What a noisy 4 days

After two practice days and then two days of the show, I am pretty happy the Blue Angels have gone now and so is Franklin - the poor little guy thought it was thunder and would sit there trembling and shaking every time they started flying. The noise didn't bother me but I didn't like my dad spending so much time watching them and not playing with me. Mom made a little video of bits of the flying over the last few days. She apologizes for not getting any close ups but she had to record this on her digital camera and not the video camera because the silly battery on the video won't hold a charge and kept going flat after only a few minutes. On Saturday we actually sat on the top of a hill over looking the base rather then fighting the crowds and that was good because doggies were not allowed on there over the weekend. We did actually go and check out a new park too on Sunday but we didn't stay long as dad noticed there was poison ivy growing all along the hedge near the path and he is very very allergic to it. The good thing is, there are plenty of other nice parks to visit.

What is that noise!!!!!

This weekend is the Offutt Air force Base "Freedom Airshow" and even as I sit under the table protecting moms feet (and dictate this to her) there are jets thundering over our heads and making the windows rattle. Mom says we live in line with the south north runway and about half a mile from the base and that is why it is so loud because today we are right in their flight path as they do their practice maneuvers and trust me - they are noisy!!! My dad, being a retired Navy ...is thrilled that they are having the Navy Blue Angels flying this year and no doubt mom and dad will be there bright and early on Saturday to see all the planes and displays. Last year it was the air force Thunderbirds and Dad didn't think they were all that good (da ya think that is the Navy in him speaking!) Mom thought they were brilliant and she is sure the Blue Angels will be too. Personally I do not think it is fair....I can go with my mom on the base any other time but there is NO dogs allowed this weekend. How can protect mom's feet????

Here is a little video mom made as they flew over the house

Mom and her photos

My mom (as if you haven't guessed) loves taking photos of me and then make them into digital art or scrapbook pages. This is one she made yesterday. While we were at the park on Saturday we stopped to enjoy an area they call the tranquility garden. It is an area at the bottom of the hill where the babbling brook ends up. It has a somewhat Japanese feel to it. Mom just loved this photo of me sitting there quietly enjoying the garden so she decided to turn it into this neat big photo. She also took small photos and made them translucent and added them down the side. You can click on the photo to see it bigger. Mom is going to print this out and frame it. I am hoping we can go back to the park for another walk around and of coarse mom will want to take even more photos. Maybe I can take the batteries out the camera before we go that way we won't have to stop all the time so she can take pictures.

Trying something new

Mom was recently over on Dog With Blogs - Bark Zone where she reading comments about different foods. They gave some excellent links to web sites where different foods are rated. Mom was a bit worried about the one I had only being rated a 4 stars. So after much researching she found a new food for me to try - but she had to drive all the way to Iowa to get it (luckily for us Iowa is only 10 minutes away BOL) This food got a 6 star rating on 3 different sites so mom is hoping it will help me. Mom also contacted the company and they gave lots of good information too. We are going to start off with a just a spoon of the new food mixed with my old one for a couple of days and see how I go. If everything is okay then she will will keep adding an extra spoonful until it eventually replaces my old food. This is the new food I am trying - keep your paws crossed. Sadly those yummy Bully Nuggets - they upset my tummy too so mom had to throw those away. It is no fun being a dog with a sensitive tummy.

High Prairie Canine Formula

with Roasted Bison & Roasted Venison For All Life Stages Grain-Free Roasted Bison and Roasted Venison Optimal Amino Acids Antioxidants Omega Fatty Acid Blend Digestive Support System Sweet Potatoes Berry Blend Tomatoes & Tomato Pomace No Corn, No Soy, No By-Products Chelated Minerals

Reilly Goes To Mahoney State Park

We went on a trip to the Mahoney State Park this morning and it was PAWSOME!!!! Mom took so many photos that I had to put them into a slide show rather then just putting them one after another here. We saw the house where butterflies live - I always thought they lived in the garden, but no ! They have their own house. We saw some REALLY big dogs....mom says they are horses but they look like dogs to me. They really smell too.....you know I am not a fan on baths but phew....they could do with one. Mom says the horse-dogs were very clean and that horse stables always smell like that. I did have a strange urge to roll on some of those big brown lumps on the ground that were all around where the horse-dogs were standing. Mom didn't think that was such a good idea and said if I did I would be getting a bath!!!! We also saw some Shetland ponies and I am a Shetland Sheepdog , does that make us cousins? I barked hello but the little guy must of had a cold because it just made these funny little winny noises and I couldn't understand it. There was also lot of big baths around the park ...mom says they are ponds and lakes. Now don't be shocked, but there was actually people on these little floaty things, right in the middle of the water. Good doggness - don't they know they could get wet !!! I was very glad to see that the bath mom called a pond had a leak and all the water was running out....mom called it a babbling brook - it looked like a leak to me. We had such a great morning and really only got to see about a quarter of the park - which means I can go back three more times before I see it all !!!!

How odd

Mom had been reading a lot about Bully Sticks on different blogs and sites she peruses and it was only recently that our pet store got some in. The actual sticks are quite expensive - $4.99 for a single 6" stick but we were at the other pet store earlier in the week and mom come across these - bully nuggets. Now what is odd is that I didn't actually like the bully stick (it's in my toy box at the moment) but these bully nuggets are very good. That is what mom was using as a training treat and if you heard on the video yesterday, they are also very crisp and crunchy. Mom doesn't know if these are a new product as our pet store has only just started carrying them but they could have been around for ages. The main thing is they are very very good - so all you bully stick lovers can now have bully nuggets too. Mom is only giving me little bits at the moment to see whether my tummy can handle them and so far is seems okay.

Learning to touch, stand and jump up

Mom finally got a video made so here is my Tricky T-Day training for Ludo. First, mom made a special stool for me this morning so I could do these tricks. It was originally her "under the computer desk foot stool" but it had a wooden surface that I found a bit slippery so she found some material and padding and made it non slippy. We started with the touch command which is one I have known since I was a young pupster, so the only new thing about that was touching the stool. Next came standing on the stool and this is something new I learned today (did I mention the stool is wobbly - it is!!) As I was doing so well with that, mom thought she would also teach me 'jump-up' which is where I jump up and sit on the stool. It may look easy but getting all of BIG me to sit on that on that teeny tiny stool was asking a lot. Mom apologizes for the lead but as you can see my attention span isn't very good. Mom has had all the windows and doors open today and there is so much going on outside that I was constantly wanting to go outside to bark and let everyone know I am enjoying the cool weather. We have next weeks trick already planned. Thanks for watching.

Walking in the rain

For the first time in what seems months we have actually had a few cool days so mom and I decided to go on a walk. Needless to say by time we got half way up the street it started to rain and you know how much I dislike water - but it wasn't going to stop me, I was a dog on a mission - to check out every smell before the rain washed them away. So yes, by time we got home I was rather wet and bedraggled looking - mom on the other hand had the sense to take a big umbrella with her. Having just has a bath on the weekend my coat didn't quite have it's normal water repellent quality that it usually has so it was out with the big fluffy towel when we got back and that also ment a game of tuggy. Mom and I always play tuggy towel after I have a bath and I am dried off. It was still the best walk though - even if I did get wet and you know what - I didn't even shrink!! I wonder if all those funny people playing golf in the rain shrank though?












This morning mom and I have also been working on a new trick. Mom has been trying to make a video of it but I get bored with it and wander off all the time. Mom thinks she may have to put my lead on so I will stay in front of the camera. Hopefully we have something to share soon.

Dogervising - Yellow

Mom and I love to check out Autumn's Wheelie Wednesday over on Maggie and Mitch's blog. Today she was finding everything orange and had some of the prettiest flowers. We don't have a lot in our garden because we have a flower monster that likes to sleep on mom plants or chew its bones while laying on the flowers. Mom says our house is also part of home owners association and they are rather strict on what you can do in your gardens - mom doesn't like that at all. We rent our house and mom was SHOCKED when they said you couldn't change anything as she had never heard of this home owners association thing before coming to the USA.

Today though, I have been out on my step keeping watch and making sure that monster stayed away. We don't have any orange in our garden like Autumn does but we do have yellow, so here is what mom found before the monster got to them. First off is mom's yellow tomatoes. We have two varieties, the yellow cherry tomato and a yellow roma tomato. The yellow roma's seem to be taking forever to grow and ripen. So far we have had only had 2 from the plant even though it is covered with green ones. Mom has also been a bit disappointed as these yellow tomatoes were both meant to be low acid and the cherry ones are not so mom can't eat those. I tried one but didn't like it at all !!!! Luckily dad likes them - he has them with real mozerella, olive oil and balsamic vinager.

The next thing mom found was some pretty yellow marigolds. Mom has always loved marigolds and use to grow them back home in Australia where she grew giant ones called Jezabels. She hasn't been able to find that species here. She also love the small Spanish marigolds that comes in shades of deep red and browns. I am not to fond of these marigold because in my last tussle with the garden monster he rolled me over onto one of them and the I smelt like marigolds for days.

And lastly, was a bucketful of lilies that Franklin mom gave us and they are yellow too. Mom was going to let them dry out and store them for planting next year but they just keep on flowering. So that is a little tour of the yellow things in our garden.

Boring Weekend

It has been a very quiet weekend as it rained most of the time and we really haven't done anything. We have some news to share about Franklin's mom though. She came home late Saturday after the doctors decided that given her age there really wasn't anything they could do except to keep her pain free. She has a crumbling spine and has already had 11 operations and to try and fix it. Mom hasn't been able to go and visit yet as 'she who is never seen- dad's hooman daughter" has some sort of virus causing bronchitis and mom doesn't want to risk Franklin's mom getting that and it putting her back in hospital. We did see Franklin Saturday morning although he was more then a little tipsy. Franklin suffers so badly when it thunders that he has to have a tranquilizer otherwise he hyperventilates and trembles from butt to nose. Saturday morning we had a really bad storm so Bonnies daughter gave him one of his 'wobbly' pills. He is so funny to watch as he staggers around looking for all the world as if he had just come out of pub. It does help him though and that is the main thing.

Learning to share

Mom says I wasn't being a very gracious host yesterday because I was 'dogging' the vent. Mom showed Franklin that we have lots of vents to choose from and lots of cool tile floor but he wanted to stay close to me. He also wanted lots of fussing from MY dad and I wasn't to sure I liked that. I don't mind him having a quick pat but he jumped up on my dad's knee for a full on cuddle !!!!! I didn't mind at all when he had a cuddle with my mom - but having cuddles with MY dad - I am not to sure about that. Mom says that it is good for me to learn to share but isn't there some things that are just not meant to be shared - like dad's????? I shared my bones, my treats, my water dish, by yard, my mom, my toys - but my dogness - sharing my dad just didn't seem right. I wasn't mean or anything, I didn't growl or try to push Franklin away but I certainly let dad know I wasn't very happy with him - he's MY dad and he should only cuddle me.

An update on Franklins Mom

I thought I would give an update on Franklin's mom - Bonnie. She has had to go into the hospital today as they have found she has stress fractures in her spine. She has to be there for about 3 weeks while they see what they can do to help her. Bonnie's son is going to come and live at her house to take care of Franklin and the kitties - but during the day while he is at work Franklin is going to come and visit with me so he won't be lonely. Those hissy kitties have each other and can take care of themselves - besides they always make funny noises when I see them and I don't like them!!!!!

For Martha and Bailey - Lots of Barking

Mom and I were playing chase around the house this morning and when we play chase I love to bark (actually I am laughing at mom because she can't catch me) So here is a video for Martha and Bailey who wanted to hear some barking. I forgot to mention - mom and I had been playing chase for about 20 minutes before she made this video - so I was pretty much all chased out when we got to this point.

Lawn Mowing Day

Monday is when the lawn care men come to our house which also means the day I go crazy telling them off for being in MY yard. Well a little bit crazy anyway, mom usually keeps me inside until they finish. I did get to bark out them for awhile when they doing the outside of my fence though. Mom came outside to see if I was still barking at them or because I wanted to go see Franklin - that is his house across the way.

Mom and I are also very worried about Franklin's mom Bonnie - she hasn't been well since Sunday and when mom and I went to visit her this afternoon, we MADE Bonnie call the doctors and get an appointment. Bonnie is diabetic and has C.O.P.D and any little sniffle can turn quickly into bronchitis. It is also Bonnies surprise birthday next weekend and everyone wants her to be well enough for that. (mom got mixed up and thought it was the past weekend but her birthday is on the 15th) So please...... if you have some to spare - can you send some nice doggie wishes Bonnie's way.

Birthday Surprise For Franklin's Mom

Mom has been busy all morning working on Bonnie's birthday present that I am going to give her. I wasn't too happy about ignored all morning but I guess because it is for Bonnie it is okay. It is a mini scrapbook 8" x 8" all about Franklin. The cover is a nice chocolate linen fabric and it has lots and lots of pages.















I dogervised from under the table where mom was working (where there just happens to be a nice cool vent too. Mom has done all the pages but only about half them have photos of Franklin on them. She left the other half blank for future photos. On the last page the is also an "All About Franklin" that his mom can fill in. Mom apologizes for the quality but it is 96 degrees outside and when she went out her camera steamed up because it is so humid. Mom also kept the page very simple as she thought Bonnie might like to write comments or add additional photos to the pages.

Another walk

We went for another walk in the park today - we being Franklin and myself and of coarse the moms. Franklin's mom (Bonnie) is going to be 80 next weekend and we are going to a surprise birthday party for her......we can say that here cause she doesn't have a computer so she won't know. Mom has been working on a special gift that I am going to give her. While at the park I was also working diligently on my slobbering technique and look - I got a nice long slobber going!!!! We also met up with the Labs again and had great time saying hello and then running with them. Franklin of coarse had some trouble keeping up with us but that was okay as one of the Labs has a bad hip just like Franklin - so they sort of ploddered along together. Mom made a couple of videos that she put together to make one - it is fairly long but you will get to see our park and the lake and meeting up with the labs. There was also lots of geese on the lake and mom tried to get a close up but they were just a little to far away.

Wordless Wednesday

If you go down into the woods today.....

We had the MOST beautiful morning, the sun was shining, it was cool and there was a nice breeze blowing so off we went to the Platt River State Park to have a wander through the forest. I can not even begin to tell you how many pawsome smells there were. Here I am at the start of our walk - (remember you can click on the photos to see them bigger) we crossed 7 bridges in total and I check every one for trolls - but I didn't see any. There was water flowing under all of them though so maybe they got washed away in the last rain we had. We have been to this park many times before but mom says she has never seen it looking so beautiful.












We finally came to mom's favorite place. It is a very small waterfall (about 4 foot high) that the water runs over. It has just a slow trickle over it but it sounds so pretty. Mom tried her best to get me to dip my toes in the cold water - but I was not having any of that. I planted my paws and refused....looking from a distance was just fine. I even tried hiding behind this grass so mom couldn't see me....I thought it was a good hiding spot.












We walked and walked and followed paths up and down and around trees and I must admit I wondered if mom knew where she was going, but yes eventually we came out at a very big river. First I had to check out the strange things that were blocking our path. It looked like a big metal snake but mom said if was railway line and it would be okay to cross after we checked there were no trains coming. This is of coarse the Platt River and it is quite shallow but flows fast. We were just enjoying the quiet when we suddenly heard a loud loud noise and around the bend came an airboat - like you see in Florida. I didn't like that and all and barked loudly to tell them to go away. After our walk in the park we also went to see a Craft Faire. There wasn't a lot there and what few items we looked at were very expensive. Needless to say I snoozed all the way home.













Mom couldn't resist making another video so here is a bit of out walk for to enjoy. You can see me checking for the trolls and if you have the volume up you can hear the birds.