The World According to Izzie

A Rescued Dog's Letter to Santa

2010-12-18T15:02:00.010-07:00

2006 -- My First Christmas with Mama

2007 - 2010

It's time for my annual reciting of my Dear Santa letter. It doesn't seem like it's been 5 Christmases with mama, but it has! I hope you enjoy my gallery of photos with Santa. With each passing year I look MORE terrified of him than LESS, don't you think?

I hope you read my letter and spread the word that pets are people too and we deserve to be treated nicely...

Dear Santa:

Mama wants me to write a letter to you saying what I want for Christmas. I really just want to eat all 35 of her nutcrackers (most of them have furry stuff somewhere on them, and they ‘re all made of wood, which I also like to eat).

Seriously, I just want people to be more responsible doggie owners. I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to hit a dog (I wasn’t hit, but I know many dogs are) so I want anyone who doesn’t understand dogs to not have a dog until they do.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to get a dog for someone as a present only to not spend time with him/her. Or to give him/her away when they realize how much work we dogs can be.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to hoard a dog, thinking they are doing the dog a favor and providing a good home by keeping him/her in a crate all day, never letting him/her out to go potty, to eat, to socialize or to exercise. I was done no favors by the person who hoarded me; I ended up with an intestinal disease and afraid of a lot of things. I want people who hoard dogs (and other things) to get help for themselves instead of trying to help the dogs.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to ignore a dog, never playing with her/him, never talking to him/her, only treating her/him like an object not to be cared about.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to not spay or neuter their dogs unless they are planning on being responsible breeders that are kind to all dogs, even the runts. And mama thinks that breeders shouldn't breed until there are enough buyers in line to buy the puppies. Good things are worth the wait!

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to train dogs to fight without reason, as a football player did and I know others do. I don’t want any dog to be trained to be aggressive or to be mean. I’m not considering police dogs and others like them in this group; they are trained to use force when needed to stop bad guys/gals, but they’re also trained to stop when the humans can take over.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to donate food to the poor without donating food for their pets. I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to judge a poor person with a pet as irresponsible; people never can know why poor people became poor. Maybe they had pets before they became poor. Maybe one day they’ll be poor too and what will happen to their pets? I hope it never happens, but it could. So Santa, I want people to remember pets when donating to worthy causes.

On the same note, I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to put getting a pet over feeding their children. It may make the children happy for a while, but it won’t feed them and it won’t help the pet when they can’t feed them.

Santa, I just want all pets everywhere all the time to be loved and respected and treated like one of the family.

In fact, I can honestly say I want that for all animals, humans included.

Do They Know It's Christmas Season Three

2010-11-25T21:57:00.003-07:00

I bet most of my old dogbloggers have forgotten me, as it's been a while since I've been here. In fact, I've only had two posts or so this whole year! But mama knows that I insist on posting this video every year, and Thanksgiving is the best day for it since it kick off the Christmas season. This video was made several years ago by Pappy and I think it still deserves a replay. From dogbloggers current and past, here and there, Happy Holidays.

A Little Fun

2010-10-13T07:00:00.002-07:00

http://www3.theuglydance.com/?v=tsczexenk6&ref=nf

Enjoy :)

Wow

2010-03-18T20:00:00.007-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. Christmas, actually. I'd be mad at mama if I could be. I'd give her the silent treatment if it didn't mean I'd have to give up barking. But I can't be mad at mama. It's been a tough couple of months since the new year hit.

Sometime at the end of January grampa disappeared. He moved in with us three years ago so mama could spoil him a bit. But at the end of January mama went on some tree vacation (she said something about making a tree of her family) and then grampa disappeared. Mama came back, but grampa didn't. Mama said he went to the bridge to play with Skipper and Mandy. She said I can visit her other blog, Orations of OMcHodoy to see pictures of him "in print.

So we've been rather out of sorts lately. Mama and my friend comes by daily now, to make sure I'm okay during the day. I even have my own room now, so when mama isn't here I can have free roam of my bedroom and the hall. Course, there's nothing in the bedroom or the hall except my crate and a blanket for me to lie on. But it's mine and I love it.

Last week our friend took me to a new park down the street. It's so pretty I have to show you.

There are baseball fields. And mountains at every turn of your head! Lots of space for a playground for the kiddies, and colorful basketball courts for two-legged creatures to play on.

But wait, you say. What about someplace for the furbabies to do? Hmmmmmm?

There's a big dog area....

And a small dog area.

I, on the other hand, just wanted....

OUT!

STUFFIES!

2009-12-30T20:45:00.002-07:00

Mama gave up buying me stuffies a long time ago, since I get them opened and stuffing out withing seconds. Literally. I guess Santa didn't know this, cuz look what he brought me for Christmas:

Aren't they cute? But don't they look kinda, well, odd for stuffies? That's because only their heads are stuffed! Who ever heard of stuffingless stuffies? What fun are they???????

Well, actually, I'm learning that they are VERY fun. See, instead of stuffing their bodies, they added more squeakers. SIXTEEN to be exact. Yup. The bodies are made up of 16 squeakers: One in each "square" of their bodies. I wonder why mama only lets me have them for a few minutes at a time?

That took me all of ... oh... 30 seconds? But mama found ways for me to have fun with them and make them last a bit longer. She throws one, and when I get it she throws the other in the opposite direction so I drop the one and chase the other, and so on....at the end she gives me just a few minutes to chew on them...

Then last night she took me to Petsmart and we bought yet a different kind of stuffie:

She didn't get a good pic of this without me chomping on it, but it's a squirrel. What's so different about this stuffie?

This one opens at the bottom and then i nside is another pouch that has the squeaker. So instead of having stuffing stuffed in it that I can eat, it has a fuzzy pouch that gives me more to chew on. And there are 10 replacement squeakers that mama can use for when one loses it's squeak!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and a great New Year! I'll leave you with a cute, albeit dark, video of me discovering the gifts Santa left me!

Dear Santa Tri-Dux

2009-12-06T18:22:00.002-07:00

I hope you're not tired of my seasonal re-prints, but there is still a great need for awareness, so here's my second topic for re-posti;ng.

Dear Santa:

Mama wants me to write a letter to you saying what I want for Christmas. I really just want to eat all 37 of her nutcrackers (most of them have furry stuff somewhere on them, and they ‘re all made of wood, which I also like to eat).

Seriously, I just want people to be more responsible doggie owners. I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to hit a dog (I wasn’t hit, but I know many dogs are) so I want anyone who doesn’t understand dogs to not have a dog until they do.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to get a dog for someone as a present only to not spend time with him/her. Or to give him/her away when they realize how much work we dogs can be.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to hoard a dog, thinking they are doing the dog a favor and providing a good home by keeping him/her in a crate all day, never letting him/her out to go potty, to eat, to socialize or to exercise. I was done no favors by the person who hoarded me; I ended up with an intestinal disease and afraid of a lot of things. I want people who hoard dogs (and other things) to get help for themselves instead of trying to help the dogs.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to ignore a dog, never playing with her/him, never talking to him/her, only treating her/him like an object not to be cared about.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to let their dog run loose without training, without supervision, in places where dogs have no business running loose.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to not spay or neuter their dogs unless they are planning on being responsible breeders that are kind to all dogs, even the runts. And mama thinks that breeders shouldn't breed until there are enough buyers in line to buy the puppies. Good things are worth the wait!

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to train dogs to fight without reason, as a football player did and I know others do. I don’t want any dog to be trained to be aggressive or to be mean. I’m not considering police dogs and others like them in this group; they are trained to use force when needed to stop bad guys/gals, but they’re also trained to stop when the humans can take over.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to donate food to the poor without donating food for their pets. I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to judge a poor person with a pet as irresponsible; people never can know why poor people became poor. Maybe they had pets before they became poor. Maybe one day they’ll be poor too and what will happen to their pets? I hope it never happens, but it could. So Santa, I want people to remember pets when donating to worthy causes.

On the same note, I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to put getting a pet over feeding their children. It may make the children happy for a while, but it won’t feed them and it won’t help the pet when they can’t feed them.

Santa, I just want all pets everywhere all the time to be loved and respected and treated like one of the family.

In fact, I can honestly say I want that for all animals, humans included.

Do They Know It's Christmas Tri-dux

2009-11-28T13:12:00.002-07:00

It's become a tradition for me to post this video, created by Pappy that featured many of our Dogs With Blogs pals singing Band-Aid's song, "Do They Know It's Christmas". Mama has always been touched by this song, whether sung by humans or lip-synched by doggies, and quite honestly, so have I. So I bring you another worthy re-run to kick off the holiday season! I know that some of the dogs in this video are now running free on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge, so I hope their families find peace in knowing their furbabies' legacies live on.

Reading Is Fun

2009-10-11T21:31:00.005-07:00

Mama gets so frustrated with me sometimes. She tells me all the time that someday she's going to read an entire book without ME feeding on them. Yes, I said FEEDING, not READING:

My response to mama is that she's already made it through one book without me getting so much as a piece of fur on it:

I'm sure Rich and Cary appreciate my leaving this book alone. How could I not? It was a book about a dog, after all! Now if only mama would make good on her promise to call Rich and Cary to meet for lunch, I'm sure they'd appreciate getting their book back!

Ruler of the Roost

2009-09-15T19:49:00.006-07:00

A couple months ago, mama's car, a 2000 Honda Civic, died an expensive death. First, it wouldn't start. It wouldn't take a start and the battery, starter, solenoid and alternator all tested fine. Unfortunately, the ignition module and coil did not, and they were replaced. The next day, the car stalled out in the middle of a busy intersection. Just died, right in the teeny weeny spot in the intersection between the place where the double left-turn lanes separate. Scary stuff. Some nice guys walked into the intersection to push her out of the way, and the car was towed to the dealer this time. They replaced the spark plugs, one of which had a hole in the side and caused a major misfire. What? All that from a bad spark plug? That was actually replaced the day before with the ignition system? After getting all the labor and spark plugs refunded from the first shop, mama had to replace the CATalytic converter at a crazy cost. But guess what? The car was losing gas mileage, and struggled up even small hills. Mama was furious, because she bought the Honda brand new in 2000 because of it's reputation to last forever. Mama swears she took care of it, but it never ran the same after the spark plug thing so she got rid of it.

And got something called a crossover SUV. WOOOHOOO, right? Well, for her maybe but not for me.See how high off the ground that is? Well, okay, so it's not like an 18 wheeler or anything, but for a small dog like me and in comparison to the Civic, this thing is up there! Believe it or not, I can jump in it (barely, but I can). But for some reason mama won't let me jump out of it. She says she's afraid of me getting something called arf-ritis if I land on the hard pavement too much, so she's been picking me up and lifting me out of it. You know something? I hate being picked up!

Well, today she got something delivered by some big brown truck. She said my being picked up to get out of the car days are over. Here's why:

Mama says it's really better suited for the back of the vehicle but I don't ride back there so she says I can use this as long as she is right there with me to hold it steady as I get in and out. Here's a little video of me being "bribed" to use it:

You might notice that the entire back seat of the car had a makeover to make it just perfect for me. I'm not a big fan of car rides (sometimes it makes me sick, which the cushion is supposed to help prevent by raising me up a bit), but even I have to admit: This is a back seat made for a king!

V.I.P.

2009-09-14T20:06:00.004-07:00

Hey great folks. Mama entered me in a contest to find Tucson's V.I.P. (Very Important Pet). I know you think I should win. And I know that you should head over HERE and buy some votes for me. The proceeds from purchasing votes goes to the local Humane Society, and mama will provide one bag of dog food every month for a full year to the Food For People's Pets Program at the Hermitage Cat Shelter! So if I win, TWO animal shelters also win! So what are you waiting for? Get over there and VOTE.

Mama Finds the BEST Toys

2009-08-29T18:35:00.004-07:00

Coming Soon to a Shelter Near You!

2009-08-18T20:50:00.004-07:00

Well, hopefully something exciting will be coming to a shelter near you! Mama has a couple of projects in the works. First, for those of you on Facebook, mama wants you to go to Facebook and look for the group named Paws Around the World, appropriately acronymed "PAW". Then she wants you to request to join this group. Why, you might ask?

Because mama's got an idea. See, mama's workplace has a "Pet Picnic" every year where co-workers bring their pets to a local park and party down. This past year she started collecting donations of pet food to donate to a local pet shelter's food program. The food is collected and then distributed to families with pets who are struggling to feed those pets. This got mama thinking: Wouldn't it be cool if we could spread the word about projects for pet shelters so more people everywhere would see things going on in their communities that they could participate in and help pet shelters raise funds, adoptions, or awareness? Well "PAW" is aiming to be the means by which we can do just that!

Mama is still ironing out the details of how this Facebook group will work, but here's the gist of it: Say a Beagle rescue in Arkansas is planning a fund-raising event at Some Park. Say they want people to know about it. Say someone on Facebook's group, Paws Around the World, makes a post about this activity on the PAW facebook page. Then say someone in Arkansas, near Some Park, posts the activity on their own Facebook page. Then say that someone has 240 friends who see that activity posted on that someone's status update. Then say that out of the 240 friends who saw the activity on that someone's status update, 10 showed up to the event and donated $10 each. Then say of the 230 that didn't go to the event, 20 people donated $10 to the rescue group. That's $300 donated to the beagle rescue because one member of PAW posted the activity on their own Facebook page!

Now let's say that there are 200 members of the Facebook group Paws Around the World and that everyone who belongs to it makes a status post to advertise that beagle rescue's event (they'd know about it because they read about it at the PAW group page). And of those 200 status updates advertising the beagle rescue's event, 10 readers of those updates made a donation of $10 each from anywhere in the world. That's another $100 raised for the beagle rescue in Arkansas. So from one post made to the Paws Around the World Facebook grouop page, $400 was raised for the beagle rescue in Arkansas because they decided to hold a fundraising event at Some Park.

So get on over to Facebook, search for the group Paws Around the World (http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117458753114) and request to join! Activities won't start immediately; we'll need to wait until we get some members. And if anyone wants to help organize and administer this group with mama, be sure to make a comment to this post telling her so!

Now the other project: Food For People's Pets. This is a food program in Tucson, Az run by The Hermitage Cat Shelter. The aim of the FFPP program is to collect donations of pet food (not limited to cats) to provide to families in town struggling to feed their pets and at risk of surrendering or {gasp} abandoning them because they can't afford to feed them. Mama tried once before to help the group "get the word out" but is now trying again. We now have a new logo, adapted from the cat shelter's main logo by Deanna Terrell of Legacy Boxer Rescue in Texas. You'll be seeing alot of this logo around here, so get used to it. And while you're at it, get over to The Hermitage Cat Shelter (http://www.hermitagecats.org/) and make a donation to the Food For People's Pets program!

More Summer Fun

2009-08-16T19:06:00.006-07:00

Well, at least for mama it was more summer fun. Me? I got to stay home. Let me start from the beginning:

I knew something was up on Friday night. Mama did her laundry, and she never does her laundry on Friday night. Then, Saturday morning, after I woke her up at 4:45 a.m. {evil grin}, she started putting things in a tote bag. No, not doggie things, HUMAN things, like shorts, undies, toiletries, etc. Suspcious, but not too damaging. Until the hair dryer went into the bag. When THAT goes in any type of bag it is NOT a good thing. Sure enough, a few hours later she was gone. Okay, I said to myself. She'll be back by 6 like always.

Only she wasn't. She left me with Grandpa ALL NIGHT. I showed him though: I kept him up until 1:00 A.M., going in and out for hours, clawing at his bedroom door. He finally opened it and I bolted down the hall, laid down and went to sleep. I was gonna be waiting for mama no matter what he wanted! Only mama didn't come back until almost NOON on Sunday! The NERVE.

She said she went to a friend's house in Phoenix for a Barbecue. Mama's become quite the fan of the grill here at home. The last thing she made was chicken:

She said she knew I'd understand her absence when she told me WHO she was going to meet: Do you remember that I've often made posts on here about mama's friends Donna and Joe who were adopting a baby from China? Well, they adopted her in January and mama finally went up to meet her this weekend! I suppose I'll forgive her, since I was as excited as mama when they FINALLY brought Lauren home. Mama shared some pics of her with me today. There is even a dog in some of them: Christine's JRT Ruby, who mama says loves to dive into the pool again and again and again and again; she'll dive in for as long as people keep throwing balls for her to catch!

Here are the pics mama took of Lauren:

Summer Fun

2009-07-27T21:27:00.002-07:00

It's been quite a while since I posted anything. That's because mama and I have been busy having lots of fun. Well, at least it started out as lots of fun when mama brought home a new food-stuffable toy for me:

But then we had a weekend visitor again. You must remember Maggie, the cute yellow lab puppy I introduced you to back in about March? She's not so little anymore. When she first got here she stayed in the open floor:

While I hid beneath the table across the way a bit:

We eventually got a bit closer, though:

I survived the weekend quite well: Maggie finally got the message that my ears were NOT stuffie toys. So it wasn't too bad.

Then Saturday something weird happened: Mama went to a friend's house for a pool party and this time, she took ME with her!

When we first got to the pool, I sat next to her sitting on the pool deck and let her spoon water over me. Then she put me IN the water; I didn't like that so much. Mama's grittin' her teeth cuz I'm working so hard to get to the side and out of the pool! Mama wasn't surprised that I wasn't a swimmer, but she was impressed that I didn't go beserk at the mere sight of it either!

One thing I don't understand, though:

Why did mama make me take a bath on Sunday when I was just swimming on Saturday?

This Video Needs No Introduction

2009-07-12T09:47:00.001-07:00

Some Birthday

2009-05-17T06:38:00.005-07:00

So, last Wednesday was my assigned birthday. I'm FOUR! Thanks to my well wishers! I wish my own mama was one of them. Did I get a fancy toy? NO. Did I get a trip somewhere? NO (but that's probably a good thing since long trips make me carsick). Did I get a birthday cake? NO! Mama says a cake would have caused both my mouth and my butt to explode. I could have lived with that!

So what DID I get? A trip to the vet on Saturday (my extracted tooth site is almost all healed). And a trip to the groomers (yuck).

Oh, wait! I did get something special. What do you think of my new blog header and color scheme?

Maggie May

2009-05-12T02:26:00.006-07:00

A few months ago, mama posted some pictures of Maggie, a yellow labrador retriever puppy that visited us. You might recognize this photo:

Now this next photo is a bit darker, but you might compare and contrast the expression on my face between the above photo from a few months ago and this one:

Can you just see how, er, thrilled I am to have another animal in this house? NOT!. Especially now since she's grown so much and is twice my size. She's not near done growing yet, either.

I was a good host, though. I shared all my toys as I chomped on hers:

Mama would have posted a picture of Maggie trying to chew on ME but she was too busy trying to redirect her to take a picture of it, though it wasn't for lack of opportunity to snap the shot. Mama kept telling Maggie that *I* was not a chew toy, but Maggie was so playful she didn't want to hear it!

Mama thought Maggie, being a lab, would love to play in water. I'm not so sure she does:

She went in the pool to fetch a ball but really didn't embrace the water. What kind of lab is she, anyway?

Maggie does two things as well as I do:

Sniff:

And sprawl:

In spite of Maggie's obsession with my ears, which mama says was nothing more than Maggie trying to engage me in play, mama was very impressed with Maggie's training. Last time she was here I commented on how her walking skills SUCK. Well, no more. Now she walks almost as good as I do ('cept she doesn't yet sit automatically at the end of every curb like *I* do!). She also knows sit, and will do so on command even if she's in the midst of an activity. She also is very good at going to her "Spot" and staying there until released. She was so good at this, in fact, that mama is now trying to teach ME to go to my spot and stay. Gee, thanks Maggie.

I'll close with a few videos of Maggie's visit with us. Mama had fun, and said I was a stellar host. What impressed her most, though, was that I didn't show a single sign of fear as I normally do when big dogs are around.

The New Toy Video!

2009-04-12T15:30:00.003-07:00

Here's the video of me playing with the new toy(s) mama bought for me. First I have to get the Kong ball out of the blue tube, then I have to get the kibble out of the ball! That is actually the hard part; I usually need mama to help me with it because the little piece of biscuit she puts in the hole tends to move too far into the ball and I can't reach it then!

The Ultimate Food Stuffable Toy?

2009-04-06T20:43:00.004-07:00

Mama came home from work today in a really crabby mood. She seemed okay at first, but for some reason got real mad at me after I knocked the bowl of lettuce on the floor. I mean REAL mad. She picked me up and put me in my crate, she was that mad at me. You'd think she'd be proud of my jumping abilities; I mean how many small dogs like me do you know that can jump from a dead stop up to and half way across the counter to reach a salad bowl? Luckily the bowl was plastic and not glass.

Anyway, after she calmed down (about two hours later!) she pulled out this toy thingie. At first it doesn't look like much: Just a blue rubbery tube thingie.

But really it is something super special, because inside the blue rubbery tube thingie is a red Kong ball with two small holes, one on either side. Inside the red Kong ball with two small holes, mama put a little piece of biscuit! She then pushed the red Kong ball into the blue rubbery tube thingie and let me at it!

She'll get a video of me playing with it posted soon. She promises! In the meantime, how could I help but give her a good pose after she found such a fun toy!

Thank You, Dulce!

2009-03-31T19:33:00.003-07:00

Mama's co-worker, Dulce Lopez, is sooooo talented. Look what she did for me and mama:

Now, aren't you impressed beyond all reason that I could sit so long in one position so she could draw me?

Okay, so I wasn't so good as that. But what a great likeness, don't you think?

Thank you Dulce. Mama and I both love it. Just wait until mama finds the perfect frame!

Pet Picnic Part II: The Slideshow

2009-03-22T09:29:00.002-07:00

Second Annual Pet Picnic!

2009-03-21T14:45:00.018-07:00

Today was the 2nd Annual FamPet Picnic for mama's work. This is an event where mama's co-workers and their families/friends come together at a local park with their dogs and food and leashes and whatever else. We had a good time. Coming up is a slideshow of all the pictures mama took. Until then, here are a few highlights:

The yellow dog is Corina, a co-worker's rescued dog that had heartworm when they first got her. Doesn't she look great?

Mama just loves the above photograph of Lucy and Sophie (or maybe Sofie?).

The man in the left photo is grandpa making friends with Heather's boxer, Cami Jo. Boxers are one of mamas favorite breeds -- next to Cockeranians, of course. Oh, and the dog on the right? That's Roxie, one of the Therapy Dogs at the Children's Clinics where mama works. Roxie is a Gabriel's Angels dog, specially trained to provide comfort to people who need comforting!

Here are a few other pics. There were kids there that never once made me nervous!

And of course, a video of me inside the small-dog run. As usual, I didn't want much to do with the others. I just wanted out of there.

Finally, the announcement: The park was 20 miles away from home, which meant a 40 mile ROAD TRIP! And guess what? I DIDN'T GET CARSICK THIS YEAR!

Mama Made Me

2009-03-14T17:02:00.009-07:00

Mama and I had some company today. She made me be nice. I tried. I tried to make Maggie feel at home.
But look how close she came to me! I cudda touched her had I stretched out my head a bit! She wudda liked that, that Maggie. In fact, all that Maggie wanted to do was play.

Eventually I warmed up to her.

Look how close I let her get later:

I really like Ryan, who is mama's co-worker's husband.

After a while we went for a walk. Now THIS was FUN! You know why? Maggie SUCKS at leash walking. But that's okay, one because she's just a puppy and is still learning, and two, because I SUCK at playing with other dogs. Maggie tried and tried and tried to get me to play with her. She jumped on me. I growled and gave a warning snap. Twice. Mama scolded me, but I didn't know how else to get her to stop playing on me. Notice I said playing ON me not playing WITH me! It wasn't long, though, before we started buddying up to each other.

In the end, mama gave us each a Kong with an ice cube. I chomped on mine, Maggie chomped on hers.

Life is good.

First Sign of Spring

2009-03-07T18:24:00.005-07:00

Some people say that the first sign of Spring is the snow melting (Photo courtesy of: http://www.allposters.com/).

But we rarely get snow in Tucson.

Some people say that the first sign of Spring is the appearance of grass:

But grass can grow year round in Tucson (if you know how, which mama obviously doesn't).

Some people say the first sign of Spring is the blossoming of flowers (Photo courtesy of: www.oadby-wigston.gov.uk).

Well, I guess we get flowers in Tucson, but mama kills plants merely by looking at them.

So what is the first sign of Spring in Tucson?Izzie's first short cut.

Whaaaa??

2009-03-05T21:02:00.002-07:00

So today mama took this quiz thingie that was supposed to match her up with the perfect dog breed for her lifestyle, right? And she told this quiz thingie that her dog would be an indoor dog, that likes walks and agility, no more than a moderate shedder, that she wanted a light barker (not a heavy barker like me), and that she had a medium sized dog, right? So do you want to know what breed the quiz thingie said she should get?

A German Hound. Why? Because, the quiz thingie said, "The German Hound is a magnificent, hardy breed, attractive in appearance with a shiny, bright coat. Whilst he makes a good hunting companion he is not suitable as a house pet."

She wants an indoor dog, the German Hound is not suitable as a house pet. Yup. Perfect match for mama! Sheesh!

Feeding People's Pets Part II

2009-03-02T20:59:00.002-07:00

Mama updated the newest pet blog on the block, "Food For People's Pets" at www.feedingpeoplespets.blogspot.com. I want all of you to go over there right now and read about a resource that will help people save their pets' lives if they should ever get accidentally poisoned. When you're done getting prepared for an emergency that won't happen once you are prepared, how about clicking on the "Food For People's Pets" badge on the right of either that blog or this one and donating to the program? Help us prevent animal hunger!

A Rough Weekend

2009-03-01T08:48:00.007-07:00

Thursday evening mama came home from work as usual. I greeted her at the door as usual. I led her into the living room as usual. I bent my head down to the carpet, making chewing motions with my mouth, not as usual. Mama said "Drop IT!" So I did as I was told and dropped it.

What did I drop, you might ask? (photo courtesy of http://www.petsareourpassion.com/)

The top half of my left canine toofie. Can you say OUCH? Mama still doesn't know how this happned. There's no evidence of me chewing on something. But she did wonder if I was in pain, as I didn't wimper, whine or otherwise act as if I was in pain. She called "that doctor" and was told to bring me in the next day, allowing me to eat as I could tolerate.

So the next day mama brought me in and guess what "that doctor" did to me? She TOOK THE REST OF THE TOOTH OUT! The nerve was showing through which would be painful. So "that doctor" made me go to sleep, then took the whole thing out! She sent me home with mama with pain meds that didn't do ANYTHING . In fact, I was so distressed this is what I looked like

When mama was sitting on the couch getting ready to eat this:
That's Macaroni and Cheese folks! CHEESE! And I stayed in my crate with the door open the whole time! Not ONE dive-bomb for the food. THAT's how awful I felt.

Mama gave me a pain pill "that doctor" gave her for me, but it didn't do anything to stop the pain. I wimpered off and on all night (mama couldn't give me more because they were a "One Pill every 12 hours" prescription). But don't worry, mama asked "that doctor" for new pain meds, and once that one kicked in, I was feeling much better.

Now, I'm off to get mama to wash out the water bowl in my crate!

I Interrupt This Program

2009-02-16T19:15:00.001-07:00

Izzie's mama here, hijacking his blog. But with good reason! I have a special announcement for all of my blogging friends, my non-blogging friends, my readers and anyone else who stumbles across this post. Most of you are aware that I am fanatical about my dog, Izzie. So fanatical, in fact, that he has his own blog. I’m a fan of dogs, and hate to see any animal suffering.

The economy of late has been, as we all know, rather tight lately. People are losing their jobs, their homes, and quite possibly, losing weight as they struggle to keep food on their tables. Thankfully, there are food programs to assist with the latter for many families.

The same is not always true of our pets. Dogs and cats are being abandoned or surrendered at alarming rates. Often, it’s foreclosures that do the pets in. Often, it’s simply the cost of providing for them. A 2007-08 survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association estimated basic annual expenses for dog ownership run $1,425, and cat ownership $990 (Maryland Newsline Business).

Many, if not most, animal shelters try to provide struggling families with emergency supplies of food if it means the difference between one more pet "in custody" and maintaining a pet’s home. But many, if not most, animal shelters use donated food to feed the pets in their care and cannot meet every need for every family.

Tucson is lucky. There are a couple of food programs to assist with feeding pets when families are struggling. I am lucky, as well, to have an opportunity to help feed Tucson’s pets. The Hermitage Cat Shelter in Tucson has been around for over 30 years, and one of their programs is called Food For People’s Pets. Its aim is to provide some relief to families who struggle to feed their pets (cats and dogs), in hopes that the families will be able to keep the pets as opposed to surrendering, or worse, abandoning, them. This program is in need of some re-vamping, and I hope to work with the shelter’s staff to do just that.

There is now a blog dedicated to the Food For People’s Pets program. I hope to make it a place for people to learn about pet nutrition, the prevalence of animal hunger, solutions to the problem, events of the program, and spotlights of the program sponsors. While hunger in animals will be addressed, it will be done so in a respectful, family-friendly manner; no “shock and awe” tactics such as graphic photographs will be used.

Please, bookmark the blog at http://www.feedingpeoplespets.blogspot.com/ and visit often. It’s just getting off the ground, but I want to make it a true showcase for the good that people’s donations do. I also, admittedly, hope to make it an accessible way to donate to the program. Towards this end there is a link on the blog page to the “Network For Good” badge that is assigned to The Hermitage Cat Shelter. From this badge, one can designate donations to the Food For People’s Pets program. I also have this link on my other blogs and here, so please, if you can, donate $5 to the program. Or donate a bag of pet food to a program in your area if you have one. I would be crushed if I had to surrender Izzie for lack of food, and I hate to think of something so simple being so far out of reach for pet owners everywhere.

Thanks for listening. I now return you to your regular programming.

Mama Is Ashamed

2009-02-14T09:20:00.003-07:00

Mama is ashamed of herself. Or at least I say she should be ashamed of herself. It's been a LONG TIME since she let me post. Even worse, it's been a LONG TIME since Mona gave me an award and mama was "Too Busy" to let me claim it until today. She says she's sorry, but I don't know...

Anyway, Mona and her Mommy gave me an award for being part of her Strings of Friendship feature. It was an honor to be chosen for her string, much less get an award. Thank you Mona and Mommy!

What's even worse is that mama just noticed she doesn't have Mona on my link list! FOR SHAME. She added it now, so go over to MONA's blog and read all about her. She's got some great pictures!

Irish Lace

2009-01-23T20:14:00.004-07:00

Mama's cousin got a new furbaby! You know what that means? I've got a new cousin! She's a pure-bred Irish Setter.

Meet Irish Lace

aka Lacey

I think she was a bit confused at first.

But she "mushed" right up!

Before you know it, she was perfectly content!

Now if only I could convince Lacey's mama that Lacey needs a BLOG!

My Dog Ate the WHAT??????

2009-01-16T20:57:00.001-07:00

http://cbs13.com/local/presidntial.inauguration.ticket.2.910805.html

This just might have been worse than anything Izzie has eaten, and maybe even worse than anything Marley'd ever done!

How Do I Look?

2008-12-29T18:13:00.003-07:00

The last part of my Christmas gift was delivered today. Santa Paws apologized for the tardiness, but he wanted it made just for me!

More Holiday .... Fun?

2008-12-27T10:45:00.008-07:00

Mama went out today to the doctor, cuz she's been sick for a long time. She has a sinus infection. She says she's glad I don't have one, or else there'd be a boatload of stuff coming out of *my* nose. I don't really know what that means, but it doesn't sound fun.

Mama, on the other hand, had a lot of fun filming my reaction to this ... "thing" ... she brought home from the pharmacy.

Her only regret is that her camera/video thing doesn't appear to have sound, so you have to see the thing moving and imagine it singing "We Woof You a Merry Christmas", and then "watch" me react to it instead of hear me react to it!

Hubba Hubba Hubba

2008-12-25T09:24:00.008-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone! This is what I went to bed to last night:

It's kind of hard to see here, but you might notice something sticking out of the stocking thingie right next to the tree! That's MINE. I wonder what it is? Mama says it's something that's going to make me go "hubba hubba hubba".

This morning, though, she made me help grandpa open his gift, first.

Yummmmm. Wrapping paper. "Hubba Hubba Hubba", I said. Mama said that isn't the "Hubba" gift. Wow. There's more???

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There was something so smelly in there that I didn't bother to eat the wrapping paper; I just wanted to eat whatever was inside it!

Oh My! Get a load of THAT! I'm not really sure what it is, but I sure didn't waste any time going at it.

For a chewer like me, this is HEAVEN! Mama says it's called a Quado Bone, and it's all natural and digestible. It also is supposed to provide TONS of chewing pleasure.

Well, I'm sure getting a start at my TONS of chewing time.

They say it isn't intended for a one-sitting chew, but after just five minutes, THIS is what I'd done to it:

I'd already chewed the first "bone top" off! Now THIS is HUBBA, HUBBA, HUBBA!

Mama took it away then, cuz she says it's not good to have too much rawhide stuff at once. She promised another go at it later, though.

Mama also said there is one more gift coming that hasn't arrived yet. That's okay. This will keep me busy for at least another hour!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and that amidst all the tearing, chewing and playing, we all remember the Reason for the Season!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T18:35:00.002-07:00

Mama can't believe it's been three Christmases with me already! She has this annoying habit of forcing me to sit on this fat man's lap every Christmas, too. I mean, REALLY annoying. But I guess it does make me feel wanted and loved. I hope every one has that feeling today and every day.

Pawsome Post

2008-12-21T09:00:00.003-07:00

I found a couple of new blogs today, and I'm going to make a Pawsome Post out of one of them (although they both deserve it!). I haven't had a Pawsome Post in a while! Today's Pawsome Post goes to Dakota, a guide dog-in-training for the visually impaired!You can find this blog at www.dakotastails.blogspot.com! Check it out, and add to your blogrolls! I'll be checking in often!

Does She Really Expect

2008-12-18T19:46:00.001-07:00

Me to NOT eat these up?

Festivity and Update

2008-12-10T19:39:00.006-07:00

It's about time mama let me post the Christmas picture! Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, she puts up lights and decorations for Christmas. Here's what this year's outside looks like:

She didn't take any of the inside, but most of her 32 nutcrackers are in the kitchen, on the window ledge behind the sink and above the range on the ledge up there. I can't reach them :(.

Now for the really exciting news. Mama took me to the v-e-t last Saturday because I've been vomiting a bit more than usual. Not a lot, but more than usual. See, for those who might not have known or forgotten, I have a GI issue called Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and sometimes I throw up (sometimes it comes out the other end in a watery explosive way!). Don't worry, though, with medication I am completely stable on the rear end and mostly but not quite all stable on the upper part, hence the occasional barf.

Ooops. I guess I should have warned you about the graphic nature of this post. I hope you're not eating! Anyway, the vet has always instructed mama not to give me any food except my hypoallergenic food and the hypoallergenic dog biscuits the vet carries. She's followed that dictate almost to the letter, with the only exception of a weeeee bit of peanut butter to take my meds. The bad news is, I started throwing up occasionally about the same time as mama started using peanut butter to pill me, so now it's no more peanut butter and more fingers down my throat every morning to get me to swallow my pills!

The good news, though, is that mama beggggggged the vet for some idea of what she can give me to chew on instead of me choosing paper, wood, plastic, socks, etc. See, the best way to teach a dog not to chew things he can't chew is to give him something he can chew. But with my GI issues, mama couldn't give me nuttin else TO chew (I tear apart stuffie toys in seconds and EAT the stuffing, so that rules THAT out). I play with a ball sometimes, but that's not really a chew thing. Well, the vet told mama to try giving me a small-ish unflavored rawhide to chew on and see if I tolerate that. It's been four days now. Do you think I enjoy the rawhides?

Something weird comes over me when I have a rawhide, though. I start to chew, then roam from spot to spot in the house, carrying the rawhide around, whimpering. Mama hates to hear me whimper, and she looked in my mouth to be sure I didn't cut myself. She thinks I do this because she thinks I'm trying to find a place to bury the rawhide (I dig in the blankets and on my bed while I whimper and roam).

Do They Know It's Christmas

2008-12-03T18:50:00.003-07:00

Last year I posted a video created by Pappy that featured many of our Dogs With Blogs pals singing Band-Aid's song, "Do They Know It's Christmas". Mama has always been touched by this song, whether sung by humans or lip-synched by doggies, and quite honestly, so have I. So I bring you another worthy re-run to kick off the holiday season!

Dear Santa Revisited

2008-11-29T08:07:00.003-07:00

Last year Mama asked me to write a letter to Santa. She wanted me to write a new one this year, but my wishes still haven't changed since last year, so I'm reprinting it.

Dear Santa:

Mama wants me to write a letter to you saying what I want for Christmas. I really just want to eat all 32 of her nutcrackers (most of them have furry stuff somewhere on them, and they ‘re all made of wood, which I also like to eat).

Seriously, I just want people to be more responsible doggie owners. I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to hit a dog (I wasn’t hit, but I know many dogs are) so I want anyone who doesn’t understand dogs to not have a dog until they do.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to get a dog for someone as a present only to not spend time with him/her. Or to give him/her away when they realize how much work we dogs can be.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to hoard a dog, thinking they are doing the dog a favor and providing a good home by keeping him/her in a crate all day, never letting him/her out to go potty, to eat, to socialize or to exercise. I was done no favors by the person who hoarded me; I ended up with an intestinal disease and afraid of a lot of things. I want people who hoard dogs (and other things) to get help for themselves instead of trying to help the dogs.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to ignore a dog, never playing with her/him, never talking to him/her, only treating her/him like an object not to be cared about.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to think it’s okay to let their dog run loose without training, without supervision, in places where dogs have no business running loose.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to not spay or neuter their dogs unless they are planning on being responsible breeders that are kind to all dogs, even the runts. And mama thinks that breeders shouldn't breed until there are enough buyers in line to buy the puppies. Good things are worth the wait!

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to train dogs to fight without reason, as a football player did and I know others do. I don’t want any dog to be trained to be aggressive or to be mean. I’m not considering police dogs and others like them in this group; they are trained to use force when needed to stop bad guys/gals, but they’re also trained to stop when the humans can take over.

I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to donate food to the poor without donating food for their pets. I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to judge a poor person with a pet as irresponsible; people never can know why poor people became poor. Maybe they had pets before they became poor. Maybe one day they’ll be poor too and what will happen to their pets? I hope it never happens, but it could. So Santa, I want people to remember pets when donating to worthy causes.

On the same note, I don’t want anyone anywhere anytime ever to put getting a pet over feeding their children. It may make the children happy for a while, but it won’t feed them and it won’t help the pet when they can’t feed them.

Santa, I just want all pets everywhere all the time to be loved and respected and treated like one of the family.

In fact, I can honestly say I want that for all animals, humans included.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T19:03:00.004-07:00

I hope you all had a happy thanksgiving. I did, even if Mama DIDN'T give me a single table scrap. Not ONE. Hmmph.

She did get me a new food bowl recently. It's kind of funky:

See those ... spikes ... jutting into the bowl? they're supposed to slow me down as I eat.

So, do you think it works? Well, I guess it does. It used to take me all of 30 seconds to eat. Now it takes me a full minute!

By the way, what do you think of my winter coat?

Mama is Amazed

2008-11-22T08:21:00.005-07:00

Mama actually read an entire book without me eating it. Mama says this was a very good book, but if you read it, have tissues handy. She also said that Marley had done a LOT that even I don't do!

Stopping Puppy Mills

2008-11-12T06:17:00.004-07:00

Mama got an email the other day from someone she's never heard of. He was writing about an organization called Give Back America. The email had a link to their blog (she didn't click on it cuz it's not safe to click on links from people you don't know. She typed in the address herself) and the blog stated that they were trying to stop puppy mills. Puppy mills are places where people irresponsibly breed dogs, then keep all the puppies closed up in cages, giving them no attention, no socialization, and no love. The purpose is simply to put money into the pockets of the owners.

Mama agrees that puppy mills are horrible. She considers the "rescue" group where she got me a type of puppy mill. They had too many dogs for them to care for. They advertise charging $125 for mixed breed dogs, and $250 for pure breds. I'm a mixed breed, and they charged mama $250 for me. She says she was stupid in one way for not questioning that, but then she fell in love with me so just chalked it up to helping a charitable organization. She now knows better, but it's too late to get her $125 back.

Mama wants puppy mills shut down too. But the website suggests that we go about this by refusing to buy puppies from puppy mills, thus taking away the profit for the owners who would be forced to stop. Mama doesn't think this is the way to do it, and this is why.

If no one buys the puppies from the puppy mills, the dogs never get out. If the mills do close, the dogs usually end up at the pound or a shelter. They never did learn to socialize. They were probably not very healthy. And they probably looked rather scraggly like the picture of me above, taken the first day mama brought me home.

However, if people wrote to their legislators and asked for a law banning puppy mills, then people would have to go underground to keep them open. Hopefully, caring people would catch on to neighbors with puppy mills, and report them to get them shut down. Lots of media attention can help teach people how to recognize a puppy mill so reporting can flourish.

Both options, not buying from puppy mills and getting laws passed, take time. Time that the dogs in the mills lose. But mama thinks banning the mills is the better of two options because it implements permanent change, and not a band-aid like she thinks the boycott of the mills is.

Think about it. Then look at the picture of me above, and look at me below, taken several months later after I got good food into me and proper medical care. Puppy mill dogs look scraggly like I did. Healthy dogs look more like I do now. Whichever method you choose to pursue, mama urges you to pursue in the effort to close down puppy mills.

Mama Came Home

2008-11-05T19:26:00.003-07:00

In a VERY good mood today. I said, "Wow, mama, you look so happy".

In fact, she looked so happy I caught it too and I wagged my tail (well, okay, I always wag my tail when mama comes home. I like how she says "Izzie, look at your little tay-el").

She pet me extra hard and gave me an extra kiss. I said, "Wow mama, you must have had a very good day".

In fact, she told me she had just an "okay" day.

"Just an okay day?" I asked. "But you look like you just won the lottery".

In fact, she said "It wasn't me that won the lottery, Izzie, it was your Auntie Donna and your Unca Joe. They just won the biggest lottery of them all".

I said, "Are they going to share it with us?"

Mama said "Well, Izzie, I don't think so. At least not in the way you'd think. You see, Auntie Donna and Unca Joe's lottery has two legs and two arms and a beautiful head and black hair just like you!".

"HUH?" Was all I could say.

She then led me to see Auntie Donna and Unca Joe's "new" blog, Waiting For Lauren Elizabeth.

I wagged my little "tay-el" a LOT after seeing what their lottery looked like!

Congratulations Auntie Donna and Unca Joe!

Eerily, Eerily, Eerily, Eerily, Life is But a Dream

2008-10-26T20:23:00.006-07:00

Or a nightmare. Last night mama left for several hours and again left me at home. HARUMPH!, I said. But when she showed me the pictures of what she found when she got to where she went, I was GLAD to have been left at home!

Rusty's Yearbook

2008-10-12T08:27:00.002-07:00

Oh.

My.

GOSH.

You HAVE to go check out Rusty at Chasing Squirrels With Rusty! Rusty yearbooked himself after mama made the challenge, and his pictures are downright hilarious!

Thanks Rusty for participating!

Look What the Mama Dragged In!

2008-10-11T19:20:00.013-07:00

This is Leah. She is a Greyhound dog currently living at the kennels of Arizona Greyhound Rescue. They were doing a bit of an overhaul of their kennels and needed day fosters for the dogs not yet in foster care. Now, you all know how I feel about other dogs -- particularly big dogs.

I didn't know what hit me at first. Mama snuck in through the back gate, and I was sitting in the hall waiting for her to come in through the garage like she usuallly does. Then all of a sudden I heard the back screen door open so I ran into the kitchen to see this big, black dog! Boy did I bark. Mama ignored me, though, and let me sniff her through the screen. It took me a minute or two to stop barking and sniff, but I did. Mama said she was proud of me.

Still, my instincts were to bark. Mama would pet me when I stopped, and stop petting me when I started. But it wasn't too long before I got used to her. I sniffed her butt. A few minutes later I let her sniff mine. Before long, we were buddies. Well, as buddy-buddy as I get with any dog. Here are a few more pics of me and Leah.

Mama enjoyed her time with Leah. I survived it okay. I do have to admit: She's pretty!

I Have But 3 Words To Say...

2008-10-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

Check this out!

http://dogsthatblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/yup-dogs-rule.html

Mama Yearbooked Me!

2008-09-19T20:08:00.005-07:00

Mama's friend DONNA had an entry on her blog, Waiting For Lauren Elizabeth, in which Donna had used a site called "Yearbook Yourself" to give the world a glimpse of her throuhout the years. I decided to try it too. Here I am!

in 1950. in 1968

in 1972. in 1974.

in 1976. in 1978.

and in 1982.

Okay, all you DWB'ers (Dogs With Blogs), go Yearbook Yourself! Let me know if you did!

I Knew Something Was Off

2008-08-28T17:30:00.007-07:00

This has been a weird week. First, Mama hasn't gone to work all week. Which is actually a good thing, since she's been home with me all week. She wasn't sick, either. She said it is just a "staycation" whatever that means.

Second, I found myself all cozying up during the day time:

On Grandpa's chair! What's so odd about this? Usually GRANDPA's in the chair. Mama said he just went out of town for a bit and will be back soon.

Then today I noticed that the floor in the bedroom was all wet.

And the hallway, too. Mama blocked off the areas so we couldn't trample all over the newly cleaned carpets (mama said the carpet cleaner said the hall was fairly saturated with old pet urine, which is odd since I haven't peed in the house since we lived in the apartment. Mama knew something was there, though, as it smelled like Petsmart since right after it was cleaned the first time. This time she had them do pet odor removal).Then my blanket that covers my bed disappeared and came back smelling all clean and everything.
Oh don't worry, folks -- it ain't over yet. THEN mama took apart both my crates and lined them up outside. See the white bottle in the red top? That's my shampoo, which is something called a hypoallergenic shampoo. Mama said it made no sense to wash the crates out with something not meant to stop itching, so she used the same shampoo to wash out the crates that she uses to washo off ME.

Waaaaaaa??????????
Not the blue collar! OHHH NOOOOOooooooo! Oh please, mama, NOT the BLUE COLLAR!

In case you didn't know, the blue collar means one thing and one thing only:
Yup. She finished off the day by washing ME!

A Good Time Worth Arooooing For!

2008-08-26T07:18:00.002-07:00

Did you all have as much fun in the Paw-Lympics as I did? I thought it was a BLAST. I want to send something extra special to Lenny for all his and his family's work putting it all together!

WARNING

2008-08-21T06:21:00.002-07:00

Notice how mama made me put the title of this post in ALL CAPS? That's because she says this post is VERY important and she wants dog owners everywhere to hear this horrible story. She also says to warn you that that link takes you to a story that is very sad and also very maddening.

THE CHAI STORY <--------- Click on THAT

So, dog owners and lovers: Be SURE that all your dogs' toys that are hollow inside with holes have more than ONE hole!

A BRONZE MEDAL? For ME?

2008-08-16T12:39:00.008-07:00

WooooRoooo! I won a PAW-Limpic Medal! A BRONZE!

Guess what category?Yup! The Tongue Event!

I also got honorable mention in the Sleeping category:And the Hurdles category, even though my poles were vertical.:

There have been some great contestants in the events. Go check out Wire Wise to see all the winners and vote for your favorite runners-up! Thanks Lenny for putting all this together!

My Ants' Estors

2008-07-26T07:52:00.013-07:00

Ya know, mama spends so much time with her genealogy blog The Oracle of OMcHodoy and her Ancestral Lore blog Orations of OMcHodoy that I finally got curious. She told me that she uses her blogs to find her ants estors, whatever that means. She says it means she’s trying to find out the people from whom she de-sends. I usually don’t much care what others do, so much as it doesn’t affect me. But I just had to give this jeanie alogee thing a try. So here’s my first attempt at tracing my pack.

Mama was told that I am a Pomeranian and Cocker Spaniel mix. Let’s take a look at that.

First let’s take a look at the Pomeranian, since mama says it’s easy to see the Pom in me, with my curly tail and incredibly springy feet. My eyes, too, but definitely not the ears.

Picture on the left courtesy of: http://www.kennels.co.uk/images/T.Pomeranian.jpg

According to Dog Breed Info (www.dogbreedinfo.com), this part of me originated in the Prussian region of Pomerania (gee, what a concept…Pomeranians hailed from Pomerania). There was a dog breed there known as the Spitz, and apparently the Pomeranian de-sended from that that breed. Now just how they make one "pure-bred" dog from another I will never understand, but I digress.

Did you know that Marie Antoinette and Mozart once owned Poms? So did Queen Victoria!

Dog Breed Info also says that Pomeranians are smart and would make good circus animals. Hmmph. You never hear humans say “oh he’s a smart guy, he’d be great as a circus performer”.

Now, on to the Cocker Spaniel. Mama says it’s hard for her to see the Cocker in me; sometimes she’s not so sure. But a few times as we were leaving Petsmart (mama loves that store; I hate it, though I do like trying to creep under the racks of dog food for kibble) she’s heard people comment without talking to mama “Look a Cocker Spaniel mix”. Hmmm. Let’s investigate.

This is what an American Cocker Spaniel looks like with me next to her:

Now, in most pictures mama has seen of American Cockers, mama doesn’t see any real resemblance. But she kind of does in this picture, taken from http://www.greatdogsite.com/admin/uploaded_files/
thumbnails/american_cocker_spaniel368x_1190665991490.jpg here. Mama can see a little similarity in the fur on the legs. Do you?

Here’s a little bit about the American Cocker Spaniel. Dog Breed Info says these dogs de-send from the English Cocker Spaniel, which I’ll talk about next. Both Cockers were once used to flush out woodcock birds, which is how they got their names. Mama says that may be why I can creep along on my tummy with my legs off to the side as I move towards kibble under the food racks at Petsmart. One of these days she’ll get a picture of me doing that. She says it’s funny.

Now here is a picture of the English Cocker Spaniel and me:

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/

Now mama can see some similarities when she looks at a picture of the English Cocker. She says the fur on my back grows in a similar pattern. While my head is thinner, the flatness along the nose line and forehead is somewhat similar. Also the lines along the rear upper leg and the hips are similar to the English Cocker, though you can't see it in this picture of me.

The descriptions of both Cockers identify this breed as fun, loving, and great with kids. Well, I’m okay with kids now, but I used to be terrified of them. But I don’t play with them, or anyone else, really. I sometimes play fetch with mama, but not for long and only when *I* want to. Mama says that’s because the Pomeranian in me shows the stubborn streak, and, moreover, she says I wasn’t socialized well when I was a puppy. I was reportedly kept in a crate most of the time and never learned to play or not be afraid of others until I was taken out of that place.

Well, that’s my surmised story, and I’m sticking to it. I know I’ll probably never know who my true ants-estors are, but perhaps I’ve reconciled my packs. What do you think? Do you see Pomeranian and Cocker Spaniel in me? Mama says she could make The Genetic Genealogist proud by mentioning that there are Doggie DNA tests that can determine the breeds of mixed dogs, but mama says it really makes no difference. She loves me just the way I am.

Mama's Second Attempt

2008-07-20T18:30:00.006-07:00

At barbecuing looked like this:

Doesn't that look good? She bought this kabob rack thing and thought she'd try it out. The first problem was in figuring out how to turn the skewers and have the food turn with them. Instead, mama would turn the skewers but the food would stay put. Lifting the handle end of the skewers up a bit and then turning them helped a little bit, but she wound up just dumping all the food into a pan and cooking them that way.

The good news was that mama remembered to oil the grill grate first, so it was much easier to clean up. The bad news? Mama hated the food. It was just sirloin, squash, zucchini and red pepper marinated in a soy sauce mix with spices, but mama said the meat ended up more medium than well-done (mama wants her meat DEAD), and there was way too much soy sauce in the marinade, though she only used half of what the recipe called for! Oh well, I told her, you don't know if you don't try. Secretly I was hoping she'd give it to me since she didn't like it, but she didn't. In fact, after all was said and done, she moved the fencing to a new place she wants to keep me out of:

On another note, we got a nasty storm last night. Mama caught some pictures of it, including pics of a double rainbow on the edge of the storm right before it hit our house. If you look closely (realllly closely) at the first picture, you can see both rainbows. The second picture shows the rain pouring down just north of our house. At one point during the storm, it was pouring in our back yard and barely sprinkling in the front yard!

Mama's First Attempt

2008-07-13T18:29:00.002-07:00

At barbecuing something other than hamburgers or hot dogs:
Pork chops marinated in soy sauce with lemon juice and garlic, with pepper mix marinated in olive oil and garlic (she forgot the dill weed). Overall not a bad first try, but she learned a couple of things:

1. Next time she won't forget to oil the grate first.

2. Next time she'll move the chops to one side and put the veggies on the other side, over direct heat.

3. Next time she'll put the veggies on at the same time as the pork chops.

Live and learn. it sure smelled good! And no, I didn't get ANY. I even got yelled at for licking the ground under the grill when all was said and done!

MORE New Toys!

2008-07-12T16:35:00.006-07:00

This is me playing with a new toy mama bought for me today called the Kong Wubber. Inside a heavy canvas type cover is a squeaky toy!

This is the Kong Wubber toy after about two minutes in my mouth.
This is me sitting nicely while mama unwraps the next new toy she bought for me. She said something about it being a FOOD STUFFABLE toy. I LOVE those!

This is a video of me PLAYING with the new FOOD STUFFABLE toy! Mama says it's a little bit long, but she loves the look of exasperation I give at the end!

Some of Mama's Favorite Pictures

2008-07-07T20:33:00.009-07:00

Are of me lying down and/or sleeping.

Or of me just waking up.

Long Time No See

2008-06-28T17:37:00.004-07:00

I'm so sorry it's been soooo long since I've posted! I really have no excuses, except that it's summer time and I live in Tucson and it's HOT. Truly, these are the dog days of summer.Mama took me to the groomers today, and that place makes me a nervous wreck. I spent the rest of the day trying to recover.

Mama spent part of her day at the Y in the pool. Then she put her old grill outside with a sign on it "Free for the Taking", since the connectors that go from the gas tank to the grill leak and it was old and not really something she wanted to fix. So a couple of weeks ago she bought this:

Last weekend she had a friend come over to help her assemble it (mama hates that kind of thing). They spent three hours assembling it. About two hours into it, mama's friend noticed a sticker on the lid: Free Assembly Available. Mama's friend laughed, but mama was kind of mad. The people at the store heard her on the cell phone when she was at the store pondering how she was going to get it assembled, and the clerks didn't say a word! But they got it assembled. You should have seen her the first time she lit it! She was so funny! She turned on the gas, then turned on the burners (there's THREE!). Then she put her hand on the ignition button and leaned back as far as she could before she pushed the button! She was laughing so hard, too, cuz she was afraid it would blow up in her face!

Mama moved it today to this side of the patio where there's some shade, but it's not level enough there so she's probably going to move it back to the other side (she can't put it along the fence like the other one cuz it's bigger and the ground slopes too much for this one to fit). Either that or she'll get some dirt and plywood to even out this section. It'll be cheaper to move it back.

Now mama says she needs to get a good grilling cookbook. Mama says she welcomes any grilling tips you want to give her; grilling isn't something she'd done much of other than hot dogs and hamburgers (and s'mores!).

New Toy!!

2008-06-08T20:41:00.007-07:00

Mama came home with a lot of stuff today. Some of it was even for me! First, she bought me a new collar!Mama really liked the old one, the brown one with black bones carved into it, but she said it's been two years with that one and it was time for something different!

Then she bought me this:

There are actually two more pictures of this thing, but mama says enough is enough, you all are smart and get the idea of the longest leash I have ever seen! She says, though, that it's not a leash, it's a training lead. Though she also said she's not going to use it for training, but for using it at the park so I can chase this:

See, mama isn't fond of dogs running loose in public places not meant for dogs running loose, and I'm not fond public places meant for dogs running loose. So mama thought she could buy me a long lead and then use this wand thingie to throw that ball while I'm attached to the long lead that will allow me to run after it without mama losing control of me!I wanted to play with the ball right away, but mama made me play with this instead:

All is not lost, though. If Blogger is working properly (and I never know when it is), you can click on this picture (or any of the others) to see an enlarged version. On this one, you would then see on the bottom of this toy a little brown "dot". Well, that "dot" is actually a kibble of food mama stuffed into the end of the toy for me to work at to get out. Any toy that has food inside is okay by me!

Summer Safety

2008-05-24T11:52:00.003-07:00

Mama wants me to write this true story about Mandy as a WARNING for dog-lovers everywhere. Mandy was mama's family's dog while mama was in high school. She says the thought was that she was either a greyhound/lab mix or a greyhound/pointer mix.

One day when mama was home alone in the morning, getting ready to go to school, Mandy was outside playing, sniffing, treeing birds, whatever it was Mandy did when outside. Mama's family had an inground pool in the backyard, prior to the days when fences with self-latching gates were mandated. Mandy apparently hated the water as much as I do, and never went in the pool, though she did run around it chasing birds.

Anyway, while mama was in the house primping (she was a senior in high school), she heard Mandy barking. Mama thought nothing of this, as she figured Mandy had treed a bird. But the barking kept up, and it sounded like it was in a place away from the tree. Then Mandy let out a bark that turned into a howl. Finally, mama marched to the back door to call her in and terror struck her eyes as she set her eyes on Mandy, in the pool, front paws clinging for dear life on the pool decking and her bottom half dangling in the water.

Mama ran over and pulled Mandy out. If Mandy hadn't found the side, she very easily could have drowned. From that day on, mama says Mandy was first taught where the steps were and then, twice every spring/summer, she was forcibly put into the pool so she could show that she knew how to get out on her own.

Mama wants everydog out there to read this story. She wants my fellow dogbloggers to post a summer safety story on their blogs to help spread the word. TEACH your dogs how to get out of your backyard pools, even if there is a fence around it. Watch your children like hawks, too. Don't just listen to them and assume they're safe. Drowning is a silent killer and kids don't generally make any noises as they go down.

Also, mama wants to be sure that NO ONE leaves their pets in cars. In Tucson, summers get to be up to 110 degrees, which means inside a car it can get closer to 130 or 15o degrees ... even with windows cracked! It is illegal to do that here, and if people see pets in cars in the community they can call the police who will come and break into the car to get the pets out. Even if it only gets to 80 where you live, inside a car it's much hotter, and open windows and water dishes just don't cut it. And if mama feels this strongly about pets left in cars, imagine how she feels about kids left in cars; especially babies. Yes, it happens. Quit often, actually :(.

So be safe this summer, keep cool, and have fun!

What Is Wrong With These Pictures?

2008-05-23T19:34:00.005-07:00

Mama went out last Saturday. Look at the pictures she brought back and I just dare you to tell me what exactly is wrong with these pictures. Answers Below.
Picture Number 1.

Picture Number 2.

Picture Number 3.

Do you know what is wrong with each and everyone of these pictures? Do ya? Huh? HUH?

Picture Number 1: This is NOT me. This is Chip, aka Chipper. Dangblasted Doxie.

Picture Number 2: This is NOT me. This is Scooter. I like Scooter. He's a Schnauzer.

Picture Number 3: THIS is not me. This is Lucy. Mama fell in love with this Bassett puppy.

So have ya figured it out yet? That's right, I'm not in a single one of them. And would you like to know WHY I'm not in a single one of them? Hmm? Because I wasn't even THERE. Yep. That's right. Mama left me at HOME. She said something along the lines of me having to stay home because my house manners aren't too good. Just because I dive-bomb people for their food doesn't mean I'm rude. People just don't understand dogs is all.

The one consolation to all this is that the Doxiedog above? HATES mama. Absolutely HATES her. Doxie Chipper takes one look at mama and barks and barks and barks and barks. Every time. Even if mama isn't even looking his way! She's confounded as to why, but I'm secretly glad. Serves her right for going without me.

Now, take a good look at the picture below and tell me if you can figure out what is wrong with this picture. It was taken this evening right after mama and I got back from our evening walk. I'm not going to tell you yet what it is; you have to post a comment with your guess!

She Did What She Did

2008-05-13T20:06:00.008-07:00

I don't know what I did to make mama do what she did, but I'm glad I did whatever I did to make her do what she did!

At first I thought maybe she did what she did because she felt guilty for going to some concert last night and staying out really late.But perhaps she did what she did because she felt guilty for what she's going to do tonight, which she said is going to bed early tonight because she stayed out so late last night. Which means I have to go to bed early, too.

Whatever the reason, I am very happy she did what she did because I did whatever I did to get the rewards of her doing what she did.

So what did mama do?She bought me a STUFFIE! She NEVER buys me STUFFIES! I LOVE stuffies! But she never buys me stuffies! Why doesn't she ever buy me stuffies? Because after about 90 seconds in my mouth, stuffies look like this:
Mama says she would buy me more stuffies if I'd just de-stuff them and leave them be, but NO-O-o-o-o! I EAT the stuffing after I de-stuff them! So after about 90 seconds, I lose the stuffies to the trash! But what a great 90 seconds they are! Now if only I knew why mama did what she did when she did what she did when she bought me a stuffie....

She said something about it being my 3rd birthday....

Which reminds me, thank you to all for the birthday wishes. Birthdays are great, even if I don't know what they are...

Many Thanks

2008-04-27T17:25:00.002-07:00

Many thanks to the following doggies who told me they posted the Animal Rescue Site badge to their blogs! I know that many more have it on there, and I hope they click every single day! Any time you see the badge or the links to the site, be sure to click! Remember, A Click A Day Keeps Starvation Away!

Thanks to:

The Brat Pack

LacyLulu

Dory and Liza

Holly

A Challenge

2008-04-19T16:58:00.004-07:00

Mama started something new today. She started volunteering at a local PETSMART with a group called "Arizona Greyhound Rescue (AGR)". They go to the store most weekends with a couple of Greyhounds up for adoption and help show the dogs and raise some money. I'm not really sure what a Greyhound is, but mama says even I'd like them if I'd ever met one, assuming the Hound doesn't think I'm prey. She thinks I'm big enough not to worry about that, though.

Anyway, mama thought that it would be so cool to challenge all the Dog Bloggers AND their fans (aka readers) to do something to help rescue animals in their home towns. Whether it be to help or operate a rescue, volunteer somewhere, or donate funds, mama wants to show the world that dog bloggers CARE. If you do anything like that, please leave a comment. If you can't at this time, read on for your chance to help.

Here's the challenge: Mama wants each and every blogger, dog, animal, human or whatever, to post the badge below on their blog for one day, explaining in the post that clicking on the badge will help feed rescueed animals. Then she wants every blogger, dog, animal, human or whatever and all their friends with computers to click on that badge once EVERY DAY for a whole week. She wants everyone to click on the badge once every day FUREVER but the challenge is for a week. Need the code for the badge? You can either email mama at omchodoy-at-comcast-dot-net or go HERE.

Lastly mama wants to know if you posted the badge so leave a comment if you did and mama will run a post at the end of the week with the folks who posted it!

CLICK AWAY!

That Time Of Year Again Part II

2008-04-14T19:46:00.002-07:00

Here's a real-life version of what I think of mama putting my toys in the pool!

It's That Time of Year Again

2008-04-13T15:54:00.003-07:00

At least it is in Arizona!

Mama filled up my pool. Then she put all four of my balls in there. We'll just see about that!

Three left.
Two left.

One left.

All gone.

I prefer my toys on solid ground, thank you very much!

Guess Who Came to Dinner (Kinda)?

2008-03-30T18:26:00.024-07:00

If you don't recognize these beautiful animals they are Crikit, Ginger and Sparky, of Barking Loud! They were in Tucson this weekend with their parents, Marsha and Joe! They are so nice, they drove all the way across town to visit with me and mama (and my grampa who lives with mama). Actually they drove all the way from TEXAS! WOW!

Mama was again worried how I'd react to big dogs. How do you think I did?Well, at first I was too busy with the rawhide bone that Marsha gave me to really care who else was around! Besides, it turns out that poor Ginger was more fearful than I am!

She was usually off in a corner of the yard! Mama wasn't able to get a close-up picture of her, but she did get one of Sparky and Crikit (but if you click on the above two pictures you'll get a big picture that gives you nice close-ups of Ginger!).

On occasion, I'd let the others sniff me a bit. So long as I had my bone to gnaw on.

At one point, I attempted to kinda sorta sniff out Ginger, and she almost let me sniff her.

But then she ran away.

So I went back to the bone.

But then I let Sparky and Crikit sniff me, and I didn't even have the bone near me!

And I went up to Sparky all by myself too!

Well, okay, I was going after the pupperoni treat that Marsha was giving to Sparky. Don't worry, Dr. Keil, I didn't get any!

I had a really good time visiting with Sparky, Ginger and Crikit, and their parents. It's obvious they love their furbabies, by the way they seek them out and look at them.

You need to go check out Barking Loud after they get back home. I'm sure they'll have even more pictures up (hopefully of me and the doggies; mama hates having her picture taken!).

And one last message to Joe and Marsha: Thank you for the visit, the rawhide and the BALL!

Dog Park Video

2008-03-20T20:06:00.002-07:00

As promised, here is a short video of my venture into the off-leash area at the park where mama's co-workers held a Pet Picnic. It may not seem like much, and you'll see that I don't much react to the other dogs, but mama says it was a very big deal that I went in the area on my own free will and didn't cower and hide.

I Made a Liar Outta Mama

2008-03-15T16:39:00.029-07:00

For the past couple of months, mama had been talking about some plans for her co-workers to get together with their pets. They planned a "Pet Picnic" for a Saturday in March at a centrally located park. Mama had for a while debated about whether or not to take me. See, I'm not a big fan of big dogs, and I tend to get carsick. The park is about 20 miles from home, so naturally she was worried. But she decided to take me. She bought a patio chair cushion to raise me up a bit in the back seat, so I could see out the window. That's supposed to help dogs who get carsick not get carsick.

Well, today was the day. She went to the store, bought the cushion and a new leash. She packed a lunch and the macaroni salad she made yesterday. She put my crate in the back seat (the small one) so that if I got too stressed out I could go in there. She also packed up snacks for me and toys. Then she put me in the car (actually I jumped in on my own). Off we went.

The ride to the park was uneventful. We found the ramada easily. It was in the perfect spot: Close to parking, right next to the enclosed off-leash areas, and right behind a big marked off area where some group was doing dog agility! There were plenty of picnic tables. The Parks and Recreation workers even stopped by a few times to be sure we were the right people using the ramada (we reserved it about 2 months ago). The first people we saw were Gabe and his kids.

Gabe and his kids were nice. They helped carry the cooler and the crate back to the picnic area from the car. I was so grateful that not only did I let the kids pet me, I let them pet me all at once (I was too busy keeping a close eye on that ice cream cone).
That was one way I made a liar outta mama. She's been telling tales of me not being good with kids. I am TOO good with kids. As long as they let me approach them, and they aren't running at me!

I made a liar outta mama another way, too. She also was telling tales that I'm scared of big dogs. Mama took this picture a bit too early, but see me there in the bottom of the picture? I was walking toward that Newfoundland puppy there. Yes, he's a PUPPY. If she'd have waitied a second or two, you'd have been able to see that I got right up to that big puppy and sniffed him! For a little better view of how big this puppy is, take a look:Now, since I did actually approach this big dog on my own accord, do you really think I'm afraid of big dogs? HUH?Okay, maybe just a little bit sometimes.

Mama was really looking forward to meeting Mitzie, a Border Collie mix that belongs to her former co-worker, Sara. She said they were always talking about us and our antics. Yes, Mitzi has antics, too! Here's a picture of both of us with our mamas:Though I did notice she (Mitzi) also spent a lot of time looking away from me.

I thought maybe she didn't like me, but mama thinks she was just wanting to go join the agility games behind us.

I made a liar outta mama another way, too:

Notice that I don't have a leash on in these pictures? That's because I was in the enclosed off-leash area for small dogs! This park has the most amazing off leash areas, I couldn't help but go in! Mama did have to carry me past the big dog off-leash area next to this one, but I went in on my own and I didn't shiver and quake and I trotted along a little bit, too! Stay tuned. In a couple of days mama will post the video she has of me in the off-leash area with a cute little white dog.

Okay, I think I made my point about me making a liar outta my mama. Here are some pics of other dogs and people that joined us today.

Mama's a bit upset about that last picture of Eileen and Don. She realized when she got home that she didn't have a picture of Corina, their Yellow Lab mix they recently rescued and nursed back from Heartworm. She's a sweetie. Maybe Eileen will email her a picture and mama can post it.

A good time was had by all who went, and those who missed it were, well, missed.

There was one way in which I did not make mama a liar, though. Remember I mentioned that mama bought a cushion to put on the seat to raise me up? And the tales she tells of me getting carsick?

Don't worry, mama didn't take a picture of that. But let's just say the option to return the cushion to the store has been revoked.

Guess Where Mama Took Me?

2008-03-08T19:04:00.004-07:00

Yup. The groomer's.
I hate going to the groomer's. Mama doesn't understand why it takes 4 to 5 hours to groom a dog. I guess they can only bathe one at a time. But mama took me to Petsmart groomers again today. Sylvia got me done in 2 hours! Don't I look good?

Whew!

2008-03-01T14:37:00.009-07:00

I haven't posted in a while cuz mama was "too busy". Harumph, is all I have to say. Although I do have to admit, she did look like she was working very hard.Do you see those two cans in the very back (one is in the corner behind the grill)? Those are filled to the brim with rock. See that green "carpet" under the grill? That was all rock. The very rock that is now in the cans. See, before last week, mama had this area blocked off with some fencing to keep me out. I kinda like trying to eat the rocks by the grill. I think stuff splatters when mama uses it, and makes the rocks taste good. But the fencing didn't work; I always found a way in.

So over the past 7 days, mama raked up, shoveled up, and swept up the rocks and put them in the cans. Today she put this green stuff down and now there aren't any rocks there to taste anymore. She says she wishes the green carpet was a bit wider, and that she maybe put some plywood under it to make it even, but she also said there was only so much expense she was going to put in to a rented house.

Here's what it looks like all done.Here's what I look like sitting on the finished project:See how nice I look? Aren't I sitting and staying really, really good? (Mama had to bribe me with a treat).

Grrrrrr

2008-02-22T19:45:00.003-07:00

This past week six people in and around Tucson were arrested for running a dog-fighting ring. One of the men is known nationwide for his stock of fighting dogs. Most are pit bulls. There were at least four homes involved with over 130 dogs. 110 of them kept on ONE property. Look how sad this doggie is:

Mama is not a fan of pit bulls. She's been attacked twice by them; once with me. No harm came to her or to me, but it sure did make her scared of them. Me too. But mama also says it's not the dogs' fault. It's the owners who breed and raise them to be mean. She realizes there are many, many pit bulls that are sweet and fun and playful and safe. But she still is scared of them.

She also says that her thoughts on pit bulls are irrelevant. No dog, she says, deserves to be treated the way these dogs were. No dog deserves to grow up having to fight to be fed, to win to stay alive. She is sad for these dogs, and hopes that at least some can be rehabilitated.

What makes her even more angry? The people arrested are out of jail. And they are still listed as the dogs' owners. Mama realizes the importance of innocent until proven guilty, but several of these animals needed emergency veterinarian care. Most had wounds and bite marks. It's obvious the dogs were not cared for and it's obvious the owners knew they were there since they were in the home at the time of the raid. Therefore it's obvious that they are at least guilty of neglect and it's obvious the owners belong in jail.

At least to mama. Now mama prays that enough donations come to the Pima County Animal Care Center and the Humane Society to help care for these dogs.

The above picture is courtesy of http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=7892983&nav=menu86_2 .

The Great Reveal

2008-02-14T20:11:00.003-07:00

Mama is hoping to start her own business soon. She enjoys doing genealogy research. She has three blogs devoted to it! The biggest one is The Oracle of OMcHodoy. Isn't that an odd name? OMcHodoy? That's a combination of the last names of all four of her grandparents! Anyway, go check out her blogs:

The Oracle of OMcHodoy -- chronicles her research over the past three years, along with some stories.

Orations of OMcHodoy -- this is her newest blog, focusing on stories and experiences from her own genealogical perspectives, as opposed to her ancestors.

Only In Genealogy -- this is a blog that may go away soon. It's meant for her fellow genealogy bloggers (aka genea-bloggers) and her to share the funny side of genealogy. But it never really took off. But it is kinda funny.

Oh, so back to the business thing. Mama doesn't really want to do other people's genealogy; she says with the Internet, many people are choosing to do their own as opposed to hiring someone else. What she wants to do is create a business to teach people how to start their genealogies.

She has a name for this business: Regenerations. She thought that was clever since she'll be teaching people to "RE" visit previous "GENERATIONS". She still hasn't registered the name, though. But she does have a logo, thanks to .... guess who? (Answer below).

This logo was created by none other than CUBBY ART! Click on that title to see Cubby's work! Thanks Cubby. You made mama very happy!

Awards!

2008-02-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

My friends Abby and Rosie gave me some awards! Can you believe it? There were many to choose from, but I only picked two cuz mama said I have to be nice and save some for others. Blasted mama. Anyway, here are the ones I chose.I chose the Interesting Blog award not only for what I hope is my interesting blog, but for all the interesting blogs I have linked to the right! check them out!
And I chose this award because I want every shelter dog to have HOPE in finding a furever home like I did.

I'm passing both of these awards to:

DONNA (who's HOPING to bring home her human baby this year. I hope she does, too!)
Sherman, Lola, and Penny
Mack
Joe Stains and
Bella

A Picture of Health

2008-02-09T19:01:00.001-07:00

Mama took me to *that* place again. No, not the dog park. She swore off torturing me with that again. The V-E-T place. The vet thought I was so cute when she opened the door and I was laying down looking at her with my tongue sticking out. But then she stuck two things up my butt. Then put some liquid in my nose! She said that will prevent me from getting something called Kennel Cough. Then she tried to stick something in my neck. Then in my leg. She kept saying she was sorry. She was just trying to get my blood.

BLOOD? WHY does she want my BLOOD? Is she a vampire or something???? Whatever her reasons, she got my blood. She gave mama some advice on how to get me to to a park kind of far away without getting sick (20 miles, but when you get carsick, that's FAR). First mama will try putting a couple of blankets on the seat to raise me up enough to see out the window (it's cheaper than buying a booster seat). If that doesn't help, she can try to give me some dramamine. Mama doesn't want me tired and sleepy, but she doesn't want me to get sick, either.

Anyway, back to the healthy part. Mama asked the vet if my fur is turning gray so early because of the Prednisone I've been on (I have Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and Pred is one of the meds I take periodicallly, in addition to the hypoallergenic food and Metronidazole meds that I'm always on). The vet says if it's the meds, it's more likely the Metro, and not the Pred. But she says it's not to worry about. Besides, mama took me off the Pred last week for a while since I haven't been throwing up.

Later mama said the vet called back with the blood work results. I have to have blood work every 6 months to be sure the meds aren't affecting my liver function. I have NO parasites, whatever that means (mama says it's good). Better yet, she said the vet said my bloodwork looked FANTASTIC. That's the exact word she used. FANTASTIC. So I guess that means I'm healthy!

Tell me, do I look healthy to you?After the vet, mama took me home then went to a doctor herself. She accidentally kicked the leg of the coffee table last night when getting off the couch and she thought she broke her toe. She didn't though. (Would you believve she was so stupid as to have kicked the same leg of the same coffee table again this afternoon???? With the same foot but the toe next to the one she hit yesterday??? SHEESH). Anyway, then she came home and instead of her putting more ice on her toe and elevating it (it was swollen...when the doc asked her what toe, she said "the one that's big that's not supposed to be big. DUH), she took me for a walk.

By then it was nap time. The vet, the doc, a walk. What a day. But the good thing was, it was a byootiful day in Tucson: low to mid 70 degrees with sun all the way around!

Pawsome Post #6

2008-02-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

This edition of Pawsome Posts will spotlight a little dog who seems to be a LOT like me. He gets blamed for things like this:

Destroys stuffies in what seems to be a matter of seconds:
And he has a big long tongue, just like me:
In case you don't recognize this fella, I'm talking about Ike of Ike's Life. When you get a chance, link on over there and see and read all about his antics. I love antics, don't you?

The Dog WHAAAATT??

2008-02-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is my tail on a normal, happy day:This is my tail when I'm either scared or forced to do something I don't want to do (usually because I'm scared of something).Mama took me to the park today. The one by the YMCA that has two adjacent enclosed off-leash areas. She knows how much I hate those dog runs. She usually isn't a big fan of them either. As soon as I am in sight of one, I either turn and pull away, or sit and pull away. Well, today, mama was MEAN. She PICKED ME UP (I hate being picked up) and CARRIED ME INTO THE SMALL-DOG RUN. Then she put me down. She said it's time I learn not to be so afraid. Before she could even get the leash off me, a Basenji had come up to sniff. I got scared and kinda snapped. Mama scolded me, and I backed away. Then mama unhooked the leash and guess what I did? I trotted along the fence to the other side from where the other dogs were! I was hoping to escape out the other end, but alas there was no gate. I was stuck.

She made me stay in there with her for a little bit. She tried to engage me in a game of toss the ball, but I didn't want to. A few dogs came up to me, but I was focused on the big dogs in the run next door. A little girl did come up to me, and I did let her pet me. And there was a baby cousin Cocker Spaniel in there, too. I had nothing to do with him until we left. Then I walked with him and his parents a little bit. And the basenji and his mom, too. I did okay with him once outside the run area.

I don't care what anyone says. I don't like these dog runs. I'm still scared of them. Guess which tail picture looks the way my tail did at the dog park today?

Mama Abandoned Me

2008-01-27T16:45:00.001-07:00

She took me to this place where there were at least three other dogs ... one of them a BIG poodle ... and that smelled like DOG and had tubs with WATER and tables with STRAPS and tools like SCISSORS ... and then LEFT ME FOR THREE HOURS!

When she came back for me, this is what I looked like:

It came complete with a Valentine's Day bandana:

Well, I guess I DO feel better, and cleaner, and softer. And even I can tell I smell better. But just to get even with mama, this is the first place I headed for when we got home:

That's right: My stinky, smelly crate. Take that, mama!

Pawsome Post #5

2008-01-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

It's time for another PAWSOME POST! I picked someone from another world for this edition!

This is Huskee Boy and he lives in Singapaw, aka Singapore! Mama says that's a long way from Arizona! I spent some time at Huskee's today. His blog is full of pictures, and he's always smiling! He looks so playful! And he has tons of toys (I wonder if he spared them all from his mama's cleaning frenzy earlier this month?). Go check out Huskee's blog. It's fun, and isn't that what life is all about?

Go Ahead, Make My Day!

2008-01-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Look what I got! Bella the Boxer gave me an award. She likes my blog! Which is nice because I like hers, too!

It's nice to know I have friends! And I'd like to pass this award on to a new friend I just found (from a link on the comments page of Bella's blog, no less!). Maeby is the cutest little boxer baby I ever did see! She has a very new blog, but I can tell already I'm going to like stopping by it! You will to.

Dog Match? Okayyyyyyy

2008-01-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Mama read Sherman's post about a dogfinder type website. They have a QUIZ to identify what dog might suit owners best. Mama took the quiz. Here are her results for the top 5 dogs for her:

(photos courtesy of www.dogfinder.com/matchup).

Does anydog see what is wrong with this picture? Huh???? HUH???? ANYBODY KNOW?????

I'm not a Shih-Tzu. I'm not a Bedlington Terrier. I'm not a Clumber Spaniel, a Bernese Mountain Dog, or an Otterhound! Not even any part of me none whatsoever no-sireee-bob. (though my three best buddies at the old park are two shih-tzus and a bedlington terrier).

I am a Cocker Spaniel and Pomeranian mix. Not only did Cocker Spaniel not make the top five, it didn't make the cut for the next 10 best for mama! The English Cocker Spaniel ranked 34, and the American Cocker Spaniel ranked 56! The Pomeranian? You want to know what it said about the Pomeranian's rank for mama? HUH?

It was among the dogs NOT recommended for mama.

What do they know?

Begging

2008-01-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Look what mama is teaching me! This is a picture of me sitting pretty, staring at grandpa while he eats. My tendency when people are eating in the living room instead of the dining room is to dive-bomb them in an effort to get their food! Mama used to put me in my crate if they were going to eat in front of tv (usually during football games), but she realized that wasn't teaching me anything; it was just a cop-out.

She started to teach me to be nice when others are eating by attaching my leash to me and putting me in a "sit-stay" when she or grandpa would sit down to eat. She'd then step on my leash to keep it taut as I sat. If I started to dive-bomb, I'd get tugged by my leash and I'd be forced back into a "sit". If I sat for a few minutes, she'd give me a treat ball.

The above picture is of me showing off my new behavior by sitting and watching grandpa eat, without the leash attached to me.

I think it's much more fun to dive-bomb. And I still do it more to mama than to grandpa (because mama eats on the couch and there's more room for me to maneuver; grandpa sits in a recliner and he takes up the whole thing!). But I am enjoying the treat balls I get when I don't dive-bomb, so maybe I'll keep working on it.

Pawsome Post #4

2008-01-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

You know, picking these blogs to spotlight is so hard, cuz there are so many to choose from! I decided to start by picking some out of the Dogs With Blogs calendar (it's not too late to buy one, ya know, and support Doggie Rescue), and this post I decided to choose a dog who shares *my* month: October. Guess who?
That's right! It's HollyBollyBooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Isn't she cute? And if you like to see pictures, and videos, well, hers is the site to see! She looks right at home in the snow, too. Gee, I wonder why?!

I really enjoyed Holly's site, and I bet you will too! Run over there and see for yourself!

Flutter Tail

2008-01-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

Mama gave me a bath today. Have I told you how much I hate baths? Mama says I'm also very weird about my hatred of baths. She says most dogs that hate baths at least settle down for the soap rub and the towel rub afterwards, and fidget and move and try to escape whenever being rinsed. I'm just the opposite. I sit pretty still when being rinsed, but work my hardest at escaping when being lathered and rubbed and when being toweled off. I know, I'm weird.

Mama tried to catch my post-bath shake-off on video. She says it's hilarious because I let out a good shake once I'm freed from the bathroom. The only thing is: My body stops shaking but my tail keeps going! Here's mama's attempt at capturing it. Watch closely or you'll miss it (today I also added a post-shake dig which I've never done beforeMama also says it's funny because I know what the blue collar means, and the minute she pulls it out, I go hide. Do you all hate baths as much as I do? Do you get any signs that a bath is coming? What do you do when those signs appear?

An Award!

2008-01-11T19:27:00.001-07:00

Abby and Rosie gave me this award today! Wasn't that nice of them? It's a cool design, too! It was made by Colin! I'm supposed to give it to others who make the blogging community what it is today. There's a lot of people and doggies I could give it to, but I'm going to give it to Donna. Donna and mama have been friends for a long, long time, and she made both the old and the new headers for my blog (and I've gotten a lot of compliments on it!). She started mama blogging, too, after she created her own blog, Waiting For Lauren Elizabeth. She's in the process of adopting a baby from China. She started her blog over 2 years ago to chronicle the process, her and her hubby Joe's emotions as they go through it, and the interminable wait (I'm not sure about that word interminable. What I mean is it's taking forever and I feel so frustrated for them!). Anyway, Donna's blog is now part of a whole internet community of folks in her same situation, and they've created quite the support group for themselves and others in this long, complicated process. Check out her blog HERE. Donna, I predict that you will get Lauren this year. If you don't, I'm gonna sic the Army of Four Troopers on them! By the way, Mama and I want you all to visit my blog every single day, and click on the white and purple "Help Rescued Animal" Badge to the right. When you get to The Animal Rescue Site, click on their purple button to help feed animals in Rescue. Click EVERY DAY, you hear? If you don't want to read my site every day, get your own badge at that site and put it on your blog. Then you can click on your own!

Reporting for Duty

2008-01-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

Mama wants to thank Greg for getting me ready for duty in the Army of Four.

Take THAT, Mama!

2008-01-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said I had to give mama a big "what-for" lecture about posting for Beau's return after almost 5 years gone? And about me saying her glass was three-quarters empty? Well, mama just read this story in "Dog Fancy" Magazine, then found an online story about it. To read the story, CLICK HERE.

I've waited a year and a half to say this to someone: I TOLD YOU SO.

What's Weird About Me?

2008-01-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Abby and Rosie to tell you 7 weird things about me. Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a notification on their blog.

Okay. I'm sure the most difficult thing about this will be narrowing it down to just 7! But here goes:

1.. I'm a counter-surfer. If it's anywhere near the front half of the counter, I'll get it. The above picture is a result of surfing for flour.2. My tongue hangs way out when I sleep. Sometimes when I'm just sitting. It's from a misaligned jaw that happened when my original owner failed to get help for me when my puppy teef didn't come out on their own.

3. Speaking of tongues, I have an incredibly long one.

4. I love my crate so much that I learned how to open the gate from outside all by myself.5. Speaking of crate, I refuse to have anything on the floor. The blanket in front and the carpet inside are just two of the paddings mama tried to put in there to make it soft and cozy for me. I just dig them up and plop on the hard plastic bottom.

6. I even like to lie down on top of my crate.

7. Other dogs like to dig in the dirt. I only like to dig in my blankie.

Now the fun part: I get to tag 7 others for this game. I choose to tag:
1. Orion and Cassie
2. The Corgi Girls
3. Sparky
4. Turbo Taj
5. Helios
6. Bosco
7. Keeley

Pawsome Post #3

2008-01-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Just-a Look-at dat face! Mama usually reserves that feaux-Italian expression (feaux since she says it with the most fake-est accent!) for me, but I had to use it when I saw this picture of Marvin in the 2008 Dogs With Blogs Calendar! Is this the face of a happy dog or what? He's a rescue dog, too, and it is obvious his family loves him.

What makes Marvin's Blog even more exciting is that it includes pictures of their home area of Scotland! Mama says Scotland is high on her list of places to visit, not far below her #1 destination of Ireland. Of course, she'll have to get over her fear of flying first.

Go visit Marvin's blog. He is so cute, even if he is a big dog ;).

Beau

2008-01-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

Okay. Izzie getting serious here. Izzie had to give mama a good "what-for" today. Lately she's been reading about a lost dog named Beau. A lot of bloggers are posting flyers and badges and videos about this lost dog from Australia. Beau has been missing for about 5 years! His family misses him. Mama thinks everyone showing so much care is awesome, but she's also too practical for her own good. Her glass is THREE-QUARTERS EMPTY! She wondered aloud what the chances were that this dog would be found and returned home after so long! BOY did I yell at her! "YOU SPEND MOST OF YOUR FREE TIME ON THE INTERNET! DON'T YOU KNOW THE POWER OF IT YET?".

She just stood there in shock, staring at me like "How DARE you raise your voice to me". But then she softened up and realized, "Izzie's RIGHT". She told me "I sure would go to the ends of the earth to find you if you went missing".

Mama's a good person. Short sighted sometimes, but a good person. She so wants Beau found and so do I. So click on that badge to the right there and read about Beau. Watch the videos. You never know who reads your blogs; maybe someone who knows what Beau Knows: Where he is.

Look! It's ME! In 3-D!!!

2007-12-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

I showed you all my Christmas pressies. Now it's time to tell you what mama got: A new camera! The other one worked okay, but I kinda ate it. She managed to salvage it for a little while, but the battery door was broken so it was really hard to use it. I felt so bad I asked Santa Paws to bring her a new one. And bring her one he did! And guess what? It has a video feature!

Of course, the video thing is only good because now she can show the world how cute I am in THREE-D! She can't quite figure out why it got blurry in the upload, though. This was her very first attempt at videoing (with me as the subject, of course), so please parden the amateur-ity of it all.

And this next one (be patient, there's some dead space in this one) shows how I deal with someone trying to take my toy away. Don't worry, it's not violent.

Oh, and if you're wondering, the toy I'm playing with is one of the Flexa-Foam toys mama loves so much (since some of them last longer than 5 minutes in my mouth).

New Coat????

2007-12-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Mama's had some time off work here and there during the holidays. She's taken advantage of it by taking me to the park near where we used to live. Even though it's further away and means more time in the car, I have buddies there and mama says I do much better at that park than the one close to our house. But it was cold this morning. Yes, it does get cold sometimes in Tucson. It was below thirty the past few nights! So this morning, before going to the park, mama ran to the store and bought me a coat to help keep me warm (especially in the car, since she has to leave the window open a little bit to help prevent me from getting car sick). Mama says she's not much into dog clothes, but she does think coats or sweaters can be good.

What do you think? Mama was hoping for a green or brown coat, but all she could find was red. Well, she said there were plenty of "fru fru" coats for girl dogs. But she said the red would have to do. I don't look fru fru, do I? It sure did help keep me warm in the car!

Pawsome Post #2

2007-12-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

It's time for another installment of my Pawsome Posts! This is where I get to spotlight someone else's blog! I hope you like this installment.

This is Helios over at Herbiesphere (http://www.herbiegr.blogspot.com/ ). I chose Helios because this was his FIRST CHRISTMAS! He is so handsome. Mama thinks this is a precious picture of him (but not quite as precious as any of my pictures, I must add). It looks like he had a grand time on his first holiday! Go check out his blog. There are a lot more pictures on it!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! Christmas is FUN. Even if mama had to dig gift wrap out of my mouth every two seconds!

She should have given me the egg thingie last, though. I was kinda too focused on that at first.

But eventually I got over it.

Of course, then she had to get something to put all my new toys in, didn't she? I wonder what was in that big package up there?A new DOG BED! Mama says it's an orthopedic bed, to help prevent me from having joint problems later in life. What's this, you ask? Santa Paws brings me a new dog bed and I revert to my old raggedy blanket? Don't worry, mama knows how attached I am to that blanket. She wrapped the new bed in the blanket. She thinks that will help me adjust to the change.

I hope you all had as great a Christmas as I did.

My First Award!

2007-12-23T12:22:00.001-07:00

Abby and Rosie gave me a Friend award! Can you believe it? ME? An AWARD? I feel so special, I have to pass it on, so I will give it to:

Bosco
The Dogs of Jackman Ave
Five Happy Hounds, including Thrawn, because we must never forget old friends, either. Thus I'm also giving to to Addy who crossed the bridge earlier this week.
Sitka and Tia

I really think all my doggie buddies should get the award, but I have to leave some available for others to give it to!

Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! OH BOY!

2007-12-23T12:19:00.001-07:00

And it's ALL for ME! (Mama says it *should* be under the tree, but she knows I'd NEVER be able to contain myself until Christmas morning!). I can't WAIT!

Check out Beastie!

2007-12-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Mama works at a Children's Clinic and she said that sometimes they have therapy animals come by to say hello to the kids. She thinks it's real neat. Check out Beastie the French Bulldog at http://www.beastro.us/. Mama says she's really cute.

Mama also says that while she'd love for me to be a therapy dog, she realizes that *I'm* the one who needs therapy!

Personally, I think she's the one who needs it!

Goodbye, Addy

2007-12-19T19:35:00.001-07:00

Aunt Donna and Uncle Joe had to help their adopted Greyhound Addy to the Rainbow Bridge on Monday. Addy was diagnosed with cancer in June of 2005. The cancer was in her jaw and was inoperable. She wasn't ready to go, though and lived another 2 and one half years after the diagnosis! She was so strong. And she was truly the epitome of "sweetheart". She will be missed.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2007-12-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

I stopped shaking long enough to have this picture snapped. Merry Christmas!