Dogs, the Most Interesting Animals in the World

Okay, I allowed ONE Halloween hat picture...sometimes you have to humor the parentals.

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  This week has been pretty uneventful except for the arrival of some true fall weather, which prompted mama to put a comforter on our bed.  My sister Lucy is a super excited girl about this since she loves to snuggle under covers.  I am not such a fan of covers, but I do like to snuggle up to my mama for a while each night--until I get hot.  Also, this past week brought Halloween and it wasn't as big a trial as in years past.  Daddy did his silly dress up thing and giving away candy out in the front yard so there wasn't any annoying doorbell ringing going on.  Mama said we were very good girls and that we'll get a treat as a reward (hello!  where is that treat, by the way?)  Here are a couple of pictures to show you what went on at our house for the haunted evening.

                            Ghoulish daddy             The cousin babies as Yoda and Princess Leia     

Anyway, I thought that today would be a good day to share some more weird and interesting and educational dog facts.  Of course, I must comment on the facts; you'll find my thoughts in red.  For instance, did you know...

             

Like human babies, Chihuahuas are born with a soft spot in their skull which closes with age?  (I could insert a chihuahua joke here, but I'm trying to be good.)


Teddy Roosevelt's dog, Pete, ripped a French ambassador's pants off at the White House.  (I'm thinking this should happen to politicians much more often.)


70% of pet owners sign their pet's name on greeting and holiday cards.  (Mama does!)


Puppies sleep ninety percent of the day for their first few weeks.  (Lucky puppies!  Adult dogs have work to do...like mole digging and squirrel patrol; we don't have time to sleep!)

   

(There he is...my nemesis.  See how I glare at him from my hiding spot!)

Rin Tin Tin really signed his movie contracts - all 22 of them - with a pawprint.  (Excuse me, Mr. Tin, could I have your autograph?)


Dalmatian puppies are born completely white.  (As they get older, they get dotty.)


Boxers are so named because of their manner of playing with their front paws.  (I personally like to stand up and paw as well.  Does that make me a boxer??)


Many foot disorders in dogs are simply an issue of long toenails.  (Pretty sure this is propaganda my mama thought up to get me to submit to the dreaded nail clipping.)


The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts both offer merit badges in dog care.  (Mama says back in her day, the 4H also gave dog care ribbons.  I think this should be taught in all schools and universities.)


 Dogs with little human contact in the first three months typically don't make good pets.  (You've read about my neurotic sister Sadie, who as a feral puppy had no human socialization.  I won't say she's a BAD pet, but she is surely weird.)

(Look at her, too scared to stick her head out the window.)

The Russians trained dogs during WWII to run suicide missions with mines strapped to their backs.  (I'm a big supporter of dogs who serve in the military and police departments, but this is going too far.  Someone find me a Russian I can bite!)


President Lyndon Johnson had two beagles named Him and Her.  (I also read he picked them up by their EARS!  My beagle sister Lucy would not have been a fan of this behavior!)

(Maybe if your ear is folded, the President can't grab it.)

Obesity is the #1 health problem among dogs.  (Another propaganda piece to convince us to stop eating snacks--not working here!)


Speaking of obesity, daddy has made good on that promise to give us a treat!  Yummm...okay, til next time, be good and I gotta go chew this snack.


Love ya,
Lily the Corgi

Info courtesy of RichStevens.com  

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.

Fraidy Sadie

Sadie, showing a gross case of "crap neck."

Hi, all; Lily the corgi here.  Last week I told you a bit about my nosy beagle mix sister Lucy, so I figured this week I'd give equal time to my sister Sadie.  Sadie is beautiful and has the softest fur; her ears are like pure silk.  She is a very playful dog but also likes petting and snuggles.  Sadie is a sweet girl, but she is, well, different.

Years ago, my mama decided to go to the local animal shelter and look at dogs.  She saw Sadie there and thought Sadie was very nice, but a family was looking at Sadie so mama went home without a dog.  A few weeks later, mama and daddy's gorgeous husky boy, Alexei, died and the only remaining dog was sad and lonely.  After a few months, mama went back to the shelter to look at a companion for the dog-widow Colleen and, lo and behold, there Sadie was still waiting. 

The shelter people told mama that Sadie had been a puppy living in a small town nearby with her feral canine mama.  No one ever said what happened to the mama, but someone managed to catch Sadie.  Sadie was very shy and nervous; she had never been around people and had no idea how to behave like a normal companion animal.  While Sadie quickly learned to love and trust mama and daddy, she was super-scared of everyone else.  When Sadie would get stressed, she would give a look my parents call "the crazy eye."  Looks something like this:

When Sadie starts to pant and shows the white of that "crazy eye" you can bet she's about to flip out!

Here's another crazy eye--we had guests in the house and she was nervous!!

Sadie has some other odd behaviors as well.  One of my favorites is what my parents call "crap neck."  Somehow Sadie goes out into the yard and manages to roll her neck in poo...not her leg, not her belly, just her neck.  It makes my parents nuts!  Makes me chuckle.  The odd thing Sadie does that makes most people laugh is her impression of a sealaroo (that's a cross between a seal and a kangaroo.)  When Sadie is excited, she hops on her hind legs like a kangaroo while clapping her front feet together like some sort of demented seal.  

Some of Sadie's behaviors are just a little sad.  When lots of family and friends are around and everyone is having a good time, Sadie will often put herself in a safe, secluded spot like the utility room or hidden beside the bed.  She really is just too afraid of all the people and play; it sorts of hurts my heart to see her so very scared.  Sadie barks a lot because she is so worried about all the things going on around her.  Sadie treats food as if she were a concentration camp survivor--she will eat and eat like she thinks she'll never get another meal.  For whatever reason, Sadie is afraid to drink water at home--I somehow picture her as having been captured while having a drink and so she never feels comfortable drinking again (I have no idea if that happened or not; it's just a scenario I can see in my abundant corgi imagination.)  She has actually gotten much more bold about things over the years, but she still earns the title "Fraidy Sadie."

Sadie bravely sitting beside human cousin Kathleen (notice she's still doing that nervous panting.)

So as you can see, I'm the only normal dog in the household.  It's a curse, trying to show others how to behave when they don't seem to have any concept that they are strange!  But as the resident corgi, that's my job and I will continue to execute my duties to the best of my abilities.

Just to let you know, mama and daddy are planning on a vacation later this week, so it will be a couple of weeks before I'm able to blog again.  I'm pretty bummed that I can't go on this trip because mama and daddy, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Roger, Aunt Vicky, and a batch of cousins, including the babies, are going on the trip together.  Sounds like a huge amount of fun.  That's okay; I'll just be here waiting for their return.  

Til next time, love ya!

Lily the Corgi

Fraidy Sadie, rocking a summer haircut.

The Adventures of Lucy the Nosy

Lucy found this while looking through a grocery bag.

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  This is a painful thing for me to tell you--I have failed.  As you know, I am the alpha dog in our household.  This means I am responsible for keeping all family members--human and canine--in line, walking the straight and narrow, on their best behavior.  For several years, I performed these duties admirably and we were able to live (mostly) in peace and harmony.  

And then, there was Lucy.  Lucy came to us from the local animal shelter.  In the adoption advertisement, Lucy was shown as a beagle/corgi mix; now I have my doubts she is corgi, but her personality is certainly beagle!  She is a very sweet and snuggly girl, loves to play, loves to eat.  She loves to go around with her snout to the ground, sniffing at everything as she goes--typical beagle behavior.  Lucy doesn't cause fights, doesn't steal food from her fur-siblings, though she does tend to bark excessively on occasion.  

But Lucy has a very annoying trait; she is too nosy for her own good.  Lucy's beagle snout leads her to interesting and often inadvisable situations.  Lucy gets into things that are not her business and could even be bad for her; she eats what she shouldn't eat; she does what she shouldn't do.  I've done my best to keep her in line, keep her distracted, keep her safe, but there's only so much a corgi can do!  Let me give you some examples:

At the top of the page, you'll see the results of Lucy's taking a dive into the grocery bags that mama was bringing in.  She got in it and dragged out a box of brownie mix--brownie mix!  What normal dog does that?  A steak, yes.  A cookie, maybe.  But a box of plain old uncooked brownie mix?  What was she going to do with it, bake?  I've tried to teach her to be more discerning in her tastes, but to no avail.  I'll be over here, waiting for a proper snack while Lucy tries to turn on the oven.

Lucy and her interesting choice of headwear.

Here's another photo of Lucy after getting in to something she shouldn't.  Mama had used a paper bag to absorb something greasy and then threw it in the trash can.  Lucy rummaged around in the trash, got the sack and, in attempting to lick crumbs out of the bottom of the sack, got her head stuck.  Lucy pranced all around the kitchen, shaking her head and trying to fling off the paper sack.  Mama took the time to get the camera and snap a picture instead of helping Lucy remove the paper sack.  Eventually, mama was afraid Lucy would crash in to something so she took the sack off the goofy thing's head.  I always put on a fine example of dignity and grace, but as you can see, Lucy doesn't follow examples very well. 

Mama tries to keep the trash can up out of Lucy's reach, but sometimes it has to be out where it can be used, am I right?  A few days ago, Lucy took advantage of an unguarded trash can and, with ninja-like quietness, helped herself to a big old pork chop bone.  Now, I would be happy to feast on a pork chop bone myself, so I can't fault Lucy for being lured toward it, but it is just uncivilized to go dumpster diving in one's own home.  So anyway, Lucy sneaked the bone onto mama and daddy's bed; mama discovered what was going on when she heard Lucy crunching.  Mama grabbed the bone and then spent several days worrying about the condition of Lucy's stomach and intestines.  I'm happy to report that no ill effects resulted from this dietary indiscretion.

 Lucy nosing around in the swimming pool before it was even filled.

Lucy gets in to everything; mama calls her "nosy Rosie."  The other day Lucy made it her business to tear open a box that came in the mail and toss mama's new bras across the floor.  Lucy was wearing them before mama even got a chance to to take them out of the box!  While mama was working on the computer the other day, Lucy walked across her to take a nectarine pit out of a bowl on the table beside her.  Did Lucy really think mama would just let her walk off with a nectarine pit?   This past Easter mama ended up putting ALL dogs in the house because Lucy wouldn't stop gathering Easter eggs!  Whoa, that's going too far; when your nosiness starts to affect my life, we have a problem!

Sigh...I've tried, I really have.  I understand it is a beagle thing to be ruled by your nose, but all dogs need to use a little common sense.  If you plan to steal food, for example, grab from one of the baby's plates!  If you want to snuggle in the parents' clothing, get something used that has their comforting smell on it.  Youngsters need to be willing to learn from their alphas.

Okay, I give up...right now Lucy and our neurotic sister Sadie was sitting on the couch, barking at HUMMINGBIRDS who are sipping from their feeder on our back porch.   I do love my sisters, but sometimes I dream of being an only child!

Til next time, everyone.

Lily the Corgi

Lucy, aka Nosy Rosie

Balls, Balls, Balls

(Come on, throw it!  You know you want to!)

Hi all; Lily the Corgi here.  So today seemed just the sort of day to do some deep thinking, and I've been thinking about balls.  Yep, I said balls.  My daddy thinks about balls a lot.  He watches balls on tv and types about balls on his computer and talks about balls on the phone with my Uncle Wayne.  Daddy goes off one night a week to play with a bowling ball and enjoys kicking around a soccer ball when he gets the chance.  Sometimes the little girl next door loses her ball over our fence and has to come get mama to rescue it for her out of the back yard.  Mama isn't as concerned about balls, but sometimes I hear her mutter, "Oh, balls," so I know she does care about them to a degree.

Balls have been around since ancient times.  I'm going to guess that round fruits, rocks, nuts, or other natural materials provided the first balls for play by humans as well as canines (Lucy used to play ball with little crab apples in our yard when we lived in Texas.)  Eventually, the humans began making balls out of string, leather, and wood.  In the modern world, balls can be made out of about any material and come in all shapes and sizes.  Balls are used in a variety of games.  I like games!

We have a number of balls around our house; some of them just lie around on the floor for anyone to pick up and play with at any time.  Others are specially made for the babies' toys and dogs aren't allowed to play with them.  Still others belong to mama and daddy.  They let us play with tennis balls and even allow us to try to push around bowling balls if we want, but there is one ball my daddy WILL NOT allow anyone to play with.  That ball came out yesterday to sit on top of the tv while the OU Sooners played football; daddy says this ball has special lucky powers and that he has to use it to help the Sooners win games.

(The special ball...I don't know why we can't play with it; someone already wrote all over it.)

Sometimes balls aren't even balls.  Sometimes other items are used in place of balls.  Our baby Cohen likes to throw his foam blocks so my beagle sister Lucy and I can fetch them.  I'm not usually much of a fetcher, but he's a nice baby and doesn't know any better, so I play along.  My late brother Claude the grouchy husky used to toss toys in the air and catch them; he didn't need a human to help him play catch.   Predictably, my neurotic sister Sadie is afraid of balls and won't play with a ball or any item used in place of a ball--though she will catch the occasional piece of popcorn thrown her way. Lucy is the most playful of all us dogs and loves to play with tennis balls; unfortunately, she ends up stripping the fuzzy part off the outside of the ball and then chewing the rubber stuff underneath into little icky pieces, often in mama and daddy's bed.  So Lucy has to improvise with other ball-like things to amuse herself when the parents take the balls away.

(Not really a ball, but it is round so Lucy enjoys it just the same.)

A couple of times, we've gotten to go to a ball game.  My human cousin Matt plays baseball in college and we've attended his games in the past.  We were mostly interested in the shade and the smells and people and not so interested in the balls, but we are always up for an outing!

Sometimes the minor league baseball team in Tulsa has "Dog Days" when dogs are actually allowed in the stadium to watch real professionals play ball.  Mama won't let us go to that; she says I'd be bothering everyone instead of watching the game.  That's just rude; I don't bother anyone--everyone is always happy to visit with me.

You know the kind of balls I really like?  Meat balls.  Mama makes those sometimes and they are SO tasty.  If I turn on my charm and give her my cutest head tilt with moist eyes, she'll usually cave and give me a meat ball or two.  Hmmm...maybe that's how I put on weight?

Daddy likes a ball team called the Cleveland Browns; they have a section of their stadium called the Dawg Pound.  I like how they combine ball and dogs, even if they can't spell D-O-G.  I think they will be my favorite team too. Daddy is sitting on the couch right now watching football; he says it's the start of the new season.  I think I'll go lie down with him and watch a little.  Maybe later, mama will make meatballs.   

That's all for this time.  Take care of yourselves and watch out for flying balls.

Til next time,

Lily the Corgi

(Waiting for Cohen to throw some blocks for us to fetch.)