Digger aka Ruger

Recently I told you I was now being called Digger . . . here's why!  Mommy discovered me looking like this and had to investigate.   It took her a few minutes to figure out where the dirt had come from. I personally think the brown dirt is the perfect accessory to my fur coat, but the humans in the house seem to disagree.  

I've had so much fun in the far corner of the yard!  

I'm hoping I will soon dig my way to Australia (gotta see my pal Homer), but Mommy says I have a ways to go.  Give me time alone Mommy and I'll show you how quickly I can manage it!

See that orange stuff?  That's cayenne pepper Mommy buys in bulk to help prevent the spread of holes in the yard.  It works like a charm too.  One whiff and I'm outta there!  Unfortunately for Mommy (but fortunately for me), it washes away with rain.  Mommy says it's a good thing we don't live in a location that receives a lot of rain!

I'm coming for you, Homer!  Maybe we can meet in the middle . . .
Ruger


PS: This hole is NOT to be confused with the muddy hole mentioned in the last post!  Same dawg, different hole!

PPS: Homer, there's an island in the Pacific call Kiribati Island that looks to be about midway and right along the equator!  There's a hotel there, but I think from the looks of it, that term is being used very loosely!

Uh Oh . . . [Muddy Dawg]

We interrupt Mommy grading papers to bring you  . . . a MUDDY DAWG!!!  A few weeks ago Mommy got pretty mad at me.  She was busy getting ready for the upcoming week when she happened to look up and see that Dixie had something all over her back.  When she tried to wipe Dixie off, she learned it was dried red mud!  Mommy knew the mud wasn't Dixie's fault!  It was MINE, ALL MINE!

I'd been out digging in mud created from water near the outdoor faucet and I had FUN!!!!!!!!  I have an Instagram pal in Australia named Homer that I'm dying to meet in person (in dawg?).  Mommy says apparently I'm DIGGING to see him.  When Mommy was growing up, she always heard it said someone was digging his way to China whenever a large hole was being created.  I say, "Forget China!  I'm headed Down Under!"  She's recently started calling me Digger.

Once Mommy realized I was the reason Dixie was muddy, she began to look around.  I had serious mud all over me and all over the house!  I think smoke started spewing out of her ears, I really do!  (I'm not sure how she missed this earlier since she's the one who opened the door for me.)  She grabbed me up and took me to the bathtub.  The other times I've had a bath have been in the shower (that has a door) with Mommy.  She didn't have time to take a shower herself on Sunday night, so she took me to the tub.  She should have stopped and grabbed the usual bath supplies, but that smoke coming out of her ears was clouding her judgment.  Once I was in the tub and wet she realized she didn't have dawggie shampoo or towels or any good way of rinsing me off except to resort to splashing me!  (That'll teach her to be mad at me!)

I was eager to show her I could jump out of the tub!  She had to hold onto me with one hand and try to stretch her short body across the bathroom to grab some sort of soap and towels.  Good thing we'd been working on my commands earlier because I still had my choke collar on.  She says it came in handy.  No worries, I was not harmed during this bath, but I was held onto firmly!

At the completion of the bath I had mud all over Mommy and the tub!  It took several rinses for all the mud to leave the tub.

But how can anyone stay mad at a cute face like this??

Mommy figured out how to stay mad . . . not only did she have to clean me and the tub, but then she had to clean a few spots on the carpet and mop the kitchen floor.  It was quite dirty!  I would venture to ask how dirty that kitchen floor was BEFORE I added mud to it, but that might add fuel to the fire already streaming out of Mommy's ears!

Thankfully, she fhas forgiven me and has vowed to be more observant when I come and go into the house!  After all, if she'd taken notice we could have avoided this whole incident!

Love from the Bad Boy of the house!
Ruger

Fly Away, Fly Away, If You Can . . .

I recently found something new!  I caught a dragonfly!  It was sooooo much fun to chase around.  Mommy discovered my antics too late to save the poor dragonfly.  Those are her words, not mine.  That poor dragonfly should have known better than to keep flying near my jaws and paws, don't you think?

After I finally got my jaws on the dragonfly, I took it to my outdoor bed.  Mommy tried to rescue it before this, but she wasn't successful. Have you ever tried to chase a puppy?  I can't say the insect wasn't harmed during the process of taking these pictures, but I can tell you it was already out of its misery by now!

Mommy thought I was going to eat it, but every time I tried, the crunch seemed to turn me off.  Mommy finally took it away from me and gave it a proper burial.  (I think I saw her toss it over the fence!)

Until the next flying creature comes my way!
Ruger

Mommy's Little Helper [Hose]

Since it's been so dry here, Mommy has had to water the plants at least once a day if not twice a day!  I'm super great at helping her.

I sometimes carry the hose around.  That hose can become heavy when it's full of water and Mommy's trying to lug it around the yard.  I'm such a big boy!  (And I've been told my big brother Hunter helped Mommy with the hose as well!)

I also like to carry the hose to my bed.  When it's with me, I can keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get away!

I really like to help water the sweet autumn clematis.  It was planted last summer long before I was born and has finally decided to GROW!  Hopefully it will bloom this fall . . .

I don't know what Mommy did without me!  Maybe I should ask Dixie and Jenna . . .
Ruger

Hating Bermuda

As we experience the seasons here in our new location, Mommy has learned a LOT.  First, she's learned we secretly desire to be yellow labs and second, she's learned that she HATES Bermuda grass!

When you think of the word Bermuda, I bet you have an image similar to this in your head:

There is NOTHING about this image that looks like where we live!  For reasons unbeknownst to Mommy, the variety of grass in our yard is called Bermuda.  It's nice and green in the summer, but goes entirely dormant in the winter.  We're not used to this drastic change in scenery.  Here's our previous yard in January:

Yep, still green.  Not as green as it was in the summer, but still a touch of green!  Here's our current yard in January:  SUPER UGLY BROWN!!!!

And do you notice those tiny pieces of grass (Mommy calls it straw) on my hiney????  Happens all the time!  Recently Mommy recorded our escapades in the Bermuda Triangle (aka: our backyard) by watching us from the window.  First, she saw me rolling in the grass . . .

Then, she noticed my sister Jenna coming over to inspect me.  Jenna was probably wondering how a yellow lab got into the backyard unnoticed.

All that sniffing started one of our favorite games: Chase Your Sister!

Before Mommy could stop her, Jenna had decided to take a roll in the hay too!

A tiny bit of the grass will shake off, but definitely not all of it!

 "Is this better?  I've shaken off as much as I can . . ."

Poor Mommy!  This grass is driving her NUTS!  She has tried smoothing this yellow stuff off with her hands, brushing it off, even waiting for us to shake it off, but the only trick that works is a wet paper towel:

Mommy is crossing her fingers the green returns soon.  I doubt it will be long.  Our record setting February temps are causing the few weeping willows that exist to bud out already and the daffodils are about to bloom as well!  As much as Mommy usually loves winter, she's ready for spring!

Reporting from the Bermuda Triangle,
Dixie