The Gate: Latch #1

Mike recently built a gate at the top of the steps on his porch. This is designed to keep me away from the door and to give the cats and humans a little freedom from me. However, this shows how effective latch #1 was: I was able to open the gate and get on the porch. Mike installed latch #2. We'll see how long that's effective!

Small wounds

You might not be able to see this very well in the photo above, but I got a couple deep scratches on my front left leg, just below my elbow, earlier this week. Diane noticed that I kept licking these wounds, but they seem to be healing now. Mike thinks I was a klutz and that I scratched myself by slipping off a new wooden plank that Mike installed on the back porch. I don't mind licking my wounds! I'm a dog and I like licking many things.

Pet Pals Howl-O-Wine Yappy Hour & Pet Costume Party

On Friday night, Mike and Diane and I went to WineStyles at Inwood for the Pet Pals (of Texas) Howl-O-Wine Yappy Hour & Pet Costume Party. Brenna sang. (See my June 13, 2008 posting about the last Yappy Hour we attended.)

I didn't wear a costume, but I did get this nice bandana. A small dog dressed as a devil won the costume contest. Other dog costumes included a pirate, a bat, a Longhorns football fan, and more. I like the treats I get at Yappy Hour and I like riding in the truck on the way there and back.

Walking in the Parks

I like to walk in the parks with Diane. On Friday, Diane and I drove over to Woodlawn Lake Park. I really like riding in the car or truck with Diane or Mike (or both). It's fun to see the things we drive past. It was much nicer walking on Friday than it was this summer when it was hotter. We only saw two other dogs on leashes with their humans, but quite a few humans without dogs. Near the end of our second loop around the Lake, a yellow dog, who came to the park from the neighborhood and was just wandering on his own, started hanging around me. He even followed us to the car, but then he wandered off past the basketball court.

This morning we walked to our local park, Ingram Hills. There were only two other humans at the park. Sometimes we don't see any other people at our park. I don't think we've seen any other dog on a leash with its human at our park during our walk. I like to stop and sit on the bench when we walk at this park. We saw three dogs lying down or wandering around on their own in the neighborhood this morning.

Cactus Pads and Charlie

Diane and Mike were gone for a few days earlier this month and Diane was gone again for a few days last week, so I made my own entertainment. As you may know, I like to chew on things like wood and plastic containers. I also really like spineless prickly pear cactus pads, which grow in my yard. I like the fiber that makes them fun to chew. Here's one of the cactus plants I chewed.

Mike decided he needed to put a wire fence around the cactus plants, so I don't chew them all up. Fortunately they grow back. In this picture is the little wire fence he put up, as well as the plastic pot that is currently one of my favorite chew toys.

I'll continue to find things to chew.

On another note, Diane is sadly upset this morning. In my June 25, 2008 post titled "Adolescence" I mentioned the little black dog named Charlie who lives down the street. We hadn't seen him on our walks lately, but this morning during our walk we saw him across the street, running loose as usual. He seemed to be staying in the yards on the other side of the road. We kept walking and Diane tried not to look at him, too much. A pickup truck passed us going the opposite direction and when Diane turned around, she saw that the truck had run over Charlie. Apparently Charlie had tried to cross the road to follow us. He rolled a few times. Diane couldn't watch and kept walking. The truck slowed down and seemed to stop, but we don't know if the driver got out of the truck. A schoolboy and a man also saw what happened. Diane and I continued walking, since we don't know where Charlie's people live and Diane was sad. We walked our loop and saw another couple walking with their dog on a leash during the walk. When Diane and I passed the area where Charlie had been hit, there was no sign of the dog, but there was blood on the street. Diane wishes dogs would stay in their yards behind their fences or in their houses, when they aren't on their leashes with their people.

Scratches

I've been asked why it's been so long since I've blogged. Guess the dog days of summer have gotten to me. And then Mike and Diane were gone for a while.

Anyway, several dogs in the neighborhood come around and we communicate through the fence. One of the dogs is "Scratches." Her name is "Scratches" because she got some scratches on her side when she crawled under a fence.

I often communicate with Scratches through my fence.

Milk-Bone Photo

Here's the photo the Milk-Bone people took of Diane and me at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. It took a little while until I was willing to pose for a photo. Diane placed me in the chair, and then I was comfortable!

Botanical Gardens Dog Days of Summer

Diane took me to the Dog Days of Summer (sponsored by Milk-Bone) at the San Antonio Botanical Garden this afternoon.

I had my photo taken, met a number of other dogs, tried to stay in the shade, or was a "shade seeker," rested a lot, and drank water out of a bottle.

I rested a lot, because it was hot! They don't call it "Dog Days" for no reason!

Wordle Image

Diane has been reading about Wordles lately. She decided to make a Wordle of my last blog entry. Here's a link to the Wordle image:

Stitches

This has been a week filled with more adventure than I was seeking!

On Monday morning, Diane and I walked to the local neighborhood park. We took the shortcut to the park. Along the route, we saw two turkey vultures perched at the top of a pole. As I've mentioned before, I don't like turkey vultures and I was excited and barked at them. Diane and I walked around the park three times, with one rest on the bench at the park. There were about 7 or 8 other people at the park, unlike some mornings when we don't see anyone else at the park. We haven't seen another dog walking with a human companion at the park for a long time. After the walk, Diane decided to walk along Majestic to Oak Knoll, as we've done before. She didn't want to walk me past the turkey vultures again. After we walked over the bridge and past the second house, there was a young black (or very, very dark brown) dog who joined us along the walk. Usually if a dog starts following us, Diane yells "go home" at the dog, and it will usually fall back, or leave. However, this dog followed us all the way home.

The dog stayed outside the fence, while I was inside. Diane went back to the house where the dog started following us, but no one was home. Mike called Animal Care Services to have the dog picked up, because it was hanging around and didn't seem to belong to anyone--the dog didn't have a collar. But usually Animal Care Services doesn't get around to all the places they are called. The dog stayed outside the fence until Mike and Diane came home.

Then Mike let the dog inside the fence and his co-worker stopped by to look at the dog. The co-worker's dad's dog had died over the weekend, so his dad was open to getting a new dog. However, while Mike and his co-worker were talking, I got kind of jealous and fought a little with the dog. We were separated, and then got along ok. Mike was calling the other dog "Buster" until Diane noted that it was a girl, so Mike called her "Betty." Mike and Diane went back to the house where Betty began following us. No one was home. We talked to the neighbor, who thought the dog had just showed up in the past day or two. Diane later talked on the phone to the person at the house where Betty started following us. He had fed her for a day or two, but hadn't brought her in the yard, yet. So, Betty and I were in my yard together all night and we got along ok.

On Tuesday morning, Diane came outside to walk me. Mike was also outside watching us. When I was on the leash, and Betty came nearby, I got jealous and we started fighting. Mike had to separate us. Blood was drawn. Diane walked me away and we went for a short walk down Parkway to the bridge. It was obvious Betty wanted to be where I was. While Diane and I were walking, Betty got out of the yard--probably crawled under the fence--and came down to us and followed us home. However, when we were both back in the yard, I felt jealous again and we got in a fight. Mike and Diane tried to separate us by putting Betty outside, but she kept crawling inside the fence, despite the rocks Mike and Diane laid down along the fences. When she got inside, we would fight.

Finally, Mike said that either I would stay in the house, or he would take me to work. Diane didn't want me to stay in the house alone all day, so Mike took me with him to work. I was calm and slept most of the day at Mike's work.

Mike took me to our vet, because he didn't like the gash above my left eye. I weighed 38 pounds at the vet. While in the examination room, Dr. Granberry walked by, recognized me, and determined an alternative method for treating my gash, since it was near the end of the day, and there wasn't time for an anasthetic to take effect. I was given a strong sedative, and three stitches were put above my eye, closing up the gash. The stitches aren't dissolvable, so we'll have to go back to get them removed.

Mike took me home and had one of our neighbors hold my leash, while he got Betty into the pickup truck. The neighbor said that I'm a unique-looking dog, because of my coloring. Mike then put me in the house, because Dr. Granberry told Mike to keep me cool following the surgery. I was groggy from the sedative, so I wasn't going to be rambunctious.

Meanwhile, Mike took Betty to the Animal Care Facility, since it was obvious we weren't going to get along. The wait and intake procedure took about an hour, but Mike was impressed with the staff and new facility, which just opened a few months ago.

San Antonio has a high animal euthanasia rate, but Diane and Mike hope that Betty gets adopted. Diane didn't take a photo, but you might be able to see Betty's (A054729) photo at PetHarbor.com. To see her photo, enter 78227 in the Zip Code box, check the box next to San Antonio Animal Care Services: San Antonio, TX and click on Search Now. Then click on I Lost My Dog, click on the Dogs button, select Gender: Female; Age: Young, and Color: Black. You might see the photo and description for A054729 (those are Mike's jeans and shoes in the photo).

I got to stay in the house all night, but I was very groggy and sleepy. Mike has let me in the house a few times since, so now I try to go in the house when I can. It's cooler inside than outside and there are cats to sniff at inside. Diane doesn't like it when I come in the house.

Graduation!

This evening was our last night of "Beginner" training, so we had graduation.

Mike wants to note that the photo on the left with the diploma is taken at home on the new deck that Mike is building. Most of the deck is made of recycled material.

Saturday Walk

On Saturday morning, Diane took me on a different walk route through the neighborhood. As we were walking down Oak Knoll Drive, as we've done numerous times, Diane could not understand why I started barking as I looked up in the trees. I rarely bark when we are on our walks, even if I get excited. Finally, she saw the 3 turkey vultures in the trees. Although turkey vultures supposedly don't attack live animals or children, I don't like them, because they are 2-3 feet tall, with a wingspan of 6-feet. They eat dead carcasses, and we smelled several in the area on our Saturday morning walk.

Although there were fewer houses along our route Saturday morning, it seemed there were as many or more dogs than on our other routes. Maybe it was because fewer of the dogs were behind gates at their homes. At one house, there were at least 6 dogs, and the gate was not closed. A large chocolate lab came running toward Diane, but she stood still and then pointed and told the dog to go home. The dog didn't bother us after that. The next place had 3 cream-color dogs who looked alike and who sometimes wander down to Oak Knoll. That's life in the 'hood!

Updates

Several people have mentioned to Diane that I haven't posted to the blog for a while. Maybe I've been distracted.

I've been to several classes. Diane was out of town a few weeks ago, so Mike took me to class. We worked on "shake" paws that evening and I did very well.

The following week, I was the only dog who came to class. The rain might have kept some of the dogs away. I got very individualized attention that evening.

Last week, Gunther and I were the only dogs who came to class.

Yesterday, Diane took me on my first Volksmarch. A Volksmarch is a 6.2 mile non-competitive walk that can be completed at one's own pace. It was a year-round event that was located fairly close to our home. We started shortly after 7 AM while it was light outside, but not so hot yet. The walk went along a fairly busy road, past a new branch of the public library and a fairly new city park, and through a residential subdivision. A walk that might normally take Diane about 2 hours to walk, took us about 3.5 hours, because I like to lie down and rest frequently. Diane gave me water regularly, but I was thirsty by the end of the walk. It was definitely a longer walk than I am used to doing.

Adolescence

It's been a little while since I've written. I haven't had too many car rides--just to training class and we had one walk at Woodlawn Lake last Friday. Diane and I only walked two times around the Lake because it started sprinkling. We haven't seen very much rain lately.

Mike thinks I'm entering adolescence because I've been nipping and trying to bite pants and ankles a lot lately. He thinks I'm trying to get my way. I demonstrated some of this behavior in class on Monday night. I just want to play, but these humans don't want to play the way I want to play.

Diane continues to take me on morning walks in the neighborhood. Mike takes me on short walks around the yard at night. This morning, Diane and I walked up Lura Lane past the International Bible Center. Diane doesn't like the house at the corner of Pearson & Faith because a pit bull that jumps high and pushes on the old boards of his fence barks and growls. There's also a gray poodle that lives there that usually gets out and follows us for a short distance.

Another dog that Diane doesn't like is a little black dog just a few houses away. This morning he was outside with two humans and a small brown and white dog on a leash. The black dog is Charlie, and we've never seen him on a leash and he follows us and tries to nip at me. He nipped at me about three times this morning. Diane is frustrated that his humans don't keep him on a leash or behind a fence.

Training class again and updates

On Saturday and Sunday mornings, Diane took me for a walk/work-out at Woodlawn Lake. On both days, we walked three times around the lake, which is about 3 miles. There were a lot more humans than dogs walking on the trail. We saw a boy both days walking with his brother. Both days, the boy said about me, "That's a cool dog!" On Sunday, when we started our walk, a man and a dog, that was a blue heeler, jogged past us. We only saw a couple other dogs during our walk.

This morning, Diane walked me in the neighborhood to Ingram Hills Park. When we were across the street from the park, we saw two solid black, sort of long-hair dogs, in the park by themselves. One was on top of a picnic table and the other was on the ground near the table. Diane decided to turn around and take an alternate route.

We had class again tonight. Mike came with Diane and me tonight. Gunther and Bruno who are Rottweilers were in class tonight. They had not been in class together before. Another dog, Honey, who is at least part Poodle, was also in class. She barked alot and I hadn't attended class with her before. All four of us are between five and six months old.

We learned that we are getting a new trainer for class. I met the new trainer at Happy Hour last week. She carries treats in her pouch. We went through a number of exercises tonight and class went longer than normal.

Yappy Hour

I had such a full day that I'm posting twice!

This afternoon I helped Mike as he cut some branches in the yard. I helped him drag branches to the fence and he threw them over the fence for brush pickup. I didn't want to let go of the branches; once I have something in my mouth, I don't like to let go until I decide.

Tonight Mike and Diane took me to Yappy Hour at WineStyles at Inwood (located at Wurzbach & Bitters Roads). Yappy Hour was a fundraiser for Pet Pals of Texas, a nonprofit volunteer-organization that helps improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, the elderly, and terminally ill, by providing the pets they love with support services that allows them to stay together in a loving, healthy home.

Many dogs attended Yappy Hour with their humans. Mike figured there were about 30 dogs in attendance during the time we were there. There were dogs of all sizes--some were so small they could be held in a harness on their human's chest, and others were medium size like me, while others were large like Bruno the St. Bernard. Some dogs were festively dressed, while many of us received a bandana when we entered the store.

There were homemade treats for me and lots of treats and wine for humans. A singer named Brenna was singing. Mike said she was so professional that many of the humans thought that the vocals were recorded, rather than live, until they saw a live person singing.

I like family outings!

Updates

It's been a while since I've provided an update. It's been so hot and dry these last weeks!

Monday night, Diane took me to another training class. My classmate Gunther has really grown in the last few weeks! We worked on sit, down, stay. There's so many other things I'd rather look at and investigate when I'm expected to be still.

On Tuesday night there was "Happy Hour" at the store where my training classes are held. More dogs than normal were at the store. Mike took me to the store and Diane met us there. While Mike was waiting, we saw my classmate Hercules. Mike also saw a woman who had two small female Australian Red Heeler pups that she had rescued. They were practically all white, like snowballs, because that's how we are born. Our breed resulted from cross-breeding the wild native Dingo, Bull Terrier, Dalmatian, blue merle Collies and the Kelpie. Our white color at birth comes from our Dalmatian heritage. We develop our color as we mature. Despite our multi-breed background, we have been considered a pure breed since 1893. We also had our photo taken. Those are Mike's and Diane's hands on me.

Diane and I have been walking in our neighborhood in the morning. Since I've seen it before, sometimes I get reluctant. But then other times I practically want to run. Diane likes it when I lope at loose leash pace.

There has been a large golden dog coming near my yard the past few days. I like to try to play with him, but the fence is in the way. Yesterday I crawled under the fence and followed the golden dog for a while. It was sort of bewildering to be outside the fence and not on a leash. Our neighbor called to me, I ran toward her, and she put me back inside the yard. Mike has fortified the fence so that I'm not supposed to be able to get out of the yard.

This morning I got to ride in the car. We went to O.P. Schnabel Park and walked a few of the trails. It was interesting to smell all the new and different odors along the trail. We saw three other dogs and their humans, and a few other humans.

Training Update

I don't have any new photos at the moment, but I have a few updates about my "training."

I really like nipping at heels and the back of Diane's pants, so Friday evening, Diane and Mike took me to see the training instructor. Diane said I jump up on her too much. We went outside the store and walked around in the alley next to the store. I guess Susie was trying to get me excited so I would "mis-behave" but I'm not that dumb! I jumped a little, but now we're mostly into a routine where if I sit and lie down, I'll get a treat. I don't mind lying down--it takes a lot less energy. I liked riding in the car to the store and back home.

On Sunday morning when Diane was walking with me in the neighborhood, we walked down one of the streets we usually walk, but the golden dog at the end of the street who doesn't live behind a fence like most of us do, and who often barks at me, was lying motionless in the middle of street in front of her humans' place. Diane thinks she had probably been hit by a vehicle. I was sort of curious, but didn't want to investigate too much. We walked a few different streets and we got a number of dogs who were behind their fences, barking, which is exciting.

Tonight we went back to the store for another class. Gunther wasn't in class with Hercules and me, but another dog similar to Gunther, named Bruno, was in our class. Bruno is younger than I am, but is already larger than I am. Bruno and I had already learned about lying down to get a treat, so we did "push ups" while Hercules got exposed to the concept. Then we walked back and forth down one of the aisles--it's fun to sniff the bags and stuff along the aisle, but it got sort of boring after while. There's so much else I'd like to explore. Then we were tied to the wall while Susie dropped stuff in front of us. We were supposed to look at our humans when they said "drop it" and then we'd get a treat.

Memorial Day Morning at Pearsall Park

The last few days Diane has been taking me on walks in the neighborhood in the morning. She says it's too hot later in the day. I agree. I tend to yawn in the morning because I'm still a little sleepy, but at least it's not so hot.

This morning Diane took me to a new place. We went to the Pearsall Park Dog Park. Diane made a wrong turn near the park, because none of the online maps give the correct directions. The City of San Antonio information indicates the park is at 4700 Old Pearsall Road, but the online maps don't give the correct directions. The entrance is located on Old Pearsall Road between Medina Base Road and Loop 410. The SADogList site has a brief description and some photos. This site lists the address at 5000 Old Pearsall Road, but online maps place that address outside Loop 410, which it's not; it's inside Loop 410. I want other dogs and their humans to be able to find this park.

When we got to the park at 7:20 AM, Diane and I were the only ones at the park. Diane let me off the leash, but I wasn't too energetic. When I'm at a new place, I like to sniff the ground to see who else has been there. There is an agility course for dogs and Diane tried to get me to walk over a few ramps and to go through a tunnel, but I don't really understand why. I mainly sniffed around most of the perimeter fence.

Just about the time I had sniffed around most of the park perimeter fence, a woman with a black & white Icelandic Sheepdog and a Blue Heeler mix came into the park. She had a couple balls and a tool that helps her throw a tennis ball farther and allows her to pick up the ball without having to handle a slobber-covered ball. I wasn't interested in chasing the ball, but I liked chasing the Blue Heeler while he chased the ball!

A lady with two smaller dogs came in the park. I liked the white girl dog. And a woman and man came with a large golden dog and a smaller black puppy. It turned out the puppy, Buster, was just a little smaller than I am and was about a month younger than I am. It sounds like he had story similar to mine--he was left off at his people's gate. He was quite shy and stayed close to his human mom.

Then a man and woman came in with a brindle Dutch Shepherd-Pitbull girl dog named Shawnee. She's about four years old and only a little taller than me and I really liked playing with her. We wrestled and played quite a bit. The couple liked me, too. The man told Diane that his relatives had raised Red Heelers in California and that we are very smart dogs! (My vet has told that to Diane, too.) He also mentioned that Dutch Shepherds are used in Germany for security purposes.

Then another couple came in with two very large dogs. One was a white long-haired Great Pyrenees and the other was an Irish Wolfhound. The couple brought ice and water for their dogs. I licked some of the ice, but that was strange to me--I had never seen ice cubes before. Another woman came into the park with two more dogs, but I was kind of tired by this point, so I didn't really check them out. After spending two hours at the park, I was ready to go home.

Diane didn't realized I had some mud on my paws when I got into the car. I didn't sleep on the way home, but I sat quietly on the back seat of the car. I hope we'll go back to the dog park soon!

I'm on Ashton Kutcher's camera

Everyone's been messing with Ashton Kutcher's head, trying to get their pics on his sleek and stylish new Nikon COOLPIX camera.

Check out my photo on Ashton's COOLPIX camera at:

http://www.ashtonscoolpix.com/default.aspx?video=0dc78bee-6f95-4293-ae22-2ec2af3ec4cc

I'm lying in the shade quite frequently these days, since the temperatures are in the 90s, and it's still spring! After all, I'm in South Texas. Diane and I did a short walk this morning when it was cooler, rather than at night when it's still hot.

I was asked why "Chompers" is part of this blog name. It's because I frequently "chomp" my teeth when I see a cat or other things I want to bite, like ankles. That's why I'm called a "heeler"!

First Day of School

I attended my first "training" class tonight at a local pet store. My classmates are Gunther, a 4-month-old Rottweiler and Hercules, a tan dachsund. The "training" involved a lot of bits of sausage treats while sitting on a concrete floor or looking at desired places, i.e. Diane's eyes. Apparently I'm supposed to sit "square" but it's difficult for my back legs to not slide apart. Who invented the idea of sitting squarely on a slippery concrete floor?

I realize I didn't tell much about my own background, most of which is sort of fuzzy to Diane and Mike. I was probably born around November 22, 2007--Diane arbitrarily places my birth date on Thanksgiving Day.

According to the veterinarian, I'm an Australian Red Heeler, which is a type of Australian Cattle Dog. Many people are more familiar with my cousin, the Blue Heeler. Diane and Mike thought I had some Jack Russell Terrier in my pedigree, since my face looked that way when I was younger. It's difficult for them to know.

On January 29, 2008, Mike came home from work and I was in the middle of the street, near his driveway. He was sure I would get hit, so he called me over into the driveway. Eventually, I walked over to where he had been standing. Then Mike called me into the fenced yard. Since I was kinda hungry and bewildered, I followed the water and enticement. Mike says that my mom was with me, but that she got hit by a vehicle or something and was dead on the side of the road, down the street a little way. Ok, stop the Bambi-sympathy violin music! I'm a survivor!

Mike put some boxes out for me to sleep in. It was kinda cold (for San Antonio) a few of those first couple nights--like around freezing temperature! But, with some t-shirts and towels, I kept warm enough.

I guess Diane and Mike discussed taking me to the shelter, since they didn't really know much about having a dog around. They're more used to cats. One night, Mike said he would take me to the Animal Shelter for adoption, but by the end of the week, I had worked my charms and there was no way that Mike and Diane were going to put me up for adoption. I had found a home.

I have a large yard to run around in, and I've strewn many make-shift toys, e.g., old milk jugs, plastic plant pots, balls I've found, etc., around the yard.

Here are a couple more photos from when I was younger on March 29, 2008:

A Busy Day!

Welcome to my blog!

Today, Saturday, May 17, 2008 was a busy day in my life. Diane helped me set up this blog so those of you who don't live with us can keep up with my activities.

This morning Mike made sure I rode with Diane and him in the pickup as they took alumninum cans to be recycled at ABC Recycling on Old Highway 90. I always ride in the cab and Mike opens the vent window, so I can get some fresh air. (Diane knew the lady waiting in line behind them.) Then we went to the credit union. Mike and I waited in the pickup while Diane took care of business inside. It seemed to take her a long time.

We went home for a little while. Then Diane took me in the car and we rode. Diane says it was about 40 minutes; I don't know since I slept most of the way. I like to sleep on longer trips, especially when we travel on the highway.

We went to a Pet Expo at the K9 Country Club & Training Academy, which is out in the country north of San Antonio near Bulverde. There were other dogs on leashes there, too. There were some tables with information and treats, and dogs available for adoption. There was also a microchipping clinic. I've already been there, done that at my veterinarian, but even though it stings a little, it's worth it because it will help Diane and Mike find me if I ever wander away.

Some of the dogs I met, sniffed, and played with included another Buddy (who looked nothing like me--he was short and squat), Penny (we wrestled around), and Einstein (a 2.5-year-old Corgi). I played with a lot of other dogs, too.

Diane and I toured through the kennel and boarding area with some other people and another dog. I liked lying down on the cool floor. It wasn't too hot outside today, either, probably in the upper 70s or low 80s (Fahrenheit).

There was an agility course--I don't really get it. Diane also learned about the Alamo Racing Canines, which is part of the North American Flyball Association. Diane also learned more about Corgis. They are from Wales and there are two Corgi breeds: The Pembroke Welsh Corgi is more common around here (Einstein was this type of Corgi). There's also the Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

We went into the "Beach Club" area which was behind another latched gate. This was a fun area. I got to see sheep being herded by a border collie. I barked a little because I think I could do that, too. But the most fun was that I got to be unleashed and run around and play with other dogs. That was lots of fun!

Diane seemed to want me to go into the pond, but I've never been around that much water before. Some of the other dogs would jump or run into the pool after a tennis ball, but that didn't seem safe to me. I sort of investigated the edge of the pond, but all I usually do with water is drink it. I walked out on a "spit" of land into the pond, and lapped some of the water, because isn't that what you're supposed to do with water? But then when I was walking back, I kind of slipped into the water and had a little problem getting out, and I got wet, but I did get out. I then just ran around in the beach area, through the red sand and played with the other dogs. I'm not sure about the water thing.

I slept on the back seat of the car all the way back home. What a day!

I have a lot more stories to tell. Yesterday, Diane took me to the vet for the last of my vaccinations. I weighed 33.5 lbs. and I'm about 6 months old now.

Here are a few photos of me as a younger dog:
This is the day I showed up at Mike and Diane's (January 29, 2008):






This was taken March 29, 2008 (at home, after I was blessed at First Unitarian Universalist Church):