Christmas 2011!

Is it Christmas already? Oh boy! What did I get?! What did I get?! I got beef liver treats, mmmmmmmm and thumpers MMMMMMMMMMMM and chicken sausage treats MMmmngghhhmmmmm!!!! More please!! I didn't get more. After all the presents were open I got to go to the beach! Here's a picture of me on the beach on Christmas.

See how nice and cool the water looks? I was just getting comfortable when my humans said it was time to go. Huh? We just got here! Here's a picture of me asking to stay.

Please???? How could anyone say no? They didn't! Here's a picture of me napping on the beach with my human.

Hey! I'm not furniture! Then my humans said we really had to go. I went to the end of the beach. It's called a compromise. Here's a picture of me compromising.

My humans made me get up. But it's CHRISTMAS! When we got to the street, I put my paws down. Actually, I put all of me down. I'M. NOT. LEAVING! Here's a picture of me NOT leaving.

As long as there's sand, it's still the beach! My humans made me get up - again. Hmph! I better get some more of my presents when we get home! (I did! MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!)

Back to Prairie Wolf Dog Park!

A couple of weeks ago I went back to Prairie Wolf Dog Park. There was snow on the ground! I went with a whole pack of dogs. Here's a picture of the whole pack.

It's me, Chyna, who usually growls at me, but we got along just fine, (yeah, not so tough without the leash holding you back, huh?), Kayla, Dude and Bailey. There was so much to smell! Here's a picture of me and Dude smelling stuff.

I moved before he peed on my head. (Only my friend Roethke gets to do that!) We all got separated in the brush trying to avoid the big mud swamp - well, the humans were trying to avoid it, I was trying to get in the middle of it - and look what I found, a new pack! Here's a picture of me coming out of the brush with my new pack.
It was really crowded at the dog park. Here's a picture of me and some of my new pack and a whole bunch of other dogs.

There were lots of bushy tails there, but mine was the bushiest!

The Power of Prayer and Practicing My New Tricks!

Last week at my tricks class I started learning to pray. You know what I prayed for??? SNOW!!!! And it worked!!! Here's a picture of me learning to pray in my tricks class.
And here's a picture of me yesterday in the SNOW!

It's not a picture of what I'm doing, it's a picture of what I'm NOT doing - I'm NOT going inside! I wanted to stay out all day! I wasn't allowed. I'm so excited about this praying thing! Know what I'm praying for next?? BACON! And rabbits! Fat, juicy whole rabbits!! And more snow!!!!! I can't wait!

Last night my humans had a party. There was so much food! It smelled so good! It was a perfect time to practice my new paws up trick! Here's a picture that Yvette took of me next to the food table.

This is after I used my paws up trick to eat half a plate of salami and half a wheel of brie. MMMMMMMMMore please! I kept waiting for the humans to leave the room so I could get some more, but they didn't. My human said I couldn't have any more food, but I think she was really proud of me for using my new trick. Later they had a Gladiator Gift Exchange. Hey, where's mine? I didn't get a gift, but when everyone was distracted, I used my paws up trick to lick some blue cheese dip off a plate! I guess they weren't that distracted because here's a picture of me licking the plate.

See how my paws are up on the coffee table? My human must be so proud!

Ruff Haus!

Last week I went to Ruff Haus. They had lots of treats there. I got some sweet potato and chicken treats and some beer biscuits. MMMMMMMMMMMM!!! My human bought me a wool ball made by A Cheerful Pet. It's the best ball ever! It's soft and purple and it smells sooooo good! Here's a picture of me getting my ball at Ruff Haus.They had cats there too. See the one on the counter? I took my ball out and played with it with my friend Roethke. He liked it so much he rolled on it and now it smells even better! Here's a picture of me with my ball on the couch.

It's totally posed. Stop looming over me with that camera! I give Ruff Haus and my Cheerful Pet ball Four Paws!

Winter is BACK!!

It's been a long time since I posted on my blog, but I've been doing lots of fun stuff. I go to nose fun class every week. How does nose fun class work? It's pretty easy. I sniff a bunch of boxes and my human has to guess when I'm sniffing the one that has the birch scent or treats in it. My human is kind of slow, so I have to give her hints like sticking my head in the box really far or pawing at it and shoving it around. When she thinks it's the right box, she says "Yes! Good girl!" and I get treats. I get lots of treats! Here's a picture of me at nose fun class giving my human a really big hint that this is the right box.
Oh boy! Treats!!

Last week I went to a nursing home to visit. Everybody was so nice and they gave me LOTS of milkbones! Mmmmmmmmmmmilkbones!! Can we go back soon? Please???

This week I went to a tricks class. I learned to put my paws up an things like chairs and steps. Here's a picture of my doing my "paws up" trick. Hey! That will come in really handy at coffee tables and counters where they have food!

I also went to a school with Safe Humane Chicago this week. I got petted by lots and lots of kids. Don't I get string cheese for this? I didn't get any string cheese.

But today was the best day of all. Why? SNOW!!! That's why! I was so excited when I smelled the snow. I could have just laid down in it all day, but instead I got to play with my friend Roethke! His sister Ariel died this week, so I've been playing with Roethke a lot so he doesn't get too sad. I liked Ariel. We all went to the beach last week and it was lots of fun. Here's a picture of me playing with Roethke in the SNOW today!
Here's another picture of us playing.
In the SNOW! He brought his ball and we played lots of games. Here's a picture of us playing "Jaws of Death!" where I hold the ball between my teeth so Roethke can't get it.
Here's a picture of us playing "Blink!" where we see who's going to get it first.
There's a lot of paw slapping in that game! Here are some pictures of us boxing.
They're action shots. It looks like I'm hurting him, but I'm not. Here's a picture of us about to play "Dare!" where I dare Roethke to try and take the ball away.
And here's a picture of us playing "Dare!" without my human distracting us.
Go ahead - I dare you! I double dare you! We played so much we both got tired. Here's a picture of us resting.
Do we look happy? We are SO happy!

I could have stayed out all day, but my human made me go inside because she was cold. Huh? It's not cold out here! I got to roll in the snow before she made me go inside. Here's a picture of me rolling in the snow.
It's a close up. It's going to snow some more, right?

Wisconsin!

The other day I went to Wisconsin. It was a long car ride there. We passed a sign for Fond du Lac. Oh boy! I love the lake and I love fondue - cheese and chocolate, please! We didn't go to Fond du Lac...turns out it's not what I thought anyway.

We went to Columbus, Wisconsin instead. When we got there I was so excited - it was colder than at home and it smelled so good outside! I smell rabbit, and squirrel, and deer, and skunk, and mmmmmmm countryside smells!! But we didn't stay outside at all. Instead I had to sit inside almost the whole time. Here's a picture of me in the living room.
Do I look bored to you? Here's a picture of me on Cocoa's bed.
Mmmmmmm. Cocoa! I like mine with whipped cream and marshmallows! My human kept trying to take a picture of me and Cocoa together. Here's a picture of me and Cocoa in the kitchen.
My human said we didn't cooperate. Actually, we cooperated just fine - Cocoa checked one side of the kitchen for crumbs while I checked the other. Here's another picture of us checking the kitchen for crumbs.
Mmmmmmm! Found one! Here's another picture of me in the living room.
Are we going somewhere? It looks like we might be getting ready to go somewhere. I wanted to stay in Wisconsin and walk around outside, but we went right from the house to the car again. Sigh. It could have been such a fun day!

Evanston!

Last weekend I went to Evanston. First we met Daisy and her human at a dog park. Here's a picture of me at the dog park.

The little white and black dog in the background is Daisy. There were lots of things to smell and it was nice and cool. Here's another picture of me at the dog park.

It was big and there weren't a lot of other dogs there.

Then we went to Daisy's house. At first she didn't want me near her food. But I'm hungry! The humans took the food away and I got to scrounge around for the crumbs. Mmmmmm! Then Daisy and I took turns gnawing on a bone. I don't have bones at home, but this one was pretty good. And it was Daisy's. I don't know why, but I just knew I had to have it. Here's a picture of me taking my turn with the bone.

Mmmmgggnnnawgnawgnaw! Daisy and I played in the backyard a bit too. Then we left and went to Happy Husky Bakery. Oh boy! I remember this place! Here's a picture of me in Happy Husky Bakery ordering my Snow Dog Sundae.

It's not a very good picture. One of everything, please! I just got the sundae. Here's a picture of me enjoying my sundae outside.

Mmmmmmmmm!! More, please! I didn't get any more. It was still a Three Paw day!

Visiting Yvette!

Today I went to Northwestern Hospital to visit Yvette. She was really surprised to see me. Is it good to surprise someone in the cardiac ward? It was. My human said Yvette almost died. She seemed fine to me. Maybe she just needs to eat more - there wasn't any food in her room at all! Well, there were some peanut butter M&M's, but I only got to smell them. Mostly I just slept on the floor, but I got some pets, too. Some doctors and nurses came in the room and I heard the crinkling of packaging - is that string cheese I hear? It wasn't. Seriously, where's the pound cake? Here's a picture of me and Yvette at the hospital.

See how happy she looks? I'm wearing my Safe Humane vest inside out so it's all black. Why? I don't know. My human called the hospital before we went and got approval for me to go there, but she says a dog in a vest is like a human with a clipboard - no questions asked. Um, I have a question...what the hell does that mean??

After we left the hospital I went to my nose fun class. I was the only dog again! No complaints here! I got lots and lots of treats just for smelling stuff. I love my nose fun class! It was a long day, though and I'm tired. My human says tomorrow is going to be a big day. Um, I really don't know what that means either so I'm just going to go to bed now.

Busy Week!

On Wednesday I went to my nose work class. My human says I can't call it "nose work" anymore...some kind of technicality. She calls it scent work class. I call it nose FUN class! I never did understand why they call it work. I was the only dog at nose fun class. Even Scruffy wasn't there. That may have been my fault...Scruffy was supposed to stay with us for a week while his humans went to Puerto Rico to adopt another dog, but I didn't allow it. We just had Knuckles here for a weekend and now Scruffy? What, are we running a hostel? That's not what I signed up for! NO MORE DOGS! I may have been a little growly and I may have kind of squashed Scruffy on the floor...and my mouth may have been open at the time. So Scruffy left. Was it my fault? I don't think so. But anyway, I was the only dog at nose fun class. Oh, is it my turn again?? Oh boy! I like being the only dog! More treats for me!

Then on Friday I went to Andersonville to visit the Fido To Go truck! Here's a picture of me waiting to order.
Hey! The line starts behind me - no cutting! Here's a picture of me ordering my Fido To Go treats.
I'll have the sampler, please! I didn't get the sampler. I got a honey bone and a beef puppizza! Mmmmmmmmmm! Here's a picture of me sitting for my treats.
Now, please! I wanted them both right then but I only got a bite of the bone and I had to wait to eat my puppizza at home. My human says Fido To Go isn't coming back for awhile. Why not? I don't want Fido To Go - I want Fido To Stay!!!

Fall Fests Are Fun!

Ahhhh! Fall!! So happy!! The other week I went to Chicago Canine Rescue's Mutt Strut. First we just stood around while some people talked and talked thru a microphone - so loud!! - and then we went for a long walk. It was kind of hot out and we ended up right where we started. Huh? I didn't see the point. Here's a picture of me on the long walk.
We short-cutted thru a parking lot at one point, but I could have short-cutted the whole thing by just staying put in the first place! There were lots of tables set out with treats and stuff. I got some rabbit jerky at the Kriser's table. MMMMMMM!!!!! So good! And I got a pupcake at the Dog-A-Holics table! Mmmmmmm! Here's a picture of me by the pupcakes.
More, please! I didn't get more. I did get pepperoni pizza though! MMMMMMMMMMM!!!! Here's a picture that Sue Yellen took of me waiting for some pepperoni pizza.
See how good I'm being? She took some more pictures of me too (who wouldn't?!). Click here to see more of her pictures of me. I would have stuck around for some more pizza, but there wasn't any, so I wanted to go home. My human wanted to wait for the raffle because she didn't write her name on the tickets. Huh? I want to go now! We went home. I give the Mutt Strut 2 Paws this year. Next year we should skip the walking and get more treats.

Then last weekend Knuckles came to stay. Remember Knuckles? He came to stay with us before too. I like Knuckles. I also like no Knuckles. But Knuckles came. He brought his bed again too, but he slept on the floor next to my humans' bed. Hey! That's where I sleep. Whatever. I'll allow it. I slept on the couch. Here's a picture of me and Knuckles smelling stuff.
Mmmmmm! We met a husky when we were walking. Knuckles really liked her. She was okay, but after awhile I had enough of their playing and put an end to it. Hmph! Here's a picture of us saying goodbye to the husky.
I'm done already. Here's a picture of us waiting for treats in the kitchen.
Me first! Shadow Cat is trying to hone in too. You can just see him in the background.

After Knuckles left on Sunday I went to Found's Day of the Dog fest. The first thing I saw was the Fido To Go truck. I love Fido To Go!! Here's a picture of me being fed off the Fido To Go truck.
Mmmmmmmmore please! My human bought me more. I got some french toast bones and a mac and cheese frozen dogurt. MMMMM!! What do you mean it's for later? We ran into Maggie. Here's a picture of me and Maggie. We're kind of ignoring each other.
Are we done here? We were done. I give Day of the Dog 3 Paws.