It’s the one day a year I HAVE to be good to my human.  OK – maybe one of two – the other being Christmas.  It’s my human’s birthday.  I figure she deserves a break from my devilish behavior.  That’s my gift to her.  

She’s over 400 years old in dog years.  I’m pretty sure she knew Adam and Eve.  I wonder if they had a dog?

Humans are funny.  When they are young, they want to be older.  And when they are old, they want to be younger.  And they usually celebrate the day they came into this world with greetings, cake and sometimes gifts. I was thinking about getting her some liver cake for her special day.  But apparently she prefers a vanilla version.  

We dogs don’t think about aging or birthdays.  It’s all the same to us.  I’ve said it before – to us, every day is our birthday.  Mind you, if you humans want to give us extra treats to mark the day we were born, who are we to complain? 

Happy birthday to my human today.  We promise to behave.  Just for today.  Otherwise things around here would be pretty boring, right?

Frodo and I were naughty yesterday.  VERY naughty.   But we witnessed a miracle.  

It was lunch time.  We don’t usually get lunch – we are usually fed just two meals each day – breakfast and supper.  But Jaws gets three meals a day, so to make us feel like we are not missing something, my human puts a few kibbles in our bowls at lunchtime too.  Which is inhaled in 125th of a second – but hey – it’s free food.  Anyway, while she was preparing lunch for Jaws, she opened his new bag of puppy food – and it was on the counter.  She filled his bowl and sequestered him safely in the hallway to have his meal.  Frodo and I  had our paltry ration  and quickly came back to check out the kitchen counter – before the bag of food was put away.  My human had her back to us as she had noticed a voicemail message on the phone.  As she went to listen to the message, ONE of us – I’m not saying who, jumped up to get a better whiff of Jaws’ bag of puppy food.  And the next thing you know – it was raining dog food.  The whole OPEN bag came crashing down on the kitchen floor. Frodo thought it was a miracle.  An absolute miracle.  And he DOVE in.  And of course yours truly did as well.  My human spun around and shouted “NO!!!!”  At which point Frodo and I got into a rumble about who could grab the most food as we were being dragged away from the pile spread across the kitchen floor.  We were biting and growling and snapping at each other.  Frodo was actually moaning as his biggest dream had come true for .8 seconds – and here he was being dragged away.

I was sequestered in the bedroom while Frodo was taken downstairs.  All the while, Elroy was obliviously munching on his meal in the other room.

My human and the Hulk cleaned up the food and my human made sure no pieces went under the dishwasher – as Frodo would have personally moved the appliance to get any.

When all was cleaned up, we were released from our bondage to inspect the floor for any possibility of a missing  kibble.  No such luck.  Frodo and I looked at each other with disappointment.

So, my friends… this is proof that miracles DO come true…even if for a few short moments. 

Excuse me – do I have spinach in my teeth?

We have a new arrival.  And it is an unwelcome visitor…

Tuesday morning, while my human was entertaining Jaws, the Hulk let Velcro dog and I out onto the deck.  And Velcro dog immediately noticed that something was wrong.  He stared down at the lawn and he began to bark and growl.  Right in the middle of the lawn was something odd.  A big brown mound of something.  The Hulk and my human went to investigate while we canines were sequestered in the house. And what was that brown mound?  Dirt.  A big pile of dirt.  SOMETHING had been digging.  And with a bit of Google searching and after talking to a neighbor, it appears we have MOLES.  And according to just about every website that my human visited, these guys are NOT easy to get rid of.  Every non-poinsonous method for deterring the fuzzy earthworm-like creatures is not proven successful.  Of course my human doesn’t want to use poison as she wants NO chance for us dogs to get any.  And it doesn’t appear that traps are all that successful either.  So what to do?  I say time for a cat.  My human says no.  Time to call the guy from Critter Ridder.

Speaking of neighbors, Jaws went for a visit to meet one of the kids on our road.  She’s a lovely little girl who is VERY interested in dogs and she wanted to meet him.  Jaws needs more socializing – he hasn’t yet met the 936 people he is supposed to before he turns 16 weeks – so it was good for him, too.  He was overall, quite well behaved.  He obeyed her commands to “down” and happily, and gently took treats.  Not ONLY did he get dog treats – but he also got to sample some blackberries and watermelon.  Lucky guy.  He DID have a few moments of puppy wildness, but all in all was a good puppy.  Clearly he did not learn that from me.

It’s interesting that Jaws ate that fruit so quickly.  At home he prefers to play with pieces of banana, and he gums and spits out spinach.  I have learned to follow him around when he gets a treat – as there are always leftovers.

Well it’s Wednesday and it is supposed to be a rainy day.  Time for some indoor entertainment.  We haven’t played Find the Bunny since I ate the leg off the large rabbit.  But maybe we can use the other bunny that still has all four limbs.  Paws crossed.

Have a great day! Oh – but before I close – I have a favor to ask.  My human added a “Followers” button to my blog site.  She knows that many of you regularly follow my antics via Facebook – but she was wondering if you would mind clicking on my “Followers” button – just so she has idea about how many people actually read about our wild world.  She’s just curious!  Thanks. Have a good one!

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So here’s a question – how does one BEGIN to tire out a Picard puppy?  I thought I had energy – I’m like a sloth compared to this guy.  You can take him for a 15 minute walk, play ball with him, take him out for 16 pee breaks and he is STILL raring to go.

My human has learned that if our household is quiet, it is quite likely one of us is getting in trouble.  Lately,  Jaws has been leading the way.  If he is silent, it means he has discovered something – and is probably chewing it.  Like the dining room carpet.  There are an assortment of chew toys spread throughout the house – and many under the dining room table.  And after a long morning walk, we all hang out under the table.  And if suddenly Jaws stops chewing a toy – you can bet he is chewing the carpet.  At first my human thought that he was the first dog to have such a carpet obsession.  And then she recalled that the reason she has this current oval shaped carpet was because we PONs (and one Berner) had chewed the corners on the last carpet.  It only takes SECONDS for us to work our fabric artistry.

One of the things I really love about Jaws is that he is a master at deflecting attention.  Which allows ME to move in and do things.  Like steal food.  For example, when he went wandering into the bedroom and was gone for a long time (16 seconds), my human went to see what he was up to – leaving her English Muffin on the counter.  I ALMOST had it – if it had only been a bit closer to the edge of the counter.

Jaws and Velcro dog have become really good buddies.  Velcro dog barks at Jaws when he pulls his ears or his tail, but they really are getting along great.  Jaws will follow him and lie down next to him.  I’m STILL not sure around him.  One minute I think I’ll play with him and then I scowl and walk away.  This adjustment is taking some time.  But I’ll get there.  Especially if he keeps deflecting attention…I really like that about him!

So while I have been behaving as best I can, guess who was on the naughty list the other day? None other than Velcro dog!   My human took Jaws out for one of his 483rd pees of the day, and she didn’t let me out with them – as I had been barking at something out the window – and she suspected a squirrel or bunny was in the vacintity.   But Velcro dog doesn’t usually care about such things – so she let him out with them for the pee-a-thon.  Velcro dog went out and stared at the woods.  She told him “no” and he calmly went to walk around the island we have in the middle of our driveway.  While she was waiting for Jaws to pee, she didn’t notice that Velcro dog went around the island and started trotting up the driveway – away from the house.  He was totally sneaky about it.  She shouted to him- and he basically ignored her, hurrying up the driveway and off into the woods.  She came in the house, and told the Hulk we had an escapee.  He took a leash and calmly went after Velcro dog, while Jaws and I waited in the house with my human.  Sure enough, in less than 3 minutes, Velcro dog was happily trotting back down the driveway, followed by the Hulk.  My human opened the door and he happily pranced in. I have to hand it to him – he is such a cool dude.  When I take off – usually after wildlife, I make a huge spectacle thrashing through the woods, barking like mad.  But not Velcro dog – he is quiet in his wandering – in fact it is one of the ONLY times he is quiet.  Who knows – maybe he wasn’t even going after wildlife – he may have gone up to the neighbor’s place to check out their new cat.   But he came back and was quite pleased with himself. Score one for Velcro dog.

Paxisms.  That’s what we call the crazy behaviors that Elroy displays – that are reminiscent of the big tri-colored fluffy boy.   And it starts early in the morning.  After we finish our walk, we pass by our paper box at the end of our driveway.  And the very first time we did our walk, my human jokingly gave Jaws the paper. Well.  Now every morning he wants to carry the paper – just like Paxton did.  And just like Paxton, he will usually carry it for a short distance, and will then attempt to destroy it.  I suppose it’s just as well he eats the latest news about Trump – but still, we do like to get those dog toy ads.

Paxton was a fuzzaholic.  From the first night my human brought him home she discovered that he LOVED to find fuzz.  And eat it.  And if he couldn’t find any, he would just rip some off his own tail.  Jaws thankfully hasn’t started the tail thing – but he is QUITE happy to pull fuzz off Frodo.  He bites his ears and his tail.  And because Frodo IS very patient – he lets him get away with it.  He doesn’t do it with me because I am NOT that patient.  I did do the zoomies around him outside yesterday – so I AM warming up.  SLOWLY.  

So while Jaws is unique in his own way, he certainly does have behaviors that are very unlike us PONs – but very similar to one special Berner.  He reminds us of those every day.  And as much as it is taking me some adjustment time, I must confess I DO think Jaws IS special.  Very special indeed. And I think one special Berner is looking down and wagging that funny looking tail…

Puppies like to chew.  And Jaws could be the poster puppy for chewing canines.  They say that puppies chew to relieve the pain of teething. They usually have their adult teeth by 6 months of age – so we still have a few more months of this maladaptive masticating ahead of us.  My human has frozen wet wash cloths – and Jaws is interested in them for about 2 minutes – tossing and flinging them around the room.  They act as fairly dangerous projectiles while they are still frozen.  We also have every form of chew toy available – spread around the house.  He has his favorites – deer antlers are a hit.  He also likes sticks, carpet, chair rails, mud, pant legs, his leash and the hair on Velcro dog’s ears.  My human is constantly offering him the “correct” thing to chew – rather than the roster of inedible, inappropriate options.  

One thing that has been QUITE remarkable in the past few days – my human actually had a 20 minute period when we were all in the same room, hanging out and sleeping.  She literally looked to the heavens and said a thank you to God for the moment of respite.  

Time to bug my human to play fetch.  Jaws hasn’t quite figured out the game yet.  He runs out to get the ball, and races back to my human at full speed and then JUST as he is within grabbing distance, he veers off to the side and runs past her. Shades of Paxton…

Have a happy Saturday.  You know I will!

Well I think Elroy AKA Jaws has already grown.  Honestly – I am pretty sure he is bigger than the day he arrived.  I’m thinking I had better start being nice to him – he will soon be bigger than me. I realized in my excitement over getting a puppy I never really said much about his breed – the Berger Picard.  Also known as the Picardy Sheepdog, Picardy Shepherd or “wild thing.”  OK – that last one is my own label.

They originated in the Picardie region of France – and they are one of the oldest French herding breeds.  Like us PONs, they nearly became extinct after the War, but due to the efforts of some devoted fans, they saw an increase in numbers.  Although they were first shown in dog shows in Europe in 1863, it was not until 1925 that they were officially recognized in France.  They were recognized by the Canadian Kennel Club in 1992 and just last year were recognized in the Herding Group by the American Kennel Club.  They still remain a pretty rare breed.

There actually was a movie that featured a Picard in 2005 – Because of Winn-Dixie.  Now while movies portray us dogs as well-behaved, adorable companions – one needs to keep in mind that movies are movies.  Just like us PONs,  Picards are probably not for everyone.  Words to describe the
Picard include lively, goofy, hard working, intelligent and stubborn.  Sound familiar?  But if trained properly, they can excel at Obedience, Rally, Agility, Herding – you name it.  Keep in mind though, that training in the KEY.

The boys can grow to 25.5 inches – and girls to 23.5 inches.  They have a harsh coat which requires minimal grooming.  Bonus. They come in two colors – Fawn and Brindle.  It’s a bit confusing as the Brindle can also be referred to as Gray.  On top of that, there are variations in the Fawn and the Brindle.  My take on this – they come in a light color and a dark color.  I think Jaws could be called a Dark Fawn or a Fawn Brindle – but who knows what he will look like as he gets older?  Maybe he’ll be purple. 

Picards carry their ears erect – and we see moments of that with Jaws.  Sometimes he has one ear up.  Sometimes two.  And sometimes he still looks like the Flying Nun.  

Like us PONs,  Picards need to be socialized a lot as puppies – as I mentioned the other day.  We see that Jaws is STARTING to settle in.  He will actually fall asleep and RELAX – outside his crate.  When he gets the puppy zoomies, he is C-R-A-Z-Y.  He jumps and leaps and even does somersaults. Of course my human panics as she doesn’t want him to hurt himself.  But TRY and stop him.  It’s like picking up a crazed porcupine.

One difference that I see between PONs and Picards is that some Picards can be described as “picky eaters.”  Clearly that is NOT the case with PONs!

My human is THINKING that Jaws MAY be a good herding dog.  His mother loves sheep.  Jaws has a tendency to walk BEHIND the group of us – and he also LOVES to nip at heels. And pant legs.  I see lots of money going into obedience school for this guy.

When my human took Jaws to the Vet the other day, he looked at my human and said “Do you stay up at night reading Rare Breed books?” He knows my human well.  He also knows she loves learning and trying new things.  Having a Picard is a whole new experience – and even though it is a BIT chaotic right now, we have a feeling this is going to be a fabulous journey!

So Velcro dog decided he wanted some attention. But trust me – it’s not like we are not getting plenty of attention – even with our new addition.  The Hulk is still visiting AND my human is on vacation – so she is home with us almost all day.  Except for a few hours when she had to go into the office on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Anyway, we all went down to the lake on Monday and Velcro dog and I stared as Jaws not only went in the water – but he actually SWAM for about 30 seconds.    While he was training for the canine water Olympics, Velcro dog and I were munching on some grass. When Jaws got out of the water, he raced around like crazy and my human headed back to the house with him and me.  But Velcro dog had disappeared. He eventually came – after what seemed like FOREVER – but was probably about 5 minutes.  And all was right with the world.

Anyway, the next morning Velcro dog seemed fine.  We all went for a long walk, he ate his breakfast – or should I say he inhaled his breakfast, he had a good poop (not that I care – but as we know, you humans take stock in such things) and he was full of energy.  Until about an hour after the walk.  He climbed up on our so-far-indestructible dog bed and promptly threw up his breakfast.  Well – if you want to send my human into a tailspin, throw up.  She immediately tried to rack her brain and figure out why.  She did inventory on the dog toys and all were accounted for.  So she figured it must have had something to do with what he had eaten down by the lake  Most likely a LOT of grass – as we all seem to find the grass at the water’s edge most delectable. She waited a while and tried to offer him a biscuit – which he refused.  That’s when my human REALLY began to panic.  A PON?  Refuse food?  She raced to the internet.  It’s not as if she hadn’t figured out that this bout of nausea was MOST likely related to his absence the day before – but you know her. Time to Google all the possibilities.  What a horrid human behavior – you deliberately drive yourselves crazy. Velcro dog seemed out of sorts – but keep in mid that he IS a drama king.  Trim his nails or even groom him and he acts as if he is being tortured.  So IMAGINE him with stomach upset…

While my human was Googling, the air suddenly turned blue.  Compliments of moi.  That grass really WAS good.  

My human fawned over Velcro dog.  He got double the attention.  But within a few hours, he was feeling FINE and he was starving for his supper.  My human gave him a little bit – to be sure his stomach was ok.  He gobbled it down and all stayed down.  And yours truly never felt better, besides the fact that I could have cleared the room several times that day.

The next day, all was again right with the world.  Everyone was eating, drinking and pooping fine.  I ALMOST tried to play with Jaws outside but then I changed my mind.  I’m still playing hard to get.  

Just another day in paradise!