My x-mas outfit

In case you were wondering,  mom dressed me up with an "ugly" sweater this past Christmas Eve.  This is what I wore. I guess Santa was impressed with my festive outfit because he was good to me.  I received lost of gifts on Christmas morning.

Sent from mobile phone

Xmas tree outing

Mom and Master love Christmas and so do I. Every year we scout the neighborhood for pretty Xmas decorations we can take pictures with. Last year we went Xmas light hopping and it was fun, except when the owners of the houses where we were taking pictures, came out of their houses to ask us why we were standing in front of their property for so long. Yes, I know, standing outside of someone's home for a long time while pointing and taking pictures can seem scary, but if people decorate their houses so pretty for the holidays, they should expect crazy people like us to stop by and stare.

Anyway, this year we went to public parks that had Christmas displays. Less creepy. Here we are posing in front of a pretty tree.

Dogs vote too!

Yes, everyone here in America has the right to vote, including us dogs. On election day I woke up early and accompanied mom to the voting polls. It was hard for me to use the electronic machines, but I casted my vote. Did you?

Halloween is for young humans, not me

Deciding what to wear this Halloween has been difficult. I think I'm too old to go trick-or-treating, but mom wants to dress me up as Marty the zebra from Madagascar 3. I for once just want to stay home and bark at the kids.

Anyway, here I am trying on the wig.

And now I'm a skunk

So tonight was not a good night for me. Before going to bed I went out to do my business, when suddenly I heard something in between the bushes. Naturally I had to investigate and secure the perimeter, but before I knew it, something hit me. It was a warm liquid. It burned my eyes and nose. I whimpered and then I went into panic...THE STENCH. A skunk sprayed me.

Here I am, having to be washed at 11 at night. It is going to be a long night. I wonder if I will be allowed on the bed tonight. I'll be lucky if they keep me inside the house.

National Take Your Dog to Work Day

It is National Take Your Dog to Work Day, and I am pumped!

I've heard on the news that many dogs where going to corporate America today, so I woke up early and got dressed to go to work with mommy.

However, mommy's work building is not participating in this awesome event (they suck!). That's why mommy and I stayed home to work from the home office (we work from home A LOT!).

For today, we renamed the home office the "pawfice" since I was going to be helping mommy with her work.

I grabbed my white tie and I read up a bit on how to work with computers. I also had a dog cookie and some dog coffee for breakfast.

After mommy took some pictures of me at the pawfice, I ate my cookie and then I took my mandatory 15 min break. I am an Union member, so you know I need to take my breaks. After that I went back to work. I took a nap on the couches and under the table, I also barked at the neighbors and I begged to go out on walks.

I was able to check my email and my phone messages, and some of my friends sent me pictures of them at the pawfice. My friend Quinn even wore a nice tie like I did. I'm still waiting to hear from the ladies...

Celebrating National Take Your Dog to Work Day has been fun, but I hope next year I can make it to the office for real!

Lazy Dog

It was so hot this weekend that all I wanted to do was stay inside and sleep.

Some of my friends like going to the pool, but since I can't swim, this is not an option for me.

I tried to enjoy the weather by relaxing under a tree or something with shade, but really, I just wanted to stay inside with the AC on full blast.

Because I normally love to be outside, my master and mommy thought I was sick or going crazy, but all I wanted to do was avoid the heat.

I'm just hoping this heat wave ends soon.

Feeling a Bit Under the Weather

I'm sick! This weekend I was feeling weird. My bottom itched so much that all I wanted to do was rub it on the floor and then lick it.

My master and mommy weren't to happy about it. They kept chasing me around the house, telling me to stop, but I just couldn't.

On Saturday they took me to the vet to get me checked out and the vet said my glands needed to be expressed. They took me to the back room and did what they had to do. I came back feeling so much better.

The vet said that since I'm half Beagle I have a tendency to suffer from annal gland problems, but that if I lose some weight (I can't believe she called me fat) I should be able to avoid this problem in the future. The vet said my fat bottom is not allowing the glands to be expressed naturally. Who knew!

Once I got home, I thought my issues were all fix, but that wasn't the case. I still had this irresistible urge to scoot and lick, but since my owners were not happy when I did that before, I was pretending everything was okay in my butt area.

On Sunday I new I was going to be home alone for a few hours, so I resisted the urge to scratch until I no one was watching me. It felt good for a while, but then my bottom started burning. Once mommy came back she saw that something was wrong with me. I looked very sad and I couldn't stop licking under my tail. Also, the trail of blood on the floor, carpet and my bottom gave it away.

I was rushed to the vet and this time the vet said I had infected my bottom with all the rubbing, dragging and licking I did. Now they had to clean the infected area, prescribe me some medicine and let it drain/heal for a few days.

The vet said that I should be placed in a crate for some days because my bottom needs to drain/bleed until it starts healing. If being crated wasn't bad enough, I have to wear this uncomfortable hat for 2 weeks. The hat/cone is meant to stop me from licking.

The vet must be crazy! Doesn't she know I'm not crate trained? Plus, I'm super smart and that cone won't last on me too long.

Master and mommy bought me this wired crate that I hate! They put me in there Sunday night and I cried my eyes out. I panted to the point I was going to pass out. Mommy had to take me out of the crate and that made us both feel a lot better.

As soon as I came out of the crate, I had this tug of war with that awful cone and I got it off my head. By this point it was 3 a.m. and mommy was already too tired to fight with me. I had kept her up all night with my crying.

We went into the second bedroom so that master could sleep. In there mommy had one of my other beds with my blanket, and I went under the blanket and fell asleep right away. My bottom was still itchy so I attempted to to lick it and scratch it a few times, yet mommy always stopped me.

I've been on antibiotics ever since and my bottom is doing a lot better now. Mommy has not slept much and I'm trying really hard not to lick or rub my butt.

The good news is that after that sleepless night, the wire crate was returned to the store and the hat has not returned to my neck. The bad news is, that I'm back on a diet.

No Dog Crate for Me

Ever since I was adopted by mommy and master, I've enjoyed my freedom at home. I know my host mom at the rescue shelter used to leave me inside a dog crate when she went to work, but those days in captivity are history for me.

Somehow this weekend mommy thought it would be a good idea to try dog crating me again. I don't know who gave her that BAD idea.

She bought this portable dog crate to see if I would go in there. My bed and some toys were placed inside, but I knew better to put one paw inside that box.

I walked around it, sniffed it, stretched my neck to try to get my toys out of it. I took some out, but there were some in the back I couldn't reach.

Mommy placed a trail of treats into the crate and I carefully went inside, eating the treats quickly just to come back out. The only way mommy got me to stay inside the crate/tent was by throwing the entire bag of treats in there. Once I saw that, I knew I had to go in an protect the bag. As long as the treat bag was in there so was I, but I was not planning on being trapped into staying inside this tent.

After a few hours of just watching me come in an out of the tent, mommy knew this is not what she wanted for me. Why would I be confined to this plastic house, when I've walked free in the house for 2 years. I don't destroy anything in the house and I don't have accidents. I do understand that I'm on guard when visitors come over. I pace around them a lot, but that's why we have that dreadful gate they put me behind.

I was glad to see mommy pack up the dog crate to return it to the store. My days of freedom are not over. I'll continue to stroll around the house at my own discretion.

I promise to stand down my guard when we have company. I will try.

Picnic at the Park

Summer is here! Well at least this week it is. Today the temperature reached 95 °F and since mommy is working summer hours we decided to go to the park.

We went to this huge forest preserve with many ponds. I saw ducks, geese, weird birds and fishes in the ponds. There were also other dogs there.

I wanted to run free and chase everyone, but with so many people around - bikes, skaters, runners, kids and family fishing - mommy was afraid that I would just try to mark my territory and keep everyone away. I wanted to play, but the leash only let me do so much.

Mommy set camp under this big tree and we sat there for a while. I explored my surroundings, ate grass and marked the tree a few times. The heat was a bit intense and I saw mommy was resting on this blanket she brought with her. I decided to join her to cool off. On the blanket I drank iced cold water and had a few treats.

Mom and I snoozed for a while enjoying the cooler breeze. We were waiting for the sun to go down before setting off on a trail to explore the park.

The park had so many different smells I couldn't stop sniffing, but after a while we decided to head home. The closer we got to the water the more mosquitoes I encountered and mommy said she didn't want me to get bitten.

I was tired from the heat and the long walk, so I was looking forward to the car ride back home.

Where's Mommy?

This is me waiting for mommy.

So yesterday I missed mommy so much. Since she likes running a lot, she signed up with her coworkers to run a 5K. She left very early in the morning, didn't come see me during lunch time and then came home after midnight.

I was going crazy at home.

I kept looking at the door. I paced around the house, waited for her on my window seat, and I even checked every room to see if she was hiding from me. My search came up empty, she was nowhere to be found.

My Master kept me company. He came to walk me during lunch time, and rushed home after work to spend time with me. However, life without mommy is just not the same.

In the afternoon I went to a friend's house with Master and I got to chase a rabbit. Then we stopped by Baba and Granda M's house, so I thought mommy would be home once we got back, but she wasn't.

That's when I decided to go up to our bedroom and just wait for mommy there. Around midnight, I felt the garage door open and I rushed downstairs to meed her. I was so happy to see her that I didn't want to leave her side. I think she missed me too because last night she let me sleep on the bed with her. I wonder if I can sleep there tonight again.

My First Bike Run

As you know I like running, but when it comes to my walks I want to sniff everything that is out there and I love to mark everything in my path.

Mommy had been thinking about taking me on a bike run but she wasn't too sure if I would be up for it.

I heard her in the garage getting her bike ready and I started to get excited because I knew I was coming along.

The first 2 minutes of the bike run were a bit rough. I wanted to sniff everything as usual and not really run, but once mom picked up a bit of speed I felt super excited and started barking and running really fast.

Mommy was a bit scared, she thought I was going to run in front of the bike, but for the most part I kept to her side. I did cross in front of the bike two times and that was pretty scary. The first time I wanted to go chase after this dog I saw, and the second time was to scare off a goose. After those two attempts I learned my lesson. Never cross in front of mom's bike. I can get run over, but if I don't get stepped on/smashed by the bike's front tire, my neck gets pulled backwards by the tension of the leash and that HURTS.

Mommy and I went for a 40 minute bike ride and it was fun. I hope we do this again soon and often.

Birthday #3!

Today is my day. Happy Birthday to me! Oh yes, we are celebrating BIG today. Ok, not big. I'm having a small gathering with mommy and Master.

I hear I get a special birthday treats and gifts.

Master of course is on photography duty while mommy gets the cake, candles, treats and gift ready.

Today I'm getting doggy birthday cookies as well as my very own homemade birthday treat. Since mommy knows I love to eat and cake is not really good for dogs, she is making me my very own birthday meat ball. I hope it is as large as my face and it better be all for me because I don't feel like sharing today.

Master and mommy sang me happy birthday and since I can't blow off candles, the candles were never lit, but I got the idea. Once mommy took those candles out of my meatball I gulped it down in seconds. I wasn't going to share it with Master and mommy is vegetarian, so I never have to share with her.

After eating my birthday meatball I grabbed a doggy cookie and I headed to mommy's bed to eat it. See the picture to catch all the action.


As for the birthday gift, I got a stuffed toy! Geoffrey the Toys R Us giraffe. He is funny looking but I love playing with him. His long neck is an easy target for me.

Thank you mommy and Master for this unforgettable birthday!

Puppy Play Date

Grandma M. called to invite us over to her house. I love going to see her because she always has chicken for me. Baba is there too and even though I like him a lot, I think he is always trying to trick me, so I'm always on guard around him.

We show up at the house and I smelled something different. There was something new in the air. A GIRL!

Payton is the neighbor's squiggly pet that loves to run in the yard. She is super cute and fun to run with. However, I always beat her because I'm older, faster and more experienced. We can run in the yard for 20 min straight and she gets tired before I do.

Even though Payton is pretty and fun, she has sharp puppy teeth that I don't always agree with. Somehow, she thinks that nipping me in the neck and face is cute, but it isn't! I growled at her a few times and when Master wasn't looking I tried to get her with my own teeth, but next thing I know mommy raised her voice and I had to stop. Then mommy picked up Payton and walked her across the street.

I hope I get to see and play with Payton again. I promise to be in my best behavior next time, but today she started it.

No More Dog Park

This winter is feeling more like spring time. The weather has been so nice that mommy and I have been going to the dog park a lot. Yet I don't think I'll be going back to the dog park ever again. For sure I won't be hanging out with the big dogs anymore.

I know I act tough all the time and I like playing rough, but today I got hurt and it was bad.

I was minding my own business chasing my friend Buck (English Bulldog) around the park when this newcomer, a huge black lab, showed up.

The lab wanted to be part of my game with Buck, but I didn't want him playing with us. Also, I felt I needed to tell the lab that Buck was my friend and not his. Since the lab kept interrupting my game of chase with Buck, I got really mad. I started chasing him and jumping at him while barking. I wanted to scare him off by showing him my shiny, white teeth. Suddenly the lab turned around and bumped into me. Next think I know we are rolling on the floor and then I started yelping for my life.


Park rules state that all dogs must have a quick-release collar, but this dog had a pinch collar on him.

While we were rolling and tumbling on the floor, my shiny, white teeth got stuck in his collar and I was hanging from his neck by my strong little teeth. I couldn't stop crying. The lab and I tried pulling ourselves apart but it was impossible to get me off of his collar.

Mommy rushed to my rescue, but she was scared too. I heard her scream but I didn't know why. She was able to free me after a few tugs. She picked me up and started screaming, calling Master, telling him we were rushing to the animal hospital. I felt scared and a bit funny. Something warm and red was gushing out of my right nostril.

Mommy was shaking but she put pressure with tissue paper on my little nose. When we got to the animal hospital, the bleeding was almost under control. The vet inspected me and said I had tore my nostril but that once the blood stops gushing I would be fine.

The vet told mommy to keep an eye on me making sure my nostril doesn't get infected.

We went came home and mommy cried for a while. Mommy told Master we were never going back to the dog park and that from now on I would only get private play dates with approved doggie friends.

I'm okay now, but my nose hurts. It was scary to feel trapped on that pinch collar. I don't ever want to see blood come out of me ever again, and I for sure don't want to see mommy crying like that.

America's Next Top Dog Model

My Master just bought this fancy camera. He says he loves taking pictures and he misses his old professional camera that he gave away. This one is digital and bigger than my face. When master uses the flash I go blind, but good thing he doesn't use it too often. I look my best in daylight.

Mommy says the camera and Master take very nice pictures, but I'm not too sure. I don't get so see the pictures Master takes, so I can't say for sure if my master's skills are good or not.

I might be the best looking dog Master has ever seen. He takes pictures of me with his new camera all the time. It is kind of annoying now.

At first I felt like a top dog model, but after 20 minutes of being followed around the house with that device, and having Master giving me commands to pose, I grew tire of it.

Sure, I look very handsome in those pictures, but can master give me a break?

Valentine's Day 2012

I heard mommy say that for Valentine's Day she wanted to get another dog, but I don't know if I like the sound of that. I enjoy spending time with my equals, but I like doing that at the park. Honestly, It I don't think I'll like living with some other four-legged dog who could be as cute as me. God forbids this other dog turns out to be cuter than me! Fortunately, my Master is not to keen in getting a second dog and he told me that we had to come up with a plan to get mommy a second pet, but one that is not of the living. I gave my Master the perfect solution. Come Valentine's Day we are prepared to surprise mommy with a cat and a dog. Just look at my picture, those two are perfect for Valentine's Day. They are cute, but not cutter than me. Happy Valentine's Day to you all.