Catching Up

I have another new crate for the car. Dad says this makes me spoiled but Mom says it means she is indecisive. I agree with her. It is smaller than my portable crate, but when we are in the car I am only in it for short periods of time. I fit in it, which is what matters. I still like my Port-A-Crate better. Mom does too and she says she should have bought another one of those instead of the one she got.

I lost more teeth this week. I also learned that I can drag my blanket around the floor and choose where to take a nap. I like to be right under mom's feet when she is in her chair.

On Wednesday when we went for our noon walk I met something new and scary.

Well, I thought it was scary, but then it curled up into a tiny ball and just stayed there. Mom says it's called a wooly-bear and it means spring is here. I think it's prickly and weird. Then Katie came to visit with Girl and Gerbil. Mom and Dad decided that they would go down into Dad's cave while Girl and Gerbil and Katie watched a movie in the living room. So far the only time I have been downstairs was when I sneaked down and pooped on the floor. Mom had me wear a leash and collar so I could not get into trouble. It was kind of boring.

There were some of my toys, and a couch I could share with mom, and Boo was really annoyed that I was there. The whole place smells like him, so I think he thinks it's HIS space. What he doesn't know is that everything is MINE.

My last beginner obedience class was Thursday night. I passed! We got to play games and I did mostly good. I had to wear a t-shirt, with my paws through the sleeves and everything. It felt sort of like my orange raincoat. I also had to sit while mom picked up cookies and put them into a bag; I could not eat them. That was hard. Then we did a game with recall where Amanda threw two handfuls of everyone's treats all mixed up into the air, and they landed all over the mats, right between me and where mom stands to call me back. Dad says that I never saw the treats, but Mom knows I did because she saw me start to drop my head. Then I decided I could wait, and I ran to Mom instead of eating all the treats. Mom was very happy with me. We also had to heel, and mom had to carry a glass of water in her leash-hand that she could not spill a drop out of. She didn't spill any, which means I did very well and did not pull once.

I went for a long walk with Mom on Friday afternoon, from our house all the way down to the main road. Two and a half miles, and I was not even worn out. Mom worked all day and she was cranky and said she needed air, so off we went, down the hill past the brook which is very big and loud, past the neighbors and the trees and near where all the deer walk. I saw so many new things and smelled so many new smells. There were other dogs, some of them loose, and one of them followed me and was not nice about it. There are so many more houses down there!

Where we live there are hardly any houses or people, but down in the neighborhood there's kids and cars and bicycles and all kinds of new things. Then we got into the car with Dad and I crashed out, right there on mom's lap.

In fact, sometimes when we go to get in the car I am fussy, but this time I jumped right up. I have never been so glad to see the car and Dad!

Today is Saturday and it has been a very quiet day. Mom and Dad took me to the Farmer's Exchange for seeds and things, but then they left me in the car (boring!) in my crate (double boring!). I waited very patiently. We went to a place called Greenfield's next, and I stayed in the car with Dad while Mom went inside for vegetables and things. I have gotten very good at waiting quietly for Mom when she leaves me. At home we practiced heeling in the house without a leash or a collar. Mom is improving. Sometimes she forgets that she needs to talk to me more. She also taught me a new thing that I did not like at first... it's called "Leave It", and it means that if she drops something - anything, even like a whole piece of chicken - I cannot touch it. I have to wait until she either picks it up or lets me have it. THAT is difficult. I try using my sad face...

but it does not work. Mom's tough.

They're discussing a bath again, maybe tomorrow Mom says. It is going to be cold but she says I stink so it's time. She even said that if it was too cold she would light a fire and make me stay in the living room.

I saw this in the newspaper the other day.

It made mom get quiet and kind of sad. I think it means something bad has happened. That Shiba does not look happy, and the man looks funny with that mask. Mom says that there is a group working to help out the animals in Japan where this picture was taken. She found an article about it, too. She says that she loves groups like the Red Cross and appreciates and supports what they do for people when there is a disaster, and she would never say that a Shiba like this one should come before a person (which made me kind of angry at her, but I forgive her because I love her). But she said that people would not be human if they did not remember and help their animals, too. She said it's a responsibility. That made me happy! I am sad that there are other dogs in Japan that need help. But I am glad that there are groups to help them.