My New Love

No...this is not my new love. This is Hope and while I like her well enough, she can be a bit testy if you get too close. While she looks peaceful enough, she can bare some nasty looking teeth if she feels you encroaching on her space. Don't let that bow fool you.
And while I love Aunt Patti, she is not my new love. Patti is worth some wild wiggles when I first see her, but it's more of a familial thing, not a hum-a-hum-a kind of thing.
And no, my Grandmother, while an amazing bowler, is not my new love either. Yeah, like Patti I love her because she gives me big stockings at Christmas filled with goodies and she occasionally drops delicious morsels when she's cooking, but she's not my new love.

No, my new love is young and sweet and blond -- just like me. She's fast on her feet, kind to strangers, and quick with her strong tail. She knows how to play fetch and she's always up for a game of chase.

Lola is my new love and I can hardly wait until I see her again...
Of course, my moms tell me she'll be bigger than me the next time we get to play together, but that's okay because I like big girls as much as I like puppies like Lola.

It was a good Christmas -- stockings, snow, and a new friend!

My Mama Told Me It Would Be Like This

New snow on the maple tree outside our front step.

I was born in a small town in the center of Oregon. All around me there were beautiful mountains and my mama told me, in the winter, snow fell around our home. Lots of snow. Deep snow. And it was the most glorious feeling to run and roll and dig and leap through the blankets of white.

I was young and had no idea what snow was, but I believed my mama and dreamed one day that I'd know snow in the way she described. Then I was adopted by my new family and they took me north to the sea. When I left home, my mama told me that I may never see the kind of snow they had where I was born and I was sad because I really wanted to know snow the way my mama talked about it.

As a pup, I got to go to the mountains around my new home and more than once, traveled over those mountains to spend long winter days playing in the snow while my new family skied. I got to know what snow was and grew to love it more than I ever imagined. But still, I wanted "home snow" as I'd come to call it -- snow that feel by my house, on my street, and in my neighborhood.

This year, I got my wish. Snow fell and snow is still falling, much to the displeasure of some humans in my life. Still, we've skied, we've walked, we've played odd games of fetch-the-frisbee under the snow bank. Ice balls have formed on my legs more times than I can count and I've buried my head as deep as it will go into large, fluffy piles of the white stuff.

This is what my mama was talking about...
This morning, more snow is falling. We already have about 8 inches on the ground and they predict up to another 6 by this afternoon. Mama Ann goes out in it often to shake the snow from the bamboo plants. This morning she did so in her pajamas and I watched.
She's used to snow since she grew up in a place like where I was born -- known for its snow. Still, you'd think she'd change out of her pajamas.This is our street. Most of the cars were cleared of snow last night as many of our neighbors went out yesterday. So, the snow you see on their cars fell just this morning. In her pajamas still, Mama Ann went out and shoveled the walkway.
My mom told me that snow was wonderful, but she never told me that my new family would become oddballs in the snow.More photos later...we're getting ready to go outside soon! Yippee!

I'm tired!

We skied yesterday along the lake. I was out front trying not to pull my mom by my leash. I did pretty well, but man, was I tired after that. In fact, I was still tired today when we went up to fetch Ollie. He wasn't tired at all, but watching him bound and play made me exhausted.


He's a bouncy boy and he looks quite fetching (to overuse a term) in his new coat that his mom bought for him. He's still wearing my boots though, but they don't bug him as much as they bug me.
I slept all afternoon once I was done with my Ollie obligations and then we went out again with Monty and Quillette to the dog park. It was empty of dogs except for us and since it was dark, we have no photos. We had a big dinner when we got home and now I'm curled up asleep in the TV room while mom reads my notes for this blog.

More snow tonight! Hope I get lots of rest so we can ski again!

I Thought It Was Global Warming????

I woke up to 18 degrees and snow still on the ground with more predicted this afternoon along with wind gusts up to 90 miles an hour. (I'm a good dog, I listen to the radio weather report every morning!) So, I put on my warm coat, my black booties, and we headed out to get a good romp before the snowstorm hits. On the way, we stopped at the grocery store and got "stove top essentials"...that's what my moms call it since we can still use our stove top when/if the power goes out.

After we dropped off the groceries, we picked up Perdito. We tried to take Oshi with us, but he wouldn't step onto the snow and literally froze in his tracks. Perdito, on the other hand, is a Husky dog at heart. He loved the snow, though snow balls form on his paws just like mine so momma Ann had to pick them off!
Quillette LOVES the snow and even found a frozen tennis ball on our walk to the park. She chewed it soft and then used her ears as radar to hear an update on the incoming storm.
Meanwhile, I played with my frisbee. With the deep snow and the white out conditions, it was hard to find tennis balls thrown for me, so they brought out my neon green frisbee and we had a great game fetch.
When we got home, Quillette and I had a hearty breakfast while Momma Gretchen made a sausage, spinach, broccoli and onion frittata. It smelled yummy. Hope she saved some of that sausage for me! All this cold weather makes a boy mighty hungry!

I'm just wild about snow!

My paws have thawed out enough to give the afternoon report. If you didn't see the morning report, check rainingagain.blogspot.com for mom's blog update. She was kind enough to type for me earlier. My paws were a tad bit frozen.

We went out again today -- Monty, Quillette, and me. We got kind of wild -- wrestling (Monty and me) and chewing sticks (Quillette and me). The snow is still falling. Can you believe it? My moms tell me that this is the most snow we've had in a long, long time. Well before I was born, they say, there were times when snow like this hit the city.

Everyone was a bit surprised this year. It's been unseasonably warm most of this winter and then BAM! icy cold and WHAM! hit by snow. I'm not complaining. I love the snow. In fact, I think I love all the phases of water -- liquid and solid especially, but even that evaporation phase is kind of cool.

Enough of the science lesson. Here are this afternoon's photos o' fun!

Quillette and her stick. That's my head at the corner of the photo. I'm eyeballing that stick!


This is me after burying my head in the snow. I LOVE to bury my head in the snow. I can pick up some extra-special scents when I do it and it makes me extremely happy when ice forms on my whiskers.
Monty and I had just finished a wild game of chase and wrestle when this photo was snapped. He's panting slightly, but as you can tell from the smile on his face, he's super-duper happy.

And here we are playing chase. I like to pop out of the bushes and Monty likes to lie in wait. It's a hard photo to nab, but mom did an nice job snapping it just in time.

They just announced -- NO SCHOOL TOMORROW! That means I'll be home with both my moms. What a glorious, glorious life!

No Snow...wait...snow?

Not much snow as Monty and I played chase in the park. By the afternoon yesterday, in fact, the snow was completely gone. And momma Ann even got the day off from school for a SNOW DAY! Without SNOW! What a magical world.

Quillette is staying with us for part of the holiday break. She slept upstairs on my other bed last night and we all woke up to a mighty crack of thunder. We all thought the house was going to split in two! After the ruckus, Quillette headed downstairs where I found her sleeping ON THE COUCH! I never get to sleep on the couch! Why's that?

We all slept a smidge more and then looked outside. Guess what? SNOW! And it's still snowing as we prepare to go out for the day. Stay tuned for more snow photos soon!

7 Ways To Survive Freezing Temperatures

1. Avoid kissing on the lips...

2. Wear a warm hat...

3. Play a game of chase or a game of... "Don't let your feet hit the ground!"

4. Get your buddy to leap out at you when you least expect it...

5. Leap at your buddy when he least expects it...

6. Leap for no apparent reason (though it helps to have a ball in your mouth -- I'm not sure why, but it does)...

7. When all is said and done, bundle up and set your eyes on fire!

Recipe for Mischief

3 cups of sun and truckloads of snow
Mix until well-blended with two frisky boys
And one early morning frost
Whip together a puree of ice balls with a dash of curls
Whisk in one more friend
Chill for an hour
Then serve in the wind...

Weeeeeeeee!

Okay, I'll admit it. I like Ollie. He's not on the level of Monty as a buddy, but he's close. He likes to have fun, just like me. He likes to hop and wrestle and play chase, which frankly is about the best game ever.

Yesterday, we headed for the tennis courts, but imagine. Someone was actually playing tennis. Yeah, just ONE person. How, you may ask? Well, he had this machine that shot out tennis balls across the court where he stood slamming them back. Silly, though it would be fun to have one of those machines! So we headed over to the little field at the park and mom let us go. Well, Ollie had to drag his leash so we could catch him easier, but we still got to run free.

Quillette was with us and she found a stick. I stole the stick...I mean, I borrowed the stick from her and then it was "game on" as Ollie tried to take the stick away from me. He didn't, of course, but I kept giving him hope letting the stick dangle out long so he could grab it and slowing down so he could catch up.

Quilette, on the other hand, found another stick and just laid down with it and chewed. Ollie found that kind of fascinating as well.There is snow in the forecast today and when I went out to do my business this morning, I could smell it in the air. It's cold, mighty cold and if the predictions are correct (my moms said to be wary of weather forecasts) we could get a dumping! Oh I do hope so! Imagine how much fun I'd have with all my pals then! Just imagine!

Today, is a Monty day, but it won't be as fun as yesterday. We're off to the spa for a pedicure, shampoo, and styling. I hate going to the spa. Monty actually likes it so if I have to go, it's fun to go with him. We're having a party at our house tonight so my moms wanted me to look my best. I'm not a big fan of parties either, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Hopefully, my new haircut will stay fresh and beautiful for a visit from my grandparents tomorrow. I know they like me all fresh and clean.

Then after they leave, if it snows, I can go out and get really, really wet and dirty.

Who's decorating the tree?

Boys will be Boys!

There's not much to say except, perhaps, that Fridays are my favorite days. I get Monty all to myself. And, as you can see, we had a time of it today on our secret wooded path. He chased me...he wrestled with me...he waited to ambush me...
...and in the end...
...we made our way home for a nice nap and noon snack. What a good dog life!

How Cute Is This?

My moms say I'm really cute, but I don't see it. I'm just an average guy in an average curly coat. That's what I've always thought until my mom snapped this picture.

Today was an Ollie day, but we decided to pick up Monty so he could meet Ollie. I knew they'd hit it off and they did! We spent the day at the park chasing balls and chasing each other, but unfortunately, mom forgot the camera. On our way back from the park, two women in a car stopped us and commented on how cute were were. That made mom decide to swing by the house and get the camera. She made us sit on the front step, but Monty was tired (we'd had two busy days in a row) so he laid down.

Ollie sat quite patiently for such a young guy, but I was too nervous to sit as the edge of the porch was very close so I found safety standing over Ollie. He didn't seem to mind and in the end, well, it made for quite a cute photograph, if I do say so myself. There's something about an oodle dog, isn't there?

Who tires first?

We played fetch at the park today -- me, Monty, and Lucy. Monty is the oldest and therefore tires first. Of course, this shot was taken after we'd played fetch for quite awhile AND Monty and I had played chase through the bushes...

I AM in this picture (above) making my way through the bushes. It's a game I play with Monty. I race around the bushes and then cut through a tunnel-like passageway. Usually it throws him off, but today he figured it out and is waiting for me just outside the hole in the bushes. If you look closely, you can see me in the center of the picture!

Lucy tires last. She always does. In fact, I don't think she's really tires at all. In the above shot, she's waiting for the ball to be thrown again. The only time she holds still is when someone else has the ball, but she's whimpering in this picture even though you can't hear it!

Even in this shot, Lucy is hunched in anticipation of the ball flinging across the field. I'm barking because I think that's what all this waiting is about. Monty is just happy. I'm happy, too and I suppose, in Lucy's obsessed way, she's happy as well.