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Brain fart

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!

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.

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

Pandemonium Day. I am not kidding.

Today is July 14 and according to the crazy calendar, it is Pandemonium Day.  It is supposed to be a day to celebrate being unstuffy, to living in an unorganized, unplanned, uproarious way – for the day, anyway. To bascially “engage your inner child” and feel FREE.  That’s what the website said.

My human laughed HYSTERICALLY when she read this.  Our entire LIFE is Pandemonium  – or what she refers to as PONdemonium.  No two days are EVER the same.  Or calm.  Beginning with someone counter surfing, or Einstein barking out orders, or someone sneaking into the garbage and eating dryer lint, or me standing at the garage door staring at it and willing it to open so I can race in to look for dog food…. Or then we have the FG licking Einsteins’ private parts – while Einstein is at the water bowl sloshing it everywhere – and my human is racing for the squirt gun to stop him.   We have the alarm going off to remind her to give me my pills.  And the staring threesome who drool while waiting for her to share her banana.  After which the FG rubs his face along every cupboard and  wall.  He’s even knocked over chairs while rubbing his face.  And then we have the three of us rolling on the new, clean carpet.  So far the edges have remained intact.  So far.

And all of this has happened BEFORE 7 AM.

And somebody invented a DAY to celebrate being spontaneous?   Let them spend a week with us.  Make that a day.  They’ll be proclaiming the Need for Rest and Silence Day.

Anyway – if you DO live a sedate, organized, calm life – go out and be crazy today.  And if you’re not sure how to do it – give us a call.

Have a good one.  Peace and pawsup!
Seizure free days: 53

"Un" bearable….

More neighborhood excitement.  It was Wednesday morning.  It was cool and foggy when we went out for our morning walk at 5:15.  In fact, the street lights were still on because the skies were overcast too.  We trotted up our driveway and that’s when we first spotted the carnage.

Wednesday is garbage day.  And in addition to regular garbage, it is also green bin organics collection day.  As soon as we got 3/4 way up the driveway and we had a clear view of the road, we noticed that our neighbor’s green bin had been knocked over.  And someone had been rummaging through – resulting in a stinky mess on the road.  Obviously Mr. Bear was back.  Across the road, another green bin was also knocked over.  With similar messy results.  My human kept us on SHORT leashes – after all, what could be more irresistible to a PON than stinky garbage.  As we wandered up the road, it was evident that only two out of seven cans were left standing.  We had not put out our green bin – that had been emptied a few nights before.  It was evident by the carnage that Mr. Bear had thoroughly enjoyed his buffet.  And now the crows were shouting out the news about leftovers and helping themselves to the treats.

My human texted the neighbors to give them the heads up – although she felt a bit guilty about being the bearer (no pun intended) of the bad news so early in the morning.  Happy breakfast.

When the FG went for his walk, my human had to again steer clear of the crow smorgasbord.

It looks like green bins will have to stay in garages until Paddington moves on.  I honestly thought that he was gone after we saw him the first time, but evidently he is enjoying the neighborhood soup kitchen too much.   And imagine his delight when the bins were all conveniently lined up for him!! I would have liked to have been riding down the road to see him during the feast.  Note I said riding – IN the car.

I’ll keep you updated about any sitings.  Now.  We just need to see a moose…

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure fee days: 52

Thoreau

July 12.  And today is the birthday of Henry David Thoreau.  He was an American writer, naturalist, and historian who believed in simple living but also was a political activist who wrote about Civil Disobedience.  The term refers to nonviolent resistance to government policies. Seems like a term well asssociated with the canines in this house.  So we had to salute him.

I don’t know if Thoreau ever owned a dog.  But he had a few dog quotes (according to the internet…) and also many other thought provoking quotes.  Thought I would just share a few today. Hope you enjoy them!

Have a good one! Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days: 51

Pet Photo Day

It’s Wednesday, July 11 and according to the crazy calendar, it’s All American Pet Photo Day. OK.  So we live in Canada.  But really, EVERY day in this house is Pet Photo Day. My human has taken literally thousands of photos of us.  And her friends on Facebook are subjected to them – all the time. And NOW we have an Instagram account.  Which is yet another way to inundate the public with yet another shot of one, two or in a miracle moment, all three of us.  My human is not a photographer.  She has friends and family members who have REAL cameras and take serious photos- and they are professionals .  My human uses her iPhone.  For ALL the photos she posts. Once upon a time she had a camera.  That used something called film.  I thought that film was the scuzzy olfactory art we dogs leave on windows. Anyway, she now uses her phone for all photos.  It’s light.  It’s easy to carry. And she can whip it out in a second, while we are innocently minding our own business.  Sure she DOES try to set us up for shots, but it’s like herding a pack of toddlers who just ate too much sugar at grandma’s house.  Besides the challenge of getting us to remain stationary, you THEN have the challenge of getting all three of us to look at you.  For every cute photo that is posted, 439 others were also taken that didn’t turn out so cute.  But trust me, these photo shoots do not go on for long- we are unionized and when one of us quits for the day, we’ll we pretty much all quit. Despite the challenge, she loves it.  And she started thinking if she had to pick her top 10 photos to date- what would she pick.  Well here they are.  Many are not technically fancy, and may even be a bit blurry.  But there is something about these shots that she really loves.  And trust me, this was NOT easy to do…and they are in no particular order…

The photo at the start of this blog is me saying “Seriously- you don’t have enough photos of us yet?!”  And I fear she doesn’t.  But hey – the treats are good for the photo shoots….

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 50 
Oh.  And if you haven’t seen ENOUGH pictures of us, you can follow us on Instagram @frodopon.  Yes, there are photos on there that don’t always appear on Facebook.  Great.  Now she needs photos for BOTH sites.  Better stock up on those treats!!!!!

He’s baaaaaaaaack

Sunday night my human was getting ready for bed.  In fact, she was IN bed – but checking owl sounds on her iPad.  Yes – you read that correctly.  Owl sounds.  Why?  Because she was just dozing off – and could hear an owl outside.  It’s not the first night she has heard him – but she wanted to figure out what kind of owl it was.  Is it any wonder we dogs have attention deficit problems – look at our human.  Anyway, she was playing a bunch of owl calls and determined that it was a Barred owl.  Maybe.  She’s no ornithologist.

As she was playing the calls on her iPad, the FG suddenly sprang up, raced to the kitchen and gave out THE most fierce big dog bark I have EVER heard him do. We all know that Einstein aka the Canine Crier is the one who intiates barking in this house.  For EVERYTHING.  But it was the FG who started this, quickly followed by Einstein – who ran after him into the kitchen.  I stayed in the bedroom with my human – no point in all of us doing guard duty.

 My human figured that were just reacting to her playing the owl sounds on the iPad.  So she told them to settle down – and after a few more woofs, they slowly came back to bed.  And it was a peaceful night.

HOWEVER, we found out the next morning that the FG and Einstein DID hear something besides the owl sounds.  And there was clear evidence about what they heard.   Our garbage cans and green organics bin were all knocked over.  It appears Mr. Bear may be back in the neighborhood.  We thought he had moved on – but clearly he has come back.  So we have to be on alert again.

The weather forecast is a BIT ominous for Thursday.  It could be a Tropical Storm.  It could be a hurricane.  Or it could be a few showers.  Surprisingly the weatherman didn’t throw in blizzard and sunny skies just to cover all bases.  All I know is that if it involves rain, we PONs will NOT be impressed.

Today the forecast is beautiful – so we’ll take it.
Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 49

Canine Crier

It’s Monday, July 9 and it’s International Town Criers Day.  Town Criers have been around since Ancient Greece – announcing everything from proclamations of war, to truces to later announcements about local news and events.  They were eventually replaced by newspapers- and today they serve primarily in a ceremonial role.

I have to share news about the recently appointed Town Crier for Halifax Olde Town .  He is a young man by the name of Will Brewer.  And Will has made history in Canada being the first Town Crier who happens to have Down Syndrome.  He is excited about his new role – and it’s great to see special individuals being recognized for their skills.  Oyez Will – well done.
Now they just need a canine designate for a Town Crier, too.  And we ALL know who would win.  Hands down.  Einstein.  My human has just begun to realize how vocally demanding he is.  Sometimes I think when you live with it all the time, you don’t even notice it any more. I’ve told you before how he barks out meal preparation instructions- AND he barks almost incessantly when my human takes the FG for his morning walk.  My human tries to sneak up on him while he is barking so she can sternly tell him “no,” but he always stops when he hears her coming.  She even tied the FG to a tree halfway up the driveway one day so she could sneak up on Einstein.  She waited silently outside the door,  but he heard her.  So he was quiet… she started to go back up the driveway to get the FG, untied him and the canine Crier again started his proclamation. She raced back down the driveway. And he stopped.  Someone should video those two.
Well I am happy to announce that the deck is DONE.  Thanks to two great friends, who seem to enjoy painting – my human is happy once again.  The deck has a new coat of solid stain and looks marvelous.  And no paws prints through wet stain.  Now we get to see who will be the first to pee on it…

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 48

Yard sale

Yesterday we were up and out at our usual 5AM.  We are creatures of habit-,and we don’t care that it’s Saturday. We just know it’s a new day – and we are happy to get rolling .  Like we dogs do every day. Humans should follow our lead on this.

After our morning constitutionals, we ate and my human did too.  Then she invited me to come into the garage.  Einstein shouted “no – don’t go.  It’s a trap!!” But did I listen?  Nope.  And the next thing I knew-I was on the grooming table. An hour later we emerged -with one much nicer looking PON and a tired human. She didn’t plan to do Einstein, but looked at him and knew she had to do it.  She lured him into the garage they they emerged 90 minutes later with a new dog.  Elroy was next, but his time was much shorter.
When we all fluffified, and she had finally taken a shower (grooming is hard work) she took me and Einstein out.  Again.  
We didn’t know where we were going , but it wasn’t long before we noticed a bunch of cars parked at Jackson’s house.  The neighborhood yard sale.  Where humans try to sell things from home and then end up buying more stuff from other people.  Another brilliant human idea.
My human wasn’t organized enough to take things to sell.  Heaven knows we could probably sell one of the many sizes of dog crates we own.  But she couldn’t get her act together to take things up there at the crack of dawn for the sale.  BUT she decided, with some trepidation to take us up there.  She told us she was going to put “FREE” signs on us. Funny. 
 I think she figured that after all that grooming, someone ought to see her efforts. She was a little nervous that Einstein might scare away prospective buyers with his “welcome” bark- but he surprised her by remaining silent.  He even allowed a few shoppers and neighbors to pet him- although he was more interested in checking the contents of the tables for possible food items.  We were kept on short leashes for fear we  might pee on a table. But we actually settled in quite well and stayed for about a half hour without any problems at all.  Then it was the FG’s turn to head over…

He was kept on a VERY short leash.  Although he is more sociable than a politician seeking election- he has this vice called “jumping.”  He has to be reminded to keep all four paws on the ground.  While my human envisioned yard sale items flying, he was also very well behaved.  Several people asked what he was.  A “Coyote- wolfhound a doodle” my human answered.  Just kidding.

So we all enjoyed socializing with the neighbors and were well behaved.  I did note, though, that she didn’t take us back to the BBQ in the evening.  Now THAT would have been chaos.  Then again, maybe we would have behaved….Who am I kidding?  Hamburgers and snacks readily available?  Yup.  It would have been chaos…
Maybe next year…
Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!
Seizure free days: 47