HAPPY HOWLOWEEN!

REWARD OFFERED: For the return of my kuvasz puppy. Last seen before I left for Europe on my business trip. Will exchange for the trained lamb I found in my apartment when I got back (who oddly enough answers to "Biggie").

Here is the kuvasz puppy. Note the toothy grin as he chews on the chicken, the use of toys (rawhide bone AND giant chicken at the same time), the distinctly dog ears, and the kuvasz coat:



Compare to the lamb lying in the apartment. No teeth, no toys, floppy little lamb-like ears, and a very sheep-y coat (click on photos for more detail):



Hi everyone this is biggie. When mommy was away I missed her a lot and so I thought I would surprise her when she got back by showing her my very first Howloween costume. So I grew and grew my hair and I didn't take a bath so it would get extra curly. Then I made my ears really floppy and I walked around real slow like a real lamb. heee heee. I don't think she knows it's me yet!



Happy Howloween and be safe everyone! Don't give me or my puppy friends any chocolate no matter how starved we look. But we really ARE starved, so maybe you could send some DOTS and Gummi Bears our way? How about some cheese? Or some apple? Please? Please? My mommy has me on a diet and I sure could use some treats to tide me over until breakfast...

Biggie meets a baby

My mommy went away the other day and I miss her. I think she said hi to me on daddy's backberry the other night but i couldn't really tell.

Last weekend mommy took me to the dog run where i got to play with Zola and mommy took some funny pictures. Then I got to meet Duncan a pug and a baby! (Duncan made a poopy on my bed!) The baby was fun and mommy took some more pictures. We played a little bit and mommy kept saying "gentle, gentle". We got a little tangled up because she's not very good at walking yet (the baby, not mommy) and I was standing very very still so she wouldn't get scared, but she somehow ended up under my belly and couldn't figure out how to climb out and she got scared because she couldn't stand up. I didn't know what to do, so I stood really really still, but she still cried a little because my belly was above her head. Then her mommy got her out and she was ok. I tried to be very very quiet so the baby would play with me. Later she came over and we played a little bit. She took her paw to pat me and I patted her paw back. It was a very fun game but then I tried to pat her very gently and she moved and I ended up patting her on the cheek and she fell down and cried a little bit. But she was ok because then she got up and came over to pat me some more.

After that I let the baby step on me and I made myself very very small and down to the ground so she didn't get scared. And mommy took more pictures. But since mommy is away I don't know how to get her pictures into my blog, so I will show you a picture of me and my favorite chicken. When my mommy comes back I will ask her to put up some pictures of me playing with the baby. And also a picture of Duncan and how little he looks next to me. I can't believe such a little dog could make so much poo on my bed. :(

happy birthday to meTex and Spirit and Yeti and Apollo

Hi brothers and Spirit, happy birthday to us! Mommy said that since I turned 5 and I already know how to use Daddy's backberry that I could try this blogging thing. Also because Mommy said I was good today and I think she feels bad because she left me all alone for hours and hours tonight while she was out having fun with Daddy and without me!!! Maybe she will leave the lid open on the giant water bowl and I can drink a lot of water while Daddy yells at me to get away from the toy let. Maybe they will chase me after that.

5 months and 50+ pounds later...

Happy Birthday to Apollo, Yetti, Spirit, Tex and Biggie!

At 24" at the shoulder and somewhere north of 50 pounds (we haven't weighed him in a while), Biggie is probably the smallest of the litter. He's on a diet because he's turning into a little butterball! All the calories he's eating go into making his thick, curly coat and putting a fatty layer on his frame. He has no more baby teeth and his adult teeth are coming in well - those molars crunch through a chicken thigh in no time flat.

Here's a list of some of Biggie's likes and dislikes - (Apollo, Yetti, Spirit, Tex: what are yours?)

Food & Drink:
Favorite meat: fish
Yucky meat: turkey

Favorite fruit/veg: leafy greens
Least liked: carrots

Favorite training treats: cheese, Beefeaters jerky strips (any flavor), bacon
Least liked: none

Favorite water source: the TOILET
Least liked: water bottle attached to the ex-pen
Fun water: ice cubes


Friends:
Favorite boy dog(s): TEX, Harry (Belgian shepherd), Useless (Jack Russell)
Girlfriends: Zola (mixed breed), Daisy (golden retriever), Dory (viszla)
Least favorite: aggressive dumb dogs who don't know how to communicate with other dogs

Favorite people: EVERYONE except:
Least favorite: large nighttime joggers in dark clothing, bicycles that come too close

Fun
Most consistent trick/command: SIT (Biggie thinks that as long as his rear end is touching ground, he can do ANYTHING he wants with the other, toothy end)
Newest trick/command: roll (verbal), fetch
Favorite toy(s): Orvis 22" stuffed squeaky chicken, beef ears, anything squeaky
Favorite non-toy toy: living room plants, cardboard boxes, metal water bowl, dog bed

"He's so LITTLE!!"

Not words we hear often with Biggie (actually, I don't think we ever heard them), but we heard them and said them yesterday when we went to visit Biggie's godmother Cindy. Cindy is a kuvasz lover who was instrumental in putting us together with Biggie. Sadly, due to our various schedules and other non-dog events in all our lives, until yesterday she'd only seen Biggie in photos and through the blog.

Biggie ran around and explored Cindy and her yard and then we brought one of Cindy's dogs out. In keeping with the hip-hop theme, let's call him Jay-Z...Uncle Jay-Z is older than Biggie but was interested in him nonetheless. Biggie spent the entire time trying to get Jay-Z to play with him (mainly, to chase him). But Jay-Z, regal as he is, doesn't need to run. So Biggie kept coming back and behaved like the little boy he is, making little mischievous faces, yipping like a much smaller pup, and darting in to **almost** nip Jay-Z in various places. He was small enough to dart under Jay-Z. Jay-Z is at least 6" taller than Biggie at the shoulder.

A picture (or two), however, is worth a thousand words:

Multitasking

P-Daddy was out of town last week at a conference, so I was a single pup-mom for a week. Still reeling from the exhaustion. Here is a typical evening with Biggie:

8-8:45 pm: get home, take Biggie out, play session in lobby with Zola

8:45 - 9:45pm: Make Biggie's dinner.* Biggie eats in crate, I email P-Daddy, unload the dishwasher and reload it with the dirty dishes from the sink. Now that the sink is clear again, water some orchids. Take a quick shower.

9:45 - 10:40pm: Make my own dinner; while it is cooking, watch Biggie with one eye as he pulls every toy from his toy cache, one by one, and runs around the apartment with it, dropping it in random places. Do some training while dinner is cooking. Biggie can "stay" for 5 minutes.

10:40-11:10pm: Take Biggie on VERY frustrating walk where he lunged, barked, growled, pulled, ate garbage and DID NOT POTTY. So much for being in bed by 11.

11:10-11:15pm: Check apartment for accident that happened between 9:45-10:40 - none. That's good except it means I have to go out again.

11:15pm-12am: Put Biggie in exercise pen where he naps while I eat dinner. (Dude! You can't nap! Your puppy bladder will be bursting overnight unless we go out again)

12am-12:20am: Wake Biggie up to walk again. "Walk" means: lunge, growl, guard, guard, guard, guard, guard, guard ... teeny little pee. But he is beautifully behaved on the way in, walking on a loose leash and sitting before every door.

12:20-12:30am: Bedtime for Biggie: cuddling, play, brushing, went in crate and settled nicely.

12:31am: Mommy is snoring.

*Dinner = veggie mush, yogurt, chicken liver, raw turkey wing, raw fish.

Biggie and Tex reunion

4-1/2 month old littermates, in case you couldn't tell by how they act around each other. Can you tell which is which?