Snow portrait! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here! Over the past few days I have had many snow portraits taken! This is because I am very beautiful! It is also because my black fur contrasts so nicely with the white snow! It is also because we have gone many Walks to many fun places!

It is also because I am very good at posing!

Every time our person takes the rectangular thing out of her pocket, I immediately go right in front of her and sit down! This is called "posing"! I get cheese when I do posing, so I do it every single time the rectangular thing comes out!

Sometimes our person says, "Ojo, no, get out of the way!" I'm not sure why she says this. Surely there is nothing more beautiful than ME to take a picture of!

And another one? Sure! I will do posing for you! You are welcome, now time for a piece of cheese, please!

Cobi has not done as much posing. She also has been making lots of funny faces. Just look at her!

But then look at ME! Aren't I just perfect in the snow!?!

Hello, there's something on my face you say? (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

What do you mean, there's something on my face?!? I don't care. I would just like my cheese please, for doing a good pose. And then I will go zooming again in the snow!

Winter sun

The winter sunshine falls softly on my fur. The only thing better than winter sunshine would be snow. I hope I get snow for Christmas! But in the meantime I will take the soft winter sunshine.

BALL!!! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

Playing with Ball makes me feel happy and silly!

I love my BALL! Any Ball, really! Hurray for Ball!

My person is crazy (or, The Sweater)

Dear friends,

My person bought me a SWEATER! ME! Cobi! This is preposterous! I am a Dog of the snow and the cold!

Okay, yes, I have lost a bunch of fur this past year. Okay, yes, I have no fluffy undercoat left. Okay, yes, I have bare patches around my neck where you can see my pink skin when the wind blows.

But, really - a SWEATER?!??

She says it is only for the coldest of cold days in the snow. She says hopefully I will not need to wear it at all. She says it is "just in case" because she does not want me to shiver.

But, really - a SWEATER?!??

She says it is hand-knitted. She says it is wool, and the wool came from sheeps that were treated nicely. She says this sweater can get snowy and still feel warm.

But, really - a SWEATER?!?? Really?!??

Pee Ess Do not worry, Vet says I seem to be very fine. No one knows why my undercoat fur disappeared last January and did not come back. They did very many tests, and everything is normal. They say perhaps I am just getting old. (I covered my ears at that part, eleven-and-a-half isn't THAT old!)

Pee Pee Ess Okay, I do look kind of swanky, don't you think? But do not tell my person. I would rather not wear the sweater ever again, thank-you-very-much.

Top of the world! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here! I was sunny and cold on top of the world. The wind was blowing smells from all over!

Have you ever been to the top of the world?

I did a Bad by accident! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here. I did a Bad! It was by accident!

These packages were under the tree. I knew they were for us! Why should we have to wait? I wanted to open them NOW! And so I did! Is this very, very Bad?

So what if one said "To Cobi" on it? Cobi doesn't like unwrapping anyways! I was just helping her!

Is this very, very Bad?

Okay, so then I may have gone back to under the tree and started to open one that wasn't even a Dog toy. It was something for one of our people. But can you blame me? Unwrapping is so much fun!

Is this very, very Bad? And why are all the presents now up where I cannot reach them???

A tale of two smells (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here! This is a story about a SMELL. TWO smells, actually! It has a happy start, a bad middle, and a happy ending! Are you ready? Here is my story!

Chapter One

Once upon a time there was ME, Ojo! I went running by a big river. My nose detected something amazing: a Very Dead and Decaying Thing! What a find!

I rolled in the Very Dead and Decaying Thing. I rolled and rolled and rolled! My whole body was covered in gunk. It was sticky. It was goopy. It was slimy. It gave me spiky points on my fur!

Once upon a time there was ME, Ojo. I had a Very Good Stink on me.

Then, tragedy. My person gave me a bath. She wet me and washed me and soaped me and scrubbed me, until I smelled like dog shampoo.

But I promised this story has a happy ending, so here's what happened next: My fur dried. And I still smelled like Very Dead and Decaying Thing! I felt happy indeed!

But wait, there's more!

Chapter Two

Once upon a time there was ME, Ojo! A few days later I went running by a little creek. My nose detected something amazing: a Very Large Pile of Poop! What a find!

I rolled in the Very Large Pile of Poop. I rolled and rolled and rolled! My whole body was covered in gunk. It was sticky. It was goopy. It was slimy. It gave me spiky points on my fur!

Once upon a time there was ME, Ojo. Now I had TWO Very Good Stinks on me.

Then, tragedy. My person gave me a bath. She wet me and gave me an apple cider vinegar rinse. Then she wet me again and put enzyme cleaner on me. (Can you imagine?!?) Then she wet me again and washed me and soaped me and scrubbed me, until I smelled like apple cider vinegar and enzyme cleaner and dog shampoo.

But I still promised this story has a happy ending, so here's what happened next:

My fur is drying. And I still smell like Very Dead and Decaying Thing AND Very Large Pile of Poop! Hurray!

We are here

Where is here? By a Lake in the fog and the rain, of course!

You are out there...

...and I am in here. Why can I not be out there with you? Wait, what is that you're carrying? It is a bag from inside that store? Does it have any bacon in it? Or Dog treats?*

* Editor's note: There were indeed dog treats in the bag.

Ducky had an accident in my mouth, can you fix him? (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi. Ojo here. Ducky had an accident in my mouth.

It was an oops. didn't mean to remove his leg! Can you fix him so I can give him back to Cobi? Pretty please?

This is MY Ducky

This is MY Ducky. I have had Ducky since I was a puppy. He was the first toy my people bought me! Back then Ducky was very large, almost as big as me. I don't know why he shrank.

(What do you mean it was me that grew? That doesn't make any sense. I have always been ME. Clearly it is Ducky who changed, not me.)

Ojo borrowed Ducky this week. Now one of his feet is separate from his body. This is not okay. Can you fix him?

Leaves and cheese! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here! We are sitting very pretty in the leaves! Can we have our cheese now please?

I am just hanging out...

...waiting for Dinner. What are you doing?

I thought I could be like a squirrel, but acorns are Bad (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

I have been watching squirrels move nuts all week! They are very busy in our Yard! They pick up a nut, then pick up another nut, then pick up another nut! I hear they eat them in the winter!

So I ate one too!

It was an acorn. It tasted okay. But my tummy did not like it. At night when I was trying to sleep my tummy ejected the acorn onto my bed.

This was very upsetting. My tummy almost never rejects anything! It can digest dead, flat, dehydrated bunny! It can digest poop! It can digest dead, rotting crabs from the beach!

But it could not digest the acorn. Friends, acorns are Bad. Do not be like a squirrel. Do not eat acorns.

A very important truth

We did selfies! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here! We climbed a mountain and then I did selfies with my person!

Thank you for bringing us to climb this mountain! I love climbing mountains!! Life is very happy!

It is fall

Dear friends,

Yes, we are still here. Yes, we are still having adventures. Yes, we are healthy.

Our person is just lazy. Or busy. But not helping us make our blog either way.

It is Fall here. The leaves are starting to come down. There are wind storms and rain storms. Some days are getting very cold. But today there was sun.

How is your Fall, friends?

We are beautiful

We did the thing where we post for cheese. We are very pretty, don't you think?

Hello there. More cheese, please!

The season is changing

Dear friends,

The season is changing. It is still HOT sometimes during the day, but it is much cooler at night. The rains are teasing us with what is to come. The oak trees are starting to drop their leaves. (Our person is grumpy about this, she says raking is a lot of work. But I think chasing the rake is FUN, so I am excited for this!)

And we had FOG!!! The fog horns were all making their OOOOO-ooooo noises on our Walk.

Soon all this brown grass will be green again.

Unfortunately also soon all this dry ground will be MUD. We won't be as happy to lie down in the mud.

But in the meantime we are enjoying all the smells that stick in the wet, foggy air.

The fog and the cooler air made us both feel very happy! Hurray for cooler days! Welcome, fall!

What is wrong with Deal Seal Smell? (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

What is wrong with Dead Seal Smell? Why are you objecting so much? I think I smell lovely!!

By tooth and nail (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

Did you know that we get our teeth brushed every day??? We also get our nails done every second day! Our nails are done using the tool called dremel, and our teeth are done using the tool called toothbrush.

We don't hate this, but we don't entirely love it either. We do get lots of treats! So we hold still and participate! Also we are Good Dogs, you know! But we don't entirely love it.

This tooth and nail business seems very important to our person. While she's doing it she mutters things like, "I do not want to pay for dental surgery," and, "You will thank me later when you can still play tug and your teeth don't hurt, and when you can zoom around and your nails don't get caught on things."

So here's the thing! I am pretty okay with my nails getting dremeled, but I am less fond of my teeth being brushed. Cobi is the opposite! She is pretty okay with her teeth being brushed, but is less fond of her nails getting done. So tonight we made a deal! We decided to trade! Here is how we did it!

It started like normal, with our person calling us to "places!" Our places are our mats, and we went very quickly!

Our person gave us a each a taster treat, so we could see what was on the menu tonight. And also because we ran to our places so nicely!

Then she crouched down beside me to do my nails. While our person was doing my nails, the first part of our plan went into place. Cobi did something very crafty! She snuck off into the living room! She did this so quietly and calmly that our person did not call her back places!

Once my nails were done, and after I ate my treats, our person stood up to go to Cobi's mat. This was the tricky part! I had to beat her there! I zoomed over to Cobi's mat and lay down fast!

I think I fooled our person, because she laughed waved the dremel and gave me another treat! Clearly she thought I was Cobi!

And while she was distracted, Cobi snuck back into the kitchen to my place!

Our deal was this: I would get my nails done twice, because I am quite okay with that, and Cobi would get her teeth brushed twice, because she is quite okay with that part! And then we could both skip the part that we didn't like as much! Isn't this a clever plan?

And it started off working perfectly!

But then it failed.

I blame it on Cobi! You see, she lay down beside my mat, instead of on top of it. She says my mat is stinky. She says it is too hot to be on the mat. But I disagree. I think she just messed up. Because clearly we were fooling our person up until then, right?

Right.

But because Cobi lay down beside my mat, instead of on top of it, our person figured out that we had switched. This was the only reason our person figured it out, I am sure of it!

Our person called "places!" again, and like Good Dogs we switched back. And Cobi had to have her nails done, and then we both had our teeth done.

It was worth a try, right?

I am Cobi. You will do my nails again. Because I am Cobi....

Sit pretty?

Is this what they mean by Sit Pretty?

I would like to add that I was very helpful for this picture. Our person indicated the spot, and I hopped up, and I sat right away. I stayed there, and I sat up nice and straight. I am a Good Dog.

Ojo was not helpful like me for this picture. She decided to do tricks. She balance-walked along the back of the log-bench until she fell off. She put her front paws up and kept her back paws on the ground. She put her back paws on the back of the log-bench and her front paws in the seat. She thought just sitting there was boring. So it took us forever to get this picture, and therefore it took us forever to get our cheese.

Next time Ojo could you please just sit???

Creek Walk

Dear friends,

Yes, we are still here! Our person has been too lazy to carry her big-black-eye-called-camera around, and she's been too lazy to help us tell our stories. But we are doing well and we are still having stories, even if we don't get to share them!

Today I will share the story of our Walk in a Very Beautiful Place.

This is called the Creek Walk. This Walk is where we hop along the stones in a creek, and stop to visit many little ponds. It is where Ojo sniffs out burrowed critters and bounces through the grass. It is where we both do happy zoomies. And it is where I pretend I am a WOLF!, stalking through the wild!

If only our person didn't put the stupid orange harness and loud yellow bear bell on me. That is not very wolf-like. But I can still pretend!

I may have had one small incident...

I was rolling in the grass. It felt wonderful! I rolled and rolled and rolled. And I may have rolled off the edge... Just a little bit...

Ojo may have laughed at me. This was not very nice. She likes to swim. I do not. End of story.

So I found a safer place to roll. This place was so safe and so happy that I could have stayed there forever!

Truly. Can't we just stay here, please? I am like a WOLF taking a summer nap! (Ojo, why are you laughing again?)

Today was a very happy day. Are you having a happy day too?

Too much fun

Dear friends,

I had a very fun day. But I think I am getting OLD. 

Cobi.

Pee Ess Please send Dinner and bacon into the yard, for I think I will just lie here all day.

Not good (by Ojo)

Ojo here. It happened again. I ate something yummy on Walk. And then I did not feel good.

The people say this is marijuana that I ate off the ground in the bushes. I do not know what that means. I just know that last night I was very wobbly and that pee kept coming out of my body at weird times. I felt horrible.

My people want you to tell your people to tell all their friends - please do not put marijuana bits on the ground! It tastes yummy. We Dogs will eat it. I did not need to go to Vet, but some Dogs who eat too much can get very, very sick. Please have your people tell everyone!

It's my Gotcha Day! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

Today is my Gotcha Day! I was Gotcha'd six years ago!

Here is the very first picture of me from when I was Gotcha'd:

You may notice how black my face was! Now my face is mostly white! But I can still jump high and run fast! I haven't caught a bunny yet this year, but I did catch a rattie! I am still just as amazing as I was when I was Gotcha'd. In fact, I'm even better, because now I know all sorts of tricks! And I can do jobs to help out, like delivering lunch bags and finding lost things! And also I am starting to become wise.

It has been a Very Good six years.

I am ELEVEN!

Happy birthday to ME!
Happy birthday to ME!
Happy birthday to Cobi (that's ME!).
Happy birthday to ME!

Okay, the truth is that the people don't exactly know my exact birthday. Not exactly. But it was around the May long weekend in the year people call two-thousand-and-eight. So I am around eleven years old! Isn't that amazing?!?

We celebrated by going to the BEACH!

It was big-beach time. The water was very far out, leaving us with lots and lots of sand for running on and sniffing on. Even the Beach helped to celebrate! I am sure it did this just for ME!

And also the weather was perfect for ME! It was kind-of-sunny-kind-of-cloudy, so it was not too hot. This was very nice. I'm sure this was for ME too!

Did I mention that I am eleven? But I still zoomed after my Ball! Because I am amazing. And I am very sprightly for my age. And I am celebrating ME!