Life With Speedy

Lively And Exhausting

Speedy, the 5 year old Shiba Inu is a unique personality. First, he wants to play all the time. Second, and most important, he does naughty things in the house and then he has to be corrected by the Mom. For example, if no one is paying attention to him he grabs a pillow from the other room, comes into the room where we are all watching TV and runs passed everyone with the pillow in his mouth! If he didn't want the humans to know he had the pillow then why come into the room where all of us are? Obviously he does this to get the attention of the humans! He opens cabinet doors and takes shoes and runs around the house with them! Although he doesn't really destroy things, he certainly knows how to get the attention of the humans!

The best part about my relation with Speedy is that he lets me use him as a pillow!

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!

How To Train A Human

Well, when I last wrote I told you about my adventure in training class! That was great fun but now that class has ended I wonder what is in store for me at my new home. By the way, I DID graduate my class but I think it was because they wanted my Mom to sign up for the next level of training. For some reason she just laughed at that. I guess that means she must have had fun in class too!

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.

What Is This Thing Around My Neck?!?

Oh MY ~ I Think It's JEWELRY!!!!

They've done the strangest thing to me today. The Mom put this thing around my neck ~ I think it's jewelry ~ and then attached this long rope-thingy to it and the human holds the end of the long rope-thingy and they expect me to walk wearing this contraption. It was kinda awkward at first but I have discovered that with this jewelry and rope-thingy on I can drag the humans anywhere I want them to go ~ what fun this is! They really know how to make a girl feel at home in this house. I think I'm gonna LOVE living here. Speaking of love, if you love your pet, check out these great "Puppy Love" products:

Mealtime In My New Home

It's The Most Difficult Time Of The Day

Things seem to be going pretty smooth so far. I think mealtime is the most difficult. I haven't figured out the pecking order yet and I want to be the boss because let's face it, I was out on the street for awhile and I had to scrounge up my own food so I feel like I should be at the top of the food pyramid in this house.

Apparently the humans don't agree. At feeding time they separate the 3 of us who wear the fur in the family. The 2 boys are allowed to eat in the same room (the kitchen) but I am relegated to the laundry room. I heard the Mom say it was because I was jumping all over and barking when it was mealtime. That's what we did where I come from! The Mom got pretty mad because a couple of times I knocked my food bowl right out of her hand before we even got to the laundry room. That was a disaster because then my food was all over the floor and those boys came running and started to eat the kibbles that were MINE! That did NOT work well for me.

Apparently I'm going to have to rethink this dinnertime ritual of jumping up on the Mom when she is about to feed me. Maybe I can muster up enough composure to control myself but I dunno~ it's sooooo very tempting all the time. One thing I did notice though is that there is another person here, he's ~ uhhh ~ NOT THE MOM ~ but I don't know what to call him, ~ anyway, he likes to feed those of us who wear the fur in the family at the humans' dinner table. This makes the Mom mad but I will tell you this, NOT THE MOM really gets my attention for his behavior! I'll have to make a note of this and be certain to be nearby every time he eats!