Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

It's been furever since I've written here, but I just gotta tell ya folks about all the snow we've gotten here today! This is the most snow I've seen since we moved to Maryland ... just maybe the most snow I've seen in my whole life - even when we lived in Michigan!

Last night when my people took me out to leave some pee-mail for my neighbor doggies, there was just a little of that fluffy white stuff on the ground. Just enough to make your paws chilled, ya know?

Well this morning when we went out there was like, oh I don't know, maybe enough snow to bury a Yorkie. And then we went out a little later to PLAY in the snow, and it was deep enough to bury a Cocker Spaniel. And now ... now there's enough to bury a Springer Spaniel maybe!

20" so far and it's still snowing!!

While I do LOVE to PLAY in the snow - and my people took lots of photos of me out there today having so much fun - and we hardly ever get any snow here in Maryland (at least not enough to really play in) - this has been quite the treat. But I wonder ... will there ever be enough snow to bury a Retriever-mix like me? Hmmmm....

A Perfect Weekend

Saturday:
* Julie-people bakes bones, which means I get to sample lots of bones
* I get a super-fun new toy from PetsMart!
* trip to the dog park!!

Sunday:
* Julie-people bakes more bones, Hayle-dog gets to sample more bones
* Hayle-dog, as part of the "clean-up crew", licks clean the empty peanut butter container
* Hayle-dog gets to go for a swim at the reservoir!

Woof. Life is good.

I woof camping!

Woo-woof! What a weekend! I knew something was up on Friday when the people was putting bags and coolers and doggie treats together - we were goin' on a trip! But where to?

I'll tell ya where ... we went camping! I LOVE going camping. All the smells and sounds and fresh air. We were in the area of the campground that was designated as the doggie area (other areas aren't special enough to have dogs at them, I guess) and I was a really good doggie and didn't bark at the other doggies or anything. My people was so proud of how good I was.

Yesterday we went hiking twice AND I got to go swimming twice - woah! Once in the morning and then again in the afternoon. What a day! My two most favoritest things! I was dog tired last night but I just couldn't let myself fall asleep while the people were still up - didn't want to miss a second of the fun, ya know?

On the ride home today I reached up from the backseat and gave my people little kisses on their necks to say "Thanks guys, for a great weekend." I love my people. We do fun things together.

Bark Out to my Friends at ARNI!

I recently celebrated the 5th anniversary of the day I adopted my people. So I wanted to give a Bark Out to my Friends at Animal Resource Network, Inc (ARNI) of Lansing, Michigan who rescued me and helped me find my Forever Family. Love you guys!

For my full adoption story, please see my "work" blog ...
www.loveofdogbakeryblog.blogspot.com

Muttiquette

I am Mutt, hear me ROAR! Well, maybe not "roar" so much as bark. I'd like to offer a few short lessons in muttiquette to all you doggies in Dogster-land ...

Lesson 1: He who gets the last Bark wins!
When out on a walk with your people, if another doggie walking past barks at you, the proper muttiquette response is to bark back. Your people may not like this response, but it simply is not optional, my friends. You wouldn't want the other doggie to think that you were any less of a dog than they are, now would you? You wouldn't want that other doggie to think that your people has full control over you, now would you? Oh no. If they bark at you, you bark back. Always get the last bark.

Lesson 2: When in doubt, Bark.
When out on a walk with your people, if you see another doggie and that other doggie sees you, but that other doggie has not yet barked, and you are uncertain of what the proper muttiquette response might be ... Bark. Let that other doggie know who's Alpha (even if you're closer to a Beta or Delta, they don't know that). When in doubt, bark.

Lesson 3: Know when you've been out-barked.
When out on a walk with your people, should you happen upon a bigger, meaner doggie, and his bark is not following any traditional muttiquette rules but rather gives you the impression that he might actually eat you if given the chance, there is no shame in a soft whimper to admit defeat. There's a doggie like this in my neighborhood, and when he barks and growls at me when we walk past his house, I hang my head low and offer a few soft whimpers. Know your limits, pups. A misplaced bark could do more harm than good.

Nappin'

Dear Peoples,
Why must you wake me up, just to tell me how adorable I look when I'm asleep? Would you like it if I did the same to you? Probably not. On the other hand, this does usually mean that I get some snuggles, loving, or at the very least some petting or attention in some form, so I guess it's okay.

I'm going to pretend that I'm asleep now, more lovin' please!

Sleepy-time,
The Hayle-dog

Happy New Year!

Woof! What a week and a half! I just love the holidays! So many people, so much loving! In the last week and a half I've ...

* protected the house from Santa and other intruders (he came anyway, but he gave me treats, so it's okay)
* kissed 11 different people
* played chase, tug, and fetch, and had lots of fun with my people-family
* destroyed 4 new doggie toys
* eaten several special yummy treats
* played "Guitar Hero III" and lots of other games on the "Wii" (well, I supervise as the people play - we haven't figured out how to make a "Mii" that looks like an adorable black puppy-dog yet)

And boy, I'm exhausted. I think I've gone entire days without sleeping because I just didn't want to miss any of the excitement. Thank goodness the people go back to "work" tomorrow - I need a break!

Kitties live in houses too?

Did you know that kitties can live in houses too? I've only chased, er, I mean seen kitties outside up until yesterday. Yesterday my Julie-people and I got in the car and drove for a while (not a super long time like when we lived in Michigan and went to visit the grand-people in Virginia but longer than a normal trip to the dog-park or anything like that). Anyway, when we got out of the car we were at the Julie-people's sister's apartment. I like the Julie-people's sister a lot. She always gives me lots of lovin' and playin' when she comes to visit us at my house.

So I went inside the sister-people's apartment and it definitely smelled like there were other critters that lived there, not a dog, I didn't think, but some other kind of critters. Kitties? No, couldn't be! But it was kitties! The sister-people kept the kitties locked in the bed room while I got to be in the rest of the apartment. The people took me on a nice long walk around the lake (but they didn't let me swim or chase the geese - not fair!) and then when we came back the people put up the gates that we have at my house in the doorway and opened the bedroom door. So now I could see the kitties and the kitties could see me. The one kitty didn't like me at all - he growled at me. Did you know that kitties could growl? Yeah, neither did me or my people, but this kitty growls. The other kitty was kinda interested in me, but scared a little too because his big brother kitty was growling. I was kinda scared of the kitties, especially the growling kitty, so I stayed away from the gates for awhile and just hung out with the people.

I was a really really good doggie and my people was so proud of how good I was. I only barked at the kitties twice, and that was only when the friendly kitty went all submissive and showed me his belly (aparently he was trying to get lovin' from the people, and not being submissive to me, however). The other kitty kept growling though - and he really didn't like it when I barked at them.

Then the friendly kitty charged the gates, knocked one of them down, and was on my side, in the living room. We just stared at each other for a bit. I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I tried to go sniff the kitty, but the kitty ran, so I chased the kitty because I really wanted to check it out, but the kitty was scared and hissed at me. So then the sister-people held the nice kitty, and I tried to jump up to sniff the kitty, but the kitty was still scared, so the sister-people put the kitty back in the bedroom again. After about 15 minutes or so though, the nice kitty jumped back over the gate and I tried again to go sniff the kitty. But the kitty got scared again and jumped back over the gate back into the bedroom.

After that, the nice kitty didn't come back to see me again. And the other kitty kept growling. And so I never really got to play with the kitties or sniff them much. But I was a good doggie, so maybe I'll get to go back and sniff the kitties again sometime.

Squirrels, squirrels, everywhere!

So I was walking my people this afternoon (it's good for them to get exercise and fresh air you know) and there were squirrels EVERYWHERE! Squirrels running all over the place - across the path, up the trees, in the yards, in the woods, and everywhere!

Have these squirrels no fear? Don't they know that I am a Squirrel-Chasing-Machine! That I would chase them and chase them and maybe even catch them and then chase them some more. And yet they walk right in front of me. And oh, I think about chasing them. I think about putting these squirrels in their place. But I don't. I want to, but I don't. Because I have a Julie-people at the other end of my leash, and she just can't run as fast as I can. And it wouldn't be nice to drag the people while I chase after those squirrels. But oh, I think about it ... and I want to ... believe me!

Noble Noah of Naught

My "uncle" Noah left this world on Friday. Noah was my grand-people in New Hampster's Springer Spaniel. He's with my people's other doggie, Samson, now. I think they grew up together, so it's good that they are together again. Noah was a grumpy old man, but he was kinda sweet too.

All dogs go to heaven.