Merry Christmas!

Charlie is such a helpful dog! And so smart! Sometimes it's almost scary how perceptive he seems.

After we put the Christmas tree up, of course he was interested. He sniffed all the branches and nosed the ornaments. When his mom watered the tree, it was a perfect opportunity to initiate snuzzling. And then there was Jessie - - - who created a little kitty den under the branches and lay there sooo invitingly. So of course Charlie found the tree, well, fascinating.


Hmmm... this spot here needs another ball!

When he took his ball over to the tree and tried to set it on the branches, we were amused at first. And then astonished when we realized that the tree to him was filled with balls and he was adding more. What a smart helpful guy!

Happy Holidays, everyone! And a big WOOF, WOOF from Charlie!!

Charlie in Wonderland

Today's snow mystified and captivated Charlie. The water at the bottom of his little pool was frozen hard and came out en masse. He pushed it around and played with it...


What the heck... ?

Then sleet, followed by snow, began falling. He ran and dug his nose in. What a great day!


First snow

Charlie's Back in Town

But it's a new town - Charlie's now in Portland Oregon!

This move revealed one of life's little mysteries to Charlie... STAIRS! Because his new home is built into a hillside, Charlie was faced with them everywhere. To get up to the main level in the house, to get up to the backyard, heck - to get up to the most interesting kitty-inhabited levels in the backyard rock garden... all required ascending vertically.

And Charlie proved to be vertically challenged, at first. He did not know how to deal with these stairsteps, and he did not like them one little bit. Initially, nothing would induce him to even try them. He just refused.

But then... an idea... A treat on each stairstep. Hmmm... not so bad. Kind of fun, really. Within a day, Charlie had overcome his thing with the stairs. Soon he was leaping off the highest rock walls and levitating up onto the upper levels of the rock garden. And now an evening's treat is to fetch balls thrown down the stairs!


Stair master