Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah Happy Kwanzaa & Happy Everything

Just wanted to wish all my friends the BEST! 

My Aunt Joanie is worried that we might not have decorations for Christmas, but Mom told her YES WE DO!  We grow our own, don't you know?  So I posed for Mom in front of our Christmas plant.  

You almost can't see me, but I'm the rather large ornament hanging in the front with a big red bow on.  (Mom says I'm a real good sport about posing for her pictures.)

Anyway, we're gonna have a real nice Christmas.  It's gonna be 72 degrees and we're going for a walk and I get to open my Christmas Stocking.  Here's a picture of my Christmas Stocking hanging in front of the fireplace.  We have to have the fireplace on 'cuz  it gets all the way down to 45 degrees in the morning.  

Wanna guess what's in my stocking?  I'll have to let you know later.  I can't reach it.  There's a hearth shelf and too many pillows in the way for me to get to it.  You'll just have to wait till next time.  (Rats!)

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day and a really really really great 2018!

Love, G.

Back to School

I went back to work this week. 

 I have a different group of kids.  Instead of the cute little 3rd and 4th graders, I now have 7th and 8th graders.  They're a lot different.  

At first they didn't  even seem to want to be there with me.  One girl kept asking, "Why am I here?"  So Mom explained that they were there to meet ME! And to get to know me and to do fun things with me.  They just looked bored.

So we talked about body language and how dogs have to use body language, 'cuz we can't talk.  Mom showed them a video to explain how it worked.  Then we tried it on the kids.  She went up to Jared and asked him to do some body language to make her understand that he was feeling sad.  He did a good job.  He pretended crying and wiping his eyes.  He was SOOO good, I was feeling sad for him.  So I went over to him and put my head in his lap to make him feel better.  He started laughing and so did the rest of the class, so I guess I did a good job too!

Then we had a veterinarian talk to the class about being a veterinarian.  That's a doctor for us animals, in case you didn't know.  They call them vets for short 'cuz it's too hard to pronounce all those syllables.  I don't usually like vets, but this one was kinda nice.  

She works at an emergency place for animals and sees lots of badly hurt dogs and cats.  She showed the 7th and 8th graders pictures of the hurt animals.  Some of the pictures were pretty gross.  I had to shut my eyes. 

 But these kids really liked it.  I guess they like gross pictures.  Ick!

But they were happy and then I got to go home and get some rest.  I'll be back in two weeks to play Doggie Trivia with them.  I should be rested up by then.

See you soon.

Love, G.

What Thanksgiving Means to Me

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day.  Mom asked me to think about what I was thankful for and what does Thanksgiving mean to me.

So I thought.  And I thought.  (I figured I couldn't just say the obvious.  You know.  Thanksgiving is about Giving Thanks?  That would be too easy.)  So I came up with this:

I think that Thanksgiving is about sharing.  Like when the Pilgrims came to America and they had the first Thanksgiving Dinner where the Indians and the Pilgrims shared their food.  And when families get together and share lots of things.  They share the chores, like making food for Thanksgiving dinner and doing the dishes and stuff.  And they share the food.  And they share stories.

We pups do a lot of sharing too.  My friends like to share toys and water and food and treats.  (Well maybe we don't really like to share treats.  I don't really like to share MY treats.  But I let my friends have treats and I don't try to take their treats away.  That's sort of like sharing, isn't it?)

I really like to share my Frisbee with my friends.  I go to the dog park and I bring my Frisbee, just so everybody will play with me.  

 

When I bring my Frisbee to the park I'll offer it to anyone who wants to play.  Sometimes it takes awhile and I have to sit and wait until they understand that I want to share.

It usually doesn't take too long before someone comes to have a game of tug of war.

And we usually let anyone who wants to join in play along with us.

Sometimes, however, one of my friends just likes to play with my Frisbee alone.  And that's OK with me.  Like little Bandit.  He is really young and gets nervous with all the other pups.  So he likes to take my Frisbee and go hide with it behind a bush.  

And then there's Max.  Max is a show-off.  He jumps really high and grabs my Frisbee way up in the air.

All in all, my Frisbee is a really good sharing toy.  It brings all my friends together.  So I'm especially thankful this Thanksgiving for my Frisbee and for my friends who get to share it with me.

Hope you had a really nice Thanksgiving.  (By the way, I didn't eat any golf gloves this Thanksgiving!)

Love, G

Fun at Jan's House

So we all got back from California.  I thought that meant we would stay around for awhile.  But no....Mom and Dad took off again.  Without me!

But I got to go to Jan's house and stay.  And she had Chloe there.  You remember Chloe.  The little French/American Bull Dog?  I think she really likes me.  She came over and was whispering all sorts of sweet things to me.

She's real sweet.

Then I got up on the couch with Rudy who's 100% English Bull Dog.  Pretty neat, huh.  An English Bull Dog and a French One.  And I'm the American Mutt!

I was just getting up there to pose for a picture with Rudy and Tucker who I just met.  Jan said she wanted a picture to send to Mom.  So I got up there.

But that made Chloe jealous.  And as soon as I got off the couch, she hopped up next to Rudy to make me jealous. 

It didn't.  I like Rudy and I like Chloe.  I'm not the jealous type.  ('Cept when it comes to Mom and Dad - then I get jealous.  More about that in another blog)

Then I tried to teach Rudy and Tucker how to play keep-away. 

They were learning pretty good, but no one is as good at keep-away as me!  Poor Tucker got all tuckered out! 

(Get it?  Tucker got tuckered?  It's funny, isn't it?  Yes it is!)

Anyway.  I only stayed one night and then went home.  But it was fun at Jan's House.  

Hope you have fun nights with friends!

Love, G

More California

We're not really in California still, but I promised to tell you more about our trip.  So here goes:

One day we went to see my Aunt Joyce, Uncle Ron and Cousin Frosty in Los Angeles.  I'd never met any of these relatives before.  I'm not sure my cousin Frosty was real happy to see me.  He went and hid as soon as I got there.

And then when I tried to get him to come out, he ran and hid in the casita.  But that was kind of fun, 'cuz there were lots of drums and music stuff in there.  I went in and found him hiding between the drums.  

After awhile I managed to coax him out and things got better.  We took a long walk, had lunch by the beach and played by the pool.

You can see my cousin Frosty watching me fetch my Frisbee from the pool.  He was OK with my being there by then.  He even showed my how to work his Doggie Door.  
And I went through it!  But Mom didn't get THAT picture.

  

All in all, it was a fun day.  And when we went back to our place in Orange, Mom and Dad took me with them to dinner.  I really, really, really like going to dinner with Mom and Dad.  They asked the waiter to take a picture of all three of us, but I was more interested in the treat in Dad's hand then in posing for a picture.

It was a good ending to a good day.  We left for Scottsdale the next day.  We had a good California vacation.  

Let me know if you need any suggestions for vacationing in California.  I know lots of good places now.

Love, G.

Dangerous Waters in California!

So Mom and Dad and I went on a vacation.  I know, you think we're already on vacation all-l-l-l-l the time?  Well, actually we are.  So I guess we took a vacation from our vacation and went someplace new and I got to go!  It was soooooo great that I got to go too.  Sometimes they leave me with Mrs. Jan, but this time I got to go.  

We went to a place called Old Towne Orange in California.  We stayed in a little cottage that was made just for me?  

See, they even put up a cute little picket fence so I could go outside without a leash and no one could harm me.  (And I couldn't get out and get lost since I didn't know my way around yet.)

And I made myself right at home on the back porch.

It was really cool!  In more ways than one.  In fact it got down to 58 degrees in the mornings.  Not like in Scottsdale where it was still 88 degrees in the morning.  This was very pleasant.

I even had back yard friends to meet.  Just like in Clayton and in Arizona.  Only these were really big parrots!  They were awfully noisy.  There were hundreds of them.  I talked to one or two of them.  This is my friend, Peter.

Then we went exploring.  I really liked that Mom and Dad took me exploring with them.  We went to a place called Huntington Dog Beach.  I didn't know what a beach is.  But now I do.  A beach is a fun, fun place.  There is lots of sand and lots of dogs to play with.  

But a beach is different from a Dog Park, cuz it has weird water that attacks you.  You see, I went and did my favorite water thing, which is to sit in a few inches of water so I can watch the world go by and be really cool!

Suddenly.  A big thing of water came at me.  Like it had legs and was running right at me.  I had to hurry up and get outta there fast!

(No, that's not me doing what you think I might be doing!  That's me getting outta there fast!)

But pretty soon, I realized that the thing of water (Mom says its called a "Wave", wasn't going to hurt me, I ran and chased it and ran with the other dogs and just had a whole lot of wet fun.

It was great!  I have lots more to tell you about our trip.  But I gotta go and have my dinner now.  I hope you get to go to a Dog Beach like mine.  You'd really really really like it.

Love, G

My Critters are Back!

It's been a long time since we've seen my furry (and slimy) friends, that I really thought they had all flown the coop.  Skedaddled.  Vamoosed.  Gave us the slip.  (This is fun.  I could go on all day like this, but oops, I digressed again.)  Anyway, it looked like they were all gone.

Then last week, we were just walking down our neighborhood path, and we saw a little snake.  Not a rattlesnake, I don't think.  This was just your run of the mill desert snake.  (In Scottsdale, we have Desert Snakes, not Garden Snakes, like most people I know.)

And while we were watching the snake, someone pointed up ahead and there was my friend Coyote!  He was just trotting across our path like he'd never been gone.  I tried to go say hello, but Dad wouldn't let me.  So we just ambled on. 

And Boy! was I glad we did.  'Cuz guess who we ran into next?  Bob Katt!  He was sitting by the tennis court  waiting till the courts cleared.  He asked if I wanted to play, but I didn't have my tennis racquet.  I've heard that Bob Katt has a mean backhand.  (Or maybe that was the green squirrel on the television commercial.  I forget.)

Anyway, I told Bob I'd be back with my tennis racquet and we could play later sometime.  I told him it was really good to see him.  He said he had been hiding in the shadows while it was so hot.  That's why we hadn't seen much of him.

But it's getting cooler now.  So maybe my javelina buddies will be out soon.  I think they like the cooler weather too. 

I'm glad my friends are back.  Especially now that we're back in Scottsdale for good. (We sold our place in Missouri).  So now I'm a real Desert Rat.  No, not a rat.  I'm a Desert Dog.  That's what I am.  Kinda sounds like a baseball team.  Maybe I could start my own team.  Me and Bob Katt and Coyote and Snake and Javelina.  We could all be on one team and play -- what?  Tennis?  Maybe not.

Hope your friends are all around you.

Love, G

 

Kicked off the island again!

Dad went to play golf this morning.  I don't like when Dad leaves usually, but sometimes when he does, Mom and I get to do stuff.  So Mom took me to the Dog Park again.  I love, love, love, my Dog Park.

And there were a ton of dogs there.  Little ones.  Big Ones.  Pretty ones. 

There was one little pup who really liked me.  His name was Mason.  He was fun, but just a little overbearing.  If you know what I mean.

But it wasn't so much that Mason wouldn't leave me alone.  Do you see the big black head in the picture?  That's Grim.  Grim didn't like that Mason liked me better than him.  He got very, very jealous.  He came over and Butt-checked me!  Shoved his big rear right into my hindquarters.  That didn't deter Mason, however.  He just kept on.  But I didn't like it much.  And then....Grim came at me growling.  So I jumped away and tried real hard to get rid of Mason, but it wasn't happenin'.

Mom decided then that we should maybe go get breakfast.  (I was happy to see that Grim's mom decided to take him out too.  'Cuz I don't think I should be punished just because Mason likes me best!)  So we all left.  And nobody got mad or anything.

Then, as a treat, Mom took us to "The Place" for breakfast.  I like The Place.  Gloria, my special waitress comes and gives me water in my own bowl.  She talks to me and we're real good friends now.  

I sit very quietly near the table and I don't wander around like I used to when I was just a little tyke and didn't now any better.

MMM, those eggs smell really good from here, Mom.  Think you could drop a piece or two?

Yeah, nothin' like a spot right under the table to enjoy Mom's breakfast with her!

Hope you don't get voted off the Island and if you do, that you have a great place for breakfast instead!

Love, G

Ooops!

Two of my followers informed me that they haven't been getting my blogs.  And I've been blogging all along.  So I had Mom check and sure enough, she had deactivated all the addresses so she could make some changes, and then she forgot to reactivate them.  So now they're all reactivated, and you should be getting your blogs again.

If you want to go see the ones you missed, just click on this "Guinness's Blog" , and it will take you to my Blog Spot where you can see all of my blogs.  Don't worry, we don't let any advertisers on my blog spot, so it's OK to go to.

If it doesn't work to get you to my blog spot, just send me an email (you can just reply to this email even tho' it says you can't) and I'll send you the ones you missed.

Sorry about that!  But I'm a little worried.  Only two people noticed my blogs were missing.  Aren't the rest of you reading my blogs?

I'll be resuming my regular blogs again with all your addresses activated on Sunday!  See you then.

Love G

Back to the Old Dog Park!

Mom took me back to our Scottsdale dog park.  They did a lot of work on it over the summer.  It's lots nicer.  Plenty of green grass.  And I especially liked the new guys I met this time.

This is Champ and Charlie.  Charlie is a girl.  She's something between a Pit Bull and a Beagle.  So she's really cute, and she has a ton of spunk.  She likes to play with the "Boys".  That's Champ and me. 

Champ is fun.  We had a good time with Charlie.  We kinda ganged up on her, 'cuz she liked to play tough.  

But it was all in fun.  I was really interested in why Charlie is the way she is.  So when we all stopped fooling around for awhile, we talked.

Charlie told us that she had been a stray puppy for a long, long time.  She had to fend for herself.  Find food and water.  Find a place to sleep.  It was rough.  Then one day, a human tried to capture her.  He tempted her with food.  Really good food!  But she wasn't having anything to do with it.  See, she was afraid.  She didn't know what would happen to her.  But one day, when she wasn't paying a lot of attention, she got tricked and the next thing she knew, she was in a truck and whisked away.

It turned out OK, though.  'Cuz she got lots of food and water and lots of pets and cuddles, till she decided maybe this wasn't so bad.  And then the man who was at the park picked her out of all the other puppies and took her home.  She really likes him and thinks life is pretty good now.

I guess I had it pretty lucky.  I went from my doggie mom to a foster home before I even knew I was lost.  And from there I went to Mom and Dad and life has always been good and easy for me.  I never had to find food or water.  (Although, sometimes someone forgets to fill my water bowl, but all I have to do is sit next to it and stare at Mom or Dad!  Then it gets filled.)

We all three played hard that day.  I finally found a cool mud spot and sat down.  But I'm glad to be back to my Scottsdale dog park with fun new friends.

Hope you're having an easy and fun life.  

Love, G

On the Road Again

'Member a couple of weeks ago, I asked if we might be moving again?  Little did I know how right I was!  But it wasn't the usual packing by any means.  One day my favorite couch was gone.  Two days later, MY BED was gone!  I had to sleep all night with Mom and Dad.  THEN, Mom and Dad's bed was gone.

Where were we going to sleep now?  There isn't anything left except these boxes and the carpet.  

Well, I should have known, but Mom had it all planned out.  We went to a hotel.  In the city where I live!  Who woulda thought to go to a hotel where you live?  I always go to hotels in  Amarillo and places like that far far away from where I live.  So this was exciting.  We stayed at the Clayton Plaza and I got to open the magic door by glaring at it.  It was sooooo  cool.

Then we took off before the sun came up.  And I was back in my little cubical in the back seat of the new car.  I had to check out every angle.

(Mostly, I like looking where we've been.)

Then when I was done with that, Dad needed help with directions.  So I whispered good directions so Mom didn't know I was helping.

 Course, sometimes, I just had to get right in their faces so they would not make mistakes.

Finally, I was pretty sure they were on the right track.  (After all, its' 44 to 40 and then south to Home.  How hard can it be?)  So I took a break.

Guess we're in for a new kind of adventure in Arizona.  When we go back to visit St. Louis now, we can stay in fun hotels and stuff.  That'll be neat.  But till then, I'm just along for the ride.

Have some good adventures this week.

Love, G