Charlie's visit

I have met this little doggie on other occasions, when Christine takes me out for a walk with her human. But the other day, Charlie got dropped off at our place to stay with us!

Ok, so she's not too fond of me - I've been told that I can come on a bit too strong sometimes. She growls at me when I'm getting a little too close, and so I have to keep my distance. As much as I try, she really doesn't want anything to do with me. Even when we go for our walks, she stays on the other side of Richie, so I can't get in her face.

This is pretty much the only time she will allow me to be nose-to-nose with her - when one of us is on the other side of the door. I go out, she comes in. I come in, she goes out. Hmm... I think there is a message here, but I'm not getting it. Anyhow, after 2 sleeps, she went back to her human. Oh well.

Buddy

Is it finally Spring?

We dogs are pretty smart, and can tell when things are-a-changing. Like when we had all of that snow a while ago - that signifies the season that humans call Winter. When it's really hot, and all I want to do is hang out on the cool tile - that's Summer. Anyhow, I think it is Spring now, as Christine and Richie are doing more things outdoors. Like the other day, when Richie put some weird shoes on that had spikes on the bottom - he walked slowly around the backyard, apparently "aerating" the grass. All I know, is that he wouldn't play with me while he had those silly shoes on. So I bit him on the bum.

And then today, we went for a nice walk out to the UBC Endowment Lands again. I like going there, but sometimes the humans don't want to go because it will be too muddy - whatever. It was great today though, and all of the water holes were fresh and clear. Great for cooling my paws and getting a much needed drink!

Back at the house, Richie was busy in the garage doing something - I heard some noisy stuff, and then he was washing the things on the bottom of the car that go around... "changing the tires" or something like that. I guess it really is spring? Then we went out to the front yard, and I got some brushing, and then a little ear trimming. I make like I'm putting up a fuss, but it doesn't really bother me - it's just fun to make Richie work harder to get it done. Anyhow, I'm glad Spring is finally here, cuz it means that we will be spending more time outside.

Buddy

Film star

Yesterday, I fulfilled my destiny to be on film (my first name was Brando)! It all started with a car ride to a place I had not been before; it had all of those film trucks and trailers that I have seen parked in front of our house in the past. We parked the Rover, and then we got into another big van that dropped us off at a big place with other humans hanging around. Apparently this is called "Background Holding"; where us budding stars hang out while we wait for our scene to be shot. We spent a long time hanging out here, but I didn't mind, as I was getting lots of attention and love, and even some cuddles from another performer who put a blanket on the ground and sat with me. Everyone wanted to take "selfies" with me - I must be some sort of star?

My human and I get some fresh air waiting for our scene

If I could tell time, I would say we spent hours doing nothing (ok, Richie was reading a book). Once in a while, the "Background Wrangler" would come in and ask for a few performers to come to set to do their thing. Then later on, the crew came in and had their lunch - I got even more attention then. I had mine too, and we would also go for short walks around the set. Then finally, the wrangler comes in and says, "man with dog", and we were off for our scene!

On my first mark watching the AD and crew

Just around the corner from Holding, there were all these humans with stuff hanging about. Another human came up to Richie and gave him instructions on where we were to go, and when to do it. So we went to our "first mark", and waited for our cue to go. Everyone gets ready, and then we hear "Roll sound! Rolling! Background! Action!". The Assistant Director (AD) gives Richie a tap on the shoulder,  and we are off walking past the cameras and actors, and then another human says, "Cut!". We did this three times (I think); you are supposed to do it exactly the same each time, if possible. I performed admirably, walking straight, without being distracted by the other performers, or the other humans, and I didn't look at the camera (which is a no-no). When we finished our scene, I was mobbed again by crew members who wanted to meet and pet me. We then went back to Holding, and after gathering our things and saying goodbye to our new friends, hopped in the van and got taken back to the Rover for another car ride home. What a day - I wonder if I will be on TV again soon?

Buddy

Editor's note: The TV show, "Somewhere Between", premiered recently, but unfortunately due to the camera angle, Buddy did not get seen in the final cut.

Cooper Sunday

Cooper in mid-flight

We went for a car ride again yesterday, and we arrived at this park by the river, when who should we find there, but my brother Cooper and his humans! We immediately started exploring this new area, and we ran around on the grass and looked for muddy areas to play in. 

Not to worry, because after we got good and dirty, we went down to the river to get cleaned up. I ran back and forth, then up and down the bank, with Cooper chasing me the whole time. We got back up to the play area, and we played chase, and wrestled around on the ground for a bit, so it was back to the river for more rinsing.

"Thirsty anyone?"

It was also great to grab a drink while rinsing off all that mud. For some reason, I still got a bucket wash when we got back to the car. I like to push my head through Richie's legs when he's trying to towel me off, and he ends up getting just as wet as me. BOL!

After another short drive, we ended up at Cooper's place! I explored the backyard with him, and then we sat on the floor as they had lunch. That Cooper kept trying to nip my paws, and so we would end up getting into it right there in the TV room - much to our humans' dismay.

But after a week with Linden, it's really awesome to have another doggie that would actually play with me. I didn't like their stairs however, as they seemed too steep - so I went down on the back patio stairs. I hope we get to do this again soon - thanks Cooper and humans!

Buddy

Linden sitting

You know that retriever from the next block down? Yeah, the one that barks at us when we walk by the front of his house? Well, the other day, we went walking down their block, and Christine went into a backyard, and brought Linden home with us! He's a little bit older than me, and I don't think he really likes it when I try to egg him into some wrestling. But I was really good, and I gave him his space.

You can see above, that I'm not crowding him on the bed - he would give a little warning when I was getting in his face too much. For the most part, we spent our days sleeping, so not much of an issue, really.

We went out to the Endowment lands one morning, and that crazy Linden would lie down in the mud puddles! That was ok apparently, so when we got to the big puddle, both of us went in for a dip. It didn't get all the mud off however, and we both got a bit of a cleanup when we got home.

Here's a new spot that I found to sleep in... most of the time, I hop up here at night, and grab a few ZZZs before I move to my next spot. But Linden must have seen me up there, as he decided to try it out:

You'll notice that he doesn't "fill" the space as well as I do however. Anyhow, he spend most of the time sleeping on the bed - something I can't do for very long, as I get too warm up there.

After about 5 days (who can count, really), Linden started to warm up to me, and on a couple of afternoons after returning from our walk, we actually did some wrassling! I went easy on the old guy, as I could have easily taken him.

Here we are, hanging out in the front yard, on Linden's last day with us... the sun came out, and I got a nice brushing out on the grass from Richie. I liked it so much, that I bit him on the bum.

Buddy

Chore day

Today started out like every other day - a leisurely breakfast, then a walk in the neighbourhood. But after Richie did his other stuff around the house, we went for a car ride! Did I mention how much I like going for car rides? Anyhow, we drove for a little while, and then we got out at this awesome smelling place!

Apparently, this is what they call a pet food store - it was fantastic! We walked through the aisles, and I sniffed everything that I could. We met this nice doggie there, and a few others. Then Richie picked up a big bag of my food, and we got back in the car again.

Then after our afternoon nap (I was taking mine in the bathroom on the cool tile floor), I got my ears and paws trimmed. I don't really mind it, but I do squirm around a little, making it as hard for Richie as I can. Supposedly, this makes it easier for me to get traction on the slippery wood floors. Not sure why I need the fur on my ears trimmed however. Anyhow, I think that is it for today... whew!

Buddy

Brotherly fun!

We went for a car ride yesterday, and ended up at a new place that we have never been before. But when we got there, my brother Cooper was walking ahead of us with his humans!

There was so much fun stuff to sniff and smell - we ran back and forth, looking for new things. I found out very quickly, that the icy stuff can actually fall apart, and I fell into the cold water of the ditch. That's ok, as it gave me an opportunity to show Cooper how to properly drink from a ditch - i.e. lying down.

There were a lot of those big birds down there called "eagles", but I didn't pay them much attention. But there was some smelly stuff on the ground that apparently those photographer humans would bring to attract the eagles, and Cooper and I tried our best to sample some morsels. This did not make our humans happy.

Sometimes, the ditch would be deeper than others, and one time when I broke through the ice, I stuck my snout under, and got really dirty! Thanks Cooper's human for capturing a great pic of me all dirty.

Christine and Richie didn't really like that, and so they shooed us over to a small area that still had some snow, so that Cooper and I could do some wrestling and get a bit of the mud off our fur. It kinda worked, but I still got a partial bath when I got home. What a fun day with Cooper and his humans!

Buddy