Sands Point

Lately, it's gotten really hot again.  Nighttime isn't so bad--I spend most of it in my Sister's air conditioned room--but the daytime is really tough because, aside from the bedrooms, no other room in the house has air conditioning.  Yeah, I get to play in the doggy pool on really hot days, but sometimes it's not enough.  Now, I've heard tell of a marvelous invention called "central air" and it sounds great to me.  How could it not be?  I mean, the entire house would be cool all the time!  I wonder if my humans ever heard of it?

Anyway, Pa told me this morning that it was my lucky day.  He said that my entire family and I were going to get in the car and drive to a place where I would feel much cooler.  "Whoo hoo!" I thought.  Not only was I going to get out of this heat, but I was also going to go for a car ride (and I know for a fact that the car has air conditioning).  He wouldn't, however, tell me where we were going.

It was really hard, but I waited patiently until it was finally time to leave the house later that afternoon.  We all piled into my Sister's car and we were off.  We drove for a long time, but aside from Pa not allowing me to sit on his lap in the back seat, I really didn't mind because it was nice a cool thanks to the air conditioning.  Eventually, we turned off the main road and onto a driveway where, before long, we pulled up to a little house where Sister stopped the car.   A nice lady came out of the house, declared how handsome I was, and asked if I could have a cookie.  That's all I needed to hear!  I started pushing my way into the front seat of the car, slobbering down Sister's back (she seemed less than amused by this, but then again it was her fault--she should have gotten out of my way).  The really nice lady came back with the cookie and Sister gave it to me while she wiped the slobber off her neck.  Sister then started up the car and we drove a little while longer until we reached a parking lot where we all got out of the car.

Water!

Once out of the car, I breathed in deeply and immediately knew exactly where my family had taken me.  We were at Sands Point!  I love Sands Point and this is why:  They allow dogs to visit all year round, there are lots of hiking trails with interesting smells, there's a beach to walk on (and roll on smelly sea creatures), and best of all...I'm allowed in the water!  Despite the heat, I started pulling my family down the trail that led to the Long Island Sound (they really need to learn to walk faster).  Eventually, we made it to the beach, and after climbing over some rocks and sniffing some seaweed, we made our way down to the water.

Pa trying to get me to swim

Now if you've read my profile, you already know that I'm not a big fan of swimming.  I've done it once before, at Sands Point in fact last year, but I simply do not like it when my feet are no longer touching the ground.  I do, however, love to frolic in the water--running in and out and snapping at the shallow waves which is exactly what I did.  I had so much fun and it was so refreshing!  Pa and Sister tried to get me to swim by luring me deeper and deeper into the water (once even with a piece of cookie), but I just didn't feel like it and kept going back to Ma who kept to shallower waters.  At one point, a lady and her two little girls came over to say hello to me.  The lady was very nice, she scratched my ears and said I was a very nice boy.  The girls were troublesome; they kept saying that they wanted to see me swim.  Despite that, I let them pet my back.

Just cooling off

We played in the water for a long time and when we were done I was really, really tired.  My family declared that we should go back home, but before we did, I rolled around in the sand to take full advantage of that fresh from the sea smell.  Then we got back in the car.  I slept the whole way home!

When we got home, Pa and Ma decided that I needed a bath to get rid of all the salt water on my fur.  I wasn't happy about it, but honestly, I was so tired from the fun I had at Sands Point that I didn't put up a fuss at all.

Where's the Beef?

Today I learned that things aren't always what they seem.

Shortly after Sister left for work this afternoon, I began to feel a bit peckish.  I knew that it was at least a couple of hours before my dinnertime, so I decided to take matters into my own paws.  I scanned the kitchen counter tops and dining room table searching for the perfect snack.  It was then I saw it:  a bag of hamburger buns resting on the server in the dining room.

I knew this job wasn't going to be easy.  You see, the table and the kitchen counters are positioned in such a way that accessing items left too close to the edge is relatively easy.  The server is a bit trickier.  There are numerous obstacles to overcome if I want something off of that surface including a potted plant and the coffee machine.  Anyway, after sizing up the situation, I cautiously approached the server, grabbed hold of the bag with my front teeth, and scurried into the living room.

Of course, just because I got the bag didn't mean I was home free; I still had to get into the bag (and in a timely manner of course--not only was I hungry but my humans could potentially return home from work at any moment).  Wasting little time, I quickly tore into the bag throwing shreds of plastic and that little square plastic clip used to keep the bag closed to either side of me.  Finally, my efforts were rewarded; the hamburger rolls were free.  Salivating, I took a big bite. 

(A word of caution:  The next part of my story is truly terrifying.  Those with weak stomachs may wish to stop reading now).

There weren't any hamburgers!  The bag was filled only with rolls!  Talk about false advertising!  Nowhere on that bag did it say that the hamburgers were not included.  In fact, the bag actually had a picture of a hamburger on it with all the fixings.  Which begs the question:  Where were my hamburgers?  You know, if I hadn't shredded the contact us information on the bag, I would write a strongly worded letter to that bakery.

Ultimately, I ate the rolls, but I wasn't happy about it.

Company, Water Fun, and an Arrogant Bunny

It's been a busy couple of days for me.

On Saturday night my good friends Gina and Lou came over to fawn all over me (they said they came over to eat dinner and watch a baseball game, but come on, we all know they came to visit me).  They have a herd of cats (which isn't nearly as bad as having a herd of bunnies), but I like them anyway.  I think I might have creeped them out a bit though.  You see, I love to lick people's feet and legs (there are lots of good tastes there you know).  Sometimes, I even manage to hypnotize myself while doing this; one second I'm licking away and suddenly I find myself with my tongue, all dried out, stuck to someone's leg.  Now, for some reason, Gina and Lou were less than enthusiastic about me washing their legs (then again, Pa isn't too enthusiastic about this either), so I got scolded a few times.  No hard feelings though, I let them scratch my ears and rub my belly all they wanted.  I can't wait for them to visit again!

On Sunday Pa took me outside in the backyard to play in the water.  I had a lot of puppy energy in me that day so I started to run around like mad!  Apparently I was having so much fun that Pa decided to join in on the game as well.  Every time I passed by Pa, he threw a bucket of water in the direction I was running so that while I passed I could snap at the water droplets.  We played many rounds of this game.  It was a lot of fun and I got really wet (wet is good so long as shampoo is not included)!

Yesterday, when I went outside with my Sister at lunch time, I noticed that the stupid bunny that nibbles on our fruits and vegetables (only I'm allowed to nibble on the produce--my favorites are cherry tomatoes, strawberries, and raspberries) hopping around like he didn't have a care in the world.  "What is wrong with this bunny?" I thought as I charged the fence (my humans put a small fence between me and the vegetable garden because I have a tendency to trample the plants while playing with the dog next door).  When I could go no further I started barking hysterically telling that stupid bunny to get loss!  And do you know what that stupid bunny did?  He stretched.  How rude!  Sister, who's always got my back, jumped over the fence and drove the bunny off the property.  As the bunny scurried away I barked "And don't come back!"  Hopefully it will take my warning seriously.

The Doggy Pool

It's been really hot.  I mean really, really hot.  It's days like these that make me wish I didn't have my gorgeous golden locks.  I know they're very becoming on me, but how would you feel if you had to wear a fur coat in 90 degrees plus heat?  It's not particularly fun let me tell you. 

 

Me in my pool

Yesterday, Sister came up with the perfect way of beating the heat (well, second best...sleeping in the air conditioning will always be number one):  she set up the doggy pool!  I love my doggy pool.  It provides me just enough water to play in yet not enough water that I might actually have to swim (I don't like it when my feet leave the ground).  I also appreciate the fact that my pool doesn't have waves.  The only problem I have is the annoying penguins wearing swimmies that are painted on the bottom.  They're a bit distracting--I try again and again to pull them up but all I get is snoutfuls of water.

Anyway, as soon as Sister pulled my pool out of the garage and put it down on the patio I got excited.  In fact, I was so looking forward to the fun coming my way that I jumped into the pool before Sister could even turn on the water.  When she finally did turn the water on, I started lapping it up as it flowed from the hose.  Now I'm not sure anyone else is aware of this, but I've noticed that water direct from the backyard hose tastes worlds better than any water I find sitting in my water dish (even when there are ice cubes floating in it).  Anyway, aside from liking the taste, it's also my personal goal of someday drinking the water faster than it fills the pool.  I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.

Trying to catch a penguin

After drinking my fill, I decided to just stand around and let the cool water wash over my tootsies.  It felt really good; really refreshing.  After cooling off a bit I decided that I should have a go at one of those penguins at the bottom of my pool.   I picked out a penguin and furiously started to dig.  Now, for some reason, my humans don't have a problem with me digging in my pool.  I know; it doesn't make sense to me either.  Why is digging in the flower beds so different from digging in the pool?  It really seems to be pretty much the exact same thing to me.  I guess it falls under the category that humans are fickle creatures.  Anyway, I never did catch the penguin.  I did, however, manage to get not only myself soaking wet (which made me feel a little bit cooler), but my Sister as well (she seemed less than pleased for some reason). 

Even clean up was fun!  At the end of the day it was Sister's job to bail out all the water I had failed to slosh out when I was digging for penguins.  I watched with great interest as she used a giant pail to throw the pool's water across the lawn.  "Flying water?" I thought, "that looks like fun!"  I waited patiently for Sister to fill the next bucket and just as she tossed its contents into the air I ran after the airborne water biting at it.  I managed to catch some of the flying water, but mostly I succeeded at getting myself soaking wet again.  Sister and I continued to play our catch the water game until the doggy pool was (sadly) empty.  

Look how cool & happy I am

Obviously, I had a grand time yesterday.  But do you know what the most amazing part of the entire experience was?  I was so preoccupied with my pool that I completely forgot about my obsessive search for the stupid bunny that keeps appearing in our vegetable garden.  It's amazing the power the doggy pool has!

Way Too Excited

I'm very excitable by nature.  Sometimes, however, I become too excited.

It all started when a large box was delivered to our door by the mailman.  When Sister dragged it into the house I was a little afraid (large things moving can be scary you know), but I overcame my fear when I noticed the wafting smell of dinner coming from it and proceeded to sniff the box all over as my tail wagged around and around in circles.  Later, when Pa came home from work, he opened the box and I discovered that my sniffer was correct.  There were two bags of kibble in that box and they were both for me--whoo hoo!  Pa opened the first bag, hoisted it on his shoulder, and began to pour it into the tin in which my food is kept.  Spotting my opportunity, I quickly slithered in, jammed my snout into the stream of kibble falling from the bag, and began eating as quickly as I could knowing full well that Pa couldn't keep the kibble off the floor and me out of the kibble stream at the same time.  Sister got a video of my windfall and here it is: 

Later in the evening, my family noticed that I was very restless and figured that if there was any chance of them watching that big glowing box in the living room in peace, they'd have to occupy me with something.  Pa knew the perfect thing and went into the basement to retrieve it.  I followed attentively and was overjoyed when Pa emerged from the basement with an old towel for me to lay on and something that smelled really really good.  I raced into the living room and tried to help Pa lay the towel out on the ground by grabbing it in my teeth and pulling.  Apparently, Pa didn't find this very helpful; he gave me a stern "No" and told me to sit down.  After Pa finished laying down the towel, he placed a brand new rawhide bone on it and told me to "take."  I scurried over, grabbed the bone and started chewing immediately.  Then I started rolling on my back.  Then I started yanking on the loose pieces of rawhide.  Then I started the whole process over again.  As much fun as I was having, I eventually started to become overwhelmed with my new bone--I just didn't know what I should do next.  I became so overwhelmed with excitement that eventually all I could do was stare at my rawhide bone and cry piteously.  Because I seemed to be in distress and obviously not enjoying myself any longer, Ma came and took my bone away saying that I could have it again the next day.  It might sound weird, but I was really kind of grateful she took it from me--I wouldn't want to waste a perfectly good rawhide on a day when I wasn't able to fully enjoy it.

Happy Father's Day!

This weekend was Father's Day weekend (yeah, technically it is only one day but Pa is so great he deserves the entire weekend).  I love my Pa a lot.  He really "gets me" and is always looking out for "his boy."

Pa and me (I'm on the right)

This weekend's fun started on Saturday when I helped Pa fix the washing machine.  Sadly, I wasn't allowed to actually help Pa take the washer apart (which really would have been a lot of fun--I'm great at breaking things), but I did get my chance to help when Pa started cleaning out the vent pipes.  What he did was hook an old towel to the end of one of my leashes then pulled the leash and towel through the tube thereby cleaning it.  I watched him do this a couple of times and I thought to myself, "I can help," so I grabbed hold of the towel and gave it a yank in the opposite direction.  Pa was very grateful for my help.

Next Pa took me outside to play in the yard.  After helping me check the perimeters, Pa decided to sit down and read a book while I kept an ever vigilant eye out for rogue bunnies.  After a while, however, I got restless so I went in search of something to chew on which I found in the form of a branch a squirrel had dropped from its nest high above in the tree.  I looked back at Pa and his book; he looked so bored.  He wasn't even ripping out the pages and shredding them!  It was then I decided that I should give Pa the opportunity to feel like a hero on his special day.  I repositioned the stick I was chewing on and...CHOMP...I managed to lodge the stick across the roof of my mouth.  Revving up a sad and pathetic look, I pitifully approached Pa and gave him the international symbol for "help, something is stuck on the roof of my mouth" (it goes something like "haaack" for those not in the know).  Obligingly, Pa put his book aside and, after going in wrist deep, managed to pluck the offending stick from my mouth.  I wagged my tail at Pa and he shook his head, rubbed my ear, and called me an idiot.  My hero!

The next day, the official Father's Day, was just as much fun!

First thing in the morning, Pa and Sister took me to the doggy toy store where Pa bought me a new collar (while I love my new black collar, I really wanted the collar stamped with bat signals--it would have made me look tough), food, greenies, and a brand new bone.  While we were there I met a number of new human friends who oohed and ahhed at how handsome I am.

Later in the day we had present time.  Sister placed my present for Pa in a big brown bag and handed it to me with the instructions to "Bring to Pa."  Well, I was so excited that I got a bit carried away and rather than bring the bag to Pa, I grabbed it and started ripping the bag to shreds.  After a second or so, I suddenly discovered that the brown bag was not empty--there was a bag of Beggin' Strips (It's BACON!) in there!  You see, I had asked Sister buy Pa a bag of Beggin' Strips about a week ago, but I've been so busy lately keeping track of all those bunnies that I completely forgot making my discovery a big surprise.  Spitting out the pieces of brown bag that were stuck on my tongue, I grabbed the Beggin' Strips bag and hightailed it out of the room and up the stairs.  Unfortunately, Pa was right behind me and managed to catch up to me before I got the opportunity to rip open the packaging.  I felt a little sheepish that I had essentially stolen back the gift I got for Pa, but he took it pretty well and gave me one of the treats to test.

Finally, rounding out the day, I got some Father's Day Surf 'n Turf.  Yum!

Holidays are great!

Lesson Learned

I learned a very important life lesson yesterday:  Never sass Ma!

Here's what happened:  Ma took me outside on Sunday to hunt bunnies (I now unfortunately have two rabbits running wild through my backyard), to get out of Sister's way (cooking in the kitchen), and to get out of Pa's way (pushing a giant, noisy, water-filled vacuum-like-machine through the house).  Usually Ma pays very close attention to what I am doing when I'm in the backyard since, apparently, I'm not trustworthy enough to be left outside without supervision, but luck was on my side that day.  The next door neighbor was outside and she and Ma started to talk.  With Ma distracted, I was, essentially, left to my own devices.

Slowly, I meandered toward the forsythia bush in the corner of the yard.  I gave a quick glance back at Ma, who was still distracted, then stealthily slipped under the plant's low-hanging branches.  My hiding place, completely shielded by the overgrowth, was like paradise to me.  It was nice and cool and the dirt felt so good under my paws.  Eventually, my inner dog came out and I started to dig.

Now I don't know if it was the mounds of dirt that I was flinging out behind me or if one of those stupid little bunnies ratted on me (my guess is the latter), but suddenly the forsythia's branches parted and Ma appeared before me hollering "Rigby!  No dig!"

Like the good dog I am, I immediately stopped digging, but just as I was about to vacate my spot, I got an idea.  Ma said I couldn't dig--she never said I couldn't wallow.  Into the hole I jumped, flipped on my back, and started wiggling in the dirt.  Ma started to laugh and called me a little rhinoceros rolling in the mud.  Eventually, however, she grabbed me by the collar and escorted me out from under the forsythia.  "Oh well," I thought, "it was fun while it lasted."

It wasn't until a little while later that Ma got her revenge on me.  She suddenly declared that I needed a bath!  For my avid readers keeping score, that's the second bath I've been forced to have in just over two weeks!  While she hosed me down with the help of Pa, Ma tried to explain to me that I needed a bath due to how quickly I had gotten dirty (both my ears and fur), but I knew she was merely getting back at me for sassing her earlier.

Why Me?

Freshly cleaned and smelling like the icky shampoo my family buys me (lavender), I rushed into the house to rub my face on the rugs in hopes of getting some of the clean smell off of me.  It was then that I discovered the second part of Ma's revenge.  It turns out that that the giant, noisy, water-filled vacuum-like-machine Pa had been pushing through the house earlier in the day was in actuality a rug cleaner.  To my distress, I found that everything smelled just like me and not in a good way.

I searched and searched throughout the house looking for an unclean area to rub against.  Eventually, I found a spot, though it didn't provide me with much room to roll.  Very bitter, I curled up and fell asleep.

A Bunny Infestation

The world is being taken over by pushy rabbits!

Henry

Exhibit A:  Henry, the stupid little bunny that keeps wandering into my yard, continues to do so and has really become quite a nuisance.  He is everywhere--in the hostas, under the pine tree, on the neighbor's lawn, under the other neighbor's porch--and while I scare him away each and every day, he always comes back.  How rude is that?  It's really starting to disrupt my life.  I can't enjoy myself in the backyard because all I do is run back and forth looking for him and protecting the perimeter.  Being inside isn't much better because I spend a fair portion of my time wondering if Henry is making himself comfortable right outside my door which just drives me crazy.

Exhibit B:  Over the weekend my family went into the city to see the play Harvey which, they tell me, is the story of a man who everyone thinks is crazy because his best friend is an unseen (and presumed imaginary) pooka that takes the form of a six foot three and a half inch tall rabbit (thankfully Henry isn't that tall).  My question is:  why would anyone want to be friends with a rabbit?

Exhibit C:  My best friend Mecki posted on his blog that he too has had to chase a bunny off his property recently.

What is this world coming to?