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: