Winter Naughtiness

Mike and Diane were gone for while in late December. I got bored and was enticed by another dog to dig out of the yard which I did several times. Eventually, I dug out of the yard so many times that Mike's brother took me out to his place in the country. I got to spend a week in the country! I had my own vacation.

As you can probably tell from this photo, it is very dry in San Antonio. You might think the photo above was taken in the middle of summer, but it's from late January--we haven't had any significant rain for at least 18 months--longer than I've been alive!

Diane thinks I was rather naughty today. When she came home, she found some papers torn up in the yard. She doesn't know how this mail got into the yard. There were some papers she was expecting. She likes Volksmarching and these papers included several certificates for College Campus Walks and an event book for America's Historic Churches. I didn't chew on the junk mail or the bill that came in the mail. I'm selective about what I chew!

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.