The Dove Tenants

I was over on OORVI's blog reading about her latest search for new tenants for the garden and I must saw I totally understand her frustration with the sparrows.

We have a somewhat similar situation with the doves. We happily took in a pair last winter when we had lots of snow, they took up residence in the tree near our back door and they do guard duty by sitting on our fence and watching the world for me when I am not outside.

Now of coarse we expected that they might have some young ones and we didn’t mind that at all. What we didn’t expect was that every aunt, uncle, brothers, sisters, grandparents etc would come to visit and then STAY. They now all line up in a row along MY fence waiting to check out Mr and Mrs Doves new home and family and I must say we have been hearing quite a lot of squabbling going on lately. I think some of the extended family want to move in but it’s only a small home so there isn’t enough room.

So of coarse, I had to put a stop to this and I am now on fence patrol. When the extended family descends I go outside and sit quietly watching them. I pretend to be sniffing at something as I inch closer ....pretending that I don't really see them and then when they are are relaxed at me being so close............. I suddenly lunge and bark bark bark wildly at them. Of coarse there is a BIG commotion of flapping wings and cooing noises and many of them will try landing on the fence on the other side of the yard....but I just race across there and bark all the more until they finally leave. The things we do for our tenants!!!

Okay.....Let's get this game rollin

I figured our little game needs a bit a push to get it started so I will give a few more of my buddies a letter and then they can give 1 buddy from their list a letter......and that should get things moving along nicely. You don't have to give them the letter from their name either....I just did that so I could remember them all at once :) And I am giving you my big sad - come and play look....so off we go. ( Mom says I should mention that the reason I am looking at the camera with such a sad look is because I am sitting right next to the bath tub and this was my "pleeeeeaaassseeee I don't need a bath" look.

R - for Ricky
K - for the Key west Collie Essex and Deacon
D - for Katie & Dawn
L - for Ludo
M - for Morgan
T - for Tatum Tot
A - for Abby and Aiden

Okay - a game to play

I read about this on another blog that my mom visits ...but thought what a great idea. We are going to play the letter game. And this is how it works. You pick one (just one) buddy from your list and you give them a letter. They must then list and describe 5 things beginning with that letter.

For example if someone gave me the letter "B" this is what I would do.

Ball - one of my favorite toys is my big fluffy soccer ball...except for when mom washes it, then I have to roll it around and get it all good and dirty again. I love my squeaky tennis balls too....but they seem to be always disappearing......please send them home if you find them.

Blah - is how I feel when it is cold outside and mom complains about her old bones and we can't go for a walk. I love the cold of winter for me....but don't like it all for the mom....I will even put up with the warm weather if it means we can go out more.

Biscuits - I don't care if you call them cookies or whatever....to me they are all yummy and you can never have enough...well you can when your mom controls the box. My favorite ones are carrot and blueberry which not only taste yummy but smell soooooo good.

Bye Bye - is what I said to my dad as he left for the week again.......I miss my dad when he has to be away but love it when he comes home because then I can get all happy and jump around and bark bark bark

Buddies - I love all my buddies, it is so exciting to log on and see who has left a message and to visit their blogs and see what they have been doing.

Okay.....got the idea. So I am picking the letter "C" for Josh and Jess. Then what they have to do is on their blog, list 5 things they like, don't like, are thinking about or what ever and why. And remember guys when you have finished, give a letter to a buddy on your list and lets see what you can come up with.

Snoozing

Josh and Jess posted a challenge to show a photo of ourselves snoozing. Amazingly when the mom sorted through the hundreds and hundreds of photos she had taken, we discovered we only had ones of me when I was I was tiny. Most of this is because the mom can't sneak up on ......I ALWAYS hear her coming. So we will post the ones we have which were taken when I was just 8 weeks old.

The first picture is of me on my little bed. Mom would put this over the air conditioning vent and I just LOVED it. As you can see, I also loved to sleep right on the edge of the bed. The second photo is my two favorite sleeping things....my blue moose and my air conditioning vent. I still have my blue moose although he is now covered with one of dad's old sock and is much the worse for wear. And of coarse I still love my air conditioning vent (when it is blowing cold and not hot!!!!)

Thank you to Essex and Deacon / Peanut Butter Concern

Thank you to Essex and Deacon who nominated my blog for Awesome Blog Award over at the Bone Zone - on Dogs With Blogs. If you would like to vote for my blog or any of the other nominees...please head on over and cast your vote :) Here is the link - but you do need to have a logon to the Bone Zone to be able to enter. As you can see from my meager list, I don't have all that many buddies, so if you could spread the word, it would be much appreciated.

I would also like to remind all furry families especially here in the USA, to be careful about giving us any biscuits with peanut butter in. On Jan. 20, PetSmart recalled seven kinds of its Great Choice dog biscuits. For the list of recalled peanut butter products, see the Food and Drug Administration site at www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm.)

"While the risk of animals contracting salmonella is minimal, there is risk to humans from handling these products so we want to underscore that it is especially important for people to wash their hands and to make sure that their children wash their hands after feeding treats to pets," FDA officials say.

"Salmonella can be transmitted to humans who have touched the contaminated product. While salmonella is not common in dogs and cats it can cause serious infections."

Symptoms: Pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Some animals may have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain and pets may be carriers with no visible symptoms.

Please.......We don't want sick buddies or their moms and dads.... so just be careful during this latest food scare.

Strange things at the lake today

Well.....what can I say!! I AM SO HAPPY!!!! The mom surprised me this morning, we got in the car and she took me to my favorite lake...which I walked on!!! Something odd has happened to the water...mom only let me take a couple of steps near the edge.....but I can say now I have walked on a lake!!!! Now of coarse the first thing I had to do - was sniff everything, rocks, twigs, trees, grass....you name it and I sniffed it. here I am checking out the trees....then just savoring all those good smells. Mom thinks it funny when I sniff as my cheeks puff out....she says it looks like I am rolling the smell around my mouth making sure I get the very essence of it.















The next big decision was to go this way or that way.......I could go towards the corn field or go around the lake.......it was a tough choice and in the end mom said "Come on - lets go straight, so we did.















Now as we are walking along I suddenly heard this LOUD LOUD voice and it made me jump to attention. I was thinking "WHAT WAS THAT!" It was saying "This is an exercise, this is an exercise - red alert, red alert, this is an exercise" and it repeated it over and over......then there was some other funny sounding alarm ringing noises and then just when I thought it was all over...another SOUND that really had me worried.....so worried I started howling at it! Here I am in the photos.....looking at the where the sound was coming from and then here I am am howling (darn mom and that camera thing) Anyway, not to keep you all in suspense mom said it was okay, the lake we go to visit is the Offutt Base lake which is of coarse right next to the Offutt Air Force Base and the loud voice I could hear was a loud speaker (I wonder if that is some kind of monster?) Mom says they were doing a "drill".....what ever one of those things is. My dad has a drill in a case but mom says it's different from that. The sound I heard that made me howl was a bugle .......I don't know that is either but it sounded like someone was having their tail stood on and it hurt my ears!!!!!















We continued our walk and I must admit I did keep looking over my shoulder just to make sure that bugle monster wasn't following. Now something else peculiar happened too....as we walking this white stuff kept hanging around my nose. I tried biting at it and the more I did that, the more of it appeared. Mom says it was my own frosty breath........I HAVE FROSTY BREATH????.....is that something to be scared of??? I guess not because I eventually stopped worrying about it. Anyway, we had walked a very long way and I was getting very tired, so on the way back I kept looking down the road and bugging the mom by saying "are we there yet????" Then finally I saw my car......which the Mom calls Miss Molly. I was so happy I went racing over it and waited for mom to open the door and then jumped in so quick and flopped on the seat. Mom gave me a bowl of water which I slurped up laying down.....and then we we were off and I snoozed all the way home.......thinking about my wonderful walk. Mom says I should say how brave she is...even though it was bright and sunny, it was only 28 degrees!!!

Me & Mom

Hi dad!!!!!! My dad is away again this week but I know he always checks my blog to see how I am doing. How I am doing is AWFUL.........grrrrooooooooaaaaaaannnnnnn..... the mom got me in a bear hug and held tight until the camera went off. Now you all know I am not fond of hugs or even being held so this was a once in a blue moon event!!!! what ever a blue moon is. The mom must of taken 10 photos.....and in each one I moved, she finally put a cookie in front of the camera and I was so busy watching that I forgot to move. Darn that cookie fixation thing!!!

Apart from that, not a lot has been happening. Dad was away in some place called Colliefornia last week and was home for the weekend......I was SO happy to see him!!!! I bounced, I spun around, I woofed......I was giddy with excitement. This week he is somewhere called Terriortenasee. He was laughing at the mom last week because it was nice and warm in Colliefornia but now we are laughing bacause it is snowing in Terriortenasee and it isn't here. It has been very very cold though and the only places mom will take me is to the pet stores and as much as I enjoy those it's just not the same as a nice long walk full of sniffs. So how do you guys cope with winter and not going out as much? What do you do to keep from getting bored?

Cottage Cheese twist and turn

The mom and I braved the cold again this morning and headed off to the other pet store. She decided to get something that she thought would be fun for me to play with and that would be a challenge, so she bought this thing called the twister. The concept is that you fill it with treats (thank you to Josh and Jess for the cottage cheese suggestion) and then because of the shape of this thing.... as you try to get the treat out, it twists and turns. Now the package said ideal for Shelties - well obviously it had never been tested with a sheltie because it took me all of 10 seconds to realise that if I put my foot on it, it couldn't twist and turn and all that yummy cottage cheese was mine (note from mom - thank goodness he was on the slate floor with this - it would not of been pretty on the carpet!!!! although he did a good job cleaning up) Mom says she needs to find something more difficult to get out of it. Oh and a hint too....we found lots of Christmas goodies at the pet store marked down by 75%!!! She stocked up on lots of treats for me but said I have to make them last all the way until next christmas......and they expirey dates are not until 2011 so they should be just fine.

PS - mom also bought so organic carrot and apple cookies and they are like little round balls...she put those in my twist and turn and it is driving my crazy trying to get them out!!!!!!

Do you like cuddles?

Josh and Jess suggested I should stay inside with mom and have cuddles.....there is just one problem....do you know I have never been a cuddly dog. (I do make an exception for my dad - for him I will jump up in his chair and have a cuddle, especially if he has been away for the week) but that is about. I think it is because I am always so hot....... with all my fur I am either sleeping on the slate in the laundry or by the front door. I never just jump on the sofa and sit next to mom for a cuddle although sometimes I like to snooze by her feet. Mom thinks it's kind of odd really as she has had me since I was six weeks old and I have always been with her since that time. She has ALWAYS played me with every day and I have always been allowed to jump on the sofa or bed but have never really shown much interest in it. I was just wondering about my other buddies and whether the girls are more cuddly then the boys?

I be so bored.......

It is so cold at the moment, we had a blizzard yesterday and I could barely even get out my back door the wind was so strong, then when I came in mom laughed and said I looked like a yeti. I am not sure what that is, but she said I looked like one. We did brave the cold and go to the petshop this morning ...the winds has gone and it wasn't snowing anymore and I got lots of pats so it was worth going out. I said hello to the cockatiels and the ferrets - (dog oh dog do those guys smell). The guinea pigs were all hiding so I didn't say hello to them. Do you know there wasn't another dog in there!!! How sad is that, its a pet store, it should be full of furry friends. Mom said it was too cold for sane peoples to be out.......so I guess that makes her a little crazy. Really though, she just worries about me getting bored even though I go on my tread mill 3 times a day, do my agility and play games and do training throughout the day...she still thinks I need to get plenty of new smells and sights. It is going to be a long week as it just supposed to be getting colder and colder. Today it was 11 F and by Friday they are say -10 F.

What a polite golf coarse

The mom and I went for a long walk the other day and came across the politest golf coarse! Look, here I am actually being welcomed by it and I must say I certainly did enjoy a new area to explore and check out. And as we were leaving, it actually thanked us for coming. And mom says to tell everyone - no we didn't walk on the actual golf coarse, there is a path that follows it and we were on the path. Mom says for some reason people get upset when dogs go for walks on the golf coarse. I asked mom what this 'golf' thing is and she said it is when big people hit a tiny ball into a tiny hole with a long stick. I love balls and sticks......I wonder if they would let me come and play too. I wonder why they want to put the ball in in a hole - oh oh oh....I know, they are burying it for later, to season it and make it all nice and dirty and yummy. No wonder they don't want us dogs going to the golf coarse, they are worried we will dig up all those buried balls. Hmm maybe I should plan a sneak raid on the place.......as you all know, a dirty ball is the best kind of ball to play with. Anyone want to come with me? Mom says there are probably balls hiding all over the golf coarse as sometimes people hit them in the wrong direction and they get lost. Oh gosh, mom says dad loves to play golf....hmmm maybe I could see if he has any of those golf balls in that golf bag thingy he has down stairs.

Please mom

I decided to try and cheer the mom up last night. I bought her my 3rd to most favorite toy, my dirty old cowspot ball - mom says it's a soccer ball, but we know better because it has cowspots on it. I had taken it outside one day when we had rain and snow and it got all dirty and the mom was going to wash it, so of coarse I hid it. I figured it was well seasoned by now and worth playing with so I went and got it from it's hiding spot. Mom was amazed because she had looked everywhere for it and couldn't find it (he he he). I came in quietly to her work room and then just stood there with my very best - most sorrowful eyes look - that looks that say pllllllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaasssseeee play with me. (Hey Ludo - you need to practice this one on your mom - but you have to figure out a way to get her eyes open in the morning so she can see it!!!!). Anyway....mom still didn't seem interested in playing so I kept inching forward and giving her 'the look' and when that didn't work, I jumped on her lap and then sat there, ball in mouth and sad eyes......and of coarse she couldn't resist so we had a nice play after that. But you just can't trust mom's.......as soon as I went to get a drink or water, she grabbed the ball and put it in the washing machine. MOM MOM MOM....I barked "It took me ages to get it all dirty like that" but she didn't listen. Why is it moms like clean toys when we like them all dirty and seasoned....just like a fine old bone that has been buried for a few months. My poor clean cowspot ball is going round and round, thumpity thump in the dryer. Oh, I would like to say hi the Abby and Aiden, a very cute pair of pupsters......I bet they would have so much fun playing with Josh ans Jess.

It's been a sad week

Mom has been feeling a bit down this week so we haven't really been doing anything. First we found out that mom's brother back in Australia has terminal cancer. Then Dad's oldest daughter had an MRI and they a mass near her appendix and she will be having surgery next week. And then sad for both both mom and me......Franklin (the corgi) it looks like his moms brain tumor has returned and she is going into hospital tomorrow. Franklin will be staying with her son so I won't be able to visit for awhile. Mom says these 'things' seem to run in 3's so hopefully there won't be any more sad news.

Colors colors every where

Here is a chart showing all the wonderful colors shelties and collies can come in. If you click on the chart you will see it full size which makes it much easier for read for people like my mom who have 'old eyes' that don't see so well :) The other chart - which again you can click on to make bigger is about how to glue sheltie ears so that they stand up. We found this information here and there are many other sites and even some video's on u-tube that offer helpful tips. We found that female sheltie ears often stand up perfectly straight where as the males tend to have that tip fold. Mom wants to know if any of my sheltie buddies have long hair growing down the back of their ears. The hair on my ears is 2-3 inches in length and starts about 3/4 of the way up my ears. Mom thinks that is why they flopped because the hair makes them so heavy. I am off to have a BIG brushing. Dad gave me a bath yesterday and of coarse I took forever to dry so mom is going to comb me through in sections so she can check for any hidden matts. I had a small one hiding behind my ear where I still have some fine baby fluff, the one I like my mom to scratch all the time. Everyone should ask there moms and dads to check because even though I get brushed everyday, the one behind my ear was right down under all that thick rough. Now I know most of you think I crazy suggesting that you ASK your moms and dads to brush you...but trust me, matts are not fun to have combed out and the bigger they are the more ouchie they are and mom says if they too big that have to be cut out which doesn't leave out coats looking very nice. Mom has a bottle of doggie coat conditioner that she sprays on me to help control static and it makes combing easier, and that helps a lot to get through the matt without hurting. Okay brush....here I come.

My Dog Mom and Dad

Tater Tot as I like to call her (Tatum Tot) asked about the colors of the my sister. I thought it would be easier you show you my dog mom and dad. This is my mom Bailey and she is a normal sable color. Can you see me under the date....I was just a couple of days old then. (Oh, the date showing is incorrect - Bergetta who is my dog mom and dad human mom....didn't know how to change it) My dog mom Bailey was very attentive and a very good dog mom. But here is something you probably don't know....to have me and my brother and sisters poor Bailey has to be artificially inseminated as for some reason she doesn't attract dad dogs when she is in season. And the next picture is of my dad dog Hunter. You can see what a handsome fellow he is and his coat color is called mahogany. He has a super duper thick coat and this photo of him is when he had just been to the dog coat stealer's (groomers). This was Bailey and Hunter's second litter. There was one before mine and there was one white brother in that litter. My poor mom was very disappointed over Christmas as she has been waiting for Bailey and Hunter to have their last litter of puppies because she wants to get me a brother or sister. Bailey came into season in October but her mom decided not to breed her...so there was no Christmas puppy for us. So there is a bit more of my history, my mom was very lucky, she has photos of me right from the time I was born and every week since and photos of my dog mom and dad and being registered with the AKC we can see 5 generation back. Mom says many of us USA pups probably share relatives somewhere in our past.

How things change

We saw on Josh and Jesse's page how much they had grown in the past year.....a little more time has passed for me, but I thought I would show how much have I have grown as some of you may not of seen my very little puppy pictures. Here I am at at just seven weeks.....I couldn't decided back then whether my ears were going to be up or down, so I had one of each! They kept doing that until about 9 months when they both stayed down. And then here I am as the beautiful boy I am now! Mom said I should also put these photos in too....just so everyone could go ooooohhhhh and arrrrhhhhhh. Here I am at just 20 minutes old on the left and on the right is all my brothers my sister. Do you notice the other little white one, that is my sister and she went to live in Connecticut - she was white and sable. Then there was one little black and white brother and three mahogany sisters. My dog mom - she is a sable sheltie and my dog , he is a mahogany sheltie.

Funny Photos

Now you all know that mom is a bit snap happy with the camera and she will often take lots and lots of photos to get just the 'right' shot as she calls it. Well here are some of the other photos she took yesterday. The first photo is of Franklin - mom told him to say 'cheese' as in 'smile' not knowing that Franklin's most favorite treat in the whole world is cheese and of coarse as soon as he heard that word he just started licking his lips thinking of all that yummy goodness. Doesn't Franklin have the most beautiful big brown eyes and big fluffy ears.....woofie chuckles..... and the smallest little legs? Mom say Corgi's are herding dogs just like me and that in Wales, were they come from, they herd cattle. The thought of Franklin chasing cows......on those stumpy little legs, cracks me up.

So in the the next photo when mom said smile, I was thinking of Franklin chasing Cow Spot Cows and it made me give her the biggest smile ever.....so big you can almost see what I had for breakfast was down there in my tummy! Mom also says that Corgi's are very well known over in England because some lady called the Queen has a lot of them and has made them very popular. Mom also says there are two different types of corgi's. There is the Welsh Corgi (and that is what Franklin is - he has no tail) and then there is the Pembroke Corgi that does have a tail. And there I was thinking that a tail monster has bitten off Franklin's tail...when all the time he was born without one.

The last photo is just of Franklin......and shows those beautiful big eyes. I must admit I am very envious of his ears. They stand up so straight and look so nice. Much better then my sad floppy down ones. Did I mention that Franklin only lives 2 houses away and that even when I am not visiting we can still see each. I bark big happy woofs to say hello....and Franklin comes and stands at the fence. Do you know, in the year and a half I have known Franklin, I have NEVER heard him bark - not even a little woof! Franklin's mom says she has only ever heard him bark twice in the three years she has had him and one of those times was when there was a prowler around the house and Franklin told him off good and proper! Wow....can you imagine being SOOOOOO quiet. I am sure many moms and dads out there would be happy with that....but not me, I LOVE to bark! Time for my run on the treadmill.....have a happy woofitty day everyone.

Best buddies

Mom and I went for a long walk this morning and we went down streets we had never been down before which was soooooooo great because it meant smells I had never smelt before. Mom of coarse waited patiently at EVERY lamp post.......(I think she taps her foot like because it is so cold). She kept mumbling something about "how many lamp post must a small dog sniff before he's sniffed them all". It kind of sounds like that other quote I have heard - "how many roads must a dog walk down, before they call him a dog" Hmmm.... silly kind of quote really....I am always called a dog and there can NEVER be to many roads to walk down. Anyway, we walked and walked, checked out the golf coarse which is now all brown and desolate looking and then after a romp in the back field without my lead, we went to visit my buddy Franklin to wish him a happy New Year. Oh, Franklin isn't growling in this photo, that is just the way his jaw healed after it was broken. I think I mentioned before Franklin was a rescue dog and who ever had him before very badly mis-treated him. Now he is in his new forever home with a mom who loves him as much as my mom loves me and is is very very happy. The other great thing about visiting Franklin is that whenever I go there, Franklin's mom always has some treats for the both of us. And don't be fooled, even though Franklin's jaw is a bit lob-sided it doesn't stop him at all from chewing and in fact he puts me to shame and will chomp through a chew bone in half the time it takes me. In fact when he finishes his, he usually comes and sneaks mine away too, but that is okay....I don't mind at all cause he is my buddy and buddies share. The second photo shows us waiting for our treats......look how good we both stand there waiting. Well I am off to do some other things......have a happy new year everyone.