... that's a compliment, ya know!
Anyway, we had a pretty good time outside... it was warm cuz we were sheltered from the wind. Mom took a couple of photos to add to our pages, mine included! Me and Ali spent quite a bit of time playing with Jenny... she is nice when she's not near her babies!!! I just forgot and got to close to her inside just now and she tried to eat me again!
Me and Toto went for a visit to Mom's friends in Vermont. Mom sold her older computer to them so she had to go make their email work. Now she is very depressed cuz their internet is very, very fast!!! She was sending emails from her phone to them, and the minute it said it was sent on the phone, it was received on the puter, and no matter what page she looked at on the net, it would open instantly. Sometimes on ours she has to go out in the kitchen and make a cup of tea while she waits for Dogster to go from my page to someone else's page, like Ali's. Mom doesn't wait very well... she likes fast!!!! Anyway, speaking of waiting, we had to wait in the car while she messed with the puter. It was okay, they have a kennel too so we watched all the dogs watching us!!! Mom parked in the sun so we were warm and toasty. Poor Toto was looking for something to eat but Mom cleaned out all the old Micky D bags that were in the car. Too bad! Well, now I do gotta go eat!!!!!!!!

I got me a Valentine!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am basically a shy guy. Well, I've been wanting and wanting to ask Coco to be my Valentine, but just couldn't get up the nerve. Soo... today when I discovered she was one of the Diary daily picks I sent her a little note of congratulations. "Will you be my Valentine?" just slipped into the note. I swear, my little toes just typed that without my mind even being aware of it!
Anyway, tonight the best happened........... She accepted!!!!!!!! Too bad valentine's day is almost over. Darn it!
Well, Coco, we've been Valentines for a few hours now and we still have more time IF we use Dogster time instead of our EST. What do you say we go out for a bite to eat?????????

Gonna be a sad day....

Uh oh, I heard Mom say something about vacuuming today... now I am feeling useless and like a loser again. She does have a shop vac that she usually uses in here... how many people vacuum their house with a shop vac I ask????
She says it works surprisingly well... it will suck up all the chewed up stufff without getting clogged up, and if she sucks something wet, (pretty common in a house full of dogs!), all she has to do is wash the shop vac. She does get those nice filters for it, so it really is okay. I am sure it will be okay... Besides, we don't have any carpet in here, just rugs that she can throw in the washing machine, so it will be fine.
Sorry, Mom... I tried the best I could, who knew I didn't have very many friends? I am soo cute I don't understand it... poor me!

I'm almost a birthday boy....

Only three more days to wait for my birthday.... I am getting more and more excited!!! Mom reminded me that Toto also has a birthday coming on March 3rd, so that makes even more birthdays to celebrate in the next few months. Of course mine is the most important cuz MINE is first!!!!!!!! I tried to listen while Mom was talking to the big dog supply place today to make her order, but I didn't hear her ordering anything special for me. Hmmm, must be she has something already?
It's supposed to snow lots tomorrow night so I am gonna have lots of soft snow to play in when I go out for my birthday run. Hey, maybe Mom will take me down into the big yard instead of the lab yard. That would be pretty cool, just me all alone. Oops, then I wouldn't have anyone to play with, well, maybe Ali or Tyson can come down there with me. Tyson would be okay, he's easy to push around!!!
Well, gotta go rest up for my birthday... only FOUR MORE nights to wait thru!!!!!

I have show dog lines too!!!!

Hey, Jenny and Toto are fighting about which is the better dog. They seem to forget that my grandmom is a champion, and even though I am a rescue, my doggy mom was a really nice almost show dog. And, so what if no one knows who's my daddy, what does it matter as long as I am cute and smart, which I would like to point out, I certainly am!!! Besides, my daddy is a purebred, even though he is a toy not a mini, which ever one he was. Sooo, I take after him cuz I am small.
And, furthermore, I have some titles of my own and I am almost an obedience titled dog!
And, like Toto, I am neutered so I am a better house dog than Jenny, so there to both of you!!!!

almost my Birthday!!!!

Whoopee, it's almost time for my Birthday. Unfortunately, the new snow almost all melted today so when we go for our run thru the yard on Saturday we will be running on old snow, but I guess that's fine. Frankly, we are all getting a bit sick of the snow and wishing it would hurry up and get Spring. After Spring comes Summer and kayaking... I LOVE kayaking. Yes, that's what I want for my birthday... I wanna go kayaking!
Tomorrow I guess I will go to work with Mom and get a nice tubby so I will be all clean and sweet smelling for my big day. Maybe she won't cut my nails, I think they are short enough already! She couldn't give me a bath today cuz it was too busy over there. There were a lot of dogs to be groomed and Mom still has her headache so none of us got cleaned today. At least we all get to go to bed very early, which is nice... we love lying around on that warm waterbed and watching TV while Mom reads or watches TV with us. Our other room doesn't have a couch so we can't lie on that... if we want to get on furniture we have to come into the bedroom.
Well, gotta go rest up for my big day on Saturday. Did I tell you it is gonna be my 2nd Birthday??????? Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, etc.

The internet tried to eat my diary!!!!!

Mom has been having more and more problems with her internet. Just now I spent a whole bunch of my relaxing time writing an entry, and when Mom went to help me put it on my page she said, "wait, the connection is gonna die!", so she hurried up and copied it and sure enough, the connection died so when it came back she only had to paste it on a new entry!!!
Today Mom signed up for some wireless broadband internet. She said our DSL is soooo bad that it's crazy. The wireless people told Mom that it wouldn't be blazing fast but it would not be crashing all the time!!! Sooo, she is gonna try it out and see how it goes. We all hope it works and Mom can stop yelling about the crazy internet all the time.

Only one more night.........

Yup, Mom took me to work and gave me a bath and a trim. She took me cuz there was a new puppy for daycare but no one over there to play with her. I tried, but she had a big, juicy bone and I couldn't help it, I grabbed the bone and wouldn't let her have it OR let her play with me. Mom got Pinki cuz she plays with everyone and sure enough, pretty soon they were playing. Then I was jealous, so I had to play, too! Mom did pick up her bone first!!! Anyway, now both me and Pinki are clean and neatly trimmed and tired from playing in daycare.
Mom's internet was really bad today... it just barely worked over at work and it won't come to the house at all. The signal from the router is perfect, but the internet itself is not there. But... Mom did order that broadband modem thingie so we will see how that works. It's gotta be faster than this dial-up, that's for sure!!!!! It is supposed to be here on Monday, so that should be good.
Well, Mom's gotta go eat so she is gonna shut off the puter. Besides, I gotta start being good so I can get lots of presents tomorrow. Did you all know that tomorrow is my Birthday??????? Yup... I am gonna be TWO years old!!!!!

Wow, I'm defective...

Geez, it's my Birthday and Mom can't open me!!! For some silly reason, Mom can't open my dogster page on any of the three computers she has tried. All three have AOL, and the minute she tries to open me the whole toolbar disappears and I don't open. Fortunately for me, Mom tried internet explorer and I opened fine! She thinks it is pretty strange that I am the only one that won't open... I think Toto did it so he would get all the attention cuz his page opens perfectly!!!
Anyway, it IS my birthday, and now I am waiting for Mom to get home from work so I can go for my ride and get some presents. I love presents!! Maybe we will even stop at my favorite fast food place and get me a burger. I love burgers, too!!!!!

Birthday treasures.........

Well, we went off to Walmart and Mom got me two presents... two great big valentine bears. She apologized for them being valentine ones, but said they were only $1.25 each. One is as big as I am!!!!!! She said the hardest part was finding ones that didn't have those stupid little beans or beads or whatever they are inside them. She said those are nasty if we chew a hole and they all fall out all thru the house. Being as we don't have a vacuum cleaner.........
After wally's world we went to my favorite, Micky D's. I got a cheese burger plain. Mmmmm it was sooo good. I did share it with Toto though. Besides, it was too big for me alone. We both liked it very much, but Toto said he prefers tomato catsup on his. Not me, I like mine plain!!!!
Now I guess Mom is gonna feed the rest of the dogs... I am not hungry for some strange reason!!! We are kind of bored cuz Mom still doesn't feel good so she is just hanging out, not doing anything great like takeing us outside. It's way, way too cold out there, anyway, cuz the wind is blowing. I guess it's blowing in a huge snowstorm for tomorrow. Thyey said 10 inches. BOO HOO. But, maybe we can go play in that tomorrow and Mom can take snowy photos of us. That could be fun, I guess.

I still don't open....

Hmmm, Mom still can't open my page with AOL. Stuff like that drives her crazy! She can open everyone else's pages but mine. It's making me feel very sad. Fortunately Mom is an investigator sort of person so she now knows she can open me in IE, so that's what she is doing. I told her that wasn't a problem, but it's still bugging her cuz she thinks AOL must be buggy.
It hasn't started snowing yet except for a few flurries that are on the car and the driveway. The weather station just said it would be later in the morning or even early afternoon, so Mom is gonna go to work and then come home and we can maybe play in it then. They are now saying we might get even more than they thought... GREAT, or not so great... I wanna go kayaking!!!!!!!!!

Blinding snow...

Well, I guess I better be careful what I am wishing for! We finally got to go play in that snow, and it was coming down like cats and dogs. Some of those dogs were pretty big, too! I had to finally shut my eyes to keep them from blinding me.
Anyway, it was pretty fun, in spite of the cold and wet. We must have about 50 jackets each and of course, Mom forgot to put them on us. But, the temperature wasn't too cold so as long as I kept moving I was okay. I got a double dose cuz I played with Toto and Jenny and Ali, then went right back out with Tyson and Bubbles. I only made Tyson cry once... I swear, I didn't hit him that hard, he just screamed really loud and Mom yelled at me. I did the appropiate slink and she was ever ready with her camera, of course.
Unfortunately, some of those cats that were coming out of the sky busted my new balloons that Yuji gave me for my birthday. Guess I should have left them inside, or put a note in one and let it fly away to where ever. Of course, probably the dogs would have retrieved it and brought it back to me.

Mom's new modem

Well, Mom got her new modem today for her broadband internet. So far, so good. She still can't open my page with AOL, but it opens fine with IE still. The modem says the signal isn't good, but it's way, way faster than our DSL was. Of course, we have the slowest DSL in the whole world... our dial-up with 50 year old phone lines was faster. Oh well, we'll see what happens with this one as the days go on.
At least if we go on another trip we will be bringing our own internet with us instead of having to rely on some terrible motel ones. Assuming we have a signal, that is!
It is freezing cold and windy here... feels like mid January instead of the end of February. Mom says it's supposed to be warmer, at least during the days, in February. I hope we are gonna go to bed early so I can duck under the blankets and be warm. Or, I will need my jacket on in the house!!!

Whew, almost had another dog show!!

Mom came home tonight and she was bumming. Seems she tried to enter me in another dog show but it was too late! He he he... I'm not bumming about it! I thought she had forgotten about all that dog show stuff. So I need one more leg, what the heck difference will it make in my life??? None at all, those are only letters after my name anyway.
Well, she finally found a little show right here in NH, a COLLIE show of all things, and they have obedience for all breeds. The entries close on Wednesday, so she decided to enter me online today. Well, she got all the way to the end and they refused the entry cuz to do it online you need to do it THREE days before the entry closes.
Ah gee, Mom. So sorry about that! He he he!!!

Ah, Spring!, Well, Maybe?????

This time of year is pretty strange around here. Take today, for example. It was 6 degrees this morning. Brrrrrr. Now it is in the 30's, even warmer out in the sun. In the dog yard at work it is nice and toasty cuz the building blocks the wind, and the snow is melting. Mom says it makes her think of planting some seeds. It makes me think of going in my kayak!! Every year Mom gets out some little tray things and plants a bunch of seeds. Usually she plants flowers and some tomatoes. She puts them in the poodle room on top of our crates. It is very sunny in there. They instantly sprout up, and start growing. She transplants them into little peat pots and they grow some more. Then she takes them to work and puts them outside in the sun everyday. Then they are HUGE and ready to plant in the garden and it's only April and she can't plant them outside until June. Silly Mom. It would be cheaper and way, way easier for her to just buy the stupid plants when it was time to put them out in the garden. Then she says she is not gonna plant any the next Spring, and the end of February comes and it starts all over again. I must say though, all those little Cherry tomatoes she started last February and grew last Summer were way good!!!!!

I'm feeling left out....

Hrumph, this house is getting way too crowded. Those babies of Jenny's are taking up way, way too much of Mom's attention. She has them right in the living room and everyone that comes in ooh's and ahh's over them. Do they stop and give the Beanster a pat? Nope! Mom puts me in the other room or in my crate.
Mom didn't even have her Wednesday off yesterday, so I got NO attention at all, NONE, ZIPPO, NADA.
It's sooo bad that my pal (former?) Yuji is even writing notes to Jenny instead of ME!!!!!!
Guess I'm gonna have to go check out that high ledge again!

I got picked again!!

Wow, that Dogster Diary picker is amazing. Every time I get down and almost out the next morning I find that I have been selected as one of the Diary Daily picks!!! That is sure an uplifting experience and then I get to be happy again!
Pretty cool. Now I have to plan out my "happy" day. Maybe I will convince Mom that I need to ride up to that little place with her and Julie. It would be great to help lift my spirits even more!!!
Thanks Dogster Dog!!!!!!

BAAAD Dawg, Toto!!!

Well, Toto got to go with Mom and Julie. I got the lowdown from Julie. It looks like Toto may be waiting a very, very long time before he goes for another ride!!!
First of all, there was the matter of where he was supposed to ride. Mom put a nice dog bed in the back for him, but apparently it wasn't nice enough for his highness. He spent the whole trip up to the little town trying to climb into the front. He was either snuffling Julie or Mom behind their ears or actually climbing over the seat! Apparently Mom did quite a bit of stern talk, but he didn't seem to get the message.
However, the worst was when they got there. They met the dog's owner at a restaurant which for some reason was very crowded. Mom parked right in the front by the main road and when the people came she got out so they would see where she was. Well, Mr. Bad Boy Toto snuck right out under the steering wheel and raced around and ran right smack into Mom's friends car!!! Fortunately she was only just barely moving, and fortunately it was her and not someone not expecting to see a dog. Mom yelled bloody murder and he then ran right around the other side of the car and wouldn't come to her. Unfortunately the back door was locked, so Mom was trying madly to unlock it when Toto decided he'd better jump back into the car instead of into the main road at the front of the car. Well, I guess!!! Mom was soooo mad at that point that she picked him up and put him right in a crate and locked the crate door!!! Julie said he didn't even get to go out and pee when they stopped at a rest area! Man oh man, I would NEVER have done that!!! And, to think that he already got hit by a car once before! I did notice that when they got home Mom put his leash on him before she even let him out of the crate!!! Guess we know who's gonna get to go the next time, huh?

I am the PROTECTOR....

Mom said I could be the protector tomorrow when she takes the other boys down to the handler guy's kennel. That is a pretty neat job...I get to stay out in the house all by myself and I can bark at all the noises I hear. If someone isn't scared by my bark and comes into the house I can even bite them, if I want to!!! That's part of being the protector, too. Mom said none of us has ever bitten anyone so she hopes I'm not the first one to do it! Well, if they are stupid enough to come into MY house when I am the protector then they should get a bite, don't ya think??? I will just give them a little bite on their ankle, just enough to scare them away. UH OH, Jenny just said that sometimes people get mad when they get bit and they might bite back. (Isn't that dog bite madness a disease, I've had my shots for that I am sure!!)
Well, I gotta go get a bunch of toys and put them in the dog bed so I can find them tomorrow. I suspect it could get a little boring protecting the house so I might need something to play with. Maybe Jenny will jump over her puppy pen and play with me for a bit. She's getting kind of bored in there anyway. I would let her help me be the protector if she wants. She's way bigger than me, I could stand behind her!

My day as PROTECTOR...............

Well, guess I was a pretty good protector cuz the house was still there safe and sound when Mom got home. There was only a little teensy bit of blood in the yard when the burglers dripped after I bit them. Nah, not really. But, how do you know if they tried to get in and you did scare them off if they don't get it? I mean, I barked at lots and lots of noises, maybe they were all burglers that I scared off????? Maybe none were. Hmm, wonder if my pay is dependent on the number of burglers scared off??????????
Oh well, today I am resting!!!

I've been found out.......

Mom just went into the bathroom and almost stepped on some little tootsie rolls that were on the rug in there. Since I always follow her into the bathroom I decided to pretend I knew nothing about how they got there. I walked up to them and sniffed them like I was trying to figure out who could have done them. Mom laughed, then said, "oh BEANIE" in that, I know you did those, but that WAS pretty cute of you, voice. I guess she really knows they were mine.

Tootsie Roll Storage........

My pal Yuji sent me a pot of gold this morning. He suggested the pot might be a good solution to the tootsie rolls on the bathroom rug problem. Mom thought that was a pretty good idea, so she made me a whole new St. Patty's day primary photo with the "used" pot of gold.
Thanks, Yuji! Hope this will help me keep on Mom's good side!

Too many treats......

Gee, today was my bath day and Tonya called me FAT! Mom was insulted and said I was only a little pudgy. Then she realized she was sounding just like those owners do when she tells them their pet is getting too heavy. Out of fairness to Mom, she NEVER uses the FAT word... lots of other words, but never FAT!
Then Mom said it was all my dogster pals who are responsible for me gaining a bit of weight... it's all those treats you've been giving me!! I tried to tell her they were no calorie treats, but she wasn't listening. Oh well, if she thinks it's them causing me to gain weight then she won't cut back on my REAL food!!! heeheehee!

Playing in the big yard, all alone...

Lately Toto is being mean to me when we go out to play so today Mom took me and me alone down to the big yard. It took us forever to get down there cuz the snow is still way, way deep on the way down there. Once we made it, there was quite a bit of bare ground showing. I checked out the fish pond for myself... those fishes were swimming all over the place! Mom tried to fix their heater and she almost fell in, hehehe! It was pretty cool down there cuz I got to run right thru the garden and Mom didn't even yell. She did yell at me when I headed into the shed. I tried to stop but my back legs stopped and my front legs kept running so I fell right on my face! I pretended no one saw that! Then I found a huge log that had fallen off the tree in the garden. I dragged it over to Mom. She tried to throw it so I could go fetch it, but she couldn't lift it, it was way too heavy! Finally my legs and feet were very, very wet and cold so I had to come back into the house. Mom put my new photos on my page, including one of me in the snow field. We are both hoping that is the last snow photo she will be taking this Spring!! Dunno though cuz there is a storm warning out for late tonight!!!!!!!!!!!

The name game....

We wanna play the name game, too!!! My name is Beanie cuz Mom got me at the LL Bean exit in Maine. She loves LL Bean. It was gonna be Dean for Dean Hill Pet Center, her kennel, but she didn't like Deanie, or Deanster, so it became Beanster, Beanie for short. I am also gonna do the rest of my family...Toto is Toto cuz he's from Kansas. Mom also had Dorothy from the same place but she died when I was a baby. Tinman also came from there. Jenny is Jenny cuz Mom loves that name and said it was a soft name. Jenny is NOT soft! Ali and Luke were named when they came to Mom. Chaz is named after Mom's first famous Labrador, he was Charlie. She wants Chaz to be her first famous poodle. Hilda is Hilda cuz Mom likes old fashioned names for her Frenchies. She also has had Gertrude, Stella, Thelma, Elmer, Wilbur, and Edith. None of us can figure out why Tyson is Tyson... there is the Tyson chicken factory in the town where his mother came from, but Mom didn't know that when she named him. Pinki is Pinki cuz she was the one with the pink collar as a baby. Besides, what better for a poodle???
Mom uses perfume names for our registered names, except me cuz I am a rescue!! That's our story!!!!

Here are a few more names....

We also have some registered names that tell a tale about us, too. For example, mine is Nyleve's Rescue 2 Beanster. Rescue 2 is cuz mom and the other lady were joking about being cops on the way there and she was Rescue one and Mom was Rescue 2. Soo, that's me! The rest of them are perfumes or colognes.
Now, Jenny is Nyleve's No Regrets cuz Mom got her after all those labs and Frenchies and she had no regrets! Toto is Nyleve's Envy Me, cuz he's always had a bit of a conceit problem! Tinman is Nyleve's Silver Shadow, which is why he is called Tinman, get it? Pinki is Nyleve's Touch of Pink. She had a single lab puppy, he was Nyleve's One Man Show, called Solo. One of her labs is named Ashfield Naiad Nyleve Quorum, cuz she said with all those kennel names on him it would take a quorum to decide on a name. One was Nyleve's Connexion, cuz his pedigree was a coming together of a lot of her older labs she had in the past. One is Nyleve's Just Me, and is called Moxie, she is another conceited dog! Nyleve's Terracotta is a brindle Frenchie, she is Hilda, Nyleve's Secret Rendezvous is the result of two labs who decided to make babies when Mom was away and someone wasn't watching them very well! Nyleve's Too Much is the daughter of Nyleve's Excessif. Nyleve's Vanilla Toasted is called Melba. Believe it or not, all those are perfumes, except mine!!!

Left out again.........

I am feeling pretty left out lately. Every morning Mom takes that baby Tyson and Pinki over to work and I get stuck at home. Well, yesterday and today she sent Tonya over to get me, but it sure was an afterthought!!! I even missed their breakfast, but I sure could smell donut on Tyson's breath! When we got let out for our break I raced into the break room hoping to get some attention and Mom was holding Chicken Little, aka Tyson. She and Tonya were discussing how cute and cuddly he was. Tonya glanced over at me and told Mom how fat I was getting. Nice, huh???? I ran out to bark at the daycare dogs and they didn't even yell at me to stop doing that. It was like they didn't even know I was not in the room with them. The worst was tonight... we were all together playing and Mom was working at the puter. I walked over and jumped up on her leg. Without looking, she reached down, patted my head and said, "Oh, hello Tyson, are you having fun tonight?" I rest my case!

My special day...

I guess Mom realized I was being neglected, too. After she came home from work she put us all out in the warm Spring sun for about an hour while she cleaned the house. Then everyone came in. I ran into the living room and hid under her desk. Everyone else got put in their crates. I bravely ventured out from under the desk and Mom asked me if I wanted to go for a ride....... You need to ask???? Anyway, we went along up to my favorite, Wally's world. It was really crowded there and lots of other pups were in their cars. We had quite a visit while I waited for Mom. I figured we'd go to Micky's place, too, but Mom came right home. We did eat some stuff she bought on the way home! Now she is playing some music and relaxing I guess, and she still left me out here with her. It would be really nice if those puppies of Jenny's wouldn't make so much noise. I guess they realize now that she's not coming back. Actually, they are trying to reach Mom's books in her library which is a bit too close to their pen. So far they can't get their noses thru the bars in the pen. I am resting on my/Toto's bed while she types this for me. The music is very relaxing!!! I guess I'm gonna stay out until after Mom has her dinner so I can share some with her. Sounds like a plan to me!

Teaching Tyson the ropes...

Mom took me and Ali and Tyson down into the big yard today. I got to go along to teach Tyson all about how to act down there. Right off the bat we startled the big grey cat who was sunning himself down there. I showed Tyson (and Ali) how to chase him right up into the shed. Then Mom showed them what happens when I go up into the shed...oops!
Then me and Ali tried to show Tyson how to find those great cat poops down there. Guess he wasn't interested cuz he didn' t follow us. He did snuff around the tall grass looking for mice with us, though. Guess the mice were still sleeping cuz we didn't find any.
Someone else must have helped him with making air under him, cuz I noticed as we were running back to Mom that he cleared all four feet off the ground. I only glanced over out of the corner of my eye cuz I didn't want him to think I was impressed, but he sure is young for that kind of air!!
Finally, I was racing out and Ali was racing back and we nearly had a collision. She couldn't remember whether you are supposed to turn right or turn left in oncoming.... fortunately, she stopped and I was able to go right over her head. Too bad Mom missed that move with her camera!!!!!!!!!! Talk about air!!!!!!!!!!

If it walks like a duck...........

Boy, Mom really made me mad this time!!! That egg thing she calls my Easter Photo is pretty bad, I must admit!!! Wonder what she was thinking? Doesn't she know it's Lukester who wears the duck costume, not me??? How am I supposed to run around looking like this??? Bad move, Mom!!

The number's game....

I sure don't know why Toto and Jenny and Lukie are getting so excited about a mere thousand visitors. I am now approaching 2000!!! I should be there in the next day or so, according to my calculations. I am soo likeable that I get lots and lots of visitors, visitors who would never even look at Toto's page, much less Jenny's. Jenny would still be sitting way, way back if she hadn't gotten that Diary dog of the day honor yesterday. Hey, how come I have never been a Diary dog of the day?????? Hmmmmm, must be saving it up for a dog of the week honor???
Well, gotta go get my favorite spot on the bed now. It's time for some serious sleeping. Poor Ali is sleeping in her crate cuz she's got her hot thing again. I would be fine with her, but she won't leave me alone and I have to get nippy with her in order to get any sleep. Mom doesn't like me making all that noise, nor does she like spots on her blankets! Catch ya later!

Working like a dog....

Today Mom got an email from a lady who adopted one of my family after Mom and her friend rescued us. Anyway, she was telling about Reggie and her other poodle (another rescue), and how she did everything for them and what a great life they had now. She said, "Whoever says they work like a dog obviously never met my dogs!"
Mom thought that was a new perfect saying to describe our life here!!!!!!

Yuji tags again.......

Okay, here we go....
1: I am very, very smart!
2: I am very, very shy!
3: I am very, very witty!
4: I am very, very cute!
5: I am very, very winsome!
6: I am very, very loving!
7: Finally, I am very, very humble!!!

With that, I am tagging Roger, Chrispin, Jelly, Ella, Phoebe, Chloe La Rue, and Coco, my first true love.

Out for a run tonight?????????

I have been stuck inside this old house for too many days now so tonight when Mom gets home I am gonna give her my sad, sad eyes and see if I can go down to the big yard for a while. I will have to go with Tyson I guess cuz Toto still has a sore leg and Pinki is at work babysitting her daycare lab puppy and Ali is at the handler guy's kennel but I guess I could let Jenny come with me, maybe? In fact, maybe just Jenny and I can go cuz Tyson was also at work all day with Bubbles and they can go into the puppy pen while we go down there, yes, that sounds like a good plan to me! Mom will have to wear her Winter jacket cuz it never even got over freezing temperatures here today!!! I sure don't know where Spring went. Hey, I just remembered... Mom said we were gonna move to California if that fish pond froze over... hmmm, bet we are gonna have to start packing!!!!!!! It was only 12 degrees this morning. Bet it's frozen over!!! Gee I feel like a worry wart tonight... now I wonder if I should eat my dinner before I go out or wait until after I get back?? Maybe I shouldn't run on a full stomach, but maybe I won't have enough energy to run if I don't eat first. Uh oh, maybe Toto will eat my food while I am down there? Gee, I sure hope Mom remembers we don't have any food left here and brings some home from work with her. Guess I better send her some ESP thought waves now... catch ya later!

Sad eye failure.....

Well, that sure didn't work! Mom fed us, then she went outside to grab some dog rugs off the clothesline, came inside and said it was sooooo cold that we had to stay in tonight!! (Between you and me, it's only 20 and that wind is blowing like crazy, I don't wanna go out anyway!) Right now we are playing and she is sitting in front of the register, waiting for it to be late enough to go to bed. I told her we would all go to bed early if she wants to, but she's afraid we will all pee in the bedroom if we go to bed too early. Too early, too late, makes no difference to me...if I gotta pee I will pee!!!

Out for a run today...

Me and Jenny and Toto went down to the big yard this afternoon for a run. Jenny and I ran and ran and ran but Toto was mostly exploring. Guess he's not fat like us so he didn't need the exercise as much. Mom took about two hundred photos but none were "special" so she didn't even put a single one on my page. The only one that I liked was the three of us with the whole house for a background... it showed how really big our yard down there is and what a nice place to run it is. Mom said it wasn't in focus so she wouldn't use it, but she did save it. She said the light was good. She didn't like the grass ones cuz now that the lawn is dryer the grass is all brownish until the new stuff grows. She said we're supposed to get warm showers tomorrow and Friday so maybe Saturday the grass will be growing. I sure hope so, I LOVE fresh green grass. Me and Jenny and Toto helped Mom scoop some leaves out of the fishing hole, maybe she will put the pump in there Saturday and start the waterfalls again. We can't move to California cuz the whole pond didn't freeze over the other day... there was some ice in it, but not much. Guess it was warmer than I thought!!!
Well, gotta go, Mom is vacuuming and I can't hear myself think. Actually, I am possessed and I MUST chase the vacuum cleaner!!!!!!

Grooming day at the kennel...

Some of Mom's grooming dogs didn't come today so she came home and got me. Now she is mad cuz my hair is changing color. As often happens with poodles, I am getting lighter colored. Mom LOVES my old red color but there is very, very little of that left now. I told her she could get some henna rinse, but she didn't take to that idea to well. She said she always wanted a fox red lab, then she thought she had that color in me, but now I am a normal apricot color. Oh well, nuthin' I can do about it! Maybe when I start kayaking again it will get tan from the sun. I suspect it will get lighter from the sun, but, hey, it's an idea! Maybe she could wear rose colored glasses when she looks at me????????

We are very smart dogs.........

We all got together and worked very, very hard to keep our dog room and the rest of the house clean this week cuz Jenny heard that it was going to be in the high 60's today. If the house is clean Mom will take us outside when she gets out of work. Well, it worked... all of us are clean and spiffy and no one spilled any food or water on the floor, and best of all, Toto didn't destuff any toys. There are not even any muddy footprints on the white dog room floor!!!!!!
Soooo, now we just wait until Mom gets done work. Hope she gets a new rake and then we can rake the rest of the gardens. We help, you know. We all stomp on the leaves when she puts them on the tarp so it will hold more of them. And, me and Toto take care of all the branches from the maple tree. Jenny works on the froggies and Ali and Tyson pull off the dead stalks from last years plants.
Well, gotta rest up so I will have plenty of energy for later! Oh boy, here comes the sun right thru the clouds!!!!!

I must be special????

Wow, I got to spend hours and hours in the big yard today. First I went down with Pinki and we ran and ran and ran. Then Mom took Pinki back and got Toto and Jenny and we had to work. I helped put the pump in the pond, and then I helped chase some blowing leaves. In fact, I think I helped more than Toto and Jenny. Jenny was chasing her froggie and fishes and Toto was NAPPING!!! Then we went home and Mom napped with us all for a while. Finally, me and Tyson went back down to the yard. Mom was messing around in the shed and she found a big leaf sucker/chopper thing so she decided that would be easier than raking. It was sooo cool, it sprayed chopped leaves all over the place. Mom said there were big rocks coming out of it, too, and I was trying to catch them and Tyson was very scared so she put us in that little pen down there to be safe. Then she realized that sucking those leaves was actually more work than raking them, so she gave up and we got to play with her. We were having lots of fun until I inadvertantly smashed into Tyson, (he was running one way, I was running the other way and he wasn't looking!) Mom yelled at me cuz his mouth was bleeding so we had to come home. Guess he wasn't mad at me cuz now we are playing on the big Toto bed.

Finally, the garden is raked.........

Well, this afternoon Jenny and I went on down to the big yard with Mom to help her finish those leaves. I am happy to say we finally got them all raked off the actual garden, but we didn't get them all moved to the compost area. It was pretty hard work, ya know. I am sure I got at least a callous if not an actual blister on my paw!!!! Jenny kept soaking her feet in the fish pond.
Fortunately Mom did keep giving us plenty of rest time and we ran quite a bit. I suspect I have finally figured out why Jenny and I have to do all the work... Jenny and I are the "pudgy ones". Everyone else is perfect or, in the case of Toto, too skinny.
Finally, just as we were getting pretty hungry and thought Mom was gonna make us work right thru dinner, it started pouring again so we had to come home. Whew!

Can it get any better than this????????

It was nice and warm all day today. Mom took me and the little ones down to the big yard to play for a while. I didn't even have to work!!! The best part of the whole time was when I discovered my first dead nightcrawler of the season. Man oh man, those are the greatest things in the world to roll in. I rolled and rolled and squirmed around and finally got it buried deep into the hair all around my neck. Mom is gonna LOVE me when I snuggle up with her tonight!!!!!! I tried to show Tyson what fun it was but he didn't seem to care. Bubbles found one, too, but she was already pretty smelly from playing in the mud in the dog yard. Somehow she is always on the bottom of the pile!
I did have to brace up Tyson when he discovered that big yellow dog down there by the pond. He was pretty sure it was gonna bite him, silly boy!
When we got home Mom put a bowl of leftovers on the floor. I had to grab it and run to get it away from Toto and Jenny, but I won!!! Mmmm was that good. I did share a bit with them, but I did not share with Tyson, heeheehee!!!

My Mom is slipping.......

Do you pupsters realize it has been one whole week since my Mom helped me bark an entry here??? Yup... seven days, seven LONG, BORING days. Good thing for her it's been cold and rainy cuz otherwise I would have rebelled. Anyway, she seems to have seen the light so she brought me over to work today with Tyson. It's a darn good thing, too! No one had shown him about racing up to the daycare dogs and barking at them, yet. Also, no one had told him about the dog biscuits they sometimes leave around. Sooo, now he's got the idea and he's very good at it!!
Anyway, as soon as she gets out of work in about 1/2 hours she's gonna take us down to the big yard so I can run off some of my pudge!

Gosh Dang It......Mom's still slipping!!!

Well, wouldn't ya know it... some humans FORGOT to come get their dogs from daycare so Mom had to stay real late at work tonight. When she got home she was busy with feeding us and making sure we all got outside and then it was too dark and cold to go for a run in the big yard. I KNEW she would think of some excuse!!!
Anyway, Mom actually called me fat today. I was surprised cuz she had some really, really overweight dogs for grooming today. I look like a body builder next to them! Anyhow, she has a new plan... when a dog is really grossly overweight she tells them she isn't gonna book another appointment until they have the dog checked by a vet to make sure the stress of the groom isn't going to cause a heart attack or worse in the dog. She does it nicely, and doesn't try to hurt the owners feelings. Well, she's done that twice so far and both owners did go to the vet and are now bringing their dogs here weekly to have them weighed! Mom says she never thought of coming right out and suggesting they do that but apparently the vet suggested it. (Mom had a LONG talk with that vet about obese dogs at our recent Rabies clinic.) Of course, some of the others just shrug their shoulders and tell her the dog eats what it wants and one even said, "So what if he dies younger." Mom almost slapped her!!!!!!
My problem is that some of the other dogs in this house spill their food alot and I run around and clean the floor! Wonder what Mom will do about that???? She weighed me and I am only one half pound over my ideal weight.... of course I am 2 pounds over Mom's ideal weight for me...that sounds like a problem for her, not me!!!!!

Weekend goal??????? 2000 visitors!!!

Mom just realized I am almost at 2000 visitors. In fact, according to her calulations, I should be there around 3 pm on Sunday afternoon.
How cool is that???? I think it's okay.
Soo, if you get a chance, hop on over to my page for an Easter view! Mom thanks you. Personally I don't care if you do cuz I already know I am the most popular pup in my family!!!!!

Uh oh, it's a Holiday.........

Ah gee, Mom forgot that today was a holiday. Now she says her calculations are gonna be off by a bit! Sooo, she is predicting Monday at noon for me to hit 2000 visitors. Rats....... I was hoping it would brighten up our cold, windy Easter Sunday here. Guess we will have to watch some TV or something... sure too cold to go outside and play.
OH NO......... I see SNOWFLAKES!!!!!!! Isn't Easter a Spring holiday????????

1999 and counting...........

Holy Smokes... it's noon and I'm at 1999. Mom says we gotta use Dogster time and she will be right on with her prediction!
It is sooo great that I have all you guys for friends. We LOVE dogster!
On to 3000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2000th visitor... right on!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom came out and checked my page right after noon (EDST) and it was at 2000!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I did it. Well, you guys did it, it doesn't count when I visit my own page!
Thanks every pup! Next big family one is Ali hitting 1000. Man, is she behind me or what?
Well, gotta go now, it's time for some fresh air and sunshine for the Beanster!

My reward for 2000 visits?????????

You will NEVER believe what Mom gave me for a reward for getting 2000 visitors. She entered me in TWO dog shows!!!! Can you imagine that! I guess I will just have to keep her guessing for the next three weeks and not let her know if I am gonna pass or fail. I think a cool idea will be to do my practice sessions perfectly, then screw up the dress rehersal so she will really wonder!!! Hmmm, something to think about, I guess.
Anyway, tonight Toto got punished with crate time cuz he jumped on Tyson when they went outside. I've been trying to warn Tyson... he should do what I do, I hide under Mom's desk, then she remembers that Toto is trying to get me and puts me out later. Tyson screamed at the top of his lungs, so I bet she will remember tomorrow night when she puts us out!!!!!!!!! All the rest of the time Toto loves us, it's just when we first run outside after dinner! Silly boy!

Babysitting??????????

Hey, Mom made me go in with Jenny's babies today and babysit them. I would have thought that Tyson or Bubbles could have done that quite nicely, but no, I had to be the one. Actually, Mom came in and got Tyson and let him stay loose in the house while she was cleaning. I personally do not think that was fair!!! She muttered something about him being a bit rough with them.... come on, Mom, he's twice the size of them!!!! I do have it on pretty reliable authority, (from the Queen B, no less), that Mom put Tyson in a crate for a while when she was mopping. Guess he was a bit helpful?
Oh, gotta go... Toto just got home and I gotta smell him and make sure he didn't get anything special to eat!!!!

Spring training has begun......

Gosh darn it, Mom got my training collar out tonight and she got one for Pinki, too and we had to go down to the big yard. Fortunately, she did bring lots and lots of cheese. I got to work first cuz Mom says that we poodles are so smart we can learn by watching so she wanted Pinki to watch me! I was pretty good after a long Winter layoff. I did my heeling good except I was sitting kind of too much in front of Mom's legs. She wouldn't give me my cheese until I backed up, so now I am thinking I am getting my cheese for backing up, not sitting in the right place first!!! Silly Mom, she didn't think of that but I sure did! Anyway, my off leash heeling was way better, then I did my stand and forgot and sat down before she came all the way back to me...oops! So, we had to do that a few more times (more cheese, heeheehee!). I did the rest of the stuff pretty good. Let's see... there are three weeks before my shows... I could get lots and lots of cheese by then!!!
Then it was time for Pinki...guess she isn't one of those that learns by watching!!! Actually, she did way better than I thought she would. She was heeling right along nicely, but Mom had to tell her to sit every time. She did a great stand, but she didn't come when Mom called her on her recall. Soo, she got lots of cheese for that!!! Pinki has 6 weeks before her first obedience show so she should be okay!
Finally we were done training, then we got to run and run and run... guess that's how Mom is gonna justify all that cheese she gave me!!!

I must be a clock??????

Mom said I had a tick today.... does that mean I am a clock????? Or, maybe it was my heart ticking????
Anyway, Mom said the ticks are really bad already this year. She found the one on me already, and they are finding some on at least one on the grooming dogs every day. Last year I was the first one of Mom's dogs to ever have a tick and there weren't that many of the grooming dogs with them!!! Guess I will get my advantix this weekend! I like that stuff, it also keeps the black flies and mosquitos away from me. That helps when I have to go down to the big yard every night and do my training. Speaking of, tonight I got to with Jenny again down there. Toto went down later with Pinki. I don't prefer to play with either of them cuz they are pretty rough. Mom says they deserve each other. Jenny is good to me while we are down there playing but when we come home she keeps bumping me with her head. She is trying to get me to play with her in the house, too, I guess. She even bumps Mom with her head when Mom is not paying enough attention to her. Silly dog!
Well, gotta go now, it's time for bed cuz we watched a movie and now it's late!

Sunny Sunday

Mom said we could all go down to the big yard today cuz it's gonna start raining tomorrow. Bet she will make us work!! I am gonna smell all the flowers first of all, then find some dead nightcrawlers to roll in since I have to have a bath tomorrow anyway. Maybe I can teach Tyson to roll in some, too?
She said we would have to hurry and go down there cuz she also has to work in the kennel garden and we can't help her there cuz there is no fence to keep us in.
Mom has a big "NO POOPING HERE" sign in the front of the kennel garden.(well, it says it more politely, heeheehee) Anyway, at least once a day someone lets their dog walk all thru it and pee and poop. One lady even got her leash caught on the sign!!! Mom yells when she sees them, but it doesn't do any good, she can't believe how inconsiderate some pet owners are!!!!!!!! One year she put up a little fence and all the people complained that their dogs got caught in the fence. It's not like there isn't any place to walk them... right beside the garden is an area just for that, complete with sign and pooper scooper and a hydrant for the boy dogs. AGHHHHHHHHHHHH. They not only pee and poop in the garden but they break down all the pretty flowers.

I am injured again.........

Gee, I had a great time down in the big yard playing with Toto and Jenny while Mom finished up those stupid leaves. We worked and worked and worked and finally it was time to come home. When we got home Mom left me and Toto and Jenny in the living room and let out Darrell and Hilda. Toto got so mad that he couldn't get Darrell that he jumped on me and BIT ME!!! He got me right in my eye and also on my shoulder. Now I am stiff and sore and my eye is all shut. Mom was really, really mad at him, heeheehee. He may stay in his crate til the cows come home, and we don't have any cows!!!! While he was in his crate watching, we all got to eat some leftovers from Mom's grilled steak. Silly Tyson ate all the spinach leaves from the salad, Jenny wanted the carrots so I got to eat the steak myself! They don't know what they were missing!!!!!!!
Well, I gotta go nurse my sore eye and get some more attention from Mom. It REALLY hurts!!!!!!

A better day....

Well, last night Mom gave me some pain meds so I could sleep good and this morning she took me and Tyson over to work today so I could get away from that Toto. Tonya gave me a nice warm bath and that made me feel better. Mom found another BIG hole in my neck from his tooth! She finished the groom she had started last week so now I am very handsome again, which always makes me feel better. Now me and Tyson get to go outside without Toto, and he has to be in his crate when Mom is letting the other dogs out. And, tonight Toto washed all my bites out. Now they will all heal fast!!!
Soo, all in all, I guess I will survive this trauma. And, I am not even gonna be afraid of him anymore cuz my Mom will protect me!!!

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm gonna eat some- worms....

Gee, here I was innocently lying in the dog bed between Toto and Tyson. Mom glanced over so Tyson hopped up and ran over to see her. He came back and plopped his big butt RIGHT on top of me! I attempted to move away and he had the nerve to growl at me!!!! Then I moved closer to Toto and he grumbled, too! That Tyson is getting a bit big for his britches... I am gonna have to have a talk with him the next time Mom puts us outside alone!!! Mom is really laughing at him... he is trying to act all big but he is very, very tired from being at daycare all day and his eyes keep closing and his head falls right down on the toy he is trying to chew. Mom said she used to babysit for a little boy that would do that... his eyes would close and his head would fall right down into his dinner plate. Toto is tired, too, cuz Mom took him to obedience tonight. Me, I am NOT tired, I am keeping one eye on Toto and the other eye on Tyson so they don't get me!!! I sure do feel like a football lying here between them... it's very, very good that they are tired!!!!!!

Babysitting again???????

Mom left me in that stupid puppy pen today with the babies and Bubbles and Tyson. Ali was in there, too, but sometimes she acts like a puppy, too. Hrumph, not me!!!!
Anyway, after what seemed like an eternity, she came home and took us down to the big yard to play. But, she put my training collar on, so I knew what was coming.
Mom did have a great big stick of string cheese with her and it's my very favorite so I decided to surprise her and do everything right the first time she asked. She was sooo happy and excited that she gave me lots and lots of cheese!!!! In fact, it was so great that I may need to do it again soon. I know I am just a dog, but I felt proud to hear Mom give me all that praise. Hmmmm, wonder what would happen if I actually won a placing at my show instead of just getting a passing score??? Something to think about??????? Who knows... maybe I wouldn't have to go the second day if I really did good on the first one. Nah, she would want to show me off, I'm sure. Oh well, I'll keep her guessing some more.

My Key to Happiness Cruise.........

Hrumph... guess those other guys really don't want me around here anymore. I was innocently minding my own business. Mom was out in the garden by the kennel picking some flowers for her desk. I guess Jenny thought it was her job to clean the desk while Mom was outside so she jumped up on it. Well, next thing I know, I hear the Key to Happiness Cruise music playing really loudly and I am being welcomed aboard.
Actually, it wasn't so bad... we enjoyed the music and Mom was going crazy until she discovered where it was coming from. Apparently the page was open on ME, and Jenny must have hit a key when she climbed over the keyboard.
Well, it was a pretty good cruise and I had fun, I guess?

Sunday, my favorite day of the week........

It was very sunny and HOT today and we wanted Mom to take us outside into the bright sun. She did, but we only got to go out two at a time. She did leave us out for about two hours each, though. She was mumbling about us barking way, way too much. It seems we have a non-doggy neighbor. She used to be really bad and would call Mom the minute she heard a dog bark. Now she and Mom are friends, so it is even worse around here because Mom tries even harder to keep us quiet. Mom hates barking dogs, too!! Both she and the neighbor don't mind if we are outside and do a little chase barking or something like that but they can't stand just plain barking. I should point out that the only time we do that is when Mom is feeding us all OR putting us outside cuz we can't all go outside at once so we bark at whoever is going out. Sooo, today it is HOT so Mom opened all the windows. LET THE BARKING BEGIN!!!! Man, there are some real great noises coming in those open windows, we can sure tell you that!! There were birds singing, other dogs (strange dogs we've never heard before), car doors shutting, lawn mowers running, lots and lots and lots of noises we all had to bark at. Mom is now remembering why she uses air conditioners all the time!!! She is afraid it is way, way too early to put them in the windows, but I, for one, will BET some Zealies that she is gonna put them in tomorrow after listening to us bark all night again tonight!!!! We can't help it, we are supposed to protect her from the night noises, and the morning noises, and the day noises, I'm sure you get the drift. Gotta go rest up, it's gonna be my turn to bark next!

Seed or bulb?????

Mom sent the photo of me sitting in the flowers to some of her friends along with some other photos of her garden flowers. They emailed back and were asking about the plant that looked like it has a nose and ears. Mom said that was the very, very rare Red Beanster plant. She said it kept popping up all over the garden where she least expected it to be. She said it didn't require too much, just a bit of pruning about every 5 or 6 weeks and some food and water every day. She said it's a Winter hardy perennial... it even shows up in the garden during the Winter snow storms. One of her friends asked her if the Red Beanster plant was from a bulb or from seed. Mom said it was from the seed of the devil dog..... can you imagine??? I cannot believe she said that about me!!!!

Finally, working again........

After what seemed like forever, Mom finally took me to an obedience class again last night. It was WINDY, hot and buggy. Man, those stupid black flies that Northern New England is so famous for all, yes, I mean ALL of them, hatched out yesterday. Even with the wind they were chewing us all up.
Anyway, back to class... when it was my turn I did everything pretty good. I did some crooked sits, I did a bit of lagging, but all in all, Mom was proud and said I would have passed the big test had the judge been in our backyard last night. Soooo, we shall see. Only a week and a half before the real deal.
This morning it is FREEZING and those same black flies are hiding somewhere. The sun is shining, but it is 30 degrees colder than it was yesterday morning. Amazing!!!

A new kayak just for me!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I went to work with Mom. Well, it's Wednesday, so she got out early. When we got home Mom put my going out collar on me, and pretty soon Skye came along, and we got in the car. Me and Skye didn't know where Mom was taking us. After a LONG drive, we came to a big building and there was a big chain link dog pen with hundreds of kayaks running around in it. Mom went inside and pretty soon a man came out and unlocked the gate and we all went in and looked at the kayaks. Mom told Skye she could pick out one for her to use when we go kayaking this Summer. So, the man helped us, and me and Skye got in a bunch of them and tried them on for size. Me and Skye wanted a bright orange one, but Mom drew the line on that, so we chose the sky blue one. The man took it out and put in on Mom's car and home we came. Me and Skye are so excited... we are going to try it out for real on Saturday!!! It seems the one we used last Summer wasn't Mom's... it was her friends and they came and got it this morning. Since Mom is taking me to that dog show in CT next weekend, she needed another one for Kiwi's Mom to use down there and for Skye to use up here. I sure hope that Toto doesn't think Mom bought that kayak for HIM to use... we will have to see about that I guess!!!

Kayaking?????????

Well, so far, so good. We woke up to the sun shining in the windows. It's still pretty cloudy, but around here the clearing comes from the west and there are fewer clouds that way. Sooo, by noon when Mom gets out of work we should be fine to test drive that new kayak.
There is another small problem, though. Yesterday Skye stayed home sick from school. Sooo, now we have to wait and see if she's fine today. If she isn't and/or it's too cold Mom said maybe we could try for tomorrow.
I'm keeping my paws crossed!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhh, Kayaking at last.........

Well, we did manage to get out on the pond this afternoon. It was a bit nippy and very windy, but the sun was nice. Of course, dumb Toto got to go with Skye in the new kayak, I had to go with Mom and Jenny. Jenny said I shouldn't complain... I could have stayed home with everyone else and she wouldn't have minded that a bit.
Anyway, Mom and Skye stopped at a nice store and got a tasty lunch on the way. So, when we got there we paddled right out to the island so they could eat. I casually sauntered down to the water's edge to check things out and heard a funny noise. This time there were TWO Loch Knapp Pond monsters swimming out there. I quickly barked the alarm and Jenny ran down to check them out. Since she is bigger than me, I decided I better run back up to Mom and protect her while Jenny dealt with the Monsters. Where was Toto, you may ask??? He was up sleeping in the sun!!!!
Well, finally we were given a bite to eat, but alas, I swallowed mine too fast and it got stuck in my throat. After a few moments panic on the part of me, Skye AND Mom, I managed to choke it out. I was too scared to eat anymore. Soo, I am really glad to see that my pal Yuji enjoyed his lunch at the Trifecta (oops, that is Tribeca, I was watching the derby!!!), better than I enjoyed mine!!

a very bad dress rehearsal means????????

Well, it may be fate, or it may be I am fooling Mom. Tonight was my last class before my show on Saturday. It was pouring rain outside so Mom canceled my class. She did have the beginners class inside. Mom's friend that she worked for many years ago is in the class, so before they started she had her judge me. Well, there is NO WAY any stranger is coming into MY kennel and touching me!!! That is the way it is, and Mom should have known that. Did she, NOPE! She made me do my stand for exam, had that stranger to me come up and touch me. Nope, no way, no how... I ducked away each time she came up to me. Sooo, Mom made me heel a bit, and that woman followed me. Well, I can tell you, I spent the whole time flipping around to check out where she was. Finally, Mom put my leash on, MADE me do a stand, then told me I was done. Now she has to spend the whole rest of the week worrying about whether I will pass or not. And, to compound the problem, somehow I am entered in the wrong class for Sunday's show. If they won't let Mom change that, I won't be showing in that show. Hmmm, I was gonna flunk the first day and pass on Sunday, but I'm not sure I can stress Mom that much. I guess we'll play wait and see for a few days. That ought to increase my cheese allotment!!!!

Taking the flowers with me..........

Mom is going to spray me and her with lavender tomorrow for my show. She says it's very relaxing and it should help me not be scared of the judge. Well, I am getting pretty tired of having to go to dog shows so maybe I will pass anyway and get it over with. Only problem is, IF I am not going to any shows I won't be able to go visit at Kiwi's house and I won't be able to go kayaking with her Mom and my Mom tomorrow after my show.
Hey, Tyson was yellow tonight. Nah, I really didn't have anything to do with it, I swear! Wasn't my fault he stopped right under me as I was doing my duty. Silly boy!

I'm SOOOO S(M)ad.........

Well, suffice it to say, I flunked. HOWEVER, as the judge pointed out, most of it was MOM"S fault!!!
Here's how it works... after starting with 200 points, the judge subtracts points for dumb things we do, like me heeling too far forward or back, or touching Mom, or Mom giving me extra commands, or Mom tightening my collar, and especially Mom not trusting me. You have to pass every exercise, and still end up with 170 points. I actually passed every single exercise, but I wasn't very happy about doing them! I did do a really, really good recall cuz I knew that was the last thing I had to do! But, me and Mom actually lost enough points to end up under 170, so we flunked!!!! The judge told Mom that if she had LEFT ME ALONE when I was lagging behind her I would have been fine and we would have passed. But, every time Mom looked back, I thought she was mad at me, so I slowed down even more. Ah well, I actually think Mom has decided not to make me do that ever again!!! To make it even worse, she had to run over and show Maude in breed right in the middle of MY class, so they made me do my stuff first, then we had to race back for the sits and downs. We missed the sits, so I thought we were off the hook, but the judge spied us walking back while the rest were doing them and she told Mom that someone's dog had disturbed another dog so they were going to do the sit alone at the end and I could do it with her. So, we raced in, I did my down first with everyone then that dog and I did our sits. Of course I did those perfectly, and it's hard to take points off Mom for those, too.
Anyway, today they wouldn't let Mom change my entry from the beginner class to the experienced class (it's based on the handler, guess they didn't watch her on Saturday!!!). Mom had entered the wrong one by mistake. Sooo, since the wind was blowing way too hard to show the poodles for breed (their hair blows everywhere and looks bad), we got to come straight home from Kiwi's house. That was fine with me!!!
I will say I did have a fine time at Kiwi's house yesterday afternoon. First we went on a walk, then me and Mom and Kiwi's Mom, (she didn't let Kiwi go!!!) all went kayaking. Since I am not overly fond of Kiwi's Mom, I went with Mom. There were a million and one turtles in that pond, and I had fun searching them all out. Then, Mom kept hitting old, dead trees that were underwater, so that was challenging to not fall out of the kayak when we hit one! When we got back to shore I discovered fresh goose poop. How come NO ONE has ever told me how good fresh goose poop is before?? I ate and ate until Mom finally discovered what I was doing. Spoil sport!!!
At dinner that night we were supposed to have some wine to celebrate my win, but instead me and Mom had some wine to whine about OUR failure!!!
I did get quite a few photos of me and of me and Mom cuz Mom gave one of the camera's to Kiwi's Mom to use. Check 'em out!

Me a demo dog.... NO WAY!!!

Well, Mom had her obedience class tonight so she took me to work and left me in the kennel after cuz it was supposed to rain so she thought class would be inside. Well, it didn't rain so she took Toto to my class instead of me. Then, when the beginners class came Mom came up to the kennel to tell them we would be outside so she grabbed me and took me as a demo dog. Well, I gotta tell you, I am way better than a demo dog. It's hard to demo how to correct something if I never do anything wrong, heeheehee. Well, she used one of the other dogs and I got to heel around while they were doing their stays.
Of course, that meant I missed my dinner so I had a special dinner after I got home. Everyone else had to watch me eat dinner!!!
Gotta go now cuz it's bedtime!

Boring evening........

Gee, it is amazing how dead it is around here without Tyson!!! We are all sleeping on the dog bed and Mom is playing on the computer. Normally we would be running around playing with toys and stuff, and Mom would be running around trying to keep us out of trouble. I guess we are all getting older!!
Unfortunately, since we are all lying around Mom quickly noticed when I snuck off to the bathroom to leave some tootsie rolls. Imagine my surprise when, having done the deed, I stepped out to find Mom standing there with her hands on her hips. I knew I was caught.... I dutifully slunk over to the kitchen door and waited for her to throw me out! I still don't understand that... she knows I don't have to go anymore so why do I have to go outside now???? Besides, it's pouring and windy and cold out there!!!
TYSON... please hurry home, we need you here!!!!!!!!!!!

Our next vacation.........Can you help?

Mom and Julie are already planning our next vacation. It was between the Bahamas and Texas and Tennessee. Well, the Bahamas lost because me and George couldn't go. Texas lost cuz Mom and Julie have both already been there, so Tennessee it is!! Obviously, they are in the very, very early planning stages, but since there are lots of dogsters from Tennessee on here, Mom decided to ask for some help. She did post this request in a couple of Forums, but is doing it here, too.
They are planning to head to the Gatlinburg area since they want to see the Smokey Mtns, sometime in early October, but they are afraid this area might be way to commercial for their likes. Anyone have any ideas of somewhere in the Smokies that is not quite so "resorty". They want to rent a small cabin that allows dogs, obviously! Me and George are both real small, and we wear pee belts inside. They don't need all the amenities, but do want somewhere to cook a meal or two. They also want to go to Nashville but think that can be a day trip. They might want to leave us in a kennel that day if it's too warm. They also like kayaking and horseback riding.
Any one have any information that might help us plan our trip????

The lab yard is a jungle!!!!!!!!

Mom took us down to the lab yard tonight. My oh my, it was a jungle down there. The grass was soo tall that me and Ali pretty much disappeared from sight. Toto and Jenny could jump pretty high, so they were okay, but me and Ali had to follow their paths. Mom got some photos of us lost in the grass.
And, I am always complaining to Mom that Toto is biting me when we play down there. She never used to believe me, but now she does cuz one of the pictures she took today shows my back leg in his mouth!!!! Now, she believes me!

A lovely Wednesday afternoon.......

Mom got out of work pretty early this afternoon, and since Tyson is not here dragging toilet paper and stuff all thru the house to make it all dirty, we got to go down and play in the big yard for a long, long time. Mom was planting some stuff, so we were "helping." It was actually pretty fun. My job was to go around in the garden and select some really huge hostas that she could cut in half and move over by the pond. I am not sure what Ali's job was... I never saw her do any work at all. Toto was supposed to keep the panthers away, he must have done a good job cuz I didn't see any at all. Jenny was reaquainting herself with her yellow froggie and his siblings since the pond finally got clear enough to see the bottom.
Anyway, we worked and worked and finally Mom let us play with some agility stuff that was down there. It reminded me too much of dog shows, so I didn't play much with it. I wandered over to the pond to get a drink and wouldn't you know, the rock I was standing on slipped and I fell right in the pond!!!! I do not know how Mom does it, but she was right there with her camera and caught me in the drink. Of course that one was perfect and totally in focus so she put it on my page. Don't take a look!

A good weekend for Kayaking......

Mom has Monday off this weekend and she also gets out early tomorrow and Sunday, so I have announced that we will go kayaking!!! I've already emailed Skye and so she and Toto can go, too. Mom said Jenny can't go this weekend, so I've decided to invite Ali to ride with me and Mom. Poor Ali has never gone before, and everyone keeps promising her she can go "next time." Well, it is now NEXT TIME!!!
Gee, I hope she doesn't get scared and try to jump out...nah, she wouldn't do that, she would just snuggle closer to Mom if she got scared cuz that's what she does.
Anyway, tomorrow morning I will make sure Mom gets up really early so she has time to put the kayaks on the car before she goes to work. That way there will be NO excuses.
Now I gotta get back to Jenny's watch chair...she is banished to her crate cuz she's in heat so I was keeping it warm for her. It's pretty neat!!! So far I've seen two neighbors go by with their dogs.... I didn't even know those dogs lived around here!!!!!!!!!!

Mom must think I'm a poster child.....

Our Mom sure does find some strange things for us to wear. I have no idea where she got that HUGE hat... it wouldn't even fit Paul Bunyon... how does she expect I am going to wear it???? And, the bowtie... now, that might fit Paul, but last I knew, he wasn't into wearing bowties... he was more of a flannel shirt sort of a guy. Anyway, I humored her again and sat there like a pro. I did draw the line at actually wearing the hat... she even tried to put me IN the hat, but that was a bit much, too!!!
Today I worked hard watching Mom work in the garden. She left me out in the house so I sat in Jenny's watch chair again and watched and watched. Once in a while I let out a bark or two so she would know I was still watching. We aren't allowed to help her work in that garden because it's right up next to the road. If Mom wasn't paying attention we could get hurt bad in that road!!!! Just ask Toto, he knows!!!
So, I guess we are going kayaking with Skye on Monday. That's cool, but I also heard Mom on the phone talking with her old kayaking buddy, the one that wears the wool pants kayaking. He said maybe they could go tomorrow. I don't know if Mom will go two days in a row... she might just work in the garden again tomorrow instead.
Well, it's bedtime now... BJ and Oprah keep barking when the sun comes up in the morning and waking me up early...their bedroom is on the East side of the house. I told Mom to pull the shades but she said some dogs ate them out of the windows.... not me, I am too short to do that, unless I borrow Jenny's watch chair!!!

We did not go kayaking.........

Well, what a rotten weekend. Me and Ali, all dressed up and ready for kayaking, spent the whole day in the puppy pen with Jenny's pups and Bubbles.
Here's what Mean Mom told us... first of all, Oprah didn't eat her breakfast and when a dog is going to have puppies that is sometimes one of the first signs, and since she is only visiting and is not Mom's, Mom felt it best if she stayed home to watch her. Second, Skye had to go somewhere at 1 o'clock and we couldn't leave until after 10, so we really didn't have time enough to go. Third (yes, there IS more!) Mom heard on the weather forecast we were supposed to have high winds today and paddling a kayak in high winds is not so much fun. Fourth, Mom was almost done weeding the flower garden at work and she was afraid she would never finish it if she didn't work on it all day long today. Fifth, we can go kayaking on Wednesday cuz that is Mom's next time off.
Sooo, we just sat there and listened and nodded our heads... Toto was going to try to drive the car up to the pond himself and take us with him, but none of us could reach high enough to get the kayaks on the car. Tonight when we were all sitting around in the living room cuz a huge cold wind was blowing outside, the weatherman said it was going to rain all day on Wednesday... figures, huh??????

Another weekend all ready???

Gosh, I sure don't know where this week went!! Seems like it was just Sunday, now it's Saturday again.
We can't go kayaking today cuz Oprah's mom is coming to see the babies. But... Mom has promised us we can go tomorrow. She had better be right is all I gotta say!!! Poor Ali has been sitting around all week trying on her life vest. She has to wear one of those cuz Mom makes us all wear them until she knows we can swim.
Hey, I just remembered... it is almost time for my pal Yuji to come visit me. I can't wait!
Well, gotta go now, Mom has to go to work.

2500 Visitors today!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, Mom just noticed that I am very, very close to 2500 visitors. Now I think that is pretty nice! Actually Mom noticed I was getting close a couple of days ago but it's been so busy around here she promptly forgot about it.
Soo, now it appears I will hit the magic number sometime during the day today. Thanks to you all for your help with this momentous goal!!!!

Yahoo... I made it on the nose!!!!

Yup, now I can get a special surprise just like Luke did! Actually, my surprise should be better than his... I got 1000 more visitors than he did. Yessss... Beanie is the king! If you don't believe it, just ask me!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah, thanks for all your visits...guess I wouldn't/couldn't be the king without your help!!!!

Kayaking?????????

Uh oh, it's really cold and cloudy right now. What happened to the warm sun and good forecast??
I want a new weatherman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kayaking, or braving the cold front!!!

Well, I told Mom it was too cloudy and cold for kayaking today, but did she listen? NO. Did we get out on the pond in the middle of a HUGE cold front moving in from Canada? YES! Was it a fun trip? Well, at least we got to go! Man oh man, it was freezing out there when that storm came along. I could even see my breath. I am sure glad we didn't go all around the pond to the back or we would probably still be out there trying to beat our way back against that wind! And, the worst part?? Mom didn't even take a single photo of me!!! They were all Ali, Ali this and Ali that and yuck... give it up, Mom!!!
And, the best part of a kayaking trip is to have that island in the middle all to ourselves so we can run and play. Well, that didn't happen, either. They ate lunch in the car with the heater on... Skye put us all in a crate so we didn't even get any leftovers. Grrrrrrrr.
When we got back Mom let us run down in the big yard while they planted some flowers. I was mad at Skye so I didn't let her play with me, but, at least SHE took a nice photo of me!!!

Another lonely Beanster week.......

Here it is Thursday already and Mom has not posted a diary entry for me. Not only that, but she has not taken me out of the house yet this week. I am not too thrilled that Jenny got to go to CT and I didn't go anywhere for my birthday back in February.
So far this week I have spent the whole week in the pen with the puppies and Ali.
It's a good thing that Yuji is coming next weekend... since he is coming to see ME I will have to take him around and show him the place thru a dog's eyes. Too bad we can't go in the kayaks!!!!!!!
Oh well, Mom will probably groom Jenny and then it will rain!

Drats, now it's a lonely weekend, too!!!!!

Gosh, it was nice and sunny all day today and I was stuck in that puppy pen again! Mom and Oprah's Mom sat around all afternoon down in MY big yard. Did they invite me? Nope!
Now I find out that Mom is going down to get Ch. Chaz and flunky Tinman tomorrow. She's taking Phil and Phyllie. I was hoping to go along as well, but now Mom says she's gonna take either Pinki or Jenny. Pinki so she can visit her handler guy or Jenny cuz she is Phil and Phyllie's Mom. I suspect it will be Pinki since Jenny already got to go down there once this week. Another trip for her would be overkill!!!!!! I suggested that maybe Ali and I could ride along... Ali knows the handler guy, too, and I would certainly enjoy meeting him. Mom said, NO WAY cuz we are too dirty from being in the puppy pen all week. The nerve of that lady!!!!

OMD... Chaz is back!

Gee, Mom brought Chaz home tonight. After dinner she put us all outside. He has obviously forgotten that although he is my uncle, I am the big dog here!! He kept sniffing me where he shouldn't be sniffing, so finally I decided to try sniffing him back!!! He didn't much notice, so I tried to mount him a few times. Gosh, I forgot that he is way bigger than I am. I called Toto in to help me, but he wasn't much help. So, I ran to Mom and she rescued me! She said when he gets his hair cut he will forget he's a champion and better than us lowly dogs. So, I came in the house with Ali and Toto and we left Jenny outside with Chaz and Pinki.
Now it's time for bed!!!!!!!!!!

A better day.....

Well, today Mom took me and Ali on over to work. She did shave my face and feet, and cut my nails, but she didn't bathe me cuz I want to be clean and shiny for my visit with Yuji this weekend. Ali had to have a bath cuz she was really dirty. Anyway, then we got to go on some breaks in the break room, and then Mom put us in with Pinki and Chaz. Finally he has decided to leave me alone, whew, I was gonna have to bite him or something! Ali did bite him right on his nose, hehehe!
Anyway, then she took Pinki and Chaz home and left me and Ali to greet all the people that came to the kennel. I LOVE that job and I am good at it!
When we got home she took Chaz and Pinki down to my big yard, but that was okay cuz I was very tired. Now I am resting on the bed.

Brrrrr... it's cold outside!

Hey, tonight was supposed to be me and Ali's night to go down to the big yard. Now it's only 50 degrees and it's rainy and wet down there. Mom even canceled obedience school for the night. I sure hope it gets done raining and the sun comes out for our visit on Saturday. We need some nice weather so Mom can take my picture with my friend Yuji. Maybe I should wear my Red Sox shirt??? Nah, that one is a bad color for my red hair. Hmmm, gotta think about this for a while.
Gee, I hope Yuji brings me a NYC bagel... I love bagels and cream cheese!!! Well, gotta go now, Mom is gonna wash my blankie and I gotta watch and make sure it survives the washer! I will need that blankie tonight to keep warm!!!

The sun shines (at least for a few minutes!)

Wow, thak about good planning. Mom was off this afternoon so she mowed the lawn. After that, the sun came out for a few minutes so she took me and Ali down to the big yard. We had a pretty good run and I explored some flowers I saw down there. Then me and Ali checked out the garden to see if there was anything exciting in there. Nope, nuthin' at all!
Mom was washing the lawn chairs so I helped her with that. I wanted them clean for when Yuji comes to visit. We won't have time to sit because I will be showing him everything there is down there, but his people might want to sit and chat with Mom.
I found a whole row of buttercups over by the fence. Mom took my picture with them, then I laid down on my back and snuffed them. Wouldn't ya know, she took that picture, too!!!!
Then, the clouds rolled back in and the temperature fell back down. Drats!!!!!!

I've been a dogster for more than a year!!!!

Mom just noticed that I joined Dogster way, way back in June last year. She kept thinking it was July cuz that's when I made her join me up for Plus. Ah well, we missed another opportunity for a great pawty!!!
It is still cloudy as can be here, but now it's HOT and humid. I don't much care for humidity... usually Mom gives us an air conditioner but this year she is saying we may have to tough it out. Yeah, I can see that happening... the first night that she can't sleep she will rush out to the back room and drag in it. It just so happens that she already has dragged one into the poodle room cuz the Frenchies get too warm, especially Darrell. It's okay cuz I stay in that room sometimes, too. The biggest problem is that we live right beside the road and when she opens the windows it's very, very noisy. I did notice she bought a new window fan... maybe she will try that out tonight.
Well, I gotta go now cuz she's gonna vacuum and I need to make sure that suckin' machine doesn't gobble me up!!! Right now I am playing toss and catch with one of her socks...hope she doesn't find that!!!!! Hey, maybe she will suck that up and think the washing machine ate it... that might work!

Tomorrow's visit

Mom was just giving me my hair trim for my visit tomorrow with Yuji and we were noticing the bright sunshine and warm temperatures outside. Then she remembered that we have an extra kayak, so she emailed Yuji's mom to see if they want to go kayaking. Now, that would be a ton of fun!!!
Meanwhile, we are hoping the sun stays out. There are a ton of clouds but they are those white fluffy ones which are usually fine.
Well, I gotta go cuz Mom is getting ready to take me home from work now.

Yuji comes to visit me!!!

Well, it was really a nice day today... warm and sunny. Yuji brought his family along for the visit. First Mom brought them into my house and they met me and Ali. Right away, Yuji and I were friends... he is a very nice dog, especially for a city boy. Then Mom brought out all my family and friends to meet them. Everyone liked everyone, and Yuji's parents especially liked Ali and Oprah's babies. While they were visiting Oprah's babies, Mom left me and Yuji and Ali in the computer room. Yuji immediately discovered Jenny's watch chair so he watched the cats outside for a while.
After they met everyone, Me and Ali took Yuji down to the big yard. We explored and explored... it was fun. Yuji even watched the fish for a while and was gonna catch Jenny's big yellow frog. I did have to tell him not to go into that shed though. In fact, I decided to take his Dad up and have him check it out. He didn't spy any panthers in there so I am not sure why Mom won't let us go in there.
After a pretty long visit we sat around while the people visited some more. Then they had to leave so we didn't have time to go in the kayaks. Mom left them on the car in case she gets home from her dog show in time to take us tomorrow, assuming it's not raining, which it is right now!
Anyway, our first meetup with another Dogster pup pal turned out really, really good. Now I gotta go eat my NYC bagel!!!!

Kayaking!!!!

Mom left at 5 AM for the dog show today. It was pouring rain and kinda cold outside so I went back to bed! Finally, at 4 PM Mom got home. It was pretty warm and sunny by then. She quickly put us all outside so we could do our business, then put everyone back except me!! She got my collar and leash on me and took me out to the car. I had no idea where we were going cuz she had her friend Audrey and her dog, Kindle, a big German Shorthaired Pointer, with her. Anyway, off we went and next thing I knew, we were heading up the back road to the kayaking pond. Well, after they poured the rainwater out of the kayaks, we went down to the water and Mom helped her friend get in my blue kayak. Hmmm, it is MUCH smaller than Mom's green one and there wasn't any room for Kindle. Soo, Audrey got out and Mom helped her into HER kayak. Then, Mom and I got in the new blue kayak...man, it was a tight squeeze!!!
While Kindle and Audrey got their sea legs, (boy, that took a while!!!), Mom and I paddled over to the side and found a whole bunch of painted turtles sunning themselves. We floated close to them and Mom took pictures. Meanwhile, Kindle had learned to sit down and Audrey had learned to paddle, so off we went. We had a nice time, but... I was squashed in front of Mom so I decided to walk up on the front of the kayak. Mom took my photo, then she told Audrey the last time I did that I fell in. Well, KERSPLASH, in I went!!! I really think Mom turned really fast and threw me over!!!!! Anyway, fortunately, she pulled me out of the drink BEFORE she took my photo all wet and dripping and cold. I did get a few drops on the camera lense, too!
From now on, I think I will go in our OLD GREEN KAYAK!!!! It's a good thing Yuji wasn't there to see me fall in!!!!!!!

Holy Smokes... Diary of the Day!!!!!

It's cool and raining and the power went off so Mom overslept this morning. Well, finally she noticed that I, me, Beanie, Beanster, is the Diary Pick of the Day!!!!!!!!! I am so honored!
Now I gotta get ready for work... catch you all later.
Thanks, HQ!!!!

My day as DDOD.......

Well, it is still cold, still raining, but the power is back on! Mom is complaining about having to turn the furnace on in June, almost at the Summer Equinox. Us dogs, we're just complaining and pooping on the porch or some of us even leave tootsie rolls in the bathroom, but I'm not mentioning any names!!!!!
I had a great day and got lots and lots of new pals. I also got lots of gifts, thank you all very much! It's always nice to have a day of your own!!!
Well, I guess we are going to bed now, Mom is still cold and she won't turn on the furnace. I don't mind going to bed early.... I can wake up earlier and have a longer day tomorrow!
Thanks for all your visits and well wishes!

It's still raining............

It's still raining but now it is hot and HUMID!!! Very, very humid. It was soo bad that Mom did drag in the AC's so now I will sleep well tonight. She said the heat was okay but that humidity had to go! The fastest way for it to go is to make all of us dogs go outside... DID I JUST SAY THAT????? Yee Gads, what I meant was the fastest way was to turn on the AC and dry it out.
They've been on a couple of hours now so I guess I can go to bed any time. Catch ya later!

Aghhhhhhhhh, more rain!!

When I got up (LATE, cuz Mom got mad at me for barking in the middle of the night... the AC was making it hard for me to hear the noises I was supposed to alert Mom to so I needed to bark lots to make sure it was okay. She got up and put me in my crate!) it was hot and just cloudy. Now that Mom is almost done work it is POURING rain again... drats. I wanted to go out and play today! This is getting very, very old! Just had some boarding clients pick up their dog... they were in Seattle and it was sunny and dry there.... hummm, something is wrong with this picture!!!
Anyway, now I guess we will have to just sleep away the day. Actually, I am sure Mom will have other ideas, but I will sleep away the day and hope for sun tomorrow.

Wow, a whopper and some apple pie!!!!

Mom took me down to CT this afternoon when she took Ali to the handler guys kennel. It was a pretty fast trip down.... except for all the traffic since we didn't get to leave until later in the afternoon. And, it was HOT!! Fortunately for me and Ali, (and Mom, I guess,) she remembered this morning that her air conditioner in her car wasn't working so she called her friendly service center and they got it all fixed for her. We would have been very, very hot if it wasn't fixed. We got there, dumped Ali off, and hopped right back in the car and headed home. But... Mom actually stopped at my favorite Burger King and got us a whopper and some apple pie. Mmmmm, good. Before that we shared some potato chips cuz she found a tiny bag of them in the car.
I was pretty tired by the time we got there.... you see, usually when Mom turns on that blinky thing we stop and I can get out and do something fun. Well, on that big, L O N G highway she kept turning it on but not stopping. Everytime she turned it on I had to jump up and climb on her arm to make sure she wasn't forgetting I was in the car. About halfway home I was soo tired of jumping up that I would just open one eye and peek over to see if she was really stopping. That worked better.
When I got home Toto and Jenny smelled the whopper on my breath. I had to run and hide until they realized I didn't still have it in my mouth. Now I am playing with Phil cuz he's out here in the living room with us. He's pretty cool!

Bring your dog to work day.........

Yesterday Mom brought ME to work on National Bring Your Dog to Work Day. I was feeling pretty special, let me tell you!! And, then I discovered my best poodle friend, Georgie was there, too. Pretty soon Sarah came along and she brought Maggie with her. Soo, of course, Mom had to run home and get her camera and take a photo of us all. She was pretty tricky... she set Sarah and Julie up, then pushed a button on the camera, ran back into the photo (carrying me!) and BAM, the flash went off and it took Mom and me in the photo, too!!! We had to take a hundred photos cuz Maggie was playing difficult. I guess she doesn't like her photo taken? Finally, Mom and Julie and Sarah had to get back to work and we had to get back to play so Mom decided this photo would have to do. Sorry Maggie!!!
But, guess what???? I really did have to work!! It was late in the day and we were almost closed. There were still a couple of daycare dogs waiting to be picked up. Mom got a call from the clinic next door and she had to run up there for a minute so she left ME in charge!!! I was gonna show the people where their dogs were and take their money. But, alas, Mom came back before any of them came. Oh well, she still bought me a great new t-shirt for helping!!

It has come to my attention.......

Mom has been visiting the attic and the cellar alot lately. She's bringing out stuff like pots and pans, folded up stoves, sleeping bags, and tents. Finally, I could stand it no longer so I asked what's up. Toto started laughing... he can be such a pita sometimes. Anyway, Mom told me that I am going camping with her and Skye and Toto. Now, why did Toto know about it before me, I wonder??????
Anyway, I have never been camping. Mom said I was sure to like it. I can go kayaking, swimming, hiking and eat lots of junk food and tell ghost stories. Yup, sounds like a plan to me!!! I still am not sure why Toto was acting so smart and know it allish... he's never been camping either, and I have been to Florida and he hasn't!!!!!!!!! Mom said we are going in three weeks. Coool!!!

Oh My, I Won, Too..........

Tyson can brag all he wants to about winning his two points cuz I won 2nd prize in the 4th of July photo contest!!! I thought Mom had gone a bit overboard, but 2nd prize is great!!!
I would love to thank all the judges for picking me 2nd! And, the zealies will come in handy cuz we sent lots of flags out today!!!

Oh noo, no lights again........

At 4:20 this morning I was awakened by Jones. He was barking and barking and barking. Mom woke up and realized it was all quiet and dark in here. Well, except for Jones and the computer battery back-up thingie which was beeping for Mom to turn off the computer. Jones was barking at that.
Well, Mom couldn't go back to sleep good cuz she was afraid the alarm wasn't gonna remember to wake us up at the right time. Finally she got up and found a travel alarm and set that.
Would you believe that when we got up at 6:30 the power was still off???? So, Mom had to walk around in the almost dark and put us all out and in. She couldn't even give us any fresh water!!! And, poor Oprah's puppies had to eat their food unground for the first time. Mom did have water for them, though. She couldn't have her coffee and check out the weather on the TV like she usually does, so she drank some iced tea instead and grumbled and grumbled.
Finally, at 11:30 the power came back on and Mom came home and gave us all fresh water and even took me back to work and gave me a bath cuz she said someone peed on me!!!!!!!!!

Ahh, a lovely kayaking trip on a hot 4th of July...NOT!!!

Mom took me and Toto and Jenny and Skye kayaking this afternoon. It was really hot and sunny so we were pretty excited to go. By the time Mom picked up Skye and we got to the pond it was pouring. Mom said it was a passing cloud so we waited for a while, then it stopped and off we went. Well, Mom couldn't find her camera anywhere in the kayak... she was sure she got it out of the car so we took Toto in our kayak and Skye went back to find the camera. Well, two seconds later the sky opened up and buckets and buckets of rain and HAIL fell out onto us. Skye was smart... she waited it out in the car!!!! Finally she got back without Mom's camera (it really WAS in the way back of the kayak!)... anyway, off we went but somehow Toto ended up with me and Mom and Jenny was with Skye. We went along a bit, quite a bit and suddenly the sun disappeared again and it was pouring and hailing again. Man, I was freezing my bippy off!!! Fortunately Mom was freezing hers off, too, so we got to go back to the car. Sure enough, out popped the sun!!! It was okay cuz a pair of geese with 6 little babies had followed us back to shore and Skye was feeding them some crackers. Mom took lots of photos of them. Then I got out of the car and they took off in a flash right back to the water!!! Hehehe... I didn't know I could scare geese away!!!!!!

What? I am not going camping????

Jenny told me that Toto and her discussed the upcoming camping trip with Skye and they have decided that Jenny will go and I will stay home. HRUMPH!!!!!!!! Their reasoning was that, first of all, I went to Florida and they didn't, next, Jenny is now spayed so she won't be a problem with her heats, and finally, Toto and Jenny are the same size and don't pick on each other. Toto sometimes picks on me, and sometimes I also tug on his ears. Besides, I am scared of Skye.. she moves really fast and she tells me what to do! Jenny is not scared of anyone.
If this is true I wonder if they expect I am going to stay in the boarding kennel while they are gone??? Not gonna happen, I can tell you that right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Puppy kindergarten again.....

Last night Mom started another puppy kindergarten class. Of course, since I am her best helper, I got to tag along. First everyone came into the kennel and did their signups. Then we all went down into MY big yard and Mom talked to them all for an eternity and I demo'd what they were gonna learn. Finally, she was done talking so we all got to go into the kennel big pen and play. Of course they were kind of shy, well, some of them were but some of them already do daycare with us so those were fine. Since it was the first week I really didn't have to discipline them very much, but I was ready and waiting should the need arise. I did show them all around the pen and brought them all over to the toy area. I figure by next week their confidence will come back and I will be needed. After class Mom and I sat outside in the nice evening air and spent a little one on one and then watched the lab puppies play for a while before we went back inside to the other dogs. I think Mom was trying to make it up to me cuz I can't go camping. To tell the truth, I am probably glad I am not going cuz I am afraid of ghost stories and I don't sleep on the ground.

Boring Sunday

Well, the weather was perfect today! Mom has no excuse for leaving me in the puppy pen with Ali and Bubbles all day long! Mom had to clean the kennel this morning and send home some dogs, then she and a friend went somewhere and I wasn't invited. When she came home she did some logging and cut up a big tree that had fallen down, then she went shopping, then she finally came home and fed us and now we are sleeping. I did hear her call Skye and ask her kayaking, but she was busy. Sooo, now Mom owes us a day out and a kayak trip! Meanwhile, it's awfully quiet around here without Oprah and her babies. They were very good, but they did make some play barking noises and Oprah wanted to go home cuz she was sure done with those babies. When the two come back they will be old enough for me to play with them, in fact, Mom is going to take Alfie to MY puppy kindergarten class. I can hardly wait, yeah, right!

3000 visitors!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, everyone... tomorrow I am gonna hit 3 THOUSAND visitors!!! That is sooo cool.
Mom says it's pretty amazing that I can have that many people visit my page. I say if she doesn't help me write more diaries it will never happen. Somehow she is slacking off lately. And, while I can type pretty well I can't reach the keyboard on the big puter and she won't let me use the laptop. Something about spilling my soda on it while we were in Florida??? I dunno anything about that, I swear!!!!!!!!
Thanks for all your visits. Hopefully Mom will check at exactly the right time tomorrow and I will get another special treat!

I need a new Mom!!!!!!!

So, Mom promises me a great treat when I hit 3000 visitors. Well, today is the day and you won't believe what she thinks is a treat!!!!! First of all, she sent Tonya over to get me and Tonya gave me a bath and Mom gave me a haircut. Yeah, that is sure some very, very special treat!!!!!! So, apparently she felt a bit guilty about that treat so she really outdid herself on the second treat... are you ready for this???? She ENTERED ME IN ANOTHER STUPID DOG SHOW!!!! I know, I know, she promised she would never make me do that stuff again. She apparently has a very, very short memory. She is getting older, you know. Soo, now I have to spend the next two weeks preparing for this show. At least it is close by... I won't have to get up really, really early in the morning. But, apparently Oprah's Mom is going to be there, too. I hope she doesn't watch me!!!!!! And, I hope she and Emma and me and Mom don't have to go in the same car... then she would tell Mom all the things I did wrong all the way home. She is an obedience judge too, you know. At least Mom can't show me when she's judging now cuz she and Mom co-own Alfie. That was a very good move, Mom!!!!!

Going on a ride.........

Today Mom has to meet some people in Albany, NY, to breed a dog. She decided she would let me ride along. I suggested we might put the kayak on the car, just in case we found a wonderful place to do a bit of paddling. She said, NO. What a mean Mom I have!!
I guess I better not complain too much... I am, afterall, the only one invited to go except for Gator, and he has to go cuz he is the reason we are going. But, when we get back we are taking Gator back to Mom's nephew and I did hear they are having a party on Lake Sunapee. Maybe Mom will take that kayak (and, ME!!) Uh oh, Mom just said no dogs were allowed at the party cuz it is at some special place that doesn't allow dogs.... how could they do that???????

My trip to NY....

Well, I had a pretty good trip with Mom today. She had the lab ride in a crate so I had the whole car to myself. On the way over I got a few French fries and then I got a biscuit and some water when we got there. It was a great park and it has a section just for dogs!!! It was full of big trees and lots of shade. I wish we could have stayed there longer but Mom wanted to go shopping on the way home. We stopped at the Orvis store to check out the dog stuff... it was way, way too expensive. Sooo, Mom went to the Orvis outlet store and she found me a great toy... it is a squirrel made out of heavy cotton rope wound really tight. It's gonna be tough to wreck that, but I will do my best!!! She also got a Planet Dog heavy rubber ball for us to play with. It is one of those with a hole in one end, but they had punched another hole in the other end so it won't suction to our mouths or tongues! And, she found a great big rug with dogs all over it for 70% off, which made it still expensive but she bought it anyway. Now she is trying to find a place to put it!!!
When we got home Mom ran in and fed us all, then put us all out, then took Toto and Jenny with her while she took the lab home. They didn't get any treats or surprises at all!!!!!! hehehe.

I'm going camping, too!!!

Sometimes the best way to work stuff out here is just to sit back and wait. Things always change. Camping, for example. First me and Toto were going. Then, somehow, someway, I got dropped out of the trip and Toto and Jenny were going. Did I get all upset and mope and sulk??? Nah, I live here, I know how these things work.
Today Skye and Mom went shopping for their food to take with them. After that they packed a bunch of stuff in the car, put the kayaks on and then packed some more stuff in the house. Then Mom took Skye to her dad's house. Skye decided that me and Ali could go along for the ride. Well, I am not totally stupid so I climbed in her lap and got all lovey dovey all the way to her house. Sure enough, it worked!!! Now I am going camping too! Both Jenny and Toto are still coming with me as well. hehehe... I am soooo smart!
Gee, I hope I like camping... I wonder if there are any bears or panthers there??? I hope there is plenty of room in the tent for me cuz I am not sleeping under the stars!!!!!!!! I saw Mom pack an air mattress so I know it will be comfy.

Flood Watch... OH NO!!!!!!

Hey, we are supposed to leave for our camping trip around noon tomorrow. Well, they have just announced a FLOOD WATCH for tonight and tomorrow...they said we are gonna get between 2 and 4 inches of rain. Wonder how much fun is this trip gonna be???? Mom says oh, don't worry, they always get it wrong. Well, let's be hoping they get it wrong!!!!!!! She said we can just leave a bit later, and she said she has lots of shelters to put up before we unpack the car and the tent and stuff. I have never been camping before, but I am not sure I wanna go in the rain... I have been kayaking in the rain (way more times than in the sun!!!!!!!), and I don't really care for that one tiny bit. I call first dibbs on sleeping in the car!!!!!!

Our Camping Trip........

Well, we could have used a bit more help from the weather gods, but we still had a great time!!! When we got there Friday it was rainy, so Mom and Skye quickly put our pen out and put a tarp over it so we stayed dry. Then they set up the whole camp and it looked very professional! They even bought some chairs for us dogs!!! Then we went on a little drive to check out the other ponds, and when we got back we went for a LONG hike. I fell off a plank that was over a muddy area, so when we got back to camp I had to have a bath in the dishpan!! Mom and Skye cooked us all dinner, we ate, then we all climbed into the tent. It was certianly cozy in there!!! During the night it poured and poured!!! Mom said we got at least 2 whole inches! But, when we woke up it was fine so after breakfast we went up to the upper pond and did a long, long kayak trip. It was so long that I finally had to fall asleep under the cowl. Then Skye took us dogs down a huge slide and also took us in the swing. We went home, had lunch, and then went for another walk to watch some birds... we didn't see too many, maybe it was cuz us dogs were there, too??? So, instead of seeing birds, Mom and Skye let us swim in the pond. I love to swim so I had fun! Anyway, then we ate dinner and then took the kayaks into a different pond. That was pretty cool too, well, actually it was pretty hot!!! We saw some HUGE wind turbines up on a nearby mountain. There were twelve of them in all!!! When we got back to camp we had a big fire and toasted marshmellows and told ghost stories. We went to bed again, and when we woke up this morning it was pouring rain again!!! Mom and Skye were mad cuz they wanted to go for a canoe trip, but instead we packed up and came home.
It was a fun trip but I sure could have lived without the mud and the mosquitoes!!!!!!!

Uh Oh, dog show in only 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gee, we were off camping and Mom forgot to train me for my show. In fact, she hasn't trained me yet!!!! Soo, I want all you to witness that IF I flunk, it will be Mom's fault and not mine. Hey, I remember last time was Mom's fault, too!!! Three strikes and she's out!
Of course, in about 5 minutes I am headed down to the big yard to practice a bit. Mom has a class tonight so I am gonna be the demo dog, but we are gonna work first before they come. I sure hope it's cool down there cuz it is not cool up here by the house. Our house is plenty cool, however! Mom has the AC cranking.
Well, it's time, catch ya later!

Count down to Victory...2 more days!!!!

Ah ha, tonight I got to practice my routine again. Mom said I wasn't as good tonight... what does she expect? I think she thinks I am supposed to be perfect by now and, to tell the truth, I am saving some of perfect for Sunday!!! I will have plenty of good stuff left in me, unless she makes me use it all up before then...
After the class I had to police the little guys' social time. Mom said I was a bit on the tough side tonight, so she put me in a crate for a bit. Here's my side of the story... there is one dog in there, she's pretty big, too, and she comes to daycare every day so she kind of has an attitude already. Well, she was taking all the best bones and not letting the others have any. All I did was race up to her and bark in her face! I really didn't see that as a problem... I could have bitten her ear or her nose, I suppose. Anyway, Mom gave me that, "BEANIE!" word, you know that tone of voice they use, right? Well, when she did that I immediately pranced on over and jumped in her lap. Pretty smart on my part, I think!

Anyone need a new toy poodle????????

I think Mom is gonna give me away! This time at my show I was going right along, doing everything PERFECTLY, and Mom was even doing her part right. Well, we got to the stand part where I am supposed to stand there and let that judge touch me. I was standing there, Mom asked me to stay, then she walked away. The judge came up, I ducked a bit, so she hesitated, then that really spooked me so I fell over sideways and FLUNKED!!!! Me and Mom finished all the rest of the stuff, but Mom's heart wasn't in it after I flunked, I think. She did buy me a toy, but she also left me in the car all by myself when she and Oprah's Mom and Skye went out to eat lunch in the restaurant. I was not happy being left, that's for sure, so then me and Mom and Skye went into a Petco that was nearby. Mom got ANOTHER new toy for me (us). Then we went over to another store, and they left me in the car again! A big storm came up, but I still protected the car so this time Mom bought new crate rugs for ALL of us and a few more toys. She did get two for Alfie and her sister but she gave the rest of them to ME and Toto and Jenny and Ali. But, the very, very best was still to come. After that store they went to an ice cream place and they actually got a dish of ice cream for me ALONE!!! It even had a dog biscuit in it!!! It was HUGE! Mom took me to the window, too, and told the girl to make it small, but it was still bigger than me! I ate and ate and ate, then I didn't have anymore room to eat any more. Skye was going to bring it home for Toto but Mom reminded her that it would be liquid by the time we got home.
When we got home Skye and Mom put all the new rugs in our crates then feed us dinner. For some reason, I wasn't very hungry! Now we are just handing around cuz, of course, it is pouring rain outside!!!

Mom got me a present........

Mom just came home from work to bring me a present!! She ordered some of those pheromone collars to see if I could become more relaxed. It also has lavender and chamomile fragrance. They came today so she ran right home to try it out on me. It was soooo long that each one will make me THREE collars so she put the extra length in a ziplock bag to save them. She said everyone else around here is very well adjusted and they don't need any pheromone help. Hrumph!!!
And, I glanced at the box... they are for separation anxiety, excessive barking, destructive behavior, and inappropriate marking. I do not have the first three problems and any marking I may chose to do is certainly very appropriate, so I don't know what she is hoping to accomplish making me wear one of those! She is always yelling at people who put flea collars on their dogs... this looks JUST LIKE a flea collar, so I sure hope people don't yell at me for wearing it.
And, last night when she came home from shopping she changed ALL the air fresheners in our house to lavender scented ones. We have a HUGE house and as a result, have lots of air fresheners. Now no matter where I am, I am assaulted by the smell of lavender. It's a gosh darn good thing I like the smell of lavender!!!!!!!!

Camping again!!!!! Yippee yay!

I guess Mom and Skye liked camping as much as me and Toto and Jenny did cuz today Mom made another reservation for us to go again! This time she got her favorite site... it has it's OWN pond and is way more roomy than the other one we had. See, she made a mistake last time. She thought she was getting the same one that she and her sister used to stay in, cuz they couldn't get the one with the private pond. Well, in the 10 years since she had been there they had added a few new sites and we ended up in one of the new ones. It was fine, but it was pretty small and it was on a side hill so the tent slanted a bit. The one we got this time is way, way big and flat as a pancake. It also has it's own outhouse so we won't have to share like last time. And, it also has a bit more sun, which might be nice since we are going in September. It is only 59 tonight and it's still August. Could be pretty nippy in one month.
Skye said that only Toto and Jenny could go, but I KNOW my Mom won't let me stay home. She knows how much I LOVE camping and hiking and kayaking. And, I am sooo good, I didn't bark too much and except for falling in the mud, I was very, very good there.
And, Mom said we would bring lots and lots of our own wood so we don't have to buy theirs. That way we can have a much bigger fire!
I can't wait!!!!!!! Marshmellows, here I come!!!!!!!!!

Hrumph, kayaking without the Beanster!!!!!!!

My mean Mom went off on a kayaking trip today and she did not take me with her!!! She said she thought about it, but she had to use the smaller blue kayak and she said there just wasn't enough room for both me and Alfie. I knew this was going to happen... that darn Alfie is going to start taking over MY MOM!!! Next thing you know she will be going on the next camping trip! Or, worse yet, she will be sleeping in MY WARM WATERBED!!!!
Down with labradors!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tyson is coming home!!!!!!

Mom is gonna go get Tyson on Saturday. I am not sure if I am happy or sad that he is coming back. He is just my size and he was pretty cool to play with, BUT, he would always take my spot in the bed at night. Maybe I will have to put my food down! (Down right on top of his head!!!)
I suppose Mom will be taking him kayaking on Sunday since that is all he's been barking about all Summer long. I guess it will be my job to make sure he doesn't fall into the pond.... hehehe! Mom said he is keeping the coat so he won't be swimming too much, I suspect those coats are really heavy when they get wet! And, she surely won't take him camping with all that coat... can you imagine how pretty that would be if he falls in the swamp like I did???
Well, gotta go now, it's raining again and I gotta alert for thunder. We haven't had too much this Summer so I am getting out of practice!

Mom is getting me a new puppy!!!!!!!!!!

Mom just told me she is going to get me a new puppy!!! What a nice Mom she is. His name is going to be Harvey, and we haven't even seen his picture yet. He is just 5 weeks old. He is a Chinese Crested, and Mom said he won't have very much hair at all! She said they look like those "my little ponies" that kids used to play with. I guess I will have to let him use my jackets!!! I don't need them much cuz I am covered with thick, curly hair. I usually just wear them for show. Show reminds me of snow... guess Harvey won't like to play in that stuff if he doesn't have any hair.... that could be chilly!!! He will have to use my long sleeved and long legged pj's... it's okay, I don't wear them too much anymore.
Mom doesn't know if he's going to be a show dog or just a pet dog like me. If he's gonna just be a pet like me I had better tell him to play dumb if Mom tries to teach him obedience...otherwise he will have to go to those stupid shows just like I had to. Notice I used the past tense... I refuse to embarass myself by fainting in the ring ever again!!!!!!!!!!

Harvey

Today Mom got some photos of Harvey and his brothers and sisters. I must admit, he wasn't very "cute". In fact, he was pretty scarey looking! I guess they grow on you????
Anyway, Mom also got her new kayak lifter thingie today so she and Tonya put it on the car. It used to take her almost a half hour to put the two kayaks up on the car and climb up there to make sure they were all strapped down and tight. Now it's gonna take less than 5 minutes, and way, way less energy! And, we won't have to worry about Mom falling off the top of the car anymore either. She keeps thinking it's kind of late in the season to get it, but I reminded her that we went tons of times last Fall! And, we can sure use it on our camping trip!!
The bad news... Mom and Julie canceled their Tennessee trip. It turns out that is when Harvey will be ready to come here and so Mom and the handler guy are gonna drive down to North Carolina to get him. Hey, maybe she will take me??? I LOVE to travel, too!!! Nah, they will probably take Tyson cuz the breeder of Harvey is Tyson's dad's breeder. Oh well, it was a good thought!

Ahh, Saturday afternoon..........

We like Saturday afternoons.... Mom is home and she usually does fun things with us. She brought Tyson home today, so we all got to play with him. In fact, Mom wanted to make sure he remembered all about the nice bed so we all went in there to lie down for a bit. He remembered... if Mom moves her feet even the tiniest little bit he bounds over and attacks them!!! He also batted her in the face a few times. I like Tyson, we played with his new toys, but every once in a while he tries to remind me that he has some balls and I don't have any of them. So, what's the big deal with balls anyway???? I suspect Mom make take his balls away from him one of these days anyway! Then we'll see what's what around here!!!
I am going to teach him about kayaking tomorrow afternoon. Mom said I could go with him, and Skye is going to take Alfie. Hrumph, it looks like it will be puppy day at the pond. I hope they don't fall in, I would have to rescue them, I guess! Oh well, at least I am going and Toto and Jenny have to stay home!

Teaching Tyson To Paddle.....

Well, Tyson was pretty good in the kayak today. I was amazed at how he was swimming!!! I swim when I need to, if it's really hot, or if I am all muddy or if I fall in, for example. Tyson went swimming just to go swimming!!!! And, he was good at it, too. I was so surprised to see his fuu fuu hair cut didn't cause him any problems at all. Gee, I just remembered, that's what the fuu fuu cut was made for... swimming!
Anyway, we had fun, Mom did take a few photos of me, but nothing new or different so I told her she didn't need to put them on my page. I will save that space for something really good.
Tyson did try his snarl out on me a few times but once I realized he was only testing it out and is basically still a baby (he's only 9 months old, afterall!), I am no longer afraid of him so I ignored him. That worked pretty well!
Tonight Tonya from work came to our house for dinner. That was pretty cool cuz she gave me some of her chicken that she couldn't eat. I like Tonya, I am pretty used to her so I didn't even bark at her being in my house! It was pretty funny watching Mom try to find the kitchen table so they could sit around it to eat! We don't often have people eat dinner with us so Mom usually eats at her desk. Skye helped Mom cook dinner and her mom (Tonya), was impressed!

My brother might visit me........

Mom said my brother, Adam, might come and visit me in a few weeks. I haven't seen him for two whole years!!!! Two of his family are coming to visit MY vet and Mom said his Mom might bring him to visit with me. He is way, way bigger than me, in fact, he is as big as a normal mini poodle. And, he is black with some brown on him. Me and my sister Suzette were the only red ones in the litter. I see her more often cuz Mom sometimes gives her a haircut. She is smaller, but not as small as me... I was the only midget in the bunch. I do not care one LITTLE bit... I like being small. So there, Toto and Jenny and Chaz!!!!
Anyway, if Adam comes to visit I will do my best to show him around, although I would suspect he will still remember being here. He was here for quite a while. I remember we used to all be in a big pen over at work and Mom and the other girls would let us out when it was break time. I also remember that I was the smartest and the fastest and the cutest and the most pupular and all that stuff...no wonder I got to stay here!!!! You know what??? I am still the smartest and the fastest and the cutest and the most pupular and all. But, you knew that, didn't you????

I finally got to Alert everyone last night......

It has been a very, very strange Summer... it rains and rains and rains, yet we've hardly had any thunder storms at all! As some of you older readers may remember, my job is to alert everyone here to the coming storms. Well, last night I was awakened at about 10 PM by a very, very loud BOOM!!!! I jumped up on Mom's shoulder and barked and barked until she finally woke up. She wasn't too happy, she couldn't understand why I woke her up but she got up and looked out the window. It was raining. She got back into bed, muttering about me giving false alarms under her breath, when suddenly, there was a big flash of light outside. I have a good Mom, she actually apologized to me!!!!!

It rained on my kayak!!!!!!!

Mom left the kayaks on the car since Sunday. She said it was cuz it was so hot and we were gonna go kayaking after work one day this week. I say it's cuz she was just plain too lazy to take them down. She knows we never go after work cuz she is tooooo tired.
Well, today there are a bunch of BAD thunderstorms going thru our area. So, when Mom came home she decided to dodge the drops and get the kayaks down. I was watching out the window... it was very, very funny!!! For some reason kayaks are almost always right side up on the car, something about not distorting them from the sun, I guess. Anyway, Mom carefully let the lifter lower the kayaks but about halfway down the water in them all shifted and poured all over her!!!!! It was so funny.... she was dancing all around and shaking it out of her eyes. We all laughed and laughed, but we were very, very serious when she dripped into the house!!! Now she is all wet and clammy and we are smirking at her!

I am left-out!!!!!

Do you realize that it has been almost a whole week since I wrote a diary entry???? Do you wonder why???? I don't wonder, I know! Mom has so many different dogs here now that today she called me Meanie instead of Beanie. I hope she was confused and put the M from Martha on my name, but.... she could think I was a meanie?????? Anyway, I did get on over to daycare today, but.... Tyson, Bubbles and Martha also came over with me. Not too fair, that is MY place, mine alone. She says it's cuz Tonya isn't here and she is having to work too hard but I know that isn't true... she had Julie bathing dogs today and there weren't that many, in fact, she even clipped my feet and face and bathed some of the Kansas girls.
Oh well, I KNOW I am staying here, my Mom would never, ever give me away cuz I am too cute! If you don't believe me, just ask my Mom!!!

A great night.... Mom feels guilty!!!

Ah, a perfect night tonight! The air has changed and it's breezy and no longer so humid. I hung around real close to Mom when she came home from work cuz I knew it was Tuesday and obedience class night. Sure enough, it worked! Mom put everyone in their crates except ME! She found my collar and leash and stocked up on cheese. We went down to class a whole half hour early just to hang out. I love that about Mom, she makes each one of us feel special!
Anyway, I was wandering around down in the big yard and suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spied an animal sleeping in the agility tunnel!!! I immediately barked and barked and backed up as I was barking. I snuck a look over to Mom and she was watching so I knew she would prot....oops, I mean I would have to protect her from the animal! I started getting closer and closer to the animal, and it didn't even move away! Now what was I supposed to do??? Hmmm, I decided to run back to Mom and protect her over where she was! Well, she got up and WE walked right up to the animal to see what would happen! Oooohhhh, it jumped up and ran and jumped over the fence!!! I did it... I scared the cat away!!!! How cool is that??? Then I got to be the distraction dog for the class's sits and downs... that is pretty cool, too! It was a good night all around.

A visit to the groomers..........

Today Mom's grooming dogs canceled... guess they didn't want to have their freshly groomed dog going out into a downpour!!! Anyway, she came home and got me. I HATE being groomed!!! First was the bath. It was awful. When Tonya bathes me I can get away with murder... if I don't like where she is pointing that huge blower dryer I just threaten to tell Mom... works every time! Well, when Mom is doing it she shows NO MERCY! She even blows it on my topknot and ears!!! Just for the heck of it I didn't hold myself down to see what would happen. Sure enough, I found myself blown clear down to the other end of the bathtub!!! I told her it was dangerous!
Anyway, finally, since I wouldn't face the right way, she took me out to the table and used the hand dryer for the rest. I am pretty smart...I circle around that table so fast that no matter how fast Mom turns it, I still have my back end toward her!!! Well, today she walked around the table instead of sat in one place and moved it... bah!!!
Because she had lots of time she decided to scissor me instead of cut me with the clippers. It takes TWICE as long that way, of course. But, I stood there, like the perfect little gentleman I am. Finally she was done, or at least she said she was done. I know better... after she grooms me she follows me around for hours with a scissors, snipping here, snipping there.
The only good thing about the whole deal was that she carried me home instead of made me walk in the pouring rain. But, when I got home the other guys called me cutie pie!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrowl!

Wooooo... Kayaking!!!!!!!!!!

Mom just said that me and Toto and Jenny are gonna go kayaking after work today! Yippee... it's been ages since we went. Tonya bought some stuff for our supper when she got lunch for her and Mom so I guess we'll be going to my favorite pond and having dinner on the island.
I am gonna rest all afternoon so I will be full of vim and vigor!!!

Kayaking and no photos of ME!!!

Well, the kayaking was good but that MEAN Mom didn't get any good photos of me tonight!! Most of the ones she took had the sun behind them and there were awful. Sooo, you will have to trust me that I did go.
On the way home we stopped for some ice cream. Mom gave me some of hers, but I have decided I would like ice cream much better if it wasn't so cold! I don't really like cold food... it hurts my teeth!!!
Now me and Toto and Jenny are totally crashed out on the dog bed. Everyone else is playing all around us, but we aren't moving!!!

Kayaking........

I am finally heading off to do a bit of paddling today. Unfortunately it is going to be a slow day... Mom is taking that baby Tyson and Skye is taking Annie, her baby poodle. (Well, she's not a baby, but she's never been kayaking before.) I will have to spend all my time making sure they both behave and don't drown or something worse. At least I know Tyson can swim so I guess Annie will have to wear the life vest. It should fit her, she is the same size as me.
I guess we are going to the usual place. Mom wanted to go somewhere else but with a holiday weekend and a new dog she decided that the old Knapp Pond was safer.
I am sure they will have pictures of Tyson and Annie... I guess I will have to crowd up against Tyson so I can get a photo in here or there.
I will post them tonight, IF I manage to get included in any!!!

Kayaking.......

Well, it was a pretty good trip kayaking today... I was wishing my friend Yuji was here with us, and low and behold, when I was checking out today's photos there he was, sitting in the kayak with me!!! Check it out in my new photos!!!!!!!! That must be what happens when both of us wish for something at the same time????
Anyway, Tyson said that one of my new photos was of me puking in the pond!!!! While I was feeling a bit sick to have to be sharing a kayak with him, I actually was checking for fish, not puking over the side!!
And, I was good and I got in the crate with Annie on the way home so she wouldn't feel so sad and scream all the way home like she did all the way up to the pond. It worked!!!
And, after we left the pond Mom drove up the road and got some of that delicious marinated chicken to take with us on our camping trip!!!! What a thoughtful Mom she is!!! And, she even got an extra piece for me and Toto and Jenny to share. MMmmmmm, can't wait!

Camping was a bust!!!!!!!

Man, Mom sure knows how to pick good camping weather! We had to leave early on Friday cuz it was going to rain Friday evening and they wanted everything set up. It was not too bad... mostly cloudy and sort of misty. Just when they finished setting everything up and cooking dinner it started raining. Not to worry, we all just went off to bed. And, it rained and rained and rained and rained. When we got up, surprise, it wasn't raining! Soo, Mom had coffee, Skye had soup and off we went. We had a good long trip around our private pond, then we went up to view the big pond we went in before. Mom and Skye had breakfast, and it started raining. And, it rained and rained and rained. Mom made Skye a fishing pole and they had some fun feeding the fish (notice I said feeding, not catching!) And, it rained and it rained and it rained. Finally, when it didn't stop, Mom packed it in and came home. It was so cold and so rainy that I was soaked to the skin and freezing. Skye had to wrap me up with a big fleece.
Mom and Skye cooked out on our grill, had a bonfire in Mom's little outside stove, and we are now going to bed.
Mom said we can go back tomorrow and go canoeing cuz she promised Skye we would do that this time.

The end to a great camping trip!!!

Well, Me and Mom and Toto and Skye went off back to camp this morning. Jenny and Tyson stayed home to watch the house. It was sunny and pretty gosh darn warm for September.
We got a big, aluminum canoe and took off in that. It's different... Skye was trying to catch a fish and Mom did all the paddling. I supervised! Skye made us lunch but she forgot to make a sandwich for me or Toto so I had to help myself to Mom's when she set it down. Mmmmm, ham and cheese, my favorite!
We saw way more fish and stuff cuz the canoe sits higher in the water. In fact, Skye finally caught herself a fish! It was a baby pickeral and she caught it with a dish!!!!
Finally, Mom was tired of paddling and me and Toto were just plain tired so we headed home again. Mom stopped on the way home and got some ice cream. Toto and I shared Skye's. I had to lick mine off Toto's face!
Now I am resting. Guess we will have to wait until next Summer to go camping again cuz Mom likes warm weather camping better than cold rain!!!!!!

A new boat for us????????

After Tyson leaves today me and Mom are going off to look at a new canoe. Well, actually, it is an older canoe but I saw the photo and it looks pretty nice. The problem is going to be if she can lift it onto the car cuz canoe's are heavier than kayaks!!! She said it weighs less than BJ and she can lift BJ, but not high enough to put her on top of the car!!!!! (Wonder why she would want to put BJ on top of the car????) Her magic kayak lifter might work if the canoe isn't too fat!!!
Before we look at the canoe we are going to a BIG store near where it is. I sure hope she will buy me something special cuz we all missed my 3500th visitor. I guess it was because we were all busy with Tyson and Martha leaving for their new homes??? I sure hope that is her excuse cuz I would hate to think she just plain wasn't interested in looking at my page anymore!!!
Anyway, IF she gets the canoe we are going to try it out tomorrow on our favorite little pond. She said me and Toto AND Jenny could go and Skye is going, too. Hope there is room for all of us!!!!!!!! Mom said Alfie wanted to go, too, but she's gonna wait for her to grow up a bit before she takes her in a canoe... canoe's are more tippy than kayaks!!!!!

Working Sunday.........

Well, yesterday me and Mom went on a trip and bought a used canoe. It is pretty big so I had to help Mom load it on the car... I ran all around and kept barking at the people so they would hurry and get it up there!!!!!!
I was hoping we would get to try it out today cuz it was warm and sunny all day long. But, Mom was waiting for Alfie's former Mom to come along and she's not here yet!!!!! Sooo, first she cleaned her car out. We are talking really clean as in remove EVERYTHING and vacuum and mop and wash. Then she put a whole bunch of crates in it.... hmmm, I thought she was just getting Harvey when they go to NC in a few weeks but the handler guy said he is bringing some poodles back with them. Anyway, the car was really messy so that took forever! Finally, she pronounced it clean so then she cleaned the rest of the camping stuff and put that all away. Then, she decided it was time to mow the lawn... that pretty much wasted the whole day!!!
Just when we (me and Toto and Jenny) were getting really annoyed Mom decided it was finally time for us to go down to the big yard. Jenny played with her big yellow frog who I must say has had a good Summer and is now way, way bigger! Toto dug holes in the garden and I helped Mom pull some weeds. We pulled a whole big pile of them!!! Mom even let me pick some pretty orange mums that came up from last year. Well, she let me pick them after Toto dug them up and broke them off!!! In fact, she has a photo of us planting them last Fall after the frost got them in their pots. It's good to know it worked and they survived the Winter and are beautiful now!!!

OMD... Did you see my Howlaween photo????

I have no idea why Mom thinks that photo of me in that damsel costume is going to be staying on my page cuz it is not!!! If I have to climb up on the desk and delete it myself, I will. Tell you what, it is sooooo bad that I will gladly sit for more photos on Monday morning, and I will wear any costume she finds for me, well, almost any costume!
Do you have any idea how many people already call me "she". It is hard, I know, when one is as cute as I am. And, if you are a toy poodle, you already have an identity crisis... everyone thinks all toy poodles are females for some reason. Maybe I will have to grow a mustache??? That would serve Mom right, she hates clipping poodle faces with mustaches. I suppose I could wear my Stud Muffin shirt... maybe that would help?
Well, I gotta go now, it's pretty chilly in here and I need to go snuggle under the covers in Mom's warm water bed. Hope she doesn't think I am sharing that with Harvey when he gets here. He's not even here yet and he's a young whipper snapper as far as I am concerned. Maybe I will call him a she????????????

More about that Howlaween costume........

Well, twice this week I went on over to work and searched and searched for the bag of halloween costumes. I even got Tonya to help me look, but we can't find them. I bet Mom hid them so I would have to wear this stupid damsel one. I feel like a damsel in distress with it on!!!!
Fortunately, while Mom was searching out my too small PJ's for Harvey she did fine my Howlaween T-shirt so now I am wearing that. Could she take a photo of that???? Nope, she wants something more exotic. I must say the orange color goes quite nicely with my reddish/orange hair. And, she bought it AFTER Halloween last year so it was pretty cheap and I didn't wear it last year so it is like BRAND new!!!
Another boring day today... yesterday we waited all day for Elliot's mom to come visit him, today we are gonna wait for some poodle people to come visit Chaz. Right now it's cloudy, but it's supposed to warm up and get sunny... Hopefully Mom will have some outside plans for us when that happens after the people leave. I am pretty tired of being inside already and it's only the first part of October...gonna be a long Winter, I can tell!!!!!!!!!

The Beanster is STAYING HOME??????????????

Today Julie told me that Mom isn't taking me with her when she goes to NC to get Harvey! What do you mean I am not going??? Do you realize that I have NEVER, EVER spent a night in that kennel??? I ALWAYS, ALWAYS sleep with Mom!!! How is the world does she expect me to sleep over there? Some of those dogs BARK at night. And, those big birds Mom has over there are bigger than me! Julie said they sometimes chase dogs if they get out of their cages... OMD, what am I gonna do?????
I wonder if she will make me stay in one of those runs in that BIG kennel room??? I bet it's scary in there at night??? I want to at least sleep in the daycare room when I have been before. Geee, I wonder who will stay with me??? Ali is going with her and Tyson isn't here... I don't want to stay with Toto... he chews my ears. Uh oh, I bet it will be Bubbles...oh well, she is at least smaller than I am so if I get the good spot in the dog bed I can keep her out of it. Hey, WHAT if she EATS MY DINNER???????????
Mommy, I wanna go with you, can I please go with you???????

Comments..........

For the past several weeks I have been receiving comments that were all gibberish... they had links in them, but they didn't make any sense at all. Mom reported them to HQ and they made them go away. Well, the last few days they have come back with a vengence and this time had actual comments about my diary entry, plus all kinds of links to on-line drugs, etc. Mom reported them again, and again HQ made them go away. Well, today they suddenly got very bad with links to sexual pages on the net... Mom did not think this was funny anymore at all!!! She forwarded all the comments to HQ, and she changed our preferences so now she gets all the comments BEFORE they show up on our pages. HQ sent a nice email, they are working on it, but it is almost impossible to keep a site like this clean and friendly.
Mom is very sad about this whole thing... here we all are, enjoying our pets and having fun relaying all their everyday events and some messed up people have to come along and make it not fun anymore. Mom says she can't imagine spending all that time to make up and send these comments... what a boring life these spammers must live! And, she is not sure what their point is... all she did was delete the comments... how rewarding can that be to the person(s) who send them???? Yet, somehow it must give them their kicks... what a sad, sad life some people live!!!!!!

The Swiffer hoax is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least once every year this rumor starts. Well, it's back again!!! Mom is copying a diary entry that Lukie wrote last year because the facts are the same!!! Today Mom got two emails from some of her dog friends about swiffer mop products causing the death of a "friends" German shepherd dog and two other dogs/cats. Then she got the same warning from one of my groups here on Dogster. Well, it seems that she remembered this email from several years ago, only at that time it was something else that was the killer product. The entire email was exactly the same, only the product name was different. She looked it up on the computer, and sure enough, it is a big hoax, and it also was around as far back as 2004. Mom says that while computers are good for lots of stuff, this is a major problem with them. It really doesn't matter what the product is, whether it's for dogs or cats or even for people... some person's friend of a friend (does anyone KNOW this "friend"?) had a tragedy from that product and so everyone quickly sends the email to all their address book and pretty soon it's a major disaster occuring all over the world. No one ever takes the time to check if this is really a real incident before they forward the warnings. Mom would like to point out that during the recent dog and cat food poisonings, (or in the case of the problems with Greenies), it was the dog food companies that were spreading the warnings, and this would likely be the case if a real problem were discovered with a common household product such as these!!! Mom would like to caution anyone receiving these emails to do some research before you forward it to everyone else... while it is unlikely that this particular company is gonna go bust from this incident, it is possible that a small honest company could suffer severe financial crisis from an hoax such as this. By the way, Mom has used Swiffer since it was first introduced and not one of us has even even sneezed from this product!!! She does follow directions, and usually makes sure floors and such are rinsed and dry before we are put back on them, but does do spot cleaning with it! But, some of us have gotten pretty sick from eating grass... do you suppose she should never let us outdoors again??? Silly, isn't it?

Harvey and Tyson and now Connie......

Man, it's getting crowded around here again. Mom came home with Tyson and Harvey AND Harvey's sister, Connie. And, now Walter is growing up so he's a dog, too, instead of a little dust ball in a pen.
I must say it was nice to have Tyson back... I missed playing with him. And, I missed him taking the good spot in the bed and leaving me out in the cold. But, I also missed having another warm body to lie with when we are stuck in the puppy pen, like we are today. That little Bubbles is way, way too small to keep me warm! At least with the three of us I can get in the middle and be warm on both sides!!! I was pretty sure Mom would fawn all over Tyson and even bring him over to work but, strangely enough, she left him home with me and Bubbles today. Although it's very cold today our pen is out of the wind so we did play outside while the sun was shining. Now we are just waiting for Mom to come home so we can have our dinner and play some more. I wonder if she will let us play with the new kids??? Probably not... gosh...I hope she doesn't let THEM stay in the living room and play with them and not us???? She better not!!

Life is normal, I guess.....

Well, except for the expen in the living room life is still pretty normal around here. I saw Mom bringing home a great big crate from work so I suspect the expen is going to disappear tomorrow. Then, life will really be normal.
The two crested puppies are pretty nice. They seem very quiet and friendly. Harvey does tend to look down his long nose at us mere poodles but fluffy Connie is pretty normal...she is more like a poodle, in fact, she plays with Walter all the time. I suspect this weekend we will get some time to play with them, in fact, I heard Mom say that Harvey would be joining us in the water bed... I wonder if Mom realizes how crowded it's getting in there????
I did have to remind Tyson that I am much older and wiser than he is... he was trying to run the show! Then, he started playing with MY Jenny... I put a stop to that immediately.
Well, gotta go rest up... Mom is planning to do the outside work tomorrow after work and I gotta be ready to help rake some leaves or clean out the fish pond.

I forgot to mention..........

Mom forgot to remind me to tell everyone of my friends something! I really, really miss having my comments on but after a whole week off, Mom turned them back on and within a couple of hours I had gotten another bad comment. She sent it to HQ's again, and then she deleted it and, sadly, had to block our comments again. Hopefully the lost, lonely person who is doing it will get tired of me just deleting them and stop doing it so we can all get our comments back again. Mom couldn't just shut mine off... she had to shut them off for our whole family. It is tooo bad. Maybe HQ will decide to limit comments to those from members only, then it will be fine again.

A Little Me & Mom togetherness day.

Would you believe that Mom chose ME to go on a ride with her today? We had to go down to meet Chaz's girlfriend's owners and give her back to them. I was sure she was going to take Chaz but nope, I got to go!!!
It was even snowing down where we met them... funny cuz we didn't even have a flake of snow or a drop of rain here all day.
On the way home Mom stopped at Wendy's and we had a chicken sandwich. Little Beanie had a Little Chicken, as in Chicken Little, AKA Tyson. hehehe, I pretended I was eating him!!!! Not really, but I made sure to let him know when I got home that I had a special treat and he didn't.
When we got home Mom was running around finding all her Winter clothes. She decided it was really going to be Winter, I guess. Then, we helped her to put up some more storm windows. We still have lots more to put up, so I hope it doesn't get much colder too soon. Gee, last year we were still paddling our kayaks during the whole month of October... not this year, it is way, way too cold!!!!
BTW... I didn't get to help Mom put the fishes to bed yesterday... she went right down there from work and didn't let me come with her. Oh well, it was her loss, I would have helped lots!!!!

My Mom is fickle...

My Mom is a strange person. She lets my hair grow out every once in a while and keeps commenting on how beautiful it looks when my legs are fluffy and my topknot is longer. Next thing I know, she chops it all off and starts talking about how cute I am with my hair short, yada, yada, yada. Today was the chop it all off day. Whew, I caught a look at myself in the mirror last week and thought I had put on a few extra pounds.... nope, she cut them right off today! I must say I feel swelte and handsome with the new do... and, all the girls were looking, too!
Now, poor Toto, he had a really cute topknot, sort of like someone put a bowl on his head and cut around it. It was all curly and fell flat in the middle. Gee, I guess you had to see it to understand, my description sounds a bit weird, but it was cool looking. Well, he got cut today, too. Now he looks like every other poodle in the world... a perfectly normal topknot, short and standing straight up. Boring. Trouble with Toto is that as soon as the fresh blow dried look wears off he will be all curly and look like she cut it way, way too short. Not me, I stay fluffy and keep that just groomed look for weeks and weeks...which is why I have way, way more pals than he does!!!!!

FLEAS...............

OMD... poor Dogster Dog has fleas!!! Today Mom got 16 pup pal requests... every one of them was full of Spam. We LIKE spam, but the kind we like comes in a can, not in an email!!! Mom was just going to delete them, but then she decided to forward them to HQ.
Once again, we are really saddened by how some people get their jollies. There are plenty of sights on the web where spam is more appropriate... well, maybe it's never appropriate but what I meant is there are plenty of sights where spam may not even be noticed. I cannot understand for the life of me how people get any positive feedback from doing stupid stuff like this. Everyone I know just deletes the stuff and goes one with their life.
Sadly, we are still continuing to block our comments for our diaries and pictures... that spam was a little more crude and nasty and apparently seemed to target only me, while the pup pal requests had lots of recepients!!!! Mom did feel better when she found out lots of other dogsters also got these requests... she was beginning to feel really targeted and was questioning whether to continue with Dogster. Hopefully Dogster will figure out a way to stop all this juke from appearing, but I suspect if they can, they will become millionaires by selling the solution. Meanwhile, your comments by pmail are appreciated!

Pretty quiet here.......

So far this has been a pretty boring week for the Beanster! Mom spent time with Jenny cuz she was leaving, and she's having to spend time with the babies (ALL the babies, Georgie, Walter, Harvey & Connie), and with work and all that sure didn't leave much time for little ole me! I did get over to work yesterday, and Jenny's new Mom brought me a lobster outfit (I LOVE Lobsters!!!), so Mom took my photo modeling it. I decided it was much more fitting than that stupid Damsel in Distress one so I insisted she use it for my primary photo!
Tonight she is finally letting Harvey be out with us for some learning and playing. So far he's doing okay, but, man, does he do the zoomies!!! Tyson and I are amazed at how fast he is! He's a bit scared of us (wonder why????) so he keeps lying down when we check him out. Mom did want him to be a house pet so I guess she's working on that now.
Wonder if he's gonna share the water bed tonight??? Hmmm, I call the top pillow!!!!!!! Did you know that he is almost as tall as me and Tyson (we are the same!), but he weighs more than we do. Well, maybe not more than me but definitely more than skinny Tyson.

Comments again?????

Hey, everyfur.... Mom turned our comments back on again.... hopefully the bad person doesn't read this diary! She said if they do and they comment she will just delete them, so there!
Just wanted everyone to know. Bye!

Another boring Friday night....

Today Mom brought one of the Kansas girls home from work. It seems she is going to stay in the house with us for a while. Hmmm, I hope she will be friendly with me cuz so far tonight BOTH Toto and Tyson have tried to beat me up!!! Toto is a bully and when we all go outside he gets excited and runs up and bowls me over! Well, that hurts me cuz I am little and he is not little! He slams me right into the floor on the porch. So, Mom let me come in right away. Well, as soon as they were done outside and came inside that Tyson was jealous of me and he ran right up and snarled at me and tried to beat me up! What the heck????? Then Mom let Donna out and she is my kind of dog... she just went into the kitchen and took over Tyson's green bed. Hee hee hee, poor, poor Tyson! I was still hiding under Mom's desk, so she let me sit on the desk! It's pretty nice up here, you can see everyone and yet no one can get you! Think I'll stay up here all evening long!!!!
Boy, it had better be nice outside tomorrow... I am soo wanting a nice run thru the big yard. I will even help Mom rake the leaves if I can go down there with her!!! Right now it is cool and cloudy... looks like it's gonna pour any minute. I sure hope that goes away soon!!! If not I will just convince Mom to go to bed early. That would be nice!

The big run in the big yard.........

Boy oh boy..., Mom said as soon as she finishes her lunch we can go down and run in the big yard!!! She's eating pretty fast, too. Would you believe it is 65 degrees on the shaded side of the house!!!! Happy Howlaween!!!!!!!!!!!
Right now Tyson and I have ganged up on Toto... we want him to remember that we can get him IF he decides to gang up on us down in the big yard. Hope Mom takes her camera... we haven't had too many photos lately.
Wow.. she's almost done lunch. She said I will probably give her indigestion since I am so anxious to go play!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully I will have great things to write later!

the BIG yard....

Yup, Mom decided she was done with lunch so off we went to the big yard. Me and Tyson were having a ball trying to find all that cat poop down there. Mom yelled at me and I had to go hide in the garden!! But, the good news... Toto never once ran me over!!! That was cuz he was slamming Tyson instead, hehehe! Actually, he was soo bad that Mom thought he was going to hurt Tyson so she made him go in the pen down there for a while. Not me, I wouldn't hurt my bud Tyson! I did quite a bit of exploring off on my own because Tyson and Toto were trying to catch leaves that Mom was throwing in the air. I don't lower myself to that level of play... I am much more serious and I spend my out time checking for any strange critters or new stuff down in the yard. But, I didn't find anything noteworthy, so maybe I will have to go down there again tomorrow!!!!

Tyson this, Tyson that, yada yada yada....

Boy, that Tyson is getting a bit big for his breeches! He is running around here practicing a Southern accent... one more Y'all and I'm gonna burn his barn. Mom said to say that cuz her cousins live in Texas and when she was little she used to always have them say the barn is burning cuz it sounded like they were saying the burn is barning. Silly, huh? No wonder Tyson is like he is, even Mom is talking about Texas. The good news, I guess, is that I will be traveling along down to Texas as well when we bring Tyson there.It will be our vacation and my friend Georgie will be going, too. We will make Tyson stay in the back cuz there isn't enough room on the console for three of us. Yes, I know, Tyson rode all the way to NC and back on that console and he didn't have to share it with anyone!!!
Of course, I will be traveling back up here and he won't!!! At least I hope I will be coming back here??? You don't suppose Mom is gonna find me a new home, too??? Nah, she would NEVER do that!! I am her little Beanster, her special little boy!
Anyway, he is also bragging that he is going to reach 2000 visitors in the next day or so. Well, guess what? I, the Beanster, will be reaching FOUR thousand visitors in the next few days, take that, Tyson!!! According to MY math, that is twice as many visitors as he has. None of Mom's other dogs even try to keep up with me anymore, that's for sure!
Well, I gotta run claim the best spot in the bed before he gets in there!!!

Winter is here????

Well, it was pretty cold today. Worse was this morning when it was in the low thirties and the wind was blowing out of the North. Brrrrrr. Mom remembered she did all the storm windows except the ones on the North side... silly Mom!!! Soo, today when she got out early she decided to finish putting them on! We use those shrink wrap ones... you stick them up with tape and then shrink them with the hair dryer. We already have some of those old aluminum ones outside, but they leak BAD... so bad that once there was snow in MY bed when I woke up in the morning!!! Well, Mom says they work cuz while she's putting them up she can feel tons of cold air coming in the edges until she seals them all.
Anyway, they must work cuz she started out with a vest, a sweater and a turtleneck on, and before she was done she had just the turtleneck on!!!
Of course, we helped! It was pretty cool, there were tons and tons of toys and bones behind all the furniture she had to move out of the way, some of them we haven't seen since last Fall!!! So, now we are all on Mom's bed, chewing our "new" toys and telling her where there are still wrinkles to get out with the hair dryer. And, now we will all be toasty warm tonight. Good thing, the weatherman just said it was going to be cold all week long!!!

A warmer weekend????

The weatherman said it was going to warm up lots on Sunday. I sure hope he's right cuz I would like another opportunity to play down in the big yard before the snow flies. Mom says we (her and ME), have to go to NY tomorrow to pick up a lab puppy and then go to MA on Sunday late afternoon to deliver her to her new owners. Soo, that should leave plenty of time for us to play for a while. Maybe Mom will even take some photos of ME with the new lab puppy???
I was sooo worried when she said lab puppy... I was afraid she was going to come and live with us. Mon said all that about not having anymore labs and then she got Alfie. I just assumed she was getting this one to keep Alfie company.
Anyway, she is a yellow lab and she and I would probably look good together in the Fall colors. Our reddish, tannish colors look good with the warm browns of Fall. Gee, hope it doesn't snow tonight... we wouldn't look good with the cold white of SNOW!!!
Well, I gotta go off to bed now. It will be interesting to see if Tyson is smart enough to turn off Mom's new alarm clock. I suppose he could keep stepping on the sleep button???

Today's trip...

Well, today's trip to NY went well. We met the people with the puppies in a big, huge park near Albany. Yes, they do allow dogs in that park, too.
Mom and I got there before they did so Mom took me for a great run in the park. There were squirrels all over the place!!! And, there was one HUGE tree that had gigantic yellow leaves. Soo, of course I insisted Mom take my photo with one that I had caught. Tyson thinks he's soo special catching big yellow leaves... these were ten times as big as his!!!
I do have to admit that I was quite nervous on the trip over for some reason. Mom had to insist that I lie down several times, finally quite loudly! I reminded her that while she may be losing her hearing I am not! Finally I realized that those flashing lights were really just the rear view mirror so I began to relax a bit more.
But... I was worried that Mom would think I was a worry wart so I thought of the greatest thing... when Mom took me out at the park I instantly peed and pooped so she would think I was restless in the car cuz I had to go!!! Hopefully it worked, cuz, quite frankly, I could sense her wondering if I was going to be bad during the whole trip to Texas in January. I eased her mind by sleeping all the way home!!!

And, another road trip....

Well, this morning we all got up early since the baby labs were hungry. Didn't need any ole buzzy clock for waking up!!! So, Mom went right to work cuz it was supposed to be very nice today and she wanted to play with us before our afternoon trip to deliver the lab pup.
Mom got out very early from work so she decided to clean the house. Good decision, it was a real mess... that Tyson chews up tons and tons of paper during the day and it was scattered all thru the house.
Finally, it was time for me and the labs to go down to the big yard. My gosh, it was just like Summer down there! I explored and explored and low and behold, I discovered a CAT sleeping right in the agility tunnel!!!
I did play nicely with the labs, even though the photo Mom put on my page makes it look like I am being a meany to them... I wasn't!!!
Tonight me and Mom took them down to meet the new owner. It took them forever to decide which one they wanted... finally they picked the smaller one, and we came home. First we stopped at Wendy's for my chicken sandwich and baked potato...mmmmm good!
Now we are just hanging out... Mom put the left over lab pup with the Crested babies and Walter... so far, so good!!!

More company....

Wow wee, we had company TWO days in a row! Yesterday Toto's friend Skye came to visit us and she even stayed over night, in fact, she is staying again tonight!!! Last night me and Tyson slept with her most all night. Today she and Mom went over to work and then Skye came home and got me and gave me a spiffy bath. Mom did a little trimming on my face and feet, then Skye decided to take a few photos of ME!!! Mom put two of them on my page for everyone to see.
This afternoon Mom's friend from CT came for a visit. She is Kiwi's mom, and I don't much care for her. You see, long ago, she was staying at our house one night and I went into the guest room to visit her. Well, she yelled for Mom cuz she had some dogs in there in heat and she thought I was coming to see them...I wasn't, but anyway, when she yelled to Mom it scared me. I ran out of the room as fast as I could and bumped the baby gate in the doorway on my way out. Well, it CRASHED down, right on top of me, and Mom's friend had to rescue me! Ya know, I cannot ever forgive her for making that gate fall down on me!!! I am sure she really didn't mean to scare me, but.....
Anyway, after she left me and Toto and Skye cleaned the whole house, then they went to eat and left us here, so Toto and I messed up a few things just to show them!!!! They didn't even bring us a doggy bag!

OMD...FOUR THOUSAND VISITORS!!!!

Holy mackeral... whilst we were writing my last diary entry someone was visiting my page and low and behold, I am now at 4000 visitors right on the dot!!
When I joined Dogster last year in June, I could have never imagined I would have 4000 visitors in just over a year! That is soo cool. I do think it probably has something to do with my handsome good looks, but Mom says that probably isn't the real reason. She said it in that tone of voice, you know, that tone! Of course, she hasn't enlightened me with her "real" reason, or what she thinks is her real reason.
I don't care, I do enjoy all the visits, so keep 'em coming! And, thanks for your support!!!

What a wonderful week (so far)............

My, but it's nice to be me! I have had a fabulous week. I have been on TWO road trips, eaten at Wendy's and Burger King, walked in a HUGE new park, gone to work and had bagels and cream cheese and a bath and some new photos, had company sleep in MY room, gotten to play down in the big yard four times, and also gotten to play with the new labbie pups. I am the ONLY older dog who got to play with them, in fact. I also got a nice comment from Tyson's new sister about how handsome I am... I know, I know, I AM handsome!
I also got to hang out loose in the house with Toto for quite a long time, and Tyson had to stay in his crate, heeheehee!
Oh yeah, I forgot, I also got a special treat for getting to four thousand visitors. I kinda usurped poor Tyson with that one... here he was bragging and boasting about getting to 2,ooo visitors and the next day I doubled his two thousand, and raised him ten!
Mom says I better stop all this patting myself on my back cuz otherwise something bad is sure to happen to me! Nah, I am the cutest, most handsome, and nicest rescue Mom has... heeheehee... that is safe to say cuz I am the ONLY rescue Mom has!!!

Praise for the Beanster, hehehe!!!!

Mom just came home from work. It is pouring outside and very cold, and the wind is even blowing. Mom put all of us outside to do our business. Well, guess what? I got praised and I even got a treat and no one else did!!!!!
It seems Mom was watching every one of us... everyone EXCEPT me peed and pooped on the porch. I went out into the pouring rain, did my wee wee's, then I carefully walked around the biggest puddles until I saw a HUGE one between me and the place I normally do my poops, way over in the far corner of the pen. I shrugged my shoulders and bravely waded thru that huge puddle and did my business out in that cold and rain.
Surprise, Mom called me right back into the house and made the others stay out longer. She got a big warm towel and dried off my feet and my face and head. And, I got a nice Zuke treat, hehehe! And, Mom said now I can go with her when she goes upstreet to the store later. Gosh, I am soooo smart!!!!!!!!

AS different as night and day...

Today dawned foggy and warm. When we first went out it was still drizzling but Mom said that was just the fog. Yeah, right, man is she an optomist!!!
Of course she was right, so the minute she got out of work we (me and Tyson and the crested pups and Walter) all headed down to the big yard to help Mom plant some old dead mums. You may remember she planted some last year, and didn't know if they would survive or not. Well, they did and they were even more pretty this Fall, so this year she collected up everyone's dead mums and planted them all in OUR garden. We all helped.... both Condi and Harvey tasted them to make sure they were okay. YUCK.. they taste like flea spray!!!
After the planting we decided to run around a bit. First I had to explain the rules to Condi... she seemed to think she could just race right over my head!!!! Once we got that all straightened out we had a good run. Mom took that photo of me and Tyson sitting in the chair... she thought it was soo nice, frankly, it looks like neither one of us can wait to get away from the other one! Don't get me wrong...I like Tyson okay, but he sure does fly off the handle lots! He is pretty funny... he screams and yells and attacks but he doesn't make any contact... silly boy! Anyway, after his attack, he ends up sleeping with me.
Mom cooked some chicken so we are all waiting for the leftovers... mmmmmm.

Hmmm, where is the weekend??????

Gosh, this seems like a very long week around here. I did get up to the store last night, but other than that it is pretty boring. Mom has been really busy over at work with grooming. Guess everyone wants their dogs spiffy for the holiday next weekend. Gee, I hope she makes me spiffy, too!!!
Anyway, me and Winston/Tyson have been playing quite a bit, but for some reason he hasn't been taking any toys out of the toy box for me to play with. I don't like to get them out... you have to almost climb right down into the box and I am always afraid one of the bigger dogs will think I am a toy in there and pull me right out by my ears just like they do with the toys. Winston has no fears so he can get them out for both of us.
Ahhh, guess he just dug some out so I gotta go play now. Catch ya later!!!

Finally, the weekend!!!

Yesterday it was very warm and mostly sunny all day. Mom got out of work early, but she did not take us to the big yard! Can you believe it?? She muttered something about cleaning the house, then she apparently was too tired to walk all the way down there with us. (It must be all of 100 feet, if that!) Then we got stuck in our crates cuz Donna was having her babies. We would have been okay out in the living room, but Mom called Julie to come and watch since Julie's dog is having puppies next week. Julie has helped Mom lots, but Mom figured a refresher course wouldn't hurt at all. Julie brought her kid along, so we would have barked too much and upset Donna, so we were banished to our crates.
But, today we got in plenty of running. It was pretty nice and warm down there in the big yard. I was expecting the mosquitoes to start swarming us at any minute!!! As it was, I kept getting pretty hot so I had to run drink out of the frog pond.
I finally got myself up into that shed for some exploring while Mom wasn't looking. I convinced Ali to do a watch patrol for me, and she warned me when Mom noticed. I didn't see anything great at all, but, I must be blind!!! After I watched while Ali went in there and she discovered the secret! If you look at her new photo on her page you will see what the big secret is!!!!!!!!

Turkey for me!!!!!!!!

Toto and Mom went to the store yesterday and Mom bought us a BIG turkey for Turkey day!! I am soo excited cuz last year we didn't have any turkey. Mom went somewhere else to eat and didn't bring any back for us to have. This year the turkey is all for us!!! Well, we might let Mom have a tiny, tiny bit of it so we can make sure it is okay for us to eat!!! Hey, wasn't there a story about some king or something who used to have someone test his food before he ate it??? I sort of remember that? Mom will be our tester!!!!
Today I went on over to work with Georgie. Mom put us together in an expen over there. It was the first time I have ever been in a pen with her!!! I guess she is really growing up cuz she was actually pretty fun to play with. After a bit, Mom went home and got Tyson, too, so he was playing with us, but he was hitting Georgie on the head with his feet, so Mom made him play with Pinki instead... she fixed him, she was biting his legs so he couldn't hit her with them!!!
We all had baths and they had haircuts. Mom only cut my feet and face, but tonight she is saying I look way, way too fat so tomorrow she is going to give me an actual hair cut. Hope it works, I hate looking FAT!!! It's not my fault I look fat after a bath... I have very cottony coat and when it's all fluffed out it is pretty long and makes me look like I gained about three pounds... I am only 5 pounds normally, so at 8 pounds I look like a MOOSE!!!! Actually, Mom says I look like a football!!! I guess that's better than a basketball, huh?

Happy Thanksgiving everypup....

Us pups up here in New England want to wish all of your pups a very, very happy Thanksgiving filled with lots of nice turkey. While the vets see more dogs with intestional upsets on Black Friday than any other day, Mom wants everyone to know it's not the turkey that is the villian!!! Turkey by itself is good for dogs... it is a safe, mild meat (unless you are allergic to it!!!) The problem comes with the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner. Worst of all is that great tasting fatty turkey skin. Man, is that stuff good, but, man is that stuff hard for us to digest and it really strains our pancreas. And, also a problem is the gravy and the stuffing, for the same reasons. Most of the veggies are okay, especially the sweet potatoes and the brocolli. But, watch out for the sauces on the veggies. A small piece of roll or bread won't hurt, but be light on the butter, please. As for dessert... skip that in favor of another piece of turkey!!!! And, you better stay away from the wine or you will be whining with a big headache.
Another thing to remember, watch where your parents put those turkey bones! Cooked turkey bones splinter really easily and can puncture your digestive system. Also, it is possible you could choke on them!!! If either of those things happen, you will be spending Black Friday visiting with your veterinarian and your pawrents will be angry... moms cuz they would rather spend the time and money on Black Friday specials and dads cuz they wanna watch all that football!!!
Soo, let's all go out and pawty hearty... but not too hearty!!! Happy Turkey day to everyone!

Turkey Day...

Well, Mom's turkey was a big success!! We all licked our chops after we ate. It was soooo good!
Then, (after our nap, Turkey is one of those tryp-somethings that make you sleepy you know), we all trudged down into the lab pen and got some branches for Mom to make some wreaths. We helped her make them, then we watched from the window while she put some up on our house and some over at the kennel. And, she put some lights on our porch and a really, really neat Christmas tree with fiber optic lights that change colors. It's on our porch cuz it's not supposed to be outside.
Then I got to go with Mom up to Skye's house and pick her up. We went on over to Walmart cuz Mom needed some ink for her printer. We came home and as we drove down the big hill we could see our pretty lights and that tree! It was neat.
Then Mom and Skye made some calendars for Skye's Mom and Dad, and we got to eat some more turkey!!!!
Now we are all ready for bed!!!
Happy end of Turkey Day, everyone!

Special dog.........

I played special dog today and moseyed along over to work with Mom and the puppies. It was pretty nice over there... I didn't even have to have a bath, although Mom was pretty worried about my appearing to look like a football so she did cut some hair off my bod. Now, I feel MUCH slimmer!
While I was on a break with Mom I got a chance to play with the ceiling cat. She was pretty frisky today, and for a little bit I was worried she was going to get me with those HUGE claws she has. But, it soon became apparent she was only playing so I obliged and chased her around the break room for a while.
Then, Mom and I worked a bit on some paperwork... gosh, that is BORING!!! I have to admit, I snoozed a bit! Finally the last daycare dogs went along home so Mom put the babies in the stroller and we went home as well. When I got home I strutted around a bit, making darn sure that Tyson/Winston knew I had been at work all day without him!

"He knows if you've been bad or good...."

Uh oh! It's getting close to our annual visit from Santa. Well, Mom was working on the computer tonight and we were just hanging around. She just went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Of course her boys, me and Toto and Tyson, followed her in there. Toto and Tyson just marched right in, I was carefully selecting where to put my feet down when Mom noticed some tootsie rolls on the bathroom floor. Now, which one of us would be the guilty one??? Not me... I was just being careful so I wouldn't sprain an ankle or something and be laid up for Christmas!!! Makes sense, doesn't it??? Well, Mom wasn't so convinced. If I could only learn not to turn my head away when she asks who did that I would be fine!
Hey, it's pretty cold outside tonight and it might snow here tomorrow... my feet are shaved and they get cold really easy. Besides, if I went outside in the cold, my feet would be really cold when I hopped in bed with Mom tonight and she wouldn't like that very much, now, would she??? Are ya listening, Santa????

We got TRUSTED!!!!

Mom had her obedience class tonight. Since Alfie was already at the kennel, she decided to use her for a demo instead of one of us. We had already had our dinner and been outside so she decided to trust us ALL OUT TOGETHER!!!! (Silly woman, guess she forgot that we are a pack and while one or two of us would be good, a pack is NEVER good!)
Well, finally she got home and the only thing wrong was a de-stuffed stuffie toy. Not a problem. Soo, since she still had a bunch of Zuke's in her pocket, she rewarded us by letting us have them. After she carefully doled out a few one at a time, she put them in the palm of her hand and had us one by one come over and take one. We were all good and only took one at a time but that little rat Tyson(Winston, sorry), took a whole mouthful!!!! Then, he took them over to the dog bed and ate them one at a time, very slowly, while we polite dogs had to watch! What a nervy beast he is!!! I sure hope Mr. Big and Sidney put him in his place when he gets down to Texas!!!!

A blizzard is here!!!!!!!!!

OMD...Toto needs to watch what he is wishing for!!! When we got up this morning the whole hill outside our house looks like everyone was playing bumper cars!!! There are about TEN cars off the road, and some of them are even sprawled all over our lawn. There are blue lights and red lights and orange lights flashing all over the place. Our whole parking lot is full of the ones that couldn't make it up the hill. Of course, Mom is not thrilled... she had to call Laurie and tell her to stay home and now, instead of going to work late and getting out early she will have to work alone all day long!!! I bet we will be going to work for some grooming cuz no one else will come in! Hey, maybe she will close early????????

It's snowing, it's snowing, I want to go out and play!

NOT! Actually, I have a fondness for snow... it is really pretty when you look out the window and see it all over everything! Seriously, I do like the snow, but it was way, way too cold this morning to enjoy anything. When we got up the temperature outside was ONE degree!! It warmed up pretty fast, and finally got to 28, which is what it is right now. Mom got all ready to clean up the snow from Wednesday when it started snowing again. Now we already have about four more inches. But, it's supposed to turn to freezing rain later tonight.
Mom bought herself a Nintendo Wii game system for Christmas. It is pretty cool! There is even a part where us dogs can use it. Today Skye was still here so she and Mom played until they couldn't see anymore. Mom says it's nicer cuz you do get some exercise. I guess... Mom clunked me right on the head with her golf club!! I guess that was better than getting hit in the head with a bowling ball!!!!
When Mom stepped on the balance board thingie it said, "OUCH!" hehehe!

Tyson is telling tales...........

Hey, if you read Tyson/Winston's diary tonight I would like to clarify a few points here, especially since it is sooo close to Christmas and Santa Paws' visit...(or not, depending on if he reads Winston's diary!) I was not responsible for any of the dog poops in the kitchen tonight... and, Mom knows that cuz IF I have to relieve myself in the house I will use the bathroom, thank you very much! And, I would NEVER have eaten that pink bath pouf IF Toto hadn't gotten it off the kitchen table and pulled it all apart... Mom KNOWS I can't reach up that high!!!! And, furthermore, I have NEVER taken any foil candy wrappers out of the trash... and I wouldn't have eaten those either IF Winston hadn't emptied the trash all over the floor!!! Finally, it's not my fault I had to be sick in Mom's chair... those guys made me eat all that stuff!!! So there, tattletale, or better yet, tattletail!!!!
Hi, Santa... I was trying to clean up all the messes around the house and the only way I knew how was to eat the stuff I found on the floor... not my fault I got sick!!!!

Ohh, that Winston will be the death of me yet.........

Ya know, little Winston thinks the entire world revolves around him. He is running around here reminding everyone that he is going to Texas in two weeks. Well, guess what??? I, me and myself am going to Texas in two weeks, too! In fact, the entire vacation plan was all about me and my pal, Georgie and Julie and Mom. Every single year we all go on vacation and drive a long ways to see parts of the country we never saw before. Can I help it if we just happen to be going down to Texas this year and so Winston can ride along to his new home??? Guess what, Mom's Aunt and her cousins live in the same town as Chloe La Rue, and Mom and Julie were going to visit them even before they knew about Winston going along. And, I was invited way, way back then! And, me and Georgie have just enough room to ride on the console when Julie puts a big blanket on it. I sure hope Winston doesn't think he is riding there, too. There will not be enough room for him there!!! And, when we stop at night the motels usually let two dogs stay in the room.... I can tell you that those two dogs will be me and George... I see no Winston listed on the reservation form! Oh well, it will be warm enough for him to sleep in the car, hehehe! And, when we stop at places me and George get our photos taken with Mom and Julie.... ha ha, there won't be a third person to hold Winston and take his photo, now will there??? Well, I gotta go now, I am sorting thru my clothing to decide which shirts I will be taking with me... Poor Winston has none, ooohhh, too bad!!!

The work Christmas party....

Today the girls at work had their Christmas party. Mom chose me to accompany her. I was feeling sooo special, but when I got to work, I discovered Hilda came along with Laurie. Next, Skye showed up with Toto. Then, Julie came along with Tyson! Hrumph... it was going to be MY party! Oh well, there was plenty of Pizza for all of us!
It was pretty good, but we each had to work for our pizza. I performed a little dance and got some from Skye, then I worked Laurie for my second piece. Interesting, NONE of us worked Mom, I guess we all knew that was hopeless!!!
Hilda gave us a HUGE lion bed. It is sooo cool, I can't wait to get home from work and try it out for real. Skye gave Toto a big, fleece rug for his kayak... I sure hope Mom gets one for me!!! That will be soo comfy, especially if it's cold.
Unfortunately, Skye gave me a bath, then she decided to take some photos with the camera Mom gave her for Christmas. She even made me pose with Toto!!!
All in all, it was a fun party and I won't need any dinner tonight!!!

Happy Holidays from our house to yours....

Another group diary entry from all of us and our Mom to all our pals on Dogster.
We hope you all have the most Merry and Happy holiday ever. We hope you get everything you wished for, and you have a peaceful and pleasant day.
We are thankful that we have met so many wonderful dogs here and that we are all friends and enjoy each other's company. We have enjoyed the "real" visits we've had and hope to have many more in the coming year. We have enjoyed reading everyone's diaries and are glad that we aren't the only "naughty AND nice" pups in the world.
May the blessings of the holiday season be yours, now and throughout the New Year!

Christmas walk ripoff!!!

Mom finally took us out for our Christmas walk. Man, what a bummer that was! First of all, it is very cold and damp and she didn't even put my jacket on!!! And, it's cloudy and dark so my pretty curls didn't show up in the photos! As Winston already pointed out, we couldn't stay on top of the crust unless we walked very, very slowly... some fun that is!!!!! And, every time you did happen to crash thru the crust it hurt like crazy. One of my photos shows the agony of that! And, Toto was having no problems at all, he was just racing around pushing us off the paths.
Anyway, I am sure glad that walk is over and now it's time for our nap. Well, at least it will be when Mon hurrys up and puts the babies back in their room. We are socializing them... yeah, right!! More like we are serving as live stuffy toys for them!!!!!!

Mom had a surprise pawty!!!!!!!!!!

Mom went to her family Christmas party today. She was greatly surprised to find it was a surprise birthday party for HER!!!! She is going to be very, very old on her next birthday and it's when we will be going to deliver Winston, so they had the party today. You see, Mom is really not that old (she made me say that), but she is the oldest living one in her family, cuz her family dies young, I guess, so they really threw a huge celebration. They all got together and bought her HUGE presents for our trip! She got a brand new GPS with traffic and talking streets, a brand new IPOD Touch with all the latest greatest stuff on it, AND the e-reader from Amazon. Mom's family mostly works in the computer industry, so Mom gets good presents!! She used to be a techi long ago, but the new stuff left her in the dust.
So, she spent some time putting all her muzak on it, and photos of ME and tomorrow she's gonna find some games for it! She also might put some photos of the other guys on it, too! We have bad internet over in our house so she couldn't play too much with that part of it.
And, then she ran out in the freezing rain to start the GPS, and now that is all ready, too.
She sold her old IPOD to Julie, I sure hope she took HER muzak off it so I don't have to listen to everything TWICE on the trip!!! Mom has old muzak, too!!! That elevator stuff, boring. At least it helps me to sleep on a long trip!!!!

4500 visitors!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom said I am going to hit 4500 visitors really soon, like maybe even tomorrow!!! I wonder if she would consider giving me a bully stick instead of a Stella & Chewy's patty??? I sure love those bully sticks!!!!!!
Come on over and visit my page so I can get my bully stick, please????

YaHoo...4500 visitors!!!!!!

Hurray, Mom got a email that I had a gift so she checked it out and it was from my pal Brenda Lee and she said she was my 4500th visitor!!!! Sooo, that means that Mom discovered it right at 4500 and I will now get a prize... I hope it's a bully stick!!!!!!!!! Mom is at work right now so I don't know what it's gonna be. I LOVE prizes!!!
Thanks everyone for visiting me!

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Hey, when I got up yesterday it was a whole new decade!!! I feel much older now!
Skye is staying at our house and so me and Tyson and Ali are getting jealous of Toto cuz Skye loves him the best. In fact, she is always carrying him around and hugging him and we get nothing!!! Mom is bad, too, cuz last night when we went to bed I was sleeping calmly beside Mom and Skye was STARING at me!!! She just kept staring and staring so Mom asked her to stop and she said she was just watching TV. Soo, she kept staring and staring and finally I had to start barking at her. Mom told me to stop, but I couldn't cuz Skye was still staring so finally Mom took me and put me right in my crate!!!! I sure don't understand why Skye didn't have to go in her crate...she was the one staring at me!!!
Anyway, today after work Mom and Skye went up town. Would you believe they took TOTO with them and not me??? I have to admit, I did hear Skye ask Mom to let me go with them but she said no. BAHHH.
Oh well, I am going on a very, very long vacation trip with Mom and Julie and George and Toto has to stay here in the boarding kennel, hehehe!!! I will be sleeping with Mom in the motel rooms and Toto will be sleeping with the macaws in the boarding kennel. If he tries to bark they will tell him to "shut up, brat". hehehe!!!

The new Wii machine...

We have been playing with Mom's new Wii machine. First she and Skye had to put in their stats and find out how physically fit they are. Well, that was interesting... It told Mom she was FAT (she knew that!) and it told Skye she was skinny...but just barely skinny. But, the amazing part was that it told Mom her fit age was actually 4 years younger than she is!! She is very, very happy about that!!! But, it told Skye her fit age was 34 years older than she is!!!! Man, that is pretty scary for a teenager!!
Then, Mom and Skye decided to put us in the stupid machine... Toto was first... at 18.75, he is perfect!!! I was second, hmmm, I don't wanna mention my weight here!!!! Suffice it to say that I no longer weigh six pounds... nor do I weigh 7 pounds either!!! All right, I am not proud to say I am now 8.5 pounds!!! Mom was shocked and said it's diet time now. Darn, I had her fooled for sooo long with that fuzzy coat story!!!! Hey, Like Mom, Like pup!!!!
Next was Winston... like Toto, he is perfect at 7.6 pounds. (Yes, he IS taller than me, too!) Ali is also pretty good at 6 pounds. Ali is the same height as me. Ooops.
Sooo, now me and Mom need to do the exercises to lose weight and Skye and Toto need to do the ones to become more flexible and balanced. Would you believe that machine even told Mom she had a problem with her left side... yup, she has a very bad knee and it's her left one, Wow, Wii, that is scary!!!!

On the road again, (almost).....

Well, Mom is all packed and everything is sitting in the kitchen waiting for her to pack it in the car tomorrow morning. She got both me and Winston groomed this afternoon, this morning she did both George and Georgie. Now, that is going to be seriously confusing... Georgie is also going with us, and everytime I say George, she is going to think I am talking to her, when in fact, I will be talking to my vacation buddy, George. This will be our third vacation... we are both excited!!! It's too bad that Winston and baby Georgie are going along as well! Hopefully, Winston's new family will decide they want both Winston and Georgie... then we can have a nice, calm ride home.
Well, I gotta go check those bags and make sure Mom packed some toys for me and George... and, I hope she's remembering my nice fuzzy blankie for the console. Sure hope Winston doesn't think HE'S riding on the console with us!!!!!!!!!

Sweet Home, Alabama

Well, we are here in Alabama, staying right next door to the Alabama group's fan club museum!!!! It is FREEZING down here!!! Must be a new world record cold. Mom and Julie are wearing all their NH clothes and still cold. It snowed all day long, snow in Tennessee, snow in Georgia, and snow in Alabama. Not a lot, but there is snow on the ground!!!!!
Last night I couldn't write cuz it was soo cold that the internet didn't work. This is all I can write tonight cuz I am tooo tired. I am running around playing with Winston and Georgie right now, but we are ready to crash, soon!!!!

Ahh, grass again....

Cool, today we stopped to pee and there was grass on the ground!!! It wasn't all that warm, but there was grass and NO SNOW!!! We saw lots and lots of water.
Now, I am very tired and I am keeping Mom's pillow soft until she finally decides to go to sleep. She is saying something about winding down?????
Tomorrow we are going to be a Winston's new home place. We are hoping his Mom is going to be there, she had to go take care of some frozen pipes... sounds like she should be up North, huh??? Maybe someone could have a job for her there!!!!
Well, Mom will help me write more tomorrow, now we are gonna sleep.

I was feeling warm all over!!!!!

This morning we went outside for a nice long time in the fresh, WARM air. My feet are starting to hurt from walking on all this grass instead of the cold snow and ice. Who would of thunk there could be this warmth in the middle of Winter????
Anyway, after a bit we all got in the car and went for a ride... who wee... another ride?? Anyway, we went thru some pretty places and finally Mom stopped at a house. She and Julie and Winston went inside and me and George and little Georgie had to stay in the car!!! We stayed in there forever, it seemed, and finally Mom and Julie came back without Winston. Hmmmm, what's this all about????
Anyway, we went back to Aunt Ethel' house and me and Georgie and George went outside and soaked up the sun for about an hour... it was sooooo nice!!! There was even a butterfly out there with us and it sat on Julie. Mom has photos!!!
Then we sat in the car for ever again while Mom and Julie went sightseeing with Mom's cousin, then we got to go outside again!!!
Tomorrow we are going back to visit Winston, and we are gonna walk around there, too!!! I hope we can stay in this warm place forever... I sure like it here!!!!

On the Road again.........

Here I am stuck in another motel somewhere in the middle of the country... well, I guess Arkansas is the middle of the country??? We drove thru some rain this morning, but finally it got warm and sunny. Now Mom and Julie are crashing. Me and Baby Georgie are playing tag!!!! Soo, obviously, she came home with us!!!! Mom said that she sure didn't want to upset Winston's new home by adding a new baby to the mix. And, his new folks agreed!!! Sooo, I get to play with her all the way home!!!!
Mom says hopefully we will get home in two more days, but it will be a stretch!!! We are not quite one third of the way home yet.
We had a great time with Mom's Aunt and her cousin. Mom has lots of photos, so she will add them to my page when I get home. She has her baby computer with her, but it's too hard to edit the photos on the tiny screen. Hopefully we will be home soon!!!!
Now I gotta go cuz Julie is going to take me outside for a walk. She is nice to me!!!! She even gave me and George some chicken livers for dinner!!!!!!! Mmmmmmmm, gooooooood!!!

Almost home again.....

Gee, sweet home Alabama is making me wish I was sweet home again!!!! Last night we had a horrible smelly room and NO phone or internet service!!! Mom and Julie were bumming!!! Especially since the brand new birthday GPS quit working way up in some mountains in Tennessee and Mom was having a fit!!! First they thought there was something wrong with all the satellites cuz the phones weren't getting a signal, either, then they realized the GPS was plain old broken!!! It would get a signal, then immediately loose it and not get one again for about 10 miles. After about the hundredth time that happened, Mom was MAD!!! So, she stopped at a store and bought another one! She is going to take the broken one back when she gets home. She hasn't even had it for two weeks!!!!!!!
So, today was fine cuz the new one works great!!!! Tonight we are in Hershey, PA. Mom wanted some chocolate, I guess????? Anywho, tomorrow we will be back home, finally!!! And.... for all of you people who live up in the north country... Mom and Julie are bringing some warm weather back with them... in fact, it's traveling a bit ahead of them right now!!!!
Well, now I gotta go outside again! Julie gave me a bunch of chicken livers the other day and last night I just had to go B A D so I went in the motel room. She and Mom were not too happy with me, but they said the room smelled better after cuz they cleaned it with some nice cleaner and it smelled AWFUL before I had my accident!!! Anyway, tonight Mom is making me go outside a hundred times!!!
BTW... little Georgie is being really good! She never even cries when she has to go into her crate at night. Me and Big George (Julie's George!!) have to go into the bathroom when we first get to the motel and when we leave in the morning and I am good but George barks for his mommy!!! Not me... I just bark when I hear noises in the night... Mom says "do you have ANY IDEA how many noises in the night there are when you are at a motel??????"

Holy Smokes... DDOD....

Wow, Mom just woke up and is drinking her coffee cuz they are leaving early to outrun a snowstorm. She glanced over at her email and I was a pick of the day!!!! Yahoo!!!
Thanks, Dogster.... a nice coming home present!!!!

I'm HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, we just got home!!! Mom ran over to the kennel and got Toto and Ali, so now we are all happy! Mom is berrrry tired, but, it's not snowing yet so she is also berry happy!!! More later!
Hey, thanks for all the good wishes from everyone!!!!

State mugs....

Mom wrote this a while ago, but somehow she forgot to save it, I guess!!! So, now I have to do it again!
Mom collects coffee mugs from the states she visits. Her collection is not complete, some of them she's broken cuz she uses them as well as displays them, silly person.
Well, on this trip we went thru SIXTEEN states!!! Since she was also having to buy gas and motel rooms, she didn't buy 16 mugs!!!! She did buy 5 new ones. Would you believe she doesn't have Vt, Ma, CT, or NY??? She says she doesn't have NY because there is no way she is going to stop while driving thru NYC!!!! Sorry, Yuji, but we don't like driving thru there!!! And, Mom so far has planned her trips well... this time they did 2 pm on Friday afternoon...not too bad and 8 AM this morning... no traffic at all! In fact, this morning Mom even had to use the cruise control to keep her from speeding. She said there were 4 million cops out and she didn't want to be stopped for speeding after driving 4,000 miles without a problems!!! Every time she goes thru the city she puts the same directions into her GPS and every time it takes her a different way!!! This time for some reason they missed all the service areas on the NJ side. She was mad because they were looking forward to some cinnabons for breakfast!!! She also wanted to get gas there since it's cheaper than in CT. Oh well, maybe next time????
We got home at 2 pm. Right now it is snowing like crazy and there's already a build up of it on the ground!!! Good timing, Mom!!!

Back to our old routines....

This morning Mom jumped out of bed and went off to work. We went off to our crates. Pretty soon she brought all the other dogs home from work. I was trying hard not to brag about my trip and to show off my tan... I am sooo nice!
Surprise, Mom came home early! So, she and Toto went off in the car. (Hey, how come I didn't get to go??) First they went and got some shavings for Donna's pups so they could come home. Then, Mom took her broken GPS back to the store. Of course she couldn't find the sales slip so the man wouldn't give her the money back, he only gave her a new one. Sooo, now she has TWO new GPS's. The one they got on the trip cost exactly the same as the broken one but they are both different... one has information for traffic jams and the other doesn't. Now, Mom doesn't know which one she is going to keep!!! We don't really have too many traffic jams up here! But, the other one hasn't got the best reviews... supposedly the battery won't keep charging??? Mom says now that the first one broke she guesses she will keep them both and keep one in the car for a spare!
Anyway, after they got home we all ran out to play in the snow. It was pretty nice... warm and sunny, well, that is relative, I guess! Not warm and sunny by Texas standards, that's for sure!
Mom loves to go away in the beginning of January cuz she says she swears when we get home the Winter is better... the sun is brighter and warmer and the nights are already shorter. Yeah, right, Mom, maybe today but what about later when it's below zero again????
Hey, Mom says thanks for the offers of the mugs from you pals... Mom is going to check out for sure what we have and pmail you later.

10 ways to tell it isn't your dog................

There is no other dog in the world as cute and handsome and.... hey, let's face it, there is no other Beanie in the world so it would/could never happen!!!!!!!!! I am unique. 'Nuff said.

Vacation is good for you!!!!!!!!!!!

Skye just did my body stats with the Wii game and I have actually lost 2.9 lbs! I was a bit nervous cuz it also said Toto lost that much, too. Mom checked the other dogs and they didn't lose any weight so she said it's fine, I guess. She was very happy that I had lost those pounds... now I am only one tenth away from my ideal!!! Mom said it's because of my vacation... I got to run around in the fresh warm air AND I didn't get to eat everyone else's leftover food. Soo, I guess this means I will have to stay away from their food now cuz Mom said I looked GREAT! She actually said I looked great when we got home, but she thought I only lost about 1.5 lbs.
Now Skye is doing some yoga with the Wii and Harvey is helping her... he runs all around her and barks at her. Not me, I am resting up!
Hey, today me and Mom got a great package from my good friend Brenda Lee in West Virginia. She sent Mom a neat mug for her collection from there AND she sent me (well, us, I guess) a whole bunch of homemade dog cookies. Boy oh boy are they tasty!!! Gee, I sure hope I don't find all my lost weight from eating them! Nah, I will share them with everyone and that will help! Thanks, Brenda Lee and Mom. Mom said her best friend up here has the same exact name as Brenda's Mom!!!

Sunday afternoon....

Ahh, another pleasant Sunday. Right now it is pouring rain and the temperature is only 32 degrees! But, earlier today it was very nice and sunny so Mom and Skye took us outside for a romp in the snow. Even though it was warmer and sunny, it sure felt damp and cold to me! I wasn't alone with that feeling... Mom went back inside and got an extra sweater and a hat and put on her heavy boots. Poor Harvey got so cold he had to go back inside the house!
Meanwhile, me and Skye were playing with a HUGE blue ball that I found out there. I was practicing balancing on it! Mom even took my picture to prove I could balance. And, she also took a photo of me and my new friend Skye. I say new friend cuz before Skye would only play with Toto, now she plays with me, too. Toto was too busy trying to catch another mousie!
Anyway, after we played outside for a long time we came inside and Skye cooked lunch for us. We had hotdogs and macroni and cheese. Skye couldn't eat all her hotdogs so she gave them to us. I was hiding under the desk so she had to put me up on the desk so I could get mine! Then me and Toto and Ali and Mom took a nice Sunday afternoon nap after Skye went home. She let Harvey and Georgie come in the bedroom, too, but they wouldn't let us nap so they had to go back out into the living room.
Now we are waiting for it to get late enough to go to bed. I am still tired from all that running in the snow.

I have a new pet!!!

Around here I am the pet dog and the rest of the dogs are the "working" dogs. As a pet dog I have special status and privilages. For example, I get to go on the vacations with Mom and Julie, and I always go camping and kayaking. The way I understand it is that I have pet status cuz I was neutered when I was a little baby. The other dogs have to do shows and stuff and they have to have babies, too. I am a rescue so I don't do all that stuff, well, except for that stupid idea Mom had about those obedience shows. Guess I won that one, didn't I??? You don't hear her talking about me going anymore to get that third leg, hehehe! Also, pet status means you get to stay here forever and not have to go to another home like Jenny and Tyson and BJ did. Cool, I just as soon stay here!
Well, today Mom said that Harvey is now a pet dog, too. It seems that Mom finally realized that she did get him to be a pet, not a show dog, and he is a good pet, so she took him to the vet and had him neutered. Maybe he would be a good show dog, too, but Mom said she didn't need another show dog, and by the time he was done being a show dog it might be harder to make him a good pet dog. And, she said she really didn't need Harvey to make little babies. And, she didn't need him to realize he was a boy dog and being a boy dog he would need to have issues with the other boy dogs to make sure they didn't get his girls. Sounds complicated to me, I like all boy dogs and all girl dogs just the same!!! Mom says that's cuz I am a pet dog! Anyway, now he had his operation so he and I are now the two pet dogs... those others are whatever they are. Hmm, I wonder what Toto is???? He can't have babies anymore so he's not a working dog anymore, either. Hmmm, have to think about that one for a while.

A few little things.....

Okay, it's Sunday morning and it's FREEZING here. Mom said it was -11 this morning, well, I certainly believe that since it was only 54 degrees in our living room... needless to say, we are not in there right now, we are still in our warmer (56 degrees, a virtual sauna!) dog room. That toasty waterbed was sure nice last night!!!!
Alright, enough small talk. First of all, I am less than 100 visitors away from 5,000 visits. It would be very nice if you all could hop on over and visit my page today... those bully stick prizes we get are pretty darn tasty!!!
And.... Mom has finally given my friend Pinki her own page. Please check her out, too. You can find her link right down at the bottom of our family on each one of our pages. Since Winston is officially gone now, Mom said it left a void in our Dogster family so Pinki will fill it. If you look at all her photos you will see some of yours truly!!! Fortunately, Mom didn't put the one of her biting me in the face and scarring me for life!!! Pinki still says it was an accident, but I am not so sure!
Finally, I guess I am going to go on a little auto trip with Mom and Chaz today. She had to go down to meet some people who are bringing Chaz a girlfriend. That is ONE problem with being a pet dog... I do not get any girlfriends!!!!!!!! At least it is warmer in the car!

Busy day today....

This morning when I got up I thought it was going to be a normal old Wednesday. I had my breakfast, ran around with Mom a bit, then I went in my crate for my mid-morning nap. Pretty soon along came Skye and she got Toto. Figures, I NEVER get to go anywhere with her! About an hour later, along came Skye and Toto and they got ME!!! Yippee I am going, too!!!! I did have to ride in that stupid pink stroller, but I guess it was worth it. When I got to work Skye read us a new book that Jenny's Mom sent to us. It was all about dogs! Then, we went into the grooming room and Skye brushed me and Toto and even gave me a bath! After my bath it was time for lunch. I had the chicken nuggets and some apple pie, mmmmm good! I also ate Toto's fries cuz he hates fries. After lunch we helped Skye play with Donna's baby poodles, then I helped Mom fix a package for my friend, Brenda Lee's Mom. It's a mug from our part of New Hampshire for her. And, also a secret gift, too! Then, it was time for Mom to go home so we came home with her and now I am playing with Harvey and Georgie...gee, I have to work soooo hard!!!
Hey, Skye said maybe the gulls would pick me up and carry me away at the ocean. I told her no way cuz I DID go to the ocean and even stayed there for almost a whole week last year with Mom and Julie and George. No gulls got me then!!! That Toto said in his diary that I didn't go to the ocean cuz he was jealous cuz he NEVER did go there!!! I have been to the real ocean and to the Gulf of Mexico, so there, Toto!!! I even went kayaking in the ocean!!! Mom said the Gulf of Mexice is also the real ocean, and she also said there is another real one on the other side of the country, too! She went there but she didn't take us, boo hoo!

I'm invited on vacation AGAIN!!!!

You know, I have been alluding to my upcoming trip to the ocean when I realized I never even told you guys about it!!! You all remember Jenny, right? Well, she went to Cape Ann to live with Mom's friend. They talk lots via email, and Jenny's new Mom invited our Mom to come down for a visit. She said to bring Toto, too. Well, we have to go in the Winter cuz Mom can't get away again in the Summer AND they don't let the dogs run on the beaches in the Summer and we want to run on the beaches!!! Our Mom can only go on the weekends and Jenny's Mom has a pet store and she has to work on the weekends for part of the day, so our Mom decided to invite Skye along so she and Skye could go exploring while Jenny's Mom was working. Well, if Skye is along, then she will take Toto cuz he is her favorite so then Mom wouldn't have a dog to walk on the beach with. And, remember, I used to play with Jenny lots and lots, too. Soo, Mom asked Jenny's Mom if I could come, too. Fortunately, she said yes, so now I am going to the ocean!!!!
Heeheehee, I am soooo spoiled that I get to go on TWO vacations in only two months!!! Cool.
OMD...I just remembered that we will be at the ocean on MY BIRTHDAY weekend!!! Wow wee, that is cool. That means Mom will have to buy me an extra, extra special birthday gift in addition to my normal vacation souvenir. Maybe we can find something cool at Jenny's Mom's store??? Too bad poor Toto's birthday isn't until the following week, heeheehee!!!

Today's the day!!!!!!!!!

Hurrah.... I should be hitting 5,000 visitors before the end of the day!!!! Wow, who could believe five thousand visitors??????????????? I am sooo excited.
Please, come take a peek and be the magical 5,000th visitor! Maybe Mom will give you a bully stick, too?????

YEA.....FIVE THOUSAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, Mom just looked and I am now enjoying my nice, juicy, smelly bully stick!!! Thank you, whoever just make the 5,000th visitor! Mom said if she knew who you were she would send you a bully stick, too!
And, it is my birthday in a few weeks, so maybe I will get more bully sticks then???
Mom is still amazed that I could have soo many visitors. I told her it's my bubbly personality, hehehe!
Anyway, gotta get back to my chewing... thank you all!!!!!!!!!!!

Yee Gads, a new hairstyle????

OMD... Mom decided I needed a new look today. I have no idea what was wrong with the basic kennel clip I have been wearing for the last 2 1/2 years, but, they say, Moms know best????????
Anyhow, she took her clippers to me and made lines all over me. Then, she actually shaved down most of my ears. Herein lay the problem... while she was shaving my ears it tickled so I flicked my ears... instantly, there was a searing pain thru my ear and Mom said those two words we never like to hear when having a haircut..."Oops, Sorry!" SORRY??? Why is she sorry???? It was MY blood running down my ear!!!! I sulked and pouted long enough to make her feel really bad, then I hopped off the table and ran into the other room to play with Harvey.
Anyway, she is calling this new doo a Dutch Clip???? I thought she said I needed a moustache for that, but I didn't see any mousies around. Hmmm. She did mutter something about waiting for the moustache, and then said it would be a donut one... I could like that, I guess... but I wonder how long I am expected to leave a donut sitting on the end of my nose before I have to eat it?????????? Check out my new photos and see what you think.