Stealth Dog

The mighty hunter lies in wait on his deck for an unsuspecting creature (man or beast) to dare cross his territory.  Hidden behind the lush green foliage of a hydrangea, he's all but invisible to the world.

Upon visualization of his prey, the mighty hunter let's out an equally mighty roar ("Woof") and scares the unsuspecting creature half to death.

Ah...what fun!

Vacation!

Pa, Ma, and I are on vacation this week (Sister's at home struggling to get by without her Administrative Assistant) which means that I get plenty of....

DECK TIME!!!!!

All this deck time and the week's not even done yet!  

Best vacation ever!

An Extreme Lapse in Security

Allow me to set the scene.  It was a pleasantly cool sunny day in late September and I was taking full advantage of the weather by napping on the deck out east.  With homeland security always foremost in my mind, I purposely positioned myself so that I was facing out toward the street, ready to pounce should an intruder attack.  To the untrained eye, I might have appeared to be sleeping, but it was all a ruse.  I was a coiled spring ready to defend my turf at a moment’s notice. 

So ready was I that, a few minutes later, from what appeared to be a dead sleep, I was awakened by the smell of squirrel on the wind.  Snout in the air, I successfully tracked the furry little interloper across the deck and into the backyard.

But when I came back up onto the deck after showing the squirrel the door, Ma, who was also taking part in deck-time, was laughing at me.  It was only later, when Ma was talking to Pa, that I learned why she was laughing.  Apparently, there had been a massive breach in security.

Here’s what Ma saw:

Ma was sitting on the deck, reading her book, and, not far out in front of her, I was snoozing.  Suddenly, Ma heard a scuttling sound of tiny paws coming up from behind her.  She looked up from her book just in time to see a squirrel come strolling out from under her chair.  In disbelief, Ma watched as the squirrel continued walking forward and right past me acting, for all the world, like I wasn’t even there.  I, meanwhile, continued to snooze totally undisturbed.

A second later, Ma witnessed a second squirrel come scuttling up onto the porch and come to a halt besides her.  Ma watched in disbelief as the squirrel just stood there, completely oblivious of her and me.  Concerned that this entire event could end poorly, Ma moved her leg as a way of alerting the squirrel to the fact that he was not alone on the porch.  It was a good thing that she did because, based on the startled jump it did straight into the air, the squirrel wasn’t even remotely aware that he wasn’t alone.  I, meanwhile, continued snoozing.  After a moment, the squirrel regained his composure, did a reverse face, and hightailed it into the backyard.

It was shortly thereafter that I was awakened by the smell of squirrel on the wind.  Snout in the air, I successfully tracked the furry little interloper across the deck and into the backyard.

Needless to say, this entire event highlighted an extreme lapse in my security system and proved to be beyond embarrassing for me personally.  A full inquiry into the events of that cool sunny day will commence shortly.

Deck-Time

Comfort is really important to me.  Now, obviously this is not a stop the presses moment to my loyal readers.  I know that I wax poetic about comfort all the time on this blog.  And as a result, you all know my go to comfort spots including...

the couch,

Sister's bed,

my pillow,

and the nice cool floor.

But there's one other place--one special place--that is quite possibly my all-time favorite relaxation zone.  It is none other than the porch out east.

Now, I know what you're thinking.  How could a hard splinter filled porch compete with a nice soft bed?  Well, it does.

It's called "deck-time" in my house.  As the winter turns into spring and the warmth of the sun starts overcoming the chill in the air, I take every opportunity I can get to spend all my waking (and non-waking) hours sprawled out on the deck soaking in the sun.  With my giant water bowl beside me and my spare pillow at my disposal, I can spend hours out there.  And I don't even need company.  Pa and Ma can come and go from the deck to the yard to the house and I won't bat an eye or bark hysterically (yes, Rigby, the King of Barking, who barks at everything real and imagined and never wants to be left alone for fear of being left out of an exciting event or maybe a snack, actually lounges quietly by himself for hours on end ignoring passing dogs, squirrels, and humans).

And I take advantage of my entire deck when I'm out there.  I start in a nice sunny spot facing the street then, when the view gets old or I've drooled excessively in that spot, I get up, get a drink of water, and find a new spot facing the backyard.  A little while later, I get up again, get another drink, and relocate to a third spot.  As long as it's a sunny spot on my deck, it's got my name on it.

Of course, it's possible to overdo a good thing and sometimes my family has to interrupt my lounging to suggest that maybe I've spent enough time in the sun and should come in and cool off (it's never good when you start smelling like roasted chicken).  They're right of course, but even still it is always hard to walk away from my deck...unless of course the air conditioner is on inside the house.

When the Dog's Away...

Last weekend, I spend a couple of stress-free days out east.  I barked at Bruno (the Boxer puppy next door), searched for deer, and lounged for hours on my deck (a favorite activity of mine).

But while I relaxed, something dreadful, appalling, disgusting, and shocking was happening at home.  You see, Sister woke up on Sunday morning to find this just outside the door:

Revolting, isn't it?  A large orange cat brazenly drinking from a birdbath located in my back yard.  Talk about gall!  I mean, I barely tolerate the birds drinking from that fountain!

What is this world coming to?

My 6th Birthday

The Birthday Boy!

Happy birthday to the smartest, most handsome pup I know:  Me!  

As my loyal readers know, last Sunday was my birthday.  I am now six years old and let me tell you, as time goes by, my family and friends have really impressed me with their ability to make each birthday more spectacular than the last (though I don't believe they'll ever be able to surpass my first birthday in impressiveness--it's not every day that the entire town holds a parade for you (for those who don't remember, a summary of that day can be found here)).  So, as I was saying, this year's birthday was a real hoot.  Here's what happened:

My special day started with some quality time lounging on the deck out east.  I love deck time—lying on the wooden planks soaking in the nice warm sun and watching the world go by.  I love it so much that I’ve even worked it into a kind of tradition when we're out there.  You see, when Pa goes out first thing in the morning to buy the newspaper, I insist that Ma and I go outside onto the porch and wait for his return.  It’s a great system (and a great start to the day).

Later in the day, after Pa, Ma, and I drove home, Sister greeted me with a pretty package that Mecki and Bastille’s mom had dropped off that morning (I was a bit bummed to learn that I had missed Karin because a) she’s really nice and b) she always has a pocket full of treats).  Like the good boy I am, I waited patiently as Sister took her sweet time removing the tissue paper from the bag (I might have jumped up on her a couple of times to speed her along, but I honestly don't remember...the whole event is a bit of a blur to me now).  Anyway, once she finally got through the tissue paper, Sister reached into the bag and pulled out my birthday present!

That's right!  Mecki and Bastille gave me TWO brand new Mini-Mecks (for those not in the know, Mini-Mecks are plush squeaker toys that bear an uncanny resemblance to my bff Mecki).

Wait, Where's the Other?

My and My Mini-Meck

Sister immediately gave me the orange Mini Meck which I quickly carried into the backyard to gnaw, roll, and slobber on.  But, despite all the fun I was having, I knew that there was a second Mini-Meck waiting for me and I eventually hurried over to Sister (with the orange Mini-Meck still securely in my mouth) to retrieve it.  That's when my perfect day became a little less perfect.  Sister said I couldn't have the second Mini-Meck right then and there; she said that I'd have to wait until the next time we went out east because it was a special toy that required a big yard for an optimal playing experience (its neck is a slingshot of sorts which means Sister can send it flying across long distances).  I wasn't fond of this explanation, but I managed to get over it by concentrating on the Mini-Meck I had and my task of ripping out its squeaker which I managed to do just about 12 hours later (it's currently in the toy hospital drying out and awaiting surgery).

My Purple Hedgehog

A few hours later, Sister presented me with the birthday gift that she bought:  A purple hedgehog squeaker toy with a tennis ball stuck in its belly.  Just as I had with my orange Mini-Meck, I carried the hedgehog into the backyard and proceeded to gnaw, roll, and slobber all over it.  And let me tell you, I can't express how surprised and pleased I was when I finally managed to pry the tennis ball out of the hedgehog's belly.  My one toy had morphed into two!

Needless to say, after all that had happened, I was dead tired by the time evening finally rolled around.  But to my surprise, my birthday celebration was not over yet.  You see, after my family ate their dinner, Pa cut up some of their leftover roast beef and gave it to me along with the leftover juices and a little bit of gravy.  It was so tasty, but I couldn't help but notice that he had forgotten to give me some of the potatoes they had also had with the meal.  I'm sure it was an honest mistake.

So, like I was saying, this birthday was a particularly good one.  I got great presents, I got tasty food, and I was even given the opportunity to lounge on my porch out east.  The one thing is, I think I might have had a little too much fun as evident by the following pictures Sister took of me wearing my party hat.  What do you think?