Yippee! It's Snowing!!

Full of It

Merry Christmas From Our Pack to Yours!

While Visions of Sugar Plums Danced in Their Heads...

The Buffet is Closed

Charlie is the most food-oriented dog I've ever known. We try to keep him on the thin side, but even when he manages to plump up a little, he's always starved. Want to trim his nails? Have someone there to hold a treat. Want to get out of the house without a scene? Throw a treat down the hall and step out. Want to get him back in the house? You got it -- stick your head out the door and yell "puppy treats".

Hence he's always viewed the yard as a kind self-serve deli, where he can score some calories. And since his palate can, at best, be called undiscriminating, Charlie's only unsupervised trips to the yard are for doing business. Fortunately, the temptation of a good milkbone or other legal treat has usually brought him running back when done. Until last week.

Foraging
I don't know what it is (I suspect cat poop), but something new and apparently edible became available at the side of the house. He'd go outside, ostensibly to do business, and then make a bee-line for the side yard and start snuffling through the leaves I'd let collect there. Only my going up to him and teasing him and promising a puppy treat would break his concentration and get Charlie back in the house.

I've raked up all those leaves now, and with any luck gotten rid of the doggie delicacies. Assuming the cat plays along too, hopefully the cycle will be broken. Keep your fingers crossed.

Is that a guilty look or what?

 

Pleeeeeze...?!

"I promise I'll be good, and I won't bother the company! I won't head-butt their arms. I won't paw them to hold hands. I won't climb in their laps and check out their plates. Unless they offer; then you have to admit that's ok...."
"Awwwww... you never believe me!"

 

Wind Beneath My Wings

Alice and Charlie put their sweet heads together over Thanksgiving and came up with this for me. Pretty neat, huh?

Letting a Sleeping Dog Lie...

"What?"

 

Hellooooo... are you in there?

I just upgraded to a newer little Canon to take better pictures of you-know-who and was starting to explore it when guess-who arrived in-person to check things out.

So Close, and Yet So Far Away

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..."

 

Snickers Needs YOUR Help Today!

More information about the minute of support for Snickers is on Jake & Fergi's blog. Charlie will be singing for Snickers today; you can too.

More Singing with Ben

Charlie loves to sing after dinner. And when Ben's over, he especially loves to sing with him.

Happy Howl-o-ween!

"What the...?"
"Another one?"
"And a kitty, too? Eeeeeeew...."
"Ok, all you little goblins, I'm ready for some treats!"
"Have a spook-tacular Howl-o-ween!"

 

Love the One You're With

Sometimes, when there's no one else to play with, you have to make do with who's around...

"Wanna play?"
"We could play Roo..."
"Pleeze, pleeze, pleeze, pleeze, pleeze??
"Mom... he's bothering me!"
"Who, me?

 

Good Neighbors

Being in the process of replacing our back fence, this week we had the opportunity to meet the neighbors who just moved in behind us. These neighbors are so quiet, we've hardly known they're there. I did find a bone and a dog toy last week that I thought had been tossed over the fence, perhaps as a peace offering to Charlie to keep him quiet while they moved in. But that's been almost the only evidence that we even have new neighbors.

So it was nice to meet them and quite a surprise to learn that the bone and stuffie (which I had returned because Charlie's not good with such things unsupervised) were not a gift to Charlie at all. At least not from the humans in the house.

Meet Frankie. An 11 month old golden retriever service-dog-in-training and Charlie's new neighbor!

Today was their first play date, and I think they had a blast! They chased and sniffed and explored, despite the pounding and sawing and general disturbance.

"Chase me?"
"Hey, you fence guys! We're big tough goldens; don't mess with us!!
Happy neighbors

Lying Around with a Friend

The Postman Doesn't Have to Ring Twice

We've had various mail carriers; some have ignored Charlie and some have been afraid of him (in truth, he does sound like a police dog on the attack when he guards the house). But sometime this summer, a mail carrier arrived who likes him.

I think it started when the carrier had something to hand in through the door and, seeing Charlie babygated upstairs, asked to meet and pet him and give him a treat. Then, when we were out walking, he went out of his way to come over and pet Charlie, say nice things about him, and let him rummage for treats. Then at some point, whenever there was a package to be left by the door, he'd add a treat on top:

And now... oftentimes after the mailman's come and gone, look what's been left in the middle of the welcome mat:


What a great mail carrier!

 

Some Days are More Interesting Than Others

"Humm humm humm... la la... nice morning..."

"Joggers - check... pups-on-a-walk - check..."

"squirrels - ... whoah... whazzat?!"

"Momma! That's one big squirrel in that tree!!"

 

Lunching Out

One of the great things about Portland is that there are dog-friendly places to eat. I don't know which one is Charlie's favorite, but I suspect Hedge House is high on his list, since getting there involves going for a walk, he can lie in the sun, and friendly people pet him.

"Sniff. Sniff. Yes, this place will do nicely."

"Are you about done with that sandwich?"

Making a new friend.

New Friends

Charlie's a funny kind of guy. A few times, when we've been on walks, an off-leash dog has run right up barking, acting aggressive, and just generally trying to provoke a rise, and Charlie's stood his ground and never acted aggressive back. Yet, there are other situations where we've attempted to introduce Charlie to another dog on the street, and he's frankly picked a fight.

So when Leigh stopped by with her ginormous Great Pyrenees, Captain, we were a little nervous about introducing them. Captain, however, is such a gentleman that everything went great! So now Charlie has a new friend.

"Let's play!
"Catch me if you can..."
"I'm gonna get you!"
"Good chase, friend!"

The two friends in action:

 

They're Easy

Charlie helped his Mama Alice record this last night. Next time maybe he'll sing along, too.

Charlie & Cuz

Moooooooooo...

For some reason, whenever Charlie and Gabbie get together, they end up grazing in the grass like a couple of cows.

 

Sharing is Caring

Charlie just loves loves loves Gabbie's mom, Atsu. So much so that he's even willing to share Joey with her!

The Roo-lympics

Charlie always brings home the gold in the Roo events.