And yet another winter!

December 2008

Another year gone by. We have had LOTS of snow this winter season and I have had a GREAT time romping about and getting all messy. It's really fun until it's time to get groomed - then. . . NOT SO FUN!

Because I have long hair it gets knotted quickly - especially in the snow. What a mess this made of me this winter. At one point - ummmmm . . . dare I tell you . . . the Mom nearly shaved me down! It was pretty embarrassing to have such short hair! My whole belly and chest were NAKED. They shaved my feet (they call it "poodle feet") and left some of the hair on my body but it was quite short.
I did not like the way it looked and neither did my humans. I did not want my picture taken so I turned away from the camera!

Summertime again!

Another Summer is upon us!

June 2008

My humans are SOOOO good to me! Guess what they do every summer? They plant all these vegetables outside and they water them and take care of them just for me!!

The funny thing about this - when they saw me eating from the doggie buffet that they planted for me they seemed to be a little upset. Actually, the Mom laughed but I get the impression the Dad didn't find it quite so funny because shortly after they saw me eating my vegetables the Dad put this little fence around them so I couldn't get to them. So, what would be the purpose of going through the trouble of creating this beautiful buffet for me and then not letting me self-feed? I guess I'll resort to eating the flowers instead! Sometimes I don't understand the humans. . .

Happy "Birthday" To Me!

My One Year Anniversary!

March 28, 2007

I have been enjoying my time with my new family so much that I can't believe a year has gone by! We celebrated in style and since no one knows my actual birth DATE, we are celebrating my anniversary with my new family as my birthday!
Check me out:

Dino Returns Home!

But I'm still confused

About a week ago I wrote about all the confusion with Dino being taken away.

Well, today the Dad came home from work and said (in a sad voice) "Your little boy has come home again, Mom". With that, he gave the Mom this little velvet drawstring bag. Inside of it was a white box. What does THAT mean?!? What did they do to little Dino?!? I know they loved him, the Mom said it many times. In fact, she used to tell the children that she helped "Toast" give birth to Dino.

This is what was written on the outside of the little velvet bag:

"Until we meet again at the Rainbow Bridge"

My One Year Anniversary!

March 28, 2007

I have been enjoying my time with my new family so much that I can't believe a year has gone by! We celebrated in style and since no one knows my actual birth DATE, we are celebrating my anniversary with my new family as my birthday!

Check me out:

Rest In Peace Dino

The humans were gone for quite awhile. When they returned without Dino they were obviously upset. The Mom cleaned up the kitchen, took Dino's bed and washed it. Then she packed it away. She even got rid of all of his blankets! Speedy was right ~ he must not be coming back home!

I was really nervous but Speedy stayed clear of the humans (I guess he thought he might be next!). He went into his kennel and only came out to eat and go outside. I wanted to do the same thing but curious girl that I am, I kept bothering the humans. I really wanted to know what happened but they weren't paying a lot of attention to me. I have never seen them so sad.

Nobody spoke a word ~ I wish someone would explain this all to me ...

Sadness Falls Upon My New Home

If you've read with me then you know I've talked a lot about Dino, the Wire Fox Terrier that I share my new home with. He is a feisty little guy and when I first arrived here I didn't like him much but I have learned to respectfully steer clear of him. I do this because I know my humans love him and therefore he must have some redeeming qualities.

The other day he was acting odd (well, odder than normal). He didn't eat breakfast and the Mom kept paying a lot of extra attention to him. He eventually perked up (who wouldn't given all that attention!) and I thought maybe he was just faking it so that the Mom would give him more love than the rest of us.

The Mom was sad all day and even when I climbed onto her lap and licked her face to make her smile, she smiled with a sadness behind it. I tried to make her feel better and even laid right next to her and stared at her but she just gave me that sad smile.

Dino went back to sleep and the Mom brought him in his bed into the computer room and laid him near her as she worked on the computer. She had him covered in blankets and kept checking him and he would pick his head up and look at her but really didn't respond to her. At first, I thought "how ungrateful of him!" but then I realized there was much more going on.

The Mom eventually stopped working on the computer and picked Dino up. He hardly responded to her with a VERY slight wag of his short tail and she was talking so sweet to him. It's obvious she loves him very much. She sat on the sofa and held him all wrapped in his blanket. She was so sad that it made me sad. I could see the tears in her eyes and I guess she was sad because Dino was ignoring her.

At least, that's what I thought. Suddenly things moved quickly! The Mom was talking to the Dad and the kids were nervous and I'm not sure what was happening. The Mom was holding little Dino and she was crying really hard now and so were the kids. The Dad even had a tear in his eye. I got closer but I wasn't sure what had happened.

They all got into the car, the Mom carrying Dino in his blanket, and left us! I was scared but Speedy told me that something like this happened once before in the middle of the night and the humans got in the car with "Toast" (Dino's canine mother) but never came back home with her. I wonder if that's what happens if you ignore humans ~ do they take you away and never bring you home again?!? Maybe that's how I ended up in that shelter ~ I'll have to keep that in mind...

Life With Dino

Talk About A Challenge!

Dino, the 13 year old Wire Fox Terrier is sure a piece of work around here. He REALLY thinks he's the boss but from what I hear, it's a terrier thing (and I don't understand it because I really thought I was the boss!)

So now, as the months go by, he is slowing down quite a bit more than he was when I first arrived. The Mom says he has health problems but he looks fine to me other than he can't always see me. This can cause a problem because once he realizes I'm standing next to him he gets really mad at me and snarls. I told you he was crabby but everyone else in this family seem to really love him. He is wayyyy different with the humans than he is with those of us who wear the fur in the family.

Anyway, I'll leave him alone because he is old but it is kinda fun to lay next to him because he doesn't usually know I'm there... heh heh... I love to tease him!

"Not The Mom"

He's the DAD!

I have frequently mentioned "Not The Mom" but now I'd like to expand a little bit on this person. First, I found out he's the DAD! Yep, that's what we who wear the fur coats in the family call him around here (I think the 2-legged children call him that too!). But even better than that... he will give us treats if we bother him enough so for me, he is THE KING!

When he is eating dinner I like to sit under the table right at his feet so he can sneak food to me. Speedy is much more obvious, as you can see by the picture attached! He just gets up there on his back legs and puts his head on the Dad's arm until he gets some food. One thing though, if the Dad gives something to Speedy, he always gives something to me too so I don't mind Speedy putting himself out there like that ~ we both benefit!

Also, if we team it up correctly, we can get the Dad to give us treats just by bothering him when he is watching TV or even sometimes if he is just walking through the kitchen! I look at him with my soulful eyes and he asks me if I've been a good girl today ~ well, DUH ~ OF COURSE I'm a good girl ~ and then I anxiously wiggle around and jump on him and voila` he gives me a treat from the cabinet! I LOVE training my humans!

They Call Me "Flat" Bella

And I Don't Care!

You know how I told you about me wearing the jewelry and then how the Mom attached this long rope-thingy to it and I got to drag the humans anywhere I wanted them to go? Well, it turns out that's not how it's supposed to work.

I found out that the jewelry I'm wearing is really called a "collar" and that long rope-thingy is really called a "lead". Apparently, I wear the "collar and lead" for the purpose of the HUMANS dragging ME where they want ME to go! I sure thought it was the other way around ~ it seemed to work well that way!

So, I get to wear this collar and lead and the Mom takes me to "training" classes. I don't really like to be there though so when they want me to run in a circle (what's the point of THAT?) I just lay down. Yes, that's right ~ I lay down and don't move! Hence, they have taken to calling me "Flat Bella". As I've mentioned before, I am a thin girl for my height (40 pounds and 23" at the withers) so apparently when I lay flat I look like the character "Flat Stanley".

Picture this ~ 10 people with 10 different sized dogs on their leads; all running in a circle and suddenly with no warning, I just lay down. Most of the people are able to avoid my bumper affect but those that don't come crashing into us ~ it's the funniest thing you've ever seen. Training class can be fun. I might like coming here after all.

Coming Home

On March 28, 2006 three people came to visit me in my foster home where I was known as "Buttercup". There was a Mom and 2 children. The minute I saw them I knew I'd let them adopt me! They loved me, I could already see that in their eyes. During their visit with me in my foster home, we spent some time together getting to know each other and before you know it we were all packed into this very tiny car (a Scion TC) and headed for my new home!

At least, I THOUGHT we were going home . . .
"We're going where?!?" "To pick up who?!?" How are we going to fit yet another child into this vehicle? Well, THIS should be interesting. . .

We stopped at a house and picked up another child! Let me gently remind you that a Toyota Scion TC traditionally seats 4-5 people (and THAT is if the people are of small stature!) I myself am a thin girl, only weighing 40 pounds, however I do stand 23" at the withers (for you non-dog people, I stand 4'4" tall when standing on my 2 back legs.) So now we have a Mom and 3 tween-children and ME... all in this little vehicle. Whew... I was uncomfortable, to say the least, and it was a lonnnnng drive home. These people better be worth it!