Giving Sarge the Bird

Sarge, from over at Sarge Speaks Out, is having a contest where he wants everyone to give him the bird. Seriously. He said it's time for our blogs to go fowl. (He he he. How could I resist repeating that?!)

Now it's not the dirty kinda bird we're supposed to give him, of course, but just about any other kind will work.

So here's the bird I'm giving Sarge:

That's right...it's a rubber chicken. Mom tried to get me to pose with it, but this is as close as she got because I was busy playing with another toy:

Mom did get this pic when I was playing with the same chicken the other day, though:



And of course there's video...

Thanks for the great contest, Sarge. I hope you like your bird!

My Reputation

It seems that I've gotten a bit of a reputation as a squeaky toy terror. Or a destroyer, perhaps. Stuffing remover. Fur plucker. (You know what I'm getting at here...)

In fact, Cathy Keisha discusses this briefly over on her blog. She's got a stuffy who is getting her in all sorts of trouble. And, long story short, near the end of the post she says, "I'd mail him to Busy Buttons and let her have her way with him."

Hmmm. Why on earth does everyone think that I'm a toy punisher? I love my squeakies!

OK...maybe I love squeakies just a bit too much...

Anna's Spectacular Tongue-Tacular Contest

Anna is bringing back her Spectacular Tongue-Tacular Contest!

You know what you can win in this contest? TOYS and treats! Yes...I said TOYS!!! So I just had to enter...

Here's my tongue photo for the contest:

Yeah, it's a bath photo...but it does really highlight my tongue, don't you think?

Check out Anna's blog if you want to enter her tongue contest, too!

I Got a Shout-Out

I got a blog award the other day. The most interesting thing about it, though, is that the award was from someone new...and a person! Lots of other doggies read my blog. Kitties, too. (I love kitties!) And I know some people who keep track of me this way (Hi, Grandma! Hi, Kathleen!). But I've never, ever gotten a blog award from a person I didn't know...and he's not even a person who blogs about animals!

I was honored.

My new friend's name is Dan. Here's a link to his blog. Dan's a writer, and that's the stuff that he blogs about. Here's what he wrote about my blog when he gave me the blog award:

Busy, Busy, Buttons – This site has nothing to do with writing or publishing. In fact, the author of the blog doesn’t even have opposable thumbs. Buttons, a ten-year-old Shih Tzu blogs about life as a (pampered) pooch, her occasional power struggles with her mother, and her dazzling collection of squeaky toys. I don’t really remember how I came upon this site, but I’m so glad I did; it’s a lot of fun. I defy you to read this blog in a bad mood and not be cheered up at least a little.

Isn't that awesome?! Thanks, Dan!

Of course the rules of the award are that you're supposed to tell stuff about yourself and then pass the award on to others. So, here are some things about me...

1. I love squeaky toys.

2. I don't like going poo in the rain. (He he he!)

3. I love kitties but Mom won't let me have one. I really, really want a kitty.

4. I love squeaky toys.

5. I'm a rescue doggie. Mom just adopted me a year ago. So I'm spoiled now, but haven't ever been this spoiled before. I'm living the good life!

6. I'm slowly working on a diabolical plan to get Mom to sleep in my little dog bed while I take over the big bed.

7. I love squeaky toys.

I'm not always the best at following rules, so instead of passing this award on to others, I'm going to show you a picture of me sleeping with my carrot. Enjoy!

He he he...

Holiday Poetry

The other day I found out about a Holiday Poetry Contest on a blog written by a doggy who's training to be a guide dog. Pretty cool, huh? His name is Rudy.

Anyway, to enter the contest you just write a poem. And the prize for the contest is...TOYS. How could I pass up this opportunity? My sis Lexi-Lou used to write poems on her blog, so I figured it was about time that Mom helped me out with one, too. And I mean, seriously, I could use some more toys.

So, I submitted my poem over on Rudy's blog, but I figured I'd post it here, too. I sorta like how it turned out. Just remember that this poem is entirely fiction. Honest. It's fiction.

An Important Reminder

Santa Paws is coming

Just as long as we’re all good

So we have to mind our parents

And behave as we should.

If we all can make it

The payoff is sublime

But we all must behave

…Most of the time!

Cookies, treats, and dog beds

Some fun squeaky toys

Oh, you know I love those

And their squeaky noise!

So no misbehaving, please

Or Santa won’t appear.

We just can’t have a repeat

Of what happened last year!

Don’t chase the neighbor

No puking on the bed

We shouldn’t chew on slippers.

Only eat what we’re fed.

Keep those all in mind, of course,

But most importantly,

This year no one potty

On our Christmas tree!

Ta dah! There's my poem. If you want to enter Rudy's contest yourself, just head on over to his blog.

And remember...that poem was fiction. Well, except for the part about me liking toys.

The Story of Me

Minna Krebs is asking everyone to post "The Story of Me" to help celebrate her Gotcha Day. This is very, very timely for me because my own Gotcha Day is on Friday. That's right...Friday, November 26 will be the 1-year anniversary of when I was adopted by Mom!

Things are pretty good for me now, and I'm being spoiled absolutely rotten. Got my Mom trained pretty good, too. Life is good...but things haven't always been so good for me.

You see, two years ago I was dumped. Yep. A bad woman just dumped me out of the car and left me all alone on the streets. I was picked up by some people and I eventually ended up at Companion Critters, a rescue group in New Jersey. I was a lucky pup 'cause I didn't actually end up at a shelter.

So Companion Critters found me a new home and I went to live with those people. But then, after almost a year with them, they took me back to my foster home. I didn't do anything wrong...but I was returned. I was just turning 9 years old...and I have bad allergies...so lots of people considered me "unadoptable" at that point.

If you want to read about the rest of my story up until them, check it out over on the Companion Critters website. (It's a good read...especially since you know my happy ending! Oh, and it involves the cops getting that bad woman, too!)

Anyway, you may remember me talking about my sister Lexi-Lou. Well, she had a blog and a Twitter account. In September of last year, Lexi and Mom found out about me over on Shawnee's blog. (Lots of you know Shawnee -- she's a German Shepherd who has great hiking adventures!) Anyway, Mom fell for my cute little face. Over the next couple of months, Mom started talking to Shawnee's Mom, and they eventually decided that Mom and Lexi-Lou were going to adopt me and be my forever and ever family. Lexi and I were both Shih Tzus, and we were both almost the exact same age! Mom didn't think I was old...I was just the same age as Lexi-Lou. And my allergies weren't a problem at all.

But things were a little tricky. You see, Shawnee lives in New Jersey and my soon-to-be-new family lives in Illinois. Do you know what Shawnee and her Mom did, though? On Thanksgiving Day last year, they loaded up the car and drove me all of the way to Illinois so that I could have my forever and ever family. That was half-way across the country!

When I met my new family, I fit right in. Everyone thought I'd have to take some time to adjust, but I proved them wrong. I was playing with toys right away. I even helped unpack the toys that Shawnee let me keep from her house!

So that's my story. Pretty cool, huh? Mom spoils me rotten now, especially with all of the toys. But I really love toys, and Mom says she's just making up for the bad stuff I went through. I get scared sometimes that I'm going to be dumped again...or that I'm going to have to go to yet another new family. But Mom says that's not happening. She says that I'm stuck with her forever and ever.

My story isn't really complete, though, until I say one more thing...and that's a big THANK YOU to Shawnee and her mom. It's because of their love and dedication to their fosters that I was able to find my forever and ever and ever family. Thanks so much, Shawnee!

Anipal Photo Hunt # 7: I'm with the Band

"I'm with the band" is the theme for this week's Anipal Photo Hunt. Yeah...I'm a little late posting this week. I've had some tummy problems, and Mom and I have both been sorta busy dealing with me being sick.

I've got a violin toy and we hunted for a picture of it, but couldn't find one. And then Mom tried to find the toy itself, but no luck there, either. So, since squeaky toys are "music to my ears," we figured that any toy picture might work.

Here's a picture of me with a new elephant toy that Mom gave me. I'm hiding between the fireplace, the M&M man, my princess tent, and Mom's exercise bike. Still not feeling well. I'm not even playing with the toy...just sleeping with it in my mouth...


Here are some others in this week's photo hunt...

Anipal Photo Hunt # 7: Hey! That's Not Me!

The theme for this week's Anipal Photo Hunt is "Hey! That's Not Me!" This was an easy one for me. See, there's this photo that keeps circulating by email and on Twitter and people keep asking Mom and I over and over again if it's me. I've even put it on my blog before to try to clarify...but people still keep asking.

Now, I don't know WHY people would wonder if it's me...

OK, so maybe that's a picture of a mischievous pup, and that's probably why we keep getting questions about it. Everyone knows I'm a little ornery. But in all honesty, it's NOT ME! Want to know how to tell for sure? My nose is brown, not black!

Here are some other "That's Not Me!" posts...

Anipal Photo Hunt #5: BlogPaws

This week's Anipal Photo Hunt theme is "BlogPaws." BlogPaws is a conference that just took place out in Colorado. So for the Photo Hunt we're supposed to post photos of ourselves at BlogPaws or pics of us blogging. Since Mom and I couldn't go to BlogPaws, here are pics of me blogging!



OK, so those are totally pics of me sleeping. Mom just stuck the 'puter there by me. We can just pretend I'm blogging, though, can't we?

Here are some other anipals taking part in this week's Anipal Photo Hunt...