What a great day

We don't often get to show a video but we thought we would make one today because dad says he loves watching my coat bounce when I run. I think dad was out in the sun to long BOL. Oh, this is Mrs Robin. She has built her nest in the corner where the pipe comes down from the gutter against the side of the house and it is hidden behind the tree, but she likes to chirp loudly when even mom or dad goes outside. Mom heard some little cheeping today so she thinks her eggs may have hatched.

Morning at the lake

We are expecting 90 degree temperatures this weekend so mom said if we wanted to go for a walk, we needed to go early before it got too hot. "IF" we wanted to go for a walk pppppllllleeeeaaassseeee mom - when would I ever turn down a walk, it could be a 100 degrees and I would still want to go for a walk. Anyway, we got to the lake and can you believe my mom actually asked me to wait in the car while she took a photo.......but then I was out and off down the road following all those wonderful smells. Mom says I seem to forget I am a herding dog and that watching me with my nose to the ground I act more like a blood hound. Those poor hoomans just don't know what they are missing by not being able to smell what we can smell. Hmmmmm skunk crossed by, possum, raccoon, dogs, cats (there be some homeless cats living out at the lake) and ducks and geese and then around that barbecue pits there was cooking smells!!!!












Well we continued walking and I sniffed and sniffed. We got to see people fishing and people camping and then we came across a lot of small people out hiking. Dad said they were scouts.....hmm they looked just like little people to me. I am never sure what to make of little people as I have never had much to do with them. BOL - while dad wasn't looking I also found a dead fish and managed to get a quick roll on it. Ah the pungent perfume of Ode Da Crappie!!! Crappies is what they call the small fish in the lake. Mom gets a bit annoyed that the fishermen just throw these fish on the grass if they don't want them rather then putting them back in the lake. I don't mind at all though as they smell very good when they are all dried up. Here I am laughing at the dad cause I saw the fish first and got to roll on it. Unfortunately he pulled me away before any of the smell really stuck to me.












The other thing that is unusual out at the lake is that they have area to keep they humongous big horse dogs. Although we didn't see any today I did hear them. They make some loud kind of whinnying noises. Here I am listening to them. Then the mom was being silly and she started to walk away back to car....I watched her for awhile and then suddenly I though she was going to leave without me and dad so I came racing after her. But she was just being silly and was hiding behind a tree. Mom's can be so silly sometimes.

Wordless Wednesday

Some More Adventures in Dad's Park

Okay, so off we go again on our adventure in my Dad's park. He isn't visiting his park this week though as he is in a place called Memphis until tomorrow and then a place Miami for the rest of week. I wish my Dad didn't have to travel so much. He says it lets him buy me things like my doggie door and deck but I think I would rather not have them if it meant he could stay home. He just shakes his head and says a "Dad's got to do what a Dad's got to do".

Anyway, off we went down the path under the nice shady trees and you know what we saw? Geese !!! Mom said these are Canadian geese and it was funny, they just sat on the path while all the people walked by but as soon as I came along they all started honking loudly and went into the water. Dad says the geese thought I was a wolf. How dumb are those geese.....do I look a wolf to you???? Mom likes the geese and thinks they are very pretty but she sure doesn't like their poop. They make the biggest ever poops all over the paths and neither mom or dad would let me near it which I though was a bit mean. I just wanted to sniff and maybe roll on a couple of them.

Now as you can in this photo, the geese had babies too. There was four little geese puppies with this group. These types of geese breed very fast and often have between 4 and 10 puppies. Mom says they eat grass (yuk!!!) and because so much of America now has grassed parks and lawns and golf courses the numbers of these geese have just gone crazy. There was lots of others kinds of geese at the park too, white ones and ones with orange beaks and lots of ducks too. In fact a bit further along we saw these two duck puppies and it was odd because the momma duck was white and the daddy duck was a Muscovy. I wonder if my mom's head hurts carrying around all this information she has there - she seems to know to lots of little bits about everything.

The ducks also thought I was wolf and quacked loudly and even flapped their wings at me - so I BARKED at them and then scurried away. Next we went around the other side of the lake where the weir is.

There was lots of steps to go up and dad was surprised how quickly I hippitty hopped up them. At home our basement steps are very narrow and steep so I go up those very slowly one at a time - mom says I look like a little old man. But these were big wide steps and I BOUNCED up them. There was lots and lots of little birds flying around like crazy near this weir thing. I was a bit worried they were going to attack us, but mom said they were swallows and they just catching little insects above the water. I kept my eye on them all the same. We all know Omaha has strange critters and I didn't want to add dive bombing kamikaze swallows to the list.

Now one of the things mom had been looking for on the lake was these things called 'swans'. She said there are two that live there all the time (they go to live at the zoo in winter when the lake freezes over) For some reason my mom seems to really like these swan things. Anyway, we eventually found Mr Swan, he was on his little island preening himself and I must say, he was one big Swan Dog!!!! The swans must keep the geese away from them as there non around their side of the lake. Mom looked and looked and was getting very worried when she didn't see Mrs Swan anywhere. She said swans mate for life and that this pair are quite old and she wondered what would happen to Mr Swan is Mrs Swan had gone over the rainbow bridge. But then, as we rounded the corner there she was and she was sitting on a huge nest she had built!!!! Mom was so happy - she is a bit soppy like that and was even happier when Mrs Swan let her get a picture. Mom didn't get close though, she took a photo using something called the zoom lens as she said Mrs Swan has to stay on her puppy eggs to keep them warm until they hatch. I asked mom if I hatched like that and she said no....I was just about to ask her how I came about when she said "look Reilly - a squirrel" and of coarse I forgot all about the question.

Memorial Day and Pee-Mail Winners

We nearly forgot to announce the winners of our great Pee-Mail Photo Challenge. We had some awesome photos and the dedication to sniff out those messages was amazing.

Okay so now the winners are - CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!

The most funny - Maggie and Mitch
The most dedication to finding all the best places - Katie and also Mason Dixie
The best fire hydrants - Essex and Deacon
The best overseas pee-mail Josh and Jess and Ludo.

If you guys would like to send me you postal addresses I will get your prizes in the mail in two shakes of a bushy tail. You can email me at cowspotdog@mail.com

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Now, as if I haven't had the best weekend ever already, this morning the mom, dad and I went to where dad works in Omaha which is called "the campus". It is very pretty, surrounded by big shady trees and there is a lake with lots of ducks and geese and swans and some of the BIGGEST fish ever!!!!! We have so many photos to share but we are going to have to spread them out over a few days.

Here is a picture of me in front of the building where my dad works when he is in town. And then here is dad and I as we walk down to the lake that is just behind the building he works in. Isn't it























the coolest that my dad has his own park to walk in whenever he wants to. We walked right around the outside of the lake until we came to the War Memorial and dad was not happy that they not lowered the flags to half mast. These is a wonderful bronze sculpture called 'homecoming'. We stopped and gave silent thanks to all the brave men and women (and doggies too) to have fought to keep us all safe. And then lastly you can see a picture of downtown Omaha. Normally my mom doesn't like to go down town as she doesn't like the traffic but it was almost empty today because of the holiday and is was just perfect. We also met some very nice people who said I was very 'regal' looking. I am not sure what they meant but I guess the bath I had yesterday must have impressed them - it sure didn't impress me !!!!

Now I know some of think I exaggerate occasionally - but check out this guy! Mom says this is a cat fish and it was about four foot long - there was no way I was going to chase this kitty-fish!!!! And there was lots of them of the lake this size!!

Dogervising my new deck

Phew.....have I had the busiest weekend. It all began on Friday when the Fed-Ex man came to the door with this huge huge parcel - for me!!!! It was a patio dog door panel that my dad had bought just for me. He loves me soooo much!!! Well of coarse then we realized it had like a 6 inch rise on it which meant stepping over that and then down to the first step outside our back door would have been over a one foot drop. After much discussion dad and I (okay mom had a few words to say too) decided we needed to build a little deck and new steps. So off they went to the hardware store to buy all the things we needed and then we got started. Now it has been very hot this weekend - in the high 80's so I had to do quite a bit of dogervising from inside - just barking instructions from my new dog door and watching to make sure everything was going to the specifications I had told dad.











Eventually though, I just had to come out for a closer inspection. Now I have never used a dog door before and it did take me a few go's to get the knack of it, but once mom showed me how to use my head to push it open and not my paw, it was very easy and now of coarse I am going in and out like it has been there forever. So here I am on the new deck and I no longer have to step down when I come out the door, which is very good as the old ones were very narrow. Of coarse dad had all his tools up here and I had double check he was doing everything right and measuring everything perfectly. I had, after all - worked VERY hard on making the plans for this new deck and steps. Then I thought I had better remind dad about being careful with that circular saw thing....it makes very strange noises and mom told I had to stay back while dad was using it as it was very dangerous.












I was a bit concerned about why dad would be be using something if it dangerous but he said it was okay and that he would be careful. I still gave him the the big safety lecture anyway. He then asked me if I thought the pole he was holding looked straight and I checked and said "yes dad ...it does". Dogervising is very serious work you know. Then dad asked me if I could find one of the big nail he had dropped....I looked around and saw it straight away. I turned and asked dad...."is this the one dad?" It was and he was very happy I found it for him and told me he didn't know what he would do without my help!!! We worked on into the afternoon and got half the railing done.....then it just got too hot as the sun started coming around this side of the house. We just have to put the railing on the bottom half next to the steps tomorrow and my new deck will be done. I think it is is looking pretty dogtastic already but dad wouldn't have been able to do it without me.

Wordless Wednesday

Killer Frogs

Okay, so some of you may have been a bit skeptical about the killer frogs.....I see you are going to force my paw on this issue. I didn't really want to show you this as I know there are some young pups out there who may get a bit frightened on hearing ribbit-ribbit noises when they go for walks after seeing this.......BUT, there really was killer frogs in the woods and here is the photo to prove it!!!!! This big brute of a thing tried jumping on my back!!!! It said it wanted a ride to the next pond !!! Dog oh dog - do I look like a horse!!!! Thanks to my super fast sheltie turning ability - I was able to spin around really quickly and get out of its grasp....it was such a close call though. So never underestimate what goes on in the woods......I heard that teddy bears often have picnics there.....and we all know dangerous bears are!!!!!

The other side

Ah.......you just have to love this time of year and I do so enjoy taking the folks out on days like this to get some exercise. Today we went to the leash free park but walked on the other side where we don't normally go.

Why don't normally go over this side you ask? Well it is often muddy as just behind the trees is the lake and this area is a bit swampy. But today the path seemed dry so we thought we would check it. There is another reason we don't go this side too..... a lot of the hunting dogs tend to be over this side of the lake, they like to go swimming (which just shows how crazy how they are) but we have also found that they are are not very well mannered or behaved and their mom and dad's don't seem to care if the chase after and harass other dogs.

Anyway - back to my adventure. There was no hunting dogs there today, just me so I had the whole park to myself and there was so many new smells in this area. At first I wasn't to sure about going to the trees. I mean to say - there could of been some of those killer ducks hiding in there of even some of those huge geese things we had had had to wait and wait for as they crossed the road. Mom said they lived down here by the lake and dog oh dog do they make a lot of noise. I finally got brave though....I just couldn't resist those smells and my nose just didn't know where to sniffle first. Mom and dad were also keeping a watching eye out to make sure there was none of those itchy scratchy plants around.

As we got past the trees and I was walking down the path ....THAT IS WHEN I HEARD IT. It started with a few plip plop sounds and I stopped and looked around the grasses but I couldn't see anything. Then mom heard it too and we went to investigate. Then we heard it......ribbit ribbit - ribbit ribbit. As mom stepped closer to the water we heard more plip plopping sounds and then all of a sudden this big brown thing jumped right out of the bush near me and it was a KILLER FROG !!!!!! AND it was huge.....almost the size of my paw........I mean my head.....I mean my whole body!!!! Who would think the park could be such a dangerous place.......killer ducks, killer possums and killer frogs.

What would I do if mom and dad were not there to protect me.....ummmm I mean if I wasn't there to protect them. The life of a cowspotdog is never an easy one......but someones got to do it !!!!

Get those sniffers into high gear

Okay dog-a-roos (oh oh.....am I picking up mom's Aussie accent????) The pee-mail photo challenge will be closing on the Sunday the 24 of May and the winners will be announced on Monday the 25th. So if you haven't found those pee-mail messages yet....get hunting.....and get those photos in. Me and mom have hunted up and down and in and out to find for some really cool and unusual prizes.

Wordy Wonderful Wednesday

On an adventure to one of my favorite pet stores. I was just going to have a Wordless Wednesday photo show but there is so many neat things to tell you about. Remember you click on the photos to see them bigger. The mom and I have a real routine when we go to the Pet Store. First, she likes to go and look at the fish. I don't know why, they are all wet and slimy and anything that likes water has to be a little strange. But she seems to enjoy it so I sit patiently as she looks in all the tanks to see what is new. After the fish we go down the aisle where all the combs and brushes are....again, I don't know why mom is so fascinated by these.....she has a whole draw full of them already and if I had my way, I would have a national 'bury every brush day' so we wouldn't have to be tortured by them ever again. FINALLY - now we are getting into the good stuff.......the cookie aisle!!!! Dog oh dog - what pup couldn't be happy in here........ME!!!!!! because I am not allowed any of these....but I am allowed to at least sniff the boxes.


Around the corner we go and into my area - this is where the special 'all natural food' is and that is my food right there in the pinky/purple bag. I have fond memories of this place as this is where I did my first puppy class only I was too smart for puppy class and they put me into the intermediate class. Next I checked out a big basket of hock bones......just at nose level they were - how convenient! We continued on around the store and went to see the birdies but alas they still haven't got any in. Mom was a bit disappointed as she likes to talk to the parrots. So we went to have a look at some of the other displays and found this little guy taking a nap. Mom says it is a ferret. I barked and barked at it, but it didn't want to play. It opened one eye slightly and then curled up and went back to sleep - silly ferret!


Then at last - the best part of a trip to the pet store, the self help cookie bar and Miss Ashley. This is where I get my special vanilla pretzel cookies. They don't have anything in them to upset my tummy so I can have them and ALL the staff there know that these are the only ones I am allowed to have. That is them to the left of my paw. Mom buys a bag every Monday and it only costs around 90 cents as they are very light cookies and there is only 2 calories in them so I won't be helping those "chunkie monkeys" to grow anymore. Isn't the self help cookie bar cool - it's life a buffet for poochies! This is Miss Ashley and she is my MOST favorite girl in the pet store. I always look for her the minute I walk in the door and woof loudly when I see her. She also adores me and always gives me lots of hugs and cuddles and best of all - she give me pretzels. That is also the neat thing here......they give all the doggies free cookies , but I am special so I always get one or two or three extras!!!! I even do my trickies for her which is pretty pawsome as I won't do my trickies for just anyone. So there it is....my wordy wonderful Wednesday

Doing a little pee-mail checking myself

The mom, dad and I went to the lake on Sunday and I got to check some interesting pee-mail messages, but I don't think they were from doggies. Mom says they were probably from squirrels and maybe even rabbits. What ever they were they certainly smelled VERY VERY good and I could hardly get my nose away from them. Mom said I was acting like I was a blood hound following a scent trail. She thinks it is very funny when I smell because my cheeks puff in and out and it makes her laugh. The lake is certainly looking very pretty but one area where we use to go last year, mom says we can not go there now as dad says he is pretty sure he saw some poison ivy growing. That is where I was last year when I came into contact with something that made me all itchy scratchy........so maybe that is what it was. We also had so not so good news yesterday. My mom has been diagnosed with something called emphysema. I don't really know what it is....I just know it makes it hard for my mom to breathe when we go for walkies. Mom says a lot of people call this a smokers disease....but my mom has never ever smoked in her life. I don't think it is at all fair...my mom already has enough bad health things to deal with and now this too.....and it means taking me for walkies will be hard for her even though I know she will still try every day.

Some more pee-mail spots from around the world

Okay, here are some more interesting places from around the world where pee-mail is being left. Ludo in England found a very interesting mail box and a village message board.....we will have to take his word for how good they are though as he seems to be missing from the pictures. LUDO !!!! are you in that mail box????

Next is another photo from Josh in New Zealand who found a huge pee-mail rock. Josh says he has been busy leaving pee-mail messages around the neighborhood and finally got a response......he said a passing dachshund left him message about fire hydrants he knew about - how cool is that - the pee-mail grape-vine at work! Here he is doing and Mitch and Maggie and leaving some pee-mail. I think those two have started a new trend!!!!!




And next and is Katie in Michigan - she has really been hot on the trail of the Pee-mail - that girl has stamina!! Isn't she just the prettiest little sheltie girl.......sigh. She checked out the Pee-mail on the rock, on the tulips, on the trash can, on the bleachers and on the tree. That is dedication to the cause. And best of all....when she was finished she was so happy she looked liked she was singing.....la la la..