Molly & Me

I've never told you about my friend, Molly, have I?  She's lots older than me.  I think she's eight now.  She has white on her chin like me, but I'm not old; I'm just prematurely grey.  She's black, black, black like me, except she doesn't have my unique Sargent stripes or my distinctive white Harry Potter lightning bolt on my chest.

Molly is a funny girl.  Sometimes she likes me a lot.  When that happens we play on the grass and chase each other and have a lot of fun.  I do have to be careful because she has a weak back and I don't want to hurt her.  So I don't jump on her back like I do with other big dogs.

Sometimes Molly just ignores me.  Maybe she's playing hard to get.  I don't know, but I just go with the flow.  When she likes to be with me, she pees on every spot I peed on.  So I've started doing it back.  But then she pees on my pee.  It's a never ending pee party.

When she's not peeing on my pee spots, she likes to pretend she's in charge.  So we have a contest to see who gets to go first.  Like last week, I had a bit of a hard time catching up to her:

But I walked really fast and soon, I was the one ahead.

She kept trying to pull ahead, but I made sure I was always first.

I'm not going to let a girl beat me out.  Not me!  But otherwise, I try to be nice to Molly because I think deep down she likes me, too.

Hope you have some nice old friends and that you are nice to them, too.

Love, G

P.S.  Mom says to tell you all to read "Where the Crawfish Sing" by Delia Owens.  She said it was a really good book!   G

New Year's Resolutions

So this year I really AM going to go back and look at my last year's resolutions so I can see if I did pretty good.

Here's what I promised to do:

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.

I did that!  In fact I did it so well that Mom had to buy me two new frizbees.  The old one got torn to pieces; the next one was thrown in a tree and never came down (don't worry it wasn't Mom who threw it), and the newest one isn't doing too well either after these two clowns had fun with it!

But I think I get an A+ on sharing my frizbee this year!

My second resolution was:

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.

I've been to two new dog parks this year, and my hackles don't go up nearly as often as they used to.  I think even big dogs respect me now.  

So I'm going to give me an A+ on this one too.

And my third resolution

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

Heck, I even taught my friends to dance.  I'm getting an A+ on that one too.

And resolution #4.  (I'm on a roll here!)

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.) 

I don't worry  about getting stuck in the door anymore.  I just push my way in.  (But maybe I have to take off a few points, 'cuz Dad says I need to learn to shut the door behind me.)  I'll give me an A for that one.

And the last one was easy:

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

I always have fun in the sun!  Especially when the sun is on the beach!

I get A++++ for #5!

Hope you did as good on your New Year's Resolutions

Love, G

P.S.  Mom says I might be just a little bit too lenient on myself.  But I don't care.  I think I did really good this year.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

And a stocking was hung by the Chimney with care,

 'cuz good ol'  St. Nick had already been there!

Mom took down the stocking & gave it to me;

Is this a trick?  I'm sure it COULD be!

But low and behold, there was stuff that I like

Things good to eat, not some silly old bike.

And this colorful round thing, I think its a ball

Yes, Mom is throwing it straight down the hall.

But what is it made of, I must find out fast

I really don't think this ball's going to last.

Oh, well, at least I enjoyed all the treats;

And this morning mom baked some really good eats.

At least that's what she said she was doing, you see,

She called it a Dutch Baby, but how could that be?

I've met lots of babies and if this one is Dutch,

I can't say that I like them that much!

So hope you all had a wonderful day;

Merry Christmas to all; I'm hitting the hay!

Love G

School Project

Yesterday I went to school to see my kids.  I get so excited that I start singing and whining a couple of miles before we get there.  Mom laughs at me but I can't help it.  I'm just so excited to see them.

Mom had a special project for the kids.  See, last time we got together they all played Doggie Breed Bingo.  They thought it was a lot of fun.  Mom thought it worked great 'cuz the older kids helped the younger kids find the breeds on their cards and nobody cheated.  I didn't like it so much 'cuz they didn't pay as much attention to me as usual.  I liked it better when they all sat on the floor around me and talked while they petted me.  But Mom says, it's not ALL about me.  I thought it was.

Anyway, Mom told the kids that one of the chips had gone missing so if anyone had a Malinois on their card, they would never be able to fill that spot.  So she emailed the company that made the game over in London, and they sent her a new Malinois chip.  I think it might have helped that she told them that she used the game for kids and sent a picture of me.  I'm sure it was my picture that did it!  

When she told this to the kids, they wanted to send a thank you note to the people at the company.  So she brought lots of stuff to make Christmas/Thank You cards.  And they loved that too!  Vance (Mr. Australia I call him, 'cuz he can talk like someone from Australia if he wants to, and he does it a lot!), said, Oh, boy, ART stuff.  I love Art."  I saw Mom look relieved at that.

So they went to work, and I ran back and forth under the table to get pets while they worked.  Four of them did their own cards and three of them worked together on one.  Here is what they came up with:

This is Susan's card.  She is just 5, so she can't write much.  But she had a lot of fun with the Glitter Glue!  In fact, it took four hours before the glue dried!

Vance did this one:

He was pretty clever.  He put scotch tape on the paper where he was going to write in case he didn't like what her wrote and had to change it.  And he did change it.  The first time it said "Thank you."  But why would he change it to Victor?  I don't know.

Eli, Oliver and Andrew made a big card together.  They talked to each other and agreed who was going to put what things where.  Mom said that was a really good sign that things were working.  Here is the front and middle of their card.

Lanny must want to be an artist.  He's the oldest and I really like him.  He drew me!

He doesn't spell so good, but that doesn't bother me.

Mom is going to send the cards to London today.  I can't wait to see what they say.

Hope you get fun Christmas cards and Thank You notes this year!

Love, G

What I'm Thankful For

I had a nice Thanksgiving.  Did you?  This week all my furry (and some not so furry) friends came around.  Some we haven't seen in a long time.

First we saw a javelina right outside Mr. & Mrs. Gerry & Grants front yard.  (They're the ones who bought treats just for me.  Not the ones who bake treats just for me.  That's Mr. & Mrs. Shannon and Joe.)  Gerry & Grant live next to my favorite green spot where I play with Boss and Roxie.  I know - it's hard to keep all my friends straight!

Anyway, here's the javelina staring right into Mom's camera.

I circled the javelina so you tell which is the javelina and which is the cactus.  I think it's skin is a lot like a cactus so you might get confused.

Then Mom and Dad went to play golf and they came back and told me about the coyote they saw on the golf course.  First he picked up Dad's ball and spit it out 'cuz he thought it was food but it didn't taste good.  Then he tried to capture a bird that was eating grass seed but the birds all flew away.  He must have been really hungry.  Then he planted himself right in front of a sand trap on the green and watched the golf balls sail over his head.  When Mom and Dad and the people they were playing with came up to the green to putt, Coyote got up and stole a pink ball and went into the desert.  That must have been fun to watch.

That same evening, after Mom and Dad got back I saw something move outside.  Sometimes Mom leaves the shades open just a little in the living room and I can see stuff that goes on outside.  I didn't know what this was, but I gave a big bark to let them know there was something out there.  Mom laughed and said, Guinness, don't worry we have it all under control."  But I didn't think she did, so I went up to Dad and whined to him so he said we could go take a look.  Well as soon as he opened the door, there was Bob Katt, waiting for me on our front walk.  I tried to go out to say hello, but Dad told me No! so I didn't.  But I know Bob Katt saw me and it made me feel good to see him again after a long time.

Then...Mom and Dad went to play golf the next day, which was Thanksgiving.  They told me that on the 17th fairway, there was a whole family of javelinas wandering off the fairway into the desert.  And at the end, there were two of them who must have decided that they were being left out and went hustling right across the grass to get with their family.  They were probably in for the holidays and were afraid they would get lost.  Mom said it was really funny to see those big old bodies hoofing it over the fairway.

So I've been sitting at home watching to see if any of my other friends come around.  

This morning two big owls swooped by us.  I guess everybody is here for Thanksgiving.  And that's what I'm thankful for this year!

Hope you have a lot of friends visit you over the holidays!

Love, G

Super Dog Reigns!

In case you might have missed it, it was Halloween last Wednesday.  And what a day I had!  First of all, it was also the day I started back at the Elementary School.  And that was fun.

See, this time instead of all 7th & 8th graders, I had 7 kids:  1 from each grade starting with kindergarten up to 6th grade.  The one kindergarten student was a tiny little girl.  But she wasn't afraid of me.  She watched the other kids, and came right up and petted me under the chin and on the chest.  Just like the video we all watched said they should.  "Chin or Chest - That's the Best" is what the little dog in the video told them.  Well, he wasn't a real dog talking.  He was a cartoon with a New Zealand accent.  But he was pretty smart.

The 6th grader was a nice looking young man.  And boy did he like to talk.  But he was polite about it.  And he liked me 'cuz Mom told them that I had been in a Foster Home.  I guess four of these kids were in Foster Homes now.  Brent, the 6th Grader, was in one.  He asked Mom, "Do dogs really have foster homes, too?  Were you a foster parent?"  Mom told him that she was a Forever Parent (for which I am very glad!)

I dressed up for the kids since it was Halloween.  This is me being Super Dog!  Kinda cool, huh?  

But I thought those kids would never come.  I just stared and stared at the door till they finally came.  Then they were all over me.  Mom and Ms Dugan (the Social Worker) had to stop them so they would do it the right way.  You know, ask Mom if it's OK to pet me first.  Or as my little New Zealand cartoon friend says, "Check it's Sweet - Before you Meet!  He knows his stuff.

After school we went home and I had to take a nap because Mom and Dad were taking me out to dinner.  But first, Mom said we needed to go see Gerry and Grant down the street.  They really like me and a couple of weeks ago, they went out and bought a whole bag of treats, just for me when I come by and see them.  Isn't that the bees knees!  They are so swell.  So Mom put on my Superman Cape and we went down to their house.  They were outside waiting for Trick or Treaters and they were so happy to see me!  Gerry kept asking Mom if she could give me another treat until I had at least five treats, and then Mom said that was enough.  It's NEVER enough when treats are involved.  But I said hello to both of them and to their neighbor who was sitting outside with them.

Then Mom and Dad and me (is that supposed to be "I"?) anyway, we all went out to dinner on the Pinnacle Peak Patio.  We met Mom and Dad's friends who always make me my very own Dog Treats and they brought me some to dinner.  It was lots of fun.  I really like those friends!  I hope I get to go to dinner with them again.

All in all, it was a wonderful Halloween Day and Night.  I even saw some scary little witches when we were walking after dinner.  But I wasn't scared, 'cuz I knew they were the kids down the street who just dressed up as witches.  Just like I dressed up like Superman.  

I hope you had a great Halloween like I did!

Love, G

Catching Up

I have stories to share from last month, (remember Mom couldn't get the Blog to work so we had to stop for awhile).  I've been storing up stories  (that's good, huh?  Storing Stories.  What would they call that?  It's not alliteration which I know is a bunch of S sounds, but if you use a verb and a noun that are the same word at the same time.  That's pretty clever; that's what I call it).  Anyway, here's  a story from when Mom and Dad were in Europe.

I stayed with Jan (of course, who else would I stay with!).  And I met lots and lots of friends.  There was Big Kona.  He kinda looks like me, don't you think?  He's very polite, just like me.  He let me play with toys and he never tried to take them away.  

Then there was Daisy.  I really liked playing with Daisy.  And sometimes she would get on the couch, and I would get on the couch with her.  She let me be her special friend.  I liked that.

And sometimes when we would play hard, we would go on the couch and just veg.  "Cuz we were DONE! DONE! DONE!

Then there was Rudy.  Rudy thought he could stare me down.  But nobody stares Guinness down.  ('cept maybe Mom.)  But no dog can stare me down.  I'm too good at it.  

But then, I've had lots of practice staring at Mom when I want her to do something.

So I had lots of fun at Jan's even though I missed Mom and Dad.  

But let me tell you one more story before I go.  It's about more dog friends.  This just happened yesterday.  We were walking and we saw two of my friends playing in a park.  All by themselves!  It was Winston and Ollie.  They're brothers.   Mom said, "This can't be right.  These guys shouldn't be out here with no one around."  So she checked their collars and there was a phone number and an address.  No one answered the phone.  (They were probably out looking for Winston and Ollie.)

Luckily, Mom had her raincoat on and the raincoat had these two long ties on each side of it.  So she tied up Ollie to one side and Winston to the other.  Then I led the way and we took my friends back home.  It was pretty funny.  Their Mom was just getting into the car to go look for us so she was really happy we had brought them home.  It was a nice end of our day!

Hope you have lots of friends to stare at and sit with and make sure they get home OK.

Love, G