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Yo. Elroy here. So we are doing this self isolation thing with her highness. If we go out for a walk – the Boss barks like a crazy tornado if he sees anyone, so it’s easy to practice social distancing. He invented the term.

Not that we have actually seen anyone. Our neighborhood is thankfully very quiet. But we were super surprised that in the past couple of days, we have had knocks at our door – and then no one is there!!!!! BUT – food is left behind! The food fairies have arrived! Really. Her highness has had meals delivered – by our neighbors!!! As a result of their kindness, I think she’s eating better than she usually does!

I think everyone is worried that because it’s just us and her, that her highness might be going bonkers. But really – it’s not that different from our normal life. We always drive her bonkers. Mind you, she is now here 24/7 so the Boss and I can’t have a lick fest without being caught. Doesn’t stop us from trying though.

We thought things were all easy peasy until her highness got this idea that we needed to make a bunch of Public Canine Announcements. About this virus. Really? You mean two leggeds do not understand the idea of staying at home? It seems like a pretty simple concept to me – and let’s face it, my education doesn’t extend beyond two sheep herding lessons. Come on two leggeds. If YOURS TRULY knows how to sit and stay, it should be VERY easy for you! Unless of course you have to go to work -like human health care workers. Or veterinarians. Or others who work in ESSENTIAL services. Like food. Dog food to be more precise. But seriously- we need to thank all those workers who MUST go to work. They are putting THEIR health on the line. And all the other two leggeds need to do is stay home! Smarten up humans. Who would ever dream that I would be giving sound advice?! Yes -we are in strange and unchartered times – for sure.

Anyway – here are some of our announcements. We hope they give you a smile – although the message IS serious…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. And STAY HOME!

Frodo here. Well her highness has now completed 5 days of self isolation. Which is a bit of a misnomer because she is not by herself. The beatnik and I are here with her. And I must tell you, this 24/7 exposure is interesting. Quite interesting. Allow me to highlight my observations so far.

First off, she is talking to us even MORE than she normally does. It is incessant. She provides us with a running commentary about everything including the “plans” for day, which quite frankly do not vary greatly. She takes us for several walks, feeds us, plays games with us and spends time watching movies or documentaries- which I mentioned before.

She continues to look at and even enroll in some online courses, like the following:

Creating your own spring pussy willows from dryer lint and chop sticks.

Yoga with your dog (which did not go well.)

Creative recipes with two ingredients.

Using plastic wrap to style your hair. (Her hair issue is NOT going to be pretty in another week.)

Braiding your dog’s hair. (Both of us hid when she started watching this one).

Making Easter chick decorations from dog hair.

THANKFULLY – she does spend time talking to other humans either on the phone or through FaceTime. And several neighbors and friends have offered to do grocery shopping for her. Two friends even dropped off the following parcel at our front door, when there was a rumor that the liquor stores would be closing…

Probably THE most interesting observation thus far is her attire. She is outfitted in her dog clothes- sweat pants with large drawstring and a huge sweater – ALL of the time. ALL of the time. Except of course, at night when she puts on her pajamas. That’s at about 6:30PM.

Of course, MY biggest concern is that we will run out of dog food. Or treats. I KNOW that neighbors or friends will pick them up when we need them – but it DOES make me nervous. Not the beatnik. He never stresses about food. And even in these serious times when we should be grateful for our food, he spits out bananas. But not to worry – I pick up his portions. We’re obviously not worried about passing on a virus to one another. I would not suggest that humans do the same. Do not, I repeat, do not eat anyone else’s spit out banana. And STAY home as much as possible. Unless you are walking your dog. And even then, maintain social distancing.

Humans will get through this. If they are thoughtful and if they simply do nothing. Seriously- how hard can that be? If her highness- Miss-Huggy-Chatter-Mouth can isolate herself – anyone can. Mind you, if she didn’t have US – I’m not sure WHAT she would do. Yes – we canines come to the rescue once again…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. AND STAY HOME!

Frodo here. Well. Her highness has completed 3 days of self isolation, and already she has begun to act rather daft. Well- more daft than usual. For example, she posted on Facebook, her “plans” for the remainder of her isolation period. If you already saw them, just forge ahead:

Day 3. Enroll in YouTube Course: Cutting Your Own Hair 101

Day 4: Enroll in YouTube Course: Making Hair Dye from old shoe polish 101

Day 5: Enroll in YouTube Course: Hat making made easy

Day 6: Enroll in YouTube Course: Making Macrame Dog Leashes From Dog Hair found around the house

Day 7: Train my 10 year old dog to “sit” on command

Day 8: Enroll in TubeTube Course: Training your Dog to Sit when he doesn’t want to

Day 9: Enroll in You Tube Course: Gourmet cooking using crackers 101

Day 10: Enroll in YouTube Course: Creative uses for dried Lysol Wipes

Day 11: Play solitaire.

Day 12: Enroll in YouTube Course: Advanced solitaire

Day 13: Attempt to make hand sanitizer from Vodka

Day 14: Scrap the hand sanitizer and drink the vodka

She thinks she is amusing. We laugh along because we know she will give us treats. It’s all good fun while she watches endless documentaries and TV series on her iPad, while she hooks her rug and the Beatnik and I nap away the afternoon. However, things got “real” yesterday when she began watching a certain documentary. I have often heard that someone can see a particular film, and it is so frightening that they are forever affected by it. For her highness, the old movie “The Birds” by Alfred Hitchcock was one such film. She was very young when she first saw it- and it terrified her. Well yesterday, I decided to watch a 2019 documentary that she had come across quite by accident. Perhaps I should call it a dog-umentary. Here I am watching the horror film…

Here is the trailer for the most frightening film ever made – at least in MY opinion:

https://youtu.be/BAQqDFZE4_g

The title alone was enough to make my blood run cold, but when I saw the content – I could barely watch. Clearly her highness could not think this was entertaining?!

My fear is that this film might give her some crazy ideas as this social isolation drags onward. If I see her searching the cupboards for food dye and sharpening her scissors, I am OUT of here….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Yo everybody. Elroy here. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. Yup. A French guy and a Polish guy celebrating an Irish holiday… Good times.

So her highness is a little over 24 hours into her 336 hour quarantine. And what does she decide to do? Take photos. Of us. In Dollar Store attire. And we KNOW how much I love that. But overall, I was pretty cooperative. I realized she wouldn’t give up – so better to cooperate and get it over with. Of course some photos are better than others. In this one I am half smirking…

In this one, I’m giving her highness a funny look…and I look like a unicorn.

But she kind of liked my sly look and it became this one…

This one isn’t bad….although the Boss looks more wild than normal…

This is her highness’ favorite- although clearly I don’t look like I have seen any lucky leprechauns.

Thank goodness that is over. And thank goodness she is in quarantine for the next two weeks. Because we KNOW what they have at the Dollar Store next. And because of the quarantine, she can’t go shopping! Maybe we do have the luck of the Irish. At least for the next two weeks!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Frodo here. Well were we ever surprised last night! Guess who arrived home? Her highness! We were shocked. She wasn’t due back for several days. We needed to tell the party guests to leave out the back door.

Her highness told us she had a wonderful time with her family. And with Percy. Who stayed in her good graces for the remainder of her visit. They went to the mountains which was a two hour drive, and he stayed curled up on her lap for most of the drive.

As you humans know, unless you have been living in a cave without internet or TV or radio, there is a major flu virus going around. And although her highness was visiting with family – and they were all well, the virus is spreading. And governments are closing borders.

Although we were in good hands, her highness knew she had to get home to us. She said if it weren’t for us – she probably would have stayed. It’s nice to know how much she loves us. Even though she didn’t have time to get guilt gifts. And she smelled like Percy when she walked in the door. So we’ll overlook those minor indiscretions.

We still love her and joyfully demonstrated our affection when she came in the door. We can’t WAIT for the next 14 days that she gets to spend with US. And us ALONE. Yup. Just the three of us. And a stuffed bunny. Let the quarantine begin!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Frodo here. Well despite the challenges with world health problems right now, her highness was able to leave us. And we are in the very capable hands of Char. Who loves us as much as we love her.

Her highness’ one flight was delayed by more than two hours – but she finally arrived in North Carolina wearing her hazmat suit and covered in Lysol. Just joking. About the Lysol part. It was actually Clorox.

Little did we know that she would be meeting a new friend on her visit – Percy, an all-American dog who can reportedly move faster than me and the beatnik combined. He loves to chase squirrels. And any other moving creature. He reportedly liked her highness – so much so that when no one was watching him for a few minutes, he slipped into her room and left her a “present.” He sounds like a dog we would really like.

Her highness is having a good visit with family – but is keep her eye on travel advisories. One thing we know for sure, she’ll be on a self-imposed quarantine for two weeks when she gets home. That’s 336 continual hours with US. Just THINK of all of the hours of Find the Bunny! I just hope we have enough poop bags..

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Hello readers. Frodo here. It’s about time I got to say a few words. The beatnik has been the “busy” one around here lately. Although…the other morning, yours truly got to go on an hour long walk with my old buddy Jackson. Aka Pigpen. Just me and my buddy. Oh – and yes our humans as well.

It was a crisp and dry morning. Although in typical Pigpen style, my friend was able to find any open, muddy puddle or stream – and he would run through them with wild abandon . I truly like Pigpen- but that behavior is rather incomprehensible to me. Still, we had a lovely walk.

The other day, I noted that her highness was doing an awful lot of house cleaning. That futile task that humans must do – which is doubly futile when you are owned by a canine. Or two. And the ground IS becoming muddy. It’s a pity one cannot use a power washer indoors.

But back to the clean-a-thon. We knew something was up. And it was actually the beatnik who noticed the telltale evidence of the reason for the cleaning. He walked by the stairs and began to growl. And he never growls. So something was amiss. I went over to see why he was growling – and there it was. Right on the landing. A suitcase. Her highness is leaving us.

She is headed to North Carolina to visit her aunt and uncle and cousins. She began planning this trip last fall. And as her luck would have it, she is going in the middle of a pandemic. She has loaded her purse with all sorts of cleaning cloths and hand sanitizer – I pity anyone next to her on the plane who has sensitivities to scents.

Although precautions cannot be taken lightly, she has survived a PONdemic – so she will be OK. Our girlfriend, Char will be staying with us – so we will be just fine. She’s good at giving out treats. And I’ll be sure to remind her where they are…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Yo. It’s me again. Elroy. So I have to tell you about the second part of my weekend. I went sheep herding again!!

I LOVE sheep. I mean I LOVE sheep. So when we arrived at the farm, I could not WAIT to see them.

This time, I had three new sheep. Sheep who aren’t QUITE as dog savvy as the last three. AND I was in a much bigger pen. With more room for the sheep (and me) to run.

I was happy to see Heather, my instructor- and was rating to go. Yes – raring I was. In fact a bit over-the-top raring. I was barking and pulling and well, acting a bit insane. And this time, Heather didn’t use the flag – just a long pole to remind me about the rules.

Her highness videotaped bits and pieces of me. We took a break about half way through my lesson, and I was able to run loose in a huge field. But honestly, after a little run, I went right back to the pen and was waiting for Heather and her highness to come back. I couldn’t wait to go back with the sheep.

Now despite my exuberance and my love for sheep, let’s just say I kind of had a brain fart when it came to remembering Rule # 5. The one about not attempting to sample the moving lambchops. See this….

That’s what you get when you attempt to nibble a moving lambchop’s butt. A mouthful of fluff. So watch this video….it’s my true confession video. You see me doing not I TOO badly. Heather was able to let me loose. But you will also see a brief instant when a tuft of wool suddenly appears in the middle of the pen – seemingly out of nowhere. But if you watch REALLY closely, you’ll catch yours truly sampling the moving lambchop butt. Then you see Heather shout at me. After which I return to my pleasant herding persona.

https://youtu.be/wXZGkVLzJE4

I apologize for breaking Rule #5. I’m not sure WHAT happened. Like I said – a brain fart. Luckily the sheep was fine. But I do promise to be more respectful in the future. Heather said it happens. And thankfully, I can go back.

When my lesson was over, I got to watch a pretty 10 month old Border Collie girl with my sheep. She didn’t bark. Or go crazy. I think I need to be more border collie-like. I need to crouch more. Just joking! Picards don’t herd like border collies. We herd more upright. Still. That little girl was sure impressive. I watched with awe. Just wait till next time. Now that I’ve seen the technique, I’ve got it. No worries. And no more sampling. Besides – who wants fluff in their mouth?!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Elroy here. Yo. I had an exhausting weekend. I mean it was all great fun. But by Sunday afternoon, I was beat. I think I need a vacation.

It began with a bath on Saturday morning. Out of the blue. It wasn’t like I rolled in anything, but I found myself after our morning walk, and after breakfast, being called into the garage. I learned from the PONs that when you are called to come into the garage, it is not always because you are going in the car. And you can just TELL when it isn’t going to be joyride. For example, her highness didn’t have a coat on. And she had that “look” that tells you something is about to happen that will not be anywhere near as fun as a joyride. So, like the PONs, I refused to go. Her highness had to get a leash to take me in. Sure enough – the full salon experience. Wash, blow dry, brush and nail trim. The Boss didn’t recognize me when I came out. Nah – I’m just joking with you. I looked exactly the same. Exactly. But I did smell like lavender.

It was AFTER that, that we went in the car. There was clearly some reason for the fresh smelling moi. Dog show. The Halifax Kennel Club show.

Now her highness was late – as usual- so didn’t get my entry for the pageant in on time. So, instead, I was recruited to do a stint with Meet the Breed. It’s a chance for the public to meet and learn about various breeds of dogs. They have a chance to talk with the owners and/or breeders and can see breeds up close and personal.

So ya basically sit on a table, and people come over and say hello. I, personally, like to thank them for coming over by giving them a big kiss. I had four different people who came by and said they remembered yours truly from last year – so they wanted to say hello again. I think I have a fan club. The Boss said the membership in my club is probably about 10. On a good day. He’s so sarcastic.

Anyway, the typical questions by newbie visitors were: (after they ask what the heck I am) 1. Do they have much energy? 2. Do they require much grooming 3. Are they barkers?

Her highness would say we Picards have plenty of energy, but can also easily learn to settle and relax at home. After the first few years.

As for grooming – it was kind of funny because the other dog “on” during the same time slot (we are scheduled for one hour stints) was an Afghan. So on a scale of 0-100 for grooming, I was a 10 and the Afghan was a 90. Or something like that.

I’m not much of a barker. Other Picards might be, but the Boss does enough for two of us, so I let him do the work. So it was a “no” to the barking question – with the caveat being that all dogs are different.

One man wanted to know if he could have some hair from my brush. I was worried he was going to make a voodoo doll or something. What did I do to him? But apparently he has allergies. So he tests a dog’s hair or fur to see how he reacts. He put it in a little zip lock baggie – he obviously came prepared! Smart idea – better to find out beforehand rather than getting a dog and then saying oopsie.

Meanwhile, while I was just shaking paws and kissing babies in true political style, one of my distant relatives was cleaning up the green carpet at Crufts! Yup – a Picard. Picards fall under some category called the AV (Any variety) Imported Breed Register in the Pastoral Group. These are generally rare breeds, who do not yet have huge numbers of dogs in the UK. So as I understand it, they take these dogs and group them together. In the case of the Pastoral group there are at least 6 breeds that fall in the category – Bergamasco, Hungarian Kuvasz, Hungarian Pumi, Swedish Lapphund, White Swiss Shepherd Dog and the Picardy Shepherd (like me). All of these dogs compete in their own little sub group and the winner goes on to the compete with the other best of breed winners (of the less rare breeds) in the Pastoral group. Anyway, there were 35 male dogs across these different breeds competing . And a PICARD, named Nelson got second place among all those boys. That’s a big deal. But what’s an even bigger deal is that we are cousins. Kind of. Well at least distant cousins. Because we both have the same grandfather! His father’s father was a dog named Flox – and my mother’s father was Flox too! If you look at pictures of all of us, you will see the family resemblance. For sure! So congrats to my cousin!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my weekend in tomorrow’s blog. I had my second herding lesson. Let’s just say, I kind of forgot the rules a bit….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Yo. Elroy here. I’m here to remind everyone today of two things. 1. The Crufts dog show is well underway in England. It’s her highness’ favorite show. Doggie Disney World. She’s been a couple of times and no doubt she will go again . If we let her.

2. Not only is Crufts happening – today is the most important day there. Well – at least the Boss and I think it is. It’s the day for the Pastoral group judging. It almost sounds like it’s a group for religious dogs – but nope – it’s the herding breeds – like me and the Boss. And trust me – we are no saints.

If I read the info correctly, there are 35 PONs and 5 Picards entered. And 619 Labrador Retrievers. Really. I’m not joking. But the Labs aren’t in the Pastoral Group. They are in the Gundog Group. They can carry rifles. Just joking. I’m so funny. Anyway what breed do you think had the biggest entry in the Pastoral Group – with an entry of 363? The geniuses of the dog world – the Border Collies. And speaking of those guys, here is one of the winners from the Freestyle competition. Surprise. Surprise that it’s a Border Collie.

https://youtu.be/pCtMpyHaDpg

Her highness thought we should try this routine. Except she envisioned herself ending up with multiple broken bones after tripping over us. Yeah – she’s DEFINITELY not coordinated enough to do this with us. Just the THOUGHT of us trying this makes her laugh. A lot.

So we’ll have to see if we can watch the group judging online. The Boss and I can bet biscuits as to who will win. Actually, he wins no matter what because I usually spit out my biscuit or I eat it so slowly and drop the pieces that he gets at least half of mine. As well as his own. He’s pretty smart…

Time to go play dog show.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.