Ramblin' Man

Howdy Y'all.
My name is Duke. I have many sudo names because I am a man of mystery. I hail from the heart of Texas and my Mom says I talk with a southern drawl. Y'all wanna know how my morning went thus far. Alright. Here goes it. I woke up typical Sunday morning. My Dad told my Uncle Jeffrey to let me and Ruby outdoors. We went out and had our morning sabatical and I got to sniffin' 'round. I smelt a pretty little thing just yonder and I went a'roaming. My Dad wasn't feeling well and Momma was still sleeping so no one was calling my wandering heart a home. I walked meandering toward a nearby farm house where a pretty little lab lived...Woo-ey was she a darlin' little thing. The family who lived there went to shoo me off but I gave 'em my big farmboy smile of mine perfectly picked out for the occation and they let me stay. They put me in a fenced in dog enclosure in the garage and moved the lab because she was in heat and was making me lovestruck. They closed the garage door and called the Beecher Police to let them know I was found and safe. In the garage I could hear my family calling my name but what could I do. I was a captive in this garage. My Momma and Dad called and called. Then I heard my Auntie Sylvia calling my name. I laughed because I never answer to Auntie Sylvia, but then I thought I gotta get outta here because they're probably really worried about me. I tried and tried but in was futile I was trapped. My Momma had the good sense to call the Beecher Police as well. They were on me like stink on a hog. Those police around here are quick. Momma got the number of my captures and called them; she gave some of my information and told them I was wearing my purple collar -which by the way makes me look like a million bones- and they were on their way to me. It didn't take them long because the farm was only two away from their own. When Mister Tom openned the door for me to see my family I was crazy happy. I was hoppin' up and down on the chain link fence. They came to rescue me. They talked to Mister Tom and Miss Jeanie for a few minutes and we were on our way home. Miss Jeanie agreed that their lab and I would have made beautiful puppies after Momma said it. Then we were off. I was so happy, then Dad said that he was disappointed in me and I stopped smiling and stopped trying to climb in the front seat with Mom. Momma kissed me on the nose. When we got to the house Ruby came outside and Momma played with us and gave me lots of hugs and kisses. Momma knows I didn't want to leave them I was just following my nose. I LOVE THE LADIES!

Monday blues...Think Again.

Hi Y'all,
It's me again your favorite Daring Dewey. I want to tell you all about my Monday. My Momma surprised me and Ruby with a FUN FILLED DAY. First, she made secret plans for us to go to a puppy play date. I had never been on one of those before so I'll tell you all about it. Ready...Here goes! We were restin' at home thinking the parents were at work...thinking about what mischief we could get into while they were gone when Momma came pullin' up the drive way at 10:45 am. She gathered some food and treats and a ball and told both Ruby and I to use the bathroom before we left. We went out side and Momma brushed Ruby quickly because she had her long hair shaved off for the Springtime heat and brushed me for about a half hour made sure we did our business again and we walked back into the house...this is when things got exciting. Momma went into the closit where our leashes are hidden and pulled them out. YAY! YAY! YAY! We're going somewhere WOO-WOO. I'm a'hollarin' Ruby's whining like she's gonna jump out of her skin...ROAD TRIP. We pile into the clown car taking up the entire back seat. PLEASE OPEN THE WINDOW, MOMMA. She Reads my mind. OH, YEAH! We drive almost a half an hour with the wind blowing in our face and my head hanging out the window with the biggest smile on my face. We get to the house and Momma gets out of the car and shakes the woman's hand and lets us out and we go straight to the backyard to sniff, poop, and wait for Buttons. We never met Buttons before so Momma and Buttons owner, Gerry, didn't know what to expect. They snapped on everyone's leash and Buttons came out the door. He was as white as sheep and playful. Buttons was also a rescue. He is believed to be part Bichon Frise` and part Terrier. Buttons and I had tons of fun. He liked to box and so do I. I out weigh him so I didn't throw my weight around like he did. We had a blast. We ended our play date early because Ruby was a little over protective of her me. She didn't want Buttons to hurt me so she got a little noisy. We didn't want to stress her out so we set up a date for the future to play again. Then, Momma took us to the nearby forest preserve. We got to Chase each other and Splash in the River and do alittle jumpin' 'round and just have a heck of a good time. We got real dirty - Full of mud. IT WAS A HOOT! On the way home I had my head out the window and saw a dog getting a walk and I wanted to play with him so I started whining but he just ignored me...what a snobbish pooch. Momma stopped at PetSmart to practice some double dog leash walking. She figured we would behave because we had just got so much energy out...WRONG! So, Momma turned my leash into a harness with a little thinking and slowly walked us out of there. I think we embarassed her a little, but she loves us too much to hold a grudge. We got her wrapped around our little dew claws. We were plum tuckered out to tell the truth. I hunkered down right in the middle of the back seat and passed out the rest of the ride home. When I hazily opened my eyes I saw Ruby was sleeping too but she had no room, so she had her two front paws standing on the floor of the vehicle and her back legs sitting on the seat. It looked really uncomfortable, but I didn't want to lose my spot so I closed my eyes quickly and pretended not to notice. Hehehehehehe. She's not the only sneaky one in the family.
-Duke

Kaitlyn was here!

Helloooo-oooow Chicagoland,

I have got to say, Monday's have been good to the Dukester. Today Momma got off work early. Momma's friends Megan and Kaitlyn came over. Kaitlyn is 9 (going to be 10 on Sunday) and they played with Ruby and me. I was so happy to see Kaitlyn that I jumped up sideways without putting my feet on her and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. I remember when I first came to the Chicago Suburbs this Christmas and she was the first person outside my new family that came to play with me. I will never forget that day...It was very cold and there was almost two feet of snow on the ground and still snowing. We played almost all day together. It was actually suposed to be a play date for her dog Frodo and me but when Frodo came over he was too scared to play with me. I can't blame him...it was his first play date. I can't remember but I probably had the jitters, too. So, Megan took Frodo home, but Kaitlyn, my Momma and Me made the most of the snow day. It was so much fun. And today was a repeat -except today Ruby joined in the fun.

This is Dukester from Dogster saying have a great day and a pleasant tomorrow.

P.S. I almost forgot I chased a HUGE rabbit today, but he got away through the fence. So, I stared at him until he got the picture. My yard...Mine! Bad Rabbit.

Yard Invaders of the Scaly Kind

Hey all you Biddies out there,

So, here's how goes it. I'm just playing with Ruby and Momma, minding my own business, when out of nowhere a garter snake comes slinking out of the grass. And this isn't the normal tiny garter snake, no, this is a rough and tumble, tie it into a lasso, and use it to reel in cattle type snake. Any who, Momma tells me not to eat it and it curls up and moves toward the garage. I'm bein' real good like so Momma ups and runs into the house to fetch the camera. When she comes back she is supervising so she says Ruby and I could take a better look.

Rube didn't want to get involved so I volunteered. I would bob and weave and scratch at the ground to get the scoundrels attention. That worked often but when mister squiggles didn't want to listen I would give out a little taunt, "Bah, Bah, Bark, Hey you with the scales! This is private property and you're intruding. If I were you I would high tail it out of here double time. Before I sic the people on you...Oh, yeah, You heard right, Bucko. Now Get!"

I continued to taunt the snake and do you know what he had the nerve to do...Back Talk that's what he did. He also made a pungent smell that I just had to get close to sniff. Then he went and had a go at me. He struck out at me...and again...and again.

Momma filmed it all...well, the good parts at least. She will show y'all and you can see it all for yourself. Finally, I smiled at Momma and she turned off the camera. She knew that it was time for her to take matters into her own hands. She picked up the snake - I wanted to eat him at this moment but Momma said no and he continued to live. She carried him by the tail to the tall grasses at the edge of our dog run and placed him there to leave. He squirmed off like the snake that he is. I kept my eye on that spot for some time. I wasn't completely convinced that he had moved on.

Momma showed me the video and I watched. She pointed out that my head was all wrinkly. I let her know that I was surprised at such an upstart and frustrated while dealing with this snake. I couldn't believe what he was saying and that he just didn't get the **(Duke added those by putting his nose on the keyboard just now I guess he wanted to add an expletive to his story) point that he was trespassing.

Well, he's gone now. And the yard is invader free for the time bein'.

See ya 'round,
Dew

Comic Book Store

Forgot to tell you about what we did with Dad over the weekend. You'll love this.

As we do on most weekends we went to the Farm in Beecher, IL. Mom had to work on Sunday so she went home real early Sunday mornin'. Dad entertained us by driving the golf cart 'round all 155 acres of land and we ran until our hearts were content. Dad and Uncle Jeffrey had their bows out and were target shooting when he got a phone call. His buddies had a bad day so Dad was going to spend the rest of the day with them. He called Momma and she said he could drop us off at the house and come pick her up so she could go with. Dad messed up the message and thought she would meet him at Zone Comics. When Dad got there he called Momma because he didn't see her there. She said she always gets lost so she wanted a ride over. Then she told him to forget about picking her up because his friends needed him and it was a long drive back home just to come all the way back. So, Ruby and I went to a Comic Book Store in Homewood, IL with Dad. Yeah, we get around. We got to walk around the store off leash and eat lasagna and meet some of Dad's friends. They drank, played card games, and had a good time. I did some counter surfing but didn't find much so I tried smuggling food from all the people there. Then, Ruby and I smudged up all the glass in the store with our big noses looking at all the cool displays.

Isn't visiting new places fun.

-Duke

Tasting the Kitty!

Howdy,
This weekend...I admit it. I made a mi-mi-MI...I can't say it. I tasted the Farm Cat! He always hides from me when we are at the farm and I don't like this. Then he runs from me and boy do I like that. Well anyway, the cat was scared of me and I decided to see what he tasted like. I put my mouth around him -I didn't squeeze- and I let him go. He didn't have any marks on him. He was just a little slobbery. I figured he would taste like the Mice and Rats we both like to chase, catch, and occationally eat at the farm. But he didn't. It was kind of a bummer. Momma checked him out after the Grandparents told her. Meow Meow was fine. No marks- no cuts- no complaints. He went in the garage and I followed. Momma followed me. She saw me looking for him, but she found him first. He was sitting on some rags on a mid sized shelf. Momma started petting Meow Meow and called me over. Meow Meow wasn't so scared now because what's the worst that can happen now, Right! So, Momma got a chance to properly introduce us face to face. And I got right up to his level and sniffed his booty and opened my mouth and put it gently on his back end. The Cat didn't move, but Momma said, "Wrong!" I backed off. I moved in closer again...real slow like and opened my mouth slowly agian and Momma said, "Wrong!" She explained that farm cats were not for eating and then we had time to get aquainted. I explained to Meow Meow Wilcox that quick movement makes me want to chase him and may make me lose focus on what Momma said. I think we understand each other now. Then it was time to get going and we all jumped in the car and drove home... and here we are.

Playing with Caleb

Hey Y'all,

Momma was so smart today. She came home for lunch because she was driving nearby. She works with Border Collies all day. Her job consists of driving around to client's properties and using the Border Collies to herd off avian pests like Geese, Gulls, and Pidgins.
Today she came home and brought Caleb into our backyard to play with us.
Ruby played with him before, but it was my first time. Caleb was cool. He could jump real high and catch anything that was thrown to him. One time he even bumped the football over the 6/7 ft fence. Momma had to jump over the fence into the neighbor’s yard to grab it and throw it back for the game to continue.
Caleb was even faster than Ruby. He almost always beat her to the ball. Then he would attack it and throw it around and bite at it like he was killing it. He was playing with the ball so hard he actually popped our football.
We were all so tired and happy after the 30 minute lunch was over that we were all panting and smiling. We were so happy that Momma shared her lunch break with us.
Momma packed Caleb in the vehicle and came back in to give us more water and tell us she loved us and then she was off again. It was super fun!

-Dewey

Young at Heart Parade in Rockford, IL

Hey,
Just got back from Rockford, IL. My sis and I are movers and shakers.
Friday night my Dad and Momma drove us out to Loves Park, IL where they got a hotel. They were gonna sneak us in but the night shift guy had cameras so we got to have a fun camp out in the car. Momma and Dad must have gotten absolutely no sleep because they kept checking on us every couple hours, but we were fine. Actually, they kept waking us up. We didn't have to use the bathroom or nothing - we just wanted to sleep.
In the morning, Mom and Dad woke up really early to get us ready...we were going to get to wear Costumes -isn't that fun! We were going to be Hyena’s in the parade and not just any Hyena’s but BUD & LOU. I was Bud! If you didn’t know, Bud and Lou are Harley Quinn’s babies/pets in the Batman: The Animated Series cartoon, but the costumes weren't meant to be because they sprayed some Brown hair spray on Ruby's Black Coat and tried to leave her black spots to make her look like a Hyena but that didn't work. The Brown barely lightened any of her black coat and the large black spots were hardly visible. So, we went bare backed. We still got to wear our specially purchased Purple collars with Tags that read either Bud or Lou on the front and on the back said:
IF LOST
PLEASE RETURN TO
HARLEEN QUINZEL
ARKHAM ASYLUM
[Momma’s Cell Phone Number]
We were "Gotham's Finest" in the parade. Our group traded off holding the banner for our sponsors. The Banner was huge! It was for the neighboring comic book store. Momma was dressed as Harley Quinn; Dad was Joker; our friend Adrianne was Roxy Rocket; Adrianne's boyfriend Joe Ruger was Commissioner Gordon; a man named Eric was Batman; his wife Kate was Catwoman; and a young adult named Tim was the Tim Drake Robin Character. I didn't know the last three...but we are friends now. All except the Catwoman. She must have heard what I did to Meow Meow and stayed far away from me. If she wasn’t so shy I would have told her I was sorry for tasting the cat. No one ever let’s you get over your mistakes, gosh!
During the parade Joker and I were the show. I liked pulling Mom to the crowd so I could meet everyone. I was working the crowd. Ruby was tethered to me so she was yanked any which way I wanted to go...mostly because I out weigh her by about 35 lbs. The crowds of people all thought I was beautiful and Funny. Everyone wanted to pet me and then they pet Ruby, too. I met lots of new dog friends. Question: Are English Bull dogs REALLY DOGS? Momma keeps telling me they are but I kept giving them a funny look like, “Nah,” I don’t think they are. They smell like dogs, but I haven’t figured out what they are. I saw about 5 of them and they are all kind of round. Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, but is round really one of them. Oh, well, guess I’ll never know for sure. Anyway the parade was wonderful. Pulling Mom and Ruby all around was probably the best part. I don’t get away with that kinda stuff at home.
After the Parade, the people in our "Gotham's Finest" group that didn't have to leave early went to the sponsors comic book store and stood in front of the store to advertise the "Free Comic Book Day" that they were having in lieu of the parade. Momma, Dad, and Tim (Robin) walked us from the parade to the comic book store. When we got there Momma walked us right in the doors. It was so hot outside we needed to get out-a-the heat. Momma told us later that she never asked if we could come in but figured it would take more effort on their part to throw us out than let us in. SHE IS A HOOT! But she was right they didn't shoo us out. We ate inside and had a bowl of water and then went outside in front of the store to wave and drive customers in for an hour or so. Momma brought us out some water and let us lie in the shady areas so we were comfortable. I was so comfortable I can't even tell you what happened next because I caught up on some Z's.

Your Hyper Hyena,
Bud

P.S. If you know any one who attended tha parade we would love to see photos. Please send them our way. Thank You so much.

little critters...

Hey Y'all,

I'm in the dog house. Momma got some new friends...tiny little critters, and I ate one. These little critters are called Degus.

Degus are related to guineas pigs and chinchillas but smaller than both. They have a semi-long tail with a little brush of hair at the tips. In Chile they are called Brush Tailed Rats but they are not rats. Now that you know a little about their history here's what I have to say. How the Heck was I supposed to know these critters aren't rats, Huh? Do I look like an encyclopedia! When I go to the farm no one gets angry when I join the cat in a little Cat and Mouse...with the rats I mean...I don't destroy the cat. We both chase them and kill them. Grandma HATES rodents. She would have been proud of me like always. But Momma keeps saying, "You ate my Friend." I don't get the double standard. And technically I never swallowed him. If that helps my case at all.

I am blaming the little guy. If he hadn't hopped out of his cage none of this would have happened!

I guess it's back to watching the others behind glass. Just to clarify, I thought I was helping Momma catch him. I found him and was pointing him out. Momma tried to catch him and missed and the little guy ran under the desk and Momma started looking under the desk but the sneak was out already. He came near me and as Momma was getting back up to try her luck again I grabbed him. Momma told me to let him go and I did but it was too late. The look on Momma’s face was horrible.

Momma, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eat your friend.

Very apologetic,
Duke

Howl Night 2009

Do you ever get the urge to let out a long howl? Yesterday the phone rang at Grandma's house and I just had to voice my opinion. I let out a deep, soulful howl and it was answered by my companion Ruby Dust. Almost a minute later it was joined by my Momma. We all took a different note and sang out for pure enjoyment. We just howled and Howled until we let it all out. AH, that felt good.
-Dew Bug