I love the couch. Love it, Love it, I do!

I love this couch.  It is my favorite couch (the scary cat spends too much time on the other one).

On rainy days like today, Mom & I play fetch in the house.  I chase the ball down the hallway, through the dining room, and across the family room.  After several runs I have to take a break & do some biting practice with the ball.

So I bring it up on the couch for some biting time.  It's great, these raquetball balls are the perfect size & I can really bite on them very hard.  Of course eventually the ball rolls away and I have to get it back.

Why I love Daycare

This is a note from Shadow's mom.

I love daycare for Shadow.  This past week I had a head cold.  All I wanted to do was sleep, cough, and suck on cough drops.  Thankfully, Shadow went to daycare Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  This meant my adorable, fluffy, and energetic dog got to play and rough-house during the day.  And I got to lounge on the sofa with a calm, content pup at night.

Between daycare, stuffed Kongs, and a fresh beef knuckle to chew on, we all made it through the week without getting tired & frustrated with each other.  I'm much better today & even took Shadow to the dog park to run around like a maniac.

Daycare for dogs is the best invention in the last 50 years.  Yes, it even exceeds the joys of a microwave.

Chicken Walks

Today we did something really neat & different.  Usually mom tries to take me for a walk & I hate it.  When I'm about 20 feet from our driveway I want to go home.  She coaxes me along, but I don't like it.  At all.

I've been hoping she would take the hint (I try to drag her home at every opportunity).  I think she may have gotten it.  Today we took a walk in the woods around our house.  

I didn't have to wear a leash.

We had a great walk.  I got to check stuff out and I got a lot of snacks.  I'm not entirely sure what was going on, but every few minutes I heard this loud whistle & then mom called me over to her.  And then I got chicken.  I really love chicken and you never know when she's going to pull that stuff out.  But I think it has something to do with that whistle.  Which is pretty convenient, because if I'm distracted by some smell on the ground it's nice to have a warning that chicken is being served.

Oh, and guess what I'm good at?  I can balance on a fallen tree really well.  I've done it at the dog park & today I got to do it at home.  That is pretty cool, it's not easy for a dog but I'm very, very clever.

Maybe once I show mom that we have more fun walking in the woods then she'll let me do that more and more, and we can skip the walks along the street.  I gotta go, I need a nap now.

They left me, but they came back!

This weekend I was at the kennel. The whole weekend. They left me there Friday around noon & didn't come to get me until dinner time on Sunday.

It sounds awful, but it wasn't. I had a good time & got to play with some way cool dogs every day. This is me hangin' with my new buddies

Sunday night I had dinner at home & got to sleep on the bed. All night!! And Monday my mom stayed home & we hung out, then went to the dog park to run around. Mom also got some yummy-smelling chicken at the grocery store & let me have a few pieces. But I couldn't eat Buster's pieces, because that's rude. Apparently, no matter how slowly a cat eats their rotisserie chicken they still want to keep it and won't share. Oh well, lesson learned.

This how I look after a day at daycare

I look tired.  Very, very tired.

Feeling better & getting smarter :)

Wow, I feel better. I get to take these pills with peanut butter & cheese for another 12 days (hey Auntie - I didn't know they made bad peanut butter? Mom says we eat the organic stuff & she stirs it a lot).

Sunday we went to the dog park again & had a blast. I met a bunch of dogs there, including one who is a little skittish of new people (like me). But her dad can play "I'm gonna get you" almost as good as MY dad, and we played that game a lot. It was great.

I'm getting better at meeting new people, but I still growl and back up if someone leans over & tries to pat my head. Ooooh - I just don't like that! I duck, growl, back up, and tuck my tail really low to try and tell them to quit it. Usually mom steps in and says I'm nervous with new people, and the person either walks away or crouches down so I can walk up to them. I wish people would quit reaching over my head to pat me, though, I don't like having to growl at them.

Oh! I learned a new trick! When mom waves her hand (like she's waving good bye) I walk backwards. So now I know Sit, Shake, Down, Beg, Circle, Go Crate, and Back Up. I do not want to learn how to play dead, but darn it she makes me practice that one over and over. For now I am playing dumb and hoping she gives up.

Today I'm back at daycare & I was happy to go in. There is a big dog that I'm playing with, he's a Great Pyrenees. And he's just not fast enough to catch me :)

I play with some really cute other dogs, wanna see some pictures?

Here I am going after Ailsa. She is a terrier & we play hard together. She is very, very fast and can turn quickly - just like me. The dog on the bridge is Brittany, she is a foster dog that lives at the daycare place. She's only a baby, and she's going to be big.

This is another picture of me and Brittany and Ailsa. Brittany is very playful, she's a lot of fun.

Bummer - I'm sick.

Yep. I even had to go to the vet's office. First mom used a long grabby-thing and a plastic food container to catch a urine sample. That was definitely disturbing. She normally doesn't bug me when I'm peeing (in fact, she turns away to give me a little privacy). Then we went to the vet, where I had never been before, and they checked me out. They weighed me (I'm bigger, yay!) and said I have some bacteria in my urine. So, it's antibiotics and a few pain relievers.

• The good news: I take pills with cheese and peanut butter. Yumm!
• The bad news: I'm still kind of lethargic. I mean, I'll chase the cats, but I'm just not into it the way I normally am.

And, in all seriousness, Shadow hasn't been playing as hard or as much in daycare the last couple days. I'm glad I brought him in, even though I always worry that I'm over-reactive about my fur-kids. I know that if I didn't go to the vet, and he got sicker, I'd feel like a complete loser. Hopefully he will start to feel better soon and be ready to play chase & tag with the other dogs.

In other news, he has discovered shoes & how tasty-yummy-good they are. Slowly, but surely, he is teaching us to be tidy & put our stuff away. Laundry goes in the hamper now - or else it winds up in the family room. Shoes go in the closet & the closet door is closed - or else they wind up with bite marks. And when all else fails, we baby-gate him into the kitchen.

More pics from the Dog Park

Hey, the DSL connection got fast again.  So here are some pics of my new friends.  First is a dog who looks just like me, but she's much, much bigger.  She's a really big white german shepherd.

Next we have a couple pictures of me playing tug-o-war with some of the other dogs there.  We played with a stick & it was fun.  This is a little husky puppy who wanted to play.

And here we have a black lab & basset mix who started the game.  She is a beautiful dog, her eyes look so soulful and wise.

I think today I'm going to stay home & maybe play fetch in the yard.  After all, tomorrow is a Daycare Day, so I need to rest up.  I might take a nap with mom or dad later if I can talk them into it.

Plays well with others

We went to the dog park today.  OMG I love that place.  We dogs get to be off-leash and there are lots of other dogs to play with.  The play space is huge, an acre or so.  Some of it is wooded & some is wide open.  Today there were 2 great danes and a tiny yorkie, just to give you an idea of the variety.  It's so much fun.

They have tennis balls and sticks to play with.  But the most fun game is when we chase each other.  Here's a video of me in action, I'm the adorable white dog who is blazing fast :)

I met a couple other dogs who like to play tug of war.  Since I didn't bring my stuffed dragon, Puff, to the park we had to play with a stick.  It was great fun.

My DSL connection is super-slow, so I'll have to upload the other pics later.  There was another dog there that looked JUST like me, but she was 100 lbs or so (seriously).  We played together anyways, she was so much fun to play with.

My Job

My job is to PLAY at daycare. And I'm good at it. On daycare days I play with a bunch of other dogs. Sometimes they separate us by size, and I usually play with the other small dogs. I'm pretty big for the small dog area, but I play nicely so it's okay.

On other days they put all of us in a group because we all know eachother & even though some of the other dogs weigh 5x what I weigh, no one is at risk.

Daycare has inside play space and outside play space. The outside play yards are gravel, which is good because you can clean gravel. And clean stuff is good.

One of my mom's favorite things is getting to commute to work with me. I usually lay in the front seat (I wear a safety belt) and we listen to NPR together on the ride in to work. On the ride home I am too tired to listen to the radio, so I just sleep.

Sometimes we go to the local off-leash dog park on weekends. That lets me play with other dogs and make new friends. I really like that place, it's HUGE and there are a lot of people & dogs there.

My other jobs at home include things like rearranging furniture (especially my beds), sorting laundry, and making sure the cats get enough exercise.