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