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Handy Cat

As I noted before, Miko is the inspector of the house and likes to participate in all things handy-man related.  Last night was no exception as I was trying to put together a swing thing for the baby.  In retrospect it was a simple matter of assembly however the instruction manual was one of those with pictures but not a lot of clarification.  I was lucky that Miko was willing to supervise.

Sometimes you just need an extra set of eyes and a little room to spread out in as evidenced by the fact that the kitchen table was not big enough and Ray was of little value as an assembly assistant.

How do your critters help around the house?

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Feline Friday… the Thirteenth

Boo, Miko and Jae have not had much face time here lately, so in light of Friday the Thirteenth, here is a pic of our three feline friends, including our lucky black cat.

Whatever your plans may be for the weekend, we hope you enjoy and take a moment to hug your furry family members.
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The Devil’s Workshop

This week, Mama said I’ve been “wound up.”  I don’t feel wound up, I feel just as straight as I usually am, but Mama said I needed to get a job.  She said something about idle minds and that mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise.  What the heck is a job?  Well it turns out I got the best job ever last night.  Mama took some of my favorite toys and treats last weekend and she put them in an ICE CUBIE for me and my job was to rescue everything.

At first I wasn’t sure about this job thing.  I had to check out this ice cubie and then I wooo-wooo’ed at it a couple of times.  I licked it and it tased like an ice cubie, so I felt braver and checked it out…

I like to crunch, crunch ice cubies in my fat mouth but this one was much harder to crunch.

Then the more I scraped and crunched, I began to realize Squeaky Pig was in there!  Squeaky Pig is my favorite toy!



Don’t worry, Piggy, I’ll save you!





As I was working away at my new job, a nice big crack appeared.  I decided the big ice cubie was like Kong-Kong, I picked it up and smashed it on the ground over and over…and it worked! I had a chunk of ice cubie that could chomp and crunch on.

And after I ate that chunk, I went back to my job of rescuing Squeaky Pig.  It took me a really long time to do my job and by the time I was done, I felt ready to go to bed. 

I really have the best job in the world.  I saw some of my other favorite toys and treats going into the bowl, so I am hoping that I get to do my job again tonight!

Do you have a job too?

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A Dark Day

I haven’t posted for several days and I’m not sure if today is a good day to do so.  In fact, I’m pretty sure it isn’t.  It’s an emotional time as thousands around the world are mourning for Lennox and his family.  It’s an emotional time in our household as well.

After so many weeks of moving in a great direction, we had a set back this week.  It’s frustrating, it’s confusing and it’s heartbreaking.

If I had adopted a 10 pound, fluffy lap dog (as opposed to a 55 pound, short haired, blocky-headed lap dog) I might not have taken that dog to obedience class.  I might have over looked the jumping as a puppy behavior that she would grow out of.  If she lay down in the middle of a walk or grabbed her own leash, I might just laugh and scoop her up to carry her in.  I might have laughed if she ran around the house with underwear stolen from the laundry or when she chased one of the cats.  I might have…

I’m lucky.  I adopted a Pit Bull Type dog and I have gone to classes and I am continuing our education.  I am trying to be vigilant with enforcing proper behaviors.  And I will continue to do so for the love of my puppy.

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Fourth of July (on the Fifth)

We hope everyone was able to celebrate the Fourth in their favorite manner.  We humans spent the majority of the day in the pool, while Ray played in his deck jets for a while before drying off and relaxing in the air conditioned house with a good bone.

After which he engaged in some serious sofa sleeping followed by dinner.  Despite the drought we are experiencing, our town still engaged in a fireworks display.  Well before the fireworks began, I tucked Ray into his crate for the evening with his favorite stuffies, blinds closed and blanket over the top for a nice safe cozy spot.  The whole family was in bed well before fireworks started.

How did you spend your day?

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Stumpin’

So, for some reason, Mama thinks this picture of me is funny. 

When I am happy, I like to balance on my head and do somersaults.  I like to tumble into Mom’s lap like that, too. That way I end up with my belly available to get lots of rubs.  See?  I’m one smart cookie. 
Well, even though I like being warm, I still get hot in this heat (I was born in December and this is my first summer)  so this is how I like to cool off so Mama sent this picture to the folks at StubbyDog for a contest.  She said we could win a Frobo bowl for me and one for my Rescue, Smiling K9’s.  All my friends have to do is vote for me and ask more friends to vote for me too.
StubbyDog Contest.
It’s been a crazy weekend here.  We didn’t have elek-tricity which means I got lots of ice cubes to eat, I rode in the car with the air on, and I stayed up late with Mom and Dad.  We hope everyone survived the storms as well as we did.  Mommy said we lost a lot of food (the kitties and I didn’t lose any food but we had to send our duck, duck, goose away for safe-keeping)  but are all safe and together, which is what is important.
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Big Head Clown

One of the great things about having an anvil shaped head and a goofy personality is that you can usually keep yourself entertained for long (for a puppy) stretches of time.  Ray, as you might imagine, has quite an extensive toy collection with some definite favorites.  As discussed here, the Crinkit is a huge favorite for the noise it makes and the squishy durability of the whole thing.  Churpi-chews are great for down time and having a relaxing gnaw on your mat, plus since it is made of yak milk, salt and lime it can be like a doggie version of margarita cheese.  Ok, that might not be appealing to most readers, but it sure is if you’re a pooch.
Tug is a favorite game for Ray and although he will play with nearly anything, rope toys seem to be a big favorite and circles are his favorite shape.  How do I know this?  Very early on he had a wool circle toy that he absolutely loved to slip his snout through when he played but he also loved to eat kibble out of the middle of the circle .  He also likes to slip his snout through the loop of his rope toy and then pick up other toys, thus earning him the nickname Fat Mouth from Asia.
So last night I happend to look down at a quitely playing Ray when I saw a sight that promted me to call him a Goof-ass and, of course, promptly snap a picture.
Just chillin’ with a toy on my head.
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Poolside Puppy

Ray wanted to share a little bit about his weekend, so he will be taking over posting today.

For the past fourteen weeks (ok, only two weeks in what you call People Weeks) our yard has been dug up and I didn’t even get to do the digging.  We’ve had lots of people with machines in the back yard and I go on all of my potty breaks on the leash now.  Then over the weekend Mommy and Daddy said the pool is done and people came over to swim. 
I got to be out poolside with lots of people who said I was a good boy and they all let me kiss them and I got lots of pets and ear scratches which I liked a lot. 
But then something really, really exciting happened. 
Something called water jets got turned on by the pool and I had so much fun playing in those that people took videos of me which Mom put on Facebook and lots of pictures too.  I really loooove water jets…
They make me feel happy and silly and when I get happy and silly I stand on my big anvil shaped head and try to do sommersaults.
I’m not sure that I want to get into that huge bathtub pool, but I love being on the side with my favorite new toy.  Mom says I am going to become a water dog, but I think I’ll stay on the side, for now.
What did you do this weekend? 
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Friday Fun(draiser) Day

I wish I could foster.  It is just not in the cards for me right now and it wouldn’t be fair to my family, Ray or to the foster.  Things are way too torn up in the yard and with all of the new changes coming up soon, it would be a negative experience, I believe.  In the meantime, I still try to do my part with our rescue hero, Smiling K9’s, as well as a few others out there.  As they say, adopt, foster, donate, volunteer. 

Along those lines, I recently had the honor of escorting this little muppet to her meet and greet where she went home with her happy new mom.

She was just a two pound bundle of tail wagging personality and I’m sure she was headed to a life of pampered happiness.  This was one of the “easy ones.”  Highly adoptable, no health issues, not a “scary” breed; just a cute baby needing a home.  It’s nice when these happen along but in the rescue world that I only dabble in from the sidelines and help when I can, the “easy ones” are few and far between.  Smiling K9’s is there when that puppy with the broken leg is “on the list” and awaiting his fate.  They are there when the 100 pound pit bull type dog gets tazed in the eye and left to sit in his own waste because people were afraid of him.  Turns out he was a big mush-pot of loving.  They are there for the little ones who have no one else to turn to for protection.  They are there for the “hard ones,” the ones who need an extra hand and a soft place to land until their forever home can be found.  All of that, of course, takes funds, so I’d like to encourage everyone to check out this great auction that starts today in honor of Baby Brain’s first birthday.  The auction starts at 5:00 pm EST, but I’m gonna sneak over there and try to slide a bid or two in.  If you like purchasing for a cause, head on over and check out the great items up for bid.

Have a great weekend, all!