Chicago Canine Rescue's Mutt Strut

Today I had lots of fun. I met a really cute dog on my morning walk and we wrestled and ran around. I was so excited! He was young and blond and I hope I get to see him again really soon.

Then this afternoon I went to Chicago Canine Rescue's Mutt Strut. It's like a big event with a block long parade. It's not a long walk like the Stray Cat Strut for Tree House Humane Society. That's a five mile walk. That's a long walk. Is there an all you can eat pancake buffet at the end? No? Then I'm not doing it. Things I would walk five miles for: an all you can eat sausage, pancake, rib, cake, ice cream, rabbit, or steak buffet; a lifetime supply of Polar Pups, TriPom chews, or pig hearts; a canine cooler bed that can't be punctured by cat claws; a cheese fest. Maybe. Anyway, I was there with Safe Humane Chicago. Here's a picture of me at the SHC booth.

I'm wearing my SHC vest and my fancy Barker & Meowsky collar and leash. There were lots of people and dogs at the Mutt Strut. I met a Great Dane. Um, that's a really big dog. I met a Great Pyrenees too. He wasn't as big as the Great Dane, but he was really furry. There was even a cat there. Her name was Harley. She was in a stroller and someone had dressed her up. Here's a picture of me with the cat.

Does she look happy in that get up? No, she doesn't. Here's a picture of me trying to help her take it off.

See how much happier she looks? Her ears aren't back anymore. I met lots of kids too. Here's a picture of me with a little girl dressed up like a cat.

It's not a very good picture because she's starting to get up, but she sat with me for a long time and stroked my ears. Here's a picture of me with Superman.

He's not as big as I expected. A lot of other people came over to say hi and pet me too. One woman fed me a cupcake! Mmmmmmm! I liked her a lot! A man gave me some treats and one of the women at the SHC booth gave me a piece of sausage from her pizza. Mmmmmmmmm! PIZZA! I would also walk five miles for an all you can eat pizza buffet. There was a cake eating contest but I didn't get picked for it. I would've won a cake eating contest. I think I should get a cake to practice with so I'm ready for next time. I give the Mutt Strut 3 Paws. If I had gotten cake I would give it 4 Paws, but I didn't get any cake. It was a long day and now I'm really tired. I'm going to sleep until dinner.

Treats!

Yesterday I went to see Grandma. She gave me some pound cake. My human said not to, but she's my Grandma so she doesn't have to do what my human says and she gave it to me anyway. Mmmmmmm! Here's a picture of me eating pound cake.
It was good, but it wasn't a pound. I think if you give someone pound cake there should be a pound of it. After that we walked to Starbuck's and I got some water. Here's a picture of me drinking water at Starbuck's.

Then we went to Famous Fido's Bakery and I got some Halloween cookies. Mmmmmmmm! Cookies! Here's a picture of my Halloween cookies.
The orange one is a pumpkin. Then we went to Parkview and I got treats from Joe. Mmmmmmmm!

Today I went to the boatyard. I don't know why. Here's a picture of me at the boatyard.

Then we drove to Jackson Park Harbor. I walked down on the dock and it was okay, but then when I stood still the dock kept moving! I don’t like that. The boat was moving too. Here's a picture of me lying on the dock.

I'm looking at the boat because it keeps rocking around. You don't think you're going to put me on that thing, do you? Here's another picture of me on the dock.

I look happy because we're leaving. Here's a picture of me by the Yacht Club.

Hey, they have a barbeque grill! Mmmmmmm! Barbeque! I wanted to go inside, but I wasn't allowed. Here's a picture of me by the door.

Apparently I'm not a member. After that I went home and my human gave me a homemade pupscicle. Mmmmmmm! Peanut Butter and molasses! MMMMMMMMM!

Cats

Today I wanted to just relax and stay home. I decided to take a nap. Here's a picture of me trying to take a nap.

What's missing from this picture? My tail! Ivan is lying on it. Get off! And he kept sniffing my feet. That tickles – cut it out! I kicked him in the face, but he still wouldn't leave. He even kicked me back. He's bothersome. I share my home with three cats, Ivan, Sophie and Shadow Cat. Sophie is really sweet and keeps to herself. She's not scared of me, but she doesn't bother me like Ivan either. Here's a picture of Sophie.

She's pretty. Here's a picture of me and Shadow Cat in the kitchen.

He's really pretty too. We have a routine. He screams for food and I look like I haven't eaten in a really long time (which I usually haven't). Then we get fed. It doesn't always work. Shadow likes to rub against me a lot. I don't mind because he's really soft. Sometimes Ivan rubs against me, but I don't trust him. He's crazy. Sometimes he does stuff just to annoy me, like sneaking up when I'm sleeping and staring down at me from the back of the couch. It's creepy. When the cats eat I get to clean up after them. They're really messy, so there's usually lots of food on the floor by their bowls. But I have to wait until they leave before I can clean up. Sometimes Ivan refuses to leave. He's done eating, and he knows I'm waiting because I'm standing there and he lies down by the bowls and pretends he doesn't know I'm there. It's so annoying! There are three cats at my Grandma's house too, Mango, Lolita and Marta. Mango is really friendly and we hang out sometimes. Here's a picture of me and Mango.

It's not a very good picture. Lolita is kind of scared of me and her tail puffs up, but she still comes over to say hi. Marta just stomps around the house and hisses at me. Humph! I don't have any pictures of Lolita and Marta. Those are all my cat friends. I finally had to get off the couch because Ivan wouldn't move. SO annoying!!

Camp Dogwood!

Today my humans drove me to Camp Dogwood! I had to get up really early, but I got to sleep in the car. When we got to the camp there were so many new smells, I didn't know what to smell first! We had breakfast and my human gave me part of a cinnamon bun. Mmmmmm! My other human said not to, but I got it anyway.

First we went to the beach. Here's a picture of me lying in the water.

Ahhhhh, cool. I got to play with a tennis ball. Here's a picture of me in the water with my tennis ball.

I left it there. I don't really like tennis balls that much because they get all soggy and sandy and they feel gritty on my tongue. Here's a picture of me jumping on the beach.

I can jump really high.

Then we went up to a big field and did some recall training. It didn't make much sense to me and my human kept getting confused with which way to go. Nobody asked me if I recalled anything. But I got lots of treats and the trainer fed me hot dogs. Mmmmmmm! Hot dogs!

Then we walked all the way across camp and I did some tracking. My human walked away and put a flag in the ground with a glove and then hid in the bushes and I had to find the glove she left behind. It was easy to find the glove because she put chicken on it and I can smell chicken from miles away! Mmmmmm! Chicken! My human wasn't very good at hiding either. And she wore an orange shirt. Um, here's a tip, if you want to hide in the woods, don't wear orange.

Then we went to the Lure Coursing field. We walked onto the field and a plastic bag came shooting at me. I don't like that! It tried to get me! I ducked and did a tail tuck. Then they took the plastic bag away and tied a pice of fur on the wire and dragged it around. I didn't see the point and I didn't like all the noises the pulleys made. Can we go please?

We took a break for lunch and I got some steak. MMMMMMM! Steak!! After lunch my humans took me into a big room and I took the Canine Good Citizen test. Hey! Nobody told me there would be a test! Hmph! I passed, but I still think I should have been told.

After I passed my CGC test, my one human went to get a massage. What about me? I like massages too! Did I get a massage? No. I had to go with my other human to a seminar on grooming. At least I got to sleep through most of it. I was really tired. I think my humans were tired too, because after that we went home.

On the way home we stopped at Dunkin Donuts and my human gave me a piece of pumpkin donut. Mmmmmm! I liked Camp Dogwood because there were lots of other dogs and lots of smells and I got lots of treats. And I liked the beach even though there were lots of weeds in it. I give Camp Dogwood 3 Paws, but it would be better if I didn't have to get up so early to go there. And next time I want a massage.

Sundae Day!

Today my humans took me to the Happy Husky Bakery in Evanston. I was kind of nervous because they had wood floors. But they had lots of treats. Here's a picture of me in front of the bakery case.

Um, when you say "just one" you mean just one of each, right? Mmmmmmm! It smelled so good! I wanted to eat everything. But my human took me there to get a special treat – a Snow Dog Sundae! Here's a picture of me ordering my sundae.

I'll have mine in a biscuit bowl with carob chips and peanut butter, please!!! The man who worked there was really nice. He even gave me some extra treats since my humans wouldn't buy me any. Here's a picture of me getting my sundae.

Stop teasing! It was SO GOOD! Here's a picture of me eating my sundae.

MMMMMMM!!!!! Seconds, please!! I didn't get any seconds. I give Happy Husky Bakery 3 Paws even thought there weren't any huskies there.

After that we walked around. Here's a picture of me at Independence Park.

The sun's in my eyes. We stopped at The Spice House. I was going to wait outside with one of my humans, but they said I could go in too. Here's a picture of me in The Spice House.

It's blurry. I didn't think I was going to like it in there because it's really stinky and has tile floors and narrow aisles. Too many smells! It hurt my nose. Then I found the Cheddar Cheese Powder! UUUNNMMMGMMMGGGGHH! I had no idea they actually made this! Here's a picture of the Cheddar Cheese Powder.

It's so orange! Here's a picture of me waiting for them to weigh my Cheddar Cheese Powder.

I was so excited! Can I get another sundae and put Cheddar Cheese Powder on it? Oh, pleeeeeease??!! Can I have it on my dinner too? And breakfast? And mmmmmmmm!! I'm going to put it on everything! I give the Spice House 2 Paws, but I give Cheddar Cheese Powder 4 Paws because it's really, really cheesy!

A Good Walk

Today I went for a really, really long walk. My humans let me decide where to go. First I walked up Argyle to the Vietnamese sandwich shop. It smells so good! My human went in and bought some sandwiches. Then I decided to walk to Rib Fest. Mmmmmm! Ribs!! I walked all the way over to where Rib Fest was, but I couldn't find it. That's weird, because I'm pretty good at this sort of thing. I always remember where I get food - especially food like ribs. I was disappointed, so I decided to go see Grandma. It was sort of hard to find my way, but finally I got there. I was so excited when I got close that I started running. I ran all the way down the block and through the parking lot. My human ran with me, but she's really slow. I was so happy to see Grandma! She gave me some peach yogurt. Mmmmmmmm! Here's a picture of me eating peach yogurt.

It's low fat, but it still tasted good. Then I went around and said hello to some of the other people at the rehab center. I felt much better after that. When we got home my humans ate their sandwiches. I got a little bite of each one. Mmmmm! Later I almost stole an ice cream sandwich off the coffee table, but I wasn't allowed. I got my little cupcake from Famous Fido's instead. Mmmmmmmm! Cupcakes!

Andersonville

Today I went to Andersonville. First we stopped by Starbuck's. They had samples of pumpkin bread with whipped cream. Mmmmmmmm! Everything is better with whipped cream! Here's a picture of me at the free sample table.
It was so good! I wanted seconds, but I wasn't allowed. I don't see why not. See how many samples there are? One crazy woman even threw hers in the garbage can right next to where I was standing. I tried smiling and wagging my tail at her and everything, but she didn't pay any attention. Hey! Am I invisible?! I would have eaten that! I tried to get my human to pick it out of the garbage for me, but she refused.

Then we went to Chicago Costume. It was okay at first even though there were lots of wood floors. But then my human started putting things on me. Hey, cut that out! It was humiliating. I'm only posting these pictures as proof of abuse. Here's a picture of me wearing some stupid devil horns.
They pinched my head and it's not even a good picture. It got worse. Here's a picture of me wearing Harry Potter glasses.
Do I look happy here? NO, I don't. I don't even care that I got treats afterward. Well...yes I do.

Then we went to Famous Fido's. My human was going to get me a Halloween cookie, but they didn't have any so she got me a little cupcake. At least the nice lady gave me a treat. It didn't make up for the costume abuse, but it made me feel better.

When we got home I took a nap on my new dog bed from Orvis. Here's a picture of me on my dog bed.
It's red. I like it, but it's still not as nice as the chenille couch. Here's a picture of me on the couch.
See how comfy I look? I'm tired and it was a long day. HUH?? I smell STEAK!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMM! STEAK!!

Day of the Dog Festival

Today I went to Found Chicago's Day of the Dog Festival. I was there as a Safe Humane Chicago Ambassador Dog. It was fun because I got to do practically nothing but sit or lie down and my human gave me lots of treats. A lot of people came over to meet me and pet me. A man at the booth next to ours gave me some treats after I stared at him for awhile, but there were lots of other tables with yummy smelling treats on them and I didn't get to go to any of them. And I smelled popcorn and cotton candy and I didn't get any of that either. Hmph! My human was excited because I got my Safe Humane Chicago vest today. Here's a picture of me and another SHC dog, Toby in front of the SHC booth wearing our vests.

I like it because it's purple and I look good in purple. I'd rather not wear anything, but it's better than the giant rain vest my human sometimes makes me wear when it's raining. Toby's human was really nice and bought me a giant cookie! Thank you Linda! (My human didn't buy me anything!) Here's a picture of me and Toby eating our cookies. Mmmmmmmm! Cookies!! The Day of the Dog Fest was fun, but it would have been better if I had gotten more to eat. I give it 2 Paws.

When we got home we went straight out for a walk to Starbuck's and Parkview Pet Supplies. Joe wasn't there, but I still got lots of treats! Mmmmmmm! Lamb puffs! It was a good walk because it was nice and cool outside. It was a pretty good day.