Happy Birthday Mommy!

It was Mommy's birthday the other day and to celebrate she took the day off and I took her for a hike at the state park. We had intended to do an all day hike, but it was cold and raining in the morning so we didn't get to go, but it turned to cool and misty by afternoon and we left then. We did 8 miles and it was lots of fun, even if I did get slow and grumpy for the last three. Because the weather wasn't very good there weren't very many people on the trails and we got to see a lot of animals that are normally scared off by the loud hikers. Mommy spotted an indigo bunting, which Mommy thinks is one of the prettiest birds out there. Here is a picture of one Mommy found on the web. Maybe he is related to the one we saw!


We also saw hawks and swans and all kinds of ducks, not just mallards, but wood ducks and harlequin ducks and even a ruddy duck who must have overslept and missed his migration bus. Best of all the sandhill cranes were out and were being extra territorial so they were yodeling like crazy. When I was at the peak of my tired grumpiness a kitty-dog ran across our path! Well that woke me up and I picked up my pace for the end of the hike. Mommy calls kitty-dogs "foxes". Shows what she knows. I wore my camera, but I have to admit that I didn't get any really good shots, so we aren't going to force them on y'all.

The funniest thing happened at the end of the hike. Mommy and I had just turned the last corner and could see the access trail ahead of us when we spotted two teenage boys with fishing poles over their shoulders and their pants down to their knees. They were doing that "I'm too cool for this" slouching walk when suddenly they stopped dead in their tracks and stared with really big eyes at the clearing by the access trail. Mommy and I couldn't see what they were staring at, but, since it was dusk, Mommy was concerned it might be coyotes so she made me stop while we listened for clues. Then we heard a sandhill crane yodel and Mommy said, "Oh it's just cranes. Let's go." so we started forward again. Well, when that bird yodeled one of the boys went running back toward the parking lot waving his arms over his head and yelling, "Look at da woodpeckers yo! Look at da woodpeckers yo!" Three more boys came hustling up as fast as they could with their pants down to their knees and the five boys all stood there staring at the cranes and arguing about what they were. We could hear the first boy insisting they were woodpeckers and another boy saying he thought they were "storks or cranes or geese or something" and the other three trying to decide who to believe. One was leaning toward goose and the other two were heading towards woodpecker. Finally the first boy ended his argument with, "Ain't you never seen da cartoons?!" Mommy laughed at that but she COULD see where he was coming from. I mean check out the similarities:





When we got up to the boys one of them turned to Mommy and said, "Lady, you know what kind of birds those are?" Mommy told them they were sandhill cranes and the "storks or cranes or geese" boy yelled, "Thank you!"

Mommy bought Chinese food on the way home and we had a nice snuggly evening. I was tired for two days afterward.

My Monthly Diary for April, 2011

April was an exciting month.

First off, while Mommy and I were on one of our regular walks

(Auntie Naomi, turn away!)

I saw a SNAKE!! It was right by the sidewalk and was all squiggly and I poked it with my nose and it squiggled some more so I poked it again and it squiggled awhile longer and then it knotted itself up into a little snake ball with its head under its coils and wouldn't play anymore. I looked at Mommy and tried to get her to make it play again, but she said no, the snake was finished playing for the day and we needed to let him get back to work.

(You can start reading again Auntie Naomi.)

A couple days later on my evening walk I found a nest of bunnies. I always play fair and don't try to grab the bunnies until they move and they were staying really still so we were in a standoff. Mommy couldn't see what I was staring at and she kept trying to make me move on, but I didn't want to. Finally the bunnies couldn't take the staring contest anymore and they all bolted off in different directions. When Mommy saw it was bunnies she was kinda mad, but I didn't get any because of my leash. I've checked the bunny spot every night, but Mommy says the mommy bunny moved the nest since a big bad wolf tried to eat the babies. What wolf?

The next day when Mommy and I were coming home from walking to the library to return some stuff we bumped into my favorite neighbor boy!! I was so excited because he had been sent to obedience school in the late fall and we weren't supposed to see him again until at least summer, but he had hurt his leg jumping over a fence and was going to need surgery. Mommy says you are supposed to respect fences and not try to jump over them and now I see why! I haven't seen him since so I think he is being kept crated so he doesn't do more damage to his leg. While we were talking to him Mommy's phone rang (this is very strange because Mommy only carries her phone on hikes just in case of emergency and not on regular walks). Mommy said we needed to head home because AUNTIE NAOMI and UNCLE FRED were coming over. We got home and a few minutes later there they were!! That is very very exciting because Auntie Naomi and Uncle Fred are some of my most favorite humans. I was very happy to see them even if Auntie Naomi didn't bring me a present. Mommy says I'm a greedy gus and don't need presents every time I see Auntie Naomi. They didn't stay long, because they and Mommy were going out to lunch before Mommy had to go earn dog food money, but they came back to see me again after lunch so that was good.

I got to go to the chiropractor this month too. My back just didn't heal up right after I fell off the bed last month so Mommy took me in for an adjustment. I was very tense when she started working on my back, but when she did a spot right above my hips I gave a big sigh and melted into Mommy's arms it felt so good to have things set right. I also had a bad spot in my mid back and my head was off too. The chiropractor told Mommy it may have looked like I fell straight off the bed, but I sure hadn't fallen straight!

At the end of the month Mommy and I woke up and there were two bunny birds in my front yard!! They were under the bird feeder eating the birdseed. I barked at them, but they ignored me. Here is a picture of them:


Mommy has been getting her veggie garden in and I've been helping. I like to make sure that the ground is good and soft and the planting lines are straight:


My friend Gracie has a new brother named Sherlock. He came up and sniffed noses with me at the fence for a good long time. He is a 10 year old toy poodle. Gracie is a schipperke.

Finally this weekend Mommy and I took a hike and I saw all kinds of great things. I saw two of the things that Auntie Naomi doesn't want to hear about, some deer, some geese (they ignored everyone who passed them until I came along and then they started honking "wolf! wolf! wolf! wolf!" so I barked at them and got in trouble) and some dogs too. I barked at some of the big dogs, ignored some of the big ones, and said hi nicely to all the small ones. I wore my camera and here are some of the shots I took.

A lot of people ride bikes on this trail:


I like walking on the boardwalks. You can see all sorts of birds there:


There is a goose nesting out there:


Mommy took a picture of it too. They like to nest on muskrat mounds because they are very warm:


One of the things Auntie Naomi doesn't like to hear about. Can you see it?:


There are deer out there:


Mommy took a picture of them too:


Mommy needed a potty break. I always go in the outhouses with her on trails:


Back on the trail:


Mommy's new car has a sunroof which is nice when you are hot after the hike:

My Monthly Diary for March, 2011

Well, Mommy says she knows it is spring because all of the signs are there. The crocuses have come up, the robins have returned and I start each morning by throwing up. Yup, we don't know why, but it wouldn't be a spring morning if I didn't wake Mommy up each morning with the delightful sound of me walking through as many rooms as possible spitting up bile. I've had quite a few doses of Carafate and Pepcid, but it doesn't help. I still throw up. If I don't puke first thing in the morning then I refuse to eat breakfast until I can go outside and eat grass until I throw up. We go through a lot of paper towels in the morning.

As if my morning puke wasn't hard enough on my stomach and throat I decided to be very clever this month. Mommy made a roast beef tenderloin for dinner one Sunday and I wanted some, but Mommy said no because I have developed a total intolerance to beef protein. I couldn't believe she wouldn't give me a bite or even let me lick a plate, so I waited until she was taking a shower that night and I got into the garbage. I was very careful about it and didn't tip the can over or scatter the contents, but I DID get all of the plastic wrap that the tenderloin was in. Boy did it taste good! Mommy came into the kitchen after her shower and saw that the cabinet was partly open and she said, "Merlin! Did you get in the garbage?" I looked very innocent from my kitchen bed, and since she didn't see any scattered garbage, she figured she had come out just in time to stop me from getting anything. Silly her. So, she had a little trouble understanding why I developed a bad tummy ache the next day and didn't want any breakfast and hardly any dinner and I didn't eat all my Mommy-Goes-Away treats. The tummy ache continued for three days and then SURPRISE!! I pooped out about 2 feet of plastic wrap all in one piece! My tummy felt much better after that, but the next day I pooped in the house while Mommy was out because my intestines were aggravated for some reason. After that all was normal again.

Because it is spring Mommy and I are seeing a lot of our walk friends that we don't see in the winter because they walk or we don't walk by their house because the roads are dangerous in winter. The twins and their neighbors are out again and I take Mommy by their house at least once a week. When I get to their house if they aren't out I slow down to a crawl and stretch my zipline as far as I can towards their living room window and walk by staring into their house. Most times this gets their attention and they come out to pet me. One evening I took Mommy on a walk that led her past two of my favorite dog friends, but they weren't out, then I went to the twins' house and they saw me, but they didn't come out and I was very sad, so I insisted on walking up another neighbor's driveway to see if they were in their backyard, but they weren't and I got very very sad. I was dragging behind Mommy with my head and tail down oh so very depressed when Mommy saw that our neighbor across the street was outside in his backyard. So she called across the street to him, "Would you come out and pet Merlin? He has been trying to find someone to talk to all evening, but nobody is home." He was nice and he came out and pet me and it cheered me right up.

On another walk a woman called out to us, "Hey! That's Merlin the smiling dog!" from about four houses away and I insisted on going up for petting. She was very happy to see me and told Mommy that she had missed me this winter, but she didn't walk when it was icy. Mommy and I pretended like we knew who she was, but really we were both rather clueless, we suspect she was someone we met once or twice on our morning walks, but hey, petting is petting and I'm not turning it away.

Another sign of spring? The Tastee-Freez and Dog n Suds are open!!! I haven't gotten to go to the Dog n Suds for french fries yet, but I did get to go have a pup cup at the Tastee-Freez. Now that I know they have reopened I try to take Mommy by them at least once a week in hopes she will get me a treat.

One not fun thing happened this month. I was sleeping on Mommy's bed and I rolled over and I fell off the bed! I hit the hardwood floor WHAM!! right on my back with my feet straight up in the air. Mommy gave me sympathy but she was also laughing on and off while doing it, which wasn't nice. I ended up on doggy oxy for a few days because of that fall. That is no way to wake yourself up, let me tell you.

Hope you all have a great spring, get to visit your local Tastee-Freez or Dog n Suds or other treat place, and don't fall off the bed.

My Monthly Diary for February

I debated about doing a February entry. Not much happened other than the big snowfall on Groundhog Day, which I already told you about in my SnOMG post. February is hard on Mommy and me because of all the weather shifts. My back and joints hurt with all the now it is warm, now it is cold, now it is snowing, now it is raining. I end up taking a lot of doggy oxie and getting sleepy and drunk and stupid. I do get to only take a 1/2 of one now, so that means that I am more slow than sleepy and not quite so drunk stupid. Mommy says if I weren't such an active and smart dog she might not notice the change, but for me, walking rather than trotting and not spotting squirrels right away and stuff make it really obvious that I am not myself when I'm on my doggy oxie. Also, the weather shifts give Mommy things called migraines, which means that she doesn't like when I smack her with squeaky toys. So we usually end up spending a lot of February in bed watching old movies and tv shows. We did get to take one hike along the river and I did a couple of eight mile morning walks which were fun.

I also told Mommy I'd like to start painting again. I haven't wanted to paint for about a year, because I have to go into the basement to do it and the stairs are hard to manage, but I followed Mommy downstairs one day, went to my "studio" and stared at Mommy while I wagged and wagged my tail. Unfortunately Mommy was only running downstairs to get something before going off on one of those Mommy things she does without me, so I couldn't paint, and then Mommy had to help me get back up the stairs. She says though that now that the weather is getting nicer she will move my studio up to the three season porch and we can maybe paint on one of the warmer days. Then come summer we will move it out to the backyard. So, hopefully I'll be able to post some new paintings soon.

SnOMG

We had a BIG snow here. It snowed from Monday night to Wednesday afternoon without stopping. On Tuesday, Mommy was supposed to go into work, but she called to tell them she wasn't going to, just as they were trying to call her to say they were closing early. We went back to bed and watched t.v. and snuggled. The winds were really big and loud too for most of Tuesday into Wednesday and our windows rattled. I had to pee when the storm was going on, but I just ran out into the backyard and peed on the outside of the porch wall. We got snow INSIDE the porch so I don't see why I couldn't pee inside the porch, but Mommy said outside for that. I didn't poop for 36 hours though.

That was Wednesday afternoon when it stopped snowing and Mommy got the driveway cleared so we could walk into town. I was not happy that someone had put great big snow mountains up in my way as well as made snow canyons and snow walls and snow pit traps. When we got to my squirrel tree it was blocked by a 6 foot mountain of snow that the plows had pushed up! I walked around the mountain and whined until I found a 3 foot tall area that I could climb over and get to the tree. The squirrels were fine. They stayed in for the storm too. I insisted on going to the feed store, but they were closed. Mommy said I was a goof to think they'd be open.

Mommy thought she'd have to go to work on Thursday, but they said the town where work is hadn't cleared the snow yet so they were staying closed. I took Mommy for a nice long walk in celebration. First I checked on the squirrels, then I saw the feed store guys and got my cookie and then I wanted to go to Central Park. Mommy said that Central Park was going to be too covered in snow to walk in, but I insisted. Mommy has been shaking her head trying to understand why I can remember every place I ever found road kill, and can decide that all golden retrievers are bad dogs because one golden retriever ran up to me and bit me once, but I can't figure out that if the snow is deep and drifty in the backyard it is going to be big and drifty everywhere. Anyway, she let me go to Central Park and she was right, the snow was very deep and not walkable. I tried though. Someone had broken a trail part way into the park and I followed that and then I tried to make my own, but it is hard when the snow is up to your shoulder and higher in most places. Finally I got us over a five foot snow mountain and when we went down the other side I landed in snow up to my belly and Mommy ended up in snow up to her WAIST!! It was funny watching Mommy swimming out of the snow. When she finally freed herself I agreed that we needed to try to get back to a plowed street so I let her lead and we worked our way back to easier walking.

Today I insisted on going to the lake. I thought I might walk across it like we do in the winter on nice days. Mommy shook her head and said, "You are going to be disappointed again." but she let me lead her there. Sure enough after I climbed over the six foot snow mountain blocking the secret beach the snow on the lake was deep and drifty and I couldn't walk through it so we turned around and walked home. At least today most people have cleared their sidewalks so we didn't have to keep backtracking or walking in the street as much as on Wednesday and Thursday. In case you were wondering our official total snowfall for the storm was 25 inches. Here are some photos of our storm.:

The snow inside our porch

close up

snow by the garage on Wednesday, and it was still snowing

Me looking where I WON'T go in the backyard.
I can't actually see over the drift in front of me.
Mommy tromped a path to the chair for me today, but I still won't go there.

Me looking where I WILL go in the backyard

Me as far as I will go

My Monthly Diary for December 2010

Yes, I forgot to do a December blog post. So hop in your Not-So-Wayback Machine and let's go!

Let's see, I think the reason I didn't do a blog entry was that I didn't do a whole lot. Christmas happened. Mommy and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve instead of them coming to our house. Mommy and Mommy's youngest brother suggested it as a new tradition. Grandma was not so sure about it, but she agreed. Mommy brought all the fixings for Christmas Eve dinner and we got there in the late morning. Going into the house I tripped on the front stoop and fell down. Mommy fixed Christmas Eve dinner and played a dice game and dominoes with her youngest brother and we took a couple of walks. After one of the walks I came in the house and fell down. Then Neighbor Mary came over to eat with us. I was happy to see her and when I was turning the corner into the kitchen I fell down. Mommy was starting to worry about me because of all the falling, but I seemed fine otherwise. We had a nice relaxing dinner and Mommy and her brother said they thought it was much better than everyone coming up to our house because it is a long drive and they have to leave early because of church. Because Grandma and Grandpa live close to their church they didn't have to run off right after dinner which was nice. Eventually everyone but Mommy and me went to church (I'm not allowed and Mommy's church is taking walks with me). We went to bed which was a bit of a problem because it was a twin bed and Mommy seemed to think she should get more than a small sliver of it. Eventually we worked it out and fell asleep. We got woken up when the church goers got back around 1 a.m. and then around 3 a.m. I kicked Mommy totally out of the bed and she gave up and slept on top of the other twin bed which didn't have a pillow so I certainly wouldn't sleep there.

Christmas Day I got to open one of my presents early. It was a 2 foot long antler! I got to open it early so I could enjoy it before Mommy's second brother and his family, including my Portie cousin Missy, came over. I got a stuffed reindeer, a stuffed lobster, a great big giant biscuit, salmon treats, and a box of giant dog milk bones. Mommy and I gave Missy a great big giant biscuit and a small blue monkey. We gave all the grown ups photos taken by ME!! Missy's Mommy got a picture of Missy's legs, Missy's Daddy got a picture of his wife and girls, Mommy's youngest brother got a photo of Mommy and my shadows on a hike and Grandma and Grandpa got a six photo frame with pictures I took at their place in Wisconsin, including a close up of Mommy when we were on a boat ride. Everyone liked the photos. After presents Grandpa's college roommate and his wife came over for dinner. I was nice to him again and when I was leaning on his wife I fell over! I spent most of the evening staring at my feet because they felt like bugs were crawling on them too. After dinner we went home and slept in our own bed.

A couple days later Mommy took me to see the chiropractor because of me falling down and the chiropractor thought I might have Degenerative Myelopathy so she told Mommy to take me to my regular vet sooner rather than later for more tests. You can read about that in my previous blog post. When we got home from the chiropractor there was a message from the car insurance people that her old car was officially totaled, they would send her some money, and they were going to take away her rental car in a week so she went to the new car place and actually ended up coming home with a new car that night! It looks a lot like the old car, but is red and not squished. Mommy kept my blanket from the old car even though it is blue because it has doggies peeing on red fire hydrants on it, but she bought me new red pillow cases to replace my blue ones.

Mommy thought we'd take a New Year's Day hike, but it was very very cold, below zero cold, so we didn't. It got nice and warm the next weekend though so I got to go for an 8 mile afternoon walk. I slept all the next day. We've had some more below zero days and I've had to wear Mommy's sweatshirt on our walks and Mommy looks silly in layers and layers of clothes, then a few days later we have a 30 degree day and Mommy and I get to take long walks again and she ends up unzipping her coat and taking off her gloves by the end of our hikes. Winter is weird here.

Happy Adoption Day to Me!

Yup. Today is my adoption day. You'd think Mommy would do something special for me, like take the day off work and take me hiking, or give me an extra special breakfast, something. Well, not for me. I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. and promptly threw up. So, Mommy got out of bed and mixed up some Carafate for me and then we went back to bed and cuddled for 1/2 hour while the Carafate dissolved. After the 1/2 hour Mommy squirted the Carafate down my throat and I spit about 1/2 of it back on her and the bed. An hour later I got to have Pepcid and breakfast and walk to see the guys at the feed store, who at least gave me a treat, and then Mommy took me to the VET!!! That's right, my adoption day and I go to the VET for my annual checkup and shots as well as some extra special tests because my chiropractor was concerned that I might have Degenerative Myelopathy.

See, at Christmas I kept falling down. My back end would just go out from under me without warning. I was also moany groany and Mommy kept catching me staring at my feet like there were spiders crawling on them. She figured I had a pinched nerve in my back and took me to the Chiropractor. The chiropractor didn't find much wrong with my back so she did a test where she made me stand with my toes turned under. I guess I was supposed to put my foot flat right away, but I didn't. The chiropractor does weird things to my feet and legs all the time and I let her because I know it will make me feel better, so when she turned my toes under I just stood there waiting for the next part of the treatment. I guess that is considered a big failure and something to worry about. Anyway, even though I failed the physical tests really bad at the chiropractor's I passed with flying colors at the vet so I didn't have to have a nasty biopsy type test as well this morning.

So I have a fever today because of my shots and no special treats because of my throwing up this morning. Mommy says if I don't throw up tomorrow she will make it a better day for me and we will celebrate then. So Happy Adoption Day to Me! I've been with Mommy for 10 years which Mommy says is a miracle if you consider what my first day/weeks/months/years were like with Mommy and all the injuries I gave her, the gallons of pee and poop she had to clean up in my room, and the door frames, hand rails, clothes, books, stuffed animals, cooking utensils etc. that I destroyed.