Dogs love... coverings.

There is often an issue with heat in my home. I don't like it. Willow does. So, we have agreed to disagree. When the heat does come on (rare) she rushes over to the heat register, which is located under the curtains, and dances in front of it and snaps her dog jaws at it to capture as much of it as she can. I usually watch and laugh. This day, when it shut off, she swung around, sat down, and stared at me. With the curtain on her head. For five whole minutes. I got the message. I turned the heat up.

R.I.P Beatrice.

My Thanksgiving.

I was invited to Thanksgiving dinner this year! Mom told me we were going to a special dinner- but she said it was a surprise, so I knew this could be a real L O N G trip- she takes me all over the place. Maybe we were going to Auntie Grace, or maybe Karen's, or maybe Gramma's!! (I've never been there, because Gramma doesn't love me and they don't invite me, but a dog can dream.) When Thanksgiving Day came, Mom did some odd stuff instead of cook, but I spent the whole morning watching her for clues to see where we were going. She didn't pack a bag for herself, or for me, and that meant we were not going too far. Actually, there was a little cooking- Mom made a mashed cauliflower (not casserole) dish to bring along- and she told me that it was going to be for the "big dinner." Man, I love dinner, so I was pretty excited. Hopefully, there would be delicious dog food. Mom dressed me in my fancy party collar, and put my fancy diamond charm on and told me it was a very special occasion. She put on her own collar, and fancy watch, and in the sun-straight-up-in-the-sky time, we got into the car and off we went. While Mom drove, (I'm not allowed to) I watched very carefully out the window so I could figure out where we were going. I knew right away! We were going to Auntie Amy's and Uncle Dave's! I was very excited- Lexi and Annabelle were there and we all sniffed noses and stuff and got ready to stare at the food all day. There were some new people, too, and I got busy making friends right away.

This is Dave's Mom. She likes Boxers. Or, at least she does now!

Because I am so cute and snuggly, I made sure I spent equal time with Dave's Dad, too. He also likes Boxers. Who doesn't?

This is Lexi, just making sure no one drops a cracker. Or cheese. Or a nut. Or anything else dogs find delicious.

This is both of us on cracker patrol. Unfortunately, there were no food-dropping incidents. But we stayed alert, just in case. I just kept thinking of my favorite scene in "A Christmas Story" where the dog eats the WHOLE turkey!

After dinner, everyone was a little tired, so I picked a person to sit on, and Alexis, well, I'm not sure what she thought she was doing. I know she was tired, because every time she drifted off to sleep, her legs buckled, her butt went sideways, and it woke her up. I don't know if she understood the concept of napping. Only horses and cows sleep standing up, not the Dobermann!  I will have to talk to her about that at dog school next week.

Dogs love Mom!!

This is Willow when I go pick her up from school. I thought it would be fun to photograph her wiggle butt when she greeted me. It turned out to be a little more difficult than just point and shoot.

Little horses love booties!

Little Frankie has little feet. This means that they are a bit less hardy than big horse feet, and he needs some protection. However, miniature horses cannot wear iron shoes like big horses- so they need booties. From Build-A-Bear, to be exact. Queen's Mom informed me that she found shoes at Build-A-Bear, and now Frankie is sporting them on his walks in the woods. Pretty cute. It's taken a while for him to learn how to tie them.

Dogs love being creepy!

This is Willow looking out the front window- it's so freaky, she insisted I put it on her blog. It reminds me of the pig in Amityville Horror...

Dogs love the Yankees!

Dogs love security!

Dogs hate flies!!

Dogs love little horses!

Frankie- Queen's Mom's horse.

Dogs love Farmer's Markets!

Willow the Gardener.

I'm taking over Willow's blog for a few minutes to share one of her little quirks- her compulsion for tomatoes. When she was a little puppy, which honestly seems like yesterday, I used to grow tomatoes in the summertime. I'd plant my little plants, water them diligently, prune back the suckers, and wait until some tomatoes showed up. Unbeknownst to me, Willow was doing some watching of her own. Each morning, I would excitedly check to see if anything was growing or ripening, and as soon as one would start to get a little red, I'd expect a tasty tomato in a day or two. The next day, it would be gone. Just that one tomato. This happened repeatedly. Soon I began to suspect foul play. Sure enough, my little Boxer was checking out the plants herself, and pulling off the ripening tomatoes and running around the yard with them in her mouth. After watching her, my jaw agape, doing this once, I went out to investigate the yard. Indeed, several half-ripe tomatoes with Boxer-teeth marks were strewn all about- not eaten, just poked with teeth holes, and maybe a little bite out of one or two, but that bit was then spit out right near the abandoned tomato. Apparently, my puppy thought I was growing red tennis balls. Once I had her number, I was sure to get a tomato for myself. Not. She was so quick to get the "next" tomato, every time, that I had zero tomatoes that year. I tried again the following summer, pretty confident that she'd be more mature and able to refrain from pillaging my plants. Um, no. Another summer of Crazy Dog Running With Tomato (her Native American name) and me having, well, no tomatoes. She even became so brazen that she would look at me, look at the plant, rip off a tomato and run away. Sure. Dog comedian. I wasn't laughing. The following two summers, I took off from tomato farming, and this summer, I thought I would try again. But I was going to win this time. Willow is older now, and no way was a tomato going to interest her, I was sure of it. So, I planted four grape tomato plants (they don't look at ALL like a tennis ball) and waited. I watched the plants fill up with little green tomatoes. It seemed I may have been watering too much, or too little, because a lot of tomatoes were falling off and laying on the patio. Really, really far from the plant itself. I didn't think much of it. Round things roll, right? As they turned red, I harvested a bunch, and noticed that some of the red ones were also falling off, and we must have been stepping on them, because they were smooshed into the brick patio. I didn't recall stepping on any, but who knows. It's a tiny tomato. Could happen. At least I was getting some of my harvest this time around. And then, one day, I looked out the window and saw Willow. At the tomato plant. Biting off tomatoes, spitting them onto the ground and STEPPING on them until they were smooshed. Very purposefully. Because she did it more than once. I went outside to confront her about this, and she looked completely like a deer in headlights and immediately put on her most ashamed face and best wiggle butt and came over like maybe what she was doing was the cutest thing ever. I informed her it was NOT cute, but rather a little disturbing, but I don't think she was listening because then she took off after a bunny. Dogs.

Dogs love Grill Night!

Dogs Love Gardening!

Dogs Love Nighttime Adventures!

Sometimes it's fun to pack up the dog in the middle of the night and go out looking for comets! I got to run around on the bogs and chase things in the dark. We didn't find a comet, but we saw some cool constellations and I freaked Mom out by hiding in the bushes so she couldn't find me. Just once. 

Dogs love sticks!

Dogs love baths! (No, they really don't.)

Dogs love their teddies.

Dogs love bunnies!!

UGH!!!! I am not allowed to chase bunnies in the front yard, because they are stupid and will run out in the street and I will follow them and be squished like a bug (that's what Mom says, anyway) but I almost got this bunny today in the back yard. I went out to chase it, and it missed the hole in the fence, so I chased it around and around and around until I almost got it. Mom was freaking out, I don't think she was aware I can catch a bunny!! Ha!! But later, the bunny went out front and ate stuff in the yard and all I could do was watch....

Dogs Love Naps!

I was out in the sun, completely paying attention to stuff, in my own sneaky way, and Mom snapped my picture. While she was sure I was sound asleep, I was, of course, on guard for burglars, squirrels, rabid rabbits and other scary stuff. You can see this from the ever alert ear.  However, once I heard the camera I knew I had to show Mom I was on the job- but I ignored her because she woke me from my nap, er, guard position.

It's hard to sleep when you're trying to look like you're paying attention to stuff....

Dogs Love The Couch!

Why do I have to stop licking it? Geez.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Well, my friends are gone- they went home on Friday. It was fun to have them here, but the 4:30 wake-up barking from Annabelle made me a little tired. I have been sleeping and sleeping since they left. We were so busy- even though Mom was out of the house a lot to go to work and stuff, she made sure we had exercise and entertainment when she was home. Annabelle really liked to be outside, and every time she went out, Lexi or I had to go along, because Mom said we would keep the hawks away. Auntie Amy made Mom pretty uptight about birds. I caught her suspiciously eyeing the goldfinches at the feeder a few times. Silly Mom.

One day, we went for a walk on our leashes, Mom's friend took Annabelle and me, and Lexi took Mom. It was kind of like when we used to go walk with Molly, she always had to be in FRONT and at the end of the leash. Annabelle had to sniff one million things, and I was perfect. I'm always perfect. Just saying. When we came back, we had chocolate-chip cookies (for dogs, Auntie- not people food) and then we went outside to hang out in the sun. I was the only one who seemed to understand the word RELAX. 

I miss my friends, but I know I'll see them at day care soon!! Until then, I'll just catch a little nap in the sun. Or on the couch.