frodopon

The christening

July 25, 2018Leave a Comment

Less than a minute. That’s all the time it took for the newly painted deck to be christened.

My human has been waiting to let us out on the deck for over a week. I’m not sure why – it was dry within hours. I guess I know the reason. She didn’t want us peeing on it.

She cleaned the BBQ, a favorite target and even went out and bought a new cover – so there would not be the pee smell from the old cover. She debated whether she should ever let us out there – but that seemed silly. So the other night she gathered us up- with her squirt gun in hand. First she took us outside and made sure each of us had a big pee. Then she brought us in, stood by the deck door and gave us the speech: “OK. The deck is newly painted. It took a lot of work. It is fresh and clean. I don’t want anyone peeing on it. I have my squirt gun – so if any of you squirt, I will squirt.” We all looked at each other and rolled our eyes. And then she opened the door. And like cows being released from the barn after a long winter, we raced out. And she followed, repeating “No peeing. No peeing.”

Einstein raced to the BBQ with the new cover and inspected it. My human threatened him with the gun. He ran off. I just walked around checking out the paint job. She watched me and was trying to keep an eye on all three of us- like a goal tender at a soccer match. And then , before she could blink she watched as the FG raced to the wall and lifted his leg. She shouted “nooooooooooo”. Too late. The deck had now been christened.

She went inside to get a pan of soapy water to douse the offending puddle. I should note that she looks at me and Einstein as she went in the get the water and said, “don’t even THINK about it.” We kept our pee to ourselves. For now.

Of course we then needed the obligatory new deck photo shoot. We cooperated because the treats were good.

Next week the painting indoors will begin. I can hardly WAIT for THAT adventure…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 64

Who is smarter?

July 24, 2018Leave a Comment

So here is evidence that food outweighs intelligence in us PONs.

We PONs are smart. Super smart. We can figure out puzzles, plan and execute escapes and we learn tricks in lightning speed – if treats are involved. And they say we never forget. But every day I watch Einstein and he does something that doesn’t appear he has learned something. Or that he is very bright. Every day, every meal, we are fed the SAME way. We each have our own meal location- and because the picky Picard is slower than us vacuum-PONs, he is fed in the front hall, with the door closed. But we can see him because it’s a glass door. And every single meal, my human looks to see if he has finished his meal, or if there are leftovers. If there are leftovers, she holds back Einstein who is drooling at the door, she goes in and picks up the bowl. We are never allowed his leftovers. Ever. So – if my human just opens the door, the bowl is empty. Completely, totally empty. I mean I’m talking not a crumb. And you would think Mr. Intelligentsia would KNOW the difference. Door open equals no food. Nope. Einstein bursts through like there is a huge sirloin steak just sitting right there in the open. EVERY time. Now I confess, he is a bit smarter than me – but seriously- I don’t throw myself into that hall like I haven’t eaten in 3 weeks. I know there is nothing there. Sure – I’ll look around to see if he dropped a kibble, but I sure as heck don’t bolt into the room like I have been told there will be no more food for a week. It’s crazy!

So I’m thinking…I have a blog. I run away but always come back. I don’t burst into a hallway for an empty bowl. Maybe I’M the smarter one!!! Mind you, I DO eat dryer lint…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days: 63

Space dogs

July 22, 2018Leave a Comment

July 22. On this day in 1951, two dogs by the names of Dezik and Tysgan, made history as the first dogs to make a sub-orbital space flight. They flew to a maximum altitude of 110 km. and they survived the flight. These two led the way for many other dogs from the USSR to fly in space. Although these two were lucky on their maiden voyage, poor Dezik wasn’t so lucky on another flight just a week later with a dog named Lisa. They sadly both died when their parachute didn’t open. Tsygan was adopted by a scientist.

Some interesting facts about the flying canines….female dogs were used because of the design of the spacesuits and the way that they collected pee and poop. They had some kind of device that worked with females. They usually used stray dogs because they felt they could tolerate the stresses of being on their own. They ate some kind of jelly-like protein and unfortunately, lots of dogs were constipated when they returned home.

I read that a dog named Bobik ran away just days before his flight in September 1951. Smart dog. Must have been a PON. And note I said HIS. Mind you he wasn’t the only one to take off – a female by the name of Smelaya also took off the day before her flight. But they found her – and off she went. Luckily, her flight was successful.

Let me tell you – nothing about this gig sounds the least bit appealing to me. It’s dangerous, you are in a confined space, you eat jelly AND you have to wear attire. What part of this sounds like fun? I guess in knowing that you contributed to science…Personally, I would rather be in an experiment testing different dog foods. Now that sounds like fun.

I think I’ll just keep my job as a household guardian. And comedian. I’m happy just to LOOK at the heavens!

My human was what some would call a blob yesterday. She took us for long walks, and then did something she never does. She watched a video and took a nap. On top of that it was a rainy day – so she had an excuse not to take us for more walks. Given how busy she has been lately with work, we let her have the day to be a human sloth. But today is a NEW day.

Time to get her moving!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days: 61

Could have. Should have.

July 21, 2018Leave a Comment

Today according to the Crazy Calendar is “Toss Away the Could Haves and Should Haves Day.” This is 100% a day that is a purely human holiday. Humans play the “could have” and “should have” game ALL the time. They ponder the past. They berate themselves for something they could have done, but didn’t. They probably spend more time thinking about things they can’t change than they do thinking about living in the moment. And enjoying that moment.

Unlike us dogs. We are pretty much here and now kinds of creatures. Sure – we do have memories that are imprinted in our brains. And we DO remember people and places and smells. AND routines.

But trust me. Although I DO discuss my occasional lapse in manners and my odd bad behavior, I REALLY don’t spend time thinking about could haves and should haves. None of us dogs do. And that’s probably why you don’t hear about lots of dogs having high blood pressure. Or ulcers.

It’s not to say one shouldn’t learn from past experiences- but as they say, once the front door is left open and the PON runs out, no point in grumbling about it. Just go and get the PON and take him for a walk! Get over it! Enjoy the sunshine. Get some exercise. No point spending a half hour moaning that you should have latched the front door. Besides, Einstein would have probably opened it anyway!

So today all you past minded humans- give your mind a rest. Enjoy every now moment. Basically…act like a dog.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 60!!!!!

Naps

July 20, 2018Leave a Comment

So according to the Crazy Calendar, today is Nap Day. Really. Hello? EVERY day is Nap Day for us canines. Did you know the average dog sleeps 12-14 hours each day? That includes the time our human is sleeping and then all the naps we take during the day. Here is a very cool Infographic that explains dog sleep:
https://barkpost.com/good/infographic-dog-sleeping-too-much/

You see that 45% of dogs sleep in their human’s bed. My human only recently left her sleeping post on the couch and returned to her bed. Where she is joined by one or more of us throughout the night. Actually, it has been a bit warm lately – so all of us have actually preferred to sleep on the floor. She can only leave the pillows she is using on the bed – for fear one of us (namely me) will chew on any extra pillows. It’s a bit tricky to chew on pillows while she is actually using them.

My human LOVES to nap – although she rarely does – she seems to always be busy, lately. But really, she can pretty much fall asleep anywhere. He colleagues at work often remarked that they don’t enjoy her company while flying, because as SOON as her flight rolls away from the gate, she is sound asleep.

The dogs in this house are creatures of habit who wake my human up pretty much at the same time every day. We know the drill. And don’t care if it is the weekend. Surprisingly, the FG is not really a morning dog. He’s the last to get moving. Mind you, when he starts, he never stops.

The ONLY time we PONs are slow to get up is when the weather is bad. Like the other morning. We heard the torrential downpour so when my human got up, NOBODY moved. Usually we are doing the morning happy dance. Nope. Like statues we all pretended to be asleep.

Today my human ends what she calls a rewarding time at work. A program comes to an end and while she will be sad to see it over, she IS looking forward to a break. One more week and come August 1st, she will have time to actually take a nap!!!!!

If we let her….

Happy Friday! Have a good one. Peace and paws up!
Seizure free days: 59

Take a licking

July 19, 2018Leave a Comment

July 19. And according to the Crazy Calendar, it is Stick Out Your Tongue Day. Which is strange, because once upon a time, it was not considered really polite to do so. But today, it seems like people think it’s a cool thing to do. Go figure.

I know that we dogs LOVE to stick out our tongues when my human is doing a photo shoot. It drives her crazy when, in a photo of the three of us, two are looking great and one of us is sticking out his tongue.

Anyway, to mark this day – let’s look at some dog tongue facts. Did you know that if a dog’s tongue is blue – it could be a sign of lung or heart problem? EXCEPT in Chow Chows and Shar-Peis – who have blue or dark colored tongues all the time!

Contrary to popular belief, dog tongues are NOT cleaner than human tongues. And the idea that we should lick our (or your)wounds to clean them is NOT a good plan. Like humans we have lots of bacteria in our mouths – so licking does not promote healing.

When we stick our tongues out and are panting, it is a way that we use to cool ourselves off. They say that when we pant, air is moved through our mouths and into our respiratory tract, bringing in moisture to cool us down.

We actually have fewer taste buds in our tongues than humans – although we reportedly can taste sweet, sour, bitter and salty. But we have less than 1/6 the number of taste buds than humans have. Perhaps that explains my affinity for dryer lint….

We use our tongues to lick and convey emotions. We lick people (and other dogs) when we are happy and to show affection. I LOVE to lick Einstein’s face. And do so whenever my human is not paying attention. I REALLY like to do it right after she grooms him. I have actually begun to lick the FG, but since I have always been a bit aloof with him, he isn’t quite sure what to do if I lick him. His hair doesn’t mess up as well as Einstein’s hair – his always looks crazy – so it’s not really as much fun to do.

They say that the size of a dog’s tongue can affect his bark. If size affects the AMOUNT of barking one does, Einstein must have a GIANT tongue.

So those are my crazy facts for today. Gotta go -time to go lick Einstein.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 58

Toilet paper caper

July 18, 2018Leave a Comment

So you all know that we have Big Brother in our house. One of those webcam things that allows my human to check in on us throughout the day. It actually sends her notifications if we even MOVE so we can’t get away with much. Mind you – she doesn’t look at EVERY notification she gets – because she wouldn’t get anything done at work! But it is handy to check in – and if heaven forbid, I have a seizure, she can check on me later in the day to see how things are going.

We also know that Big Brother can also reveal the culprit in home crimes. Like tevealing the guy who stole the bananas and ate them, peel and all. That would be me. Or the guy who stole the oven mitt. And shrededed it. That was also me. Hey. I get bored. What else can I say?

Now the only problem with Big Brother (from my human’s point of view) is that it can’t see everywhere. Like the laundry room. Which has the garbage can that holds the delectable dryer lint. Usually the door is closed – but as we all know, sometimes it isn’t latched all the way, lending easy access to dryer lint treats. My favorite. Again. Hey. I’m starting to look like the bad dog in this house. Mind you, it WAS because of MY antics that this whole blog thing started…

Anyway, the other day, the door just happened to have been left unlatched. BUT – there was no dryer lint in the garbage can. It was empty. SO. SOMEONE decided to attempt to remove the toilet paper from the roll. The roll was pretty full, and in fact, it didn’t even roll off that easyily. Not that I’m saying it was ME who did it, but that was my observation. And because there is no Big Brother to point the finger, my human couldn’t accuse anyone. Score. Off the hook. For that one anyway.

In the meantime, I did get busted for not one but TWO runaway episodes in the past week. My human got home from work and let us out to pee. And not once, but TWICE did I start heading back in the house, when the call of wild occurred. The first time, my human put Einstein and the FG in the house and went to the neighbor’s house to find me. No luck. She went to another neighbor’s – lurking through yards trying to remain inconspicuous. Good luck with that. When she didn’t find me – she went to get the car. She drove up the road – but no sightings. So she headed home. And guess who had doubled back and was waiting at the door?! Don’t I LOVE doing that?! Because I have her over a barrel – she can’t get mad beacuse I have returned.

I did it again the other night – but this time, I met the neighbor. He had just pulled down his driveway and here was my human coming from his backyard. Oopsie. I was put on leash and taken home.

I think I’m being bad because I’m getting excited for her summer vacation. Who am I kidding? I’m just bad. No. Let’s call it adventurous and entertaining. Yeah. Let’s call it that…

Have a good one.Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 57

Brain fart

July 17, 20181 Comment

What was she thinking? Sometimes my human has what she refers to as a brain fart and she does something that clearly does not involve much thought…

Since the deck is pretty well finished, she is now on an “interior” decorating campaign. She has decided she wants to paint the kitchen, dining room and hall. It was just done a few years ago, but she never loved the color. After it was done, she didn’t want to change it – because it was a big job. One thing she learned was that just holding a 2×2 inch color swatch up to a wall doesn’t REALLY give you the full idea about how the color will look on all the walls. No kidding.

Anyway, this time she went to several paint places and brought home loads of little swatches. But this time, when she picked her favorite, she decided to test the color first. She bought a “sample can” to paint some on the walls to get a better idea about what it would look like. Good idea. Until the brain fart.

She brought the paint home and then took us out to pee- so she could concentrate on the task at hand. We went out and came back in quickly because it was drizzling rain. We all settled down to watch what she was about to do. She got her brush, can opener and some newspaper to put under the can. She picked a spot on the wall and painted about a one foot square. Hmmmm. She thought she liked it, but figured she should do more. So she put more on and painted an area down to about three feet from the floor. And of course, it was exactly at that point that the FG, fashion and decorating consultant, HAD to come over and put his nose right up to the wall- just as my human had stepped back to look at her work. “Aggghhh” she shouted. Serious brain fart. Did she honestly think he wouldn’t inspect it? He turned around with a newly decorated nose.

After she quickly wiped the paint – which thankfully came off with water, from his nose, she THEN sequestered us for the 15 minutes it took the paint to dry. I like the color. It’s called PON gray. Well that’s what I call it.

My human has a good friend who is going to help with the painting. He offered to do it while she is working but she didn’t think it fair to subject him to dog wrangling while painting. She will soon be on vacation- so they’ll do it then. I can hardly wait for the furniture moving. I BET we will find some dog kibble under the sideboard from when she throws kibble to keep Einstein quiet in the mornings. I’ll be right there when they move that thing.

Well it’s Tuesday and the last crazy busy Tuesday for my human at work. Then she has an easier week – and as of August 1 – she is ON VACATION!!! And we can’t WAIT!!!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 56

Congratulations France!

July 16, 2018Leave a Comment

Well the World Cup is over. And while we PONs were devastated because Poland was out of the running pretty early, the FG was pretty smug from the beginning. And not only did France do well from the start – but they went on to WIN the World Cup! The FG was pretty excited, so although we were disappointed for our national team, we were happy that someone in this house got to celebrate!

So in honor of France and their victory, let’s take a minute to pay tribute to French canines. Time for some trivia…

1. This French breed is the Butterfly dog.

2. This French breed is a large powerful breed that is also known as the French Mastiff. There was one featured in the movie Turner and Hooch with Tom Hanks.

3. According to the AKC, these three French Breeds must be shown with their double dewclaws.

4. This bat-earred breed was developed by breeding bulldogs to French ratting dogs.

5. This active guy dog is a spaniel, although is said to perform in the field somewhat like a pointer or setter.

6. This large, floppy-earred breed has great scent detection abilities and can be used by police departments as a tracking dog.

7. This short-legged scenthound also has long floppy ears and likes to hunt rabbits.

8. This cute shaggy water retrieving breed is still relatively rare but is said to make a great family pet.

9. The initials for these shaggy hunting hounds are PBGV and GBGV.

10. This is a small herding breed from a mountainous area of France.

11. This comical herding breed is a source of never ending entertainment in our house!

I’ve included 14 breeds here. There is also the French Spaniel which is said to be rare outside of France. Did you know that there were so many French breeds? Let’s see how you did…

1. Papillon

2. Ddogue de Bordeaux

3. Briard, Beauceron, and Great Pyrenees

4. French bulldog

5. Brittany

6. Bloodhound

7. Basset Hound

8. Barbet

9. Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen and Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen

10. Pyrenean Shepherd

11. Berger Picard

Congratulations to France. Now if I can just convince my human that we should have some boeuf bourguigon to celebrate…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 55

Herman. The snake.

July 15, 2018Leave a Comment

Well we are moving to a highrise condo in the heart of the city. The wilds of country living have finally become too much for my human. With the bears, the deer, the crazy bunnies, the field mice, the black flies, and the porcupines, she has decided that city life would be much less adventurous. And why the decision? What drove her over the edge? A snake. Who is now residing somewhere in our garage.

She got home from work the other night and instead of pulling into the garage, she parked the car outside -but opened the garage door. As she went to go in, she immediately noticed a snake right at the entrance to the garage. She raced in front of him to shoo him away, but he ducked just inside the door and went to hide under a bunch of stuff. Stuff being gardening tools, recycling bags and boards stored in the garage…just because. She screamed because she couldn’t tell where he went. But the good news – he was probably only 8-10inches long – and he was a harmless garter snake. We have no poisonous snakes in Nova Scotia. She chose to put him out of her mind because she knew that finding him would be like finding a needle in a haystack. And she had dogs to walk, so searching for a snake was a low priority.

The next morning as she was getting ready to head to work, she spotted him. But by the time she grabbed a broom to shoo him out the door, he had disappeared. We have not been allowed in the garage since the snake made himself at home. I’m not sure why – as I said, he is not venomous. I guess, though, that he could become a lifeless shoelace if one of us got ahold of him.

Someone at my human’s work joked that maybe the snake was looking for a place to nest. Needless to say, my human was no imprsssed with that idea. She did bring in a search party of a few friends to look for Herman (that’s what I have named him.).But they didn’t find him.

I wonder what life in a highrise wil be like. Running down the halls. Racing into elevators. Jumping of the balcony. JUST KIDDING. We are not going anywhere. But we DO have a snake – so you should see the loud dance that my human does each time she enters the garage. We need to get a video of it. I’m sure she will be Googling Snake Charmers any time now….

Never a dull moment. I’m ok with Herman. As long as he doesn’t get into my dog food bin….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure free days: 54