Soccer Genius!

I've recently discovered I'm a genius!  Alright, we've all known that for a while, but this is in a whole new field.  I recently told you about my new favorite toy, the SOCCER BALL!  It turns out I can retrieve that ball like no other.  I LOVE IT!!!!

I love the soccer ball so much, I even take it to bed with me!

Mommy recently captured me in a few of my favorite moves about a month ago (when we still had dead looking, horrible, dormant, grass) and I wanted to share those pictures with you.  Please don't think I'm showing off.  I'm really not, I promise.  I just thought the world should be aware of my talent!

Mommy says it's all fun and games until someone ends up in a cone . . . wonder what that means???

Jenna

On the [Egg] Hunt

Mommy was inspired by one of our Instagram friends, Pups On Par, to have an Easter egg hunt!  Yes, she's officially lost her mind!  However, I certainly won't be the one checking her into the looney bin since I totally benefited from this Crazy Dawg Mom move!

Mommy broke milk bones in half and stuffed them into a few plastic eggs to hide in the backyard.  Daddy said this was a really bad idea.  He just knew we were going to chomp down on the plastic and eat it too!  Mommy said HER dawg had a soft mouth and would be fine (Dixie); he only had to worry about HIS dawg (me)!  Gee, thanks, Mommy!

It turned out, they didn't have to worry about a thing!  I rushed right out and found every egg!  I also was able to pop open each egg with a little pressure from my mouth.  Mommy didn't even realize I had cracked one of the eggs until she was washing the slobber off later.  NO pieces fell off and NO pieces were swallowed!  Milk bones were enjoyed by all!  Okay, so that last statement isn't true.  Dixie was oblivious to the game.  She just walked around and watched me.  I enjoyed ALL the treats!

Mommy cleverly hid one under the outdoor dawg bed.  The blue egg blended right in with the blue cover (not that I can see colors anyway).

A good hunt was had by all . . . well, by me anyway and that's all that matters, right??
Jenna


PS: Apparently Mommy couldn't resist the lure of the bunny ears after all . . .

That's me, Master of the Egg Hunt

Images of Easter

As long as I've been around, Mommy has tortured us taken Easter pictures of us with bunny ears on.  This year she took a different route.  I think it's because our grass was still TOTALLY brown and dormant when she was ready to take our traditional picture for the Easter card we send our family.  Hence the reason for our gorgeous double sided pink and green satin bows:

Although Mommy did use these pictures on our Easter cards this year, she was feeling more spring-like during Easter weekend.  She forced asked Daddy to come outside and help her take pictures in the front yard.  She even set the timer on her phone to ten minutes promising we'd be finished in that amount of time . . . we finished in five! 

Despite how quickly we accomplished this photo shoot (probably our fastest ever), we still had a few distractions.  One of the reasons Mommy wanted Daddy to help is because she wanted to take the pictures out front where the grass is a bit greener and the flowers are in bloom.   We NEVER go to the front yard unless we're getting ready to go for a ride.  There were lots of things to see and do out there!

We're sharing several of these pictures because we want you to know just how hard it to be the SUPERMODELS we are!  This really is a ruff life!

When you try to take group shots, there's always someone not looking . . .

Or someone closes her eyes . . .  

 

Or closes her eyes AND lifts her ears . . .

Or your sister becomes preoccupied with the photographer . . . 

 But eventually Mommy's patience pays off and she's rewarded with some reasonably good pictures:

Mommy says I'm smirking in this one . . . 

And attempting a smile in this one. Stone Cold Jenna is so serious!

But this is my personal favorite.  It sums up our attitudes about this photo session!

We hope you had a great Easter!  Enjoy the spring weather!
Dixie

Happy Easter

He is risen indeed!  

Have a blessed Easter!

We hope you have a terrific day!  

Love, Dixie and Jenna

The Unfortunate Incident (Part 2)

The last time we posted, you read about The Unfortunate Incident where I accidentally broke Mommy's finger.  The situation got much worse for both of us!

For Mommy, she says she always thought she had a pretty high tolerance for pain.  That was before The Unfortunate Incident.  Several hours after learning the first joint in her middle finger was broken, the PAIN KICKED IN!  She was miserable that first night.  She remained in pain for a couple weeks, but nothing was quite like that first night.  The pain medication didn't seem to help at all.

My situation became grave as well.  The state in which we live requires the doctor to report all dog bites despite Mommy and Daddy taking my up-to-date vaccination records with them to the examination.  They were not allowed to leave the doctor's office until they met with Animal Control.   Mommy explained that she was the idiot who had willingly placed her hand inside my mouth and that I had no idea I'd bitten her (her words, not mine).  It did not matter and Mommy was in tears when the officer said I would have to be QUARANTINED!!!!  The horror!  I really don't look good in orange or stripes.  Mommy felt sooooo bad for me since it truly wasn't my fault!

On the bright side, I was able to undergo a house quarantine and didn't have to actually be put in the slammer.  The fact that Animal Control forgot to show up and officially "start the quarantine" and then tried to serve Mommy papers for "failure to surrender" me is a whole other story I will NOT be sharing with you!  I served ten days under house arrest.  It wasn't fun, but Mommy tried to make it as pleasant for me as possible.  (These aren't the best pictures, but remember Mommy was operating the camera one handed.)

Over the last six months, Mommy has had several x-rays of her finger and plenty of appointments with a specialist.  We never know what color Mommy's finger will be upon her return!

She is doing physical therapy at home a few times a day and even six months later she's still wrapping her finger for a few hours each day.  She's started buying the wrap in bulk online and we never know what colors will be in each delivery!  For the most part, the finger has healed.  I barely even left a scar.  The biggest issue now is the joints in her finger are still swollen and stiff.  Some days are better than others.  The doctor says it could take a YEAR for it to return to normal!  [gulp!]  Although the fingernail did not fall off (whew!), the nail bed was damaged and there was an ugly ridge across the nail for about three months.  That's now gone.  Finally, something to bark about!

Here's what the finger actually looks like:

In Mommy's mind, here's what her finger looks like . . .

or this . . .

Mommy's very self-conscious about her finger when out in public, especially making purchases and signing the receipt with her right hand.  (Hey, I have an idea.  STOP shopping!  Ha!)  Hopefully with continued physical therapy and wrapping, the finger will return to normal one day . . . We'll let you know in another six months!

So now you know the ugly truth about me.  I was a very bad girl, but I'm trying to make up for it.  I've become much more snuggly in the last six months and do anything I can to stay in Mommy's good graces.  She says she's pretty sure she'll always have her fat joints to remember me by!

[sigh]
Jenna


PS: Happy birthday yesterday to Aunt C!

The Unfortunate Incident (Part 1)

We've been keeping something a secret from you.  Only our closest friends and family already know about The Unfortunate Incident as Mommy tends to call it.  I was a VERY BAD GIRL (or so I've been told)!  It's been six months since The Unfortunate Incident, so I feel safe in telling you all about it now.  Hopefully you won't hold this against me and we can still be friends.  Mommy still loves me, and if she can then anyone can!

I BIT MOMMY!  Not only did I bite Mommy, but I BROKE her finger!  Did I just hear a deep inhale of shock from you?  I truly didn't mean to do it.  It was an ACCIDENT!!!!  Honestly, it was!

Way back at the beginning of October, Mommy was walking me and Dixie on our usual morning route.  For some reason we tend to come across the strangest things on our walks.  Some of these items would be better placed in a trash can than along the streets of our city, but I can't control the actions of others.  Most of these weird items are fun to find, such as a bag from McDonald's that might still have french fries in it.  Or remnants of a biscuit.  Or just a dirty paper towel.  It really doesn't take much to please us with these little morsels of yumminess. We've even seen dirty diapers!  Ewww!  Sometimes Mommy is successful in making us leave the items behind and sometimes not.  Which brings me to The Unfortunate Incident . . .

There on the street curb in all its glory was a chicken bone!  Cue the spotlight from the heavens and the choir!  (Mommy wants to know who in their right mind throws their chicken bones out on the street?!?!?)  As soon as I spied that bone, I had to have it.  I could hear the angels singing . . . or was that Mommy screaming?

Mommy saw what I had grabbed and came right up behind me to try to take it away.  As she knows, chicken bones are NOT good for dawgs!  They can splinter and cause all kinds of problems to my insides.  Instead of coming around and facing me to pry the jaws of life open, she just reached around my head to pry my mouth open from behind.  Fearing my treat was about to disappear, I was chewing as hard and fast as I could.  I never even knew her fingers were in my mouth!  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)  It looked just like this picture Mommy found on Instagram:

Mommy immediately started walking us back home holding both leashes in one hand while she held her other hand up in the air to try to stop the bleeding.  She says she was in pain, but not too bad.  We went home where she cleaned the wound, took a bath, gave us a bath, and didn't think much of it until the bandaids kept filling up and needed frequent changing.  About four hours later, she noticed swelling in that finger.  Fearing it was infected, she made the decision to go to the doctor.  Thank goodness she did.  Her finger was broken!  (On the positive side, her nails were looking GREAT at the time!)

The bite doesn't look THAT bad does it????  Sure there's a bit of swelling, but . . . 

We have these pictures because Mommy sent a few updates to our grandparents during this most unfortunate time.  There's more to the story, but I think I've revealed enough for today.

Until next time, please remember to place your chicken bones (as well as dirty diapers and fast food bags) in the trash!

Jenna

PS: Happy Birthday Mimi!

Off to the Barkery

Because we were such good girls on our visit to the vet, Mommy decided to treat us to a trip to the Barkery.  The Barkery is only three doors down from the vet . . . isn't that a smart idea???  We had never been to the Barkery before although Mommy has stopped in a few times for treats.  And what a TREAT it was!!!!

As soon as we entered the store the smells were so delicious, my mouth started watering.  It was a great improvement over the smells we had just been experiencing at the vet.  It truly was a heaven on earth.

There were soooooooo many options.  It's a good thing they keep all of those yummy options out of reach.  It's also a good thing they keep all of those yummy options at eye and nose level!

Mommy seemed to be having a hard time deciding what to purchase, but I knew exactly what I wanted:

We finally decided on a couple cannolis and Labrador Loaf (a thick cookie made with blueberry puree and other goodness)!  How could we pass on a treat named after us?

Dixie offered to pay with wags and kisses, but apparently they don't accept that form of payment everywhere (kind of like American Express).

I asked if they were accepting applications for employment, but they said no.  Drat!  I would have really enjoyed that employee discount.

Looking forward to our next trip to the vet!
Jenna