Kibble War

I put myself to bed early tonight. Really early.

It wasn't 'cause I was tired, either.  It's because of THIS:

That, my friends, is a bowl of plain old kibble.  I'm refusing to eat it.  For years I've trained Mom to doctor up my kibble with canned dog food, beef broth, hamburger, rice, etc.  For some unknown reason, however, Mom has been cutting back on the good stuff.  For the last two days, she has only given me nothing but PLAIN OLD KIBBLE.

This is unacceptable.

So, tonight I refused to eat my supper and I put myself to bed early.  There's a method to my madness, though.

You see, when I go to bed, I always get a "night night cookie."  That's right...a treat for going to bed.  So since I was refusing to eat my kibble, I decided to just go to bed for my night night cookie instead.  I was hungry, after all.

Brilliant plan, if I do say so myself!

I barked at Mom from the bedroom until she brought me my cookie.  (That way she knew I was serious.)  Then I scarfed it down!

It was yummy!

This was really a brilliant move on my part.  Totally got Mom to give me a cookie and avoided the plain old kibble.

And of course I gave Mom my "GIVE ME MORE COOKIES" look to try to get another one out of her.

Sadly, that didn't work as well.

And now I need to point out something a bit unusual in the very first picture I posted tonight.  Here it is again:

See that pink spot in my chin furs?  Here's a zoomed-in version:

That's a scrap of one of the magazines I've been shredding under Mom's bed.  She caught me red-handed tonight.  Oopsie...

At least Santa already came...and I already got a cookie tonight...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you from my Mom and me!

(Click on the picture to enlarge it!)

 

Mischief Abounds

I suppose I should really cool it with the ornery stuff since it's getting so close to Christmas.  For some reason, however, I just can't seem to stop myself!

This past weekend, for example, Mom and I were visiting our cool neighbor and I sniffed out a bag of rawhides. Our neighbor got them for a Christmas present for another doggy.  I didn't care.  I could smell what was in that bag and I wanted it. So, I barked.

And I barked.

And barked.

I wouldn't give up on getting those rawhides.  Even when they distracted me and hid the bag.

After about a bazillion minutes of my constant barking, Mom finally got tired of it.  Instead of giving me the rawhides, however, she said we had to go home early from our visit because "someone" wouldn't behave.  Oops.

Last night, then, some more of my mischief came to light.  I'd been working on this one for a long, long time. You see, Mom had a bag of old magazines, papers, and letters that was on the floor on the side of her bed.  Over time, I pulled the bag underneath the bed and proceeded to shred both the bag and its contents.

In the middle of the night, of course, when Mom was sleeping.

She knew I was up to something under there, but she wasn't quite sure what.  I blew my cover, however, when I started dragging stuff out the opposite side of the bed...

"Where on earth did all of these shredded papers come from, Mom?!"

You'll note that there's a mix of dog toys and one of Mom's socks in that mess, too.

I tried to look all innocent.

I guess there's no hiding the mess, though.

Maybe Santa won't care???

Naughty or Nice

So you know Mom and I have that ongoing argument about me going poo and pee in the spare bedroom.  Well, last Saturday Mom thought she'd straighten out my naughtiness by taking me to see the Big Man.  That's right...we went to Petsmart and saw Santa.

I hope I convinced him that I'm really not a naughty pup.  I'm nice, through and through...

I sure hope I didn't blow it, though, when I peed on the sidewalk right in the doorway to Petsmart.

Mom told me to "wait" 'cause we had to let some cars go by.  I may have taken advantage of the opportunity to leave a little "gift" for another pup to sniff.  Probably shouldn't have done that right after sitting on Santa's lap.

Mom still gave me a new Santa toy and some yummy cookies we got in the store.

But I hope I didn't blow it with the Big Man.

Maybe I shouldn't have piddled there...

Oh, dear.

Am I too naughty for Christmas presents now?!?!

The Closed Door

You know what this is?

That, my friends, is a closed door.  Mom did that.  You may wonder why on earth she would close off part of our house.  Well, she claims it's because I did this...

And this...

...in that room.

Now I ask you, is this fair?  Should I really be blocked from entering and "enjoying" part of my house???

We've established in the past that I should get rights to 50% of this house since it's only Mom and me here.  That means I get 50% of that closed off room, too.  And besides, Mom only uses it to store stuff in.  So it's perfectly fine in my opinion if I choose to use the room for...other...um...uses...

I've given Mom my best looks of pure innocence, but she's not buying it.

*sighs*

As soon as I get a step stool and opposable thumbs, that room is all mine...

Public Service Announcement: Proper Grooming

My friends, I'm blogging today to stress the importance of proper Shih Tzu grooming.  You can't just take us to the groomer every 8 weeks and torture us with baths occasionally at home.  You've gotta brush our furs, too.

• Even when we don't like it and have a fit about it.
• Even when moms are crazy busy at work, working long hours.
• Even when moms are on multiple business trips in a single month.
• Yes, even during holiday trips to grandma's house.

Let my recent torture be an example to you of why brushing is important.  You see, when you don't get your tail brushed -- and when it's constantly wagging -- mats form.  And mats in your tail are nasty and they can get ouchy.  And you know how to fix a badly matted tail???  You can't.  Instead, THIS happens:

That's right.  I have a shaved, nearly-naked tail now.  No big floofy tail anymore.

It's so embarrassing.

I have definitely voiced my displeasure at Mom over this atrocity.  It's just ridiculous.

Let me show you just how bad this is for my floofy furs.  Here's what I looked like the morning of my groomer appointment:

  

And here's a picture from the morning after.  Naked tail.  No floof to wag.

I suppose I shouldn't give Mom all of the blame since I don't like to be brushed anyway.  She feels terrible, too, of course.  She says every time my little naked tail wags it says to her, "You're a bad mommy. You're a bad mommy."

But it IS nice to have those nasty mats gone.  And it's easier to wag now that my tail is more aerodynamic. And let's face it...this certainly hasn't impaired my ability to roll on toys...

(Or to roll "near" toys, I guess...)

(My aim was a little off...but I was sure enjoying the moment!)

And a shaved tail doesn't impact my ability to nap, either.  Napping is important, you know.

So take a lesson from Mom and I.  Brush your tail.  Brush it regularly.  Please.

This concludes my Public Service Announcement.

P.S. Do you think they make hair extensions for doggie furs???

Wordless Wednesday: Rub My Belly

Even while sound asleep, I can still assume the "RUB MY BELLY" position.  And let's face it...this belly is irresistible.

Wordless Wednesday: Dog Beds

Yes, I have countless dog beds.  But sometimes it's just nice to snooze on the floor...

Dixie

I'm twelve years old now, and I've lived with my forever-and-ever Mom for almost three years.  I had a really great foster family before Mom adopted me.  And let's face it, if you're going to end up living with a foster family TWICE, then it's a real blessing to have such a wonderful one to begin with.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, foster family recently got a little smaller.  Sadly, my former foster sister Dixie went over the rainbow bridge.  We know she's running and playing like a puppy now, but it's still sad when a family member has to leave us.  Very sad.

Here's a picture of me with my foster sisters, after a mini hike we all took together.  That's Dixie, Sydney, Shawnee, and me...back when I was a New Jersey girl.

Rest in peace, Dixie. Rest in peace...

Sniff-A-Thon

I told you Mom was slacking on my blog time, well this is a fine example of that negligence.

Mom found this post saved as a draft.  No text, just a lot of pictures...from over a month ago.  It was even already named "Sniff-A-Thon" and tagged with keywords.  She uploaded the photos.  Just never helped me write anything.

Geez.  What a slacker!!!

So I'm going into my "way back" machine to try to remember exactly what happened this day.  I'm pretty sure Mom and I went for a walk around the pond near our house.  And I'm pretty sure that I sniffed everything in sight, too.  (It's a talent.)

Mom remembers taking these next couple of pictures because she says it was the only time on the entire walk where I actually walked.  The rest of the time we slowly inched along as I sniffed everything in sight.

But of course I had to stop and sniff the end of the bridge.

And the ground right on the other side of the bridge...

Apparently all of that sniffing must have worn me out.  The next two pictures in our long-lost blog post draft are of me snoozing with a duck in my mouth.

I'm sure they'd have a better impact if we remembered why I was sleeping with the duck as a pacifier.  Oh, well.

I hope you've enjoyed this "long lost" post.

The End.

Bad Mom

I wanted attention tonight, so I started barking at Mom while she was trying to eat her supper.  And I kept it up until she finished.  After she put her dirty dishes in the kitchen, she got down on the floor to play with me.

By then, however, I had decided that I no longer wanted to play.  So, I hopped into my doggie bed.

And that's when the evening took a very disturbing turn...  Mom decided to COVER ME UP with my toys!  Seriously.

What on earth got into her?!  I just sat there like a good girl and took the abuse.

And yes, I fell asleep.

The pile of toys snored for a while after that.  He he he.  Mom finally got tired of taking pictures of me and left me alone. I don't think she realized that sleeping in toys is puppy dog Heaven for me.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  (O.K., so maybe it's Happy Two-Days-After Halloween now because Mom's been slacking on my blog time...)

This year Mom conspired with my neighbor and they decided that I needed to wear this peacock costume for Halloween.

I actually didn't mind it too much. Mom and I had a disagreement about whether or not the peacock hat was a squeaky toy.  She seemed to think I should wear it, not attack it.  Once it was on my head, though, I left it there.

I strutted my stuff all of the way over to our neighbor's house!

Well, I had to make one little detour to take care of some business...  (Mom says she assumes this was to voice my displeasure at having to wear a costume.)  I was a poopin' peacock.

Here I am at our neighbor's patio...  "TRICK OR TREAT!"

The neighbor had her camera, too, and refused to open the screen door until I was properly photographed. If you look closely you'll see a few little leaf things stuck in the fur on my chin.  Those things get stuck on me every single time I sniff the trees near my neighbor's place.

The best part about my peacock costume was that it actually had a coordinating peacock SQUEAKY TOY!!!  Seriously.  Can you believe that?  I attacked, of course.

Is it cannibalism to see a peacock chewing on a peacock?  He he he.

And you KNOW I had to roll on that squeaky toy...

Still rolling...

My totally awesome neighbor had a bag of Halloween squeakies waiting for me for my trick or treating.  Yep.  A BAG of Halloween squeaky toys!  And she put out a BOWL of Milkbones for me, too!

Now here's where the evening took a slightly evil turn...

Yep.  Mom brought another costume.  She thought she'd display my ornery side by dressing me like a little devil.

I put up with it...

but I really just wanted to play with my new toys.

So I told Mom and our neighbor just how I felt!

Thankfully, we got down to business playing tug, bitey face, etc., right after that.  It was awesome.

After a while, however, Mom decided to torture me again with yet another outfit.

Seriously.

Sure, the skeleton pajamas are cute, but I think you can tell that I was NOT amused.

But then I got another new toy, so the skeleton PJs were quickly forgotten.

And I played and played and played.

Tushy shot:

Then Mom and I walked back home.  She left the skeleton PJs on me.  Lots of people ooh'd and aah'd over me on the way.

Mom and my neighbor decided that they liked the peacock outfit the best.  I have to admit that I do make a cute little peacock.

Would you believe they went out shopping today and found TWO more costumes to put back for next year?!  I'm doomed.