Help Rename Gomer

Yo. Opie here again. I've decided that Gomer needs a new name cuz of his experience getting stuck in the muck. DogMom said you all could help me choose his new name.

But, I just can't seem to pick one. What do you think his new name should be? Can you think of a new name that we should consider?

Maybe MuckyDog or MuckyMutt.
I, dogonally, like Muckluck or YuckyStuckyMucky.
Dogmom, personally, likes Happy-Go-Mucky.
Auntie Dawn and Ginger suggested DirtyLittleMucker.

Too many good names... can you help me decide?
Wuf Ya - Opie

Gomie Disappeared! Oh My!

Yo. Opie here. The Gomester's in jail again. He got in trouble last night, big time.

See, dogmom came home and fed us and took us for a quick-business-walk and then she left again. Something about class and she'd be back. Whatever.

Anyway, when she came home again about 9:00, it was dark outside and she hooked our collars to those long ropey things and let us out the back door. Gomer saw something move and went to chase it. (I think it was a leaf, but he swears it was a squirrel; but I sure didn't smell any squirrels.)

Anyway, he took off so fast that he broke his collar and then he was free. He ran around the yard a few times... but then he didn't come back when dogmom called because now there really was a squirrel back there. Dogmom was definitely not happy.

She took me back inside when I was done with my business and gave me a treat for being a good boy and doing my business and everything. Then, she grabbed Gomie's harness and leash and went back outside. She came back in a little while later and got one of those tubes with a light on the end and left again. Then she came back in and got her coat and the car keys. I heard her call the policeman and talk to them. (I recognized it cuz that's what she did when I took my three-hour tour back on July 18.)

Anyways, she described Gomer to the little silver thing that she holds up to her ear sometimes when she talks. She said he was shy around men and that he probably wouldn't come to a stranger if they called him. She seemed especially concerned because he didn't have his collar on with the jingly things. And, Gomer ALWAYS comes back when he's called and he didn't this time.

And he didn't. And, he didn't. And he, still didn't.

It was like forever. I swear; it was at least a whole day in dog years. I saw the news people come on the TV. I watched that funny guy do the Top 10 list and interview George Clooney. I even watched the other funny guy with the Scottish accent that used to be on the Drew Carey show for a while. No Gomer and no dogmom.

Then, when Oprah came on... I'm usually way asleep by now but I can't sleep because dogmom and Gomer aren't here. Anyways, when Oprah came on, I heard the door open downstairs. There was my long-lost bestest friend.

I think.
Cuz it didn't smell like Gomer. Gomer smells like dog and this dog smelled really really funky.
Cuz it didn't look like Gomer. Gomer's yellow and white and this dog was most definitely black.
Cuz it didn't feel like Gomer. Gomer's soft and this dog was kind of crusty.
And, it didn't sound like Gomer. Gomer doesn't whimper and whine like that.

Anyway. Dogmom said he'll be fine. But, he has to stay in jail until she can give him a proper bath. Who's the dope now, Gomer?

Wuf Ya! - Opie

Boomies Go Away!

We don't like boomies, Opie and me. They're loud and scary and usually come with flashing light outside. It's freaky and frightening. We don't like it, not one bit.

Dogmom used to call it thunder. But she thinks that if she gives thunder a different name, that we won't freak out as much. Guess what, dogmom. It's not working.

You call it what you want. I'm going to stay here under the bed until it stops. And, I'm betting Opie's going to stay right there behind the curtain in the bathtub till then, too. (Not that I'm going to go look and find out.)

Wuf Ya!

A Moment of Silence

Ok, we know it's hard. But we want to observe a moment of silence in honor of Tosca's Kitty, who had to walk over the rainbow bridge on Saturday. Tosca and her dogmom are really sad about it and so are Opie and me, even though we never met Tosca's Kitty.

But, we've met lots of cats and most of them are okay and since this one chose to live with Tosca and his dogmom, she must have been really special and spoiled too. We know they are going to miss her and hope that they won't be too sad for too long.

Wuf Ya!

Happy Turkey Day, Turkeys!

So, we were really busy yesterday and didn't have time to post anything cuz dogmom was home all day. We'd rather play with her than play on the computer.

Anyway, we hope everybody with tails and even those without had a happy happy Thanksgiving day. We hope you got to spend it with your humans in your forever home or at least with humans that love you back as much as you love them.

And we hope that if you didn't get to spend it with your family, cuz you haven't been adopted yet, that you get adopted really really soon. Some human somewhere is smart enough to love you; you just have to be patient sometimes.

Opie and me are really thankful and glad that dogmom brought us to live with her. Even with all her rules about not eating stuff off the counters (yeah, right) and not laying on her bed (uh-huh) and being kind of specific about where dog kisses can land on her. So, we're not very good at all those rules. But, we love her anyways and she must love us cuz she puts up with our craziness.

That, and we got to eat STEAK yesterday instead of turkey!

Wuf Ya!

Randi's Coming! Randi's Coming!

DogMom said that Randi's coming today. We can't wait.

Well, we really can wait and we will by running upstairs and sleeping on dogmom's bed until we hear the garage door open. THEN, we can't wait.

Well, we really can wait and we will until Randi gets our harnesses and leashes on us and then we'll run around in circles and try to drag her out the door.

Anyway... it's chilly outside, since we live in Minnesota and it's November and all. But it's warmer than it's supposed to be or something. Anyway, Opie's cold all the time. I think he thinks he's a miniature daschund or something and he needs to wear a coat. Goofball. Next time, remind me that I should bring home a real dog for dogmom instead of a goofball.

He actually wants to and likes to wear clothes! See what I have to deal with? See? He's wearing the t-shirt that dogmom bought him at the Jordan Valley Bike Tour. He even has his eyes closed so he can't see me makin' fun of him. I don't wear my shirt. I'm a real dog.

Can't wait to see how Randi makes fun of him with his shirt on.

Wuf Ya!

Clash of the Dog People - II

So, I told you about dogmom's experience on Saturday with adoption day for the Carver-Scott Humane Society. So many dogs and cats and other pets... so little room. Anyways, the reason for the title of this posting is because after going to the adoption day at Petco, dogmom went to see our dogfriend Gladys strut her stuff on the runway.

See, our dogfriend Gladys owns my bestest dog-walker girlfriend Jennifer who owns The Pet Crew in Plymouth. Jennifer used to come to our house to walk Opie and me before we moved to Chaska and Randi started coming. But once again I'm veering away from my story. Well, sort of.

See, our dogfriend Gladys is a beautiful specimen of a bull terrier. Everybody knows what bull terriers are, right? They're the "Target dog." But Gladys is prettier than the Target dog, cuz she has some color on her besides the red circles around her eyes. (Which my dogmom says aren't really dog colors.) Anyway, Gladys was in the All Breed Dog Show out at Canterbury that was held by the Minneapolis Kennel Club.

Is that a clash of activities, or what? One minute trying to find homes for strays and rescues and mixed breeds... and the next minute watching dogs try to prove they're the best manifestation of their particular dogginess.

Anyway, Gladys was one-upped (ok, two-upped) by the male dogs in her breed and came in third. But, she did win a ribbon for "best opposite sex." Opie and me think that was a no-brainer, even for humans. She's the best girl-dog that WE know! Even if Opie gets snippy with her when he's tired. He doesn't mean it; he's just immature some times.

Anyways, we're trying to get Gladys's dogmom and our dogmom to share some pictures of our beauty pageant queen so you can see that Opie and me, even though we're mutts (ahem, designer dogs), know some pretty high-falutin' dogs and their humans. Like Gladys, the bull-terrier-beauty-pageant-queen ... and Wigglebutt Seven of Nine, the mini-Aussie-2006-Skyhoundz-Champion ... and even Tosca, the Perfect-Collie-blogger-pal! (Um... I guess there are THREE best girl-dogs that WE know!)

Wuf Ya!

Clash of the Dog People

So DogMom seemed even more humanly confused than normal this weekend. She said her dog worlds were colliding or something. As usual, Opie and I just don't get what she's talkin' about. Dog worlds are so totally simple and make total sense. It's the humans that mess things up.

So, she left on Saturday and said she was going to go take some pictures at the Carver-Scott Humane Society's adoption day. We just don't get it cuz she adopted Opie and me a long time ago; or, maybe it was yesterday but I don't think so cuz it seems like a long time ago. Ya know, we just don't define time the same way that humans do.

Anyway, she came home smelling like she had all kinds of fun. There were dog smells and human smells and cat smells and I think, but I'm not sure because I never actually met one, but I think I even smelled a ferret.

She said there were some really happy stories. That three of the four pets featured in the Pet Bragger section of the newspaper that were available for adoption actually have adoptions pending! Yea! Clyde and Smokey and Tripper just might have found their forever homes! Isn't that terrific?

And, Josey came in for a visit at adoption day. She was found abandoned in a garage when her people moved away and left her there. Can you believe it? Just left her there in the garage to starve to death. She weighed only 26 pounds when the good people at CSHS found her. Can you believe that a chocolate lab could only weigh 26 pounds? It was really really sad.

Anyway, Josey found her forever home with a nice couple who also have a jack russel terrier. She attached to her male human and he treats her like a queen, which she deserves after what she went through. And, she doesn't weigh 26 pounds anymore. See how healthy and beautiful she is!
It really doesn't take much, does it?

So, if you think you could help bring some joy to one of the dogs or cats that don't have a home, could you maybe, please, contact your local animal shelter and see how you could help?

We'd all be eternally grateful. Opie and me would bring them all home to live with us, but dogmom says we can't cuz we're renting. So, can you help?

Wuf Ya!
Oops... I got sidetracked... we'll talk about the clash of the dog worlds tomorrow in Part 2...

Double Trouble

Geez... dogmom says that if Opie and me don't start behaving that she's going to trade us in for one of the other thousands of dogs in Minnesota that need a good home. I don't think she's really serious... but she has been kind of unenthusiastic and unamused by our antics lately.

I tried to tell her that it's really Opie that's the problem so she'll keep me. After all, I was here first. But then he looks at her with his sadder-than-sad face and I think sometimes he's winning.

I mean, really. Could she really give up having one of these two faces lick her face every morning?

Wuf Ya!

In the Dog House ... Again

Dogs, we need help. We just don't get it. DogMom leaves us new toys to find all the time when she leaves for work. And then she seems to be mad when we find them. Is your dogmom and dogdad like this?

Like, yesterday, for example. She left this cool-looking set of toys all wrapped up in a vinyl bag up on the counter ... there were some interesting-looking things in there. Opie liked the sponge the best and started in on that. I liked the wooden one with a hole in it.

Anyway, Randi came to take us for our walk and she took them away and put them up higher on the counter. We just thought that was part of the game.

So, we got up higher on the counter, on top of the little oven and got the toys back down again between the time that Randi left and the time that dogmom got home.

Whew... dogmom was NOT happy with us at all. Something about eating her new pottery tools. Calling us bad boys and acting all freakazoid. If she doesn't want us to play with stuff, why does she leave it on the counter where we can find it?

So... we're in jail again today. It's just not fair.
Wuf Ya!

Wild Boys!

Hi! DogMom here. Gomer and Opie are temporarily confined to their "room" for being wild and crazy boyz last night and this morning. That, and I woke up this morning with hives that looked like I rolled around naked in a bed of poison ivy.

Did you see the Buckles cartoon in last Sunday's newspaper comics? It was like that. Three frames of crazy running around like wild dogs and then stopping to pant only to start all over again.

And Buckles is just one... imaging the cartoon with two of them "letting out the wild."

Guess I should have taken them to the bark park instead of going to pottery class last night, eh? I can see the headline now... "Dogs Go Wild, Woman Turns to Clay"...

Wuf Ya!

Dogaholics Anonymous

DogMom got this email a while back. Something about being a dogaholic... like being addicted to dogs would be a bad thing. Silly humans. She would like your dogmom and dogdad to take this test. Let us know if your human passes or not.

"Good Evening. My name is ______ and I AM a dogaholic.
I would like to welcome all of you to this month's meeting of "Dogaholics Anonymous". Some of you are here tonight because a friend or relative brought you here. You may be sitting here thinking that you are OK and that you really don't need any help. It is not easy to admit that you are a dogaholic, and it is even harder to bring yourself to a DA meeting for help. DA is here to assist you.

Ask yourself these questions. If you can answer YES to more than three of the following, you have come to the right place.

1. Can you say "Bitch" in public without blushing?
2. Do you drive a station wagon, van, or 4x4 when everyone else drives a real car?
3. Do you have more than one car? One for you and one for the dogs?
4. Do you spend your vacations and holidays going to dog shows, specialties, and seminars when everyone else goes on a cruise?
5. If you do go overseas, is it to London, in November, to attend Crufts?
6. Do you discuss things at the dinner table that would make most doctors leave in disgust?
7. Do you consider formal wear to be clean jeans and freshly washed tennis shoes?
8. Is your interior decorator R.C. Steele? PetSmart? PetCo? Drs. Foster & Smith?
9. Was your furniture and carpeting chosen to match your dogs?
10. Are your end tables really dog crates with tablecloths thrown over them?
11. Do you know the meaning of these abbreviations? CD, CDX, UD, CGC, HIC, WC, JH, MH, CH, and OTCH? (Not sure? Look here... http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/lists/acronym-list.html)
12. Is your mail made up primarily of dog catalogs, dog magazines, and premium lists?
13. Do you get up before dawn to go to Training Classes? Dog Shows? Seminars? On a walk with a leash?
14. If you do have dresses, do they all have pockets?
15. Do those pockets often contain freeze dried liver, poo bags or squeaky toys?
16. When you meet a new person do you always ask them what kind of dog they have?
17. Do you pity people if they don't have at least one dog?
18. Do you remember the name of a person's dog sooner than you remember their name?
19. Do you find non-dog people boring?
20. Do you write and read blogs supposedly written by dogs – or from the Dogs’ Aye View?

If you answered YES to ONE of the above, there is still hope.
If you answered YES to TWO, you are in serious trouble.
If you answered YES to THREE OR MORE, you have come to the right place.

My advice to all of you with three or more YES's is to sit back and smile, turn to the smiling person next to you and know that your life will always be filled with good friends and good dogs and it will never be boring." ... author unknown

Opie and me are happy to report that our DogMom answered yes to 16 of the questions... and another two she wished she could. Looks like we're set for life.

Wuf Ya!

New Friends!

Wow - Opie and me are really happy to see all our new friends who have found our blog lately! Dogs with blogs from Australia, Germany, Canada, Malasia, Spain and all over the United States.

Hi and welcome to Opy, Boo, Buster the Wired Fox Terrier and Big Paw Blog.

And welcome back to Tosca, Skidbo, Hubba-Hubba Hudson and the whole gang!

We wuf chawin' the fat with y'all... we've had more than 1100 visitors to DogsAyeView since our first postings in July. Keep comin' back and we'll keep sharing our life story with ya. When the mood strikes, send us a comment or two.

Wuf ya! Gomer and Opie at DogsAyeView

Happy Friday!

We love Fridays!

Of course, being dogs, we love every day... but especially Fridays.

Lots of good things happen on Fridays.
Well, lots of good things happen every day... but especially Fridays.

Of course, being dogs, we don't really know what Fridays are, but we love 'em anyways.

Randi comes and takes us for a walk while dogmom's at work.

When dogmom comes home from work, we get an especially long walk.

And then we get to help her take her clothes out of the baskets and run around the house with them to save them from that noisy machine that makes them all wet and the other hot one that makes them dry again and in the process they don't smell like us or dogmom very much anymore. Sometimes she pretends to be upset with us when we drag her clothes around the house. She only really gets upset when Opie and me try to use them as tug toys.

We love Fridays!
Wuf Ya!

What a Sunset!

Wow! Did you see the sunset yesterday? It was totally awesome here in Minnesota. Well, at least where we live in Minnesota. I wonder sometimes if the sunset we see is the same sunset as people other places get to see.

Anyway. Some people think that dogs are colorblind. That's not really true. We just don't see the same colors as people do because we only have two color cones in our eyes instead of three. (There is a really good graphic of what a dog sees compared to what a human sees at this link: http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/DrP4.htm. It's by Dr. Mark Plonsky at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.)

Anyway... Here's a picture that dogmom took of the sunset on her way home from work. She says it's blurry because she was also driving the car. I think she just takes blurry pictures...

What Humans See...

What Dogs See...

Wuf Ya!

That Was One Big Bird!

Something weird was walking in the yard this morning. Really weird, I'm tellin' ya. Mom said it was a bird.

I think she's lost her mind. Birds are those tiny little things that Opie jumps in the air and tries to catch. This thing was as big as a horse.

Well, maybe a cow.
Ok, Ok, it was the size of the neighbor's cat. But it sure wasn't no bird; that's for sure.

What do you think? Isn't this the biggest "bird" you've ever seen?

Me too.
Wuf Ya!

All Dogs Should Vote Today!

Don't forget! It's not only your civic duty as a human to vote, it's your privilege.

My name is Gomer and I approved this message.

Gosh, Opie and me wish that we could vote. Don't you, Izzy? And Tosca? And Ginger? And Gladys & Victor? And all our doggood friends? I'm tellin' ya, things would be different if we could vote.

• Every dog would have a bed and a warm place to call home. Cats, too.
• People who throw dogs in dumpsters (like I was) and who leave their dogs in the park (like Opie) would be thrown away, not allowed to work or have a home or money and have to fend for themselves. See how many of them get rescued.
• People wouldn't be able to breed new litters of puppies until every dog in the shelters has a home. Anybody who does gets fined $5,000 per litter and that money goes to the shelters so homeless pets get homes.
• After there are no more homeless pets, the shelters become day-care and boarding centers for all the dogs with people who care that they get playtime with other dogs.
• There would be bark parks (ok, in Minnesota, you call them off-leash areas) in every neighborhood, or at least the neighborhoods that have dogs living in them.
• People walking their dogs on the trails without leashes and without picking up after their dogs would be fined big time. Or, better yet, they would be leashed and forced to pick up after everybody else's dogs.
• Every 100 yards on the sidewalks and trails would be a treat station... and pick-up bags for our humans and a garbage can that gets emptied regularly.
• Dogs could go with humans into restaurants and bars and hotels. We're cleaner than the rats and cockroaches that live in them.
• Rabbits and squirrels would be outlawed. (Just cuz they make me crazy... oh, wait, that's not fair. That's why dogs are outlawed in most places now, cuz some dog somewhere made some human crazy.)
• Dogs that travel on planes with their people wouldn't be treated like baggage. They'd have special hooks for their leashes and would be able to lay down at their human's feet in the cabin... just like at home. Sure would be less stressful on us, not to mention on our people.
• New schools that cost $92 million to build would include play areas that can be shared with dogs... so the 60% of households that don't have kids could benefit from some of that money they paid.

So... off my soapbox. Get your human out to vote today!
Wuf Ya!

Happy Birthday DogMom!

Ok. I'm a dog. Opie, too. And, we should be in the dog house for not remembering our DogMom's birthday on Saturday. We missed our dogmom's birthday completely. Yup. Forgot all about it. We thought it was odd that she didn't get up and go to work on Friday. Opie thought maybe that meant we weren't gonna get fed anymore. But that didn't happen. Anyway. After all, DogMom threw a big party for us.

It was in the Let's Go! section of the Southwest Saturday paper -- the story about our party -- on October 28. Here's a reprint... I think if you click on it, you'll be able to read it.

Wuf Ya! (and, we're really sorry, dogmom)

Opie & Onions

Ok. So the dopey Opie has been vying for extra attention ever since my whole mouth ordeal began a couple of weeks ago. He thinks it's all about him... and I let him think that, even though everybody knows that I'm dogmom's favorite beagle-boy.

So, while I was locked in jail with the funny mask on (until I chewed through the strap so it can't be tied on anymore), Opie was left to his own devices and had to entertain himself during the day instead of having me chase him around in circles and up and down the stairs. When Opie's left to his own imagination... weirdness ensues.

So, what does he do?

Sleep all day? Nope.

Raid the chew-bone basket? Nope.

Empty the toy basket? Nope.

Dump out all the garbage? Nope.

Pull the blankets off the bed? Nope.

Unstuff the dog beds? Nope.

He pulls the basket of onions and potatoes off the kitchen shelf and takes a big bite out of one of the onions. Yup. And we thought he had bad breath before! Dopey Opie Onion Breath!

I always knew he wasn't a normal dog; now DogMom knows it, too.

Wuf Ya!

"Tails Required"

So, y'all know that dogmom works for a newspaper company, right? Yup. Something called Southwest Newspapers that publishes a group of community weekly newspapers in the southwest suburbs of Minneapolis. There are seven of them... well, really, there are 10 of them because Southwest Saturday is really three different papers, although Southwest Saturday isn't news you need to know... it's news that's fun to know.

Anyway, I'm tellin' y'all this because Opie and me are famous now (again). We were in Southwest Saturday this weekend. Our buddy, Hercules, is pictured on the front page, but there's a story about us and our party that Hercules attended. And dogmom wrote a couple other fun features, too.

Anyway, the story is all about our big party at Top Dog Country Club. It was all about us! We got to play and run around with Izzy and Hercules. The humans tried to get us to bob for apples and swim, but we didn't do that too much, although Gomer got his feet wet. We got to eat cake! Wuf Ya!