Christmas Past and 2015 On the Way

A pretty pink squeaky bone from my Christmas stocking!

Hi, all, Lily the corgi here.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  My mama has been very busy making gifts, running errands, baking, and dealing with the foster dog, so it's been a while since she took time to do some typing for me.  Whew...I bet you've been dying to know what's going on with me, haven't you?

I talked to you last time about our foster dog, Linus.  Linus came from a high kill shelter and would not have survived if mama hadn't told the rescue lady he could come here to live with us for a while.  Linus is a big boy, full of energy, and is super annoying.  He is always wanting to play and bark and romp.  I have taken it upon myself to teach him a few skills:  thanks to me, he is now addicted to the great joy of snacking on ice cubes.  Also, I've turned him into a world class mole digger--for some reason mama doesn't seem too thrilled with this, but I think he's been a star pupil.  The other night, Linus escaped his crate while the parentals were out and used his digging skills on the bedroom carpet...mama was really hot about that.  Anyway, Lucy has decided that she'll play with Linus a little, so at least the full responsibility of dealing with him isn't on me all the time.

 Linus and Lucy play a little tug of war.

The weather was supposed to turn bad by Christmas, so mama and daddy took all of us to the dog park a couple of days before.  It was Linus' first time at the park, so we spent a lot of time trying to show him how to behave at the dog park.  I got to work on my herding skills, pushing Linus back into the good behavior zone.  While we were at the park, I met a little mini-me named Dash; he was SO adorable.  I'm sure I must have been a fabulous baby as well!

Linus checks out Dash while I supervise the meeting.

Then, despite the fact mama was worried it would be too cold, I took a little swim in the dog park pond.  She claimed I had pond stink on me after the swim, but I think she was just making that up--you know mama's do that type of thing to make their point.

On Christmas Eve, the parentals loaded us all up in the SUV and we went to Tulsa to see our daddy's  family.  We had a lot of fun.  The ride was nice; we got to stop at a rest area to do a little sniffing then when we made it to Tulsa, it was time to visit and play with the cousins!  We like the cousins; I especially like them because I am everyone's favorite! 

Here I am, going right along with the kids on their adventures.

The next day was Christmas!  We got home late from Tulsa, so we slept in.  When we finally got up, it was time to open presents!  Our cousins Kyle, Alicia, and Lily (the human who's named after me) gave us some stockings full of toys and we loved them!  There are, in fact, quite a few decorating the floor right now.  Aunt Cathy and Uncle Roger came over for the holiday dinner, but they didn't bring Quincy the ancient wiener dog with them.  

Shhh...I think this gingerbread girl is actually Lucy's

On the day after Christmas, we all just sat around and rested until mama and daddy decided to meet some family members for dinner and left us dogs at home.  That resulted in the above mentioned carpet incident with Linus...mama and daddy say it is beyond repair and mama even cried about it.  Mama scolded Linus and told him he can't act that way or he'll never find an adoptive family, but mama and daddy didn't throw Linus away; that's just not how they are.  This makes me feel very safe and secure; I know that even if I do something naughty, my home is forever.

Yesterday, mama and daddy went to visit family and left us home for a few hours, but this time nothing was destroyed, thank goodness.  Mama says now the Christmas festivities are done, but that we still have things to celebrate.  Tomorrow is daddy's birthday, so we have to bake a cake...I enjoy cooking because you never know when a nice morsel will fall to the floor.  Then, Thursday starts a New Year and we'll have guests and I'll get petted and spoiled and loved.  Sigh...I love my life!

Take care of yourselves and I'll write again next year!!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Oh yeah, I forgot.  One day along the way, we all got rawhide treats!

Is This Some Sort of Joke?

(The interloper in my home.)

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  Sorry this post is a bit late; mama the secretary insists she is very busy this time of year.  Okay, whatever.

So a few days ago, mama started talking to us dogs about the Christmas season of giving and how we should all do what we can for those less fortunate than ourselves.  I'm okay with this; we regularly take a few rolls of paper towels or some jugs of bleach down to our pals at Kitties and Kanines rescue so I figured this would be more of the same.  I wasn't exactly sure how some cleaning supplies were going to "save a life" as mama kept saying, but then I'm not always up to the minute on how these things work.

Well, today, something RIDICULOUS happened.  Mama had sent us girls out in the yard to pee and when we came back inside, our home had been invaded!  By a strange dog.  A big, strange dog.  A big, strange, male dog...with no manners.  This thing trotted right inside and peed in the floor...ugh.  He doesn't know how to play with toys, although poor Lucy tried to be good and share with him.  He eats as fast as Sadie does and then belches like some ruffian.  

Mama says we are now a foster family and that we'll be keeping this dog for a while to help him get ready to be adopted.  Now I, myself, spent some time with a foster family in my younger years, but I wasn't just a total mess like this guy.  I had some manners, some self respect!  Good grief.

Mama promises this guy won't stay and become our 4th family member, but I know mama...she's a sucker for a smile and a tail wag.  I won't be at all surprised if this guy is here forever.  Well, in anticipation of such thing happening, I have to lay out my best plans for turning this uncouth hound into something we can live with.

(Look at him, just sitting there beside the toy.  He doesn't even know how to play!)

Mama told me if I'd seen this guy, she calls him Linus, come into the house, I'd have been sad.  It took mama and the rescue lady to get him inside; mama says she doesn't think he's ever been inside before.  I guess that is a little sad...it is good to be inside out of the rain and cold and heat and snow.  Mama says if Linus hadn't found a foster home today, he was supposed to be put to sleep--like my brother Claude, but Linus isn't even old or sick like Claude was.  That is quite sad.

Okay, maybe it is okay if Linus stays here for a little while.  If he learns how to walk on a leash and eat nicely out of a dish and figures out that the floor is not a potty, then maybe some nice family might want to adopt him.   Maybe it is kind of cool to help this guy get ready to be a beloved part of someone's family (as long as it isn't MY family!)

Santa owes me for this one!

Til next time, everyone, share the spirit of the season and do something nice to help out a shelter dog like Linus.  You might save a life, too.

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

(I don't care what anyone says, I will NOT be sharing my napping spot.)