Settling in and learning the rules

I bet you are wondering why I haven't been flooding you with updates about Misty.  To be honest I'm still getting over the shock of getting her.  After 12 years of being top dog it's quite a change having to share my human.... and my bed.... and my food grrrrr.  She's learning not to knock me out the way and eat my food after wolfing down her's and I'm being cunning sneaking off to bed early to get the one nearest my human.

She's settling in nicely and learning the rules pretty quickly.  My human is coming home early until the new lass gets used to being with me all day.  She did really well on Tuesday.  No accidents, no chewing of furniture.  Then she went a bit nuts in the evening and emptied the recycling bin all over the kitchen floor.  I blame the human for not feeding us before she went back out. 

Work day number 2 was uneventful.  Human came home early, Misty was really excited to see the human, so excited she peed on the carpet.  No accidents when the human got home today - she saved the carpet watering until later in the evening.

Walks are a bit stressful.  What is it with this squirrel thing?  She's addicted to them.

I took her to meet some of the neighbourhood dogs last night.  She got a bit grumpy with Carly, yes she's still with us, but made instant friends with Bear the chocolate lab up the street.  

Play Misty for Me

We got a dog!  Allow me to introduce you to Misty.  She joined us today from Labrador Rescue of Potomac.  She is 9 years old and just a little bit bigger than me.  She likes belly rubs, walks and rides in the car.  She doesn't like cats or squirrels but we've yet to test that.  She's settling in well but it will take her a while to learn the rules like - don't dig in the veg garden! 

Misty is on the right

Knocking on heaven's door

What is going on with my four legged friends?  Roxy's passing was a shock, now my other neighbour, Carly, is really sick.  I saw her being carried to the car on Saturday night and haven't seen her since.  I was out in the front garden yesterday supervising my human cutting the lawn (she does make a meal of it) when Carly's human came over.  Poor old girl had a fit and had to go to the dogggie ER.  It's not looking good.  I think I'm going to have stay in the back garden from now on, I don't know how much more bad news I can take this month. 

Borrowed Time?

Wikipedia say the average lifespan of a Labrador is 10-12 years.  They clearly haven't seen me chasing the bunny who is living under our shed.  I'm the fittest geriatric doggie in the neighbourhood.  My hearing isn't what is was, and my eyes aren't as sharp as they once were but I can still hold my own when it comes to chasing bunnies and sniffing butts.  Getting old does have some advantages... thunderstorms (my Achilles heel) don't bother me any more... because I can't hear them :-)

Every silver lining has a cloud

Yes, you read that right - every silver lining has a cloud.  My neighbours came round today with a big bag of dog food and 3 boxes of treats.  I thought they were here with the best birthday presents ever but sadly they weren't presents.  Their canine companion Roxy was killed by the garbage truck last week.  She'd sneaked out of the house when the plumber went for some tools and was clearly enjoying her freedom when the trash truck brought it to a swift end.  Poor Roxy.  I'll miss you woofing at me through the fence.  Rest in peace Roxy my young friend. 

Sausages for breakfast?

Sausages for breakfast?  Either it's my birthday or I'm going to the vets.  I don't feel sick and I had my bits removed when I was a puppy so it must mean it's my birthday.  Yeah!  Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me....

A quick check of my doggie passport - I'm 12 today!  Wow that's quite old isn't it?  No wonder I've got more grey hairs than my human.  I wonder what's for dinner.  I vote for sausages!

Trick or Treat?

Nobody ever knocks on our door so my guard dog duties are pretty limited, except tonight!  Why didn't my human warn me it was Halloween? 

Tonight we've been visited by 4 fairies; 12 superheroes; a cat (which I chased away); 3 grumpy looking parents and a handful of teenagers who really should have made more of an effort. 

So far I've had 10 pats on the head; 5 ear scratches; a tummy tickle; made 3 teenage girls scream like errr teenage girls and made Batman cry!  We have this great thing going: there's a knock at the door, my human opens it and I rush outside to either screams or pats.  I love Halloween! 

Here are 3 of my favourite internet costumes for furry friends.  I really hope that last one are supposed to be ghosts and not the KKK!

Bye Bye Sandy

Phew!  That was lucky.  Sandy gave us a fleeting visit and left us with a little drying out to do but we were very lucky: we have power and I helped sniffing out any problems in the house.  Only downside is I can't get in front of the roaring fire because of the wet carpet. 

Woofs and sniffs to my furry brothers and sisters in NY and NJ.  I hope you guys dry out soon and aren't too traumatized.

Go Away Sandy

I'm heeding the advice of the humans and hunkering down to ride out the storm...

Oh Sandy

I'm not sure who this Sandy woman is but she must really, really important because everyone is talking about her.  People are talking about her on the news and the radio, even dogTV has been talking about her.

Thankfully I am well prepared.  I brought all my toys in from the garden last night , my human stocked up on food for us both, and I've got a stash of custard creams.  I'm snuggled in front of the log fire awaiting the arrival of this very special visitor. 

Eye Eye

Who would have thought gardening was so dangerous?  My silly human lost a fight with a pine tree and has been moaning and whimpering ever since.  I will give her credit for finishing cutting the lawn and having a cup of tea before getting it looked at but boy is she a poor patient. All she needed to do was wear her sun glasses on her face instead of propped on her head.  What a rookie mistake.  And she cut my morning walk in half this morning.  Something about it being too bright.  I'll make sure she gets up before the sun tomorrow so she has no excuse to short change me. 

New Yard

Oh my look at me, I'm starting to sound American.  When I say yard I really mean garden.  But look at it.  What happened to the grass?  Are we getting a donkey or something? It's all itchy and scratchy and I want my grass back. 

My human says it's so the new grass seed will grow.  It seemed to be doing fine on it's own, well until it was washed away with the heavy rain the other day.  I guess it keeps her busy and out of my way for a while.