THE RETURN OF THE PUPPY!

M.O.M. has been away for the last week so I am now I am back to my old tricks of picking on CAT again. She went far away to visit her brothers and their wives as she had not seen them in quite awhile. But I sure missed her being here with me during the days. I missed her throwing my ball for me, taking me for walks, and taking naps with me!

But my sweet friend Glennie came by everyday and took me for a walk. I even got to go with her on the group walks/hikes in the forest. So I still had lot's of fun even though M.O.M. wasn't here with me. And of course at night I snuggled as close to M.O.D. as I could. He kept telling me that M.O.M. would be coming home soon but it sure seemed like she was gone forever.

When she finally drove into our driveway I couldn't wait till M.O.D. let me run out to greet her. Oh, it felt so good to hear her voice and feel her hugs again. She did tell me that she would be here with us again for a long time. Yahoo!!

So life is back to normal again today so I can quietly enjoy my many chew toys and take my naps peacefully in my little doggie bed again. M.O.M. and I are staying inside today as the snow is falling real hard and everything is already covered in the white stuff. Oh, I sure hope there will be enough of it for me to run and play in. I sure miss the winter snows. Ahhh...life is good for this happy puppy.

THIS DOG NEEDS SOME ANSWERS

Okay, just why do I have this giant rope tied to my collar today?
Okay, M.O.M. says "It is to keep me safe."
And I ask "Just what is it keeping me safe from?"
M.O.M. said "To make sure you don't set your sites on a bird flying by."
And I said "What bird?"
M.O.M. Said "Every time you spy a bird in the yard you chase after it."
And I said "What's wrong with that?"
I heard M.O.M. explain to M.O.D. that when I take off after a bird I tend to forget where I am and just where I am running. And I never hear her calling my name and telling me to come back into the yard. She said I have even run right into the road and not looking to see if any vehicles
are coming. So that is why she is keeping this rope on me today while she is doing some gardening in the front yard.
If I wasn't so well behaved (most of the time) I would chew this darn rope right off my collar. What's a puppy to do???

DOG'S VACATION

Things got a little crowded around here while M.O.D. was on vacation last week. Cat just doesn't understand that it is my job to make sure M.O.D. is comfortable and watched over. Of course I knew just how to take care of Cat but M.O.M. and M.O.D. keep telling me that I am not allowed to chase Cat around the house. Gosh, if they would just let me once......

IS THIS PUPPY HEAVEN?

M.O.M., M.O.D. and I went into the big city and on the way back home they stopped at my favorite farm and garden store. They welcome dogs in their store and I know just what aisle my favorite "chew Sticks" are located in and I head straight there every time we visit here.
But can you imagine my shock and amazement when I walked by this big metal tank and knew I heard the sound of birds peeping. I couldn't believe my eyes when I stuck my head over the rim of the first tank and there were dozens of little tiny birds. Gosh, they didn't ever try to fly away as I was intently watching them.

Oh my! When we moved along to the next tank I was in shock to see that this one held even more little birds. I felt the urge to leap into this tank filled with all these wonderful little birds to see if I could encourage them to take flight so I could chase them. But at that same moment M.O.D. sense that my body was about to spring into action and leap in the middle of the little creatures. He gently pulled me away and said we had better find some chew sticks before this little dog gets herself into big trouble! Darn, I lost my chance.

When I got to the checkout area I remembered that the nice lady behind the counter usually gave me a few biscuits. So I laid down my chew stick and was pleased to realize that I have grown enough to be able to hook my claws on the top of the counter so she would be sure to see me. And of course she saw me, smiled and immediately handed me my treat. I love this place!

PUPPY WALK WITH M.O.M.'S GROUP

I apologize for not getting the photos of my walk posted much earlier. Something along the road that I was sure was put there just for me to eat made me not feel well for awhile. Of course M.O.M. was not aware that I had picked something up so she was very worried when we got back home and I started throwing up. But she stayed with me and as my tummy started to settle she snuck me a very small piece of a Tums for my tummy. I sure felt better and was able to play my usual games later that day. So all is well with me today.

All the side dirt roads are still snowed in so the group walked the West Fork Road. Since we were on the big road M.O.M. made me stay on my leash. But I still had lot's of fun!

They brought bags and picked up litter along the way. By the time we had returned to where they had parked the cars, they had collected 2 very large black bags and several grocery bags full of litter. I don't understand why humans throw junk from their vehicles in such a beautiful area of this world.

But M.O.M. and her group made this part of our world quite a bit prettier.

Maybe next week we can finally walk in the woods again.

A PUPPIES ADVENTURE

M.O.M. has told me that we are joining her walking group for an hour long walk today and I am very excited about that. So I am stationing myself at the back door---with my feet planted against it so I won't miss the time to leave. I will try to post a picture of my adventure after we return.

A DOG DAY

M.O.M. and I went on a wonderful walk this morning because the sky was so blue and the sun felt so good. We are trying to believe that it really is Spring.
M.O.M. let me off my leash again when we came into the forest. We wandered all over as I ran and ran to each new adventure among the fallen timbers. I did have to check each area for any great smells or surprises.
I was running in one of my favorite places...a unused small overflow ditch...when something suddenly jumped up in front of me. Oh boy! Something to chase! I was rather surprised when I was able catch up to this little creature. I have never seen such an animal before so I didn't know just what I was running after. But you know how puppies are...I just love to chase anything.
I was very surprised when I realized that I had caught up to this thing and had actually managed to get a bite on it. Wow, now what do I do? Before I could give it another thought the little creature bit me and I began to scream. Fortunately M.O.M. was right there as I can remember she had been trying to encourage me to leave this little creature alone. I ran to her crying and she tried to look into my mouth for my wound. M.O.M. found too much blood to see where I was bit and she spoke so sweetly to me. After a few minutes I was ready to run on more adventures in this wonderful forest.
After we returned home M.O.M. kept me quiet either in my kennel or in the house so she could keep an eye on me. We weren't sure what reaction I may have from my painful bite. I did overhear her tell M.O.D. that I had encountered a very large Mouse and the Mouse won the battle. Oh dear!

THIS PUPPY IS GROWING UP!

I guess I have grown a lot more than I thought I had. The top photo was taken in November when I was 4 months old. My backpack looks so big on me that I can't imagine how I am going to carry it out in the woods. Gosh, I am kinda cute aren't I? The lower photo was taken the first of April as I am turning 9 months old. I am definitely growing into my backpack now!

Today M.O.M. put a bag of my snacks in one side of my backpack and a snack for her in the other side. We walked down the road to the forest where she let me off the leash and we headed into the woods. I realized right away that I could still run like crazy everywhere and not even notice my pack. So I think this hiking thing is going to be great...especially knowing that my wonderful snacks are with me.

I have noticed that I am not running at top speed so much as I used to. M.O.M. has been real good about seeing that I am taken on a fun long walk at least once a day. And I do like to keep fairly close to her so she doesn't get lost out here. I do kinda like to be near her too. Well, I am still just a kid remember!

I WANT TO GO ON A PUPPY WALK!

M.O.M. isn't feeling well enough to go out for a walk this morning so I am keeping watch at my front windows. I am hoping that I can spot our dear friend Glennie as she is heading out on her walk down our road. Sometimes M.O.M. will let me go with her and I was so hoping that today would be one of those days.
I didn't see Glennie walking this morning so I will check again later this afternoon.
Well, I returned to my lookout this afternoon to watch for my friend Glennie on her walk. But I waited so long that I really started to get real tired. Fortunately my lookout window sits at just the right level so I could lie down and rest my chin on the sill and still keep an eye open for her.

M.O.M. finally distracted me by playing ball with me so I would stop watching out the window all day. We did have fun but I'd really rather go for a fun walk and run. Well, maybe we can do that tomorrow if the weather is better. We are still getting snow and of course I love it cause I can drag my nose through it as I am running so very fast. Gosh, I like that. But M.O.M. isn't as excited about that as I am as I have heard her say many times that she is real tired of all this snow and wants Spring to arrive NOW!

THIS LITTLE DOG HAS BEEN CAUGHT---AGAIN

What ice cream bowl are you talking about?
I am just resting my head on this pillow. And I don't' know what that is that my paw is resting in. I don't see any ice cream anywhere.
Okay, it's true, M.O.D. let me have a tiny bit of his ice cream and it was soooo good! Next time I will be sure to leave this little bowl where M.O.M. can't find it.
M.O.M. took me on a great walk this afternoon. We walked down our dirt road into the forest and here she let me off my leash. We had so much fun as I ran everywhere and wondered all over the woods. I could tell that M.O.M. was relived to not worry about any cars coming by while I was running so fast.
Sometimes M.O.M. would just stop and stand still and I would finally stop too and look around and realize she was not next to me. Of course I would run as fast as I possibly could to get back to her. It took me some time to understand that M.O.M. was doing this as a game because it gave me another chance to run fast.
When it was time to head back home I was willing to walk quiet on my leash beside M.O.M. We did stop and talk with a neighbor who was repairing some of his pasture fence and I took this opportunity to lie down at M.O.M.'s feet and get some rest.
We arrived back home in time for me to get in a nice long nap before dinner. What a great day.

I AM FINALLY BACK!

My computer lost it's signal to our satellite on Friday so I have been unable to post my happenings for you to read. I heard M.O.M. say that the satellite must have been sending our signal to another planet. Gosh, you mean there is more than mine? But the service tech just left so I am back and posting!! On last Friday M.O.M. took me for a ride in our truck. Lately she has noticed that she has to really coax me to get into the truck. So she thought that maybe a fun adventure in the truck might be the answer. I was very thrilled when I saw that she was pulling into the camping/parking area beside the river not far from our house. I couldn't believe it when she pulled over and let me out so I could get out and run and play. Of course I ran straight for the water to see what I could find.

I found many sticks to chew on and drag around. M.O.M. threw some into this little pool area to try to encourage me to chase them. Of course, I thought this was great fun. I love digging as deep as I can in the wonderful soft sand at the edge of the water. Boy, I could make sand fly everywhere and I did hear M.O.M. laughing at my antics.

I do hope that we can come back here real soon because I had so much fun at this river. And I think I could really learn to enjoy playing in the water. I know there is a big pond in our own back yard so I do hope M.O.M. will let me chase after sticks in it this summer. Gee, maybe I could even learn to swim in there! (Don't tell M.O.M. and M.O.D. that I think I already know how to swim!)