Spring you pulled a foolie on me

First I probably have to educate you on what a FOOLIE is. When dad throws sticks for me to swim and get in the pond, I don't like to bring them back to him. He gave them to me, so they are mine all mine. Well, even in a yard with as many trees as we have sometimes a good throwing stick is hard to find. It's also complicated because when dad is looking for good sticks, I like to run ahead and find them first.

I'm trying to give you enough background so you don't think dad is just plain mean. But I do have to take some of the blame for seriously reducing the stick population and stealing them before he can get them. So to prolong the throwing and swimming fun, dad tricks me. He pretends like he is throwing the stick and I start running and launch into the pond, only to find he just put it behind his back. This picture says it all. You can almost see me down the incline by the water trying to find the #@*! stick.

So in my family we call that a FOOLIE. To use it in a sentence, "Daddy pulled a foolie on Yoda." As I said, it would be mean if it wasn't my own darn fault. I just can't help my stick compulsion. I need a 12 step program. [Mom loves this picture so much she uses it on her phone for when daddy calls her - always gives her a chuckle.]

To finally get to what this post is about, it seems that Spring did a foolie on all of us in Furrginia and maybe some of you in the rest of the country. It has been nice and warm mostly these last couple weeks and the calendar said it was spring last Monday. But yesterday some folks had snow in Furrginia (not us) and the rest of us had it really cold. Apparently the foolie even got the building mom works in because they have no heat today.

So I am announcing officially: SPRING you better stop with the foolie and give us the warm weather back right now, or ELSE!

Anipal Photo Hunt #16: My 2nd Job

When I read the first two posts from this photo hunt theme on 2nd jobs I felt like I was a useless cog in society. My friends were doing something to help other anipals or people and here I am a happy go lucky dog having fun 24/7. Sure I have to take care of my humans - waking them up in the morning, fetching the TV remote, protecting the cats from the vacuum, getting the humans outside to exercise but the rest of the time I'm just playing and sleeping. So I have been moping around, refusing to blog.

Mom tried to make me feel better. She said I was only 2 and still a little too rambunctious to do good works in a public setting. After all most people don't appreciate a big dog that gets in their face and starts slurping hard enough to lick off some skin (although I met a nice lady at the V-E-T the other day who loved my smooches).

She also pointed out how valuable my stick patrol activities are in our yard. We have lots and lots of trees and those sticks are raining down every time the wind blows a least little bit. I also get the sticks out of the pond.

One other job I would really love (but mom and dad won't let me) is cleaning out the litter box. They keep a gate that blocks me out of the bathroom where the litter box is. The other day dad had it up just a little too high and he caught me slithered underneath it. I could get half my body in there and that was enough the reach the box and do some selective scooping. Unfortunately, extracting myself from that position knocked the gate down so I was caught. Sadly dad did not have his camera handy to capture this particular exploit. He was probably laughing too hard to focus anyway. Maybe I can hire myself out for the litter box job. I know humans hate that work!

Finally, mom says she thinks making people who read my blog laugh or even just smile is a good job to have. I hope I do that!

I am hoping my other pals will share their second jobs on this Anipal Photo Hunt. Just click the button below for information on how to join in!

Tragic Toy Loss

Dad went to the beach with a friend Sunday. I guess that red stuff on his back he got the other day was not enough to convince him it was a bad idea. Mom was very thoughtful not saying too many times "I told you to make sure you put sunscreen on" and she put rubbing alcohol and moisturizer on the red stuff. This time he wore a shirt.

I wanted to play so I pestered mom until she agreed to take me outside. I love mom but she is just not as good throwing sticks as dad. In fact, she had the idea that she could read her book and I would play by myself. Hah! Since I have destroyed most of the stick population in the back yard, we brought my Chewber outside. Mom tossed the Chewber but I ignored it and played with the sticks until they were just tiny pieces. Mom does not throw very well so she was lucky if she even got one in the water. Eventually I started playing with the Chewber. Trust me, mom cannot throw like the man in this video although she got the Chewber in the water better than the small sticks.

I love the Chewber since it is way easier to pick up than a frisbee, way more durable (I have had this a year and not a single hole and it tugs good) and it doubles as a water bowl. But after a number of tosses back and forth the Chewber got a little muddy and the last time it sunk. Mom is sure if she had thrown it better it would not have sunk. I looked for it in the water for a long time - 20 minutes according to mom. I even tried tapping my paw in the water to make it float up. Mom was amazed I tried to find it for so long since normally I give up when I can't find sticks. The water in our pond is pretty cloudy so trying to see it was pretty impossible.

Mom promised she would buy me a new one.