Ups and downs...

Sooo, Mom took me for a ride upstreet yesterday. I was all excited to be invited along but turns out she had an ulterior motive. Right next to our house is the vet clinic. We stopped there, and Mom invited me in. Hmmmm, somewhat nervous, I went along and she had me hop on the scale. I'm not telling what my weight was, but suffice it to say I ate very, very little dinner last night, BOL!
Anyway, we chatted with the girls up there for a bit... they gave Mom some revolution for Paisley and her brother and Joey. I heard Mom say something was for me, and when we left she had a tiny bottle with some pills in it. Hmmm.
We went along to Staples and I watched people while Mom shopped. Pretty fun! When we got home we stopped at the kennel so Mom could give Laurie the Revolution and it turns out, some of OUR Christmas presents had arrived. Two of them were GREAT new dog beds... we got one already cuz I saw it, BOL! It is a camping bed and it folds up just like a camping chair. Cool. I like it alot, but so do the other guys so Mom actually ordered another one last night. They are really CHEAP on the Amazon warehouse page.
The other one is a HUGE new bolster bed and Mom said we have to wait for the Holiday to get that one, spoil sport!!!
Anyway, when we got home Mom gave me one of those pills. Turns out I have a tapeworm!!! Funny cuz I only had ONE flea on me all Summer...guess maybe there were two and Mom only saw the one and I swallowed the other, hehehe!
Anyway, I took my pill, ate my supper and then had to puke all over the new dog bed TWICE!!! That will teach Mom, huh????
I feel all better now though! Mom says next month she will give me the pill AFTER I eat my supper.

My BIG week....

Well, now that the news has really sunk in, I am still all excited about this great honor Dogster has bestowed upon me. However, my day wasn't really much different than any other. We got up and Mom still insisted I go outside for my "duty". Because we are having an heat spell up here in NH, she decided to LEAVE US all out all day long.
Hrumph, didn't she realize I was supposed to go to work with her and get accolades from all the girls over there? Guess she must have forgotten that little part, huh? Anyway, it started pouring around noonish so she did come home and let us back inside. I didn't mind the rain, it was now 60 degrees outside and only 55 in our house, BOL! Besides, we were on the porch and not getting wet.
Anyway, finally she got home and fed us our dinner. I did find a piece of roast beef in my dinner, BOL! After dinner everyone went outside again, (but I ducked under the desk and she missed me, hehehe!) But, I found my kitten, Paisley, under there and she had missed me terribly today so she was all over me.
Finally, I snuck off into the dog room to eat Toto's left over, spilled food. Darn it all, the door closed BEHIND ME!!!
Then, Mom let everyone inside and they all played and played for over an hour. She didn't even miss me, although I was barking behind the closed door!!!
Then, everyone went outside again. At this point Mom did miss me, but she assumed I ran out with everyone else and was kind of surprised about that. I barked and barked and barked but she thought I was outside barking, I guess.
After what seemed like forever, she let the others back inside and put them in their crates. FINALLY, she discovered me, shut in this cold, dark room, all by myself! Did she apologize to me??? NOPE, she chuckled at me, BOL! I raced out and ran under the desk where I found my Paisley, nestled in one of the dog beds under there. Whew, she was fine and none of the other guys harmed her at all.
Now, I am staying as far away from that dog room as I can!!!
The only other problem I had today was with my visitors to my page. You see, I like numbers. Sequences, repeating numbers, and stuff like that. Well, Mom and I have been watching my visitor number and had figured out that by the end of this week it was going to be 12,345!! We were excited about that.
Well, after I got picked for Dogster of the Week the number jumped RIGHT PAST 12,345 during the night and was at 12,365 this morning. Oh well, I guess all the visits and gifts and comments and well wishes and bones and zealies is more than worth not seeing that great number, BOL!

OMD... DOG OF THE WEEK!!!!!!

Wow Wee... I just got an email from Dogster HQ and it turns out they have selected me as DOG OF THE WEEK!!! I have NEVER, EVER had such an honor!!!
Frankly, I sort of thought Dog of the Week was a unattainable event since I never even knew anyone that got selected for that.
Holy Smokes, I am sooo thrilled and honored and all that stuff. I am so much in shock I don't even know what to write!
Wooo hoooo, I gotta go tell all the rest of my family!
And, they even picked my flying photo!

Long day today...

Whew, today seemed very, very long for some reason. It was kind of nice outside so Mom left us out for hours and hours. The only good part about that was that I got a break from my foster dad duties.
I was pretty worried...Paisley's brother came in to the kennel yesterday and I was afraid I was going to have to foster BOTH of them... I am getting a little old to be chasing after TWO 5 week old kittens!
Fortunately, Hilda came to work with Laurie this morning and she convinced Laurie to take him to her house and let her foster him. People don't realize it, but it gets harder and harder every single day.
First of all, she is getting much braver so now she explores the WHOLE house. Of course, I need to follow her everywhere so Mom can tell where she is by just looking for me. I am getting pretty tired, that's for sure!
Another problem is that she is now deciding to chew on EVERYTHING... those little kitten teeth are way, way sharper than any puppy teeth...they are just like needles. And, she keeps going for my tail and my toes and my ears!!!
And, since she is getting older every day, she doesn't need nearly as much sleep as before. When Mom puts her in her crate she almost instantly starts crying for me. It's sad, but Mom says I need to use tough love!
We did get down to the lab pen while she was napping. Things weren't all that good down there, either. For some reason, Riley has decided he is higher up on the chain of command here than I am and he feels it is HIS DUTY to remind me of that constantly. He keeps rushing over and putting his feet and his head on MY BACK and trying to start something. I try to ignore him, but then Barney takes over.
Finally, I just sauntered over to Mom and jumped into her lap. For some reason, neither Riley nor Barney have figured out how to jump into her lap, hehehe!
Now we are all resting in our dog beds. Paisley is out here trying to get everyone's chew toys. I have spoken to the others and they now know they are not allowed to growl or snap at her...but I still need to keep one eye open to make sure she is okay. Whew, hard, hard work!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a pretty good day here today. Mom's new stove worked GREAT and the turkey was perfect, MMMMMMmmmmmmm. And, there is enough leftover for tomorrow, too! Mom didn't know that Barney HATES turkey so I got to finish his, too.
My little foster kitten is doing pretty good, well, right now she is crying cuz we are all on Mom's bed and she is in her cage. It's okay, she has been out with me all evening and she needs to sleep now. She will quickly fall asleep, too, and she sleeps ALL NIGHT LONG!!!
We didn't have time to go down and play in the lab pen, but me and Toto got to go for a minute or two while Mom picked some boughs off the cedar trees for wreaths for the boarding kennel. Julia is coming to help make them tomorrow.
After that, Mom put up the Christmas tree. She is crazy about holidays and does everything really early so she can enjoy it much, much longer. Anyway, the tree is pretty but Mom put an expen around it. Good thing she did cuz even with that, Lola grabbed a light and took off with the whole string of them. Fortunately, Mom had tied the tree to the wall so it didn't fall over!!!
And, I am sure Smokey will have a few ornaments before morning, BOL! Not me, I am an adult now and don't bother the tree.
Mom also went ahead and put on our Holiday photos on our pages. We each have several different ones this year and some of us have some special ones from years back.
Well, the kitten fell asleep already so my job is over for the day... gotta go play!!!

A present for ME!!!!

Today Mom was over at work just like every other day. The phone rang, one of 50+ phone calls, and it was one of our grooming clients. She said someone had dumped a kitten near their barn. They have a large farm and people are always dropping off cats and dogs there.
Mom told her to bring it in and pretty soon they showed up with a TINY, TINY baby kitten. She looks healthy and pretty clean except for some fleas and earmites, so Mom gave her some Revolution. The girls gave her some canned food and she ate it right up!
Of course, Mom is going to bring her home cuz she says a kennel is not a place for a baby kitty. Mom said I could be her foster Mo...eh, FATHER!!! I can't wait to meet her!
Mom named her Paisley cuz she is sort of a paisley swirl of colors in her points and the rest of her is Siamese cream color. Mom says it looks like she will have long hair. She still has blue eyes but Mom says that is cuz she is so young.
I am pretty excited and can't wait!!!

Summer????

Wow, it's warm as can be outside today!!! Too bad Mom wouldn't take us to the ocean, it would be really NICE there.
But, no... she says she has to work outside and get ready for Winter. Something about gardens and outside faucets and stuff like that. I hope she remembers I LOVE to help her work in the gardens, BOL!
She also said she was gonna put up the outside holiday decorations. She won't turn on the lights and stuff until AFTER Thanksgiving, she said that is pushing it a bit, although she uses the outside lights for a porch light in the Winter.
Mom is a bit of a Currier & Ives person... she does just boughs of greenery and holly berries and red bows. She puts those icicle swag lights on our porch and that is it, except for the lighted tree on the end of the porch.
Last night she made some of us SUFFER thru the Holiday photo session. Poor me and Riley and Barney and Harvey and Lola got stuck doing it. I must admit, mine are quite nice and not the ordinary. You can see them next weekend, maybe???
Meanwhile, we are outside enjoying the warm air until she gets home from work, which should be pretty soon, I HOPE!!!!!

A cat story...

Ten years ago a local minister trapped a colony of feral cats that were around his church. Over a few weeks time he brought 34 of them in to Mom's rescue.
Sadly, many of these cats had to be euthanized due to health or extreme temperament issues, but many were saved and adopted out... some as beloved pets and some as barn cats.
Well, ONE older female escaped her trap while Mom was transferring her into a cat cage. She immediately went up into the ceiling by breaking out a ceiling tile. Mom and the girls tried everything to catch her... there was no way she was coming back down. They started feeding her in the furnace/break room and built a ramp up to the ceiling for her to use.
For years she would sit on a rafter and watch them as they took their breaks and they would talk to her. She also found a spot where she could look down over the dogs in daycare and enjoyed watching them. They kept trying to trap her but she was too smart for them.
After several years they managed to shut her into a small room when she came down one day and mistakenly went into that room. Mom caught her with a rabies pole and they immediately took her next door for a spay and vaccines. When she was awake, it was back to the ceiling for her. Now she was named CC for ceiling cat, BOL!
Another two years went by and one day, she began to stay down on the floor when they took their breaks. One day, exactly FOUR YEARS TO THE WEEK OF WHEN SHE CAME IN, she marched over to Mom for a pat on the back. Shocked, Mom obliged.
Gradually she became friendlier and started demanding lap time with anyone in the break room. She still spent the majority of her time in the ceiling, but came down for her "breaks". She was smart, and wouldn't let ANYONE pick her up, she knew exactly how long to stay and get the pats.
Fast forward to the present, ten years later. CC is now old and can't make it up to the ceiling anymore. The girls and Mom fixed her a nice bed and other luxuries. She now will sit on their laps for as long as they stay in there, in fact, I have had a few photos in my album of ME sitting with her.
A few weeks ago Mom noticed she was looking pregnant, but was actually quite skinny above the belly. Since she still won't allow herself to be picked up, and certainly could not be pilled daily, and was still eating and drinking fine, Mom realized there wasn't much they could do. She assumed she either had FIP or a tumor or a bad heart and the belly was fluid.
Today one of Mom's favorite vets was here so she had her look at CC. She concurred with Mom's ideas of what was wrong, and admitted there was nothing that was going to fix her, just things to prolong her life.
The girls all discussed her with the vet and have decided to let her continue as she is as long as she is eating and happy and will have her euthanized when it is time. Any treatments would be much too traumatic for her and wouldn't give her that much time.
Although Mom knew all this, she is now feeling sad for poor CC, and for her and the girls. Hence, this eulogy to CC.

HEY, another Diary Daily Pick for me, hehehe!

Mom said, "Oh, btw, Beanie, you are a diary pick today, AGAIN!" Yeah, Mom, are you jealous???? I cannot help it that I am so pupular. Thanks, everypup for your gifts and visits!!!
Anyhow, since today is Sunday Mom got home from work early and put us all outside. I raced right out since I was convinced we were headed down to the lab pen. WRONG... she put us out so she could clean without our help, imagine that!!!
She is cleaning kind of fast, but she did say she also had to go to the store sometime along, AND our guest is coming sometime later this afternoon.
Of course, when she got into the guest room she remembered that she hadn't put up those storm windows yet, so, naturally, she took the time to do that so she wouldn't forget again. Naturally, whilst we are waiting outside!!!!
We were very, very careful to keep both our dog room AND the bedroom clean last night so that was no problem for her. Sooo, since our house is VERY BIG, well, it has TONS of rooms anyway, she only has five left to clean.
FIVE ROOMS...good gosh, we will NEVER get down into that lab pen today!!!!

The new camera...

Well, being Saturday Mom got out early so we went down to the lab pen. She fixed up her new camera harness and put both cameras on it and, away we went!
Mom said it worked really well...she just has to remember which lens is on which camera which is on which side, BOL. Sounds confusing, but the way she put the straps on them the new camera has to be on the right side and the old on the left so she said right is right in front of her, and left is long so she put the close lens on the new camera and the long one on the old camera. Makes sense to her, I guess!
When we got home, pretty quickly cuz there was a NASTY cold wind out there, Mom had to start cleaning the house. Not only did she have to clean her room to make it better for Joey, but she has to clean the guest room because we are having a guest overnight tomorrow night and it hasn't been cleaned since Susie and Tanner/Toby left.
Our guest is Alfie's Mom, and she dropped off that old lab with the tumors for Mom to watch today while she judged some more shows. Mom was amazed... she is still happy and healthy looking and was all excited to come here again. We all like her so we don't mind at all, either.
But, Mom brought Drama home from the kennel because she needed her pen over there. Drama, on the other hand, is quite dramatic and we all have to watch ourselves around her. She has a nasty habit of grabbing one of our back legs and escorting us out the door. If you get mad at her she gets nasty so not one of us argues with her...we just hop along with our leg in her mouth!
Well, gotta go, Mom is going to bed so she can finish cleaning tomorrow. Catch ya later!