Who's a Winner?

I DID IT! I passed my Canine Good Citizen test! I KNEW I could! Mom says this is just the beginning for me, but for now I'd like to take a break from school I think. I'd still like to go out a lot and see people, but I need a break from the rigors of academia, just for a few weeks.

I should catch you up on my life lately, and then tell you all about test day!
It has been raining a LOT, almost every day. I am very sick of rain.

Rain means that we don't go out as much, even though mom bought me that dumb raincoat and said we'd go out anyway. I still get to go places in town most of the time.

But mostly we lay around and wait for it to stop raining. It's very boring. Mom has lots of things to do inside. But we don't. Sometimes mom goes out alone. I'd rather be taken along.
I visit the yarn store every week, and last week I got to go to a new store. It is called Good for the Soles, and they sold mom these cool new shoes she has. She had a question about her shoes, and Jill and Tim let me come right into the store! I was very good. I laid down next to mom, and even walked with her when we were testing out the shoes. The shoes are called minimalist shoes. I don't wear shoes, so I don't know what all the fuss is about. Mom doesn't wear shoes much either. I guess these shoes are sort of like being barefoot, which seems to make mom happy. Anyway, I liked Jill and Tim a lot and I hope we go back there some time. I got to ride with mom to take Nana for errands, and this time I got to sit in the back with my crate instead of being stuck in front with Nana. I like it in back better, I think. I can go in my crate and lay down, or I can stand in the middle between the seats and watch traffic. I don't wear my harness, but my leash is bucked into a seat belt for safety.
Last weekend mom was gone a LOT. On Saturday Girl and Gerbil came and got her and took her away for HOURS. It was for a thing called a bridal shower for Shannon. I have met Shannon, and I liked her, but I don't see why she needed people to give her a shower. Mom gives me a shower and there's no audience, and no presents. Well, except for a piece of kibble if I am good. Anyway, mom was gone for HOURS. Then on Sunday she took off without me again - this time to teach a knitting class. This really made me mad. She came home smelling JUST LIKE the YARN STORE. I do not understand why I did not get to go! Monday she went away and bought a new refrigerator and left me here.
When mom comes home after days like this I prefer it if she sits in her chair and knits, or lays down with me on the couch.

I don't really like it if she decides she has "things to do" that don't involve me. Sometimes I get very angry. Sometimes, to let mom know that I am angry, I do bad stuff.
Someone named Kimberly, who is called somebunnyslove by some people, was coming to see mom today, so yesterday and this morning mom was all about chores and cleaning. She cleaned inside of the house. She cleaned part of the barn. None of this had anything to do with me. So this morning, when she dropped some yarn while she was tidying up and "putting things in their right place", I stole it.
And I made sure she knew I was not happy with her.

It turns out the yarn I took is not just any yarn. It is called Artyarns Cashmere Glitter, and it is very expensive. Mom used it for a design, and this was a leftover ball. "...almost a whole SKEIN!" is what mom yelled when she caught me. I didn't much care. I just went on with my business. Serves her right. She goes off without me all weekend, and again on Monday, and then she cleans and tidies and is out in the bar on Tuesday. But she seemed pretty angry about this yarn.
She tried to fix the yarn before the Kimberly girl came. That just meant she was ignoring me even more. I got kind of pouty. This was supposed to make her notice me MORE, not ignore me so she could fix the yarn! Finally she gave up on the yarn, but she still didn't talk much to me.
Kimberly came and I met her and she was nice to me. I liked her. She and mom sat at the table, which was also NOT ABOUT ME. I whined and paced and said I needed to pee, when really I didn't need to that much. I just wanted attention. Maybe I should have been nicer to them. Because look what Kimberly did!

She FIXED my mess. In the end she made a nice neat ball of yarn out of it! Mom was MUCH happier after that.
But then mom LEFT again! She said she had an interview with Auntie Kathy, which makes no sense to me. We see Aunt Kathy almost every week! What made today different? Mom said it was "radio". Then she changed her story and said I could not come along because I was grounded for killing the yarn. I think she lied. I think the radio place doesn't like dogs. I got left behind AGAIN!
When mom came home from the radio thing I went out and went potty and helped her do chores. She said we would go for a walk, but then she didn't take me and didn't take me and didn't take me, and then all of a sudden it was 5:30 and dad was home, and it was almost time to leave for school. Mom said we would go early and take a walk around town before my big test. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but it was alright.
Here's what I saw on my walk:
First I saw a very big, very loud truck that scared me.
Next I saw people going to eat at Hope and Olive. The lady said I was very well behaved.
I laid down on Main Street, and mom made me do a couple of turns, left and right.
I saw a man who said I was a fox.
Then I saw a lady on Main Street pushing a little shopping cart just like the one at school and the one Nana has. I stopped and sat down so she could bend over and pet me. She said I was very handsome, which I am, and she rubbed my ears and said they were soft. Next I saw a shifty guy who made me nervous, and mom said she agreed, he made her nervous too.
Then we went down Bank Row, and I saw a strange dog at MagPie. I sniffed the air, but didn't even try to stop to say hello.
I had to cross the street in front of Village Pizza. We walked back up Bank Row by the Town Hall. There was a loud funny-acting lady with a cigarette and a big bright bag on a bench there. She asked if she could pet me, so mom brought me over and she petted me. I sat and did not jump up. The lady acted very funny and kind of scared me, but I sat. Next we walked past a group of young people that mom called "sketchy", but they liked me and I wagged and was polite anyway. I sat and stayed in front of a place mom called Clark's even when a motorcycle stopped to let us cross. I HATE motorcycles, but I went anyway and was not afraid. I jumped a little when the motorcycle drove away. We crossed Federal Street behind another sketchy young person - there's a lot of them in Greenfield now, mom says. We walked to the library and crossed the street again and I got to head back to the car and dog school. I had to lay down on Hope Street outside of the church where people were going in and coming out for some kind of meeting. I had to see that loud truck again, and it did not scare me as much, but I also didn't want mom getting any ideas about laying down in front of it, so I encouraged her to walk faster. We got back to school and mom gave me a drink and let me rest for a while.
All along the walk I had to stop at every intersection. Mom would say "halt", and I would sit down and wait until she said forward. We practiced some turns, and some laying down and sitting.
The reason why I am telling you all of this is because when we got back to the car mom patted my head and said something really, really important. She said "You are an amazingly good boy, and even if you don't pass, you are still the BEST canine citizen in the whole world. It's OK with me if this test doesn't go well, because I KNOW you are a Canine Good Citizen!" That made me feel good.
We went inside before testing time and mom did some paperwork. I was a little nervous. There were a lot of dogs. The new CGC class, and the beginner class and a puppy kindergarten were all there. That is a LOT of dog smell. When the classes were over, I got to take my test again. I had some bumpy spots, I wasn't perfect, but I did what mattered most, and I passed!
Tomorrow strange men are coming to deliver the new refrigerator. And then on Friday I get to go to the yarn store and tell EVERYONE that I PASSED!
I remember when I came here I was scared. I didn't need to be. This is right where I belong - with a mom who loves me and believes in me, even when I am not perfect. So who's a winner now? ME!

See you soon!

Epic Fail.

Uncle Steve calls me "EF" (that means Epic Fail) and dad referred to my class last night as GED Prep. I don't think this is a compliment. Mom got mad and said she had a GED, and a college degree, and what did dad mean, exactly? Dad looked kind of worried for his safety after that. That made me feel a little better.
Mom has made me do a ton of things since my bad night. We go into town a lot more. I have to lay down all the time, and especially in front of distractions. I have to lay down a lot. Last night I had a class that mom said would decide whether I could be retested any time soon or not. I tried my best. It was really hard. There was a German Shepherd who barked at me. He still has his boy-bits, like me, but I think he may be older than I am. He ignored most of the other dogs and barked at me all during class. I tried really hard to be good, and I was good, mostly. I had a couple of moments. It is hard to be good when someone is trying to get you to respond to them. There was also a Rottweiler, a pitbull, and two Old English Sheepdogs, two children, and new strange people. They all seemed much nicer than the shepherd. I did ok, mom said. Not perfect, not horrible. She says I can try the test again, but if I fail I have to go back into the class with the shepherd. I hope I pass.
I definitely have a different attitude about things now. Mom says that she thinks the bigger my testicles get the smaller my brain gets. I don't know if that's true. I do know that I feel different now. I feel something I don't really understand. Mom says it's called hormones and I'd better get used to it.
We went to the vet last week, not for me but to get medicine for Boo. He has arthritis in his hips and mm gives him a shot once a week to help. it helps a lot. Maybe too much, because now he wants to steal all my stuff. Before he didn't care what I had, he just laid around and sighed and panted a lot. I got on the scale. I weigh 23 pounds.
We went for a walk this week in New Hampshire. I got a tick. The last tick I had was actually biting me. This one was just walking on my leg. Mom does not like ticks, I guess. She ground it up with two rocks into tiny pieces and all it did was walk on me. Mom has issues!
Before our walk mom went shopping at two stores and left me in the car. It was raining and dark and I had my crate and the windows were open. Mom went very fast. It was not hot. Mom says that soon we won't be able to do that because it will be summer. It bothers me that I can't go in ALL stores! I like being with mom on errand day. After mom did her errands we went to Petco. First we walked around the big building where Petco and some other stores are. It's in a city with noise and cars and people and dogs. Mom made me lay down right there next to the city noise and traffic. Then inside Petco she made me lay down in front of a lady with three little kids and a shopping cart. I had to stay until they went by.
I do think mom would be easier on me if I had just done what I was supposed to during that stupid test. I don't know if I like hormones very much if they make me do stupid things.

I did well and mom let me pick two toys out of the clearance bin. I fell asleep on them as soon as we were in the car. Shopping is very hard work!

Crime Doesn't Pay

And neither does messing with mom. Since my decision to NOT lay down during my CGC test, here's what's been going on.

Mom makes me lay down with Boo.

She makes me lay down in the powder room when I follow her in.

She makes me lay down in the kitchen when I follow her there, too.

She makes me lay down next to her chair when she's working.

I even laid down under the table at The Green Bean in Northampton.
There's a bunch of other places too. All day long, all I hear is down, down, down. Sometimes she gives me a treat, most of the time she does not. It's like when I was little and she was teaching me all of these things. She thinks I am STUPID and a BABY and don't know how to lay down!
Maybe I made a mistake. I don't think I am very happy with the outcome of messing with mom.

I hope she doesn't make me repeat the whole class again. I could have passed. I just didn't want to!

HAH! I WIN!

Remember when I said I had a trick or two up my sleeve? Well I did! I totally failed that dumb test! TAKE THAT MOM! I am seven months old and I do NOT have to do what you say! So there!
I don't get why she won't give me my chicken gizzard now. She's looking kind of annoyed at me. Maybe I should reconsider and work on being good? I should think about that. But for now I am enjoying being bad. It's FUN!

Banned? Never!

Mom has been so busy with her new book coming out that she has no time to help me blog.
I have been up to a lot lately. We were going for long walks every other day around the pond, but then the mom got worried about the Rottwielers. Apparently they are loose in the woods while their person works. Apparently they don't like other dogs. When they drove past our house and I was walking on the road with mom, they tried to eat the windows to get at me. I totally could take them. Mom is being silly. So we haven't walked for a few days, first because of the dogs and second because mom killed a whole bunch of chickens this weekend and was "too busy". As if anyone could be too busy for me! I like it when she kills chickens, though. I get livers and hearts and things as treats sometimes. I want to kill my own chickens, but mom says no. I had one the other day, but it was already dead. It still had feathers, and it was a nice bite-size. Mom had set it down on top of a grain bin, and I got it! She thought I was too far away on my dog park. Can you believe she has a dog park in the barn?? The door is closed. I am not going anywhere. And she has a HOOK she sticks my leash on. She says it is so I cannot get into trouble. But I find trouble anyway. I shook that dead baby chicken as hard as I could. Mom and dad were working and at first no one knew what I had done. Then mom figured it out and I got in BIG trouble.
Every morning I help mom with the chickens. She opens the door and I sit and watch them come out. I am not allowed to move. I have to sit very still and not chase the chickens. It is VERY hard work. Owen gets to just wander around and sniff stuff while all of this is going on. He doesn't even wear a leash; he could kill a chicken, and he DOESN'T! He's kind of dumb I think.

Tomorrow is my Canine Good Citizen test. I will pass because I am me. Mom says that is not enough. Today we went to the yarn store for a last practice before the test. She told me to lay down and I said no. She told me again, and I still said no. We did that for a while. She made me, and I stayed down, but I was mad. We sold some fresh chickens at the yarn store, and then we delivered some to a school, the same school that hatched out baby chicks last month for mom. That was fun. Then we went to The Arbors to visit Nana. There was a lady in the lobby with Nana. I went to see her and she said "down" and pointed at the floor, and I laid down like I had known her forever. I hope mom gets the point. She is not the boss of ME! I will show her. Wait till tomorrow night! I have a BIG PLAN! Mom will learn!
Girl has her own place now, so I am taking her room. Mom calls it a guest room, but every night I go in and sniff everything to make sure it is where I left it, since it's MY room now. After I check my room I go with mom into the bathroom. Every night I get my teeth brushed. I really like it now, and if mom forgets I stand in front of the sink and whine.

Mom does a very good job on my teeth, and then she does hers. While she brushes her teeth I get to go into the bedroom and play with dad. The other night Mel got into the bedroom before me - usually he is not in the bedroom EVER. I tried to chase him out, but the door was closed. He ran under the bed, and I chased him under it. Dad let Mel out, but I kept going under the bed in a big circle; door, bed, door, bed, over and over. I go under on dad's side and pop out on mom's side, and then run to the door. It is SO much fun! Mom laughed at me, but I think really it was with me.
On Saturday I made a new... well maybe it is a friend. Really I am not sure what it is. It's small. Very small. And it smells very funny. Sometimes it pees when it walks. It is, mom says, 4 weeks old, and part Beagle. It lives with my "brother" Eric and his fiance Rachel and my nephew Aidan.

Mom says that Jack, this small thing, will be my friend when he is bigger.
If we are going to be friends, there need to be some ground rules. Actually, only one rule.

MINE!

I will try to get mom to let me post about how I do on my test tomorrow. I am SO going to mess with mom! Stay tuned!

Falling Behind

Nana is sometimes sick now and that takes a lot of mom's time so I don't get to blog as often as I would like lately.

We have more baby chickens now, and I want to eat them all.

I think it is very unfair for them to be RIGHT there and me to be a hunting dog by nature, and not be allowed to hunt them all.
We had a very busy Wenesday last week and I got to do a lot of things and go to a lot of places. In the morning we went for a woods walk.

I have decided that I like going into the woods with mom maybe even better than the yarn store or school or visiting nana at The Arbors.
We found a tree down across the road. I was all for turning back, but mom said no.

We went around it and kept on our path. That day I saw a waterfall, a lot of birds, and I tried to bring home a stick. Mom says we have sticks at home.
After that we went to the yarn store just to buy yarn, and then we went to the Arbors to see Nana and April. April is moving to Texas!

I was asleep on the floor when this picture was taken. It was a really busy day!

Mom's new book came from the publisher and I helped by carefully sniffing each box to make sure it was safe.

Dad just carried them. I think my job is more important. Anyone can carry things, but only I can smell for safety!
After the books came inside, I got to play rough with dad. I love playing rough with dad.

He is very good at playing. We play fetch almost every morning and every evening, and then sometimes we get to wrestle and something mom calls "tussle".
It is FUN whatever it's called!

It is a good way for me to get out my energy, and I have a lot of energy.

School this week went very well. Whenever I have a problem it is usually mom's fault. She's working me with no treats now because I cannot have any for my test. I am not sure why people would obey when there's no food, but I am trying. It would be a lot easier if there was food! Mom thinks if I have a good night on test night, I will pass. She says if I have a bad night or if the train comes, there's no way. I'll show her.

We went for a walk the other day while nana was doing some shopping. It was an in town walk and there was a lot of noise and chaos. Mom made me heel, and I did some turns and halting and stuff and I stayed right by her and my leash was loose almost the whole time!

I was SO tired after just a short time in town that I crashed right on the seat next to mom with my head still up.

My friend Gail is also called the Kangaroo Dyer and she dyes yarn. She has dyed a color that look just like me!

It will be available soon from Webs and I will post all of the information here when it's ready. I hope it's named after me. I love Gail a lot, and not just because she dyed yarn that looks like me. It's exciting!!

This week another one of my brothers, the ones without fur, came to visit and cut down trees outside. I did not like the chainsaw at first. it took me a while to get used to it, but now I don't mind so much. I still do not like it when trees fall at all, but I am not barking as loudly when they do.

Mel and I play together a lot now.

For a while mom thought I was chasing him and tormenting him.

The other day he actually did stuff in front of her, so now she knows it is not my fault. Mel teases me all the time.

He teases me to get my attention, and then he sits in the chair and bats at my head and tries to get me in trouble. It's a good thing I like him or I would think he's not very nice!

Dog school tomorrow, the last class before our big test next week. We are going to go for a walk in town, which will be fun now that I am more used to being in town. Wish me luck! I think we are going on Main Street where there are even more cars than I am used to!

A Week Behind

Monday (last) - Today I sneaked down into the basement around the gate again. Mom was on the phone having an important call with Nana and she could not come and get me. I stole Boo's bone and got up on the couch with it.

Sometimes he snaps at me and other times he does not. When he snaps at me he gets in trouble, and I get the bone taken away. When he does not snap at me, I get the bone taken away. I don't care. I am still going to steal it every chance I get.

Tuesday - We did not do a lot of school practice today. Mom thinks I do better if I have a day where I don't have to work a lot just before a day where there's a lot of work. She may be right. We did a little bit of the "off" and "stay" stuff around the house and in the barn. I don't like waiting while mom fills the waterers for the birds. She makes me sit and stay. The barn door is open, there are chickens everywhere, and I have to just SIT there like a lump and not chase them and EAT them. Not a lot of fun for me.

Wednesday - Grandpa came to visit and I got to get on the dining room table and be rubbed and lay down and socialize with him and mom. I had to "leave it" the (fresh from the oven and still warm!) banana muffin and the coffee mugs.

That was hard work, but I did it. I think if it had been fish I would not have done so well. A while after Grandpa left, Mom put me in my crate in the afternoon and LEFT ME. When she went to brush her teeth I cried a lot, not a whine or a bark, but a long, low howl. She did not buy it. She left me in my crate and walked right out the door. In fact she actually said to me "You're fine", just like that! I was NOT fine. I was VERY upset. Mom was gone for hours. Two of them. She had a meeting and she said dogs were not allowed. I don't believe her. I think she made up that part so she could go alone. When she got back I was glad to see her, and we hung out and played for a while. After dinner we went to dog school and I did well I think. Mom is trying not to give me any treats during school now because she can't give me any during my test. She only gives me treats at home about every 6th or 7th time that I do something. Mostly I do stuff anyway and hope she will give me things later. I had some trouble "staying" when there was a distraction. Amanda rolled a ball and made noise while I was in a sit-stay. I jumped right up to play and then I could not take my eyes OFF of Amanda for a long time. I kept hoping there would be more BALL! I love balls. School is usually all work, but a BALL is NOT WORK! Mom says we need to work on that so she is hoping that people will help tomorrow at Webs when we visit Friday.

Thursday - This is a slacker day. Mom seems to like taking a day off now and then, which I find very dull. She finds things for me to do, though - we go for a walk or we play a lot of ball. I think something bad happened to a baby chicken. Mom says now there are only 50 meat birds. I asked for the broken one after it was dead, but mom said no. Not fun since now I LOVE chicken! Mostly today is knitting and practicing things from school and watching movies. Mom says she is working all weekend so she is taking her weekend now.

Friday - In the morning we went for a jog in the woods. That was fun. I practiced heeling on the way home and I did well. I LOVE the woods! Then Mom left me home for errands. She said she had too many places to go that dogs can't visit. I was not happy. It made for a boring day. At night Toby and Kristen came. They are fun, and I like them. But everyone was loud and laughing and having a good time WITHOUT ME. I am not sure about that. We went to bed at MIDNIGHT!! I KNOW I did not like that!

Saturday - Dad took me for a short walk in the morning and when we got back mom was gone. She was gone ALL DAY. I am not sure how I feel about that. She was working at the yarn store. I want to go and work with her.

Sunday - I explained about how it would be great if I worked with her, but mom said no. She said there is a sign in the classroom that says "No dogs". Dad took me for a walk again but I wanted my mom. Dad watched a movie with me, and that helped, but i wanted MOM. I need to help her understand that she needs to stay home. She says she is not going to always stay home. I don't like it.

Monday - This morning we went for a jog in the woods again. We went farther than last time. There's a lot of up and down hills. On the downhills mom goes very slow and takes little steps; something about "shin splints", whatever that means. I have learned not to cross in front of mom, no matter what. She stepped on me once when I did. OW! We took a bath after. Well, we took them separately - mom first and then me. I am getting used to having my legs and belly washed. I kind of like it! I am GLAD mom was home all day today. Tonight I pulled a bottle cap off of a 2-liter bottle. I loved it!! Watch me here:


More soon, I promise!
Love -
Yoshi