Viktorsviews. The Next Chapter.

MORE payback…

April 4, 2015Leave a Comment

Payback. And more payback. That’s what yesterday was all about. And in the end, I learned that humans sometimes DO win…

So the day began with the bunny ear payback by waking my human up on a holiday at the crack of dawn. We thought we were PRETTY clever. Until she called me into the garage. For a full-out grooming session. Not just a quick brush-me-so-I-don’t-look-like-a-mop session. We’re talking the WHOLE torturous lie-on-the-table-and-and-have-half-your-coat-removed session. Ugh. Frodo was in the other room squeaking. He wanted “in” because there are treats included in the full-out session. And then when I was done, it was his turn. When he realized what was happening, he wasn’t so anxious to go in after all.

Paxton escaped the groom-a-thon simply because he had it the other day. And frankly, after wrestling with me and Frodo for several hours, my human didn’t have the strength to do Paxton too.

And THEN, if the grooming wasn’t enough, she took more Easter photos. The FINAL product that will be shared on Sunday is WITHOUT the bunny ears. Thank goodness for small miracles.

So. Now it was OUR turn again for payback. My human let us out in the yard to pee, while she surveyed the remnants of the luge run. And I’ll blame it on the spring-like weather – and Paxton – but the two of us took off. Over the ten foot high snow mountain, and we were GONE. My human figured we wouldn’t go anywhere – the snow is still deep. So she didn’t make anything of our great escape. And of course, Frodo the “good dog” stayed behind. After a few minutes, my human began to call us. But we were possessed by the spring demons – and we were NOT coming back. So she called more. And blew the whistle. Which usually works. Nope. Two crazy canines on the lam.

So my human got in the car with Frodo and they drove up the driveway and down the road. She saw the neighbor walking up his driveway. She rolled down the window and asked him if he had seen us. “The big one and the little one?” he replied. “Yup, they’re in the yard behind the house.” My human said she would take the car home – and would come back to get us. She took the car and Frodo home and grabbed two leashes. JUST as she walked up our driveway and was almost to the road, here I came. Trotting home happily. Until I spotted my not-so-happy human. Oooooo baby she was not happy. She put a leash on me and headed back to the neighbor’s place to look for Bucket Head. And here he was. Trotting up their driveway. She put a leash on him and marched us both home. She then marched us downstairs to the rec room and blocked the door with the gate – so we couldn’t come upstairs. We were left in solitary while she took the “good dog” for a nice long walk. When she got back, she let us out and we acted very contrite and grateful.

I think I’ll quit with the payback thing for now. And besides, after Easter, there probably aren’t any holidays that will entail “dress up” photos. And if there is, there CAN’T be anything worse than the bunny ears, can there?

Payback

April 3, 2015Leave a Comment

So it seems there are other people who like the idea of PON day. And WHY not? We deserve it. I couldn’t find any other breeds that have a special day, either – so maybe we can start a trend. Pass on the idea!

I’m not sure EXACTLY what I will do for PON day. There will no doubt be the obligatory photo shoot – but what will our human have us dress as for this one? I mean – we ARE already PONs. Mind you, it may be fun to put a mop on Paxton and make HIM look like a PON. I have a couple of days to figure this one out.

My human posted some of the Snow Bunny blooper shots on Facebook. As expected, they are dreadful. But we did get revenge…

It’s Good Friday – which is a holiday in Nova Scotia. Everything is closed and my human has the day off. She just finished a VERY busy month-long program at work and last night she turned off the alarm clock for this morning. Time for bunny ear payback.

At our usual wake up time of 5AM, we started. First, we had Paxton go and breathe in her face. Then, FRODO jumped on the bed. And rolled around. Then, yours truly began to lick Paxton’s face which drives my human crazy. And lastly, I simply went and SAT ON HER. Then I rolled on top of her, while Paxton stood by and panted loudly. She gave up and got up.

I wonder what we’ll do today – since it is raining out? Who cares – our human is home and we KNOW she will think of something for us to do. Maybe some “find the bunny” in preparation for Easter.

Have a good Good Friday. I know I will!

"Unofficial" PON Day

April 2, 20152 Comments

Well. It seems that I managed to fool a LOT of people with my kitten story yesterday. Score one for the joker!

So with all of these daily holidays and observances someone asked the question, when is PON day? Well. I think EVERY day is PON day. I mean seriously, we should be celebrated EVERY single day of the year. OK. Maybe not on Christmas or Easter – but really – we are THAT special the rest of the year.

But I decided to do a search of the Internet to SEE if there was a PON day. Nope. There is something called International Dog Day in August. But no PON day. So how does one go about getting a “day?” Well for it to be “official”, according to some references, it seems that one would need like 100,000 signatures to proclaim a day. Are there even 100,000 PONs in the world? I’m not so sure there are…But if one doesn’t want to use the word “official” or “International” in the title – one simply CAN create a day – if there are enough people interested. If enough people “take part” and “share the day” – it becomes a day. And I think the Internet and Facebook in particular, are great ways to share.

So I think we NEED a PON day. So I started searching for dates – which were pretty wide open if we just eliminate Christmas and Easter. I looked for the dates when PONs were first “recognized” as a breed – and found years but no specific dates. I’m sure someone knows that – but I don’t. So in the meantime, I found another possible option. Dyngus Day. The day after Easter. In Polish tradition, the day after Easter, is a celebration when boys dump water on girls and hit them with pussy willows to get them to notice them. OK. It DOES sound a bit weird. And no. This is NOT another April Fools joke. Anyway, the celebration is HUGE in Buffalo, New York – my human’s hometown. Check it out: http://www.dyngusday.com/

So. If I had to pick a PON day, it would be the same day as Dyngus Day. It would change each year – which is not great – but I kinda think that coordinating with another Polish celebration would be cool.

Now I don’t want to assume I can proclaim this as an international holiday. I don’t have the “authority.” And I don’t have time to organize any parade in my community. But I can tell you this – on April 6, we will be celebrating “Unofficial PON Day” in our house. We will post photos to my Facebook page – and share them with all my friends and followers -and all of my human’s friends. All 4 of them. Bring out the Pussy Willows and let the good times roll. PON day. And if you want to join in and celebrate “Unofficial” PON day– post YOUR photos on Facebook!!! And share them on my page!!! I want to see them!!!

I just hope my human can find some Polish sausage in Halifax by next Monday…

A BIG surprise!!!

April 1, 2015Leave a Comment

I have a BIG surprise. GUESS WHAT I am getting??!!! No- not an Easter bunny. Not a goldfish. Not a parrot. I’m getting a kitten!!! TWO kittens in fact. I am so excited!!!! I’ve never had a kitten before. In fact, my human has never even had a cat before. But she’s a softy when it comes to animals…and well, we are getting two kittens! It seems that a cat got into our neighbor’s old shed and had kittens. Six kittens. The mother cat is kind of wild, but the neighbor is feeding her and she is a very good mother to the kittens. So the neighbor told my human about them, and my human HAD to go see them. They’re all different colors…grey and brown and black and white. And they are very fluffy – or that’s what I hear. Anyway, the neighbor had homes for four of them – but two were left. So my human decided she would take both of them. She was a bit concerned about where to put a litter box – as she figured we would find the ingredients quite tasty. So she cut a hole in a door to a storage room in the basement and will put the litter box there. I THINK the hole is too small for me – I haven’t tried it yet. This whole litter box idea is quite intriguing – I think Frodo would like one on the days it is raining.

I think it will be excellent fun to have two kittens. I love to chase rabbits and foxes – so kittens will be a blast. I’m sure my human will NOT encourage that behavior – but when she goes to work – well there will be one par-TEEEE in our house. And I want to name them. I want to call them Norbert and Henry. That was my human’s father’s name and the name of one of his brothers. Oh IMAGINE the stories I will have to tell with two new kittens in the house!!!! I will have SO much to share.

Before I close and go to get ready for the new arrivals, I have just ONE more thing to share. April Fool! Gotcha! Seriously. Can you IMAGINE this household with two kittens?! Bwhahahahahaha. As if life isn’t exciting enough for my human with the three of US!!!!

Now let me go and see what other kinds of pranks I can play today….

Crayola Crayon Day. Seriously.

March 30, 2015Leave a Comment

March 31^st. Besides being the last day of the month, it’s Crayola Crayon Day. Yup. Another brilliant human holiday. Well at least it’s a colorful one. And it actually marks the day in 1903 when Crayola Crayons were first sold. Who knew?

I’ve heard stories of dogs eating crayons and then having multicolored poop – but so far it hasn’t happened in our house. Note I said “so far.” Paxton DOES like to eat ballpoint pens – so I’m sure crayons would be equally delectable.

So in honor of Crayola Crayon Day, let’s look at some of the color names – which I THINK could be good names for a dog! You know how you humans agonize over dog names – only to then create a roster of other names for us as times goes by? So allow me to pick out some names, using Crayola as a source. I’ll list them as “boy names” or “girl names” or gender neutral names. I realize I probably SHOULDN’T label names as male or female, but heck, I’m a dog – so what do I know about political correctness?

So here we go:

Female names:

Cerise

Fern

Violet

Scarlet

Jade

Ruby

Topaz

Orchid

Rose

Male names:

Jasper

Steel

Sonic

Gray – plain and simple!

Brick

Gender neutral names:

Copper

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Blizzard – I OBVIOUSLY can’t get past this snow thing

Carmine

Denim

Thistle

Umber

Jelly Bean

Twister – now THAT should have been my name!

Mystic

Shadow

Jazzberry Jam (Jazzy or Jammer for short)

Razzmatazz (Razzy for short)

Crayola has LOADS of colors – these are just a sample – I’m sure there are others that could be used. As a GENERAL rule, my human sticks to names that are two syllables or less in length. The longer it takes to get out the name – the further away we can be when we are on the run. Besides, who would call their dog Tangerine or Asparagus anyway?

If you use one of these suggestions, and you hadn’t heard it before, don’t forget to tell people where you got the idea. From Viktor. Viktor the PON.

Have a Sunglow-y day!

The "s" word

March 29, 2015Leave a Comment

OK. I said I wouldn’t talk about it any more. The dreaded “s” word. But I have to. I just HAVE to. And the “s” word I am referring to is NOT Spring…

Here’s the scoop. Everybody in Nova Scotia is getting depressed. REALLY depressed. I’m sure the pharmaceutical companies are making a killing on anti-depressants in this province! That is unless you own a dog. We make people happy. Most of the time. So no drugs in our household. Yet.

It’s funny. The weather people all winter would give these doom and gloom forecasts for storms a WEEK in advance. They would issue continual warnings days before a storm, and would tell people to be prepared. And we have had some REALLY bad snow in the past few weeks. Our plow guy got stuck twice – and my human had to get a guy with heavy equipment to come in and move the snow. The last storm, the plow guy didn’t even ATTEMPT our driveway.

Anyway, my human noticed that on Thursday, the weather people were not saying much about the forecast beyond Friday. It was like the weather was going to stop on Friday. Which made my human nervous. She figured that they didn’t want to TELL people what was coming – because people would be going off the deep end. And sure enough. What started out as “flurries” became a MAJOR snowfall. At least at our house it was major! The plow guy came and – are you ready – got STUCK again. He left us with a 4 foot wall in our driveway that no one would be able to get around. So the guy with the heavy equipment had to come. Again.

My human attempted the dreaded rabbit ear photo shoot with us yesterday– but she is not happy with the results. The photos don’t look very Eastery. We look like snow bunnies. But don’t worry – you’ll get to see them next week. And I have a feeling there may be MORE since she doesn’t like the setting… She’s probably looking to find some place with astro-turf so she can take shots that look like Springtime. Good luck.

So that’s it. I will NOT mention the “s” word ANY MORE. Not until December. I mean it. I hope.

Top 5 humans.

March 29, 2015Leave a Comment

So I started thinking more about that Facebook chain letter thing. The one that asked humans to list their top 5 favorite dog breeds. The one where everyone lists the breed that currently owns them – or has in the past.

So let’s reverse this chain. If we dogs had to pick our top 5 humans by occupation– who would WE pick?

Well of course, I would pick a Speech-Language Pathologist. Why? Well because that’s what my human is. And no – a Speech-Language Pathologist doesn’t teach dead people to talk. One might think so with the word “pathologist” in the title. Some people call them Speech Therapists. Personally, I prefer Speech Terrorist. Trust me – my human has “ways” of making people talk. And THAT’S why Frodo talks ALL THE TIME. It’s my human’s fault. Seriously.

My next favorite kind of human would be…a butcher. Or a chef. For obvious reasons.

Next would be a veterinarian. OK, I don’t REALLY love going to the Vet – but they DO come in handy when you need them.

Let’s see. Who else would be my favorite type of human…how about one that manufactures dog toys. One can NEVER have too many toys.

Sorry – but I’m not adding groomer to the list. Nope. I just can’t do it. They’re nice and all but I wouldn’t want one for my own.

How about….A farmer. With sheep. I’ve never actually SEEN sheep myself, but Frodo says they are great, so that could be cool .

So there you have it. My top 5 human choices. Really, I’ll take just about ANY human who has good treats. But of course, I’d ALWAYS pick my human first. Even if she didn’t have treats. But don’t tell her I told you. I don’t want it to go to her head…

A special human birthday…

March 28, 2015Leave a Comment

March 28. Today’s a special day. It’s my human’s mother’s birthday!!! And since we KNOW I’m her favorite grand-dog, I want to wish her special birthday greetings. She is over 600 years old in canine years. 602 to be exact. THAT’S incredible. And what’s even MORE incredible is the fact that she LOVES her computer. And Facebook. AND she reads my blog every day. How cool it THAT?!! She’s pretty saavy for someone over 600!!!

It’s funny – but when my human was a kid, her mother wasn’t REALLY crazy about dogs. I mean she liked them – but didn’t really want one – I think she KNEW who would be the one looking after a dog!!! My human brought a stray dog home, and befriended every dog in the neighborhood – and BEGGED for a dog starting at 5 years old in her letter to Santa. My human’s father liked dogs very much and wanted one for years too – but it wasn’t until my human was in high school that her mother gave in – and they got an Irish Setter – Mickey. He was crazy. Crazier than me. And that’s saying a LOT. He LOVED to hunt. My human’s father didn’t hunt – but neighbors would borrow Mickey for hunting. He didn’t have any formal hunting training – he just KNEW what to do. My human did take Mickey to basic obedience lessons and they even competed at the County Fair. They didn’t win any huge trophies, and in fact while waiting to compete, he peed on my human’s father’s leg. He was quite the dog.

Anyway, after Mickey there was a Golden Retriever named Midas. My human wasn’t living at home any more – but she convinced her mother that her father NEEDED another dog after Mickey went to the Rainbow Bridge. And her mother quickly agreed. Midas lived to a ripe old age of 13 or maybe 14…

Anyway, over the years, my human’s mother has come to love, or at least tolerate, all of my human’s dogs – and there have been quite a few. And her mother has even been a dog sitter on numerous occasions. When she comes to visit us, she shares her empty yoghurt container with us – AND she shares her banana each morning. She has also learned how to NOT get her fingers chewed off by Frodo when giving out treats. AND she knows how to make us sit and stay when giving out treats.

We think she’s pretty cool – and we’re so happy that she doesn’t live far away. And we love when she comes to stay with us – even though we know that we sometimes drive her crazy. Like when I remove all the toys from the toy box – AFTER she has put them away.

So a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our favorite octogenarian! Oh – and we’ll be quite happy to share your birthday cake with you…we hope it’s liver flavored…

Social Media…

March 26, 2015Leave a Comment

I’ve talked before about social media – and how cool it is that it connects people. My human and I have met some really great people since I, well we, started this blog. And Facebook is also a cool way to find out about all kinds of things. You can see how your friends did at the dog show, where they went on vacation, how to make dog biscuits and you can see photos of dogs dressed in ridiculous holiday attire. Hint. Hint. Sometimes you DO have to be careful though – because things get posted from unreliable sources. Also, we need to keep in mind that most people just post happy things that they are doing so it kind of gives us a skewed version of life. I mean really, who wants to read bad stuff – we have the news for that. So Facebook gives us the fake “movie set” view of life. But that’s not to say that movies aren’t FUN – and an entertaining way to learn things.

Once upon a time, people communicated via old-fashioned letters that they sent in something called the “mail”. That’s back in the days of my human. I don’t remember that far back. And sometimes, I hear, that people would send something called “chain letters.” You would get a letter and it would tell you to do something. If you didn’t do it, something bad might happen to you. And if you did it – well all kinds of mysterious surprises would come your way. If you were the least bit superstitious, you probably sent out those 10 letters and waited for the surprises. And waited. And waited. And waited….

Today people don’t send those messages in the old-fashioned form via the mail– but they DO send them electronically – especially on Facebook. But now the message will be that if you don’t want to see “pickles being tortured in vinegar,” you should post the message or share it with EVERYONE you know. So for days, you will see the “pickle torturing” message on the walls of numerous Friends. And then it will die out. But don’t worry – it WILL come back again. Several months later.

Sometimes the chain messages ARE kind of interesting, though. And there is no threat of dire consequences if you don’t comply. Just “Friend Guilt”. For example, there is one that SOMEONE started recently– and I have a bone to pick with it. Pun intended.

The chain idea is to ask “X” number of friends to share their 5 favorite dog breeds. To be honest, the idea of sharing this info is actually very interesting. It’s fun to see what breeds your friends like. Except for one small glitch. Think about it. EVERYBODY puts down the breed that they currently own – or have owned as one of their choices. Seriously. I would HOPE so!!! I mean what would it say if my human filled out her top favorite breeds and PONs did not even make the list?! I mean does that even happen very often?! I SUPPOSE you could get a dog that you don’t care for – but seriously people – would you post it on Facebook?! How to give that poor dog a MAJOR complex! I hope he chews your shoes. So MAYBE the request should have been for the top favorite breeds that you have never OWNED. Just sayin’!

Anyway, those are just a few of MY observations about social media. I DO enjoy it, though– oh and by the way, I met my New Year’s Resolution to have 14 LIKES on my Facebook page by May. So – don’t misinterpret my rant about social media. And I AM thinking about starting a chain message, myself, about your top 5 favorite dog biscuit recipes. Now THAT would be excellent!!! And THEN I just have to get my human to make them….

Easter countdown

March 26, 2015Leave a Comment

Hmmm. Today is Thursday. And we know what time is rapidly approaching. Easter. A little over a week to go. Lent is winding down and so are the Lenten resolutions. I DO believe I saw my human eating some cookies – and I’m sure they were on the list. Tsk. Tsk.

I have this sinking feeling that this weekend MAY be the pre-Easter photo shoot. And we KNOW what that means. The dreaded rabbit ears. If I didn’t like my human so much, I would be calling the animal abuse people. Pax and I already have a pact to misbehave and practice picnore as much as possible. I’m thinking the only way my human will get any shots is if she cooks up some steaks. And wears them around her neck to get our attention.

THIS will be better than the antlers. I can hardly wait…