Howdy blogaroos! Squirmy here on the day we get to bark even MORE incessantly than normal- in anticipation of costumed kids who brave their way down our long driveway. We’ll probably start barking at noon, even though no kids will arrive until supper time. And we’re ready for the multitudes – last year we had three kids. But not to worry, the Warden got enough treats for 80. Just in case.

Our Halloween photos this year are rather boring. The Warden bought scarves and headgear – but you can’t even SEE the devil horns because they are just outlines of horns. But even though they weren’t TOO heavy, we still KNEW they were there. Look at the above photo without headgear. Everyone looks pretty happy – even the Coyote!

Now, add headgear…

Note my expression and the Coyote’s. Meanwhile, the poser is happy as always.

I’m a bit more happy in this one, but the Coyote looks like he still wants to melt into the ground. His legs become like Gumby in these photo shoots. And still we have the Boss…

In better news – guess who is visiting?! Sue and Keith!! They were delayed in getting to our place the other night and it was quite late when they arrived – so the Boss looked at them, said hi, and wanted to go to bed. It was past his bedtime.

Meanwhile, the same day they arrived, the Coyote came in from outside and was limping badly. He wouldn’t put any weight on his front paw. The Warden whisked him onto the grooming table to take a look. And yowza- she discovered he had cracked a toe nail – lengthwise. He literally screamed when she touched it.

Well. Try to find a vet who can see you on a weekend. She tried three different emergency places, and no one could see him. They suggested she call back the next day. So she did – first thing yesterday morning. And thankfully, one clinic was able to see him.

He’s not exactly a huge fan of anyone touching his feet, so they needed to knock him out to take care of the nail. The whole process didn’t take long – but holy moly he was sure drowsy even when he got home. We gave him the mandatory olfactory exam, and let him rest. No running around for him for the next few days.

Well – time for walks and then we need to get ready for the kids. Any child who braves our banshee like wailing deserves more than one minuscule candy bar. And no problem. We have plenty…Happy Halloween!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Howdy blogaroos. Squirmy here on a super Saturday. And something is going on here. The Warden has been on a cleaning blitz. Which can only mean one thing. Company. But who will it be? The Warden told the Boss because she said he can keep a secret. But she wouldn’t tell me or the Coyote. I’ll keep you posted.

The other night, the Warden went to visit one of the neighbors who was having a little get together for friends – and the theme of the evening was cleaning products. Yup. A cleaning product party. How PERFECT for the Warden. I mean with three canines, we need to buy cleaning supplies by the truckload. Anyway, this stuff at the party is supposed to be the Mercedes of cleaning supplies. Their special cleaning cloths are reportedly extra super duper and will even remove canine olfactory art from windows with just water. JUST WATER. That’s what they said. Needless the say, the Warden was sold. She got some other stuff too – including some cleaner for the floors that is safe for us dogs. It’s supposed to be better than us licking Clorox residue. Maybe THAT explains my wild behavior.

So the Warden came home all happy about ordering her products and trying them out. I’ve never seen her happy about the prospect of cleaning. We can’t WAIT for her order to come in.

But truth be told, much as cleaning products are so incredibly interesting to us canines (cough cough), she DID come home with something even MORE exciting. Dog biscuits. But not just any dog biscuits. These are made by a very special local Grade 4 student named Annika. Annika loves dogs. And she likes to make things. So she started making dog biscuits. And she enjoyed it so much, she decided to sell some – with $1 from every bag going to the local SPCA. Annika did all the math to calculate just how much the biscuits would cost to make. And she does her own baking. She has her very own Facebook page :

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086627591721

And she also just started her own Instagram page:

https://instagram.com/annikas_tail_waggin_treats?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

You can check out her videos making her treats, and also having her dog Finn, doing quality control taste testing.

Annika’s Mom was at the get together and thankfully had a few bags of treats – one of which the Warden bought for us. In the picture, the bag is half empty as we tried one biscuit each when she got home. And they were fantastic! Even the Coyote liked them. And if it passes his taste test, you KNOW they are good!

The Warden was SO impressed with Annika’s entrepreneurial spirit. She said that at Annika’s age, her only foray into the business world was selling her required quota of Girl Scout cookies. Most of which her mother bought…

Well, time for walks and then we wait to see who’s coming to visit. Who ever it is – they better like dogs…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Howdy blogaroos. Squirmy here. I’m happy to be writing today and to tell you that we’re alive. After another epic craft fail by the Warden. She calls ME crazy….but trust me – she’s not the best role model sometimes.

So Halloween is almost here – and the stores are having a hard time fitting the festive fall foliage decor right alongside the Christmas stuff. Yup. They currently have ghost costumes, next to the singing Santas. As a result, it got the Warden thinking about Christmas. And about a Christmas craft project.

It seems she had a variety of pine cones that had been stored in the garage from before I was born. She does have squirrel-like tendencies sometimes- and these collectible cones were actually taking up room in what once was a dog run in our garage. It’s not used for a canine play station anymore, so it’s becomes a large closet of sorts.

Anyway, the Warden got it in her head that she should do something with those cones. First she decided to spray paint them – with the garage door wide open and without any canine supervisors. Safety first. Cough cough.

Then she sequestered herself in there one evening and after several hours, emerged with a wreath. I immediately tried to inspect her work. I actually inspect everything that comes in from the garage because it’s often food related – groceries or our meals as that’s where our food is stored. I didn’t find the wreath nearly as interesting as groceries but I did look it over. The other guys didn’t give it a glance. So much for positive feedback around here.

The Warden was pleased with her wreath and decided she should make another one. I suggested she use dog biscuits instead of pine cones but she didn’t go for it. Th only problem – she didn’t have quite enough cones. But not to worry – some friends dropped some off for her. Fresh off the trees.

Because they were so fresh, some were not fully open. And being the impatient crafter that she is, she didn’t feel like waiting for them to open on their own. So Mr. Googly told her she could put them in the oven….

The Boss and I watched with interest as she lined some baking sheets with aluminum foil. The Coyote didn’t care – he’s not much into baking. We were thinking this could be the start of something yummy….biscuits, dried sweet potato treats, some rolls, or a large chicken breast too big for her to eat all by herself. But no. The oven was filled with pine cones.

She was all pleased with herself the first hour. She had them at a very low temperature, and she could see that they were just starting to open. And she thought, “oh isn’t crafting fun.” We didn’t agree. We thought crafting was boring. Another half hour, and a bit more of a change, but not much.

I should also note that Mr Googly said the house would smell all Christmasy. And it did. Initially.

After two hours, the Warden decided the process was taking too long. And now, the initial Hallmark movie vibe was wearing off, and the smell was getting kinda nauseating. Sorta like a cheap Dollar Store evergreen scent candle that had been peed on by a cat. And it was permeating through the house.

Now she wanted the process over. She started worrying that the fumes might be toxic, but thankfully Mr. Googly said they wouldn’t kill us. She cranked up the heat in the oven, and opened every door and window in the house.

After another half hour, the cones opened up. Pretty much. At that point she didn’t care. She put us outside, while she took the hot cones into the garage. We watched through the deck door window, creating our own festive olfactory art. We were trying to make snowflakes, but they didn’t quite come out. More bad crafting.

At this point, the cones have been sprayed and are awaiting wreath creation. We are thrilled. Sure we are. Still think biscuits would have been better.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Yo. Blog people. Elroy here for a change. The mops have been on the go lately- so have had lots to write about. Yours truly, on the other paw, has been lounging around, watching leaves come down, rolling in them, carrying them into the house, playing Humpty Dumpty with the Shark, and barking at nothing when it’s dark out. OK – so nobody else thinks there’s anything out there to bark at, but hello – I’m the only one with prick ears in the household- so I believe I hear better than anyone else. And I do hear things at night. Or I pretend to.

I’m here today to share an incredibly important article that is hot off the press – with regard to us canines and Halloween. FINALLY – someone recognizes my trauma:

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/22/1129963410/its-cute-but-is-it-safe-to-put-your-dog-in-a-halloween-costume

See. Those brutal photos each holiday where I’m cajoled into wearing some kind of costume/ head gear – have caused both psychological AND physical harm. Seriously- those headbands squish my head. It’s physically painful. OK. Maybe that’s stretching it – but from my photos it is clear that I do not enjoy wearing garb and I suffer from PTCD. Post-traumatic Costume Disorder.

The mops will do anything for a treat. You could put an octopus on their heads and they wouldn’t care. Well- the Boss wouldn’t. The Shark would likely try to eat it. Getting him to sit still is NOT easy. And frankly – he can put on a cranky face too during photo shoots. The only one who LOVES the whole dress up thing is the Boss. He barks like crazy if someone is getting a solo shot taken in another room. Mind you – he barks like crazy most of the time…

So you know in some magazines they show photos of two celebrities wearing the same outfit – and they ask “Who wore it better?” Well I have two photos to share….

I think the Shark mentioned that Her Highness actually found some costumes at the Dollar Store that were marked as Extra Large. So she bought one. Just to see what we would look like in a full costume. This is after her epic fail ghost costume a few years ago where she cut the holes too big…

So, as I said, she decided to try a real costume…I THINK it’s supposed to be a ladybug.

The Boss could barely put it on. He’s a bit “wider” than the Shark. In classic Dollar store sizing , the extra large must be for a mega chihuahua. Neither could get the hood up. Needless to say, Her Highness didn’t even ATTEMPT to put it on me. I wouldn’t be writing this if she did. I’d jump that fence once and for all.

So who wore it better? The sizing is clearly a tiny bit better on the Shark -BUT in typical Boss fashion, I think he pulls off the whole look just a little bit better. The hood almost looks like a beret on him- so he looks rather dashing. With his spotted wings. And his two antennae. One of which is just resting on his head because it fell off the little hood. Hard to believe because it’s so well made…

More money well spent…

Well, the sun’s not up yet – so time to get in a bark and maybe even a scary growl while it’s still dark out. Peace out.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Hello blog readers. It is Frodo here today for your reading pleasure.

Fall is falling around us and the brilliant array of leaves is quickly coming down. We will now enter into the yellow stage of the season – the tamarack is changing and will then lose its needles. Ah – the progression of colors.

Right now, the sun does not rise until after 7:30 AM – which means we are well off our normal morning schedule. Her Highness wakes up – but stays curled in bed – repeating the phrase “Ten more minutes” over and over again. Taking us out before sunrise requires the trusty headlamp – something she was QUITE accustomed to when she was working. But now she waits for daylight. She is even reluctant to allow us into the fenced yard in the wee hours – for fear we may encounter resident wildlife. The neighbors (who captured the Coyote on their security camera in the past) have recently watched a masked bandit marching around their property. Some refer to them as Trash Pandas. Their more commonly known title is raccoon. We KNOW they have been in our yard by the telltale holes they make looking for grubs. These are much smaller than the caverns created by the Imp and the Coyote. So we know they are “out there.” We believe the Coyote hears them as he is often barking at the deck door after sundown. Mind you, he could be hearing falling leaves. Or a squirrel. Who knows.

The Imp went to a “Distraction Workshop” yesterday, and I understand his fully undeveloped brain exploded. Imagine him having to heel and stop right next to a person holding a desirable stuffed toy. OR heeling toward a dog and handler, stopping and staying in place while the two handlers exchange toys. I understand Her Highness contemplated dropping him off at the SPCA after the class, but relented and brought him home.

Her Highness is trying to recall if I hit such a training breakdown at his age. Mind you – that’s 10 years ago and she can’t recall where she put her keys, let alone my behavior a decade ago. As I recall, I have always been perfect. Oh yes – I know some might not appreciate my “chatty nature” but I come by it honestly. Her Highness isn’t exactly a wallflower.

Well it is almost sun up. And I get to go out first. Unless we ALL go to the lake – with the Imp wearing his cowbell – running free with yours truly and the Coyote on a flexi – getting tangled around trees. Every. Day. He likes to “pretend” he is free – running into the woods and inevitably getting stuck. Occasionally he can figure his way out. But it’s generally an annual occasion. Like Christmas.

I wish you a sunny Sunday.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Howdy blogaroos. Squirmy get-back-here Wormy on another Thursday in the Fall. We love the fall. Pretty colors, leaves to roll in, fresh air, slightly cooler temperatures- and the joy of getting to watch the Warden play “find that poop.” She did the other day. It was all over the bottom of her shoe. Score!

So we decided to look up some adjectives to describe the canines in this house. When you look up Berger Picard, they are described as assertive, stubborn, intelligent, lively, energetic and mellow. Some of those seem a bit contradictory. But in retrospect, that fits the Coyote – the epitome of contradictions. Words to describe us PONs include self-confident, even tempered, intelligent, lively, agile and perceptive. Some overlap between breeds and some differences. The Warden was surprised that on this particular search we PONs weren’t also described as stubborn. I have no idea what she’s talking about.

So why did we look up the temperament descriptions? Because Martha said to. Sort of.

https://www.marthastewart.com/8326430/people-choose-dogs-based-on-own-personality-study-october-2022?utm_campaign=marthastewart&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram&utm_content=likeshop

So somebody did a study which said humans are like their dogs. And surprise, surprise – humans tend to pick dogs based on their own personality. It makes sense really. That’s no rocket science. Although, I’m betting that there ARE plenty of mismatches out there – for example when the couch potato person realizes the the Border Collie was not the BEST fit. In general, though, I like to THINK that people choose a dog that fits their lifestyle – and in turn, their personality. I’m not so sure about the “agile” part for the Warden. A ballerina she is not. And as far as intelligence goes- how smart can she be if she lets us run the household? Which we clearly do.

And speaking of stubborn- the Warden says I am having a full on case of the terrible twos right now . First it was my disastrous team behavior and then…I did a little walk about. And get this – the Boss joined me.

The Warden had an appointment and was letting us PONs out for a “quick pee.” 99.9% of the time we rush out, pee and race back because we know treats await our return. Except the other day. Yours truly heard the neighbors over in their garden – doing some Fall organizing. Well. I had to run over like a madman and bark at them like they were intruders. And my partner in crime followed. Yup – two raving maniacs barking at people in their own yard. Harmless of course, except they probably did suffer some temporary hearing loss. The Warden shouted for us to return. No way. So she marched over and grabbed me by my hair because I was collar-less. She told me to sit. Which of course I refused to do. I looked at her as if to say “what is this sit of which you speak?” She pushed my butt down and my immediate response was to hit the ground flat out and roll. All the while the Warden is standing and continuing to bark. After numerous attempts to get me to sit, I FINALLY actually sat in heel position. The Warden saw this as her moment to get me marching home. The Boss came into position like we were a brace team and we actually heeled for about 10 steps after which I went rogue and raced into the bushes. I raced out and ricocheted off the Warden – but come to think of it, she demonstrated a rare agile moment, and grabbed me by the ear. Ever see those moments of a parent holding a kid by the ear and marching them home. Well maybe not nowadays- but in old movies. From the Warden’s time. Anyway, that was me being marched by my ear back home. I wanted the number for Animal Control but the Boss said not to push my luck.

I’m headed for a training session this morning. The Warden said she had been letting some of my “lively (read naughty) behaviors” slide – but no more. I’m back in real life bootcamp. So SHE thinks.

Time to go for walkies before training. Let’s see what I can teach her today….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Howdy blogaroos. Squirmy the wild child Wormy here- after our amazing Team win on Saturday. Which I’m embarrassed to say was not with much help from yours truly. What can I say? It was an olfactory extravaganza and my pin brain completely exploded. KaBOOM. The Warden found herself apologizing to the judge after it was over – I looked like a dog who never had a single obedience lesson. The only thing that saved me was the fact that I was on leash. Yuppers. I would have been off chasing the porcupines in the fields. We could even see them! Not to mention the fact that a few dogs had “accidents” on the course ….what dog in his right mind can pass up a good whiff of pee-mail? That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

On Sunday, the Boss and I were pretty tired – and so was the Coyote after two days of solo guard duty. That’s a LOT of falling leaves to bark at all by yourself.

Meanwhile, the Warden left us and went to do one of the most fun things that she gets to do since we started writing this blog. She got to meet two long time blog readers from Ontario who were visiting Nova Scotia for the first time – Nora and David. AND she got to meet their canine kids – a perky, puppy named Poppy, and a very pretty PON girl by the name of Sofie!!! How much fun was THAT?! Perky Poopy is a love – but of course the Warden’s heart was completely stolen by Sofie. After two days of competition with us PONs – she automatically tried to get Sofie in position to do some heelwork. Sofie was a very willing participant – because the Warden just so happened to have some treats in her pocket. Sofie has never competed in Rally – but the Warden thought she had lots of potential! I better watch out – or I could be voted off the Team!

As I mentioned, having the opportunity to meet blog readers is always so much fun. Over the years, the Warden has met readers from numerous countries – and she now calls many of them close friends. Kinda wild how a crazy dog lady from Nova Scotia and the wild canine kids who own her have been so fortunate to make so many connections. We thank each and every one of you who reads about our adventures – and we hope to meet more of you! The Warden said her visit on Sunday was like spending time with old friends.

Time to get the Warden moving. Oh – guess what I’m going to THIS Saturday? A Distraction workshop. How TIMELY is THAT?! THIS is going to be VERY interesting. The Warden better double up her blood pressure medication before she goes…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Greetings blog aficionados. Frodo here to report on the performance record of Team Shaggy. Who the judge yesterday erroneously referred to as “The Fluffies.” An honest mistake.

Where to begin. I suppose with Friday. While the drive up was good – we shared travel with our lovely Borzoi friend, Chloe – who we quite like – the rest of the day was less than stellar with regard to the actual competition. How does one report on performances where the handlers actually made some errors on their own – from a Figure 4 ( that’s what happens when you only do half of a Figure 8), to another episode of the “Whirling Warden” who got so dizzy on a spiral that she didn’t know where she was. Add to that an Imp who acted as if he had never seen a Rally Ring – and well, we DID still manage to place second. Out of three Teams. We were only slightly disappointed with our loss as the winning Team was made up of Labrador Retrievers – and this WAS a Labrador Specialty. In addition, the Labrador humans actually had t-shirts made up for the occasion- while our Team (dogs included) was attired rather simply in colorful bandannas. From the Dollar Store of course. I felt we were hardly dressed for success. We graciously conceded defeat to the waggy tailed, well-dressed wonders.

After that loss, our Team strategized into the wee hours of the morning, keeping a close eye on the weather forecast for Saturday. We KNOW yours truly is not overly fond of wet conditions. I do jest about the strategizing. We had none.

Early Saturday morning we heard from Jane that the forecast was not promising. She was already in the show site area because she quite intelligently stayed in the area overnight. The Warden said we would come up and if it was dismal, we wouldn’t enter.

Well thankfully, the rains held off. The competition began with Kwik, the more junior of the Pyr Shep half of our Team, and he performed wonderfully – a 99/100. He was followed by some stray Her Highness picked on the side of the highway. The Imp acted as if he had never met her before – and tried to top his disastrous performance of the day before. True – he has never competed outdoors- but warming up before he went in the ring, he actually looked like he KNEW what he was doing. Not so much when the competition began. The judge quickly learned his name because Her Highness must have said it 52 times. Thank GOODNESS he was on a leash. I could barely watch – it was painful. Somehow, despite the train wreck, he DID manage to pass with 86/100 points. The judge must have felt sorry for him.

Next came the experienced lovely Fidjit, who had a perfect score – a 100/100. Yours truly was the last to go in and had Her Highness not directed me to the left of the FINISH sign, I would have had a perfect score. I lost one point.

We waited and watched while two other teams competed for the coveted prize. The well-dressed Labrador group from the day before did not compete. I like to think we scared them off – but I believe they had other conflicts. There was another Labrador Team, and a Team of littles – made up of Papillons, a toy Manchester Terrier and… the last one I forget. The winning team is based on the cumulative scores of all the team members.

Drum roll please. Despite the performance or lack of performance of the Imp – the brilliant scores of the other three of us put us in the First Place spot. Yes – Team Shaggy (or the Fluffies) took home the ribbons and some lovely KONG stuffed toys. Team Shaggy won.

Today there is one more day of competition, but we have chosen to rest on our laurels. Besides, no point in putting the Imp in another ring right now – he CLEARLY needs more training. Was I that wild 10 years ago? I think not. We shall blame it on the pandemic. Why not.

It was a fun but tiring two days. Last night we attempted to convince Her Highness that it was time to go to bed at 8 PM. She convinced us to stay up until 8:30. That was it for me.

In closing I’d like to thank the Academy….that is my idea of a joke. I’d like to thank my Pyr Shep colleagues and Jane for allowing me and the untrained Imp to be a part of their Team. And I DO hope that we might do it again some day. I may be almost 12.9 – but as long as I’m having fun (which I was) , I’ll keep on trying . Besides, someone in our household needs to show the Imp how it’s done!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Howdy blogaroos. It’s me. Clean Squirmy here. Yup – yours truly had a bath yesterday. And so did the Boss. Must have something to do with our “thing” today. We have to look presentable. At least that’s what the Warden said. If we don’t behave, at least we’ll look good.

And what’s our “thing”? Are ya ready for this one? The Boss and I are in a Team Rally competition with Jane and our two Pyr Shep pals – Fidjit and Kwik! We are Team Shaggy. We are going to some Labrador Retriever Dog Show about an hour from here. But clearly you don’t need to be a Labrador to enter rally. And are you sitting down? It’s OUTSIDE! I haven’t been in many trials to begin with let alone one on grass. THIS could be interesting.

The weather today looks good – but we’re entered tomorrow too- and the weather fore-guess is calling for a possibility of rain. Fine for Labradors. Not so much for shaggies. Given that the Boss walks like he is on hot coals when the lawn is even dewy, THAT could be really interesting.

We had a little practice yesterday so the humans could strategize our plan. Bottom line is that they can strategize all they want, but if we canines decide to go rogue- it’s all over. Mind you it IS on leash, so we can’t go too crazy!

I doubt CNN will be there- so you’ll have to wait to hear from me after we’re all done. Keep your fingers crossed that I make it around the course without peeing on anything! One more thing for the Warden to worry about.

Wish us luck!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Hey blogaroos! It’s me Squirmy-stop-licking-your-brother Wormy here on a wonderful Wednesday. We’ve had some lovely days lately – perfect for crunching in the leaves – and for taking the obligatory fall foliage photos. As usual, the Boss is picture perfect, I sometimes sit still, and the Coyote begrudgingly participates – because he’s on a leash and can’t get away.

We still haven’t taken the dreaded Halloween shots. The Warden will have to find some amazing treats – I’m thinking top sirloin might do the trick. I understand there could be head gear – so that always makes for great fun.

Now rumor has it that the Warden ALSO bought one FULL costume for SOMEONE. I’m hoping it’s for the neighbors’ cat. Here’s the thing- the Warden shops for all our attire at the dreaded Dollar Store – and I don’t know what the Dollar Store is like where you live – but here – every costume (thankfully) will only fit dogs that weigh like 10lbs or less. Clearly nobody here fits that description. So we’ve never been subjected to the whole full out costume thing. But the Warden was snickering when she came home the other day – and I fear that one of us will be jammed into some kind of bizarre attire. I vote for the Boss. He loves having his picture taken. This could be interesting.

And speaking of interesting…we have something REALLY cool scheduled for next weekend. I won’t tell you yet what it is – but say a prayer that the weather is good. It involves me and the Boss. And um….. two other dogs. I’ll give you a hint – think team. Stay tuned for more info later in the week.

So what’s new in the news…oh – a couple of Royal updates. First we have a word from Prince Harry.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/998741-prince-harry-says-we-all-need-a-dog-that-keeps-us-calm

Wowza. Can you IMAGINE living in a household with three crazy dogs?! Must be tough…

Then we have a word from Fergie.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11298693/Sarah-Ferguson-gives-update-corgis-inherited-late-Queen-Elizabeth.html

I’m glad to hear the Queen’s dogs are getting along so well. So Fergie and Andy have 7 dogs now. And it’s all good. Maybe Fergie needs to chat with Harry.

Well I better get the Warden up and moving. We have some work to do today….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.