Vacation

What do you think to the new look? I've just got back from a weeks holiday and I'm knackered. It was my first time in kennels and between you and me I wasn't really looking forward to it but I had a brilliant time. It was way out in the country, near a creek where we went paddling every day. I've made some new friends both doggie and human. My bestest kennel friend was the owners Bijon Frise, he knew I was a bit nervous so looked out for me. And it's always good to make friends with the bosses dog.

I had a bath, brush and my nails done this afternoon so I smell like a puffy toy dog - I really need to find some fox poo to roll in tomorrow and get my manly doggie smell back. I'm not sure I like the new look neckerchief they gave me at the kennel. It's nice and cooling when hot but I think I'm a bit old for that trendy look.

Tornado warning

I'm not joking, watch the video. I was all settled for the evening in front of the TV when the program was interrupted by a tornado warning. The announcer advised us to go to our basement or an internal room, so I'm hiding out in the bathroom with my human who, to be honest, looks as scared as I feel.

It's absolutely belting down with rain and the thunder is amazingly loud, maybe because it is being amplified by the toilet or something. Either way, I'm really not enjoying myself at the moment and the forecast for tomorrow is more storms.

Watch the ticker at the bottom of the screen.

Capital Dog

I spent the day in Washington DC and boy do my paws ache now. It was really hot, not good weather for a black dog to be a tourist. The pond in the middle of the World War II memorial was so inviting but it would have been disrespectful to dive in and do a couple of laps.

I walked the length of the National Mall stopping at every tree and fire hydrant within lead reach. I wasn't allowed to cock my leg against the Washington monument, the Lincoln memorial or the war memorials (not that I would of course). The World War II and Vietnam memorials were very sobering. It doesn't show up very well on the photos but the 'field of stars' wall contains 4000 gold stars, each one presenting 100 soldiers who died during WWII, that's 400,000! The Vietnam memorial is totally different. It's a sweeping granite wall with the name of every solder killed or missing in action engraved on it: 58, 261 soldiers.

I went by the White House to see if Bo was home. He's the Obamas four legged friend. There was no sign of him though, not even a forgotten poo on the lawn. I tried woofing for him but he clearly doesn't understand an English bark. The secret service guys weren't too impressed though.

Enjoy the photo's.

I like driving in my car

Well I don't actually but it's a necessary evil to get me to nice places.  How does driving in the US compare to the UK?  For one the car I've got is huge.  I have to bark extra loud so I can be heard in the front.  There are a lot of cars here and the roads are massive.  It looks a lot easier to drive here than back home.  All my human has to do is move a stick in the middle of the car backwards and put her foot on a little peddle on the floor and off we go.  To slow down she pushes the big peddle next to the little one.  It's so easy I don't know why she doesn't have a car like that at home instead of all this flapping about using 3 peddles and moving the middle stick backwards and forwards every few seconds. Seem a bit of a faff to me. 

Honey, I've Shrunk The Dog!

Is it the weekend already?  Or maybe it's my birthday.  I went to the dog park tonight, which is unheard of on a school night.  Between you and me it's a bit of night off for my human.  All she has to do is sit there and pet the other dogs while I run around exchanging business cards with all the other dogs.  She really needs to take some treats with her though.  It's embarrassing begging for treats from other humans when they are handing them out to their dogs.

There was this tinny little dog that looked like a Doberman that had shrunk in the wash.  I don't think he realized he was 12 inches tall because he acted like the full size variety, all bold and confident strutting around the compound.  He was a perfect match for his human, she was tiny.  She couldn't have weighed more than 7 stones when soaking wet.  Guess what car a shrunken Doberman and a tiny lady drive.... a Hummer!  Yes, a huge great hummer, more at home in the Iraqi desert than the parking lot in a state park.  It was so big shrunken Doberman had to be lifted in the back.

Coolest dog of the evening was a white Great Pyrenees.  He arrived in the back of a pick up truck.  Actually stood up on the bed of the truck - how cool is that?  He'd been to the grooming parlor for a severe hair cut.  For a dog that is bred to survive in subzero temperatures 35oC was proving a bit too much for the big guy.  I wish I'd taken a video camera with me - a classic Pets do the funniest things clip when the shrunken Doberman tried to mount the Great Pyrenees.  Absolutely hilarious!   

Furry

I went to the pet store today to watch the dogs in the grooming parlor.  What great entertainment.  There were 4 dogs in, all being clipped and trimmed down to the bone. There was this huge white poodle who was having a serious short back and sides.  It's a good job it's warm outside otherwise he'd need a coat.  I've never seen so much fur in my entire life.  

Stormy Nights

And stormy days come to think about it.  Sorry I haven't posted anything for a few days I can't get the computer under the sofa.  As anyone who knows me will testify I hate thunder and we've had storms pretty much every day for the last week so I've taken refuge under the sofa seeing as I'm living in an apartment and don't have stairs to hide under.  Friday was particularly noisy with storms throughout the day.  I was lucky here it was just rain and high winds but a town near by was hit by a tornado which caused quite a bit of damage.  OK so it wasn't on the scale of the big twisters in tornado alley but pretty scary for an area that doesn't usually get them.

The absolute highlight of the past week was my first visit to the dog park.  Finally a chance to get off the lead and have a bit of freedom.  It didn't look very promising when I first got there as there were only two dogs there but it soon filled up.  It was ace!  There were so many dogs I didn't know which butt to sniff first.  All the dogs were so friendly and their owners were pretty good too.  I can't remember all their names but I was particularly taken by a rescued greyhound who was ever so elegant and even more sensitive than me.  I hope I get to go again soon.

On the way back from the park I had a stark reminder that America isn't a very safe place to live.  I passed 4 police men who had their guns drawn and a 'baddie' on the floor in handcuffs. Scary stuff!