Fall, Fabulous Fall!

  

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  I know this blog post is a day late, but I was otherwise occupied yesterday.  It was SUCH a wonderful day!  Mama and daddy loaded us up in the truck and we set out on an autumn adventure.  

We drove up the mountain to Lake Fort Smith.  The trees were lovely, the sun was bright but not hot, and the scent of fall was amazing!  I'm a dog so I'm supposed to be excited by the smells, but my

mama says she loves the scent most of all--rotting leaves and acorns, cured grass, and a little touch of wood smoke...those are the smells of fall.  I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't able to sniff out any squirrel action, but that's what my backyard is for!

Once we got to the lake, we hopped out of the truck and struck out on a glorious walk on some of the trails.  We met a nice pit bull and a super chunky bulldog walking on the trails too; mama scolded me for barking at them.  Geez, I was only letting them know that I had taken possession of the area so they'd know how to behave properly.  Anyway, the walk was lovely.

After we walked for a long time, we were tired so we got back to the truck to have a nice bowl of water (you know how Sadie loves to drink water when we're on the road!)  

Then we loaded up and drove around the undeveloped part of the park area...it was SO pretty.  How could anyone not be happy on a day like this?

Even though I am a corgi and so, of course, extremely intelligent and articulate, I simply have nothing to add.  The pictures speak for themselves.  I'm a blessed and happy little being.

.............................................

I understand this Friday is Halloween.  Be careful of your dogs; all the extra activity of the trick-or-treaters can make dogs very excited...make sure they are kept somewhere they cannot escape or become so upset that they nip someone!  Much as it pains me to have to advocate for the species, be careful with your cats, especially black ones, at this time of year.  And remember...Halloween candy like chocolate can be bad for your dogs, so guard that treat sack (mama forced me to add that last part!)

Til next time, everyone.  Happy Halloween and be careful out there!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

    

Random Thoughts on Backyard Wildlife

We are all just being lazy on this fall day (notice Sadie with the crazy eye even when at rest!)

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  What a beautiful fall day it is here in the Arkansas River Valley.  I've been out hunting squirrels in the yard for the longest time today.  Sadie and Lucy got bored with it and went back inside, but I stayed faithfully on the chase.  The lovely fall weather makes it so pleasant to be outside enjoying the flora and fauna--well, the flora is dying but the fauna is still there.

For the past couple of weeks, we've had an infestation of moles in our back yard.  I've been doing my best to dig down and grab the little boogers, but haven't caught one yet.  They make the yard all spongy with their tunnels and I don't like it at all.  Mama says the yard looks like a Putt-Putt golf course with all the holes I've dug trying to get at them. (In my defense, Sadie and Lucy have also dug a little, but it is primarily my responsibility.)  I don't know that I've ever seen a mole, so I'm anxious to catch one so I can see what the little digger looks like.  Daddy says they are like an ugly mouse, but I don't think I know what a mouse looks like either; pretty sure I've never caught one of those guys.  

Another thing I know about are these sassy-pants little birds called mockingbirds.  They are attractive birds and they sing nicely when they want to, but mostly they just want to chatter and scold us dogs. They'll sit up on a limb just barely out of our reach and fuss and carry on something awful.  The other day, one of these little suckers got overly brave and swooped down to peck at my head!  In fact, he made 2 passes to try and get me.  Well, the second time I almost turned the tables on him; next time I plan to grab that sassy little guy right out of the air and then we'll see who gets the scolding..  

Not too long ago, we had a funny little visitor in the yard.  My mama came to the door to let us out to pee and noticed there was a little frog just hanging on the window screen.  I've seen a few frogs down on the ground, but I never knew they got on the windows!  I think it's okay that they are up high; when they are on the ground, they are pretty tempting to grab but I know that's a REALLY bad idea. Frogs taste so bad, they make dogs foam at the mouth.  Once you've had a taste of frog, you remember not to put them in your mouth again!

Mama said on their recent cruise, Uncle Roger ate frog legs.  I wonder if he foamed at the mouth?

Of course, the most important yard critter, in my expert opinion, is the squirrel.  They have been very active lately, getting ready for the cold weather that is sure to come.  It is my job to chase them and keep them away from the food in the bird feeder, and I take pride in my work. The squirrels climb up our trees and race across the top of our fence.  Once in a while, they will drop down on the ground and that's when I really have a shot at catching one.  But, they are pretty fast and I don't really try too hard to actually catch the squirrels--they are quite entertaining and I wouldn't want to hurt or kill one and lose all my fun. 

Here's where you'll find me much of the time--watching for squirrels on the fence or in the trees.

I'm happy to report that my sister Sadie's ear has been healing well.  She is still a little wary of me, but she did invite me to play with her for a while last night, so I think she's forgiven me for my indiscretion at the kennel.  Lucy ate a sack full of Halloween decorations this past week, so the parents' attention has been turned from me and that's good news!  

So, that's about all I know; it's been pretty low key here and that's fine by me.  Take care of yourselves and be sure to take time to enjoy the lovely autumn weather.

Til next time,

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

I'm A Bad Ass--or--Perhaps I Miscalculated

Thinking about life, love and forgiveness...sigh.

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  Well, it's been a while since I've written and I wanted to let you know that I've been a bit down lately.  Let me tell you all about it.

Last time I blogged, I told you my humans were going out of town on a vacation.  Not just mama and daddy, but all my closest aunts, uncles, and cousins as well, leaving no one in town to take care of me and my sisters.  Hey, I've been around the block enough times to know what that means--a kennel.  When we lived in west Texas we went to a kennel a few times; it was a very nice place with grassy runs and nice people who understood what a special being I am, since I'm corgi and all.  But this time, I found out that, because Sadie and Lucy have to take various shots and medicines every day, we weren't going to the regular type kennel and would have to be kenneled at our vet's office.  The vet's office, do you hear me?   What kind of thinking is that?  How many of you humans want to relax for 10 days in the comfort of your doctor's office?  And here's the worst of it--the vet gave mama a "special rate" since we are good customers.  Basically, they paid for Sadie and Lucy to stay there but the vet let me stay for free.  Free, I tell ya!  How insulting is that?  I'm all for saving money but the corgi should always be the most pampered, most valuable, and most expensive of all dogs.  I felt like I was something left in the irregular bin at KMart.

Anyway, my humans left and I tried to make the best of the depressing and embarrassing situation.  I did my best to be nice to Lucy and Sadie, but ever since Claude died there's been a little bit of a power play by Sadie to change the status quo of our family pecking order.  Of course, as the alpha of all alpha girls, I cannot allow this to go unanswered.  So one day at the kennel, Sadie got a little too sassy for my liking and I had to lay some discipline on her.  Okay, I'll admit that sometimes when I get into a little scuffle, I get a bit carried away...and this was one of those times.  Sadie and I got in to a full scale, all out dog fight.  The vet techs yelled at us and while Sadie was distracted, I grabbed her ear and hung on like a pit bull.  Instead of admiring my sweet WWE moves, the vet tech turned a hose on me!  A hose.  Well, it was now a matter of principle and I refused to let go.  Then the vet came in, reached right in and yanked me off Sadie.  They took me out of the cage with my sisters and put me in something called "solitary confinement."  That means I had NO canine company at all, not even Lucy.

They said I tore Sadie's ear up pretty badly and that she bled a lot.  They made her take antibiotics because they thought my spit might have carried some kind of infection.  I'll have you know there are only 2 ways my spit can go--pristine clean or Ebola ridden--I don't do anything mediocre.  Of course, Sadie is fine; I didn't give her Ebola or mad cow disease or any other infections...all I did was put her in her place.

Alas, I'm the one who had to go to a new place--that solitary confinement place.  The vet techs tattled on me to my mama who was in Key West and mama was mad.  After my exile was over and the parents came to take me home, they were glad to see me, of course, but I got quite the lecture, let me tell you.

This is how interested I was in the "don't bite your sister" lecture.

Nope, still not caring

Mama told me if I didn't straighten up, she'd make me stay by myself at home, too.  She wouldn't let me play with Sadie (Sadie made a big deal out of acting afraid of me; growling when I'd get near her.  My parents took her side, of course.)  Then mama told me that fighting dogs don't get to go to the dog park anymore.  And she said, biters didn't get to play with the baby cousins any more.  Okay, I was starting to take this a bit more seriously.   I love the dog park.  And I love playing with the babies, especially when they have food.  I figured I'd better re-think this whole situation.

Pondering the severity of my actions.  Perhaps I did overplay my hand just a bit.

Mama and daddy still love me.  They still pet me and hold me and give me all sorts of affection, but they also make me look at Sadie's ear (it really does look a mess...I guess I didn't really mean to hurt her that badly.)  Sometimes Sadie tries to scratch her ear and that hurts her and she cries; I feel pretty bad when that happens.  I have decided that perhaps I did overreact when I jumped on Sadie like I did.  I only meant to show her what a tough girl I am and to make sure she understands that I'm still the alpha dog in the family.  I didn't intend to get vicious with her.

I've apologized to Sadie and invited her to play, but she won't.  I can still play with Lucy, but Sadie won't play with me now.  That makes me sad, but I have no one to blame but myself.  Mama says Sadie's ear is healing up and I'm glad for that; maybe when she feels better, she'll see fit to forgive me.  Mama says she is going on another trip next month, but daddy can't go because he has to stay here with me.  She was planning to check out a really nice kennel near here with a POOL and everything, but she says now I won't be welcome so I'll just have to stay here at the house with daddy.  I guess I made a mess of things this time, but no one can stay mad at me forever--I am a corgi, after all!

Here I am, looking so cute they can't stay mad for long.

That's all I have for this time, folks.  I'm hoping next week I'll be able to tell you that I've been forgiven for my sins and that Sadie and I are friends once again.  I am happy that I have a mama and daddy who love me even when I'm a little bad.  Some dogs get thrown away when they do something bad, but my parents won't ever do that to me and they'll never stop loving me.  Yes, I am a very lucky girl.

Til next time, take care and keep your tempers under control!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

This is the ear I chewed.  This side just has a couple of holes--the inside is where I really gnawed.