Thankful Thursday: Toys

Today I'm thankful for TOYS to roll on...

And TOYS to nap on when I'm done rolling....

And, finally, I'm thankful for my ability to give Mom a sleepy, crazy-eyed, smooshed-chin-fur, stink-eye look when she's taking too many pictures...

Ripped Off

I've been ripped off.  Cheated.  Thoroughly jipped.

Conned.  Hoodwinked.

Bamboozled.

Betrayed.

Mom was looking in the freezer today and she found THIS:

Yes, my friends.  That's what was left of MY birthday cake.  She froze it and forgot it.  I NEVER GOT TO FINISH IT!!!

If you look closely at that pic you'll also see it once said "Happy 10th Bday Buttons."  I'm gonna be 12 years old on September 18, so that cake is two years old!

And just to make things even worse, Mom also found THIS:

Seriously.  Can you believe it?!  That's my birthday cake from last year!  I didn't even get to taste it!  And MOM let it get FREEZER-BURNED!

I barked at Mom to voice my utter disappointment in her.

In Mom's defense, I suppose I should point out that my old allergy pills gave me bad stomach problems around my birthday the last two years.  We didn't know it was the allergy pills doing it, though.  I got pretty sick each year.  (Let's just say Mom had to use a loooot of carpet cleaner...)

One year I had to start a special food trial, too, and couldn't have anything to eat but that special food for 8 weeks.

But that's really no reason for BOTH birthday cakes to sit in the freezer when this little pup could have been eating them.

Mom felt bad.  (As well she should!)  And since I ate most of my kibbles for supper tonight, I got to eat cake.

See?  That's two-year-old, still-partially-frozen birthday cake in my bowl.

I chowed down.  Mom could barely take that picture.  Most of her pics were of the top of my head, snarfing down that cake.  Like this one:

I sense a lot of cake in my future!  And that Mom of mine better still get me a new cake this year...

Oh, by the way...if anyone wants to get me a birthday squeaky, one of these balls would work just fine. Or this hedgehog. Or...well...anything from the first couple of pages of new dog toys...  He he he.  I am gonna be 12 soon, you know...

New Instrument of Torture

The unthinkable happened.

It's really, really bad.

Seriously NOT GOOD.

Mom got us THIS thing:

That's right, my friends.  It's a new instrument of bath torture.  She got a hand-held shower thingy.  The woman is unstoppable now with the stupid baths!!!

Of course my bath began with ear cleaning torture in the bathroom sink.

I always plot my escape during those moments.

After the ear torture, I gave Mom one of my pathetic looks in an attempt to distract her from...the bath...

It didn't work.  She was too excited about the stupid shower thing.  She put me in the tub of torture and just went to work.

These pics are all a little blurry because I was moving around, trying to avoid the horrific shower thingy.

Of course I tried to jump out of the tub, too.

After the bath, I stared longingly at the freedom of the hallway.

Then the blow drying began.  It seriously never ends with my Mom...

Stupid medicated baths.

They're torture.  Seriously torture.

Weekend At Grandma's

Mom and I spent the weekend at Grandma's house!  We went and visited my Great Grandma a couple of times, too.  I love snooping around her house -- there's a lot to investigate!  And there's a certain tree in Great Grandma's yard that I like to poop under, too.  Perfect pooping spot.  (You know what I mean.)

And even though I have my license, Mom refused to let me drive on the trip.  Booooo!

Anyway, we had a busy weekend.  I need some time to recover.

I love visiting Grandma and Great Grandma, but there's no place like home.

And there's nothing better than being home with your doggie beds and your super large collection of squeaky toys, of course...

Thankful Thursday: Advances in Training

I'm very thankful today because we seem to be advancing well in Mom's training.  She's finally starting to come around, I think.  

As proof, I give you the following photo.

Do you see what I've done here?  It's really amazing.

Mom and our neighbor and me all like to sit outside near the playground and swimming pool.  If we sit there for a while, I might get thirsty.  So, they brought a bowl of water for me.  And I might get bored, so they brought me a toy.  And just in case I wanna chew on something, I've got a bully stick.  And if I get hungry, my neighbor also has a stash of mini Milkbones in her pocket!

The best part, however, is that very fluffy rug I'm sitting on.  Oh, yes.  No hard, crunchy ground for my little spoiled tushy!

We've had a bad drought here this summer, and the area in front of that bench is really just a pile of dirt.  My furs turned gray the last time we sat there because of the dirt and dust.  So, Mom and our neighbor brought a super comfy rug for me to sit on so I won't get so dirty again.

I'm really doing well in training Mom.  And our awesome neighbor, too...

Wordless Wednesday: My Driver's License

This just arrived in the mail.  I applied during the Mutt Strut.  I'm legal now.  Watch out, Mom!

Nocturnal Shih Tzu

Mom says "Nocturnal Shih Tzu" sounds like a good punk rock band name.  It also, in her opinion, describes me perfectly.

I have a tendency to wake Mom up at night.  I do it for fun reasons, too.  For example, I bark if I want Mom to turn on the light so I can go down my doggie stairs from the bed.  When it's time to go back up the stairs, I bark again. I have to be able to properly see my stairs!

Sometimes I wake Mom up by rolling on toys on the floor.

Or if I'm hungry, I wake her up, of course.

Or if I just wanna play for a while and I'm bored of playing by myself.

And then there's the obvious -- potty break.

Mom just doesn't understand.  She gets all bent outta whack about it, too.  Says she needs her beauty sleep.  But what else does she expect me to do??  Go down my stairs with only the light of the little night light?!  Or be content playing by myself?  Or...horror...NOT go potty?!

And then she gets all grouchy with me in the morning, too, when I snooze while she's getting ready to leave for work.

Not my fault.  It's her job to work for the kibble money.  It's my job to snooze and protect the living room.

And I might add that I'm very good at my job.

Mom just needs to figure out a way to nap at her job, too...

Hunger Strike!

Mom decided -- foolishly, I might add -- that my canned doggie food was too expensive and not good for my teeth.  She also seemed to think I didn't appreciate it anymore since I left some in my bowl occasionally.  So you know what she did???

She gave me PLAIN OLD KIBBLE.  Now, I got plain kibbles before, but at least she put canned food on top to sweeten the deal a little.

But not anymore...

Blech.  Seriously.  Just plain old kibble...

I gave her a look.

And I pleaded, of course...

Turned on my "pathetic" charm.

Mom added something wet to my kibbles and then she cooked it in the microwave.  But I decided to remain firm.  I would NOT touch that nasty kibble.  I want my canned food back.  Not touching the icky dry stuff...

I'm turning up my nose that that stuff and I'm going on a hunger strike!!!

Nooooo icky dry kibbles!!!

MOM MUST LEARN!!!!!!

OK, so maybe when Mom left the kitchen I got desperate. And she caught me in the act.

Oops.

How embarrassing.

Hunger strike begins again tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday (Continued...)

Mom took this video with her cell phone after the battery died in her regular camera. Too bad she missed me rolling in between this video and the last one!

Wordless Wednesday: Squeak Squeak Squeak Squeak Squeak

(Mom's camera battery died right where this video ends...which also just happens to be right before I started rolling on my back, half-in and half-out of the doggie bed!)

Friday: Give Me a Beer

Since it's Friday and nearly the weekend, I thought I'd share a little fun from LAST weekend.  (You'll note that this was before Mom whacked my furs with the scissors.)

You know my cool neighbor I talk about sometimes?  Well on Sunday, she gave me a beer!

Looks just like a Corona, doesn't it?  It's a "Cataroma," though.  Or that's what the label says at least.  With a picture of a kitty.  And you know what my beer bottle really, truly is???  A SQUEAKY TOY!!!!

I carried it around for a bit and squeaked and squeaked.

Then Mom and my neighbor and I went to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather we had.  We took my beer and a bully stick, too.  That's very important.

I didn't play or chew very much, though, because there was so much going on that I had to watch.  We like to sit on the bench that's by the swimming pool and the playground area.  I love watching all of the kids and big peoples play.  I could sit and watch for hours.  Seriously.  (We don't have good views like this from our apartment.)

Of course Mom decided to take pictures when every went home.  (Mom's so weird.)  Just imagine peoples here:

I guard the area, of course.  It's important to keep an eye on everyone.  (Here's me with my beer, bully, and our neighbor's leg.)

Mom moved the beer for a "better picture."  Whatever.

Things were going great on Sunday until Rosie stopped by.  She's a big, big Boxer doggie who likes to eat little Shih Tzus.  (Mom said she wouldn't eat me, but I don't believe that.)  I had to hide under the bench where Mom was sitting.

I stayed under the bench even after Rosie left.  I wasn't taking any chances getting eaten.

(On a side note, see how well Mom and our neighbor plan our trips to sit on this bench?  They got water for Mom, Diet Coke for the neighbor, and a bowl of water for me!  And yes, that red thing has poop bags in it...just in case, you know...)

I'm just glad that Rosie didn't steel my squeaky beer.  I left it on the ground when I went to hide under the bench.  The beer is hidden under Mom's bed now...just in case I get the urge to squeak in the middle of the night...