If it looks like a cow.....Is it a cow?

Christmas is over.  We had a good time.  My cousins from Maryland came to stay in Fountain Hills and came to visit me once while they were here.  Meagan was happy to see me and said, "Wow, my only first cousin!"  Poor thing.  I have 11 first cousins.  But then, again, I've only met Meagan and Kelly.  So if you've never met 9 of your 11 cousins, do you only really have 2 cousins?  If a tree falls in the woods...how does that go?

Anyway, Mom and me (oops, no, Me and Mom, no that's not right either, Mom and I) we went to the dog park down the street.  She says I need practice not pulling on my leash if I'm going to be a therapy dog.  So she parked in the lot and I got out and ran fast to the gate!  That was a mistake.  Apparently, what she meant was, I was to practice walking slowly and calmly to the gate where all the dogs were waiting.  Does she realize how hard that is?  My friends are waiting.  But she put me back in the car!  I was devastated.  Were we going back home?  Without going to play with my friends? 

She just waited by the door and then opened it again and said, let's try again.  Get out of the car and sit.  So I did.  Then she told me to heel.  And I did.  For three steps.  Then my friends were calling me and I rushed to the gate.  Ouch!  That hurt my neck.  And back I went in the car.  This is no fun.  We waited again, and again she let me out to sit.  Once more she told me to heel.  OK, I get it.  I calmly walked toward the gate with mom and she gave me a treat and let me in.  Why didn't she say that's what she wanted in the first place?  I would have done it.  (Or maybe not.)

I ran into the park and met all sorts of dog sizes.  But the funnest one looked just like the cows we see back in St. Louis.

I went up and asked him if he came from St. Louis, but he said something about being Danish.  We played some, and then I asked mom.  She said he was a Great Dane.  Is that some sort of royalty?  Anyway, we had fun together. 

I played with all the dogs, but there was one that kept bugging Mom, 'cuz she had treats in her pocket.  He was funny and wouldn't leave her alone.

So she kissed him on the nose and we went on home.  Mom doesn't like to give dogs treats at the dog park unless their owner says they can.  And she doesn't give me treats when she can't give other dogs treats.  I think that's fair.  I got a treat in the car.

It was another good day at the dog park.  And I met a Great Dane.  I hope I meet him again.

Hope your week after Christmas is fun and peaceful and full of friends. 

Love, G

All I want for Christmas

Mom bought me a new Frisbee the other day.  Just like the one Ozzie has.  It's orange and blue and flies like a bird.  And it's mostly chew-proof.  (Which Mom likes).  I love it, love it, love it!

 So today, we took my frisbee to the little park up the street.  There we met a new dog (well he's really an old dog), Max.  Max is 12 years old and blind and deaf. I tried to get him to play with me and my frisbee anyway.  It was too hard for him.  But Max's mom really wanted to play, so I let her throw me the frisbee and we played tug-o-war and lots of stuff. I think her name was Vera.  Vera just loved throwing me the frisbee (tho' she wasn't very good at it.)
 
I was a little worried that Max might be jealous, but he was rolling on the grass and my mom was rubbing his belly.  He looked pretty happy.
 
While we were playing, Vera told us her son wanted a puppy, just like me.  (Well she didn't say, "just like me", but I assume that's what she meant.)  But she said her son lived in a small apartment and it wouldn't be fair to a dog to have to live there.
 
I guess she doesn't know what it's like for dogs in the rescue kennels.  They live in tiny little cages and there's no one to love them like my Dad and Mom.  Sure the volunteers come and give them walks sometimes, but it's not the same as having your own family.  I don't think it's fair to leave those dogs in the kennels.  If her son wants a dog, he should get one.  His dog will love being in a small apartment a whole lot more than being in the kennel.  I know!
 
So I decided that that's what I want for Christmas--For all my doggie friends (and I guess Kitty friends, even though I don't have any kitty friends), to have a real home where they have someone to love them and play with them and take them for walks. That would make me very happy.
 
If you know someone who wants a dog, but thinks it wouldn't be fair to live in a small house or where they have to go to work during the day, tell them my friends don't mind.  They would like just to have a home and family and someone to play frisbee with them.  You can send them this blog and tell them Guinness says so!
 

 
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa and a Super Solstice ('cuz that's what today is!) and Happy Holidays to all.
 
Love, G
 

Guinness Goes Shopping

Fetching the paper in the morning is not my only job.  I try to be as helpful as I can around the house and outside of the house, too.  Especially this time of year, which as you know, is when Santa comes and gives presents to all us good puppies. 

So yesterday, when Mom said she needed to go shopping, I offered to go.  It was the least I could do.  Specially since she wanted to get a leash and treats for me.  So off we went to Pets Mart. 

Pets Mart is my favorite store.  (Sometimes we go to Home Depot, but there isn't much in there that interests me.)  Pets Mart has loads of fun things on the shelves and in cages and stuff.

  Like this one.  It had cats in it.  Well, until I got there.  Then the cats ran under the boxes and disappeared.  For some reason, cats don't like me.

 

We wandered down some aisles looking for a leash for me, but I got sidetracked.  There was an aisle full of wonderful Christmas toys.

 

                                        I asked Mom to stop but she wouldn't. 

But then she let me pick out some treats.  There were soooooo many, it was really hard to decide.

 

 

I finally found what I wanted, and we found a nice leash.  And I was ready to go.

 

 

And do you know why I like this store best of all stores?  'Cuz at the counter they always give me a treat.  Of course, that's my just due for helping Mom do all her shopping.  Don't you agree?

 

If you need help shopping for your pets, please call me.  I'm in the business!

 

 

Love, G.



You Never Know

I like to explore.  Just go places I've never been before and see what they have to offer.  Mom sometimes lets me do that.  We'll go for a walk and she'll let me pick the route.  What she says is, "Guinness, when you come to a fork in the path, just take it!"  So I do. 

The other day, we went up towards Market Street, where we go a lot.  But when we came to the fork in the road, she stopped and let me pick the way.  I went left ('cuz we usually go right), just to see what was there. 

Soon, we came to a neighborhood I had never seen before.  And it had one of those green spots where I can roll in the grass and scratch my back.  But before we got to the green spot something really fun happened.  A huge white dog came bounding from around the corner.  He didn't have a leash.  Mom said we should just stay still and she was sure his owner would appear soon.  So I stood where I was and the white dog came and said hello.  And just like Mom said, a few seconds later a guy came around the corner and called said, "Well there you are Nigel, hold on, my wife is coming right behind." 

But he didn't put Nigel on a leash, like I was.  And he and Mom talked awhile and when his wife came around the corner, he said, "Would it be OK for Nigel and Guinness to play in our green spot?"  I looked at Mom and I tried to tell her to say yes.  I would really like to play with Nigel in his green spot.  I stared really hard at her to make her understand that I really wanted to play with Nigel.  And it worked!  She said yes. 

So Nigel and I played.  

 He wasn't a lot of fun at first.  But then Mom pulled out my Frisbee.  I had to teach Nigel how to play with it, 'cuz he didn't know,

but soon he was doing tug-o-war with me just like Izzy!   We played for an hour! 

Nigel's Dad said that I was really good with Nigel.  He said that not many dogs could play with Nigel like I do.  He even told Mom that if she and Dad wanted to go away for a few days, that he would love to take care of me and I could stay with Nigel.  I think that would be really fun.  Some day I'm going to go to Nigel's house and stay.  Just wait.

See what fun things you can find when you just go with it? 

Try it for me!

Love, G.