Davy Crocket's Got Nuthin' on Me!

I looked up to see who was the greatest Hunter ever.  And it was Davy Crocket.  (I'm guessing Daniel Boone's relatives might object, but then, they don't read my blog.)  Anyway, I think I'm just as good as Davy Crocket.  He hunted bear.  Anyone can hunt bear.  Me - I hunt Javelinas.

Mom likes to say, "He's on the track of Heffalumps."  I didn't know what a Heffalump was, but Mom says it was a big, scary animal in Winnie the Pooh.  She said it was the "biggest threat the Hundred Acre Wood ever faced:  Humongous, horrendous horrifying, huggable, Heffalumps."  So, yeah, maybe that's what I am doing.  I'm tracking the Heffalumps of Mohawk Lane.

We walk through the neighborhood and I can smell where they've been.  You see, I've run into at least 10 of the beasts.  So I know what they smell like.  And I have the very best sense of smell.  In fact, I have the most excellent sense of smell of anyone in the whole world ever.  (There is some guy on TV who says things like that, so I can too.!)

Yesterday, I smelled the Heffalump.  And then we saw his footprints.  Mom took a picture so she could prove to Dad that I did really track down the Heffalump.  

See those hoof tracks?  That's the Heffalump (I mean Javelina.  Mom has me so confused.)

Sometimes, when we go out in the afternoon (that's when they roam around) I stop and stare because I think I can smell them near.  Mom gets nervous then, I can tell.  She doesn't really want to run into one of them again.  They're not supposed to be aggressive if you leave them an exit, but if they did come after us --- they have really, really, really long sharp teeth.  We saw them when Mom did the Arizona Wildlife Project for my kids in the elementary school.  Those were some awful front teeth!

But I'm pretty good at warning Mom when they're close by.  My excellent sense of smell helps in that.  Just the other day, we went to the mail box, and I said, Mom, you better look around the side of the boxes.  And sure enough.  There was my HeffalumpJavelina.  But he hid his head before Mom could snap his picture.

I'm good at finding all sorts of denizens of the desert.  (Do you like that word?  Denizen.  I saw it when I was looking for what this was:

 This little guy (well he  wasn't so little, he was as big as Mom's hand) crossed the walking path right in front of us.  I would have stepped on him, but Mom grabbed my collar and yanked me back.  We all watched as he made his way across the path and on to wherever he was going.  Mom and me (that's not right, is it?).  Mom and I looked him up and we found that he was a male Desert Tarantula and not to be worried about 'cuz he was pretty harmless.  He was apparently searching for a mate.  That's pretty much all the males do, and then they all die by October.  How sad is that?    

So there you have my latest hunting episodes.  I bet Davy Crocket would be jealous of all the animals I've tracked down in the desert.  But then, he probably doesn't really care since he's not around anymore.  

But that leaves me as the greatest hunter on Mohawk Lane.  

Mom says I should stop sending these blogs because no one is going to want to come visit us ever.  But I know my Uncle and my Cousin are coming this weekend, and I bet they would LIKE to see my animal friends.

Please don't let our Denizens keep you away.  I love visitors.  

Love, G

Mom Read a Book

Which really shouldn't surprise me (or you) since Mom reads lots of books.  But this one was significant, because she said the character in the book reminded her of me.  

Now, I gotta tell you.  I thought she was going to say it was because the character was so good looking.  Or maybe he was really smart.  Or perhaps he wanted to be President of the United States of America.

But no.  She said the character was a gal.  And this gal was Neuro-A-Typical.  I had to ask her what that meant, so we both looked it up in Google.  It basically means someone who is not normal.

So what is normal?  I asked Mom.  She laughed and said that was a really, really good question; because in today's world, normal got thrown out the window.  I said I didn't see anything being thrown out the window:  Sometimes Mom says things I just don't understand at all.  But she said, that was one of the things that made Ellie (the character in the book) seem like me.  She says I take things literally and sometimes don't know when she's talking in Figures of Speech. 

She said normal in the book meant someone who did not have Asperger's Syndrome.  Ellie did.  But Ellie dealt with the world by making a list of rules to live by.  And that's what Mom said also made her think of me; because she says I live by some of those same rules.

She said, Rule 1 was:  Being Polite is always a good idea.  Well we all know that I'm as polite as they come.  This is me politely asking Mom to take me out.  

And this is me politely letting other puppies have the water before I do:

Another Rule is: Not everyone who is nice to you is your friend.  Mom says Ellie struggled with this rule.  She trusted everyone especially when they were nice to her.  I guess I do that sometimes, too.

I tried to make friends with the owl who came by to sit up in the rafters. I figured the old owl who tries to scare the birds away was harmless, so this owl must be too.  Mom said I should be very careful because owls can be mean.  That's too bad, because I know owls are my Mom's favorite bird.  It must have been hard for her to tell me not to try and play with the owl.

Another way Ellie and I are alike, Mom said, is that sometimes Ellie just didn't feel like she fit in with the rest of the world.  Sometimes when we go to the dog park, I have a hard time playing with other dogs.  They sometimes just ignore me and play with their own friends.  

And sometimes I just don't fit in because I don't fit. (Tee hee!) 

And finally, Mom says Ellie had to learn a lot of things by just making mistakes.  I guess I resemble that a lot.  Remember this mistake?

I haven't had a golf ball for a snack in a very long time.  I guess I learned that lesson.

Mom says you might like "The Seven Rules of Elvira Carr" by Frances Maynard.  She says it was a poignant and hopeful story.  I like that word.  Maybe since I'm like Ellie Carr, I am poignant, too?

Or maybe not.

Love, G

Guinness for President

First, I have to apologize that we missed a blogpost.  Mom's been really busy lately and I was helping her.  But we're back now.  

I don't know if you have been watching the news.  Especially the political stuff. I think it's all just atrocious.  (Do you like that word?  I found it while I was reading the editorial page the other day.)  People are mean to each other.  They send Tweets and Twits and who knows what else calling names and saying things my Mom would never let me say.  

No one can get anything done when it's needed.  There are a bunch of poor people in Mexico who need our help, but we can't figure out how to help them.  I'd bet I could figure it out.  There were a bunch of poor little puppies in foster care with me and we all managed to find a good home.  

I know there are a lot of Democrats who are running for president who have lots of ideas.  But someone has to figure out how we can all play together in the sandbox without throwing sand.  That's the one I want for President.

So I thought about that for a long time.  I'm really good about getting puppies to play together.  There was that time we were in the Dog Park in Clayton.  I was all by myself in the Big Dog part.  Then another big dog came, but his owner took him to the Small Dog part.  I was disappointed.  So Mom went and asked if they wouldn't come over and join us.  They said their dog was not good with other dogs.  Mom said, "Let's just try it.  Guinness here is like the Geneva Convention.  He always manages to get dogs to play well together."

So they came over.  We got to know each other at first with Sparky's (that was his name) owners holding on to his leash.  I went very slowly.  I let him sniff me.  I sniffed in his ears.  (Lots of dogs like that.)  In about 1 minute, he and I were playing.  I took him to my swimming pool and showed him how to get in and we both were in the pool together.  

That wasn't hard.

I always play fair, too.  Sometimes when we play, I get on top and sometimes I let the other guy get on top.  That's only fair.

I never push my way in front of another dog.  I wait my turn.  There's always more water no matter who gets to drink first.

I check on my neighbors regularly.  I want to be sure that they are doing well.  Especially my older neighbors, 'cuz bad things could happen to them if I don't take care of them.

I play with all the dogs.  I don't care what color they are.  They are all pretty in their own ways.  (Maybe not as pretty as me, but then no puppy is a good looking as me.  It can't be helped.)

I share my toys with all my friends.  If we tear up my toy, I know where I can find a new one.  What good is having a toy if you can't get everyone to play with you.

I don't care if my friend has a disability.  My three legged friend has more gumption than most four or two legged animals!

I especially make sure I take care of my little friends.  I wouldn't want to see them crushed by one of us big dogs.  When they're with me, they know they're protected.

I always keep up on the latest news and happenings.  I read a lot, so I know what's going on.  That's the only way to understand what's going on; you have to get opinions from lots of people in the know.

I guess what I'm trying to tell you, is that it's time for me to throw my hat in the ring.  I'd make the best President of the United States of America, so please vote for me!

Love and togetherness!,  G

Illegal Activity

I told you last time that I would tell you about all my new friends.  But you have to promise not to tell anyone else. 

You see, when we go to play in the park, we are all illegal.  That's because we don't wear leashes attached to our owners when we play in the park.  We're not supposed to be in the park unless we're on a leash which is not more than 6 feet long and attached to our owner's hand.  I don't know about you, but it's awful hard to have a good time running when you have to drag your human behind you.  So our humans let us off leash and let us have fun.  

If a dog or a human we don't know comes by, we all sit by our humans and wait till they either go by us or join us.  I like when they join us.  Sometimes, I try to get out of Mom's control so I can go ask them to join us myself.  It only seems polite.  But Mom doesn't let me do that, so I don't.

Once a park officer came by on her golf cart.  She was patrolling the park areas making sure everything was OK.  She saw all of us without our leashes and guess what she did? 
Nope, she didn't arrest us all.  That's what you were thinking, wasn't it?  Nope, she pulled out lots and lots of treats and gave us all a big one.  I really like this park officer.  I hope she comes around again.

Anyway, I want you to meet my friends.  These are the Fabulous Five.  On the far left is Harley.   He's a tiny bundle of energy.  He didn't like me at first.  He said he didn't like big dogs.  But I showed him that big dogs can be fun to play with and so he decided he really did like big dogs.  Well maybe just big black dogs like him.  Cuz then he didn't like Shak at first either.  Shak is the big white dog.  So Harley decided that he just didn't like big white dogs.  Till he and Shak and I got together and then he decided he liked big black & white dogs.  I think Shak and I cured him of his fear of big dogs.

You already met little Remi, the one next to Harley.  She and Harley really started the group.  They toss and tumble around and around.  It's fun to watch them.  I wonder what they will do when Remi gets big like me.  Harley might get squished if they roll around like they do now.

At the very right is Tessa.  Tessa is a cute little French Bulldog.  And though she's small and has these short little legs, she can run really, really fast.  She likes to get in on the frisbee fun right along with the rest of us.

So that's four of them and I make the Fabulous Five.  And boy do we like to play.

This is Shak and me with my frisbee.  See the other frisbee near us?  That's Remi's.  His Mom bought that for him.  

But they all seem to like my ratty old one that has a hole in it.  Tess can even put her head in the hole while the rest of us grab ends and pull.  I don't care how many of my friends get on my frisbee.  I don't care if we tear it to smithereens.  I just like to have fun with my friends.

I sure hope they let us keep playing together.  I don't like to be illegal.  It makes me a little scared that one day I won't be able to play with my friends anymore.  And don't tell Mom about this.  She might not like that I told everybody that we were illegal.  

Hope you never have to be illegal to do something fun!

Love, G

My New Little Friend

I have a new friend.  I have a new friend.  Oh, joy, I have a new friend.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE new friends.  Did I tell you?  I have a new friend.

Her name is Remi.  And she is SOOOOO cute.  She looks like a tiny German Shepherd.  Which is what I am (well I'm not tiny, but I am a shepherd.  Only I'm black. Oh, right.  This is NOT about me.)  Where was I?  Oh, yes, Remi is just perfect. And she's really, really, smart.  Just like me.

See, here we are while I was teaching Remi about my Frisbee.  Isn't she adorable?  And look how she pays attention to everything I tell her.  She caught on so quick.  Pretty soon we were playing my favoritest game - Frisbee Tug a War!

I showed her how to take it in her teeth.  I told her to hold on really, really hard.  That's cuz I am really, really strong and I could pull it right out of her mouth.

Pretty soon we were all over the grass tugging on the frisbee.  She really got the hang of it.  In fact, she got so good, she took my Frisbee away from me!

I guess I must be a really, really good teacher!  

It was so much fun.  And stay tuned, 'cuz next time I get to tell you about all the other new friends that Remi introduced me to.  Life is good.

Hope you have lots of new friends, too.

Love, G

  

Last Day of School

The kids are going on summer vacation soon, so we had our last day with them.  I was especially anxious to see them.

I thought they'd never get here and I had presents to give them.  But they finally came and before I could give them MY presents, they all sat down and made me decorated bandanas!


Vance made me this one.  He really likes the Art stuff:

I like that he said I make him Happy.  Andrew did one to tell me he was happy, too.  But the H kinda ran.

Susan just loves the glitter glue.  Whenever she makes something we have to let it dry in the back of the car for hours before we can use it.  But that's OK, 'cuz it was pretty.

Even Ms. B, did one for me.  That made me feel really special.

 I thanked them all with kisses and hugs and gave each of them one of my picture books.  They seem to like that.  Finally, Mom and I went home and I got to try on all my new bandanas.  (Actually, there are only two bandanas.  They each decorated half of a square so I got four bandanas from two squares.  They're clever like that!  

I love my kids.

Hope you have some great bandanas to wear!

Love, G

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

Whoever said we live in a desert is nuts!  We have lots and lots of rain.  Only it's not just rain.  Last week I was minding my own business, dozing on the bed (as I am apt to do), when out of the blue, there was a humongous thunder clap.  (Why they call it a clap, I don't know.  Thunder doesn't sound like a clap, it sounds like someone is trying to kill me.)  

I hid:

Well what would you expect when the outside looked like we were going to capsize right in the house.

I ran to Mom and she tried to keep me calm.  But she was too busy taking pictures to worry much about me.  

(Actually, she made me hide under the blanket.  That was 'cuz she thought it looked good for the blog.  I went along with her, like I always do with her pictures.  But I found a spot away from the noise and the water while she was running around taking pictures.)

I stayed there till Dad came home from his golf game.  (Tee Hee, it wasn't much of a golf game!)

Hope you stay dry and safe!

Love, G