The Perfect Host

I like to think that I'm the perfect host. If it's a hot day, I share my pool. If it's a cold day, I share my blanket. Mostly, though, I like to share meals with my guests. Mom and Dad say that's not the way it's supposed to work, but I am, afterall, the one whose opinion counts!

Last night our friends, Bob and Debra Johnson, came over for dinner. It was a lovely meal, with barbecued salmon, a green bean and corn salad, a vegetable casserole and a lovely dessert with pound cake and raspberries. It went perfectly with my dog food appetizer. A small helping of raspberry sherbet cleansed my pallet, and then my breath was fresh enough to kiss everybody.

Best of all, the cats got locked in the bedroom while we had guests. Mom doesn't want anyone to know that the cats jump (ie: sleep) on our dining room table, so we hide them when people are over for dinner. It seems a bit dishonest to me, but as long as the cats are miserable - I'm happy!

Gotta go. Have a ruff day!

Buddy

Good Lookin Dog

I have to say - I am one good looking dog. People stop my Dad all the time to tell him that. Even when Dad is spitting mad because I'm not minding him, people still say "Yeah, but he sure is good looking."

What I don't understand is what makes a dog good looking. Is it my beautiful chocolate brown color? My chiseled nose? Perhaps the way the hair on my rump goes in circles. Maybe it's the fact that I have wavy hair and gold eyes.

Or could it be my special way of turning a phrase? The girls seem to love that. Whenever I bark at them, they melt. (Mom says that's what they're really doing when they try to bite me!) My humility no doubt helps, too.

Whatever it is, I'm happy to be handsome!

Gotta go. Have a ruff day!

Buddy

Cats are Disgusting

I told everyone the other day about how the cats can't swim in my pool because they have germs. Well, here's the proof. Buzz has been hacking and coughing for the past 3 weeks, so Mom took him to the vet. She and Dad were afraid that their best pet (moi!) would get sick too.

The vet gave Buzz a shot of antibirotics (I think it keeps cats from rotting), and gave him a bunch of pills to take, too. Now, Mom and Dad are pretty good about putting pills into these really snazzy tasting pill-pockets. I just gobble them down!! But Buzz wouldn't eat them. The dumb cat doesn't even know a good thing when he has it. So Mom had to jam the pills down Buzz's throat, making them both miserable.

Then, the worst part was that Buzz was so sleepy from the medicine and from being sick, that he got to use my BABY BED!!!! I don't fit in it anymore, but it was still MINE! He's now been sleeping in it 27 or 28 hours every day. What a drama queen. You'd think he was an invalid or something. At least he's stopped hacking on everyone, though.

But...... you guessed it....... now Scrub is starting to cough. Great. One more spoiled cat to put up with.

Better go! Have a ruff day!

Buddy

My Own Swimming Pool

It's been crazy hot in Bellingham lately. Not that I'm complaining, but this coat of mine isn't removable. (Note to self: get shaved next summer.) Anyway, Mom went out and bought a swimming pool for me.

It's great fun! I jump in, splash around, drink some of the water and then chase around the yard like a bat outta hell for a few minutes. Then I jump back in. See how that works?

Nobody else can get into my pool unless I say so. My cousin, Sam, can get in because I really like him. The pool is strictly off limits to the cats, though. They're vicious creatures. And they're full of germs. I don't want germs in my pool.

Every night, Mom fills the watering can up with water from my pool - about 10 times! That's how much water it takes to water our dahlias. What's that? Oh yeah. Mom wants to point out that I dug up most of the dahlia tubers, but the ones that survived are still in shock and need lots of water. When she gets done watering the dahlias, she pours out all of the dirty water from my pool and fills it with fresh water.

I'm the luckiest dog in the world!!

Gotta go! Have a ruff day!

Buddy

Puppy Jail

Mom says my pestosterone level was supposed to go down after I got fixed. She doesn't think it worked. In the past couple of weeks I've chewed up some shoes. She got to get brand new ones, though, so you'd think she'd be happy about it!

I dug one TINY hole under the fence so the cats could get in and out without having to climb over the fence. I was trying to do them a favor. But NO, I got in trouble. Darn cats.

And Dad's car needed that remodeling. It looked too perfect. Now, with the hand brake chewed up, and the gear shift having some nice bite marks, it looks better than ever. I admit that I chewed the insulation off some wires under the dashboard, but I didn't touch the wires themselves. I'm too smart for that!!

So this is what's led to my latest predicament. I'm now a dog behind bars. Someone help me!!!

I better go before the warden gets back. Have a ruff day!

Love,

Buddy (#00316)

My 1st Cache

Have any of you ever heard of geocaching? It's this great sport where you use a paw-held GPS, and go hunting for caches. Caches are like treasure chests.

When Mom and Dad were in Maupin, Aunt Debbie came down to see me. She and I went geocaching, and we let Mom come, too. Since it was my first time caching, Aunt Debbie thought it would be appropriate to find "The Pointer's Cache". I don't know why she liked that name, though. The only pointing that gets done around me is when I do something wrong - like when Mom asks who chewed up her good shoes, and Dad says "He did it!" and points at me!

Anyway, we went way, way, way (uber far) down this gravel road. I thought we were going to bust a tire. Finally, we got out of the car and started walking on a trail. Then all of a sudden, Mom and Aunt Debbie got really excited and said we were close. Sure enough, we found this big metal box that had all kinds of good stuff in it. We signed our names on a paper that was in the box, and then Mom and Aunt Debbie stole something out of it! I guess it was OK, though, because they put something else in to replace what they took. They said those are the rules. (I don't know if I believe them, though. It seemed kind of sneaky to me!)

I can't wait to go geocaching again. I want to find a dog treat cache. Mom says that when I meet Aunt Barb and Aunt Cindy, we'll be able to go. She says that Aunt Barb is the geocache queen!!!

Gotta go! Have a ruff day!

Love,
Buddy

Maggie & Me

There's a famous dog named Marley, but I think Maggie should be just as famous. She's a lab / greyhound mix. She came camping with us this weekend. Her mom was there with Nikki, who is my parents' niece. I guess that makes Nikki my people cousin.

Anyway, Maggie and I played the whole time. We were really well-behaved, too. We didn't run in other people's campsites because there was so much to do in our own campsite. Everybody gave us treats. They threw a ball for us. Best of all, there were MILLIONS of sticks for us to chew on!

One thing I noticed is that Maggie smiles and talks a lot. She's so funny that everybody likes her. Sometimes I had a hard time talking because Maggie was ALWAYS talking! You can see what I mean from the pictures.

I hope that I get to see Maggie again. She's one of my favorites!