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So the other night, my human decided we should introduce Elroy to the game of Find the Bunny…

I was able to play first.  She put Velcro dog and the FG in the front hallway – but they could watch me play through the french door.  That was the plan.  She figured that if the FG watched the game – he might figure it out.  Well, as we all know, I am a Find the Bunny expert. My human made me sit and stay and she hid the bunny in various places around the house.  And I consistently brought the bunny back and gave him up for a treat.  When my multiple runs were over, she put me in the FG’s 100 lb pony sized crate.  Then it was Velcro dog’s turn.  And the FG again got to watch how the game is played.  Sometimes my human hid the bunny in tricky spots – so  Frodo and I really had to use our noses.  It may have looked like we were just running around and looking, but we were using our noses and we both found the bunny every time.  So then it was the FG’s turn.  But how to hide the bunny, when his sit stay lasts .073 seconds and if you walk away more than two feet, he’s up?  My human decided to tie him with a leash to the 100 lb crate.  That I was in.  She tied him up and said to “stay.”  Initially I feared for my life because he began to pull the crate.  But it WAS pretty heavy – and my human said “stay” – so he just stood there.

My human figured that to help him get the idea of the game – she should “hide” the bunny in another room in plain sight.  She did – in fact I think he could even see the bunny the first few times from where he was tied to the crate.  .  When she took him off the leash, she instructed “find the bunny” and he RACED off to get it.  He was very excited to get that bunny.  However – NOT so excited to give him up.  EVERY time my human hid it, she had to follow him while he was looking for it, because in his mind, the name of the game was Search and Destroy the Bunny.  One time he didn’t find the bunny – so he just raced around the house.  I’m thinking he needs a BIT more practice at this game…

He doesn’t need much practice with the dremel though, He reportedly stood perfectly for “Auntie” Glenda AKA the “Just be Calm” lady while she did his nails.  He was so good.  It’s hard to believe.  While there, he tried very hard to play with  a Bernese puppy that Glenda had bred – but she wanted nothing to do with him  I think because she didn’t know quite what to make of the FG – he’s all legs – and those ears would make any dog pause and wonder.

Well the FG is headed to see “Auntie” Glenda again today to be dremeled.  Now that’s not to be confused with being pummeled.  Ears are pummeled (with a pumice stone – that’s MY definition of pummeled) and nails are dremeled.   For a dog who is supposed to be low maintenance, Elroy sure requires lots of pampering! 

You know, I am starting to admire him more and more each day.  He is VERY clever.  And sneaky.  When my human gets home from work, we all run out to have a pee.  And there IS a bit of PONdemonium – we bark and run like cows being let out of the barn after the winter.  Everyone within a 5 km radius knows when my human has come home.  And the FG LOVES to run around with us.  And he’s fast…

The other night, after supper my human went to take something out to the compost bin.  It was just getting dark and she saw “something” right in the middle of the front lawn.  “What IS that?” she wondered.  She slowly walked over and discovered what the odd object was.  One of her shoes.  You see, the FG likes to race out of the house when she gets home and IF he has access to an open closet door, he grabs whatever he can.  And he is GONE with it.   She never even saw him take it!

He and I have STARTED to wrestle just a little.  Just a LITTLE.  I’m not quite sure what to make of all of his leaping and what I call his bucking bronco routine.  It’s quite the sight.  I think those ears give him extra air. 

Hey – did you happen to see what is on “Oprah’s favorite things” list this year?  You probably know Oprah – that mega rich television/media woman.  She puts out this crazy list of stuff every year before Christmas and people who think her opinion is incredibly valuable, go out and buy what she says.  Humans.  Anyway, this year she has a customized dog blanket on the list.  And you humans can have OUR faces put on the blanket.  The one I saw was white in color.  What a perfect clean color for a dog blanket.  Cough cough. Mind you – it is machine washable.  I should hope so.  And it’s a great bargain – only $395 US dollars.  That’s like $2000 Canadian dollars.  OK.  Not THAT much.  Anyway, I think we need one for each of us.  It’s on the list.

Well, it’s the weekend and rumor has it my human is OFF on Monday, Tuesday AND Friday next week!  Let the party begin!   Have a good one – you KNOW we will! And I will continue to work on my list.  Dremel for Elroy…

November 4.  Did you know that on this day in 1929, Richard Byrd and Laurence McKinley Gould began a 2 1/2 month journey to explore the interior of Antarctica?  Well now you know.  And of course, they did their 1500 mile journey on dog sled. Dogs actually arrived in Antarctica back in 1889.  They were THE mode of transportation – and they actually provided more than that.  According to one source – during a bad blizzard back in 1889,  men brought their dogs into their tents for warmth.  In that sometimes hostile environment, man and dog depended on each other for survival.  Just like in our household.  We know our human would be lost without us.  And vice versa.

In 1994, the last dog was removed from Antarctica because of an environmental ruling that any “non-native” species be removed to prevent the possible spread of diseases.  OK.  I get that.  But hello – humans are still there.  Just sayin’.  Mind you, I’m not so sure I want to visit Antarctica.  I’m thinking it’s even colder than Nova Scotia in the winter.  And no doubt I would be subjected to wearing my spandex snowsuit and boots.  No thanks.  Oh – lest anyone THINK we already have snow in the Great White North – the photo was taken last winter.  Personally, I’m hoping for a GREEN Christmas!

Speaking of which, it’s almost time to start my Christmas list.  I don’t need to ask for a puppy this time.  So now I’m thinking about a kitten.  Or a pot bellied pig.  I got THAT idea because there was a story in the news this week from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia about a pot bellied pig.  It seems the local police had to apprehend an escaped  pig in a residential neighborhood.  The pig’s name was Kevin Bacon.  And no – I didn’t make that up.  But Kevin was a friendly, easy-going pig – so the capture was quite uneventful – and he was returned to his home.  That got me thinking we should get one.  That.  Or a kitten.  Or a goat.  Just IMAGINE the stories I would have…

Anyway – it’s FRIDAY!  Stay warm.  Stay dry.  And watch out for pigs.  Have a great one!

Seriously.  Who do we call about making our household into a reality TV show?!  I’m sure all of you would watch!  The latest trauma and drama in our household?  Ears.

You humans are really unbelievable.  The STUFF you worry about when it comes to us dogs is just this side of crazy.  You worry about everything from how we eat, to how we poop, to how we look.  And honestly, while we also care about eating, we don’t really think much about pooping and we certainly do not care how we look.  Well – nobody in this household anyway.  Frodo and I could not care LESS if we ever saw another brush.  But obviously my HUMAN cares about how we look – so going on a grooming hiatus never happens here.  Lucky for Elroy, his coat does not require the same amount of brushing that we PONs do.  But Elroy has had a different “beauty issue” the last little while.  His ears.

Picards are supposed to have erect ears.  When they are puppies, the ears are down and then they go up around 3-4 months.  HOWEVER, when they teethe, the ears can apparently go all wonky.  And that’s exactly what we saw with the Friendly Giant.  As a baby  puppy, his ears were down.  Then at the beginning of October, his ears were both up.  Like two witches hats.  Awesome.  For about a week.  Then down they came.  And the Flying Nun look was back.

So OF COURSE my human has been reading everything she can find about Picard ears.  And she is stressing about it.  She has communicated with a number of people about it.  Some suggested trimming the hair on his ears.  She did that – but it didn’t seem to make a difference.  She fed him cheese so the calcium might help.  He loved the cheese – and so did we, but that didn’t seem to make a difference.  She thought about buying a shaver for his ears – but envisioned making a REAL mess.  And then someone suggested a pumice stone…

A pumice stone?  What do you do with a pumice stone?  Who do you call about it?  Why the Vet’s office.  Of course.  And she asked to speak to the groomer who works there.  They put my human on hold and then said the groomer JUST left.  Suuuuuuure she did – she heard it was my human calling.  So then my human asked to speak to another woman there who breeds Shelties.  This woman took her call – she must have lost the coin toss.  Anyway, she was VERY helpful and she said they sold pumice stones at the office.  AND if that didn’t work, she said our Vet is very good at “taping ears”.   My human thinks of taping as a last resort – primarily because she’s not sure the Friendly Giant would leave them taped.  She wanted to give this pumice stone a try, first.

After work, she stopped in to get the pumice stone, or what I will now refer to as the magic stone.  Because IF it works, it will be magic.  And she got it home.  And she realized she didn’t know exactly what to do with it.  After googling it and going through various You Tube videos showing dogs EATING pumice stones, she finally found one that gave her a BIT of an idea what to do.  The stone acts as a “stripping device” – pulling out hair.  So the poor Friendly Giant was whisked onto the grooming table.  And his ears were “pummeled”. Gently of course.  At first my human thought nothing was happening and then she realized fur was flying.  So she pummeled some more. And the FG got more treats.  And she pummeled.  And he got treats.  And when she was finished pummeling him – she was SURE those ears were up a BIT.  I think it was in her imagination – but who knows?  I just don’t want my human to get ANY ideas about pummeling my ears!  CAN you imagine THAT?

So now we wait to see what the FG’s ears will look like over the next day or two.  And we’ll all be waiting with baited breath.  Well, maybe not  ALL of us… 

Now.  Who do I call about that TV show?

Christmas came early.  But this is one of those weird gifts.  It’s for us dogs, but it makes our human happy.  And if it makes her happy, well, we’ll go along with it.  Mind you, it’s a bit like giving a 4 year old some clothing as a gift.  What kid gets excited about new underwear?  So what dog gets excited about a new collar?  It’s not like we can see the collar on ourselves.  Unless we look in a mirror… And even then – with us PONs it’s really hard to see our collars.

Anyway,  we have LOADS of collars in this house.  Collars for every life stage.  BUT – we didn’t have collars with our names on them.  And my human always feared that if one of us took off and got lost, how would anyone know who we were?  Never mind the fact that we all have bionic microchips that can be scanned to identify us.  But let’s face it – most homes don’t have one of those scanners.  IF someone found us – they wouldn’t know right away where we belonged.  And for those who are wondering – yes we are licensed and we have tags, but we never wear the tags.   Quite possibly because the way that Frodo and Elroy wrestle and chew on each other, they would likely rip them off one another.  So we “needed” new collars.  Sure we did. And she found these lovely colorful leather colors on-line.
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/223358696/dog-collar-personalized-leather?ref=shop_home_active_14

The collars arrived in the mail and we got all excited until we realized there was no food involved in this gift.  Frodo got a mint green one, Elroy got purple and I got red. Frodo and I plan to swap them when she leaves for work.  Just to confuse anyone who finds us.  Not that Frodo will ever get lost – Velcro dog sticks close to home.  The Friendly Giant DOES like to wander into the woods – dragging his long line behind him.  But my human is always RIGHT behind him.  He’s actually a LOT more brave than we were at his age.  Except for yesterday morning.

My human took him out for his “quick pee” when he got up – and it was dark out at 5 AM.  He, of course, was on a leash and he went on the lawn to pee.  And then he did something that startled my human.  He began to look into the bushes and growl.  And then he let out a bark.  A mean bark.   And he stared and jumped backwards.  And he again growled.  He had never done this before.  Oh.  Except for the time he growled at his reflection in the deck door.  Still -my human had no idea what could be lurking in the bushes, so she dragged him back inside. 

When the sun came up, she went out to see if there were any traces of anything in the bushes.  And there WAS an answer.  It was a dog.  A very scary dog.  Who had been invisible before – hidden by the leaves of a hosta – but who had now appeared as the leaves are dying.  Check him out.

Well, it’s November 1.  Halloween is over. We had a whopping 5 kids come to the house last night.  Thank goodness we were prepared with 50 chocolate bars and 18 bags of chips. And none of them brought a dog.  We dogs watched the proceedings from the other side of the french door. Frodo barked, Elroy squeaked and I just watched.  We ALL wanted to greet them.  But my human figured she didn’t really want to traumatize any princesses so we stayed sequestered. The Halloween attire has been put in storage and NO doubt my human will be visiting the dreaded Dollar Store to be the first in line for ridiculous Christmas attire.  I’m SURE she still has those blasted reindeer antlers hidden somewhere.  You can be certain that if we found them that they would disappear. 

And speaking of being the first in line.  My human was the first to order this cool wiper blade for the rear window on the vehicle.  And why did she get one?  Because I am one of the models!  Check me out! http://pontique.boutique/moregifts.html

Our vehicle is a BIT like a rolling advertisement for PONs.  We already have a license plate surround and a sticker for the window.  But she doesn’t want Elroy to feel left out – so the search is on for some Picard car tchotchke.  Humans are so strange.  I mean really – do you want to advertise what breed we are when Frodo throws himself against the window and barks like Cujo at every pedestrian when we stop for a light?!  

And since we are into November – time to start preparing for next weekend when the clocks go back here and in most parts of Canada and the US.  I see that my friends  in the UK, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Poland – all turned your clocks back this past weekend.  We folks in North America are so behind the times.  Pun intended. Us and the 135 permanent residents of Antarctica (I’m not counting the 1-5000 researchers that work there at certain times).  I have to start thinking about what I’m going to do with that extra hour next weekend…

Anyway – have a happy Tuesday! 

So here we are.  We’ll be waiting tonight for the kids who will never come.  At least our Halloween attire this year was pretty basic.  I don’t see any treat bags made up for dogs – mind you, if there ARE bags that my human has prepared- they would be out of sight.  For obvious reasons.

So let’s see what’s new in the dog world.  Here’s a good one…you know that there are drug sniffing dogs,  dogs that can sniff out explosives, dogs that can find and track humans by scent, dogs that can sniff out rats (and apparently moles – but we still don’t have any to borrow), dogs that can smell when a human is about to have a seizure and even dogs that are supposed to be able to sniff out bed bugs (yuck!).  But the latest that I read about are dogs that trained to sniff out human poop!  And why you might ask?  Because they can detect illegal sewage dumping that can contaminate water supplies and also septic systems with leaks or broken sewer pipes.  Contamination from human waste is a serious environmental problem so this poopy job is very important.  We just need a dog-poop sniffing dog – to find the Friendly Giant’s deposits in the leaves.  Frodo and I refuse to do so.

And here’s an interesting theory about dogs and our great  ability to smell…some people,think that we tell time by smell.  For example, when our human leaves for work, the house has a strong scent of her (and I’m not talking that smelly perfume she wears). But as hours go by, her scent fades – and we can calculate time by the strength of her scent.  Interesting theory…and all along you thought we were just psychic about when you are coming back…

And here’s one other news bit – check out this movie that will be released next year.  My human saw the trailer in the theater last week.  And she cried with JUST the TRAILER.  Heaven help her if she sees the film!   It might have been because her mother leaned over and said….”maybe Paxton DID come back…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4y_h9xbyDE

Phew.  Now that I have all you soppy dog lovers crying – have a happy Monday! AND a safe and happy Halloween!

So the big day is tomorrow.  And all I can say is Boo-humbug.  These photos, with the dreaded Dollar Store attire, were taken earlier in the month  and the Friendly Giant has even grown MORE since then.  I’m including the “good” shots and the more entertaining blooper shots.  You will note that Velcro dog and I look like we have been photo shopped in almost every picture.  We know the drill.  The Friendly Giant?  He is getting there – but clearly needs a BIT more practice.

WHY does he always get the halo?!  OK.  Don’t answer that…

Elroy got to be a devil too.  And at least THIS time, Frodo wasn’t an angel…

My favorite shot with the 3 bow ties.  One of 4,398 taken.

My human is still complaining about the after-effects of eating the Halloween treats from LAST year.  So what does she do?  She goes out early THIS year, when the treats were first being sold in stores and she bought enough for probably 30 kids.  Keep in mind that the big count last year was ZERO kids.  I honestly don’t know why she thinks this year will be different.  But she DID buy the treats and then needed to buy MORE because she already ate them all.  And she is down to the dregs now – so she will undoubtedly go out today and try to buy more.  And of course the treats she LIKES will not be the treats on sale.

I think we should be prepared with treat bags containing dog treats.  Who knows – maybe those “30” kids will all arrive with their dogs.  I think we need to be prepared.

Anyway – stay safe this Halloween.  Humans – keep us dogs in a secure spot – so we don’t go racing out the door when it is opened.  And make SURE we don’t get into any chocolate.  Or any other treats for that matter.  Except for the bags of DOG treats.  Make SURE you have lots of those ready!

Have a happy Howl-o-ween!

So the other day when my human was at the Vet’s office getting a prescription for my medication, there was a man standing next to her at the front desk.  And he was bemoaning the fact that he had just found ticks on his dog.  He was under the impression that ticks disappeared after the summer.  No such luck.  The pests are around all the time it seems.  Unless we are buried in 6 feet of snow.  And who wants that?! 

As my human stood there, she was saying how LUCKY she was that with the exception of the two I had on my head back in June, none of us has had any ticks.  And it’s NOT like we don’t run around in the woods.  She said she really shouldn’t say anything, because she was likely to jinx her luck…

So on Thursday night, while she was massaging my ears, she felt a tiny tiny lump behind my ear.  She parted my hair and took a closer look.  And horror of horrors – a tiny little tick.  She began to sweat – just like she did when she thought I had swallowed the game piece.  And the gruesome discovery called for immediate action.

She whisked me into the garage and up onto the grooming table.  She pulled out her trusty tick removal tool and was about to start the extraction.  At which point, she figured she had better take her contact lenses OUT – so she could actually see what she was doing.  The joys of getting older.  So she told me to wait while she took out her contacts and she returned with her trusty headlamp.   This was serious surgery.  She took a good look, got a grip and pulled on the intruder.  And he came out.  Or at least PART of him came out.  Aggghhhhhhhhhh.  She gave me a treat for staying so still, and attempted to remove the rest.  And more came out.  But there was a TINY black dot in the middle of the spot where the tick had been – and she didn’t know what to do about it.  So of course, she called the Vet.  Our phone is on speed dial to their office.  I’m surprised they don’t answer by saying “Hello Linda, what do you want now?”  Anyway, she explained the dilemma and they suggested she keep an eye on it – and if it appeared swollen after a few days to bring me in.  Well you KNOW that answer wasn’t good enough.  So she got tweezers.  And she attempted to get that TINY black dot out.  And I waited.  And she gave me more treats. And she tried again.  And I got more treats.  And she got a tiny pin which she sterilized and attempted again.  And I waited.  And I got more treats.  Honestly – I really AM a good dog when I have to be.  Well – when treats are involved.  In the end, after 4 hours of surgery (OK 4 minutes) she had extracted any remnant of the tick.  And half of my ear.  She put antibiotic cream on my head and told me what a BRILLIANT boy I was.  You’ve got that right.

After the procedure, we all underwent a thorough tick exam.And no more vagabonds were thankfully found.  Now I just hope she doesn’t start making me wear the spandex suit to keep the ticks off me.  And I have a feeling those tasty garlic tablets may be back on the menu. Maybe 6 feet of snow isn’t such a bad idea after all…

October 28.  And according to the crazy calendar, it is Plush Animal Lovers Day.  My human always marvels at photos of dogs with their piles of stuffed toys.  They carry them, they play with them – they love them.  But not in this sadistic household.  We torture them.  Heaven forbid they have eyes – those would go first.  And then we proceed to either decapitate the unfortunate victim, or dismember him.  Remember the time I amputated the bunny’s leg – and threw it up a week later?  You think I would have learned after that episode, not to mutilate stuffed toys.   But if given the chance, my human is SURE I would.  I can only have them for a game of fetch – and IF my human is with me.

Speaking of games, it was raining the other night, so my human decided to pull out those old Swedish board games.  The ones we got for Christmas a few years ago.  Remember, she didn’t buy us the Leve1 1 games – she went right for the Level 3 games – she figured we were SO smart.  Big mistake.  So first I got to play, while Velcro dog and the Friendly Giant were sequestered in the hall – watching me through the french door.  The one covered in olfactory art.  Anyway, we played the game with the little drawers.  You hide a treat in a drawer and the dog has to sniff it out.  Well of course I am brilliant at it – so my human adds the “more difficult” part.  You insert these black pegs in the drawer, so you FIRST have to lift out the peg and THEN you can open the drawer.  It took a while before I figured out the peg part.  I was wildly scratching and pawing at the whole thing and basically trying to destroy the whole board.  If my human wasn’t holding the board, it would have been game over.  Anyway I figured out how to pull out the peg, and if given the chance, would have chewed on it.  But my human was sitting right there – so after I pulled out the peg she encouraged me to open the drawer.  Which I did.  So after each time that I got the treats, I was instructed to lie down and wait while my human filled a new drawer.  So my human goes to insert the peg that I had taken out, and there IS no peg.  Now this peg thing is not all that small – it’s shaped like a tack – with a 1.5″ round disk that is 1/4″ thick and peg in the middle is about 1″ in height.   So she frantically looks for the peg.  She knew I had eaten the treats when I opened the drawer – but did I ALSO swallow the peg?  Her blood pressure begins to rise.  HOW could I have swallowed it?!  It’s NOT small!!  As she is looking around, I am bouncing around waiting for the next game.  The sweat is pouring off her and she takes me into the bedroom so she can search alone without me going crazy.  She gets down on her hands and knees and looks around the carpet – which, by the way is partly black in color. She CANNOT find it.  She looks at another peg and can’t imagine how I could have swallowed it.  Her mind immediately races to those websites that have photos of things that dogs have swallowed – like steak knives and light bulbs.  What to do?  What to do?  Go to the emergency clinic?  She’s REALLY sweating now.  She goes to the bedroom and looks at me and I’m raring to go for another game.  She goes back to the board game.  And goes down on her hands and knees.  Again.  And crawls all over the carpet.  And there, about 4 feet away is the peg.  In my raucous attempt to get the treats, I must have tossed the peg.  Talk about a happy human.  She was so relieved – she gave me a handful of treats.

Then it was the Friendly Giant’s turn to play.  He basically sat and stared at the board.  Even after he WATCHED her put the treats in the drawer.  Out of sight, out of mind. He got to go down to the rec room and play with a ball instead.  Which my human retrieves for him.

Frodo has no patience for board games.  He gets the concept, but sees no point in them.  He would rather destroy the board instead.

So that was the night of fun and games.  If you ask me, destroying stuffed toys is still a lot more fun!

Happy Friday!