Mud Bath

When Mom and I went to visit our neighbor tonight, I did something that any good, honorable dog would do. I rolled in the grass. I rolled like crazy. I rolled and rolled and rolled!

OK, maybe there was some pee mail that I was rolling in, too. (Lots of it, actually!)

And it was a little muddy since it rained a bit today. I ended up bringing home some of that mud on my back and down my neck. Even had some mud on my chin.

Oops.

(Mom says the pictures don't do justice to the amount of mud I was wearing.)

Unfortunately, I discovered that Mom is not a fan of doggies covered in mud. I watched in horror as she got stuff ready to give me. . .a. . .BATH.

So, again, I did what any good, honorable dog would do.  I went to hide in my Princess Tent.

Unfortunately, Mom found me, picked me up out of the tent, and took me to the room of torture...the bathroom.

Of course I tried to make a break for it and jump out of the tub, like any good, honorable dog would do. Mom thwarted my efforts, even with the camera in her hand.  Hrmph.

Finally, though, the bath torture was over and Mom broke out the orange hairdryer of doom. Not even the squeaky toy could comfort me.

Our air conditioner is broke, though, so it got super hot in the bathroom.  Mom gave up trying to get me dry.  (SCORE!)  As soon as Mom started to open the gate, that dog toy and I were outta there! I was so fast, Mom only caught a paw in her picture.

Baths are exhausting.

And I miss my stinky mud.
 

Mutt Strut Recap!

Oh, how embarrassing...I went to the Mutt Strut for my local humane society almost a month ago and forgot to post my recap!  So sorry, my friends.

The Mutt Strut took place way back on May 4. The weather people were saying, "rain, rain, rain," but we really lucked out.  The rain actually held off until the events were almost completely over.  We had a great turn-out and it was a great morning!

Each year I've raised money for the Mutt Strut.. After all, it's one of the ways that the local shelter gets money to help take care of all of those doggies, kitties, gerbils, etc.  This year I actually managed to raise a whopping total of $670!  Mom and I were SO VERY thankful that all of our friends helped out so much.  Would you believe that I was only $5 short of being the top fundraiser at the entire event?!  Way to go, friends!!!

Since we had a nice turn-out that day, the overall event raised around $28,000 for the shelter.  YEAH!

There was a LOT of stuff going on at the Mutt Strut. We had 15 different booths for sponsors, vendors, and humane society into.  There were activities like the doggie obstacle course, bobbing for Milkbones, the doggie fortune teller, and Paw Print Painting.

Mom let me off the hook for lots of the activities 'cause my allergies were bad and I wasn't feeling so good.  We did do the Paw Print Painting, though.

Here's Benjamin, sitting behind his mom who was helping with the Paw Print Painting.

His tail was orange because he went to the doggie body painting station. It was SO funny, Benjamin just wagging and wagging that orange tail!

And here's my Paw Print Painting masterpiece:

Mom took some pictures of the tents and stuff before lots of people arrived.

I spent most of the Strut in my doggie stroller. Since I wasn't feel well, I didn't want to walk much.  And, the stroller kept me up off the ground, so I wasn't as accessible to some of the overly-friendly dogs.

My cool neighbor went with Mom and I, and she helped push me around in my stroller. Mom talked to lots of different vets about my liver issues.

The Mutt Strut had a few demonstrations, too.  There was a Police K-9 Dog Demonstration in the fenced-in area.  A Giant Schnauzer named Solo is a local K-9 Policeman, and he sniffed out some drugs that were hidden in one of those blue boxes.  He's a SMART sniffer!

Lots of people watched the demonstration.

Here's Solo!

I got out of my stroller for a bit while Mom and my neighbor watched the demonstrations.  That gave me the opportunity to do some woogling.

I was a little crazy.  I'll admit it.  And Mom knew I was probably rolling in pee-pee, but she let me have fun 'cause she knew I hadn't been feeling well.  Gotta love that!

Most of the shelter dogs got to come to the Mutt Strut, too.  They were wearing vests that said "Adopt Me!"  So many sweet pups!  All of the shelter dogs even participated in the Shelter Dog Show.  They all walked the catwalk and showed everyone just how cool they are.

I headed back to my stroller during the agility dog demonstrations.  I was a pooped puppy.

The Mutt Strut finished up with several different contests -- best kiss, biggest paw, smallest paw, best trick.  The most popular contest was the peanut butter licking contest!  Just look at all of those pups going after the peanut butter...

I'm not a fan of peanut butter, so I just hung out with my neighbor.

What a great Mutt Strut we had this year!

Another Vet, Another Opinion

If you've been following along, then you know that I've had some health issues going on for the last few months. Way, way, way back in February Mom took me in to have my teeth cleaned and my big lump removed, but the vet said my liver was wonky and we couldn't do that stuff.

So since then, we've been trying to figure out why I'm wonky.  Lots and lots of tests.  I've been poked, prodded, x-rayed, ultrasound-ed, and poked some more.

On Monday, Mom took things to a new level.  We went to the Veterinary Hospital for another opinion.

I was anxiously watching people coming around the corner to the lobby. Mom took this picture right when a vet student came out to say "hi" to us.

The student got all of my info and talked to Mom for a while. Then she listened to my tummy and gave me some pets and looked in my ears.

When the student left, I hid under Mom's chair and refused to come out.

I stayed put under that chair, even with the student returned with the vet.  Mom rudely pulled me out from under the chair so that the vet could examine me.  RUDE, Mom, RUDE.

Anyway, I went into the back of the hospital with the vet and the student, and they did more poking, prodding, and examining back there.  Eventually, they brought me out to stay with Mom in the lobby.  I promptly hid under the chair there, of course.

So, here's the scoop on what the vet hospital thinks...

My liver is wonky.  The tests proved it's still wonky.  The vet said, though, that we may never be able to figure out why it's wonky like this.  I'm not showing any signs of problems...just an elevation in my blood work.  So, the vet said that Mom didn't need to worry about it anymore.  If I start to show signs of problems...then we'll look into possible causes again.  Until then, though, Mom's just supposed to keep and eye on things and give me extra toys and bacon.  (O.K., so maybe I added in that last part...)

The only real downside to the visit was that the vet put me on antibiotics.  The vet and the student took me back to recheck my blood pressure.  When we came back out the vet told Mom that I had infected anal glands.  She said she'd never seen that shade of neon green come from a doggie's anal glands before. Mom said she wants to know how they checked my blood pressure...

I told her that what happens at the vet hospital stays at the vet hospital...
       

I've Been Groomed

You saw my hairy pic from the other day...

Unfortunately, Mom decided I needed to see out, so she took me to the groomer.  I really don't like the groomer because she always gives me a BATH.  I hate baths!!!

I gave the groomer some dirty looks while she was working on my furs.  And you know what she did?!  The groomer TATTLED on me!!!  She sent Mom a picture of me mid-groom and told Mom I was giving her "I hate you" looks!  The nerve...

She finally finished my hair cut and then Mom came to pick me up. I got a "talking to" because of the dirty looks.

Then we headed to our house.  Ta Dah!  Here's me with my new 'do in the car, begging Mom to open the door so we can go inside our house.

I still can't believe the groomer tattled on me like that...

   

Hairy Situation

Mom says it's a good thing I'm going to the groomer this morning. I have to disagree. That's NEVER a good thing!
 

Besides, I don't really need to see...
 

Sleep Schedule

I have trouble believing that Mom should be in charge of when we go to sleep and when we wake up.  Shouldn't I get some say in that?!

For example, if I want to go potty at 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., then I should be allowed to.  And when I want to squeak toys under the bed at 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., shouldn't that be my prerogative?  Just because Mom says she has to work all day, that doesn't make her the boss of me!

Likewise, why on earth should I have to wake up at 6 a.m. when Mom gets ready for work?!  This puppy needs her beauty sleep...especially if I've been up squeaking.

So, you know that when Mom gets me up early (and takes pictures of me), she definitely gets my stink-eye...

Mom's just lucky that I get to sleep during the day.

That's really the only reason I put up with her night time nonsense.

Mom's just too worried about sleeping at night anyway...
     

The Bed Is Mine

I told Mom that she can just take the couch tonight. This bed is mine. I'm sleeping right in the middle!

She can't resist the belly.
 

Photo Essay: Allergic Princess

Most of you know that I have bad allergies. Well, with everything blooming outside right now, the allergies are worse. Mom's been giving me both of my prescription pills every day.

That means I'm sleepy.  Very sleepy.  And somewhat out of sorts, too.  I started out my evening by hiding in my Princess Tent for a while.

Here's a photo essay (prepared by Mom, staring me, of course) to document my evening...

It's hard to be an allergic pup...