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!