"Working at the Car Wash"

So maybe that blog post title is a bit misleading.  I wasn't actually working, but I was riding . . .

Mommy has had bad luck at several car washes in her adult life time.  I don't mean where damage was done to her car.  I mean where she's been locked in the car wash all alone!  MORE THAN ONCE!!!  The stories are too long to tell, but suffice it to say, she doesn't go to the car wash often!  She tries to get Daddy to go with her, but recently when that failed, she decided to take me.  Not sure what help I'd be if we got locked in, but  . . .

It was SO MUCH FUN!!!  So many sights and sounds!  

I bet if Mommy had a brush this big, I could be shed free all the time!

So much water in so many different colors!

Mommy's camera missed the moment I tried to lick the windshield as the guys 

at the end of the line were towel drying the car!  Too bad!

Maybe all those birds in the tree Mommy parks near will poop all over her car again . . .
Dixie


PS: Twenty-two years ago today, Mommy and Daddy had their first date!!!  That's like HALF their life time!  WOW!!

Puppy Class

We told you our proofreader has been slacking off lately and today's post is proof!  This is old news for our closest friends and family!  Starting last October and going until the week before Thanksgiving, I attended puppy classes.  Since I'm the fourth dawg in my parents' lives, they probably could have easily taught me all the basic skills (sit, stay, down, heel, etc) I need to function as a properly behaved lab, but they wanted me to be socialized around other dawgs as well.  (Having learned all they needed to know in Hunter's puppy classes, Daddy deemed these classes pointless for Dixie since she could be homeschooled . . .sure, Dixie knows her commands, but she is fierce with strange dawgs!)

I must admit, I was one of the stars of the class!  Seriously!  I listened pawfectly to Mommy as she lead me around the room in a pawfect heel position.  I was super good!

I listened attentively to the directions.  The teacher in Mommy appreciated that!

We were told to go to Home Depot or Lowe's and pick up a nail bag to carry treats . . . Daddy simply retrieved a leather tool bag from the garage for Mommy to use! (insert eye roll here)

When we first started going to class, I could ride in the front on Mommy's lap.  She says this became a bit cumbersome, so we eventually migrated to the back seat.  I saw WE because I prefer to ride as close to Mommy as possible!

You're looking at the future valedictorian . . . 

A bonus to puppy class was that my parents didn't have time to fix dinner before or after the classes each week, so they treated themselves to fast food on the way home.  I really liked the fries at McDonald's!

But did you know Chick-fil-a serves dawg treats?  Mommy didn't know that either!

Is that part of some secret menu??

I met so many nice dawgs in this class, including another Ruger!  The other Ruger was a chocolate lab mix.  He was very well behaved!  (He must have been taking notes from me!)

This pit bull mix was rescued from an abusive situation.  If a Most Improved Award had been given out, he would have won paws down!  When he could finally heel and walk at his mom's side, the entire class gave them a round of applause!

 Here we are at graduation!  I only have eyes for Mommy!  She did a good job too!

Here's to my next training adventure!

Top Dawg,
Ruger

Scout Update

We thought we'd give you a Scout update.  Scout is our uncle's black lab that Mommy recently had a dawggie affair with.  Mommy says he's a super sweet dawg, but we can't vouch for that as we've never met him.

This is what Scout looked like when we first introduced him to you:

Yes, yes, he's super cute, but who isn't at that age??  (It's up to you to decide if we're talking about the dawg or the human!)

This past fall Scout got to go on his first official duck hunt with Uncle J.  It didn't go quite as planned . . . Scout retrieved the decoys!  Can he help it his daddy didn't shoot that many ducks?  We say no!  (Note how proud Scout is of his accomplishments!)

Here's another picture of Scout taken this past fall.  We'll admit he's quite handsome, but is he as good looking as we are?  They jury is still out on that one!

Scout and Uncle J met Daddy in Arkansas over the holidays to hunt.  We think that adventure went much better.  Speaking of hunting, we have some news on that front coming soon . . .

Dixie, Jenna & Ruger

A Dawggie Affair

Over Christmas break, Mommy and Daddy visited Mommy's family.  While there, Mommy cheated on us!  She says she loved on these other dawgs because we couldn't be with her, but we're not so sure about that . . .

Maggie, our beagle cousin was as good as gold.  She rarely makes a peep (in Mommy's presence anyway).  However, Maggie isn't always fond of her younger brother Scout (boy, do we know that feeling!).

Scout, the black lab, is a little over a year old.  He is FULL OF ENERGY!  He's also bigger than all of us.  We think Ruger might end up being bigger than Scout, but only time will tell.  Mommy invited Scout upstairs to her bedroom and even allowed him on the bed.  Shhh!  Don't tell Aunt K!  She'd not be pleased with either Mommy or Scout!

Meanwhile, we were stuck at home pining away for our parents . . . Hmpf!

Dixie, Jenna & Ruger

Special Christmas Gifts

Mommy received a few special Christmas gifts from Daddy.  First, he gave her a new purple coffee mug with one of her favorite titles on it.  She loves what it says and the color is a bonus.  If you're interested in one for yourself, you can purchase one here.

Her big gift was even better:  watercolors paintings of US!!!  How much more pawsome can life be to see us walking around, at your feet, in your bed, and on the wall each day!  They look even better in person and these images still have the plastic wrap on them.  They are currently at the framers getting prepped for the wall. 

Ruger

Dixie

Jenna

Hunter

Which one do you like best?  Mommy changes her mind daily . . .

Good job, Daddy!

Belated Christmas Chaos

We wanted to share some of our Christmas morning chaos with you, but felt like we had to get those New Year's greetings to you first!  We had such a fun time opening gifts and enjoying all the goodies Santa Paws brought us.

We had our stockings hung in anticipation of finding lots of goodness in them the next morning.  Mommy and Daddy really struggled to find the perfect stocking for Ruger.  Hunter's, Dixie's, and Jenna's stockings have each been the pawfect choice since each of us turned out to look just like the dawg on our stockings.  Mommy finally decided to shop for a stocking that looked just like Hunter's but it apparently doesn't exist any more.  She felt like she settled on the one that's hanging here, but it was the best choice from her options.  (Then she chose the right font, but realized too late that she forgot to tell the embroidery people to put the letters of Ruger's name in all caps!  Oh well!  Only time will tell if Ruger looks like the dawg on the stocking . . .

The next morning the stockings were so full they were too heavy to hang.  We each had tennis balls, rawhide candy canes, stuffing-free critters, and more!

One of the coolest gifts we received was a sweet potato treat on a rope.  Mommy and Santa Paws thought for sure this would last a while . . . they were both WRONG!  Ruger enjoyed his treat on one of the beds in the master bedroom, while Dixie hid in her crate to eat hers!  Our parents finally had to take them away from us for fear we'd get sick from eating too much at once!

Ruger also received a new blanket.  He seems to be channeling our big brother Hunter in his love for chewing on blankets.  Mommy just buys the $5 fleece at Walmart and therefore has no regrets when it's trashed later on!

Jenna was wiser than anyone gave her credit for . . . she sat a good bit of the day waiting for more edible treats to find their way out of the stockings!

All of this opening presents is ruff work!

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Dixie, Jenna & Ruger

Happy New Year! 2018

Happy New Year!

We want to wish you belated greetings in 2018!  

(Our proofreader has gotten a little behind the past few months!)

It's technically not the start of the Chinese New Year yet, but it will be soon!  It should be a pawsome year considering it's the Year of the Dawg!  Our fortune cookie predicts good things for this year!  Only time will tell what those good things are . . . (although maybe our fortune lied since we don't think these hats are a sign of goodness!)

We spent a fairly low key evening at home being tortured by Mommy with party hats and glasses. Our parents went out for an evening of fun bowling!  They had a great time with another friend.  We'll let you guess who won . . .

We hope you have a terrific year with or without a dawg in your life!  Blessings to you and your family!

Dixie, Jenna & Ruger