February 10/10
Want to hear me cuss out this what-d'ya-call-it?
I know it may sound like I was whining and being a big baby, but I was really telling that thing off. In the end, it wouldn't let me take it home ... but I didn't really want it anyway, as you can tell.
The Association of Pet Dog Trainers has made January National Train Your Dog Month. So to mark the occasion, Niamh and Ambrose are asking all their friends to submit photos of them training with their parents. It can be a photo of you practicing a trick or a skill or obedience. See Niamh's blog for details.
I decided to submit a picture of Mama and me practicing my Sit-Stays at street corners. I walk with a very long lead so I'm usually several feet in front of Mama, unless she has me heeling. That means I reach the street corner before she does. So rather than reeling me in at each corner like she used to, she's teaching me to sit down at the curb and wait til she's standing beside me, at which point she tells me it's "ok" to cross the street. Soon I will learn how to do this at driveways too.
This is an important rule to learn for several reasons, one being in case I break from my lead. Hopefully, I'll remember to sit down at the curb and not cross the street by myself.
Mama's making this rule apply to driveways too because sometimes people dart out of their garages really quickly and we want to make sure the coast is clear before I cross.
Right now I get a treat for my Sit-Stays on command. Eventually, I will move on to Sit-Stays without a command, and then without treats. Although I will always get "Good Boy" praise to keep me proud of myself and motivated.
I like learning new rules. They keep me well-socialized. And it's important for me to know what's expected of me. Rules also give me something to think about which keeps me alert and smart.
So if you're in training of any kind, you may want to enter the contest too. Deadline for entries is midnight, Jan. 31.
Have fun training and good luck!
Poking around in MY snow!
,
Climbing MY pine tree!
,
I knew what he wanted. He wanted to eat MY pine cones. Can't fool me!
That did it. The little sucker ran down the tree as fast as his funny little legs could carry him.
I knew just what he was thinking too.
"That's right, little buddy. Now SCRAM."
"And don't come snooping around my property again, ok?"
Not.
Between you and me, I'm hoping he'll come back soon - that was the most fun I've had all week!
Candles for ZiggyJanuary 15 /10
,
December 28 /09
Hey everyone. I taught my parents a new trick.
They toss a ball at me and I bounce it off my nose and they catch it. Then they toss it back and I hit it again. We send the ball back and forth until they can't catch it or they throw wrong.
It makes them laugh and give me cookies. So you may want to try it with your parents.
How to playMake sure to use a soft ball so you don't hurt your snooter.
Sit close to the pitcher so the throws are fast and tight.
Don't bonk the ball too hard. That sends them running after it laughing and squealing, and they could lose interest. Only do that when you don't want to play anymore - like when the game is cutting into your walk time, like here:
Ooops ... hey, what d'ya know? It's time for my walk ...
If they toss the ball too far, go after it but don't bring it back. Eventually they'll learn to throw properly.
... Ooookay .... bye.
Here's a demonstration of a well-trained mom. Notice I had to bonk her on the nose to keep her alert.
End the game when they stop paying attention.
What's with all that "good boy" stuff? I'm just letting her think I'm performing a cute trick, when really, SHE is ... good girl, Mama !
When they've improved their game, take it outside to a bigger playing field. If they play well, reward them tail wags and continue the game. If they don't, ignore it and walk away.
And remember, play ONLY for treats. Otherwise, don't play. They'll catch on.
Have fun!
I hope you're all woofing it up and having a happy Christmas. 
x
x 
,
z
December 15 /09
For a dog that really doesn't love winter, I sure am going on lots of walks lately. Yesterday I went out six times! And it wasn't because my family wanted to take me walking - I actually asked to go.
He was there with his Mom, Sherry. He was a little shy at first and so was I.
So we checked eachother out ... sniff, sniff ... tail-wags ... butt wiggles ... it looked like we could be good friends. But first, I had to be sure that when we meet up on Mount Royal some time, that we'd have fun together.
He looked a little surprised, but hey, I wouldn't want him to feel bad because he couldn't keep up with me, y'know? Mama reassured me that yes, he could keep up with me very easily ... so now we're friends.
So do you recognize this handsome guy?
Hint: He's the new kid on the blog ...
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Post script:
Of course my friend is Graham, Sophie's brother.
Since this post, Graham became very sick with the wobblies and went to the Rainbow Bridge. I was so shocked and saddened by the news.
Sophie and mom Sherry gave the flatboy a loving home and so much care, and I'm sure the short time he spent with them was the best time of his life.
Run free as the wind, Graham, my big gentle friend. RIP.
RIP, sweet Angel Snickers
July 22 /02 - Nov. 22 /09
We are devestated to hear that our darling friend Snickers has left us. We were so hoping she would recover but it wasn't meant to be. There is another bright and beautiful star in our skies now.
Run with the wind, sweet little girl, and watch over our precious Beauty.
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We saw this poem on Eric's blog and want to repost it; it's just too beautiful to not share.
The Power of the Dog
by
Rudyard Kipling
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie -
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart to a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long--
So why in - Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
November 16 /09
Listen up, friends. I think I'm in the midst of a family crisis and I need your advice: I have a cousin named Diva and I think she's on drugs. Really. She's a sweetie but I think she could have a problem.
I bumped into her at a show last weekend and it looked to me like she was higher than a kite. I don't know what the heck she's on but it's turned her into freakin' maniac.
At first I thought she was just being annoying but the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that she's on something preeeet-ty powerful.
She didn't sit still for one minute. She was jumping and spinning around and kind of all twitchy. The only time I saw her stay still was when she was on the grooming table, which is a good thing because she was noosed and if she'd have jumped she'd have hung herself. Oh, and she was pretty calm in the ring too, but that's probably because she was eyeing the liver. Which isn't to say that otherwise, she wasn't totally on another planet.
After the competition, she just kept following me around and jumping and flipping and twisting all over the place saying, "I'm so happy! I'm so happy!" She was hopping around so much I went cross-eyed watching her. Well - I don't know of too many things which are legal that could make a dog act like that, do you?
And where's she getting this stuff, is what I'd like to know. If I find out who her dealer is, he's going to have um .... Diva's Papa to answer to.
Anyway, there's no point in sweeping this under the rug like some kind of shameful scandal. It happens in the best of families. It just so happens that it's my family and I think I should be responsible and do the right thing by my little cousin. Which is ... I don't have a clue....
I'm thinking maybe we should do an intervention and haul the poor girl into rehab.
Anyway, watch this and you'll see what I mean:
........Is this girl on drugs or what??
Notice that she had the munchies? Hmmmm?
Maybe I'm wrong, but if you have another explanation for Diva's strange behavior, I'd sure like to hear about it.
On another note, I won Best of Breed in the Sunday competition, finally beating out Canada's top Boxer from Manitoba. I've been trying to whip his butt all summer and I finally did it. Heh!
But the best part of the weekend was that I got to meet a very, very special friend for the first time. He's a real sweet guy and we got along very well.. Most of you know him but I want to make it a suprise when I post about him next time. So until then ...
Have a great week and don't forget to keep praying for Snickers.
Snickers and her brother, Butchy, are among my very first DWB friends, and I love them very much. Poor Butchy must be so upset to see his sister struggle. I'll be praying for Butchy too.
Snickers is a tough little cookie and has fought more than her share of sickness. But she needs the Power of the Paw right now more than ever.
The idea for the Worldwide Moment for Snickers comes from Jake and Fergi. They have asked all us DWB friends to help spread the word about this very important event. You can read more about it on their blog.
So please join us as all of Snickers' friends from all over the world surround her with our loving, healing thoughts. She is our friend in need and we will all be there for her.
Power of the Paw
We will do our very best to save you, Snickeroo.
On Halloween, there's only room for one pirate in my house.
And it's not him: he won't even play with me ... bad pirate.
To the poop deck with ya, matey.
Arrrr-f
October 26 /09
Well friends, I finally did it - I locked Mama out of the car!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha .....
I can't stop laughing. You should have seen her face!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... ha ... ha...
Anyway, I've been wanting to do that for I don't know how long. I had a few false starts over the months but somehow she always managed to outsmart me. But last week I finally did it.
.
Course, I can't take all the credit. Mama did toss her remote into the front seat while I was in the car. And as she was talking to her friend Susan, she absent-mindedly closed the door ....
WELL! "This is my chance," I thought. So I very cleverly stepped on the "lock" button and ~ CLICK ~ !!
Mama was shocked because she knows that the doors can't lock unless someone presses the button on the remote. She took one look at me through the window and grabbed her head. "Leave it to Chef," she said. "What a clowndog."
Then Susan ran to her car and got a hanger, but after struggling for half an hour, they couldn't open the door. And all the chatter! You'd think I was going to drive the car away, never to be seen again. Not that it didn't occur to me. It's just that I don't know how to turn the ignition on. So I figured I'd just sit there and laugh.
This isn't the first stunt I've pulled in the car. Some of you may remember when last year I stepped on the button that opens the window and I jumped out of the car and ran right to the dog park. And I locked Papa out of the truck a couple of times. But he had another key. So this is the first time I got to spend almost an hour all by myself in the car! Next time I'm going to figure out how to turn on the radio to a rock station so I can bop around in the seat. And maybe I'll learn how to turn on the ignition and go to MacDonald's drive-through for a burger and fries. Anyway, so Mama ended up calling Papa to come with their extra key and that was it. But it was the most fun I've had in a long time. You've got to try it.
But shhh. Don't tell your Mamas who told you.
Bye for now. Have a good week.
to all my Canadian friends!
Today is Thanksgiving here in Canada and my family sat down at the diningroom table for a delicious meal.
While they ate turkey ...
.,.
...and veggies
.
... and Bocconcini salad
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... and wine
... and fruit.
.
Well, wouldn't you know it? Mama went into the kitchen! My timing was impeccable. ,
So I had to resort to my usual begging routine - chin on arm and pathetic gaze of starving street dog.
c And what did it get me?
Turkey in my bowl !!
Works every time
And did I "gobble" it up ... ha ha!
Actually, I was very thankful.
This is my new plushy du jour - I just love him. I don't know what kind of animal he is but I love to swing him around by his tail and throw him across the room. As you can see, I already ripped one of his eyeballs out. I'm still working on his other eye. That's the test of our love for our toys, right? If we yank his eyes out, he's a keeper.
Mama and Papa visited a store where there were hand-carved things made by the Amish folks. They got me this feeder so I don't have to bend over to eat anymore. We store my kibble bag inside - isn't it great?
They also picked up this silly sign which they hung up over my new feeder. Frankly, I find it a little insulting. I'm spoiled, to be sure, but I'm not rotten.
...ooooooh.
Mama just explained that "spoiled rotten" means I'm very, very spoiled. Which is true. OK, I like it.
I also came home with these:
! Ribbons !
One is for third place in Breed; one is for second place in Breed; one is for winning the Open Class/Brindle/Male; one is for winning the Winners competition (so complicated, I barely understand it myself); and the last one is the biggie: Best of Winners! That's the one that earned me my first American Major (I need two to be an American Champion) plus four more points out of the 15 I need. I already had three points so now I have seven. That's kind of cool.
Here I am in the ring. Emily's liver treats were especially yummy that day, which is why I did so well.
We began our trip in the dark of night in order to make it to the ring by 8 a.m. the next day. That's part of the fun of doing dog shows. It's always an adventure.
Hurry up, Mama and Papa. Let's get this show on the road, k?
All my stuff was packed into the back of the pick-up.
It was a seven-hour drive so I got to stop for lots of walks along the way. I love the new smells of a road trip.
I even had a meal in a parking lot!
n
This must be the place!
It was cold and rainy most of the time, with a chilly wind blowing in off the lakes. People were bundled up and layered but for us dogs, the weather was great.
Do you like my Mama's doggy boots?
Here's my sister Rose getting dolled up for the ring. Isn't she pretty?
And this is me at the hotel playing with my plushy. Do you know I had a whole bed to myself? Spoiled rotten, yessireeeee - that's me.
Walk time at the hotel for me, Rose and our puppycousin Solo. My breeder brought Solo along so she'd get used to the crowds and noises of a show because he'll be taking her into the ring pretty soon. I think she's going to be a very good showgirl.
and moi.
Scenery
Romulus is the site of the former Seneca Army Depot, built during the Second World War.
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So this trip marks the end of the outdoor shows for this year. We had a great time and it was a fantastic finish to the season.
Gotcha!
Well, I never expected Oreo's leash to be so much fun. Look what I did:
Maybe next time, I'll spin him around so fast he'll finally catch his tail!
After all the chasing was over, Oreo and I settled down. That's his baby blanket which he just would NOT share with me. But that's ok. I'm three now and I understand these things. Hmm. Anyway, everyone was laughing at us and calling us "Mutt and Chef," which I don't understand at all. All I know is that I love my new little buddy and I will do everything I can to help him finally catch his tail.
In the truck on the way to the BBQ. I love driving in the country.
And looking out the window.
There was the delicious smell of cow poop everywhere.
At the BBQ I stole my breeder's football. Heh.
This is my impersonation of a football player.
Look what our parents got to eat. I copped a couple of scraps and I'll tell you something - if you know a girldog who can cook like this, I'd marry her tomorrow.
I sure hope all of you are having a great end-of-summer too!
August 23/09
As you can see, our computer is fixed. What a relief. We were having blog withdrawal here for a while. Anyway, now that I'm back,
August 22 /09
Hi friends.
Just a quick post to let you know that we've been having major computer problems and haven't been able to stay up-to-date with my blog or visit your blogs.
Now that those issues are pretty much resolved, we just discovered that we're unable to download any pictures or videos from our camera. Apparently there's now something wrong with the USB ports. So it's back to Tech Support and hopefully, we'll have this fixed soon too.
Mama has spent hours and hours on the phone with Dell Tech Support, our Internet Service Provider and Linksys. She also had two visits from a Dell technician. But as soon as one thing is fixed, something else goes wrong. She's so fed-up and is just about ready to throw the computer in the garbage. Does anyone else have problems like this? One friend told us that laptops can be sketchy this way and desktops are much less fragile. Opinions?
I'll drop in on your blogs and catch up with all of you very soon. I love and miss you!
xox
Chef
August 10/09
You'll absolutely never guess in a gazillion years what came flying onto my street yesterday.
Try and guess but don't look at the rest of this post, ok?
Was it:
A bird?
An airplane?
A flying saucer?
If you guessed any of these - WRONG!
It was a real, honest-to-goodness baseball. I kid you not.
It must have been some high pop fly out of the baseball park down the street and that ball landed right in front of me during my walk.
Another couple of steps and it would have bopped me on the head and knocked me unconscious. But there it was - right in front of my nose ! Was I dreaming? Nope.
,
As luck would have it, we had our video camera to record my tremendous find. Course, it's not every day that a dog finds a baseball. I was so delirious with excitement that I totally lost my manners. I forgot how to heel, I forgot how to pee...my bladder was busting but who cared?
Mama couldn't understand that a walk was just not on my agenda anymore. All that mattered was sitting down on the grass and ripping that fabulous baseball to shreds. She was practically on her knees begging me to walk with her. Yeah sure, mom. If you found a baseball, you wouldn't want to walk either.
At the end of the video you can see that I was in a big hurry to get my new ball home. I even tried to cross the street to our house without permission. I'm trained to sit down on the curb before we cross, but I totally forgot.
My bad. Ha ha.
c
After all that misbehaving, I was still allowed to take my ball home and chew it up in the back yard. This is what it looked like by the time I got through with it.
Was I lucky or what?
Ball: not so lucky ...
We just heard that our dear friend Charlie has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. Big Dog Charlie was a very special boy and was loved by so many of us at Dogs With Blogs. He touched all our hearts and we will never forget him.
Our most heartfelt condolences to Brooke, Greg and Opy.
Run free sweet Charlie.
So I celebrated by spending my entire day with Mama. Don't you love when moms have a day off from work and the weather's nice?
I chewed on my favourite stick and then we played ball. Mama's a little on the clutzy side and she throws like a girl. Frankly, I just wanted to play with my ball by myself and look for squirrels and maybe dig up a couple of the hostas. But I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I put up with it for a while and then I hid.
But there was one thing and one thing only that I really, really, really wanted on my birthday ...
Ice cream. Yeah!
Mama finally took that silly hat off me and I went inside to play with my new plushies that I got at the show.
A happy birthday boy
Later in the evening, Mama borrowed the key to the swimming pool we share with our neighbours at our condo. I got to run off-leash all around the grounds surrounding the pool for 20 minutes. I was jumping and twirling and running like the wind. For me that's a huge treat. I don't get to run wild off-leash often enough. I don't really enjoy the dogpark anymore because some of the people (not the dogs) aren't very nice because their dogs are untrained and aggressive. So now Mama's going to ask the pool manager if I can run there every night when the pool is closed. Hmmmm. Maybe all my dogfriends from the condo can run with me. Imagine - a poolside party every night!
v
Thank you, Mango and Abby, for these beautiful birthday cards.
YYY
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My beautiful friend Honey is having a Spectacular Slobber contest. Here are my entries. Take your pick, Honeygirl.
I only drip-slobber at the dinner table. Sometimes I shake my head and paste my spit right to the diningroom wall. Ha Ha. That's so much fun.
Don't forget to post your best slobber photos on your blog and let Honey know you're in the competition.
Have a great week, everybody.
I want to introduce you to a very special Boxergirl I met at the show in Vermont this past weekend. Her name is Corey-Beth and she's lO years old.
Corey-Beth suffers from a degenerative spine disease and has lost the use of her hind legs. But her Papa, Bill, vowed not to let her lose her quality of life and had her fitted with this special cart that helps her get around.
.
Now his fiesty girl enjoys life to its fullest.
. 
Corey-Beth, a former showgirl, now goes to Bill's job every day so she'll get her exercize and won't be lonely staying home. She goes on regular walks and even travels with him. In fact, they drove all the way from their home in Taunton, Mass. to watch their friends in the show.
Corey-Beth gets tired easily because of her age, and because she's using muscles that that weren't intended to carry her weight. But we know she's happy for the chance to do what able-bodied dogs do.
I met Bill and Corey-Beth outside the arena where the show was held in Essex Junction, Vermont. She was a happy, playful girl. In fact, when I came face-to-face with her, she gave me a no-nonsence stare and let me know she's the boss. What a girl!
She really warmed our hearts and we have a lot of admiration for Bill for being so kind to his sweet dog.
Corey-Beth and Bill didn't compete in the show but as far as I'm concerned, they're the big winners.
Don't you think they're both really special?
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