Trip to the Dog Park

Tonight Mom surprised me with a trip to the dog park. Neither of us had ever been there before.

So we loaded up in the car and headed out.

It wasn't a long ride...but I still had to snooze.

When we got to the dog park, I checked things out through the fence.

That dog park is a really, really big place! Mom said that it's still under construction, too, and we were only in one little part of it.

Mom's friend invited us to join them at the park tonight. Her friend's doggy is named Miko. He's HUUUUGE and he's still only a puppy.

Here's Miko playing with another doggy named Otto.

I somehow managed to get on the wrong side of the gate when Mom went through it. I was stuck.

"Help me...."

Mom finally stopped taking pictures and opened the gate the rest of the way for me to come in. I wasn't too happy with her.

I was a little shy and a little scared because the dog park was such a big place and it was all new to me. There were lots of dogs there, too, and I hadn't met them before. I spent most of the time at the park sitting under Mom's chair.

And I drooled.

I drooled a LOT. Mom's never seen me do that before. Freaked her out a little. I couldn't help it, though...I was scared!

Oh -- I hid under this bench for a while, too, when Mom was sitting on it.

When we got home from the dog park, I hid under my doggie bed for a little bit.

I chewed on a rawhide bone under there, too.

That dog park wore me out.

It's Too Early

I woke Mom up early 'cause I had to potty, and then she surprised me by going on a long walk. We haven't done that in a while because of the heat, humidity, and pollen levels. (We both have allergies.) But since it was so early, none of that stuff was very bad yet.

I loved the walk! It wore me out, though. And it's still really early for me. So now I just want to nap with my fox toy in my mouth...

Of course it would be a whole lot easier to nap if Mom would stop taking pictures of me. I know I'm cute...but I'm also tired!

Souvenirs from Chicago

Mom went to Chicago last weekend. I got to stay with my friend Molly and her kitty while Mom was gone.

Anyway, tonight Mom gave me a couple of souvenirs she got for me on her trip. (She missed me, of course!) She got me a cool new doggie bed and a squeaky chicken. It's a LOUD squeaky chicken, too, and I think Mom might already be regretting her purchase. He he he!

Here's my new doggie bed. You can never have enough beds!

Mom laughed at me 'cause I started to pull, tug, and pluck my doggie bed just like I do with my toys. I even tried to roll on it, but I sorta missed the bed. I was just testing it out, of course!

Here's what my new chicky toy looks like:

It's pretty cool. I decided to play with the new chicky toy inside my new doggie bed. (Brilliant idea!)

You know that I had to roll on the new chicky in my old doggie bed, too. That's a must.

Oh, ooops! Should have used the ladylike pose...

I missed Mom while she was gone on her trip, but I really like the new toy and the new bed. Maybe I should convince her to go on trips more often...

Purple Piggy in the Hydrant

Got a new purple piggy toy in the mail today! Mom ordered it for me from NipAndBones.com. She had trouble getting a picture of me with it 'cause I was carrying it around with most of the pig in my mouth. Just a leg or two would stick out. I did put it down when I went to get some supper, though. See my purple piggy in this picture? It's right there in front of the green duck.


When I was playing with my new piggy tonight, I had a moment of brilliance. Out of the blue I came up with a great idea. And I mean a GREAT idea. Here's the moment it came to me -- can't believe Mom caught it on video!



See what I did? I started playing with my piggy INSIDE my fire hydrant! That fire hydrant is supposed to be a toy box, but the echo in there is awesome. So I just stuck my head inside with the toy box and squeaked and squeaked and squeaked that piggy!



Wasn't that brilliant?! I've never done that before, but it's definitely going to be added to my playtime repertoire.

Of course I did some of this tonight, too...



Had to do it "old school" even with my brilliant new play spot!

I Didn't Do It

Mom says that four people have asked her if this is a picture of me:

Sadly, that's not me. I can't claim bragging rights for creating the mess. In all honesty, though, it's totally something that I would have done!

Toy for Me...Mail for Mom

Mom brought home a squeaky brown bear for me last night! He's really super squeaky, so I had a ball.



I played so much that I wore myself out and had to nap with my new bear.


Then it was back to playing like crazy. I was so excited about that bear that I didn't even realize I got a package in the mail!

Mom went ahead and opened it for me. It was a prize from Frugal Dougal that I won at the DudeFest party. And the prize was actually one for Mom, so it didn't matter that I was playing too much to pay attention.

See what Dougal sent? It's a cool organizer to put on our door nob! (Yes, that's my booty in the picture. I was still playing nearby and shifted just when Mom took the picture. Ta dah! Booty in the picture...)

Mom was excited 'cause she's always afraid she's going to forget her cell phone at home when she leaves. The organizer says "Do Not Forget!" on it, so that's perfect for Mom.

Here's what I was doing while she was checking out the prize.


She put it on the door and put her phone in it.

By that time, I had played so much that I was ready for another nap with my bear.

Thanks for the cool prize, Frugal Dougal! Mom loves it.

Where to Wipe Your Itchy Eyes

Here's a little tip for you...

If you have itchy, goopy eyes because of your allergies, and you need a spot to itch them or wipe the goop off, try your mom's pants leg.

I do that ALL the time. When Mom looks down at me or tries to get after me for wiping my eye boogies on her pants, I just look away and pretend I wasn't doing anything. Works like a charm!

Party Prizes

Yes, that's right...the mailman brought me more stuff!

But before I tell you about that, I've gotta tell you about two other prizes that I won at recent Twitter parties...

At the May PawPawty I won a donation in my name to the party charity. Isn't that cool? The charity was the North West English Springer Spaniel Rescue. Smokey donated the prize, so when I won the quiz, he made a donation in my honor to help those doggies.

And then at the DudeFest party that was just last weekend I won another donation in my name! The charities that benefited from that party were The Hounslow Animal Welfare Society and Kaninchenrettung. So when I won THAT quiz, my friend Mario made a donation in my name.

Aren't those awesome prizes? We helped out all of those other animals and shelters! Very cool in my opinion.

At the May PawPawty I also won a gift certificate to NipAndBones.com. Smokey donated that prize, too! (Smokey rocks!) So I ordered myself some TOYS and some COOKIES. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, though. He he he!

I ordered myself this squeaky starfish toy.

It was SO much fun to roll on!

Oh...I suppose that wasn't very ladylike. Here's a more appropriate pose:

I also ordered a cool pink squeaky turtle toy.

Mom and I decided that the turtle toy would go on my seat in the car so that I can play with it on trips. Now I can't wait to go someplace!

Thanks for the cool prizes, Smokey and Mario!

She'll Never Learn

Mom decided that I was ready for bed 'cause I was napping. And since she thought I was sleepy and done playing for the day, she put that K9 Advantix stuff on my back. (It's supposed to keep fleas and ticks and 'squidos away, or something like that.)

So this is what I did right afterwards:

Yep. I wiped that flea stuff all over my toy, my bed, and our carpet. I win! And Mom will never learn...

Toy Review: Giant Squirrel

If you've read my blog for any length of time, then I'm sure you know that I have an addiction to squeaky toys. I love squeaky toys. I live for squeaky toys. I obsess over squeaky toys. Squeaky toys are my favorite things in the entire world.

The only problem with my addiction (besides Mom tripping over my toys all the time, of course), is the fact that toys cost money. Mom says I'm going to have to get a job to fund my toy "problem."

Well after much thought, I've determined the perfect line of work for me. Restaurants and movies have people review them, right? So why not toys? That's right...I'm going to be a professional dog toy reviewer!

And so now for your reading pleasure, and so that I can practice my skills, here's my very first Dog Toy Review...

Toy Review: Giant Squirrel

Isn't that a huge squirrel toy? It's actually called "Kyjen Real Animal Long Body Squeaker Mat - Squirrel" and it's for sale over at DogToys.com. I think "Giant Squirrel" fits, though. It's HUGE!

This squirrel has TWELVE squeakers in the body and a loud grunter in the tail. (Mom says the grunter is REALLY loud.) If you know me, you know I'm all about "loud."

I pulled the giant squirrel out of the box and took off with it before Mom could even take the tags off. It was a huge hit, right from the start.

I love the squeakers, of course, but my favorite part about the Giant Squirrel is its fur. I love to pluck fur!

Mom says I've already plucked enough fur off of the squirrel to make an entire new toy. Ta dah!

Here's some of my plucking action via video. The video stops kinda abruptly 'cause Mom had to pull squirrel fur out of my mouth before I swallowed it.

This Giant Squirrel is even easy to pluck at upside-down.

With all of those squeakers and the grunter, too, it's also a great toy to squeak by rolling on it.

And it rates high for its "pillow" quality for napping...

So overall I have to say that the Giant Squirrel is off the charts when it comes to pluckability and squeaking. It's great for playing fetch with, too, even though it's a little big for me.

The downsides? Not many! I did manage to pluck hard enough to rip open the side of the squirrel. Mom says she can fix it, though. And I did break the grunter in the tail already. Mom says she will not fix that...without getting earplugs first, at least...

The Official Buttons Rating: Four Paws ('cause I only have four)

(So do you think I'll make a good Dog Toy Reviewer?)

Stay Home, Mom!

Want to make sure that your Mom can't go someplace and leave you home? Here's what you do:

That's right...just plop down right in front of the door! She can't open that door with you in front of it, so she won't be able to leave. That means she's staying home with you.

Note: unfortunately this tactic only works if you're big enough that your Mom can't pick you up and move you.

Surprise Present in the Mail

I got a package in the mail today. Wasn't expecting anything, either, so this was a complete surprise.

My friend Cricket from Twitter sent me a surprise present, just out of the blue. How cool is that?! Want to know something even cooler? She sent me a squeaky monkey toy!

In typical Buttons fashion, I stole the toy before Mom could even take the packaging off.

And then I battled with Mom about whether or not she was going to take the toy from me to cut the package off.

I finally let her, of course. And when I got the monkey back, I went to town. Mom and I played fetch with my new monkey, and of course I tried to pluck it, too. But the monkey doesn't really have fur to pluck, so I just tried to pull its arm off...

And you know that I had to roll on it, too!

Thanks for the cool new toy, Cricket!