A Christmas Wish from DogMom

(DogMom here... I'm feeling much better today! But, Gomer and Opie were really really naughty boys yesterday. They ate the entire Harry & David treat box that my supervisor gave me... only left two gumdrops and the bag of chocolate-covered cherries. Randi, my dog walker from Lake Minnetonka Pet Sitters, cleaned up the mess and called me to inform me of their consumption of five pounds of goodies. Thankfully, they didn't eat the chocolate! So, in their honor, please sing this posting to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas...)

On the twentieth of December, my two dogs gave to me... An empty box of sweet treats.

On the same day in December, my two dogs gave to me... Two crazy dogs, and an empty box of sweet treats.

Still that same day in December, my two dogs gave to me... Three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

That same day in December, my two dogs gave to me... Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

Yet the 20th of December, my two dogs gave to me... Randi Going Nuts. Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

Just five days before Christmas, my two dogs gave to me... Six empty boxes. Randi Going Nuts! Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

It's five days before Christmas and my two dogs gave to me... Seven stairs-a-stepping, six empty boxes. Randi Going Nuts! Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

Still five days before Christmas and my two dogs gave to me... Eight paws a pausing, seven stairs-a-stepping, six empty boxes. Randi Going Nuts! Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

Now five days before Christmas and my two dogs gave to me... Nine lives gone prancing, eight paws a pausing, seven stairs-a-stepping, six empty boxes. Randi Going Nuts! Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

It's still five days before Christmas and my two dogs gave to me... Ten gourds a leaping, nine lives gone prancing, eight paws a pausing, seven stairs-a-stepping, six empty boxes. Randi Going Nuts! Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

The twentieth of December and my two dogs gave to me... eleven crated cravings, ten gourds a leaping, nine lives gone prancing, eight paws a pausing, seven stairs-a-stepping, six sempty boxes. Randi Going Nuts! Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

A few days before Christmas and my two dogs gave to me... twelve days of jail time, eleven crated cravings, ten gourds a leaping, nine lives gone prancing, eight paws a pausing, seven stairs-a-stepping, six empty boxes. Randi Going Nuts! Four falling crates, three frayed nerves, two crazy dogs and an empty box of sweet treats.

Anybody smiling with me? Want to know my Christmas wish???? NORMAL DOGS for just one day!

The boyz are off to Dog Pad (www.dogpaddogs.com) and I'm cruisin' to Ohio for the Holidays. Hope yours are happy and healthy and bring only pleasant surprises. Most likely won't be posting until after the first of the year.
Wuf Ya!

DogMom CAN'T Be Sick!

Ya know, Tosca and Hudson, you're pretty smart dogs. But OUR dogmom is never ever sick... she takes care of US when WE're sick. There's no way that she could be sick and not be feeling well. It's just not possible.

I don't know tho, you might be right. She did kind of sound like Opie and me when we upchuck chew bones or onions or pieces of paper, plastic and toys that we try to swallow.

And, she didn't cook anything in the kitchen for the last three days. She just keeps drinking something called tea -- and let me tell ya, it does NOT taste good. (We both tried it when she wasn't looking.) So, she must not be quite right in the head if she's drinking that stuff, right?

And, she always takes us for walks and plays with us... even when she pretends to be mad at us for getting into stuff and going to jail... but she hasn't been doing that, either.

She didn't even want me to smell her face and sneeze like I always do. And, she didn't seem amused when Opie laid his head on her with his butt up in the air and that tail-whip-thing that he has flying all back-and-forth and 'round in circles.

In any case, I hope she gets back to normal soon.
Wuf Ya!

DogMom at Home All Day!

Ok... so we're conflicted again.

We love it when dogmom stays home with us all day and doesn't go to that place where she disappears to and wears the clothes we're not allowed to jump on. Seems like every few days or so, she stays home and gets out the big green monster and puts all our stuff and her stuff into that machine that goes round and round.

But, this time was different. Dogmom stayed home and the first daylight she was normal and did all those things she usually does. But the second and third day, she was different. She just laid around and slept all day. Except when she took us outside and expected us to do our business without walking and without smelling everything. Goofy human.

But then she'd go back to bed again. Sometimes she'd get up and hug the dogbowl in the bathroom that for some odd reason she keeps the lid on. Guess that one's hers and she doesn't want to share it. Must be some really good water in that one, huh? With her wanting to hug it like that?

Wuf Ya!

Uh-Oh! DogMom Forgot the Birthdays!

So, for once, it's not Opie and me in trouble. It's DogMom, this time.

See, two of DogMom's siblings have birthdays this month and she forgot one of them. She remembered her sister's and sent her a present. But she totally forgot about her brother's birthday. Well, she remembered, but then she forgot to do something about it.

So... this posting is for Uncle Danny from DogMom... but she's too embarrassed to write it, so Opie and me did.

Happy Barkday to You! Happy Barkday to You! Happy Barkday, Uncle Danny! Happy Barkday to YOU!

(How did we do?)
Wuf Ya!

UFOs? In Chaska?

Ok. So this is really freaky.
We went outside early this morning to do our business, like we always do.
But it was different. Well, something was different.

See the lights? They only showed up on Opie's photos... not in mine. If I'm in the picture, there are no funny lights. If I'm not, there they are.




Whatever does it mean?
Wuf Ya!

We're SO Big!

This post was prompted by "tiny" Tosca's dogmom's claim that she "ain't lifting me [Tosca] without a crane" and that Tosca weighs "a whole lot more than a big bag of rock salt."

Ahem. Tosca - you're nothing more than a petite, svelte lady collie.

Dogmom did the measurement thing on us last night (after some squriming and running away and generally wreaking havoc, which we're best at). Here's what she found:

I, Gomer, am 39" long from my black nose to the white tip on my tail. My tail, if she holds it straight, is 11" long. But usually it is shorter cuz it curls up over my back like a beagle tail. I'm 22" tall and I weigh 52.1 pounds.

Opie's measurements make him seem like he's about the same size as me, but really he's a lot smaller, albeit taller.

Opie is also 39" long from his black nose to the white tip on his tail. But, like I told ya before, he's got that whip for a tail. He's like 40% tail, in fact! His tail is a whopping 16" long. That's 5" longer than mine! So what if he's an inch taller, if we docked his tail, he'd be a lot smaller than me. He weighs about the same - 52.5 pounds.

Oh, and Tosca, you're snout isn't really that big. Mine from my ears to my nose is only 7 inches, but Opie's is 9.5 inches... and he's not even a collie!

Wuf Ya!

Nothing to Report

Well, since we were in jail all day yesterday, we didn't get into any trouble. (Surprising, I know.)

DogMom let us out of our crate-jails last night. She must have felt guilty, cuz we each got one of those BIG retriever rolls last night. And, it wasn't just a big retriever roll... it was a big retriever roll with liver paste inside. We hit the jackpot, I tell ya!

Man, if staying in jail and not getting into trouble for a day means we get one of those... I volunteer to just sleep in my crate until she comes home!

Wuf Ya!

Jailbirds... Again!

So... you all know us by now. We think we can stay out of trouble. We really, really try to stay out of trouble. We say we're going to. We promise. We try.

But then, something happens. It starts off as just playing. We're having so much fun at the time that we just don't think about what might happen next. We just kinda go into automatic dogilot... ya know?

Well... um... they say that a picture says a thousand words. Whoever they are.

I can assure you that we heard more than a thousand words from dogmom when she came in Saturday afternoon and saw this...

Wuf Ya!

What's with All the Stuff?

Geesh, it's getting crowded at our house. Boxes and bags and packages everywhere. On the tables... stacked in the corner... on the counter. Man, it's just a mess, let me tell ya.

Worst part is that Opie and I aren't allowed to even sniff around over there any more. Well, we do when dogmom leaves, but please don't tell her. We're in enough trouble these days on our own.

I just don't get it. Every couple of days she comes home from whereever it is she goes during the day and lays down another package or bag. Sometimes she moves stuff from one to another. Other times, she writes something illegible on the bag. Other times, she sticks the new bag into an old bag. What a weirdo.

Nothing smells like food or like dog toys. Well, some of them smell like dog toys, but I'm not looking really close yet -- I'm not very high on her "get-away-with-anything-today" list yet... and Opie's even lower.

What do you thing she's up to?

Wuf Ya!

Can We Keep It?

Opie's still on the mend and it's waaaaaaayyyyy too cold to go outside -- it's 2 degrees and -12 with the wind chill factored in. So, we probably won't escape and get into any more trouble this week. (Frankly, at this point, I'm not 100% sure that dogmom would come after us again.)

So, we thought we'd post something about somebody else for a change.

You know, we have lots of dogcousins and people cousins living in Ohio. One of them is Bailey, an almost white golden retriever that is a couple of years older than us. I like going to Bailey's house out in the country cuz we can run around the field and go into the woods and generally just be dogs while dogmom visits with the humans. Opie and Bailey got into a spat last time we were there, but it was cuz Opie didn't want to listen to Bailey when he told him to stop being a brat.

Anyways, Bailey owns dogmom's godchild, Ryan, and his sister Addy. We got this picture in the mail this week of them outside last summer. Addy wanted to keep it as a pet, but for some reason her humom and hudad wouldn't let her. Crazy humans!

Wuf Ya!

We've Been Elfed!

Dog-gone-it Tosca and Hudson! We told you that we didn't want you to tell dogmom about the elfing thing. Now look what she's done!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=c69c742dd766ae3d792f199_20061206

http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=61fbd99c578c381ada73b3d_20061206

Jeesh.
We wuf ya anyways.

Worth It?

So, dogfriends, I'm just not sure that my 15 minutes of freedom was worth it at this point.

Not only do I have to live with the humiliation of dogmom taking photos of my bruises and posting them online... but just look at what she's done to my paws!

Somebody please save me from this insane life!
Opie

Battered and Bruised

First of all, we want to assure you that dogmom had nothing to do with this, other than she took the pictures. She didn't beat Opie, I swear it. In fact, she has never hit either one of us, which is why we're so glad that we get to live with her.

See, Friday night when dogmom got home, she found out that we raided the new special treats that she bought for us. She doled them out only one per day and we decided that we really liked them by the second day. So, we helped ourselves after Randi left but before dogmom came home. And yes, we ate the WHOLE bag.

Then, on Saturday afternoon when dogmom opened the front door to pick up a package that was delivered, Opie got a wild hair and decided to take off through the door. It was cold, but that didn't seem to matter to him. He kept running and running and running. Dogmom tried to chase him and catch him; but he's still too fast for her.

Eventually, she tried to convince him that we were going for a car ride and opened the back of the Explorer. But he didn't jump in. Instead, he ran across the street and jumped into the neighbor's SUV. What a dope. Anyway, dogmom caught him when he did that.

When they came in the door, she looked worried. He was making some blood tracks on the carpet. So, she had him lay down on the blanket on the couch and looked at his paws. She was very worried and got the doggie first-aid kit out of the closet. She cleaned and wrapped his paws.

Then, she took pictures of his new bruises. He must have tried to jump over something and missed. That's what dogmom said, since all the bruises are on his belly and inside of his thigh and because of the cuts on the pads of his feet. We're gonna keep a really close eye on him, let me tell ya!

Wuf Ya!

DogMom's Short Memory

Hi. It's me, Gomer! Good thing for me that dogmom has a really short memory. It's like she forgot that I got stuck in the muck the other night. I'm out of jail. I've had my bath. I've been checked out for injuries and none were found. (Except for the pride that was bruised since I couldn't get myownself out.)

Opie's perturbed that I'm free again. (Snicker)

Anyway, all seems to be forgiven.

Well, except that I have this newer, heavier, tighter collar on now. And, I have to use the leash instead of getting to use the wireless fence collar or the tie-out stake. And, it seems like Opie gets to wander farther away from her than I do. And, if there is a squirrel or a rabbit outside, I have to wait until they can't be seen before I can go pee.

Other than that, all seems to be forgiven and life is pretty much back to normal.

Wuf Ya!

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!

Pet Bragger

So, y'all know that our DogMom works for a newspaper company. They make a bunch of weekly community newspapers in the southwestern suburbs of Minneapolis.

Anyway, she showed us our pictures in the paper last weekend. Something she called Pet Bragger where people (who love their pets almost as much as DogMom loves us) sent in their pets' pictures and had them printed in the paper.

It was kinda funny cuz there weren't just dogs in it... there were some cats and a gerbil and a rabbit and a calf -- yeah, like one of the kind that goes "MOO" that Opie is afraid of on the farm near our house.

Anyway, if you want to see it, click here (http://www.shakopeenews.com/node/849) and download the PDF's. The pictures of Opie and me are on page 7 -- next to our favorite place to stay, Dog Pad!

Wuf Ya!

Mask? What Mask?

So... I figured out how to rig it so that I don't have to wear that goofy mask all the time. While dogmom was gone on Saturday -- something about landscaping for Habitat, whatever that is -- I pulled the mask all the way forward so that it wasn't on my mouth any more. But, alas, that wasn't very comfortable when I tried to lay down for a nap. So, being the smart and resourceful street dog that I am (remember, I was found in a dumpster)... I chewed the leather straps on both sides of the mask until they fell away from the mask.

Nothing to tie it on anymore... so it's no longer a mask, right?

Dogmom just gave me "the look." You know the one... the one that makes you wish you could hide in the crate and have her not see you in there. Yeah, that one. I tried to tell her that Opie did it, but somehow she figured it out and said he didn't. Oh well.

I still win... I don't have to wear the mask!

Wuf Ya!

Threepeat on Stitches

Ok. So I licked my stitches open again. It doesn't bother me at all, really. But dogmom - you'd think I tore my ear off or grew an extra toe. Freakazoid. Always looking at my mouth and squirting water in it when I eat and then looking at my teeth again. Geesh. I didn't realize she had this thing for dog teeth.

Anyway, back in the truck without Opie. I heard him crying when we left even though dogmom said we'd be right back. He gets so upset when everything isn't exactly to plan.

So I go back to Pet Crossing to see Dr. Kate. I'm kind of remembering that things happen to me here... so I'm shaking with dogmom while we're waiting. But it wasn't so bad. Dr. Kate said that the stitches probably wouldn't hold anyways. And continue with the funny mask (darn it!) and the soft food and the medications and all that stuff. But, I'll probably have a scar -- which seems to bother the humans a lot more than it bothers me. I mean, having battle scars makes me the big dog at the bark park, right.

Opie and me, we run around in circles and jump on each other when I get back home. It's been like forever since I left. Dogmom said we were gone an hour, whatever that is.

Wuf Ya!

What's the Big Deal?

So, I lost a tooth and broke a tooth and licked my stitches out and got the hole sewed back up. What's the big deal? Not like I did anything totally miraculous or nothin.

The pain pills work pretty good and so most of the time I'm just my normal Gomer-Pyle acting self. So, I lick the front of my mouth a lot. You would too if Dr. Nicole forgot to take the thread out when she was all done sewing. It feels really funny in there. First, there's no tooth where there used to be one. And the hole has thread sticking out. You'd lick it, too. Dogmom keeps tellin me not to... but I do anyways.

And, what's with this squirting-me-with-water-thing that seems to be a new routine after I eat. First, the woman feeds me mush and then she tries to squirt it all out. Geesh.

And, I still have to wear this goofy-looking mask all day. Randi came yesterday to take us for a walk and I really really like her now cuz she took it off and let me walk around and play without it. But, alas, when she was leaving, she strapped the dumb thing back on. I think she and dogmom are in cahoots.

Oh well... it seems like last time all this didn't last forever. I can't wait till she starts forgetting about it.
Wuf Ya!

What About ME?

Ok. So I've had enough of all this attention that Gomer's gettin jus cuz he's got bad teeth and can't keep his tongue inside his mouth. It's supposed to be all about ME - Opie! (If you're questioning it, I have dibs cuz I said that in our blog on the second day, July 5. So there.)

DogMom tries to be fair, but being only human she doesn't quite get it right. She cuddles with me extra time in the evenings while she's reading. And, it seems like I get treats now and Gomer doesn't. And, we both have blankets up on the bed now.

BUT - she's been forgetting to give me my rawhide chew in the evening. And, it would obviously be better if Gomer didn't get to sleep on the bed. And, I see her making Gomer special food that has gravy on it rather than just the dry stuff. And Gomer seems to get two extra treats every day in the morning that she thinks she's foolin' me by saying, "Time to take your medicine, Gomer."

Obviously, she needs more training. Maybe I'll go live with Puppy Tosca (www.mypuppytosca.blogspot.com) for a while. At least she gets marrow bones. And, I could help her train her dogmom about the right way to do sit down stay come.

Wuf Ya - Opie!

More Surgery For Gomer

Ok. So, I told ya yesterday how dogmom found that I ripped out the stitches on my jaw and since it stopped bleeding I didn't think it was a big deal. Silly humans, though, act like the whole world is falling apart. I mean, geesh. The gash it left was only about an inch long and about a quarter inch wide. You'd think she saw the grand canyon in my mouth or something.

So, we went back to Pet Crossing. "Just so they can look at it," she kept saying. Yeah, right. Like I believed that. (Ok, I did believe it... but I'm gullible. I'm just a dog, after all.)

Anyway, Alicia checked us in. I hadn't met her before, but she's nice. And Dr. Nicole came in. She saw the grand canyon on my gums, too. And she wanted Dr. Kate to take a look. Yup, need to fix that. So far, I'm really happy cuz I'm getting all this attention.

Uh-oh. Somethings up. They're getting stuff ready on the table. No big deal... I wonder who's gonna get the mask this time. I'm just happy to be sitting over here by mom and watching and getting attention.

Wait. No way. They actually want to do something to ME! To my mouth. Geesh!

So, Dr. Nicole fixed the big hole in my jaw. I was so relaxed that I forgot to breathe for a while. Not too long, I didn't think. But, the way the humans were acting, it was a long time. Somebody pinched my toe really really hard. OUCH! I tried to yell and bark at them, but couldn't. They all clapped and acted excited. Dogmom said "Welcome back Gomer!" I just didn't get it, but I still couldn't move or anything. And, after a couple more stitches, they let me wake up.

But, alas, things didn't change. I have to wear that stupid mask and stay in my crate when dogmom is gone. And she stuffed more pills down my throat this morning. And the food she's giving me isn't crunchy, it's mush, really. And I haven't had a decent rawhide or chew bone or, for that matter, a Milk Bone, for six days now. Will it never end?

Wuf Ya!

Uh-Oh... Loose Stitches

Uh-oh. Mom found out. She looked at my mouth today and saw that my stitches came loose and I have a big gash in my jaw. It doesn't hurt much, really. And, it stopped bleeding already. So, I don't know what the fuss is all about. But she says I have to go back to see Dr. Kate.
Should I say "Yea!" or should I say "Oh no!"

More later... Wuf Ya!

Milking It

Yeah, so I had surgery on my mouth. Well, not on my mouth so much as on my teeth. Well, I guess it was really both, since the top tooth that is missing had to be cut out and it feels like my jaw and nose are broken, but I'm not sure it is. And my bottom tooth that I had the root canal done on in May that broke again feels really good but it also feels a lot shorter than it was a few days ago. So what if I look like I have human teeth on my right side and canine teeth on my left side?

I'm awake now and all the drugs have worn off. Except for the ones that dogmom jams down my throat every morning. (Not really, I don't mind taking them, I just want her to think I hate takin' them.) I think one works on the pain, cuz after I take it my mouth feels better. Not sure what the other one is for. Oh well.

So, I have to wear this stupid basket on my face again. Seems like it's only when dogmom isn't home. I sure wish she'd stay home more, cuz this thing is ridiculous. Especially when you combine it with the fact that she locks me in jail when she's gone. What does she think I'm gonna do? Run around and bang my head against the wall? Ok, don't say it... that's probably what got me into this mess in the first place.

Anyway. Don't tell dogmom that I feel great. Cuz as long as she makes me wear this funky basket and stay in jail all day and looks at my mouth all the time and puts that cold-thing-wrapped-in-a-towel on my face and doesn't give me any rawhides or special treats -- well, the more I'm gonna act like my life is totally miserable. Got it?

Wuf Ya!

Hostage Hound Returns Home

Whoa. I wasn't held hostage, Opie! I was being a model visitor and patient at Pet Crossing Animal Hospital and Dental Clinic in Bloomington. You know, where Dr. Kate works miracles on animal teeth. It was pretty uneventful most of the day. I played with the staff. I kept the cat company in Dr. Kate's office. No big deal. Kinda like the days I used to spend with Dr. Burke in Arizona. You know, when she helped me to not be such a scared puppy and all.

Anyway, eventually, I got poked in the arm and started feeling kinda funny. Like things weren't really real and I really wanted to just lay down and take a nap. Yeah, that's good. I'll take a nap. Oh, you want me on that table? Ok. Nighty night.

MAN, I could swear that somebody knocked out some of my teeth and broke my nose while I was sleeping. This isn't good. This isn't good at all. Everything smells funny and I want to sneeze. Dogmom and Dr. Kate are here. They're saying I'm a brave boy and everything's ok. I don't know. Usually, I can believe them. But this just isn't right. Uh-uh. I don't think so. Something's up. I keep seeing my paws moving, but the wall looks the same. I should be moving around and seeing something different as much as my paws and legs are moving. I just don't get it. Why isn't anything working like normal?

Now, I really really have to pee. They must have pumped me full of fluids or something. Trying to get to the door. My legs aren't working right. Everything feels kind of weird and disconnected. Man, I really have to pee. Ok Sharon. I really don't want that towel under my belly. Gotta get outside. Quit with the towel already and just open the door. Aaaaahhhhh... the pine tree. Much better. Whew.

Ok. Let's go, mom. Can we go home now? Hmmm... why aren't my legs working right? I think I'll sit down. Yeah. That's good. No, I don't want any food, Dr. Kate. Really, I just don't feel like eating it right now. Leave it and I'll eat some later. Maybe tomorrow. Everything feels funny and smells funny. Hmmm... well, maybe a bite wouldn't be so bad. No, I don't want any more. Well, okay, maybe just one more bite, but that's all. Um, well, maybe one more. Yeah, I'll eat that one too. What else you got? What? That's all? Geesh.

Where's Opie? I thought he would be in the car. But he's not. Oh well. So tired. Think I'll take a nap on the car ride. Yeah, a nap would be good. Aaaaahhhhchoooooo! Uh-oh. Mom's stopping the car. Light on. Here she goes with the towel in my face again. Yuck. It's not that I mind the taste of blood... it's just different when it's MY blood. Ok. We're driving again. Whew!

Oh. Hi Opie. I can't play now. Too tired. I'll race you up the stairs. I win. You can whine all you want. I'm not getting off the bed. Ok mom, I'll move over. Yeah, I can sleep on that red blanket. No problem. Nighty night.

I'm tired. More tomorrow...

Wuf Ya!

Gomer's Being Held Hostage!

Yo - Opie here.

I don't know what happened. We got up this morning and went for our walk (in the rain, I might add... you know how I hate that!). Anyway, we went for our walk and ate our breakfast and watched dogmom get drowned and then get dressed. You know, routine. I like routine. I don't like change much. In fact, I don't like change very much at all.

Anyway, dogmom got our leashes back out and said we were going to see Dr. Kate. I think I like Dr. Kate. In any case, I like the word "go" and I like "car ride" and I like "walk" and I like that whatever she was talkin' about involved needing our leashes. So, we go to see Dr. Kate at Pet Crossing in Bloomington. Then I remember. I do like Dr. Kate. Everybody there lets me give them sloppy dog kisses even before they ask for one, so it's a good place.

So, anyway, it started out pretty much routine. We waited in the room with the pretty rug and chairs and dogmom let us sniff everything. We got on the scale, one at a time. The nurse, Eliza, looked at our mouths and our ears and held that little circle thing next to our chests while she gave us a hug. (Again, one at a time.) And she asked dogmom some questions and they talked and stuff.

Then, Dr. Kate came in and we jumped on her and gave her dog kisses. Even Gomer did! And he's pretty stingy with his dog slobber kisses. So, I know for sure that Dr. Kate passes the tests and is one of the "good" humans. Anyway, she looked at our mouths and she spent more time on Gomer's mouth than on mine so I pretended not to care and sat in the corner and laid down and ignored all of them. So far, everything was normal and ok.

But then, I don't get it. Dogmom took me out to the car and left Gomer there. Just left him there. Yup. She went back in for a little while, but forgot him again when she came out. She got in the truck and started driving home. Something about Gomer needing to have his tooth fixed again. I don't get it. I mean, those people at Pet Crossing are really nice and all, but how could she just leave him there? I'm soooo worried.

Please help me figure out how to get Gomer back. He's my best bud and I miss him already. Please help me get him back home!
Wuf Ya - Opie

Uh-Oh! Where 'da Tooth Go?

So, I didn't get to see Dr. Kate last night, but my tooth is still broken and dogmom says we have to go for our surgery 6-month follow-up next month anyways, so we're going to go early and see Dr. Kate on Wednesday morning. I really tried to hide my broken tooth from dogmom. But she really pays attention to us and notices the littlest things... like extra toes and broken teeth and torn ears that are bleeding. I don't know how she does it, being just a human and all...

Anyway. I've had surgery on my teeth two times. Once with Dr. Visser in Arizona. He was really nice. I woke up on the table before he was done, but it didn't seem to freak him out at all. He finished and then I scammed dogmom into thinking I was still asleep a long time after I was really awake. Didn't fool Dr. Visser tho... he came in and I jumped up and ran down the hallway. That was fun!

So, the second time was with Dr. Kate here in Minnesota last May. I broke another tooth and had another root canal. So both of my canine teeth on the right side are really short. Mom says that doesn't make me less of a dog. But that's not all... I had to have one big tooth and one little tooth pulled out. My mouth was so sore. And I had to wear a funny basket muzzle to keep me from bumping my mouth on anything. I looked really goofy, didn't I?

Anyway, I'm not sure what's going to happen when I see Dr. Kate tomorrow. Mom emailed her some pictures of my tooth, but since I didn't sit still very well... (how would she like it if I stuck my paw in her mouth and tried to hold it open while I took a picture?)... the picture is kind of blurry.

Guess I'll report more later when I know more. Wish me luck and hope that I don't have to wear this funny mask again.

Wuf Ya!

Fur & Teeth Collection

Hey Tos! Thanks for offering to donate some fur to dopey Opie so he doesn't freeze this winter. At least the snow has stopped, but now it's raining a lot today. Oh well. At least that gives us some time to figure out what to do with Opie, the near-furless dog!

DogMom says that I need to go visit the doggie dentist today to have my tooth checked. I think I broke it again. It hurts but I'm not letting it show. I had it fixed at the end of May, but now I broke it off further. Anyway... it's good cuz I get to see Dr. Kate again!

Mom called Pet Crossing, where Dr. Kate works, and we're not going to be able to see her until Wednesday morning. Mom hopes I don't ruin it by then.

Wuf Ya!

Is it real or is it Ginger?

Not sure if you knew it or not, but we have some cousindogs that live in other states. Well, we have one cousindog that lives here in Minnesota, too; that's Izzy, who owns uncle Matt. Anyway, one of our cousindogs just had her portrait painted by her dogmom, Dawn. Dawn came to visit us last month, remember?

Anyway, Ginger said that her dogmom started not coming home early every night and told her that she was learning to paint. Ginger didn't get it, cuz her dogmom just painted practically the whole inside of the house and seemed to do a pretty decent job of it. Anyway, supposedly she needed painting lessons or something like that just for fun. Crazy humans.

This is kind of funny when you think of it, cuz auntie Dawn is really the analytical type. In fact, that's what they call her at work -- senior analyst -- even though she's by no means old enough to be called senior anything. Anyway, auntie Dawn sent us a picture of her painting. We think it's awesome and looks just like Ginger. What do you think?












Who knew that the humans we know possess so much talent? And a relative, to boot!

Wuf Ya!

What Do You Think?

So, I'm interested. Yeah, really, I am. See, Opie and me, we're really different. Yeah, we're like brothers and when we were young people always mixed us up cuz we looked a lot alike; and we're both pretty goofy and dopey; and we're the same size (sort of, cuz I'm a half-pound bigger); and we both eat the same food and live in the same house and walk together and share a toybox and ... well, you get the point.

But, I'm really interested. Cuz there's one way that we're really different. Well, there's more than one way, but I'm only going to talk about that one today, cuz it's relevant with the weather and all.

See, I am part beagle and part lab. But my fur is more lab-like than beagle-like. I have the longer hair and when it gets cold I grow more fur and then when it gets warmer all that extra fur falls out. (Freaked me out the first time it happened, let me tell ya and I ran around trying to save all that fur so dogmom could put it back on.)

Anyway, Opie has this really short, sleek dogfur coat. It's really pretty, ahem, I mean handsome. But when the weather gets colder like it did yesterday, Opie doesn't grow more fur. He just stands there and shivvvvvers. Like he can't get warm. He does it every year and really rushes to get back inside. In fact, last night, he actually slept UNDER his special dogbed in the room with the big comfy bed that dogmom uses. (I told you he is a weirdo!)

So, like I said, I'm interested. Do you think it's silly that a dog that weighs 50 pounds needs to wear a coat or a sweater when it's cold outside? Cuz it totally embarrasses me to be attached to the same leash and dogmom. But, if you don't think it's silly, then I'll accept it.

Wuf Ya!

EEEK - What's That White Stuff in the Air?

Ok... so it doesn't bother me so much... but Opie, the freakazoid, just froze (no pun intended) when we went outside for our walk this morning. We never saw this stuff in Arizona. Dust in the sky, yes. Water in the sky, yes. But dandruff? NEVER!

Gosh, we're not in Arizona anymore, are we Toto?

Who would have believed that we'd see snow in the sky before Halloween???? Where on earth did mom move us to?

Wuf Ya!

How to Train Your DogMom

See, I don't know if you knew it before or not, but our DogMom is allergic to dogs. When we don't get drowned every week and we start to actually smell like dogs, our DogMom starts sneezing and sneezing and sneezing and sometimes she wheezes and puts a funny thing up to her mouth and takes a couple of deep breaths. (By the way, we hate it when that happens, because it means we're gonna get drowned again real soon.)

Anyway, because of this sneezing-allergy thing she has, Opie and me are NOT allowed on the furniture. We have our own special beds in DogMom's room. We have our own special beds in the big room with the grey box that talks in the cabinet. We have our own room... which we've already established is really just jail renamed.

Anyway, because of DogMom's insufficiencies in breathing on her own when we're just being dogs... we are under no circumstances supposed to be on the furniture. Not on the big comfortable bed. Not on the leather couch. Not on the cozy reading chair. (Which, by the way, is Opie's favorite when mom's not around.)

Ooops... secret's out... we've been caught.

So, if we both just lay here and stare at her and act like we're deaf... yeah, that's it, we can't hear her at all.

She's training really well. Either that, or she just gives up too easily.

Um. But we really didn't win completely. Shortly after she caught us with the little thing that flashes a bright light... we had to get drowned again. Oh well.

Wuf ya!

Taste & Tails!

Coming up soon -- the Carver-Scott Humane Society fall fundraiser!

Taste & Tails includes an enjoyable fall evening sampling fine wines and hors d'ouvres and a silent auction at the beautiful Oak Ridge Center in Chaska (where we live!). Unfortunately, this is a human-only affair and animal friends aren't allowed to come. Guess we shouldn't have drank so much that other time -- but we're silly ALL the time and why drink wine when we can have apples and carrots and special treats?

Anyway, Taste & Tails is Friday, October 20th, 2006 from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 in advance or $50 at the door. For tickets, send your check to:

Taste & Tails
Carver-Scott Humane Society
PO Box 215
Chaska, MN 55318

or, call 952-270-4651 for more information. Information is also available on the CSHS Web site at www.carverscotths.org.

Wines have been donated by Aurora Wines & Spirits, Chaska. At the present time, the Carver-Scott Humane Society does not have a shelter facility. All animals are fostered out to homes. All proceeds from this event will go to help fund the building of a shelter for the Carver-Scott Animal Humane Society. Thank you for your help!

Wuf Ya!

Don't Forget Pet Bragger!

Happy Friday, all!

Don't forget - this is the last weekend that you can send photos to be included in the first annual Pet Bragger section in the newspapers DogMom works for! Opie and me will be there -- does your dogmom or dogdad love you enough to include you, too? Hope so!

Click the link on the left to upload your photo. You can pay with PayPal -- and money goes to the humane society.

Thanks - Wuf Ya!

2006 Skyhoundz Champion!

Before you get tooooo excited ... no, it's not me or Opie. But it is somebody we know. Ok, maybe we don't really KNOW her, but we did MEET her once. Ok, it was a long, long time ago and we didn't know that we met HER, specifically. We just met the whole litter on our way to Ohio once. She was a very cute little puppy girl! (Don't ya think?)
Yeah, I think so too!

Anyway, her name is Wigglebutt Seven of Nine and she WON the 2006 World Skyhoundz Championship. Her mom used to work with our mom at Thomson Newspapers when I was just a pup. Here's what Seven's mom wrote to my mom the other day... "We are back from Skyhoundz Worlds in Georgia, and man are we whipped. It was so fun to see Kat & Sarah and the gang there - they did great!

We met up with Tony Hoard and Seven as much as we could over the past 6 weeks to practice - very fun and we are learning so much from watching them. Sunday was the microdog finals, and everyone was worried about getting rained out. We thought we were going first, but they changed the order - darn, gotta wait. One dog before Seven finally went in, and it started to POUR! Yickes! We waited in anticipation, and finally the rain stopped and they started up the event again.

Tony and Seven were "jamming" out there, while Bill & I watched anxiously hiding behind the crates - trying not to cheer and distract her with our voices. It's always really exciting to watch them, but the hype of it being worlds was almost too much to handle. The results from round one came in, and they were in 3rd place, just 1 point out of first. There were 14 microdogs entered (the 2 or 3 best from each region/country were at the finals.) Dogs need to be either under 16" or under 25 pounds to be in microdog. Seven is 23 pounds.

Next was the Distance & Accuracy portion. Tony was hoping to score in the double digits to pull into the lead. Seven missed the first toss, Tony threw the 2nd out of bounds - panic started to set in - phew - she caught one, time was running out and the count-down started ... FIVE - FOUR - THREE - TWO (Seven rushes back and spits out the frisbee at Tony) ONE (Tony basically dives on the grass and chucks the frisbee super fast and low from his knees) TIME (Seven turns on the TURBO POWER and MAKES THE CATCH). The crowd is roaring. They score the highest score in Distance & Accuracy and move into first place.

Round 3 - last round - freestyle. They need to do well to keep the lead, they didn't get the kind of lead hoped for in Distance and Accuracy - only 2 1/2 points up. Tony is cool as cucumber - Bill & Angie on the verge of cardiac arrest and hyperventilation - Seven just wants to play. The start is a bit rough - Seven misses a few overs, and a butterfly. Sarah and Kat remind me to breathe - I'm wondering if I have a heart condition and whether I'm going to keel over dead. Bill's a wreck too. Whamoo - Tony throws the longest/fastest air bounce I've ever seen! Seven is running FAST and BOING! - there goes Seven about 5 feet in the air to make the big catch. WOO-HOO! The crowd goes wild.

They ended up with 8 misses - a lot for Seven. We aren't sure where she will place. The weather was starting to roll in again, and they finished up the other events as soon as possible. Out come the award platforms and the huge trophies. They announce 3rd place - not Seven, 2nd place - not Seven. Oh no! Did she go from 1st to 4th? Nope...

(Photo by Mike Waller)

2006 SKYHOUNDZ MICRODOG WORLD CHAMPION - Tony Hoard & Wigglebutt Seven of Nine

Bill & I are crying, Tony is smiling, and Seven's like, "don't we get to play some more?" On the podium, Tony was asked who gets the trophy. He replied, "They get the trophy, I get the dog." Well, that's not going to happen - I think we'll keep the best little disc-dog in the world right here. The rain started downpouring, and we were not only happy as a clam but wet as a clam too. What a weekend..."

Isn't that like totally exciting? You can check out Seven's info and more pictures here: http://www.wigglebuttaussies.com/Seven_of_Nine.htm

Wuf Ya!

Doggie Palooza! (Part 3)

Ok - so Opie's almost a canine good citizen and I couldn't be bothered with following commands. So what? I mean, I'M usually the good one, so what if I didn't want to play that game?

Oh, get over yourself already! Let me tell you about the BEST part of Doggie Palooza! I mean, besides seeing Dr. Kate and seeing Mr. Benda and meeting Jody (Randi's boss) and getting tons of treats from everybody... the absolute best part is that I totally beat the system on the agility course!

See, ever since DogMom brought me home from Friends For Life in Arizona, everybody that seems to know anything about us dogs tells her that she should get me into agility. Like I'm not agile enough, I guess. Anyways... Dr. Burke, Dr. Quist, Dr. Moffat, Dr. Mertens, Sam the trainer, Jennifer, I mean everybody!

So, anyways, DogMom sees this agility training test course at Doggie Palooza. And she gives the lady some paper and says she'd like me to try it. The lady said it would be hard with two dogs - but being human she wasn't smart enough to offer to hold one of us like the ladies at the canine good citizen test were. Oh well.

Anyway. Mom tried to get me to do all these weird things. I just didn't see the point. People have been giving me treats all day long and I didn't have to do any of these weird things. So, I figure, why start now?

First, there was this silly pole laying on a stand with two poles sticking up. I think they wanted me to jump over the pole that was as high as my chest. Duh. I jump 6-foot fences with ease -- why didn't they give me something fun and challenging to do? So, I figured they must NOT want me to jump over the pole, but to do something else. So I carefully slipped my head under the bar and flipped it up into the air ... with the added bonus of having it hit Gomer on the way down. I thought that was a great trick... but did I get a cookie for it? NO!

Then, there was this tire hanging in mid-air. The lady wanted me to jump through it. And she held out a treat and called me, playing like she was all excited. I ran really fast like I was going to jump through it... and ducked underneath it and stole the treat from her hand. (Since she forgot to give it to me on the bar trick.) Mom wanted to try again. This time, I jumped right over the top of the tire and kissed the lady in the face. I thought, maybe that was supposed to be the trick... since obviously jumping through the tire would be sooooo easy for me to do. The lady didn't seem impressed and again forgot to give me a treat.

The next thing was some kind of tube laying in the grass. I just couldn't seem to train this lady about how lame her instructions were. Why on earth would I go inside a tunnel, when I could run around it and jump over it (lengthwise!) and that was so much more fun? By this time DogMom was laughing hysterically and couldn't stop. I like it when she does that.

Anyways... the goofy Gomer watched all these stupid things to do and watched me not get any treats for being creative about how to play the game. And, what does he do? He looks at the lady and at DogMom... gets his leash out of DogMom's hand, barks, and runs over to the bar trick and jumps over both of the bars that are set up. Then, he runs over to the tire and jumps right through it. Then, in the epitomy of goofiness, he runs up to the tube, stops, looks at us, and then runs right through it.

Mom acted surprised. The lady looked at her and asked how long Gomer's been in agility classes. Never... he as NEVER taken an agility class! So, with all my creativity and hard work to train these humans, what happens? GOMER gets attention and praise and cookies.

Go figure.

Wuf Ya! - Opie

Doggie Palooza! (Part 2)

Hi - me again. Where was I? Oh yeah, I was tellin' ya about the doggie party in the park.

So, we go across the bridge and people are there to greet us and give DogMom more stuff. There was a hot dog cooker right there, but mom didn't stop and get us one. Instead, we started walking by these funny tents with people standing at tables. This was weird if you ask me, but then they started coming out from the tables and tents and giving us treats. Sometimes, mom would stop to write stuff down on the table. Other times, we just walked by.

Then, we turned the corner and I saw her! It was Dr. Kate! Yeah, I'm sure of it!. It was Dr. Kate and I was sooooooo excited I couldn't remember my manners and I jumped and jumped and danced and danced. I showed her my beautiful teeth (thanks to her!) and gave her hugs and kisses. Even Opie was glad to see her! Mom talked to her for a while about how good we are about letting her brush our teeth and stuff. I think she said we go in soon for our follow-up, whatever that is.

Anyway, we walked some more and saw Mr. Benda - you know, the guy who took our pictures even though Opie didn't behave and kept running away from the camera? Mom is still really glad we did that for some reason. She told some people that had their dogs with them that Jim is the best photographer and how he was sooo patient with us and our special needs. It made Mr. Benda laugh.

Then, at a couple of the tents we got more treats and mom got some stuff that she put in her bag. We saw an interesting area that was roped off and a sign that said "Canine Good Citizen." Mom said we should give it a try. Since there were two of us, Cassia held my leash and Opie went first. It makes me nervous when new people I don't know try to be nice to me. So I kept a close eye on where mom and Opie were going.

Opie likes getting all the attention. He sat when mom told him to. He looked at her and walked nice on the leash. He turned left when she said left and right when she said right. He stopped and sat and let people walk by. He walked around in circles with mom while other people walked by him and didn't bark at them or anything. Then, he sat and stayed while mom walked away and came back. And, he sat and stayed while she walked away again and then (SHOCKER!) came when she called him. Finally, he let some stranger hold his leash and mom told him to sit and stay. And then, she actually walked away from both of us! She walked to where we couldn't see her! But, she came back a few seconds later. And, Opie was really, really excited to see her. (Ok, ok, I was too!) Anyway, the guy said that was the only part of the test that he didn't really pass, cuz he got too excited too fast.

Opie -- a canine good citizen! Who'da thunk it?

By the way - I could have done all that stuff the right way, too. But, what was the point after Opie did? So, I flunked, which made mom really laugh out loud.

Wuf Ya!

Doggie Palooza! (Part 1)

Ya know, we kinda have a routine that we follow with DogMom so that she doesn't forget simple things like feeding us and giving us treats and stuff. Most days, she gets dressed up in clothes we aren't supposed to jump on and goes somewhere and leaves us at home alone to rest. But some days, she doesn't get dressed up in clothes we can't jump on. On those days, we take more and longer walks or go to the bark park and she usually gets out the big green monster and we have to get drowned and embarrassed in order to get more hugs.

Anyway, this day was different. We got up and did the usual routine with our walk and our breakfast and all that. But DogMom said she wasn't going to give us our bath right away because we were going to go to the Doggie Party in the Park. Sometimes she said Doggie Palooza party. Anyway, she acted excited about it so we played along.

We got in the car and went a longer way than just to Dr. Kelso's or Dog Pad. Opie got nervous when the traffic was just sitting there for a while, but mom drove off that road and went on another one. Anyway, she kept talking about going to the doggie party and having fun and that we really had to behave or we couldn't stay at the doggie party. Yeah, right, like that would happen... we're always well-behaved. (Hmmm... well, not really... we usually forget our manners when we're out in public... and at home too, for that matter.)

Anyway, we got out of the truck and there were lots of smells that we didn't recognize. This was obviously a new place. Mom called it Wolfe Park... but I didn't see any wolves. I looked and looked and thought that maybe Shantell would be there. I haven't seen her in a long time. She was my wolf-hybrid bark park buddy in Arizona. I haven't seen her for a very long time. Anyway, she wasn't there that I could see.

But I digress... DogMom told us to sit while she filled out some forms and there were lots of people and dogs doing the same thing. We sat there being perfect dogs and then we kind of started to tug because the baby rat terriers came up behind us. They were very very tiny, but we were really good and gentle and didn't scare them. So we got treats. This was going to be a great day if that's all we had to do to get treats...

Mom got a big bag with stuff in it and a funny mark on her hand. And we walked across a little bridge and then WOW! There were all kinds of dogs and people and food and smells and ... oops... gotta run. I'll tell you more tomorrow!

Wuf Ya!

Pet Bragger

So, the place where DogMom works is gonna make a new special section in the newspaper called "Pet Bragger." It will feature pictures of people's pets. It costs $25 for one pet/one picture or $35 for multiple pets.

Part of the money collected will go to the Carver-Scott Humane Society (www.carverscotths.org) in Minnesota where we live. They help rescue dogs and cats like Opie and me who don't have a home.

Wanna put your pet's picture in? You can at www.swnewspapers.com/petbragger. But hurry, the deadline is October 9.

Wuf Ya!

Bacon! It's Bacon!

DogMom always chuckles when the big grey box that talks in the cabinet in the living room shows the goofy dog and all he says is "Bacon! It's Bacon!" Well, she was laughing out loud last night.

See, when she went with Lara and Anne to wherever they went the other day - you know, when Lara grew wings and horns and flowers on her head - she said she bought us some special treats, but we thought she forgot cuz we never saw 'em.

Anyway, she opened up the bag last night and let us smell them. Hmmm... it was a really good smell... but I couldn't quite place it. Opie just wrinkled his forehead and turned his head sideways. We kept lookin' at each other and tryin' to figure it out. Then, it hit me...

Bacon! It's Bacon!

We went crazy running around in circles and tryin' to jump up and get one of these new bacon cookies. DogMom was just laughing hysterically and couldn't remember how to give us one. But then, she did. Boy, were they YUMMY!

Wuf Ya!

Tea for 10,000?

OK, DogMom has gone totally off the deep end now.

Or, something big is brewing.

Or, she's in hot water.

Or, she's just really really thirsty.

Humans are such a strange breed.

Why would anybody need 10,000 tea bags? She says they're for work. Weird work if you ask me.

Can you help me understand what on earth these might be for? Please post your ideas or email DogMom at dogsayeview@aol.com.

Thanks. I hope I figure it out soon...
Wuf Ya!

Remembering...

Aaaahhhh... we're really living the dog's life. I was remembering the other day about a time when...

Yo! Opie here. I'm really sick and tired of the way that Gomer seems to always tell stories. Just cuz he can type. I'm the one who can talk! So, now it's my turn!

I was dreaming last night about, um, about... well, um, I'm not sure what I was dreaming about. I can't remember. But I remember that I was dreaming. Well, actually, I don't remember. But DogMom said I was dreaming last night, so I must have been.

And, I felt really funny this morning when I woke up... like something happened, but I didn't know what. DogMom said she couldn't wake me up. I was yelping and running in my sleep. And then I cried a long time a really sad cry. And then I was running again. She said it lasted a really long time. I don't remember it.

I just remember waking up and feeling kind of insecure about everything. DogMom kept asking if I was okay and she gave me big hugs and let me be a cuddle-bug. It made me feel a lot better. Mom says I'm just a freakazoid and sometimes I need some reassurance. I don't know what that means, but as long as she lets me be a cuddle-bug and makes me feel better, she can say whatever she wants.

Wuf Ya!

Company! We Got Company!

We were soooooo excited on Sunday! DogMom said that we were gonna get COMPANY! It always gets us so excited.

Well, it didn't ALWAYS get us excited. It used to scare the beejeebees out of me. Anybody new that came might be somebody that would kick me and beat me with the broom and spray me with the hose and worse. I'm more than six years old now (according to mom) and it's taken me almost all that time to realize that most of the people that mom knows LIKE dogs and especially like me... oh, yeah, and Opie, too. Nobody has hit me for more than six years, since I came to live with mom and Keiko before that.

Anyways, back to the story. Two of our bestest dogmom friends came to visit us yesterday. Anne - who belonged to Sasha Girl, and Lara - who belonged to Edgar. Sasha was the granddog at the apartments in Plymouth. She was the best. She kept everyone in line, but mostly liked to walk and play like us. Sasha took the walk over the rainbow bridge about a year and a half ago. We really, really miss her and wish Anne would get another dog.

Lara also came to visit. We haven't seen Lara in a long long time. DogMom said she moved to St. Cloud. I always look up at the clouds when we're walking, but I never see Lara there. I wonder if mom knows what she's talking about sometimes. Anyway, Lara and Lia and Larson got married and live in St. Cloud with Mark and his two girls. Edgar isn't there anymore, but I smelled Roscoe on Lara.

Anyways. Lara and Anne and Mom went somewhere yesterday. And when they came home, Lara looked a little different. I think they went to get her those wings and horns and flowers. I don't know why, but they did. Isn't she silly?

Wuf Ya!