My Problem With Writing...

I confess...I really don't care for writing much. I prefer sleeping and eating and getting into trouble. My "sister", Toodie, writes enough for both of us, and then some. So, if you want to stay up-to-date on what's going on with me, just read her diaries...she's VERY verbose!

Take care!
Tristan

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all mommies out there! Hope you had a great day...my mom had a nice day, thanks to me and Toodie being such sweet pups.

More later!
Tristan

Deadly Butterflies!

OK, so I may not be the best diary writer around, but I sure know how to protect my family! Suddenly, there are butterflies flying all over the place! They just appeared out of nowhere, and no one seems concerned but ME! Am I the only one that realizes how dreadful and scary these creatures are? I mean, I bark at them and chase them all over trying to get them away from my family, and my people just laugh! I realize they aren't quite as attuned to danger as I am, but honestly! Something as dangerous as a butterfly shouldn't be shrugged off and laughed about!!

Oh well. I'll remain loyal and dutiful....

Stay safe and beware of the butterflies!
Tristan

Rainy Day Blues

Oh dear, I'm afraid I'm a dreadful diary writer (like most guys, I'd rather be DOING something, like sleep, than write anything!).

Today is a very rainy day and all I want to do is sleep on the sofa in the living room near the fireplace. We have flood warnings and it's suppose to rain three inches today! I HATE going outside in the rain. And when Mom and Dad finally do make me go out, I skirt around the puddles and try to avoid the mud...I'm thoughtful like that, unlike Toodie who bounds through anything in her way. She's the one that tracks all the mud into the house that Mom and Dad always complain about! Her and the cats...they call me prissy, but I'm just neat and thoughtful.

Toodie had a birthday on March 30...she's two years old! Mom and Dad don't know when my birthday is since I was lost and no one knows where I came from. Mom and Dad think they should celebrate my birthday on Toodie's birthday because we're close to the same age. But I want to be different and have my OWN birthday...

Later!
Tristan

Good-Bye, Connor

Well, it's just me and Toodie here now. Saturday was Connor's last day here...he's now at the "Rainbow Bridge", the place where all dogs go when their time on earth is up. Connor was REALLY old!! Fifteen years! Wow... I can tell Mom and Dad are sad to have him gone, but Connor wasn't feeling well and could barely get around anymore. All he did was sleep, eat a little bit and poop a lot! Mom and Dad could never figure out why there was so much poop when he only ate a little. Oh well.

Did I ever tell you that I love to be sneaky? Well, I do! I like to take things when Mom and Dad aren't looking, and sometimes I even take things when they ARE looking! They call me a little thief, or a cleptomaniac, whatever that is. I like to take shoes, gloves, slippers, or anything I can get out of the trash or recycling and carry it into the living room or office. Then I get to watch Mom and Dad look around for their stuff! It's kind of like hide 'n' seek, but I don't think Mom and Dad like to play it too much. They laugh at me though, so I guess they think it's funny.

And I got my toenails trimmed tonight. Toodie didn't like having hers trimmed, and she wiggled all over the place. I was a good boy and stayed very, very still so Mom and Dad could trim them. They gave me treats!

I need to go hold the sofa down so it doesn't float off into space, and the only way I can do that is by laying on it. Who knows where that sofa would end up if I weren't here to hold it in place!

More later!
Tristan

Mmmmmmmm, Bailey's Irish Cream......

So, yesterday Mom was sitting in the living room sorting through her massive box of garden seeds to see what she needs to order for the garden this year. Relaxing while doing so, with a small glass of Bailey's Irish Cream, Mom was enjoying the quiet time when suddenly her pager goes off with a winter storm warning! Well, being alert to any dangers like a good Mom should be, Mom went into the dining room to better hear what the pager was sqwaking about. Silly Mom didn't put her Bailey's out of reach, so I decided to take this opportunity to see why she likes it so much...

...I tasted it, and it was good...

So I tasted it some more, and it was STILL good! I tasted a whole bunch of it before Mom came back into the room. She seemed a little upset, probably because I'm too young to be drinking anything with alcohol in it, but she said something about it being the last little bit that was left, and now it was all gone. (She got a small bottle of it for Christmas). Well, Mom went and replaced the Bailey's that I drank with some Baja Tango, and I wanted that too, even though it tastes like an orange creamcicle. I kept pestering Mom for some, and then Toodie started in too (Mom was sitting on the floor sorting her seed packets), and we didn't stop until it was all gone. So much for Mom relaxing! Ha!

Lately I have an itchy spot on my rump. I keep chewing at it and Mom and Dad always try to make me stop. Mom gave me some prednisone to help it stop itching, but I'm still chewing at it. Dad sprays some anti-itch spray on it, but that just makes me want to chew that spot more. I hope they don't take me to the vet...he might give me a shot!!

Later!
Tristan

Wild 'N' Free!

Belated Happy New Year to you all! I had such fun on New Year's Day!! Somebody left the gate open (or unlatched) on the fenced yard where we play. So, I decided to go exploring (wouldn't you?!) It was about 3 p.m. (feeding time) when Mom's pup, Tyler, suddenly realized I was missing, and had been for about 1/2 hour. Well, poor Mom was in a panic they say. Mom got in her Jeep and drove up and down the roads and dirt roads through the woods, while Dad and Jeremy hopped in their Saabs and drove the roads. Tyler walked the trails where we normally go on walks to see if they could find me. Mom was just making a pass by our house, when suddenly she saw me not 100 yards from our house, along the roadside trying to have my way with an interesting female dog....Well....Mom put me in her Jeep and my new friend ran away! I was pretty upset as I watched her run down the road and out of my life! When we got home (mere seconds!) I went back to the fenced yard and promptly ran over to my latest treasure....a very "ripe" deer leg!! When no one was looking, I brought a tasty deer leg into the yard. Some hunter was very thoughtful and left all the choice parts for me to find! Mom figures I found the deer leg and brought it home to enjoy, then my new friend showed up and lured me back out of the yard and off down the road, and that's when Mom found me. Mom was happy to see me, and was glad to know I didn't just run off, never to be seen again. I'm so nice and friendly, Mom figured someone would just take me and keep me for their own.

Today I've been a typical couch potatoe collie, hanging out in the house (it's raining all day, ugh! I HATE the mud!). Mom and Dad think it's cute when I avoid walking through the mud and puddles...

Anyway, I'm gonna go sack out some more...I need my beauty sleep, ya know.

Later!
Tristan

Livin' The Good Life

I sure do like it here in my new home. I get to sleep on the sofa and on the watebed...I especially like the waterbed. When Mom leaves for work early in the morning, sometimes she puts me up there so I can sleep with Dad. In the winter that's really nice, because it's already warm!

Mom feeds me some really yummy dog food, and my fur is so much glossier and darker than when I first came here. I had been out in the sun a lot when I was wandering around trying to find my family, and my fur was bleached out. Now it's black and shiny and I look like a new handsome collie. Toodie seems to like me a lot, anyway! And I know Mom and Dad love me so much! They're always telling me what a sweet collie I am. I must admit that I'm pretty mellow...your basic couch potatoe. Not a whole lot gets me worked up, but I must admit that I bark a LOT whenever I hear the coffee grinder, hair dryer, vacuum, etc. I don't think my people realize the danger they are in when these things are making so much noise....I mean, I've SEEN things getting sucked up in that vacuum for crying out loud! And have you ever seen what a coffee grinder does to coffee beans!?!! Just imagine what it could do to people!!! Horrors! I try to warn them, but they just make fun of me. Some day they'll learn....

Mom and Tyler took me on a 2 mile walk today with Toodie. I don't think it's very fair...they let Toodie run free while they keep me on a leash! It's probably because the first time they tried letting me run free, I tried to run away! But that's only because I'd been living here about a week and I wasn't sure yet where my home was. I think I could control myself and not run off now if they let me off the leash. Especially now that Toodie is here...I don't think I'd leave her. She's my buddy! And she NEVER gets too far from Mom. Mom says she'll try letting me off the leash a little bit later once there is snow on the ground, so that if I do run off, at least they can follow my tracks! I think I'll trick them though, and stay close!

Well, must go hold the sofa down so it doesn't float away. You never know when sofas will just drift off into space unless there's a 60 pound collie on it to keep it securely in place.

Later!
Tristan

Home At Last

I've been living with my forever family since September 12, 2004. This is when they adopted me from the Tri State Collie Rescue in Ohio and took me home with them. Prior to that, I was wandering all over Ohio looking for my family. Ohio is a big state and I never did find them. I'm not really sure how I got lost in the first place, but I was taken in by the Rescue in July, and I'm scared of fireworks so my new Mom and Dad think maybe I ran away to hide from the 4th of July fireworks and got lost, never to be found by my original people.

Anyway, I now live in Pennsylvania! It's a beautiful state, and there are a lot more hills and even mountains to run and play on than what Ohio has. My new family consists of Mom and Dad and their human pups, Jeremy and Tyler. There are also three cats, Minky Bean, Little Kitten, and Gypsy. Connor is an ancient dog that also lives here...he's 15 years old!!! He's not much fun because all he does is lay around and sleep. He's part Australian Blue Heeler and part German Shepherd. Anyway, Mom and Dad just adopted a cute little Australian Shepherd a couple weeks ago. Her name is Toodie, and she is HOT! She's a blue merle...sweeeeet! She's way more energetic than I am though, but she makes sure I get plenty of exercise! Mom is training her to be a Search and Rescue dog, and she's hoping I'll some day be a therapy dog. She says I need a lot of work though, because I'm a typical collie...smart, but stubborn!

Oh, originally the people at the Rescue were calling me Apache because I've got this cool white patch on my rump. My new Mom and Dad call me Tristan. They said they liked the name, plus it's also a character from a neat British TV show called "All Creatures Great and Small". Tristan means "The Noisy One"....and I can make a lot of noise if I feel like it....

I've got lots of stuff to write about, but I have to share the computer with Mom and Toodie, so I can't take up too much time or they'll get mad.

More later!
Tristan