June 16.  And according to the crazy calendar, it’s Fresh Veggies day.  And don’t we LOVE fresh veggies?  Well at least Einstein and I do.  The FG has a different procedure for eating veggies – take a carrot for example. The FG has to toss it, lick it, roll on hit, chew it, spit it, and finally eat it.  This holds true for almost all veggies.  There are LOTS of veggies that are good for us dogs – like carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, green beans,  peas and potatoes.  As with anything – we should probably eat veggies in moderation – because too much MIGHT upset our stomachs.  And there are some we should NEVER eat – like onions.  Tomatoes are OK – but the green parts of the plant CAN make us sick.  One source said that asparagus is OK, but too tough to be eaten raw.  Guess they never met the power chewers in THIS house.

And speaking of eating – the FG has a new habit.  He has TOTALLY trained my human. 
 He has started this new thing where he won’t eat his supper.  He just stares at it.  Or lies down next to his food bowl.  So of COURSE, the first time he did this, my human tried to feed him by HAND.  So yup – you guessed it – he now will not eat his supper unless she feeds him. And then he eats the WHOLE thing!    He is really good at human training.

Well it’s Friday and I understand my human and her mother and her sister have some company arriving this weekend.  They are not staying with us – I think they value their sleep.  But it still looks like we might have to be on good behavior.  We’ll see….

Have a good one – and don’t forget to eat your veggies!!!

June 14.  And guess whose birthday it is?  Done other than the Donald. Nope – not Donald Duck.  Donald Trump.  POTUS.  He’ll be 71 today.  

I swore I would never talk politics again after someone berated me for doing so in the past.  Seriously. A guy berated a DOG for voicing his political opinion.  I mean COME ON.   Isn’t everyone entitled to an opinion?

I will NOT talk about mainstream media.  Or Russia.  Or investigations.  BUT I will point out a number of stories that indicated the Donald was going to get a dog.   I have read he was getting everything from a Border Collie to a Labradoodle.  I think it was fake news.   And it was probably started because the last 19 Presidents have owned dogs.  And if my resources are correct, 71% of all the Presidents have owned dogs.  Actually, the Donald is among a small group of Presidents who never owned ANY pet: he and James Polk.  Wait – Andrew Johnson was said to feed white mice he found in his bedroom.  So that’s not exactly what I would call being a pet owner.  Oh and Martin Van Buren owned some tiger cubs given to him as a gift – and he later donated them to a zoo.  Another quasi pet person.  The Donald needs to think about this.  Maybe a dog WOULD be good for him!  Just don’t pick me…

I want to be clear on something here – I’m not a Republican, Democrat, Green Party member, Liberal, Conservative, or Socialist.  I’m a Caninist.  I believe in equality for all dogs.  OK and cats too.  But not iguanas.   OK, OK, iguanas too.  I believe in equality for all.  All of us on this planet – humans, canines and even porcupines share two things in common.  We live.  And we die.  One of those we don’t generally control – but the other – well it is up to us how we use our time.  Every day is a gift.  We can focus on the puddles after the rain- or jump over them and continue on our walk.  We can growl and snap at others – but it won’t win us any friends.  We can hoard our treats – even though we have enough – or we can share them with others.  And in the end, it’s all about how NICE we have been – and how we have treated others.  We dogs get it.  We may be naughty at times – but underneath it all – we are NICE. 

So although I am not a fan of the Donald, my birthday wish for him is the ability to think like a dog.  Be nice.  And learn to wag instead of growling and snapping.  Trust me – it will make your life, and the lives of MANY others, so much better as well.

June 13.  And on this day in 1922, some poor fella by the name of Charlie Osborne started doing something that would end in a “record’ of sorts.  He began to hiccup.  And he didn’t stop for 68 years! Can you imagine?!  I mean CAN you imagine?!  Poor guy.  Apparently he died 11 months after they stopped. 

We dogs can get hiccups, and puppies are often prone to them.  Hiccups are usually caused by eating too quickly or by being too hyperactive and energetic.  Barking can also cause hiccups – because if you’re excited and barking, your breathing is affected.  Given these causes, Einstein should  have  chronic hiccups – he inhales his food and is always barking.  Another cause for hiccups is supposedly eating a food high in grain. 

To stop or prevent the hiccups, if your dog has then often, you should feed a low grain food and avoid foods that trigger hiccups.  Give your dog water – just like humans – to try and stop them.  Other suggestions include exercising your dog, to change his breathing pattern.  Take a walk or play fetch.  Another supposed cure is to feed him. Unless you what he eats triggers them – then I think you have a cycle going on!

None of us get hiccups very often.  In fact, I don’t think I have ever heard the FG hiccup.  Maybe he’s scared of me – so I frighten the hiccups out of him – like some humans try to do. I wonder how many different cures Charlie tried?!  And what finally caused them to stop.  Maybe he got a dog.  We can cure lots of human ailments.  Although sometimes we add to them…At least in this house!

Have a hiccup-free day!

Well we survived.  No one ran (or fell) off a cliff, Elroy behaved at Aunt Glenda’s and my foot is feeling 1000% better.

On our last day – my human took us on another 5 AM hike – for probably 4 km.  And of course, the last of the obligatory photo shoots. This time she remembered to bring enough treats.

I must brag that on the way home, my behavior was again exemplary.  I went in my crate, and never made a peep.  That was in stark contrast to Einstein.  He continued to pant and squeak like he did on the way down.  And of course my human would worry that he needed to go out.  So she would pull over, get him out, and watch him trot around with NO need to pee or poop.  My human’s mother  at one point was really wishing we had that  recording of rain. 

On the way home, we stopped to pick up the FG.  He was beside himself when he saw my human – and happily jumped in his crate.  But here was the challenge.  There was enough room for two crates in the vehicle.  And clearly the FG needs a crate.  And my human knows that I  would be happy to be in the FRONT seat, if allowed to do so – so there was no way I was going to be allowed to be free.  My human figured that since Einstein was not happy in the crate anyway, he would be the best dog to sit in the back with my human’s mother… Well.  HOW do you spell fiasco?  If we thought the panting was bad before, while in his crate- he was nearly hyperventilating in the back seat.  My human thought SOMETHING must be wrong.  So yup – she pulled over again.  And again, he happily trotted around.  By this point there were three humans who were ready to tie him to the roof of the vehicle. Like something a politician would do – or like a scene from the movie “Vacation.”  My human’s sister and her mother traded places – so now her sister was in the back with Darth Vader.  He eventually settled down – only to rev up again when we were 15 minutes from home.  When we are at home, and Einstein is in a barking frenzy, all my human has to do is show him a squirt gun that she has.  She has only ever had to spray him once and now all she has to do is say “I’m getting the gun.”  That generally makes him quiet.  So what did she say in the vehicle?  “I’m getting the gun.”  Which was utterly ridiculous because she didn’t even HAVE the gun.  He didn’t give her a second look and continued his pant-squeak solo.  But you should have seen the looks on her mother’s and sister’s faces when she said it.  “It’s a SQUIRT gun” she exclaimed.

We were ALL happy to get home – and within 2 minutes, we were all sound asleep.  Adventures sure make one tired.  But they are SO worth it!  Even with a panting dog…

Have a good one!

It went by much too quickly – but our little vacation must come to an end today.  Not that my human didn’t TRY to see if they could keep our accommodations for ONE more night – but sadly the place was booked.  Great for tourism, bad for us.

But we had a marvelous day yesterday.  It began at 5.  Yes – we got my human up and 5.  No point in missing a good vacation day.  So she took us out for a LONG walk.  She started to take us out on a trail and when we began, we saw a warning sign about coyotes.  So we didn’t do that hike.  This is us with our sad faces.

Then of course, she had to take us around part of the resort instead.  And she made a BIG mistake – she didn’t bring enough treats.  So while we did sit and stay, we don’t look overjoyed in some of these shots.

The we drove all around the Cabot Trail and stopped numerous times for pee breaks.  And scenic photo shots.  She didn’t attempt to get us in all the scenic shots – as some are taken in rather precarious locations – and she didn’t REALLY want to be dragged over a cliff. 

As usual, the humans also did some “shopping” along the way – while we boys waited.  They went to craft stores, hooked rug shops…

AND my human almost bought this hat for herself – she figured it would be the perfect thing to get our attention when she is taking photos of us.  I say, stick to the treats.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more stories about our travels home… Did I ever mention we LOVE Cape Breton…and I’m wondering if we could do some tourism ads for them?  Hey wait a minute – I think we just did!

So we loaded up the rental van and away we went!  Our destination?   Cape Breton and the world famous Cabot Trail.  We loved our trip there last year – and clearly my human loves it too.

The only problem with the trip so far – is that we had some rain.  Now it wasn’t torrential downpours – just a shower here and there throughout the trip.  So the photo ops were put on hold. 

I must say, I was a brilliant traveler yesterday – once I was put in my crate, I never made a peep.  But Einstein – that’s another story.  As we all know, he does NOT like to be sequestered.  He has been known to chew holes in chain link fences,  no baby gate can hold him back – he just chews his way through – and if he is actually placed in a room and my human is on the other side of the door, he makes a BIG fuss and squeaks and moans.  So imagine the indignation when he had to go in a CRATE on this journey.  He panted and squeaked for the first 40 minutes – so much that my human had to stop to take him out.  He was FINE – it’s not like his bladder was about to explode- he just wanted out of the crate.  Ever see one of those cartoons where an animal spreads all four legs to avoid going through a door.  That was Einstein when he had to get back in.  But of course, my human won.  And the squeaking continued.  And then, suddenly it stopped.  Completely.  For a LONG time.  And then all the passengers realized when it stopped.  When the showers started, the squeaking stopped.  You see, although Einstein hates being crated, the other option would be to go out in the rain.  He HEARD the rain.  And we KNOW how much he loves rain.  I think my human needs to get a recording of rain to play whenever he has to travel in a crate…

We arrived at our cabin at the Keltic Lodge – and as you can see, we made ourselves right at home.  In this photo, my human’s sister had just told Einstein that the couch did not have his name on it. 

All that time my human spent grooming us before the trip was clearly well spent.  We look a MESS.  I TOLD her not to bother grooming us….But did she listen???

Tomorrow we hit the trail again and the weather is calling for sunnier skies.  So we’ll hopefully have some photos to share.  Last year, my human posted our photo to the Keltic Lodge FB page and THEY re-posted it.  So you KNOW my human will try to get some adorable shot to send in again.  Hope she brought some awesome treats…

Stay tuned!

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We are going on a ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!  My human, her sister and her mother are going SOMEWHERE in Nova Scotia and we PONs are going along too.  As you may recall, my human’s mother was in the hospital back in April.  According to doctors, she is a sick lady – but according to her – she feels just fine.  So as long as she feels just fine, why not enjoy that time – and take a ROAD TRIP!!!!   And sometimes it pays to be a dog with special needs.  With my recent seizures, my human thought it best to take me along – and Einstein gets to come too.  And Elroy gets to enjoy time at Camp Glenda.  So this should be easy, right?!   But of COURSE, nothing is ever easy with me…

Yesterday morning as my human was getting ready for her last day at work for the week – since we leave TODAY – she noticed I was limping.  BADLY limping. I would not weight bear on my front leg.  AT ALL.  She tried to look at my paw and I pulled away – so she whisked me onto the grooming table aka surgical table.  I was NOT impressed – but I let her touch my paw.  And she felt something.  Something sharp.  She thought it was a thorn from one of the rose bushes – so she went to get pliers to pull it out.  WARNING: Stop here if you don’t like gross stuff.  Anyway – it looked to be less than a 1/4 inch long.  But she pulled and was SHOCKED to pull out a one inch long PORCUPINE quill.  And right next to it was another.  JUST AS LONG.  No WONDER I was limping.  Mind you – I met Mr. Needles on Monday morning at 1 AM and up until yesterday morning I was NOT limping.  GO figure.  My human carefully checked to see if there were more – but she couldn’t find any.  Still – she quickly made a Vet appointment for yesterday afternoon for me to be checked out – as the paw was red and had a bump where the needles came out.

Overall, I was pretty good at the Vet’s.  OK – I did get a BIT dramatic, but it’s not like they needed to sedate me!  The Vet didn’t THINK I have any more quills – but it IS possible one is still in my paw.  Right now it is VERY sore – and it appears like there is some infection starting – perhaps due to my licking?  Anyway, I got some medication for my pain and for the infection.  I’m just happy to know I still get to go on this road trip!  Besides – my human’s mother would have missed her favorite grand-dog if I didn’t come.

Now.  I wonder where we are going…

OK.  So SOMETHING is going on.  Last night, my human took the FG in the car.  AND HE DIDN’T RETURN!!!!   Now I was just starting to like the guy!!  My human returned  and looked at us and said he has gone to Aunt Glenda’s for a few days.  SERIOUSLY?!  He gets to go to Camp Glenda with all her Bernese Mountain Dogs and horses, and cats and other wildlife?!   Who decided THIS plan?  Apparently he will be there until SUNDAY.  My human said the “socializing” will be good for him.  That’s a bunch of bunny balls.  He’s probably THE most sociable of all of us.  Look at how many neighbor’s have almost had their teeth knocked out by Mr. Joyful-to-see-you.

And then, after she got back, she pulled out a SUITCASE.  Which is doubly odd.  Because IF she is going somewhere – AND we are having a dog sitter – why couldn’t the FG stay here?????  OK – so admittedly if my human had to get a sitter for all THREE of us – she would likely have to pay danger pay – but come on – we did it last Fall.  Mind you….we never did hear from that sitter again.  She SAID she would send her calendar of when she is available…but mysteriously…she never got back to us….

So we’ll just SEE what happens tomorrow…

On this day in 1955, a game show debuted on American TV.  It was called the $64,000 Question. It was a trivia type game show where contestants chose a category and had to answer increasingly difficult questions.  As I understand it, if they missed a question, they lost what they had won until that point.  They started at $64 and the amounts increased with each question.  I guess there was some kind of scandal with the way questions were asked – and after several years on the air – and several spin off shows, it was finally cancelled.  The common phrase “Now that’s the $64,000 question became a catch phrase for difficult situations and problems.

So let’s play our own version – using the dollar values that they used – but before you start – there is NO real prize money if you get these correct.  Just sayin.  They will start easy and get more difficult…

$64  What breed of dog is Elroy?
a.  Great Pyrenese
b.  Irish Wolfhound
c.  Berger Picard
d.  Coyote

$128  What is the country of origin for the Australian Shepherd?
a.  USA
b.  New Zealand
c.  Australia
d.  Africa  

$256  This breed of dog is a large, water-loving dog who hails from Canada. His long, thick coat is black, brown, or black and white (which is called a Landseer).
a.  Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
b.  Newfoundland
c.  Mastiff
d.  Leonberger

$512   The treeing Walker coonhound is from the USA and its job is to chase prey up trees so human s can catch it.   It is tan and white in coloring with long floppy ears. But it’s not the only type of coonhound; There are five other types of coonhound breed.  Which of the coonhounds listed below ISN’T an actual breed?

$2000  Your dog was bitten on the pinna. What hurts? 
a.  tail
b.  leg
c.  nose
d.  ear 

   $4000  Found primarily in small breeds, but also in a few larger breeds such as the flat-coated retriever, this skeletal abnormality is also known as “slipping kneecaps.”

c.   Yes, but it is a much lower score 
d.   Maybe

$16000  This amazing dog was originally created around the 1500s to hunt puffins in the tiny caves along the cliffs. Amazingly flexible, he can bend his head entirely backwards, touching the top of his head to his back. He also has at least six toes on each foot, and has the ability to close his ears to keep water out.
a.  Finnish Spitz

$32000  In 1925, which Siberian Husky traveled through -70 degree temperatures, near whiteout conditions, and gale force winds for 91 miles to relay serum for use in combating a diptheria epidemic in Nome, Alaska? 

b.  Togo

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b.  Spontaneously saved at least one sailor from drowning.