Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Eight today, he's getting a tiny bit white around the eyes and on his face, and he doesn't jump the backyard terraces quite as much, but Charlie's still the same goofy lovable going-on-2 golden guy.

His special Aunt Karen called with birthday wishes, and we all sang him Happy Birthday together (he joined in). We have some special pink-frosted carob treats from Vancouver Island to celebrate with, and we'll take a special walk, maybe even go for a ride in the car. Then something special for dinner and a brushing - his favorite way to relax in front of the tv.

Happy Birthday, Charlie! I hope you have a ton of fun today!!

 

Charlie Goes Abroad

Last week we took Charlie to Vancouver Island, BC. I carefully researched how to get him into Canada and back into the US (which our vet said was harder) and had his signed rabies certificate and recent health exam records. It turned out to be a total non-event, however. All anyone ever said was "Beautiful dog" and "Woah, don't eat me!!".

Charlie is a good traveler. He loves to ride in a car (or in this case the "Chuckwagon", his RV), loves to walk, and never seems to get out of sorts.

Charlie waiting for the ferry

We took the Blackball Ferry, M.V. Coho, from Port Angeles, WA over to Victoria because dogs are allowed both up on deck and in some of the observation lounges. The WA state and BC ferries, on the other hand, seem to restrict pets to the car deck, where it's noisy, smelly & hard to see anything except cars & trucks. This worked out great! Charlie could walk out on deck and, more importantly, sit inside and troll for passersby who needed a dog fix.

Charlie on deck

Looking at the big lines

Trolling success!

One passenger was really focused on Charlie, but playing it cool. After we'd been sitting in the lounge awhile, I realized a little boy in an orange fleece had been walking by a lot. When I paid attention, I noticed he was watching Charlie as he walked by. After a little while (and quite a few more trips past us), I saw him reach down and just barely touch Charlie's fur as he went by. On subsequent trips, he got bolder and patted Charlie on the head. Finally, on one trip past he reached down, put his face close, and ruffled Charlie's ears with both hands. I had to smile, it was so sweet and funny.

Charlie's friend

After arriving, we spent a little time in Victoria (the capital of BC) and then headed to Nanaimo and then on to Ucluelet, a small rustic community on the opposite side of the island.

At Swan's in Victoria

At Maffeo-Sutton Park in Nanaimo

On the road to Ucluelet

We stayed in Ucluelet for 2 days, hiking and seeing the area.

Wild Pacific trail, Ucluelet

Wild Pacific trail

Wild Pacific trail

Then back across the island and down to Victoria to catch the ferry home. Along the way we stopped at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park and hiked a bit.

Headed to Lower Falls

In Victoria, waiting for the ferry back, we had more time to explore. Charlie saw horses, and puppies, and even met a group of students who attend Victoria University and wanted to have their picture taken with him.

Horses!

Puppies!

Another puppy?

With VU students

We walked through Chinatown and down Fan Tail Alley...

At the gate to Chinatown

Down Fan Tan Alley

... and everywhere Charlie made new friends.

Getting petted in Chinatown

Invited into a pet store in Dragon Alley

Making friends with the motorcycle crowd

What a great trip -- Charie's first adventure outside the US! Can't wait to do it again.

 

Lucky Golden!

The weather finally turned warm in Portland, so we went to the Lucky Lab today and spent a pleasant afternoon. It's a dog-friendly brewpub, so Charlie (of course) came along. There were treats to eat, people to be petted by and beg from, and other dogs to meet and greet.

Watcher

I'm not sure he ever sleeps when we're away, because whenever we return home, there he is!

 

Play With Me!

Charlie usually ignores Pouncer, although sometimes he follows her around sniffing her backside, and occasionally he will chase her around trying to splat her with his paw. But this was new! I think he wanted her to play "Chase Charlie" with him!


Pouncer, however, wasn't having any of it. She hid until he lost interest.


Poor Charlie!

 

Slurp!

The snood works to keep Charlie's ears clean of food, but the nose... well, I guess that's where napkins come in!

Wordless Wednesday: What's Wrong With This Picture?

Indoor Zoomies

Charlie thought that taking down the Christmas tree was so much fun that he got the indoor zoomies:

SOPA & PIPA --- Just SO Wrong!

Charlie & I sympathize with those who want to fight internet piracy, but we believe that the bills currently before the US Congress (SOPA in the House & PIPA in the Senate) are the wrong way to go about it. So, for today, we're joining hundreds of other sites in raising awareness of these bills.

The best discussion of SOPA & PIPA I've found are on Wikipedia: Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act . Take a read and see what you think. (Nominally, Wikipedia is going dark today in protest of the bills, but I was able to get to these articles.)

Then, if you live in the US and want to join in asking Congress to vote "NO" on Internet censorship, follow this link to Google and add your name to the petition there: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/. Time is of the essence -- voting on these bills starts Jan. 24 -- so don't delay in informing yourself!

 

Taking down the Christmas Tree

Charlie definitely likes taking the tree down better than putting it up!

Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Merry Christmas from our pack to yours!

 

Getting Ready For Christmas

"Tree up... Check!"

"Decorated... Check!"

"MY cards... Check!"

"Ok, Santa, I'm ready!"

 

Treat Catching with the Mailman

I mentioned recently that Charlie has conned convinced our mailman, Jeffrey, to play "treat catch" with him. Charlie lies at the top of our entryway stairs every morning, waiting. If, by some chance, he's in another part of the house begging for treats, Charlie still listens carefully for steps and/or the sounds of mail dropping through the slot and races to the door upon hearing them. If it's Jeffrey there, Charlie's barks are high and yappy and breathless, almost cries. If he finds anyone else at the door, his barks are deep and threatening.

Somehow, Charlie's also trained himself to spot Jeffrey's white van -- he gets excited when he sees it drive by or if we pass it out walking. At first, I think, treat-catching for Charlie was all about the treats, but now it's as much a social event. And fortunately, it's one that Jeffrey seems to enjoy, too!

I can't believe how lucky Charlie and we are to have such a nice mailman!

Charlie and the Snood

I decided I was tired of cleaning food out of Charlie's ears, so enter... the snood!

Treat Catcher

There is a game we play with Charlie, called "Treat Catching". He learned it as a puppy, and over the years has become a very accomplished player.


Puppy Charlie catching treats
You take a small treat in hand and, holding it shoulder-high so Charlie can see it, swing back once... twice... On the count of two, point it towards his face and let go. Occasionally it may bounce off a tooth, but more often than not, the treat will disappear into Charlie's gaping mouth, almost like it was sucked in by a gravitational force.


Adult Charlie catching treats.
The mailman also plays Treat Catch with Charlie almost every day. Since the game ends when he misses, Charlie is very very focused. He's up to 12 consecutive catches and it's only a matter of time until he hits 13.

 

Get Ready for the Holidays!

Hey everypup,

If you belong to Dogs with Blogs, don't forget to sign up for this year's card exchange and calendar. The November 15 deadline is rapidly approaching!


And if you're not a member of Dogs with Blogs yet, then sign up and become one! It's free and lots of fun -- a labor of love, not money. You'll meet other people around the world who love their dogs and like to write about them too.


Charlie says "Put down that book and do it today!"