Sleep from a dog's perspective

Now I've written to you all before about the joys of sleeping here. I know you humans don't always understand the ways we dogs sleep so let me give you some examples of my favorites:

This is how I sleep in the backseat of the car

squished between mom and Grandma...

This is how Maddie and I pass out under the bed

after a long day of playing...

This is how I slept to show mom I was

outgrowing my bed and needed a new one...

This is how I sleep with Dad...

Oops, looks like I caught mom taking the picture!

Dad didn't flinch though...

This is how I nap with mom during Charger games...

My Uncle Matt says I look like a cat in this one...

A modified version of the one above...this one means

"turn out the light, it's too early!!"

Of course, spread eagle is always a great option...

And finally, my newest trick...sneaking into Mom and Dad's bed

when they are busy doing other things! I blend well between the pillows right?

How about you? Where/how do you like to sleep?

Christmas came early!

Look what mom brought home today...a bone as big as I am!!!

Forget Santa, this is all I need this year. Well, and maybe one more once I'm done with this one...

In the spirit of Halloween...

At least my mom's not quite this crazy...

Have a safe and fun weekend!

I'm not a pony!!!

Mom and dad like to joke that I'm growing so big I'm like their little pony...I don't find it all that funny especially when mom tries to ride me around the living room. Check out this picture my Aunt Ashley snapped of these crazy antics:

Can you tell she's enjoying this quite a bit more than I am? *sigh* Humans...

Squeaky Toy Commercial

I just love this commercial! It reminds me of all the times I get out and Mom and Dad have to chase me all over the neighborhood :)

My first photoshoot!

Check it out...I'm a celebrity! Click on this link and then scroll down. I'm with two of my favorite people :)

http://skyehide.com/photos.html

Books? Yeah sure, I could use a snack...

If you haven't already heard, dad started his classes at the community college and mom started her master's! There has been a whole lot of reading around here lately and let me tell ya, I'm not so sure what they expect me to do during all of that. Here's what I prefer to do with a book:

Because let's be honest...they all taste the same!

Now this guy's got the right idea: "It is all very well to be able to write books, but can you waggle your ears?" -James Matthew Barrie

Happy Labor Day!

What labor day is complete without a trip to the beach? Mom and I escaped the house early this morning to enjoy a run on the beach before it got too crowded. It was so beautiful! Here are my glamour shots:

Here I am trying to figure out how to get off my law-abiding leash and get in the water...

Haha sand is funny when it's on your nose...it's hard to get off though!

Now and Then - My morning ritual

My mornings generally include a nice brisk walk, some breakfast and lots of laying around and pouting just hoping mom will give in and stay home with me. It never happens. Nevertheless I always try.

In fact, this was me begging for some lovin' at a very young age:

And look at me now:

I'm not gonna give up...there's still hope!

Urticaria?

As is usual, I've gotten myself into another predicament. I just can't seem to go a month without getting sick in some way...it just keeps things interesting!

This week I got hives. Yes, HIVES! They came out of nowhere and mom and dad can't figure out where...food? bugs? new plants?...still no idea. Of course they were worried and as first-time parents they had a minor freakout but after googling "dog hives" they calmed down a bit. Apparently they're pretty common!

I've gotten to eat pepperoni twice a day as a result (I think mom's hiding medicine inside but I don't care) so it hasn't been too bad. Between the medicine (Benadryl--dogs can take 1mg/lb they weigh) and my soothing baths I'm not itchy anymore and the bumps have gone down a lot. Here's what they looked like at first though--you can see why mom got scared!

Hey mom...can we keep him?!

This past week has been SOOO much fun! Mom got me a cool new friend to play with! Johnny is 10 years old and my dad's little brother (although he's not really that much littler than dad anymore...maybe I should call him dad's younger brother...)

We have had a great time going for walks, playing at the dog park and generally just hanging out. I've been like Johnny's little shadow following him everywhere he goes. At night when mom says it's time for bed I even stand on the inside of the bedroom door just staring at it, hoping she'll let me out again soon so we can keep playing :)

Here's a picture of us cuddling in my bed one night...

Mom says Johnny will have to go back to his house on Friday but I keep hoping he'll stay. I'm going to be so sad without him!

Dogs in the news

I don't get to catch up on my news all that much (what with my busy schedule of chewing, pooing and running around..) but when I do I love any story about dogs :) Here are a few of my new favorites:

The Smartest Dogs
And yes, I rank #3...well, at least part of me does.


Puppies with a Purpose
I'm not quite this well-trained but I try...


Disease-sniffing dogs?
What a good skill to have!


As you can tell I like videos best since I haven't really learned to read yet. I hope you do too!

Spiderwebs are funny!

They sure do get stuck to your face pretty easily :) Check out between my eyes...

Luckily my mom helped me pull it off (after she snapped a picture of course)!

I love lazy Sundays...

Especially when they include cuddle time with mom!

Stuffed animals don't stay stuffed for long

Remember my cute little stuffed animal from this post? Yeah well I've decided stuffed animals really don't need to be stuffed and I've turned my cute little friend into this (I'm warning you, this is kind of graphic):


At least he only cost my mom and dad a few dollars at the county fair! They'll get over it...well, dad will as soon as mom finishes picking up the stuffing from around the house. I mean, what do they want me to do about it? They told me to stay away from the trash can!

My first road trip!

This past weekend I got to go on my first road trip aaalllll the way up to Orange county to meet my mom's aunt, uncle and cousin. The ride wasn't that long after all and I slept most of the way. Next thing I knew we were at a new house with new people and a great big backyard! It was like I woke up in heaven!

I loved playing with little Keith (he's 6) especially because we're the same size! He was very nice and threw the ball for me over and over again. I think he might have been tired of playing with me because he kept running back inside but I followed him in and dropped the ball right at his feet and waited patiently for him to throw it again. He was nice enough to oblige :)

The best part was that even when they left me alone during the day I just got to explore the backyard. I hid my bone in a big pile of dirt, dug up a pot of flowers, and ran around to enjoy my space. I was very sad to leave but I was a little relieved too--I was so tired!!! Here are some of my favorite pictures (can you tell I was forced into the last one?):

I hope we get to hang out again soon!

I'm still growing...

I'm now over 50 lbs! Mom and dad can't believe it but I am slowing down so maybe I'm almost done? Maybe? Check me out in my new bed:

That's my new little playtoy too! It is a cute stuffed dog that I love to tear apart. I leave his stuffing all around the house and while I find it very fun, Dad just gets annoyed. Weird.

I also got a new crate because I was outgrowing the old one. But the other night Maddie must have gotten confused because next thing I know she was curled up in MY crate, chewing on MY bone at MY house.

I like to think I was just being a nice boy and sharing all my favorite things but Dad seems to think Maddie "punked" me. Either way, she's still my favorite friend!

Jack vs. The Bike

Ok, I think I'm officially done with Miramar Lake. That place seems so serene and peaceful...calm and inviting. It's quite deceiving, actually...

Last week I went with mom and Aunt Chelsea to the lake for a run after mom got off work. It was their third day there in a row so they were a little tired. This time we only ran 2 miles and then decided to turn around and walk/run back to the car. I was thankful because, as I've mentioned, I have a 5 mile limit anyway.

On our way back we came around a curve and, I'll admit, we were a little too close to the middle off the road. But in our defense, so was this woman on her bike. We heard her make some incoherent noises and so we tried to go left...then right...and she did the same! Next thing I knew I was tumbling across the road--me, the lady, and her bike! It did not feel good at all but I didn't even squeal or whine. I acted tough but I'll admit to you now, it kind of hurt too.

When we all got up we could see that I was ok, just a few bumps and scrapes. The lady broke her wrist in the mess so her boyfriend rode back to get the car and go to the hospital. We waited with her until he got back though and she agreed that it was both of our faults. We apologized, she apologized, over and over. After they left we walked back to the car and poor Aunt Chelsea was so upset! She thought I'd died! I rode in her car on the way home so that she wouldn't be scared and alone. I've never riden with her alone (I didn't even know she liked me that much) but I had a good time.

It turns out I was just fine. I still ran around like a crazy dog in the backyard when we got to Grandma and Grandpa's. Sure, I was scraped up, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. See the pictures aren't even that bad:

Let's just say mom and dad are investing heavily in Neosporin. It kinda tickles when mom puts it on but it's helping. Here's to hoping I can make it through this next week without any major injuries!

Ouch!

As I’ve probably said before I LOVE the dog park. It’s one of my favorite hangouts because I get to be off my leash and play with all kinds of new friends. Mom and dad took me there yesterday and I was having a great time! I even had other big dogs to play with. Usually I’m the biggest dog there so I end up picking on the little dogs. I really just want to play but I guess they can’t keep up and they get pretty annoyed by me. Yesterday I was the one that got picked on though. :(

A new dog came into the dog park and we were having a great time playing and wrestling because he was strong like me. I guess he was a little too strong though and I ended up hurt! I tried to squeal and run away back to mom and dad but he followed me and then I had to snap at him and growl to get him to back off. I didn’t want to get mean about it but he really left me no choice!

After that I didn’t feel much like playing anymore so I just hung around mom’s legs and she got the hint. We went home and she babied me all night. The damage isn’t too bad, it’s really just a few spots on my nose where he got some of my skin but it sure does hurt. Here’s a pic:

Mom put some of that cream stuff on it (knee-oh-spore-in?) and that makes it feel better. Luckily I already have a doctor’s appointment on Saturday for a checkup so we’re going to have them check this out then too. For now mom’s making me take it easy so at least I get more cuddle time out of it!

Here's what I really think of running...

Just about once a week my mom and Aunt Chelsea take me for a nice long run around Miramar Lake. It’s exactly five miles and I really enjoy it. It is a fun people-watching (and dog-watching) activity and it makes me nice and tired for the next day or two!

This past week (last Friday), my mom had a day off for Independence Day. YAY! I love when she gets more time off to spend with me. :) She and Aunt Chelsea decided to take me on my run that day, in the morning around 10am. Whew was it hot outside already! They brought me my own little water dish though so I was up for it. As is typical, I wore myself out by mile 2 but I hung in there, knowing I had little choice but to stick it out since it is shorter to just finish than to try and turn around.

Unfortunately Aunt Chelsea (the motivated one in this whole operation) had the *brilliant* idea to continue past that wonderful 5 mile marker and do an extra mile! WHAT?! Let’s just say I was having none of that and I made this very clear when I simply planted my feet, dug in hard and laid down, right in the middle of the walkway! Check me out:


All the people walking by laughed at me and thought I was pretty amusing but I was just tired and mortified at the thought that we might be going around again. Most people sympathized though and one man told me he felt the same way. I had some water and laid in the shade for a while and then I dragged the crazy humans back to the car before they got any more wacko ideas.

I sure taught them a few things!

It's July already?!

So much has been happening I can hardly keep track of it all! Luckily mom and Aunt Ashley have taken plenty of pictures so let's catch you up to date...

Last week I got to play with Maddie at the dog park and then we each enjoyed a nice bone back at my place. This is also the same day Maddie lost her first tooth...not by my doing of course!

On Sunday I also got to meet my Great-Uncle Richard for the first time. He was a lot of fun. He told mom to share her potatoes with me so he can't be all that bad!

This week, Monday, I had a buddy named Charlie over. Well, mom says that's probably not his name but that's what she and her friend Lisa called him. Charlie was a stray they found running around our condo complex. He was nice enough to put up with my bullying for a few hours until the nice animal control officers came to pick him up.

Now he's at the shelter, right where I started! I hope he finds his rightful owners or at least a nice set of new ones.

Today mom escaped the office a little early (with some help from dad) and I got to relax outside on the patio with them. There's nothing like a nice afternoon sitting on the table reading a good magazine to kick off the long holiday weekend.

I hear GGP Bob and GGM Norma are coming into town this weekend--I can't wait to see them! Plus Aunt Emmy and Uncle Matt will be back from summer school. We'll have lots of fun family time and I'll be sure to let you know all about it. Stay safe!

I love my blog!

Mom, let's post an update! Please????

My first Father's Day!

Mom left early this morning to hang out with her own dad and left me for playtime with Daddy for this thing they kept calling "Father's Day". I haven't quite figured out what that means but in my house it meant a lot of video games. Speaking of fathers, check out this cute picture of me and my dad from dog beach yesterday...

Once mom came back from her adventures with Grandpa Robert she brought along Aunt Chelsea for a walk. Yeah, well they didn't say how long this walk was going to be! I was so excited to get out of the house and explore a new place called Miramar Lake. The only bummer was that I used so much energy getting excited and smelling everything I could along the way that by the end of the second mile I was pooped. Mom didn't seem to get the message because we still walked for three more miles after that! I'm falling asleep now just remembering it!

It was so fun to go on a walk but no one told me it was a marathon. Next time I'll have to remember to get all the details before we leave the house. And gee mom, a water bowl would be nice. It was hard to drink out of your water bottle, it really was. *yawn* Guess that means it's time for bed. YAY!