Super Adventures

Even though I am adventure dog at home, my adventures are usually squirrel-, bunny-, or party-related. Recently I endured the dreaded bath, which usually means I’m going to a party—but this time, Dad put my comfy cozy in the back seat of the car, and off I went for a long ride. This ride was much farther than the post office, the library, or GrammaGrampa’s house—my usual destinations. Our few stops were just false alarms, and I got very upset when Mom or Dad went inside a building for a few minutes, but pretty soon we were all together again rolling alongside big brown fields. Finally, we arrived at the adventure, which was called Amana.

Mostly I waited outside with one of my parents while the other went inside a store, but I got to swing on lots of swingy benches, and one time I even got to go inside an eating place with lots of tables. Mom and Dad kept ssshhhing me. They even gave me a treat every few minutes to keep me quiet. But whenever a lady in a white apron came over to ooh and aah at the cute doggie (me), I just had to whine and yip with excitement. I hoped all the ladies would pet me, but Mom said they might get in trouble with the health department if they did. So Mom and Dad wolfed hamburgers really really fast, and then one of the ladies let us out a back door. So that was my first new adventure.

The next adventure Mom and Dad spelled out. I thought B-N-B might be like when they spell out T-R-E-A-T or W-A-L-K so that I don’t flip out with excitement before they’re ready for me to flip out. Turns out B-N-B was a place with beds and halls. When the door of our room opened, I bolted to run up and down the halls with one of my parents chasing me. That was a fun game. I got to sleep all by myself on a very big bed. I was very tired from the Amana adventure and snort-snored loudly.

Wait, there’s more. The next day was an even longer ride in the car until we arrived at the next adventure, meeting a new aunt and uncle. First I explored their house, which had some fuzzy floors, some slippery floors, some fuzzy stairs, some slippery steps. My little legs went so fast, my ears flew behind me. Until I got used to the slippery steps, I made a few belly flops. I got lots of attention, but I was on-edge. I like routine, but even seeing my own food bowl from home, I felt too anxious to eat. So Mom fed me from her hand, and Dad took me out for lots of little walks. My aunt and uncle talked to me and petted me, and I was just starting to feel calmer, when all five of us went for a ride in an unfamiliar car—once again, I didn’t know what to expect.

This time, we went to lots of museums. And when I say “we,” I mean all five of us. Almost everywhere, nice people let me go inside museums. I felt very special and secure in dad’s arms. I was a good boy and didn’t bark while the adults looked at covered wagons and Christmas trees and movies about pioneers. Even when I saw horsies and oxen and buffalo in the pictures, I didn’t even whine. But then later, outside a soda fountain, ponies carrying Santa Claus clip-clopped right by me and I just had to bark and pull Dad toward the street. The whole day was one adventure after another and again, I seriously conked out at night.

By the time Mom and Dad and I packed up our car to drive back to our home, I was so tired from all my new adventures, I slept the whole 11-hour ride.

birdies with red hats

Mom and Dad walked me to the other side of this hill  today and guess what was over there!






Birdies with little wavy red hats. I wanted to sniff one so bad and I whined and yipped and pulled on my leash, but Dad didn't seem inclined to let me near them. Instead I sniffed all the feathers that landed on the ground when the birdies lurched away from me.

Mixing It Up

Mommy and Daddy have really been mixing it up lately. Some days Dad walks me in the mornings; it was always Mom in the mornings. And I always used to beg for my noon treat from Mom, but now Dad is home all day, so I beg both places but he thinks I'm greedy, not just confused, so I think I'll stick with Mom at noon. Usually I know who's going to give me which meal and which walk and which treat so my inner timer tells me whose feet to lie at when. Now I'm a little mixed up.

Plus, now they more often go away together. So I'm alone more now. Not for long, but still, I'm lonely. When they come home, I'm ecstatic. I gallop to Daddy and stand up tall with my paws on his legs and he bends down so I can lick his face all over. Then I charge over to Mommy and bury my face in her legs and talk and purr and talk and purr. Then I run to Daddy to tell him again how very very happy I am to see him. Then I nuzzle Mommy again. Today there were some going-away things piled near the back door. So when Mom took a shower, I thought she might be going away. I tried to climb into the shower with her to tell her I didn't want her to go away. Whew. She didn't go away. And whew again. She gently backed me out of the tub so I wouldn't get all wet. I hate getting wet almost as much as I hate being alone.

Because of Josey

I'm always glad when Mommy is home and sad when she leaves. Well, at the actual moment of her leaving, I'm happy because I get a treat. But after, I'm lonely. For a few days now, she has been at home, and more importantly for me, wanting to take me for extra-long walks and to sit down on the floor more often and play fetch with me. Plus, suddenly she has pulled out her whole repertoire of pet names for me ~ Charliebarley, Babyboo, Boobear, Sweetiepie, Chunkymonkey, Hunnybunny, Funnybunny. (Me, I like just Charlie.) And every day now, she gives me a big hug from Tricia. This is a new one.

Today during my hug from Trish, Mom reminded me of four years ago when she and her dog Josey came to visit. I remember my tail-wagging joy when Josey padded into the kitchen ~ I had a doggie just my size to play with! She smiled and we sniffed, but I didn't know what games she liked to play, and I don't share my toys. So I decided to play tag. Or maybe I decided to sniff around her tail, and she decided to run away ~ I'm not sure how tag started. But it was so much fun.

She scuttled into the hall, and I scuttled into the hall. She ran into the kitchen, and I ran into the kitchen. For hours. Then we went on the patio to sniff bricks and weeds and bugs. When we came back inside the house, Josey trotted into the hall, with my nose right behind her behind. When Josey trotted into the kitchen, my nose followed. I would have tagged her, too, except she hightailed it over to her mom Tricia on the living room floor and snuggled her tail end right into Tricia's leg. Her mom petted her, and she looked real happy to be safe at last from my pursuit. So we rested from our game.

Mom said Tricia wanted me to have extra hugs this week because my sweet, smart playmate Josey is resting now from all her games, safe at last.

Slow Walks

Mommy was sick today. All morning was boring, because I had nothing to watch and no one to smile at. But when she took me for a walk, she took teeny tiny pokey steps, and that turned out good for me. When you walk slow, you can hear buzzy bees, whizzy cars, whirry birdwings. The best part was I got to sniff everything. Mom was on cement, which doesn't hold smells very well, but I walked on grass the whole time. She let me sniff as long as I wanted in all the grass. When I lingered by a yellow fire hydrant with a shiny, sticky side, she said "That's enough snifferdoodle," and we shuffled on. But that was the only time. If she had asked me, I could have told her which grass squirrels had scampered on, which grass the neighbor dogs had poopied on, which grass a birdie had stopped to pull a worm out of and what kind of berries that birdie ate earlier. When I smelled bunny on the grass, you better believe I looked under the nearest porch to find the bunny. I didn't find any bunnies, but I did feel like Adventure Dog.

I have a comfy cozy now. At least that's what my mom calls it. It's different from my bed, which is near where Dad watches TV, and my puppy pad, which is near Mom's feet when she's typing. I used to have my own chair in the kitchen, but I can't jump up in it any more because my back legs stopped being springy. So my comfy cozy is on the floor where I can just step into it. It's in the room where Mom and Dad eat their food and right next to the kitchen, where I eat my food. Sometimes I sleep right in the middle. Sometimes I curl against a curve. I like my comfy cozy.

My Take on Toys

Mom brought me a new toy today and what's the first thing she does? She puts it on my head. This toy is for tossing and tugging, for pete's sake. It has a soft part I can rest my head on and a squeaker I can chew out when my parents are watching TV. Here is also a picture of my plush puppy before I chewed his squeaker out.

New Game

Hot diggity dog, the mailman came today and I invented a new game. He stepped inside the door to talk to Mom and Dad, and of course he knelt down to scratch me in all my favorite spots. I wiggled a lot to get scratched everywhere. But the silly adults kept talking, and the mailman wasn't concentrating on his scratching job, so I had to mix things up a bit. I calmly strolled out of the front hallway as though I was done with all the scratching. But I surprised everyone by galloping full-speed back down the hall to greet the mailman afresh. He scratched me all over. When he slowed down again ~ and the adults were still yammering ~ I sauntered away again, then galloped back. I gave my hello licks all over again and he loved on me again. I liked my new game.

Ouchie

I have an ouchie. I learned about ouchies from my friend Jonah who comes to visit me. That's what his mommy says when he bumps his head. "Jonah got an ouchie?" That's how I know what makes me walk uneven, an ouchie in my leg. Don't worry, I still like to go for walks though; I'm just slow now.

I like Jonah's visits. He loves me and asks his mommy to see the doggie. He waves his hand back and forth in the air to show her how my tail goes. And when she says, "Jonah, want to pet the doggie?" he runs straight at me and slips his whole hand like a cone over my nose. I don't know how to tell him muzzle and pet are two different things, but it's okay for now. He's still little, and he'll learn. One thing I wish he'd learn soon is not to start this chain reaction: Jonah steps in my water bowl, my mom laughs, his mom gasps, and Jonah tries to pick up the bowl and throw it before his mom can pull him away from it. Too much drama. Jonah likes my squeaky toys, and someday soon I hope he and I can play together.

Just Give Me Some Snow

At least they didn't put that silly Santa hat on me this year. Or the ridiculous reindeer antlers. I did get three presents, two toys and a bag of treats, which I opened all by myself with my trusty pouncing-on-the-package method. My toys are real good, and I've been real good to not chew my toys apart ~ yet. My treats are real good too ~ too tiny, but they taste good. Lots of people came on Christmas, and they petted me. I even kissed Grandma. Then two days later more people came, including a little girl my size who chased me around and around and around.

I like when parties start and everybody comes in the door because I get to bark and smile and sniff everybody's knees. And I like the presents part. But I don't get any of the good food. And everybody else is so into the food and presents and talk talk talk, they don't play with me. So just give me some snow. Lots of snow. And take me for long walks in it. Show me some bunny tracks and mouse holes, pee rocks and poop piles. Let me sniff hello to all the other doggies on the trail. Let me bury my face in deep snow and bound up snow banks.