Musings of Two Dogs

2009-11-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

This is a happy face. This is the face of "Oh my goodness, I get cold cuts for doing what my human wants!" Yep, I've begun using deli meat for training treats and it works just as well if not better than hot dogs.

Of course...
sometimes he still gets distracted. My little dirt lover thought the dirt was more interesting for a moment.

"Anything for turkey!"

Yay, finally some real progress with the weaves!

And Treader has always been good with the jump, but...
using the new training treats and a clicker, I've been able to make him do better on higher jumps. The one above is set at several inches over Treader's head!

I've also been working on teaching Treader to sit up and beg, pick up and hold objects on cue, and to go get his toys when he wants to play. Out of that list, the one with the most progress thus far is "sit up and beg", which to Treader is just "beg".

Recently, we went to the Petsmart near Jacksoneville and I was interested in the food choices there. We found canned Blue Buffalo. Cookie gets canned food about once a month, and up until now we've had to get her grocery store brands which are full of detestable ingredients.

How do you like my Collie figure? I saw this at the store and being a Collie fancier, I just had to get it.
Also got a figure of a German Shepherd puppy, to remember the puppy in Cookie:

These are the Kongs we I froze for the dog because I'd be gone for a while.

Now, very few Cookie pictures on this post for far, huh? To make up for here, here's her one and only, Mrs. Cookie Grumpypants:
This is what it looks like after a good brushing session with a German Shedder. Haha. But I can't take the credit for that pun. I got it from a fellow Shepherd owner.

No, I'm afraid she's not holding it. She'll take things out of my hand on command, but we have yet to have advanced that to where she'll hold the object until told to drop it. This photo was just taken very quickly, before Cookie dropped her comb.

I decided to have a mini Easter-egg hunt with the dogs the other day. Great way to exercise their minds. They both have to find the eggs, which is not hard to get them to do if you encourage them and help with the first few, and figure out how to open them to get the treat inside. This time, I put little bits of cheese-filled hot dogs therein.
Treader opening an egg he found.

Cookie with her egg.

Cookie getting her treat out.

I wanted to get a good shot of Cookie taking the egg off of the table, so I encouraged her again and again to take it off. I succeeded half-way a few times after many tries.
Heh, she thought I wanted her to paw at the egg.

Oh no, it's gonna fall down!

Well, I suppose that's all for this entry. Godspeed!

Toys, treats, and pictures

2009-10-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, after reading some articles on the dangers of tennis balls and seeing first-hand a dog with worn-down teeth from playing with tennis balls, I finally decided to dump my dog's tennis balls and get one of the nonabrasive tennis toys made by Kong. As you can see from the above picture, Treader loves it. Cookie...well, little miss "I don't do toys anymore" shows very little interest in them, just like any other toy, though she will catch it if I tell her to. She outgrew toys around the age of 8 years. Last actual playtime complete with tug-a-war and we shared was a cold night in December.

More pictures of Treader enjoying his new toy:
Normally, he just refuses to play outside (because sniffing around is more fun, don'tyaknow), but that day he made an exception.

I finally tried some Brewer's Yeast with Garlic a try for flea control, and it's working wonderfully...for Cookie. But for Treader...
Eep! Flea dirt! But the weird part is, he's scratching less.

I love this picture. Too cute!

And it's been a while since I gave an update on the birds, so...
Sorry for the poor quality here. Spirit's feathers are still trying to grow back. I think she's probably overgrooming. The trouble is, the safest place for the birds is my room, and there's not much human traffic there. (The dogs like to pop in and watch the birds.) Heck, I'm weird, so I don't even sleep in there. Because of a recent cold snap, we had to put them in the dining room, where they get a lot more attention from others. I feel that, in a way, this is the best situation for them anyway. It keeps Spirit from overgrooming. Problem here is, the kitchen is right next to this room, and there's no door there, and we do use tephlon (sp) when cooking. This situation makes me wish I had done more thinking back when I was researching responsible bird ownership. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have decided that a bird wasn't right for me in this situation.
Good news is, we're planning to put the computer back in my room soon, so my room will get a little more traffic. I've also been puting off clipping the bird's wings or really taming them, because Spirit's feather situation is stressful enough. I was going to wait until they all grew back before I did either. Any advice would be much appreciated.

ETA:
Also, please vote for Cookie and Treader in Dogster's Annual Coolest Dog and Cat Show:
Vote for Gray Dawn Treader in the World's Coolest

dog pictures & breed info
Vote for Burkett's Cookies 'n' Creme in the World's Coolest

dog pictures & breed info

New pictures

2009-09-08T02:04:00.000-07:00

I apologize once again for not having updated in a while. Won't be updating this blog but about once a month, maybe a lot or a little more or less from now on. I'm is getting more interested in other parts of the internet, and trying to spend more time with my dogs, finishing school, etc. It's been fun voicing things as my dogs see it, but I'm kinda growing out of it. I'll do it sometimes, maybe. I apologize if I'm disappointing anyone. If you are disappointed, just leave a comment about it and I'll keep your opinion on this in mind.
Not much to update on, but lots of pictures:
We babysat a friend's Chihuahua puppy for a while. He was a cutey-pie. Sweet, playful, smart, and a real handful for a dog that fits right in your hand. This particular picture is from a visit he made to us about two weeks before we puppysat him, so he's smaller in this picture than in the more recent ones I am about to show.

The dogs showed some interest in him, but overall left him alone.

Mr. Puppy (whose real name is Oreo) decided that he liked Cookie's kibble. He tried to climb into her food bag, and picked up and ate a piece before we could put it out of his reach.

And Oreo was almost housetrained now. (Was because we watched him a couple of weeks ago and he is probably fully housetrained by now.)

And he has the cutest kink in his tail.

"Forget about the puppy--time for pictures of me."

Did you know that Treader likes the new dirt in our driveway?
"Nomnom. ... Okay, first test of new dirt in driveway passed."

"Initiating second test."

"Second test successful. This driveway is normal in every way and safe to drive on."

And then I had him balance on the back of our (stationary) truck.

What? Cookie too? What tastes so good about this new dirt???
"Um...it's minty?"

The End

Cookie - New Pics

2009-07-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it's been a while. Mistress got held up for about a week, but the rest of our absence really has no excuse.
We have lots of photos to share, though.
But, first, we'll update you about Treader's yearly-check-up at the vet's. It went great! He's healthier than he was last year since the switch to raw and the only problem found was one hookworm, which was most likely aquired during one of Treader's sneaky out-doors-running-loose runs.
We're also seriously considering switching to natural flea treatment in favor of commercial flea control. We are of the mindset that shuns harmful chemicals.

Oops...

Miss.

Yay, finally a catch!

"No Frisbee for me, thanks. This weather makes one lazy as a daisy."

This week has been nothin' but rain in the evening. But this evening, by God's grace, the storming stopped early enough for us to go to the park! A different one, this time. It's baseball field. Perfect for us to play around in since it's fenced in. Still, we couldn't close the gate, so mistress kept our leashes on so that she could grab us in case we headed toward the exit.

"You're safe!"

And then we saw a rainbow! And mistress took a picture of it...

Treader was more interested in sniffing than running, and mistress left our toys at home by mistake, so she had to lure Treader into running by running herself. Good exercise for the both of them!
Treader, looking more like his Papillon side...

Me? I'm content to go at a leisurely walk...
And watch the pretty sights and smell the pretty smells.

Some pictures from the past few days...

Kong happiness!

On Treader's birthday (celebrated July 18th), we went to the pet store and he picked out his birthday present.

German Shepherd breed information
He picked out this toy:
...but broke it within a week. Surprisingly cheaply made, I guess. He's not normally one to intentionally wreck his toys.

Then we headed over to DQ, where we were supposed to get an ice cream cone, but their machine was broke...

But we did get to meet Treader's former owner, and found out more about his past!
Mistress's description from a forum she frequents:
"Treader's former owner! It's the day we celebrate Treader's birthday, and we had brought him to Pet Supplies "Plus" to buy have him pick out a birthday present. We almost got him a Loofa dog, but he liked the stuffed ball on a rope better.
Well, we were going to get him an ice cream cone from dairy queen (hey, it's only once a year), and while I was waiting outside the front of DQ, one of the workers there came out to take a short break.
She liked Cookie and Treader. Commented that Treader looks like a dog she lost named Camden, just fluffier. This caught my attention, as this was Treader's old name at the shelter. I told her this just a bit later.
After a few more minutes conversation, I asked her how long ago she had lost him and it was about two years. She said that he liked to run off and he got loose while they were moving to another part of the county. The shelter had found Treader as a stray, so it fit together.
He doesn't respond to his old name anymore, but I've always wondered where Treader came from. She says that she had gotten him from a shelter about a year before he ran off, and that he was smaller back then, she thinks that he was just coming out of the puppy stage.
This means I also know a bit more about Treader's age--that puts him at about approximately 4 years old. Which means he was 2 years old when the shelter found him.
(She also said that he'd had his tag on when he got loose, but since they were moving they didn't have the same phone number.)

Just had to share. This had me rather excited. "

Dogster's dog breed info

Treader--

2009-07-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hi, everypup! Been busy lately. Practicing a lot of Agility, and learning how to do the weaves. Funfunfun!

BTW, how's this for a pose(?):

Doing the weaves:
Mistress is teaching them to me using what is called the "weave-o-matics" method. You slant the weaves, then slowly bring them up.
She likes to take pictures, after which is time to review them:

Oh, and Cookie's Kong got misplaced, so she had to borrow mine:

Speaking of Cookie, mistress found an affordable dog food for her that is better than what we were feeding:
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul
It's 24 bucks.

Cookie's getting stiff and the ladder scares her, so mistress couldn't get her to pose with both paws on the ladder.
But I didn't mind.
Kinda.

More weaves!

"Coulda had a V8!" says Cookie.

BTW, if you like our pictures and would like to see more, mistress uploads the very best of them onto her profile on DeviantART. There's a link to her dA profile at the bottom of the page.
A warning, though:
Deviantart does contain some questionable content (though mistress's page does not), and though the mature content filter works quite well, you still need to be careful. So, if you avoid sites with mature content and/or filthy language, avoid deviantart.

Cookie - Long time, no post. Sorry

2009-06-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. Been a bit boring lately, and up 'til today we hadn't logged onto Blogger for a while. Plus, mistress misplaced her camera for record time. (One month.) Turns out it was just under the computer table! Can you believe it?
Mistress installed the pawsomely awesome Dogster skin on her Firefox browser:
You can do the same here:
http://blogs.dogster.com/dogster_site_updates/2009/06/04/dogster-browser/

The humans have been doing things like making tornadoes lately:
Good thing that the tornado's in the bottle and can't wreck our house. Even little tornadoes can be bad. Or so I heard.
Mistress did a photo session with Treader yesterday (I need to be brushed and the brush was missing, so she's going to wait to do my photo session):
"Get this...whatever-you-call-it off me, please!"

"Darn mosquitoes!"

Right after snapping at a mosquito.

"Mistress made me pose here. Ooh! Nice view."

"Get me down now, please?"

Treader with a leaf on his head! Teehee!

Then mistress got a treat out to try to make him wave for the camera, and Treader thought she wanted him to dance:
Darn, didn't catch the wave on time.

Okay, here's the wave:
Sorta. More like he's just holding his paw up like Lassie.

Treader--Old Pictures of me and Cookie

2009-05-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

Cross-posted from CaBr forums:
http://drrevived.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=gallery&thread=428&page=1
ETA:
Very Sorry about some of the pictures being shown-half way. To see them full-view and in completion, click on them and open in another tab/window.

Some of these go as far back as early-2007.
Treader:
The oldest one of Treader:

Treader in the shelter, before he was even up for adoption. Yes, I did take this one. I didn't have the flash on, and Treader (then know as Camden) kept whining and standing on his hind legs over and over, that's why it's blurry. This is was taken June 21st, 2007.

Spoiler:

Treader on his first day at his new home:

Playing with his new toy sometime in early August.

Play growling.

Treader's old toy, Blink the alien. He eventually tore him up from playing tug-o-war so much with him and I threw him away.

Treader's old toy, Hedgie the Hedgehog. Got Hedgie as a gift for buying from 1-800 Pet Meds.

Treader leaning over to pick up his toy.

Collage of a failed attempt at Canine Freestyle.

Screenshot from a video of Treader and Cookie gaiting.

An old tennis ball. Treader loves tennis balls, but we don't use them anymore because I read that they wear down a dog's teeth.

Treader staring at the camera. This is a unique and lucky shot. Treader never did that pose again.

A fashion pose! Treader with one of Cookie's bandanas. That bandana has since got missing...

Looking at these old pictures, it struck me how Treader has gained a great deal of fluffiness since then. He hasn't gained or lost much weight. It also struck me how his paws looked a different color...in older picture, they are pinkish, like the skin is showing through the fur. In pictures taken a few months after starting the raw diet, his paws are the color of the fur. Interesting.

Spoiler:

Here's some newer pictures of Treader to illustrate:

Treader indoors on a hot day. I put the T-shirt on him. It belonged to me when I was 6 years old, and I just couldn't get over how small it was. When I let Treader out, he took it off in the backyard and hid it. XD

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now...

Treader acting as a therapy dog for my dad.

Sharp toothies!

Hey, another fashion shot! Treader found it boring.

Cookie:

Cookie's booboo.

Backpacking.

Plaaay baaall!

Bases are loaded...

What a catch!

She's getting there!

She's making a grab for the ball...

...and she misses!

"Bally-bally-ball, I'm coming after you!"

"And it's an awesome save!"

"Come to papa...or mama...whatever."

Safe!

Sadie (my grandma's former dog) and Cookie

Crawling on command.

Agility practice:

FRISBEE!

Arguing with Treader

Special Poses, Featuring both Dogs:

Dr. Cookie and Nurse Treader.

Giving my brother his shots.

"Treader, I am your mother."

"OMD! You can't be! Nooooo!"

Cookie's Wardrobe.

"Are you certain this is the latest style?"

"None of yo beeswax...nya!"

(Singing) "And the stone went 'round and 'round, and the giant came tumbling down..."

"Not so sharp now, are we Mister Sword?"

"Huh?"

"I haz a Fan!"

"Buzz off, Bear. I don't need a fan."

"Yeah, yeah...a promotional for reading...just get it over with, 'kay?"

"Silly Wabbit, Trix is for kids!"

"Dear Lord,
Thank you for this food. Amen.
Short 'n' sweet...let's eat!"

"Cookie and assistent Treader here today on Home Improvement."
How to wear safety goggles...or not(!):
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/.... provement1.jpg
"What this button do?":
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/.... provement2.jpg
"And that's all for today on Home Improvement!":
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/.... provement3.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....oses/yummy. jpg
Cookie posing next to the food we used to food. (A food that I personally wouldn't recommend anymore.)

Pictures too big to post directly:
Cookie the Cowgirl(!):
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....es/Cowgir l.jpg
Cool Cookie:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....oIloo kgood.jpg
Fashion Cookie:
http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....ent=Famous1.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....es/Famous 2.jpg
"Look at this cool offer!":
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....esy ourmail.jpg
Cookie in school:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....es/Histor y.jpg
No one in particular: "I see you got yourself some new laundry"
Treader: "I'm not laundry!":
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/.... rtylaundry.jpg
Cookie in an old nightgown:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....Nightg own3.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....Nightg own5.jpg
Piano Practice:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....nop ractice.jpg

ETA:
Oh, kriffing crispy fries! Some of the pictures aren't stanging showing up! I'll just show you the albums:
http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....f%20the%20Dogs/
http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/....pecial%20Poses/
If you drop any comments on any of the pictures, please let me in a post here or in a PM and provide a direct link. Thanks.

Cookie - Questions about a possibly sick Budgie

2009-05-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a while and there's not much to update on about us dogs. But we know your help about our Budgie. I'll copy mistress's post from Dogster, which we decided to ask there, after asking the vet, birdchannel forum members, and other sources.

"[i]I've asked the vet, I've asked some friends on a birdchannel, I've asked on another forum, and I've asked some people I know in RL, but for the life of me I can't figure out who to belief.
My Budgie, Spirit, started a heavy molt, in March (or maybe it was last month...). She lost a bunch of feathers, creating bald spots and spots where her downy feathers show up. Right now, there's downy feathers on her upper chest showing, a bald spot on her back (under her wings), and an almost bald neck (which can only be seen when she lifts her head up high). Not exactly a pretty sight...

The feathers seem to be growing back, but slowly. I'm not concerned that it's a bit early for a molt, because people-on-birdchannel's (including Budgie owners) birds are having early molts, too. I think it's because of the early summer weather we've been having. I'm thinking that stress may be a factor, because Spirit's old buddy, Reepicheep, died in January and Spirit's been down in the dumps ever since. Until we got another Budgie (a 6 year old skyblue dilute named Dr. Looney) on Wednesday. She perked right up and is acting like her old self again.

This prolonged heavy molting is scaring me. The people on birdchannel think it's serious and the vet thinks it's normal. I'm so confused. Part of me just wants to assume that stress brought this on and now that she's got a cage buddy it'll get better fast. But, for safety's sake, I cannot do that. If an infection brought this on, I don't want the "newer" Budgie catching it.

And the family doesn't want to bring Spirit to the vet unless it's serious. Since the vet said (over the phone) that it doesn't sound serious, so the family doesn't want to take her in as of now. So I guess that I'll just keep an eye on the poor bird for any further signs of trouble. I've said this several times in the past day and I'll say it again...I wish I knew as much about birds as I know about dogs.

I need tips from you guys, and most importantly, prayers.[/i]"

Here's a picture of Spirit from Wednesday:

You might want to see Dr. Looney too, so here's some pictures of him:

ETA:
So far we've gotten advice to keep an eye on her, make sure she's not plucking, and to get a food that helps with molting.

Treader -

2009-04-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

Last week, mistress's uncle's dog spent a few days with us as mistress's uncle went to a funeral a few states away. Snoopy has been on this blog once before. And here he is:
Well, his picture. Snoopy himself is back at his own home now.
Let me tell ya, with Snoopy around, life is not boring. Well, life isn't exactly boring when he's not around either...he just adds some bounce to it. Mistress was having me pose like this before he came because she didn't have anything else to do at the time:
But when Snoopy came, he pretty much kept her on her toes.

I had fun playing with Snoopy for the most part. Except he wanted to keep playing even after I was tired out so I had to growl at him several times.
And he'd take my toys...

And chew them up...
He chewed my Tennis Toughies dumbbell ins half for example...
Before:
After:
We have some things in common though.
Snoopy hates dog food and expressed a desire to have me "share" my raw meals.
Well, okay, I don't hate dog food, but I do love raw meat and that's what Snoop and I have in common.

On Easter, mistress tried to share her Peeps with us:
And we hated them.

But mistress had other fun planned. She hid some plastic eggs with hot dogs in them all over one room of the house and had us look for them. We were each supposed to find four eggs, and after we found our share, we were put into our crates to prevent us from stealing another dog's egg.

Snoopy caught on quickest:
It took Cookie a while to get it, but she eventually got it:

I caught on second quickest:

Turns out that mistress put the eggs on top of my crate after the goodies were taken out, so when I got put into my crate...
I thought I had hit the jackpot.

Mistress fed each of us a pork picnic for supper. She cooked Snoopy's, because Snoopy's human does not want Snoopy to be fed raw meat.
Later that night, Snoopy played with a balloon

Then it finally popped:

I thought that the balloon business was foolishness...
I had learned not to play with balloons a long time ago (okay, a few months ago) because they scared me when they popped. But, you know what? Snoopy seemed to enjoy having his balloon pop!
Snoopy went home Wednesday morning. But before we move on, here's a video on me playing with him in the backyard:

[ETA: The sound seems to have been messed up after the video was uploaded. The sound you hear on the video is actually farther behind than the sound that was actually happening at that point. Al east, that's the way it appeared on our computer.]

Mistress has been slacking up on our walks, so she decided to get back into the habit on Thursday evening. Cookie was hoping we were going for a ride.

And of course, as always, mistress used the opportunity to work our obedience skills...

Here are some other pictures mistress took on our walk:

Update from Cookie

2009-04-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

German Shepherd breed information
Haven't post in a while. Sorry. Lately, we ran out of my incontinence medication and family members started complaining about the smell and started assuming that the medication quit working, saying either we find a way to get rid of the smell or *gulp* I get put down. Grrr. Those family members can make mistress angry sometimes. Luckily, it got resolved and we got a refill on the medication on the same day that I got my shots.

Here was our post on Dogster:
Some of you may remember last year when my dad wanted to have Cookie put down or given away because of her incontinence. This came up again, except now it's my grandmother doing most of the complaining. But she has my dad wrapped around her middle finger. If she complains, he automatically believes her and becomes a miserable person to be around.

Yes, the medication has been working. But we ran out of it two weeks ago, and then the house started smelling again. My grandmother had to stay here for two days while we went camping, so she noticed it. And when I got back, I found my dad assuming that Treader was not housetrained and that Cookie is leaking all over the place and either we fix it or the dogs are going to leave. Sheesh, get the whole freaking story before assuming that the dogs will have to go. Do I have to go through this every freaking year?

So, my grandmother had a little talk with my mom saying either we clean the carpet or she wants Cookie to be put down. The problem is, the house is under her name, so she has some right to complain about how it smells. =/

But she doesn't have the whole story either. I tried to tell her that we ran out of Cookie's medication and we'd be getting more today (and we did, along with having Cookie's shots), but noooo...I'm not a reliable source to her apparently. And she also wasn't aware that we could increase the dang dosage of the medication either, apparently.

Why does my step-dad's family have to be so dang negative and complaining right when people are satisfied?

I doubt that the situation is nearly as bad as it was last year, as we have Cookie's medication dosage increased, but still, pray that it will work. Please.

Anyway, about my vet visit for my shots. Sorry, no pictures, but I sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting room on my own accord. The staff at the vet office thought it was so cute. They asked if I got on the furniture at home too, but the human said that I'm good about staying off the couch and beds. Then the vet called us in, and the usual procedures. When I got weighed, I had gained a couple of pounds. Instead of 72 lbs, I was 79 lbs. The vet thinks I'm at the perfect weight now and don't need to gain anymore. Mistress would like to have me lose one more pound.

And Treader played a trick on mistress yesterday. He got loose and after a while when he saw mistress outside, he walked up to her while pretending to be tired. He was panting, walking slowly, tail down, head lowered...and when mistress stepped toward him to bring him inside, he suddenly wasn't tired anymore and zoomed away. It was his early April Fool's joke. Made mistress mad though. Whose says us dogs don't have a sense of humor? :D

Oh yes, and mistress found this hilarious thing:
Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbour
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

What is the last number of the year you were born:
1--------- In my car
2 --------- On your car
3 ----------- In a hole
4 ----------- Under your bed
5 ----------- Riding a Motorcycle
6 --------- sliding down a hill
7 --------- in an elevator
8---------- at the dinner table
9 -------- In line at the bank
0 -------- in your bathroom

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

If you're a dog or animal like me, just use your fur color.
I ended up with:
I karate chopped a monster at the dinner table because that's how I roll.

Had a Good Birthday--Cookie

2009-03-06T22:37:00.001-08:00

I had a great birthday, everywoof. I'm 11 years old now. I don't feel old. Do I look that old? Anyway...
I got extra treats today.
Mistress and her mom and brother took me on a long carride this afternoon. We went several places. At the bank drive-thru, the lady at the window gave me a treat. I didn't eat it right away because I didn't have a reliable surface to eat it on until mistress let me eat it over her lap.

Then we got a soda at the gas-station and mistress let me drink some of hers in a separate cup. It tasted good, but I didn't like the fizz-y sensation on my tongue.

Then we went to DQ and mistress got me a small vanilla ice cream cone. It was cool (pun intended:D) and I loved it. The cone itself didn't seem so luscious, but I ate it because of the ice cream on it's sides. (I had to eat in the bed of the truck since dogs aren't allowed inside DQ and so I wouldn't make a mess in the cab of the truck..)

After mistress led me back into the cab, a guy walked by complimenting me. I growled a little because he came suspiciously close to the truck, but mistress told me to quit in a whisper, so I just stared at the guy in a funny way. He asked what was wrong and mistress said, "Nothing. She just had an ice cream cone."

(BTW, I know that soda and ice cream is bad for us dogs, but it's just my birthday, a once a year occasion.)

Mistress fed me some of Treader's raw chicken thighs for supper, which was super.

Then I played with the napkins:

Treader thought that the napkin was food!

Then the other night we had Frisbeeeeee fun:

Then I got my turn, and I'm out of practice, so I kept missing...
Dang! Another miss(!):

"Throwitthrowitthrowit!"

"Gotcha!"

"Throw it some more!"

Then I started enjoying it so much that my head started turning into a Frisbee...
Kidding. It's just the position of the Frisbee that makes it look like that.

Then I got tired...

Oh, and Treader got loose again this evening. Mistress told him that if he didn't come in right now, he'd be camping outside for the night. He ran off when she said that, so she just told him "Happy Trails!" and went inside.
But then Treader came up to the door wanting back in later and mistress gave in.

Treader -

2009-02-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

Cookie hurt her paw a couple of weeks ago. She had to go to the vet's and have
her leg x-rayed, but the x-ray didn't show anything wrong. So the vet thought it was just a soft tissue injury and sent her home with pain meds. Her leg is completely better now.
I've been doing good. I rolled in something that I thought smelled good the other day, but mistress didn't like it, so I got a bath. I hate baths as much as I love food.

Some recent photos:

We had a good Valentines Day. Except when mistress hooked balloons to our collars.

Cookie and I each got to open this little box to find it full of treats:

Cookie -

2009-01-27T18:08:00.000-08:00

When we went to the park last week, I got to go on the swinging bench! I was a little nervous, cuz that thing is wobbly.
But here I am sitting/laying/standing on it:

We walked around a bit after that. There were some teenagers skateboarding later on, which made me nervous. Don't they know that it's against the park rules to skateboard in the park?
Not much else to talk about today. So here's some pictures:

Treader - Cookie is not overweight anymore

2009-01-18T15:02:00.001-08:00

I'm happy for my "sister" Cookie. She is not overweight anymore. Last year, she weighed 94 pounds. Mistress put her on a diet and now she weighs 72 pounds. Mistress's grandmother thought that Cookie was malnourished after this, so she threatened to take Cookie away. Mistress asked some of her friends online on Dogster and other sites the best action to take.
The answer: a vet visit. Have the vet give an opinion on Cookie's new weight.
So mistress did that the next day. The vet said that Cookie is healthy and she's not starved, but she personally thinks that Cookie could use 4 or so more pounds. But it won't hurt Cookie to keep her at her current weight.
She said to feed half a cup more dog food. Everyone was satisfied with the report.
She also gave mistress a suppliment to sprinkle over Cookie's daily meals that helps keep her at the right weight, helps her arthritis, and helps her digestion process.
Here's Cookie now:

Oh yes, and mistress was going through some of her pictures and wanted to post some of what she thinks were the best pictures of us.
Me:

o

Cookie:

Cookie - We're doing good

2009-01-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

We've been doing good this month. (Don't ask why that was underlined, I'm trying to figure it out myself.)
The humans did a little raking as of late. We have a big yard (two acres).
I'm slowing down. I can't jump high anymore or as good as I used to.

You know I used to be able to jump a six foot fence without getting a running start?

Mistress had me down for this pic:

Mistress got us some late Christmas presents a few days ago:
New Tennis ball:
New stuffie:
New rope:
New squeakie:
I didn't like them, even to catch though. Mistress should have remembered that I don't like toys anymore. Let Treader keep them for his own.

Treader - Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T10:45:00.000-08:00

Hi pals. I'm going to show you some of the things that I got for Christmas today.
This shirt, which didn't fit too well. Mistress took it off after she took this picture.
This edible (it's rawhide) card. I knew just what to do with it.
But Cookie couldn't figure out what it was for.
This pawesome stuffed candy cane.
This raised food dish.

Cookie got one too, but it looked different.

Some dog cookies!

And an Agility set! Here's some picture of me using it:

And guess what one of mistress's gifts was? A Collie statue! She loves Collies.

Cookie wants me to stay on the tunnel.

"Treat? Give me!"

Cookie - Nice Autunmish pics and more

2008-12-18T18:24:00.000-08:00

I've had a great time lately. I like running around outside, you know. Okay, you probably already knew that. But did you know that I was an overweight girl (*blush*) and now I'm almost done losing weight? Mistress is so happy about that and so am I. I hated being on a diet.
Nice pics of me:
Look at Treader.
Haha, he's funny!

"Get over here, Treader."
"Oh, the heck with him..."

Posing for pictures is getting boring.

Now for Treader pictures, with a few more of me:
"Bowling balls make lousy tree ornaments", he says. Boy isn't that the truth?

Treader - Deck the Halls

2008-12-13T03:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we didn't deck the halls, but we did put up the tree. And I helped by holding the tree in place while I laid under it. I'm a good helper, huh?

Phew, that was hard work.

Cookie - I've Been Good

2008-12-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Guess what mistress pulled tonight? She got me and Treader wearing Christmas hats! One that said "I've Been Good". And I have. I didn't even try to knock the hat off I was so good. :D
I was jolly enough at first:
Until mistress ran out of treats.
The she did this:
And I got bored:
Then she took my hat off and told me to catch it as she tossed it to me. I caught it:
And she happened to find one more treat up her sleeve (actually, now that I'm thinking about it, she did get up to get another one) and hid it in the hat. I naturally tried to find it:
I found it and she took the hat and toss it again, saying "get it!".
"Bweh. This hat tastes bad!"
Was it all worth it?
It was, to score some good points with Santa Paws and to get those treats!

Now, I'll show you Treader's photo shoot. There's not as many of him tonight because he wasn't being as interesting as I was. That is unusual for him.

But I guess running around outside all day (he ran off chasing some stray cats when someone opened the front door, the little opportunist) is tiring.
He did manage to smile some though:

Treader Again. (I was on TV!)

2008-12-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

I wasn't able to go on the internet for a couple of days. Sorry about that everywoof.

Guess what, pals? I was on TV! Remember a while back when we went to the Pooch Plunge at the local water park? Well, there was a gut with a TV camera going around and doing some interviews. No, we didn't get interviewed, but they showed the footage from that on the local channel today. You could see me in two or three general shots and one close-up (I was the little guy whose leg was tangled in the leash next to the Labrador Retriever). Exciting, huh?
And mistress made this drawing of me as a Jedi a few days ago:
And would you believe that our trees are just now pretty colors? Not that we have a lot of colors. Pine trees dominate our particular street and their needles stay green. We do have a couple of maple trees on our yard though. Mistress got this pic:
Me in the back-yard:
Mistress got some nice actions pics too:

Cookie even got into the ball-catching spirit:

We've got some videos:

And, how could we forget that Christmas is near now? I didn't and I have some nice Christmas-y pics to show you.
Non-edited ones from last year:

And one more thing. Two more actually. Mistress has a little hobby of making short videos and wanted to share her most recent ones on here:

Treader

2008-11-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

Mistress got some great pics of us lately. She's going to be having a display of photos at the homeschooling group's talent show. Mostly of dogs, including me and Cookie. Last year, she did a display of tricks with me and Cookie.
Mistress got some good picture of Cookie last night. Cookie was eating peanut butter and she has some neat tongue moves:

Some of me, because this is my entry:

Cookie - Star ship treats?

2008-11-13T17:18:00.000-08:00

*gasp* What's that? A bird? A plane?
Eek! It's a star ship! And it's coming to get meeee!
It's coming around for another pass. *shiver*
Maybe if I try catch it, I can keep it from hurting me.
Dang! I missed it!
Where'd it go?
There it is! *catch, swallow*
You know, that tasted good. Could it be...?
Silly me. It was only some pizza-flavored treats that mistress was tossing.
Come on, yum-yum treat, fly into my mouth, er!...landing pad.

Cookie - I got a bath yesterday

2008-11-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

Our internet went out for a while because mistress downloaded Service Pack 3, but we were given advice on removing it and internet is back now.
Mistress gave me a bath yesterday. I hate bath so much that I won't even want one for a treat. And if you know me, you know that I LOVE treats.
I look like this when mistress has one:

Mistress had me get into the bathtub:"Why do you have to do this to me?":
:Phew, it's finally over":

And, wonder of wonders, Treader was actually catching his Frisbee IN THE AIR:

But then the sound of squirrels crashing through the trees broke the spell:
And Treader just wandered around the yard looking for something interesting:

Mistress finally had him pose for a nice picture:What a ham.

Did I mention that mistress took a few of mistress Frisbeein' too? Here:
Nice shot of my jaws holding the Frisbee after I caught it:
Taking it out of mistress's hand on command:
Frisbee fail:Would you believe that I actually missed that last one?

Treader - more photos

2008-11-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone. We haven't posted in a little while. Did you all have a good Halloween? A lot has happened. These guys are fixing the house. That's what mistress said they were doing. (That's very interesting, I didn't know that you could neuter a house.) They had to tear down part of the fence to fix the back of the house. Now, they're fixing the front. Here I am sitting on one of the trailers that they used:

Mistress's friend's mom found two abandoned kittens. Aren't they cute(?):

Some action photos of me:

The pictures are not in order. Sorry about that.

Cookie - I'll Show Mine if You Show Yours

2008-10-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

First, let me say that I do not have a favorite toy anymore. I grew out of toys when I was about 8 years old. Even when I liked toys, I didn't have a favorite. But Treader still loves toys. I will post his favorite. He has a lot of toys and he loves them all. But I'd have to say that his favorite is his Ducky that he got for winning a contest on a Dogster group:
Ducky is an Easter toy, even though the contest was about Valentines Day. It used to squeak, but as he put holes in the toy, he pulled the squeaker out. Now Ducky is pretty much de-stuffed, but Treader still loves it. Another toy that Treader loves the most is his Tennis Tails ball:
Treader likes to pull the fuzz of the tail, and of course he likes to chase and catch the ball.

And some more recent pictures of Treader:
What the? What's he doin' here, Kung Fu(?):
Nice pose:

I know that you want to see some of me, but mistress didn't take many pictures of me in the past few days. Weird, huh?