Dog park with A/C

so today I met my friends Murphy, Riley and Sophie at the indoor dog park. I've never been there before but they had and promised it would be AWESOME....and it WAS! There were lots of other dogs there and we played chase and tug of war and fetch. Plus they had these agility obstacles that I got to try out. The tunnel was okay but I only went just inside and not all the way through. I made it halfway up the ramp before going back down. And I wanted nothing to do with the jumps. Melanie thinks that if she had treats I would have done better but I think she is delusional! Anyway the indoor park was awesome and I hope I get to go again....especially since its SO SO SO SO SO HOT here! Oh and Melanie brought the camera with her but forgot the memory card so we have no photos from our adventures....I seriously need to hire a professional photographer cause Melanie just isn't cutting it!

Supersized Weekend

Melanie wasn't feeling up to snuff today so she stayed home from work with me....we slept in really really late and then after breakfast we spent the day lounging on the couch. I really was looking forward to daycare, but spending the day with Melanie is even better! Plus we still have 2 more whole days to hang out!

Rainy Days....

So for all my international readers I just want to ease your fears that I might have been swallowed by Hurricane Dolly. Texas may seem small but it is REALLY REALLY BIG....I was hundreds and hundreds of miles from the impact point....plus I live rather far inland and not in a flood zone. It is raining here though! Melanie informs me that if a Hurricane does head for a direct hit on Houston, we WILL be leaving town. She even made an "emergency evacuation" pack for me that includes a blanket, selection of toys, a few days worth of food, water/food bowls, backup leash/collar and selection of other items. And if my grandma is reading this, don't worry...she made a kit for herself as well. Plus we stocked up a cabinet with stuff we might need if we got stuck here without power, etc including water, canned food and flashlights. The only remaining item is to decide where to go when we leave town....does anyone want to volunteer to play host???

Wildlife in the City

So the city isn't complete devoid of wild creatures...in fact I have encountered several. First there is the green jumpy bug thing that lives in my hallway. At least I think he lives there cause I see him all the time usually at night. If Melanie doesn't have me on a leash I like to run up to him and scare him into jumping for me. Then I proceed to chase him as he hops down the hallway. This game only ends when he manages to magically climb up the walls out of my reach, so he is a sneaky jumpy bug thing. The second critter I've seen is a frog...or a toad...I don't know the difference. We often encounter these guys when I go out to potty in the early morning after they have watered the grass. Frogs really blend into the grass and I often walk right over them before I realize they are there. Then they hop away...but they are so slow that I can always catch them. Then they "play dead" but I know they're faking it. Finally I have encountered lots of birds and squirrels here in the city, but I don't really consider these guys "wildlife" so I won't waste anymore blogspace on discussing them.

The Doggie in the TV

Did you know that some dogs live in the tv set....it's strange really cause sometimes it's just people in the tv, but sometimes I see dogs in there and other animals too! Once I saw a shark in there...that was SCARY! Melanie is really into this new tv show called "The Greatest American Dog"....every week the dogs have to do certain tasks....Melanie makes me do them too. This week it was sit and stay, back up (I failed this one), shake and circle left and circle right....I would have represented the puggies of the world great but sadly Melanie and I do NOT live in the tv!

Bang Bang

I am so getting this new trick...mostly at night when I am really tired. Otherwise I lay down for a nanosecond before jumping up to receive my treat. At night, I am much more calm and lay on my back patiently, or maybe hopefully. The only give away of not being a "dead dog" is the rhythmic slapping of my tail against the carpet. I should be nominated for an Oscar...I'm THAT good!

Sundays are a day of rest....

...and a day to eat sundaes....now how can I get Melanie to give me one.....

Haiku--Daycare

I would like to share another Haiku for my loyal readers. My other creations are here and here and here for those who don't remember. Feel free to leave your critique in the comments!


Daycare

meh weekday morning
human goes away all day
nap time is coming

wait i get to go?
joy excitement fun suspense
car rides always great

doggie daycare wow
all my friends already there
sniff sniff hello pals

play play play all day
greet the clients coming in
outside for exercise

ready to collapse
human returns after work
eat at home then bed

______________________
this ode brought to you by
the peculiar phd
and her pimpin' pug

4th of July Extravaganza -- PART III

After a very exciting holiday, I was looking forward to a slower paced Saturday at the lake. In fact I really didn't want to get up in the morning and lounged as long as possible. I had my usual breakfast and then I had "second breakfast" when William got up and shared his food. Then we relaxed a bit and enjoyed the sights of boats going by and all the sounds of nature. Melanie went out on the boat for a while too. After lunch, we also took a nap. Afterwards Melanie went in for a swim. She put a doggie life vest on me so that I could join in but I wasn't too sure about it. I tried wading in per my usual MO around water and that was great. She carried me in and then let me sit on her lap out in the deeper part. Then I swam back to shore. Next Cam carried me out there and I sat a little longer before returning to the safety of shore. But I really wanted to be near Melanie so I took an unprecedented step of swimming out to Melanie on my own! It was really scary but everyone was clapping and encouraging me so I felt so proud of my self. After this display of athletic skill, Melanie let me float out there on a plastic raft while everyone frolicked in the water. Melanie also went on this thing called a "jetski"...it kind of looks like a boat but smaller and it really splashes a lot! But this time I was pretty much exhausted but the day just kept going and going and going. Afternoon turned to night and we experienced another round of the "heart attack inducing scary fireworks". Overall the weekend was SO MUCH FUN and I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK....and I think I was good enough to get invited again too!

Oh, and Melanie seemed to have a really great time too, but she didn't get any picture of our adventure! She promised to get some photos from other people to share, but you, my loyal readers, will have to wait patiently until they arrive...so stay tuned!

4th of July Extravaganza -- PART II

The lake house is AWESOME and further proved that I am a country dog. I had lots of fun running around with no leash marking all the trees on the property. Plus there was a ready water supply whenever I needed a sip. Neighbor dogs often come by for a visit and I even went over to their houses upon occasion....talk about Southern hospitality! Most of my day was spent on dry land although I did wade out to cool my belly. Melanie went out on the boat for a while and I patiently waited on the dock for her to return. There was lots of other people there to play with me, although for some reason they were very interested in this kid that was there. At first I wasn't too into the kid, but I soon learned that he drops a lot of food and also likes to directly give me a bite when his mom wasn't looking. So although I can't say I love kids...I do love that kids feed me lots of treats! Eventually we headed out to the front yard to watch a parade go by, but mostly I napped during it. Then when it got dark the scary stuff started. At first it was just a little popping noise, but eventually it turned into bangs and I got really really really freaked out! Melanie was no help in protecting me and I tried to get inside the house. Melanie let me in and I immediately hid under the nearest bed. Summary of the day is "Lake houses, messy kids and the country life are GREAT...fireworks are NOT"

4th of July Extravaganza -- PART I

My exciting weekend started rather normally with a visit to daycare. Although I didn't go to my regular one, but the new one closer to Melanie's work. I had a great time playing with all my new friends there until Melanie came to get me shortly after lunch time. Then we drove to College Station where I got to spend an hour learning "life skills" with Melanie's old research group. I learned not to bark at work, stay away from experiments and samples, Doug is easily manipulated into spoiling me and Mandar still doesn't like me even though I like him. I don't know what Melanie was doing during my lessons but eventually she came back to retrieve me. We grabbed a quick dinner and then hit the road again. After a short drive we arrived at Melanie's friends lake house and I was reunited with "nature" and "freedom"...appropriate considering the holiday we were celebrating.