Owls

As you all know, I am a very helpful puppy.  One of my jobs is to scare off the birds from the back porch so they don't do you-know-what all over the porch floor.  It's a very tough job.  In fact, my Dad decided I needed a little help.  So he went out and got a helper for me.  My very own owl. 

You see birds are supposed to be afraid of owls.  That's because they eat them.  I would be afraid of owls if they were going to eat me too.

In fact, I was a bit scared of this owl at first.  She's very big and not too friendly.  But I decided after awhile that she wasn't going to peck at me.  In fact, she's pretty quiet.  She usually does her job and I do mine.  Her name is Hedwig. 

  (Mom had to bribe me with a treat to sit this close to her.)

 

 

But yesterday something strange happened.  Mom and I were outside reading the newspaper.  The birds were everywhere.  There was a hummingbird flitting all around.  A bunch of wrens were chattering and screaming.  A Gila Woodpecker started pecking at the tree in the back.  The Gambol Quails were running back and forth along the back wall.  There were mourning doves were making nasty noises.  These birds weren't supposed to be in my back yard but they were being very scary.  Mom got up and made me go inside with her.  She was ascared!  I could tell.

 

Then she went out to scout around.  One of the wrens was getting very violent up by the roof of the porch.  And that's where she saw it.  Another owl.  

This one was a lot smaller than Hedwig. 

 

It looked like it was sleeping.  Then it woke up and gave Mom the EYE.  Not like the eye that I give Mom.  This was definitely an OWL EYE.

 



 
We went back inside.  I went on the internet and looked up the owl.  It looks like a Western Screech Owl.   They are related to the owl that Ron Weasley owned in Harry Potter.  Ron's owl was Pigwidgeon.  I know all this 'cuz I looked it up on this very educational website:  http://www.lauraerickson.com/page/owls-of-harry-potter/ .

Later on, when we went back out, everyone was gone - the Owl, and all the birds.  So what I don't get is this:  If Owls like Hedwig are supposed to scare away the birds, then why were there five times as many birds on the porch when Pigwidgeon was there then when he wasn't? 

Here's what I think.  I think someone hoodwinked Dad so he would buy Hedwig.  That's what I think.  I mean, I don't need help keeping the birds away.  I work hard at it!

See?  Do you see any birds in this picture?  I'm hard at work.

Please send your commendations of my work ethic to my Dad.  He thinks I shirk on the job.  (Just because I like to watch the birds instead of chase them.)

Anybody want to join the Audubon Society with me?

Love,  G

Happy National Love Your Pet Day!

Did  you even know that Saturday the 20th was National Love Your Pet Day?   My Dad told my mom, so she did something really nice for me.  We went to the Dog Park. 

There were lots of dogs at the Park celebrating this very special day.  Let me introduce you.  This giant's name is Honey.  Honey looked pretty formidable, but she was really gentle and sweet.  The fluffy one is Ginger.  She was just fun!  We ran and jumped and played for a long time.

 

  Ginger was especially good at

playing "Who is the Alpha Dog?"   We would keep trading places.  And Honey played right along with us.

 

E

There was another dog there that really liked Mom.  His name was Rocco.  So while the three of us were playing, Rocco kept giving Mom the "Eyes".  (I know all about the "Eyes".  I do it all the time when I think I can get away with stuff.   It didn't help Rocco any.  Mom's pretty immune to the "Eyes".  But she took Rocco's picture anyway.  That made Rocco happy.

 

All in all, it was a good way to celebrate Love Your Pet Day.  And even "Love Somebody Else's Pet Day".  Every Pet should be loved Every Day!  That's what I say. 

 

Did you do something special for a pet on Saturday?

 

Love, G

 

 

 

 

Well it coulda been a Javelina!

First, I have to tell you something really exciting.  Then I'll tell you about the Javelina. 

Here it goes.  Saturday, Mom and me (wait, Mom and I? Yes, I think so...) anyway, Mom and me went to a Nursing Home nearby.  We met the Evaluator there.  Remember?  The gal who is going to say whether I can be a therapy dog or not. 

It was a little strange.  We went in an elevator.  But it was a whole lot bigger than that little one in the St. Louis house that I won't go in.  (Did you know I have claws-tro-phobia.  That means I get scared in small spaces.  But wouldn't that be "fear of claws?"  I don't have a fear of my claws.  I don't get it.  Oops.  I'm doing that digressing thing again.  Where was I?)

Oh, right.  We went up in an elevator.  I didn't balk or anything.  I just did it.  When we got out, there were a lot of little rooms with people with white hair.  The Evaluator asked them if they wanted to see the Therapy Dog.  (That's me, the Therapy Dog.  I like how that sounds.)  Most of them said yes.  So I would go in and lick their hand and let them pet me.  It made them smile.  After a few minutes, Mom told me to sit and say thank you.  That's cuz she knows how cute I look when I sit.  So I did.  And THEY thanked ME!  Pretty cool, huh?

Mom said she wished she could take my picture, but it's frowned upon.  How can taking pictures be frowned upon?  I like her to take my picture.  But anyway, she didn't. 
  
One big man wanted me to give him a kiss.  So I reached up and licked his nose.  He laughed and seemed really happy.  That was fun. 

We finished after about a half hour.  And when Mom was leaving, the Evaluator said, "He passed with flying colors!"  That was me!  I passed with Flying Colors.  But I didn't see any colors flying.  In fact, I'm not sure I can see colors at all.  Maybe that's why I couldn't see the colors flying. 

So that's my exciting news. 

Then we came home and took  walk around the neighborhood.   I was looking for a doggie friend I could tell my news to.  Instead, we ran right into a Javelina.  At least I thought it was a Javelina.

 



I should have known something was odd when Mom didn't drag me the other direction like she usually does when a Javelina shows up. I carefully eased up to the guy so he would know I didn't mean him any harm.  He didn't move or say a thing.  That's when I got it.  This wasn't a real javelina.  This was a metal thing that was made to look like a Javelina. 

I just kept walking.  I can't believe I was so fooled.  Mom was laughing at me. Oh, well.  It was a good day anyway. 


Hope you had a successful day too.

Love, G

Why do I do these things?

I'm in deep do-do.  Again.  Only this time it was Dad's stuff.  And he gets really upset with me.  It was like this.

Mom and Dad have this shelf in the Big Room.  That's the room near the front door that didn't have any furniture in it for three years, 'cuz Mom didn't know what to do with it.  But it has a four foot wall along the hallway, and we put all our walking stuff in little baskets on the wall.  There is a basket full of hats and visors to keep the sun off of Mom and Dad.  Mom says I don't need a hat.  I don't have any skin that shows.  But I might like a hat, you know.  Maybe she'll let me try one on one day.

Another basket has all my toys, like my frizbee and my chuckit, and my balls, and a third has my leashes.  So when we go for a walk, we just grab stuff from the baskets, and when we get back we just put everything back.  It makes Mom happy.

But sometimes other things sit on the wall.  Like golf gloves.  And sunglass cases.  And one day last week, when Mom was in Connecticut with my Grandma, and Dad was at the golf course, I spied really cool golf gloves.  There were two of them and they were black and kinda heavy.  Not like the gloves I've eaten before.   And there they were.  Right at nose level.

What could I do?  The gloves were calling me.  So I grabbed one.



 

I took it to the back room and pretty soon, I'd swallowed half the glove.  What had I done?  I wasn't feeling very well by then and I heard Dad coming home in the garage.  I pretended nothing had happened and met him at the door.  We went out for a walk, but I got sick a couple of times.  That might have clued Dad in, 'cuz when we got back, he started checking around at my usual crime locations, and he found what was left of the glove.  I could tell he didn't know what it was, though, 'cuz he didn't yell at me.  Maybe I would get away with it this time.

Then Mom came home and Dad told her what happened.  She took one look at the remains and she knew right away.  "It's one of your favorite winter gloves," she told him. Uh,oh.  She doesn't usually tell on me.  Now I was in deep do-do.  Dad got very angry and wouldn't talk to me for awhile.  But then he and Mom went out to get something to eat. 

You'd think I would be good at that point and not get into any more trouble.  But noooo..., I just didn't learn.  There on that fun shelf was Dad's sunglasses case and it was open with his sunglasses in it.  I couldn't help myself.  I took them off the wall and into the back bedroom, where I proceeded to chomp on the case AND the glasses.  Till they got home.  And this is what they found. 

 I probably shouldn't have chewed on the left ear piece.






If I thought Dad was mad before!!??  He was on the couch and I tried to get up there with him to tell him I was sorry.  But he just got up and walked away.

 

Mom said she was going to handle it.  (Handle what?  What's she going to do?  Should I be scared?)  I guess I would have to wait. 

 

And soon I began to see some weird things.  I found a pencil that I had chewed up sitting on the fireplace hearth.  Real easy to get.  But when I tried to take it, I tasted that nasty Apple Sour stuff that she used to put on the pillows until I learned not to eat the pillows.  Then I saw a kleenex on Dad's bedside table and when I grabbed it, I had to spit it out, 'cuz it tasted like that apple sour stuff.  Someone even left a sock on the wall, but I didn't try to get that 'cuz I could smell that apple sour stuff from 10 feet away. 

 

She's mined my home.  Every where I go there's that Apple Sour stuff.  What will I do?  My life is over.  I'm sorry Dad.  I promise I will never eat something that belongs to you again.  Only just don't let Mom put Apple Sour stuff on everything!

 

I'm going to be three next April.  Do you think I'll be better when I turn three?

 

If things get really bad, can I come live with one of you?

 

G