Three Woofs for Bark-At-The-Park!

The only Dog Holiday that I know of comes once a year... I'm not sure why it is only once a year, since it is SO MUCH FUN!! It is called Bark at the Park. Canines from all over southern CA arrive in high spirits for this event. If you're into dog-watching, this is one event you will not want to miss. Caesar and I enjoy sniffing out all sorts of Canine breeds. Last year we happened to see a punk goth Bulldog family all decked out in black leather and spiky collars...and a family of beatiful harlequin Great Danes, and a festive Basset Hound with a paisley red scarf on his neck. There are always those who live the high-maintenance lifestyle and get rides in strollers or wagons, too. (I'm thinking of a particular family of 3 snooty poodles dressed like divas, who yipped frantically when Caesar gave them a disdainful look).

Regardless of style or stature, everyone has fun! There are courses to test speed and agility. Here I am the first year, practicing my jumps. The Lady thought I had a funny expression on my face. I just wanted to get through the course so I could get a treat!

There are tests for IQ (although I didn't understand this test...I just stared at the lady, wondering why she laid the biscuit under the blanket? It didn't need to take a nap, and I knew exactly where it was, but I would have rather her just put it directly into my mouth and saved me the trouble. She said I was no "Einstein" whatever that means). There are all sorts of goodies to eat and pools to drink from. But best of all, there is the one event Caesar and I live for each year: Lure Coursing!

Our friend Archer told us about this and we managed to convince the Man to shell out some money so that Caesar and I could run. Let me tell you...it was a blast! I never knew that chasing a non-rabbit could be such fun. The plastic bag may not have smelled very yummy, but it bounced and ran just like a rabbit did! (Speaking of which, I might raid the grocery bags under the kitchen cabinet one day and see if they are up for another chase.)

 Here is our friend Archer, running for all he is worth. He is very serious about chasing the lure.
And then at the end, he doesn't want to give up his prize!

Here, I am lunging at the lure even before it is ready to go.



 
 
 
The Man and Lady were slacking last year, so they promised to get more pictures of Caesar and I running next time. As for us, we are counting down the days until October and another thrilling Dog Holiday!

Baby Love

At first we were very resentful. The first 3.5 years were spent in fear of The Yell. The Yell would come from either the Man or Lady, at random times when we least suspected it. (I think they were afraid for the Puppy's safety, since apparently this breed doesn’t have any teeth or claws or walking instinct.) So naturally anytime we tried to play with her, They completely freaked out. Caesar was more curious, so he usually got The Yell more than I did. I just lay around moping and minded my own business. Then the Humans tried some sort of initiation routine with me, wondering why I was so aloof: they laid the Puppy right down next to me on several occasions, hoping that we would bond over dog biscuits or something. It didn't work...I streaked out of the room. The Puppy weirded me out, with all that flailing and high pictched yelping!

Here are a few rare moments when I visited the Puppy of my own accord

 

You can guess what us dogs have to put up with, although we don't really mind

 

But gradually the Puppy quieted down and started moving around, and the Humans built up a tolerance for us playing with the Puppy and they even started to force the dominance issue. (They thought that if they laid the Puppy on top of us, this would establish her at the height of our pack.)

Here Caesar is being dominated.

After a few Canine years of the Puppy failing to grow into a romping ball of fur, Caesar and I began to realize that this small thing was actually just a juvenile Human on a different timeline, so from now on we will refer to her as The Girl. Now it all makes sense, and we have accepted the Girl into our family. She does actually join us now at our food bowls, although we prefer to join her at hers. As for the poop contraption, there is no sign of that thing coming off any time soon, so Caesar and I just content ourselves knowing that someday the Girl will discover how to remove it and thus the Man and Lady will be resigned to let her join us out back.

Here, Caesar is taking his role of big brother quite seriously.

 

We can handle dry kibble as long as we get plenty of Girl treats.

The Girl is a lot of fun now that she is over a year old in Human time. She likes to plop down on my bed and wallow around in my fur the same way I favor a nice stinky dead pigeon. She has also learned to compensate for the lack of a licking-tongue by giving Caesar and I big love-bites on our noses. Although we despise it when she sticks her fingers right up our nostrils, we are overall delighted with her and can't wait until she grows into those hind legs and can chase us.

Now that I have that out of the way, Caesar and I will catch you up on our daily happenings in Doggiedom.

And Then There Were Three

Woof! It's me, Teena.

I have had a lot of time on my paws lately and decided to start up the blog again, with Caesar's help. I think the last time I posted was, hmm...almost 14 years ago?! (In Canine time, that is.) So much has happened since...     They decided to get another puppy. Everything was just fine and dandy, all ear-rubs and popsicle licks until the day when the Lady started behaving very strangely. She started smelling and looking very different to me, and I couldn't put a whisker on it. Oh, Caesar and I still got attention, but the outings became less frequent and now anytime the Humans came back from a trip there were lots of little packages and bags that didn't contain any treats for us! My ears started hanging lower than ever before. Why weren't we the center of Their universe anymore? Caesar and I took to consoling one another that it was just a juvenile phase They were going through.

We started to get very depressed...

Then one day there seemed to be a flurry of activity...the Lady was grunting and yelling at us to get away (I couldn't help but push my nose into her face to see what was going on!) and the Man finally took Her away to some sort of Human Institution (Thank goodness!) for behaving so badly. Caesar and I were lonely for a couple days, although the Man did come home to check on us apologetically and once he left a really cool little striped towel for us to sleep on. It smelled nice, almost yummy. Finally after a few days both Humans returned, and brought a big basket into the house, telling us that they brought home a new Puppy. (So that was it...the Lady was trying to hide the secret Puppy under her jacket for a few years until it started biting her!)

Here, Caesar is inspecting the New Arrival.

We sniffed and sniffed, it smelled great! Except, this Puppy was very different from us. It was naked and didn't really do much, even when we gave it a onceover licking. The ears were weird, too. Caesar thinks it is some sort of Chihuahua mix. So far we have been waiting for it to join us at our food bowls, romp in the grass, and take potty breaks out in the sandy backyard, but the Puppy seems to have some very different habits. For instance, the Humans rigged up some sort of contraption to catch all the poop and strap it on the poor Pup (Who knows why) and Caesar and I make quite the sport of it to try and catch a sniff every time they remove it. Hopefully soon they will take it off for good and we can give a proper butt-sniffing greeting.
 
More on the Puppy later. Wags,
 
Teena