Greetings blog readers. Frodo here. To begin, I would like to thank all those who sent me birthday greetings. It was a delightful day filled with lots of attention and copious amounts of treats. It was the best 10th birthday I have ever had. And being the generous fellow that I am, I shared my treats with the beatnik. Well. Most of them.

In the past, Brother Viktor often liked to share historical information in this blog – related to canines. In keeping with his practice, I thought I should mention two things. First- today is the last day of a January. As you may recall, our New Year did not begin on a high note, so we are quite happy to say goodbye to the first month of the year. We have proclaimed February 1 as our New Year. Out with the old bones. In with the new.

Second. Today also happens to be something called Inspire your Heart with Art Day. It sounds a bit “made up” to me – but given the fact that humans are often looking for any reason to celebrate in the midst of winter – it seems fine to me. I mean it’s not like a day to celebrate a burrowing rodent or anything. Something like that would be ridiculous.

Now there are numerous artists who specialize in canine art. We have a few things like these acrylic paintings that are of us.

And some others like this wood burning done of dogs from long ago. Schubert and Guinness, are the two Bernese, we have Beamish the Lab and that’s Barney – the multibreed adoptee. Whose nickname at the shelter was “The Biter.” Quite the character, I understand….

We even a pottery sculpture of me and Brother Viktor from an artist in Poland.

She loves art of her boys. Who wouldn’t?!

But in addition to art done of the best subjects on the planet by humans, one can also have art DONE BY canines.

Viktor may have shared some of these before, but they are worth repeating. The following dogs have inspired me to try my paw at painting. This is actually a few years old, and some of these dogs have gone to the Rainbow bridge. Mind you, that should increase the value of their work….

https://www.womansworld.com/gallery/animals/dogs-who-can-paint-111444/amp

Here’s another video of Jumpy working… He’s patient.

https://youtu.be/PiF_pmLCtQM

I am impressed with the fact that people PAY for this dog art. That is really what captured my attention. I think I could do it. However, realistically, her highness thinks I would be more like THIS dog. Note that this dog requires a treat for every brush stroke. Every single stroke. Her highness said my style would be closer to this…

https://youtu.be/qLY8K0dKhm8

In fact, her highness found that particular video humorous. Very humorous. She said THAT would be me.

I don’t see the humor. The dog is simply being paid for his work.

I would definitely prefer holding the brush – rather than running through any paint. I mean I don’t like walking though puddles – so the thought of paint on my feet – well it makes me shudder.

So that is my news for today. Have a happy Friday. And take a minute to look out for all the art around you!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

It’s Elroy again! Because I get to tell you about a special national holiday. It’s kind of ironic really. Yesterday I got to tell you about the bad “good dog”. And today I get to tell you about the good “good dog.” Because that’s what we do on someone’s BIRTHDAY. Yup. It’s the Boss’ celebration of another trip around the sun. And it’s an extra special one. It’s his 10th birthday!!!! Double digits! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen double digits in this house. Mind you, her highness is well into triple digits. In dog years.

Viktor probably has told the story of Frodo (the Boss’ real name) many times before. But because we may have a new reader or two, I thought I’d recap his history….I wasn’t around during these early days, so I had to research this stuff.

Over the years, her highness had been owned by a multi-breed dog, a Labrador and several Bernese Mountain Dogs. When she suddenly lost her third Bernese, Harper at age 7 to cancer, she decided to “look at” some other breeds. She had read about Polish Lowland Sheepdogs and she knew someone who owned one. She met the dog once and the owner commented that the breed could be stubborn- but also extremely smart. Not one to easily back down from a challenge, her highness thought they sounded “interesting.” In addition, she had a fondness for rare breeds – when she first got into Bernese, no one knew what they were. So rarity did not bother her.

She had heard that there were few PON breeders in Canada – but as luck would have it- there was one in Nova Scotia. She contacted them to simply meet and learn more about their dogs. She did NOT know that they had 9 week old puppies at the time.

The rest, as humans say, is history. It took her less than 24 hours to make a decision- even though she had no intention of getting a puppy when she had arranged that visit. The breeder had been calling him Frodo, and her highness thought it fit, so why change it?

The new family member got along great with Paxton…

And although I couldn’t find a puppy picture with Beamish, the Lab, this shot is proof that they also got along great.

Here’s a shot of the trio:

Her highness quickly learned that this shaggy newcomer was like no dog she had ever owned. He was smart. Really smart. No gate could contain him. And he would NEVER forget something. He was extremely food motivated and extremely easy to train. And he liked to bark…

When he was a puppy, his portrait was done by a Canadian artist when her highness shared his photo…

You can find his painting to this day, on prints, pillows, bags, T-shirts… you name it! Her highness has the original painting. But no – we don’t get royalties….

Meanwhile, they worked together in obedience and rally and her highness also decided to show him in beauty pageants too. Which was not super easy because there weren’t many… often there weren’t any PONs being shown. Despite that fact, the Boss got his Championship with her highness on the other end of the lead. He got it by getting some big group ribbons He also routinely had high scores in obedience and rally. People would comment that they must have trained a lot. Her highness was too embarrassed to admit that they rarely practiced. Once she showed him what to do, he just did the job. Here are the ribbons he got in 2012. Before he turned 3…

He actually also did some work with sheep!

But years later, when he was in a sheep test, he failed. He just likes to do things HIS way,

Because he proved to be such a “wonder” dog, her highness wanted another one just like him. So she got his brother Viktor almost two years later, from a repeat breeding. They were the same, but not.

The Boss welcomed Viktor and years later welcomed me. While he likes to look tough when he first meets other dogs, he’s a real softy underneath.

Here’s a video of The Boss and Baby Viktor. Several carpets ago…

https://youtu.be/GQkJiD0dC0w

Here are early photos with yours truly. Some of them. There are loads. Although for some reason, I am blurry in many of them…

The Boss is RARELY blurry in a photo. Her highness calls him Frodo-genic. He loves having his photo taken. There are literally hundreds of shots of him. Maybe thousands. Here are a few favorites just from the past year…

Barky, bold and brilliant. He owns our house, our road, our county, and her heart. Happy birthday big guy – my hero! Today we celebrate YOU!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Elroy her. I have an announcement. Her highness is soon to become constipated. Really. She has a serious problem. It’s The Boss. What began as a little joke has become a real issue.

It began with shower barking. Viktor has talked about it in the past, and I’ve mentioned it too. That’s when The Boss waits until her highness gets in the shower and he begins barking like he is fending off a small army of intruders. And he did that every now and then. But NOW- EVERY time her highness goes into the bathroom, he does it. Even if the shower isn’t turned on. Here’s the scenario. Her highness announces that she needs to use the bathroom- and she’ll “be right back.” The Boss watches and waits. He has calculated JUST how long it takes until she is “seated” and then he starts. He takes off. Running like a mad dog to the front door and barking like someone is DEFINITELY there. And…yours truly now joins in. I’m not much of a barker – but I DO have a “big dog bark” that indicates something more than a squirrel or butterfly has entered our property. It’s a SERIOUS bark. And I go racing to the front door too.

Meanwhile, her highness is never SURE that we are joking. We put on a spectacular show. So she has to decide if she should put a hold on nature’s call and race out, or finish her original plan. It’s not funny. But it really is.

She usually shouts out something like “Frodo if you are faking I am going to kill you.” You know, of course, she would never harm him – and the Boss knows it too. When she runs to the front door, and looks out and sees no sign of anyone or anything, she spins around and glares at him. He just calmly shakes himself off and goes back to find a comfortable spot to lie down.

This escapade is now happening EVERY time she goes to the bathroom. I could show you video footage taken by Big Brother- but she won’t let me. I looked at it and her comments included “you guys have to stop this. It’s not funny.” As I stand there wagging my tail. Yup. She is going to get constipated.

Yesterday, she did manage to get back at the Boss- by giving him a serious grooming. Mind you, she would have done that anyway. Grooming him is no fun – for either of them. She always does it BEFORE she has taken her shower. She’s sweating pretty badly after the wrestling match. And he emerges smiling – for all the treats he has been given.

I always thought that Viktor had her highness wrapped around his paw – but I now fully understand where he learned his tricks. And THATS why he’s called The Boss…Yup. The “good dog” is really bad.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Elroy here. I had to write today to tell you all about my best day ever this year. I had a play date. With a pretty Picard named Willow. And I am smitten.

Now long time blog readers may recall I had a play date with her once before. And as you may also recall, I wasn’t the best date. Let’s face it – she wasn’t all that the enamored with me because, well.. as you might remember, I chose to play with Farley. A multi-breed dog who was part Moose and who crashed our date at the dog park. Remember how I ditched Willow and wrestled non-stop with Farley? It wasn’t very polite on my part – so it was a miracle she wanted to even meet up with me again. But she thankfully did.

We met again at the fenced ball diamond. Now Willow doesn’t REALLY need a fenced area. She behaves. She follows her human. She comes when called. And me? Well….. it’s 60-40 as to whether I’ll behave. OK. More like 50-50. So I need that fenced location.

I don’t want to boast – but this date went MUCH better than the last time.

We met and did our obligatory polite greetings. She bows. I bow. It dates back to olden times. And we begin the Picardy waltz.

After the bows, we then go to opposite sides of the ball diamond.

We come back together…

And then the dance takes off…

Sometimes yours truly must lie down and watch her go. And then she races back towards me…

And off we go again…

In addition to running in the Picardy waltz there is also jumping…and flying…

When the music slows, we rest, and share a little tiny kiss…

But then she discovered I had been eating fish treats – and my breath was a bit….rancid…

So the kissing didn’t last long- and off we went again…

The acrobatics continued…

Until the final movement where we smiled…

And posed for our final bows….(thanks to Willow’s human for this shot).

We had a wonderful time playing and waltzing. Ahhhh. Bliss.

That being said, she came back to our house afterward so her human could have coffee with her highness, but I needed to be sequestered. Dream date over. Because I suddenly decided she was “my girl” and although I would make “advances” (AKA humping behavior) at certain points at the ball field, she could simply swing away and stop my occasional rude advances. But in the house, it could have proven challenging. So while I hung out on the deck, The Boss got to stay with her. He was a complete gentleman. He never made a forward move. The Boss thought she was cool. I think we both have a crush on her….

I hope the humans plan another date soon. I don’t have wheels – so it’s not like go can go and pick her up myself. I’ll have to behave in the coming week. I definitely want to see her again. And I won’t even be distracted if Farley shows up.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Frodo here.

It is three weeks today that Brother Viktor left us. Since then, her highness has been moved by the outpouring of support we have received. On the very day that we announced his passing, a kind blog reader sent flowers. And since then she has been touched by flowers from neighbors, donations in Viktor’s name, food (including a yummy lemon loaf!) and cards of sympathy and support.

One dear friend went above and beyond in the days following his passing – making sure that we all ate and were taking good care of ourselves. We call her Saint Joanie.

Both the SPCA and the Ontario Veterinary School have received donations in memory of the wild grey whirlwind.

Her highness has appreciated every email, text and phone call.

People ask how we canines are doing. We’re OK. Personally, yours truly has never been what one would refer to as a “clingy” dog – but that has changed a bit since my brother is gone. I just REALLY want to be where her highness is. At ALL times. That’s partly how the gates to the DFZ have been opened. I now waltz in there like I own the place. Which of course, I do.

The beatnik seems a bit more low key since Viktor is gone. However, I do think he would be happy to carry on Viktor’s undesirable habit of escaping into the woods, if let off leash. Her highness isn’t taking any chances.

So thank you, thank you for all the kindness you have shown. It has been a great comfort. We know that Viktor is running free with Paxton – and so many others – and he’s watching out for us too…

Meanwhile, on a different note -I should tell you about how yesterday, I totally exhausted myself. By throwing myself against the front door in a frenzy. Repeatedly. It all started with the arrival of a UPS van. Her highness had a parcel that was being delivered. As usual, I went into my Cujo routine. Her highness closed the door to the front hall while she opened the door for the parcel. The happy delivery guy commented that he had panicked a bit as he came down the driveway- as it was a bit of a luge run. Her highness KNEW it was icy – but she hates to salt it because of our feet. Besides that, she was able to drive Ludwig up and down, so she wasn’t THAT concerned.

The driver bid his good-byes and her highness watched with bated breath as he drove away. He started up the hill. He went 5 feet. Ten feet. And then the sound of wurrrrr-wurrrr reached my ears, resulting in another Cujo frenzy. The UPS truck was stuck. He reversed back down the hill, and her highness quickly put on her puffy coat and hat and grabbed the bucket of road salt. She slipped and slid as the guy watched her throwing salt – and listened as I shouted out instructions.

Thankfully, on his next attempt, he made it up, beeping his horn in a salute as he left. Which was reason to again bark. Winter is such great fun.

While, personally, I do not like snow with high moisture content (which I have talked bout before), and I do not like overly cold snow, or crusty snow…. I do loved packed snow. I love to roll in packed snow. Her highness has literally lost count of how many times I have been rolling. I walk and immediately hit the ground and I roll. Now we know I don’t like water, and going in the lake is taboo for me. But when I discovered that it was frozen, I went crazy rolling.

At one point, her highness got a bit worried as I looked like I was about to run off down the lake. But it was my attempt at a joke. Just like shower barking. In the meantime, the beatnik was left on leash on shore to watch my gleeful running and rolling. He was not impressed.

Ah yes. Winter is great fun. And just think – only 56 days until Spring…. As I say (and demonstrate) – let the good times roll!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Yo. Elroy here. Today I want to talk about Social media. Because I’m a social kind of guy.

Her highness follows things on Facebook and Instagram. And she often sees photos that tug on her heart strings. Like photos of a dog before and after he is rescued. Taken supposedly minutes apart. And they are so wonderful. But…do ya ever wonder if some of the photos you see MIGHT be fake? I know. It’s hard to believe everything you read on social media ISN’T true. A guy like me would believe everything I see. Not so much The Boss. He’s more skeptical about some of the news stories. And the photos. Some of the stories are not unlike the tabloid newspapers sold by the cash at the grocery store.

Which got me thinking. Maybe I could write some captions for some of OUR photos. I do have a more comedic nature than the Boss – and I thought this could be fun.

So imagine you saw some of THESE photos with the following captions…

Just writing these makes me realize that they COULD be possible. But it makes you also wonder how much you see and read isn’t true! I saw a story about a pig writing a blog! How crazy is THAT?! Everybody knows, animals can’t WRITE. We use a computer!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Extortion is the word for the day. It means “to obtain something through force or threats.” Humans use extortion with us dogs when they threaten that if we don’t “do” something, we will not be rewarded. No sit. No treat. That’s extortion in my mind. “You jump in that mud puddle, you will get a bath.” Another example of a threat. Which sometimes comes true.

So today, I decided to threaten my human. Give me all the treats in the treat jar, or I will tell the world what goes on in our home during a snowy day. A day when her highness cannot leave home because of the weather. A day when it is highly unlikely we will have visitors.

She did not comply with my request – despite my continued staring at her. I thought it would be clear that she should just give me the treats. But she didn’t. So allow me to give you a visual of her appearance and behavior during “snow days.”

True – she does extricate herself from her cozy bed before daybreak to allow us dogs to answer nature’s call. It’s also because we start staring at her and the beatnik starts licking her face. That maneuver always works to awaken her. She stumbles out of bed and into the bathroom, where she attempts to flatten the upstanding hair on her head. She also puts on her uniform.

If the day is particularly cold or windy or snowy – which is the description of most days January through March, she makes the proclamation that we are going “Quick quick .” That means no long walk. To embark on this journey, she wears a rather unflattering puffy coat. The right pocket is filled with treats. The left is filled with poop bags. Thanks to one of our loyal readers, she no longer has the poop bag extrication problem. That’s when you cannot open a poop bag and your fingers are freezing. One brilliant reader suggested doing that BEFORE we go out. That simple step has made our lives, well her highness’ life so much better.

Her attire these days also includes those mittens with the string that attaches them. Like children wear. They are a godsend when you need to take off your mittens to pick up poop. She does not need to stuff her mittens in her pockets. And she is no longer forever dropping them. They are beginning to wear out. We hope they will last through the season.

After we come in, and she has removed her outerwear, her hair is even more interesting. Now it is a combination of bed head and hat head. Bat head. And it is true – she looks batty.

After our breakfast routine and after we allow her to eat, she now has the whole day ahead of her. It is snowing. She can’t go anywhere. No one will be by to visit.

I am here to tell you, she does little to improve her appearance. In fact, if it is a truly stormy day, she may not even shower! I am betting that there are other dogs who are subjected to an equally astounding sight- but most will not share their experience with others. They just watch and roll their eyes.

Meanwhile, if the laundry has been done, the dishes have been put away, and she has performed that futile exercise called vacuuming, she will now indulge in a new form of entertainment. Initially, when I heard the name, I thought it was for OUR entertainment. I thought it was a movie series just for us canines. I thought I heard her say PETflix. But no. It is something called NETflix. I gather this is not a new “thing” but her highness is sometimes slow to catch on to trends. She just got a Walkman last week too. I jest. It was three weeks ago.

I think the whole extortion topic today came about because she watched some movie called The Irishman yesterday. I thought it was about Bono. Or Irish wolfhounds. But no. It was a mafia movie. About an Irish guy. Played by an Italian actor. How rather puzzling. But she managed to watch the whole thing without falling asleep. So it must be good. Mind you, it starred not a single dog.

During these snow filled days, in addition to watching films, she rarely moves. And when she does, it is because one of us is bored. And one of us in particular starts squeaking.

She puts on her outerwear again and takes us out. The resulting hair style continues to get even MORE interesting. If she herself requires a bathroom break, I wait for the opportune time to begin barking. Imagine her horror that SOMEONE has arrived and will actually see her in her uniform with her bat head. It’s a fun little joke.

So there you have it. The picture of slothenly beauty. I just made up that word. But you get the picture.

I suppose now that I have revealed her secret, I can no longer use that as a way to extort her. You all have an image in your mind of how she looks. And while she would definitely not win any beauty pageant awards for her “at home” look, I might as well confess that we don’t REALLY mind her appearance. To us, she looks just fine. Quite lovely in fact. Because truth be told – we canines can steal a line from Bruno Mars and we love you “just the way you are.”

Maybe I can extort her about her closets…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Yo. Elroy here. And I’m here to give you the latest updates from our humble home.

As long time readers of Brother Viktor’s blog may recall, we have one room in our house – which others would call the living room but in our house it is known as the DFZ. Or Dog Free Zone. That room has always been off limits to us guys because it holds a variety of items her highness would prefer that we don’t touch. Like the antique hooked rugs. Or the rugs made by her highness’ mother or her highness herself. This recent photo her highness posted on the net is, I suppose, good evidence as to why we aren’t allowed in that room.

I was just inspecting the dining room carpet! And my previous handiwork. Still, I admit it doesn’t look too good…

The DFZ also holds two glass cases, filled with assorted breakable stuff. So the room has a gate that keeps us guys out.

But for some reason, in the past week or two, her highness has been a bit more “lax” with entry into the sanctuary. Well – she lets the Boss in. And he goes right over to the fireplace and makes himself comfortable. He doesn’t DO anything. He just goes in and flops down and he’s content.

So the other day, given his good behavior and given the fact that I kept standing by the gate and squeaking to be let in, she finally let down her guard. She told me I could come in IF I would just settle down like the Boss. My “settle down” lasts all of 48 seconds. Then the overwhelming urge to explore everything in the room is more than I can control. I must sniff EVERY carpet. EVERY chair. EVERY table. EVERY knickknack in every corner of the room. Despite repeated instructions to “settle down”. I’m a gallery lover. What can I say? It goes with my inquisitive, scattered attention span. The first time I tried to settle down by balling up one of the hooked rugs, I was instructed to “leave it.” The room has too many “rules” for me. So I leave of my own accord. But I come back later, and repeat my thorough exploration of the room again. Like I’ve never been there before. While I do so, her highness watches my every move. When I attempted to begin a wrestling match with The Boss, we both got the “this is not a room for wrestling” announcement. Like I said, too many rules for me.

Yesterday we had very very VERY cold temperatures- so our walks were pretty short. Just as well – it’s not easy to walk on three legs. Although I certainly try my best. And I WOULD stay out a bit longer – but the Boss marches back in, so I follow. Let’s see what today’s weather holds….If it’s not nice, I can always explore the DFZ again. I should mention though, that the gate is only open IF her highness is in there. She’s become more lax – but not TOTALLY crazy…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Frodo here. So. What do Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and the dogs in this house have in common? We are hounded (pun intended) by photographers. Well. One photographer in this house.

Above you will see a photo taken by her highness yesterday during one of our walks. As we were trotting along, exploring the flora and fauna in our very own backyard, her highness spotted some sunlight ahead on the trail. She instructed yours truly where to stand, and I did so while she took several dozen photos. She didn’t bother to attempt to put the beatnik in position because she KNEW by the time she got him to even sit, the sun would be gone. In fact, she probably would have been taking the photo in the moonlight. He is not a poser.

I hate to brag, but I am an outstanding poser. And honestly- why not? I mean how simple is it to be a model? You stay in one spot, don’t need to DO anything, and you get treats. I never understood why Brother Viktor and the beatnik don’t simply cooperate. I could pose for a magazine ad.

Her highness was really in the mood for taking photos yesterday . Truth be told, the weather outside wasn’t all that great (that one ray of sunlight in my photo is all we saw of the sun all day), we had already had our walks, and she didn’t feel like vacuuming. So she decided to take some photos of me. She set up our photo backdrop and turned on the lights.

But then, she had this not so bright idea to take some shots with wind blowing. Like a real model.

No words can describe her “I Love Lucy-type” performance in attempting to stabilize the dog blow dryer hose in order to create a wind effect. First off, to do so, she needed to detach one of the lights, because she couldn’t find another extension cord that would work with the dryer.

Then the hose on the dryer repeatedly went flying like a mad snake. Repeatedly. Did I mention it happened more than once? I just watched the proceedings with fascination.

She finally managed to stabilize the wind machine, but it was kind of aimed at my chest. She didn’t really get the “look” she wanted when I shut my eyes…

Then I told her exactly how I felt about the hurricane effect…

So she turned off the wind machine and turned on the other light. THAT was much more enjoyable – so I followed every instruction. You will see my happy look. And my pouty, serious look. I’ll do whichever she wants.

But once she ran out of treats, the model said that’s it. No pay. No work. Union rules.

The beatnik didn’t get a formal photo shoot but she did manage to get one shot of him outside. And he didn’t even WANT the treat.

I find this whole human interest in taking copious amounts of photos rather interesting. Perhaps not all humans have the same obsession as ours does. I wonder what it’s like to go out and not have your photo taken every time you turn around. I know exactly how Harry and Meghan feel. You know, I wonder if they will perhaps become our neighbors. They DO like dogs, so no doubt we would get along famously. AND that 20 acre property right next door IS still for sale…

Time for our morning constitutional. Walking with the beatnik is certainly entertaining. Yesterday her highness made a dramatic announcement something to the effect that “I’ve been walking two PONs for more than 8 years and I have NEVER had as many tangled leashes as I have walking a PON and a Picard.” And why do you suppose THAT is? Because the ping ping Picard does not understand the concept of a straight line. I have SO much to teach him…Including how to smile for the camera.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Elroy here. Today I want to share some information about why we dogs do what we do. And why we sometimes do things that defy explanation.

Yesterday her highness decided to Google dog sounds. And if you do so, you will see a variety of sounds that we make – for a variety of reasons.

One site on the net said that we dogs make the following sounds: we bark, bay, howl whimper/yelp and whine. Check out this article:

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/body-language/the-meanings-behind-different-dog-noises/

As you know, The Boss is really good at what they called demand barking. And sometimes he barks just for fun. Her highness has noted that lately, 8/10 times when she goes into the bathroom, that he will bark. He knows just how long to wait before she either steps into the shower, OR has a seat on the toilet . I think it’s pretty funny. Because although her highness has caught on to his game… she’s never totally sure. We’ve seen her dashing out in a towel more than once. And we’re used to the sound of the toilet paper roll spinning.

I’ve never been much of a barker. BUT, since Viktor is gone, I have now decided that I should become a better guard dog. Let’s face it – before, the two mops made enough noise to drown out a jackhammer. So I didn’t bother barking. Why waste my voice? But now, I can see the importance of protecting my turf against…I don’t know what. But I’ll do whatever the Boss does.

There is one noise not described in the article, and her highness wonders if it is a “Picard thing.” She calls it the “mouse squeak.” Now when most dogs squeak, it’s because they either need to pee or poop, they want to DO something – like go for a walk, something hurts, they are hungry or they are bored. Me? I squeak just to squeak. Nah – nothing hurts – so don’t worry about that. I’m not bored, because I will do it even after I’ve had a LONG walk. I’ll do it even when I have lots of toys around. Sure – sometimes I do it if I want The Boss to play with me. I’ll stare at him while he is relaxing, and I’ll squeak. But lots of the time I just wander and squeak. I guess it’s because I don’t know what to do with myself. I can’t decide. Do I want to nap? Do I want to chew on a bone? Do I want her highness to play fetch? Do I want a treat? Skip that one- it’s not likely. So when I don’t know what I want, I squeak. When I first adopted her highness, she used to worry about it. She thought there was something wrong. Now she’s used to it.

Yeah – her highness thinks it is just one of those endearing traits that make us Picards so darn lovable. OK. Maybe she doesn’t think that – but I do.

Now excuse me while I go and squeak…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.