The Puppy Express!!

I have a new Job!

Matthew is training me to be a Messenger Delivery Dog. He says that I am a Natural because I am already so good at finding people! He says that it will be just like the Pony Express except it will really be the Puppy Express!

Here we are getting ready for a delivery. Matthew is attaching a note to my collar for me to deliver to Mommy. She is upstairs and me and Matthew are downstairs. Mommy does not like it when Matthew stands at the bottom of the steps and hollers up to her, so now we can send her a note instead!

It's a loooong way up for a pup, but I know I can make it. I just hope that I don't encounter any hostile Indians along the way like they did on the Pony Express.

Just a few more steps and my mission will be accomplished.

Hooray for The Puppy Express!

The Happiest Day Of My Whole Entire Life!!!!

March 24, 2009 was the happiest day of my whole entire life!!! That is the day that my new big brother came to live with us. His name is Matthew and he is a Teenager. He came to visit us in January when it was still really cold outside. Then he went away and I wished and wished and wished that he would come back to visit us again. Instead, he came back to stay FOREVER!!!!!! That's what he says, anyway- he tells Mommy "Auntie (that's what he calls her) I am going to live in your house and eat all of your food for the rest of my life"!! Yaaayyyy!!!

(He DOES eat a lot- LOTS more than me).

I just love kids and I always wanted one to play with. Matthew plays with me and sometimes he takes me for walks. Sometimes the other dogs come with us, too. Matthew has his own room upstairs and I just follow him around all day long. I go up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs just to see what he is doing.

This is Matthew and me in our kitchen. You can see how I like to get really close to him and sit in his lap and he doesn't even care! We are going to have so much FUN now that Matthew is here!

Spatial Issues

Mommy says I have spatial issues. I don't know what that means, exactly, but I think it has something to do with me laying down on top of Digit. Digit doesn't really mind, though, because he is like a little gray dog and he likes to be part of our pack.

Snow Nose

It gets really, really cold here in Minnesota in the winter time. Sometimes when I go outside to play I get snow on my nose. This day it was so cold that even after I came back inside it took awhile for the snow on my nose to melt! Sometimes my nose turns all pink instead of black and it takes a long time for it to be black again.

Mommy And Me Make Our Debut!!!

Me and Mommy went on another adventure in January. We drove all the way back down to The Cities to dog show together for the first time! We left home on Friday even though the dog showing wasn't until Saturday. Mommy was worried that I might get carsick again and guess what? I did! But not as bad as the last time. Mommy did not feed me my supper until after the long drive, so even though my tummy hurt a little bit I did not throw up.

On Saturday when we dog showed we won Reserve Winner's Dog! Mommy was very nervous but we both did a good job anyway. Mommy said that it was okay that we did not win Best In Show because the dog that won Winner's Dog was very nice, too, and he was a lot older than me and has more dog showing experience. Mommy said we did GREAT for our first time dog showing together and she was very proud of me.

We did not do so good on Sunday because Mommy got too nervous and forgot what she was supposed to do. But that was okay because it was the very last day of pheasant hunting season and since we did not win at the dog show, we left really early so that we could get back home in time to go on our last hunt. But then, there was a horrible snow storm all the way home and it was really late and really, really cold by the time we got home so we did not hunt anyway. Too bad.

A Cold Morning

On cold mornings Mommy tucks us dogs back in after she gets up. Here I am with Argos, Digit, and Tsavo, all tucked in with our blankets.

Digit Likes To Cuddle Too!

Our cat Digit likes to cuddle, too. Here he is with me and Argos.

Me And Argos In The Pup Tent

Argos has been sleeping with me in the Pup Tent. I am happy to have company and now I have someone to cuddle with.

Priorities

This picture doesn't really have much to do with me, but it shows you what our priorities are around here. You can see in the picture that we don't have new siding on our greenhouse walls yet, but we took the time to build a brand new cat tower for Casey, Digit, and Andy. Daddy made a hole in the living room wall and then put a cat door in so that the cats can go right through the wall whenever they want to go into their tower. Lucky cats- no more hanging around waiting for someone with opposable thumbs to come along and open the door for them. I wish we had a doggie door for us dogs!

Fun Match

I don't have a picture to go with this post, so I'll just have to tell about what me and Mommy did. We drove down to The Cities to enter a fun match. That is like a dog show, but it is just for practice and you don't get any ribbons or trophies. Mommy said we were warming up for the real dog show in January. I thought we needed a LOT of warming up because at the time, it was 40 degrees below zero here!!!!

Anyway, we were driving down there when all of a sudden I didn't feel so good. Then Mommy stopped to put gas in the van and I threw up! Then I felt a little better, but not much. Mommy didn't even know that I threw up until we got to the place and she came to get me out of my crate. She wondered if we should just go home, but since I felt a little better we decided to stay.

I won first place in the RR class and got a really cool stuffed dog toy with a squeaker in it. Then I won first place in the Hound Group and I got another squeaky toy! I LIKE Fun Matches! Toys are so much better than ribbons and trophies.

After the Group class we took a lunch break. I went into my crate and fell asleep. When it was time for Best In Show, Mommy came to get me but I was all groggy and my tummy hurt and I did not want to do any more dog showing. But since I was awake then I went ahead and tried my best. We did not win BIS. Then we went home. The end.

No Room For Puppies

It is cold and I am wearing my jacket inside the house to keep warm. I want to go sleep in my crate but it is so full of kittens that there isn't even enough room left for me. sigh.

Anyone want to adopt a foster kitten?

Believe It Or Not

Okay, believe it or not, I can drink out of milk jugs. Mommy uses them to bring in unfiltered water for her plants in the greenhouse. She sets the jugs next to my heating vent so the water can warm up before she waters the plants. I am so very clever that I figured out how to get the water out of them by sticking my lizard tongue into the opening. Then I reach WAAAYYY down into the jug till I get the water, and somehow I lap it up just like drinking from my water bowl.

If you look closely at the picture you can see my pink tongue just below the red plastic thing on the neck of the jug. I'm lucky that I am such a smart puppy- I will never have to worry about getting thirsty if my bowl is empty!

Me And Argos, Again

I told you me and Argos are pals. Here we are sharing a tiny little patch of sunlight on a winter afternoon.

Three's A Crowd

Now Socks wants to share the heating vent too. I hope we don't get any more foster kittens- it's getting crowded in here!

Tigger Likes It Too!

Here I am sharing my heating vent with our foster kitten, Tigger. He likes to get toasty warm, too.

Winter In Minnesota

Where we live in Minnesota it gets very cold in the winter time. We live in a very old farm house which isn't even haunted because it is too cold for ghosts. Brrrr.

Luckily I discovered this heating vent in the floor next to my dog bed. It is the ONLY heat vent in our entire house. I like to lie down right on top of it till I get toasty warm. Then I get up and turn around and get my other side toasty. Good thing I found this!

Gophers!!!!

I discovered something new today while we were out walking around the farm.

We have these little mounds of dirt all over the place, especially in our hay fields and our garden. I never knew it before, but those dirt mounds are made by furry little pocket gophers who live under the ground and make tunnels. They push the dirt up to the surface to get it out of the tunnels.

Daddy and Mommy don't like gophers cause they say that the mounds of dirt wreck the farm equipment. I am going to try to catch some gophers so they won't wreck Daddy's haybine anymore! Maybe I can dig down and find one!

Playing With My Brother Argos

Me and Argos are the best pals. We play all the time, inside and out. Mommy is upset with us right now because she just discovered that my throat is all covered with little scabs and we are going to a Fun Match soon and she says I am going to look AWFUL!!! The reason is that Argos has a broken tooth and he cuts me with it when he grabs me by the throat. It doesn't even hurt, and I never cry or anything, but he leaves my neck all raggedy. Mommy tried some new collars on me to try to protect my neck but they only help if she puts three of them on me all at the same time. She says she is going to get me a wide hunting dog collar as soon as she finds one for me.

Here are some pictures of ME getting ARGOS' neck for a change, except that I don't cut him on his throat when I do it.

Walking On Water

Not Really!


Here I am walking on top of the creek, but you can tell the water is frozen under the snow, otherwise I would be all wet.


One day, me and Mommy DID fall through the ice and it was REALLY, REALLY, COLD. But Mommy did not take a picture of that.

Getting Ready For The Dog Show!

My friends Art Brown and Barbara Sawyer-Brown sent Mommy a movie about dog show handling so that she could learn how to do her job when we go dog showing. One day she was watching it and I decided to watch it too. Now we BOTH will know what to do when we go to the show!

Daddy Makes Me Be Mean!

Just kidding!

It LOOKS like Daddy is trying to make me be mean, but really what he is doing is helping me practice showing my teeth to the judge when I go to a dog show. We used to practice this a lot when I was little, but then I was so good at it that Mommy slacked off. Since I will be going to a Fun Match soon she decided that it was time to practice some more in case I had forgotten how to do it.

Pup Tent

Ever since I got to be too big a puppy to sleep in my crate I have been sleeping in my ex-pen. I like it 'cause it's nice and big and I can stretch out my loooong legs as much as I like. Or, I can curl up into a tiny little ball if I want. But after it was winter I started waking up in the middle of the night. Mommy thought maybe I had to go out to potty, but I never do that during the night anymore since I got to be a big hunting dog. Mommy kept trying to figure out what was wrong. I tried to tell her but she didn't understand, till one day she crawled into my ex-pen with me and lay down next to me. That's when she discovered that a draft was coming in from the door next to my ex-pen. She told Daddy that it was too cold for me on the floor.

Daddy told Mommy and me about a dog that he had when he was a little boy. That dog was named Fifi and she had a kind of tent that she liked to crawl into when she wanted to go to sleep. Daddy thought and thought and thought until he had an idea- he would make ME a tent, right in my ex-pen. So Mommy got my blanket with the cowboys and horses on it and Daddy fixed it right up so that I could crawl way back in it and be all warm and cozy. Mommy said it was a perfect Pup Tent for a PUP!

It is such a good tent that my cat brother Andy wanted to come and explore it with me.

My New Job as a Therapy Dog

By winter we had gotten all but three of the baby pigs. Those three just disappeared- one day they were there and the next day they were gone and we never saw them again. Mommy and Daddy figured that something must have gotten them- either poachers, or maybe, coyotes. Mommy hoped it was the coyotes, 'cause she does not like poachers!

It looked as if it was going to be a slow winter around our place, so Mommy decided to sign me up as a Therapy Dog. Our local pet rescue group, PAWS, was just starting a therapy dog program and they were looking for volunteers. We went to a meeting and found out that Mommy's job was to drive me to the nursing home, and my job was to entertain the residents and to cheer them up if they were sad. Since I like all people a whole lot, Mommy thought I would be perfect for the job, and since Mommy can drive our van so good I thought SHE'D be perfect, so we gladly accepted. Now we go visiting once every month on a Sunday afternoon. I do all my tricks for the people and they really seem to like that. I can shake hands (either paw!), sit, sit pretty (that's like sitting up and begging), lie down, and crawl. And of course, I can always find things but no one ever asks me to do that one.

Some of the people like to read books so we take them Mommy's favorite ones so they can read them, too. One lady can't talk and hardly moves at all, but I know she loves dogs like me 'cause she knows how to rub my ears just the way I like. Another lady has lots and lots of stuffed animals on her bed and I always want to play with them because stuffed animals are my absolute favorite toys. The lady says it's okay for me to get up on her bed to get the toys- she wants me to- but Mommy never lets me. She says she doesn't think the lady knows that my idea of playing is to rip the stuffed animals apart! Well, Mommy always gives me a new stuffed animal of my very own after so I guess it's okay if I can't play with them at the nursing home. sigh. The best part about being a Therapy Dog is that everyone is sooo nice to me and they all want to pet me and visit with me. I have a lot of fun visiting all of my new friends.

Baying Pigs All By Myself!

While everyone was hunting deer during deer season, the baby pigs were still running around all over the corn field, and now down along the creek and through the swamp as well. There were 10 of them, and they were sure making a mess over there! Mommy and Daddy knew they were going to have to shoot them, but they were still so little that there wasn't much point in doing it just yet. But then, during deer season, a kind of bad thing happened. One morning Daddy had to go to St. Cloud, a town about 100 miles away from our farm. Bill was still here visiting us, and he went out to his deer stand early in the morning. Mommy was in the house waiting for Daddy to come home. All of a sudden, Bill heard a gunshot and saw some men in our corn field. They were shooting the baby pigs! When Daddy got home he and Mommy were so mad that they called the game warden. By the time the game warden got here the men were gone, along with two of our pigs!

Mommy decided that it was time to shoot the rest of the pigs, so we started hunting them again. I could find them with no trouble, but they were SO fast that they always ran back into the corn before Mommy and Daddy could catch up with me to shoot them. We kept hunting and kept hunting and kept hunting.

Mommy finally decided to go out without me to see if she could find them and sneak up on them. One day she went out really early and drove over to the other side of the creek. She waited and waited, but no pigs showed up. Then Mommy decided to come home so she unloaded her guns to put in the van. As she was driving home, almost to the creek, she saw those darn pigs down in the ditch next to the road. She quick grabbed her 9mm handgun, loaded it up, and got out of the van. She shot two of the pigs before the rest ran off, but only one of them died right away. The other one was shot in the back leg and ran into the corn where Mommy could not find it. Deciding that she needed backup, Mommy drove home to get me and Daddy.


When we got back to the field Mommy took me down into the woods where she had last seen the wounded pig. She pointed at a drop of blood on the ground and told me to "Go Find". As usual, off I went, so fast that Mommy and Daddy could not keep up with me. I ran out of the woods and into the corn field and I tracked that pig down so fast! But then, where were Mommy and Daddy? Usually Mommy held onto my long check cord so that she could keep up with me, but when I was running around in the corn it was too hard because the line kept getting tangled up around the cornstalks, so this time she just turned me loose all by myself. What was I supposed to do now? I wasn't sure at all, so I just kept following that pig. I could hear Mommy and Daddy calling me, but I could not see them through the corn, and I fgured that they couldn't see me, either. I knew that it would take them forever to find me if I had to keep chasing after the pig, so finally I just stopped and bayed that pig up right there in the corn!

I made him stop and stay in one spot, and then I opened up my mouth and made the loudest sound, and it wasn't like when I bark at all. Mommy said later that she knew the moment I had that pig bayed just by the sound of my voice- she said it was such a beautiful sound to her ears, better even than music! Once I had bayed the pig up, I just stayed in one spot and kept hollering till Daddy came through the corn and found me. Then he waited till Mommy got to us and then he shot the pig.

Here I am with my first bayed pig, and I did it all by myself when I was barely 9 months old and no one even taught me how! Mommy said that it didn't even matter that it was a little pig because I still have plenty of hunting instinct and I know how to use it, and that's what counts!!!

More Bird Hunting, Deer Hunting, and New Clothes

After we got our first two pheasant birds, we kept hunting almost every day. Sometimes it was raining outside, and lots of RR's don't like to go outside in the rain 'cause they don't want to get wet. But Mommy played a trick on me when I was really little. Whenever it started to rain, she told me to go outside and play with Abby, my sister who is a Black Lab. Lab dogs LIKE to get wet and Abby always goes outside in the rain. Because I was so little and just wanted to play, I thought that was lots of fun and I got so used to the rain that now I don't even care if I get wet!

Sometimes we all hunted together, sometimes only Mommy and me went, and sometimes Mommy, Daddy, and me went. But no matter who brought the gun, I always flushed all the pheasant birds I could find. I got to be a very good hunting dog. In fact, I was a better hunter than Mommy OR Daddy because they hardly shot any of my birds. Mommy says they need to practice shooting some more before next hunting season! I hope they get as good as me! We still managed to bring some birds home though, and Mommy said that I did a GREAT job!

We hunted all the way until it was November, then all of a sudden, us dogs were not allowed to go outside anymore except to potty. Mommy said that was because it was deer season and she did not want us to get shot by some city deer hunter who can't tell a brown dog from a deer. Can you imagine anyone doing that? Mommy even got us some clothes to wear so that, hopefully, the hunters could tell that we weren't deer. Here is a picture of me wearing my blaze orange vest.

One day, Daddy's friend Bill came to hunt on our farm. Mommy and me were still hunting pheasants, but we went over to the other side of the creek and hunted far away from where Daddy and Bill were deer hunting. We did not get any birds that day (Mommy missed all the ones I flushed!), so finally we went back to the house so Mommy could fix supper.


Before she even had a chance to feed me my supper, Bill called in on the radio to say that he had shot a deer, but it ran into the woods and he wanted help finding it because it was going to be dark soon. Mommy said that we could go help, too! We headed out to the field where Bill was and waited for Daddy. Mommy put my tracking harness and my blaze orange vest on me and I was all ready to go. When Daddy got there, we walked over to where Bill said the deer was standing when he shot it. Daddy found a little tiny drop of blood on the grass, about the size of the eraser on the end of a pencil. He pointed to it, and told me to "Go Find". I remembered how I had found the sow from tracking her blood trail, so I just did the same thing again. I sniffed that drop of blood, and then I took off! I followed it all the way to the fenceline, but then I did not know what to do because the fence was too big for me to get over. When I was just a tiny little puppy, Mommy had taught me to crawl so that I could go under fences instead of jumping over them. My vet says jumping over is bad, especially for boy dogs like me. But this was a good strong fence and Mommy could not lift the wire up for me to crawl under. Instead, she took me down the fenceline until we came to a spot where a tree had fallen on it and smashed the fence down really low. That was okay for me to jump over, so I did! Then we walked back to where we had left the track. It was really easy for me to find that deer's scent again on the other side of the fence, and when I did, off we went again! I followed that deer trail all the way into the woods, and I wasn't scared even though it was spooky and dark. Mommy followed me, and Daddy and Bill followed her. Pretty soon, I led them all right to that deer. I must have done a really good job of tracking because Mommy was sooooo proud of me again and kept telling me what a GOOD PUPPY I was. Here is the picture Daddy took of me and Mommy with the deer.