Long Time No Post

Us in our HUGE yard.

Yo, it’s Kai here.  Lance is sleeping, so I’ll sneak onto the screen.

I know we haven’t posted in forever.  Stuff happened.  Lots of stuff.  Dad was laid off, got a new job, we moved to a small house in Vaughan, AND we’ve moved to Texas!  That’s right,  I mean, who’d have thought that? 

Texas.

“So how’s Texas?”, y’all ask   (See how I’m down with the local lingo?)  It ROCKS.  I have a huge yard.  There are deer around.  I get to go out all the time.  And best of all, it hardly ever rains.  Sure it’s hot, but no rain?  I’ll take it any day. 

Did I tell you I have a huge yard?  I mean it’s massive.  I can go to the other side and hide out – you can’t even see me.  You can run for, like, forever.    Better yet, as soon as the rest of it gets fenced, I get two or three times that much.  I’m just waiting for one of those uppity deer to waltz onto my ground.  Then we’ll see who’s fast and who’s not.

I have found one thing in TX that’s not good.  Snakes.  I really don’t understand what possible value they have.  Mom and Dad took us to see some.  All I did was look at the evil thing and I got knocked across the yard.  (Don’s comment.  We took Kai and Lance to be ‘snake proofed’.  The idea is to expose them to snakes and use a shock collar to make the experience so negative they never want to even look at one again.  Yes, this is cruel and not for the faint of heart, but so is rushing to the emergency vet an hour away.)  So far, we’ve only seen the two snakes at that one place.  (I’m keeping an eye out though). 

You want to hear about the trip down?  It was pretty rad.  We had this really big crate that mom and dad were in with us (minivan).  It was kewl.  You could sleep all day, and when you wanted out all you had to do was walk over and lick someone.  We got to stay in a new house every night.  One of them had an elevator – it’s like a crate that moves up and down – not too scary I did it as a puppy.  While we were in Cincinnati, we stayed next to this park; it was kewl, but there was this huge dude hanging out there all the time – he had to be like 10 dogs tall.  I tried showing him that there was one dog he couldn’t scare, but he just stood there.  Hmph!    (This would be the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Lytle Park.)  I did keep one set of shady characters out of the car.  We crossed the border into the US and these guys wanted to look into the car – I guess they’d never seen a dog before.  Me and Lance convinced them they should move along and wake someone else up.  (Lance’s really grumpy when he gets woken from a sound sleep.)  Lance and I got a chance to mark the whole way from Ontario to TX. 

You got other questions?  Want to know about living in Vaughan?  The rockin’ dog park we had when we were in the apartment while we closed on the house?  No prob.  But another day; there are deer to watch.

Chow,

Kai

Camping

Yo!  Kai Here!

So for my 1^st birthday Mom and Dad took me (and Lance) camping.  It was GREAT!  I had a ton of fun.  Since we went in the middle of the week, we had the park (Bruce Peninsula National Park) mostly to ourselves, so we were able to hike and run around with Mom and Dad mostly off leash.  We got to play in the water, though Lance was the one crazy enough to go swimming, I, more practically, prefer to be able to touch bottom when I'm in the water.  Still it's a lot of fun.  Dad throws things out into the water, Lance leaps in and goes to get them, and I wait on the shore and take them away from him.  Lots of fun and I don't get my head wet.

Sleeping in the tent was great.  If you haven't done it, it's sort of like crate training your parents.  Except that the sides of the crate are soft.  That, and when you wake up in the dark and nose your Dad to see if you can go out, he grumbles some.  Still loads of fun.

About the only thing that wasn't great were the black flies!  They kept biting the inside of my ears.  Is that fair?  Really?  Geez!  Mom and Dad were going to use Off® on our ears, but they weren't sure it was safe for puppies.  Mom and Dad put up the dining tent and we spent the really buggy times in there.

Overall, camping gets a big 5 paws from me.  Black flies, no paws. 

Later,

Kai

BTW, my birthday was May 3^rd, you all know that right?  I expected at least 1-2 kilos of aged cheddar.  Perhaps you forgot to put it in the mail.

Chews

Yo!  Kai here.

You know when you’ve found the perfect thing to chew?  It’s just the right size and weight?  Thuds really good on the floor or your crate?  You know what I’m talking about right?  It rocks, right.  Right balance of hard and soft, just enough good stuff in the middle so you can dig it out?  I’ve got one of those – it’s a piece of antler.  (Shut up Lance, I am *not* an elk and this is not cannibalism.)

So I’m chewing away this afternoon, I’ve had lunch, and looking forward to a long nap once I get a bit more gnawing done.  So, of course, Dale has to come by and start staring at me.  And the only choice once you’ve been taunted by a cat is to follow him until you can get a good solid sniff or lick in – I mean a guy’s gotta have his limits, right?  Anyway, I head back to my antler, and Lance has snagged it while I was doing my official dog duties!  I mean, what gives?  He’s the older one, isn’t he supposed to be keeping the cats in line? 

Now I’m stuck with one of the 2^nd best chews in the house.  I get the imitation tire and slog back to the kitchen, but, wait, here’s my chance.  Lance is off away from Mom by the bathroom.  If I’m quiet enough, and don’t give it away…  BANG!  All it takes is a couple of quick feints at Lance’s ears (which are HUGE by the way) and I’ve got the antler and he’s got nuttin’!  (OK, he’s got the tire, but who wants that when there’s an antler?)

That's it for now.  Five or six more chews and I'm done.

Later!

Kai

Bye Snow

Hi! Lance here.

I know you humans out there may be happy for, but it looks like the snow is starting to leave.  Saturday we had tons of lovely fluffy white stuff to roll and run in.  Today’s it’s all slushy and messy; I’m going to miss it when it’s gone.    It’s not all bad though, ‘cause with summer comes swimming and that’s almost as great as playing in the snow. 

Still we got a bit more snow time because we went to a new dog park on the weekend.  It was really great.  Lots different than the one near our house with a lot more trees to sniff at and new dogs to meet. 

Here’s a  picture of it:

I’d better go.  Almost time to go outside and bark at the dog next door.

Later,

Lance

p.s.      Here a picture of Kai and me in the driveway.  Mommy and Daddy have got to stop feeding him.  He’s HUGE!.  I mean he must be some sort of a mutant!

See?  How come he's taller than me?????

Snow!

Hi.  Lance here.

Wednesday was the best day in MONTHS.  I mean it was almost as good as when Kai came to live here or when Mommy and Daddy took me swimming for the first time.  I bet you can’t guess what happened can you?  It snowed!!!!!!!!!

I was so excited that I had to get Mommy and Daddy to get us (Kai and me) outside to play. 

Here we are playing in the driveway.    You can just see the streaks of snow on my coat – Kai’s too grey to really see it on him.  

Here’s another picture.  You can really see the snow this time.   You can’t see it in the picture, but we have a ring toy we’re playing with.  I still can’t get Kai to chase with me when Daddy throws, but he’s great to wrestle with when I start back.

Here’s another picture with us and snow swirling around us.  I’ve just run back from the fence with a tire toy.  Kai’s good at lying in wait while I do all the work and catch the tire.  Then, he’s all in my face trying to get my prize.  Nope, little brother, not this time.  (Or next, or the one after that, or the one after that…)

Here’s us just racing in the snow.  It’s the best.  I know it’s not cold enough for it to stick yet, but maybe soon.  (I’d go on the internet and see where all the great snow is so I can tell Mommy and Daddy were to drive, but every time I’m near the computer, Kai’s there and he drools a lot.  It makes it hard to type and Mommy yells yuck a lot.)

After all the fun, we went inside.  Here’s my brother and my cats hanging out at the fire.  It was too hot for me that close, so I stayed in the kitchen where the tile’s cool.

I’m going to sign off now.  Mommy’s going to throw the stuffed rabbit.

Lance

I am the Big One!

Yo!  Kai Here!

It’s official.  I’m taller than Lance.  Woo hoo!  Can I parley that into a bigger portion of the cheese?  Who knows?  I’m like mountains taller than him – it’s gotta be a whole cm.  He says I’ve got stork legs and it doesn’t count.  He’s just jealous ‘cause I can find Mom when she’s hiding under the covers better than he can.  Got weighed at the vet today, Lance is still fatter than me.  I’m 38.4kg and he’s 46.3kg.

We went to the dog park today (the one near the house at the movie theatre).  I met a Bernese there who just didn’t get the whole idea of “dog park”.  It’s not like he was an old dude, but he just didn’t get the idea that you’re actually supposed to run around?  I had to do it all, but that’s OK.  I still had a good time.  Dad wasn’t paying close enough attention, and I found a GREAT mud puddle.  It’s close to 3 hours since we had to come home and I’m still dirty.  I love the fall.

Chow,

Kai

My Crazy Parents

Hi.  Lance here.

I love my parents, I really do.  But sometimes I think Mommy and Daddy may be insane.

Saturday was like many Saturdays.  We went to the dog park and drove around with Mommy and Daddy.  We even got to go to some stores.  That was all fun – always is.

Then we got home and everything got weird.  For some reason which neither Kai nor I can understand, Mommy and Daddy decided to empty their crate of all their stuff and put it all back in!  We (Kai and me) had our crates put in the hall upstairs while they ran around moving things.  Their crate was perfectly fine.  Why move things?  I don’t know.

I haven’t told the bad part yet, have I?  This went on until 3:00 in the morning!!!!!  I mean, really, who needs to stay up extra late to fix their bed?  Kai overheard Mommy talking about the room’s Kung Fu or Kung Pao – maybe there was some thing wrong with their chickens?  I’m not sure why it happened, but the next time they start talking about karate chickens I’m heading to the basement and hiding behind the sofa!

Gotta go (need to stake out my place before Kai gets there),

Lance

Cheese

Yo!  Kai Here!

Haven’t posted in a while, I know.  Been busy.  (OK, maybe not busy, but I’ve been doing a lot of napping, wrestling with Lance, and overall goofing off.)

Here it is November and no snow.  Not sure what Lance is going on about.  I think those big ears of his draw too much heat away from his brain. 

Speaking of ears, Mom and Dad are still on me about mine not standing up.  Isn’t it enough they stand up when I’m sleeping?  Dad came home last night with tape and some hair rollers.  IN PINK!  They’re not serious are they?  They’re going to put pink foam rollers in my ears????  I’m going to get slaughtered at the dog park!!!!

There is a good side to all this.  Someone mentioned that I needed more calcium in my diet.  I’d have been happy to gnaw on a few oyster shells, but instead of that Dad came home with CHEESE!  It rocks.  For a while they were using this Gouda stuff from the fridge, but then they got some new Cheddar.  Way, way, way lots better.  Heck, I might give up cruising the floor for the odd piece of mis-placed cat food for it.

I gotta go.  The cat’s gonna jump over the gate into this part of the room in a couple of seconds and he needs a good sniff!

Later,

Kai

BTW, my birthday’s May 3^rd.  5 year old cheddar (or older) is always appreciated.  (My half birthday’s in a couple of weeks…)

Why Can't People be More Like Dogs?

Hi.  Lance here.

I’m not usually one to push my opinions on other dogs (or people for that matter), but in this case I’m going to have to take a stand.  When I was at Rocking Horse Walk Last week, I heard about this dog who was pepper sprayed by a human.  I’m going to come out firmly against pepper spraying dogs.

I’m getting this third paw, but as I understand things…

A human was walking with her dog in a park in Guelph.  Dog was off‑leash.  Another human came up and lowered his hand to meet the dog.  The dog walked up to meet the person and when the dog got close, they pepper sprayed the dog!  Human claimed, “The dog was off leash.”  The dog had ulcerated corneas from the spray and could have lost their sight had things been a bit worse.  Maybe the person as afraid of dogs, maybe she or he got scared at the last minute, but I don’t think either case supports attacking the dog.  I don’t like to believe this about people, but this really smells like a case of a mean person looking to hurt dogs as a way to make themselves feel better.

I’d love to tell my dog friends that they need to be more careful and they need to clearly show the humans when they want to be met and when they don’t and know this would solve the problem. It seems, this time, it wouldn’t matter.  The person in question sprayed the dog with no provocation.  I like people, I really do.  They’re fun.  They throw stuff (balls, Frisbees, sticks…).  They take you places.  They scratch you behind the ears…  It really upsets me to think that someone would pretend to want to meet me just so they can be cruel. 

Why can’t people be more like dogs?  If a dog doesn’t want to meet me; she or he tells me and I don’t bother them.  If a dog is going to bite or attack, they show it.  They don’t lie in wait to hurt you when you’re not expecting it. 

I’m not going to start not meeting people and I’m not going to start being one of those dog’s who gets scared all the time, but I am going to be very careful when I’m off leash, especially when the area isn’t an official dog park.

Bye for now,

Lance

Italian Vampire Lessons

Yo!  Kai Here,

        First of all, I want to set the record straight.  I am not now, nor have I ever been, a vampire.  That’s just gross.  Doesn’t anyone see the connection between vampires and ticks?  Yuck.  Lance really needs to do something about that overactive imagination.  Next thing he’ll get crazy over that black cat.  (I think Mom and Dad call him Dale, all I know is that he sure whines a lot when you lick him.)

        OK, now that we’ve settled that, on to more interesting things.  I’m still liking the fall thing.   Not as much as Lance, I think.  He’s got a real fetish about leaves.  They blow and scatter around.  Big deal.  You can eat them, which is good.

        Levels class is still fun, but it's hard to work with all the distractions.  Today, they were pretending to teach me to hit a target on the floor with my paw.  Sue decided she would try to trick me into it by putting a bunch of food under this blue thing.  Nope, not fooling this puppy with something like that.  That’s doggie Zen.  I can do it with my eyes closed.  Now Mom’s doing this deal where she’s tickling my foot and when I move it she clicks and treats.  It’s easy, and I get snacks.  Kewl. 

We did some level 2 recall testing today on Puppy Walk.  It was fun.  Dad ran away and then I got to chase him.  That part’s easy, but this Loose Leash Walking thing…

        My ears still aren’t doing what they want them do.  (Seem OK to me.)  I’ve got Velcro on my head like some sort of 25^th century space dog.  Jeez!  It’s OK though.  It’s not like it hurts and it gives them something to do – could be worse, could be my tail.

Chow,  (Mom says I need to work on my Italian.)

Kai

Whew! No vampires here!

Hi.  It’s Lance,

Have I told you how much I love fall?  All the leaves blowing around, all the wind, all the rain and ALL the leaves?  I’ve always loved leaves, especially when they blow.  They are so much fun to chase and catch.  When I was little, Mommy and Daddy called me Lancelot, Leaf Killer because I was so good at catching them.  I try to show Kai how to do it, but he is still not as good as I am.

I was too little last year to hear about Samhain, Halloween, or Dia de los Muertos, but this year it’s all over the television.  The whole thing sounds kind of scary.  Ghosts.  Goblins.  Werewolves.   Little Devils.  Brrrrrrr.  Then, I found out about vampires.  Vampires?  These things that latch onto your neck, bite you and suck your blood?  That’s too creepy.  Mommy and Daddy watch movies about things like that on TV all the time, but I always go into the other room ‘cause it’s scary. 

I started thinking about vampires a lot.  Suppose they’re everywhere and we don’t know it?  Suppose they’re always trying to bite your neck?  Suppose…  Kai!  Oh my God.  Kai’s a vampire!  He’s always trying to bite me, he’s sleeps a *LOT* during the day.  And then I realised the kicker.  He won’t cross running water.  I could hardly sleep in my crate next to him.  Suppose he crept out at night and attacked Mommy and Daddy?!?!  How could I protect them?  It was keeping me up at night.  What was a poor puppy to do?

However, last weekend I found out everything was OK.  We were playing in the park.  OK, even if my brother is a vampire; I still love him and want to play.  Anyway, we were running in the park and he crossed the stream that goes through it.  Proof he wasn’t blood‑sucking fiend!!  That was a huge load off my mind. 

My little brother.  Cute, fun, a great chew toy, and definitely *not* a vampire.

Have a great holiday, no matter how you celebrate,

Lance

Ears and Mud

 

Yo,

            Kai here.

            OK, I officially have a new favourite season.  Fall!  It’s been raining every day for, like a week now, and there’s mud everywhere.  It’s a blast.  You wouldn’t believe the places I’ve gotten muddy – I didn’t think you could get it some of those places.  So we track in a little mud.  Relax Mom.  It dries and sweeps up just fine. 

            Speaking about relaxing,   What the big deal is about my ears!?!?!?!?  Suddenly every 20 minutes someone’s pawing my ears and not in a good way.  The thing is that I can put my ears up, I just don’t choose to.  It’s just not that important.  If you keep them down, no one gets them when you visit the cat.

            Now, Mom and Dad have started on this weirdo ritual of glue, and Velcro, and staring at my ears, and telling Lance to calm down.  If this keeps up I may have to actually raise the stoopid things just to get everyone off my case. 

Kai

p.s.       I lost a tooth last week.  Mom and Dad are keeping it.  I wanted to eat it.

Oops

Kai and I got in trouble today…  A lot of trouble…

Mommy was pretty patient, at first.

We found a sock.  It was in the laundry basket.  I told Kai not to take it, but then it was out and it was really fun to play with.  Mommy decided that, maybe we should be outside then. 

It was a really nice day, kinda sunny, but still cool in the shade, so Kai and I started running in the yard.  I had him going really well.  You know, running up and barking, then jumping away.  I was running away one time and didn’t make the turn – just like I didn’t at my birthday party.  Oops, I really didn’t mean to break another hurricane lamp.  We decided we might ought to play over near the pool.  Then I noticed that under the BBQ grill smelled really good.  One thing led to another, and then we had one of the grill brushes out and were playing chase with it and then found some really fun dogs to bark at.  Mommy decided we should go inside.

While I was checking out the cat – he’s my buddy, I always say hi to him in the morning, Kai found a spatula in the dishwasher.  We got in trouble for that, too. 

It’s a good thing Mommy loves us so much, ‘cause we were really bad today.  It’s like John and Sue say, sometimes puppies need help to make good decisions.  Tomorrow, we’ll make better decisions; after all, it all starts fresh in the morning.

Bye for now,

Lance