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Yo readers. Elroy here. Not much new here on the ranch. We’ve had some sunny days, which is great but it brings the vampires out. Like I know there is this whole symbiotic thing in the world where different species support one another – and are good for something. Like the dandelions on our lawn. While some might think they are ugly, they do help bees. And bees help pollinate flowers. So even weeds can be helpful. But really – I started thinking – what good are blackflies?! So I looked up some stuff about blackflies. I found that they are food for birds. Or bats. And I also read that fish eat their larvae. Who knew they have looked at the anticoagulants that blackflies carry – and have applied that information in heart attack research. Blackflies also reportedly do pollinate some plants too. Maybe it’s a good idea to focus on their attributes – because just looking at their painful, bloodsucking behaviors isn’t really great. From now on – I’ll think of them as “friends.” Tiny, pesky friends.

And my tiny friends drove her highness crazy yesterday. She was doing the yearly paint touch-ups on the deck. The Boss and I were sequestered in the house. I’m not sure why. We could have been helpful. Imagine the paw print art we could have made! Anyway, her highness started the chore. Ten minutes later she came in, went in the garage and came back smelling like insecticide. Out she went. Ten minutes later she was back. She went into the garage and this time emerged with a bug jacket. She had her face covered and could barely see where she was going. Back out she went. The Boss just rolled his eyes.

After that project, she decided to install a new printer she had bought for the computer. After trying for HOURS the other day to fix our old one, she finally conceded defeat and got a new one. She despises setting up new equipment- because she thinks the instruction diagrams are sometimes drawn by abstract artists. Her blood pressure goes up as soon as she opens the box. Yesterday, the Boss wandered in the room to see what she was doing. She looked at him and said “I don’t think you want to watch what is about to unfold.” He took one look at the box, turned around and left. Despite the initial apprehension, the techno-gods were smiling down and she somehow managed to get all devices communicating with the printer. It was a miracle! There was much dancing and joy. Biscuits all around.

That’s the biggest news around here. Her highness still hasn’t planted the crops. We’ve still had a threat of frost. She’ll probably do it next week. The Boss is anxious for the tomatoes. I think he had better be patient. Very patient.

So if you encounter any blackflies today – remember they DO serve a purpose. Try to be nice to them. As you’re wiping them off your bloody forehead.

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

Yo everybody. Elroy here. Happy Tuesday. Although not so happy in this house. First we were sequestered by the pandemic. Now it’s the blackflies. Her highness has lots to do in the yard – so she prays for wind. On a still day, one becomes a victim for the flying vampires. They’ll even bite us canines if we’re left outside. Not that we ever are. We have the option to use the self-designed “dog door” through the screen door to the deck. It has been open all day for the past couple of days, but we’re not crazy enough to stay out there. We know there are vampires.

The other bad news – her highness got in the scale for the first time in about 2 months. We watched and we grimaced as she stepped up. We watched her step off and remove her glasses. Like that was adding a lb or two. Then she mumbled something about her hair being longer. She immediately wanted to take us for a walk. Again. But this was mid afternoon and the vampires were literally bouncing off the windows – trying to get in. OK. Maybe not that bad. But she knew she would have to wear a bug suit, so she said “later.” She can’t wear those giant fluffy sweat pants all summer…

On a better note, I decided to share some Pan-dogs with you today. Pan-dogs is short for Pandemic dogs. They are basically dogs who have become famous during this whole COVID thing – because their humans had nothing better to do. There’s also a few “good news” dog stories too – like this one about Zelda:

https://www.wthr.com/article/adopted-dog-takes-97-day-walk-back-foster-mom

Here’s a very nice dog story about a very kind nurse:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/veteran-admitted-to-hospital-with-guide-dog-nurse-took-care-of-them-both/

Brody is a Golden – known for interrupting his human’s on-air weather forecasts. Here are a few of his cameos:

https://youtu.be/fmmC83_KhII

One of her highness’ favorite duos is Mabel and Olive – two Labs. What makes these two great is their human who is a sports commentator. Because there are no sports going on – well Olive and Mabel provide the action. This is the second episode – there are others- but it’s one of our favorites:

https://youtu.be/f2BZNowCXws

Now EVERYONE probably has heard of Pluto – the Schnauzer from Montreal who has LOTS to say. This is when he first became popular:

https://www.todayville.com/this-dog-has-some-amazing-advice-for-the-two-leggeds/

And NOW he has his own You Tube channel, Facebook page, AND you can even buy stuff with Pluto’s face on it. I want a mug. Her highness said no. Here’s the You Tube link:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCka_xmcWVhvq3006pnIDmFA

And finally – there is Bronn. Now we had seen the video of Bronn jumping at his own video on TV. But what we HADN’T seen was Bronn with his tiny human. If you don’t laugh watching that – you’ve been in quarantine too long. Then again, maybe you’re just having a normal cranky day. Anyway – be sure to watch both videos in the article.

https://www.thedodo.com/close-to-home/dog-totally-flips-out-when-he-sees-himself-on-the-news

OK. It’s extra early. The golf course is now open so we need to get out before the golfers. And before the blackflies wake up. Wish us luck!

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

Frodo here again. I am writing today about a sport and an online purchase. Neither of which are particularly exciting to me – but since one involves the Beatnik, I was designated as the author for today. More biscuits for working overtime on a weekend.

Many of you have no doubt heard of a rather unusual “sporting event” – the Running of the Bulls which takes place in Pamplona, Spain each year. Like every other event in the world – it is cancelled, of course. Personally, I’m not so sure that this one is a great loss. I mean you set bulls loose in an alley and watch people in some strange attempt to outrun them? On average 50-100 people are injured each year and since they started keeping records in 1910, five people have been killed. Sounds like a great time. Oh – and incidentally, most participants are male. Her highness wanted me to make a further statement about that statistic, but I refused.

Anyway, that sport is dangerous. And we also have a dangerous sport in our household. It’s called the daily Hurling of the Toys. Personally, while I am sure other dogs do this – I think Picards are masters at this sport. So I will refer to the Picard in the description.

After our morning walks, our breakfast, our yoghurt container licking, our blueberries and bananas, her highness tries to eat her breakfast. And that signals the opening of the Hurling of the Toys. Well, it’s either that or a lick fest, but we’ve already talked about that cough-inducing pasttime in a previous blog.

Back to the Hurling. The Picard will begin by bringing a toy to her highness. He pokes her with it in an attempt to get her to throw it. There are then two possible options for the game. A. She can refuse to do so – which means that hurling is initiated. B. She throws it, and he doesn’t retrieve it – but hurling is also initiated. Either way, with or without two-legged participation- the end result is hurling. The first step is to stare at the toy. For at least several seconds. And then, the Picard grabs the toy and hurls it in the air. This is where the dangerous part begins. IF the Picard has selected a rubber toy, the danger is minimized. However, if he cannot find the rubber toy, he will grab the giant sized heavy, dense, Nylabone. The kind that if dropped on one’s toe will precipitate an outpouring of rather crude language. So imagine if that same Nylabone is whipped into the air and hits one on the shin bone. Or worse, if it has had an unusual trajectory and hits one in the head. At least one knows that the Pamplona bulls are coming. In hurling, one is never sure if one is reading the morning paper while eating breakfast.

Hurling toys have also been known to threaten knickknacks. Hurling is NEVER allowed in the DFZ.

Her highness tried to video the Hurling of the Toys after a recent shin bone incident . Unfortunately, Picards are camera shy – especially when playing the game- so in our case, he immediately stops. It’s as if it is some kind of “secret” game. We will try to get footage. Clearly it is a sport unaffected by COVID. I guess because it is played independently. With unwilling spectators.

In other “news” – her highness made another online purchase- so we will be on alert for the delivery man. She has dreamed of this invention for all her life. Well- her life since she became owned by dogs. Clearly it doesn’t take much to excite her. It’s a thing that you put in your washer and dryer that SUPPOSEDLY removes dog hair from clothing, blankets, towels…. The reviews appeared good. All 6 of them. Yes – she knows this will likely not work – but it was under $15 – with free shipping. I wish you could see me rolling my eyes. She could have bought several lint rollers for the same price. I’ll do a product review. When/if it ever arrives. Good thing we love her….

Time for our morning walk. The golf course has finally reopened- so we must arise earlier now. Works for me.

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

Greetings blog readers. Frodo here. It appears whenever there is a serious subject, yours truly becomes the author of the blog. I’m not sure why that is. Then again….if I didn’t do it the Beatnik would. Need I say more…he’s not exactly the serious type.

Today according to some special holiday calendar, we mark the day as Endangered Species Day. A day to recognize call those unique species – whose populations have shrunk in numbers. According to the World Wildlife Fund, examples include the Amur Leopard, the Black Rhino, the Sumatran Elephant, the Sunda Tiger, the Blue Whale, the Chimpanzee, the Giant Panda, the Arctic Wolf and the Pygmy Sloth. There are numerous others on the list – which you can find here…

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?direction=desc&sort=extinction_status

Many of these will come as no surprise to most of you. But what is not included in this list is dog breeds. And in fact, many breeds, due to their low numbers, are actually on the verge of extinction. For example, according to the AKC, there are more Giant Pandas in the world than Skye Terriers!

Sometimes breed numbers decrease because the function for which they were originally bred is no longer popular. An example is the Otterhound. Otter hunting was banned in the 1970s – so Otterhounds were no longer deemed “useful.” So their numbers decreased.

Sometimes things like war can actually affect breeds. For example, we PONs were nearly wiped out during the Second World War. If it were not for the work if Dr. Danuta Hryniewicz, and her dog Smok, the breed would probably have vanished. Smok sired ten liters of PONs in the 1950’s – and he is said to be the ancestor of all PONs in the world today.

Interestingly, the Picard also was in trouble after WWII. Again, committed breeders saw to it that the Picard would not disappear.

That being said, both PONs and Picards are still relatively rare breeds. Her highness likes rare. Rare steaks and rare breeds. One time our vet said to her “Do you use rare breed books as bedtime reading?!”

Humans have long bred dogs to help them and to serve a purpose – whether it was hunting, herding, tracking, guarding, or as companions. We KNOW that there are breeds that are in trouble. The world does not need NEW “breeds” – we have plenty – to go around – and we need to protect those that are currently endangered. SOMETIMES, when a breed has problems genetically, due to low numbers, a careful “out cross breeding” is done. But it is done carefully. And cautiously. It isn’t done because a malti-poo-oodle-errier is cute to look at and it would be fun to see what you get. It’s done to preserve a longstanding breed.

So on the day to recognize Endangered Species – don’t forget that there are dog breeds in the category too. And those dogs need to be recognized and heritage breeders need to be supported! Remember that list of “popularity” rankings we talked about the other day? Go back and look at those dogs nearest the bottom. Then compare it to this list from the UK – and you’ll get an idea about which dogs are really in trouble in at least two countries.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/03/02/take-good-hard-look-dog-breed-going-extinct-7354675/amp/

Finally – while finding loving homes for multi breed dogs is not a bad thing – because all dogs deserve loving homes – please think twice before you or someone you know spends large amounts of money on non-purebred flavors of the hypoallergenic, non-shedding month….Do your homework. Please.

I believe I just said something rather sassy…and it felt rather good.

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

Greetings readers. It is soggy, cranky Frodo here. I shall tell you my tales of woe some other time – suffice to say it was a miserable day yesterday- involving foot licking drama and rain. The only thing that got me through the day was treats. Lots of treats.

But today I wanted to share some Canadian literary history. Because it involves canines AND Nova Scotia.

You see, on this day in 1861, a woman by the name of Margaret Marshalls Saunders was born in Milton, Nova Scotia. Now – did you know that Margaret wrote the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies?! She did. AND the book was about a dog – and written from the dog’s perspective. The book was called Beautiful Joe- and was based on the true story of a poor dog who suffered abuse at the hands of a wicked human. It was, in fact, one of the first books that brought attention to animal cruelty- and animal rescue. The original Joe was in Ontario – but Margaret changed the setting to Maine. Who knew we had such a famous canine author who came from our very province?! She reportedly always had a houseful of animals – and according to Wikipedia, would name them after the location where they were found. She supposedly had a dog named Johnny Doorstep. I hope she never found any animals in a farmer’s field after he fertilized it….. Anyway, there is a park named after Joe in Ontario, and a plaque dedicated to Margaret, here in Nova Scotia near her birthplace. Incidentally, she was the author of many other books and she was also very socially involved in organizations advocating human and animal rights. Sounds like quite the woman.

That’s my contribution for today. Birthday wishes to Margaret. Although she did die in 1947. Still. We celebrate her and I believe we should do so with biscuits. Copious amounts of biscuits.

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

Yo everybody. Elroy here. It’s May 12. So you know what day it is! It’s Limerick Day! Don’t feel badly if you didn’t remember- it’s not like there are any special Limerick Day sales to remind you. I didn’t even know what a Limerick was. The Boss had to tell me. I wondered if it was related to a Lemonrick. That’s a joke. A bad one.

Viktor was pretty good at writing Limericks. Like this one:

There is a very special French breed,

The Picard is made for herding and speed,

They love to leap and run

Their middle name is “fun”

Look out when they are off leash and freed.

He also wrote this one…

There once was a Polish breed

You cannot forget to feed.

PONs will bark to remind you

To eat and to go poo

And will tell you just what they need.

So of course I had to try and write something. Here are my contributions…

There once was a PON who would eat

Whatever was put at his feet.

Carrots and potatoes

Bananas and tomatoes

His favorite of course was some meat.

And then there was the Picard

Who would totally disregard

Most food in his bowl

And one would have to cajole

Him to eat and then PLAY as reward.

OK. That’s it. I’m not a very poetic kinda guy.

Boy the Boss was ticked off yesterday. I mean major ticked off. We know that he’s been licking at his feet for some time. And in the past couple of days, he really started licking his one back foot. And…well… I kinda helped him. So it was kinda pink. We really started working on it while her highness was having breakfast. She wasn’t impressed. In fact she whisked him into the torture palace to check his foot carefully. She trimmed the hair between his pads, and saw that there were no sores or anything. So she put some spray on his foot and THEN covered it with a wrap thing. He was NOT impressed. He had it on all day. But he was good and never tried to take it off- which he could have easily done. Until her highness was getting ready for bed. She was in the bathroom washing up and well, the Boss decided it had to go. So he ripped it off. And of course, she put it back on after a trip to the torture palace. She wanted him to keep it on for the night because she knew we would work on it while she was asleep. And he did. But it’s coming off today.

Never a dull moment around here. It’s raining today – again – so a quick morning walk will be on the agenda. Assuming we poop quickly….

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

Elroy here. Well today is Mother’s Day – in North America anyway. And I hate to come to the party late – but yesterday was National Dog Moms Day. Not that we didn’t know. We did. Or I think we did. I mean we did a number of things to show her highness how much we love her. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

For example, we didn’t get her up very early. And it had nothing to do with the fact that it was pouring rain – and we could hear it. I’m not much of a morning guy to begin with – but I definitely follow the Boss’ lead. And he wasn’t leading very quickly at all. Still – she got to sleep in city and extra 10 minutes.

What else did we do…. hmmm. I know! We pooped quickly in the pouring rain so she didn’t have to get entirely drenched and her hands did not totally freeze. That was thoughtful.

We obediently licked the yoghurt container and ate our blueberries and our banana pieces- and I ate my entire breakfast bowl! Not that any of that was a chore for the Boss.

What else? Hmmmm. We let her take a nap in the afternoon. We let her read her book. I didn’t attack the vacuum cleaner. Much.

We played indoor fetch – and didn’t destroy the balls. We didn’t fight. Not that we ever do. But that should count for something.

We let her brush us. Without complaining. Much.

We basically let her do whatever she wanted to do. It was HER day. After she walked us, fed us, brushed us, played with us, took us out to pee (several times) and petted us every time we sat in front of her. Which probably happened 42 times. OK. Thats not exactly correct. Probably closer to 52 times. And every time we did – we were letting her know how much we love her. Mind you – we do that every day too. Come to think of it- EVERY day is Dog Mom’s Day when you own a two-legged. Who needs flowers or candy?! We’re the best gift you could EVER have.

And you know, I think she believes that too..

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe. And Happy Mother’s Day – to all the mothers of two-leggeds!

Greetings readers. Frodo here. Well it has been a rather uneventful week in our household. The weather has fluctuated between miserable and dreadful – at least in my mind. It seems as if we cannot have two days in a row without rain. And trust me, I keep track.

Our indoor entertainment has included games of “find the duck” and retrieve the ball. I , of course, excel at both. The beatnik still does not understand the retrieve part of the fetch game. For me, it is painful to watch him. Does he not understand that you get a treat when you return with the ball? And then it is thrown again? He prefers to play fetch on his own.

We did have a bit of excitement the other morning when we saw two different creatures during our walk on the golf course. Two deer! Her highness spotted them in the distance first and when she began to tighten our leashes we also noticed the grass munching visitors. Naturally, I shouted out a cheery “hello.” Repeatedly. And as we approached, they ran off into the woods. Her highness worked on her bicep muscles during that little part of the walk. Later in the evening, I went with her highness to get the mail and then the beatnik went for another walk on the course. And guess who he saw again?

At first he didn’t notice them- so her highness literally had to take his head in her hands and direct him toward the deer. When he did finally see them, he just silently watched them. Even when they ran away, he didn’t make a sound. He certainly picked up their scent though, after they were gone. And there were more bicep exercises.

And speaking of scent – did you happen to read that researchers in the US and in the UK , are training dogs to pick up the “scent” of COVID-19? The goal would be to see if dogs could identify people who test positively- especially in crowded areas like airports. Dogs to the rescue yet again.

Meanwhile on the home front, her highness has thankfully finished another project. She has hooked squares to be made into pillows. Some of you may have seen her first two attempts…

And we thought she was done. But like a PON with a biscuit, she decided she “needed” to do one more. This time she did a different type of hooking. This is rug hooking by the way. Lest anyone conjure up a totally different type of hooking.

Do you recognize this guy?

Now the backings must be sewn on and she must stuff them to make the pillows. We’ll see if that part ever happens…

For her next project, I suggest some biscuit baking. THAT would be useful. She suggested she could hook us some new coats. She was joking. Or she better be… Perhaps she could hook a mat for the beatnik’s crate. Given that he still does not like the one that she bought for him. She finally gave up and took the mat out of the crate. And low and behold, yours truly likes to sleep on it! Outside the crate. So at least it is getting good use after all.

Those are the main stories for today. Have a joyous Friday.

Peace and paws up. Stay safe.

Yo it’s Elroy here again. We won! Well I should say we Picards beat the PONs. At what you might ask? In popularity. Kind of.

You see the AKC just listed their breed statistics for 2019. They compile all of the information about dog registrations for a year and then post the data and indicate breed “popularity.”

So what breed do you think was Number 1 – for the 29th year in a row? If you guessed Picard, you are wrong. Number 1, again, was the all around happy go lucky, everybody’s versatile friendly breed- the Labrador Retriever. I will now list the other dogs in the top 10 – although one is not correct. Can you pick out one that doesn’t belong? German Shepherd, Golden retrievers, French Bulldogs, Bulldogs, Poodles, Beagles, Rottweilers, German Shorthaired Pointers and Shetland Sheepdogs.

Which one is actually 25th in the rankings? If you picked Beagles- you are WRONG. It is the Shetland Sheepdog. They are not in the Top 10. The tenth spot belongs to the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Jolly good

Meanwhile, out of 193 breeds listed, we Picards had a ranking of 146. Not too shabby. Well at least compared to the PONs who came in at 173! They were just one point from being in the bottom 20. Heck , the Xoloitzcuintli beat us both at 137. Seriously? How many of those Mexican Hairless dogs do you know?

If you want to see all the rankings, here’s the link to all of them:

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeds/2020-popular-breeds-2019/

Popularity is a funny thing. Many people who are into dogs and who breed, do not want their breeds to become popular. Go figure. It’s because when a breed suddenly becomes popular – like Dalmatians-after the movie release of 101 Dalmatians , it often means that unscrupulous people will start quickly breeding to fill the market “need.” And when there is breeding done without careful consideration, you can end up with all sorts of health problems down the road.

On the flip side, when you don’t have enough of a breed- because they are not as popular – you can also end up with problems. A small gene pool can be a recipe for health problems too. It’s a conundrum. Whatever that means.

And speaking of conundrums, we had one yesterday. Or the Boss said we had one. Her highness took us out for our morning walk and it was rather challenging. It had rained the night before, meaning that the Boss had to plan his route to avoid puddles. It’s a very deliberate and slow process. I, on the other hand, was on the lookout for wildlife, so I would constantly stop – right in front of her highness- nearly causing her to walk into me. Between the two of us, it was a very slow journey. We came home, we all had breakfast, and her highness who hadn’t had a great night’s sleep announced that she was going back to bed for a short nooze – given that it was only 8:30 AM. Of course we ALL had to go with her. The Boss jumped on the bed, began to lick himself and I sat 3 inches from her highness’ face and stared at her. She opened her eyes and announced “everybody out.” She ushered us to the bedroom door and pushed us out. We were shocked and perplexed. I mean we are with her 24/7 since this pandemic began – unless she goes into the bathroom – and here she was throwing us out! I must admit, we have noticed recently that sometimes I think she goes in the bathroom just to hide from us. And here we were yesterday – abandoned outside the bedroom door! We were silent for about 10 minutes. And then the Boss had had enough. He started barking. One woof every 20-30 seconds. Like the beeping on an alarm clock. And it worked! It got her highness up. She threw open the bedroom door and standing right there was the Boss. She just sighed one of those big dramatic sighs.

We DID let her take a nap in the DFZ later. Because she allowed us in. Hey – it’s our duty to protect her – and how can we possibly do it if she’s in a different room? We’re a team. 24/7. And she better not forget it.

Speaking of which – time for the team to get walking. No rain last night, so puddle patrol should not be factor this morning. One of those endearing traits that probably explains why PONs rank close to the bottom 20. That was a joke by the way. Pretty funny, eh?

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

Yo readers. Elroy here. Yeah – so you heard the story of my exuberant meeting with Max. Who knew he didn’t appreciate a big dog jumping and barking in his face? Seriously. I just wanted to play. At least I think I did.

Anyway. Do you know what May 3- May 9, 2020 is?!! Before I tell you, it was the Boss who said this had to be our topic today. Not my thing . But when the Boss speaks (and he does A LOT), I listen. Anyway, it’s National Postcard week! I know – who cares, right? Well I guess deltiologists do. That’s the fancy name for two-leggeds who collect postcards. So in 1984, they proclaimed the first full week of May as National Postcard week. That’s why you see so many postcard festivities all around. Ha. That was my attempt to be funny. Pretty good, eh? So why am I writing about this and what does it have to do with dogs. I’m sure you are thinking that right now.

Well as you know, our human collects old dog stuff. Among other junk. And included in her dog collection is surprise surprise- dog postcards. She has a bunch. Like not in the thousands or anything – but enough to put in an album. Or in frames…So today, the Boss suggested I share some with you. So here we go….

First we have a few cards where the actual BREED of dog is identified somewhere on the card. Some of these are not particularly old but they are not brand new either.

Like here we have a Newfoundland and a yellow Lab. Not sure how these guys would do in a show ring..

Here’s an English bulldog. Not a great condition card but you can still see the dog. Isn’t he just a sweet looking guy…or wait…girl…

Here we have some Pomeranians in black and white….I haven’t seen many in this color…

Here we have what is labeled on the back as the English Sheepdog…They could almost pass for Beardies!

These are labeled as Poltalloch terriers. We know them better as West Highland White terriers or Westies….

These guys are labeled as Staghounds. I’m thinking they are Foxhounds. But I’m no hound expert…

Now a bit of trivia …..did you know that St. Bernards were originally bred for rescue work in the mountains of Switzerland/Italy? There was a hospice built by monks in the Alps – and they acquired their first dogs between 1660 and 1670. They started breeding them and using them as working dogs in mountain rescue. Here’s a little video about them:

https://youtu.be/catxhyvkcKs

And here are some postcards from the days when the hospice was still operational..

OK. Here we have some cards where the breeds are not labeled, but I think we can guess what they are… like this Poodle…

And this pug…

And this looks like maybe a Border Terrier?

This one I’m not sure…Are they terriers?

OK. This next group I’m calling the Dollar Store Dog shots…They are all dressed up. Poor dogs. I feel their pain.

And her highness always liked this poor fella because she thought it might be a Bernese puppy…

We have more real photo cards – here are a few…like this fella with his Bulldog…

This poor guy who never was sent…

And this sled dog team pulling a canoe from Porcupine?

Our next group of cards is what I call “kids and dogs.” These are just a few…

OK. Enough for today. There are more of course with different artists’ paintings of dogs too. We might have actually shown you some of these cards before – but given that her highness can’t even remember what day it is, it’s no surprise if you’ve seen them before. Pretend you haven’t, even if you have. If that makes any sense.

Note we have not seen any PONs or Picard cards. Her highness is always on the hunt.

I’ll close with one last card – and it’s probably one of her highness’ favorite cards. Probably because it’s a good depiction of what happens in this household when she tries to teach us anything new. It’s called The Dogs School – and I’ll include some close up shots!

Don’t see any PONs or Picards. I say we skipped class.

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