A day at the playground

One day in the winter after it snowed and the snow was thawing making everything muddy, Daddy took me to the park. Not the dog park, a different park. He was letting me sniff around the playground equipment, and I climbed up by the slide. I was sniffing some ice at the top of the slide, and the ice broke and I slipped and went down the sliding board! It was fun! Mommy said that some day she wanted to come with us to the different park so that she could see me go down the slide. So, on one drizzly day in the Spring, we went back to the park with Mommy.

We went and I sniffed around. Then Daddy took me to the top of the little slide and we showed Mommy what I could do. After going down the little slide, we went up to the twisty slide, Mommy didn't think I'd go down, but I did. Sorry, the picture of me going down isn't good, Mommy was so surprised she wasn't ready to take the picture. But you can see my furry little bottom in the picture on the right!

I'm Three!

I'm a little late in posting this, but I'm three! My birthday was on April 5. The weekend of my birthday Mommy went to visit her friend, so Daddy and I hung out all weekend. In honor of my birthday he bought me a cheeseburger for dinner and it was yummy! Then, on Sunday, the actual day of my birthday, Mommy came home and brought me an ice cream cake. YUM! I wish my birthday was every day!


My cake looked and smelled so good I didn't want to wait for Mommy and Daddy to light the candles and sing to me, so I tried to lick off some of the icing.

"What do you mean I have to blow out the candles before I eat it?"

"If I pose for one picture, then can I eat the cake?"

"What do you mean 'wait until I cut you a piece?' You guys can split the little piece, what's left is mine."
Note from Mommy: Cooper did not get to eat the entire cake. He just got a small piece.

A Doggie Waterpark!!!

Mommy and Daddy, can we please go here? Please!

The paper says that they have a nonchlorinated pool, jungle gym, tunnel, pavilion, small dog area, and 6-foot-high fence.

Dear Pittsburgh Zoo:

At the zoo, which is really close to my house, there is a baby tiger cub. His mommy doesn't love him like my Mommy loves me, so they are considering getting him a friend, which if you read this article could be a dog.

Dear Pittsburgh Zoo: I'm not doing anything during the day, I could use a job. Please, please pick me! I love baby animals, kitties and playing! The baby tiger could even come to my house if he wanted. Mommy and Daddy wouldn't mind!

Can I keep him?

A few weeks ago, I heard a tap, tap, tapping noise at the front window, I jumped up and saw a little yellow bird fly away. A week or two later, I heard the same noise at the office window. I looked up and it was the same bird. He just kept sitting on the window, tap and tapping. Then I jumped on the window and he left. But then he came back, and he kept coming back day after day. I think he wants to be my new pet.

Mommy and Daddy think that he used to live in the birdhouse in our back yard. Over the winter there was a storm and the birdhouse fell out of the tree and broke into pieces. The tree it was in was dead, so Mommy and Daddy had it cut down. So the bird returned from his summer in Florida and his house was gone! How sad for him! So we think he is trying to get into the house to ask where his house went! Mommy and Daddy went to the store and bought him a new house, I hope he likes it!

Hi River and all other GRIN dogs!

As you'll see in the comments on my last post, one of my GRIN brothers, River left me a comment. I love hearing from other GRIN dogs and their families! It makes my tail wag! I wish we lived closer so we could go to the meetings and picnics and see the other GRIN dogs! Maybe one day... first I have to get over getting car sick on long drives!

And I love licking the dishes in the dishwasher too! So much so that once I tried to walk into the dishwasher. Mommy yelled because she thought I was going to snap off the door. Then Mommy and Daddy got a new dishwasher because the old one leaked (which had nothing to do with me trying to stand on the door, I swear!). I'm not allowed to even think about standing on this one.

Oh, and as a note to River's Mom...I think that River and Jasper need some cupcakes. Not people cupcakes, they're just for special occasions, but maybe doggie cupcakes? They taste much better than mice. At least I think they do, I've never eaten a mouse, but I bet Cousin Sami has! I can't wait to read River's success story! I'm sure you'll come up with something great!

What we need around here...

What we need around here is a bigger chair. There's no where for me to sit when I'm in the office! Where am I supposed to sit? On the floor?

Happy Belated Birthday to Me!

So my real birthday was on April 5. I'm pretty lucky when it comes to rescue dogs, most don't know when their real birthday. Like Cousin Sami, they just told her her birthday was April 1. No one knows when her real birthday is, or even exactly how old she is. When my first set of parents gave me up, they gave GRIN all my vet records, so Mommy and Daddy know exactly how old I am and know when to celebrate my birthday.

That being said, Mommy was in Kansas on my birthday, visiting her cousin and his family. So Daddy and I celebrated together. Daddy sang to me in the morning. Then at night he bought me a cheeseburger from Wendy's for dinner. It was so yummy! It made me stinky, but that doesn't bother me! Mommy was sad she missed my actual birthday and promised we'd celebrate it when she got back. But then Mommy was sick and then really busy at work, so we didn't celebrate it until last week.

Mommy got cupcakes from a local fancy cupcake bakery. She said she would have said the name of the bakery, and maybe even would have linked to their Web site, but the clerk at the bakery was very rude to her. When she asked if they had doggie cupcakes, he said they did and pointed to a plate of teeny-tiny cupcakes. Mommy asked if they didn't have any bigger ones, and the clerk said "It probably isn't good for your dog to eat anymore than that." Mommy explained it was my birthday and that I was a big boy. The clerk rolled his eyes at her. Mommy said he was a judgemental jerk. Look at this picture, the brown one is the doggie cupcake, the white is the people cupcake. What a rip-off!

Since it was my birthday, and despite what the jerk said, Mommy and Daddy gave me a people cupcake. They let me sit at the table and everything. They put two candles in it and sang Happy Birthday to me. I tried to eat the cupcake while the candles were still lit. Mommy thinks when they were breeding my ancestors to be nice and cute, they might have inadvertently bred out the fear of fire. I had no idea that I could catch on fire! Good thing Mommy and Daddy were there to keep me safe. After they blew the candles out for me, Mommy cut the cupcake up for me and let me eat it standing on the table. It was so yummy! The icing stuck to the roof of my mouth so I got to lick it off for a few minutes after I was done! Then Mommy gave me the doggie cupcake, which was yummy too!

I can't wait for my next birthday!

Easter

Sorry, I'm catching up on posting! I never did tell you how fun Easter was. First, Daddy stayed home on Friday and we went to the park. Then on Saturday we went to the park again and met Cousin Sami and Aunt. They brought Uncle's Mom and her dogs, Kirin and Mika. You might remember them from a previous post. Kirin and Mika are fun, they like to run and play, just like Sami and I do. So we ran around the park for a while and got muddy. We were so muddy that after we got to go to the creek for a swim. Aunt says I treat the pond at the creek like a spa. I just go in and lay down and have a nice soak. Mommy encourages me, that way when I get muddy I don't have to get hosed off when we get home.

On Easter Sunday we met Cousin Sami at the park again. The other dogs didn't come because they were too tired from Saturday. They must have played too hard! After we went to the park, we went to Aunt Tori's house. All four of my grandparents were there, along with Aunt, Uncle, Uncle's parents, and Cousin Sami and Kirin and Mika. So there were 10 people and 5 dogs. It was great! I had lots of people to fuss over me and give me treats! Mommy had hoped I'd be tired from the park and would nap, but I was too excited to nap! I stayed up all day long and pestered everyone for pets and treats. The next day I was very tired. Mommy said I had an Easter hangover.

Oh and Mommy brought my ears. I refused to wear them. Aunt Tori and Cousin Sami were tricked into wearing them, and they were not very happy about it.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turn two years old! Yippee!

Happy Birthday Cousin Sami!

Today Cousin Sami turns 4 years old! Cousin Sami is my best doggie friend. Here are the top 5 reasons I love Cousin Sami, in no particular order.

1. She has my back at the dog park. When another dog barks at me, she'll get in the middle of things. She always takes my side.

2. She is a big treat hound. Whenever Mommy gives Cousin Sami a treat, she gives me a treat too. And I like treats.

3. I love to give her kisses and slobber all over her. And she doesn't seem to mind...much.

4. While she isn't nearly as bad as I am, when Cousin Sami does something bad, she really does something bad -- like weird bad. And I think that makes me look well behaved by comparison. (Note from Mommy: "No, it doesn't.")

5. Cousin Sami loves to run around the dog park with me and chase me. It's my favorite thing that I get to do all week.

Hope you have a good birthday Cousin Sami!

Tori's visit

Last month, Aunt Tori came and stayed with us for a week and a half! It was fun. I was sick for part of her stay, but that didn't stop me from playing! Here's Aunt Tori hanging out in the driveway. We were waiting for Daddy to get his act together before we could go to the park. Sometimes Daddy can be a real poke.


Here we are in the back of the car at the park. I just wanted to get out of the car and run, but Mommy made me wait until we got our picture taken. That's why I look sad. Here we are at the dog park. Tori didn't run much. But she did enjoy one of my favorite things to do, letting her fur blow in the breeze. It was so windy, it made my ears and tongue flap!


Then we were tired, so we came home and napped. Mommy sat between us on the couch. Daddy had to go upstairs, there was no room for him!


Now see if you can tell me what's wrong with this picture...


Why is she free, while I'm in my crate? Not fair. And why is she staring at me? It's not a zoo!

My chair

Let's get the business out of the way -- last day to vote for me:
http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47128&Pet=2310

Here's a picture of me napping in a chair. You might recognize this chair from a lot of other pictures. Mommy's had this chair forever. Since before she adopted me and even before she met Daddy. It's the chair I use as a trampoline to get into the front window. After close to one year of using the chair in such a manner, the top seam started to tear. The hole kept getting bigger and bigger and you could see the chair's stuffing. Mommy didn't sew the hole up because I was being a good boy and didn't try to steal the stuffing. She was afraid if she did something to it, I'd get interested in it, and I would want to steal the stuffing and destroy the chair. Which is probably true. So she just left the chair alone. Until...

A few weeks ago, cousin Sami came over to play one day while Mommy, Daddy, Aunt and Uncle went somewhere. Cousin Sami ate the stuffing! I told her not to, but she just wouldn't listen. She is not good like I am. I think she learned her lesson because Aunt said that Sami was throwing up chair stuffing for days. I told her it was a bad idea.

So, Mommy had to cover the chair, and the chair is now green. I can still nap in it and use it as a trampoline, so it's fine with me.

Have you voted yet?

If you haven't had the chance to vote for me in the Bissell Most Valuable Pet Contest, please do! Voting ends tomorrow (Tuesday, March 18). Here's the link again:

http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47128&Pet=2310

And here's a picture of me and Aunt Tori at the dog park. Mommy thought we should post something cute to thank you for voting! I'm the cute one in the front!

My mom has fleas -- The lost post

Hi everyone! We found a lost post! I wrote this back in November, November 11 to be exact, but we forgot to post it! Enjoy!

I forgot to tell everyone, last weekend, mommy and I took a bath. I think mommy had fleas, so she needed a bath. Why I had to go in with her, I don't know. At first I was really excited to go upstairs, because I hardly ever get to go upstairs. Then mommy made me go into the bathroom, and she closed the door. I was mad, because I wanted to go exploring upstairs. Then she turned on the faucet and tried to lure me into the bathtub by letting me drink out of the showerhead. I got into the tub, but then mommy tried to get me all wet and I tried to escape. While I was trying to get out I pulled down the shower curtain. And the curtain rod. Mommy picked me up and put me back in the tub. I kept trying to get out, but she kept putting me back in. It was not fun. Then she put shampoo all over my fur. I rubbed it all over her clothes because, as I said before, she was the one with fleas, not me, so she needed the shampoo. I'm too handsome to have fleas. Finally, she rinsed all the soap off of me and dried me off. Then she made me stay in the kitchen when all I wanted to do was roll in the carpet. In the kitchen all I had to roll on was a towel. It was unfair. Mommy then asked if I was mad at her. I kissed her on the nose, because I can't be mad at her. After all, she does have fleas. Poor mommy. {Note from Mommy: I DO NOT have fleas!}

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday was my first Christmas. Actually, Daddy said it was probably my second, but Mommy said that she didn't want to think about me having Christmas with another family, because she wanted it to be my first and best Christmas. Mommy's a little weird, but I love her, so I'll just say it was my first Christmas! And it was fun!

On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Tori's house for dinner. I love going to their house because there are plenty of things for me to steal. Grandma had decorated for Christmas so there were even more things to steal! I especially liked the pine cones that she left out. Mommy always tells me that pine cones belong outside, so I can't bring them in the house...but for some reason, Grandma had a bunch of them inside. Yummy. I was very good around their Christmas tree, but I accidentally broke one ornament with my tail. I didn't mean to, I was just wagging my tail and the ornament got in the way!

The next morning, Christmas Day, we woke up and went on a walk, like normal. Then, Mommy and Daddy let me into the living room, where I'm never allowed, so that was exciting in itself. The Christmas tree was in there and I was very good, I didn't knock anything off, and I didn't steal any of the ornaments. But I did lick a few of them -- I wanted to see what they tasted like. Then Mommy and Daddy gave me presents and let me unwrap them all by my self. I got a new football and a chicken flavored nylabone!

Then we went into the family room, where the stockings were hung by the fireplace. There were lots of good treats in my stocking, like peanut treats and cookies. Mommy says that the three doggies on my stocking look like Aunt Tori, Cousin Sami and Me. Here's a picture of me doing my impression of the doggie on the bottom of the stocking.

After breakfast, we got into the car and drove. I had no idea where we were going, because we went in the direction of Aunt Tori's but then went past her house! We kept driving. When we got out of the car, my other grandparents were there! I had never been to their house before, and they were very excited to see me. Grandma had lots of treats for me, and she kept feeding me pieces of ham. I was so good while we were there that Grandma and Grandpa asked me to stay!

Grandma fed me so much ham, that Mommy and Daddy were worried that I would get car sick again. So much that they stopped the car every five minutes to check on me. They needed to calm down. I was fine. Which proves I need to eat more people food before car rides so I don't get sick!

Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It seems like I start out every blog post like this, but...sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I'd like to blog more, but I need Mommy to help me blog, and she either doesn't have her laptop at home, or we're too busy. She also says that since I've gotten so good, there isn't as much to blog about.

I'm hoping that since Mommy has a bunch of days off in the next few weeks that at the least she'll help me put up a few new pictures. So stay tuned.

Speaking of pictures, here's one of me helping Mommy wrap Daddy's Christmas present. She looked like she was having trouble with it, so I climbed up on the dining room table to help her. I also helped her wrap Aunt's present. It looked like it might be too big, so I stepped on it to squash it. I'm very helpful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry I'm a little late, I was having too much fun to blog!

Like Halloween, I'm not sure what Thanksgiving it, but I sure do like it. It started out on Wednesday with Mommy bringing home a big raw chicken from the store. She told me it was a turkey, but it didn't look like the turkeys that live in our neighborhood, so I'm not sure if it wasn't a chicken, but we'll call it a turkey for Mom's sake. She put the turkey on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, right at my nose level. Every time she opened the door, I stuck my nose in to lick the turkey! Then the next morning, we got up late for a Thursday, and no one went to work! Mommy started cooking at 9 in the morning! I got snacks at 9 in the morning! Then she took the turkey out of the fridge, and rubbed butter all over the turkey. I never tasted butter before, but I sneaked a lick and it was goooood. I tried to steal some the rest of the day. She put the turkey in the oven and then Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Tori came over, then Aunt and Uncle and Cousin Sami and then my other Grandma and Grandpa! Every one was at my house and they were all paying attention to me. It was great! I barked at Cousin Sami a lot because I wanted her to play with me, but she wouldn't. She was no fun.

After dinner, Grandma gave me a few pieces of turkey. Someone once told Daddy doggies shouldn't eat turkey. Mommy called that person a mean name. I'm glad that person isn't one of my parents. Grandma also bought me, Aunt Tori and Cousin Sami a turkey cookie. It didn't taste like turkey, it tasted like cookie.

Then to top it off, Mommy and Daddy stayed home for three more days! It was great, we went to the dog park with Cousin Sami and Aunt and Uncle every day. I'll tell you more about the dog park in another post. Oh, there will be pictures too. Mommy had to go out of town again, so once she gets back, she'll help me put them up.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

Pittsburgh 3, Cleveland 0

It's been a bad year for Cleveland. The Steelers beat the Browns twice, and I moved to Pittsburgh at the end of April. Three big losses for Cleveland. So the way I see it, the score is 3 to 0, Pittsburgh. Sorry Cleveland. Go Steelers!

Note on howl-o-ween

Howl-o-ween was FUN! I wore my costume all night and only tried to eat it once. Everyone loved my costume, especially the little girls that came to visit. They thought I was so cute (which I am). I got so much attention from all the people who came to our door and I love attention. I was so tired that I fell asleep in my costume. Howl-o-ween is great.