Happy Howl-O-Ween!

We hope you're having a rip-roarin', root-tootin', great Howl-O-Ween!  We decided to dress the same this year.  We're haulin' a cowboy around for the ride of his life!  We're hoping he'll give us a treat when he finishes his ride . . .

After posing for pictures to show off for his friends, we hauled him around the yard and even tried to buck him off a time a two.  We gave that cowboy new meaning to the term buckaroo!

It's definitely time to kick up our heels!  Enjoy your night of trick-or-treating.  We expect to be full as ticks tomorrow morning after all of our candy tonight!

Time to skedaddle!
Hunter, Dixie & Jenna

Colors of Fall

Does it look like fall at your house yet?  This is Mommy's favorite time of the year, but it's been slow to arrive this year.  The leaves are changing slowly and the temperature is taking its sweet time falling.  Mommy is ready for sweater weather.  Take it from someone who wears a sweater 24/7: it's not warm and fuzzy all the time.  Sometimes that sweater can be really hot and sweaty!

This past spring Mommy found a really cool garden "ball."  She planted a huge ivy plant in a planter and let the ivy grow up around the ball.  That ivy is still alive and well despite the fact that the rest of Mommy's plants died a slow, scorching death under Daddy's care while Mommy was out of town in August.  What's most shocking is that Dixie never realized it was a large ball.  Otherwise the ivy wouldn't have stood a chance!

The ivy is starting to turn a lovely shade of red as fall arrives.  Mommy was able to snap my picture as I chilled out beside the ivy.  Now she has both fall colors and a "sweater" in the same picture!

Happy Fall Y'all!
Jenna

Another Get Away

Our parents ditched us once again for a weekend away . . . without dawgs!  Why does this keep happening to us?  This time they traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia.  Mommy had been about twenty years ago (sad that she is old enough to say that and it not mean in infancy when she was too young to remember!) and Daddy had never been.  They apparently had a terrific time, but Daddy said he was "colonial-ed out" by the end of the weekend.

While in Williamsburg, Mommy and Daddy visited as many colonial trade shops as they could possibly cram into their days.  Daddy tends to act like Mommy has dragged him to these places, but he loved asking questions of the colonials.

They also enjoyed really great meals (which is more than I can say for myself while stuck at the kennel!). Mommy ordered Hunter's Game Pie when they ate at a local tavern, which contained rabbit, venison, and duck.  Not only was it huge, but it looked like it was going to burst open with blackbirds just like the nursery rhyme!

It doesn't take much to entertain Mommy sometimes . . .

On the last night of  their trip, Mommy realized she hadn't taken any selfies of the two of them together while in the colonial area.  Daddy was thrilled and Mommy was disappointed.  She'll just have to settle for a couple pictures of herself and several she took on the sly of Daddy asking all of those questions!

This is another trip I am SURE we could have enjoyed!  I heard there were lots of dawgs traveling with their parents.  I'm not so sure why ours persist in leaving us behind.  I heard Mommy tell Daddy that when one of the restaurants called to verify their reservation and asked if they were celebrating any special occasion, Mommy replied, "Being away from home!"  Really?  You don't like being with us??  That can't be true.  [sigh]  I guess we all need a break from each other from time to time.  But next time, how about if you take me and give me a break from Dixie and Hunter??

Jenna

Re-Thinking My Name . . .

I LOVE it when Mommy calls me Doodle Bug!  I will even answer to just Doodle.  I think she takes my nickname from a combo of Dixie Doodle (definitely NOT to be confused with Yankee Doodle) and Snuggle Bug.  This is a great nickname for me.  Or I thought so until recently . . .

I'm not sure why Mommy didn't know this already, but Daddy clued her in to what an actual Doodlebug is.  We may need to re-think my name since we've been enlightened.  A doodlebug in the world of science is one of two different creatures, neither of which is cute and cuddly like me!

The first creature is a woodlouse, but Mommy and Daddy call it a roly-poly.  Neither of my parents have ever referred to this bug as a doodlebug, but according to online sources, this is one of its common names.  UGH!

When Daddy told Mommy to look up doodlebugs, he was talking about a bug sometimes called an antlion.  This hideous creature (so unlike me, don't you think?) is called a doodlebug because it makes doodles in the sand as it looks for a place to build its traps.  Ants unknowingly crawl down in the funnels made by the antlion and become a tasty dinner.  ICK!

I was so proud of my nickname until Daddy brought this to our attention.  You know they say ignorance is bliss.  I don't know who they are, but surely they are right about this bug thing.   

There is only one way to handle this situation.  I'm just going to have to pretend I never heard it!  And how can you argue with that logic when you see beautiful, fabulous me?  You can't!  

Determined to be a cute Doodle Bug, 

Dixie

Wiggle Belts Anyone?

If you will recall, one of my nicknames is Wiggle Butt.  I can really shake my hiney.  It's not just my tail that wags, but my entire back half.

Recently I had an idea about how I could cash in on this phenomena of mine.  Does this look familiar to anyone?

I think with my gorgeous face and supermodel figure, I could market this contraption to overweight dawgs all over the world.  What do you think?

Jenna

Not My Best Moment

I've spent a decent amount of time at the vet's office over the past few months.  I get a little stressed out when I visit the vet.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I have to ride in a car to get there, I've had three different vets over the past year and a half (all in the same office), and that I've been through two ACL surgeries in my lifetime.  Nah . . . none of those details could cause me to be stressed!

The last time I was there was for my biopsy.  When we left the doctor's office, I was still a little drunk from the anesthesia.  Mommy even has proof.  I usually do my business in one spot, but not that day . . .

On the bright side, I did this in the doctor's parking lot and not in the car.  But seriously, Mommy!  Did you have to take a picture of this embarrassing moment???  Of course, you did!  And you were laughing!

Hunter


PS: This post was not Daddy approved!  But since I'm old and stubborn, I went with it anyway!

Girls with Curls?

I may be Daddy's Girl, but one day recently I had something that made Mommy do a double take.  She saw this on my hind leg:

Is my hair starting to curl up like Mommy's?  After all, Mommy had straight hair when she was younger.  She reecived a perm when she was in the fourth grade (hard to believe Grandma would allow that, but it's true).  Apparently that perm was truly PERMANENT!  When Mommy was in the sixth grade, she had her hair cut REALLY short.  As it grew back in, it became curlier and curlier.  Puberty had definitely set in!  Do you think the same thing is going to happen to me?

Maybe this is a sign that I should try to follow the straight and narrow path?  I guess I'll have to be nicer to my siblings and see what happens.
Jenna

Yours, Mine, and Ours

A lot of modern families are blended families.  Not our family; we are very traditional.  There are two parents and three kids, um . . . dawgs!  Yet somehow we still manage to adhere to the theory of "yours, mine, and ours!"

Jenna is definitely Daddy's Girl.  She loves him wholeheartedly.  When he's home, she usually wants to be with him wherever he is located in the house: working in the garage, manning the grill, relaxing on the sofa.  Daddy even made a label to go on Jenna's crate that says "Daddy's Girl."  Mommy was none too pleased with that turn of events.  She believes in not having favorites and she works hard to make sure each of us are loved on as much as possible.  We won't tell Daddy that Jenna follows Mommy around the house when he's not here.  And it's a minor technicality that Daddy seems to be most allergic to Jenna!  I think Jenna agrees that she belongs to Daddy.

Dixie is Mommy's Girl.  She was Mommy's first "daughter" and was so tiny when she came home to us that Mommy could cradle and carry Dixie around like a baby (and did).  Dixie was the only girl for almost two years and bonded quite quickly to Mommy.  She loves to be with Mommy and is quite the snuggle bug.  Dixie seeks out Mommy's kisses and hugs when she is feeling jealous of Jenna (frequently).  Mommy scrapbooked a name plate for Dixie's crate that was adorable. but we haven't seen it since Jenna's arrival.  This isn't because Mommy loves Dixie less, but because of the direction Dixie's crate has been turned since Jenna's crate was added to the mix.  This really depresses Mommy, but there is nothing she can do about it (unless she ditches both crates . . . hint, hint, Daddy???).  I think Dixie definitely prefers Mommy to Daddy.

I, on the other hand, am proud to say I am fought over by both Mommy and Daddy.  Daddy said recently they would be hard pressed to say who I belong to.  I was their only child for eight years.  That's a long time.  (Daddy knows the feeling well since he is eight years older than Aunt C.)  I have great memories of spending time with both Mommy and Daddy.  I was a gift to Mommy for her 29th birthday.  She and I have spent many summers together while Daddy was working.  Daddy and I bonded together over my stubbornness and the need to teach me a bit of discipline.  I enjoy spending time with both.  And better yet, they both claim me as their own!

Don't get me wrong.  Mommy and Daddy love Dixie and Jenna both.  And they try to not show favorites (well, Mommy does anyway).  But if push came to shove, they'd have to fight over me!  Am I lucky or what?

Lucky Dawg,
Hunter