Daised and Loved

We hit the jackpot this week!  The Mommy-Love Jackpot!  We decided to surprise Mommy at work with some flowers.  She has had a rough time lately with her thyroid and all of its lovely side effects as well as trying to get into a routine at work. Her legs have been cramping so much that sometimes she is hobbling around.  It's apparently quite painful at times, yet she still comes home and plays with us each and every afternoon.  She also goes up and down the steps several times a day until she has convinced Hunter to join us downstairs.  We were feeling kind of sorry for her, so we told Daddy we should do something special for her.

Mommy says she was super surprised!!  When she called Daddy to thank him, he was honest and told her it was my idea.  Yep, I'm the genius who loves her most.  Dixie thought it was a good idea too, but she wasn't sure about my flower choice.  She thought they looked a bit like bright colorful tennis balls.  I was afraid that might give Dixie ideas, thankfully she's left them alone since Mommy brought them home.   Mommy thought they were the perfect choice to brighten her day!

She also loved the way we signed the card:

Because we love you,

Hunter, Dixie, Jenna & Daddy

I personally thought my name should have come first since it was my idea, but Daddy said Mommy would probably prefer to see our names in order of adoption.  Does that mean he was adopted last?  I thought he was here first . . . something for me to think about . . .
 

Super thoughtful canine daughter,

Jenna



Snuggle Pups

My sisters love to snuggle.  I used to when I was younger, but I'm not as much of a fan now that I'm older.  I prefer to stretch out all over the floor and have as much room as possible.  Mommy will plop down beside me on the floor sometimes, but eventually I pull away from her.  She shouldn't take it personally; I just need my space and get a little stiff when cooped up close to her.  I don't even hop up on the master bed any more.  I have a couple dawg beds throughout the house I can use if I need to get off the floor.  To make Mommy feel better, I still get up on the love seat with her from time to time so she can love on me.  My sisters do a good job of making Mommy feel loved and needed.  They want to snuggle ALL the time.

Last Friday was a ruff day for Daddy's allergies.  He looked miserable when he arrived home from work and coughed, sneezed, and snorted his way through an evening of television until he finally fell asleep on the sofa.  Mommy tried to wake him to come to bed, but he looked comfy and was resting so she decided it was best to leave him there for the night.  Since Daddy was on the sofa, she let the girls sleep upstairs with us (I always sleep upstairs).  Jenna and Dixie were happy to do so and made themselves at home on the master bed.  It's Mommy's fault they always feel so at home on her bed!  She's the one who allowed them up there to begin with.  Daddy was the one who originally invited me to the bed eleven years ago.  I took advantage of my parents' kindness (or poor parenting skills) for many years creating "Mommy sandwiches" squeezing right up to her and trapping her between me and Daddy.  I have the feeling Mommy has quite a few years to go before the girls feel too old and crotchety to sleep on the bed (hence, the reason why they sleep in their crates)!

Sometime during the night, Daddy woke up and decided to join us.  He told the girls to get off the bed so he could settle in, but they wanted to come right back up as soon as his head hit the pillow.  Daddy was still sneezing, snorting, and hacking his way through an attack of the allergies and there was no way he wanted two furballs to join him.  He really raised his voice and yelled, "OFF!"  They got the message and disappeared.  My guess is Dixie went to her crate (a favorite place to hide out when a voice is raised for any reason around here), or the love seat, or the bed in the chocolate room (she loves the view from there).  I have no idea where Jenna went; she isn't as predictable. 

Later in the night, Dixie returned to the master bedroom.  Dixie knew to stay away from Daddy, so she jumped up and made herself a spot between Mommy's feet and calves.  A while later, Mommy was awakened by Jenna licking her arms and face.  Jenna wanted to get up on the bed too, but there just wasn't room in Mommy's opinion.  Ha!  Jenna showed her!  Jenna finally went for it and hopped up on Mommy too.  Somehow Dixie and Jenna both managed to curl up between and on top of Mommy's legs pinning her nicely to the mattress.  Jenna was so funny when she made her move; you could tell she didn't want to cross the line to Daddy's side of the bed and get yelled at again for waking him up.  I think Mommy suffered in this position for an hour or two before she finally had to get up and place them both in their crates.  As for me, I just remained camped out on my therapeutic bed nearby and enjoyed the show!

Mommy keeps an extra flat sheet on top of the bed to protect her bed linens. 

Notice how Dixie has her hind leg wrapped around Jenna. 

A moment later, Dixie wrapped her arms around Jenna too! 

Hope you're sleeping as well as we are!
Hunter

Down Under

I know we've told you about a few of our favorite places to hang out in the house, but you haven't seen this one before.  When Mommy is working on school work, reading emails, cruising the internet, or helping us out with the blog, this is where I like to rest.

Under the desk, it's comfortable, peaceful, usually away from Dixie (although she sometimes tries to squeeze under here too), and close to Mommy.

This is a HUGE desk that came to us from Poppa.  Mommy would love to replace it with something smaller, but then where would she stash all of her junk?  She has noticed that perhaps she should touch up the edges of the legs from where the vacuum cleaner (and who knows what else) hits them.  Maybe if I just lick them to death, I can polish them up for her. 

For now, I guess I'll just catch up on my sleep.
Jenna

 

Star Patient at the Vet

Dear Jenna,

First, if you don't want to be compared to your beautiful sister, please do not schedule your vet appointment within ten days of mine.  The comparison will be inevitable, and I will always come out on top!  I know you think you had it ruff at the vet's office lately, but I had the same procedures you had with no complaints.  I stood quietly for my nail trimming, two vaccinations, and the whole nasty anal sac thing.  Assistant Gary said I was, "EXCELLENT!"  I personally think my "EXCELLENT" trumps your "GREAT" accolades any day of the week.  I'm sure anyone would agree with me. 

Second, since I was put on a slight diet several weeks ago, I've lost five pounds.  I am slim, trim, and dare I use your words, a SUPERMODEL!!!!  Admit it, you're jealous.  You thought you would always be the skinny one in the house, but you were oh so wrong.  I am looking good. 

Third, even Hunter has recently surpassed you at the vet.  Yes, he gets a little anxious in the waiting room, and yes, he's a heavy breather (through no fault of his own with the laryngeal paralysis that older labs tend to get), but he was a trooper.  He stood patiently on the scales, took his vaccines perfectly the same way he always has, allowed Dr. Justin to cut his nails without even flinching when nicked a tiny bit (poor Dr. Justin), and went through the anal sac invasion with no visible response.  Another stellar visit to the vet!

So Jenna, even though you are my sister and you are "Daddy's girl," I think you still have a few lessons to learn.  Here's to hoping you learn them before your next trip to the vet!

Your wiser (and now slimmer) sister,
Dixie

Trauma at the Vet

I guess my title is a bit  much.  Trauma probably isn't quite the right word, but then you weren't the one experiencing what I went though recently, were you???  I had to go the vet for my yearly shots and check-up.  Our regular vet, Dr. Stoneback, is undergoing chemo for colon cancer.  We pray for him every day and have really missed him at the practice this summer.  This was my first time meeting his substitute, Dr. Justin.  I sat like my usual good girl self in the waiting room until it was my turn. 

For some reason, when Mommy stood,  I thought it was time to leave and high-tailed it to the door.  When I realized she wasn't heading to the exit, I began balking at the idea of meeting a new male doctor. Mommy said she has never seen me resist and pull back on the leash like that.  She was a little surprised.  I heard her tell Dr. Justin that it takes me a while to warm up to men sometimes.  [sigh]  I don't know why that is.  It took me a while to bond with Daddy too, but now we are tight.  We go together like salt and pepper, like peanut butter and jelly, like a hunter and his dawg in a blind.

Once I got over my fear of the examining room I was happy to let Dr. Justin get down on the floor and check me out.  (Yes, this IS the same room I have seen before, but that doesn't count with a  different doctor in my opinion).  Dr. Justin was very kind.  He looked at my eyes and ears, felt around my body, listened to my heart and lungs, and judged me to be "Great!"  Well, duh.  I could have told him that without all the touchy-feely stuff.  But I should have known a trip to the vet wasn't going to be that easy.

The doctor then began clipping my nails.  Sing with me now: You put your left foot in, you put your right foot in, you put your hind foot in, and he clips a little much!  You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around.  That's 'cause it hurt so bad!  The poor doctor is fairly young and he was so apologetic to Mommy.  Seriously?  Where was my apology?  Mommy truly thought it was no big deal; these things just happen.  She tells me I was a bit of a drama queen.  Is that what she thinks when her doctor causes her pain????   

Next up: shots!  I had to have one in each hip.  Every time I felt the stick, I threw my head around to let Dr. Justin know that I knew what he doing back there.  This was not going well at all.  Little did I know the worst was yet to come . . .

Mommy had noticed I'd been doing the "boot, scoot, boogie" lately, so she asked for him to express my anal sacs.  My what????  No, say it ain't so!  But yes, much to my discomfort, he did.  Poor me.  I apparently had been having problems longer than either of us realized because Dr. Justin said I was slightly impacted on one side.  It was seriously painful to take care of this situation.  We had to call in the assistant to help hold me still.  I just kept looking at Mommy begging her to help me.  She just kept looking at me and telling me it as going to be all right.  Yeh, right.  Easy for her to say.

I came home and told Daddy all about it.  The first thing I said to him was, "Do you know what she let them do to me?"  He laughed a little because it reminded him of the time when he was young and had to have his tonsils removed.  He had to have his temperature taken "down there" and was quite shocked that his mom the nurse had allowed the other nurses to do that to him.  He got a bowl of ice cream out of the deal.  I only got a really short toe nail, two shots in the rear, and an invasive procedure.

Perhaps the most embarrassing part of the day was that after taking care of my hiney, a special deodorizer was sprayed back there to try to help with the nasty smells that came out of me.  When I arrived home, my siblings thought we should play follow the leader.  Hunter and Dixie tagged along behind me sniffing me as thoroughly as they could with me on the move.  So this whole experience leaves me with just one question: Where's my bowl of ice cream?? 

[sigh]  [drool] 
Jenna

Where's Our Public?

Okay people, we know you're out there!  We read our stats and know you are reading all about us, but you aren't COMMENTING!  At least not on the blog. 

Some of you send Mommy a personal email.  Some of you tell Mommy in person how much you enjoyed a story, but Mommy doesn't share all of those thoughts with us.  We need to hear directly from YOU!!!!

Mommy had a student comment earlier this summer, but it was really to ask her a question about the summer reading assignment.  That doesn't count!   Aunt Judy has commented a couple of times and we appreciate her online efforts.  Aunt Holly and Mimi say they've tried to in the past, but couldn't get it to work.  Please try again.  We would love to hear from our fans. 

If you are receiving our blog posts via email, all you have to do is go to the top of the email and click on the title of the post (not As the Dawgs Bark, but that day's title).  Clicking there will take you to the actual blog and then you can scroll down to the bottom of the page.  That's where you'll see "post a comment."  There are a variety of ways to post your comment at that point.  It's super easy if you have a gmail account and are already logged in.  You can even comment anonymously if you'd like, but we'd love to know who you are.

You know we're always asking for your opinion of a situation.  Even if it's to tell one of us to be nice and leave the other two alone.  Or get a life.  Or we're insane.  Come on people, we want to hear from you!  Send us a bark out!!!  Please?

 

Waiting to hear from you,
Hunter, Dixie, & Jenna

Rule Breaker??

Are you a rule breaker or a rule follower?  I am a rule follower.  I always listen to what I'm told and follow orders given to me.  Most of the time.  When I'm not being stubborn.   Mommy is a rule follower too.  At work, she gets to be the rule enforcer!  Don't you think that would be a great job?

One of the rules Mommy tries her best to follow and refuses to break is NO white after Labor Day.  A white tee shirt or sneakers with a lot of white don't count, but the rest (shorts, pants, skirts, dresses) do!  Mommy has read that it is okay to break this particular fashion rule, but she's been raised right and just can't find it in herself to break it.  Some people even believe the rule doesn't exist any longer, but Mommy would disagree. 

When Mommy was in college, her sorority had to wear white dresses for their special ceremonies.  They wore white shoes with their white dresses year round and it bothered Mommy a tiny bit.  One sorority on campus wore black shoes with their white dresses after Labor Day and before Easter.  Mommy thought this was a little odd looking, but understood the importance of following the fashion rule.  She was jealous, but torn at the same time.   Fashion looks or fashion rules?  It was a tough call.

Since Mommy's school started before Labor Day, she chose her outfits for that first week based upon those that required white shoes.  This past week presented a fashion dilemma for her.  She had a new skirt she wanted to wear, but it had a white base and was after Labor Day.  The white really only showed around the waist band and the hem, but Mommy wasn't sure if it was okay to wear.

She went with it anyway!  Mommy's teaching partner assured her it was fine.  Of course, she probably thought Mommy was NUTS for worrying about it.  Mommy is NUTS, but not because she worries about breaking a fashion rule; she's just NUTS in general!  Was Mommy a rule breaker or was her skirt post-holiday approved?

Rule Follower,
Hunter



PS: Happy Birthday, Great Aunt Frances!!  WOW!! You are 560 years old in dawg years!!!!  That's twice as old as Mommy [gulp]! 

Yippee! The Coffee Table Lives!

You probably think that is a weird title, but it's football season so it makes perfectly good sense at our house.  Last week, our team unfortunately lost their first game of the year despite playing a pretty good game.  Daddy took it hard and was praying for a major change this week.  When the game is on, I think aliens invade his body and take over his normally good manners.  Sometimes the coffee table is truly in danger of not surviving.  Mommy took us upstairs last week to watch the game on a different television so the girls wouldn't hide out in their crates all night.  I'm older and wiser and have seen this all before, so I know what to expect. 

Thankfully, Georgia won their game this weekend!  I'm sure we had something to do with it.  We were prepared for success:

Big Georgia flag flying:  CHECK! (although looking a little ragged)

We have a newer one, but Daddy likes this one better.  He's apparently going to fly it until it falls apart.

Small Georgia garden flag flying:  CHECK!

But the real difference this week: our UGA collars!   CHECK!  CHECK!!  CHECK!!!

(You can't see me because I'm wearing my camouflage collar.)

I am sure WE made all the difference in the world and helped lead Georgia to a 41-30 win over South Carolina.  Daddy still screamed and yelled, but Dixie and Jenna learned to pick up on the difference between the good yells and the bad ones.  They would look at him, study his face, and then go over for a rub behind the ears.  Mommy wasn't so sure sometimes.  Maybe if she had asked for a rub behind her ears, she would have been sure of how he felt.  I'm just saying.  It works for the other girls in the house.

We will continue to wear our Georgia collars for the remainder of the season.  Hopefully, the collars will bring the Dawgs more success.

Go Dawgs!  Woof! Woof! Woof!
Hunter

Daddy's Home!!!!

Do you ever sit around and wait for someone to come home?  We spend a great deal of time waiting on our parents (when we're not catching up on our beauty sleep).  Mommy usually arrives home first each day and we are super excited to see her.  She takes us out to play each afternoon to run off some energy.  Many times in the spring, summer, and fall we are outside when Daddy gets home.  Hunter and Jenna run excitedly to the fence to greet him.  I do not. 

Don't think badly of me, but when they are at the fence I finally have Mommy (and more importantly the tennis balls) all to myself!  Daddy is sometimes a little miffed that I don't pay any attention to him when he arrives.  He says it just proves I don't love him and that Jenna is his girl.  I say it proves I am focused . . . yes, on tennis balls, but still focused!

When Daddy comes home, he goes inside through the garage and then usually comes to see us at the sliding door.  Hunter and Jenna are super excited to see him.  They run from the sliding door to the other side of the bay window and back again eagerly awaiting a chance to greet Daddy personally.  Sometimes Daddy really takes a while to open the door.  I secretly think he is torturing them by making them wait.  It really doesn't matter to me because if you're paying attention while reading this, you know Mommy and I are playing ball!

I thought you might like to see what Jenna does while waiting at the door.  She may get on my nerves (that's what sisters do; just ask Uncle Jeff), but I'll admit she is also pretty talented.  I think she could play in the WNBA if she wanted.  We might have to teach her how to dribble and not puncture the ball, but she has quite a vertical leap!

Isn't that amazing?  It is, but what's really amazing are my skills with the tennis balls.  Where are those pictures??  [hmpf]  Maybe next time.

Dixie

A Woolly Winter?

Do you have woolly worms where you live?  What's a woolly worm you ask??  Some people call them woolly bear caterpillars, but around our house it's a woolly worm.  This creature doesn't actually look like a worm, but I didn't name it.  We can usually find one every so often around here.  Woolly worms are very important to Mommy.  She has learned how to predict the winter weather based upon the worm.  This is a time honored tradition passed down from her father and grandfather.  Where Mommy's from, there is even a festival to honor these little fellas!

The woolly worm has thirteen rings which correspond to the thirteen weeks of winter from beginning to end.  If a ring is black, then that week of winter will be snowy and cold.  If a ring is brown, then that particular week will be milder. 

Mommy is seriously hoping for a snowy winter this year!  You may remember that she had NO snow days last year (that late addition of an early dismissal hardly counts) and was very upset by the lack of snow in our area.  This year is already looking up thanks to what we think is the world's smallest woolly worm!  We found this worm recently and Mommy was super excited.  It was barely as big as the tip of her finger.  Check it out:

According to the worm, it will be a very hard winter with LOTS of SNOW!!!! 

Yippee!!!  Woof!  Woof! 

 

 

Here's to a snowy winter!  (Cross your paws!)

Jenna

 

 

PS: Coincidence that Mommy finds a woolly worm predicting LOTS of snow the first week she goes back to school?  I think not!