AAAARRGGHHH!

Mom and I spent a real lot of time working up a Laugh Workshop for my 7th and 8th graders.  She pulled up some funny jokes to start with.  (She was hoping they would have some of their own to share.)  Then we had some funny dog videos (I don't know about you, but I think us canines are pretty darn good at comedy!).  After that we were going to do pretend laughing exercises, and I was supposed to judge each of them on how happy they made me feel.

So here's how it went.  First Mom told the joke about the elephant and the red nail polish.  Oh, you don't know that one?  It goes like this:

Q:  Why did the elephant paint her toenails red?

A:  Because she could hide in a strawberry patch and no one would find her.

Is that silly?  But did you ever see an elephant in a strawberry patch?  See, it works!

Hee, hee, hee.  Kids didn't think it was all that funny either.  They smiled at some jokes, but when Mom asked if they had any to share, not a one raised their hand.

So on we went to the funny videos.  There was even one of a dog peeing while he was walking around on only his front legs and his back paws were waving in the air.  I was laughing so hard!  But only one or two of the kids even broke a smile.  It was as if they decided they weren't going to laugh no matter what.

So you can imagine how they did with the laughing exercises.  They didn't want to do it at all.  I went over to the Louis who looked the most depressed and put my head in his lap.  "Won't you please help Mom out on this, "  I asked him.  He just petted my head.

So then we just played "Pet the Dog", which I liked very much.  But I know Mom was a little disappointed. 

She needed some cheering up.  So she and I met her assistant and her assistant's dog, Gabe at a cute restaurant in the middle of a residential area of Phoenix.  All of a sudden, among all the houses, was a grove of trees surrounded by restaurants and cafes.  We all got to sit in the middle of the grove and I watched all the other puppies around.  Mom and her friend had coffee and a muffin (and mom snuck me a couple of pieces, too.)

We all felt better after that.  Mom and her friend worked up the next lesson plan.  Don't know if that one will work either, but she keeps trying and I keep trying to help!

But I was tired by the time we got back in the car.  After all, we had to get up before the sun so I could have breakfast and my morning constitution before we left for school.  So I curled up on the floor in the back seat ...

... all the way home!

Hope you can laugh a lot!

Love, G

My 2018 Resolutions

Did you keep all of your resolutions last year?  Or maybe some of them?  I'm afraid to go back and look at mine in case I didn't do too good.  But I'm going to give it a go again for 2018.  At least I can TRY to be a better puppy.

Here's what I promise to do for the next year:

1.  I promise to always share my Frisbee, especially with puppies who are shy.  'Cuz I know what it's like to be shy and afraid sometimes.

2.  I will try to be strong.  Sometimes when I go to the Dog Park, I'm ascared and the other dogs know it and they try to bully me.  But if I'm strong then they play with me and I don't feel ascared anymore.

3. I promise to teach the puppies I play with how to play my games so we can all have fun together.

4.  I will take risks, 'cuz I sometimes don't do things I want to do because I'm afraid.  (Like when Mom leaves the door just a little bit open for me so I can come in from the outside.  I sit outside forever because I'm afraid I'll get squished in the door.) 

5.  And mostly I promise to always have fun and run in the sun (I like being a poet)!

Hope you made some good New Year's Resolutions and that you stick to them this year!

Love, G